Your father could never remember what he did with it when he left James Patterson 's . Neither Mr. Sinclair nor his wife could recollect seeing anything of it at the time of the accident . James Patterson had left for California the very morning after , and he never came back . We did not worry much about the loss of the note then ; it did not seem of much moment , and your father was not in a condition to be troubled about the matter . '' `` But , Mother , this note that Jacob Patterson holds -- I do n't understand about this . '' `` I 'm coming to that . I remember distinctly that on the evening when your father came home after signing the note he said that James Patterson drew up a note and he signed it , but just as he did so the old man 's pet cat , which was sitting on the table , upset an ink bottle and the ink ran all over the table and stained one end of the note . Old James Patterson was the fussiest man who ever lived , and a stickler for neatness . ` 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 XXXXX 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 .
about after among at if in of that to with