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the gold I loan them and the rental to which I am entitled. Such loans are based on human effort.

Others are those who have neither property not assured earning capacity. Life is hard and there will always be some who cannot adjust themselves to it. Alas for the loans I make them, even though they be no larger than a pence, my token box may censure me in the years to come unless they be guaranteed by good friends of the borrower who know him honorable.”

Mathon released the clasp and opened the lid. Rodan leaned forward eagerly.

At the top of the chest a bronze neck piece lay upon a scarlet cloth. Mathon picked up the piece and patted it affectionately. “This shall always remain in my token chest for the owner has passed on into the great darkness. I treasure it, his token, and I treasure his memory, for he was my good friend. We traded together with much success until out of the east he brought a woman to wed, beautiful, but not like our women. A dazzling creature. He spent his gold lavishly to gratify her desires. He came to me in distress when his gold was gone. I counselled with him. I told him I would help him to once more master his own affairs. He swore by the sign of the Great Bull that he