` Tut , tut , ' he said , ` this wo n't do . Here , I 'll draw up another note and tear this blotted one up . ' He did so and your father signed it . He always supposed James Patterson destroyed the first one , and certainly he must have intended to , for there never was an honester man . But he must have neglected to do so for , Ernest , it was that blotted note Jacob Patterson showed me today . He said he found it among his brother 's papers . I suppose it has been in the desk up at the Patterson place ever since James went to California . He died last winter and Jacob is his sole heir . Ernest , that note with the compound interest on it for seven years amounts to over eleven hundred dollars . How can we pay it ? '' `` I 'm afraid that this is a very serious business , Mother , '' said Ernest , rising and pacing the floor with agitated strides . `` We shall have to pay the note if we can not find the other -- and even if we could , perhaps . Your story of the drawing up of the second note would not be worth anything as evidence in a court of law -- and we have nothing to hope from Jacob Patterson 's clemency . No doubt he believes that he really holds Father 's unpaid note . He is not a dishonest man ; in fact , he rather prides himself on having made all his money honestly . He will exact every penny of the debt . The first thing to do is to have another thorough search for the lost note -- although I am afraid that it is a forlorn hope . '' A forlorn hope it proved to be . The note did not turn up . Old Jacob Patterson proved obdurate .
He laughed XXXXX scorn the tale of the blotted note and , indeed , Ernest sadly admitted to himself that it was not a story anybody would be in a hurry to believe .
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