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 to strike oil; when oil was an absolute necessity. It must gush—or disaster, waiting now in readiness, would seize him. It was a trying, racking position; more than once it has been found sufficiently strong to break down the barriers of strict honesty. When money must be had and none is forthcoming, the most virtuous of men will be no stranger to temptation.

Malcolm Crane was moving irresistibly toward that point.