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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Woman Intervenes
+
+Author: Robert Barr
+
+Posting Date: March 22, 2014 [EBook #9379]
+Release Date: November, 2005
+First Posted: September 27, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN INTERVENES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG
+Distributed Proofreaders. This file was produced from
+images generously made available by the Canadian Institute
+for Historical Microreproductions. HTML version by Al
+Haines.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                           A WOMAN INTERVENES
+
+                                   BY
+
+                               ROBERT BARR
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+'IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS,' 'IN A STEAMER CHAIR,' 'FROM WHOSE BOURNE,'
+ETC.
+
+
+
+WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAL HURST
+
+
+
+1896
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY FRIEND
+
+HORACE HART
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+'I HAD NO INTENTION OF INSULTING YOU' _Frontispiece_
+
+WENTWORTH SHOWED HER HOW TO TURN IT ROUND
+
+MISS JENNIE ALLOWED HIM TO ADJUST THE WRAPS AROUND HER
+
+'OH, YES! YOU WILL STAY,' CRIED THE OTHER
+
+SHE WALKED ALONE UP AND DOWN THE PROMENADE
+
+SHE SPRANG SUDDENLY TO HER FEET
+
+'YOU HAVE A PRODIGIOUS HEAD FOR BUSINESS'
+
+EDITH LONGWORTH HAD SAT DOWN BESIDE HIM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+The managing editor of the _New York Argus_ sat at his desk with a deep
+frown on his face, looking out from under his shaggy eyebrows at the
+young man who had just thrown a huge fur overcoat on the back of one
+chair, while he sat down himself on another.
+
+'I got your telegram,' began the editor. 'Am I to understand from it that
+you have failed?'
+
+'Yes, sir,' answered the young man, without the slightest hesitation.
+
+'Completely?'
+
+'Utterly.'
+
+'Didn't you even get a synopsis of the documents?'
+
+'Not a hanged synop.'
+
+The editor's frown grew deeper. The ends of his fingers drummed nervously
+on the desk.
+
+'You take failure rather jauntily, it strikes me,' he said at last.
+
+'What's the use of taking it any other way? I have the consciousness of
+knowing that I did my best.'
+
+'Um, yes. It's a great consolation, no doubt, but it doesn't count in
+the newspaper business. What did you do?'
+
+'I received your telegram at Montreal, and at once left for Burnt
+Pine--most outlandish spot on earth. I found that Kenyon and
+Wentworth were staying at the only hotel in the place. Tried to worm
+out of them what their reports were to be. They were very polite, but
+I didn't succeed. Then I tried to bribe them, and they ordered me out
+of the room.'
+
+'Perhaps you didn't offer them enough.'
+
+'I offered double what the London Syndicate was to pay them for making
+the report, taking their own word for the amount. I couldn't offer more,
+because at that point they closed the discussion by ordering me out of
+the room. I tried to get the papers that night, on the quiet, out of
+Wentworth's valise, but was unfortunately interrupted. The young men
+were suspicious, and next morning they left for Ottawa to post the
+reports, as I gathered afterwards, to England. I succeeded in getting
+hold of the reports, but I couldn't hang on. There are too many police
+in Ottawa to suit me.'
+
+'Do you mean to tell me,' said the editor, 'that you actually had the
+reports in your hands, and that they were taken from you?'
+
+'Certainly I had; and as to their being taken from me, it was either that
+or gaol. They don't mince matters in Canada as they do in the United
+States, you know.'
+
+'But I should think a man of your shrewdness would have been able to get
+at least a synopsis of the reports before letting them out of his
+possession.'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the reporter, rather angry, 'the whole thing covered
+I forget how many pages of foolscap paper, and was the most mixed-up
+matter I ever saw in my life. I tried--I sat in my room at the hotel, and
+did my best to master the details. It was full of technicalities, and I
+couldn't make it out. It required a mining expert to get the hang of
+their phrases and figures, so I thought the best thing to do was to
+telegraph it all straight through to New York. I knew it would cost a lot
+of money, but I knew, also, you didn't mind that; and I thought, perhaps,
+somebody here could make sense out of what baffled me; besides, I wanted
+to get the documents out of my possession just as quickly as possible.'
+
+'Hem!' said the editor. 'You took no notes whatever?'
+
+'No, I did not. I had no time. I knew the moment they missed the
+documents they would have the detectives on my track. As it was, I was
+arrested when I entered the telegraph-office.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' said the managing editor, 'if I had once had the
+papers in my hand, I should not have let them go until I had got the gist
+of what was in them.'
+
+'Oh, it's all very well for you to say so,' replied the reporter, with
+the free and easy manner in which an American newspaper man talks to his
+employer; 'but I can tell you, with a Canadian gaol facing a man, it is
+hard to decide what is best to do. I couldn't get out of the town for
+three hours, and before the end of that time they would have had my
+description in the hands of every policeman in the place. They knew well
+enough who took the papers, so my only hope lay in getting the thing
+telegraphed through; and if that had been accomplished, everything would
+have been all right. I would have gone to gaol with pleasure if I had
+got the particulars through to New York.'
+
+'Well, what are we to do now?' asked the editor.
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. The two men will be in New York very shortly.
+They sail, I understand, on the _Caloric_, which leaves in a week. If you
+think you have a reporter who can get the particulars out of these men, I
+should be very pleased to see you set him on. I tell you it isn't so easy
+to discover what an Englishman doesn't want you to know.'
+
+'Well,' said the editor, 'perhaps that's true. I will think about it. Of
+course you did your best, and I appreciate your efforts; but I am sorry
+you failed.'
+
+'You are not half so sorry as I am,' said Rivers, as he picked up his big
+Canadian fur coat and took his leave.
+
+The editor did think about it. He thought for fully two minutes. Then he
+dashed off a note on a sheet of paper, pulled down the little knob that
+rang the District Messenger alarm, and when the uniformed boy appeared,
+gave him the note, saying:
+
+'Deliver this as quickly as you can.'
+
+The boy disappeared, and the result of his trip was soon apparent in the
+arrival of a very natty young woman in the editorial rooms. She was
+dressed in a neatly-fitting tailor-made costume, and was a very pretty
+girl, who looked about nineteen, but was, in reality, somewhat older. She
+had large, appealing blue eyes, with a tender, trustful expression in
+them, which made the ordinary man say: 'What a sweet, innocent look that
+girl has!' yet, what the young woman didn't know about New York was not
+worth knowing. She boasted that she could get State secrets from
+dignified members of the Cabinet, and an ordinary Senator or Congressman
+she looked upon as her lawful prey. That which had been told her in the
+strictest confidence had often become the sensation of the next day in
+the paper she represented. She wrote over a _nom de guerre_, and had
+tried her hand at nearly everything. She had answered advertisements,
+exposed rogues and swindlers, and had gone to a hotel as chambermaid, in
+order to write her experiences. She had been arrested and locked up, so
+that she might write a three-column account, for the Sunday edition of
+the _Argus_, of 'How Women are Treated at Police Headquarters.' The
+editor looked upon her as one of the most valuable members of his staff,
+and she was paid accordingly.
+
+She came into the room with the self-possessed air of the owner of the
+building, took a seat, after nodding to the editor, and said, 'Well?'
+
+'Look here, Jennie,' began that austere individual, 'do you wish to take
+a trip to Europe?'
+
+'That depends,' said Jennie; 'this is not just the time of year that
+people go to Europe for pleasure, you know.'
+
+'Well, this is not exactly a pleasure trip. The truth of the matter is,
+Rivers has been on a job and has bungled it fearfully, besides nearly
+getting himself arrested.'
+
+The young woman's eyes twinkled. She liked anything with a spice of
+danger in it, and did not object to hear that she was expected to succeed
+where a mere masculine reporter had failed.
+
+The editor continued:
+
+'Two young men are going across to England on the _Caloric_. It sails in
+a week. I want you to take a ticket for Liverpool by that boat, and
+obtain from either of those two men the particulars--the _full_
+particulars--of reports they have made on some mining properties in
+Canada. Then you must land at Queenstown and cable a complete account to
+the _Argus_.'
+
+'Mining isn't much in my line,' said Miss Jennie, with a frown on her
+pretty brow. 'What sort of mines were they dealing with--gold, silver,
+copper, or what?'
+
+'They are certain mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'That's rather indefinite.'
+
+'I know it is. I can't give you much information about the matter. I
+don't know myself, to tell the truth, but I know it is vitally important
+that we should get a synopsis of what the reports of these young men are
+to be. A company, called the London Syndicate, has been formed in
+England. This syndicate is to acquire a large number of mines in Canada,
+if the accounts given by the present owners are anything like correct.
+Two men, Kenyon and Wentworth--the first a mining engineer, and the
+second an experienced accountant--have been sent from London to Canada,
+one to examine the mines, the other to examine the books of the various
+corporations. Whether the mines are bought or not will depend a good deal
+on the reports these two men have in their possession. The reports, when
+published, will make a big difference, one way or the other, on the Stock
+Exchange. I want to have the gist of them before the London Syndicate
+sees them. It will be a big thing for the _Argus_ if it is the first in
+the field, and I am willing to spend a pile of hard cash to succeed. So,
+don't economize on your cable expenses.'
+
+'Very well; have you a book on Canadian mines?'
+
+'I don't know that we have; but there is a book here, "The Mining
+Resources of Canada;" will that be of any use?'
+
+'I shall need something of that sort. I want to be a little familiar with
+the subject, you know.'
+
+'Quite so,' said the editor; 'I will see what can be got in that line.
+You can read it before you start, and on the way over.'
+
+'All right,' said Miss Jennie; 'and am I to take my pick of the two
+young men?'
+
+'Certainly,' answered the editor. 'You will see them both, and can easily
+make up your mind which will the sooner fall a victim.'
+
+'The _Caloric_ sails in a week, does it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I shall need at least five hundred dollars to get new dresses
+with.'
+
+'Good gracious!' cried the editor.
+
+'There is no "good gracious" about it. I'm going to travel as a
+millionaire's daughter, and it isn't likely that one or two dresses will
+do me all the way over.'
+
+'But you can't get new dresses made in a week,' said the editor.
+
+'Can't I? Well, you just get me the five hundred dollars, and I'll see
+about the making.'
+
+The editor jotted the amount down.
+
+'You don't think four hundred dollars would do?' he said.
+
+'No, I don't. And, say, am I to get a trip to Paris after this is over,
+or must I come directly back?'
+
+'Oh, I guess we can throw in the trip to Paris,' said the editor.
+
+'What did you say the names of the young men are?--or are they not
+young? Probably they are old fogies, if they are in the mining business.'
+
+'No; they are young, they are shrewd, and they are English. So you see
+your work is cut out for you. Their names are George Wentworth and
+John Kenyon.'
+
+'Oh, Wentworth is my man,' said the young woman breezily. 'John Kenyon! I
+know just what sort of a person he is--sombre and taciturn. Sounds too
+much like John Bunyan, or John Milton, or names of that sort.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't be too sure about it until you see them. Better not
+make up your mind about the matter.'
+
+'When shall I call for the five hundred dollars?'
+
+'Oh, that you needn't trouble about. The better way is to get your
+dresses made, and tell the people to send the bills to our office.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman. 'I shall be ready. Don't be frightened
+at the bills when they come in. If they come up to a thousand dollars,
+remember I told you I would let you off for five hundred dollars.'
+
+The editor looked at her for a moment, and seemed to reflect that
+perhaps it was better not to give a young lady unlimited credit in New
+York. So he said:
+
+'Wait a bit; I'll write you out the order, and you can take it
+downstairs.'
+
+Miss Jennie took the paper when it was offered to her, and disappeared.
+When she presented the order in the business office, the cashier raised
+his eyebrows as he noticed the amount, and, with a low whistle, said to
+himself:
+
+'Five hundred dollars! I wonder what game Jennie Brewster's up to now.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The last bell had rung. Those who were going ashore had taken their
+departure. Crowds of human beings clustered on the pier-head, and at the
+large doorways of the warehouse which stood open on the steamer wharf. As
+the big ship slowly backed out there was a fluttering of handkerchiefs
+from the mass on the pier, and an answering flutter from those who
+crowded along the bulwarks of the steamer. The tug slowly pulled the prow
+of the vessel round, and at last the engines of the steamship began their
+pulsating throbs--throbs that would vibrate night and day until the
+steamer reached an older civilization. The crowd on the pier became more
+and more indistinct to those on board, and many of the passengers went
+below, for the air was bitterly cold, and the boat was forcing its way
+down the bay among huge blocks of ice.
+
+Two, at least, of the passengers had taken little interest in the
+departure. They were leaving no friends behind them, and were both
+setting their faces toward friends at home.
+
+'Let us go down,' said Wentworth to Kenyon, 'and see that we get seats
+together at table before all are taken.'
+
+'Very good,' replied his companion, and they descended to the roomy
+saloon, where two long tables were already laid with an ostentatious
+display of silver, glassware, and cutlery, which made many, who looked on
+this wilderness of white linen with something like dismay, hope that the
+voyage would be smooth, although, as it was a winter passage, there was
+every chance it would not be. The purser and two of his assistants sat
+at one of the shorter tables with a plan before them, marking off the
+names of passengers who wished to be together, or who wanted some
+particular place at any of the tables. The smaller side-tables were still
+uncovered because the number of passengers at that season of the year was
+comparatively few. As the places were assigned, one of the helpers to the
+purser wrote the names of the passengers on small cards, and the other
+put the cards on the tables.
+
+One young woman, in a beautifully-fitting travelling gown, which was
+evidently of the newest cut and design, stood a little apart from the
+general group which surrounded the purser and his assistants. She eagerly
+scanned every face, and listened attentively to the names given.
+Sometimes a shade of disappointment crossed her brow, as if she expected
+some particular person to possess some particular name which that
+particular person did not bear. At last her eyes sparkled.
+
+'My name is Wentworth,' said the young man whose turn it was.
+
+'Ah! any favourite place, Mr. Wentworth?' asked the purser blandly, as if
+he had known Wentworth all his life.
+
+'No, we don't care where we sit; but my friend Mr. Kenyon and myself
+would like places together.'
+
+'Very good; you had better come to my table,' replied the purser.
+'Numbers 23 and 24--Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+The steward took the cards that were given him, and placed them to
+correspond with the numbers the purser had named. Then the young woman
+moved gracefully along, as if she were interested in the names upon the
+table. She looked at Wentworth's name for a moment, and saw in the place
+next to his the name of Mr. Brown. She gave a quick, apprehensive glance
+around the saloon, and observed the two young men who had arranged for
+their seats at table now walking leisurely toward the companion-way. She
+took the card with the name of Mr. Brown upon it, and slipped upon the
+table another on which were written the words 'Miss Jennie Brewster.' Mr.
+Brown's card she placed on the spot from which she had taken her own.
+
+'I hope Mr. Brown is not particular which place he occupies,' said Jennie
+to herself; 'but at any rate I shall see that I am early for dinner, and
+I'm sure Mr. Brown, whoever he is, will not be so ungallant as to insist
+on having this place if he knows his card was here.'
+
+Subsequent events proved her surmise regarding Mr. Brown's indifference
+to be perfectly well founded. That young man searched for his card, found
+it, and sat down on the chair opposite the young woman, who already
+occupied her chair, and was, in fact, the first one at table. Seeing
+there would be no unseemly dispute about places, she began to plan in her
+own mind how she would first attract the attention of Mr. Wentworth.
+While thinking how best to approach her victim, Jennie heard his voice.
+
+'Here you are, Kenyon; here are our places.'
+
+'Which is mine?' said the voice of Kenyon.
+
+'It doesn't matter,' answered Wentworth, and then a thrill of fear went
+through the gentle heart of Miss Jennie Brewster. She had not thought of
+the young man not caring which seat he occupied, and she dreaded the
+possibility of finding herself next to Kenyon rather than Wentworth. Her
+first estimate of the characters of the two men seemed to be correct. She
+always thought of Kenyon as Bunyan, and she felt certain that Wentworth
+would be the easier man of the two to influence. The next moment her
+fears were allayed, for Kenyon, giving a rapid glance at the handsome
+young woman, deliberately chose the seat farthest from her, and
+Wentworth, with 'I beg your pardon,' slipped in and sat down on the chair
+beside her.
+
+'Now,' thought Jennie, with a sigh of relief, 'our positions are fixed
+for the meals of the voyage.' She had made her plans for beginning an
+acquaintance with the young man, but they were rendered unnecessary by
+the polite Mr. Wentworth handing her the bill of fare.
+
+'Oh, thank you,' said the girl, in a low voice, which was so musical that
+Wentworth glanced at her a second time and saw how sweet and pretty and
+innocent she was.
+
+'I'm in luck,' said the unfortunate young man to himself. Then he
+remarked aloud: 'We have not many ladies with us this voyage.'
+
+'No,' replied Miss Brewster; 'I suppose nobody crosses at this time of
+the year unless compelled to.'
+
+'I can answer for two passengers that such is the case.'
+
+'Do you mean yourself as one?'
+
+'Yes, myself and my friend.'
+
+'How pleasant it must be,' said Miss Brewster, 'to travel with a friend!
+Then one is not lonely. I, unfortunately, am travelling alone.'
+
+'I fancy,' said the gallant Wentworth, 'that if you are lonely while on
+board ship, it will be entirely your own fault.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed a silvery little laugh.
+
+'I don't know about that,' she said. 'I am going to that Mecca of all
+Americans--Paris. My father is to meet me there, and we are then going on
+to the Riviera together.'
+
+'Ah, that will be very pleasant,' said Wentworth. 'The Riviera at this
+season is certainly a place to be desired.'
+
+'So I have heard,' she replied.
+
+'Have you not been across before?'
+
+'No, this is my first trip. I suppose you have crossed many times?'
+
+'Oh no,' answered the Englishman; 'this is only my second voyage, my
+first having been the one that took me to America.'
+
+'Ah, then you are not an American,' returned Miss Brewster, with
+apparent surprise.
+
+She imagined that a man is generally flattered when a mistake of this
+kind is made. No matter how proud he may be of his country, he is pleased
+to learn that there is no provincialism about him which, as the Americans
+say, 'gives him away.'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'as a general thing, I am not taken for
+anything but what I am--an Englishman.'
+
+'I have met so few Englishmen,' said the guileless young woman, 'that
+really I should not be expected to know.'
+
+'I understand it is a common delusion among Americans that every
+Englishman drops his "h's," and is to be detected in that way.'
+
+Jennie laughed again, and George Wentworth thought it one of the
+prettiest laughs he had ever heard.
+
+Poor Kenyon was rather neglected by his friend during the dinner. He felt
+a little gloomy while the courses went on, and wished he had an evening
+paper. Meanwhile, Wentworth and the handsome girl beside him got on very
+well together. At the end of the dinner she seemed to have some
+difficulty in getting up from her chair, and Wentworth showed her how to
+turn it round, leaving her free to rise. She thanked him prettily.
+
+'I am going on deck,' she said, turning to go; 'I am so anxious to get my
+first glimpse of the ocean at night from the deck of a steamer.'
+
+'I hope you will let me accompany you,' returned young Wentworth. 'The
+decks are rather slippery, and even when the boat is not rolling it
+isn't quite safe for a lady unused to the motion of a ship to walk alone
+in the dark.'
+
+'Oh, thank you very much,' replied Miss Brewster, with effusion. 'It
+is kind of you, I am sure; and if you promise not to let me rob you
+of the pleasure of your after-dinner cigar, I shall be most happy to
+have you accompany me. I will meet you at the top of the stairway in
+five minutes.'
+
+'You are getting on,' said Kenyon, as the young woman disappeared.
+
+'What's the use of being on board ship,' said Wentworth, 'If you don't
+take advantage of the opportunity for making shipboard acquaintances?
+There is an unconventionality about life on a steamer that is not without
+its charm, as perhaps you will find out before the voyage is over, John.'
+
+'You are merely trying to ease your conscience because of your heartless
+desertion of me.'
+
+George Wentworth had waited at the top of the companion-way a little more
+than five minutes when Miss Brewster appeared, wrapped in a cloak edged
+with fur, which lent an additional charm to her complexion, set off as it
+was by a jaunty steamer cap. They stepped out on the deck, and found it
+not at all so dark as they had expected. Little globes of electric light
+were placed at regular intervals on the walls of the deck building.
+Overhead was stretched a sort of canvas roof, against which the sleety
+rain pattered. One of the sailors, with a rubber mop, was pushing into
+the gutter by the side of the ship the moisture from the deck. All around
+the boat the night was as black as ink, except here and there where the
+white curl of a wave showed luminous for a moment in the darkness.
+
+Miss Brewster insisted that Wentworth should light his cigar, which,
+after some persuasion, he did. Then he tucked her hand snugly under his
+arm, and she adjusted her step to suit his. They had the promenade all to
+themselves. The rainy winter night was not so inviting to most of the
+passengers as the comfortable rooms below. Kenyon, however, and one or
+two others came up, and sat on the steamer chairs that were tied to the
+brass rod which ran along the deckhouse wall. He saw the glow of
+Wentworth's cigar as the couple turned at the farther end of the walk,
+and when they passed him he heard a low murmur of conversation, and
+caught now and then a snatch of silvery laughter. It was not because
+Wentworth had deserted him that Kenyon felt so uncomfortable and
+depressed. He could not tell just what it was, but there had settled on
+his mind a strange, uneasy foreboding. After a time he went down into the
+saloon and tried to read, but could not, and so wandered along the
+seemingly endless narrow passage to his room (which was Wentworth's as
+well), and, in nautical phrase, 'turned in.' It was late when his
+companion came.
+
+'Asleep, Kenyon?' asked the latter.
+
+'No,' was the answer.
+
+'By George! John, she is one of the most charming girls I ever met.
+Wonderfully clever, too; makes a man feel like a fool beside her. She has
+read nearly everything. Has opinions on all our authors, a great many of
+whom I've never heard of. I wish, for your sake, John, she had a sister
+on board.'
+
+'Thanks, old man; awfully good of you, I'm sure,' said Kenyon. 'Don't
+you think it's about time to stop raving, get into your bunk, and turn
+out that confounded light?'
+
+'All right, growler, I will.'
+
+Meanwhile, in her own state-room, Miss Jennie Brewster was looking at her
+reflection in the glass. As she shook out her long hair until it rippled
+down her back, she smiled sweetly, and said to herself:
+
+'Poor Mr. Wentworth! Only the first night out, and he told me his name
+was George.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+The second day out was a pleasant surprise for all on board who had made
+up their minds to a disagreeable winter passage. The air was clear, the
+sky blue as if it were spring-time, instead of midwinter. They were in
+the Gulf Stream. The sun shone brightly and the temperature was mild.
+Nevertheless, it was an uncomfortable day for those who were poor
+sailors. Although there did not seem, to the casual observer, to be much
+of a sea running, the ship rolled atrociously. Those who had made heroic
+resolutions on the subject were sitting in silent misery in their
+deck-chairs, which had been lashed to firm stanchions. Few were walking
+the clean bright deck, because walking that morning was a gymnastic feat.
+Three or four who evidently wished to show they had crossed before, and
+knew all about it, managed to make their way along the deck. Those
+recumbent in the steamer-chairs watched with lazy interest the
+pedestrians who now and then stood still, leaning apparently far out of
+the perpendicular, as the deck inclined downward. Sometimes the
+pedestrian's feet slipped, and he shot swiftly down the incline. Such an
+incident was invariably welcomed by those who sat. Even the invalids
+smiled wanly.
+
+Kenyon reclined in his deck-chair with his eyes fixed on the blue sky.
+His mind was at rest about the syndicate report now that it had been
+mailed to London. His thoughts wandered to his own affairs, and he
+wondered whether he would make money out of the option he had acquired at
+Ottawa. He was not an optimistic man, and he doubted.
+
+After their work for the London Syndicate was finished, the young men had
+done a little business on their own account. They visited together a
+mica-mine that was barely paying expenses, and which the proprietors were
+anxious to sell. The mine was owned by the Austrian Mining Company,
+whose agent, Von Brent, was interviewed by Kenyon in Ottawa. The young
+men obtained an option on this mine for three months from Von Brent.
+Kenyon's educated eye had told him that the white mineral they were
+placing on the dump at the mouth of the mine was even more valuable than
+the mica for which they were mining.
+
+Kenyon was scrupulously honest--a quality somewhat at a discount in the
+mining business--and it seemed to him hardly the fair thing that he
+should take advantage of the ignorance of Von Brent regarding the mineral
+on the dump. Wentworth had some trouble in overcoming his friend's
+scruples. He claimed that knowledge always had to be paid for, in law,
+medicine, or mineralogy, and therefore that they were perfectly justified
+in profiting by their superior wisdom. So it came about that the young
+men took to England with them a three months' option on the mine.
+
+Wentworth had been walking about all morning like a lost spirit
+apparently seeking what was not. 'It can't be,' he said to himself. No;
+the thought was too horrible, and he dismissed it from his mind, merely
+conjecturing that perhaps she was not an early riser, which was indeed
+the case. No one who works on a morning newspaper ever takes advantage of
+the lark's example.
+
+'Well, Kenyon,' said Wentworth 'you look as if you were writing a poem,
+or doing something that required deep mental agony.'
+
+'The writing of poems, my dear Wentworth, I leave to you. I am doing
+something infinitely more practical--something that you ought to be at.
+I am thinking what we are to do with our mica-mine when we get it over
+to London.'
+
+'Oh, "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,"' cried Wentworth
+jauntily; 'besides, half an hour's thinking by a solid-brained fellow
+like you is worth a whole voyage of my deepest meditation.'
+
+'She hasn't appeared yet?' said Kenyon.
+
+'No, dear boy; no, she has _not_. You see, I make no pretence with you as
+other less ingenuous men might. No, she has _not_ appeared, and she has
+not breakfasted.'
+
+'Perhaps----' began Kenyon.
+
+'No, no!' cried Wentworth; 'I'll have no "perhaps." I thought of that, but
+I instantly dismissed the idea. She's too good a sailor.'
+
+'It requires a very good sailor to stand this sort of thing. It looks so
+unnecessary, too. I wonder what the ship is rolling about?'
+
+'I can't tell, but she seems to be rolling about half over. I say,
+Kenyon, old fellow, I feel horrible pangs of conscience about
+deserting you in this way, and so early in the voyage. I didn't do it
+last time, did I?'
+
+'You were a model travelling companion on the last voyage,' returned
+Kenyon.
+
+'I don't wish to make impertinent suggestions, my boy, but allow me to
+tell you that there are some other very nice girls on board.'
+
+'You are not so bad as I feared, then,' replied Kenyon, 'or you wouldn't
+admit that. I thought you had eyes for no one but Miss--Miss--I really
+didn't catch her name.'
+
+'I don't mind telling you confidentially, Kenyon, that her name is
+Jennie.'
+
+'Dear me!' cried Kenyon, 'has it got so far as that? Doesn't it strike
+you, Wentworth, that you are somewhat in a hurry? It seems decidedly
+more American than English. Englishmen are apt to weigh matters a
+little more.'
+
+'There is no necessity for weighing, my boy. I don't see any harm in
+making the acquaintance of a pretty girl when you have a long voyage
+before you.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let it grow too serious, if I were you.'
+
+'There isn't the slightest danger of seriousness about the affair. On
+shore the young lady wouldn't cast a second look at me. She is the
+daughter of a millionaire. Her father is in Paris, and they are going on
+to the Riviera in a few weeks.'
+
+'All the more reason,' said Kenyon, 'that you shouldn't let this go too
+far. Be on your guard, my boy. I've heard it said that American girls
+have the delightful little practice of leading a man on until it comes to
+a certain point, and then arching their pretty eyebrows, looking
+astonished, and forgetting all about him afterwards. You had better wait
+until we make our fortunes on this mica-mine, and then, perhaps, your
+fair millionairess may listen to you.'
+
+'John,' cried Wentworth, 'you are the most cold-blooded man I know of. I
+never noticed it so particularly before, but it seems to me that years
+and years of acquaintance with minerals of all kinds, hard and flinty,
+transform a man. Be careful that you don't become like the minerals you
+work among.'
+
+'Well, I don't know anything that has less tendency to soften a man than
+long columns of figures. I think the figures you work at are quite as
+demoralizing as the minerals I have spent my life with.'
+
+'Perhaps you are right, but a girl would have to be thrown into your
+arms before you would admit that such a thing as a charming young lady
+existed.'
+
+'If I make all the money I hope to make out of the mica-mine, I expect
+the young ladies will not be thrown into my arms, but at my head. Money
+goes a long way toward reconciling a girl to marriage.'
+
+'It certainly goes a long way toward reconciling her mother to the
+marriage. I don't believe,' said Wentworth slowly, 'that my--that Miss
+Brewster ever thinks about money.'
+
+'She probably doesn't need to, but no doubt there is someone who does the
+thinking for her. If her father is a millionaire, and has, like many
+Americans, made his own money, you may depend upon it he will do the
+thinking for her; and if Miss Brewster should prove to be thoughtless in
+the matter, the old gentleman will very speedily bring you both to your
+senses. It would be different if you had a title.'
+
+'I haven't any,' replied Wentworth, 'except the title George Wentworth,
+accountant, with an address in the City and rooms in the suburbs.'
+
+'Precisely; if you were Lord George Wentworth, or even Sir George, or
+Baron Wentworth of something or other, you might have a chance; as it is,
+the title of accountant would not go far with an American millionaire, or
+his daughter either.'
+
+'You are a cold, calculating wretch.'
+
+'Nothing of the sort. I merely have my senses about me, and you haven't
+at this particular moment. You wouldn't think of trusting a book-keeper's
+figures without seeing his vouchers. Well, my boy, you haven't the
+vouchers--at least, not yet, so that is why I ask you to give your
+attention to what we are going to do with our mine; and if you take my
+advice you will not think seriously about American millionaires or their
+daughters.'
+
+George Wentworth jumped to his feet, the ship gave a lurch at that
+particular moment, and he no sooner found his feet than he nearly lost
+them again; however, he was an expert at balancing himself as well as his
+accounts, and though for the moment his attention was occupied in keeping
+his equilibrium, he looked down on his companion, still placidly
+reclining in his chair, with a smile on his face.
+
+'Kenyon,' he said, 'I am going to look for another girl.'
+
+'Is one not enough for you?'
+
+'No, I want two--one for myself, and one for you. No man can sympathize
+with another unless he is in the same position himself. John, I want
+sympathy, and I'm not getting it.'
+
+'What you need more urgently,' said Kenyon calmly, 'is common-sense, and
+that I am trying to supply.'
+
+'You are doing your duty in that direction; but a man doesn't live by
+common-sense alone. There comes a time when common-sense is a drug in
+the market. I don't say it has come to me yet, but I'm resolved to get
+you into a more sympathetic mood, so I am going to find a suitable young
+lady for you.'
+
+'More probably you are going to look for your own,' answered Kenyon, as
+his friend walked off, and, disappearing round the corner, crossed to
+the other side of the ship.
+
+Kenyon did not turn again to his figures when his companion left him. He
+mused over the curiously rapid turn of circumstances. He hoped Wentworth
+would not take it too seriously, for he felt that, somehow or other, Miss
+Brewster was just the sort of girl to throw him over after she had whiled
+away a tedious voyage. Of course he could not say this to his friend, who
+evidently admired Miss Brewster, but he had said as much as he could to
+put Wentworth on his guard.
+
+'Now,' said Kenyon to himself, 'if she had been a girl like _that_, I
+wouldn't have minded.' The girl 'like _that_' was a young woman who for
+half an hour had been walking the deck alone with marvellous skill. She
+was not so handsome as the American girl, but she had a better
+complexion, and there was a colour in her cheek which seemed to suggest
+England. Her dress was not quite so smart nor so well-fitting as that of
+the American girl; but, nevertheless, she was warmly and sensibly clad,
+and a brown Tam o' Shanter covered her fair head. The tips of her hands
+were in the pockets of her short blue-cloth jacket; and she walked the
+deck with a firm, reliant tread that aroused the admiration of John
+Kenyon. 'If she were only a girl like _that_,' he repeated to himself, 'I
+wouldn't mind. There's something fresh and genuine about her. She makes
+me think of the breezy English downs.'
+
+As she walked back and forward, one or two young men seemingly made an
+attempt to become acquainted with her, but it was evident to Kenyon that
+the young woman had made it plain to them, politely enough, that she
+preferred walking alone, and they raised their sea-caps and left her.
+
+'She doesn't pick up the first man who comes,' he mused.
+
+The ship was beginning to roll more and more, and yet the day was
+beautiful and the sea seemingly calm. Most of the promenaders had left
+the deck. Two or three of them had maintained their equilibrium with a
+gratifying success which engendered the pride that goeth before a fall,
+but the moment came at last when their feet slipped and they had found
+themselves thrown against the bulwark of the steamer. Then they had
+laughed a little in a crestfallen manner, picked themselves up, and
+promenaded the deck no more. Many of those who were lying in the
+steamer-chairs gave up the struggle and went down to their cabins. There
+was a momentary excitement as one chair broke from its fastenings and
+slid down with a crash against the bulwarks. The occupant was picked up
+in a hysterical condition and taken below. The deck steward tied the
+chair more firmly, so that the accident would not happen again. The young
+English girl was opposite John Kenyon when this disaster took place, and
+her attention being diverted by fear for the safety of the occupant of
+the sliding chair, her care for herself was withdrawn at the very moment
+when it was most needed. The succeeding lurch which the ship gave to the
+other side was the most tremendous of the day. The deck rose until the
+girl leaning outward could almost touch it with her hand, then, in spite
+of herself, she slipped with the rapidity of lightning against the chair
+John Kenyon occupied, and that tripping her up, flung her upon him with
+an unexpectedness that would have taken his breath away if the sudden
+landing of a plump young woman upon him had not accomplished the same
+thing. The fragile deck-chair gave way with a crash, and it would be hard
+to say which was the more discomfited by the sudden catastrophe, John
+Kenyon or the girl.
+
+'I hope you are not hurt,' he managed to stammer.
+
+'Don't think about me!' she cried. 'I have broken your chair, and--and----'
+
+'The chair doesn't matter,' cried Kenyon. 'It was a flimsy structure at
+best. I am not hurt, if that is what you mean--and you mustn't mind it.'
+
+Then there came to his recollection the sentence of George Wentworth: 'A
+girl will have to be thrown into your arms before you will admit that
+such a thing as a charming young woman exists.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth could hardly be said to be a typical representative of
+the English girl. She had the English girl's education, but not her
+training. She had lost her mother in early life, which makes a great
+difference in a girl's bringing up, however wealthy her father may be;
+and Edith's father was wealthy, there was no doubt of that. If you asked
+any City man about the standing of John Longworth, you would learn that
+the 'house' was well thought of. People said he was lucky, but old John
+Longworth asserted that there was no such thing as luck in business--in
+which statement he was very likely incorrect. He had large investments in
+almost every quarter of the globe. When he went into any enterprise, he
+went into it thoroughly. Men talk about the inadvisability of putting all
+one's eggs into one basket, but John Longworth was a believer in doing
+that very thing--and in watching the basket. Not that he had all his eggs
+in one basket, or even in one kind of basket; but when John Longworth was
+satisfied with the particular variety of basket presented to him, he put
+a large number of eggs in it. When anything was offered for
+investment--whether it was a mine or a brewery or a railway--John
+Longworth took an expert's opinion upon it, and then the chances were
+that he would disregard the advice given. He was in the habit of going
+personally to see what had been offered to him. If the enterprise were
+big enough, he thought little of taking a voyage to the other end of the
+world for the sole purpose of looking the investment over. It was true
+that in many cases he knew nothing whatever of the business he went to
+examine, but that did not matter; he liked to have a personal inspection
+where a large amount of his money was to be placed. Investment seemed to
+be a sort of intuition with him. Often, when the experts' opinions were
+unanimously in favour of the project, and when everything appeared to be
+perfectly safe, Longworth would pay a personal visit to the business
+offered for sale, and come to a sudden conclusion not to have anything to
+do with it. He would give no reasons to his colleagues for his change of
+front; he simply refused to entertain the proposal any further, and
+withdrew. Several instances of this kind had occurred. Sometimes a large
+and profitable business, held out in the prospectus to be exceedingly
+desirable, had come to nothing, and when the company was wound up,
+people remembered what Longworth had said about it. So there came to be a
+certain superstitious feeling among those who knew him, that, if old Mr.
+Longworth was in a thing, the thing was safe, and if a company promoter
+managed to get his name on the prospectus, his project was almost certain
+to succeed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Edith Longworth was pronounced finished so far as education was
+concerned, she became more and more the companion of her father, and he
+often jokingly referred to her as his man of business. She went with him
+on his long journeys, and so had been several times to America, once to
+the Cape, and one long voyage, with Australia as the objective point, had
+taken her completely round the world. She inherited much of her father's
+shrewdness, and there is no doubt that, if Edith Longworth had been cast
+upon her own resources, she would have become an excellent woman of
+business. She knew exactly the extent of her father's investments, and
+she was his confidante in a way that few women are with their male
+relatives. The old man had a great faith in Edith's opinion, although he
+rarely acknowledged it. Having been together so much on such long trips,
+they naturally became, in a way, boon companions. Thus, Edith's education
+was very unlike that of the ordinary English girl, and this particular
+training caused her to develop into a different kind of woman than she
+might have been had her mother lived.
+
+Perfect confidence existed between father and daughter, and only lately
+had there come a shadow upon their relations, about which neither ever
+spoke to the other since their first conversation on the subject.
+
+Edith had said, with perhaps more than her usual outspokenness, that she
+had no thought whatever of marriage, and least of all had her thoughts
+turned toward the man her father seemed to have chosen. In answer to
+this, her father had said nothing, but Edith knew him too well to believe
+that he had changed his mind about the matter. The fact that he had
+invited her cousin to join them on this particular journey showed her
+that he evidently believed all that was necessary was to throw them more
+together than had been the case previously; and, although Edith was
+silent, she thought her father had not the same shrewdness in these
+matters that he showed in the purchasing of a growing business. Edith had
+been perfectly civil to the young man--as she would have been to
+anyone--but he saw that she preferred her own company to his; and so,
+much to the disgust of Mr. Longworth, he spent most of his time at cards
+in the smoking-room, whereas, according to the elder gentleman's opinion,
+he should have been promenading the deck with his cousin.
+
+William Longworth, the cousin, was inclined to be a trifle put out, for
+he looked upon himself as quite an eligible person, one whom any girl in
+her senses would be glad to look forward to as a possible husband. He
+made no pretence of being madly in love with Edith, but he thought the
+marriage would be an admirable thing all round. She was a nice girl, he
+said to himself, and his uncle's money was well worth thinking about. In
+fact, he was becoming desirous that the marriage should take place; but,
+as there was no one upon whom he could look as a rival, he had the field
+to himself. He would therefore show Miss Edith that he was by no means
+entirely dependent for his happiness upon her company; and this he
+proceeded to do by spending his time in the smoking-room, and playing
+cards with his fellow-passengers. It was quite evident to anyone who saw
+Edith, that, if this suited him, it certainly suited her; so they rarely
+met on shipboard except at table, where Edith's place was between her
+father and her cousin. Miss Longworth and her cousin had had one brief
+conversation on the subject of marriage. He spoke of it rather jauntily,
+as being quite a good arrangement, but she said very shortly that she had
+no desire to change her name.
+
+'You don't need to,' said Cousin William; 'my name is Longworth, and so
+is yours.'
+
+'It is not a subject for a joke,' she answered.
+
+'I am not joking, my dear Edith. I am merely telling you what everybody
+knows to be true. You surely don't deny that my name is Longworth?'
+
+'I don't mean to deny or affirm anything in relation to the matter,'
+replied the young woman, 'and you will oblige me very much if you will
+never recur to this subject again.'
+
+And so the young man betook himself once more to the smoking-room.
+
+On this trip Edith had seen a good deal of American society. People over
+there had made it very pleasant for her, and, although the weather was
+somewhat trying, she had greatly enjoyed the sleigh-rides and the
+different festivities which winter brings to the citizen of Northern
+America. Her father and her cousin had gone to America to see numerous
+breweries that were situated in different parts of the country, and
+which it was proposed to combine into one large company. They had made a
+Western city their headquarters, and while Edith was enjoying herself
+with her newly-found friends, the two men had visited the breweries in
+different sections of the country--all, however, near the city where
+Edith was staying. The breweries seemed to be in a very prosperous
+condition, although the young man declared the beer they brewed was the
+vilest he had ever tasted, and he said he wouldn't like to have anything
+to do with the production of it, even if it did turn in money. His uncle
+had not tried the beer, but confined himself solely to the good old
+bottled English ale, which had increased in price, if not in excellence,
+by its transportation. But there was something about the combination
+that did not please him; and, from the few words he dropped on the
+subject, his nephew saw that Longworth was not going to be a member of
+the big Beer Syndicate. The intention had been to take a trip to Canada,
+and Edith had some hopes of seeing the city of Montreal in its winter
+dress; but that visit had been abandoned, as so much time had been
+consumed in the Western States. So they began their homeward voyage,
+with the elder Longworth sitting a good deal in his deck-chair, and
+young Longworth spending much of his time in the smoking-room, while
+Edith walked the deck alone. And this was the lady whom Fate threw into
+the arms of John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Steamer friendships ripen quickly. It is true that, as a general thing,
+they perish with equal suddenness. The moment a man sets his foot on
+solid land the glamour of the sea seems to leave him, and the friend to
+whom he was ready to swear eternal fealty while treading the deck, is
+speedily forgotten on shore. Edith Longworth gave no thought to the
+subject of the innocent nature of steamer friendships when she reviewed
+in her own mind her pleasant walk along the deck with Kenyon. She had met
+many interesting people during her numerous voyages, but they had all
+proved to be steamer acquaintances, whose names she had now considerable
+difficulty in remembering. Perhaps she would not have given a second
+thought to Mr. Kenyon that night if it had not been for some
+ill-considered remarks her cousin saw fit to make at the dinner-table.
+
+'Who was that fellow you were walking with today?' young Longworth asked.
+
+Edith smiled upon him pleasantly, and answered:
+
+'Mr. Kenyon you mean, I suppose?'
+
+'Oh, you know his name, do you?' he answered gruffly.
+
+'Certainly,' she replied; 'I would not walk with a gentleman whose name I
+did not know.'
+
+'Really?' sneered her cousin. 'And pray were you introduced to him?'
+
+'I do not think,' answered Edith quietly, 'any person has a right to ask
+me that question except my father. He has not asked it, and, as you have,
+I will merely answer that I _was_ introduced to Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'I did not know you had any mutual acquaintance on board who could make
+you known to each other.'
+
+'Well, the ceremony was a little informal. We were introduced by our
+mutual friend, old Father Neptune. Father Neptune, being, as you know, a
+little boisterous this morning, took the liberty of flinging me upon Mr.
+Kenyon. I weigh something more than a feather, and the result
+was--although Mr. Kenyon was good enough to say he was uninjured--that
+the chair on which he sat had not the same consideration for my feelings,
+and it went down with a crash. I thought Mr. Kenyon should take my chair
+in exchange for the one I had the misfortune to break, but Mr. Kenyon
+thought otherwise. He said he was a mining engineer, and that he could
+not claim to be a very good one if he found any difficulty in mending a
+deck-chair. It seems he succeeded in doing so, and that is the whole
+history of my introduction to, and my intercourse with, Mr. Kenyon,
+Mining Engineer.'
+
+'Most interesting and romantic,' replied the young man; 'and do you think
+that your father approves of your picking up indiscriminate acquaintances
+in this way?'
+
+Edith, flushing a little at this, said:
+
+'I would not willingly do what my father disapproved of;' then in a lower
+voice she added: 'except, perhaps, one thing.'
+
+Her father, who had caught snatches of the conversation, now leaned
+across towards his nephew, and said warningly:
+
+'I think Edith is quite capable of judging for herself. This is my
+seventh voyage with her, and I have always found such to be the case.
+This happens to be your first, and so, were I you, I would not pursue the
+subject further.'
+
+The young man was silent, and Edith gave her father a grateful glance.
+Thus it was that, while she might not have given a thought to Kenyon, the
+remarks which her cousin had made, brought to her mind, when she was
+alone, the two young men, and the contrast between them was not at all to
+the advantage of her cousin.
+
+The scrubbing-brushes on the deck above him woke Kenyon early next
+morning. For a few moments after getting on deck he thought he had the
+ship to himself. One side of the deck was clean and wet; on the other
+side the men were slowly moving the scrubbing-brushes backward and
+forward, with a drowsy swish-swish. As he walked up the deck, he saw
+there was one passenger who had been earlier than himself.
+
+Edith Longworth turned round as she heard his step, and her face
+brightened into a smile when she saw who it was.
+
+Kenyon gravely raised his steamer cap and bade her 'Good-morning.'
+
+'You are an early riser, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Not so early as you are, I see.'
+
+'I think I am an exceptional passenger in that way,' replied the girl. 'I
+always enjoy the early morning at sea. I like to get as far forward on
+the steamer as possible, so that there is nothing between me and the
+boundless anywhere. Then it seems as if the world belongs to myself, with
+nobody else in it.'
+
+'Isn't that a rather selfish view?' put in Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, I don't think so. There is certainly nothing selfish in my
+enjoyment of it; but, you know, there are times when one wishes to be
+alone, and to forget everybody.'
+
+'I hope I have not stumbled upon one of those times.'
+
+'Oh, not at all, Mr. Kenyon,' replied his companion, laughing. 'There
+was nothing personal in the remark. If I wished to be alone, I would
+have no hesitation in walking off. I am not given to hinting; I speak
+plainly--some of my friends think a little too plainly. Have you ever
+been on the Pacific Ocean?'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Ah, there the mornings are delicious. It is very beautiful here now, but
+in summer on the Pacific some of the mornings are so calm and peaceful
+and fresh, that it would seem as if the world had been newly made.'
+
+'You have travelled a great deal, Miss Longworth. I envy you.'
+
+'I often think I am a person to be envied, but there may come a shipwreck
+one day, and then I shall not be in so enviable a position.'
+
+'I sincerely hope you may never have such an experience.'
+
+'Have you ever been shipwrecked, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Oh no; my travelling experiences are very limited. But to read of a
+shipwreck is bad enough.'
+
+'We have had a most delightful voyage so far. Quite like summer. One can
+scarcely believe that we left America in the depth of winter, with snow
+everywhere and the thermometer ever so far below zero. Have you mended
+your deck-chair yet, sufficiently well to trust yourself upon it again?'
+
+'Oh!' said Kenyon, with a laugh, 'you really must not make fun of my
+amateur carpentering like that. As I told you, I am a mining engineer,
+and if I cannot mend a deck-chair, what would you expect me to do with a
+mine?'
+
+'Have you had much to do with mines?' asked the young woman.
+
+'I am just beginning,' replied Kenyon; 'this, in fact, is one of my first
+commissions. I have been sent with my friend Wentworth to examine certain
+mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'The Ottawa River!' cried Edith. 'Are you one of those who were sent out
+by the London Syndicate?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon with astonishment. 'What do you know about it?'
+
+'Oh, I know everything about it. Everything, except what the mining
+expert's report is to be, and that information, I suppose, you have; so,
+between the two of us, we know a great deal about the fortunes of the
+London Syndicate.'
+
+'Really! I am astonished to meet a young lady who knows anything about
+the matter. I understood it was rather a secret combination up to the
+present.'
+
+'Ah! but, you see, I am one of the syndicate.'
+
+'You!'
+
+'Certainly,' answered Edith Longworth, laughing. 'At least, my father is,
+and that is the same thing, or almost the same thing. We intended to go
+to Canada ourselves, and I was very much disappointed at not going. I
+understand that the sleighing, and the snowshoeing, and the tobogganing
+are something wonderful.'
+
+'I saw very little of the social side of life in the district, my whole
+time being employed at the mines; but even in the mining village where we
+stayed, they had a snowshoe club, and a very good toboggan slide--so
+good, in fact, that, having gone down once, I never ventured to risk my
+life on it again.'
+
+'If my father knew you were on board, he would be anxious to meet you.
+Doubtless you know the London Syndicate will be a very large company.'
+
+'Yes, I am aware of that.'
+
+'And you know that a great deal is going to depend upon your report?'
+
+'I suppose that is so, and I hope the syndicate will find my report at
+least an honest and thorough one.'
+
+'Is the colleague who was with you also on board?'
+
+'Yes, he is here.'
+
+'He, then, was the accountant who was sent out?'
+
+'Yes, and he is a man who does his business very thoroughly, and I think
+the syndicate will be satisfied with his work.'
+
+'And do you not think they will be satisfied with yours also? I am sure
+you did your work conscientiously.'
+
+Kenyon almost blushed as the young woman made this remark, but she looked
+intently at him, and he saw that her thoughts were not on him, but on the
+large interests he represented.
+
+'Were you favourably impressed with the Ottawa as a mining region?' she
+asked.
+
+'Very much so,' he answered, and, anxious to turn the conversation away
+from his own report, he said: 'I was so much impressed with it that I
+secured the option of a mine there for myself.'
+
+'Oh! do you intend to buy one of the mines there?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'No, I am no capitalist seeking investment for my money, but I saw that
+the mine contained possibilities of producing a great deal of money for
+those who possess it. It is very much more valuable, in my opinion, than
+the owners themselves suspect; so I secured an option upon it for three
+months, and hope when I reach England to form a company to take it up.'
+
+'Well, I am sure,' said the young lady, 'if you are confident that the
+mine is a good one, you could see no one who would help you more in that
+way than my father. He has been looking at a brewery business he thought
+of investing in, but which he has concluded to have nothing to do with,
+so he will be anxious to find something reliable in its place. How much
+would be required for the purchase of the mine you mention?'
+
+'I was thinking of asking fifty thousand pounds for it,' said Kenyon,
+flushing, as he thought of his own temerity in more than doubling the
+price of the mine.
+
+Wentworth and he had estimated the probable value of the mine, and had
+concluded that even selling it at that price--which would give them
+thirty thousand pounds to divide between them--they were selling a mine
+that was really worth very much more, and would soon pay tremendous
+dividends on the fifty thousand pounds. He expected the young woman to
+be impressed by the amount, and was, therefore, very much surprised
+when she said:
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! Is that all? Then I am afraid my father would
+have nothing to do with it. He only deals with large businesses, and a
+company with a capitalization of fifty thousand pounds I am sure he would
+not look at.'
+
+'You talk of fifty thousand pounds,' said Kenyon, 'as if it were a mere
+trifle. To me it seems an immense fortune. I only wish I had it, or half
+of it.'
+
+'You are not rich, then?' said the girl, with apparent interest.
+
+'No,' replied the young man. 'Far otherwise.'
+
+At that moment the elder Mr. Longworth appeared in the door of the
+companion-way, and looked up and down the deck.
+
+'Oh, here you are,' he said, as his daughter sprang from her chair.
+
+'Father,' she cried, 'let me introduce to you Mr. Kenyon, who is the
+mining expert sent out by our syndicate to look at the Ottawa mines.'
+
+'I am pleased to meet you,' said the elder gentleman.
+
+The capitalist sat down beside the mining engineer, and began, somewhat
+to Kenyon's embarrassment, to talk of the London Syndicate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+A few mornings later Wentworth worked his way, with much balancing and
+grasping of stanchions, along the deck, for the ship rolled fearfully,
+but the person he sought was nowhere visible. He thought he would go into
+the smoking-room, but changed his mind at the door, and turned down the
+companion-way to the main saloon. The tables had been cleared of the
+breakfast belongings, but on one of the small tables a white cloth had
+been laid, and at this spot of purity in the general desert of red plush
+sat Miss Brewster, who was complacently ordering what she wanted from a
+steward, who did not seem at all pleased in serving one who had
+disregarded the breakfast-hour, to the disarrangement of all saloon
+rules. The chief steward stood by a door and looked disapprovingly at the
+tardy guest. It was almost time to lay the tables for lunch, and the
+young woman was as calmly ordering her breakfast as if she had been the
+first person at table.
+
+She looked up brightly at Wentworth, and smiled as he approached her.
+
+'I suppose,' she began, 'I'm dreadfully late, and the steward looks as if
+he would like to scold me. How awfully the ship is rolling! Is there a
+storm?'
+
+'No. She seems to be doing this sort of thing for amusement. Wants to
+make it interesting for the unfortunate passengers who are not good
+sailors, I suppose. She's doing it, too. There's scarcely anyone on
+deck.'
+
+'Dear me! I thought we were having a dreadful storm. Is it raining?'
+
+'No. It's a beautiful sunshiny day; without much wind either, in spite of
+all this row.'
+
+'I suppose you have had your breakfast long ago?'
+
+'So long since that I am beginning to look forward with pleasant
+anticipation to lunch.'
+
+'Oh dear! I had no idea I was so late as that. Perhaps _you_ had
+better scold me. Somebody ought to do it, and the steward seems a
+little afraid.'
+
+'You over-estimate my courage. I am a little afraid, too.'
+
+'Then you _do_ think I deserve it?'
+
+'I didn't say that, nor do I think it. I confess, however, that up to
+this moment I felt just a trifle lonely.'
+
+'Just a trifle! Well, that _is_ flattery. How nicely you English do turn
+a compliment! Just a trifle!'
+
+'I believe, as a race, we do not venture much into compliment making at
+all. We leave that for the polite foreigner. He would say what I tried
+to say a great deal better than I did, of course, but he would not mean
+half so much.'
+
+'Oh, that's very nice, Mr. Wentworth. No foreigner could have put it
+nearly so well. Now, what about going on deck?'
+
+'Anywhere, if you let me accompany you.'
+
+'I shall be most delighted to have you. I won't say merely a trifle
+delighted.'
+
+'Ah! Haven't you forgiven that remark yet?'
+
+'There's nothing to forgive, and it is quite too delicious to forget. I
+shall never forget it.'
+
+'I believe that you are very cruel at heart, Miss Brewster.'
+
+The young woman gave him a curious side-look, but did not answer. She
+gathered the wraps she had taken from her cabin, and, handing them to him
+before he had thought of offering to take them, she led the way to the
+deck. He found their chairs side by side, and admired the intelligence of
+the deck-steward, who seemed to understand which chairs to place
+together. Miss Jennie sank gracefully into her own, and allowed him to
+adjust the wraps around her.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's very nicely done; as well as the deck-steward
+himself could do it, and I am sure it is impossible to pay you a more
+graceful compliment than that. So few men know how to arrange one
+comfortably in a steamer chair.'
+
+'You speak as though you had vast experience in steamer life, and yet you
+told me this was your first voyage.'
+
+'It is. But it doesn't take a woman more than a day to see that the
+average man attends to such little niceties very clumsily. Now just tuck
+in the corner out of sight. There! Thank you, ever so much. And would you
+be kind enough to--Yes, that's better. And this other wrap so. Oh, that
+is perfect. What a patient man you are, Mr. Wentworth!'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. You _are_ a foreigner. I can see that now. Your
+professed compliment was hollow. You said I did it perfectly, and then
+immediately directed me how to do it.'
+
+'Nothing of the kind. You did it well, and I think you ought not to
+grudge me the pleasure of adding my own little improvements.'
+
+'Oh, if you put it in that way, I will not. Now, before I sit down, tell
+me what book I can get that will interest you. The library contains a
+very good assortment.'
+
+'I don't think I care about reading. Sit down and talk. I suppose I am
+too indolent to-day. I thought, when I came on board, that I would do a
+lot of reading, but I believe the sea-air makes one lazy. I must confess
+I feel entirely indifferent to mental improvement.'
+
+'You evidently do not think my conversation will be at all worth
+listening to.'
+
+'How quick you are to pervert my meaning! Don't you see that I think
+your conversation better worth listening to than the most interesting or
+improving book you can choose from the library? Really, in trying to
+avoid giving you cause for making such a remark, I have apparently
+stumbled into a worse error. I was just going to say I would like your
+conversation much better than a book, when I thought you would take that
+as a reflection on your reading. If you take me up so sharply I will sit
+here and say nothing. Now then, talk!'
+
+'What shall I say?'
+
+'Oh, if I told you what to say I should be doing the talking. Tell me
+about yourself. What do you do in London?'
+
+'I work hard. I am an accountant.'
+
+'And what is an accountant? What does he do? Keep accounts?'
+
+'Some of them do; I do not. I see, rather, that accounts which other
+people keep have been correctly kept.'
+
+'Aren't they always correctly kept? I thought that was what book-keepers
+were hired for.'
+
+'If books were always correctly kept there would be little for us to do;
+but it happens, unfortunately for some, but fortunately for us, that
+people occasionally do not keep their accounts accurately.'
+
+'And can you always find that out if you examine the books?'
+
+'Always.'
+
+'Can't a man make up his accounts so that no one can tell there is
+anything wrong?'
+
+'The belief that such a thing can be done has placed many a poor wretch
+in prison. It has been tried often enough.'
+
+'I am sure they can do it in the States. I have read of it being done and
+continued for years. Men have made off with great sums of money by
+falsifying the books, and no one found it out until the one who did it
+died or ran away.'
+
+'Nevertheless, if an expert accountant had been called in, he would have
+found out very soon that something was wrong, and just where the wrong
+was, and how much.'
+
+'I didn't think such cleverness possible. Have you ever discovered
+anything like that?'
+
+'I have.'
+
+'What is done when such a thing is discovered?'
+
+'That depends upon circumstances. Usually a policeman is called in.'
+
+'Why, it's like being a detective. I wish you would tell me about some of
+the cases you have had. Don't make me ask so many questions. Talk.'
+
+'I don't think my experiences would interest you in the least. There
+was one case with which I had something to do in London, two years
+ago, that----'
+
+'Oh, London! I don't believe the book-keepers there are half so sharp as
+ours. If you had to deal with American accountants, you would not find
+out so easily what they had or had not done.'
+
+'Well, Miss Brewster, I may say I have just had an experience of that
+kind with some of your very sharpest American book-keepers. I found that
+the books had been kept in the most ingenious way with the intent to
+deceive. The system had been going on for years.'
+
+'How interesting! And did you call in a policeman?'
+
+'No. This was one of the cases where a policeman was not necessary. The
+books were kept with the object of showing that the profits of the m--of
+the business--had been much greater than they really were. I may say that
+one of your American accountants had already looked over the books, and,
+whether through ignorance or carelessness, or from a worse motive, he
+reported them all right. They were not all right, and the fact that they
+were not, will mean the loss of a fortune to some people on your side of
+the water, and the saving of good money to others on my side.'
+
+'Then I think your profession must be a very important one.'
+
+'We think so, Miss Brewster. I would like to be paid a percentage on the
+money saved because of my report.'
+
+'And won't you?'
+
+'Unfortunately, no.'
+
+'I think that is too bad. I suppose the discrepancy must have been small,
+or the American accountant would not have overlooked it?'
+
+'I didn't say he overlooked it. Still, the size of a discrepancy does not
+make any difference. A small error is as easily found as a large one.
+This one was large. I suppose there is no harm in my saying that the
+books, taking them together, showed a profit of forty thousand pounds,
+when they should have shown a loss of nearly half that amount. I hope
+nobody overhears me.'
+
+'No; we are quite alone, and you may be sure I will not breathe a word
+of what you have been telling me.'
+
+'Don't breathe it to Kenyon, at least. He would think me insane if he
+knew what I have said.'
+
+'Is Mr. Kenyon an accountant, too?'
+
+'Oh no. He is a mineralogist. He can go into a mine, and tell with
+reasonable certainty whether it will pay the working or not. Of course,
+as he says himself, any man can see six feet into the earth as well as he
+can. But it is not every man that can gauge the value of a working mine
+so well as John Kenyon.'
+
+'Then, while you were delving among the figures, your companion was
+delving among the minerals?'
+
+'Precisely.'
+
+'And did he make any such startling discovery as you did?'
+
+'No; rather the other way. He finds the mines very good properties, and
+he thinks that if they were managed intelligently they would be good
+paying investments--that is, at a proper price, you know--not at what the
+owners ask for them at present. But you can have no possible interest in
+these dry details.'
+
+'Indeed, you are mistaken. I think what you have told me intensely
+interesting.'
+
+For once in her life Miss Jennie Brewster told the exact truth. The
+unfortunate man at her side was flattered.
+
+'For what I have told you,' he said, 'we were offered twice what the
+London people pay us for coming out here. In fact, even more than that:
+we were asked to name our own price.'
+
+'Really now! By the owners of the property, I suppose, if you wouldn't
+tell on them?'
+
+'No. By one of your famous New York newspaper men. He even went so far
+as to steal the papers that Kenyon had in Ottawa. He was cleverly caught,
+though, before he could make any use of what he had stolen. In fact,
+unless his people in New York had the figures which were originally
+placed before the London Board, I doubt if my statistics would have been
+of much use to him even if he had been allowed to keep them. The full
+significance of my report will not show until the figures I have given
+are compared with those already in the hands of the London people, which
+were vouched for as correct by your clever American accountant.'
+
+'You shouldn't run down an accountant just because he is American.
+Perhaps there will come a day, Mr. Wentworth, when you will admit that
+there are Americans who are more clever than either that accountant or
+that newspaper man. I don't think your specimens are typical.'
+
+'I don't "run down," as you call it, the men because they are Americans.
+I "run down" the accountant because he was either ignorant or corrupt. I
+"run down" the newspaper man because he was a thief.'
+
+Miss Brewster was silent for a few moments. She was impressing on her
+memory what he had said to her, and was anxious to get away, so that she
+could write out in her cabin exactly what had been told her. The sound of
+the lunch-gong gave her the excuse she needed, so, bidding her victim a
+pleasant and friendly farewell, she hurried from the deck to her
+state-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+One morning, when Kenyon went to his state-room on hearing the
+breakfast-gong, he found the lazy occupant of the upper berth still
+in his bunk.
+
+'Come, Wentworth,' he shouted, 'this won't do, you know. Get up! get up!
+breakfast, my boy! breakfast!--the most important meal in the day to a
+healthy man.'
+
+Wentworth yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
+
+'What's the row?' he asked.
+
+'The row is, it's time to get up. The second gong has sounded.'
+
+'Dear me! is it so late? I didn't hear it.' Wentworth sat up in his bunk,
+and looked ruefully over the precipice down the chasm to the floor. 'Have
+you been up long?' he asked.
+
+'Long? I have been on deck an hour and a half,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'Then, Miss What's-her-Name must have been there also.'
+
+'Her name is Miss Longworth,' replied Kenyon, without looking at his
+comrade.
+
+'That's her name, is it? and she _was_ on deck?'
+
+'She was.'
+
+'I thought so,' said Wentworth; 'just look at the divine influence of
+woman! Miss Longworth rises early, therefore John Kenyon rises early.
+Miss Brewster rises late, therefore George Wentworth is not seen until
+breakfast-time. If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up
+time of the two men would be changed accordingly.'
+
+'Not at all, George--not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else
+on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected
+to have it to myself.'
+
+'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you
+found you hadn't a monopoly?'
+
+'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly
+sensible girl.'
+
+'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for
+me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across
+the water.'
+
+'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.'
+
+'Really? Did you get so far?'
+
+'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?'
+
+'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand
+pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get
+anybody interested in it in London.'
+
+Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long
+whistle.
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy!
+Probably more so than the American millionairess.'
+
+'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is
+this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense
+wealth, English women say nothing about it.'
+
+'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely
+mistaken. She has never alluded to her wealth at all, with the exception
+of saying that her father was a millionaire. So if the young woman you
+speak of has been talking of her wealth at all, she has done more than
+the American girl.'
+
+'She said nothing to indicate she was wealthy. I merely conjectured it
+when I discovered she looked upon fifty thousand pounds as a triviality.'
+
+'Well, the fault is easily remedied. We may raise the price of the mine
+to one hundred thousand pounds if we can get people to invest. Perhaps
+the young lady's father might care to go in for it at that figure.'
+
+'Oh, by the way, Wentworth,' said Kenyon, 'I forgot to tell you, Miss
+Longworth's father is one of the London Syndicate.'
+
+'By Jove! are you sure of that? How do you know? You weren't talking of
+our mission out there, were you?'
+
+'Certainly not,' replied Kenyon, flushing. 'You don't think I would speak
+of that to a stranger, do you? nor of anything concerned with our
+reports.'
+
+Wentworth proceeded with his dressing, a guilty feeling rising in his
+heart.
+
+'I want to ask you a question about that.'
+
+'About what?' said Wentworth shortly.
+
+'About those mines. Miss Longworth's father being a member of the London
+Syndicate, suppose he asks what our views in relation to the matter are:
+would we be justified in telling him anything?'
+
+'He won't ask me as I don't know him; he may ask you, and if he does,
+then you will have to decide the question for yourself.'
+
+'Would you say anything about it if you were in my place?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know. If we were certain it was all right--if you are sure
+he _is_ a member of the syndicate, and he happens to ask you about it, I
+scarcely see how you can avoid telling him.'
+
+'It would be embarrassing; so I hope he won't ask me. We should not speak
+of it until we give in our reports. He knows, however, that you are the
+accountant who has that part of the business in charge.'
+
+'Oh, then you have been talking with him?'
+
+'Just a moment or two, after his daughter introduced me.'
+
+'What did you say his name was?'
+
+'John Longworth, I believe. I am sure about the Longworth, but not about
+the John.'
+
+'Oh, old John Longworth in the City! Certainly; I know all about him. I
+never saw him before, but I think we are quite safe in telling him
+anything he wants to know, if he asks.'
+
+'Breakfast, gentlemen,' said the steward, putting his head in at the
+door.
+
+After breakfast Edith Longworth and her cousin walked the deck together.
+Young Longworth, although in better humour than he had been the night
+before, was still rather short in his replies, and irritating in his
+questions.
+
+'Aren't you tired of this eternal parade up and down?' he asked his
+cousin. 'It seems to me like a treadmill--as if a person had to work for
+his board and lodging.'
+
+'Let us sit down then,' she replied; 'although I think a walk before
+lunch or dinner increases the attractiveness of those meals wonderfully.'
+
+'I never feel the need of working up an appetite,' he answered pettishly.
+
+'Well, as I said before, let us sit down;' and the girl, having found
+her chair, lifted the rug that lay upon it, and took her place.
+
+The young man, after standing for a moment looking at her through his
+glistening monocle, finally sat down beside her.
+
+'The beastly nuisance of living on board ship,' he said, 'is that you
+can't play billiards.'
+
+'I am sure you play enough at cards to satisfy you during the few days we
+are at sea,' she answered.
+
+'Oh, cards! I soon tire of them.'
+
+'You tire very quickly of everything.'
+
+'I certainly get tired of lounging about the deck, either walking or
+sitting.'
+
+'Then, pray don't let me keep you.'
+
+'You want me to go so you may walk with your newly-found friend, that
+miner fellow?'
+
+'That miner fellow is talking with my father just now. Still, if you
+would like to know, I have no hesitation in telling you I would much
+prefer his company to yours if you continue in your present mood.'
+
+'Yes, or in any mood.'
+
+'I did not say that; but if it will comfort you to have me say it, I
+shall be glad to oblige you.'
+
+'Perhaps, then, I should go and talk with your father, and let the miner
+fellow come here and talk with you.'
+
+'Please do not call him the miner fellow. His name is Mr. Kenyon. It is
+not difficult to remember.'
+
+'I know his name well enough. Shall I send him to you?'
+
+'No. I want to talk with you in spite of your disagreeableness. And what
+is more, I want to talk with you about Mr. Kenyon. So I wish you to
+assume your very best behaviour. It may be for your benefit.'
+
+The young man indulged in a sarcastic laugh.
+
+'Oh, if you are going to do that, I have nothing more to say,' remarked
+Edith quietly, rising from her chair.
+
+'I meant no harm. Sit down and go on with your talk.'
+
+'Listen, then. Mr. Kenyon has the option of a mine in Canada, which he
+believes to be a good property. He intends to form a company when he
+reaches London. Now, why shouldn't you make friends with him, and, if you
+found the property is as good as he thinks it is, help him to form the
+company, and so make some money for both of you?'
+
+'You are saying one word for me and two for Kenyon.'
+
+'No, it would be as much for your benefit as for his, so it is a word for
+each of you.'
+
+'You are very much interested in him.'
+
+'My dear cousin, I am very much interested in the mine, and I am very
+much interested in you. Mr. Kenyon can speak of nothing but the mine,
+and I am sure my father would be pleased to see you take an interest in
+something of the sort. I mean, you know that if you would do something
+of your own accord--something that was not suggested to you by him--he
+would like it.'
+
+'Well, it is suggested to me by you, and that's almost the same thing.'
+
+'No, it is not the same thing at all. Father would indeed be glad if he
+saw you take up anything on your own account and make a success of it.
+Why can you not spend some of your time talking with Mr. Kenyon
+discussing arrangements, so that when you return to London you might be
+prepared to put the mine on the market and bring out the company?'
+
+'If I thought you were talking to me for my own sake, I would do what
+you suggest; but I believe you are speaking only because you are
+interested in Kenyon.'
+
+'Nonsense! How can you be so absurd? I have known Mr. Kenyon but for a
+few hours--a day or two at most.'
+
+The young man pulled his moustache for a moment, adjusted his eyeglass,
+and then said:
+
+'Very good. I will speak to Kenyon on the subject if you wish it, but I
+don't say that I can help him.'
+
+'I don't ask you to help him. I ask you to help yourself. Here is Mr.
+Kenyon. Let me introduce you, and then you can talk over the project at
+your leisure.'
+
+'I don't suppose an introduction is necessary,' growled the young man;
+but as Kenyon approached them, Edith Longworth said:
+
+'We are a board of directors, Mr. Kenyon, on the great mica-mine. Will
+you join the Board now, or after allotment?' Then, before he could reply,
+she said: 'Mr. Kenyon, this is my cousin, Mr. William Longworth.'
+
+Longworth, without rising from his chair, shook hands in rather a surly
+fashion.
+
+'I am going to speak to my father,' said the girl, 'and will leave you to
+talk over the mica-mine.'
+
+When she had gone, young Longworth asked Kenyon:
+
+'Where is the mine my cousin speaks of?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, in Canada,' was the answer.
+
+'And what do you expect to sell it for?'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! That will leave nothing to divide up among--by
+the way, how many are there in this thing--yourself alone?'
+
+'No; my friend Wentworth shares with me.'
+
+'Share and share alike?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Of course, you think this mine is worth the money you ask for it--there
+is no swindle about it, is there?'
+
+Kenyon drew himself up sharply as this remark was made. Then he answered
+coldly:
+
+'If there was any swindle about it, I should have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Well, you see, I didn't know; mining swindles are not such rarities as
+you may imagine. If the mine is so valuable, why are the proprietors
+anxious to sell?'
+
+'The owners are in Austria, and the mine in Canada, and so it is rather
+at arm's-length, as it were. They are mining for mica, but the mine is
+more valuable in other respects than it is as a mica property. They have
+placed a figure on the mine which is more than it has cost them so far.'
+
+'You know its value in those other respects?'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'Does anyone know this except yourself?'
+
+'I think not--no one but my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'How did you come to learn its value?'
+
+'By visiting the mine. Wentworth and I went together to see it.'
+
+'Oh, is Wentworth also a mining expert?'
+
+'No; he is an accountant in London.'
+
+'Both of you were sent out by the London Syndicate, I understand, to look
+after their mines, or the mines they thought of purchasing, were you
+not?'
+
+'We were.'
+
+'And you spent your time in looking up other properties for yourselves,
+did you?'
+
+Kenyon reddened at this question.
+
+'My dear sir,' he said, 'if you are going to talk in this strain, you
+will have to excuse me. We were sent by the London Syndicate to do a
+certain thing. We did it, and did it thoroughly. After it was done the
+time was our own, as much as it is at the present moment. We were not
+hired by the day, but took a stated sum for doing a certain piece of
+work. I may go further and say that the time was our own at any period
+of our visit, so long as we fulfilled what the London Syndicate
+required of us.'
+
+'Oh, I meant no offence,' said Longworth. 'You merely seemed to be posing
+as a sort of goody-goody young man when I spoke of mining swindles, so I
+only wished to startle you. How much have you to pay for the mine--that
+is the mica-mine?'
+
+Kenyon hesitated for a moment.
+
+'I do not feel at liberty to mention the sum until I have consulted with
+my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'Well, you see, if I am to help you in this matter, I shall need to know
+every particular.'
+
+'Certainly. I shall have to consult Wentworth as to whether we require
+any help or not.'
+
+'Oh, you will speedily find that you require all the help you can get in
+London. You will probably learn that a hundred such mines are for sale
+now, and the chances are you will find that this very mica-mine has been
+offered. What do you believe the mine is really worth?'
+
+'I think it is worth anywhere from one hundred thousand pounds to two
+hundred thousand pounds, perhaps more.'
+
+'Is it actually worth one hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'According to my estimate, it is.'
+
+'Is it worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds?'
+
+'It is.'
+
+'Is it worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'I think so.'
+
+'What percentage would it pay on two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'It might pay ten per cent., perhaps more.'
+
+'Why, in the name of all that is wonderful, don't you put the price at
+two hundred thousand pounds? If it will pay ten per cent and more on that
+amount of money, then that sum is what you ought to sell it for. Now we
+will investigate this matter, if you like, and if you wish to take me in
+with you, and put the price up to two hundred thousand pounds, I will see
+what can be done about it when we get to London. Of course, it will mean
+somebody going out to Canada again to report on the mine. Your report
+would naturally not be taken in such a case; you are too vitally
+interested.'
+
+'Of course,' replied Kenyon, 'I shouldn't expect my report to have any
+weight.'
+
+'Well, somebody would have to be sent out to report on the mine. Are you
+certain that it will stand thorough investigation?'
+
+'I am convinced of it.'
+
+'Would you be willing to make this proposition to the investors, that, if
+the expert did not support your statement, you would pay his expenses out
+there and back?'
+
+'I would be willing to do that,' said Kenyon, 'if I had the money; but I
+haven't the money.'
+
+'Then, how do you expect to float the mine on the London market? It
+cannot be done without money.'
+
+'I thought I might be able to interest some capitalist.'
+
+'I am much afraid, Mr. Kenyon, that you have vague ideas of how companies
+are formed. Perhaps your friend Wentworth, being an accountant, may know
+more about it.'
+
+'Yes, I confess I am relying mainly on his assistance.'
+
+'Well, will you agree to put the price of the mine at two hundred
+thousand pounds, and share what we make equally between the three of us?'
+
+'It is a large price.'
+
+'It is not a large price if the mine will pay good dividends upon it; if
+it will pay eight per cent. on that amount, it is the real price of the
+mine, while you say that you are certain it will pay ten per cent.'
+
+'I say I think it will pay that percentage. One never can speak with
+entire certainty where a mine is concerned.'
+
+'Are you willing to put the price of the mine at that figure? Otherwise,
+I will have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'As I said, I shall have to consult my friend about it, but that can be
+done in a very short time, and I will answer you in the afternoon.'
+
+'Good; there is no particular hurry. Have a talk over it with him, and
+while I do not promise anything, I think the scheme looks feasible, if
+the property is good. Remember, I know nothing at all about that, but if
+you agree to take me in, I shall have to know full particulars of what
+you are going to pay for the property, and what its peculiar value is.'
+
+'Certainly. If we agree to take a partner, we will give that partner our
+full confidence.'
+
+'Well, there is nothing more to say until you have had a consultation
+with your friend. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon;' and with that Longworth
+arose and lounged off to the smoking-room.
+
+Kenyon waited where he was for some time, hoping Wentworth would come
+along, but the young man did not appear. At last he went in search of
+him. He passed along the deck, but found no trace of his friend, and
+looked for a moment into the smoking-room, but Wentworth was not there.
+He went downstairs to the saloon, but his search below was equally
+fruitless. Coming up on deck again, he saw Miss Brewster sitting alone
+reading a paper-covered novel.
+
+'Have you seen my friend Wentworth?' he asked.
+
+She laid the book open-faced upon her lap, and looked quickly up at
+Kenyon before answering.
+
+'I saw him not so very long ago, but I don't know where he is now.
+Perhaps you will find him in his state-room; in fact, I think it more
+than likely that he is there.'
+
+With that, Miss Brewster resumed her book.
+
+Kenyon descended to the state-room, opened the door, and saw his comrade
+sitting upon the plush-covered sofa, with his head in his hands. At the
+opening of the door, Wentworth started and looked for a moment at his
+friend, apparently not seeing him. His face was so gray and ghastly that
+Kenyon leaned against the door for support as he saw it.
+
+'My God, George!' he cried, 'what is the matter with you? What has
+happened? Tell me!'
+
+Wentworth gazed in front of him with glassy eyes for a moment, but did
+not answer. Then his head dropped again in his hands, and he groaned
+aloud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+There was one man on board the _Caloric_ to whom Wentworth had taken an
+extreme dislike. His name was Fleming, and he claimed to be a New York
+politician. As none of his friends or enemies asserted anything worse
+about him, it may be assumed that Fleming had designated his occupation
+correctly. If Wentworth were asked what he most disliked about the man,
+he would probably have said his offensive familiarity. Fleming seemed to
+think himself a genial good fellow, and he was immensely popular with a
+certain class in the smoking-room. He was lavishly free with his
+invitations to drink, and always had a case of good cigars in his pocket,
+which he bestowed with great liberality. He had the habit of slapping a
+man boisterously on the back, and saying, 'Well, old fellow, how are you?
+How's things?' He usually confided to his listeners that he was a
+self-made man: had landed at New York without a cent in his pocket, and
+look at him now!
+
+Wentworth was icy towards this man; but frigidity had no effect whatever
+on the exuberant spirits of the New York politician.
+
+'Well, old man!' cried Fleming to Wentworth, as he came up to the latter
+and linked arms affectionately. 'What lovely weather we are having for
+winter time!'
+
+'It _is_ good,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Good? It's glorious! Who would have thought, when leaving New York in a
+snowstorm as we did, that we would run right into the heart of spring? I
+hope you are enjoying your voyage?'
+
+'I am.'
+
+'You ought to. By the way, why are you so awful stand-offish? Is it
+natural, or merely put on "for this occasion only"?'
+
+'I do not know what you mean by "stand-offish."'
+
+'You know very well what I mean. Why do you pretend to be so stiff and
+formal with a fellow?'
+
+'I am never stiff and formal with anyone unless I do not desire his
+acquaintance.'
+
+Fleming laughed loudly.
+
+'I suppose that's a personal hint. Well, it seems to me, if this
+exclusiveness is genuine, that you would be more afraid of newspaper
+notoriety than of anything else.'
+
+'Why do you say that?'
+
+'Because I can't, for the life of me, see why you spend so much time with
+Dolly Dimple. I am sure I don't know why she is here; but I do know this:
+that you will be served up to the extent of two or three columns in the
+_Sunday Argus_ as sure as you live.'
+
+'I don't understand you.'
+
+'You don't? Why, it's plain enough. You spend all your time with her.'
+
+'I do not even know of whom you are speaking.'
+
+'Oh, come now, that's too rich! Is it possible you don't know that Miss
+Jennie Brewster is the one who writes those Sunday articles over the
+signature of "Dolly Dimple"?'
+
+A strange fear fell upon Wentworth as his companion mentioned the
+_Argus_. He remembered it as J.K. Rivers' paper; but when Fleming said
+Miss Brewster was a correspondent of the _Argus_, he was aghast.
+
+'I--I--I don't think I quite catch your meaning,' he stammered.
+
+'Well, my meaning's easy enough to see. Hasn't she ever told you? Then it
+shows she wants to do you up on toast. You're not an English politician,
+are you? You haven't any political secrets that Dolly wants to get at,
+have you? Why, she is the greatest girl there is in the whole United
+States for finding out just what a man doesn't want to have known. You
+know the Secretary of State'--and here Fleming went on to relate a
+wonderfully brilliant feat of Dolly's; but the person to whom he was
+talking had neither eyes nor ears. He heard nothing and he saw nothing.
+
+'Dear me!' said Fleming, drawing himself up and slapping the other on the
+back, 'you look perfectly dumfounded. I suppose I oughtn't to have given
+Dolly away like this; but she has pretended all along that she didn't
+know me, and so I've got even with her. You take my advice, and anything
+you don't want to see in print, don't tell Miss Brewster, that's all.
+Have a cigar?'
+
+'No, thank you,' replied the other mechanically.
+
+'Better come in and have a drink.'
+
+'No, thank you.'
+
+'Well, so long. I'll see you later.'
+
+'It can't be true--it can't be true!' Wentworth repeated to himself in
+deep consternation, but still an inward misgiving warned him that, after
+all, it might be true. With his hands clasped behind him he walked up and
+down, trying to collect himself--trying to remember what he had told and
+what he had not. As he walked along, heeding nobody, a sweet voice from
+one of the chairs thrilled him, and he paused.
+
+'Why, Mr. Wentworth, what is the matter with you this morning? You look
+as if you had seen a ghost.'
+
+Wentworth glanced at the young woman seated in the chair, who was gazing
+up brightly at him.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I am not sure but I _have_ seen a ghost. May I
+sit down beside you?'
+
+'May you? Why, of course you may. I shall be delighted to have you. Is
+there anything wrong?'
+
+'I don't know. Yes, I think there is.'
+
+'Well, tell it to me; perhaps I can help you. A woman's wit, you know.
+What is the trouble?'
+
+'May I ask you a few questions, Miss Brewster?'
+
+'Certainly. A thousand of them, if you like, and I will answer them all
+if I can.'
+
+'Thank you. Will you tell me, Miss Brewster, if you are connected with
+any newspaper?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed her merry, silvery little laugh.
+
+'Who told you? Ah! I see how it is. It was that creature Fleming. I'll
+get even with him for this some day. I know what office he is after, and
+the next time he wants a good notice from the _Argus_ he'll get it; see
+if he don't. I know some things about him that he would just as soon not
+see in print. Why, what a fool the man is! I suppose he told you out of
+revenge because I wouldn't speak to him the other evening. Never mind; I
+can afford to wait.'
+
+'Then--then, Miss Brewster, it _is_ true?'
+
+'Certainly it is true; is there anything wrong about it? I hope you don't
+think it is disreputable to belong to a good newspaper?'
+
+'To a good newspaper, no; to a bad newspaper, yes.'
+
+'Oh, I don't think the _Argus_ is a bad newspaper. It pays me well.'
+
+'Then it is to the _Argus_ that you belong?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'May I ask, Miss Brewster, if there is anything I have spoken about to
+you that you intend to use in your paper?'
+
+Again Miss Brewster laughed.
+
+'I will be perfectly frank with you. I never tell a lie--it doesn't pay.
+Yes. The reason I am here is because _you_ are here. I am here to find
+out what your report on those mines will be, also what the report of your
+friend will be. I have found out.'
+
+'And do you intend to use the information you have thus obtained--if I
+may say it--under false pretences?'
+
+'My dear sir, you are forgetting yourself. You must remember that you are
+talking to a lady.'
+
+'A lady!' cried Wentworth in his anguish.
+
+'Yes, sir, a lady; and you must be careful how you talk to _this_ lady.
+There was no false pretence about it, if you remember. What you told me
+was in conversation; I didn't ask you for it. I didn't even make the
+first advances towards your acquaintance.'
+
+'But you must admit, Miss Brewster, that it is very unfair to get a man
+to engage in what he thinks is a private conversation, and then to
+publish what he has said.'
+
+'My dear sir, if that were the case, how would we get anything for
+publication that people didn't want to be known? Why, I remember once,
+when the Secretary of State----'
+
+'Yes,' interrupted Wentworth wearily; 'Fleming told me that story.'
+
+'Oh, did he? Well, I'm sure I'm much obliged to him. Then I need not
+repeat it.'
+
+'Do you mean to say that you intend to send to the _Argus_ for
+publication what I have told you in confidence?'
+
+'Certainly. As I said before, that is what I am here for. Besides, there
+was no "in confidence" about it.'
+
+'And yet you pretend to be a truthful, honest, honourable woman?'
+
+'I don't _pretend_ it; I am.'
+
+'How much truth, then, is there in your story that you are a
+millionaire's daughter about to visit your father in Paris, and accompany
+him from there to the Riviera?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed brightly.
+
+'Oh, I don't call fibs, which a person has to tell in the way of
+business, untruths.'
+
+'Then probably you do not think your estimable colleague, Mr. J.K.
+Rivers, behaved dishonourably in Ottawa?'
+
+'Well, hardly. I think Rivers was not justified in what he did because he
+was unsuccessful, that is all. I'll bet a dollar if I had got hold of
+these papers they would have gone through to New York; but, then, J.K.
+Rivers is only a stupid man, and most men _are_ stupid'--with a sly
+glance at Wentworth.
+
+'I am willing to admit that, Miss Brewster, if you mean me. There never
+was a more stupid man than I have been.'
+
+'My dear Mr. Wentworth, it will do you ever so much good if you come to
+a realization of that fact. The truth is, you take yourself much too
+seriously. Now, it won't hurt you a bit to have what I am going to send
+published in the _Argus_, and it will help me a great deal. Just you wait
+here for a few moments.'
+
+With that she flung her book upon his lap, sprang up, and vanished down
+the companion-way. In a very short time she reappeared with some sheets
+of paper in her hand.
+
+'Now you see how fair and honest I am going to be. I am going to read you
+what I have written. If there is anything in it that is not true, I will
+very gladly cut it out; and if there is anything more to be added, I
+shall be very glad to add it. Isn't that fair?'
+
+Wentworth was so confounded with the woman's impudence that he could make
+no reply.
+
+She began to read: '"By an unexampled stroke of enterprise the _New York
+Argus_ is enabled this morning to lay before its readers a full and
+exclusive account of the report made by the two English specialists, Mr.
+George Wentworth and Mr. John Kenyon, who were sent over by the London
+Syndicate to examine into the accounts, and inquire into the true value
+of the mines of the Ottawa River."'
+
+She looked up from the paper, and said, with an air of friendly
+confidence:
+
+'I shouldn't send that if I thought the people at the New York end would
+know enough to write it themselves; but as the paper is edited by dull
+men, and not by a sharp woman, I have to make them pay twenty-five cents
+a word for puffing their own enterprise. Well, to go on: "When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend entirely
+on the report of these two gentlemen--"'
+
+'I wouldn't put it that way,' interrupted Wentworth in his despair. 'I
+would use the word "largely" for "entirely."'
+
+'Oh, _thank_ you,' said Miss Brewster cordially. She placed the
+manuscript on her knee, and, with her pencil, marked out the word
+'entirely,' substituting 'largely.' The reading went on: '"When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend _largely_
+on the report of these two gentlemen, the enterprise of the _Argus_ in
+getting this exclusive information, which will be immediately cabled to
+London, may be imagined." That is the preliminary, you see; and, as I
+said, it wouldn't be necessary to cable it if women were at the head of
+affairs over there, which they are not. "Mr. John Kenyon, the mining
+expert, has visited all the mineral ranges along the Ottawa River, and
+his report is that the mines are very much what is claimed for them; but
+he thinks they are not worked properly, although, with judicious
+management and more careful mining, the properties can be made to pay
+good dividends. Mr. George Wentworth, who is one of the leading
+accountants of London--"'
+
+'I wouldn't say that, either,' groaned George. 'Just strike out the words
+"one of the leading accountants of London."'
+
+'Yes?' said Miss Brewster; 'and what shall I put in the place of them?'
+
+'Put in place of them "the stupidest ass in London"!'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed at that.
+
+'No; I shall put in what I first wrote: "Mr. George Wentworth, one of
+the leading accountants of London, has gone through the books of the
+different mines. He has made some startling discoveries. The accounts
+have been kept in such a way as to completely delude investors, and this
+fact will have a powerful effect on the minds of the London Syndicate.
+The books of the different mines show a profit of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, whereas the actual facts of the case are that there has
+been an annual loss of something like one hundred thousand dollars--"'
+
+'What's that? what's that?' cried Wentworth sharply.
+
+'Dollars, you know. You said twenty thousand pounds. We put it in
+dollars, don't you see?'
+
+'Oh,' said Wentworth, relapsing again.
+
+'"One hundred thousand dollars"--where was I? Oh yes. "It is claimed
+that an American expert went over these books before Mr. Wentworth, and
+that he asserted they were all right. An explanation from this gentleman
+will now be in order."'
+
+'There!' cried the young lady, 'that is the substance of the thing. Of
+course, I may amplify a little more before we get to Queenstown, so as to
+make them pay more money. People don't value a thing that doesn't cost
+them dearly. How do you like it? Is it correct?'
+
+'Perfectly correct,' answered the miserable young man.
+
+'Oh, I am so glad you like it! I do love to have things right.'
+
+'I didn't say I _liked_ it.'
+
+'No, of course, you couldn't be expected to say that; but I am glad you
+think it is accurate. I will add a note to the effect that you think it
+is a good _résumé_ of your report.'
+
+'For Heaven's sake, don't drag me into the matter!' cried Wentworth.
+
+'Well, I won't, if you don't want me to.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, during which the young woman seemed
+to be adding commas and full-stops to the MS. on her knee. Wentworth
+cleared his throat two or three times, but his lips were so dry that he
+could hardly speak. At last he said:
+
+'Miss Brewster, how can I induce you not to send that from Queenstown to
+your paper?'
+
+The young woman looked up at him with a pleasant bright smile.
+
+'Induce me? Why, you couldn't do it--it couldn't be done. This will be
+one of the greatest triumphs I have ever achieved. Think of Rivers
+failing in it, and me accomplishing it!'
+
+'Yes; I have thought of that,' replied the young man despondently. 'Now,
+perhaps you don't know that the full report was mailed from Ottawa to our
+house in London, and the moment we get to Queenstown I will telegraph my
+partners to put the report in the hands of the directors?'
+
+'Oh, I know all about that,' replied Miss Brewster; 'Rivers told me. He
+read the letter that was enclosed with the documents he took from your
+friend. Now, have you made any calculations about this voyage?'
+
+'Calculations? I don't know what you mean.'
+
+'Well, I mean just this: We shall probably reach Queenstown on Saturday
+afternoon. This report, making allowance for the difference in the time,
+will appear in the _Argus_ on Sunday morning. Your telegram will reach
+your house or your firm on Saturday night, when nothing can be done with
+it. Sunday nothing can be done. Monday morning, before your report will
+reach the directors, the substance of what has appeared in the _Argus_
+will be in the financial papers, cabled over to London on Sunday night.
+The first thing your directors will see of it will be in the London
+financial papers on Monday morning. That's what I mean, Mr. Wentworth, by
+calculating the voyage.'
+
+Wentworth said no more. He staggered to his feet and made his way as best
+he could to the state-room, groping like a blind man. There he sat down
+with his head in his hands, and there his friend Kenyon found him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+'Tell me what has happened,' demanded John Kenyon.
+
+Wentworth looked up at him.
+
+'Everything has happened,' he answered.
+
+'What do you mean, George? Are you ill? What is the matter with you?'
+
+'I am worse than ill, John--a great deal worse than ill. I wish I
+were ill.'
+
+'That wouldn't help things, whatever is wrong. Come, wake up. Tell me
+what the trouble is.'
+
+'John, I am a fool--an ass--a gibbering idiot.'
+
+'Admitting that, what then?'
+
+'I trusted a woman--imbecile that I am; and now--now--I'm what you see
+me.'
+
+'Has--has Miss Brewster anything to do with it?' asked Kenyon
+suspiciously.
+
+'She has everything to do with it.'
+
+'Has she--rejected you, George?'
+
+'What! _that_ girl? Oh, you're the idiot now. Do you think I would
+ask _her_?'
+
+'I cannot be blamed for jumping at conclusions. You must remember "that
+girl," as you call her, has had most of your company during this voyage;
+and most of your good words when you were not with her. What _is_ the
+matter? What has she to do with your trouble?'
+
+Wentworth paced up and down the narrow limits of the state-room as if he
+were caged. He smote his hand against his thigh, while Kenyon looked at
+him in wonder.
+
+'I don't know how I can tell you, John,' he said. 'I must, of course; but
+I don't know how I can.'
+
+'Come on deck with me.'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Come out, I say, into the fresh air. It is stuffy here, and, besides,
+there is more danger of being overheard in the state-room than on deck.
+Come along, old fellow.'
+
+He caught his companion by the arm, and partly dragged him out of the
+room, closing the door behind him.
+
+'Pull yourself together,' he said. 'A little fresh air will do you good.'
+
+They made their way to the deck, and, linking arms, walked up and down.
+For a long time Wentworth said nothing, and Kenyon had the tact to hold
+his peace. Suddenly Wentworth noticed that they were pacing back and
+forth in front of Miss Brewster, so he drew his friend away to another
+part of the ship. After a few turns up and down, he said:
+
+'You remember Rivers, of course.'
+
+'Distinctly.'
+
+'He was employed on that vile sheet, the _New York Argus_.'
+
+'I suppose it is a vile sheet. I don't remember ever seeing it. Yes, I
+know he was connected with that paper. What then? What has Miss Brewster
+to do with Rivers?'
+
+'She is one of the _Argus_ staff, too.'
+
+'George Wentworth, you don't mean to tell me that!'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'And is she here to find out about the mine?'
+
+'Exactly. She was put on the job after Rivers had failed.'
+
+'George!' said Kenyon, suddenly dropping his companion's arm and facing
+him. 'What have you told her?'
+
+'There is the misery of it. I have told her everything.'
+
+'My dear fellow, how could you be----'
+
+'Oh, I know--I know! I know everything you would say. Everything you can
+say I have said to myself, and ten times more and ten times worse. There
+is nothing you can say of me more bitter than what I think about myself.'
+
+'Did you tell her anything about _my_ report?'
+
+'I told her everything--_everything_! Do you understand? She is going
+to telegraph from Queenstown the full essence of the reports--of both
+our reports.'
+
+'Heavens! this is fearful. Is there no way to prevent her sending it?'
+
+'If you think you can prevent her, I wish you would try it.'
+
+'How did you find it out? Did _she_ tell you?'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter how I found it out. I did find it out. A man told
+me who she was; then I asked her, and she was perfectly frank about it.
+She read me the report, even.'
+
+'Read it to you?'
+
+'Yes, read it to me, and punctuated it in my presence--put in some words
+that I suggested as being better than those she had used. Oh, it was the
+coolest piece of work you ever saw!'
+
+'But there must be some way of preventing her getting that account to New
+York in time. You see, all we have to do is to wire your people to hand
+in our report to the directors, and then hers is forestalled. She has to
+telegraph from a British office, and it seems to me that we could stop
+her in some way.'
+
+'As, for instance, how?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know just how at the moment, but we ought to be able to do
+it. If it were a man, we could have him arrested as a dynamiter or
+something; but a woman, of course, is more difficult to deal with.
+George, I would appeal to her better nature if I were you.'
+
+Wentworth laughed sneeringly.
+
+'Better nature?' he said. 'She hasn't any; and that is not the worst of
+it. She has "calculated," as she calls it, all the possibilities in the
+affair; she "calculates" that we will reach Queenstown about Saturday
+night. If we do, she will get her report through in time to be
+published on Sunday in the _New York Argus_. If that is the case, then
+see where our telegram will be. We telegraph our people to send in the
+report. It reaches the office Saturday night, and is not read. The
+office closes at two o'clock; but even if they got it, and understood
+the urgency of the matter, they could not place the papers before the
+directors until Monday morning, and by Monday morning it will be in the
+London financial sheets.'
+
+'George, that woman is a fiend.'
+
+'No, she isn't, John. She is merely a clever American journalist, who
+thinks she has done a very good piece of work indeed, and who, through
+the stupidity of one man, has succeeded, that's all.'
+
+'Have you made any appeal to her at all?'
+
+'Oh, haven't I! Of course I have. What good did it do? She merely laughed
+at me. Don't you understand? That is what she is here for. Her whole
+voyage is for that one purpose; and it's not likely the woman is going to
+forego her triumph after having succeeded--more especially as somebody
+else in the same office has failed. That's what gives additional zest to
+what she has done. The fact that Rivers has failed and she has triumphed
+seems to be the great feather in her cap.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon, 'I'm going to appeal to Miss Brewster myself.'
+
+'Very well. I wish you joy of your job. But do what you can, John,
+there's a good fellow. Meanwhile, I want to be alone somewhere.'
+
+Wentworth went down the stairway that led to the steerage department, and
+for a few moments sat among the steerage passengers. Then he climbed up
+another ladder, and got to the very front of the ship. Here he sat down
+on a coil of rope, and thought over the situation. Thinking, however, did
+him very little good. He realized that, even if he got hold of the paper
+Miss Brewster had, she could easily write another. She had the facts in
+her head, and all that she needed to do was to get to a telegraph office
+and there hand in her message.
+
+Meanwhile, Kenyon took a few turns up and down the deck, thinking deeply
+on the same subject. He passed over to the side where Miss Brewster sat,
+but on coming opposite her had not the courage to take his place beside
+her. She was calmly reading her book. Three times he came opposite her,
+paused for a moment, and then continued his hopeless march. He saw that
+his courage was not going to be sufficient for the task, and yet he felt
+the task must be accomplished. He didn't know how to begin. He didn't
+know what inducement to offer the young woman for foregoing the fruits of
+her ingenuity. He felt that this was the weak point in his armour. The
+third time he paused in front of Miss Brewster; she looked up and
+motioned him to the chair beside her, saying:
+
+'I do not know you very well, Mr. Kenyon, but I know who you are. Won't
+you sit down here for a moment?'
+
+The bewildered man took the chair she indicated.
+
+'Now, Mr. Kenyon, I know just what is troubling you. You have passed
+three or four times wishing to sit down beside me, and yet afraid to
+venture. Is that not true?'
+
+'Quite true.'
+
+'I knew it was. Now I know also what you have come for. Mr. Wentworth
+has told you what the trouble is. He has told you that he has given me
+all the particulars about the mines, hasn't he?'
+
+'He has.'
+
+'And he has gone off to his state-room to think over the matter, and has
+left the affair in your hands, and you imagine you can come here to me
+and, perhaps, talk me out of sending that despatch to the _Argus_. Isn't
+that your motive?'
+
+'That is about what I hope to be able to do,' said Kenyon, mopping his
+brow.
+
+'Well, I thought I might just as well put you out of your misery at once.
+You take things very seriously, Mr. Kenyon--I can see that. Now, don't
+you?'
+
+'I am afraid I do.'
+
+'Why, of course you do. The publication of this, as I told Mr. Wentworth,
+will really not matter at all. It will not be any reflection on either of
+you, because your friends will be sure that, if you had known to whom you
+were talking, you would never have said anything about the mines.'
+
+Kenyon smiled grimly at this piece of comfort.
+
+'Now, I have been thinking about something since Mr. Wentworth went away.
+I am really very sorry for him. I am more sorry than I can tell.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon eagerly, 'won't you----'
+
+'No, I won't, so we needn't recur to that phase of the subject. That is
+what I am here for, and, no matter what you say, the despatch is going to
+be sent. Now, it is better to understand that at the first, and then it
+will create no trouble afterwards. Don't you think that is the best?'
+
+'Probably,' answered the wretched man.
+
+'Well, then, let us start there. I will say in the cablegram that the
+information comes from neither Mr. Kenyon nor Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'Yes, but that wouldn't be true.'
+
+'Why, of course it wouldn't be true; but that doesn't matter, does it?'
+
+'Well, on our side of the water,' said Kenyon, 'we think the truth
+does matter.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed heartily.
+
+'Dear me!' she said, 'what little tact you have! How does it concern you
+whether it is true or not? If there is any falsehood, it is not you who
+tell it, so you are free from all blame. Indeed, you are free from all
+blame anyhow, in this affair; it is all your friend Wentworth's fault;
+but still, if it hadn't been Wentworth, it would have been you.'
+
+Kenyon looked up at her incredulously.
+
+'Oh yes, it would,' she said, nodding confidently at him. 'You must not
+flatter yourself, because Mr. Wentworth told me everything about it, that
+you wouldn't have done just the same, if I had had to find it out from
+you. All men are pretty much alike where women are concerned.'
+
+'Can I say nothing to you, Miss Brewster, which will keep you from
+sending the message to America?'
+
+'You cannot, Mr. Kenyon. I thought we had settled that at the beginning.
+I see there is no use talking to you. I will return to my book, which is
+very interesting. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+Kenyon felt the hopelessness of his project quite as much as Wentworth
+had done, and, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he wandered
+disconsolately up and down the deck.
+
+As he went to the other side of the deck, he met Miss Longworth walking
+alone. She smiled a cordial welcome to him, so he turned and changed his
+step to suit hers.
+
+'May I walk with you a few minutes?' he said.
+
+'Of course you may,' was the reply, 'What is the matter? You are looking
+very unhappy.'
+
+'My comrade and myself are in great trouble, and I thought I should like
+to talk with you about it.'
+
+'I am sure if there is anything I can do to help you, I shall be most
+glad to do it.'
+
+'Perhaps you may suggest something. You see, two men dealing with one
+woman are perfectly helpless.'
+
+'Ah, who is the one woman--not I, is it?'
+
+'No, not you, Miss Longworth. I wish it were, then we would have no
+trouble.'
+
+'Oh, thank you!'
+
+'You see, it is like this: When we were in Quebec--I think I told you
+about that--the _New York Argus_ sent a man to find out what we had
+reported, or were going to report, to the London Syndicate.'
+
+'Yes, you told me that.'
+
+'Rivers was his name. Well, this same paper, finding that Rivers had
+failed after having stolen the documents, has tried a much more subtle
+scheme, which promises to be successful. They have put on board this ship
+a young woman who has gained a reputation for learning secrets not
+intended for the public. This young woman is Miss Brewster, who sits next
+Wentworth at the table. Fate seems to have played right into her hand
+and placed her beside him. They became acquainted, and, unfortunately, my
+friend has told her a great deal about the mines, which she professed an
+interest in. Or, rather, she pretended to have an interest in him, and so
+he spoke, being, of course, off his guard. There is no more careful
+fellow in the world than George Wentworth, but a man does not expect that
+a private conversation with a lady will ever appear in a newspaper.'
+
+'Naturally not.'
+
+'Very well, that is the state of things. In some manner Wentworth came to
+know that this young woman was the special correspondent of the _New York
+Argus_. He spoke to her about it, and she is perfectly frank in saying
+she is here solely for the purpose of finding out what the reports will
+be, and that the moment she gets to Queenstown she will cable what she
+has discovered to New York.'
+
+'Dear me! that is very perplexing. What have you done?'
+
+'We have done nothing so far, or rather, I should say, we have tried
+everything we could think of, and have accomplished nothing. Wentworth
+has appealed to her, and I made a clumsy attempt at an appeal also, but
+it was of no use. I feel my own helplessness in this matter, and
+Wentworth is completely broken down over it.'
+
+'Poor fellow! I am sure of that. Let me think a moment.'
+
+They walked up and down the deck in silence for a few minutes. Then Miss
+Longworth looked up at Kenyon, and said;
+
+'Will you place this matter in my hands?'
+
+'Certainly, if you will be so kind as to take any interest in it.'
+
+'I take a great deal of interest. Of course, you know my father is deeply
+concerned in it also, so I am acting in a measure for him.'
+
+'Have you any plan?'
+
+'Yes; my plan is simply this: The young woman is working for money; now,
+if we can offer her more than her paper gives, she will very quickly
+accept, or I am much mistaken in the kind of woman she is.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Kenyon; 'but we haven't the money, you see.'
+
+'Never mind; the money will be quickly forthcoming. Don't trouble any
+more about it. I am sure that can be arranged.'
+
+Kenyon thanked her, looking his gratitude rather than speaking it, for
+he was an unready man, and she bade him good-bye until she could think
+over her plan.
+
+That evening there was a tap at the state-room door of Miss Jennie
+Brewster.
+
+'Come in,' cried the occupant.
+
+Miss Longworth entered, and the occupant of the room looked up, with a
+frown, from her writing.
+
+'May I have a few moments' conversation with you?' asked the visitor
+gravely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Miss Jennie Brewster was very much annoyed at being interrupted, and she
+took no pains to conceal her feelings. She was writing an article
+entitled 'How People kill Time on Shipboard,' and she did not wish to be
+disturbed; besides, as she often said of herself, she was not 'a woman's
+woman,' and she neither liked, nor was liked by, her own sex.
+
+'I desire a few moments' conversation with you, if I have your
+permission,' said Edith Longworth, as she closed the door behind her.
+
+'Certainly,' answered Jennie Brewster. 'Will you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you,' replied the other, as she took a seat on the sofa. 'I do not
+know just how to begin what I wish to say. Perhaps it will be better to
+commence by telling you that I know why you are on board this steamer.'
+
+'Yes; and why am I on board the steamer, may I ask?'
+
+'You are here, I understand, to get certain information from Mr.
+Wentworth. You have obtained it, and it is in reference to this that I
+have come to see you.'
+
+'Indeed! and are you so friendly with Mr. Wentworth that you----'
+
+'I scarcely know Mr. Wentworth at all.'
+
+'Then, why do you come on a mission from him?'
+
+'It is not a mission from him. It is not a mission from anyone. I was
+speaking to Mr. Kenyon, or, rather, Mr. Kenyon was speaking to me, about
+a subject which troubled him greatly. It is a subject in which my father
+is interested. My father is a member of the London Syndicate, and he
+naturally would not desire to have your intended cable message sent to
+New York.'
+
+'Really; are you quite sure that you are not speaking less for your
+father than for your friend Kenyon?'
+
+Anger burned in Miss Longworth's face, and flashed from her eyes as
+she answered:
+
+'You must not speak to me in that way.'
+
+'Excuse me, I shall speak to you in just the way I please. I did not ask
+for this conference; you did, and as you have taken it upon yourself to
+come into this room uninvited, you will have to put up with what you
+hear. Those who interfere with other people's business, as a general
+thing, do not have a nice time.'
+
+'I quite appreciated all the possible disagreeableness of coming here,
+when I came.'
+
+'I am glad of that, because if you hear anything you do not like, you
+will not be disappointed, and will have only yourself to thank for it.'
+
+'I would like to talk about this matter in a spirit of friendliness if I
+can. I think nothing is to be attained by speaking in any other way.'
+
+'Very well, then. What excuse have you to give me for coming into my
+state-room to talk about business which does not concern you?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, it _does_ concern me--it concerns my father, and that
+concerns me. I am, in a measure, my father's private secretary, and am
+intimately acquainted with all the business he has in hand. This
+particular business is his affair, and therefore mine. That is the reason
+I am here.'
+
+'Are you sure?'
+
+'Am I sure of what?'
+
+'Are you sure that what you say is true?'
+
+'I am not in the habit of speaking anything but the truth.'
+
+'Perhaps you flatter yourself that is the case, but it does not deceive
+me. You merely come here because Mr. Kenyon is in a muddle about what I
+am going to do. Isn't that the reason?'
+
+Miss Longworth saw that her task was going to be even harder than she
+had expected.
+
+'Suppose we let all question of motive rest? I have come here--I have
+asked your permission to speak on this subject, and you have given me the
+permission. Having done so, it seems to me you should hear me out. You
+say that I should not be offended----'
+
+'I didn't say so. I do not care a rap whether you are offended or not.'
+
+'You at least said I might hear something that would not be pleasant.
+What I wanted to say is this: I have taken the risk of that, and, as you
+remark, whether I am offended or not does not matter. Now we will come to
+the point----'
+
+'Just before you come to the point, please let me know if Mr. Kenyon told
+you he had spoken to me on this subject already.'
+
+'Yes, he told me so.'
+
+'Did he tell you that his friend Wentworth had also had a conversation
+with me about it?'
+
+'Yes, he told me that also.'
+
+'Very well, then, if those two men can do nothing to shake my purpose,
+how do you expect to do it?'
+
+'That is what I am about to tell you. This is a commercial world, and I
+am a commercial man's daughter. I recognise the fact that you are going
+to cable this information for the money it brings. Is that not the case?'
+
+'It is partly the case.'
+
+'For what other consideration do you work, then?'
+
+'For the consideration of being known as one of the best newspaper women
+in the city of New York. That is the other consideration.'
+
+'I understood you were already known as the most noted newspaper woman in
+New York.'
+
+This remark was much more diplomatic than Miss Longworth herself
+suspected.
+
+Jennie Brewster looked rather pleased, then she said:
+
+'Oh, I don't know about that; but I intend it shall be so before a
+year is past.'
+
+'Very well, you have plenty of time to accomplish your object without
+using the information you have obtained on board this ship. Now, as I was
+saying, the _New York Argus_ pays you a certain amount for doing this
+work. If you will promise not to send the report over to that paper, I
+will give you a cheque for double the sum the _Argus_ will pay you,
+besides refunding all your expenses twice over.'
+
+'In other words, you ask me to be bribed and refuse to perform my duty to
+the paper.'
+
+'It isn't bribery. I merely pay you, or will pay you, double what you
+will receive from that paper. I presume your connection with it is purely
+commercial. You work for it because you receive a certain amount of
+money; if the editor found someone who would do the same work cheaper, he
+would at once employ that person, and your services would be no longer
+required. Is that not true?'
+
+'Yes, it is true.'
+
+'Very well, then, the question of duty hardly enters into such a compact.
+They have sent you on what would be to most people a very difficult
+mission. You have succeeded. You have, therefore, in your possession
+something to sell. The New York paper will pay you a certain sum in cash
+for it. I offer you, for the same article, double the price the _New York
+Argus_ will pay you. Is not that a fair offer?'
+
+Jennie Brewster had arisen. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. For a small space of time nothing was said, and Edith
+Longworth imagined she had gained her point. The woman standing looked
+down at the woman sitting.
+
+'Do you know all the particulars about the attempt to get this
+information?' asked Miss Brewster.
+
+'I know some of them. What particulars do you mean?'
+
+'Do you know that a man from the _Argus_ tried to get this information
+from Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in Canada?'
+
+'Yes; I know about that.'
+
+'Do you know that he stole the reports, and that they were taken from him
+before he could use them?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you know he offered Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth double the price the
+London Syndicate would have paid them, on condition they gave him a
+synopsis of the reports?'
+
+'Yes, I know that also.'
+
+'Do you know that, in doing what he asked, they would not have been
+keeping back for a single day the real report from the people who engaged
+them? You know all that, do you?'
+
+'Yes; I know all that.'
+
+'Very well, then. Now you ask me to do very much more than Rivers asked
+them, because you ask me to keep my paper completely in the dark about
+the information I have got. Isn't that so?'
+
+'Yes, you can keep them in the dark until after the report has been given
+to the directors; then, of course, you can do what you please with the
+information.'
+
+'Ah, but by that time it will be of no value. By that time it will have
+been published in the London financial papers. At that time anybody can
+get it. Isn't that the case?'
+
+'I suppose so.'
+
+'Now, I want to ask you one other question, Miss--Miss--I don't think you
+told me your name.'
+
+'My name is Edith Longworth.'
+
+'Very well, Miss Longworth. I want to ask you one more question. What do
+you think of the conduct of Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in refusing to
+take double what they had been promised for making the report?'
+
+'What do I think of them?' repeated the girl.
+
+'Yes; what do you think of them? You hesitate. You realize that you are
+in a corner. You think Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Kenyon did very nobly in
+refusing Rivers' offer?'
+
+'Of course I do.'
+
+'So do I. I think they acted rightly, and did as honourable men should
+do. Now, when you think that, Miss Longworth, how dare you come and offer
+me double, or three times, or four times, the amount my paper gives to me
+for getting this information? Do you think that I am any less honourable
+than Kenyon or Wentworth? Your offer is an insult to me; nobody but a
+woman, and a woman of your class, would have made it. Kenyon wouldn't
+have made it. Wentworth wouldn't have made it. You come here to bribe
+me. You come here to do exactly what J. K. Rivers tried to do for the
+_Argus_ in Canada. You think money will purchase anything--that is the
+thought of all your class. Now, I want you to understand that I am a
+woman of the people. I was born and brought up in poverty in New York.
+You were born and brought up amid luxury in London. I have suffered
+privation and hardships that you know nothing of, and, even if you read
+about them, you wouldn't understand. You, with the impudence of your
+class, think you can come to me and bribe me to betray my employer. I am
+here to do a certain thing, and I am going to do that certain thing in
+spite of all the money that all the Longworths ever possessed, or ever
+will possess. Do I make myself sufficiently plain?'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. I don't think anyone could misunderstand you.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that, because one can never tell how thickheaded some
+people may be.'
+
+'Do you think there is any parallel between your case and Mr.
+Wentworth's?'
+
+'Of course I do. We were each sent to do a certain piece of work. We
+each did our work. We have both been offered a bribe to cheat our
+employers of the fruits of our labour; only in my case it is very much
+worse than in Wentworth's, because his employers would not have suffered,
+while mine will.'
+
+'This is all very plausible, Miss Brewster, but now allow me to tell you
+that what you have done is a most dishonourable thing, and that you are a
+disgrace to our common womanhood. You have managed, during a very short
+acquaintance, to win the confidence of a man--there is a kind of woman
+who knows how to do that: I thank Heaven I am not of that class; I prefer
+to belong to the class you have just now been reviling. Some men have an
+inherent respect for all women; Mr. Wentworth is apparently one of those,
+and, while he was on his guard with a man, he was not on his guard with a
+woman. You took advantage of that and you managed to secure certain
+information which you knew he would never have given you if he had
+thought it was to be published. You stole that information just as
+disreputably as that man stole the documents from Mr. Kenyon's pocket.
+_You_ talk of your honour and your truth when you did such a contemptible
+thing! _You_ prate of unbribeableness, when the only method possible is
+adopted of making you do what is right and just and honest! Your conduct
+makes me ashamed of being a woman. A thoroughly bad woman I can
+understand, but not a woman like you, who trade on the fact that you
+_are_ a woman, and that you are pretty, and that you have a pleasing
+manner. You use those qualities as a thief or a counterfeiter would use
+the peculiar talents God had given him. How dare you pretend for a moment
+that your case is similar to Mr. Wentworth's? Mr. Wentworth is an
+honourable man, engaged in an honourable business; as for you and your
+business, I have no words to express my contempt for both. Picking
+pockets is reputable compared with such work.'
+
+Edith Longworth was now standing up, her face flushed and her hands
+clenched. She spoke with a vehemence which she very much regretted when
+she thought of the circumstance afterwards; but her chagrin and
+disappointment at failure, where she had a moment before been sure of
+success, overcame her. Her opponent stood before her, angry and pale. At
+first Edith Longworth thought she was going to strike her, but if any
+such idea passed through the brain of the journalist, she thought better
+of it. For a few moments neither spoke, then Jennie Brewster said, in a
+voice of unnatural calmness:
+
+'You are quite welcome to your opinion of me, Miss Longworth, and I
+presume I am entitled to my opinion of Kenyon and Wentworth. They are
+two fools, and you are a third in thinking you can control the actions of
+a woman where two young men have failed. Do you think for a moment I
+would grant to you, a woman of a class I hate, what I would not grant to
+a man like Wentworth? They say there is no fool like an old fool, but it
+should be said that there is no fool like a young woman who has had
+everything her own way in this world. You are----'
+
+'I shall not stay and listen to your abuse. I wish to have nothing more
+to do with you.'
+
+'Oh, yes! you will stay,' cried the other, placing her back against the
+door. '_You_ came here at your own pleasure; you will leave at mine. I
+will tell you more truth in five minutes than you ever heard in your life
+before. I will tell you, in the first place, that my business is quite as
+honourable as Kenyon's or Wentworth's. What does Kenyon do but try to get
+information about mines which other people are vitally interested in
+keeping from him? What does Wentworth do but ferret about among accounts
+like a detective trying to find out what other people are endeavouring to
+conceal? What is the whole mining business but one vast swindle, whose
+worst enemy is the press? No wonder anyone connected with mining fears
+publicity. If your father has made a million out of mines, he has made it
+simply by swindling unfortunate victims. I do my business my way, and
+your two friends do theirs in their way. Of the two, I consider my
+vocation much the more upright. Now that you have heard what I have to
+say, you may go, and let me tell you that I never wish to see you or
+speak with you again.'
+
+'Thank you for your permission to go. I am sure I cordially echo your
+wish that we may never meet again. I may say, however, that I am sorry I
+spoke to you in the way I did. It is, of course, impossible for you to
+look on the matter from my point of view, just as it is impossible for me
+to look upon it from yours. Nevertheless, I wish you would forget what I
+said, and think over the matter a little more, and if you see your way to
+accepting my offer it will be always open to you. Should you forego the
+sending of that cablegram, I will willingly pay you three times what the
+_New York Argus_ will give you for it. I do not offer that as a bribe; I
+merely offer it so that you will not suffer from doing what I believe to
+be a just action. It seems to me a great pity that two young men should
+have to endure a serious check to their own business advancement because
+one of them was foolish enough to confide in a woman in whom he
+believed.'
+
+Edith Longworth was young, and therefore scarcely likely to be a mistress
+of diplomacy, but she might have known the last sentence she uttered
+spoiled the effect of all that had gone before.
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth, I had some little admiration for you when you
+blazed out at me in the way you did; but now, when you coolly repeat
+your offer of a bribe, adding one-third to it, all my respect for you
+vanishes. You may go and tell those who sent you that nothing under
+heaven can prevent that cablegram being sent.'
+
+In saying this, however, Miss Brewster somewhat exceeded her knowledge.
+Few of us can foretell what may or may not happen under heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Edith Longworth went to her state-room and there had what women call 'a
+good cry' over her failure. Jennie Brewster continued her writing, every
+now and then pausing as she thought, with regret, of some sharp thing she
+might have said, which did not occur to her at the time of the interview.
+Kenyon spent his time in pacing up and down the deck, hoping for the
+reappearance of Miss Longworth--an expectation which, for a time at
+least, was the hope deferred which maketh the heart sick. Fleming, the
+New York politician, kept the smoking-room merry, listening to the
+stories he told. He varied the proceedings by frequently asking everybody
+to drink with him, an invitation that met with no general refusal. Old
+Mr. Longworth dozed most of his time in his steamer chair. Wentworth, who
+still bitterly accused himself of having been a fool, talked with no one,
+not even his friend Kenyon. All the time, the great steamship kept
+forging along through the reasonably calm water just as if nothing had
+happened or was going to happen. There had been one day of rain, and one
+night and part of a day of storm. Saturday morning broke, and it was
+expected that some time in the night Queenstown would be reached. Early
+on Saturday morning the clouds looked lowering, as they have a right to
+look near Ireland.
+
+Wentworth, the cause of all the worry, gave Kenyon very little assistance
+in the matter that troubled his mind. He was in the habit, when the
+subject was referred to, of thrusting his hands into his hair, or
+plunging them down into his pockets, and breaking out into language which
+was as deplorable as it was expressive. The more Kenyon advised him to be
+calm, the less Wentworth followed that advice. As a general thing, he
+spent most of his time alone in a very gloomy state of mind. On one
+occasion when the genial Fleming slapped him on the shoulder, Wentworth,
+to his great astonishment, turned fiercely round and cried:
+
+'If you do that again, sir, I'll knock you down.'
+
+Fleming said afterwards that he was 'completely flabbergasted' by
+this--whatever that may mean--and he added that the English in general
+were a queer race. It is true that he gathered himself together at the
+time and, having laughed a little over the remark, said to Wentworth:
+
+'Come and have a drink; then you'll feel better.'
+
+This invitation Wentworth did not even take the trouble to decline, but
+thrust his hands in his pockets once more, and turned his back on the
+popular New York politician.
+
+Wentworth summed up the situation to John Kenyon when he said:
+
+'There is no use in our talking or thinking any more about it. We can
+simply do nothing. I shall take the whole blame on my shoulders. I am
+resolved that you shall not suffer from my indiscretion. Now, don't talk
+to me any more about it. I want to forget the wretched business, if
+possible.'
+
+So thus it came about quite naturally that John Kenyon, who was a good
+deal troubled about the matter, took as his confidante Edith
+Longworth, who also betrayed the greatest interest in the problem.
+Miss Longworth was left all the more alone because her cousin had
+taken permanently to the smoking-room. Someone had introduced him to
+the fascinating game of poker, and in the practice of this particular
+amusement Mr. William Longworth was now spending a good deal of his
+surplus cash, as well as his time.
+
+Jennie Brewster was seldom seen on deck. She applied herself assiduously
+to the writing of those brilliant articles which appeared later in the
+Sunday edition of the _New York Argus_ under the general title of 'Life
+at Sea,' and which have more recently been issued in book form. As
+everybody is already aware, her sketches of the genial New York
+politician, and also of the taciturn, glum Englishman, are considered the
+finest things in the little volume. They have been largely copied as
+typical examples of American humour.
+
+When Jennie Brewster did appear on deck, she walked alone up and down the
+promenade, with a sort of half-defiant look in her eyes as she passed
+Kenyon and Edith Longworth, and she generally encountered them together.
+
+On this particularly eventful Saturday morning, Kenyon and Edith had the
+deck to themselves. The conversation naturally turned to the subject
+which for the last few days had occupied the minds of both.
+
+'Do you know,' said the girl, 'I have been thinking all along that she
+will come to me at the last for the money.'
+
+'I am not at all sure about that,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'I thought she would probably keep us on the tenterhooks just as long
+as possible, and then at the last moment come and say she would accept
+the offer.'
+
+'If she does,' said Kenyon, 'I would not trust her. I would give her to
+understand that a cheque would be handed to her when we were certain the
+article had not been used.'
+
+'Do you think that would be a safe way to act if she came and said she
+would take the money for not sending the cablegram? Don't you think it
+would be better to pay her and trust to her honour?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'I do not think I would trust much to her honour.'
+
+'Now, do you know, I have a different opinion of her. I feel sure that if
+she said she would do a thing, she _would_ do it.'
+
+'I have no such faith,' answered Kenyon. 'I think, on the contrary, that
+she is quite capable of asking you for the money and still sending her
+telegram.'
+
+'Well, I doubt if she would do so. I think the girl really believes she
+is acting rightly, and imagines she has done a creditable action in a
+very smart way. If she were not what she calls "honest," she would not
+have shown so much temper as she did. Not but that I gave a deplorable
+exhibition of temper myself, for which there was really no excuse.'
+
+'I am sure,' said Kenyon warmly, 'you did nothing of the kind. At all
+events, I am certain everything you did was perfectly right; and I know
+you were completely justified in anything you said.'
+
+'I wish I could think so.'
+
+'I want to ask you one question,' said Kenyon.
+
+But what that question was will never be known. It was never asked; and
+when Edith Longworth inquired about it some time later, the question had
+entirely gone from Kenyon's mind. The steamship, which was ploughing
+along through the waters, suddenly gave a shiver, as if it were shaken by
+an earthquake; there were three tremendous bumps, such as a sledge might
+make by going suddenly over logs concealed in the snow. Both Kenyon and
+Miss Longworth sprang to their feet. There was a low roar of steam, and
+they saw a cloud rise amidships, apparently pouring out of every aperture
+through which it could escape. Then there was silence. The engines had
+stopped, and the vessel heeled distinctly over to the port side. When
+Edith Longworth began to realize the situation, she found herself very
+close to Kenyon, clasping his arm with both hands.
+
+'What--what is it?' she cried in alarm.
+
+'Something is wrong,' said Kenyon. 'Nothing serious, I hope. Will you
+wait here a moment while I go and see?'
+
+'It is stupid of me,' she answered, releasing his arm; 'but I feel
+dreadfully frightened.'
+
+'Perhaps you would rather not be left alone.'
+
+'Oh no, it is all over now; but when the first of those terrible shocks
+came it seemed to me we had struck a rock.'
+
+'There are no rocks here,' said Kenyon. 'The day is perfectly clear, and
+we are evidently not out of our course. Something has gone wrong with the
+machinery, I imagine. Just wait a moment, and I will find out.'
+
+As Kenyon rushed towards the companion-way, he met a sailor hurrying in
+the other direction.
+
+'What is the matter?' cried Kenyon.
+
+The sailor gave no answer.
+
+On entering the companion-way door, Kenyon found the place full of steam,
+and he ran against an officer.
+
+'What is wrong? Is anything the matter?'
+
+'How should I know?' was the answer, very curtly given. 'Please do not
+ask any questions. Everything will be attended to.'
+
+This was scant encouragement. People began crowding up the companion-way,
+coughing and wheezing in the steam; and soon the deck, that but a moment
+before had been almost without an occupant, was crowded with excited
+human beings in all states of dress and undress.
+
+'What is wrong?' was the question on every lip, to which, as yet, there
+was no answer. The officers who hurried to and fro were mute, or gave
+short and unsatisfactory replies to the inquiries which poured in upon
+them. People did not pause to reflect that even an officer could hardly
+be expected to know off-hand what the cause of the sudden stoppage of the
+engine might be. By-and-by the captain appeared, smiling and bland. He
+told them there was no danger. Something had gone amiss with the
+machinery, exactly what he could not, at the moment, tell; but
+there was no necessity for being panic-stricken, everything would
+be all right in a short time if they merely remained calm. These,
+and a lot of other nautical lies, which are always told on such
+occasions, served to calm the fears of the crowd; and by-and-by one
+after another went down to their state-rooms on finding the vessel was
+not going to sink immediately. They all appeared some time afterward in
+more suitable apparel. The steam which had filled the saloon soon
+disappeared, leaving the furniture dripping with warm moisture. Finally,
+the loud clang of the breakfast-gong sounded as if nothing had happened,
+and that did more, perhaps, than anything else to allay the fears of the
+passengers. If breakfast was about to be served, then, of course, things
+were not serious. Nevertheless, a great many people that morning had a
+very poor appetite for the breakfast served to them. The one blessing, as
+everybody said, was that the weather kept so fine and the sea so calm. To
+those few who knew anything about disasters at sea, the list of the ship
+to the port side was a most serious sign. The majority of the passengers,
+however, did not notice it. After breakfast people came up on deck. There
+was a wonderful avoidance of hurry, alike by officers and sailors. Orders
+were given calmly and quietly, and as calmly and quietly obeyed. Officers
+were still up on the bridge, although there were no commands to give to
+the man at the wheel and no screw turning. The helmsman stood at the
+wheel as if he expected at any time the order to turn it port or
+starboard. All this absence of rush had a very soothing effect on the
+passengers, many of whom wanted only a slight excuse to become
+hysterical. As the day wore on, however, a general feeling of security
+seemed to have come upon all on board. They one and all congratulated
+themselves on the fact that they had behaved in a most exemplary manner
+considering the somewhat alarming circumstances. Nevertheless, those who
+watched the captain saw that he swept the long line of the horizon
+through his glass every now and then with a good deal of anxiety, and
+they noticed on looking at the long level line where sea and sky met
+that not a sail was visible around the complete circle. Up from the
+engine-room came the clank of hammers, and the opinion was general that,
+whatever was amiss with the engine, it was capable of being repaired. One
+thing had become certain, there was nothing wrong with the shafts. The
+damage, whatever it was, had been to the engine alone. All of the
+passengers found themselves more or less affected by the peculiar
+sensation of the steamer being at rest--the awe-inspiring and helpless
+consciousness of complete silence--after the steady throb they had become
+so accustomed to all the way across. That night at dinner the captain
+took his place at the head of the table, urbane and courteous, as if
+nothing unusual had happened; and the people, who, notwithstanding their
+outward calmness, were in a state of anxious tension, noticed this with
+gratified feelings.
+
+'What is the matter?' asked a passenger of the captain; 'and what is the
+extent of the accident?'
+
+The captain looked down the long table.
+
+'I am afraid,' said he, 'that if I went into technical details you would
+not understand them. There was a flaw in one of the rods connected with
+the engine. That rod broke, and in breaking it damaged other parts of
+the machinery. Doubtless you heard the three thuds which it gave before
+the engine was stopped. At present it is impossible to tell how long it
+will take to repair the damage. However, even if the accident were
+serious, we are right in the track of vessels, and there is no danger.'
+
+This was reassuring; but those who lay awake that night heard the
+ominous sound of the pumps, and the swishing of water splashing down
+into the ocean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Most of the passengers awoke next morning with a bewildering feeling of
+vague apprehension. The absence of all motion in the ship, the unusual
+and intense silence, had a depressing effect. The engines had not yet
+started; that at least was evident. Kenyon was one of the first on deck.
+He noticed that the pumps were still working at their full speed, and
+that the steamer had still the unexplained list to port. Happily, the
+weather continued good, so far as the quietness of the sea was concerned.
+A slight drizzle of rain had set in, and the horizon was not many miles
+from the ship. There would not be much chance of sighting another liner
+while such weather continued.
+
+Before Kenyon had been many minutes on deck, Edith Longworth came up the
+companion-way. She approached him with a smile on her face.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'you, at least, do not seem to be suffering any anxiety
+because of our situation.'
+
+'Really,' she replied, 'I was not thinking of that at all, but about
+something else. Can you not guess what it is?'
+
+'No,' he answered hesitatingly. 'What is it?'
+
+'Have you forgotten that this is Sunday morning?'
+
+'Is it? Of course it is. So far as I am concerned, time seemed to stop
+when the engines broke down. But I do not understand why Sunday morning
+means anything in particular.'
+
+'Don't you? Well, for a person who has been thinking for the last two or
+three days very earnestly on one particular subject, I am astonished at
+you. Sunday morning and no land in sight! Reflect for a moment.'
+
+Kenyon's face brightened.
+
+'Ah,' he cried, 'I see what you mean now! Miss Brewster's cable message
+will not appear in this morning's _New York Argus_.'
+
+'Of course it will not; and don't you see, also, that when we do arrive
+you will have an equal chance in the race. If we get in before next
+Sunday, your telegram to the London people will go as quickly as her
+cable despatch to New York; thus you will be saved the humiliation of
+seeing the substance of your report in the London papers before the
+directors see the report itself. It is not much, to be sure, but, still,
+it puts you on equal terms; while if we had got into Queenstown last
+night that would have been impossible.'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'for such a result the cause is rather tremendous, isn't
+it? It is something like burning down the house to roast the pig!'
+
+Shortly after ten o'clock the atmosphere cleared, and showed in the
+distance a steamer, westward bound. The vessel evidently belonged to one
+of the great ocean lines. The moment it was sighted there fluttered up to
+the masthead a number of signal-flags, and people crowded to the side of
+the ship to watch the effect on the outgoing vessel. Minute after minute
+passed, but there was no response from the other liner. People watched
+her with breathless anxiety, as though their fate depended on her
+noticing their signals. Of course, everybody thought she must see them,
+but still she steamed westward. A cloud of black smoke came out of her
+funnel, and then a long dark trail, like the tail of a comet, floated out
+behind; but no notice was taken of the fluttering flags at the masthead.
+For more than an hour the steamer was in sight. Then she gradually faded
+away into the west, and finally disappeared.
+
+This incident had a depressing effect on the passengers of the disabled
+ship. Although every officer had maintained there was no danger, yet the
+floating away of that steamer seemed somehow to leave them alone; and
+people, after gazing toward the west until not a vestige of her remained
+in the horizon, went back to their deck-chairs, feeling more despondent
+than ever.
+
+Fleming, however, maintained that if people had to drown, it was just as
+well to drown jolly as mournful, and so he invited everybody to take a
+drink at his expense--a generous offer, taken instant advantage of by all
+the smoking-room frequenters.
+
+'My idea is this,' said Fleming, as he sipped the cocktail which was
+brought to him, 'if anything happens, let it happen; if nothing happens,
+why, then let nothing happen. There is no use worrying about anything,
+especially something we cannot help. Here we are on the ocean in a
+disabled vessel--very good; we cannot do anything about it, and so long
+as the bar remains open, gentlemen, here's to you!'
+
+And with this cheerful philosophy the New York politician swallowed the
+liquor he had paid for.
+
+Still the swish of water from the pumps could be heard, but the metallic
+clanking of steel on steel no longer came up from the engine-room. This
+in itself was ominous to those who knew. It showed that the engineer had
+given up all hope of repairing the damage, whatever it was, and the real
+cause of the disaster was as much a mystery as ever. Shortly before lunch
+it became evident to people on board the ship that something was about to
+be done. The sailors undid the fastenings of one of the large boats, and
+swung it out on the davits until it hung over the sea.
+
+Gradually rumour took form, and it became known that one of the officers
+and certain of the crew were about to make an attempt to reach the coast
+of Ireland and telegraph to Queenstown for tugs to bring the steamer in.
+The captain still asserted that there was no danger whatever, and it was
+only to prevent delay that this expedient was about to be tried.
+
+'Do you know what they are going to do?' cried Edith Longworth, in a
+state of great excitement, to John Kenyon.
+
+Kenyon had been walking the deck with Wentworth, who now had gone below.
+
+'I have heard,' said Kenyon, 'that they intend trying to reach the
+coast.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, why should you not send a telegram to your people in
+London, and have the reports forwarded at once? The chances are that
+Miss Brewster will never think of sending her cablegram with the officer
+who is going to make the trip; then you will be a clear day or two ahead
+of her, and everything will be all right. In fact, when she understands
+what has been done, she probably will not send her own message at all.'
+
+'By George!' cried Kenyon, 'that is a good idea. I will see the mate at
+once, and find out whether he will take a telegram.'
+
+He went accordingly, and spoke to the mate about sending a message with
+him. The officer said that any passenger who wished to send a telegraphic
+message would be at liberty to do so. He would take charge of the
+telegrams very gladly. Kenyon went down to his state-room and told
+Wentworth what was going to be done. For the first time in several days
+George Wentworth exhibited something like energy. He went to the steward
+and bought the stamps to put on the telegram, while John Kenyon wrote it.
+
+The message was given to the officer, who put it into his inside pocket,
+and then Kenyon thought all was safe. But Edith Longworth was not so sure
+of that. Jennie Brewster sat in her deck-chair calmly reading her usual
+paper-covered novel. She apparently knew nothing of what was going on,
+and Edith Longworth, nervous with suppressed excitement, sat near her,
+watching her narrowly, while preparations for launching the boat were
+being completed. Suddenly, to Edith's horror, the deck-steward appeared,
+and in a loud voice cried:
+
+'Ladies and gentlemen, anyone wishing to send telegrams to friends has a
+few minutes now to write them. The mate will take them ashore with him,
+and will send them from the first office that he reaches. No letters can
+be taken, only telegrams.'
+
+Miss Brewster looked up languidly from her book during the first part of
+this recital. Then she sprang suddenly to her feet, and threw the book
+on the deck.
+
+'Who is it will take the telegrams?' she asked the steward.
+
+'The mate, miss. There he is standing yonder, miss.'
+
+She made her way quickly to that official.
+
+'Will you take a cable despatch to be sent to New York?'
+
+'Yes, miss. Is it a very long one?' he asked.
+
+'Yes, it is a very long one.'
+
+'Well, miss,' was the answer, 'you haven't much time to write it. We
+leave now in a very few minutes.'
+
+'It is all written out; I have only to add a few words to it.'
+
+Miss Brewster at once flew to her state-room. The telegram about the mine
+was soon before her with the words counted, and the silver and gold that
+were to pay for it piled on the table. She resolved to run no risk of
+delay by having the message sent 'to collect.' Then she dashed off, as
+quickly as she could, a brief and very graphic account of the disaster
+which had overtaken the _Caloric_. If this account was slightly
+exaggerated, Miss Brewster had no time to tone it down. Picturesque and
+dramatic description was what she aimed at. Her pen flew over the paper
+with great rapidity, and she looked up every now and then, through her
+state-room window, to see dangling from the ropes the boat that was to
+make the attempt to reach the Irish coast. As she could thus see how the
+preparations for the departure were going forward, she lingered longer
+than she might otherwise have done, and added line after line to the
+despatch which told of the disaster. At last she saw the men take their
+places in the longboat. She hurriedly counted the words in the new
+despatch she had written, and quickly from her purse piled the gold that
+was necessary to pay for their transmission. Then she sealed the two
+despatches in an envelope, put the two piles of gold into one after
+rapidly counting them again, cast a quick look up at the still motionless
+boat, grasped the gold in one hand, the envelope in the other, and sprang
+to her feet; but, as she did so, she gave a shriek and took a step
+backwards.
+
+Standing with her back to the door was Edith Longworth. When she had
+entered the state-room, Miss Brewster did not know, but her heart beat
+wildly as she saw the girl standing silently there, as if she had risen
+up through the floor.
+
+'What are you doing here?' she demanded.
+
+'I am here,' said Miss Longworth, 'because I wish to talk with you.'
+
+'Stand aside; I have no time to talk to you just now. I told you I didn't
+want to see you again. Stand aside, I tell you.'
+
+'I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean that I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'Then I will ring the bell and have you thrust out of here for your
+impudence.'
+
+'You shall not ring the bell,' said Edith calmly, putting her hand over
+the white china plaque that held in its centre the black electric button.
+
+'Do you mean to tell me that you intend to keep me from leaving my own
+state-room?'
+
+'I mean to tell you exactly that.'
+
+'Do you know that you can be imprisoned for attempting such a thing?'
+
+'I don't care.'
+
+'Stand aside, you vixen, or I will strike you!'
+
+'Do it.'
+
+For a moment the two girls stood there, the one flushed and excited, the
+other apparently calm, with her back against the door and her hand over
+the electric button. A glance through the window showed Miss Brewster
+that the mate had got into the boat, and that they were steadily
+lowering away.
+
+'Let me pass, you--you wretch!'
+
+'All in good time,' replied Edith Longworth, whose gaze was also upon the
+boat swinging in mid-air.
+
+Jennie Brewster saw at once that, if it came to a hand-to-hand encounter,
+she would have no chance whatever against the English girl, who was in
+every way her physical superior. She had her envelope in one hand and the
+gold in the other. She thrust both of them into her pocket, which, after
+some fumbling, she found. Then she raised her voice in one of the
+shrillest screams which Edith Longworth had ever heard. As if in answer
+to that ear-piercing sound, there rose from the steamer a loud and
+ringing cheer. Both glanced up to see where the boat was, but it was not
+in sight. Several ropes were dangling down past the porthole. Miss
+Brewster sprang up on the sofa, and with her small hands turned round
+the screw which held the window closed.
+
+Edith Longworth looked at her without making any attempt to prevent the
+unfastening of the window.
+
+Jennie Brewster flung open the heavy brass circle which held the thick
+green glass, and again she screamed at the top of her voice, crying
+'Help!' and 'Murder!'
+
+The other did not move from her position. In the silence that followed,
+the steady splash of oars could be heard, and again a rousing cheer rang
+out from those who were left upon the motionless steamer. Edith Longworth
+raised herself on tiptoe and looked out of the open window. On the crest
+of a wave, five hundred yards away from the vessel, she saw the boat for
+a moment appear, showing the white glitter of her six dripping oars; then
+it vanished down the other side of the wave into the trough of the sea.
+
+'Now, Miss Brewster', she said, 'you are at liberty to go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+After Edith Longworth left her, Jennie Brewster indulged in a brief spasm
+of hysterics. Her common-sense, however, speedily came to her rescue;
+and, as she became more calm, she began to wonder why she had not
+assaulted the girl who had dared to imprison her. She dimly remembered
+that she thought of a fierce onslaught at the time, and she also
+recollected that her fear of the boat leaving during the struggle had
+stayed her hand. But now that the boat had left she bitterly regretted
+her inaction, and grieved unavailingly over the fact that she had
+stopped to write the account of the disaster which befell the _Caloric_.
+Had she not done so, all might have been well, but her great ambition to
+be counted the best-newspaper woman in New York, and to show the editor
+that she was equal to any emergency that might arise, had undone her.
+While it would have been possible for her to send away one telegram, her
+desire to write the second had resulted in her sending none at all.
+Although she impugned her own conduct in language that one would not have
+expected to have heard from the lips of a millionaire's daughter, her
+anger against Edith Longworth became more intense, and a fierce desire
+for revenge took possession of the fair correspondent. She resolved that
+she would go up on deck and shame this woman before everybody. She would
+attract public attention to the affair by tearing Edith Longworth from
+her deck-chair, and in her present state of mind she had no doubt of her
+strength to do it. With the yearning for vengeance fierce and strong upon
+her, the newspaper woman put on her hat and departed for the deck. She
+passed up one side and down the other, but her intended victim was not
+visible. The rage of Miss Brewster increased when she did not find her
+prey where she expected. She had a fear that, when she calmed down, a
+different disposition would assert itself, and her revenge would be lost.
+In going to and fro along the deck she met Kenyon and Fleming walking
+together. Fleming had just that moment come up to Kenyon, who was quietly
+pacing the deck alone, and, slapping him on the shoulder, asked him to
+have a drink.
+
+'It seems to me,' he said, 'that I never have had the pleasure of
+offering you a drink since we came on board this ship. I want to drink
+with everybody here, and especially now, when something has happened to
+make it worth while.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said John Kenyon coldly, 'but I never
+drink with anybody.'
+
+'What, never touch it at all? Not even beer?'
+
+'Not even beer.'
+
+'Well, I am astonished to hear that. I thought every Englishman drank
+beer.'
+
+'There is at least one Englishman who does not.'
+
+'All right, then; no harm done, and no offence given, I hope. I may say,
+however, that you miss a lot of fun in this world.'
+
+'I suppose I miss a few headaches also.'
+
+'Oh, not necessarily. I have one great recipe for not having a headache.
+You see, this is the philosophy of headaches.' And then, much to John's
+chagrin, he linked arms with him and changed his step to suit Kenyon's,
+talking all the time as if they were the most intimate friends in the
+world. 'I have a sure plan for avoiding a headache. You see, when you
+look into the matter, it is this way: The headache only comes when you
+are sober. Very well, then. It is as simple as A B C. Never get sober;
+that's my plan. I simply keep on, and never get sober, so I have no
+headaches. If people who drink would avoid the disagreeable necessity of
+ever getting sober, they would be all right. Don't you see what I mean?'
+
+'And how about their brains in the meantime?'
+
+'Oh, their brains are all right. Good liquor sharpens a man's brains
+wonderfully. Now, you try it some time. Let me have them mix a cocktail
+for you? I tell you, John, a cocktail is one of the finest drinks that
+ever was made, and this man at the bar--when I came on board, he thought
+he could make a cocktail, but he didn't know even the rudiments--I have
+taught him how to do it; and I tell you that secret will be worth a
+fortune to him, because if there is anything Americans like, it is to
+have their cocktails mixed correctly. There's no one man in all England
+can do it, and very few men on the Atlantic service. But I'm gradually
+educating them. Been across six times. They pretend to give you American
+drinks over in England, but you must know how disappointing they are.'
+
+'I'm sure I don't see how I should know, for I never taste any of them.'
+
+'Ah, true; I had forgotten that. Well, I took this bar-keeper here in
+hand, and he knows now how to make a reasonably good cocktail; and, as I
+say, that secret will be worth money to him from American passengers.'
+
+John Kenyon was revolving in his mind the problem of how to get rid of
+this loquacious and generous individual, when he saw, bearing down upon
+them, the natty figure of Miss Jennie Brewster; and he wondered why such
+a look of bitter indignation was flashing from her eyes. He thought that
+she intended to address the American politician, but he was mistaken. She
+came directly at him, and said in an excited tone, with a ring of anger
+in it:
+
+'Well, John Kenyon, what do you think of your work?'
+
+'What work?' asked the bewildered man.
+
+'You know very well what work I mean. A fine specimen of a man you are!
+Without the courage yourself to prevent my sending that telegram, you
+induced your dupe to come down to my state-room and brazenly keep me from
+sending it.'
+
+The blank look of utter astonishment upon the face of honest John Kenyon
+would have convinced any woman in her senses that he knew nothing at all
+of what she was speaking. A dim impression of this, indeed, flashed
+across the young woman's heated brain. But before she could speak,
+Fleming said:
+
+'Tut, tut, my dear girl! you are talking too loud altogether. Do you want
+to attract the attention of everybody on the deck? You mustn't make a
+scandal in this way on board ship.'
+
+'Scandal!' she cried. 'We will soon see whether there will be a scandal
+or not. Attract the attention of those on deck! That is exactly what I am
+going to do, until I show up the villainy of this man you are talking to.
+He was the concocter of it, and he knows it. She never had brains enough
+to think of it. He was too much of a coward to carry it through himself,
+and so he set her to do his dastardly piece of work.'
+
+'Well, well,' said Fleming, 'even if he has done all that, whatever it
+is, it will do no good to attract attention to it here on deck. See how
+everybody is listening to what you are saying. My dear girl, you are too
+angry to talk just now; the best thing you can do is to go down to your
+state-room.'
+
+'Who asked you to interfere?' she cried, turning furiously upon him.
+'I'll thank you to mind your own business, and let me attend to mine. I
+should have thought that you would have found out before this that I am
+capable of attending to my own affairs.'
+
+'Certainly, certainly, my dear child,' answered the politician
+soothingly; 'I'm sorry I can't get you all to come and have a drink with
+me, and talk this matter over quietly. That's the correct way to do
+things, not to stand here scolding on the deck, with everybody listening.
+Now, if you will quietly discuss the matter with John here, I'm sure
+everything will be all right.'
+
+'You don't know what you are talking about,' replied the young lady. 'Do
+you know that I had an important despatch to send to the _Argus_, and
+that this man's friend, doubtless at his instigation, came into my room
+and practically held me prisoner there until the boat had left, so that I
+could not send the despatch? Think of the cheek and villainy of that, and
+then speak to me of talking wildly!'
+
+An expression of amazement upon Kenyon's face convinced the newspaper
+woman, more than all his protestations would have done, that he knew
+nothing whatever of the escapade.
+
+'And who kept you from coming out?' asked Fleming.
+
+'It is none of your business,' she replied tartly.
+
+'If you will believe me,' said Kenyon at last, 'I had absolutely no
+knowledge of all this; so, you see, there is no use speaking to me about
+it. I won't pretend I am sorry, because I am not.'
+
+This added fuel to the flames, and she was about to blaze out again, when
+Kenyon, turning on his heel, left her and Fleming standing facing each
+other. Then the young woman herself turned and quickly departed, leaving
+the bewildered politician entirely alone, so that there was nothing for
+him to do but to go into the smoking-room and ask somebody else to drink
+with him, which he promptly did.
+
+Miss Brewster made her way to the captain's room and rapped at the door.
+On being told to enter, she found that officer seated at his table with
+some charts before him, and a haggard look upon his face, which might
+have warned her that this was not the proper time to air any personal
+grievances.
+
+'Well?' he said briefly as she entered.
+
+'I came to see you, captain,' she began, 'because an outrageous thing has
+been done on board this ship, and I desire reparation. What is more, I
+will have it!
+
+'What is the "outrageous thing"?' asked the captain.
+
+'I had some despatches to send to New York, to the _New York Argus_, on
+whose staff I am.'
+
+'Yes,' said the captain with interest; 'despatches relating to what has
+happened to the ship?'
+
+'One of them did, the other did not.'
+
+'Well, I hope,' said the captain, 'you have not given an exaggerated
+account of the condition we are in.'
+
+'I have given no account at all, simply because I was prevented from
+sending the cablegrams.'
+
+'Ah, indeed,' said the captain, a look of relief coming over his face, in
+spite of his efforts to conceal it; 'and pray what prevented you from
+sending your cablegrams? The mate would have taken any messages that were
+given to him.'
+
+'I know that,' cried the young woman; 'but when I was in my room writing
+the last of the despatches, a person who is on board as a passenger
+here--Miss Longworth--came into my room and held me prisoner there until
+the boat had left the ship.'
+
+The captain arched his eyebrows in surprise.
+
+'My dear madam,' he said, 'you make a very serious charge. Miss Longworth
+has crossed several times with me, and I am bound to say that a
+better-behaved young lady I never had on board my ship.'
+
+'Extremely well behaved she is!' cried the correspondent angrily, 'she
+stood against my door and prevented me from going out. I screamed for
+help, but my screams were drowned in the cheers of the passengers when
+the boat left.'
+
+'Why did you not ring your bell?'
+
+'I couldn't ring my bell because she prevented me. Besides, if I had
+reached the bell, it is not likely anybody would have answered it;
+everybody seemed to be bawling after the boat that was leaving.'
+
+'You can hardly blame them for that. A great deal depends on the safety
+of that boat. In fact, if you come to think about it, you will see that
+whatever grievance you may have, it is, after all, a very trivial one
+compared with the burden that weighs on me just now, and I should much
+prefer not to have anything to do with disputes between the passengers
+until we are out of our present predicament.'
+
+'The predicament has nothing whatever to do with it. I tell you a fact.
+I tell you that one of your passengers came and imprisoned me in my
+state-room. I come to you for redress. Now, there must be some law on
+shipboard that takes the place of ordinary law on land. I make this
+demand officially to you. If you decline to hear me, and refuse to
+redress my wrong, then I have public opinion, to which I can appeal
+through my paper, and perhaps there will also be a chance of obtaining
+justice through the law of the land to which I am going.'
+
+'My dear madam,' said the captain calmly, 'you must not use threats to
+me. I am not accustomed to be addressed in the tone you have taken upon
+yourself to use. Now tell me what it is you wish me to do?'
+
+'It is for you to say what you will do. I am a passenger on board this
+ship, and am supposed to be under the protection of its captain. I
+therefore tell you I have been forcibly detained in my state-room, and I
+demand that the person who did this shall be punished.'
+
+'You say that Miss Longworth is the person who did this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+'Now, do you know you make a serious charge against that young lady--a
+charge that I find it remarkably difficult to believe? May I ask you what
+reason she had for doing what you say she has done?'
+
+'That is a long story. I am quite prepared to show that she tried to
+bribe me not to send a despatch, and, finding herself unsuccessful, she
+forcibly detained me in my room until too late to send the telegram.'
+
+The captain pondered over what had been said to him.
+
+'Have you any proof of this charge?'
+
+'Proof! What do you mean? Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I mean exactly what I say. Have you anybody to prove the exceedingly
+serious charge you bring?'
+
+'Certainly not. I have no proof. If there had been a witness there, the
+thing would not have happened. If I could have summoned help, it would
+not have happened. How could I have any proof of such an outrage?'
+
+'Well, do you not see that it is impossible for me to take action on your
+unsupported word? Do you not see that, if you take further steps in this
+extraordinary affair, Miss Longworth will ask you for proof of what you
+state? If she denies acting as you say she did, and you fail to prove
+your allegation, it seems to me that you will be in rather a difficult
+position. You would be liable to a suit for slander. Just think the
+matter over calmly for the rest of the day before you take any further
+action upon it, and I would strongly advise you not to mention this to
+anyone on board. Then to-morrow, if you are still in the same frame of
+mind, come to me.'
+
+Thus dismissed, the young woman left the captain's room, and met Fleming
+just outside, who said:
+
+'Look here, Miss Brewster, I want to have a word with you. You were very
+curt with me just now.'
+
+'Mr. Fleming, I do not wish to speak to you.'
+
+'Oh, that's all right--that's all right; but let me tell you this: you're
+a pretty smart young woman, and you have done me one or two very evil
+turns in your life. I have found out all about this affair, and it's one
+of the funniest things I ever heard of.'
+
+'Very funny, isn't it?' snapped the young woman.
+
+'Of course it's very funny; but when it appears in full in the opposition
+papers to the _Argus_, perhaps you won't see the humour of it--though
+everybody else in New York will, that's one consolation.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean to say, Jennie Brewster, that unless you are a fool, you will
+drop this thing. Don't, for Heaven's sake, let anybody know you were
+treated by an English girl in the way you were. Take my advice: say no
+more about it.'
+
+'And what business is it of yours?'
+
+'It isn't mine at all; that is why I am meddling with it. Aren't you well
+enough acquainted with me to know that nothing in the world pleases me so
+much as to interfere in other people's business? I have found out all
+about the girl who kept you in, and a mighty plucky action it was too. I
+have seen that girl on the deck, and I like the cut of her jib. I like
+the way she walks. Her independence suits me. She is a girl who wouldn't
+give a man any trouble, now, I tell you, if he were lucky enough to win
+her. And I am not going to see that girl put to any trouble by you,
+understand that!'
+
+'And how are you going to prevent it, may I ask?'
+
+'May you ask? Why, of course you may. I will tell you how I am going
+to prevent it. Simply by restraining you from doing another thing in
+the matter.'
+
+'If you think you can do that, you are very much mistaken. I am going to
+have that girl put in prison, if there is a law in the land.'
+
+'Well, in the first place, we are not on land; and, in the second place,
+you are going to do nothing of the kind, because, if you do, I shall go
+to the London correspondents of the other New York papers and give the
+whole blessed snap away. I'll tell them how the smart and cute Miss Dolly
+Dimple, who has bamboozled so many persons in her life, was once caught
+in her own trap; and I shall inform them how it took place. And they'll
+be glad to get it, you bet! It will make quite interesting reading in the
+New York opposition papers some fine Sunday morning--about a column and a
+half, say. Won't there be some swearing in the _Argus_ when that appears!
+It won't be your losing the despatch you were going to send, but it will
+be your utter idiocy in making the thing public, and letting the other
+papers on to it. Why, the best thing in the world for you to do, and the
+_only_ thing, is to keep as quiet as possible about it. I am astonished
+at a girl of your sense, Dolly, making a public fuss like this, when you
+should be the very one trying to keep it secret.'
+
+The newspaper correspondent pondered on these words.
+
+'And if I keep quiet about it, will you do the same?'
+
+'Certainly; but you must remember that if ever you attempt any of your
+tricks of interviewing on me again, out comes this whole thing. Don't
+forget that.'
+
+'I won't,' said Miss Jennie Brewster.
+
+And next morning, when the captain was anxiously awaiting her arrival in
+his room, she did not appear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+After all, it must be admitted that George Wentworth was a man of
+somewhat changeable character. For the last two or three days he had been
+moping like one who meditated suicide; now when everyone else was
+anxiously wondering what was going to happen to the ship, he suddenly
+became the brightest individual on board. For a man to be moody and
+distraught while danger was impending was not at all surprising; but for
+a man, right in the midst of gloom, to blossom suddenly out into a
+general hilarity of manner, was something extraordinary. People thought
+it must be a case of brain trouble. They watched the young man with
+interest as he walked with a springy step up and down the deck. Every now
+and again a bright smile illuminated his face, and then he seemed to be
+ashamed that people should notice he was feeling so happy. When he was
+alone he had a habit of smiting his thigh and bursting out into a laugh
+that was long and low, rather than loud and boisterous. No one was more
+astonished at this change than Fleming, the politician. George met him on
+deck, and, to the great surprise of that worthy gentleman, smote him on
+the back and said:
+
+'My dear sir, I am afraid the other day, when you spoke to me, I answered
+a little gruffly. I beg to apologize. Come and have a drink with me.'
+
+'Oh, don't mention it,' said Fleming joyously; 'we all of us have our
+little down-turns now and then. Why, I have them myself, when liquor is
+bad or scarce! You mightn't believe it, but some days I feel away down in
+the mouth. It is true I have a recipe for getting up again, which I
+always use. And that reminds me: do you remember what the Governor of
+North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know,' said Wentworth; 'you see, I'm not very well
+versed in United States politics.'
+
+'Well, there wasn't much politics about his remark. He merely said,
+"It's a long time between drinks;" come in and have something with me.
+It seems to me you haven't tasted anything in my company since the
+voyage began.'
+
+'I believe,' said Wentworth, 'that is a true statement. Let us amend it
+as soon as possible, only in this case let me pay for the drinks. I
+invited you to drink with me.'
+
+'Not at all, not at all!' cried Fleming; 'not while I'm here. This is my
+treat, and it is funny to think that a man should spend a week with
+another man without knowing him. Really, you see, I haven't known you
+till now.'
+
+And so the two worthy gentlemen disappeared into the smoking-room and
+rang the electric bell.
+
+But it was in his own state-room that George Wentworth's jocularity came
+out at its best. He would grasp John Kenyon by the shoulder and shake
+that solemn man, over whose face a grim smile generally appeared when he
+noticed the exuberant jollity of his comrade.
+
+'John,' Wentworth cried, 'why don't you laugh?'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' replied his comrade, 'that you are doing laughing
+enough for us both. It is necessary to have one member of the firm solid
+and substantial. I'm trying to keep the average about right. When you
+were in the dumps I had to be cheerful for two. Now that you feel so
+lively, I take a refuge in melancholy, to rest me after my hard efforts
+at cheerfulness.'
+
+'Well, John, it seems to me too good to be true. What a plucky girl she
+was to do such a thing! How did she know but that the little vixen had a
+revolver with her, and might have shot her?'
+
+'I suppose she didn't think about it at all.'
+
+'Have you seen her since that dramatic incident?'
+
+'Seen whom? Miss Brewster?'
+
+'No, no; I mean Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, she hasn't appeared yet. I suppose she fears there will be a scene,
+and she is anxious to avoid it.'
+
+'Very likely that is the case,' said Wentworth. 'Well, if you do see her,
+you can tell her there is no danger. Our genial friend, Fleming, has had
+a talk with that newspaper woman, so he tells me, and the way he
+describes it is exceedingly picturesque. He has threatened her with
+giving away the "snap," as he calls it, to the other New York papers, and
+it seems that the only thing on earth Miss Brewster is afraid of is the
+opposition press. So she has promised to say nothing more whatever about
+the incident.'
+
+'Then, you have been talking with Fleming?'
+
+'Certainly I have; a jovial good fellow he is, too. I have been doing
+something more than talking with him; I have been drinking with him.'
+
+'And yet a day or two ago, I understand, you threatened to strike him.'
+
+'A day or two ago, John! It was ages and ages ago. A day or two isn't in
+it. That was years and centuries since, as it appears to me. I was an old
+man then; now I have become young again, and all on account of the plucky
+action of that angel of a girl of yours.'
+
+'Not of mine,' said Kenyon seriously; 'I wish she were.'
+
+'Well, cheer up. Everything will come out right; you see, it always does.
+Nothing looked blacker than this matter about the telegram a few days
+ago, and see how beautifully it has turned out.'
+
+Kenyon said nothing. He did not desire to discuss the matter even with
+his best friend. The two went up on deck together, and took a few turns
+along the promenade, during which promenade the eyes of Kenyon were
+directed to the occupants of the deckchairs, but he did not see the
+person whom he sought. Telling Wentworth he was going below for a moment,
+he left him to continue his walk alone, and on reaching the saloon Kenyon
+spoke to a stewardess.
+
+'Do you know if Miss Longworth is in her stateroom?'
+
+'Yes, sir, I think she is,' was the answer.
+
+'Will you take this note to her?'
+
+John sat down to wait for an answer. The answer did not come by the hand
+of the stewardess. Edith herself timorously glanced into the saloon, and,
+seeing Kenyon alone, ventured in. He sprang up to meet her.
+
+'I was afraid,' he said, 'that you had been ill.'
+
+'No, not quite, but almost,' she answered. 'Oh, Mr. Kenyon, I have done
+the most terrible thing! You could not imagine that I was so bold and
+wicked;' and tears gathered in the eyes of the girl.
+
+Kenyon stretched out his hand to her, and she took it.
+
+'I am afraid to stay here with you,' she said, 'for fear----'
+
+'Oh, I know all about it,' said Kenyon.
+
+'You cannot know about it; you surely do not know what I have done?'
+
+'Yes, I know exactly what you've done; and we all very much admire your
+pluck.'
+
+'It hasn't, surely, been the talk of the ship?'
+
+'No, it has not; but Miss Brewster charged me with being an accomplice.'
+
+'And you told her you were not, of course?'
+
+'I couldn't tell her anything, for the simple reason that I hadn't the
+faintest idea what she was talking about; but that's how I came to know
+what had happened, and I am here to thank you, Miss Longworth, for your
+action. I really believe you have saved the sanity of my friend
+Wentworth. He is a different man since the incident we are speaking of
+occurred.'
+
+'And have you seen Miss Brewster since?'
+
+'Oh yes; as I was telling you, she met me on the deck. Dear me! how
+thoughtless of me! I had forgotten you were standing. Won't you sit
+down?'
+
+'No, no; I have been in my room so long that I am glad to stand
+anywhere.'
+
+'Then, won't you come up on deck with me?'
+
+'Oh, I'm afraid,' she said. 'I am afraid of a public scene; and I am
+sure, by the last look I caught in that girl's eyes, she will stop at no
+scandal to have her revenge. I am sorry to say that I am too much of a
+coward to meet her. Of course, from her point of view I have done her
+eternal wrong. Perhaps it was wrong from anybody's point of view.'
+
+'Miss Longworth,' said John Kenyon cordially, 'you need have no fear
+whatever of meeting her. She will say nothing.'
+
+'How do you know that?'
+
+'Oh, it is a long story. She went to the captain with her complaint, and
+received very little comfort there. I will tell you all about it on deck.
+Get a wrap and come with me.'
+
+As Kenyon gave this peremptory order, he realized that he was taking a
+liberty he had no right to take, and his face flushed as he wondered if
+Edith would resent the familiarity of his tones; but she merely looked up
+at him with a bright smile, and said:
+
+'I will do, sir, as you command.'
+
+'No, no,' said Kenyon; 'it was not a command, although it sounded like
+one. It was a very humble request; at least, I intended it to be such.'
+
+'Well, I will get my wrap.'
+
+As she left for her state-room, a rousing cheer was heard from on deck.
+She stopped, and looked at Kenyon.
+
+'What does that mean?' she asked.
+
+'I do not know,' was the answer. 'Please get your things on and we will
+go up and see.'
+
+When they reached the deck they saw everybody at the forward part of the
+ship. Just becoming visible in the eastern horizon were three trails of
+black smoke, apparently coming towards them.
+
+The word was whispered from one to the other: 'It is the tug-boats. It
+is relief.'
+
+Few people on board the steamer knew that their very existence depended
+entirely on the good weather. The incessant pumping showed everybody, who
+gave a thought to the matter, that the leak had been serious; but as the
+subsidence of the vessel was imperceptible to all save experts, no one
+but the officers really knew the grave danger they were in. Glad as the
+passengers were to see those three boats approach, the one who most
+rejoiced was the one who knew everything respecting the disaster and its
+effects--the captain.
+
+Edith Longworth and John Kenyon paced the deck together, and did not form
+two of the crowd who could not tear themselves away from the front of
+the ship, watching the gradually approaching tug boats. Purposely, John
+Kenyon brought the girl who was with him past Miss Jennie Brewster, and
+although that person glared with a good deal of anger at Edith, who
+blushed to her temples with fear and confusion, yet nothing was said; and
+Kenyon knew that afterwards his companion would feel easier in her mind
+about meeting the woman with whom she had had such a stormy five minutes.
+The tug boats speedily took the big steamer in tow, and slowly the four
+of them made progress towards Queenstown, it having been resolved to land
+all the passengers there, and to tow the disabled vessel to Liverpool, if
+an examination of the hull showed such a course to be a safe one. The
+passengers bade each other good-bye after they left the tender, and many
+that were on board that ship never saw each other again. One at least,
+had few regrets and no good-byes to make, but a surprise was in store for
+her. Jennie Brewster found a cablegram from New York waiting for her. It
+said 'Cable nothing respecting mines. Letter follows.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+London again! Muddy, drizzly, foggy London, London, with its well filled
+omnibuses tearing along the streets, more dangerous than the chariots of
+Rome, London, with its bustling thoroughfares, with its traffic blocked
+at the corners by the raised white gloved hand of the policeman, London,
+with the four wheeled growler piled high with luggage, and the dashing
+hansom whirling along, missing the wheels of other vehicles by half an
+inch, while its occupant sits serenely smoking, or motioning his
+directions to his cabman with an umbrella; London, with its constantly
+moving procession of every sort of wheeled carriage, from the four-horsed
+coach to the coster barrow. London, London, London, London! the name
+seemed to ring in John Kenyon's ears as he walked briskly along the
+crowded pavement towards the City. The roar of its busy streets was the
+sweetest music in the world to him, as it is to every man who has once
+acquired the taste for London. Drink of the fountain of Trevi, and you
+will return to Rome. Drink of the roar and the bustle of London, and no
+other metropolis in the world, can ever satisfy the city-hunger in you
+again. London is London, and John Kenyon loved its very disadvantages as
+he strode along the streets.
+
+He called at the office of George Wentworth, took that young man with
+him, and together they went to the place where the adjourned meeting of
+the London Syndicate was to be held. There were questions to be asked of
+the two young men, and the directors couldn't quite see why the reports
+had been so suddenly precipitated upon them, before the arrival of the
+experts they had sent out. So they had merely read the documents at the
+former meeting and adjourned until such time as the two young men could
+appear in person. Most of the directors were there, but, though Kenyon
+looked anxiously among them, he did not see the face of old Mr.
+Longworth. Questions were asked Kenyon about the position of the mines,
+about their output, and such other particulars as the directors wished
+to know. Then Wentworth underwent a similar examination. He pointed out
+the discrepancies which he had found in the accounts. He showed that
+there was an evident desire on the part of the owners of the different
+mines to make it appear that the properties paid better than they
+actually did, and he answered in a clear and satisfactory way all the
+questions asked him. The chairman thanked the young men for the evident
+care with which they had done their work, and the meeting then went into
+a private session to consider what action should be taken respecting the
+mines. When the two friends got out of the building, Kenyon said:
+
+'Well, thank goodness that is over and done with. Now, George, what have
+you to suggest with reference to the mica-mine?'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'we had better adjourn to my office and have a
+talk over the matter quietly there. Let us go into private session as the
+directors have done. I feel rich after having got my cheque, and the vote
+of thanks from the chairman; so I will spend a shilling on a hansom and
+get there with speed and comfort. Actually, since I have got back to
+London, I am spending all my surplus cash on hansoms. They are certainly
+the best and cheapest vehicles in the world. Think of what that pirate
+charged us for a ride from the hotel to the steamer in New York.'
+
+'I don't like to think of it,' said Kenyon; 'it makes me shudder!'
+
+'Do you know, John, I should not be inconsolable if I never saw the great
+city of New York again. London is good enough for me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't know! New York is all right. I confess there are one or two
+of her citizens that I do not care much about.'
+
+'Ah,' said Wentworth; then, after a few moments' reflection, he remarked
+suddenly, apropos of nothing: 'Do you know, John, I was very nearly in
+love with that girl?'
+
+'I thought you were drifting in that direction.'
+
+'Drifting! It wasn't drifting. It was a mad plunge down the rapids, and
+it is only lately I have begun to think what a close shave I had of it.
+The horror of those days, when I thought that despatch was going to New
+York, completely obliterated any other feeling in regard to her. If I had
+found she was a hopeless flirt, or something of that kind, who was
+trifling with me, I should have been very much shocked, of course, but I
+should have thought about my own feelings. Now, the curious thing is that
+I never began to think about them till I got to London.'
+
+'Very well, Wentworth; I wouldn't think about them now, if I were you.'
+
+'No, I don't intend to, particularly. The fact that I talk over them with
+you shows that the impression was not very deep.'
+
+Wentworth drew a long breath that might have been mistaken for a sigh, if
+he had not just before explained how completely free he was from the
+thraldom in which Miss Brewster at one time held him.
+
+'Still, she was a very pretty girl, John. You can't deny that.'
+
+'I have no wish to deny it. I simply don't want to think about her at
+all.'
+
+'No, and we don't need to, thank goodness. But she _was_ very bright and
+clever. Of course you didn't know her as I did. I never before met
+anyone who--Well, that's all past and done with. I told her all about our
+mica-mine, and she gave me much sage advice.'
+
+Kenyon smiled, but held his peace.
+
+'Oh yes, I know what you are thinking of. I spoke of other mines as well;
+still, that was my folly, and not her fault exactly. She imagined she was
+doing right, and after all, you know, I think we sometimes don't make
+enough allowance for another's point of view.'
+
+Kenyon laughed outright.
+
+'It seems to me you are actually defending her. My remembrance is that
+you didn't make much allowance for her point of view when your own point
+was that coil of rope in the front of the ship--those days when you
+wouldn't speak even to me.'
+
+'I admit it, John. No, I'm not defending her. I have succeeded in
+putting her entirely out of my mind--with an effort. How about your own
+case, John?'
+
+'My own case! What do you mean?'
+
+'You know very well what I mean.'
+
+'I suppose I do forgive the little bit of affectation, will you? but a
+man gets somewhat nervous when such a question is sprung upon him. My own
+case is just where we left it at Queenstown.'
+
+'Haven't you seen her since?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Aren't you going to?'
+
+'I really do not know what I am going to do.'
+
+'John, that young woman has a decided personal interest in you.'
+
+'I wish I were sure of that, or, rather, I wish I were sure of it and
+in a position to--But what is the use of talking? I haven't a penny
+to my name.'
+
+'No; but if our mine goes through, you soon will have.'
+
+'Yes, but what will it amount to? I never can forget the lofty disdain
+with which a certain person spoke of fifty thousand pounds. It sends a
+cold chill over me whenever I think of it. Fifty thousand pounds to her
+seemed so trivial; to me it was something that might be obtained after
+the struggle of a lifetime.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let that discourage me too much if I were you; besides,
+you see--Oh! here we are. We'll talk about this some other time.'
+
+Having paid the cabman, the two young men went upstairs into Wentworth's
+room, where they closed the door, and John drew up a seat by the side of
+his friend.
+
+'Now, then,' said Wentworth, 'what have you done about the mine?'
+
+'I have done absolutely nothing. I have been waiting for this conference
+with you.'
+
+'Well, my boy, time is the great factor in anything of this sort.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose it is.'
+
+'You see, our option is running along; every day we lose is so much taken
+off our chances of success. Have you anything to propose?'
+
+'I'll tell you what I thought of doing. You know young Longworth spoke to
+me a good deal about the mine at one time. His cousin introduced me to
+him, and she seemed to think he might take some interest in forming the
+company. I was to have a talk with you, because Longworth gave it as his
+opinion that the amount should be put at two hundred thousand pounds
+rather than at fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle.
+
+'Yes, it seems a very large amount; but he claims that if it would pay
+ten per cent. on that sum--if we could show that there was a reasonable
+chance of its paying so much--we could put it at two hundred thousand.'
+
+'Well, that looks reasonable. What else did he say?'
+
+'He did not say very much more about it, because I told him I should have
+to consult you.'
+
+'And why didn't you? On board ship there was one of the best
+opportunities we could have had of having a talk with him. In fact, the
+whole matter might perhaps have been arranged there.'
+
+'Oh, well, you know, I couldn't talk to you about it, because a certain
+circumstance arose, and you spent your time very much in the forward
+part of the steamer, sitting on a coil of rope and cursing the universe
+generally and yourself in particular'.
+
+'Ah, yes, I remember, of course--yes. Very well, then, you have not seen
+young Longworth since, have you?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Wouldn't the old gentleman go in for it?'
+
+'His daughter seemed to think he would not, because the amount was
+too small.'
+
+'Why couldn't he be got to go into it entirely by himself? If we put the
+price up to one hundred thousand pounds or two hundred thousand pounds,
+that ought to be large enough for him, if he were playing a lone hand.'
+
+'Well, you see, I don't suppose they thought of going in for it at that,
+except as a matter of speculation. Of course, if they intended to buy
+some shares, it is not likely they would propose to raise the price from
+fifty thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds. Young Longworth
+spoke of dividing the profit. He claimed that whatever we made on fifty
+thousand pounds would be too small to be divided into three. I told him,
+of course, that you were my partner in this, and that is why he proposed
+the price should be made two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I suppose he seemed indifferent on the question whether it should pay a
+dividend on that amount of money or not?'
+
+'He didn't mention that particularly--at least, he did not dwell upon it.
+He asked if it would pay a dividend on two hundred thousand, and I told
+him I thought it would pay ten per cent. if rightly managed; then he said
+of course that was its price, and we should be great fools to float it at
+fifty thousand pounds when it was really worth two hundred thousand.'
+
+Wentworth pondered for a few minutes on this, tapping his pencil on the
+desk and knitting his brow.
+
+'It seems an awful jump, from fifty thousand pounds to two hundred
+thousand pounds, doesn't it, John?'
+
+'Yes, it does; it has a certain look of swindling about it. But what a
+glorious thing it would be if it could be done, and if it would pay the
+right percentage when we got the scheme working!'
+
+'Of course I wouldn't be connected, nor you either, with anything that
+was bogus.'
+
+'Certainly not. I wouldn't think for a moment of inflating it if I were
+not positive the property would stand it. I have been making, and have
+here in my pocket, an elaborate array of figures which will show
+approximately what the mine will yield, and I am quite convinced that it
+will pay at least ten per cent., and possible twelve or fifteen.'
+
+'Well, nobody wants a better percentage on their money. Have you the
+figures with you?'
+
+'Yes, here they are.'
+
+'Very well, you had better leave them with me, and I will go over them as
+critically as if they were the figures of somebody I was deeply
+suspicious of, I hope they will hold water; but if they do not, I will
+point out to you where the discrepancies are.'
+
+'But, you see, George, it is more a question of facts than of figures. I
+believe the whole mountain is made of the mineral which is so valuable,
+but I take only about an eighth of it as being possible to get out, which
+seems to me a very moderate estimate.'
+
+'Yes, but how much demand is there for it? That is the real question. The
+thing may be valuable enough, but if there is only a limited demand--that
+is to say, if we have ten times the material that the world needs--the
+other nine parts are comparatively valueless.'
+
+'That is true.'
+
+'Do you know how many establishments there are in the world that use
+this mineral?'
+
+'There are a great many in England, and also in the United States.'
+
+'And how about the duty on it in the United States?'
+
+'Ah, that I do not know.'
+
+'Well, we must find that out. Just write down here what it is used for;
+then I shall try to get some information about the factories that require
+it, and also what quantities they need in a year. We shall have to get
+all these facts and figures to lay before the people who are going to
+invest, because, as I understand it, the great point we make is not on
+the mica, but on the other mineral.'
+
+'Exactly.'
+
+'Very well, then, you leave me what you know already about it, and I will
+try to supplement your information. In fact, we shall have to supplement
+it, before we can go before anybody with it. Now, I advise you to see the
+Longworths--both old and young Longworth--and you may find that talking
+with them in the City of London is very different from talking with them
+on the _Caloric_. By the way, I wonder why Longworth was not at the
+directors' meeting to-day.'
+
+'I do not know. I noticed he was absent.'
+
+'He very likely intends to have nothing more to do with the other mines,
+and so there may be a possibility of his investing in ours. Do you know
+his address?'
+
+'Yes, I have it with me.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would jump into a hansom and go there at once.
+Meanwhile, I will try to get your figures into shipshape order, and
+supplement them as far as it is possible to do so. This is going to be no
+easy matter, John. There are a great many properties now being offered
+to the public--the papers are full of them--and each of them appears to
+be the most money-making scheme in existence; so if we are going to float
+this mine without knowing any particular capitalist, we have our work cut
+out for us.'
+
+'Then, you would be willing to put the price up to two hundred thousand
+pounds?'
+
+'Yes, if you say the mine will stand it. That we can tell better after
+we have gone over the figures together. We ought to be sure of our
+facts first.'
+
+'Very well. Good-bye; I will go and see Mr. Longworth.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+John Kenyon did not take a cab. He walked so that he might have time to
+think. He wanted to arrange in his mind just what he would say to Mr.
+Longworth, so he pondered over the coming interview as he walked through
+the busy streets of the City.
+
+He had not yet settled things satisfactorily to himself when he came to
+the door leading to Mr. Longworth's offices.
+
+'After all,' he said to himself, as he paused there, 'Mr. Longworth has
+never said anything to me about the mica-mine; and, from what his
+daughter thought, it is not likely that he will care to interest himself
+in it. It was the young man who spoke about it.'
+
+He felt that it was really the young man on whom he should call, but he
+was rather afraid of meeting him. The little he had seen of William
+Longworth on board the _Caloric_ had not given him a very high opinion of
+that gentleman, and he wondered if it would not have been better to have
+told Wentworth that nothing was to be expected from the Longworths.
+However, he resolved not to shirk the interview, so passed up the steps
+and into the outer office. He found the establishment much larger than he
+had expected. At numerous desks there were numerous clerks writing away
+for dear life. He approached the inquiry counter, and a man came forward
+to hear what he had to say.
+
+'Is Mr. Longworth in?'
+
+'Yes, sir. Which Mr. Longworth do you want--the young gentleman or Mr.
+John Longworth?'
+
+'I wish to see the senior member of the firm.'
+
+'Ah! have you an appointment with him?'
+
+'No, I have not; but perhaps if you will take this card to him, and if he
+is not busy, he may see me.'
+
+'He is always very busy, sir.'
+
+'Well, take the card to him; and if he doesn't happen to remember the
+name, tell him I met him on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'Very good, sir.' And with that the clerk disappeared, leaving Kenyon to
+ponder over in his mind the still unsettled question of what he should
+say to Mr. Longworth if he were ushered into his presence. As he stood
+there waiting, with the host of men busily and silently working around
+him, amid the general air of important affairs pervading the place, he
+made up his mind that Mr. Longworth would not see him, and so was rather
+surprised when the clerk came back without the card, and said, 'Will you
+please step this way, sir?'
+
+Passing through a pair of swinging doors, his conductor tapped lightly at
+a closed one, and then opened it.
+
+'Mr. Kenyon, sir,' he said respectfully, and then closed the door behind
+him, leaving John Kenyon standing in a large room somewhat handsomely
+furnished, with two desks near the window. From an inner room came the
+muffled click, click, click of a type-writer. Seated at one of the desks
+was young Longworth, who did not look round as Kenyon was announced. The
+elder gentleman, however, arose, and cordially held out his hand.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' he said. 'I am very pleased to meet you again.
+The terror of our situation on board that ship does not seem to have left
+an indelible mark upon you. You are looking well.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'I am very glad to be back in London again.'
+
+'Ah, I imagine we all like to get back. By the way, it was a much more
+serious affair than we thought at the time on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'So I see by the papers.'
+
+'How is your friend? He seemed to take it very badly.'
+
+'Take what badly?' asked John in astonishment.
+
+'Well, he appeared to me, at the time of the accident, to feel very
+despondent about our situation.'
+
+'Oh yes, I remember now. Yes, he did feel a little depressed at the time;
+but it was not on account of the accident. It was another matter
+altogether, which, happily, turned out all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, have you made your report to the
+directors yet?'
+
+'Yes; we were at a meeting of the directors to-day.'
+
+'Ah, I could not manage to be there. To tell the truth, I have made up my
+mind to do nothing with those Ottawa mines. You do not know what action
+the Board took in the matter, do you?'
+
+'No, they merely received our report; in fact, they had had the report
+before, but there were some questions they desired to ask us, which we
+answered apparently to their satisfaction.'
+
+'Who were there? Sir Ropes McKenna was in the chair, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, sir, he was there.'
+
+'Ah, so I thought. Well, my opinion of him is that he is merely a
+guinea-pig--you know what that is? I have made up my mind to have nothing
+more to do with the venture, at any rate. And so they were pleased with
+your report, were they?'
+
+'They appeared to be. They passed us a vote of thanks, and one or two
+of the gentlemen spoke in rather a complimentary manner of what we had
+done.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, William, you know Mr. Kenyon, do you
+not?'
+
+The young man looked round with an abstracted air, and gazed past, rather
+than at, John Kenyon.
+
+'Kenyon, Kenyon,' he said to himself, as if trying to recollect a name
+that he had once heard somewhere. 'I really don't----'
+
+'Tut, tut!' said the old man, 'you remember Mr. Kenyon on board the
+_Caloric_?'
+
+'Oh, ah, yes; certainly--oh, certainly. How do you do, Mr. Kenyon? I had
+forgotten for the moment. I thought I had met you in the City somewhere.
+Feeling first-rate after your trip, I hope.' And young Mr. Longworth
+fixed his one eyeglass in its place and flashed its glitter on Kenyon.
+
+'I am very well, thanks.'
+
+'That's right. Let me see, your business with the London Syndicate is
+concluded now, is it not?'
+
+'Yes, it is done with.'
+
+'Ah, and what are you doing? Have you anything else on hand?'
+
+'Well, that is what I wish to see you about.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes; I--you remember, perhaps, we had some talk about a mica-mine near
+the Ottawa River?'
+
+'On my soul, I don't. You see, the voyage rather--that was on board ship,
+I suppose?'
+
+'Yes,' said John, crossing over to the young man's desk and taking a
+chair beside him. The old gentleman now turned to his own papers, and
+left the two young men to talk together.
+
+'Do you mean to say you don't remember a talk we had on deck once about a
+mica-mine?'
+
+Young Longworth looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he could
+not quite make out what he was talking about.
+
+'I remember,' he said, 'your telling me that you had been sent over by
+the London Syndicate to see after certain mines there; but I don't
+remember anything being said in reference to them.'
+
+'It was not in reference to them at all; it was in reference to another
+mine, of which I have secured the option. You will, perhaps, recollect
+that your cousin introduced me to you. You seemed to think at the time
+that the price at which we were going to offer the mine was too low.'
+
+'By Jove, yes! now I do recollect something about it, when you mention
+that. Let me see, how much was it? A million, was it not?'
+
+'No, no' said Kenyon, mopping his brow. He did not at all like the turn
+the conversation had taken. 'Not a million, nor anything like that
+amount.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. You see, my uncle and myself rarely touch
+anything that is not worth while; and anything under a million would be
+hardly worth bothering with, don't you know.'
+
+'I don't think so; it seems to me that something below a million would be
+worth spending a little time on; at least, it would be worth _my_ while.'
+
+'That may be very true; but, you see, my uncle takes large interests only
+in large businesses.'
+
+'If you remember, Mr. Longworth, your uncle was not mentioned in
+connection with this at all. Your cousin seemed to think you might take
+some interest in it yourself. You told me, when I said the price at which
+we wished to offer the mine was fifty thousand pounds, that the sum was
+altogether too small; at least, it left too little margin to divide
+amongst three.'
+
+'Well, I think I was perfectly correct in that.'
+
+'And you further said that, if we increased the capital to two hundred
+thousand pounds, you would take a share in it with us.'
+
+'Did I say that?'
+
+'Yes. It rested with my partner then. I said I would speak to him about
+it, and, if he were willing, I should be. Circumstances occurred which
+made it impossible for me to go into details with him on board the ship;
+but I have spoken to him to-day at his own office, and he is quite
+willing to offer the mine at two hundred thousand pounds, provided the
+figures which I have given him show that it will pay a handsome dividend
+on that sum.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me that, if the mine is really worth two hundred
+thousand pounds, it is a pity to offer it at fifty thousand pounds.
+Doesn't it strike you that way?'
+
+'Yes, it does; so I called to see you with reference to it. I wanted to
+say that Wentworth will go carefully over the figures I have given him,
+and see if there is any mistake about them. If there is not, and if we
+find that the mine will bear inflation to two hundred thousand pounds, we
+shall be very glad of your aid in the matter, and will divide everything
+equally with you. That is to say, each of us will take a third.'
+
+'If I remember rightly, I asked you a question which you did not answer.
+I asked you how much you paid for the mine.'
+
+Kenyon was astonished at this peculiar kind of memory, that could forget
+a whole conversation, and yet remember accurately one detail of it.
+However, he replied:
+
+'Of course, at that time you had not said you would join us. I recognise
+that, if you are to be a partner, it is your right to know exactly what
+we pay for the mine. I may say that we have not paid for it, but have
+merely got an option on it at a certain price, and of course, if we can
+sell it for two hundred thousand pounds, we shall have a large amount to
+divide. Now, if you think you will go in with us, and do your best to
+make this project a success, I will tell you what our option is on the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Well, you see, I can hardly say that I will join you. It is really a
+very small matter. There ought not to be any difficulty in floating that
+mine on the London market, except that it is hardly worth one's while to
+take it up. Still, I should have to know exactly what you are to pay for
+the property before I went any further in the matter.'
+
+'Very well, then, I tell you in confidence, and only because I expect
+you to become a partner with us, that the amount the mine is offered to
+us for is twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+Young Longworth arched his eyeglass.
+
+'It cannot be worth very much if that is all they ask for it.'
+
+'The price they ask for it has really nothing at all to do with the value
+of the mine. They do not know the value of it. They are not working it,
+even now, so as to bring out all there is in it. They are mining for
+mica, and, as I told you, the mineral which they are throwing away is
+very much more valuable than all the mica they can get out of the mine.
+If it were worked rightly, the mica would pay all expenses, as well as a
+good dividend on fifty thousand pounds, while the other mineral would pay
+a large dividend on one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or even two
+hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I see. And you feel positive that there is enough of this mineral to
+hold out for some time?'
+
+'Oh, I am positive of that. There is a whole mountain of it.'
+
+'And do you get the mountain as well as the mine?'
+
+'We get three hundred acres of it, and I think there would be no
+difficulty in buying the rest.'
+
+'Well, that would seem to be a good speculation, and I am sure I hope you
+will succeed in forming your company. How much money are you prepared to
+spend in floating the mine?'
+
+'I have practically nothing at all. My asset, as it were, is the option I
+have on the mine.'
+
+'Then, how are you going to pay the preliminary fees, the advertising in
+the newspapers, the cost of counsel, and all that? These expenses will
+amount to something very heavy in the formation of a company. Of course
+you know that.'
+
+'Well, you see, I think that perhaps we can get two or three men to go
+into this and form our company quietly, without having any of those heavy
+expenses which are necessary in the forming of some companies.'
+
+'My dear sir, when you have been in this business a little longer, you
+will be very much wiser. That cannot be done--at least, I do not believe
+it can be done. I do not know of its having been done, and if you can do
+it, you are a very much cleverer man than I am. Companies are not formed
+for nothing in the City of London. You seem to have the vaguest possible
+notion about how this sort of thing is managed. I may tell you frankly I
+do not think I can go in with you; I have too much else on hand.'
+
+Although Kenyon expected this, he nevertheless felt a grim sense of
+defeat as the young man calmly said these words. Then he blurted out:
+
+'If you had no idea of going in with us, why have you asked me certain
+questions about the property which I would not have answered if I had not
+thought you were going to take an interest in it?'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the other blandly, 'you were at perfect liberty to
+answer those questions or not, as you chose. You chose to answer them,
+and you have no one to blame but yourself if you are sorry you have
+answered them. It really doesn't matter at all to me, as I shall forget
+all you have said in a day or two at furthest.'
+
+'Very well; I have nothing more to say except that what I have told you
+has been said in confidence.'
+
+'Oh, of course. I shall mention it to nobody.'
+
+'Then I wish you good-day.'
+
+Turning to the elder gentleman, he said:
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+The old man raised his eyes rather abstractedly from the paper he was
+reading, and then cordially shook hands with Kenyon.
+
+'If I can do anything,' he said, 'to help you in any matter you have on
+hand, I shall be very pleased to do it. I hope to see you succeed.
+Good-day, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+And with that the young man found himself again in the outer office, and
+shortly afterwards in the busy street, with a keen sense of frustration
+upon him. His first move in the direction of forming a company had been a
+disastrous failure; and thinking of this, he walked past the Mansion
+House and down Cheapside.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+John Kenyon walked along Cheapside feeling very much downhearted over his
+rebuff with Longworth. The pretended forgetfulness of the young man, of
+course, he took at its proper value. He, nevertheless, felt very sorry
+the interview had been so futile, and, instead of going back to Wentworth
+and telling him his experience, he thought it best to walk off a little
+of his disappointment first. He was somewhat startled when a man
+accosted him; and, glancing up, he saw standing there a tall footman,
+arrayed in a drab coat that came down to his heels.
+
+'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the footman, 'but Miss Longworth would
+like to speak to you.'
+
+'Miss Longworth!' cried Kenyon, in surprise; 'where is she?'
+
+'She is here in her carriage, sir.'
+
+The carriage had drawn up beside the pavement, and John Kenyon looked
+round in confusion to see that Miss Longworth was regarding him and the
+footman with an amused air. An elderly woman sat in the carriage opposite
+her, while a grave and dignified coachman, attired somewhat similarly to
+the footman, kept his place like a seated statue in front. John Kenyon
+took off his hat as he approached the young woman, whom he had not seen
+since the last day on the steamer.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' said Edith Longworth brightly, holding out her
+hand to the young man by her carriage. 'Will you not step in? I want to
+talk with you, and I am afraid the police will not allow us to block such
+a crowded thoroughfare as Cheapside.'
+
+As she said this, the nimble footman threw open the door of the carriage,
+while John, not knowing what to say, stepped inside and took his seat.
+
+'Holborn,' said the young woman to the coachman; then, turning to Kenyon,
+she continued: 'Will you not tell me where you are going, so that I may
+know where to set you down?'
+
+'To tell the truth,' said John, 'I do not think I was going anywhere.
+I am afraid I have not yet got over the delight of being back in
+London again, so I sometimes walk along the streets in rather a
+purposeless manner.'
+
+'Well, you did not seem delighted when I first caught sight of you. I
+thought you looked very dejected, and that gave me courage enough to ask
+you to come and talk with me. I said to myself, "There is something wrong
+with the mica-mine," and, with a woman's I curiosity, I wanted to know
+all about it. Now tell me.'
+
+'There is really very little to tell. We have hardly begun yet.
+Wentworth is to-day looking over the figures I gave him, and I have been
+making a beginning by seeing some people who I thought might be
+interested in the mine.'
+
+'And were they?'
+
+'No; they were not.'
+
+'Then, that was the reason you were looking so distressed.'
+
+'I suppose it was.'
+
+'Well, now, Mr. Kenyon, if you get discouraged after an interview with
+the first person you think will be interested in the mine, what will you
+do when a dozen or more people refuse to have anything to do with it?'
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. I am afraid I am not the right person to float
+a mine on the London market. I am really a student, you see, and flatter
+myself I am a man of science. I know what I am about when I am in a
+mine, miles away from civilization; but when I get among men, I feel
+somehow at a loss. I do not understand them. When a man tells me one
+thing to-day, and to-morrow calmly forgets all about it, I confess
+it--well, confuses me.'
+
+'Then the man you have seen to-day has forgotten what he told you
+yesterday. Is that the case?'
+
+'Yes; that is partly the case.'
+
+'But, Mr. Kenyon, the success of your project is not going to depend upon
+what one man says, or two, or three, is it?'
+
+'No; I don't suppose it is.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would not feel discouraged because one man has
+forgotten. I wish I were acquainted with your one man, and I would make
+him ashamed of himself, I think.'
+
+Kenyon flushed as she said this, but made no reply.
+
+The coachman looked round as he came to Holborn, and Miss Longworth
+nodded to him; so he went on without stopping into Oxford Street.
+
+'Now, I take a great interest in your mine, Mr. Kenyon, and hope to see
+you succeed with it. I wish I could help you, or, rather, I wish you
+would be frank with me, and tell me how I can help you. I know a good
+deal about City men and their ways, and I think I may be able to give you
+some good advice--at least, if you would have the condescension to
+consult me.'
+
+Kenyon smiled.
+
+'You are making game of me now, Miss Longworth. Of course, as you said on
+board ship, it is but a very small matter.'
+
+'I never said any such thing. When did I say that?'
+
+'You said that fifty thousand pounds was a small matter.'
+
+'Did I? Well, I am like your man who has forgotten; I have forgotten
+that. I remember saying something about its being too small an amount
+for my father to deal with. Was not that what I said?'
+
+'Yes, I think that was it. It conveyed the idea to my mind that you
+thought fifty thousand pounds a trifling sum indeed.'
+
+Edith Longworth laughed.
+
+'What a terrible memory you have! I do not wonder at your City man
+forgetting. Are you sure what you told him did not happen longer ago than
+yesterday?'
+
+'Yes, it happened some time before.'
+
+'Ah, I thought so; I am afraid it is your own terrible memory, and not
+his forgetfulness, that is to blame.'
+
+'Oh, I am not blaming him at all. A man has every right to change his
+mind, if he wants to do so.'
+
+'I thought only a woman had that privilege.'
+
+'No; for my part I freely accord it to everybody, only sometimes it is a
+little depressing.'
+
+'I can imagine that; in fact, I think no one could be a more undesirable
+acquaintance than a man who forgets to-day what he promised yesterday,
+especially if anything particular depends upon it. Now, why cannot you
+come to our house some evening and have a talk about the mine with my
+cousin or my father? My father could give you much valuable advice with
+reference to it, and I am anxious that my cousin should help to carry
+this project on to success. It is better to talk with them there than at
+their office, because they are both so busy during the day that I am
+afraid they might not be able to give the time necessary to its I
+discussion.'
+
+John Kenyon shook his head.
+
+'I am afraid,' he said, 'that would do no good. I do not think your
+cousin cares to have anything to do with the mine.'
+
+'How can you say that? Did he not discuss the matter with you on
+board ship?'
+
+'Yes; we had some conversation about it there, but I imagine that--I
+really do not think he would care to go any farther with it.'
+
+'Ah, I see,' said Edith Longworth. 'My cousin is the man who "forgot
+to-day what he said yesterday."'
+
+'What am I to say, Miss Longworth? I do not want to say "Yes," and I
+cannot truthfully say "No."'
+
+'You need say nothing. I know exactly how it has been. So he does not
+want to have anything to do with it. What reason did he give?'
+
+'You will not say anything to him about the matter? I should be very
+sorry if he thought that I talked to anyone else of my conference
+with him.'
+
+'Oh, certainly not; I will say nothing to him at all.'
+
+'He gave no particular reason; he simply seemed to have changed his mind.
+But I must say this: he did not appear to be very enthusiastic when I
+discussed it with him on board ship.'
+
+'Well, you see, Mr. Kenyon, it rests with me now to maintain the honour
+of the Longworth family. Do you want to make all the profit there is to
+be made in the mica-mine--that is, yourself and your friend Mr.
+Wentworth?'
+
+'How do you mean--"all the profit"?'
+
+'Well, I mean--would you share the profit with anyone?'
+
+'Certainly, if that person could help us to form the company.'
+
+'Very well; it was on that basis you were going to take in my cousin as a
+partner, was it not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I should like to share in the profits of the mine if he does not
+take an interest in it. If you will let me pay the preliminary expenses
+of forming this company, and if you will then give me a share of what you
+make, I shall be glad to furnish the money you need at the outset.'
+
+John Kenyon looked at Miss Longworth with a smile.
+
+'You are very ingenious, Miss Longworth, but I can see, in spite of your
+way of putting it, that what you propose is merely a form of charity.
+Suppose we did not succeed in forming our company, how could we repay you
+the money?'
+
+'You would not need to repay the money. I would take that risk. It is a
+sort of speculation. If you form the company, then I shall expect a very
+large reward for furnishing the funds. It is purely selfishness on my
+part. I believe I have a head for business. Women in this country do not
+get such chances of developing their business talents as they seem to
+have in America. In that country there are women who have made fortunes
+for themselves. I believe in your mine, and I am convinced you will
+succeed in forming your company. If you or Mr. Wentworth were
+capitalists, of course there would be no need of my assistance. If I were
+alone, I could not form a company. You and Mr. Wentworth can do what I
+cannot do. You can appear before the public and attend to all
+preliminaries. On the other hand, I believe I can do what neither of you
+can do; that is, I can supply a certain amount of money from time to time
+to pay the expenses of forming the company--because a company is not
+formed in London for nothing, I assure you. Perhaps you think you have
+simply to go and see a sufficient number of people and get your company
+formed. I fancy you will find it not so easy as all that. Besides this
+business interest I have in it, I have a very friendly interest in Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+As she said this, she bent over towards John Kenyon, and spoke in a lower
+tone of voice:
+
+'Please do not tell him so, because I think that he is a young man who
+has possibilities of being conceited.'
+
+'I shall say nothing about it,' said Kenyon dolefully.
+
+'Please do not. By the way, I wish you would give me Mr. Wentworth's
+address, so that I may communicate with him if a good idea occurs to me,
+or if I find out something of value in forming our company.'
+
+Kenyon took out a card, wrote the address of Wentworth upon it, and
+handed it to her.
+
+'Thank you,' she said 'You see, I deeply sympathized with Mr. Wentworth
+for what he had to pass through on the steamer.'
+
+'He is very grateful for all you did for him on that occasion,' replied
+Kenyon.
+
+'I am glad of that. People, as a general thing, are not grateful for what
+their friends do for them. I am glad, therefore, that Mr. Wentworth is an
+exception. Well, suppose you talk with him about what I have said, before
+you make up your own mind. I shall be quite content with whatever share
+of the profits you allow me.'
+
+'Ah, that is not business, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, it is not; but I am dealing with you--that is, with Mr.
+Wentworth--and I am sure both of you will do what is right. Perhaps it
+would be better not to tell him who is to furnish the money. Just say you
+have met a friend to-day who offers, for a reasonable share of the
+profits, to supply all the money necessary for the preliminary expenses.
+You will consult with him about it, will you not?'
+
+'Yes, if it is your wish.'
+
+'Certainly it is my wish; and I also wish you to do it so diplomatically
+that you will conceal my name from him more successfully than you
+concealed my cousin's name from me this afternoon.'
+
+'I am afraid I am very awkward,' said John, blushing.
+
+'No; you are very honest, that's all. You are not accomplished in the art
+of telling what is not true. Now, this is where we live; will you come
+in?'
+
+'Thank you, no; I'm afraid not,' said John. 'I must really be going now.'
+
+'Let the coachman take you to your station.'
+
+'No, no, it is not worth the trouble; it is only a step from here.'
+
+'It is no trouble. Which is your station--South Kensington?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well. Drive to South Kensington Station, Parker,' she said to the
+coachman; and then, running up the steps, she waved her hand in good-bye,
+as the carriage turned.
+
+And so John Kenyon, feeling abashed at his own poverty, was driven in
+this gorgeous equipage to the Underground Railway station, where he took
+the train for the City.
+
+As he stepped from the carriage at South Kensington, young Mr. Longworth
+came out of the station on his way home, and was simply dumfounded to see
+Kenyon in the Longworths' carriage.
+
+John passed him without noticing who he was, and just as the coachman was
+going to start again, Longworth said to him:
+
+'Parker, have you been picking up fares in the street?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' replied the respectable Parker; 'the young gentleman as
+just left us came from the City with Miss Longworth.'
+
+'Did he, indeed? Where did you pick him up, Parker?'
+
+'We picked him up in Cheapside, sir.'
+
+'Ah, indeed;' and with that, muttering some imprecations on the cheek of
+Kenyon, he stepped into the carriage and drove home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+George Wentworth was a very much better man than John Kenyon to undertake
+the commercial task they hoped to accomplish. Wentworth had mixed with
+men, and was not afraid of them. Although he had suffered keenly from the
+little episode on the steamer, and although at that trying time he
+appeared to but poor advantage so far as an exhibition of courage was
+concerned, the reason was largely because the blow had been dealt him by
+a woman, and not by a man. If one of Wentworth's fellow-men so far forgot
+himself as to make an insulting or cutting remark to him, Wentworth
+merely shrugged his shoulders and thought no more about it. On the other
+hand, notwithstanding his somewhat cold and calm exterior, John Kenyon
+was as sensitive as a child, and a rebuff such as he received from the
+Longworths was enough to depress him for a week. He had been a student
+all his life, and had not yet learnt the valuable lesson of knowing how
+to look at men's actions with an eye to proportion. Wentworth said to
+himself that nobody's opinion amounted to very much, but Kenyon knew too
+little of his fellows to have arrived at this comforting conclusion.
+
+George Wentworth closed his door when he was alone, drew the mass of
+papers, which Kenyon had left, towards him on his desk, and proceeded
+systematically to find a flaw in them if possible. He said to himself: 'I
+must attack this thing without enthusiasm, and treat Kenyon as if he were
+a thief. I must find an error in the reasoning or something shaky about
+the facts.' He perused the papers earnestly, making pencil-marks on the
+margin here and there. At first he said to himself: 'It is quite evident
+that the mining of the mica will pay for the working of the mine. We can
+look upon the demand for mica as being in a certain sense settled. It has
+paid for the working of the mine so far, also a small dividend, and there
+is no reason to think it should not go on doing so. Now, the uncertain
+quantity is this other stuff, and the uncertain thing about this
+uncertain quantity is the demand for it in the markets of the world, also
+how much the carriage of it is going to cost.' Wentworth had a theory
+that all things were possible if you only knew a man who knew _the_ man.
+There is always _the_ man in everything--the man who is the authority on
+iron; the man who is the authority on mines; the man who is the authority
+on the currency, and the man who knows all about the printing trade. If
+you want any information on any particular subject, it was not necessary
+to know _the_ man, but it was very essential to know a man who can put
+his finger on _the_ man. Get a note of introduction from a man who knows
+_the_ man, and there you are!
+
+Wentworth touched his bell, and a boy answered his summons.
+
+'Ask Mr. Close to step in here for a moment, will you, please?'
+
+The boy disappeared, and shortly after an oldish man with a very
+deferential look, who was perpetually engaged in smoothing one hand
+over the other, came in, and, in a timid manner, closed the door softly
+behind him.
+
+'Close,' said Wentworth, 'who is it that knows everything about the
+china trade?'
+
+'About the china trade, sir?'
+
+'Yes, about the china trade.'
+
+'Wholesale or retail, sir?'
+
+'I want to get at somebody who knows all about the manufacture of china.'
+
+'Ah, the manufacture, sir,' said Close, in a tone that indicated this was
+another matter altogether; 'the manufacture, sir; yes, sir, I really do
+not know who could tell everything about the manufacture of china, sir,
+but I know of a man who could put you on the right track.'
+
+'Very well; that is quite as good.'
+
+'I would see Mr. Melville, if I were you, sir--Mr. Melville, of the great
+Scranton China Company.'
+
+'And what is his address?'
+
+'His address is----' And here the old man stooped over and wrote it on a
+card. 'That will find him, sir. If you can drop a note to Mr. Melville,
+sir, and say you want to learn who knows all about the production of
+china, he will be able to tell you just the man, sir. He is in the
+wholesale china trade himself, sir.'
+
+'Would he be in at this hour, do you think?'
+
+'Oh yes, sir, he is sure to be in his office now.'
+
+'Very well, then; I think I will just run over and see him.'
+
+'Very good, sir; anything more, sir?'
+
+'Nothing more, Close, thank you.'
+
+When the valuable Close had departed as softly and apologetically as he
+had entered, Wentworth picked up one of the specimens of spar which
+Kenyon had taken from the mine, and put it into his pocket. In two
+minutes more he was in a cab, dashing through the crowded streets towards
+Melville's office. By the side of the door of the china company's
+warehouse, inside the hall, were two parallel rows of names--one under
+the general heading of 'Out,' the other under the heading of 'In.' It
+appeared that Mr. Smith was out and Mr. Jones was in, but, what was more
+to the purpose, the name of Richard Melville happened to be in the column
+of those who were inside. After a few moments' delay, Wentworth was
+ushered into the office of this gentleman.
+
+'Mr. Melville,' he said, 'I have been recommended to come to you for
+information regarding the china trade. The information I want, you will,
+perhaps, not be able to give me, but I believe you can tell me to whom I
+should apply for it.' Saying this, he took out of his pocket the specimen
+of mineral which he had brought with him. 'What I want to know is, how
+much of this material you use each year in the manufacture of china; what
+price you pay for it; and I should like to get at an estimate, if
+possible, of the quantity used in England every year.'
+
+Melville picked up the specimen and turned it round and round, looking at
+it attentively.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I could tell you anything you wished about the
+wholesale china trade, but about the manufacture of it I am not so well
+informed. Where did you get this?'
+
+'That,' said Wentworth, 'is from a mine in which I am interested.'
+
+'Ah, where is the mine situated, may I ask?'
+
+'It is in America,' said Wentworth vaguely.
+
+'I see. Have you considered the question of carriage in proposing to put
+it on the English market? That, as you know, is an important question.
+The cost of taking a heavy article a long distance is a great factor in
+the question of its commercial value.'
+
+'I recognise that,' said Wentworth; 'and it is to enable me to form some
+estimate of the value of this material that I ask for particulars of its
+price here.'
+
+'I understand, but I am not able to answer your questions. If you have
+time to wait and see Mr. Brand, our manager of the works, who is also one
+of the owners, he could easily tell you everything about this
+mineral--whether used at all or not. He comes up to London once every
+fortnight, and to-day is his day. I am expecting him here at any time.
+You might wait, if you liked, and see him.'
+
+'I do not think that will be necessary. I will write, if you will allow
+me, just what I want to know, and in two or three minutes he could jot
+down the information I require. Then I will call again to-morrow, if you
+don't mind.'
+
+'Not in the least. I will submit the matter to him. You can leave me this
+piece of mineral, I suppose?'
+
+'Certainly,' said Wentworth, writing on a sheet of paper the questions:
+'First, What quantity of this mineral is used in your works in a year?
+second, What price per ton do you pay for it? third, Will you give me, if
+possible, an estimate of how much of this is used in England?'
+
+'There,' he said, 'if you will give him this slip of paper, and show him
+the specimen of mineral, I shall be very much obliged.'
+
+'By the way,' said Melville, 'is this mine in operation?'
+
+'Yes, it is.'
+
+'Is there anyone else beside yourself interested in it in this country?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, with some hesitation; 'John Kenyon, a mining
+expert, is interested in it, and Mr. Longworth--young Mr. Longworth of
+the City.'
+
+'Any relation to John Longworth?'
+
+'His nephew.'
+
+'Ah, well, anything that Longworth has an interest in is reasonably sure
+of being successful.'
+
+'I am perhaps going too far in saying he has an interest in the mine, but
+in coming from America he seemed desirous of going in with us. My
+partner. John Kenyon, of whom I spoke just now, is with him at the
+present moment, I believe.'
+
+'Very well. I will submit this specimen to Mr. Brand as you desire, and
+will let you know to-morrow what he says.'
+
+With that Wentworth took his leave, and in going out through the hall he
+met the manager of the china works, although he didn't know at the time
+who he was. He was a very shrewd-faced individual, who walked with a
+brisk business step which showed he believed that time was money.
+
+'Well, Melville,' he said when he entered, 'I am a little late to-day,
+am I not?'
+
+'You are a little behind the usual time, but not much.'
+
+'By the way----' began the manager, and then his eye wandered to the
+specimen on the desk before Melville. 'Hello!' he cried, 'where did you
+get this?'
+
+'That was left here a moment ago by a gentleman whom I wanted to wait
+until you came, but he seemed to be in a hurry. He is going to call again
+to-morrow.'
+
+'What is his name?'
+
+'Wentworth. Here's his card.'
+
+'Ah, of a firm of accountants, eh? How did he come to have this?'
+
+'He wanted to get some information about it, and I told him I would show
+it to you. Here is the note he left.'
+
+The manager turned the crystal over and over in his hand, put on his
+eyeglasses and peered into it, then picked up the piece of paper and
+looked at what Kenyon had written.
+
+'Did he say where he had got this?'
+
+'Yes; he says there is a mine of it in America.'
+
+'In America, eh? Did he say how much of this stuff there was?
+
+'No; he didn't tell me that. The mine is working, however.'
+
+'It is very curious! I never heard of it.'
+
+'I gathered from him,' said Mr. Melville, 'that he wishes to do something
+with the mine over here. He did not say much, but he told me his
+partner--I forget his name--was talking at the present moment with young
+Longworth about it.'
+
+'Longworth--who's he?'
+
+'He's a man who goes in for mines or other investments; that is, his
+uncle does--a very shrewd old fellow, too. He is always on the right side
+of the market, no matter how it turns.'
+
+'Then, he would be a man certain to know the value of the property if he
+had it, wouldn't he?'
+
+'I don't know anybody who knows the value of what he has better than
+Longworth.'
+
+'Ah, that's a pity,' mused the manager.
+
+'Why? Is it a mineral of any worth?'
+
+'Worth! A quarry of this would be better for us than a gold-mine!'
+
+'Well, it struck me, in talking with Mr. Wentworth, that he had no
+particular idea of its utility. He seemed to know nothing about it, and
+that's why he came here for information.'
+
+Again the manager looked at the paper before him.
+
+'I'm not so sure about that,' he said. 'He wants to know the quantity
+used in a year, how much of it is consumed in England, and the price we
+pay for it per ton. I should judge, from that, he has an inkling of its
+value, and wants merely to corroborate it. Yes, I feel certain that is
+his move. I fear nothing very much can be done with Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'What were you thinking of doing?'
+
+'My dear Melville, if we could get hold of such a mine, supposing it has
+an unlimited quantity of this mineral in it, we could control the china
+markets of the world.'
+
+'You don't mean it!'
+
+'It's a fact, because of the purity of the mineral. The stuff that we use
+is heavily impregnated with iron; we have to get the iron out of it, and
+that costs money. Not that the stuff itself is uncommon at all, it is one
+of the most common substances in Nature; but anything so pure as this I
+have never seen. I wonder if it is a fair specimen of what they can get
+out of the mine? If it is, I would rather own that property than any
+gold-mine I know of.'
+
+'Well, I will see Mr. Wentworth, if you like. He is going to call here
+about this time to-morrow, and I will find out if some arrangement cannot
+be made with him.'
+
+'No, I wouldn't do that,' replied the manager, who preferred never to do
+things in a direct way. 'I think your best plan is to see Longworth. The
+chances are that a City man like him does not know the value of the
+property; and, if you don't mind, I will write a letter to Mr. Wentworth
+and give him my opinion on this mineral.'
+
+'What shall I say to Longworth?'
+
+'Say anything you like; you understand that kind of business better than
+I. Here are the facts of the case. If we can get a controlling interest
+in this mine, always supposing that it turns out mineral up to sample--I
+suspect that this is a picked specimen; of course we should have to send
+a man to America and see--if we could get hold of this property, it would
+be the greatest feat in business we have ever done, provided, of course,
+we get it at a cheap enough price.'
+
+'What do you call a cheap enough price?'
+
+'You find out what Longworth will sell the mine for.'
+
+'But supposing Wentworth owns the mine, or as much of it as
+Longworth does?'
+
+'I think, somehow, that if you know Longworth you can perhaps make better
+terms with him. Meanwhile I will send a letter to Wentworth. You have his
+address there?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well.'
+
+Taking his pen, he dashed off the following letter:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'I regret to say that the mineral you left at our office yesterday is of
+no value to us. We do not use mineral of this nature, and, so far as I
+know, it is not used anywhere in England.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'ADAM BRAND.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+The chances are that, no matter under what circumstances young Longworth
+and Kenyon had first met, the former would have disliked the latter.
+Although strong friendships are formed between men who are dissimilar,
+it must not be forgotten that equally strong hatreds have arisen between
+people merely because they were of opposite natures. No two young men
+could have been more unlike each other; and as Longworth recalled the
+different meetings he had had with Kenyon, he admitted to himself that he
+had an extreme antipathy to the engineer. The evident friendship which
+his cousin felt for Kenyon added a bitterness to this dislike which was
+rapidly turning it into hate. However, he calmed down sufficiently, on
+going home in the carriage, to become convinced that it was better to say
+nothing about her meeting with Kenyon unless she introduced the subject.
+After all, the carriage was hers, not his, and he recognised that fact.
+He wondered how much Kenyon had told her of the interview at his uncle's
+office. He flattered himself, however, that he knew enough of women to be
+sure that she would very speedily refer to the subject, and then he hoped
+to learn just how much had been said. To his surprise, his cousin said
+nothing at all about the matter, neither that evening nor the next
+morning, and, consequently, he went to his office in a somewhat
+bewildered state of mind.
+
+On arriving at his room in the City, he found Melville waiting for him.
+
+Melville shook hands with young Longworth, and, taking a mineral specimen
+from his pocket, placed it on the young man's desk, saying;
+
+'I suppose you know where that comes from?'
+
+Longworth looked at it with an air of indecision which made Melville
+suspect he knew very little about it.
+
+'I haven't the slightest idea, really.'
+
+'No? I was told you were interested in the mine from which this was
+taken. Mr. Wentworth called on me yesterday, and gave your name as one of
+those who were concerned with the mine.'
+
+'Ah, yes, I see; yes, yes, I have--some interest in the mine.'
+
+'Well, it is about that I came to talk with you. Where is the mine
+situated?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, I believe, some distance above Montreal. I
+am not certain about its exact position, but it is somewhere in that
+neighbourhood.'
+
+'I thought by the way Wentworth talked it was in the United States. He
+mentioned another person as being his partner in the affair; I forget
+his name.'
+
+'John Kenyon, probably.'
+
+'Kenyon! Yes, I think that was the name. Yes, I am sure it was. Now, may
+I ask what is your connection with that mine? Are you a partner of
+Wentworth's and Kenyon's? Are you the chief owner of the mine, or is the
+mine owned by them?'
+
+'In the first place, Mr. Melville, I should like to know why you ask me
+these questions?'
+
+Melville laughed.
+
+'Well, I will tell you. We should like to know what chance there is of
+our getting a controlling interest in the mine. That is very frankly put,
+isn't it?'
+
+'Yes, it is. But whom do you mean by "we"? Who else besides yourself?'
+
+'By "we" I mean the china company to which I belong. This mineral is
+useful in making china. That I suppose you know.'
+
+'Yes, I was aware of that,' answered Longworth, although he heard it now
+for the first time.
+
+'Very well, then; I should like to know who is the owner of the mine.'
+
+'The owner of the mine at present is some foreigner whose name and
+address I do not know. The two young men you speak of have an option on
+that mine for a certain length of time--how long I don't know. They have
+been urging me to go in with them to form a company for the floating of
+that mine for two hundred thousand pounds on the London market.'
+
+'Two hundred thousand pounds!' said Melville. 'That seems to me rather a
+large amount.'
+
+'Do you think so? Well, the objection I had to it was that it was too
+small.'
+
+'Those two men must have an exaggerated idea of the value of this mineral
+if they think it will pay dividends on two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'This mineral is not all there is in the mine. In fact, it is already
+paying a dividend on fifty thousand pounds or thereabouts, because of the
+mica in it. It is being mined for mica alone. To tell the truth, I did
+not know much about the other mineral.'
+
+'And do you think the mine is worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'Frankly, I do not.'
+
+'Then why are you connected with it?'
+
+'I am not connected with it--at least, not definitely connected with it.
+I have the matter under consideration. Of course, if there is anything
+approaching a swindle in it, I shall have nothing to do with it. It will
+depend largely on the figures that the two men show me whether I have
+anything to do with it or not.'
+
+'I see; I understand your position.' Then, lowering his voice, Melville
+leaned over towards Longworth, and said: 'You are a man of business. Now,
+I want to ask you what would be the chance of our getting the mine at
+something like the original option priced which is, of course, very much
+less than two hundred thousand pounds? We do not want to have too many in
+it. In fact, if you could get it for us at a reasonable rate, and did not
+care to be troubled with the property yourself, we would take the whole
+ourselves.'
+
+Young Longworth pondered a moment, and then said to Melville:
+
+'Do you mean to freeze out the other two fellows, as they say in
+America?'
+
+'I do not know about freezing out; but, of course, with the other two
+there is so much less profit to be divided. We should like to deal with
+just as few as if possible.'
+
+'Exactly. I see what you mean. I think it can be done. Are you in any
+great hurry to secure the mine?'
+
+'Not particularly. Why?'
+
+'Well, if things are worked rightly, I don't know but what we could get
+it for the original option. That would mean, of course, to wait until
+this first option had run out.'
+
+'Wouldn't there be a little danger in that? They may form their company
+in the meantime, and then we should lose everything. Our interest in the
+matter is as much to prevent anyone else getting hold of the mine as to
+get it ourselves.'
+
+'I see. I will think it over. I believe it can be done without great
+risk; but, of course, we shall have to be reasonably quiet about the
+matter.'
+
+'I see the necessity of that.'
+
+'Very good. I will see you again after I have thought over the affair,
+and we can come to some arrangement.'
+
+'I may say that our manager has written a note to Wentworth, saying that
+this mineral is of no particular use to us.'
+
+'Exactly,' said young Longworth, with a look of intelligence.
+
+'So, of course, in speaking with Wentworth about the mine, it is just as
+well not to mention us in any way.'
+
+'I shall not.'
+
+'Very well. I will leave the matter in your hands for the present.'
+
+'Yes, do so. I will think over it this afternoon, and probably see
+Wentworth and Kenyon to-morrow. There is no immediate hurry, for I happen
+to know they have not done anything yet.'
+
+With that Mr. Melville took his leave, and young Longworth paced up and
+down the room, evolving a plan that would at once bring him money and
+give him the satisfaction of making it lively for John Kenyon.
+
+When he reached home, Longworth waited for his cousin to say something
+about Kenyon; but he soon saw that she did not intend to speak of him at
+all. So he said to her:
+
+'Edith, do you remember Kenyon and Wentworth--who were on board our
+steamer?'
+
+'I remember them very well.'
+
+'Did you know they had a mining property for sale?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'I have been thinking about it--in fact, Kenyon called at my office a day
+or two ago, and at that time, not having given the subject much thought,
+I could not give him any encouragement; but I have been pondering over it
+since, and have almost decided to help them. What do you think about it?'
+
+'Oh, I think it would be an excellent plan. I am sure the property is a
+good one, or Mr. Kenyon would have nothing to do with it. I shall write a
+note to them, if you think it advisable, inviting them here to talk with
+you about it.'
+
+'That will not be necessary at all. I do not want people to come here to
+talk business. My office is the proper place.'
+
+'Still, we met them in a friendly way on board the steamer, and I think
+it would be nice if they came here some evening and talked over the
+matter with you.'
+
+'I don't believe in introducing business into a man's home. This would be
+a purely business conversation, and it may as well take place at my
+office, or at Wentworth's, if he has one, as I suppose he has.'
+
+'Oh, certainly; his address is----'
+
+'Oh, you know it, do you?'
+
+Edith blushed as she realized what she had said; then she remarked:
+
+'Is there any harm in my knowing the business address of Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'Oh, not at all--not at all. I merely wondered how you happened to know
+his address, when I didn't.'
+
+'Well, it doesn't matter how I know it. I am glad you are going to join
+him, and I am sure you will be successful. Will you see them to-morrow?'
+
+'I think so. I shall call on Wentworth and have a talk with him about it.
+Of course we may not be able to come to a workable arrangement. If not,
+it really does not matter very much. But if I can make satisfactory terms
+with them, I will help them to form their company.'
+
+When Edith went to her own room she wrote a note. It was addressed to
+George Wentworth in the City, but above that address was the name John
+Kenyon. She said:
+
+'DEAR MR. KENYON,
+
+'I was certain at the time you spoke that my cousin was not so much at
+fault in forgetting his conversation as you thought. We had a talk to
+night about the mine, and when he calls upon you tomorrow, as he intends
+to do, I want you to know that I said nothing whatever to him of what you
+told me. He mentioned the subject first. I wanted you to know this
+because you might feel embarrassed when you met him by thinking I had
+sent him to you. That is not at all the case. He goes to you of his own
+accord, and I am sure you will find his assistance in forming a company
+very valuable. I am glad to think you will be partners.
+
+'Yours very truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.'
+
+She gave this letter to her maid to post, and young Longworth met the
+maid in the hall with the letter in her hand. He somehow suspected, after
+the foregoing conversation, to whom the letter was addressed.
+
+'Where are you going with that?'
+
+'To the post, sir.'
+
+'I am going out; to save you the trouble I will take it.'
+
+After passing the corner, he looked at the address on the envelope; then
+he swore to himself a little. If he had been a villain in a play he would
+have opened the letter; but he did not. He merely dropped it into the
+first pillar-box he came to, and in due time it reached John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+Although Jennie Brewster arrived in London angry with the world in
+general, and with several of its inhabitants in particular, she soon
+began to revel in the delights of the great city. It was so old that it
+was new to her, and she visited Westminster Abbey and other of its
+ancient landmarks in rapid succession. The cheapness of the hansoms
+delighted her, and she spent most of her time dashing about in cabs. She
+put up at one of the big hotels, and ordered many new dresses at a place
+in Regent Street. She bought most of the newspapers, morning and evening,
+and declared she could not find an interesting article in any of them.
+From her point of view they were stupid and unenterprising, and she
+resolved to run down the editor of one of the big dailies when she got
+time, interview him, and discover how he reconciled it with his
+conscience to publish so dull a sheet every day.
+
+She wrote to her editor in New York that London, though a slow town, was
+full of good material, and that nobody had touched it in the writing line
+since Dickens' time; therefore she proposed to write a series of
+articles on the Metropolis that would wake them up a bit. The editor
+cabled to her to go ahead, and she went.
+
+Jennie engaged a chaperon, and took great satisfaction in this unwonted
+luxury. It had been intimated to her that Lady Willow was a sort of
+society St. Peter, who held keys that would open the gates of the social
+heaven, if she were sufficiently recompensed. Of all the ancient
+landmarks of England, none attracted Jennie so much as the aristocracy,
+and although she had written to New York for letters of introduction that
+would be useful in London, she was too impatient to await their arrival.
+Thus she came to secure the services of Lady Willow, the widow of Sir
+Debenham Willow, who had died abroad, insolvent, some years before,
+mourned by the creditors he left behind him.
+
+Jennie was suspicious about the title, and demanded convincing proofs of
+its genuineness before she engaged Lady Willow. She was amazed that any
+real lady would, as it were, sell her social influence at so much a week;
+but, as Lady Willow was equally astonished that an American girl earned
+her livelihood by writing for the papers, the surprise of the one found
+its counterpart in the wonder of the other.
+
+Lady Willow thought all American girls were born daughters of
+millionaires, in accordance with some unexplained Western by-law of
+nature, and imagined that their sole object in desiring to enter London
+society was to purchase for themselves a more or less expensive scion of
+the aristocracy; she was therefore inclined to resent meeting a shrewd
+young woman apparently determined on getting the value for her money.
+
+'It is not my custom to chaffer about terms,' said Lady Willow with
+much dignity.
+
+'It is mine,' replied Jennie complacently; 'I always like to know what I
+am buying, and the price I am to pay for it.'
+
+'You are dealing with me,' said the lady, rising indignantly, 'as if you
+were engaging a cook. I am sure we would not suit each other at all.'
+
+'Please sit down, Lady Willow, and don't be offended. Let us talk it over
+in an amicable manner, even if we come to no arrangement. I think a cook
+an exceedingly important person, and I assure you I would treat one in
+the most deferential manner; while with you, on the other hand, I talk in
+an open and frank way, as between friend and friend. I take it that you
+and I are somewhat similarly situated. We are neither of us rich, and so
+we have each of us to earn the money we need in our own way. It would be
+dishonest if I pretended to you that I was wealthy, and then couldn't pay
+what you expected after you had done all you could for me--now, wouldn't
+it? Very well, if you have anyone else to chaperon who can afford to pay
+more than I can, you shouldn't bother about me at all, but secure a
+richer client.'
+
+Lady Willow remembered that this was not the season when rich clients
+abounded; so she smothered her resentment, and sat down again.
+
+'That's right,' said Jennie; 'we'll have a nice quiet talk, whatever
+comes of it. Now, if you like, I could write a lovely article about you
+in the _Sunday Argus_, and then all rich girls who come over here would
+go direct to you.'
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear!' cried Lady Willow, evidently inexpressibly shocked
+at the idea, 'you would surely never do so cruel a thing as that? If my
+friends knew I chaperoned young ladies and took money for it, I would
+never be allowed to enter their doors again.'
+
+'Ah, I didn't think of that. Of course it wouldn't do. What a curious
+thing it is that those who want to be written up in the papers generally
+never see their names in print; while those who don't want to have
+anything said about them are the people the reporters are always after.'
+
+'Do you write for the papers, then?'
+
+'For one of them.'
+
+'How dreadful!' said Lady Willow, rising again, with an air of finality
+about her movement. It was evident that any dealings with this American
+girl were out of the question.
+
+'Do sit down again, Lady Willow. We will take it that I am hopelessly
+ineligible, and so say no more about it; but I do want to have a talk
+with you.'
+
+'But you will write something----'
+
+'I shall not write a word about you or about anything you tell me. You
+see, your profession is as strange to me as mine is to you.'
+
+'My profession? I have none.'
+
+'Well, whatever you call it. I mean the way in which you make your
+money.'
+
+Lady Willow sighed, and the tears came into her eyes.
+
+'You little know, my child, to what straits one may come who is left
+unprovided for, and who has to do the best to keep up appearances.'
+
+Jennie sprang up instantly and took the unresisting hand of the elder
+woman, smoothing it with her own caressingly.
+
+'Why, of course I know,' she cried, with a little quaver in her voice;
+'and there is nothing more terrible on earth than lack of money. If there
+was a single really civilized country in existence, it would make
+provision for its women. Every woman should be assured enough to live on,
+merely because she is a woman. If England had put aside as much for its
+women as it has spent in the last hundred years on foolish wars, or if
+America had made a fund of what its politicians have been allowed to
+steal, the women of both barbarous countries might have been provided
+with incomes that would at least keep them from the fear of want.'
+
+Lady Willow seemed more alarmed than comforted by the vehemence of Miss
+Brewster. She said hesitatingly:
+
+'I'm afraid you have some very strange ideas, my dear.'
+
+'Perhaps; but I have one idea that isn't strange: it is that you are
+going to take charge of a lonesome, friendless girl for a few weeks at
+least--until the rich pork-packer's daughter from Chicago comes along,
+and she won't be here for a month or two yet. We won't say a word about
+terms; I'll pay you all that's left over from my hansom fares.'
+
+'I shall be very happy to do what I can for you, my dear.'
+
+Lady Willow had softened towards her fair client, and had now adopted a
+somewhat motherly tone with her, which Jennie evidently liked.
+
+'I will try and be very little trouble to you, although I shall probably
+ask you ever so many questions. All I really want is merely to see the
+Zoo, hear the animals roar, and watch them being fed. I have no ambition
+to steal any of them.'
+
+'Oh, that will be easily done,' said Lady Willow in surprise. 'We can get
+tickets from one of the Fellows of the Zoological Society which will
+admit us on Sunday, when there are but few people there.'
+
+Jennie laughed merrily.
+
+'I mean the social Zoo, Lady Willow; I have visited the other already.
+Please do not look so shocked at me, and don't be afraid; I really
+talk very nicely when I am in society, and I am sure you will not be
+in the least ashamed of me. You see, I haven't had a soul to speak with
+since I came to London, so I think I ought to be allowed a little
+latitude at first.'
+
+Lady Willow so far relaxed her dignity as to smile, although a little
+dubiously; and Jennie joyfully proclaimed that their compact was sealed
+and that she was sure they would be great friends.
+
+'Now you must tell me what I am to do,' she continued. 'I suppose dresses
+are the most important preliminaries when one is meditating a siege on
+society. Well, I've ordered ever so many, so that's all right. What's the
+next thing?'
+
+'Yes, dress is important; but I think the first thing to do is to choose
+pleasant rooms somewhere. You can't stay at this hotel, you know;
+besides, it must be very expensive.'
+
+'Yes, it is rather; but it is so handy and central.'
+
+'It is not central for society.'
+
+'Oh, isn't it? I was thinking of Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square,
+and that sort of thing. Besides, there's _always_ a nice hansom right at
+the door whenever one wants to go out.'
+
+'Oh, but you mustn't ride in hansoms, you know!'
+
+'Why? I thought the aristocracy--the very highest--rode in hansoms.'
+
+'Some of them have private hansoms; but that's a very different thing.'
+
+'And I heard somewhere that most of the hansoms in London are owned by
+the aristocracy. I am sure I rode in one belonging to the Marquis of
+Something--I forget his name. I don't suppose the Marquis himself drove
+it. Perhaps it was driven by his hired man; but the driver was such a
+nice young fellow, and he gave me a lot of information. He told me that
+the Marquis owned the hansom; for I asked him whose it was. I thought
+perhaps it belonged to the driver. I'll give up the hotel willingly, but
+I don't know about hansoms. I'm afraid to promise; for I feel sure I'll
+hail a hansom automatically the moment I go out alone. So we will
+postpone the hansom question until later. Now, where would you recommend
+me to stay while in London?'
+
+'You could stop with me if you liked. I have not a large house; but there
+is room for one or two friends, and it is in a very good locality.'
+
+'Oh, that will be delightful. I suppose the correct address on one's
+notepaper is everything, almost as good as a coat-of-arms--if they use
+coats-of-arms as letter-heads; and there is a difference between Drury
+and Park when they precede the word "Lane."'
+
+The two ladies speedily came to an understanding that was satisfactory to
+each of them, and Lady Willow found, to the no small comforting of her
+dignity, that, although she came to the hotel in the attitude of one who,
+if it may be so expressed, sought a favour, the impetuous eagerness of
+the younger woman had so changed the situation that the elder lady now
+left with the gratifying self complacency of a generous person who has
+conferred a boon. Nor was her condescension without its reward, both
+material and intellectual, for not only did Jennie pay her way with some
+lavishness, but her immediate social success was flattering to Lady
+Willow as the introducer of a Transatlantic cousin so bright and
+vivacious.
+
+So great an impression did Jennie make upon the more susceptible portion
+of the young men she met under Lady Willow's chaperonage, that even the
+rumour which got abroad, that she had no money, did not damp the devotion
+of all of them. Lord Frederick Bingham was quite as assiduous in his
+attentions as if she were the greatest heiress that ever crossed the
+ocean to exchange dubiously won gold for a title founded by some thief in
+the Middle Ages, thus bringing ancient and modern villainy into
+juxtaposition.
+
+Lady Willow saw Lord Frederick's preference with pleasurable surprise.
+Although she did not altogether approve of the damsel in her care, she
+had become very fond of her; but she failed to see why Jennie was so much
+sought after, when other girls, almost as pretty and much more eligible,
+were neglected. She hinted delicately to the young woman one day that
+perhaps her visit to England would not be, after all, so futile.
+
+'I don't think I understand you,' said Jennie.
+
+'Well, my dear, with a little tact on your part, I'm not at all sure but
+Lord Frederick Bingham might propose.'
+
+Jennie, who was putting on her gloves, paused and looked at Lady Willow,
+with a merry twinkle in her eyes, and a demure smile hovering about the
+corners of her mouth.
+
+'Do you imagine, then, that I have come over here to ensnare some poor
+unprotected nobleman--with a display of tact? Oh dear me! As if tact had
+anything to do with it! Never, never, never, Lady Willow! I wouldn't
+marry an Englishman if he were the last man left on earth.'
+
+'Many Englishmen are very nice, my dear,' protested Lady Willow gently,
+with a deep sigh, for she thought of her own husband, who, having been
+all his life an irreclaimable reprobate, had commanded her utmost
+affection while he lived, and was the object of her tenderest regret now
+that he had taken his departure from a world that had never appreciated
+his talents; although its influence was, in the estimation of the widow,
+entirely to blame for those shortcomings which Sir Debenham had been
+unable to conceal.
+
+'And yet,' continued Jennie inconsequently, as she buttoned her glove,
+'I do adore a title; I wonder why that is? I suppose no woman is ever at
+heart a republican, and if the United States is to be wrecked, it is the
+women who will do the wrecking, and start a monarchy. I have no doubt
+the men would let us proclaim an empire now if they imagined it would
+please us.'
+
+'I thought you were all sovereigns over there already,' said Lady Willow.
+
+'Oh, we are, but that's just the trouble. There is too much competition
+in the queen business; there are too many of us, and so we exchange our
+sovereignty for the lesser titles of duchesses and countesses and all
+that.
+
+  '"It is no trivial thing, I ween,
+  To be a regular Royal Queen.
+  No half and half affair, I mean,
+  But a right down regular, regular regular regular Royal Queen."
+
+I don't know that the words are right, but the sentiment is there. Oh
+dear me! I'm afraid I'm becoming quite English, you know.'
+
+'I don't see many signs of it,' said Lady Willow, smiling in spite of
+herself as her voluble companion sang and danced about the room.
+
+'Come, Lady Willow,' cried Jennie, 'get on your things; I am going to a
+City bank to cash a cheque, and I warn you that I will take a hansom.
+Lord Freddie agrees with me that a hansom is the jolliest kind of
+vehicle: please don't frown at me, Lady Willow--"jolliest" is Lord
+Freddie's word, not mine.'
+
+'What I didn't like,' said Lady Willow, with as near an approach to
+severity as the kindly woman could assume, 'was your calling him
+Lord Freddie.'
+
+'Oh, that's his phrase, too! He says everybody calls him Lord Freddie.
+But come along, and I'll call him Lord--Frederick--Bingham,' with a voice
+of awe and appropriate pauses between the words. 'He always seems so
+trivial compared with his name; he reminds me of a salesman at a remnant
+counter, and I don't wonder everybody calls him Lord Freddie. I'm afraid
+I'm a disappointed woman, Lady Willow. I suppose the men have retrograded
+since armour went out of fashion; they had to be big and strong then to
+carry so much hardware. Of course it makes a difference to a man whether
+his tailor cuts him a suit out of broadcloth or out of sheet iron. Yes,
+I begin to suspect that I've come to England several centuries too late.'
+
+Lady Willow was too much shocked at these frivolous remarks to make any
+reply, so, attempting none, she went to her room to prepare for her trip
+to the City.
+
+Leaving Lady Willow in the hansom, Jennie entered the bank and got the
+white notes, generally alluded to in fiction as 'crisp,' stuffing them
+with greater carelessness than their value warranted into her purse. She
+took from this receptacle of her wealth a bit of paper on which was
+written an address, and this she looked at for some moments before
+leaving the bank. On reaching the hansom, she handed up the slip of paper
+to the driver.
+
+'Do you know where that is?' she asked.
+
+'Yes, miss; it is just round the corner.'
+
+'Well, drive to the opposite side of the street, and stop where I can see
+the door of No. 23.'
+
+'Very good, miss.'
+
+Arriving nearly opposite No. 23, the driver pulled up. Jennie looked
+across at the doorway where many hurrying men were entering and leaving.
+It was a large building evidently filled with offices; the girl drew a
+deep breath, but made no motion to leave the hansom.
+
+'Have you business here, too?' asked Lady Willow, to whom the City was an
+unknown land, the rush and noise of which were unpleasantly bewildering.
+
+'No,' said Jennie, with a doleful note in her voice, 'this is not
+business; it is pleasure. I want to sit here for a few minutes and
+think.'
+
+'But, my dear child,' expostulated Lady Willow, 'you can't think in this
+babel; besides, the police will not allow the hansom to stand here unless
+one of us is shopping, or has business in an office.'
+
+'Then, dear Lady Willow, do go shopping for ten minutes; I saw some
+lovely shops just down the street. Here are five pounds, and if you see
+anything that I ought to have, buy it for me. One must think now and
+then, you know. Our thoughts are like the letters we receive; we need to
+sort them out periodically, and discard those that we don't wish to keep.
+I want to rummage over my thoughts and see whether some of them are to be
+abandoned or not.'
+
+When Lady Willow left her, Jennie sat with her chin in her hands and her
+elbows on her knees gazing across at No. 23. The faces of none who went
+in or came out were familiar to her. Frequently glances were cast at her
+by passers-by, but she paid no heed to the crowd, nor to the fleeting
+admiration her pretty face aroused in many a flinty stockbroking breast,
+if, indeed, she was conscious of the attention she received. She awoke
+from her reverie when Lady Willow stepped into the hansom.
+
+'What, back already?' she cried.
+
+'I have been away for a quarter of an hour,' said the elder woman
+reproachfully. 'Besides, the money is all spent, and here are the
+parcels.'
+
+'Money doesn't go far in the City, does it?' said Jennie.
+
+'Why, what's the matter with you, my dear?' asked the elder woman; 'your
+voice sounds as if you had been crying.'
+
+'Nonsense! What an idea! This street reminds me so of Broadway that I
+have become quite homesick, that's all. I think I'll go back to New
+York.'
+
+'Have you met somebody from over there?'
+
+'No, no. I've seen no one I knew.'
+
+'Did you expect to?'
+
+'Perhaps.'
+
+'I didn't know you had any friends in the City.'
+
+'I haven't. He's an enemy.'
+
+'Really? An enemy who was once a friend?'
+
+'Yes. Why do you ask so many questions?'
+
+Lady Willow took the girl's hand, and said soothingly:
+
+'I am sorry there was a misunderstanding.'
+
+'So am I,' agreed Jennie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered the office of his friend next morning, Wentworth
+said to him:
+
+'Well, what luck with the Longworths?'
+
+'No luck at all,' was the answer; 'the young man seemed to have forgotten
+all about our conversation on board the steamer, and the old gentleman
+takes no interest in the matter.'
+
+Wentworth hemmed and tapped on the desk with the end of his lead pencil.
+
+'I never counted much on that young fellow,' he said at last. 'What
+appeared to be his reason?'
+
+'I don't know exactly. He didn't give any reason. He merely said that he
+would have nothing to do with it, after having got me to tell him what
+our option on the mine was.'
+
+'Why did you tell him that?'
+
+'Well, it seemed, after I had talked to him a little, that there was some
+hope of his going in with us. I told him point-blank that I didn't care
+to say at what figure we had the option unless he was going in with us.
+He said of course he couldn't consider the matter at all unless he knew
+to what he was committed; and so I told him.'
+
+'And what excuse did he make for not joining us?'
+
+'Oh, he merely said he thought he would have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Now, what do you imagine his object was in pumping you if he had no
+intention of taking an interest in the mine?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. I do not understand that sort of man at all. In
+fact, I feel rather relieved he is going to have nothing to do with it. I
+distrust him.'
+
+'That's all very well, John, you are prejudiced against him; but you know
+the name of Longworth would have a very great effect upon the minds of
+other City men. If we can get the Longworths into this, even for a small
+amount, I am certain that we shall have very little trouble in floating
+the company.'
+
+'Well, all I can say is, my mission to the Longworths was a failure. Have
+you looked over the papers?'
+
+'Oh yes, and that reminds me. The point on which the whole scheme turns
+is the availability of the mineral for the making of china, isn't it?'
+
+'That is so.'
+
+'Well, look at this letter; it came this morning.'
+
+He tossed the letter over to Kenyon, who read it, and then asked:
+
+'Who's Adam Brand? He doesn't know what he is talking about.'
+
+'Ah, but the trouble is that he does. No man in England better, I should
+imagine. He is the manager and part owner of the big Scranton china
+works. I went to see Melville of that company yesterday. He could tell
+me nothing about the mineral, but kept the specimen I gave him, and told
+me he would show it to the manager when he came in. Brand is the manager
+of the works, and if anybody knows the value of the mineral, he ought to
+be the man.'
+
+'Nevertheless,' said Kenyon, 'he is mistaken.'
+
+'That is just the point of the whole matter--is he? The mineral is either
+valueless, as he says, or he is telling a deliberate lie for some
+particular purpose; and I can't see, for the life of me, why a stranger
+should not only tell a falsehood, but write it on paper. Now, John, what
+do you know about china manufacture?'
+
+'I know very little indeed about it.'
+
+'Very well, then, how can you put your knowledge against this man's, who
+is a practical manufacturer?'
+
+Kenyon looked at Wentworth, who was evidently not feeling in the best
+of humours.
+
+'Do you mean to say, George, that I do not know what I am talking about
+when I tell you that this mineral is valuable for a certain purpose?'
+
+'Well, you have just admitted that you know nothing about the china
+trade.'
+
+'Not "nothing," George--I know something about it; but what I do
+understand is the value of minerals. The reason I know anything at all
+about china manufacture is simply because I learned that this mineral is
+one of the most important components of china.'
+
+'Then why did that man write such a letter?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. As you saw the man, you can judge better than I
+whether he would tell a deliberate falsehood, or whether he was merely
+ignorant.'
+
+'I didn't see Brand at all; I saw Melville. Melville was to submit this
+mineral to Brand, and let me know what he thought about it. Of course,
+everything depends upon the value of it in the china trade.'
+
+'Of course.'
+
+'Very well then, I took the only way that was open to me to find out what
+practical men say about it. If they say they will have nothing to do with
+it, then we might as well give up our mining scheme and send back our
+option to Mr. Von Brent.'
+
+Kenyon read the letter again, and pondered deeply over it.
+
+'You see, of course,' said George once more, 'everything hinges on that,
+don't you?'
+
+'I certainly see that.'
+
+'Then, what have you to say?'
+
+'I have to say this--that I shall have to take a trip among the china
+works of Great Britain. I think it would be a good plan if you were to
+write to the different manufacturers in the United States and find out
+how much they use of it. There is no necessity for sending the mineral.
+They have to use that, and nothing else will do. Find out from them, if
+you can, how much of it they need, what price they will pay for pure
+material, and what they pay for the impure material they use now.'
+
+'How do you know, John, that there are not a dozen mines with that
+material in them?'
+
+'How do I know? Well, if you want to impugn my knowledge of mineralogy, I
+wish you would do so straight out. I either know my business or I do not.
+If you think I do not, then leave this matter entirely alone. I tell you
+that what I say about this mineral is true. What I say about its scarcity
+is true. There are no other mines with mineral so pure as this.'
+
+'I am perfectly satisfied when you say that, but you must remember those
+who are going to put their money in this company will not be satisfied.
+They must have the facts and figures down before them, and they are not
+going to take either your word or mine as to the value of the mineral.
+Your proposal about seeing the different manufactories is good. I would
+act upon it at once, if I were you. We must have the opinions of
+practical men set forth clearly before we can make a move in the matter.
+Now, how much of this mineral have you got?'
+
+'Only the few lumps I took with me in my portmanteau. The barrel full of
+it which we got at Burntpine has not arrived yet. I suppose it came by
+slow steamer and is probably on the ocean still.'
+
+'Very good. Take what specimens you have, go to the North, and see those
+manufacturers. Get, in some way or another, whether from the principals
+or from the subordinates, the price they pay for it, and the cost of
+removing the adulteration from the stuff they employ now; because that is
+really the material we come into competition with. It is not with their
+first raw material, but with their material as cleared from the
+deleterious foreign substances, that we have to deal. Find out exactly
+what it costs to do this purifying, and then, when you get your facts and
+figures, I will arrange them for you in the best order. Meanwhile, as you
+suggest, I will learn what manufactories there are in the States. Nothing
+can be done except that until you come back, and, if I were you, I should
+leave at once.'
+
+'I am quite ready. I don't want to lose any further time.'
+
+So John Kenyon departed, and was soon on his way to the North, with a
+list of china manufactories in his note-book.
+
+That afternoon Wentworth got the letters off by the American mail, and he
+felt that they were doing business as rapidly as could be expected. Next
+morning there was a letter for John Kenyon addressed to the care of
+Wentworth, and by a later mail there came a letter to Wentworth himself
+from John, who had reached his first district and had had an interview
+already with the manager of the works. He found the mineral was all he
+had expected, and they would be glad to take a certain quantity each year
+at a specified rate. This letter Wentworth filed away with a smile of
+satisfaction, and then he began again to wonder why Adam Brand,
+representing such a well-known manufactory, should have written a
+deliberate falsehood. Before he had time to fathom this mystery, the
+office-boy announced that a gentleman wished to see him, and handed
+Wentworth a card which bore the name of William Longworth. Wentworth
+arched his eyebrows as he looked at it.
+
+'Ask the gentleman to step in, please,' he said; and the gentleman
+stepped in.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Wentworth? I suppose you remember me, although I did
+not see much of you on board the steamer.'
+
+'I remember you perfectly,' replied Wentworth. 'Won't you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you. I did not know where to find Mr. Kenyon, and so, being aware
+that both of you were interested in this mica-mine, I called to see you
+with reference to it.'
+
+'Indeed! I understood Mr. Kenyon to say that he had called upon you, and
+that you had decided to have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'I hardly think he was justified in saying anything quite so definite. I
+got from him such particulars as he cared to give. He is not a very
+communicative man at the best, but he told me something about it, and I
+have been thinking over his proposal. I have now concluded to help you in
+this matter, if you care to have my aid. Perhaps, however, things have
+got to such a stage that you do not wish any assistance?'
+
+'On the contrary, we have done very little. Mr. Kenyon is just now among
+the china manufactories in the North, finding out what demand there will
+be in England for this mineral.'
+
+'Ah, I see. Have you had reports from him yet?'
+
+'Nothing further than a letter this morning, which is very satisfactory.'
+
+'There is no question, then, about the mineral being useful in the china
+trade?'
+
+'No question whatever.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that. Now, Mr. Kenyon spoke to me on the steamer of
+going in share and share alike; that is, you taking a third, he taking a
+third, and I taking a third. We did not go very minutely into
+particulars, but I suppose we each share the expense in the same way--the
+preliminary expenses, I mean?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'that would be the arrangement, I imagine.'
+
+'Well, have you the authority to deal with me in the matter, or would it
+be better for me to wait until Kenyon comes back?'
+
+'We can settle everything here and now.'
+
+'Very good. Would you have any objection to my seeing the papers that
+relate to the mine? I should like to get the figures of the output as
+nearly as possible, and any other particulars you may have that would
+enable me to estimate the value of the property. Also I should like to
+see a copy of the option, or the original document by which you hold
+the mine.'
+
+'Certainly; I shall be very pleased to give you all the information in
+my power.' Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote for a few moments,
+then blotted the paper he had been writing, and handed it to Longworth.
+'You have no objection, before this is done, to signing this document,
+have you?'
+
+Longworth adjusted his one eyeglass and looked at the paper, which read:
+'I hereby agree to do my best to form a limited liability company for the
+purpose of taking over the Ottawa Mica-mine. I agree to pay my share of
+the expenses, and to accept one-third of the profits.'
+
+'No, I don't object to sign this, though I think it should be a little
+more definite. I think it should state that the liability I incur is
+to be one-third of the whole preliminary expenses, the other
+two-thirds to be paid by Kenyon and yourself; and that, in return, I
+am to get one-third of the profits, the other two-thirds going to
+yourself and Kenyon. I think it should also state the amount of the
+capital of the new company; two hundred thousand pounds was suggested,
+if I remember rightly.'
+
+'Very well,' answered Wentworth; 'I will rewrite that in accordance with
+your wishes.'
+
+This he did, and Longworth, again adjusting his eyeglass, read it.
+
+'Now,' he said, 'as we are so formal about the matter, perhaps it would
+be as well for you to give me a note which I can keep, setting forth
+these same particulars.'
+
+'Undoubtedly,' said Wentworth, 'I shall do that. Probably it would be
+better for you to write the document to suit your own views, and I
+will sign it.'
+
+'Oh no, not at all. Write whatever is embodied there, so that you will
+have one paper and I the other.'
+
+This was done.
+
+'Now then,' said Longworth, 'when does your option run out?'
+
+Wentworth named the date.
+
+'Who is the owner of the mine?'
+
+'It is owned by the Austrian Mining Company, headquarters at Vienna, and
+the option is signed by a Mr. Von Brent, of Ottawa, who is manager of the
+mine and one of the owners.'
+
+'You are perfectly certain that he has every right to sell the mine?'
+
+'Yes; Mr. Kenyon's lawyer saw to that while he was in Ottawa.'
+
+'And you are sure, also, that your option is a thoroughly legal
+instrument?'
+
+'We are sure of that.'
+
+'Has it been examined by a London solicitor?'
+
+'It has been submitted to a Canadian lawyer. The bargain was made in
+Canada, and it will have to be carried out in Canada, under the laws
+of Canada.'
+
+'Still, don't you think it would be just as well to get the opinion of an
+English lawyer on it?'
+
+'I think that would be an unnecessary expense. However, if you wish to
+have that done, we will do it.'
+
+'Yes; I think we shall need to have the opinion of a good lawyer upon it
+before we submit it to the stockholders.'
+
+'Very well, I will have it done. Is there anyone whom you wish to give an
+opinion on it?'
+
+'Oh, it is a matter of indifference to me; your own solicitor would do as
+well as anyone else. Perhaps, however, it will be better to have a legal
+adviser for the Mica Mining Company, Limited--we shall have to have one
+as we go on--and it might be as well to submit the document to whomever
+we are going to place in that position. It will not increase the legal
+expenses at all, or at least by only a very trifling amount. Have you
+anyone to suggest?'
+
+'I have not thought about the matter,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Suppose you let me look up a firm who will answer our purpose? My uncle
+is sure to know the right men, and that will be something towards my
+share of forming the company.'
+
+'Very good,' said Wentworth; 'that will be satisfactory to me.'
+
+'Now, there is a good deal to be done in the forming of a company, and it
+is going to take three men a good deal of time, besides some expense.
+What do you say to letting me look up offices?'
+
+'Do you think it is necessary to have offices?'
+
+'Oh, certainly. A great deal depends, in this sort of thing, on
+appearances. We shall need to get offices in a good locality.'
+
+'To tell the truth, Mr. Longworth, Kenyon and I have not very much money,
+and we do not want to enter into any expense that is needless.'
+
+'My dear sir, it is not needless. This business is one of those things
+into which, if you go boldly, you win; while if you go gingerly, on the
+economical plan, you lose everything. Of course, if there is to be a
+scarcity of cash, I shall have nothing to do with the scheme, because I
+know how these half-economically worked affairs turn out. I have seen too
+much of them. We are making a strike for sixty thousand pounds each. That
+is a sum worth risking something for, and, if you will believe me, you
+will not get it unless you venture something for it.'
+
+'I suppose that is true.'
+
+'Yes, it is very true. Of course I've had more experience in matters of
+this kind than either of you, and I know we shall have to get good
+offices, with a certain prosperous look about them. People are very much
+influenced by appearances. Now, if you like, I will see to getting the
+offices and to engaging a solicitor. Every step must be taken under legal
+advice, otherwise we may get into a very bad tangle and spend a great
+deal more money in the end.'
+
+'Very well,' said Wentworth. 'Is there anything else you can suggest?'
+
+'Not just at present; nothing need be done until Kenyon comes back, and
+then we can have a meeting to see what is the best way to proceed.'
+
+Longworth then looked over the papers, took a note of some things
+mentioned in the option, and finally said:
+
+'I wish you would get these papers copied for me, I suppose you have
+someone in the office who can do it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then just have duplicates made of each of them. Good-morning, Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+Wentworth mused for a few moments over the unexpected turn affairs had
+taken. He was very glad to get the assistance of Longworth; the name
+itself was a tower of strength in the City. Then, Kenyon's letter from
+the North was encouraging. Thinking of the letter brought the writer of
+it to his mind, so he took a telegraph-form from his desk, and wrote a
+message to the address given on the letter.
+
+'Everything right. Longworth has joined us, and signed papers to assist
+in forming company.'
+
+'There,' he said, as he sent the boy out with the message, 'that will
+cheer up old John when he gets it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+When John Kenyon returned from the North and entered the office of his
+friend Wentworth, he found that gentleman and young Longworth talking in
+the outer room.
+
+'There's a letter for you on my desk,' said Wentworth, after shaking
+hands with him. 'I'll be there in a minute.'
+
+Kenyon entered the room and found the letter. Then he did a very
+unbusinesslike thing. He pressed the writing to his lips and placed the
+letter in his pocket-book. This act deserves mention because it is an
+unusual thing in the City. As a general rule, City men do not press
+business communications to their lips, and the letter John had received
+was entirely a business communication, relating only to the mine, and to
+William Longworth's proposed connection with it. He wondered whether he
+should write an answer to it or not.
+
+He sat down at Wentworth's desk, and came upon an obstacle at the very
+beginning. He did not know how to address the young woman. Whether to say
+'My dear Miss Longworth,' or 'My dear madam,' or whether to use the
+adjective 'dear' at all, was a puzzle to him; and over this he was
+meditating when Wentworth came bustling in.
+
+'Well,' said the latter, as John tore into small pieces a sheet of
+notepaper and threw the bits into the waste-basket, 'how have you got on?
+Your letters were very short indeed, but rather to the point. You seem to
+have succeeded.'
+
+'Yes, I have succeeded very well. I have got all the figures and prices
+and everything else that it is necessary to have. I succeeded with
+everybody except Brand, who wrote that letter to you. I cannot make him
+out at all. He would give me no information, and he managed to prevent
+everyone else in his works from giving me any. He pooh-poohed the
+scheme--in fact, wouldn't listen to it. He said it was not usual for men
+to give away information regarding their business, and in that, of
+course, he was perfectly justified; but when I tried to argue with him as
+to whether this mineral was used in his manufactory or not, he would not
+listen. I asked him what he used in place of it, but he would not tell.
+All in all, he is a most extraordinary man, and I confess I do not
+understand him.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter about him in the least. I was speaking with
+Longworth just now about that curious letter of his, and he agrees with
+me that it makes no difference. He says, what is quite true, that in
+every business you find some man with whom it is difficult to deal.'
+
+'Yes, that is so; but, still, he either uses this substance or he does
+not. I can understand a man who says, "We have no need for that,
+because we use another material." But that is one of the things Brand
+does not say.'
+
+'Well, it is not worth while talking about him. By the way, you have all
+your figures and notes with you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, I have everything.'
+
+'Very well. Leave them with me, and I will get them into some sort of
+shape. Longworth says we shall have to have everything printed relating
+to this--your statements and all.'
+
+'That will cost a great deal of money, will it not?'
+
+'Oh, not very much. It is necessary, it seems. We must have printed
+matter to give to those who make application for information. It would be
+impossible to explain personally to everybody who inquires, and to show
+them these documents.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose so.'
+
+'Longworth was just now speaking to me about offices he has seen, and he
+is anxious to secure them at once. He is attending to that matter.'
+
+'Do you think we need an office? Why could not the business be transacted
+here; or perhaps a room might be had on this floor that would do
+perfectly well; then we should be close together, and able to communicate
+when necessary.'
+
+'Longworth seems to think differently. He says you must impress the
+public, and so he is going in for fine offices.'
+
+'Yes, but who is to pay for them?'
+
+'Why, we must, of course--you and Longworth and myself.'
+
+'Have you the money?'
+
+'I have a certain amount. I think we shall have enough to see it through,
+and if not, we can easily get it, and settle up when we finish the
+business.'
+
+'Well, you know I have no money to spare.'
+
+'Oh, I know that well enough. Perhaps Longworth will see us through,
+for, as he says, this sort of thing can be spoilt by niggardliness. He
+has known, and so have I, many a business go to pieces because of
+false economy.'
+
+'But it seems to me all this is needless expense. We only want to get a
+few moneyed men interested in our project, and if they are sensible men,
+they will look to the probability of getting a good dividend, not at
+fine offices.'
+
+'Very well, John; you get the men, and I shall be satisfied. I am sure I
+am as anxious to do this cheaply as you are. If you think you can go out
+and interest a dozen or twenty-four men in the City, and persuade them
+to go in for our mine, I will cry "Halt!" on our part until you do it.
+Will you try that?'
+
+Kenyon pondered for a few minutes, and then said: 'I suppose that would
+be rather a difficult thing to do.'
+
+'Yes, that is the way it strikes me. I do not know to whom I could go.
+Longworth is a good man, and we have gone to him. Now it seems to me,
+having got his assistance, the least we can do, unless we are prepared to
+produce the men ourselves forthwith, is to act as he wishes.'
+
+'Yes, I quite appreciate that, and I also grasp the fact that too close
+economy is not the best thing; but, on the other hand, George, how are we
+to perform our part with Longworth? His ideas of economy and yours may be
+vastly different. What is a mere trifle to him would bankrupt us!'
+
+'I know that. Well, he is coming here this afternoon at three. Suppose
+you manage to be in then, and talk with him. Meanwhile, I will go over
+the papers and get them into tabulated form.'
+
+'Very well; I shall be here at three o'clock.'
+
+It will hardly be credited that a business man like John Kenyon spent
+most of the time between that hour and three o'clock trying to compose a
+business letter in answer to the business communication he had received
+that morning. Yet such was the astonishing fact, and it showed, perhaps
+more than anything else, how utterly unfit Mr. John Kenyon was to join in
+a commercial undertaking in a city of hard-headed people. At last,
+however, the letter was posted, and Kenyon hurried away to be in time for
+his three-o'clock appointment. He found Wentworth and young Mr. Longworth
+together, the latter looking more like a young man from the West End
+than a typical City business man. His monocle was in his eye, and it
+shone on Kenyon as he entered. It was evident something was troubling
+Wentworth, and it was equally evident that the something, whatever it
+was, was not troubling young Longworth.
+
+'You are late, John,' was Wentworth's greeting.
+
+'A little,' he answered. 'I was detained.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, and Wentworth appeared to be waiting
+for Longworth to speak. At last Longworth said:
+
+'I have succeeded in getting very nice offices indeed, and I was telling
+Mr. Wentworth about them. You see, it is not very easy to engage offices
+in a good part of the City by the week. They do not care to let them in
+that way, because, while a weekly tenant is occupying them, somebody
+else, who wants them for a longer time, might have to be sent away.'
+
+'Yes,' said Kenyon in a non-committal manner.
+
+'Well, I have got just the offices we need, and have now set the men at
+putting gilt lettering on the windows. I have taken the offices in the
+name of "The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited," which I shall have
+on the plate-glass windows in a very short time. Now, Mr. Wentworth here
+seems to think the offices rather expensive. I have told him before what
+my ideas are in the matter of expense. Perhaps, before anything more is
+said on the subject, we ought to go and look at the rooms.'
+
+'How much are they a week?' asked Kenyon.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth did not answer, because at that moment his monocle
+fell out of its place and had to be adjusted again; but Wentworth jerked
+out the two words, 'Thirty pounds.'
+
+'A _week_?' cried John.
+
+'Yes,' said Longworth, after having succeeded in replacing the round bit
+of glass--'yes; Mr. Wentworth seems to think that is rather high, but I
+defy him to get as fine offices in the City for anything less in price.
+It is merely ten pounds a week for each of us. However, before you can
+judge of their dearness or cheapness, you must see them. If you ask me, I
+think they are a bargain.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon. 'Have you the time, George?'
+
+Wentworth, without answering, shoved the papers into his desk and closed
+it. The three young men went out together, and after a short walk came to
+large plate-glass windows, where a man on a ladder was chalking the words
+'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited,' in a semicircle.
+
+'You see,' said Longworth, 'this is one of the very best situations in
+the City. As I said before, I doubt if you could get anything like it for
+the price.'
+
+They could not deny the excellence of the position, or that the
+plate-glass looked very imposing and the gilt letters exceedingly fine;
+but the cost of this running on perhaps for two or three months seemed to
+appal them.
+
+'Come inside,' said young Longworth suavely; 'I am sure you will be
+pleased with the rooms we have. You see,' he said, entering and nodding
+to the carpenters who were at work there, 'this will be the front
+office, where the public is received. Here you have room for an
+accountant or two and your secretary. The back-room, which you see is
+also well lighted, is just the spot for our people to meet. We will get
+in a large long table here, and a number of chairs, and there we
+are--capital directors' room.'
+
+'Does the thirty pounds a week include the furnishing of the place?'
+asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! You surely couldn't expect that? We shall have to put
+in the furniture, of course.'
+
+'And do you intend to put in desks and counter and everything of that
+sort here?'
+
+'Of course. Beside that, we will get in a large safe. There is nothing
+like a ponderous safe, with the name of the company in gilt letters on
+it, for impressing the general public.'
+
+'And how much is the furnishing of this place to cost?'
+
+'Really, I don't know that. The men I have engaged will do it very
+reasonably. They have done work for me before. You don't get it done any
+cheaper by haggling about the price beforehand--I've found that out.'
+
+'I do not see how we are to pay our share of all this,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Nothing easier, my boy; I've arranged all that. I will pay them my third
+in cash when it is finished, and, they have agreed to wait three months
+for the remainder. By that time you will have sixty thousand pounds each,
+and a little bill like this will be nothing to you.'
+
+Kenyon looked grave.
+
+'It's a little like counting your chickens,' he said.
+
+'Ah, they'll hatch all right,' laughed Longworth. And then his eyeglass
+dropped out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+It is never wise to despise an enemy, no matter how humble he may be.
+The mouse liberated the enmeshed lion. Jennie Brewster should have been
+thankful that circumstances, working in her favour, had rendered her
+account of the discoveries she made about the mines unnecessary. She was
+saved the bitterness of acknowledged defeat by the cable despatch that
+awaited her at Queenstown, telling her not to forward her information.
+The letter she received from the editor of the _Argus_ later explained
+the cable message. The _Argus_ had obtained from a different source what
+purported to be an account of the reports on the mines, and this had
+been published. If Jennie's contribution corroborated this article, it
+was unnecessary; if it contradicted what had been already published,
+then, of course, it was equally unavailable, for the _Argus_ was a paper
+that never stultified itself by acknowledging an error. So the editor
+sent his correspondent a short cable message to save the expense of a
+long and costly despatch that would have been useless when it reached
+the _Argus_ office.
+
+Instead, however, of being grateful to the stars that fought so well for
+her, Jennie became bitterly resentful against Fleming, and hardly less so
+against Miss Longworth. If it had not been for the meddling politician's
+interference, Wentworth would never have discovered who she was, and the
+whole train of humiliating events that followed would not have taken
+place. She would have parted with Wentworth on a friendly basis, at
+least. She was forced, reluctantly, to admit to herself that she liked
+Wentworth better than any young man she had ever before met; and now that
+there was little chance of seeing him again, her regret had become more
+and more poignant as time went on. He had told her all his hopes about
+the mica-mine before their unfortunate disaster, and had taken her into
+his confidence in a way, she felt sure, he had never done with any other
+woman. She saw the earnest look in his honest eyes whenever she closed
+her own, and this look haunted her day and night, alternating with the
+remembrance of that gaze of incredulous reproach with which he regarded
+her when he discovered her mission, which was even harder to bear than
+the recollection of his confidence and esteem.
+
+And the sting of the situation lay in the fact that it had all been so
+useless and unnecessary. She had wounded her friend and humiliated
+herself all for nothing! The rapid changes that had taken place in the
+newspaper office since she left, had rendered her sacrifices futile, and
+while she had buoyed herself up on shipboard by holding that she was
+merely doing her duty to her employers, even that consolation had been
+made naught by the editor's letter.
+
+Thus it ever is in that kaleidoscopic, gigantic and fascinating lottery,
+the modern press. The sensation for which an editor to-day would sell his
+soul, is to-morrow worthless. The greatest fool in the office will
+sometimes stumble stupidly upon the most important news of the day, while
+the cleverest reporter may be baffled in his constant fight against time,
+for the paper goes to press at a certain hour, and after that, effort is
+useless. The conductor of a great paper is like the driver of a Roman
+chariot; he needs a cool head and a strong arm, with a clear eye that
+peers into the future, and that pays little heed to the victims of the
+whirling scythe-blades at the hub. He may overturn a Government or be
+himself thrown, by an unexpected jolt, under the wheels. The fiery steeds
+never stop, and when one drops the reins, another grasps them, to be in
+turn lost and forgotten in the mad race, wherein never a glance is cast
+to the rear. The best brains in the country are called into requisition,
+squeezed, and flung aside. With a lavish but indiscriminating hand are
+thrown broadcast fame and dishonour, riches and disaster. Unbribable in
+the ordinary sense of the word, the press will, for the accumulation of
+the smallest coins of the realm, exaggerate a cholera scare and paralyze
+the business of a nation; then it will turn on a corrupt Government and
+rend it, although millions might be made by taking another course. It is
+the terror of scoundrels and the despair of honest men.
+
+Jennie Brewster, in the midst of her unavailing regrets, clenched her
+little fist when she thought of Fleming. It is both customary and
+consoling to place the blame on other shoulders than our own. Human
+nature is such an erring quantity, that usually we can find a scapegoat
+among our fellow-beings, who can be made responsible for any misdeeds or
+failings which are so much a part of ourselves that they escape
+recognition. If Fleming had only attended his own business, as a man
+should, Wentworth would never have known that Jennie wrote for the
+_Argus_, and Jennie might have had a friend in London who would have
+added that spice of interest to her visit which usually accompanies the
+friendship of an agreeable young man for a girl so pretty and
+fascinating.
+
+Fleming put up at the hotel that Jennie had at first selected, and now
+and then she met him in the extensive halls of the great building; but
+she invariably passed him with the dignity of an offended queen, although
+the unfortunate man always took off his hat, and once or twice paused as
+if about to speak with her.
+
+On the last day of her stay at the hotel, she met Fleming oftener than
+ever before; but it did not occur to her that the unhappy politician was
+lying in wait for her, never being able to muster up enough courage to
+address her when his opportunity came. At last a note was brought up to
+the room she occupied, from Fleming, in which he said that he would like
+to have a few moments' conversation with her, and would wait for a reply.
+
+'Tell him there is no reply,' said the girl to the messenger.
+
+It is sometimes well to know the point of view, even of an enemy, but
+Jenny was too angry with him to think of that. However, a politician, to
+be successful, must not be easily rebuffed, and as a rule he is not.
+
+Fleming, when he got the curt reply to his note, threw away his cigar,
+put on his hat, took the lift, passed through the long corridor, and
+knocked at Jennie's door.
+
+The girl's amazement at seeing her enemy there was so great that the
+obvious act of shutting the door in his face did not occur to her until
+it was too late, and Fleming had carelessly placed his large foot in the
+way of its closing.
+
+'How dare you come here, when I refused to see you?' she cried, with her
+eyes ablaze.
+
+'Oh, I understood the messenger to say I might come,' replied the
+untruthful politician. 'You see, it's not a personal matter, but the very
+biggest sensation that ever went under the ocean on a cable, and I
+thought--Well, you know, I felt I had done you--quite unintentionally--a
+mean trick on board the _Caloric_ and this was kind of to make up for it,
+don't you know.
+
+'You can never repair what you have done.'
+
+'Oh yes, I can, Jennie.'
+
+'I shall be obliged to you if you remember that my name is Miss
+Brewster,' said the girl, drawing herself up; but Fleming noticed, with
+relief, that since he had mentioned the sensation she had made no motion
+to close the door, while the eagerness of the newspaper woman was
+gradually replacing the anger with which she had at first regarded him.
+
+'All right, Miss Brewster. I meant no disrespect, you know; and,
+honestly, I would rather give you a big item than anybody else.'
+
+'Oh, you're very honest--I know that.'
+
+'Well, I am, you know, Jen--I mean Miss Brewster; although I tell you
+it don't pay in politics any more than in the newspaper business.'
+
+'If you only came to speak like that of the newspapers, I don't care to
+listen to you.'
+
+'Wait a minute. I don't blame you for being angry----'
+
+'Thank you.'
+
+'But, all the same, if you let this item get away, you'll be sorry. I'm
+giving you the straight tip. I could get more gold than you ever saw for
+giving this snap away, yet here you're treating me as if I were----'
+
+'A New York politician. Why do you come to me with this valuable piece
+of information? Just because you have a great regard for me, I suppose?'
+
+'That's right. That's it exactly.'
+
+'I thought so. Very well. There is a parlour on this floor where we can
+talk without being interrupted. Come with me.'
+
+Jennie closed the door and walked down the passage, followed by Fleming,
+who smiled with satisfaction at his own tact and shrewdness, as, indeed,
+he had every right to do.
+
+In the deserted sitting-room was a writing-table, and Jennie sat down
+beside it, motioning Fleming to a chair opposite her.
+
+'Now,' she said, drawing some paper towards her, and taking up a pen,
+'what is this important bit of news?'
+
+'Well, before we begin,' replied Fleming, 'I would like to tell you why I
+interfered on shipboard and let that Englishman know who you were.'
+
+'Never mind that. Better let it rest.' There was a flash of anger in the
+girl's eye, but, in spite of it, Fleming continued. He was a persistent
+man.
+
+'But it has some bearing on what I'm going to tell you. When I saw you on
+board the _Caloric_, my heart went down into my boots. I thought the game
+was up, and that you were after me. I was bound to find out whether the
+_Argus_ knew anything of my trip or not, and whether it had put you on my
+track. Only five men in New York knew of my journey across, and as a good
+deal depended on secrecy, I had to find out in some way whether you were
+there for the purpose of--well, you know. So I spoke to the Englishman,
+and raised a hornets' nest about my ears; but I soon saw you had no
+suspicion of what I was engaged in, otherwise I would have had to
+telegraph to certain persons then in London, and scatter them.'
+
+'Dear me! And what villainy were you concocting? Counterfeiting?'
+
+'No; politics. Just as bad, I suppose you think. Now, do you know where
+Crupper is?'
+
+'The Boss of New York? I heard before I left that he was at Carlsbad for
+his health.'
+
+'He was there,' said Fleming mysteriously; 'but now----'
+
+The politician solemnly pointed downwards with his forefinger.
+
+'What! Dead?' cried Jennie, the ominous motion of Fleming's finger
+naturally suggesting what all good people believed to be the arch-thief's
+ultimate destination.
+
+'No,' said Fleming, laughing; 'he's in this hotel.'
+
+'Oh!'
+
+'Yes, and Senator Smollet, leader of the Conscientious Party, is here
+too, although you don't meet them in the halls as often as you do me.
+These good men supposed to be political opponents, are lying low and
+saying nothing.'
+
+'I see. And they've had a conference.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, it's like this.' Fleming pulled a sheet of paper towards
+him, and drew on it an oval. 'That's New York. We'll call it a
+pumpkin-pie, if you like, the material of which it is composed being
+typical of the heads of its conscientious citizens. Or a pigeon-pie,
+perhaps, for the New Yorker is made to be plucked. Well, look here.'
+Fleming drew from a point in the centre several radiating lines. 'That's
+what Crupper and Smollet are doing in London. They're dividing the pie
+between the two parties.'
+
+'That's very interesting, but how are they going to deliver the pieces?'
+
+'Simple as shelling peas. You see, our great pull is the conscientious
+citizen--the voter who wants to vote right, and for a good man. If it
+weren't for the good men as candidates and the good men as voters, New
+York politics would be a pretty uncertain game. You see, the so-called
+respectable element in both parties is our only hope. Each believes in
+his party, thinks his crowd is better than the other fellow's, so all you
+have to do is to nominate an honest man to represent each party, and then
+that divides what they call the reputable vote, and we real politicians
+get our man in between the two. That's all there is in New York politics.
+Well, Senator Smollet threatened not to put up a good man on the
+conscientious ticket, and that would have turned the whole unbribable
+vote of both parties against us, so we had to make a deal with him, and
+throw in the next Presidential election. Crupper's no hog; he knows when
+he's had plenty, and New York's good enough for him. He don't care who
+gets the Presidency.'
+
+'And this conference has been held?'
+
+'That's right. It took place in this hotel.'
+
+'The bargain was made, I suppose?'
+
+'It was. The pie was divided.'
+
+'And you didn't get a slice?'
+
+'Oh, I beg your pardon, I did!'
+
+'Then, why do you come to me and tell me all this--if it's true?'
+
+Honest indignation shone in Fleming's face.
+
+'_If_ it's true? Of course it's true. Why do I come to you? Because I
+want to be friendly with you, that's why.'
+
+Jennie, nibbling the end of her pen, looked thoughtfully across at him
+for a few moments, then slowly shook her head.
+
+'If you get me to believe that, Mr. Fleming, I'll not cable a word. No, I
+must have an adequate motive, for I won't cable anything I don't believe
+to be absolutely true.'
+
+'I assure you, Jennie----'
+
+'Wait a moment. You say you are promised your share in the new deal, but
+it is not as big a slice as what you have now. It stands to reason that,
+if Crupper is to divide with Smollet's rascals, each of Crupper's rascals
+must content himself with a smaller piece. The greater the number of
+thieves, the smaller each portion of booty. You didn't see that when you
+left New York, and therefore you were afraid of publicity. You see it
+now, and you want a sensational article published, so that Senator
+Smollet will be forced to deny it, or further arouse the suspicions of
+the honest men in his party. In either case publicity will nullify the
+results of the deal, and you will hold the share you have. As you didn't
+know any of the regular London representatives of the New York papers,
+you couldn't trust them not to tell on you, and so you came to me. Now
+that I see a good substantial selfish motive for your action, I am ready
+to believe you.'
+
+An expression of dismay at first overspread the countenance of the
+politician, but this gave way to a look of undisguised admiration as the
+girl went on.
+
+'By Jove, Jennie!' he cried, bringing his fist down on the table when she
+had finished; 'you're wasted in the newspaper business; you ought to be a
+politician! Say, girl, if you marry me, I'll be President of the United
+States yet.'
+
+'Oh no, you wouldn't,' said Jennie, quite unabashed by his handsome, if
+excited, proposal. 'No corrupt New York politician will ever be President
+of the United States. You have the great honest bulk of the people to
+deal with there, and I'm Democrat enough to believe in them when it comes
+to big issues, however much you may befog them in small; you can't fool
+all people for all time, Mr. Fleming, as a man who was not in little
+politics once said. Every now and then the awakened people will get up
+and smash you.'
+
+Fleming laughed boisterously.
+
+'That's just it,' he said. 'It's every now and then. If they did it every
+year I would have to quit politics. But will you send the particulars of
+this meeting to the _Argus_ without giving me away?'
+
+'Yes, I recognise its importance. Now, I want you to give me every
+detail--the number of the room they met in, the exact hour, and all that.
+What I like to get in a report of a secret meeting is absolute accuracy
+in small matters, so that those who were there will know it is not
+guesswork. That always takes the backbone out of future denials. I'll
+mention your name----'
+
+'Bless my soul, don't do that!'
+
+'I must say you were present.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Why? Dear me! you can't be so stupid as not to see that, if your name
+is left out, suspicion will at once point to you as the divulger?'
+
+'Yes I suppose that is so.'
+
+'And this man is a ruler in one of the greatest cities in the world! Go
+on, Mr. Fleming; who else was there besides Crupper, Smollet, and
+yourself?'
+
+The account--two columns and a half--was a bombshell in political New
+York the morning it appeared in the _Argus_. Senator Smollet cabled from
+Paris that there wasn't a word of truth in it, that he wasn't in London
+on the date mentioned, and had never seen Crupper there or elsewhere.
+Crupper cabled from Carlsbad that he was ill, and had not been out of
+bed for a month. He would sue the _Argus_ for libel, which, by the way,
+he never did. The reporters flocked to meet Fleming when his steamer
+came in, but of course _he_ knew nothing about it; he had been across
+the ocean solely on private business that had no connection with
+politics. He knew nothing of Crupper's whereabouts, but he knew _one_
+thing, which was that Crupper was too honest and honourable a man to
+traffic with the enemy.
+
+Notwithstanding all these denials, the report bore the marks of truth on
+its face, and everybody believed it, although many pretended not to. The
+division of the spoils aroused the greatest consternation and indignation
+among Crupper's own following, and a deputation went over to see the old
+man.
+
+Meanwhile, the _Argus_, with much dignity of diction, explained that it
+stood for the best interests of the people, and in the people's cause was
+fearless. It defied all and sundry to bring libel suits if they wanted
+to; it was prepared to battle for the people's rights. And its
+circulation went up and up, its many web presses being taxed to their
+utmost in supplying the demand. Thus are the truly good rewarded.
+
+A great newspaper is as lavishly generous as a despotic monarch, to those
+who serve it well, and the cheque which Jennie cashed when Lady Willow
+accompanied her to the City lined her purse with banknotes to a fulness
+that receptacle had never known before.
+
+After a few weeks with Lady Willow, Jennie seemed to tire of the
+frivolities of society, and even of the sedate company of the good lady
+with whom she lived. She announced that she was going to Paris for a week
+or two, but, owing to uncertainty of address, her letters were not to be
+forwarded. She merely took a hand-bag, leaving the rest of her luggage
+with Lady Willow, who was thus sustained by the hope that her paying
+guest would soon return.
+
+Jennie took a hansom to Charing Cross, but instead of departing on the
+Paris express, she hailed a four-wheeler, and, giving a West End address
+to the driver, entered the closed vehicle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+On the big plate-glass windows of the new rooms there soon appeared, in
+gilt letters with black edges, the words, 'Canadian Mica Mining Company,
+Limited: London Offices.' But the workmen who were finishing the
+interior were not so quick as the painters and gilders. The new offices
+took a long time to prepare, and both Kenyon and Wentworth chafed at the
+delay, because Longworth said nothing could be done until the rooms
+were occupied.
+
+'It is like this, Longworth,' said Wentworth to him: 'every moment is of
+value. Time is running on, and we have not for ever in which to form
+this company.'
+
+'And you must remember,' replied young Mr. Longworth, gazing
+reproachfully at him through his glittering monocle, 'that I am equally
+interested in this project with you. It is just as much to my interest to
+save time as it is to yours. You must not worry about the matter, Mr.
+Wentworth; everything is all right. The men are doing a good job for us,
+and it will not be long before their work is completed. As I have told
+you time and again, a great deal depends on the appearance we present to
+the public. We have nearly the best offices in the City. The workmen have
+certainly taken longer than I expected they would, but, you see, they
+have a great deal of work on hand. When we get this started it will not
+take long. I, in the meanwhile, have not been idle. At least half a dozen
+moneyed men are ready to go in with us on this project. The moment the
+offices are finished we will have a meeting of the proposed shareholders.
+If they subscribe sufficiently large amounts--and I think they will--all
+the rest is a mere matter of detail which our solicitors will attend to.
+But if you imagine that you and Mr. Kenyon can manage everything better
+than I am doing, you are perfectly at liberty to go ahead. I am sure I
+have no desire to monopolize all the work. What have _you_ done, for
+instance? What has Mr. Kenyon done?'
+
+'Kenyon, as I think you know, has got all the facts in reference to the
+demand for the mineral, and I have arranged them. We have had everything
+printed as you suggested, and the papers are ready. They were delivered
+at my office to-day.'
+
+'Very well,' answered young Longworth; 'we are getting on. That is so
+much done which will not have to be done over again. Perhaps it will be
+as well to send me some of the printed matter, so that I can give it to
+the men I was speaking of. Meanwhile, don't worry about the offices; they
+will be ready in good time.'
+
+Wentworth and Kenyon visited the new offices time and again, but still
+the work seemed to drag. At last Wentworth said very sharply to the
+foreman:
+
+'Unless this is finished by next Monday, we will have nothing to do with
+it.'
+
+The foreman seemed astonished.
+
+'I understood from Mr. Longworth,' he said, 'from whom we take our
+instructions, that there was no particular hurry about this job.'
+
+'Well, there is a particular hurry. We must be in here by the first of
+next week, and if you have not finished by that time, we shall have to
+come in with it unfinished.'
+
+'In that case,' said the foreman, 'I will do the best I can. I think we
+can finish it this week.'
+
+And finished it was accordingly.
+
+When Kenyon entered his new offices, he found them rather oppressive for
+so modest a man as himself. Wentworth laughed at his doleful expression
+as he viewed the general grandeur of his surroundings.
+
+'What bothers me,' said John, 'is knowing that all this has to be paid
+for.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' answered Wentworth; 'but by the time the debts become due I
+hope we shall have plenty of money.'
+
+'I must confess I do not understand Longworth in this matter. He seems to
+be doing nothing; at least, he has nothing to show for what he has done,
+and he does not appear to realize that time is an object with us; in
+fact, that our company-forming has really become a race against time.'
+
+'Well, we shall see very shortly what he is going to do. I have sent a
+messenger for him to meet us here--he ought to be here now--and we must
+certainly push things. There is no time to lose.'
+
+'Has he said anything to you--he talks more freely with you than he does
+to me--about what the next move is to be?'
+
+'No; he has said nothing.'
+
+'Well, don't you see the situation in which we stand? We are practically
+doing nothing--leaving everything in his hands. Now, if he should tell us
+some fine day that he can have nothing more to do with our project (and I
+believe he is quite capable of it), here we are with our time nearly
+spent, deeply in debt, and nothing done.'
+
+'My dear John, what a brain you have for conjuring up awful
+possibilities! Trust me, Longworth won't act in the way you suggest. It
+would be dishonourable, and he is, so far as I know, an honourable man of
+business. I think you take a certain prejudice against a person, and then
+can see nothing good in anything he does. Longworth told me the other day
+that he had five or six people who are ready to go into this business
+with us, and if such is the case he has certainly done his share.'
+
+'Yes, I admit that. Did he give you their names?'
+
+'No, he did not.'
+
+'The thing that troubles me is our own helplessness. We seem, in some way
+or other, to have been shoved into the background.'
+
+'So far from that being the case,' said Wentworth, 'Longworth told me
+that, if anything suggested itself to us, we were to go ahead with it. He
+asked what you had done and what I had done, and I told him. He seemed
+quite anxious that we should do everything we could, as he is doing.'
+
+'Well, but, don't you see, the situation is this: if we make a move at
+all, we may do something of which he does not approve. Haven't you
+noticed that whenever I suggest anything, or whenever you suggest
+anything, for that matter, he always has something counter to it? And I
+don't like the solicitors he has engaged for this business. They are what
+is known as "shady"; you know that as well as I do.'
+
+'Bless me, John! then suggest something yourself if you have such dark
+suspicions of Longworth. I'm sure I'm willing to do anything you want
+done. Suggest something.'
+
+Before John could make the required suggestion, the messenger Wentworth
+had sent to young Longworth returned.
+
+'His uncle says, sir,' began the messenger, 'that Master William has gone
+to the North, and will not be back for a week.'
+
+'A week!' cried both the young men together.
+
+'Yes, sir, a week was what he said. He left a note to be given to either
+of you if you called. Here is the note, sir.'
+
+Wentworth took the envelope handed to him and tore it open. The contents
+ran thus:
+
+'I have been suddenly called away to the North, and may be gone for a
+week or ten days. I am sorry to be away at this particular juncture, but
+as it is not likely that the men will have the offices finished before I
+come back, no great harm will be done. Meanwhile I shall see several
+gentlemen I have in my mind's eye, men that seldom come to London, who
+will be of great service to us. If you think of anything to forward the
+mica-mine, pray go on with it. You can send any letters for me to my
+uncle, and I shall get them. As there is no hurry in the matter of time,
+however, I should strongly advise that nothing be done until my return,
+when we can all go at the business with a will.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'WILLIAM LONGWORTH.'
+
+When Wentworth had finished reading this letter, the two young men looked
+at each other.
+
+'What do you make of that?' said Kenyon.
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. In the first place, he is gone for a week.'
+
+'Yes; that one thing is certain.'
+
+'Well now, John, one of two things has to be done. We have either to
+trust this Longworth, or we have to go on alone without him. Which is
+it to be?'
+
+'I am sure I don't know,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'But, my dear fellow, we have come to a point when we must decide. You
+are, evidently, suspicious of Longworth. What you say really amounts to
+this: that he, for some reason of his own, which I confess I cannot see
+or understand, desires to delay forming this company until it is too
+late.'
+
+'I didn't say that.'
+
+'You say what practically amounts to that. Either he is honest or he is
+not. Now, we have to decide to-day, and here, whether we are going to
+ignore him and go on with the forming of the company, or work with him.
+Unless you can give some good reason for doing otherwise, I propose to
+work with him. I think it will be very much worse if he leaves us now
+than if he had never gone into it. People will ask why he left.'
+
+'Probably he wouldn't leave, even if you wanted him to do so. He has your
+signature to an agreement, and you have his.'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'I do not see how we can help ourselves.'
+
+'Then I think these suspicions should be dropped, because you cannot work
+with a man whom you suspect of being a rascal.'
+
+'I quite admit of the justice of that, so I shall say nothing more.
+Meanwhile, do you propose to wait until he comes back?'
+
+'I shall write him to-night and ask him what he intends to do. I shall
+tell him, as I have told him before, that time is pressing, and we want
+to know what is being done.'
+
+'Very well,' said John; 'I will wait till you get the answer to your
+letter. In the meantime, I do not see that there is anything to do but
+occupy this gorgeous office as well as I can, and wait to see what
+turns up.'
+
+'That is my own idea. I think, myself, it is rather unfair to suspect
+a man of being a villain when he has really done nothing to show that
+he is one.'
+
+To this John made no answer.
+
+The next day Kenyon occupied the new offices, and set himself to the
+task of getting accustomed to them. The first day a few people dropped
+in, made inquiries about the mine, took some printed matter, and
+generally managed to ask several questions to which Kenyon was unable to
+reply. On the second day a number of newspaper men called--advertising
+canvassers, most of them, who left cards or circulars with Kenyon,
+showing that unless a commercial venture was advertised in their
+particular papers it was certain not to be a success. One very swell
+individual, with a cast of countenance that betokened a frugal,
+money-making, and shrewd race, asked Kenyon for a private interview. He
+said he belonged to the _Financial Field_, the great newspaper of London,
+which was read by every investor both in the City and in the country. All
+he wanted was some particulars of the mine.
+
+Had the company been formed yet?
+
+No, it had not.
+
+When did they intend to go to the public?
+
+That Kenyon could not say.
+
+What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its
+recommendation to investors?
+
+Kenyon said the full particulars would be found in the printed sheet he
+handed him, and with profuse thanks the newspaper man put it in his
+pocket.
+
+How had the mine paid in previous years?
+
+It had paid a small dividend.
+
+On what amount?
+
+That Kenyon was not prepared to answer.
+
+How long had it been in operation?
+
+For several years.
+
+Had it ever been placed on the London market before?
+
+Not so far as Kenyon was aware.
+
+Who was at present interested in the mine?
+
+That Mr. Kenyon did not care to answer, and he further stated, so far as
+giving out advertisements was concerned, he was not yet prepared to do
+any advertising. The visitor, who had taken down these notes, said his
+object was not to get an advertisement, but to obtain information about
+the mine. People could advertise in his paper or not, as they chose. The
+journal was such a well-known medium for reaching investors that everyone
+who knew his business advertised in it as a matter of course, and so they
+kept no canvassers, and made no applications for advertisements.
+
+'The chances are,' said the newspaper man, as he took his leave, 'that
+our editor will write an editorial on this mine, and, in order that there
+may be no inaccuracy, I shall bring it to you to read, and shall be very
+much obliged if you will correct any mistakes.'
+
+'I shall be glad to do so,' returned Kenyon, as the representative of the
+_Financial Field_ took his leave.
+
+The newspaper men were rather hard to please, and to get rid of; but John
+had a visitor on the afternoon of the second day who almost caused his
+wits to desert him. He looked up from his desk as the door opened, and
+was astonished to see the smiling face of Edith Longworth, while behind
+her came the old lady who had been an occupant of the carriage when John
+had taken his drive to the west.
+
+'You did not expect to see me here among the investors who have been
+calling upon you, Mr. Kenyon, did you?'
+
+Kenyon held out his hand, and said:
+
+'I am very pleased indeed to see you, whether you come as an investor or
+not.'
+
+'And so this is your new office?' she cried, looking round. 'How you have
+blossomed out, haven't you? These offices are as fine as any in the
+City.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'they are too fine to suit me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't see why you should not have handsome offices as well as
+anyone else. You have been in my father's place of business, of course.
+But it is not so grand as these rooms.'
+
+'I think that helps to show the absurdity of ours. Your father's house is
+an old-standing one, and this gives us an air of new riches which, I must
+confess, I don't like, especially as we have not the riches.'
+
+'Then, why did you agree to have such offices? I suppose you had
+something to say about them?'
+
+'Very little, I must own. They were engaged while I was in the North, and
+after they had been engaged, of course I did not like to say anything
+against them.'
+
+'Well, and how is the mine getting on? You have not applied to me yet to
+fulfil my offer, which I think was a very fair one.'
+
+'I have not needed to do so,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Ah, then, subscriptions are coming in, are they? Where is the list?'
+
+'We have no list yet. We are waiting for your cousin, who is in the
+North.'
+
+'In the North!' said Edith, with her eyes open wide. 'He is not in the
+North; he is in Paris, and we expect him home to-night.'
+
+'Oh, indeed!' said John, who made no further comment.
+
+'Now, where's your subscription-list? Oh, you told me you have none yet.
+Very well; this sheet of paper will do.' And the young woman drew some
+lines across the paper, heading it, 'The Canadian Mica-mine.' Then
+underneath she wrote the name Edith Longworth, and after it--'For ten
+thousand pounds.' 'There! I am the first subscriber to the new company;
+if you get the others as easily, you will be very fortunate.'
+
+And, before John could thank her, she laughingly turned to her companion,
+and said:
+
+'We must go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+When Wentworth dropped in to see if anything had happened, Kenyon told
+him that young Longworth was not in the North at all, but in Paris.
+Wentworth pondered over this piece of information for a moment, and said:
+
+'I have written him, but have received no answer. I have just been to
+see the solicitors, and have told them that time was pressing; that we
+must do something. They quite agreed it was desirable some action should
+be taken at once, but, of course, as they said, they merely waited our
+instructions. They are willing to do anything we ask them to do. However,
+they advised waiting until Longworth got back, and then they proposed we
+should have a meeting at the offices here. They said, moreover, that, if
+Longworth had five or six men who would go at work with a will, the whole
+affair would be finished in a week at most. They did not appear to be at
+all alarmed at the shortening time, but said everything depended upon the
+men Longworth was going to bring with him. If they were the right men,
+there would be no trouble. So, all in all, they advised me not to worry
+about it, but to communicate with Longworth, if I could, and get him to
+come as soon as possible. I had to admit myself that this was the only
+thing to do, so I called round to see if you had heard anything from
+him.'
+
+'I have heard nothing about him,' said Kenyon, 'except that he has lied,
+and has gone to Paris instead of going North.'
+
+'Well,' mused Wentworth, 'I don't know that that is a very important
+point. He may have business in Paris, and he may have thought it was no
+affair of ours where he went, in which he was partly right and partly
+wrong. He thought, no doubt, that if he said he was going North, to see
+some men who could not be seen without his going there, it would relieve
+our minds, and make us imagine we were going on all right.'
+
+'That is just what I object to, Wentworth. His whole demeanour seems to
+show that he wants us to think things are all right when they are not
+all right.'
+
+'Well, John, as I said before, you've got to do one thing or the other.
+You have to trust Longworth or to go on without him. Now, for Heaven's
+sake make up your mind which it is to be, and don't grumble.'
+
+'I am not grumbling. A man that is really honest will not say what is
+false, even about a small thing.'
+
+'Oh, you are too particular. Wait till you have been in the City ten
+years longer, and you won't mind a little thing like that.'
+
+'Little things like that, as you call them, are indicative of general
+character.'
+
+'Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. You mustn't take things too seriously.
+I do not see that anything can be done until Longworth chooses to exhibit
+himself. If you can suggest anything better, as I said before, tell me
+what it is, and I am ready to do my part.'
+
+'I confess I don't see what we can do. We might wait a day or two longer
+yet, and then, if we hear nothing more from Longworth, dismiss those
+solicitors he has chosen, and take the gentlemen who act for you.'
+
+'The people Longworth has engaged do not bear a very good reputation;
+still, I must admit they talk in a very straightforward manner. As you
+say, it is perhaps better to let matters rest for a day or two.'
+
+And so the days passed. Wentworth wrote again to Longworth at his office,
+and said they would wait for two days, and if he did not put in an
+appearance, before that time, they would go on forming the company as if
+he did not exist.
+
+To this no answer came, and Kenyon and Wentworth again held consultation
+in the sumptuous offices which had been chosen for them.
+
+'No news yet, I suppose?' said Kenyon.
+
+'None whatever,' was the answer.
+
+'Very well; I have made up my mind what to do----'
+
+But before John Kenyon could say what he had resolved to do, the door
+opened, and there entered unto them Mr. William Longworth, with his silk
+hat as glossy as a mirror, a general trim and prosperous appearance about
+him, a flower in his buttonhole and his eyeglass in its place.
+
+'Good-morning, gentlemen,' he said. 'I thought I should find you here,
+and so I did not call at your office, Wentworth. Ah,' he cried, looking
+round, 'this is the proper caper! These offices look even better than I
+thought they would. I just got back this morning,' he added, turning to
+his partners.
+
+'Indeed,' said Wentworth, 'we are very glad to see you. How did you enjoy
+your trip to Paris?'
+
+The young man did not appear in the least abashed by this remark. He
+merely elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'Ah, well, as both of you are doubtless aware, Paris is not what it used
+to be. Still, I had a very good time there.'
+
+'I'm glad of that,' said Wentworth; 'and did you see the gentlemen you
+expected to meet?'
+
+'I must confess I did not. I did not think it was necessary. I have five
+or six men interested already, practically pledged to furnish all the
+capital.' And, saying this, he walked round the desk at which they stood,
+and sat down, throwing the right leg across the left and clasping his
+knee in his hands.
+
+'Well, what has been done during my absence? The mine floated yet?'
+
+'No,' said Wentworth; 'the mine is not yet floated. Now, Mr. Longworth,
+the time has come for plain speaking. You have gone off to Paris without
+a word of warning to us at a very critical time, and you have not
+answered any of the letters I sent to you.'
+
+'Well, my dear boy, the reason was that I expected every day to get back
+here, and each day was detained a little longer.'
+
+'Very good; the point I want to impress upon you is this--time is
+getting short. If we are going to form this company, we have to set about
+it at once.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' said Longworth, in an expostulating tone of voice,
+'that is exactly what I told myself. The time _is_ getting short, as you
+say. Of course, as I said when I joined you, I cannot give my whole time
+to this. We are equal partners, and the fact that I had to leave for a
+few days should not interrupt the business we have on hand. What did you
+expect to do if I had not been a partner at all?'
+
+'If you were not a partner,' replied Wentworth with some heat, 'we should
+have gone on and formed our company, or failed; but the very fact that
+you _are_ a partner is just what now retards us. We do not feel justified
+in doing anything until it has your approval, or until we know that it
+does not run counter with something you have already done.'
+
+'Well, gentlemen, if you feel like that about it, I am quite willing to
+withdraw. I am ready to give up the paper I hold from you, and receive
+back the paper you hold from me. Of course we cannot work together if
+there are to be any recriminations. I have done my best; I have done
+everything that I promised to do--even more than that; but if you think
+for a moment you can get on better without me, I am ready at any time
+to retire.'
+
+'It is easy to say that, Mr. Longworth, now that the time of the option
+has only a month further to run. You must remember that a great deal of
+time has been lost, and not through our fault.'
+
+'Ah! do you mean it has been lost through my fault?'
+
+'I mean that if we had been alone something would have been done,
+whereas we are now in the same position as when we started. We are in a
+worse position than we were at the beginning, because we have not only
+spent our money, but are deeply in debt into the bargain.'
+
+'Well, Mr. Wentworth, I did not propose to withdraw until you, as a
+matter of fact, almost suggested it. I am quite willing and anxious
+to help, but if I do stay with you it must be understood that we
+have no such recriminations as these. You must do your best, and I
+must do my best.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Wentworth; 'your leaving us at this time is
+entirely out of the question. Now, will you give me the names of those
+gentlemen who have offered to go in with us?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+And Longworth pulled out a note-book from his inside pocket, while
+Wentworth took up a pen from the desk and pulled a sheet of paper
+towards him.
+
+'First, Mr. Melville.'
+
+'Is that the Melville I saw in relation to this mineral?'
+
+'I am sure I do not know. He is at the head of the Scranton China
+Company.'
+
+'Has _he_ spoken of going in with us?'
+
+'Yes, he seems to think the scheme is a good one. Why do you ask?'
+
+'Well, merely because I took a specimen of the mineral to him and his
+manager wrote to me that it was of no value. It seems rather remarkable
+that he should go in for the mine if his manager believes it to be
+worthless.'
+
+'Oh, he goes in entirely in his own private capacity. He is not at all
+affected by what the manager says. The manager has nothing to do with
+Melville's private affairs.'
+
+'Still, it seems very strange, because, when Kenyon saw the manager in
+the North, he claimed they did not use this material, and said it would
+be of no benefit whatever to him.'
+
+'That is very singular,' mused Longworth. 'Well, all I can say is,
+Melville has intimated that he should like to have a share in this mine,
+so, I take it, he and the manager do not agree as to the value of the
+mineral. You can set down Mr. Melville's name with perfect confidence. I
+know him very well, and I know that he's a thorough man of business.
+Besides, it will be a great advantage to have a man connected with the
+china trade in with us.'
+
+There was no denying this point, so Wentworth said nothing more.
+Longworth named five other persons, none of whom Wentworth knew. Then he
+closed his note-book and put it in his pocket.
+
+'The question now is: Have these gentlemen stated how much they will
+subscribe?' asked Wentworth.
+
+'No, they have not. Of course, everything will depend on how they are
+impressed with what we can tell them. The great thing is to get men who
+are willing even to listen to you. The rest depends on the inducements
+you offer.'
+
+'Do you expect to get any more men interested?'
+
+'I don't think any more are needed. The best thing to do now is to get
+those we have together and summon our solicitors here. Then our friend
+Kenyon, who is a fluent speaker, can lay the case before them.'
+
+Kenyon, who had not spoken at all during the interview, did not even
+look up, and apparently did not hear the satirical allusion to his
+eloquence.
+
+'Very well; when would be a good time to call this meeting?'
+
+'As soon as possible, I think,' said Longworth. 'What do you say to
+Monday, at three o'clock? Men come from lunch about that hour, and are in
+a good humour. If you send out a letter saying a meeting will be held
+here in the directors' room at three o'clock, prompt, on Monday, I will
+see the men and get them to come. Of course they are generally busy, and
+may have other appointments; still, we must do something, and nothing can
+be done until we get them together.'
+
+'Right; the invitations to the meeting shall be sent out at once.'
+
+Longworth rose, went to the desk and picked up a paper.
+
+'What is this?' he said.
+
+Kenyon looked up suddenly.
+
+'That,' he said, flushing slightly, 'is our first subscription.'
+
+'Who wrote the name of Miss Edith Longworth here?'
+
+'The young lady herself.'
+
+'Has she been here?'
+
+'She called, and desired to be the first subscriber.'
+
+'Nonsense!' cried Longworth, with a frown; 'we don't want any women in
+this business;' and, saying that, he tore the paper in two.
+
+Kenyon clenched his fist and was about to say something, when Wentworth's
+hand came down on his shoulder.
+
+'I don't think I would refuse ten thousands pounds,' said Wentworth,
+'from anybody who offered it, woman or man. Perhaps we had better see
+whether your men will subscribe as much before we throw away a
+subscription already received.'
+
+'But she hasn't the ten thousand pounds.'
+
+'I fancy,' said Wentworth, 'that whatever Miss Longworth puts her name
+to, she is ready to stand by;' and with that he placed the two pieces of
+paper in a drawer. 'Now, I think that is all,' he added; 'we will call
+the meeting for Monday, and see what comes of it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+William Longworth had an eye for beauty. One of his eyes was generally
+covered by a round disc of glass, save when the disc fell out of its
+place and dangled in front of his waistcoat. Whether the monocle assisted
+his sight or not, it is certain that William knew a pretty girl when he
+saw her. One of the housemaids in the Longworth household left suddenly,
+without just cause or provocation, as the advertisements say, and in her
+place a girl was engaged who was so pretty that, when William Longworth
+caught sight of her, his monocle dropped from its usual position, and he
+stared at her with his two natural eyes, unassisted by science. He tried
+to speak to her on one or two occasions when he met her alone; but he
+could get no answer from the girl, who was very shy and demure, and knew
+her place, as people say. All this only enhanced her value in young
+Longworth's estimation, and he thought highly of his cousin's taste in
+choosing this young person to dust the furniture.
+
+William had a room in the house which was partly sitting-room and partly
+study, and there he kept many of his papers. He was supposed to ponder
+over matters of business in this room, and it gave him a good excuse for
+arriving late at the office in the morning. He had been sitting up into
+the small hours, he would tell his uncle; although he would sometimes
+vary the excuse by saying that it was quieter at home than in the City,
+and that he had spent the early part of the morning in reading documents.
+
+The first time William got an answer from the new housemaid was when he
+expressed his anxiety about the care of this room. He said that servants
+generally were very careless, and he hoped she would attend to things,
+and see that his papers were kept nicely in order. This, without glancing
+up at him, the girl promised to do, and William thereafter found his
+apartment kept with a scrupulous neatness which would have delighted the
+most particular of men.
+
+One morning when he was sitting by his table, enjoying an after-breakfast
+cigarette, the door opened softly, and the new housemaid entered. Seeing
+him there, she seemed confused, and was about to retire, when William,
+throwing his cigarette away, sprang to his feet.
+
+'No, don't go,' he said; 'I was just about to ring.'
+
+The girl paused with her hand on the door.
+
+'Yes,' he continued, 'I was just going to ring, but you have saved me
+the trouble; but, by the way, what is your name?'
+
+'Susy, if you please, sir,' replied the girl modestly.
+
+'Ah well, Susy, just shut the door for a moment.'
+
+The girl did so, but evidently with some reluctance.
+
+'Well, Susy,' said William jauntily, 'I suppose that I'm not the first
+one who has told you that you are very pretty.'
+
+'Oh, sir!' said Susy, blushing and looking down on the carpet.
+
+'Yes, Susy, and you take such good care of this room that I want to thank
+you for it,' continued William.
+
+Here he fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and drew out half a
+sovereign.
+
+'Here, my girl, is something for your trouble. Keep this for yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I couldn't think of taking money, sir,' said the girl, drawing back.
+'I couldn't indeed, sir!'
+
+'Nonsense!' said William; 'isn't it enough?'
+
+'Oh, it's more than enough. Miss Longworth pays me well for what I do,
+sir, and it's only my duty to keep things tidy.'
+
+'Yes, Susy, that is very true; but very few of us do our duty, you know,
+in this world.'
+
+'But we ought to, sir,' said the girl, in a tone of quiet reproof that
+made the young man smile.
+
+'Perhaps,' said he; 'but then, you see, we are not all pretty and good,
+like you. I'm sorry you won't take the money. I hope you are not offended
+at me for offering it;' and William adjusted his eye-glass, looking his
+sweetest at the young person standing before him.
+
+'Oh no, sir,' she said, 'I'm not at all offended, and I thank you very
+much, very much indeed, sir, and I would like to ask you a question, if
+you wouldn't think me too bold.'
+
+'Bold?' cried William. 'Why, I think you are the shyest little woman I
+have ever seen. I'll be very pleased to answer any question you may ask
+me. What is it?'
+
+'You see, sir, I've got a little money of my own.'
+
+'Well, I declare, Susy, this is very interesting. I'd no idea you were
+an heiress.'
+
+'Oh, not an heiress, sir--far from it. It's only a little matter of four
+or five hundred pounds, sir,' said Susy, dropping him an awkward little
+curtsy, which he thought most charming. 'The money is in the bank, and
+earns no interest, and I thought I would like to invest it where it would
+bring in something.'
+
+'Certainly, Susy, and a most laudable desire on your part. Was it about
+that you wished to question me?'
+
+'Yes, if you please, sir. I saw this paper on your desk, and I thought I
+would ask you if it would be safe for me to put my money in these mines,
+sir. Seeing the paper here, I supposed you had something to do with it.'
+
+William whistled a long incredulous note, and said:
+
+'So you have been reading my papers, have you, miss?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' said the girl, looking up at him with startled eyes. 'I
+only saw the name Canadian Mica-mine on this, and the paper said it would
+pay ten per cent., and I thought if you had anything to do with it that
+my money would be quite safe.'
+
+'Oh, that goes without saying,' said William; 'but if I were you, my
+dear, I should not put my money in the mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, then, you haven't anything to do with the mine, sir?'
+
+'Yes, Susy, I have. You know, fools build houses, and wise men live in
+them.'
+
+'So I have heard,' said Susy thoughtfully.
+
+'Well, two fools are building the house that we will call the Canadian
+Mica-mine, and I am the wise man, don't you see, Susy?' said the young
+man, with a sweet smile.
+
+'I'm afraid I don't quite understand, sir.'
+
+'I don't suppose, Susy,' replied the young man, with a laugh, 'that
+there are many who do; but I think in a month's time I shall own this
+mica-mine, and then, my dear, if you still want to own a share or two,
+I shall be very pleased to give you a few without your spending any
+money at all.'
+
+'Oh, would you, sir?' cried Susy in glad surprise; 'and who owns the
+mine now?'
+
+'Oh, two fellows; you wouldn't know their names if I told them to you.'
+
+'And are they going to sell it to you, sir?'
+
+William laughed heartily, and said:
+
+'Oh no! they themselves will be sold.'
+
+'But how can that be if they don't own the mine? You see, I'm only a very
+stupid girl, and don't understand business. That's why I asked you about
+my money.'
+
+'I don't suppose you know what an option is, do you, Susy?'
+
+'No, sir, I don't; I never heard of it before.'
+
+'Well, these two young men have what is called an option on the mine,
+which is to say that they are to pay a certain sum of money at a certain
+time and the mine is theirs; but if they don't pay the certain sum at the
+certain time, the mine isn't theirs.'
+
+'And won't they pay the money, sir?'
+
+'No, Susy, they will not, because, don't you know, they haven't got it.
+Then these two fools will be sold, for they think they are going to get
+the money, and they are not.'
+
+'And you have the money to buy the mine when the option runs out, sir.'
+
+'By Jove!' said William in surprise, 'you have a prodigious head for
+business, Susy; I never saw anyone pick it up so fast. You will have to
+take lessons from me, and go on the market and speculate yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I should like to do that, sir--I should indeed.'
+
+'Well,' said William kindly, 'whenever you have time, come to me, and I
+will give you lessons.'
+
+The young man approached her, holding out his hand, but the girl slipped
+away from him and opened the door.
+
+'I think,' he said in a whisper, 'that you might give me a kiss after all
+this valuable information.'
+
+'Oh, Mr. William!' cried Susy, horrified.
+
+He stepped forward and tried to catch her, but the girl was too nimble
+for him, and sprang out into the passage.
+
+'Surely,' protested William, 'this is getting information under false
+pretences; I expected my fee, you know.'
+
+'And you shall have it,' said the girl, laughing softly, 'when I get ten
+per cent. on my money.'
+
+'Egad!' said William to himself as he entered his room again, 'I will see
+that you get it. She's as clever an outside broker.'
+
+When young Longworth had left for his office, Susy swept and dusted out
+his room again, and then went downstairs.
+
+'Where's the mistress?' she asked a fellow-servant.
+
+'In the library,' was the answer, and to the library Susy went, entering
+the room without knocking, much to the amazement of Edith Longworth, who
+sat near the window with a book in her lap. But further surprise was in
+store for the lady of the house. The housemaid closed the door, and then,
+selecting a comfortable chair, threw herself down into it, exclaiming:
+
+'Oh dear me! I'm so tired.'
+
+'Susy,' said Miss Longworth, 'what is the meaning of this?'
+
+'It means, mum,' said Susy, 'that I'm going to chuck it.'
+
+'Going to _what_?' asked Miss Longworth, amazed.
+
+'Going to chuck it. Didn't you understand? Going to give up my situation.
+I'm tired of it.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman, rising, 'you may give notice in the
+proper way. You have no right to come into this room in this impudent
+manner. Be so good as to go to your own room.'
+
+'My!' said Susy, 'you can do the dignified! I must practise and see if I
+can accomplish an attitude like that. If you were a little prettier, Miss
+Longworth, I should call that striking;' and the girl threw back her head
+and laughed.
+
+Something in the laugh aroused Miss Longworth's recollection, and a chill
+of fear came over her; but, looking at the girl again, she saw she was
+mistaken. Susy jumped up, still laughing, and drew a pin from the little
+cap she wore, flinging it on the chair; then she pulled off her wig, and
+stood before Edith Longworth her natural self.
+
+'Miss Brewster!' gasped the astonished Edith. 'What are you doing in my
+house in that disguise?'
+
+'Oh,' said Jennie, 'I'm an amateur housemaid. How do you think I have
+acted the part? Now sit down, Miss Dignity, and I will tell you something
+about your own family. I thought you were a set of rogues, and now I can
+prove it.'
+
+'Will you leave my house this instant?' cried Edith, in anger. 'I shall
+not listen to you.'
+
+'Oh yes, you will,' said Jennie, 'for I shall follow your own example,
+and not let you out until you do hear what I have to tell you.'
+
+Saying which the amateur housemaid skipped nimbly to the door, and placed
+her back against it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Jennie Brewster stood with her back to the door, a sweet smile on her
+face.
+
+'This is my day for acting, Miss Longworth. I think I did the _rôle_ of
+housemaid so well that it deceived several members of this family. I am
+now giving an imitation of yourself in your thrilling drama, "All at
+Sea." Don't you think I do it most admirably?'
+
+'Yes,' said Edith, sitting down again. 'I wonder you did not adopt the
+stage as a profession.'
+
+'I have often thought of doing so, but journalism is more exciting.'
+
+'Perhaps. Still, it has its disappointments. When I gave my thrilling
+drama, as you call it, on shipboard, I had my stage accessories arranged
+to better advantage than you have now.'
+
+'Do you mean the putting off of the boat?'
+
+'No; I mean that the electric button was under my hand--it was impossible
+for you to ring for help. Now, while you hold the door, you cannot stop
+me from ringing, for the bell-rope is here beside me.'
+
+'Yes, that is a disadvantage, I admit. Do you intend to ring, then, and
+have me turned out?'
+
+'I don't think that will be necessary. I imagine you will go quietly.'
+
+'You are a pretty clever girl, Miss Longworth. I wish I liked you, but I
+don't, so we won't waste valuable time deploring that fact. Have you no
+curiosity to hear what I was going to tell you?'
+
+'Not the slightest; but there is one thing I should like to know.'
+
+'Oh, is there? Well, that's human, at any rate. What do you wish to
+know?'
+
+'You came here well recommended. How did you know I wanted a housemaid,
+and were your testimonials----'
+
+Edith paused for a word, which Jennie promptly supplied.
+
+'Forged? Oh dear no! There is no necessity for doing anything criminal in
+this country, if you have the money. I didn't forge them--I bought them.
+Didn't you write to any of the good ladies who stood sponsor for me?'
+
+'Yes, and received most flattering accounts of you.'
+
+'Certainly. That was part of the contract. Oh, you can do anything with
+money in London; it is a most delightful town. Then, as for knowing
+there was a vacancy, that also was money. I bribed the other housemaid
+to leave.'
+
+'I see. And what object had you in all this?'
+
+Jennie Brewster laughed--the same silvery laugh that had charmed William
+Longworth an hour or two before, a laugh that sometimes haunted
+Wentworth's memory in the City. She left her sentinel-like position at
+the door and threw herself into a chair.
+
+'Miss Longworth,' she said, 'you are not consistent. You first pretend
+that you have no curiosity to hear what I have to say, then you ask me
+exactly what I was going to tell you. Of course, you are dying to know
+why I am here; you wouldn't be a woman if you weren't. Now, I've changed
+my mind, and I don't intend to tell you. I will say, though, that my
+object in coming here was, first, to find out for myself how servants are
+treated in this country. You see, my sympathies are all with the women
+who work, and not with women--well, like yourself, for instance.'
+
+'Yes, I think you said that once before. And how do we treat our
+servants?'
+
+'So far as my experience goes, very well indeed.'
+
+'It is most gratifying to hear you say this. I was afraid we might not
+have met with your approval. And now, where shall I send your month's
+money, Miss Brewster?'
+
+Jennie Brewster leaned back in her chair, her eyes all but closed; an
+angry light shooting from them reminded Edith of her glance of hatred on
+board the steamship. A rich warm colour overspread her fair face, and her
+lips closed tightly. There was a moment's silence, and then Jennie's
+indignation passed away as quickly as it came. She laughed, with just a
+touch of restraint in her tone.
+
+'You can say an insulting thing more calmly and sweetly than anyone I
+ever met before; I envy you that. When I say anything low down and mean,
+I say it in anger, and my voice has a certain amount of acridity in it. I
+can't purr like a cat and scratch at the same time--I wish I could.'
+
+'Is it an insult to offer you the money you have earned?'
+
+'Yes, it is, and you knew it was when you spoke. You don't understand me
+a little bit.'
+
+'Is it necessary that I should?'
+
+'I don't suppose you think it is,' said Jennie meditatively, resting her
+elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. 'That is where our point of
+view differs. I like to know everything. It interests me to learn what
+people think and talk about, and somehow it doesn't seem to matter to me
+who the people are, for I was even more interested in your butler's
+political opinions than I was in Lord Frederick Bingham's. They are both
+Conservatives, but Lord Freddie seems shaky in his views, for you can
+argue him down in five minutes, but the butler is as steadfast as a rock.
+I do admire that butler. I hope you will break the news of my departure
+gently to him, for he proposed to me, and he has not yet had his answer.'
+
+'There is still time,' said Edith, smiling in spite of herself. 'Shall I
+ring for him?'
+
+'Please do not. I want to avoid a painful scene, because he is so sure of
+himself, and never dreams of a refusal. It is such a pity, too, for the
+butler is my ideal of what a member of the aristocracy should be. His
+dignity is positively awe-inspiring; while Lord Freddie is such a simple,
+good-natured, everyday young fellow, that if I imported him to the States
+I am sure no one would believe he was a real lord. With the butler it
+would be _so_ different,' added Jennie, with a deep sigh.
+
+'It is too bad that you cannot exchange the declaration of the butler for
+one from Lord Frederick.'
+
+'Too bad!' cried Jennie, looking with wide-open eyes at the girl before
+her; 'why, bless you! I had a proposal from Lord Freddie two weeks before
+I ever saw the butler. I see you don't believe a word I say. Well, you
+ask Lord Freddie. I'll introduce you, and tell him you don't believe he
+asked me to be Lady Freddie, if that's the title. He'll look sheepish,
+but he won't deny it. You see, when I found I was going to stay in
+England for a time, I wrote to the editor of the _Argus_ to get me a
+bunch of letters of introduction and send them over, as I wanted
+particularly to study the aristocracy. So he sent them, and, I assure
+you, I found it much more difficult to get into your servants' hall than
+I did into the halls of the nobility--besides, it costs less to mix with
+the Upper Ten.'
+
+Edith sat in silence, looking with amazed interest at the girl, who
+talked so rapidly that there was sometimes difficulty in following
+what she said.
+
+'No, Lord Freddie is not half so condescending as the butler, neither is
+his language so well chosen; but then, I suppose, the butler's had more
+practice, for Freddie is very young. I am exceedingly disappointed with
+the aristocracy. They are not nearly so haughty as I had imagined them
+to be. But what astonishes me in this country is the way you women
+spoil the men. You are much too good to them. You pet them and fawn on
+them, and naturally they get conceited. It is such a pity, too; for
+they are nice fellows, most of them. It is the same everywhere I've
+been--servants' hall included. Why, when you meet a young couple, of what
+you are pleased to call the "lower classes," walking in the Park, the man
+hangs down his head as he slouches along, but the girl looks defiantly at
+you, as much as to say, "I've got him. Bless him! What have you to say
+about it?" while the man seems to be ashamed of himself, and evidently
+feels that he's been had. Now, a man should be made to understand that
+you're doing him a great favour when you give him a civil word. That's
+the proper state of mind to keep a man in, and then you can do what you
+like with him. I generally make him propose, so as to get it over before
+any real harm's done, and to give an artistic finish to the episode.
+After that we can be excellent friends, and have a jolly time. That's the
+way I did with Lord Freddie. Now, here am I, chattering away as if I were
+paid for talking instead of writing. Why do you look at me so? Don't you
+believe what I tell you?'
+
+'Yes, I believe all you say. What I can't understand is, why a bright
+girl like you should enter a house and,--well, do what you have done
+here, for instance.'
+
+'Why shouldn't I? I am after accurate information. I get it in my own
+way. Your writers here tell how the poor live, and that sort of thing.
+They enter the houses of the poor quite unblushingly, and print their
+impressions of the poverty-stricken homes. Now, why should the rich man
+be exempt from a similar investigation?'
+
+'In either case it is the work of a spy.'
+
+'Yes; but a spy is not a dishonourable person--at least, he need not be.
+I saw a monument in Westminster Abbey to a man who was hanged as a spy. A
+spy must be brave; he must have nerve, caution, and resource. He
+sometimes does more for his country than a whole regiment. Oh, there are
+worse persons than spies in this world.'
+
+'I suppose there are, still----'
+
+'Yes, I know. It is easy for persons with plenty of money to moralize on
+the shortcomings of others. I'll tell you a secret. I'm writing a book,
+and if it's a success, then good-bye to journalism. I don't like the spy
+business myself any too well; I'm afraid England is contaminating me, and
+if I stayed here a few years I might degenerate so far as to think your
+newspapers interesting. By the way, have you seen Mr. Wentworth lately?'
+
+Edith hesitated a moment, and at last answered:
+
+'Yes, I saw him a day or two ago.'
+
+'Was he looking well? I think I ought to write him a note of apology for
+all the anxiety I caused him on board ship. You may not believe it, but I
+have actually had some twinges of conscience over that episode. I suppose
+that's why I partially forgave you for stopping the cablegram.'
+
+Edith Longworth was astonished at herself for giving the young woman
+information about Wentworth, but she gave it, and the amateur housemaid
+departed in peace, saying, by way of farewell:
+
+'I'm not going to write up your household, after all.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+One day when Kenyon entered the office, the clerk said to him:
+
+'That young gentleman has been here twice to see you. He said it was very
+important, sir.'
+
+'What young gentleman?'
+
+'The gentleman--here is his card--who belongs to the _Financial Field_,
+sir.'
+
+'Did he leave any message?'
+
+'Yes, sir; he said he would call again at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very good,' said Kenyon; and he began composing his address to the
+proposed subscribers.
+
+At three o'clock the smooth, oily person from the _Financial Field_ put
+in an appearance.
+
+'Ah, Mr. Kenyon,' he said, 'I am glad to meet you. I called in twice,
+but had not the good fortune to find you in. Can I see you in private
+for a moment?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon. 'Come into the directors' room;' and into the
+directors room they went, Kenyon closing the door behind them.
+
+'Now,' said the representative of the _Financial Field_, 'I have brought
+you a proof of the editorial we propose using, which I am desired by the
+proprietor to show you, so that it may be free, if possible, from any
+error. We are very anxious to have things correct in the _Financial
+Field_;' and with this he handed to John a long slip of paper with a
+column of printed matter upon it.
+
+The article was headed, 'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited.' It
+went on to show what the mine had been, what it had done, and what
+chances there were for investors getting a good return for their money by
+buying the shares. John read it through carefully.
+
+'That is a very handsome article,' he said; 'and it is without an error,
+so far as I can see.'
+
+'I am glad you think so,' replied the young gentleman, folding up the
+proof and putting it in his inside pocket. 'Now, as I said before,
+although I am not the advertising canvasser of the _Financial Field_,
+I thought I would see you with reference to an advertisement for the
+paper.'
+
+'Well, you know, we have not had a meeting of the proposed stockholders
+yet, and therefore are not in a position to give any advertisements
+regarding the mine. I have no doubt advertisements will be given, and, of
+course, your paper will be remembered among the rest.'
+
+'Ah,' said the young man, 'that is hardly satisfactory to us. We have a
+vacant half-page for Monday, the very best position in the paper, which
+the proprietor thought you would like to secure.'
+
+'As I said a moment ago, we are not in a position to secure it. It is
+premature to talk of advertising at the present state of affairs.'
+
+'I think, you know, it will be to your interest to take the half-page.
+The price is three hundred pounds, and besides that amount we should like
+to have some shares in the company.'
+
+'Do you mean three hundred pounds for one insertion of the
+advertisement?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Doesn't that strike you as being a trifle exorbitant? Your paper has a
+comparatively limited circulation, and they do not ask us such a price
+even in the large dailies.'
+
+'Ah, my dear sir, the large dailies are quite different. They have a
+tremendous circulation, it is true, but it is not the kind of circulation
+we have. No other paper circulates so largely among investors as the
+_Financial Field._ It is read by exactly the class of people you desire
+to reach, and I may say that, except through the _Financial Field_, you
+cannot get at some of the best men in the City.'
+
+'Well, admitting all that, as I have said once or twice, we are not yet
+in a position to give an advertisement.'
+
+'Then, I am very sorry to say that we cannot, on Monday, publish the
+article I have shown you.'
+
+'Very well; I cannot help it. You are not compelled to print it unless
+you wish. I am not sure, either, that publishing the article on Monday
+would do us any good. It would be premature, as I say. We are not yet
+ready to court publicity until we have had our first meeting of proposed
+stockholders.'
+
+'When is your first meeting of stockholders?'
+
+'On Monday, at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very well, we could put that announcement in another column, and I am
+sure you would find the attendance at your meeting would be very largely
+and substantially increased.'
+
+'Possibly; but I decline to do anything till after the meeting.'
+
+'I think you would find it pay you extremely well to take that
+half-page.'
+
+'I am not questioning the fact at all. I am merely saying what I have
+said to everyone else, that we are not ready to consider advertising.'
+
+'I am sorry we cannot come to an arrangement, Mr. Kenyon--very sorry
+indeed;' and, saying this, he took another proof-sheet out of his pocket,
+which he handed to Kenyon. 'If we cannot come to an understanding, the
+manager has determined to print this, instead of the article I showed
+you. Would you kindly glance over it, because we should like to have it
+as correct as possible.'
+
+Kenyon opened his eyes, and unfolded the paper. The heading was the same,
+but he had read only a sentence or two when he found that the mica-mine
+was one of the greatest swindles ever attempted on poor old innocent
+financial London!
+
+'Do you mean to say,' cried John, looking up at him, with his anger
+kindling, 'that if I do not bribe you to the extent of three hundred
+pounds, besides giving you an unknown quantity of stock, you will publish
+this libel?'
+
+'I do not say it is a libel,' said the young man smoothly; 'that would be
+a matter for the courts to decide. You might sue us for libel, if you
+thought we had treated you badly. I may say that has been tried several
+times, but with indifferent success.'
+
+'But do you mean to tell me that you intend to publish this article if I
+do not pay you the three hundred pounds?'
+
+'Yes; putting it crudely, that is exactly what I do mean.'
+
+Kenyon rose in his wrath and flung open the door.
+
+'I must ask you to leave this place, and leave it at once. If you ever
+put in an appearance here again while I am in the office, I will call a
+policeman and have you turned out!'
+
+'My dear sir,' expostulated the other suavely, 'it is merely a matter of
+business. If you find it impossible to deal with us, there is no harm
+done. If our paper has no influence, we cannot possibly injure you. That,
+of course, is entirely for you to judge. If, any time between now and
+Sunday night, you conclude to act otherwise, a wire to our office will
+hold things over until we have had an opportunity of coming to an
+arrangement with you. If not, this article will be published on Monday
+morning. I wish you a very good afternoon, sir.'
+
+John said nothing, but watched his visitor out on the pavement, and then
+returned to the making of his report.
+
+On Monday morning, as he came in by train, his eye caught a flaming
+poster on one of the bill-boards at the station. It was headed _Financial
+Field_, and the next line, in heavy black letters, was, 'The Mica Mining
+Swindle,' Kenyon called a newsboy to him and bought a copy of the paper.
+There, in leaded type, was the article before him. It seemed, somehow,
+much more important on the printed page than it had looked in the proof.
+
+As he read it, he noticed an air of truthful sincerity about the
+editorial that had escaped him during the brief glance he had given it on
+Friday. It went on to say that the Austrian Mining Company had sunk a
+good deal of money in the mine, and that it had never paid a penny of
+dividends; that they merely kept on at a constant loss to themselves in
+the hope of being able to swindle some confiding investors--but that even
+their designs were as nothing compared to the barefaced rascality
+contemplated by John Kenyon. He caught his breath as he saw his own name
+in print. It was a shock for which he was not prepared, as he had not
+noticed it in the proof. Then he read on. It seemed that this man,
+Kenyon, had secured the mine at something like ten thousand pounds, and
+was trying to palm it off on the unfortunate British public at the
+enormous increase of two hundred thousand pounds; but this nefarious
+attempt would doubtless be frustrated so long as there were papers of the
+integrity of the _Financial Field_, to take the risk and expense of
+making such an exposure as was here set forth.
+
+The article possessed a singular fascination for Kenyon. He read and
+re-read it in a dazed way, as if the statement referred to some other
+person, and he could not help feeling sorry for that person.
+
+He still had the paper in his hand as he walked up the street, and he
+felt numbed and dazed as if someone had struck him a blow. He was nearly
+run over in crossing one of the thoroughfares, and heard an outburst of
+profanity directed at him from a cab-driver and a man on a bus; but he
+heeded them not, walking through the crowd as if under a spell.
+
+He passed the door of his own gorgeous office, and walked some distance
+up the street before he realized what he had done. Then he turned back
+again, and, just at the doorstep, paused with a pang at his heart.
+
+'I wonder if Edith Longworth will read that article,' he said to himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered his office, he thought the clerk looked at him
+askance. He imagined that innocent employee had been reading the article
+in the _Financial Field_; but the truth is, John was hardly in a frame of
+mind to form a correct opinion on what other people were doing. Everybody
+he met in the street, it seemed to him, was discussing the article in the
+_Financial Field_.
+
+He asked if anybody had been in that morning, and was told there had been
+no callers. Then he passed into the directors' room, closed the door
+behind him, sat down on a chair, and leaned his head on his hands with
+his elbows on the table. In this position Wentworth found him some time
+later, and when John looked up his face was haggard and aged.
+
+'Ah, I see you have read it.'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you think Longworth is at the bottom of that article?'
+
+John shook his head.
+
+'Oh no,' he said; 'he had nothing whatever to do with it.'
+
+'How do you know?'
+
+Kenyon related exactly what had passed between the oily young man of the
+_Financial Field_ and himself in that very room. While this recital was
+going on, Wentworth walked up and down, expressing his opinion now and
+then, in remarks that were short and pithy, but hardly fit for
+publication. When the story was told he turned to Kenyon.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'there is nothing for it but to sue the paper for
+libel.'
+
+'What good will that do?'
+
+'What good will it do? Do you mean to say that you intend to sit here
+under such an imputation as they have cast upon you, and do nothing? What
+_good_ will it do? It will do all the good in the world.'
+
+'We cannot form our company and sue the paper at the same time. All our
+energies will have to be directed towards the matter we have in hand.'
+
+'But, my dear John, don't you see the effect of that article? How can we
+form our company if such a lie remains unchallenged? Nobody will look at
+our proposals. Everyone will say, "What have you done about the article
+that appeared in the _Financial Field_?" If we say we have done nothing,
+then, of course, the natural inference is that we are a pair of
+swindlers, and that our scheme is a fraud.'
+
+'I have always thought,' said John, 'that the capitalization is too
+high.'
+
+'Really, I believe you think that article is not so unfair, after all.
+John, I'm astonished at you!'
+
+'But if we do commence a libel suit, it cannot be finished before our
+option has expired. If we tell people that we have begun a suit against
+the _Financial Field_ for libel, they will merely say they prefer to wait
+and hear what the result of the case is. By that time our chances of
+forming a company will be gone.'
+
+'There is a certain amount of truth in that; nevertheless, I do not see
+how we are to go on with our company unless suit for libel is at least
+begun.'
+
+Before John could reply there was a knock at the door, and the clerk
+entered with a letter in his hand which had just come in. Kenyon tore it
+open, read it, and then tossed it across the table to Wentworth.
+Wentworth saw the name of their firm of solicitors at the top of the
+letter-paper. Then he read:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'You have doubtless seen the article in the _Financial Field_ of this
+morning, referring to the Canadian Mica Mining Company. We should be
+pleased to know what action you intend to take in the matter. We may
+say that, in justice to our reputation, we can no longer represent
+your company unless a suit is brought against the paper which contains
+the article.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'W. HAWK.'
+
+Wentworth laughed with a certain bitterness.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'if it has come to such a pass that Hawk fears for his
+reputation, the sooner we begin a libel suit against the paper the
+better!'
+
+'Perhaps,' said John, with a look of agony on his face, 'you will tell me
+where the money is to come from. The moment we get into the Law Courts
+money will simply flow like water, and doubtless the _Financial Field_
+has plenty of it. It will add to their reputation, and they will make a
+boast that they are fighting the battle of the investor in London.
+Everything is grist that comes to their mill. Meanwhile, we shall be
+paying out money, or we shall be at a tremendous disadvantage, and the
+result of it all will probably be a disagreement of the jury and
+practical ruin for us. You see, I have no witnesses.'
+
+'Yes, but what about the mine? How can we go on without vindicating
+ourselves?'
+
+Before anything further could be said, young Mr. Longworth came in,
+looking as cool, calm, and unruffled as if there were no such things in
+the world as financial newspapers.
+
+'Discussing it, I see,' were his first words.
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'I am very glad you have come. We have a little
+difference of opinion in the matter of that article. Kenyon here is
+averse to suing that paper for libel; I am in favour of prosecuting it.
+Now, what do _you_ say?'
+
+'My dear fellow,' replied Longworth, 'I am delighted to be able to agree
+with Mr. Kenyon for once. Sue them! Why, of course not. That is just what
+they want.'
+
+'But,' said Wentworth, 'if we do not, who is going to look at our mine?'
+
+'Exactly the same number of people as would look at it before the article
+appeared.'
+
+'Don't you think it will have any effect?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'But look at this letter from your own lawyers on the subject.' Wentworth
+handed Longworth the letter from Hawk. Longworth adjusted his glass and
+read it carefully through.
+
+'By Jove!' he said with a laugh, 'I call that good; I call that
+distinctly good. I had no idea old Hawk was such a humorist! His
+reputation indeed; well, that beats me! All that Hawk wants is another
+suit on his hands. I wish you would let me keep this letter. I will have
+some fun with my friend Hawk over it.'
+
+'You are welcome to the letter, so far as I am concerned,' said
+Wentworth; 'but do you mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that we have to sit
+here calmly under this imputation and do nothing?'
+
+'I mean to say nothing of the kind; but I don't propose to play into
+their hands by suing them--at least, I should not if it were my case
+instead of Kenyon's.'
+
+'What would you do?'
+
+'I would let them sue me if they wanted to. Of course, their canvasser
+called to see you, didn't he, Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, he did.'
+
+'He told you that he had a certain amount of space to sell for a certain
+sum in cash?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'And, if you did not buy that space, this certain article would appear;
+whereas, if you did, an article of quite a different complexion would
+be printed?'
+
+'You seem to know all about it,' said Kenyon suspiciously.
+
+'Of course I do, my dear boy! Everybody knows all about it. That's the
+way those papers make their money. I think myself, as a general rule, it
+is cheaper to buy them off. I believe my uncle always does that when he
+has anything special on hand, and doesn't want to be bothered with
+outside issues. But we haven't done so in this instance, and this is the
+result. It can be easily remedied yet, mind you, if you like. All that
+you have to do is to pay his price, and there will be an equally lengthy
+article saying that, from outside information received with regard to the
+Canadian Mining Company, he regrets very much that the former article was
+an entire mistake, and that there is no more secure investment in England
+than this particular mine. But now, when he has come out with his
+editorial, I think it isn't worth while to have any further dealings
+with him. Anything he can say now will not matter. He has done all the
+harm he can. But I would at once put the boot on the other foot. I would
+write down all the circumstances just as they happened--give the name of
+the young man who called upon you, tell exactly the price he demanded for
+his silence, and I will have that printed in an opposition paper
+to-morrow. Then it will be our friend the _Financial Field's_ turn to
+squirm! He will say it is all a lie, of course, but nobody will believe
+him, and we can tell him, from the opposition paper, that if it is a lie
+he is perfectly at liberty to sue us for libel. Let him begin the suit if
+he wants to do so. Let him defend his reputation. Sue him for libel! I
+know a game worth two of that. Could you get out the statement before the
+meeting this afternoon?'
+
+Kenyon, who had been looking, for the first time in his life, gratefully
+at Longworth, said he could.
+
+'Very well; just set it down in your own words as plainly as possible,
+and give date, hour, and full particulars. Sign your name to it, and I
+will take it when I come to the meeting this afternoon. It would not be
+a bad plan to read it to those who are here. There is nothing like
+fighting the devil with fire. Fight a paper with another paper. Nothing
+new, I suppose?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'nothing new except what we are discussing.'
+
+'Well, don't let that trouble you. Do as I say, and we will begin an
+interesting controversy. People like a fight, and it will attract
+attention to the mine. Good-bye. I shall see you this afternoon.'
+
+He left both Kenyon and Wentworth in a much happier frame of mind than
+that in which he had found them.
+
+'I say, Kenyon,' said Wentworth, 'that fellow is a trump. His advice has
+cleared the air wonderfully. I believe his plan is the best, after all,
+and, as you say, we have no money for an expensive lawsuit. I shall leave
+you now to get on with your work, and will return at three o'clock.'
+
+At that hour John had his statement finished. The first man to arrive was
+Longworth, who read the article with approval, merely suggesting a change
+here and there, which was duly made. Then he put the communication into
+an envelope, and sent it to the editor of the opposition paper. Wentworth
+came in next, then Melville, then Mr. King. After this they all adjourned
+to the directors' room, and in a few minutes the others were present.
+
+'Now,' said Longworth, 'as we are all here, I do not see any necessity
+for delay. You have probably read the article that appeared in this
+morning's _Financial Field_. Mr. Kenyon has written a statement in
+relation to that, which gives the full particulars of the inside of a
+very disreputable piece of business. It was merely an attempt at
+blackmailing which failed. I intended to have had the statement read to
+you, but we thought it best to get it off as quickly as possible, and it
+will appear to-morrow in the _Financial Eagle_, where, I hope, you will
+all read it. Now, Mr. Kenyon, perhaps you will tell us something about
+the mine.'
+
+Kenyon, like many men of worth and not of words, was a very poor speaker.
+He seemed confused, and was often a little obscure in his remarks, but he
+was listened to with great attention by those present. He was helped
+here and there by a judicious question from young Longworth, and when he
+sat down the impression was not so bad as might have been expected. After
+a moment's silence, it was Mr. King who spoke.
+
+'As I take it,' he said, 'all we wish to know is this: Is the mine what
+it is represented to be? Is the mineral the best for the use Mr. Kenyon
+has indicated? Is there a sufficient quantity of that mineral in the
+mountain he speaks of to make it worth while to organize this company? It
+seems to me that this can only be answered by some practical man going
+out there and seeing the mine for himself. Mr. Melville is, I understand,
+a practical man. If he has the time to spare, I would propose that he
+should go to America, see this mine, and report.'
+
+Another person asked when the option on the mine ran out. This was
+answered by Longworth, who said that the person who went over and
+reported on the mine could cable the word 'Right' or 'Wrong'; then there
+would be time to act in London in getting up the list of subscribers.
+
+'I suppose,' said another, 'that in case of delay there would be no
+trouble in renewing the option for a month or two?'
+
+To this Kenyon replied that he did not know. The owners might put a
+higher price on the property, or the mine might be producing more mica
+than it had been heretofore, and they perhaps might not be inclined to
+sell. He thought that things should be arranged so that there would be
+no necessity of asking for an extension of the option, and to this they
+all agreed.
+
+Melville then said he had no objection to taking a trip to Canada. It
+was merely a question of the amount of the mineral in sight, and he
+thought he could determine that as well as anybody else. And so the
+matter was about to be settled, when Longworth rose, and said that he was
+perfectly willing to go to Canada himself, in company with Mr. Melville;
+that he would pay all his own expenses, and give them the benefit of his
+opinion as well. This was received with applause, and the meeting
+terminated. Longworth shook hands with Kenyon and Wentworth.
+
+'We will sail by the first steamer,' he said, 'and, as I may not see you
+again, you might write me a letter of introduction to Mr. Von Brent, and
+tell him that I am acting for you in this affair. That will make matters
+smooth in getting an extension of the option, if it should be necessary.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+Kenyon was on his way to lunch next day, when he met Wentworth at the
+door.
+
+'Going to feed?' asked the latter.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well; I'll go with you. I couldn't stay last night to have a talk
+with you over the meeting; but what did you think of it?'
+
+'Well, considering the article which appeared in the morning, and
+considering also the exhibition I made of myself in attempting to explain
+the merits of the mine, I think things went off rather smoothly.'
+
+'So do I. It doesn't strike you that they went off a little _too_
+smoothly, does it?'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I don't know exactly what I mean. I merely wanted to get your own
+opinion about it. You see, I have attended a great many gatherings of
+this sort, and it struck me there was a certain cut-and-driedness about
+the meeting. I can't say whether it impressed me favourably or
+unfavourably, but I noticed it.'
+
+'I still don't understand what you mean.'
+
+'Well, as a general thing in such meetings, when a man gets up and
+proposes a certain action there is some opposition, or somebody has a
+suggestion to make, or something better to propose--or thinks he has--and
+so there is a good deal of talk. Now, when King got up and proposed
+calmly that Melville should go to America, it appeared to me rather an
+extraordinary thing to do, unless he had consulted Melville beforehand.'
+
+'Perhaps he had done so.'
+
+'Yes, perhaps. What do you think of it all?'
+
+Kenyon mused for a moment before he replied:
+
+'As I said before, I thought things went off very smoothly. Whom do you
+suspect--young Longworth?'
+
+'I do not know whom I suspect. I am merely getting anxious about the
+shortness of the time. I think, myself, you ought to go to America. There
+is nothing to be done here. You should go, see Von Brent, and get a
+renewal of the option. Don't you see that when they get over there,
+allowing them a few days in New York, and a day or two to get out to the
+mine, we shall have little more than a week, after the cable despatch
+comes, in which to do anything, should they happen to report
+unfavourably.'
+
+'Yes, I see that. Still, it is only a question of facts on which they
+have to report, and you know, as well as I do, that no truthful men can
+report unfavourably on what we have certified. We have understated the
+case in every instance.'
+
+'I know that. I am perfectly well aware of that. Everything is all right
+if--if--Longworth is dealing honestly with us. If he is not, then
+everything is all wrong, and I should feel a great deal easier if we had
+in our possession another three months' option of the mine. We are now at
+the fag-end of this option, and, it seems to me, as protection to
+ourselves, we ought either to write to Von Brent--By the way, have you
+ever written to him?'
+
+'I wrote one letter telling him how we were getting on, but have received
+no answer; perhaps he is not in Ottawa at present.'
+
+'Well, I think you ought to go to the mine with Longworth and Melville.
+It is the conjunction of those two men that makes me suspicious. I can't
+tell what I distrust. I can give nothing definite; but I have a vague
+uneasiness when I think that the man who tried to mislead us regarding
+the value of the mineral is going with the man who has led us into all
+this expense. Longworth refused to go into the scheme in the first place,
+pretended he had forgotten all about it in the second place, and then
+suddenly developed an interest.'
+
+John knitted his brows and said nothing.
+
+'I don't want to worry you about it, but I am anxious to have your candid
+opinion. What had we better do?'
+
+'It seems to me,' said John, after a pause, 'that we can do nothing. It
+is a very perplexing situation. I think, however, we should turn it over
+in our minds for a few days, and then I can get to America in plenty of
+time, if necessary.'
+
+'Very well, suppose we give them ten days to get to the mine and reply.
+If no reply comes by the eleventh day then you will still have eighteen
+or nineteen days before the option expires. Put it at twelve days. I
+propose, if you hear nothing by then, you go over.'
+
+'Right,' said John; 'we may take that as settled.'
+
+'By the way, you got an invitation to-day, did you not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you going?'
+
+'I do not know. I should like to go and yet, you know, I am entirely
+unused to fashionable assemblages. I should not know what to say or do
+while I was there.'
+
+'As I understand, it is not to be a fashionable party, but merely a
+little friendly gathering which Miss Longworth gives because her cousin
+is about to sail for Canada. I don't want to flatter you, John, at all,
+but I imagine Miss Longworth would be rather disappointed if you did not
+put in an appearance. Besides, as we are partners with Longworth in this,
+and as he is going away on account of the mine. I think it would be a
+little ungracious of us not to go.'
+
+'Very well, I will go. Shall I call for you, or will you come for me?'
+
+'I will call for you and we will go there together in a cab. Be ready
+about eight o'clock.'
+
+The mansion of the Longworths was brilliantly lighted, and John felt
+rather faint-hearted as he stood on the steps before going in. The
+chances are he would not have had the courage to allow himself to be
+announced if his friend Wentworth had not been with him. George,
+however, had no such qualms, being more experienced in this kind of
+thing than his comrade. So they entered together, and were warmly
+greeted by the young hostess.
+
+'It is so kind of you to come,' she said, 'on such short notice. I was
+afraid you might have had some prior engagement, and would have found it
+impossible to be with us.'
+
+'You must not think that of me,' said Wentworth. 'I was certain to come;
+but I must confess my friend Kenyon here was rather difficult to manage.
+He seems to frown on social festivities, and actually had the coolness to
+propose that we should both plead more important business.'
+
+Edith looked reproachfully at Kenyon, who flushed to the temples, as was
+his custom, and said:
+
+'Now, Wentworth, that is unfair. You must not mind what he says, Miss
+Longworth; he likes to bring confusion on me, and he knows how to do it.
+I certainly said nothing about a prior engagement.'
+
+'Well, now you are here, I hope you will enjoy yourselves. It is quite an
+informal little gathering, with nothing to abash even Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+They found young Longworth there in company with Melville, who was to be
+his companion on the voyage. He shook hands, but without exhibiting the
+pleasure at meeting them which his cousin had shown.
+
+'My cousin,' said the young man, 'seems resolved to make the going of the
+prodigal nephew an occasion for killing the fatted calf. I'm sure I don't
+know why, unless it is that she is glad to be rid of me for a month.'
+
+Edith laughed at this, and left the men together. Wentworth speedily
+contrived to make himself agreeable to the young ladies who were present;
+but John, it must be admitted, felt awkward and out of place. He was not
+enjoying himself. He caught himself now and then following Edith
+Longworth with his eyes, and when he realized he was doing this, would
+abruptly look at the floor. In her handsome evening dress she appeared
+supremely lovely, and this John Kenyon admitted to himself with a sigh,
+for her very loveliness seemed to place her further and further away from
+him. Somebody played something on the piano, and this was, in a way, a
+respite for John. He felt that nobody was looking at him. Then a young
+man gave a recitation, which was very well received, and Kenyon began to
+forget his uneasiness. A German gentleman with long hair sat down at the
+piano with a good deal of importance in his demeanour. There was much
+arranging of music, and finally, when the leaves were settled to his
+satisfaction, there was a tremendous crash of chords, the beginning of
+what was evidently going to be a troublesome time for the piano. In the
+midst of this hurricane of sound John Kenyon became aware that Edith
+Longworth had sat down beside him.
+
+'I have got everyone comfortably settled with everyone else,' she said
+in a whisper to him, 'and you seem to be the only one who is, as it
+were, out in the cold, so, you see, I have done you the honour to come
+and talk to you.'
+
+'It is indeed an honour,' said John earnestly.
+
+'Oh, really,' said the young woman, laughing very softly, 'you must not
+take things so seriously. I didn't mean quite what I said, you
+know--that was only, as the children say, "pretended"; but you take one's
+light remarks as if they were most weighty sentences. Now, you must look
+as if you were entertaining me charmingly, whereas I have sat down beside
+you to have a very few minutes' talk on business; I know it's very bad
+form to talk business at an evening party, but, you see, I have no other
+chance to speak with you. I understand you have had a meeting of
+shareholders, and yet you never sent me an invitation. I told you that I
+wished to help you in forming a company; but that is the way you business
+men always treat a woman.'
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth,' began Kenyon; but she speedily interrupted him.
+
+'I am not going to let you make any explanation. I have come over here to
+enjoy scolding you, and I am not to be cheated out of my pleasure.'
+
+'I think,' said John, 'if you knew how much I have suffered during this
+last day or two, you would be very lenient with me. Did you read that
+article upon me in the _Financial Field_?'
+
+'No, I did not, but I read your reply to it this morning, and I think it
+was excellent.'
+
+'Ah, that was hardly fair. A person should read both sides of the
+question before passing judgment.'
+
+'It is a woman's idea of fairness,' said Edith, 'to read what pertains to
+her friend, and to form her judgment without hearing the other side. But
+you must not think I am going to forego scolding you because of my
+sympathy with you. Don't you remember you promised to let me know how
+your company was progressing from time to time, and here I have never
+had a word from you; now tell me how you have been getting on.'
+
+'I hardly know, but I think we are doing very well indeed. You know, of
+course, that your cousin is going to America to report upon the mine. As
+I have stated nothing but what is perfectly true about the property,
+there can be no question as to what that report will be, so it seems to
+me everything is going on nicely.'
+
+'Why do not you go to America?'
+
+'Ah, well, I am an interested party, and those who are thinking of going
+in with us have my report already. It is necessary to corroborate that.
+When it is corroborated, I expect we shall have no trouble in forming
+the company.'
+
+'And was William chosen by those men to go to Canada?'
+
+'He was not exactly chosen; he volunteered. Mr. Melville here was the one
+who was chosen.'
+
+'And why Mr. Melville more than you, for instance?'
+
+'Well, as I said, I am out of the question because I am an interested
+party. Melville is a man connected with china works, and as such, in a
+measure, an expert.'
+
+'Is Mr. Melville a friend of yours?'
+
+'No, he is not. I never saw him until he came to the meeting.'
+
+'Do you know,' she said, lowering her voice and bending towards him,
+'that I do not like Mr. Melville's face?' Kenyon glanced at Melville, who
+was at the other side of the room, and Edith went on: 'You must not look
+at people when I mention them in that way, or they will know we are
+talking about them. I do not like his face. He is too handsome a man, and
+I don't like handsome men.'
+
+'Don't you, really,' said John; 'then, you ought to----'
+
+Edith laughed softly, a low, musical laugh that was not heard above the
+piano din, and was intended for John alone, and to his ears it was the
+sweetest music he had ever heard.
+
+'I know what you were going to say,' she said; 'you were going to say
+that in that case I ought to like _you_. Well, I do; that is why I am
+taking such an interest in your mine, and in your friend Mr. Wentworth.
+And so my cousin volunteered to go to Canada. Now, I think you ought to
+go yourself.'
+
+'Why?' said Kenyon, startled that she should have touched the point that
+had been discussed between Wentworth and himself.
+
+'I can only give you a woman's reason--"because I do." It seems to me you
+ought to be there to know what they report at the time they _do_ report.
+Perhaps they won't understand the mine without your explanation, and then
+you see an adverse report might come back in perfect good faith. I think
+you ought to go to America, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'That is just what George Wentworth says.'
+
+'Does he? I always thought he was a very sensible young man, and now I am
+sure of it. Well, I must not stay here gossiping with you on business. I
+see the professor is going to finish, and so I shall have to look after
+my other guests. If I don't see you again this evening, or have no
+opportunity of speaking with you, think over what I have said.'
+
+And then, with the most charming hypocrisy, the young woman thanked the
+professor for the music to which she had not listened in the least.
+
+'Well, how did you enjoy yourself?' said Wentworth when they had got
+outside again.
+
+It was a clear, starlight night, and they had resolved to walk home
+together.
+
+'I enjoyed myself very well indeed,' answered Kenyon; 'much better than I
+expected. It was a little awkward at first, but I got over that.'
+
+'I noticed you did--with help.'
+
+'Yes, "with help."'
+
+'If you are inclined to rave, John, now that we are under the stars,
+remember I am a close confidant, and a sympathetic listener. I should like
+to hear you rave, just to learn how an exasperatingly sensible man acts
+under the circumstances.'
+
+'I shall not rave about anything, George, but I will tell you something.
+I am going to Canada.'
+
+'Ah, did she speak about that?'
+
+'She did.'
+
+'And of course her advice at once decides the matter, after my most
+cogent arguments have failed?'
+
+'Don't be offended, George, but--_it does_.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+'What name, please?'
+
+'Tell Mr. Wentworth a lady wishes to see him.'
+
+The boy departed rather dubiously, for he knew this message was decidedly
+irregular in a business office. People should give their names.
+
+'A lady to see you, sir,' he said to Wentworth; and, then, just as the
+boy had expected, his employer wanted to know the lady's name.
+
+Ladies are not frequent visitors at the office of an accountant in the
+City, so Wentworth touched his collar and tie to make sure they were in
+their correct position, and, wondering who the lady was, asked the boy to
+show her in.
+
+'How do you do, Mr. Wentworth?' she said brightly, advancing towards his
+table and holding out her hand.
+
+Wentworth caught his breath, and took her extended hand somewhat limply,
+then he pulled himself together; saying:
+
+'This is an unexpected pleasure, Miss Brewster.'
+
+Jennie blushed very prettily, and laughed a laugh that Wentworth thought
+was like a little ripple of music from a mellow flute.
+
+'It may be unexpected,' she said, 'but you don't look a bit like a
+man suffering from an overdose of pure joy. You didn't expect to see
+me, did you?'
+
+'I did not; but now that you are here, may I ask in what way I can
+serve you?'
+
+'Well, in the first place, you may ask me to take a chair, and in the
+second place you may sit down yourself; for I've come to have a long talk
+with you.'
+
+The prospect did not seem to be so alluring to Wentworth as one might
+have expected, when the announcement was made by a girl so pretty, and
+dressed in such exquisite taste; but the young man promptly offered her a
+chair, and then sat down, with the table between them. She placed her
+parasol and a few things she had been carrying on the table, arranging
+them with some care; then, having given him time to recover from his
+surprise, she flashed a look at him that sent a thrill to the finger-tips
+of the young man. Yet a danger understood is a danger half overcome; and
+Wentworth, unconsciously drawing a deep breath, nerved himself against
+any recurrence of a feeling he had been trying with but indifferent
+success to forget, saying grimly, but only half convincingly, to himself:
+
+'You are not going to fool me a second time, my girl, lovely as you are.'
+
+A glimmer of a smile hovered about the red lips of the girl, a smile
+hardly perceptible, but giving an effect to her clear complexion as if a
+sunbeam had crept into the room, and its reflection had lit up her face.
+
+'I have come to apologize, Mr. Wentworth,' she said at last. 'I find it a
+very difficult thing to do, and, as I don't quite know how to begin, I
+plunge right into it.'
+
+'You don't need to apologize to me for anything, Miss Brewster,' replied
+Wentworth, rather stiffly.
+
+'Oh yes, I do. Don't make it harder than it is by being too frigidly
+polite about it, but say you accept the apology, and that you're
+sorry--no, I don't mean that--I should say that you're sure I'm sorry,
+and that you know I won't do it again.'
+
+Wentworth laughed, and Miss Brewster joined him.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's ever so much better. I suppose you've been
+thinking hard things of me ever since we last met.'
+
+'I've tried to,' replied Wentworth.
+
+'Now, that's what I call honest; besides, I like the implied compliment.
+I think it's very neat indeed. I'm really very, very sorry that I--that
+things happened as they did. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had used
+exceedingly strong language about it at the time.'
+
+'I must confess that I did.'
+
+'Ah!' said Jennie, with a sigh, 'you men have so many comforts denied to
+us women. But I came here for another purpose; if I had merely wanted to
+apologize, I think I would have written. I want some information which
+you can give me, if you like.'
+
+The young woman rested her elbows on the table, with her chin in her
+hands, gazing across at him earnestly and innocently. Poor George felt
+that it would be almost impossible to refuse anything to those large
+beseeching eyes.
+
+'I want you to tell me about your mine.'
+
+All the geniality that had gradually come into Wentworth's face and
+manner vanished instantly.
+
+'So this is the old business over again,' he said.
+
+'How can you say that!' cried Jennie reproachfully. 'I am asking for my
+own satisfaction entirely, and not for my paper. Besides, I tell you
+frankly what I want to know, and don't try to get it by indirect
+means--by false pretences, as you once said.'
+
+'How can you expect me to give you information that does not belong to me
+alone? I have no right to speak of a business which concerns others
+without their permission.'
+
+'Ah, then, there are at least two more concerned in the mine,' said
+Jennie gleefully. 'Kenyon is one, I know; who is the other?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, I will tell you nothing.'
+
+'But you have told me something already. Please go on and talk, Mr.
+Wentworth--about anything you like--and I shall soon find out all I want
+to know about the mine.'
+
+She paused, but Wentworth remained silent, which, indeed, the bewildered
+young man realized was the only safe thing to do.
+
+'They speak of the talkativeness of women,' Miss Brewster went on, as if
+soliloquizing, 'but it is nothing to that of the men. Once set a man
+talking, and you learn everything he knows--besides ever so much more
+that he doesn't.'
+
+Miss Brewster had abandoned her very taking attitude, with its suggestion
+of confidential relations, and had removed her elbows from the table,
+sitting now back in her chair, gazing dreamily at the dingy window which
+let the light in from the dingy court. She seemed to have forgotten that
+Wentworth was there, and said, more to herself than to him:
+
+'I wonder if Kenyon would tell me about the mine.'
+
+'You might ask him.'
+
+'No; it wouldn't do any good,' she continued, gently shaking her head.
+'He's one of your silent men, and there are so few of them in this
+world. Perhaps I had better go to William Longworth himself; he's not
+suspicious of me.'
+
+As she said this, she threw a quick glance at Wentworth, and the
+unfortunate young man's face at once told her that she had hit the mark.
+She bent her head over the table, and laughed with such evident enjoyment
+that Wentworth, in spite of his helpless anger, smiled grimly.
+
+Jennie raised her head, but the sight of his perplexed countenance was
+too much for her, and it was some time before her merriment allowed her
+to speak. At last she said:
+
+'Wouldn't you like to take me by the shoulders and put me out of the
+room, Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'I'd like to take you by the shoulders and shake you.'
+
+'Ah! that would be taking a liberty, and could not be permitted. We must
+leave punishment to the law, you know, although I do think a man should
+be allowed to turn an objectionable visitor into the street.'
+
+'Miss Brewster,' cried the young man earnestly, leaning over the table
+towards her, 'why don't you abandon your horrible inquisitorial
+profession, and put your undoubted talents to some other use?'
+
+'What, for instance?'
+
+'Oh, anything.'
+
+Jennie rested her fair cheek against her open palm again, and looked at
+the dingy window. There was a long silence between them--Wentworth
+absorbed in watching her clear-cut profile and her white throat, his
+breath quickening as he feasted his eyes on her beauty.
+
+'I have always got angry,' she said at last, in a low voice with the quiver
+of a suppressed sigh in it, 'when other people have said that to me--I
+wonder why it is I merely feel hurt and sad when you say it? It is so easy
+to say, "Oh, anything"--so easy, so easy. You are a man, with the strength
+and determination of a man, yet you have met with disappointments and
+obstacles that have required all your courage to overcome. Every man has,
+and with most men it is a fight until the head is gray, and the brain
+weary with the ceaseless struggle. The world is utterly merciless; it
+will trample you down relentlessly if it can, and if your vigilance
+relaxes for a moment, it will steal your crust and leave you to starve.
+Every time I think of this incessant sullen contest, with no quarter
+given or taken, I shudder, and pray that I may die before I am at the
+mercy of the pitiless world. When I came to London, I saw, for the first
+time in my life, that hopeless, melancholy promenade of the sandwich-men;
+human wreckage drifting along the edge of the street, as if cast there by
+the rushing tide sweeping past them. They--they seemed to me like a
+tottering procession of the dead; and on their backs was the announcement
+of a play that was making all London roar with laughter. The awful comedy
+and tragedy of it! Well, I simply couldn't stand it. I had to run up a
+side-street and cry like the little fool I was, right in broad daylight.'
+
+Jennie paused and tried to laugh, but the effort ended in a sound
+suspiciously like a sob. She dashed her hand with quick impatience across
+her eyes, from which Wentworth had never taken his own, seeing them
+become dim, as if the light from the window proved too strong for them,
+and finally fill as she ceased to speak. Searching ineffectually about
+her dress for a handkerchief, which lay on the table beside her parasol
+unnoticed by either, Jennie went on with some difficulty:
+
+'Well, these poor forlorn creatures were once men--men who have gone
+down--and if the world is so hard on a man with all his strength and
+resourcefulness, think--think what it is for a woman thrown into this
+inhuman turmoil--a woman without friends--without money--flung among
+these relentless wolves--to live if she can--or--to die--if she can.'
+
+The girl's voice broke, and she buried her face in her arms, which rested
+on the table.
+
+Wentworth sprang to his feet and came round to where she sat.
+
+'Jennie,' he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The girl, without
+looking up, shook off the hand that touched her.
+
+'Go back to your place,' she cried, in a smothered voice. 'Leave me
+alone.'
+
+'Jennie,' persisted Wentworth.
+
+The young woman rose from her chair and faced him, stepping back a pace.
+
+'Don't you hear what I say? Go back and sit down. I came here to talk
+business, not to make a fool of myself. It's all your fault, and I hate
+you for it--you and your silly questions.'
+
+But the young man stood where he was, in spite of the dangerous sparkle
+that shone in his visitor's wet eyes. A frown gathered on his brow.
+
+'Jennie,' he said slowly, 'are you playing with me again?'
+
+The swift anger that blazed up in her face, reddening her cheeks, dried
+the tears.
+
+'How _dare_ you say such a thing to me!' she cried hotly. 'Do you flatter
+yourself that, because I came here to talk business, I have also some
+personal interest in you? Surely even _your_ self-conceit doesn't run so
+far as that!'
+
+Wentworth stood silent, and Miss Brewster picked up her parasol,
+scattering, in her haste, the other articles on the floor. If she
+expected Wentworth to put them on the table again, she was disappointed,
+for, although his eyes were upon her, his thoughts were far away upon the
+Atlantic Ocean.
+
+'I shall not stay here to be insulted,' she cried resentfully, bringing
+Wentworth's thoughts back with a rush to London again. 'It is intolerable
+that you should use such an expression to me. Playing with you indeed!'
+
+'I had no intention of insulting you, Miss Brewster.'
+
+'What is it but an insult to use such a phrase? It implies that I either
+care for you, or----'
+
+'And do you?'
+
+'Do I what?'
+
+'Do you care for me?'
+
+Jennie shook out the lace fringes of her parasol; and smoothed them with
+some precision. Her eyes were bent on what she was doing; consequently,
+they did not meet those of her questioner.
+
+'I care for you as a friend, of course,' she said at last, still giving
+much attention to the parasol. 'If I had not looked on you as a friend, I
+would not have come here to consult with you, would I?'
+
+'No, I suppose not. Well, I am sorry I used the words that displeased
+you, and now, if you will permit it, we will go on with the
+consultation.'
+
+'It wasn't a pretty thing to say.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm not good at saying pretty things.'
+
+'You used to be.'
+
+The parasol being arranged to her liking, she glanced up at him.
+
+'Still, you said you were sorry, and that's all a man can say--or a
+woman either, for that's what I said myself when I came in. Now, if you
+will pick up those things from the floor--thanks--we will talk about
+the mine.'
+
+Wentworth seated himself again, and said;
+
+'Well, what is it you wish to know about the mine?'
+
+'Nothing at all.'
+
+'But you said you wanted information.'
+
+'What a funny reason to give! And how a man misses all the fine points of
+a conversation! No; just because I asked for information, you might have
+known that was not what I really wanted.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm very stupid. I hate to ask boldly what you did want, but
+I would like to know.'
+
+'I wanted a vote of confidence. I told you I was sorry because of a
+certain episode. I wished to see if you trusted me, and I found you
+didn't. There!'
+
+'I think that was hardly a fair test. You see, the facts did not belong
+to me alone.'
+
+Miss Brewster sighed, and slowly shook her head.
+
+'That wouldn't have made the least difference if you had really trusted
+me.'
+
+'Oh, I say! You couldn't expect a man to----'
+
+'Yes I could.'
+
+'What, merely a friend?'
+
+Miss Brewster nodded.
+
+'Well, all I can say,' remarked Wentworth, with a laugh, 'is that
+friendship has made greater strides in the States than it has in
+this country.'
+
+Before Jennie could reply, the useful boy knocked at the door and brought
+in a tea-tray, which he placed before his master; then silently departed,
+closing the door noiselessly.
+
+'May I offer you a cup of tea?'
+
+'Please. What a curious custom this drinking of tea is in business
+offices! I think I shall write an article on "A Nation of Tea-tipplers."
+If I were an enemy of England, instead of being its greatest friend, I
+would descend with my army on this country between the hours of four and
+five in the afternoon, and so take the population unawares while it was
+drinking tea. What would you do if the enemy came down on you during such
+a sacred national ceremony?'
+
+'I would offer her a cup of tea,' replied Wentworth, suiting the action
+to the phrase.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' said the girl archly, 'you're improving. That remark was
+distinctly good. Still, you must remember that I come as a friend, not as
+an enemy. Did you ever read the "Babes in the Wood"? It is a most
+instructive, but pathetic, work of fiction. You remember the wicked
+uncle, surely? Well, you and Mr. Kenyon remind me of the "Babes," poor
+innocent little things! and London--this part of it--is the dark and
+pathless forest. I am the bird hovering about you, waiting to cover you
+with leaves. The leaves, to do any good, ought to be cheques fluttering
+down on you, but, alas! I haven't any. If negotiable cheques only grew on
+trees, life would not be so difficult.'
+
+Miss Brewster sipped her tea pensively, and Wentworth listened
+contentedly to the musical murmur of her voice. Such an entrancing effect
+had it on him that he paid less heed to what she said than a man ought
+when a lady is speaking. The tea-drinking had added a touch of
+domesticity to the _tête-a-tête_ which rather went to the head of the
+young man. He clinched and unclinched his hand out of sight under the
+table, and felt the moisture on his palm. He hoped he would be able to
+retain control over himself, but the difficulty of his task almost
+overcame him when she now and then appealed to him with glance or
+gesture, and he felt as if he must cry out, 'My girl, my girl, don't do
+that, if you expect me to stay where I am.'
+
+'I see you are not paying the slightest attention to what I am saying,'
+she said, pushing the cup from her. She rested her arms on the table,
+leaning slightly forward, and turning her face full upon him: 'I can tell
+by your eyes that you are thinking of something else.'
+
+'I assure you,' said George, drawing a deep breath, 'I am listening with
+intense interest.'
+
+'Well, that's right, for what I am going to say is important. Now, to
+wake you up, I will first tell you all about your mine; you will
+understand thereafter that I did not need to ask anyone for information
+regarding it.'
+
+Here, to Wentworth's astonishment, she gave a rapid and accurate sketch
+of the negotiations and arrangements between the three partners, and the
+present position of affairs.
+
+'How do you know all this?' he asked.
+
+'Never mind that; and you mustn't ask how I know what I am now going to
+tell you, but you must believe it implicitly, and act upon it promptly.
+Longworth is fooling both you and Kenyon. He is marking time, so that
+your option will run out; then he will pay cash for the mine at the
+original price, and you and Kenyon will be left to pay two-thirds of the
+debt incurred. Where is Kenyon?'
+
+'He has gone to America.'
+
+'That's good. Cable him to get the option renewed. You can then try to
+form the company yourselves in London. If he can't obtain a renewal, you
+have very little time to get the cash together, and if you are not able
+to do that, then you lose everything. This is what I came to tell you,
+although I have been a long time about it. Now I must go.'
+
+She rose, gathered her belongings from the table, and stood with the
+parasol pressed against her. Wentworth came around to where she was
+standing, his face paler than usual, probably because of the news he had
+heard. One hand was grasped tightly around one wrist in front of him. He
+felt that he should thank her for what she had done, but his lips were
+dry, and, somehow, the proper words were not at his command.
+
+She, holding her fragile lace-fringed parasol against her with one arm,
+was adjusting her long neatly fitting glove, which she had removed before
+tea. A button, one of many, was difficult to fasten, and as she
+endeavoured to put it in its place, her sleeve fell away, showing a round
+white arm above the glove.
+
+'You see,' she said, a little breathlessly, her eyes upon her glove, 'it
+is a very serious situation, and time is of immense importance.'
+
+'I realize that.'
+
+'It would be such a pity to lose everything now, when you have had so
+much trouble and worry.'
+
+'It would.'
+
+'And I think that whatever is done should be done quickly. You should act
+at once and with energy.'
+
+'I am convinced that is so.'
+
+'Of course it is. You are of too trusting a nature; you should be more
+suspicious, then you wouldn't be tricked as you have been.'
+
+'No. The trouble is I have been too sceptical, but that is past. I won't
+be again.'
+
+'What are you talking about?' she said, looking quickly up at him. 'Don't
+you know you'll lose the mine if----'
+
+'Hang the mine!' he cried, flinging his wrist free, and clasping her to
+him before she could step back or move from her place. 'There is
+something more important than mines or money.'
+
+The parasol broke with a sharp snap, and the girl murmured 'Oh!' but the
+murmur was faint.
+
+'Never mind the parasol,' he said, pulling it from between them and
+tossing it aside; 'I'll get you another.'
+
+'Reckless man!' she gasped; 'you little know how much it cost, and I
+think, you know, I ought to have been consulted--in an--in an--affair of
+this kind--George.'
+
+'There was no time. I acted upon your own advice--promptly. You are not
+angry, Jennie, my dear girl, are you?'
+
+'I suppose I'm not, though I think I ought to be; especially as I know
+only too well that I held my heart in my hand the whole time, almost
+offering it to you. I hope you won't treat it as you have treated the
+sunshade.'
+
+He kissed her for answer.
+
+'You see,' she said, putting his necktie straight, 'I liked you from the
+very first, far more than I knew at the time. If you--I'm not trying to
+justify myself, you know--but if you had, well, just coaxed me a little
+yourself, I would never have sent that cable message. You seemed to give
+up everything, and you sent Kenyon to me, and that made me angry. I
+expected you to come back to me, but you never came.'
+
+'I was a stupid fool. I always am when I get a fair chance.'
+
+'Oh no, you're not, but you do need someone to take care of you.'
+
+She suddenly held him at arm's length from her.
+
+'You don't imagine for a moment, George Wentworth, that I came here
+to-day for--for this.'
+
+'Certainly not!' cried the honest young man, with much indignant fervour,
+drawing her again towards him.
+
+'Then it's all right. I couldn't bear to have you think such a thing,
+especially--well, I'll tell you why some day. But I do wish you had a
+title. Do they ever ennoble accountants in this country, George?'
+
+'No; they knight only rich fools.'
+
+'Oh, I'm so glad of that; for you'll get rich on the mine, and I'll be
+Lady Wentworth yet.'
+
+Then she drew his head down until her laughing lips touched his.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Although the steamship that took Kenyon to America was one of the
+speediest in the Atlantic service, yet the voyage was inexpressibly
+dreary to him. He spent most of his time walking up and down the deck,
+thinking about the other voyage of a few weeks before. The one
+consolation of his present trip was its quickness.
+
+When he arrived at his hotel in New York, he asked if there was any
+message there for him, and the clerk handed him an envelope, which he
+tore open. It was a cable despatch from Wentworth, with the words:
+
+'Longworth at Windsor. Proceed to Ottawa immediately. Get option renewed.
+Longworth duping us.'
+
+John knitted his brows and wondered where Windsor was. The clerk, seeing
+his perplexity, asked if he could be of any assistance.
+
+'I have received this cablegram, but don't quite understand it. Where
+is Windsor?'
+
+'Oh, that means the Windsor Hotel. Just up the street.'
+
+Kenyon registered, told the clerk to assign him a room, and send his
+baggage up to it when it came. Then he walked out from the hotel and
+sought the Windsor.
+
+He found that colossal hostelry, and was just inquiring of the clerk
+whether a Mr. Longworth was staying there, when that gentleman appeared
+at the desk, took some letters and his key.
+
+Kenyon tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+Young Longworth turned round with more alacrity than he usually
+displayed, and gave a long whistle of surprise when he saw who it was.
+
+'In the name of all the gods,' he cried, 'what are _you_ doing here?'
+Then, before Kenyon could reply, he said: 'Come up to my room.'
+
+They went to the elevator, rose a few stories, and passed down an
+apparently endless hall, carpeted with some noiseless stuff that gave no
+echo of the footfall. Longworth put the key into his door and opened it.
+They entered a large and pleasant room.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'this _is_ a surprise. What is the reason of your being
+here? Anything wrong in London?'
+
+'Nothing wrong, so far as I am aware. We received no cablegram from you,
+and thought there might be some hitch in the business; therefore I came.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I cabled over to your address, and said I was staying at the
+Windsor for a few days. I sent a cablegram almost as long as a letter,
+but it didn't appear to do any good.'
+
+'No, I did not receive it.'
+
+'And what did you expect was wrong over here?'
+
+'That I did not know. I knew you had time to get to Ottawa and see the
+mine in twelve days from London. Not hearing from you in that time, and
+knowing the option was running out, both Wentworth and I became anxious,
+and so I came over.'
+
+'Exactly. Well, I'm afraid you've had your trip for nothing.'
+
+'What do you mean? Is not the mine all I said it was?'
+
+'Oh, the mine is all right; all I meant was, there was really no
+necessity for your coming.'
+
+'But, you know, the option ends in a very short time.'
+
+'Well, the option, like the mine, is all right. I think you might quite
+safely have left it in my hands.'
+
+It must be admitted that John Kenyon began to feel he had acted with
+unreasonable rashness in taking his long voyage.
+
+'Is Mr. Melville here with you?'
+
+'Melville has returned home. He had not time to stay longer. All he
+wanted was to satisfy himself about the mine. He was satisfied, and he
+has gone home. If you were in London now, you would be able to see him.'
+
+'Did you meet Mr. Von Brent?'
+
+'Yes, he took us to the mine.'
+
+'And did you say anything about the option to him?'
+
+'Well, we had some conversation about it. There will be no trouble about
+the option. What Von Brent wants is to sell his mine, that is all.'
+There was a few moments' silence, then Longworth said: 'When are you
+going back?'
+
+'I do not know. I think I ought to see Von Brent. I am not at all easy
+about leaving matters as they are. I think I ought to get a renewal of
+the option. It is not wise to risk things as we are doing. Von Brent
+might at any time get an offer for his mine, just as we are forming our
+company, and, of course, if the option had not been renewed, he would
+sell to the first man who put down the money. As you say, all he wants is
+to sell his mine.'
+
+Longworth was busy opening his letters, and apparently paying very little
+attention to what Kenyon said. At last, however, he spoke:
+
+'If I were you--if you care to take my advice--I would go straight back
+to England. You will do no good here. I merely say this to save you any
+further trouble, time, and expense.'
+
+'Don't you think it would be as well to get a renewal of the option?'
+
+'Oh, certainly; but, as I told you before, it was not at all necessary
+for you to come over. I may say, furthermore, that Von Brent will not
+renew the option without a handsome sum down, to be forfeited if the
+company is not formed. Have you the money to pay him?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Very well, then, why waste time and money going to Ottawa?' Young Mr.
+Longworth arched his eye-brows and gazed at John through his eyeglass. 'I
+will let you have my third of the money, if that will do any good.'
+
+'How much money does Von Brent want?'
+
+'How should I know? To tell you the truth, Mr. Kenyon--and truth never
+hurts, or oughtn't to--I don't at all like this visit to America. You and
+Mr. Wentworth have been good enough to be suspicious about me from the
+very first. You have not taken any pains to conceal it, either of you.
+Your appearance in America at this particular juncture is nothing more
+nor less than an insult to me. I intend to receive it as such.'
+
+'I have no intention of insulting you,' said Kenyon, 'if you are dealing
+fairly with me.'
+
+'There it is again. That remark is an insult. Everything you say is a
+reflection upon me. I wish to have nothing more to say to you. I give you
+my advice that it is better for you, and cheaper, to go back to London.
+You need not act on it unless you like. I have nothing further to say to
+you and so this interview may be considered closed.'
+
+'And how about the mine?'
+
+'I imagine the mine will take care of itself.'
+
+'Do you think this is courteous treatment of a business partner?'
+
+'My dear sir, I do not take my lessons in courtesy from you. Whether you
+are pleased or displeased with my treatment of you is a matter of supreme
+indifference to me. I am tired of living in an atmosphere of suspicion,
+and I have done with it--that is all. You think some game is being played
+on you--both you and Mr. Wentworth think that--and yet you haven't the
+"cuteness," as they call it here, or sharpness, to find it out. Now, a
+man who has suspicions he cannot prove to be well founded should keep
+those suspicions to himself until he can prove them. That is my advice
+to you. I wish you a good-day.'
+
+John Kenyon walked back to his hotel with more misgivings than ever. He
+wrote a letter to Wentworth detailing the conversation, telling him
+Melville had sailed for home, and advising him to see that gentleman when
+he arrived. He stayed in New York that night, and took the morning train
+to Montreal. In due time he arrived at Ottawa, and called on Von Brent.
+He found that gentleman in his chambers, looking as if he had never left
+the room since the option was signed. Von Brent at first did not
+recognise his visitor, but after gazing a moment at him he sprang from
+his chair and held out his hand.
+
+'I really did not know you,' he said; 'you have changed a great deal
+since I saw you last. You look haggard, and not at all well. What is the
+matter with you?'
+
+'I do not think anything is the matter. I am in very good health, thank
+you; I have had a few business worries, that is all.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Von Brent; 'I am very sorry indeed you failed to form
+your company.'
+
+'Failed!' echoed Kenyon.
+
+'Yes; you haven't succeeded, have you?'
+
+'Well, I don't know about that; we are in a fair way to succeed. You met
+Longworth and Melville, who came out to see the mine? I saw Longworth in
+New York, and he told me you had taken them out there.'
+
+'Are they interested with you in the mine?'
+
+'Certainly; they are helping me to form the company.'
+
+Von Brent seemed amazed.
+
+'I did not understand that at all. In fact, I understood the exact
+opposite. I thought you had attempted to form a company, and failed. They
+showed me an attack in one of the financial papers upon you, and said
+that killed your chances of forming a company in London. They were here,
+apparently, on their own business.'
+
+'And what was their business?'
+
+'To buy the mine.'
+
+'Have they bought it?'
+
+'Practically, yes. Of course, while your option holds good I cannot sell
+it, but that, as you know, expires in a very few days.'
+
+Kenyon, finding his worst suspicions confirmed, seemed speechless with
+amazement, and in his agony mopped from his brow the drops collected
+there.
+
+'You appear to be astonished at this,' said Von Brent.
+
+'I am very much astonished.'
+
+'Well, you cannot blame me. I have acted perfectly square in the matter.
+I had no idea Longworth, and the gentleman who was with him, had any
+connection with you whatever. Their attention had been drawn to the mine,
+they said, by that article. They had investigated it and appeared to be
+satisfied there was something in it--in the mine, I mean, not in the
+article. They said they had attended a meeting which you had called, but
+it was quite evident you were not going to be able to form the company.
+So they came here and made me a cash offer for the mine. They have
+deposited twenty thousand pounds at the bank here, and on the day your
+option closes they will give me a cheque for the amount.'
+
+'It serves me right,' said Kenyon. 'I have been cheated and duped. I had
+grave suspicions of it all along, but I did not act upon them. I have
+been too timorous and cowardly. This man Longworth has made a pretence of
+helping me to form a company. Everything he has done has been to delay
+me. He came out here, apparently, in the interests of the company I was
+forming, and now he has got the option for himself.'
+
+'Yes, he has,' said Von Brent. 'I may say I am very sorry indeed for the
+turn affairs have taken. Of course, as I have told you, I had no idea how
+the land lay. You see, you had placed no deposit with me, and I had to
+look after my own interests. However, the option is open for a few days
+more, and I will not turn the mine over to them till the last minute of
+the time has expired. Isn't there any chance of your getting the money
+before then?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'Well, you see, in that case I cannot help myself. I am bound by a legal
+document to turn the mine over to them on receipt of the twenty thousand
+pounds the moment your option is ended. Everything is done legally, and I
+am perfectly helpless in the matter.'
+
+'Yes, I see that,' said John. 'Good-bye.'
+
+He went to the telegraph-office and sent a cablegram.
+
+Wentworth received the message in London the next morning. It read:
+
+'We are cheated. Longworth has the option on the mine in his own name.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+When George Wentworth received this message, he read it several times
+over before its full meaning dawned upon him. Then he paced up and down
+his room, and gave way to his feelings. His best friends, who had been
+privileged to hear George's vocabulary when he was rather angry, admitted
+that the young man had a fluency of expression which was very more terse
+than proper. When the real significance of the despatch became apparent
+to him, George outdid himself in this particular line. Then he realized
+that, however consolatory such language is to a very angry man, it does
+little good in any practical way. He paced silently up and down the room,
+wondering what he could do, and the more he wondered the less light he
+saw through the fog. He put on his hat and went into the other room.
+
+'Henry,' he said to his partner, 'do you know anybody who would lend me
+twenty thousand pounds?'
+
+Henry laughed. The idea of anybody lending that sum of money, except on
+the very best security, was in itself extremely comic.
+
+'Do you want it to-day?' he said.
+
+'Yes, I want it to-day.'
+
+'Well, I don't know any better plan than to go out into the street and
+ask every man you meet if he has that sum about him. You are certain to
+encounter men who have very much more than twenty thousand pounds, and
+perhaps one of them, struck by your very sane appearance at the moment,
+might hand over the sum to you. I think, however, George, that you would
+be more successful if you met the capitalist in a secluded lane some
+dark night, and had a good reliable club in your hand.'
+
+'You are right,' said George. 'Of course, there is just as much
+possibility of my reaching the moon as getting that sum of money on
+short notice.'
+
+'Yes, or on long notice either, I imagine. I know plenty of men who have
+the money, but I wouldn't undertake to ask them for it, and I don't
+believe you would. Still there is nothing like trying. He who tries may
+succeed, but no one can succeed who doesn't try. Why not go to old
+Longworth? He could let you have the money in a moment if he wanted to do
+so. He knows you. What's your security? What are you going to do with
+it--that eternal mine of yours?'
+
+'Yes, that "eternal mine"; I want it to _be_ mine. That is why I need the
+twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Well, George, I don't see much hope for you. You never spoke to old
+Longworth about it, did you? He wasn't one of the men you intended to get
+into this company?'
+
+'No, he was not. I wish he had been. He would have treated us better than
+his rascally nephew has done.'
+
+'Ah, that immaculate young man has been playing you tricks, has he?'
+
+'He has played me one trick, which is enough.'
+
+'Well, why don't you go and see the old man, and lay the case before him?
+He treats that nephew as if he were his son. Now, a man will do a great
+deal for his son, and perhaps old Longworth might do something for
+his nephew.'
+
+'Yes; but I should have to explain to him that his nephew is a
+scoundrel.'
+
+'Very well; that is just the kind of explanation to bring the twenty
+thousand pounds. If his nephew really is a scoundrel, and you can prove
+it, you could not want a better lever than that on the old man's
+money-bags.'
+
+'By Jove!' said Wentworth, 'I believe I shall try it. I want to let him
+know, anyhow, what sort of man his nephew is. I'll go and see him.'
+
+'I would,' said the other, turning to his work.
+
+And so George Wentworth, putting the cablegram in his pocket, went to see
+old Mr. Longworth in a frame of mind in which no man should see his
+fellow-man. He did not wait to be announced, but walked, to the
+astonishment of the clerk, straight through into Mr. Longworth's room. He
+found the old man seated at his desk.
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Wentworth,' said the financier cordially.
+
+'Good-day,' replied George curtly. 'I have come to read a cable despatch
+to you, or to let you read it.'
+
+He threw the paper down before the old gentleman, who adjusted his
+spectacles and read it. Then he looked up inquiringly at Wentworth.
+
+'You don't understand it, do you?' said the latter.
+
+'I confess I do not. The Longworth in this telegram does not refer to
+me, does it?'
+
+'No, it does not refer to you, but it refers to one of your house. Your
+nephew, William Longworth, is a scoundrel!'
+
+'Ah!' said the old man, placing the despatch on the desk again, and
+removing his glasses, 'have you come to tell me that?'
+
+'Yes, I have. Did you know it before?'
+
+'No, I did not,' answered the old gentleman, his colour rising; 'and I
+do not know it now. I know you say so, and I think very likely you will
+be glad to take back what you have said. I will at least give you the
+opportunity.'
+
+'So far from taking it back, Mr. Longworth, I shall prove it. Your nephew
+formed a partnership with my friend Kenyon and myself to float on the
+London market a certain Canadian mine.'
+
+'My dear sir,' broke in the old gentleman, 'I have no desire to hear of
+my nephew's private speculations; I have nothing to do with them. I have
+nothing to do with your mine. The matter is of no interest whatever to
+me, and I must decline to hear anything about it. You are, also, if you
+will excuse my saying so, not in a fit state of temper to talk to any
+gentleman. If you like to come back here when you are calmer, I shall be
+very pleased to listen to what you have to say.'
+
+'I shall never be calmer on this subject. I have told you that your
+nephew is a scoundrel. You are pleased to deny the accusation.'
+
+'I do not deny it; I merely said I did not know it was the case, and I do
+not believe it, that is all.'
+
+'Very well; the moment I begin to show you proof that things are as
+I say----'
+
+'My dear sir,' cried the elder man, with some heat, 'you are not showing
+proof. You are merely making assertions, and assertions about a man who
+is absent--who is not here to defend himself. If you have anything to say
+against William Longworth, come and say it when he is here, and he shall
+answer for himself. It is cowardly of you, and ungenerous to me, to make
+a number of accusations which I am in no wise able to refute.'
+
+'Will you listen to what I have to say?'
+
+'No; I will not.'
+
+'Then, by God, you shall!' and with that Wentworth strode to the door and
+turned the key, while the old man rose from his seat and faced him.
+
+'Do you mean to threaten me, sir, in my own office?'
+
+'I mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that I have made a statement which I am
+going to prove to you. I mean that you shall listen to me, and listen to
+me _now_!'
+
+'And I say, if you have anything to charge against my nephew, come and
+say it when he is here.'
+
+'When he is here, Mr. Longworth, it will be too late to say it; at
+present you can repair the injury he has done. When he returns to England
+you cannot do so, no matter how much you might wish to make the attempt.'
+
+The old man stood irresolute for a moment, then he sat down in his chair
+again.
+
+'Very well,' he said, with a sigh; 'I am not so combative as I once was.
+Go on with your story.'
+
+'My story is very short,' said Wentworth; 'it simply amounts to this:
+You know your nephew formed a partnership with us in relation to the
+Canadian mine?'
+
+'I know nothing about it, I tell you,' answered Mr. Longworth.
+
+'Very well, you know it now.'
+
+'I know you say so.'
+
+'Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I shall tell you more definitely when I hear what you have to say. Go
+on.'
+
+'Well, your nephew, pretending to aid us in forming this company, did
+everything to retard our progress. He engaged offices that took a long
+time to fit up, and which we had at last to take in hand ourselves. Then
+he left for a week, leaving us no address, and refusing to answer the
+letters I sent to his office for him. On one pretext or another, the
+forming of the company was delayed; until at length, when the option by
+which Mr. Kenyon held the mine had less than a month to run, your nephew
+went to America in company with Mr. Melville, ostensibly to see and
+report upon the property. After waiting a certain length of time and
+hearing nothing from him (he had promised to cable us), Kenyon went to
+America to get a renewal of the option. This cablegram explains his
+success. He finds, on going there, that your nephew has secured the
+option of the mine in his own name, and, as Kenyon says, we are cheated.
+Now have you any doubt whether your nephew is a scoundrel or not?'
+
+Mr. Longworth mused for a few moments on what the young man had told him.
+
+'If what you say is exactly true, there is no doubt William has been
+guilty of a piece of very sharp practice.'
+
+'Sharp practice!' cried the other. 'You might as well call robbery sharp
+practice!'
+
+'My dear sir, I have listened to you; now I ask you to listen to me. If,
+as I say, what you have stated is true, my nephew has done something
+which I think an honourable man would not do; but as to that I cannot
+judge until I hear his side of the story. It may put a different
+complexion on the matter, and I have no doubt it will; but even granting
+your version is true in every particular, what have I to do with it? I
+am not responsible for my nephew's actions. He has entered into a
+business connection, it seems, with two young men, and has outwitted
+them. That is probably what the world would say about it. Perhaps, as
+you say, he has been guilty of something worse, and has cheated his
+partners. But even admitting everything to be true, I do not see how I
+am responsible in any way.'
+
+'Legally, you are not; morally, I think you are.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'If he were your son----'
+
+'But he is not my son; he is my nephew.'
+
+'If your son had committed a theft, would you not do everything in your
+power to counteract the evil he had done?'
+
+'I might, and I might not. Some fathers pay their sons' debts, others do
+not. I cannot say what action I should take in a purely imaginary case.'
+
+'Very well; all I have to say is, our option runs out in two or three
+days. Twenty thousand pounds will secure the mine for us. I want that
+twenty thousand pounds before the option ceases.'
+
+'And do you expect me to pay you twenty thousand pounds for this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+Old Mr. Longworth leaned back in his office chair, and looked at the
+young man in amazement.
+
+'To think that you, a man of the City, should come to me, another man of
+the City, with such an absurd idea in your head, is simply grotesque.'
+
+'Then the name of the Longworths is nothing to you--the good name, I
+mean?'
+
+'The good name of the Longworths, my dear sir, is everything to me; but
+I fancy it will be able to take care of itself without any assistance
+from you.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments. Then Wentworth said, in a voice of
+suppressed anguish:
+
+'I thought, Mr. Longworth, one of your family was a scoundrel; I now wish
+to say I believe the epithet covers uncle as well as nephew. You have had
+a chance to repair the mischief a member of your family has done. You
+have answered me with contempt. You have not shown the slightest
+indication of wishing to make amends.'
+
+He unlocked the door.
+
+'Come, now,' said old Mr. Longworth, rising, 'that will do, that will do,
+Mr. Wentworth.' Then he pressed an electric bell, and, when the clerk
+appeared, he said: 'Show this gentleman the door, please, and if ever he
+calls here again, do not admit him.'
+
+And so George Wentworth, clenching his hands with rage, was shown to the
+door. He had the rest of the day to ponder on the fact that an angry man
+seldom accomplishes his purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+The stormy interview with Wentworth disturbed the usual serenity of Mr.
+Longworth's temper. He went home earlier than was customary with him
+that night, and the more he thought over the attack, the more
+unjustifiable it seemed. He wondered what his nephew had really done,
+and tried to remember what Wentworth had charged against him. He could
+not recollect, the angrier portions of the interview having, as it were,
+blotted the charges from his mind. There remained, however, a very
+bitter resentment against Wentworth. Mr. Longworth searched his
+conscience to see if he could be in the least to blame, but he found
+nothing in the recollections of his dealings with the young men to
+justify him in feeling at all responsible for the disaster that had
+overtaken them. He read his favourite evening paper with less than his
+usual interest, for every now and then the episode in his office would
+occur to him. Finally he said sharply:
+
+'Edith!'
+
+'Yes, father,' answered his daughter.
+
+'You remember a person named Wentworth, whom you had here the evening
+William went away?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+'Very well. Never invite him to this house again.'
+
+'What has he been doing?' asked the young woman in rather a tremulous
+voice.
+
+'I desire you also never to ask anyone connected with him--that man
+Kenyon, for instance,' continued her father, ignoring her question.
+
+'I thought,' she answered, 'that Mr. Kenyon was not in this country at
+present.'
+
+'He is not, but he will be back again, I suppose. At any rate, I wish to
+have nothing more to do with those people. You understand that?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+Mr. Longworth went on with his reading. Edith saw her father was greatly
+disturbed, and eagerly desired to know the reason, but knew enough of
+human nature to understand that in a short time he would relieve her
+anxiety. He again appeared to be trying to fix his attention on the
+paper. At length he threw it down, and turned towards her.
+
+'That man, Wentworth,' he said bitterly, 'behaved to-day in a most
+unjustifiable manner to me in my own office. It seems that William and he
+and Kenyon embarked in some mine project. I knew nothing of their doings,
+and was not even consulted with regard to them. Now it appears William
+has gone to America and done something Wentworth considers wrong.
+Wentworth came to me and demanded twenty thousand pounds--the most
+preposterous thing ever heard of--said I owed it to clear the good name
+of Longworth. As if the good name were dependent on him, or anyone like
+him! I turned him out of the office.'
+
+Edith did not answer for a few moments, while her father gave
+expression to his indignation by various ejaculations that need not be
+here recorded.
+
+'Did he say,' she spoke at length, 'in what way William had done wrong?'
+
+'I do not remember now just what he said. I know I told him to come again
+when my nephew was present, and then make his charges against him if he
+wanted to do so. Not that I admitted I had anything to do with the matter
+at all, but I simply refused to listen to charges against an absent man.
+I paid no attention to them.'
+
+'That certainly was reasonable,' replied Edith. 'What did he say to it?'
+
+'Oh, he abused me, and abused William, and went on at a dreadful rate,
+until I was obliged to order him out of the office.'
+
+'But what did he say about meeting William when he returned, and making
+the charges against him then?'
+
+'What did he say? I don't remember. Oh yes! he said it would be too late
+then; that they had only a few days to do what business they have to do,
+and that is why he made the demand for twenty thousand pounds. It was to
+repair the harm, whatever the harm was, William had done. I look on it
+simply as some blackmailing scheme of his, and I am astonished that a man
+belonging to so good a house as he does should try that game with me. I
+shall speak to the elder partner about it to-morrow, and if he does not
+make the young man apologize in the most abject manner he will be the
+loser by it, I can tell him that.'
+
+'I would think no more about it, father, if I were you. Do not let it
+trouble you in the least.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't trouble me, but young men nowadays seem to think they can
+say anything to their elders.'
+
+'I mean,' she continued, 'that I would not go to his partner for a day or
+two. Wait and see what happens. I have no doubt, when he considers the
+matter, he will be thoroughly ashamed of himself.'
+
+'Well, I hope so.'
+
+'Then give him the chance of being ashamed of himself, and take no
+further steps in the meantime.'
+
+Edith shortly afterwards went to her own room; there, clasping her hands
+behind her, she walked up and down thinking, with a very troubled heart,
+of what she had heard. Her view of the occurrence was very different from
+that taken by her father. She felt certain something dishonourable had
+been done by her cousin. For a long time she had mistrusted his supposed
+friendship for the two young men, and now she pictured to herself John
+Kenyon in the wilds of Canada, helpless and despondent because of the
+great wrong that had been done him. It was far into the night when she
+retired, and it was early next morning when she arose. Her father was
+bright and cheerful at breakfast, and had evidently forgotten all about
+the unpleasant incident of the day before. A good night's sleep had
+erased it from his memory. Edith was glad of this, and she did not
+mention the subject. After he had gone to the City, his daughter prepared
+to follow him. She did not take her carriage, but hailed a hansom, and
+gave the driver the number of Wentworth's offices. That young man was
+evidently somewhat surprised to see her. He had been trying to write to
+Kenyon an account of his interview with old Mr. Longworth; but after he
+had finished, he thought John Kenyon would not approve of his zeal, so
+had just torn the letter up.
+
+'Take this chair,' he said, wheeling an armchair into position. 'It is
+the only comfortable one we have in the room.'
+
+'Comfort does not matter,' said Miss Longworth. 'I came to see you about
+the mica-mine. What has my cousin done?'
+
+'How do you know he has done anything?'
+
+'That does not matter. I know. Tell me as quickly as you can what he
+has done.'
+
+'It is not a very pleasant story to tell,' he said, 'to a young lady
+about one of her relatives.'
+
+'Never mind that. Tell me.'
+
+'Very well, he has done this: He has pretended he was our friend, and
+professed to aid us in forming this company. He has delayed us by every
+means in his power until the option has nearly expired. Then he has gone
+to Canada and secured for himself, and a man named Melville, the option
+of the mine when John Kenyon's time is up--that is to say, at twelve
+o'clock to-morrow, when Kenyon's option expires, your cousin will pay the
+money and own the mine; after which, of course, Kenyon and myself will be
+out of it. I don't mind the loss at all--I would gladly give Kenyon my
+share--but for John it is a terrible blow. He had counted on the money to
+pay debts which he considers he owes to his father for his education. He
+calls them debts of honour, though they are not debts of honour in the
+ordinary sense of the words. Therefore, it seemed to me a terrible thing
+that--' Here he paused and did not go on. He saw there were tears in the
+eyes of the girl to whom he was talking. 'It is brutal,' he said, 'to
+tell you all this. You are not to blame for it and neither is your
+father, although I spoke to him in a heated manner yesterday.'
+
+'When did you say the option expires?'
+
+'At twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'How much money is required to buy the mine?'
+
+'Twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Can money be sent to Canada by cable?'
+
+'Yes, I think so.'
+
+'Aren't you quite sure?'
+
+'No, I am not. It can be sent by telegraph in this country, and in
+America.'
+
+'How long will it take you to find out?'
+
+'Only a few moments.'
+
+'Very well. Where is Mr. Kenyon now?'
+
+'Kenyon is in Ottawa. I had a cablegram from him yesterday.'
+
+'Then, will you write a cablegram that can be sent away at once, asking
+him to wait at the telegraph-office until he receives a further message
+from you?'
+
+'Yes, I can do that; but what good will it do?'
+
+'Never mind that; perhaps it will do no good. I am going to try to make
+it worth doing. Meanwhile remember, if I succeed, John Kenyon must never
+know the particulars of this transaction.'
+
+'He never will--if you say so.'
+
+'I say so. Now, there is six hours' difference of time between this
+country and Canada, is there not?'
+
+'About that, I think.'
+
+'Very well; lose no time in getting the cable-message sent to him, and
+tell him to answer, so that we shall be sure he is at the other end of
+the wire. Then find out about the cabling of the money. I shall be back
+here, I think, as soon as you are.'
+
+With that she left the office, and, getting into her cab, was driven to
+her father's place of business.
+
+'Well, my girl,' said the old man, pushing his spectacles up on his brow,
+and gazing at her, 'what is it now--some new extravagance?'
+
+'Yes, father, some new extravagance.'
+
+His daughter was evidently excited, and her breath came quickly. She
+closed the door, and took a chair opposite her father.
+
+'Father,' she said, 'I have been your business man, as you call me, for a
+long time.'
+
+'Yes, you have. Are you going to strike for an increase of salary?'
+
+'Father,' she said earnestly, not heeding the jocularity of his tone,
+'this is very serious. I want you to give me some money for myself--to
+speculate with.'
+
+'I will do that very gladly. How much do you want?'
+
+The old man turned his chair round and pulled out his cheque-book.
+
+'I want thirty thousand pounds,' she answered.
+
+Mr. Longworth wheeled quickly round in his chair and looked at her in
+astonishment.
+
+'Thirty thousand what?'
+
+'Thirty thousand pounds, father; and I want it now.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he expostulated, 'have you any idea how much thirty
+thousand pounds is? Do you know that thirty thousand pounds is a
+fortune?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Do you know that there is not one in twenty of the richest merchants in
+London who could at a moment's notice produce thirty thousand pounds in
+ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose that is true. Have you not the ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I have the money. I can draw a cheque for that amount, and it will
+be honoured at once; but I cannot give you so much money without knowing
+what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'And suppose, father, you do not approve of what I am going to do with
+it?'
+
+'All the more reason, my dear, that I should know.'
+
+'Then, father, I suppose you mean that whatever services I have rendered
+you, whatever comfort I have given you, what I have been to you all my
+life, is not worth thirty thousand pounds?'
+
+'You shouldn't talk like that, my daughter. Everything I have is
+yours, or will be, when I die. It is for you I work; it is for you I
+accumulate money. You will have everything I own the moment I have to
+lay down my work.'
+
+'Father!' cried the girl, standing up before him, 'I do not want your
+money when you die. I do not want you to die, as you know; but I do want
+thirty thousand pounds to-day, and now. I want it more than I ever
+wanted anything else before in my life, or ever shall again. Will you
+give it to me?'
+
+'No, I will not, unless you tell me what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'Then, father, you can leave your money to your nephew when you die; I
+shall never touch a penny of it. I now bid you good-bye. I will go out
+from this room and earn my own living.'
+
+With that the young woman turned to go, but her father, with a
+sprightliness one would not have expected from his years, sprang to the
+door and looked at her with alarm.
+
+'Edith, my child, you never talked to me like this before in your life.
+What is wrong with you?'
+
+'Nothing, father, except that I want a cheque for thirty thousand pounds,
+and want it now.'
+
+'And do you mean to say that you will leave me if I do not give it to
+you?'
+
+'Have you ever broken your word, father?'
+
+'Never, my child, that I know of.'
+
+'Then remember I am your daughter. I have said, if I do not get that
+money now, I shall never enter our house again.'
+
+'But thirty thousand pounds is a tremendous amount. Remember, I have
+given _my_ word, too, that I would not give you the money unless you told
+me what it was for.'
+
+'Very well, father, I will tell what it is for when you ask me. I would
+advise you, though, not to ask me; and I would advise you to give me the
+money. It will all be returned to you if you want it.
+
+'Oh, I don't care about the money at all, Edith. I merely, of course,
+don't want to see it wasted.'
+
+'And, father, have you no trust in my judgment?'
+
+'Well, you know I haven't much faith in any woman's wisdom, in the matter
+of investing money.'
+
+'Trust me this time, father. I shall never ask you for any more.'
+
+The old man went slowly to his desk, wrote out a cheque, and handed it to
+his daughter. It was for thirty thousand pounds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth, with that precious bit of paper in her pocket, once more
+got into her hansom and drove to Wentworth's office. Again she took the
+only easy-chair in the room. Her face was very serious, and Wentworth,
+the moment he saw it, said to himself. 'She has failed.'
+
+'Have you telegraphed to Mr. Kenyon?' she asked.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you sure you made it clear to him what was wanted? Cablegrams are
+apt to be rather brief.'
+
+'I told him to keep in communication with us. Here is a copy of the
+cablegram.'
+
+Miss Longworth read it approvingly, but said:
+
+'You have not put in the word "answer."'
+
+'No; but I put it in the despatch I sent. I remember that now.'
+
+'Have you had a reply yet?'
+
+'Oh no; you see, it takes a long time to get there, because there are so
+many changes from the end of the cable to the office where Kenyon is. And
+then, again, you see, they may have to look for him. He may not be
+expecting a message; in fact, he is sure not to be expecting any. From
+his own cablegram to me, it is quite evident he has given up all hope.'
+
+'Show me that cablegram, please.'
+
+Wentworth hesitated.
+
+'It is hardly couched in language you will enjoy reading,' he said.
+
+'That doesn't matter. Show it to me. I must see all the documents in
+the case.'
+
+He handed her the paper, which she read in silence, and gave it back to
+him without a word.
+
+'I knew you wouldn't like it,' he said.
+
+'I have not said I do not like it. It is not a bit too strong under the
+circumstances. In fact, I do not see how he could have put it in other
+words. It is very concise and to the point.'
+
+'Yes; there is no doubt about that, especially the first three words, "We
+are cheated!" Those are the words that make me think Kenyon has given up
+all hope; so there may be some trouble in finding him.'
+
+'Did you learn whether money could be sent by cable or not?'
+
+'Oh yes; there is no difficulty about that. The money is deposited in a
+bank here, and will be credited to Kenyon in the bank at Ottawa.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Miss Longworth, handing him the piece of paper,
+'there is the money.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle as he looked at it. 'Excuse my rudeness,'
+he said; 'I don't see a bit of paper like this every day. You mean, then,
+to buy the mine?'
+
+'Yes, I mean to buy the mine.'
+
+'Very well; but there is ten thousand pounds more here than is
+necessary.'
+
+'Yes. I mean not only to buy the mine, but to work it; and so some
+working capital will be necessary. How much do you suppose.'
+
+'About that I have no idea,' said Wentworth. 'I should think five
+thousand pounds would be ample.'
+
+'Then, we shall leave five thousand pounds in the bank here for
+contingencies, and cable twenty-five thousand pounds to Mr. Kenyon. I
+shall expect him to get me a good man to manage the mine. I am sure he
+will be glad to do that.'
+
+'Most certainly he will. John Kenyon, now that the mine has not fallen
+into the hands of those who tried to cheat him, will be glad to do
+anything for the new owner of it. He won't mind, in the least, losing his
+money if he knows that you have the mine.'
+
+'Ah, but that is the one thing he must not know. As to losing the money,
+neither you nor Mr. Kenyon are to lose a penny. If the mine is all you
+think it is, then it will be an exceedingly profitable investment; and I
+intend that we shall each take our third, just as if you had contributed
+one-third of the money, and Mr. Kenyon another.'
+
+'But, my dear Miss Longworth, that is absurd. We could never accept any
+such terms.'
+
+'Oh yes, you can. I spoke to John Kenyon himself about being a partner
+in this mine. I am afraid he thought very little of the offer at the
+time. I don't intend him to know anything at all about my ownership now.
+He has discovered the mine--you and he together. If it is valueless,
+then you and he will be two of the sufferers; if it is all you think it
+is, then you will be the gainers. The labourer is worthy of his hire,
+and I am sure both you and Mr. Kenyon have laboured hard enough in this
+venture. Should he guess I bought it, the chances are that he will be
+stupidly and stubbornly conscientious, and decline to share the fruits
+of his labours.'
+
+'And do you think, Miss Longworth, I am not conscientious enough
+to refuse?'
+
+'Oh, yes; you are conscientious, but you are sensible. Mr. Kenyon isn't.'
+
+'I think you are mistaken about that. He is one of the most sensible men
+in the world--morbidly sensible, perhaps.'
+
+'Well, I think, if Mr. Kenyon knew I owned the mine, he would not take a
+penny as his share. So I trust you will never let him know I am the
+person who gave the money to buy the mine.'
+
+'But is he never to know it, Miss Longworth?'
+
+'Perhaps not. If he is to learn, I am the person to tell him.'
+
+'I quite agree with you there, and I shall respect your confidence.'
+
+'Now, what time,' said the young woman, looking at her watch, 'ought we
+to get an answer from Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Ah, that, as I said before, no one can tell.'
+
+'I suppose, then, the best plan is to send the money at once, or put it
+in the way of being sent, to some bank in Ottawa.'
+
+'Yes, that is the best thing to do; although, of course, if John Kenyon
+is not there----'
+
+'If he is not there what shall we do?'
+
+'I do not exactly know. I could cable to Mr. Von Brent. Von Brent is the
+owner of the mine, and the man who gave John the option. I do not know
+how far he is committed to the others. If he is as honest as I take him
+to be, he will accept the money, providing it is sent in before twelve
+o'clock, and then we shall have the mine. Of that I know nothing
+whatever, because I have no particulars except John's cable-message.'
+
+'Then, I can do no more just now?'
+
+'Yes, you can. You will have to write a cheque for the twenty-five
+thousand pounds. You see, this cheque is crossed, and will go into
+your banking account. An other cheque will have to be drawn to get the
+money out.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I have not my cheque-book here, but perhaps you can send this
+cheque to the bank, and I will return. There will be time enough, I
+suppose, before the closing hour of the bank?'
+
+'Yes, there will be plenty of time. Of course, the sooner we get the
+money away the better.'
+
+'I shall return shortly after lunch. Perhaps you will then have heard
+from Mr. Kenyon. If anything comes sooner, will you send me a telegram?
+Here is my address.'
+
+'I will do that,' said Wentworth, as he bade her good-bye.
+
+As soon as lunch was over, Miss Longworth, with her cheque-book, again
+visited Wentworth's office. When she entered he shook his head.
+
+'No news yet,' he said.
+
+'This is terrible,' she answered; 'suppose he has left Ottawa and started
+for home?'
+
+'I do not think he would do that. Still, I imagine he would think there
+was no reason for staying in Ottawa. Nevertheless, I know Kenyon well
+enough to believe that he will wait there till the last minute of the
+option has expired, in the hope that something may happen. He knows, of
+course, that I shall be doing everything I can in London, and he may have
+a faint expectation that I shall be able to accomplish something.'
+
+'It would be useless to cable again?'
+
+'Quite. If that message does not reach him, none will.'
+
+As he was speaking, a boy entered the room with a telegram in his hand.
+Its contents were short and to the point:
+
+'Cablegram received.
+
+'KENYON.'
+
+'Well, that's all right,' said Wentworth; 'now I shall cable that we have
+the money, and advise him to identify himself at the bank, so that there
+can be no formalities about the drawing of it, to detain him.'
+
+Saying this, Wentworth pulled the telegraph-forms towards him, and, after
+considerable labour, managed to concoct a satisfactory despatch.
+
+'Don't spare money on it,' urged his visitor; 'be sure and make it
+plain to him.'
+
+'I think that will do, don't you?'
+
+'Yes,' she answered, after reading the despatch; 'that will do.'
+
+'Now,' she said, 'here is the cheque. Shall I wait here while you do all
+that is necessary to cable the money, or had I better go, and return
+again to see if everything is all right?'
+
+'If you don't mind, just sit where you are. You may lock this door, if
+you like, and you will not be disturbed.'
+
+It was an hour before Wentworth returned, but his face was radiant.
+
+'We have done everything we can,' he said, 'the money is at his order
+there, if the cablegram gets over before twelve o'clock to-morrow, as of
+course it will.'
+
+'Very well, then, good-bye,' said the girl with a smile, holding out her
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+
+If any man more miserable and dejected than John Kenyon existed in the
+broad dominion of Canada, he was indeed a person to be pitied. After
+having sent his cablegram to Wentworth, he returned to his very cheerless
+hotel. Next morning when he awoke he knew that Wentworth would have
+received the message, but that the chances were ten thousand to one that
+he could not get the money in time, even if he could get it at all.
+Still, he resolved to stay in Ottawa, much as he detested the place,
+until the hour the option expired. Then, he thought, he would look round
+among the mines, and see if he could not get something to do in the
+management of one of them. This would enable him to make some money,
+wherewith to pay the debts which he and Wentworth would have incurred as
+a result of their disastrous speculation. He felt so depressed that he
+did what most other Englishmen would have done in his place--took a long
+walk. He stood on the bridge over the Ottawa River and gazed for a while
+at the Chaudière Falls, watching the mist rising from the chasm into
+which the waters plunged. Then he walked along the other side of the
+river, among big saw-mills and huge interminable piles of lumber, with
+their grateful piny smell. By-and-by he found himself in the country, and
+then the forest closed in upon the bad road on which he walked.
+Nevertheless, he kept on and on, without heeding where he was going. Here
+and there he saw clearings in the woods, and a log shanty, or perhaps a
+barn. The result of all this was that, being a healthy man, he soon
+developed an enormous appetite, which forced itself upon his attention in
+spite of his depression. He noticed the evening was closing around him,
+and so was glad to come to a farmhouse that looked better than the
+ordinary shanties he had left behind. Here he asked for food, and soon
+sat down to a plentiful meal, the coarseness of which was more than
+compensated for by the excellence of his appetite. After dinner he began
+to realize how tired he was, and felt astonished to hear from his host
+how far he was from Ottawa.
+
+'You can't get there to-night,' said the farmer; 'it is no use your
+trying. You stay with us, and I'll take you in to-morrow. I'm going there
+in the afternoon.'
+
+And so Kenyon remained all night, and slept the dreamless sleep of health
+and exhaustion.
+
+It was somewhat late in the afternoon when he reached the city of
+Ottawa. Going towards his hotel, he was astonished to hear his name
+shouted after him. Turning round, he saw a man, whom he did not
+recognise, running after him.
+
+'Your name is Kenyon, isn't it?' asked the man, somewhat out of breath.
+
+'Yes, that is my name.'
+
+'I guess you don't remember me. I am the telegraph operator. We have had
+a despatch waiting for you for some time, a cablegram from London. We
+have searched all over the town for you, but couldn't find you.'
+
+'Ah,' said Kenyon, 'is it important?'
+
+'Well, that I don't know. You had better come with me to the office and
+get it. Of course, they don't generally cable unimportant things. I
+remember it said something about you keeping yourself in readiness for
+something.'
+
+They walked together to the telegraph-office. The boy was still searching
+for Kenyon with the original despatch, but the operator turned up the
+file and read the copy to him.
+
+'You see, it wants an answer,' he said; 'that's why I thought it was
+important to get you. You will have plenty of time for an answer
+to-night.'
+
+John took a lead pencil and wrote the cable despatch which Wentworth
+received. He paid his money, and said:
+
+'I will go to my hotel; it is the ---- House. I will wait there, and if
+anything comes for me, send it over as soon as possible.'
+
+'All right,' said the operator, 'that is the best plan; then we will
+know exactly where to find you. Of course, there is no use in your
+waiting here, because we can get you in five minutes. Perhaps I had
+better telephone to the hotel for you if anything comes.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon; 'I will leave it all in your hands.'
+
+Whether it was the effect of having been in the country or not, John
+felt that the cablegram he had received was a good omen. He meditated
+over the tremendous ill-fortune he had suffered in the whole business
+from beginning to end, and thought of old Mr. Longworth's favourite
+phrase, 'There's no such thing as luck.'
+
+Then came a rap at his door, and the bell-boy said:
+
+'There is a gentleman here wishes to speak to you.'
+
+'Ask him to come up,' was the answer; and two minutes later Von Brent
+entered.
+
+'Any news?' he asked.
+
+John, who was in a state of mind which made him suspicious of everything
+and everybody, answered:
+
+'No, nothing new.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. I had some hopes that perhaps you might be able
+to raise the money before twelve o'clock to-morrow. Of course you know
+the option ends at noon to-morrow?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Did you know that Longworth was in Ottawa?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'I have been out of town myself.'
+
+'Yes, he came last night. He has the money in the bank, as I told you.
+Now, I will not accept it until the very latest moment. Of course,
+legally, I cannot accept it before that time, and, just as legally, I
+cannot refuse his money when he tenders it. I am very sorry all this has
+happened--more sorry than I can tell you. I hope you will not think that
+I am to blame in the matter?'
+
+'No, you are not in the slightest to blame. There is nobody in fault
+except myself. I feel that I have been culpably negligent, and altogether
+too trustful.'
+
+'I wish to goodness I knew where you could get the money; but, of
+course, if I knew that, I would have had it myself long ago.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said Kenyon; 'but the only thing you can
+do for me is to see that your clock is not ahead of time to-morrow. I
+may, perhaps, be up at the office before twelve o'clock--that is where I
+shall find you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes; I shall be there all the forenoon. I shall not leave until twelve.'
+
+'Very good; I am much obliged to you, Mr. Von Brent, for your sympathy. I
+assure you, I haven't many friends, and it--well, I'm obliged to you,
+that's all. An Englishman, you know, is not very profuse in the matter of
+thanks, but I mean it.'
+
+'I'm sure you do,' said Von Brent, 'and I'm only sorry that my assistance
+cannot be something substantial. Well, good-bye, hoping to see you
+to-morrow.'
+
+After he had departed, Kenyon's impatience increased as the hours went
+on. He left the hotel, and went direct to the telegraph-office; but
+nothing had come for him.
+
+'I'm afraid,' said the operator, 'that there won't be anything more
+to-night. If it should come late, shall I send it to your hotel?'
+
+'Certainly; no matter at what hour it comes, I wish you would let me
+have it as soon as possible. It is very important.'
+
+Leaving the office, he went up the street and, passing the principal
+hotel in the place, saw young Longworth standing under the portico of the
+hotel as dapper and correct in costume as ever, his single eyeglass the
+admiration of all Ottawa, for there was not another like it in the city.
+
+'How do you do, Kenyon?' said that young man.
+
+'My dear sir,' replied Kenyon, 'the last time you spoke to me you said
+you desired to have nothing more to say to me. I cordially reciprocated
+that sentiment, and I want to have nothing to say to you.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' cried Longworth jauntily, 'there is no harm done. Of
+course, in New York I was a little out of sorts. Everybody is in New
+York--beastly hole! I don't think it is worse than Ottawa, but the air is
+purer here. By the way, perhaps you and I can make a little arrangement.
+I am going to buy that mine to-morrow, as doubtless you know. Now, I
+should like to see it in the hands of a good and competent man. If a
+couple of hundred pounds a year would be any temptation to you, I think
+we can afford to let you develop the mine.'
+
+'Thank you!' said Kenyon.
+
+'I knew you would be grateful; just think over the matter, will you? and
+don't come to any rash decision. We can probably give a little more than
+that; but until we see how the mine is turning out, it is not likely we
+shall spend a great deal of money on it.'
+
+'Of course,' said John, 'the proper answer to your remark would be to
+knock you down; but, besides being a law-abiding citizen, I have no
+desire to get into gaol to-night for doing it, because there is one
+chance in a thousand, Mr. Longworth, that I may have some business to do
+with that mine myself before twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'Ah, it is my turn to be grateful now!' said Longworth. 'In a
+rough-and-tumble fight I am afraid you would master me easier than you
+would do in a contest of diplomacy.'
+
+'Do you call it diplomacy? You refer, I suppose, to your action in
+relation to the mine. I call it robbery.'
+
+'Oh, do you? Well, that is the kind of conversation which leads to
+breaches of the peace; and as I also am a law-abiding subject, I will
+not continue the discussion any further. I bid you a very good evening,
+Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+The young man turned on his heel and went into the hotel. John walked to
+his own much more modest inn, and retired for the night. He did not sleep
+well. All night long, phantom telegraph-messengers were rapping at the
+door, and he started up every now and then to receive cablegrams which
+faded away as he awoke. Shortly after breakfast he went to the
+telegraph-office, but found that nothing had arrived for him.
+
+'I am afraid,' said the operator, 'that nothing will come on before
+noon.'
+
+'Before noon!' echoed John. 'Why?'
+
+'The wires are down in some places in the East, and messages are delayed
+a good deal. Perhaps you noticed the lack of Eastern news in the morning
+papers? Very little news came from the East last night.' Seeing John's
+look of anxious interest, the operator continued: 'Does the despatch you
+expect pertain to money matters?'
+
+'Yes, it does.'
+
+'Do they know you at the bank?'
+
+'No, I don't think they do.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would go up to the bank and be identified, so
+that, if it is a matter of minutes, no unnecessary time may be lost. You
+had better tell them you expect a money-order by cable, and, although
+such orders are paid without any identification at the bank, yet they
+take every precaution to see that it does not get into the hands of the
+wrong man.'
+
+'Thank you,' said Kenyon. 'I am much obliged to you for your suggestion.
+I will act upon it.'
+
+And as soon as the bank opened, John Kenyon presented himself to the
+cashier.
+
+'I am expecting a large amount of money from England to-day. It is very
+important that, when it arrives, there shall be no delay in having it
+placed at my disposal. I want to know if there are any formalities to be
+gone through.'
+
+'Where is the money coming from?' said the clerk.
+
+'It is coming from England.'
+
+'Is there anyone in Ottawa who can identify you?'
+
+'Yes; I know the telegraph operator here.'
+
+'Ah!' said the cashier somewhat doubtfully. 'Anybody else?'
+
+'Mr. Von Brent knows me very well.'
+
+'That will do. Suppose you get Mr. Von Brent to come here and identify
+you as the man who bears the name of Kenyon. Then the moment your
+cablegram comes the money will be at your disposal.'
+
+Kenyon hurried to Von Brent's rooms and found him alone.
+
+'Will you come down to the bank and identify me as Kenyon?'
+
+'Certainly. Has the money arrived?'
+
+'No, it has not; but I expect it, and want to provide for every
+contingency. I do not wish to have any delay in my identification when it
+does come.'
+
+'If it comes by cable,' said Von Brent, 'there will be no need of
+identification. The bank is not responsible, you know. They take the
+money entirely at the sender's risk. They might pay it to the telegraph
+operator who receives the message! I believe they would not be held
+liable. However, it is better to see that nothing is left undone.'
+
+Going over to the bank, Von Brent said to the cashier: 'This is John
+Kenyon.'
+
+'Very good,' replied the cashier. 'Have you been at the telegraph-office
+lately, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'No, I have not--at least, not for half an hour or so.'
+
+'Well, I would go there as soon as possible, if I were you.'
+
+'That means,' said Von Brent, as soon as they had reached the door, 'that
+they have had their notice about the money. I believe it is already in
+the bank for you. I will go back to my rooms and not leave them till you
+come.'
+
+John hurried to the telegraph-office.
+
+'Anything for me yet?' he said.
+
+'Nothing as yet, Mr. Kenyon; I think, however,' he added with a smile,
+'that it will be all right. I hope so.'
+
+The moments ticked along with their usual rapidity, yet it seemed to
+Kenyon the clock was going fearfully fast. Eleven o'clock came and found
+him still pacing up and down the office of the telegraph. The operator
+offered him the hospitality of the private room, but this he declined.
+Every time the machine clicked, John's ears were on the alert, trying to
+catch a meaning from the instrument.
+
+Ten minutes after eleven!
+
+Twenty minutes after eleven, and still no despatch! The cold perspiration
+stood on John's brow, and he groaned aloud.
+
+'I suppose it's very important,' said the operator.
+
+'_Very_ important.'
+
+'Well, now, I shouldn't say so, but I know the money is in the bank for
+you. Perhaps if you went up there and demanded it, they would give it to
+you.'
+
+It was twenty-five minutes past the hour when John hurried towards the
+bank.
+
+'I have every belief,' he said to the cashier, 'that the money is here
+for me now. Is it possible for me to get it?'
+
+'Have you your cablegram?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Well, you know, we cannot pay the money until we see your cablegram. If
+time is of importance, you should not leave the telegraph-office, and the
+moment you get your message, come here; then there will be no delay
+whatever. Do you wish to draw all the money at once?'
+
+'I don't know how much there is, but I must have twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Very well, to save time you had better make out a cheque for twenty
+thousand pounds; that will be----'
+
+And here he gave the number of dollars at the rate of the day on the
+pound. 'Just make out a cheque for that amount, and I will certify it. A
+certified cheque is as good as gold. The moment you get your message I
+will hand you the certified cheque.'
+
+John wrote out the order and gave it to the cashier, glancing at the
+clock as he did so. It was now twenty-five minutes to twelve. He rushed
+to the telegraph-office with all the speed of which he was capable, but
+met only a blank look again from the chief operator.
+
+'It has not come yet,' he said, shaking his head.
+
+Gradually despair began to descend on the waiting man. It was worse to
+miss everything now, than never to have had the hope of success. It was
+like hanging a man who had once been reprieved. He resumed his nervous
+pace up and down that chamber of torture. A quarter to twelve. He heard
+chimes ring somewhere. If the message did not come before they rang
+again, it would be for ever too late.
+
+Fourteen minutes--thirteen minutes--twelve minutes--eleven minutes--ten
+minutes to twelve, and yet, no--
+
+'Here you are!' shouted the operator in great glee, 'she's a-coming--it's
+all right--"John Kenyon, Ottawa."' Then he wrote as rapidly as the
+machine ticked out the message. 'There it is; now rush!'
+
+John needed no telling to rush. People had begun to notice him as
+the man who was doing nothing but running between the bank and the
+telegraph-office.
+
+It was seven minutes to twelve when he got to the bank.
+
+'Is that despatch right?' he said, shoving it through the arched
+aperture.
+
+The clerk looked at it with provoking composure, and then compared it
+with some papers.
+
+'For God's sake, hurry!' pleaded John.
+
+'You have plenty of time,' said the cashier coolly, looking up at the
+clock and going on with his examination. 'Yes,' he added, 'that is right.
+Here is your certified cheque.'
+
+John clasped it, and bolted out of the bank as a burglar might have done.
+It was five minutes to twelve when he got to the steps that led to the
+rooms of Mr. Von Brent. Now all his excitement seemed to have deserted
+him. He was as cool and calm as if he had five days, instead of so many
+minutes, in which to make the payment. He mounted the steps quietly,
+walked along the passage, and knocked at the door of Von Brent's room.
+
+'Come in!' was the shout that greeted him.
+
+He opened the door, glancing at the clock behind Von Brent's head as
+he did so.
+
+It stood at three minutes to twelve.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth was sitting there, with just a touch of pallor on his
+countenance, and there seemed to be an ominous glitter in his eyeglass.
+He said nothing, and John Kenyon completely ignored his presence.
+
+'There is still some life left in my option, I believe?' he said to Von
+Brent, after nodding good-day to him.
+
+'Very little, but perhaps it will serve. You have two minutes and a
+half,' said Von Brent.
+
+'Are the papers ready?' inquired John.
+
+'All ready, everything except putting in the names.'
+
+'Very well, here is the money.'
+
+Von Brent looked at the certified cheque. 'That is perfectly right,' he
+said, 'the mine is yours.'
+
+Then he rose and stretched his hand across the table to Kenyon, who
+grasped it cordially.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth also rose, and said languidly 'As this seems to be
+a meeting of long-lost brothers, I shall not intrude. Good-day, Mr.
+Von Brent.'
+
+Then, adjusting his eyeglass in a leisurely manner, he walked out
+of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+
+When Edith Longworth entered the office of George Wentworth, that young
+gentleman somewhat surprised her. He sprang from his chair the moment she
+entered the room, rushed out of the door, and shouted at the top of his
+voice to the boy, who answered him, whereupon Wentworth returned to the
+room, apparently in his right mind.
+
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Longworth,' he said, laughing; 'the fact was, I
+had just sent my boy with a telegram for you, and now, you see, I have
+saved sixpence.'
+
+'Then you have heard from Canada?' said the young lady.
+
+'Yes; a short message, but to the point.' He handed her the cablegram,
+and she read:
+
+'Mine purchased; shall take charge temporarily.'
+
+'Then, the money got there in time,' she said, handing him back the
+telegraphic message.
+
+'Oh yes,' said George, with the easy confidence of a man who doesn't at
+all know what he is talking about. 'We had plenty of time; I knew it
+would get there all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that; I was afraid perhaps we might have sent it too late.
+One can never tell what delays or formalities there may be.'
+
+'Evidently there was no trouble. And now, Miss Longworth, what are your
+commands? Am I to be your agent here, in Great Britain?'
+
+'Have you written to Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, I wrote to him just after I sent the cable message.'
+
+'Of course you didn't----'
+
+'No, I didn't say a word that would lead him to suspect who was the
+mistress of the mine. In my zeal I even went so far as to give you a
+name. You are hereafter to be known in the correspondence as Mr. Smith,
+the owner of the mine.'
+
+Miss Longworth laughed.
+
+'And--oh, by the way,' cried Wentworth, 'here is a barrel belonging to
+you.'
+
+'A barrel!' she said, and, looking in the direction to which he pointed,
+she saw in the corner of the room a barrel with the head taken away. 'If
+it is my property,' continued the young woman, 'who has taken the liberty
+of opening it?'
+
+'Oh, I did that as your agent. That barrel contains the mineral from the
+mine, which we hope will prove so valuable. It started from Canada over
+three months ago, and only arrived here the other day. It seems that the
+idiot who sent it addressed it by way of New York, and it was held by
+some Jack-in-office belonging to the United States Customs. We have had
+more diplomatic correspondence and trouble about that barrel than you
+can imagine, and now it comes a day behind the fair, when it is really of
+no use to anyone.'
+
+Miss Longworth rose and went to the barrel. She picked out some of the
+beautiful white specimens that were in it.
+
+'Is this the mineral?' she asked.
+
+Wentworth laughed.
+
+'Imagine a person buying a mine at an exorbitant price, and not knowing
+what it produces. Yes, that is the mineral.'
+
+'This is not mica, of course?'
+
+'No, it is not mica. That is the stuff used for the making of china.'
+
+'It looks as if it would take a good polish. Will it, do you know?'
+
+'I do not know. I could easily find out for you.'
+
+'I wish you would, and get a piece of it polished, which I will use as a
+paper-weight.'
+
+'What are your orders for the rest of the barrel?'
+
+'What did you intend doing with it?' said the young woman.
+
+'Well, I was thinking the best plan would be to send some of it to each
+of the pottery works in this country, and get their orders for more of
+the stuff, if they want to use it.'
+
+'I think that an extremely good idea. I understand from the cablegram
+that Mr. Kenyon says he will take charge of the mine temporarily.'
+
+'Yes; I imagine he left Ottawa at once, as soon as he had concluded his
+bargain. Of course, we shall not know for certain until he writes.'
+
+'Very well, then, it appears to me the best thing you could do over here
+would be to secure what orders can be obtained in England for the
+mineral. Then, I suppose, you could write to Mr. Kenyon, and ask him to
+engage a proper person to work the mine.'
+
+'Yes, I will do that.'
+
+'When he comes over here, you and he can have a consultation as to the
+best thing to do next. I expect nothing very definite can be arranged
+until he comes. You may make whatever excuse you can for the absence of
+the mythical Mr. Smith, and say that you act for him. Then you may tell
+Mr. Kenyon, in whatever manner you choose, that Mr. Smith intends both
+you and Mr. Kenyon to share conjointly with him. I think you will have no
+trouble in making John--that is, in making Mr. Kenyon--believe there is
+such a person as Mr. Smith, if you put it strongly enough to him. Make
+him understand that Mr. Smith would never have heard of the mine unless
+Mr. Kenyon and you had discovered it, and that he is very glad indeed to
+have such a good opportunity of investing his money; so that, naturally,
+he wishes those who have been instrumental in helping him to this
+investment to share in its profits. I imagine you can make all this clear
+enough, so that your friend will suspect nothing. Don't you think so?'
+
+'Well, with any other man than John Kenyon I should have my doubts,
+because, as a fabricator, I don't think I have a very high reputation;
+but with John I have no fears whatever. He will believe everything I
+say. It is almost a pity to delude so trustful a man, but it's so very
+much to his own advantage that I shall have no hesitation in doing it.'
+
+'Then, you will write to him about getting a fit and proper person to
+manage the mine?'
+
+'Yes. I don't think there will be any necessity for doing so, but I will
+make sure. I imagine John will not leave there until he sees everything
+to his satisfaction. He will be very anxious indeed for the mine to prove
+the great success he has always believed it to be, even though, at
+present, he does not know he is to have any pecuniary interest in its
+prosperity.'
+
+'Very well then, I shall bid you good-bye. I may not be here again, but
+whenever you hear from Mr. Kenyon, I shall be very glad if you will let
+me know.'
+
+'Certainly; I will send you all the documents in the case, as you once
+remarked. You always like to see the original papers, don't you?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose I do.' Miss Longworth lingered a moment at the door,
+then, looking straight at Wentworth, she said to him, 'You remember you
+spoke rather bitterly to my father the other day?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, colouring; 'I remember it.'
+
+'You are a young man; he is old. Besides that, I think you were entirely
+in the wrong. He had nothing whatever to do with his nephew's action.'
+
+'Oh, I know that,' said Wentworth. 'I would have apologized to him long
+ago, only--well, you know, he told me I shouldn't be allowed in the
+office again, and I don't suppose I should.'
+
+'A letter from you would be allowed in the office,' replied the young
+lady, looking at the floor.
+
+'Of course it would,' said George; 'I will write to him instantly and
+apologize.'
+
+'It is very good of you,' said, Edith, holding out her hand to him; the
+next moment she was gone.
+
+George Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote a letter of apology. Then
+he mused to himself upon the strange and incomprehensible nature of
+women. 'She makes me apologize to him, and quite right too; but if it
+hadn't been for the row with her father, she never would have heard about
+the transaction, and therefore couldn't have bought the mine, which she
+was anxious to do for Kenyon's sake--lucky beggar John is, after all!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+When the business of transferring the mine to its new owner was
+completed, John Kenyon went to the telegraph-office, and sent a short
+cable-message to Wentworth. Then he turned his steps to the hotel, an
+utterly exhausted man. The excitement and tension of the day had been too
+much for him, and he felt that, if he did not get out of the city of
+Ottawa and into the country, where there were fewer people and more air,
+he was going to be ill. He resolved to leave for the mine as soon as
+possible. There he would get affairs in as good order as might be, and
+keep things going until he heard from the owner. When he reached his
+hotel, he wrote a letter to Wentworth, detailing briefly the
+circumstances under which he had secured the mine, and dealing with other
+more personal matters. Having posted this, he began to pack his
+portmanteau, preparatory to leaving early next morning. While thus
+occupied, the bell-boy came into his room, and said:
+
+'There is a gentleman wants to see you.'
+
+He imagined at once that it was Von Brent, who wished to see him with
+regard to some formality relating to the transfer, and he was, therefore,
+very much astonished--in fact, for the moment speechless--when Mr.
+William Longworth entered and calmly gazed round the rather shabby room
+with his critical eyeglass.
+
+'Ah,' he said, 'these are your diggings, are they? This is what they call
+a dollar hotel, I suppose, over here. Well, some people may like it, but,
+I confess, I don't care much about it, myself. Their three or four
+dollars a day hotels are bad enough for me. By the way, you look rather
+surprised to see me; being strangers together in a strange country, I
+expected a warmer greeting. You said last night, in front of the Russell
+House, that it would please you very much to give me a warm greeting;
+perhaps you would like to do so to-night.'
+
+'Have you come up here to provoke a quarrel with me?' asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! Quarrel! Nothing of the sort. What should I want to
+quarrel about?'
+
+'Perhaps you will be good enough to tell me why you come here, then?'
+
+'A very reasonable request. Very reasonable indeed, and perfectly
+natural, but still quite unnecessary. It is not likely that a man would
+climb up here into your rooms, and then not be prepared to tell you why
+he came. I came, in the first place, to congratulate you on the beautiful
+and dramatic way in which you secured the mine at the last moment, or
+apparently at the last moment. I suppose you had the money all the time?'
+
+'No, I had not.'
+
+'Then you came in to Von Brent just as soon as you received it?'
+
+'Well, now, I don't see that it is the business of anyone else but
+myself. Still, if you want to know, I may say that I came to Mr. Von
+Brent's room at the moment I received the money.'
+
+'Really! Then it was sent over by cable, I presume?'
+
+'Your presumption is entirely correct.'
+
+'My dear Kenyon,' said the young man, seating himself without being
+asked, and gazing at John in a benevolent kind of way, 'you really show
+some temper over this little affair of yours. Now, here is the whole
+thing in a nutshell----'
+
+'My dear sir, I don't wish to hear the whole thing, in a nutshell. I know
+all about it--all I wish to know.'
+
+'Ah, precisely; of course you do; certainly; but, nevertheless, let me
+have my say. Here is the whole thing. I tried to--well, to cheat you.
+I thought I could make a little money by doing so, and my scheme
+failed. Now, if anybody should be in a bad temper, it is I, not you.
+Don't you see that? You are not acting your part well at all. I'm
+astonished at you!'
+
+'Mr. Longworth, I wish to have nothing whatever to say to you. If you
+have anything to ask, I wish you would ask it as quickly as possible, and
+then leave me alone.'
+
+'The chief fault I find with you, Kenyon,' said Longworth, throwing one
+leg over the other, and clasping his hands round his knee--'the chief
+fault I have to find is your painful lack of a sense of humour. Now,
+you remember last night I offered you the managership of the mine. I
+thought, certainly, that by this time to-day I should be owner of it,
+or, at least, one of the owners. Now, you don't appear to appreciate the
+funniness of the situation. Here you are the owner of the mine, and I am
+out in the cold--"left," as they say here in America. I am the man who
+is left----'
+
+'If that is all you have to talk about,' said Kenyon gravely, 'I must ask
+you to allow me to go on with my packing. I am going to the mine
+to-morrow.'
+
+'Certainly, my dear fellow; go at once and never mind me. Can I be of any
+assistance to you? It requires a special genius, you know, to pack a
+portmanteau properly. But what I wanted to say was this: Why didn't you
+turn round, when you had got the mine, and offer _me_ the managership of
+it? Then you would have had your revenge. The more I think of that
+episode in Von Brent's office, the more I think you utterly failed to
+realize the dramatic possibilities of the situation.'
+
+Kenyon was silent.
+
+'Now, all this time you are wondering why I came here. Doubtless you wish
+to know what I want.'
+
+'I have not the slightest interest in the matter,' said Kenyon.
+
+'That is ungracious, but, nevertheless, I will continue. It is better, I
+see, to be honest with you, if a man wants to get anything from you. Now,
+I want to get a bit of information from you. I want to know where you got
+the money with which you bought the mine?'
+
+'I got it from the bank.'
+
+'Ah, yes, but I want to know who sent it over to you?'
+
+'It was sent to me by George Wentworth.'
+
+'Quite so; but _now_ I want to know who gave Wentworth the money?'
+
+'You will have a chance of finding that out when you go to England, by
+asking him.'
+
+'Then you won't tell me?'
+
+'I can't tell you.'
+
+'You mean by that, of course, that you won't.'
+
+'I always mean, Mr. Longworth, exactly what I say. I mean that I can't
+tell you. I don't know myself.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes, really. You seem to have some difficulty in believing that anybody
+can speak the truth.'
+
+'Well, it isn't a common vice, speaking the truth. You must forgive a
+little surprise.' He nursed his knee for a moment, and looked
+meditatively up at the ceiling. 'Now, would you like to know who
+furnished that money?'
+
+'I have no curiosity in the matter whatever.'
+
+'Have you not? You are a singular man. It seems to me that a person into
+whose lap twenty thousand pounds drops from the skies would have some
+little curiosity to know from whom the money came.'
+
+'I haven't the slightest.'
+
+'Nevertheless, I will tell you who gave the money to Wentworth. It was
+my dear friend Melville. I didn't tell you in New York, of course, that
+Melville and I had a little quarrel about this matter, and he went home
+decidedly huffy. I had no idea he would take this method of revenge; but
+I see it quite clearly now. He knew I had secured the option of the
+mine. There was a little trouble as to what our respective shares were
+to be, and I thought, as I had secured the option, I had the right to
+dictate terms. He thought differently. He was going to Von Brent to
+explain the whole matter; but I pointed out that such a course would do
+no good, the option being legally made out in my name, so that the
+moment your claim expired mine began. When this dawned upon him, he took
+the steamer and went to England. Now, I can see his hand in this
+artistic finish to the affair. It was a pretty sharp trick of
+Melville's, and I give him credit for it. He is a very much shrewder and
+cleverer man than I thought he was.'
+
+'It seems to me, Mr. Longworth, that your inordinate conceit makes you
+always underestimate your friends, or your enemies either, for that
+matter.'
+
+'There is something in that, Kenyon; I think you are more than half right,
+but I thought, perhaps, I could make it advantageous to you to do
+me a favour in this matter. I thought you might have no objection to
+writing a little document to the effect that the money did not come in
+time, and consequently, I had secured the mine. Then, if you would sign
+that, I would take it over to Melville and make terms with him. Of
+course, if he knows that he has the mine there will not be much chance of
+coming to any arrangement with him.'
+
+'You can make no arrangements with me, Mr. Longworth, that involve
+sacrifice of the truth.'
+
+'Ah, well, I suspected as much; but I thought it was worth trying.
+However, my dear sir, I may make terms with Melville yet, and then, I
+imagine, you won't have much to do with the mine.'
+
+'I shall not have anything to do with it if you and Melville have a share
+in it; and if, as you suspect, Melville has the mine, I consider you are
+in a bad way. My opinion is that, when one rascal gets advantage over
+another rascal, the other rascal will be, as you say, "left."'
+
+Longworth mused over this for a moment, and said:
+
+'Yes, I fear you are right--in fact, I am certain of it. Well, that is
+all I wanted to know. I will bid you good-bye. I shan't see you again in
+Ottawa, as I shall sail very shortly for England. Have you any messages
+you would like given to your friends over there?'
+
+'None, thank you.'
+
+'Well, ta-ta!' And John was left to his packing. That necessary operation
+concluded, Kenyon sat down and thought over what young Longworth had told
+him. His triumph, after all, had been short-lived. The choice between the
+two scoundrels was so small that he felt he didn't care which of them
+owned the mine. Meditating on this disagreeable subject, he suddenly
+remembered a request he had asked Wentworth to place before the new owner
+of the mine. He wanted no favour from Melville, so he wrote a second
+letter, contradicting the request made in the first, and, after posting
+it, returned to his hotel, and went to bed, probably the most tired man
+in the city of Ottawa.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+
+This chapter consists largely of letters. As a general rule, letters are
+of little concern to anyone except the writers and the receivers, but
+they are inserted here in the hope that the reader is already well
+enough acquainted with the correspondents to feel some interest in what
+they have written.
+
+It was nearly a fortnight after the receipt of the cablegram from Kenyon
+that George Wentworth found, one morning, on his desk two letters, each
+bearing a Canadian postage-stamp. One was somewhat bulky and one was
+thin, but they were both from the same writer. He tore open the thin one
+first, without looking at the date stamped upon it. He was a little
+bewildered by its contents, which ran as follows:
+
+'MY DEAR GEORGE,
+
+'I have just heard that Melville is the man who has bought the mine. The
+circumstances of the case leave no doubt in my mind that such is the
+fact; therefore, please disregard the request I made as to employment in
+the letter I posted to you a short time ago. I feel a certain sense of
+disappointment in the fact that Melville is the owner of the mine. It
+seems I have only kept one rascal from buying it in order to put it in
+the hands of another rascal.
+
+'Your friend,
+
+'JOHN KENYON.'
+
+'Melville the owner!' cried Wentworth to himself. 'What could have put
+that into John's head? This letter is evidently the one posted a few
+hours before, so it will contain whatever request he has to make;' and,
+without delay, George Wentworth tore open the envelope of the second
+letter, which was obviously the one written first.
+
+It contained a number of documents relating to the transfer of the mine.
+The letter from John himself went on to give particulars of the buying of
+the property. Then it continued:
+
+'I wish you would do me a favour, George. Will you kindly ask the owner
+of the mine if he will give me charge of it? I am, of course, anxious to
+make it turn out as well as possible, and I believe I can more than earn
+my salary, whatever it is. You know I am not grasping in the matter of
+money, but get me as large a salary as you think I deserve. I desire to
+make money for reasons that are not entirely selfish, as you know. To
+tell you the truth, George, I am tired of cities and of people. I want to
+live here in the woods, where there is not so much deceit and treachery
+as there seems to be in the big towns. When I reached London last time, I
+felt like a boy getting home. My feelings have undergone a complete
+change, and I think, if it were not for you and a certain young lady, I
+should never care to see the big city again. What is the use of my
+affecting mystery, and writing the words "a certain young lady"? Of
+course, you know whom I mean--Miss Edith Longworth. You know, also, that
+I am, and have long been, in love with her. If I had succeeded in making
+the money I thought I should by selling the mine, I might have had some
+hopes of making more, and of ultimately being in a position to ask her to
+be my wife; but that and very many other hopes have disappeared with my
+recent London experiences. I want to get into the forest and recover some
+of my lost tone, and my lost faith in human nature. If you can arrange
+matters with the owner of the mine, so that I may stay here for a year
+or two, you will do me a great favour.'
+
+George Wentworth read over the latter part of this letter two or three
+times. Then he rose, paced the floor, and pondered.
+
+'It isn't a thing upon which I can ask anyone's advice,' he muttered to
+himself. 'The trouble with Kenyon is, he is entirely too modest; a little
+useful self-esteem would be just the thing for him.' At last he stopped
+suddenly in his walk. 'By Jove!' he said to himself, slapping his thigh,
+'I shall do it, let the consequences be what they may.'
+
+Then he sat down at his desk and wrote a letter.
+
+'DEAR Miss LONGWORTH' (it began),
+
+'You told me when you were here last that you wanted all the documents
+pertaining to the mine, in every instance. A document has come this
+morning that is rather important. John Kenyon, as you will learn by
+reading the letter, desires the managership of the mine. I need not say
+that I think he is the best man in the world for the position, and that
+everything will be safe in his hands. I therefore enclose you his letter.
+I had some thought of cutting out a part of it, but knowing your desire
+to have all the documents in the case, I take the liberty of sending this
+one exactly as it reached me, and if anyone is to blame, I am the person.
+
+'I remain, your agent,
+
+'GEORGE WENTWORTH.'
+
+He sent this letter out at once, so that he would not have a chance to
+change his mind.
+
+'It will reach her this afternoon, and doubtless she will call and see
+me.'
+
+It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say she did _not_ call, and she did
+not see him for many days afterwards; but next morning, when he came to
+his office, he found a letter from her. It ran:
+
+'DEAR MR. WENTWORTH,
+
+'The sending of Mr. Kenyon's letter to me is a somewhat dangerous
+precedent, which you must on no account follow by sending any letters you
+may receive from any other person to Mr. Kenyon. However, as you were
+probably aware when you sent the letter, no blame will rest on your
+shoulders, or on those of anyone else, in this instance. Still, be very
+careful in future, because letter-sending, unabridged, is sometimes a
+risky thing to do. You are to remember that I always want all the
+documents in the case, and I want them with nothing eliminated. I am very
+much obliged to you for forwarding the letter.
+
+'As to the managership of the mine, of course I thought Mr. Kenyon would
+desire to come back to London. If he is content to stay abroad, and
+really wants to stay there, I wish you would tell him that Mr. Smith is
+exceedingly pleased to know he is willing to take charge of the mine. It
+would not look businesslike on the part of Mr. Smith to say that Mr.
+Kenyon is to name his own salary, but, unfortunately, Mr. Smith is very
+ignorant as to what a proper salary should be, so will you kindly settle
+that question? You know the usual salary for such an occupation. Please
+write down that figure, and add two hundred a year to it. Tell Mr.
+Kenyon the amount named is the salary Mr. Smith assigns to him.
+
+'Pray be very careful in the wording of the letters, so that Mr. Kenyon
+will not have any idea who Mr. Smith is.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.
+
+When Wentworth received this letter, being a man, he did not know whether
+Miss Longworth was pleased or not. However, he speedily wrote to John,
+telling him that he was appointed manager of the mine, and that Mr. Smith
+was very much pleased to have him in that capacity. He named the salary,
+but said if it was not enough, no doubt Mr. Smith was so anxious for his
+services that the amount would be increased.
+
+John, when he got the letter, was more than satisfied.
+
+At the time Wentworth was reading his letters, John had received those
+which had been sent when the mine was bought. He was relieved to find
+that Melville was not, after all, the owner; and he went to work with a
+will, intending to put in two or three years of his life, with hard
+labour, in developing the resources of the property. The first fortnight,
+before he received any letters, he did nothing but make himself
+acquainted with the way work was being carried on there. He found many
+things to improve. The machinery had been allowed to run down, and the
+men worked in the listless way men do when they are under no particular
+supervision. The manager of the mine was very anxious about his position.
+John told him the property had changed hands but, until he had further
+news from England, he could not tell just what would be done. When the
+letters came, John took hold with a will, and there was soon a decided
+improvement in the way affairs were going. He allowed the old manager to
+remain as a sort of sub-manager; but that individual soon found that the
+easy times of the Austrian Mining Company were for ever gone.
+
+Kenyon had to take one or two long trips in Canada and the United
+States, to arrange for the disposal of the products of the mine; but,
+as a general rule, his time was spent entirely in the log village near
+the river.
+
+When a year had passed, he was able to write a very jubilant letter to
+Wentworth.
+
+'You see,' he said, 'after all, the mine was worth the two hundred
+thousand pounds we asked for it. It pays, even the first year, ten per
+cent. on that amount. This will give back all the mine has cost, and I
+think, George, the honest thing for us to do would be to let the whole
+proceeds go to Mr. Smith this year, who advanced the money at a critical
+time. This will recoup him for his outlay, because the working capital
+has not been touched. The mica has more than paid the working of the
+mine, and all the rest is clear profit. Therefore, if you are willing, we
+will let our third go this year, and then we can take our large dividend
+next year with a clear conscience. I enclose the balance-sheet.'
+
+To this letter there came an answer in due time from Wentworth, who said
+that he had placed John's proposal before Mr. Smith; but it seemed the
+gentleman was so pleased with the profitable investment he had made that
+he would hear of no other division of the profits but that of share and
+share alike. He appeared to be very much touched by the offer John had
+made, and respected him for making it, but the proposed rescinding on
+his part and Wentworth's was a thing not to be thought of. This being
+the case, John sent a letter and a very large cheque to his father. The
+moment of posting that letter was, doubtless, one of the happiest of his
+life, and this ends the formidable array of letters which appears in
+this chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+
+Wentworth had written to Kenyon that Mr. Smith absolutely refused to take
+more than one-third of the profits of the mine. It was true that the
+offer had been declined, but Wentworth never knew how much tempted the
+Mistress of the Mine had been when he made it. Her one great desire was
+to pay back the thirty thousand pounds to her father, and she wanted to
+do it as speedily as possible. At the end of the second year her profits
+from the mine, including the return of the five thousand pounds which had
+been sent to Ottawa as working capital, was still about five thousand
+pounds under the thirty thousand pounds. She looked forward eagerly to
+the time when she would be able to pay the thirty thousand pounds to her
+father. Old Mr. Longworth had never spoken a word to his daughter about
+the money. She had expected he would ask her what she had done with it,
+but he had never mentioned the subject. Her conscience troubled her very
+frequently about the method she had taken to obtain that large amount.
+She saw that her father had changed in his manner towards her since that
+day. He had given her the money, but he had given it, as one might say,
+almost under compulsion, and there was no doubt that, generous as he
+was, he did not like being coerced into parting with his money. Edith
+Longworth had paid more for the mine than the amount of cash she had
+deposited in Ottawa. She had paid for it by being cut off from her
+father's confidence. Now he never asked her advice about any of his
+business ventures, and, for the first time in many years, he had taken a
+long sea-voyage without inviting her to accompany him. All this made the
+girl more and more anxious to obtain the money to pay back her
+indebtedness, and, if Wentworth had made the same offer at the end of the
+second year which he had made at the close of the first, she would have
+accepted it. The offer, however, was not made, and Miss Longworth said
+nothing, but took her share of the profits and put them into the bank.
+
+The plan of placing all one's eggs into the same basket is a good
+one--until something happens to the basket! It is said that lightning
+never strikes twice in the same place, and, as the small boy remarked,
+'it never needed to.' In Mr. Longworth's affairs lightning struck in
+three places, and in each of those strokes it hit a large basket. A new
+law had been passed in one part of the world that vitally affected great
+interests he held there. In another part of the world, at the same time,
+there occurred a revolution, and every business in that country stopped
+for the time being. In still another part of the world there had been a
+commercial crisis; and, in sympathy with all these financial disasters,
+the money market in London was exceedingly stringent.
+
+Everybody wanted to sell, and nobody wished to buy. This unfortunate
+combination of circumstances hit old Mr. Longworth hard. It was not that
+he did not believe all his investments were secure, could he only
+weather the gale, but there was an immediate need of ready money which it
+seemed absolutely impossible to obtain. Day by day his daughter saw him
+ageing perceptibly. She knew worry was the cause of this, and she knew
+the events that were happening in different parts of the world must
+seriously embarrass her father. She longed to speak to him about his
+business, but one attempt she made in this direction had been very rudely
+rebuffed, and she was not a woman to tempt a second repulse of that kind.
+So she kept silent, and saw with grief the havoc business troubles were
+making with her father's health.
+
+'The old man,' said young Longworth, 'seems to be in a corner.'
+
+'I do not want you ever again to allude to my father as "the old
+man"--remember that!' cried the girl indignantly.
+
+Young Longworth shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'I don't think you can insist on my calling him a young man much longer.
+If he isn't an old man, I should like to know who is?'
+
+'That doesn't matter,' said Edith. 'You must not use such a phrase again
+in my hearing. What do you mean by saying he is in a corner?'
+
+'Well,' returned the young man, 'I don't know much about his business. He
+does not take me into his confidence at all. In fact, the older he grows,
+the closer he gets, and the chances are he will make some very bad
+speculation before long, if he has not done so already. That is the way
+with old men, begging your pardon for using the phrase. It is not
+levelled against your father in this instance, but at old men as a class,
+especially men who have been successful. They seem to resent anybody
+giving them advice.'
+
+One day Edith received a telegram, asking her to come to the office in
+the City without delay. She was panic-stricken when she read the message,
+feeling sure her father had been stricken down in his office, and was
+probably dying--perhaps dead. She had feared some such result for a long
+time, because of the intense anxiety to which he had been subjected, and
+he was not a man who could be counselled to take care of himself on the
+plea that he was getting old. He resented any intimation that he was not
+as good a business man as he had ever been, and so it was extremely
+difficult to get him to listen to reason, if anyone had the courage to
+talk reason to him.
+
+Edith, without a moment's delay, sprang lightly into a hansom, and went
+to the District Railway without waiting for her carriage. From the
+Mansion House Station another cab took her quickly to her father's
+office.
+
+She was immensely relieved, as she passed through, to see the clerks
+working as if nothing particular had happened. On entering her father's
+room, she found him pacing up and down the apartment, while her cousin
+sat, apparently absorbed in his own affairs, at his desk. Her father was
+evidently greatly excited.
+
+'Edith,' he cried the moment she entered, 'where is that money I gave you
+two years ago?'
+
+'It is invested,' she answered, turning slightly pale.
+
+Her father laughed--a hoarse, dry laugh.
+
+'Just as I thought,' he sneered--'put in such shape that a person
+cannot touch a penny of it, I suppose. In what is it invested? I must
+have that money.'
+
+'How soon do you need it, father?
+
+'I want it just now, at this moment; if I don't have that money I am a
+ruined man.'
+
+'This moment. I suppose, means any time to-day, before the bank closes?'
+
+Her father looked at her for a moment, then said:
+
+'Yes that is what it means.
+
+'I will try and get you the money before that time.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he said bitterly, 'you don't know what you are talking
+about. If you have that money invested, even if your investment is worth
+three times now what it was then, you could not get a penny on it. Don't
+you know the state of the London money market? Don't you know how close
+money is? I thought perhaps you might have some portion of it yet, not
+sunk in your silly investment, whatever it is. I have never asked you
+what it was. You told me you would tell me, but you never have done so. I
+looked on that money as lost. I look on it still as lost. If you can get
+me a remnant of it, it will help me now more than the whole amount, or
+double the amount, would have done at the time I gave it to you. What
+have you done with the money? What is it invested in?'
+
+'It is invested in a mine.'
+
+'A mine. Of all things in the world in which to sink money, a mine is the
+worst. Just what a woman or a fool would do! How do you expect to raise
+money on a mine in the present state of the market? What, in the name of
+wonder, made you put it into a mine? Whose mine did you buy?'
+
+'I do not know whose it was, father, but I was willing to tell you all I
+knew at the time you asked me and if you ask me now what mine I bought, I
+will tell you.'
+
+'Certainly I ask you. What mine did you buy?'
+
+'I bought the mine for which John Kenyon was agent.'
+
+The moment these words were said, her cousin sprang to his feet and
+glared at her like a man demented.
+
+'You bought that mine--you? Then Wentworth lied to me. He said a Mr.
+Smith had given him the money.'
+
+'I am the Mr. Smith, William.'
+
+'You are the Mr. Smith! You are the one who has cheated me out of that
+mine!'
+
+'My dear cousin, the less we say about cheating, the better. I am talking
+to my father just now, and I do not wish to be interrupted. Will you be
+so kind as to leave the room until my interview with him is over?'
+
+'So you bought the mica-mine, did you! Pretending to be friendly with me,
+and knowing all the time that you were doing your best to cheat----'
+
+'Come, come!' interrupted the old gentleman; 'William, none of this. If
+anyone is to talk roughly to Edith, it will be me, not you. Come, sir,
+leave the room, as she has asked you to do. Now, my daughter,' he
+continued, in a much milder tone of voice, after young Longworth had left
+the office, 'have you any ready money? It is no use saying the mine is
+worth a hundred thousand pounds, or a million, just now, if you haven't
+the ready money. Edith, my child,' he cried, 'sit down with me a moment,
+and I will explain the whole situation to you. It seems to me that ever
+since I stopped consulting you things have gone wrong. Perhaps, even if
+you have the money, it is better not to risk it just now; but one pound
+will do what two pounds will not do a year hence, or perhaps six months
+from now, when this panic is over.'
+
+Edith sat down beside her father and heard from him exactly how things
+stood. Then she said:
+
+'All you really need is about fifteen thousand pounds?'
+
+'Yes, that would do; I'm sure that would carry me over. Can you get it
+for me, my child?'
+
+'Yes, and more. I will try to get you the whole amount. Wait for me here
+twenty minutes or half an hour.'
+
+George Wentworth was very much surprised when he saw Edith Longworth
+enter his office. It had been many months since she was there before, and
+he cordially held out his hand to the girl.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' she began at once, 'have you any of the money the mica
+mine has brought you?'
+
+'Yes. I invested the first year's proceeds, but, since I got the last
+amount, things have been so shaky in the City that it is still at the
+bank.'
+
+'Will you lend me--_can_ you lend me five thousand pounds of it?'
+
+'Of, course I can, and will; and very glad I am to get the chance of
+doing so.'
+
+'Then, please write me out a cheque for it at once, and whatever papers
+you want as security, make them out, and I will see that you are
+secured.'
+
+'Look here, Miss Longworth,' said the young man, placing his hands on his
+hips and gazing at her, 'do you mean to insult me? Do you not know that
+the reason I am able to write out a cheque for five thousand pounds, that
+will be honoured, is entirely because you trusted your money to me and
+Kenyon without security? Do you think I want security? Take back the
+word, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'I will--I will,' she said; 'but I am in a great hurry. Please write me
+out the cheque, for I must have it before the bank closes.'
+
+The cheque was promptly written out and handed to her.
+
+'I am afraid,' she said, 'I am not very polite to-day, and rather abrupt;
+but I will make up for it some other time.'
+
+And so, bidding the young man good-bye, she drove to the bank, deposited
+the cheque, drew her own for thirty thousand pounds, and carried it to
+her father.
+
+'There,' she said, 'is thirty thousand pounds, and I still own the mine,
+or, at least, part of it. All the money is made from the cheque you gave
+me, or, rather, two-thirds of it, because one-third was never touched.
+Now, it seems to me, father, that, if I am a good enough business woman
+to more than double my money in two years, I am a good enough business
+woman to be consulted by my father whenever he needs a confidant. My dear
+father, I want to take some of the burden off your shoulders.'
+
+There were tears in her father's eyes as he put his arm round her waist
+and whispered to her:
+
+'There is no one in all London like you, my dear--no one, no one. I'll
+have no more secrets from you, my own brave girl.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+
+Kenyon's luck, as he said to himself, had turned. The second year was
+even more prosperous than the first, and the third as successful as the
+second. He had a steady market for his mineral, and, besides, he had the
+great advantage of knowing the rogues to avoid. Some new swindles he had
+encountered during his first year's experience had taught him lessons
+that he profited by in the second and third. He liked his home in the
+wilderness, and he liked the rough people amongst whom he found himself.
+
+Notwithstanding his renunciation of London, however, there would now and
+then come upon him a yearning for the big city, and he promised himself a
+trip there at the end of the third year. Wentworth had been threatening
+month after month to come out and see him, but something had always
+interfered.
+
+Taking it all in all, John liked it better in the winter than in the
+summer, in spite of the extreme cold. The cold was steady and could be
+depended upon; moreover, it was healthful and invigorating. In summer,
+John never quite became accustomed to the ravages of the black fly, the
+mosquito, and other insect pests of that region. His first interview with
+the black fly left his face in such a condition that he was glad he lived
+in a wilderness.
+
+At the beginning of the second winter John treated himself to a luxury.
+He bought a natty little French Canadian horse that was very quick and
+accustomed to the ice of the river, which formed the highway by which he
+reached Burntpine from the mine in the cold season. To supplement the
+horse, he also got a comfortable little cutter, and with this turn-out
+he made his frequent journeys between the mine and Burntpine with comfort
+and speed, wrapped snugly in buffalo robes.
+
+If London often reverted to his mind, there was another subject that
+obtruded itself even more frequently. His increased prosperity had
+something to do with this. He saw that, if he was to have a third of the
+receipts of the mine, he was not to remain a poor man for very long, and
+this fact gave him a certain courage which had been lacking before. He
+wondered if she remembered him. Wentworth had said very little about her
+when he wrote, for his letters were largely devoted to enthusiastic
+eulogies of Jennie Brewster, and Kenyon, in spite of the confession he
+had made when his case seemed hopeless, was loath to write and ask his
+friend anything about Edith.
+
+One day, on a clear sharp frosty winter morning, Kenyon had his little
+pony harnessed for his weekly journey to Burntpine. After the rougher
+part of the road between the mine and the river had been left behind, and
+the pony got down to her work on the ice, with the two white banks of
+snow on either side of the smooth track, John gave himself up to thinking
+about the subject which now so often engrossed his mind. Wrapped closely
+in his furs, with the cutter skimming along the ice, these thoughts found
+a pleasant accompaniment in the silvery tinkle of the bells which jingled
+around his horse's neck. As a general thing, he met no one on the icy
+road from the mine to the village. Sometimes there was a procession of
+sleighs bearing supplies for his own mine and those beyond, and when this
+procession was seen, Kenyon had to look out for some place by the side of
+the track where he could pull up his horse and cutter and allow the
+teams to pass. The snow on each side of the cutting was so deep that
+these bays were shovelled out here and there to permit teams to get past
+each other. He had gone halfway to the village, when he saw ahead of him
+a pair of horses which he at once recognised as those belonging to the
+hotel-keeper. He drew up in the first bay and awaited the approach of the
+sleigh. He saw that it contained visitors for himself, because the
+driver, on recognising him, had turned round and spoken to the occupants
+of the vehicle. As it came along, the man drew up and nodded to Kenyon,
+who, although ordinarily the most polite of men, did not return the
+salutation. He was stricken dumb with astonishment on seeing who was in
+the sleigh. One woman was so bundled up that not even her nose appeared
+out in the cold, but the smiling rosy face of the other needed no
+introduction to John Kenyon.
+
+'Well, Mr. Kenyon,' cried a laughing voice, 'you did not expect to see me
+this morning, did you?'
+
+'I confess I did not,' said John, 'and yet--.' Here he paused; he was
+going to say, 'and yet I was thinking of you,' but he checked himself.
+
+Miss Longworth, who had a talent for reading the unspoken thoughts of
+John Kenyon, probably did not need to be told the end of the sentence.
+
+'Are you going to the village?' she asked.
+
+'I _was_ going. I am not going now.'
+
+'That's right. I was just about to invite you to turn round with us. You
+see, we are on our way to look at the mine, and, I suppose, we shall have
+to obtain the consent of the manager before we can do so.'
+
+Miss Longworth's companion had emerged for a moment from her wraps and
+looked at John, but instantly retired among the furs again with a
+shiver. She was not so young as her companion, and she considered this
+the most frightful climate she had ever encountered.
+
+'Now,' said John, 'although your sleigh is very comfortable, I think this
+cutter of mine is even more so. It is intended for two; won't you step
+out of the sleigh into the cutter? Then, if the driver will move on, I
+can turn, and we will follow the sleigh.'
+
+'I shall be delighted to do so,' said the young woman, shaking herself
+free from the buffalo robe, and stepping lightly from the sleigh into the
+cutter, pausing, however, for a moment, before she did so, to put her own
+wraps over her companion. John tucked her in beside himself, and, as the
+sleigh jingled on, he slowly turned his pony round into the road again.
+
+'I have got a pretty fast pony,' he said, 'but I think we will let
+them drive on ahead. It irritates this little horse to see anything in
+front of it.'
+
+'Then we can make up speed,' said Edith, 'and catch them before they get
+to the mine. Is it far from here?'
+
+'No, not very far; at least, it doesn't take long to get there with a
+smart horse.'
+
+'I have enjoyed this experience ever so much,' she said; 'you see, my
+father had to come to Montreal on business, so I came with him, as usual,
+and, being there, I thought I would run up here and see the mine. I
+wanted,' she continued, looking at the other side of the cutter and
+trailing her well-gloved fingers in the snow--'I wanted to know
+personally whether my manager was conducting my property in the way it
+ought to be conducted, notwithstanding the very satisfactory
+balance-sheets he sends.'
+
+'_Your_ property!' exclaimed John, in amazement.
+
+'Certainly. You didn't know that, did you?' she replied, looking for a
+moment at him, and then away from him. 'I call myself the Mistress of
+the Mine.'
+
+'Then you are--you are----'
+
+'Mr. Smith,' said the girl coming to his rescue.
+
+There was a moment's pause, and the next words John said were not at all
+what she expected.
+
+'Take your hand out of the snow,' he commanded, 'and put it in under the
+buffalo robe; you have no idea how cold it is here, and your hand will be
+frozen in a moment.'
+
+'Really,' said the girl, 'an employee must not talk to his employer in
+that tone! My hand is my own, is it not?'
+
+'I hope it is,' said John, 'because I want to ask you for it.'
+
+For answer Miss Edith Longworth placed her hand in his.
+
+Actions speak louder than words. The sleigh was far in advance, and there
+were no witnesses on the white topped hills.
+
+'Were you astonished?' she said, 'when I told you that I owned the mine?'
+
+'Very much so indeed. Were _you_ astonished when I told you I wished to
+own the owner of the mine?'
+
+'Not in the slightest.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Because your treacherous friend Wentworth sent me your letter applying
+for a situation. You got the situation, didn't you, John?'
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
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+<title>
+The Project Gutenberg E-text of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
+</title>
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Woman Intervenes
+
+Author: Robert Barr
+
+Posting Date: March 22, 2014 [EBook #9379]
+Release Date: November, 2005
+First Posted: September 27, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN INTERVENES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG
+Distributed Proofreaders. This file was produced from
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+for Historical Microreproductions. HTML version by Al
+Haines.
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+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<h1>
+<br /><br /><br />
+                           A WOMAN INTERVENES<br />
+</h1>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+                                   BY<br />
+</p>
+
+<p class="t2">
+                               ROBERT BARR<br />
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="t4">
+AUTHOR OF
+<br />
+'IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS,' 'IN A STEAMER CHAIR,' 'FROM WHOSE BOURNE,'<br />
+ETC.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAL HURST
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+1896
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+TO
+<br />
+MY FRIEND
+<br />
+HORACE HART
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="t3b">
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'I HAD NO INTENTION OF INSULTING YOU' <i>Frontispiece</i>
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+WENTWORTH SHOWED HER HOW TO TURN IT ROUND
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+MISS JENNIE ALLOWED HIM TO ADJUST THE WRAPS AROUND HER
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'OH, YES! YOU WILL STAY,' CRIED THE OTHER
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+SHE WALKED ALONE UP AND DOWN THE PROMENADE
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+SHE SPRANG SUDDENLY TO HER FEET
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'YOU HAVE A PRODIGIOUS HEAD FOR BUSINESS'
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+EDITH LONGWORTH HAD SAT DOWN BESIDE HIM
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap01"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER I.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The managing editor of the <i>New York Argus</i> sat at his desk with a deep
+frown on his face, looking out from under his shaggy eyebrows at the
+young man who had just thrown a huge fur overcoat on the back of one
+chair, while he sat down himself on another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I got your telegram,' began the editor. 'Am I to understand from it that
+you have failed?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir,' answered the young man, without the slightest hesitation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Completely?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Utterly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Didn't you even get a synopsis of the documents?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not a hanged synop.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The editor's frown grew deeper. The ends of his fingers drummed nervously
+on the desk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You take failure rather jauntily, it strikes me,' he said at last.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What's the use of taking it any other way? I have the consciousness of
+knowing that I did my best.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Um, yes. It's a great consolation, no doubt, but it doesn't count in
+the newspaper business. What did you do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I received your telegram at Montreal, and at once left for Burnt
+Pine&mdash;most outlandish spot on earth. I found that Kenyon and
+Wentworth were staying at the only hotel in the place. Tried to worm
+out of them what their reports were to be. They were very polite, but
+I didn't succeed. Then I tried to bribe them, and they ordered me out
+of the room.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps you didn't offer them enough.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I offered double what the London Syndicate was to pay them for making
+the report, taking their own word for the amount. I couldn't offer more,
+because at that point they closed the discussion by ordering me out of
+the room. I tried to get the papers that night, on the quiet, out of
+Wentworth's valise, but was unfortunately interrupted. The young men
+were suspicious, and next morning they left for Ottawa to post the
+reports, as I gathered afterwards, to England. I succeeded in getting
+hold of the reports, but I couldn't hang on. There are too many police
+in Ottawa to suit me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to tell me,' said the editor, 'that you actually had the
+reports in your hands, and that they were taken from you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly I had; and as to their being taken from me, it was either that
+or gaol. They don't mince matters in Canada as they do in the United
+States, you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But I should think a man of your shrewdness would have been able to get
+at least a synopsis of the reports before letting them out of his
+possession.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' said the reporter, rather angry, 'the whole thing covered
+I forget how many pages of foolscap paper, and was the most mixed-up
+matter I ever saw in my life. I tried&mdash;I sat in my room at the hotel, and
+did my best to master the details. It was full of technicalities, and I
+couldn't make it out. It required a mining expert to get the hang of
+their phrases and figures, so I thought the best thing to do was to
+telegraph it all straight through to New York. I knew it would cost a lot
+of money, but I knew, also, you didn't mind that; and I thought, perhaps,
+somebody here could make sense out of what baffled me; besides, I wanted
+to get the documents out of my possession just as quickly as possible.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Hem!' said the editor. 'You took no notes whatever?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I did not. I had no time. I knew the moment they missed the
+documents they would have the detectives on my track. As it was, I was
+arrested when I entered the telegraph-office.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it seems to me,' said the managing editor, 'if I had once had the
+papers in my hand, I should not have let them go until I had got the gist
+of what was in them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it's all very well for you to say so,' replied the reporter, with
+the free and easy manner in which an American newspaper man talks to his
+employer; 'but I can tell you, with a Canadian gaol facing a man, it is
+hard to decide what is best to do. I couldn't get out of the town for
+three hours, and before the end of that time they would have had my
+description in the hands of every policeman in the place. They knew well
+enough who took the papers, so my only hope lay in getting the thing
+telegraphed through; and if that had been accomplished, everything would
+have been all right. I would have gone to gaol with pleasure if I had
+got the particulars through to New York.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, what are we to do now?' asked the editor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I don't know. The two men will be in New York very shortly.
+They sail, I understand, on the <i>Caloric</i>, which leaves in a week. If you
+think you have a reporter who can get the particulars out of these men, I
+should be very pleased to see you set him on. I tell you it isn't so easy
+to discover what an Englishman doesn't want you to know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' said the editor, 'perhaps that's true. I will think about it. Of
+course you did your best, and I appreciate your efforts; but I am sorry
+you failed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are not half so sorry as I am,' said Rivers, as he picked up his big
+Canadian fur coat and took his leave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The editor did think about it. He thought for fully two minutes. Then he
+dashed off a note on a sheet of paper, pulled down the little knob that
+rang the District Messenger alarm, and when the uniformed boy appeared,
+gave him the note, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Deliver this as quickly as you can.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy disappeared, and the result of his trip was soon apparent in the
+arrival of a very natty young woman in the editorial rooms. She was
+dressed in a neatly-fitting tailor-made costume, and was a very pretty
+girl, who looked about nineteen, but was, in reality, somewhat older. She
+had large, appealing blue eyes, with a tender, trustful expression in
+them, which made the ordinary man say: 'What a sweet, innocent look that
+girl has!' yet, what the young woman didn't know about New York was not
+worth knowing. She boasted that she could get State secrets from
+dignified members of the Cabinet, and an ordinary Senator or Congressman
+she looked upon as her lawful prey. That which had been told her in the
+strictest confidence had often become the sensation of the next day in
+the paper she represented. She wrote over a <i>nom de guerre</i>, and had
+tried her hand at nearly everything. She had answered advertisements,
+exposed rogues and swindlers, and had gone to a hotel as chambermaid, in
+order to write her experiences. She had been arrested and locked up, so
+that she might write a three-column account, for the Sunday edition of
+the <i>Argus</i>, of 'How Women are Treated at Police Headquarters.' The
+editor looked upon her as one of the most valuable members of his staff,
+and she was paid accordingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She came into the room with the self-possessed air of the owner of the
+building, took a seat, after nodding to the editor, and said, 'Well?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Look here, Jennie,' began that austere individual, 'do you wish to take
+a trip to Europe?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That depends,' said Jennie; 'this is not just the time of year that
+people go to Europe for pleasure, you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, this is not exactly a pleasure trip. The truth of the matter is,
+Rivers has been on a job and has bungled it fearfully, besides nearly
+getting himself arrested.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young woman's eyes twinkled. She liked anything with a spice of
+danger in it, and did not object to hear that she was expected to succeed
+where a mere masculine reporter had failed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The editor continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Two young men are going across to England on the <i>Caloric</i>. It sails in
+a week. I want you to take a ticket for Liverpool by that boat, and
+obtain from either of those two men the particulars&mdash;the <i>full</i>
+particulars&mdash;of reports they have made on some mining properties in
+Canada. Then you must land at Queenstown and cable a complete account to
+the <i>Argus</i>.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mining isn't much in my line,' said Miss Jennie, with a frown on her
+pretty brow. 'What sort of mines were they dealing with&mdash;gold, silver,
+copper, or what?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'They are certain mines on the Ottawa River.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's rather indefinite.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know it is. I can't give you much information about the matter. I
+don't know myself, to tell the truth, but I know it is vitally important
+that we should get a synopsis of what the reports of these young men are
+to be. A company, called the London Syndicate, has been formed in
+England. This syndicate is to acquire a large number of mines in Canada,
+if the accounts given by the present owners are anything like correct.
+Two men, Kenyon and Wentworth&mdash;the first a mining engineer, and the
+second an experienced accountant&mdash;have been sent from London to Canada,
+one to examine the mines, the other to examine the books of the various
+corporations. Whether the mines are bought or not will depend a good deal
+on the reports these two men have in their possession. The reports, when
+published, will make a big difference, one way or the other, on the Stock
+Exchange. I want to have the gist of them before the London Syndicate
+sees them. It will be a big thing for the <i>Argus</i> if it is the first in
+the field, and I am willing to spend a pile of hard cash to succeed. So,
+don't economize on your cable expenses.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; have you a book on Canadian mines?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know that we have; but there is a book here, "The Mining
+Resources of Canada;" will that be of any use?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall need something of that sort. I want to be a little familiar with
+the subject, you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Quite so,' said the editor; 'I will see what can be got in that line.
+You can read it before you start, and on the way over.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All right,' said Miss Jennie; 'and am I to take my pick of the two
+young men?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly,' answered the editor. 'You will see them both, and can easily
+make up your mind which will the sooner fall a victim.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The <i>Caloric</i> sails in a week, does it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then I shall need at least five hundred dollars to get new dresses
+with.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good gracious!' cried the editor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is no "good gracious" about it. I'm going to travel as a
+millionaire's daughter, and it isn't likely that one or two dresses will
+do me all the way over.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But you can't get new dresses made in a week,' said the editor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Can't I? Well, you just get me the five hundred dollars, and I'll see
+about the making.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The editor jotted the amount down.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't think four hundred dollars would do?' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I don't. And, say, am I to get a trip to Paris after this is over,
+or must I come directly back?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I guess we can throw in the trip to Paris,' said the editor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What did you say the names of the young men are?&mdash;or are they not
+young? Probably they are old fogies, if they are in the mining business.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; they are young, they are shrewd, and they are English. So you see
+your work is cut out for you. Their names are George Wentworth and
+John Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, Wentworth is my man,' said the young woman breezily. 'John Kenyon! I
+know just what sort of a person he is&mdash;sombre and taciturn. Sounds too
+much like John Bunyan, or John Milton, or names of that sort.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I wouldn't be too sure about it until you see them. Better not
+make up your mind about the matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'When shall I call for the five hundred dollars?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that you needn't trouble about. The better way is to get your
+dresses made, and tell the people to send the bills to our office.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' said the young woman. 'I shall be ready. Don't be frightened
+at the bills when they come in. If they come up to a thousand dollars,
+remember I told you I would let you off for five hundred dollars.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The editor looked at her for a moment, and seemed to reflect that
+perhaps it was better not to give a young lady unlimited credit in New
+York. So he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wait a bit; I'll write you out the order, and you can take it
+downstairs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Jennie took the paper when it was offered to her, and disappeared.
+When she presented the order in the business office, the cashier raised
+his eyebrows as he noticed the amount, and, with a low whistle, said to
+himself:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Five hundred dollars! I wonder what game Jennie Brewster's up to now.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap02"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER II.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The last bell had rung. Those who were going ashore had taken their
+departure. Crowds of human beings clustered on the pier-head, and at the
+large doorways of the warehouse which stood open on the steamer wharf. As
+the big ship slowly backed out there was a fluttering of handkerchiefs
+from the mass on the pier, and an answering flutter from those who
+crowded along the bulwarks of the steamer. The tug slowly pulled the prow
+of the vessel round, and at last the engines of the steamship began their
+pulsating throbs&mdash;throbs that would vibrate night and day until the
+steamer reached an older civilization. The crowd on the pier became more
+and more indistinct to those on board, and many of the passengers went
+below, for the air was bitterly cold, and the boat was forcing its way
+down the bay among huge blocks of ice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Two, at least, of the passengers had taken little interest in the
+departure. They were leaving no friends behind them, and were both
+setting their faces toward friends at home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Let us go down,' said Wentworth to Kenyon, 'and see that we get seats
+together at table before all are taken.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good,' replied his companion, and they descended to the roomy
+saloon, where two long tables were already laid with an ostentatious
+display of silver, glassware, and cutlery, which made many, who looked on
+this wilderness of white linen with something like dismay, hope that the
+voyage would be smooth, although, as it was a winter passage, there was
+every chance it would not be. The purser and two of his assistants sat
+at one of the shorter tables with a plan before them, marking off the
+names of passengers who wished to be together, or who wanted some
+particular place at any of the tables. The smaller side-tables were still
+uncovered because the number of passengers at that season of the year was
+comparatively few. As the places were assigned, one of the helpers to the
+purser wrote the names of the passengers on small cards, and the other
+put the cards on the tables.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One young woman, in a beautifully-fitting travelling gown, which was
+evidently of the newest cut and design, stood a little apart from the
+general group which surrounded the purser and his assistants. She eagerly
+scanned every face, and listened attentively to the names given.
+Sometimes a shade of disappointment crossed her brow, as if she expected
+some particular person to possess some particular name which that
+particular person did not bear. At last her eyes sparkled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My name is Wentworth,' said the young man whose turn it was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah! any favourite place, Mr. Wentworth?' asked the purser blandly, as if
+he had known Wentworth all his life.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, we don't care where we sit; but my friend Mr. Kenyon and myself
+would like places together.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good; you had better come to my table,' replied the purser.
+'Numbers 23 and 24&mdash;Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The steward took the cards that were given him, and placed them to
+correspond with the numbers the purser had named. Then the young woman
+moved gracefully along, as if she were interested in the names upon the
+table. She looked at Wentworth's name for a moment, and saw in the place
+next to his the name of Mr. Brown. She gave a quick, apprehensive glance
+around the saloon, and observed the two young men who had arranged for
+their seats at table now walking leisurely toward the companion-way. She
+took the card with the name of Mr. Brown upon it, and slipped upon the
+table another on which were written the words 'Miss Jennie Brewster.' Mr.
+Brown's card she placed on the spot from which she had taken her own.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hope Mr. Brown is not particular which place he occupies,' said Jennie
+to herself; 'but at any rate I shall see that I am early for dinner, and
+I'm sure Mr. Brown, whoever he is, will not be so ungallant as to insist
+on having this place if he knows his card was here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Subsequent events proved her surmise regarding Mr. Brown's indifference
+to be perfectly well founded. That young man searched for his card, found
+it, and sat down on the chair opposite the young woman, who already
+occupied her chair, and was, in fact, the first one at table. Seeing
+there would be no unseemly dispute about places, she began to plan in her
+own mind how she would first attract the attention of Mr. Wentworth.
+While thinking how best to approach her victim, Jennie heard his voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Here you are, Kenyon; here are our places.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Which is mine?' said the voice of Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It doesn't matter,' answered Wentworth, and then a thrill of fear went
+through the gentle heart of Miss Jennie Brewster. She had not thought of
+the young man not caring which seat he occupied, and she dreaded the
+possibility of finding herself next to Kenyon rather than Wentworth. Her
+first estimate of the characters of the two men seemed to be correct. She
+always thought of Kenyon as Bunyan, and she felt certain that Wentworth
+would be the easier man of the two to influence. The next moment her
+fears were allayed, for Kenyon, giving a rapid glance at the handsome
+young woman, deliberately chose the seat farthest from her, and
+Wentworth, with 'I beg your pardon,' slipped in and sat down on the chair
+beside her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' thought Jennie, with a sigh of relief, 'our positions are fixed
+for the meals of the voyage.' She had made her plans for beginning an
+acquaintance with the young man, but they were rendered unnecessary by
+the polite Mr. Wentworth handing her the bill of fare.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, thank you,' said the girl, in a low voice, which was so musical that
+Wentworth glanced at her a second time and saw how sweet and pretty and
+innocent she was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm in luck,' said the unfortunate young man to himself. Then he
+remarked aloud: 'We have not many ladies with us this voyage.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' replied Miss Brewster; 'I suppose nobody crosses at this time of
+the year unless compelled to.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I can answer for two passengers that such is the case.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean yourself as one?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, myself and my friend.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How pleasant it must be,' said Miss Brewster, 'to travel with a friend!
+Then one is not lonely. I, unfortunately, am travelling alone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I fancy,' said the gallant Wentworth, 'that if you are lonely while on
+board ship, it will be entirely your own fault.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster laughed a silvery little laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know about that,' she said. 'I am going to that Mecca of all
+Americans&mdash;Paris. My father is to meet me there, and we are then going on
+to the Riviera together.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that will be very pleasant,' said Wentworth. 'The Riviera at this
+season is certainly a place to be desired.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So I have heard,' she replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you not been across before?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, this is my first trip. I suppose you have crossed many times?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no,' answered the Englishman; 'this is only my second voyage, my
+first having been the one that took me to America.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, then you are not an American,' returned Miss Brewster, with
+apparent surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She imagined that a man is generally flattered when a mistake of this
+kind is made. No matter how proud he may be of his country, he is pleased
+to learn that there is no provincialism about him which, as the Americans
+say, 'gives him away.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'as a general thing, I am not taken for
+anything but what I am&mdash;an Englishman.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have met so few Englishmen,' said the guileless young woman, 'that
+really I should not be expected to know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I understand it is a common delusion among Americans that every
+Englishman drops his "h's," and is to be detected in that way.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie laughed again, and George Wentworth thought it one of the
+prettiest laughs he had ever heard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Kenyon was rather neglected by his friend during the dinner. He felt
+a little gloomy while the courses went on, and wished he had an evening
+paper. Meanwhile, Wentworth and the handsome girl beside him got on very
+well together. At the end of the dinner she seemed to have some
+difficulty in getting up from her chair, and Wentworth showed her how to
+turn it round, leaving her free to rise. She thanked him prettily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am going on deck,' she said, turning to go; 'I am so anxious to get my
+first glimpse of the ocean at night from the deck of a steamer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hope you will let me accompany you,' returned young Wentworth. 'The
+decks are rather slippery, and even when the boat is not rolling it
+isn't quite safe for a lady unused to the motion of a ship to walk alone
+in the dark.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, thank you very much,' replied Miss Brewster, with effusion. 'It
+is kind of you, I am sure; and if you promise not to let me rob you
+of the pleasure of your after-dinner cigar, I shall be most happy to
+have you accompany me. I will meet you at the top of the stairway in
+five minutes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are getting on,' said Kenyon, as the young woman disappeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What's the use of being on board ship,' said Wentworth, 'If you don't
+take advantage of the opportunity for making shipboard acquaintances?
+There is an unconventionality about life on a steamer that is not without
+its charm, as perhaps you will find out before the voyage is over, John.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are merely trying to ease your conscience because of your heartless
+desertion of me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth had waited at the top of the companion-way a little more
+than five minutes when Miss Brewster appeared, wrapped in a cloak edged
+with fur, which lent an additional charm to her complexion, set off as it
+was by a jaunty steamer cap. They stepped out on the deck, and found it
+not at all so dark as they had expected. Little globes of electric light
+were placed at regular intervals on the walls of the deck building.
+Overhead was stretched a sort of canvas roof, against which the sleety
+rain pattered. One of the sailors, with a rubber mop, was pushing into
+the gutter by the side of the ship the moisture from the deck. All around
+the boat the night was as black as ink, except here and there where the
+white curl of a wave showed luminous for a moment in the darkness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster insisted that Wentworth should light his cigar, which,
+after some persuasion, he did. Then he tucked her hand snugly under his
+arm, and she adjusted her step to suit his. They had the promenade all to
+themselves. The rainy winter night was not so inviting to most of the
+passengers as the comfortable rooms below. Kenyon, however, and one or
+two others came up, and sat on the steamer chairs that were tied to the
+brass rod which ran along the deckhouse wall. He saw the glow of
+Wentworth's cigar as the couple turned at the farther end of the walk,
+and when they passed him he heard a low murmur of conversation, and
+caught now and then a snatch of silvery laughter. It was not because
+Wentworth had deserted him that Kenyon felt so uncomfortable and
+depressed. He could not tell just what it was, but there had settled on
+his mind a strange, uneasy foreboding. After a time he went down into the
+saloon and tried to read, but could not, and so wandered along the
+seemingly endless narrow passage to his room (which was Wentworth's as
+well), and, in nautical phrase, 'turned in.' It was late when his
+companion came.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Asleep, Kenyon?' asked the latter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' was the answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By George! John, she is one of the most charming girls I ever met.
+Wonderfully clever, too; makes a man feel like a fool beside her. She has
+read nearly everything. Has opinions on all our authors, a great many of
+whom I've never heard of. I wish, for your sake, John, she had a sister
+on board.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thanks, old man; awfully good of you, I'm sure,' said Kenyon. 'Don't
+you think it's about time to stop raving, get into your bunk, and turn
+out that confounded light?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All right, growler, I will.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, in her own state-room, Miss Jennie Brewster was looking at her
+reflection in the glass. As she shook out her long hair until it rippled
+down her back, she smiled sweetly, and said to herself:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Poor Mr. Wentworth! Only the first night out, and he told me his name
+was George.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap03"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER III.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The second day out was a pleasant surprise for all on board who had made
+up their minds to a disagreeable winter passage. The air was clear, the
+sky blue as if it were spring-time, instead of midwinter. They were in
+the Gulf Stream. The sun shone brightly and the temperature was mild.
+Nevertheless, it was an uncomfortable day for those who were poor
+sailors. Although there did not seem, to the casual observer, to be much
+of a sea running, the ship rolled atrociously. Those who had made heroic
+resolutions on the subject were sitting in silent misery in their
+deck-chairs, which had been lashed to firm stanchions. Few were walking
+the clean bright deck, because walking that morning was a gymnastic feat.
+Three or four who evidently wished to show they had crossed before, and
+knew all about it, managed to make their way along the deck. Those
+recumbent in the steamer-chairs watched with lazy interest the
+pedestrians who now and then stood still, leaning apparently far out of
+the perpendicular, as the deck inclined downward. Sometimes the
+pedestrian's feet slipped, and he shot swiftly down the incline. Such an
+incident was invariably welcomed by those who sat. Even the invalids
+smiled wanly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon reclined in his deck-chair with his eyes fixed on the blue sky.
+His mind was at rest about the syndicate report now that it had been
+mailed to London. His thoughts wandered to his own affairs, and he
+wondered whether he would make money out of the option he had acquired at
+Ottawa. He was not an optimistic man, and he doubted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After their work for the London Syndicate was finished, the young men had
+done a little business on their own account. They visited together a
+mica-mine that was barely paying expenses, and which the proprietors were
+anxious to sell. The mine was owned by the Austrian Mining Company,
+whose agent, Von Brent, was interviewed by Kenyon in Ottawa. The young
+men obtained an option on this mine for three months from Von Brent.
+Kenyon's educated eye had told him that the white mineral they were
+placing on the dump at the mouth of the mine was even more valuable than
+the mica for which they were mining.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon was scrupulously honest&mdash;a quality somewhat at a discount in the
+mining business&mdash;and it seemed to him hardly the fair thing that he
+should take advantage of the ignorance of Von Brent regarding the mineral
+on the dump. Wentworth had some trouble in overcoming his friend's
+scruples. He claimed that knowledge always had to be paid for, in law,
+medicine, or mineralogy, and therefore that they were perfectly justified
+in profiting by their superior wisdom. So it came about that the young
+men took to England with them a three months' option on the mine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth had been walking about all morning like a lost spirit
+apparently seeking what was not. 'It can't be,' he said to himself. No;
+the thought was too horrible, and he dismissed it from his mind, merely
+conjecturing that perhaps she was not an early riser, which was indeed
+the case. No one who works on a morning newspaper ever takes advantage of
+the lark's example.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, Kenyon,' said Wentworth 'you look as if you were writing a poem,
+or doing something that required deep mental agony.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The writing of poems, my dear Wentworth, I leave to you. I am doing
+something infinitely more practical&mdash;something that you ought to be at.
+I am thinking what we are to do with our mica-mine when we get it over
+to London.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,"' cried Wentworth
+jauntily; 'besides, half an hour's thinking by a solid-brained fellow
+like you is worth a whole voyage of my deepest meditation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She hasn't appeared yet?' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, dear boy; no, she has <i>not</i>. You see, I make no pretence with you as
+other less ingenuous men might. No, she has <i>not</i> appeared, and she has
+not breakfasted.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps&mdash;&mdash;' began Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no!' cried Wentworth; 'I'll have no "perhaps." I thought of that, but
+I instantly dismissed the idea. She's too good a sailor.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It requires a very good sailor to stand this sort of thing. It looks so
+unnecessary, too. I wonder what the ship is rolling about?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I can't tell, but she seems to be rolling about half over. I say,
+Kenyon, old fellow, I feel horrible pangs of conscience about
+deserting you in this way, and so early in the voyage. I didn't do it
+last time, did I?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You were a model travelling companion on the last voyage,' returned
+Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't wish to make impertinent suggestions, my boy, but allow me to
+tell you that there are some other very nice girls on board.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are not so bad as I feared, then,' replied Kenyon, 'or you wouldn't
+admit that. I thought you had eyes for no one but Miss&mdash;Miss&mdash;I really
+didn't catch her name.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't mind telling you confidentially, Kenyon, that her name is
+Jennie.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me!' cried Kenyon, 'has it got so far as that? Doesn't it strike
+you, Wentworth, that you are somewhat in a hurry? It seems decidedly
+more American than English. Englishmen are apt to weigh matters a
+little more.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is no necessity for weighing, my boy. I don't see any harm in
+making the acquaintance of a pretty girl when you have a long voyage
+before you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I wouldn't let it grow too serious, if I were you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There isn't the slightest danger of seriousness about the affair. On
+shore the young lady wouldn't cast a second look at me. She is the
+daughter of a millionaire. Her father is in Paris, and they are going on
+to the Riviera in a few weeks.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All the more reason,' said Kenyon, 'that you shouldn't let this go too
+far. Be on your guard, my boy. I've heard it said that American girls
+have the delightful little practice of leading a man on until it comes to
+a certain point, and then arching their pretty eyebrows, looking
+astonished, and forgetting all about him afterwards. You had better wait
+until we make our fortunes on this mica-mine, and then, perhaps, your
+fair millionairess may listen to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'John,' cried Wentworth, 'you are the most cold-blooded man I know of. I
+never noticed it so particularly before, but it seems to me that years
+and years of acquaintance with minerals of all kinds, hard and flinty,
+transform a man. Be careful that you don't become like the minerals you
+work among.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I don't know anything that has less tendency to soften a man than
+long columns of figures. I think the figures you work at are quite as
+demoralizing as the minerals I have spent my life with.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps you are right, but a girl would have to be thrown into your
+arms before you would admit that such a thing as a charming young lady
+existed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If I make all the money I hope to make out of the mica-mine, I expect
+the young ladies will not be thrown into my arms, but at my head. Money
+goes a long way toward reconciling a girl to marriage.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It certainly goes a long way toward reconciling her mother to the
+marriage. I don't believe,' said Wentworth slowly, 'that my&mdash;that Miss
+Brewster ever thinks about money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She probably doesn't need to, but no doubt there is someone who does the
+thinking for her. If her father is a millionaire, and has, like many
+Americans, made his own money, you may depend upon it he will do the
+thinking for her; and if Miss Brewster should prove to be thoughtless in
+the matter, the old gentleman will very speedily bring you both to your
+senses. It would be different if you had a title.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I haven't any,' replied Wentworth, 'except the title George Wentworth,
+accountant, with an address in the City and rooms in the suburbs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Precisely; if you were Lord George Wentworth, or even Sir George, or
+Baron Wentworth of something or other, you might have a chance; as it is,
+the title of accountant would not go far with an American millionaire, or
+his daughter either.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are a cold, calculating wretch.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing of the sort. I merely have my senses about me, and you haven't
+at this particular moment. You wouldn't think of trusting a book-keeper's
+figures without seeing his vouchers. Well, my boy, you haven't the
+vouchers&mdash;at least, not yet, so that is why I ask you to give your
+attention to what we are going to do with our mine; and if you take my
+advice you will not think seriously about American millionaires or their
+daughters.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth jumped to his feet, the ship gave a lurch at that
+particular moment, and he no sooner found his feet than he nearly lost
+them again; however, he was an expert at balancing himself as well as his
+accounts, and though for the moment his attention was occupied in keeping
+his equilibrium, he looked down on his companion, still placidly
+reclining in his chair, with a smile on his face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Kenyon,' he said, 'I am going to look for another girl.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is one not enough for you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I want two&mdash;one for myself, and one for you. No man can sympathize
+with another unless he is in the same position himself. John, I want
+sympathy, and I'm not getting it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What you need more urgently,' said Kenyon calmly, 'is common-sense, and
+that I am trying to supply.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are doing your duty in that direction; but a man doesn't live by
+common-sense alone. There comes a time when common-sense is a drug in
+the market. I don't say it has come to me yet, but I'm resolved to get
+you into a more sympathetic mood, so I am going to find a suitable young
+lady for you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'More probably you are going to look for your own,' answered Kenyon, as
+his friend walked off, and, disappearing round the corner, crossed to
+the other side of the ship.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon did not turn again to his figures when his companion left him. He
+mused over the curiously rapid turn of circumstances. He hoped Wentworth
+would not take it too seriously, for he felt that, somehow or other, Miss
+Brewster was just the sort of girl to throw him over after she had whiled
+away a tedious voyage. Of course he could not say this to his friend, who
+evidently admired Miss Brewster, but he had said as much as he could to
+put Wentworth on his guard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' said Kenyon to himself, 'if she had been a girl like <i>that</i>, I
+wouldn't have minded.' The girl 'like <i>that</i>' was a young woman who for
+half an hour had been walking the deck alone with marvellous skill. She
+was not so handsome as the American girl, but she had a better
+complexion, and there was a colour in her cheek which seemed to suggest
+England. Her dress was not quite so smart nor so well-fitting as that of
+the American girl; but, nevertheless, she was warmly and sensibly clad,
+and a brown Tam o' Shanter covered her fair head. The tips of her hands
+were in the pockets of her short blue-cloth jacket; and she walked the
+deck with a firm, reliant tread that aroused the admiration of John
+Kenyon. 'If she were only a girl like <i>that</i>,' he repeated to himself, 'I
+wouldn't mind. There's something fresh and genuine about her. She makes
+me think of the breezy English downs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she walked back and forward, one or two young men seemingly made an
+attempt to become acquainted with her, but it was evident to Kenyon that
+the young woman had made it plain to them, politely enough, that she
+preferred walking alone, and they raised their sea-caps and left her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She doesn't pick up the first man who comes,' he mused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The ship was beginning to roll more and more, and yet the day was
+beautiful and the sea seemingly calm. Most of the promenaders had left
+the deck. Two or three of them had maintained their equilibrium with a
+gratifying success which engendered the pride that goeth before a fall,
+but the moment came at last when their feet slipped and they had found
+themselves thrown against the bulwark of the steamer. Then they had
+laughed a little in a crestfallen manner, picked themselves up, and
+promenaded the deck no more. Many of those who were lying in the
+steamer-chairs gave up the struggle and went down to their cabins. There
+was a momentary excitement as one chair broke from its fastenings and
+slid down with a crash against the bulwarks. The occupant was picked up
+in a hysterical condition and taken below. The deck steward tied the
+chair more firmly, so that the accident would not happen again. The young
+English girl was opposite John Kenyon when this disaster took place, and
+her attention being diverted by fear for the safety of the occupant of
+the sliding chair, her care for herself was withdrawn at the very moment
+when it was most needed. The succeeding lurch which the ship gave to the
+other side was the most tremendous of the day. The deck rose until the
+girl leaning outward could almost touch it with her hand, then, in spite
+of herself, she slipped with the rapidity of lightning against the chair
+John Kenyon occupied, and that tripping her up, flung her upon him with
+an unexpectedness that would have taken his breath away if the sudden
+landing of a plump young woman upon him had not accomplished the same
+thing. The fragile deck-chair gave way with a crash, and it would be hard
+to say which was the more discomfited by the sudden catastrophe, John
+Kenyon or the girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hope you are not hurt,' he managed to stammer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't think about me!' she cried. 'I have broken your chair, and&mdash;and&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The chair doesn't matter,' cried Kenyon. 'It was a flimsy structure at
+best. I am not hurt, if that is what you mean&mdash;and you mustn't mind it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then there came to his recollection the sentence of George Wentworth: 'A
+girl will have to be thrown into your arms before you will admit that
+such a thing as a charming young woman exists.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap04"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER IV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth could hardly be said to be a typical representative of
+the English girl. She had the English girl's education, but not her
+training. She had lost her mother in early life, which makes a great
+difference in a girl's bringing up, however wealthy her father may be;
+and Edith's father was wealthy, there was no doubt of that. If you asked
+any City man about the standing of John Longworth, you would learn that
+the 'house' was well thought of. People said he was lucky, but old John
+Longworth asserted that there was no such thing as luck in business&mdash;in
+which statement he was very likely incorrect. He had large investments in
+almost every quarter of the globe. When he went into any enterprise, he
+went into it thoroughly. Men talk about the inadvisability of putting all
+one's eggs into one basket, but John Longworth was a believer in doing
+that very thing&mdash;and in watching the basket. Not that he had all his eggs
+in one basket, or even in one kind of basket; but when John Longworth was
+satisfied with the particular variety of basket presented to him, he put
+a large number of eggs in it. When anything was offered for
+investment&mdash;whether it was a mine or a brewery or a railway&mdash;John
+Longworth took an expert's opinion upon it, and then the chances were
+that he would disregard the advice given. He was in the habit of going
+personally to see what had been offered to him. If the enterprise were
+big enough, he thought little of taking a voyage to the other end of the
+world for the sole purpose of looking the investment over. It was true
+that in many cases he knew nothing whatever of the business he went to
+examine, but that did not matter; he liked to have a personal inspection
+where a large amount of his money was to be placed. Investment seemed to
+be a sort of intuition with him. Often, when the experts' opinions were
+unanimously in favour of the project, and when everything appeared to be
+perfectly safe, Longworth would pay a personal visit to the business
+offered for sale, and come to a sudden conclusion not to have anything to
+do with it. He would give no reasons to his colleagues for his change of
+front; he simply refused to entertain the proposal any further, and
+withdrew. Several instances of this kind had occurred. Sometimes a large
+and profitable business, held out in the prospectus to be exceedingly
+desirable, had come to nothing, and when the company was wound up,
+people remembered what Longworth had said about it. So there came to be a
+certain superstitious feeling among those who knew him, that, if old Mr.
+Longworth was in a thing, the thing was safe, and if a company promoter
+managed to get his name on the prospectus, his project was almost certain
+to succeed.
+</p>
+
+<p class="t3">
+       *       *       *       *       *<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Edith Longworth was pronounced finished so far as education was
+concerned, she became more and more the companion of her father, and he
+often jokingly referred to her as his man of business. She went with him
+on his long journeys, and so had been several times to America, once to
+the Cape, and one long voyage, with Australia as the objective point, had
+taken her completely round the world. She inherited much of her father's
+shrewdness, and there is no doubt that, if Edith Longworth had been cast
+upon her own resources, she would have become an excellent woman of
+business. She knew exactly the extent of her father's investments, and
+she was his confidante in a way that few women are with their male
+relatives. The old man had a great faith in Edith's opinion, although he
+rarely acknowledged it. Having been together so much on such long trips,
+they naturally became, in a way, boon companions. Thus, Edith's education
+was very unlike that of the ordinary English girl, and this particular
+training caused her to develop into a different kind of woman than she
+might have been had her mother lived.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perfect confidence existed between father and daughter, and only lately
+had there come a shadow upon their relations, about which neither ever
+spoke to the other since their first conversation on the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith had said, with perhaps more than her usual outspokenness, that she
+had no thought whatever of marriage, and least of all had her thoughts
+turned toward the man her father seemed to have chosen. In answer to
+this, her father had said nothing, but Edith knew him too well to believe
+that he had changed his mind about the matter. The fact that he had
+invited her cousin to join them on this particular journey showed her
+that he evidently believed all that was necessary was to throw them more
+together than had been the case previously; and, although Edith was
+silent, she thought her father had not the same shrewdness in these
+matters that he showed in the purchasing of a growing business. Edith had
+been perfectly civil to the young man&mdash;as she would have been to
+anyone&mdash;but he saw that she preferred her own company to his; and so,
+much to the disgust of Mr. Longworth, he spent most of his time at cards
+in the smoking-room, whereas, according to the elder gentleman's opinion,
+he should have been promenading the deck with his cousin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+William Longworth, the cousin, was inclined to be a trifle put out, for
+he looked upon himself as quite an eligible person, one whom any girl in
+her senses would be glad to look forward to as a possible husband. He
+made no pretence of being madly in love with Edith, but he thought the
+marriage would be an admirable thing all round. She was a nice girl, he
+said to himself, and his uncle's money was well worth thinking about. In
+fact, he was becoming desirous that the marriage should take place; but,
+as there was no one upon whom he could look as a rival, he had the field
+to himself. He would therefore show Miss Edith that he was by no means
+entirely dependent for his happiness upon her company; and this he
+proceeded to do by spending his time in the smoking-room, and playing
+cards with his fellow-passengers. It was quite evident to anyone who saw
+Edith, that, if this suited him, it certainly suited her; so they rarely
+met on shipboard except at table, where Edith's place was between her
+father and her cousin. Miss Longworth and her cousin had had one brief
+conversation on the subject of marriage. He spoke of it rather jauntily,
+as being quite a good arrangement, but she said very shortly that she had
+no desire to change her name.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't need to,' said Cousin William; 'my name is Longworth, and so
+is yours.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is not a subject for a joke,' she answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not joking, my dear Edith. I am merely telling you what everybody
+knows to be true. You surely don't deny that my name is Longworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't mean to deny or affirm anything in relation to the matter,'
+replied the young woman, 'and you will oblige me very much if you will
+never recur to this subject again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so the young man betook himself once more to the smoking-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On this trip Edith had seen a good deal of American society. People over
+there had made it very pleasant for her, and, although the weather was
+somewhat trying, she had greatly enjoyed the sleigh-rides and the
+different festivities which winter brings to the citizen of Northern
+America. Her father and her cousin had gone to America to see numerous
+breweries that were situated in different parts of the country, and
+which it was proposed to combine into one large company. They had made a
+Western city their headquarters, and while Edith was enjoying herself
+with her newly-found friends, the two men had visited the breweries in
+different sections of the country&mdash;all, however, near the city where
+Edith was staying. The breweries seemed to be in a very prosperous
+condition, although the young man declared the beer they brewed was the
+vilest he had ever tasted, and he said he wouldn't like to have anything
+to do with the production of it, even if it did turn in money. His uncle
+had not tried the beer, but confined himself solely to the good old
+bottled English ale, which had increased in price, if not in excellence,
+by its transportation. But there was something about the combination
+that did not please him; and, from the few words he dropped on the
+subject, his nephew saw that Longworth was not going to be a member of
+the big Beer Syndicate. The intention had been to take a trip to Canada,
+and Edith had some hopes of seeing the city of Montreal in its winter
+dress; but that visit had been abandoned, as so much time had been
+consumed in the Western States. So they began their homeward voyage,
+with the elder Longworth sitting a good deal in his deck-chair, and
+young Longworth spending much of his time in the smoking-room, while
+Edith walked the deck alone. And this was the lady whom Fate threw into
+the arms of John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap05"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER V.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Steamer friendships ripen quickly. It is true that, as a general thing,
+they perish with equal suddenness. The moment a man sets his foot on
+solid land the glamour of the sea seems to leave him, and the friend to
+whom he was ready to swear eternal fealty while treading the deck, is
+speedily forgotten on shore. Edith Longworth gave no thought to the
+subject of the innocent nature of steamer friendships when she reviewed
+in her own mind her pleasant walk along the deck with Kenyon. She had met
+many interesting people during her numerous voyages, but they had all
+proved to be steamer acquaintances, whose names she had now considerable
+difficulty in remembering. Perhaps she would not have given a second
+thought to Mr. Kenyon that night if it had not been for some
+ill-considered remarks her cousin saw fit to make at the dinner-table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who was that fellow you were walking with today?' young Longworth asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith smiled upon him pleasantly, and answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Kenyon you mean, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, you know his name, do you?' he answered gruffly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly,' she replied; 'I would not walk with a gentleman whose name I
+did not know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really?' sneered her cousin. 'And pray were you introduced to him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not think,' answered Edith quietly, 'any person has a right to ask
+me that question except my father. He has not asked it, and, as you have,
+I will merely answer that I <i>was</i> introduced to Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I did not know you had any mutual acquaintance on board who could make
+you known to each other.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, the ceremony was a little informal. We were introduced by our
+mutual friend, old Father Neptune. Father Neptune, being, as you know, a
+little boisterous this morning, took the liberty of flinging me upon Mr.
+Kenyon. I weigh something more than a feather, and the result
+was&mdash;although Mr. Kenyon was good enough to say he was uninjured&mdash;that
+the chair on which he sat had not the same consideration for my feelings,
+and it went down with a crash. I thought Mr. Kenyon should take my chair
+in exchange for the one I had the misfortune to break, but Mr. Kenyon
+thought otherwise. He said he was a mining engineer, and that he could
+not claim to be a very good one if he found any difficulty in mending a
+deck-chair. It seems he succeeded in doing so, and that is the whole
+history of my introduction to, and my intercourse with, Mr. Kenyon,
+Mining Engineer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Most interesting and romantic,' replied the young man; 'and do you think
+that your father approves of your picking up indiscriminate acquaintances
+in this way?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith, flushing a little at this, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would not willingly do what my father disapproved of;' then in a lower
+voice she added: 'except, perhaps, one thing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her father, who had caught snatches of the conversation, now leaned
+across towards his nephew, and said warningly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think Edith is quite capable of judging for herself. This is my
+seventh voyage with her, and I have always found such to be the case.
+This happens to be your first, and so, were I you, I would not pursue the
+subject further.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man was silent, and Edith gave her father a grateful glance.
+Thus it was that, while she might not have given a thought to Kenyon, the
+remarks which her cousin had made, brought to her mind, when she was
+alone, the two young men, and the contrast between them was not at all to
+the advantage of her cousin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The scrubbing-brushes on the deck above him woke Kenyon early next
+morning. For a few moments after getting on deck he thought he had the
+ship to himself. One side of the deck was clean and wet; on the other
+side the men were slowly moving the scrubbing-brushes backward and
+forward, with a drowsy swish-swish. As he walked up the deck, he saw
+there was one passenger who had been earlier than himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth turned round as she heard his step, and her face
+brightened into a smile when she saw who it was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon gravely raised his steamer cap and bade her 'Good-morning.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are an early riser, Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not so early as you are, I see.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think I am an exceptional passenger in that way,' replied the girl. 'I
+always enjoy the early morning at sea. I like to get as far forward on
+the steamer as possible, so that there is nothing between me and the
+boundless anywhere. Then it seems as if the world belongs to myself, with
+nobody else in it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Isn't that a rather selfish view?' put in Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't think so. There is certainly nothing selfish in my
+enjoyment of it; but, you know, there are times when one wishes to be
+alone, and to forget everybody.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hope I have not stumbled upon one of those times.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, not at all, Mr. Kenyon,' replied his companion, laughing. 'There
+was nothing personal in the remark. If I wished to be alone, I would
+have no hesitation in walking off. I am not given to hinting; I speak
+plainly&mdash;some of my friends think a little too plainly. Have you ever
+been on the Pacific Ocean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, there the mornings are delicious. It is very beautiful here now, but
+in summer on the Pacific some of the mornings are so calm and peaceful
+and fresh, that it would seem as if the world had been newly made.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You have travelled a great deal, Miss Longworth. I envy you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I often think I am a person to be envied, but there may come a shipwreck
+one day, and then I shall not be in so enviable a position.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I sincerely hope you may never have such an experience.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you ever been shipwrecked, Mr. Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no; my travelling experiences are very limited. But to read of a
+shipwreck is bad enough.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We have had a most delightful voyage so far. Quite like summer. One can
+scarcely believe that we left America in the depth of winter, with snow
+everywhere and the thermometer ever so far below zero. Have you mended
+your deck-chair yet, sufficiently well to trust yourself upon it again?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh!' said Kenyon, with a laugh, 'you really must not make fun of my
+amateur carpentering like that. As I told you, I am a mining engineer,
+and if I cannot mend a deck-chair, what would you expect me to do with a
+mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you had much to do with mines?' asked the young woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am just beginning,' replied Kenyon; 'this, in fact, is one of my first
+commissions. I have been sent with my friend Wentworth to examine certain
+mines on the Ottawa River.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The Ottawa River!' cried Edith. 'Are you one of those who were sent out
+by the London Syndicate?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon with astonishment. 'What do you know about it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I know everything about it. Everything, except what the mining
+expert's report is to be, and that information, I suppose, you have; so,
+between the two of us, we know a great deal about the fortunes of the
+London Syndicate.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really! I am astonished to meet a young lady who knows anything about
+the matter. I understood it was rather a secret combination up to the
+present.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah! but, you see, I am one of the syndicate.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly,' answered Edith Longworth, laughing. 'At least, my father is,
+and that is the same thing, or almost the same thing. We intended to go
+to Canada ourselves, and I was very much disappointed at not going. I
+understand that the sleighing, and the snowshoeing, and the tobogganing
+are something wonderful.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I saw very little of the social side of life in the district, my whole
+time being employed at the mines; but even in the mining village where we
+stayed, they had a snowshoe club, and a very good toboggan slide&mdash;so
+good, in fact, that, having gone down once, I never ventured to risk my
+life on it again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If my father knew you were on board, he would be anxious to meet you.
+Doubtless you know the London Syndicate will be a very large company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I am aware of that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you know that a great deal is going to depend upon your report?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose that is so, and I hope the syndicate will find my report at
+least an honest and thorough one.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is the colleague who was with you also on board?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he is here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He, then, was the accountant who was sent out?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, and he is a man who does his business very thoroughly, and I think
+the syndicate will be satisfied with his work.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you not think they will be satisfied with yours also? I am sure
+you did your work conscientiously.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon almost blushed as the young woman made this remark, but she looked
+intently at him, and he saw that her thoughts were not on him, but on the
+large interests he represented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Were you favourably impressed with the Ottawa as a mining region?' she
+asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very much so,' he answered, and, anxious to turn the conversation away
+from his own report, he said: 'I was so much impressed with it that I
+secured the option of a mine there for myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh! do you intend to buy one of the mines there?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I am no capitalist seeking investment for my money, but I saw that
+the mine contained possibilities of producing a great deal of money for
+those who possess it. It is very much more valuable, in my opinion, than
+the owners themselves suspect; so I secured an option upon it for three
+months, and hope when I reach England to form a company to take it up.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I am sure,' said the young lady, 'if you are confident that the
+mine is a good one, you could see no one who would help you more in that
+way than my father. He has been looking at a brewery business he thought
+of investing in, but which he has concluded to have nothing to do with,
+so he will be anxious to find something reliable in its place. How much
+would be required for the purchase of the mine you mention?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I was thinking of asking fifty thousand pounds for it,' said Kenyon,
+flushing, as he thought of his own temerity in more than doubling the
+price of the mine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth and he had estimated the probable value of the mine, and had
+concluded that even selling it at that price&mdash;which would give them
+thirty thousand pounds to divide between them&mdash;they were selling a mine
+that was really worth very much more, and would soon pay tremendous
+dividends on the fifty thousand pounds. He expected the young woman to
+be impressed by the amount, and was, therefore, very much surprised
+when she said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Fifty thousand pounds! Is that all? Then I am afraid my father would
+have nothing to do with it. He only deals with large businesses, and a
+company with a capitalization of fifty thousand pounds I am sure he would
+not look at.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You talk of fifty thousand pounds,' said Kenyon, 'as if it were a mere
+trifle. To me it seems an immense fortune. I only wish I had it, or half
+of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are not rich, then?' said the girl, with apparent interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' replied the young man. 'Far otherwise.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that moment the elder Mr. Longworth appeared in the door of the
+companion-way, and looked up and down the deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, here you are,' he said, as his daughter sprang from her chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Father,' she cried, 'let me introduce to you Mr. Kenyon, who is the
+mining expert sent out by our syndicate to look at the Ottawa mines.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am pleased to meet you,' said the elder gentleman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The capitalist sat down beside the mining engineer, and began, somewhat
+to Kenyon's embarrassment, to talk of the London Syndicate.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap06"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+A few mornings later Wentworth worked his way, with much balancing and
+grasping of stanchions, along the deck, for the ship rolled fearfully,
+but the person he sought was nowhere visible. He thought he would go into
+the smoking-room, but changed his mind at the door, and turned down the
+companion-way to the main saloon. The tables had been cleared of the
+breakfast belongings, but on one of the small tables a white cloth had
+been laid, and at this spot of purity in the general desert of red plush
+sat Miss Brewster, who was complacently ordering what she wanted from a
+steward, who did not seem at all pleased in serving one who had
+disregarded the breakfast-hour, to the disarrangement of all saloon
+rules. The chief steward stood by a door and looked disapprovingly at the
+tardy guest. It was almost time to lay the tables for lunch, and the
+young woman was as calmly ordering her breakfast as if she had been the
+first person at table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked up brightly at Wentworth, and smiled as he approached her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose,' she began, 'I'm dreadfully late, and the steward looks as if
+he would like to scold me. How awfully the ship is rolling! Is there a
+storm?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No. She seems to be doing this sort of thing for amusement. Wants to
+make it interesting for the unfortunate passengers who are not good
+sailors, I suppose. She's doing it, too. There's scarcely anyone on
+deck.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me! I thought we were having a dreadful storm. Is it raining?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No. It's a beautiful sunshiny day; without much wind either, in spite of
+all this row.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose you have had your breakfast long ago?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So long since that I am beginning to look forward with pleasant
+anticipation to lunch.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh dear! I had no idea I was so late as that. Perhaps <i>you</i> had
+better scold me. Somebody ought to do it, and the steward seems a
+little afraid.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You over-estimate my courage. I am a little afraid, too.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then you <i>do</i> think I deserve it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't say that, nor do I think it. I confess, however, that up to
+this moment I felt just a trifle lonely.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Just a trifle! Well, that <i>is</i> flattery. How nicely you English do turn
+a compliment! Just a trifle!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I believe, as a race, we do not venture much into compliment making at
+all. We leave that for the polite foreigner. He would say what I tried
+to say a great deal better than I did, of course, but he would not mean
+half so much.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that's very nice, Mr. Wentworth. No foreigner could have put it
+nearly so well. Now, what about going on deck?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Anywhere, if you let me accompany you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall be most delighted to have you. I won't say merely a trifle
+delighted.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah! Haven't you forgiven that remark yet?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There's nothing to forgive, and it is quite too delicious to forget. I
+shall never forget it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I believe that you are very cruel at heart, Miss Brewster.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young woman gave him a curious side-look, but did not answer. She
+gathered the wraps she had taken from her cabin, and, handing them to him
+before he had thought of offering to take them, she led the way to the
+deck. He found their chairs side by side, and admired the intelligence of
+the deck-steward, who seemed to understand which chairs to place
+together. Miss Jennie sank gracefully into her own, and allowed him to
+adjust the wraps around her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There,' she said, 'that's very nicely done; as well as the deck-steward
+himself could do it, and I am sure it is impossible to pay you a more
+graceful compliment than that. So few men know how to arrange one
+comfortably in a steamer chair.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You speak as though you had vast experience in steamer life, and yet you
+told me this was your first voyage.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is. But it doesn't take a woman more than a day to see that the
+average man attends to such little niceties very clumsily. Now just tuck
+in the corner out of sight. There! Thank you, ever so much. And would you
+be kind enough to&mdash;Yes, that's better. And this other wrap so. Oh, that
+is perfect. What a patient man you are, Mr. Wentworth!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. You <i>are</i> a foreigner. I can see that now. Your
+professed compliment was hollow. You said I did it perfectly, and then
+immediately directed me how to do it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing of the kind. You did it well, and I think you ought not to
+grudge me the pleasure of adding my own little improvements.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, if you put it in that way, I will not. Now, before I sit down, tell
+me what book I can get that will interest you. The library contains a
+very good assortment.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think I care about reading. Sit down and talk. I suppose I am
+too indolent to-day. I thought, when I came on board, that I would do a
+lot of reading, but I believe the sea-air makes one lazy. I must confess
+I feel entirely indifferent to mental improvement.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You evidently do not think my conversation will be at all worth
+listening to.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How quick you are to pervert my meaning! Don't you see that I think
+your conversation better worth listening to than the most interesting or
+improving book you can choose from the library? Really, in trying to
+avoid giving you cause for making such a remark, I have apparently
+stumbled into a worse error. I was just going to say I would like your
+conversation much better than a book, when I thought you would take that
+as a reflection on your reading. If you take me up so sharply I will sit
+here and say nothing. Now then, talk!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What shall I say?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, if I told you what to say I should be doing the talking. Tell me
+about yourself. What do you do in London?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I work hard. I am an accountant.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what is an accountant? What does he do? Keep accounts?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Some of them do; I do not. I see, rather, that accounts which other
+people keep have been correctly kept.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Aren't they always correctly kept? I thought that was what book-keepers
+were hired for.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If books were always correctly kept there would be little for us to do;
+but it happens, unfortunately for some, but fortunately for us, that
+people occasionally do not keep their accounts accurately.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And can you always find that out if you examine the books?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Always.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Can't a man make up his accounts so that no one can tell there is
+anything wrong?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The belief that such a thing can be done has placed many a poor wretch
+in prison. It has been tried often enough.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sure they can do it in the States. I have read of it being done and
+continued for years. Men have made off with great sums of money by
+falsifying the books, and no one found it out until the one who did it
+died or ran away.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nevertheless, if an expert accountant had been called in, he would have
+found out very soon that something was wrong, and just where the wrong
+was, and how much.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't think such cleverness possible. Have you ever discovered
+anything like that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is done when such a thing is discovered?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That depends upon circumstances. Usually a policeman is called in.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, it's like being a detective. I wish you would tell me about some of
+the cases you have had. Don't make me ask so many questions. Talk.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think my experiences would interest you in the least. There
+was one case with which I had something to do in London, two years
+ago, that&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, London! I don't believe the book-keepers there are half so sharp as
+ours. If you had to deal with American accountants, you would not find
+out so easily what they had or had not done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, Miss Brewster, I may say I have just had an experience of that
+kind with some of your very sharpest American book-keepers. I found that
+the books had been kept in the most ingenious way with the intent to
+deceive. The system had been going on for years.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How interesting! And did you call in a policeman?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No. This was one of the cases where a policeman was not necessary. The
+books were kept with the object of showing that the profits of the m&mdash;of
+the business&mdash;had been much greater than they really were. I may say that
+one of your American accountants had already looked over the books, and,
+whether through ignorance or carelessness, or from a worse motive, he
+reported them all right. They were not all right, and the fact that they
+were not, will mean the loss of a fortune to some people on your side of
+the water, and the saving of good money to others on my side.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then I think your profession must be a very important one.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We think so, Miss Brewster. I would like to be paid a percentage on the
+money saved because of my report.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And won't you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Unfortunately, no.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think that is too bad. I suppose the discrepancy must have been small,
+or the American accountant would not have overlooked it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't say he overlooked it. Still, the size of a discrepancy does not
+make any difference. A small error is as easily found as a large one.
+This one was large. I suppose there is no harm in my saying that the
+books, taking them together, showed a profit of forty thousand pounds,
+when they should have shown a loss of nearly half that amount. I hope
+nobody overhears me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; we are quite alone, and you may be sure I will not breathe a word
+of what you have been telling me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't breathe it to Kenyon, at least. He would think me insane if he
+knew what I have said.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is Mr. Kenyon an accountant, too?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no. He is a mineralogist. He can go into a mine, and tell with
+reasonable certainty whether it will pay the working or not. Of course,
+as he says himself, any man can see six feet into the earth as well as he
+can. But it is not every man that can gauge the value of a working mine
+so well as John Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, while you were delving among the figures, your companion was
+delving among the minerals?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Precisely.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And did he make any such startling discovery as you did?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; rather the other way. He finds the mines very good properties, and
+he thinks that if they were managed intelligently they would be good
+paying investments&mdash;that is, at a proper price, you know&mdash;not at what the
+owners ask for them at present. But you can have no possible interest in
+these dry details.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Indeed, you are mistaken. I think what you have told me intensely
+interesting.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For once in her life Miss Jennie Brewster told the exact truth. The
+unfortunate man at her side was flattered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'For what I have told you,' he said, 'we were offered twice what the
+London people pay us for coming out here. In fact, even more than that:
+we were asked to name our own price.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really now! By the owners of the property, I suppose, if you wouldn't
+tell on them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No. By one of your famous New York newspaper men. He even went so far
+as to steal the papers that Kenyon had in Ottawa. He was cleverly caught,
+though, before he could make any use of what he had stolen. In fact,
+unless his people in New York had the figures which were originally
+placed before the London Board, I doubt if my statistics would have been
+of much use to him even if he had been allowed to keep them. The full
+significance of my report will not show until the figures I have given
+are compared with those already in the hands of the London people, which
+were vouched for as correct by your clever American accountant.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You shouldn't run down an accountant just because he is American.
+Perhaps there will come a day, Mr. Wentworth, when you will admit that
+there are Americans who are more clever than either that accountant or
+that newspaper man. I don't think your specimens are typical.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't "run down," as you call it, the men because they are Americans.
+I "run down" the accountant because he was either ignorant or corrupt. I
+"run down" the newspaper man because he was a thief.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster was silent for a few moments. She was impressing on her
+memory what he had said to her, and was anxious to get away, so that she
+could write out in her cabin exactly what had been told her. The sound of
+the lunch-gong gave her the excuse she needed, so, bidding her victim a
+pleasant and friendly farewell, she hurried from the deck to her
+state-room.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap07"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+One morning, when Kenyon went to his state-room on hearing the
+breakfast-gong, he found the lazy occupant of the upper berth still
+in his bunk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come, Wentworth,' he shouted, 'this won't do, you know. Get up! get up!
+breakfast, my boy! breakfast!&mdash;the most important meal in the day to a
+healthy man.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What's the row?' he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The row is, it's time to get up. The second gong has sounded.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me! is it so late? I didn't hear it.' Wentworth sat up in his bunk,
+and looked ruefully over the precipice down the chasm to the floor. 'Have
+you been up long?' he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Long? I have been on deck an hour and a half,' answered Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, Miss What's-her-Name must have been there also.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Her name is Miss Longworth,' replied Kenyon, without looking at his
+comrade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's her name, is it? and she <i>was</i> on deck?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She was.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought so,' said Wentworth; 'just look at the divine influence of
+woman! Miss Longworth rises early, therefore John Kenyon rises early.
+Miss Brewster rises late, therefore George Wentworth is not seen until
+breakfast-time. If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up
+time of the two men would be changed accordingly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not at all, George&mdash;not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else
+on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected
+to have it to myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you
+found you hadn't a monopoly?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly
+sensible girl.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for
+me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across
+the water.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really? Did you get so far?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the
+mica-mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand
+pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get
+anybody interested in it in London.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long
+whistle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy!
+Probably more so than the American millionairess.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is
+this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense
+wealth, English women say nothing about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely
+mistaken. She has never alluded to her wealth at all, with the exception
+of saying that her father was a millionaire. So if the young woman you
+speak of has been talking of her wealth at all, she has done more than
+the American girl.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She said nothing to indicate she was wealthy. I merely conjectured it
+when I discovered she looked upon fifty thousand pounds as a triviality.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, the fault is easily remedied. We may raise the price of the mine
+to one hundred thousand pounds if we can get people to invest. Perhaps
+the young lady's father might care to go in for it at that figure.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, by the way, Wentworth,' said Kenyon, 'I forgot to tell you, Miss
+Longworth's father is one of the London Syndicate.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By Jove! are you sure of that? How do you know? You weren't talking of
+our mission out there, were you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly not,' replied Kenyon, flushing. 'You don't think I would speak
+of that to a stranger, do you? nor of anything concerned with our
+reports.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth proceeded with his dressing, a guilty feeling rising in his
+heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I want to ask you a question about that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'About what?' said Wentworth shortly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'About those mines. Miss Longworth's father being a member of the London
+Syndicate, suppose he asks what our views in relation to the matter are:
+would we be justified in telling him anything?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He won't ask me as I don't know him; he may ask you, and if he does,
+then you will have to decide the question for yourself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Would you say anything about it if you were in my place?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't know. If we were certain it was all right&mdash;if you are sure
+he <i>is</i> a member of the syndicate, and he happens to ask you about it, I
+scarcely see how you can avoid telling him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It would be embarrassing; so I hope he won't ask me. We should not speak
+of it until we give in our reports. He knows, however, that you are the
+accountant who has that part of the business in charge.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, then you have been talking with him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Just a moment or two, after his daughter introduced me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What did you say his name was?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'John Longworth, I believe. I am sure about the Longworth, but not about
+the John.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, old John Longworth in the City! Certainly; I know all about him. I
+never saw him before, but I think we are quite safe in telling him
+anything he wants to know, if he asks.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Breakfast, gentlemen,' said the steward, putting his head in at the
+door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After breakfast Edith Longworth and her cousin walked the deck together.
+Young Longworth, although in better humour than he had been the night
+before, was still rather short in his replies, and irritating in his
+questions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Aren't you tired of this eternal parade up and down?' he asked his
+cousin. 'It seems to me like a treadmill&mdash;as if a person had to work for
+his board and lodging.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Let us sit down then,' she replied; 'although I think a walk before
+lunch or dinner increases the attractiveness of those meals wonderfully.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I never feel the need of working up an appetite,' he answered pettishly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, as I said before, let us sit down;' and the girl, having found
+her chair, lifted the rug that lay upon it, and took her place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man, after standing for a moment looking at her through his
+glistening monocle, finally sat down beside her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The beastly nuisance of living on board ship,' he said, 'is that you
+can't play billiards.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sure you play enough at cards to satisfy you during the few days we
+are at sea,' she answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, cards! I soon tire of them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You tire very quickly of everything.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I certainly get tired of lounging about the deck, either walking or
+sitting.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, pray don't let me keep you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You want me to go so you may walk with your newly-found friend, that
+miner fellow?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That miner fellow is talking with my father just now. Still, if you
+would like to know, I have no hesitation in telling you I would much
+prefer his company to yours if you continue in your present mood.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, or in any mood.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I did not say that; but if it will comfort you to have me say it, I
+shall be glad to oblige you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps, then, I should go and talk with your father, and let the miner
+fellow come here and talk with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Please do not call him the miner fellow. His name is Mr. Kenyon. It is
+not difficult to remember.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know his name well enough. Shall I send him to you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No. I want to talk with you in spite of your disagreeableness. And what
+is more, I want to talk with you about Mr. Kenyon. So I wish you to
+assume your very best behaviour. It may be for your benefit.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man indulged in a sarcastic laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, if you are going to do that, I have nothing more to say,' remarked
+Edith quietly, rising from her chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I meant no harm. Sit down and go on with your talk.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Listen, then. Mr. Kenyon has the option of a mine in Canada, which he
+believes to be a good property. He intends to form a company when he
+reaches London. Now, why shouldn't you make friends with him, and, if you
+found the property is as good as he thinks it is, help him to form the
+company, and so make some money for both of you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are saying one word for me and two for Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it would be as much for your benefit as for his, so it is a word for
+each of you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are very much interested in him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear cousin, I am very much interested in the mine, and I am very
+much interested in you. Mr. Kenyon can speak of nothing but the mine,
+and I am sure my father would be pleased to see you take an interest in
+something of the sort. I mean, you know that if you would do something
+of your own accord&mdash;something that was not suggested to you by him&mdash;he
+would like it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it is suggested to me by you, and that's almost the same thing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it is not the same thing at all. Father would indeed be glad if he
+saw you take up anything on your own account and make a success of it.
+Why can you not spend some of your time talking with Mr. Kenyon
+discussing arrangements, so that when you return to London you might be
+prepared to put the mine on the market and bring out the company?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If I thought you were talking to me for my own sake, I would do what
+you suggest; but I believe you are speaking only because you are
+interested in Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nonsense! How can you be so absurd? I have known Mr. Kenyon but for a
+few hours&mdash;a day or two at most.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man pulled his moustache for a moment, adjusted his eyeglass,
+and then said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good. I will speak to Kenyon on the subject if you wish it, but I
+don't say that I can help him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't ask you to help him. I ask you to help yourself. Here is Mr.
+Kenyon. Let me introduce you, and then you can talk over the project at
+your leisure.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't suppose an introduction is necessary,' growled the young man;
+but as Kenyon approached them, Edith Longworth said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We are a board of directors, Mr. Kenyon, on the great mica-mine. Will
+you join the Board now, or after allotment?' Then, before he could reply,
+she said: 'Mr. Kenyon, this is my cousin, Mr. William Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth, without rising from his chair, shook hands in rather a surly
+fashion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am going to speak to my father,' said the girl, 'and will leave you to
+talk over the mica-mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When she had gone, young Longworth asked Kenyon:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Where is the mine my cousin speaks of?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is near the Ottawa River, in Canada,' was the answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what do you expect to sell it for?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Fifty thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Fifty thousand pounds! That will leave nothing to divide up among&mdash;by
+the way, how many are there in this thing&mdash;yourself alone?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; my friend Wentworth shares with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Share and share alike?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course, you think this mine is worth the money you ask for it&mdash;there
+is no swindle about it, is there?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon drew himself up sharply as this remark was made. Then he answered
+coldly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If there was any swindle about it, I should have nothing to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, I didn't know; mining swindles are not such rarities as
+you may imagine. If the mine is so valuable, why are the proprietors
+anxious to sell?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The owners are in Austria, and the mine in Canada, and so it is rather
+at arm's-length, as it were. They are mining for mica, but the mine is
+more valuable in other respects than it is as a mica property. They have
+placed a figure on the mine which is more than it has cost them so far.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You know its value in those other respects?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Does anyone know this except yourself?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think not&mdash;no one but my friend Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How did you come to learn its value?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By visiting the mine. Wentworth and I went together to see it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, is Wentworth also a mining expert?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; he is an accountant in London.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Both of you were sent out by the London Syndicate, I understand, to look
+after their mines, or the mines they thought of purchasing, were you
+not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We were.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you spent your time in looking up other properties for yourselves,
+did you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon reddened at this question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' he said, 'if you are going to talk in this strain, you
+will have to excuse me. We were sent by the London Syndicate to do a
+certain thing. We did it, and did it thoroughly. After it was done the
+time was our own, as much as it is at the present moment. We were not
+hired by the day, but took a stated sum for doing a certain piece of
+work. I may go further and say that the time was our own at any period
+of our visit, so long as we fulfilled what the London Syndicate
+required of us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I meant no offence,' said Longworth. 'You merely seemed to be posing
+as a sort of goody-goody young man when I spoke of mining swindles, so I
+only wished to startle you. How much have you to pay for the mine&mdash;that
+is the mica-mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon hesitated for a moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not feel at liberty to mention the sum until I have consulted with
+my friend Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, if I am to help you in this matter, I shall need to know
+every particular.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. I shall have to consult Wentworth as to whether we require
+any help or not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, you will speedily find that you require all the help you can get in
+London. You will probably learn that a hundred such mines are for sale
+now, and the chances are you will find that this very mica-mine has been
+offered. What do you believe the mine is really worth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think it is worth anywhere from one hundred thousand pounds to two
+hundred thousand pounds, perhaps more.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is it actually worth one hundred thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'According to my estimate, it is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is it worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is it worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What percentage would it pay on two hundred thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It might pay ten per cent., perhaps more.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, in the name of all that is wonderful, don't you put the price at
+two hundred thousand pounds? If it will pay ten per cent and more on that
+amount of money, then that sum is what you ought to sell it for. Now we
+will investigate this matter, if you like, and if you wish to take me in
+with you, and put the price up to two hundred thousand pounds, I will see
+what can be done about it when we get to London. Of course, it will mean
+somebody going out to Canada again to report on the mine. Your report
+would naturally not be taken in such a case; you are too vitally
+interested.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course,' replied Kenyon, 'I shouldn't expect my report to have any
+weight.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, somebody would have to be sent out to report on the mine. Are you
+certain that it will stand thorough investigation?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am convinced of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Would you be willing to make this proposition to the investors, that, if
+the expert did not support your statement, you would pay his expenses out
+there and back?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would be willing to do that,' said Kenyon, 'if I had the money; but I
+haven't the money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, how do you expect to float the mine on the London market? It
+cannot be done without money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought I might be able to interest some capitalist.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am much afraid, Mr. Kenyon, that you have vague ideas of how companies
+are formed. Perhaps your friend Wentworth, being an accountant, may know
+more about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I confess I am relying mainly on his assistance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, will you agree to put the price of the mine at two hundred
+thousand pounds, and share what we make equally between the three of us?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is a large price.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is not a large price if the mine will pay good dividends upon it; if
+it will pay eight per cent. on that amount, it is the real price of the
+mine, while you say that you are certain it will pay ten per cent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I say I think it will pay that percentage. One never can speak with
+entire certainty where a mine is concerned.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are you willing to put the price of the mine at that figure? Otherwise,
+I will have nothing to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As I said, I shall have to consult my friend about it, but that can be
+done in a very short time, and I will answer you in the afternoon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good; there is no particular hurry. Have a talk over it with him, and
+while I do not promise anything, I think the scheme looks feasible, if
+the property is good. Remember, I know nothing at all about that, but if
+you agree to take me in, I shall have to know full particulars of what
+you are going to pay for the property, and what its peculiar value is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. If we agree to take a partner, we will give that partner our
+full confidence.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, there is nothing more to say until you have had a consultation
+with your friend. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon;' and with that Longworth
+arose and lounged off to the smoking-room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon waited where he was for some time, hoping Wentworth would come
+along, but the young man did not appear. At last he went in search of
+him. He passed along the deck, but found no trace of his friend, and
+looked for a moment into the smoking-room, but Wentworth was not there.
+He went downstairs to the saloon, but his search below was equally
+fruitless. Coming up on deck again, he saw Miss Brewster sitting alone
+reading a paper-covered novel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you seen my friend Wentworth?' he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She laid the book open-faced upon her lap, and looked quickly up at
+Kenyon before answering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I saw him not so very long ago, but I don't know where he is now.
+Perhaps you will find him in his state-room; in fact, I think it more
+than likely that he is there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that, Miss Brewster resumed her book.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon descended to the state-room, opened the door, and saw his comrade
+sitting upon the plush-covered sofa, with his head in his hands. At the
+opening of the door, Wentworth started and looked for a moment at his
+friend, apparently not seeing him. His face was so gray and ghastly that
+Kenyon leaned against the door for support as he saw it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My God, George!' he cried, 'what is the matter with you? What has
+happened? Tell me!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth gazed in front of him with glassy eyes for a moment, but did
+not answer. Then his head dropped again in his hands, and he groaned
+aloud.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap08"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER VIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+There was one man on board the <i>Caloric</i> to whom Wentworth had taken an
+extreme dislike. His name was Fleming, and he claimed to be a New York
+politician. As none of his friends or enemies asserted anything worse
+about him, it may be assumed that Fleming had designated his occupation
+correctly. If Wentworth were asked what he most disliked about the man,
+he would probably have said his offensive familiarity. Fleming seemed to
+think himself a genial good fellow, and he was immensely popular with a
+certain class in the smoking-room. He was lavishly free with his
+invitations to drink, and always had a case of good cigars in his pocket,
+which he bestowed with great liberality. He had the habit of slapping a
+man boisterously on the back, and saying, 'Well, old fellow, how are you?
+How's things?' He usually confided to his listeners that he was a
+self-made man: had landed at New York without a cent in his pocket, and
+look at him now!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth was icy towards this man; but frigidity had no effect whatever
+on the exuberant spirits of the New York politician.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, old man!' cried Fleming to Wentworth, as he came up to the latter
+and linked arms affectionately. 'What lovely weather we are having for
+winter time!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It <i>is</i> good,' said Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good? It's glorious! Who would have thought, when leaving New York in a
+snowstorm as we did, that we would run right into the heart of spring? I
+hope you are enjoying your voyage?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You ought to. By the way, why are you so awful stand-offish? Is it
+natural, or merely put on "for this occasion only"?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know what you mean by "stand-offish."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You know very well what I mean. Why do you pretend to be so stiff and
+formal with a fellow?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am never stiff and formal with anyone unless I do not desire his
+acquaintance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fleming laughed loudly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose that's a personal hint. Well, it seems to me, if this
+exclusiveness is genuine, that you would be more afraid of newspaper
+notoriety than of anything else.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why do you say that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Because I can't, for the life of me, see why you spend so much time with
+Dolly Dimple. I am sure I don't know why she is here; but I do know this:
+that you will be served up to the extent of two or three columns in the
+<i>Sunday Argus</i> as sure as you live.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't understand you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't? Why, it's plain enough. You spend all your time with her.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not even know of whom you are speaking.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, come now, that's too rich! Is it possible you don't know that Miss
+Jennie Brewster is the one who writes those Sunday articles over the
+signature of "Dolly Dimple"?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A strange fear fell upon Wentworth as his companion mentioned the
+<i>Argus</i>. He remembered it as J.K. Rivers' paper; but when Fleming said
+Miss Brewster was a correspondent of the <i>Argus</i>, he was aghast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I&mdash;I&mdash;I don't think I quite catch your meaning,' he stammered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, my meaning's easy enough to see. Hasn't she ever told you? Then it
+shows she wants to do you up on toast. You're not an English politician,
+are you? You haven't any political secrets that Dolly wants to get at,
+have you? Why, she is the greatest girl there is in the whole United
+States for finding out just what a man doesn't want to have known. You
+know the Secretary of State'&mdash;and here Fleming went on to relate a
+wonderfully brilliant feat of Dolly's; but the person to whom he was
+talking had neither eyes nor ears. He heard nothing and he saw nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me!' said Fleming, drawing himself up and slapping the other on the
+back, 'you look perfectly dumfounded. I suppose I oughtn't to have given
+Dolly away like this; but she has pretended all along that she didn't
+know me, and so I've got even with her. You take my advice, and anything
+you don't want to see in print, don't tell Miss Brewster, that's all.
+Have a cigar?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, thank you,' replied the other mechanically.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Better come in and have a drink.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, thank you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, so long. I'll see you later.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It can't be true&mdash;it can't be true!' Wentworth repeated to himself in
+deep consternation, but still an inward misgiving warned him that, after
+all, it might be true. With his hands clasped behind him he walked up and
+down, trying to collect himself&mdash;trying to remember what he had told and
+what he had not. As he walked along, heeding nobody, a sweet voice from
+one of the chairs thrilled him, and he paused.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, Mr. Wentworth, what is the matter with you this morning? You look
+as if you had seen a ghost.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth glanced at the young woman seated in the chair, who was gazing
+up brightly at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I am not sure but I <i>have</i> seen a ghost. May I
+sit down beside you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May you? Why, of course you may. I shall be delighted to have you. Is
+there anything wrong?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know. Yes, I think there is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, tell it to me; perhaps I can help you. A woman's wit, you know.
+What is the trouble?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May I ask you a few questions, Miss Brewster?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. A thousand of them, if you like, and I will answer them all
+if I can.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you. Will you tell me, Miss Brewster, if you are connected with
+any newspaper?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster laughed her merry, silvery little laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who told you? Ah! I see how it is. It was that creature Fleming. I'll
+get even with him for this some day. I know what office he is after, and
+the next time he wants a good notice from the <i>Argus</i> he'll get it; see
+if he don't. I know some things about him that he would just as soon not
+see in print. Why, what a fool the man is! I suppose he told you out of
+revenge because I wouldn't speak to him the other evening. Never mind; I
+can afford to wait.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then&mdash;then, Miss Brewster, it <i>is</i> true?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly it is true; is there anything wrong about it? I hope you don't
+think it is disreputable to belong to a good newspaper?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'To a good newspaper, no; to a bad newspaper, yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't think the <i>Argus</i> is a bad newspaper. It pays me well.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then it is to the <i>Argus</i> that you belong?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May I ask, Miss Brewster, if there is anything I have spoken about to
+you that you intend to use in your paper?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again Miss Brewster laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will be perfectly frank with you. I never tell a lie&mdash;it doesn't pay.
+Yes. The reason I am here is because <i>you</i> are here. I am here to find
+out what your report on those mines will be, also what the report of your
+friend will be. I have found out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you intend to use the information you have thus obtained&mdash;if I
+may say it&mdash;under false pretences?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, you are forgetting yourself. You must remember that you are
+talking to a lady.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A lady!' cried Wentworth in his anguish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir, a lady; and you must be careful how you talk to <i>this</i> lady.
+There was no false pretence about it, if you remember. What you told me
+was in conversation; I didn't ask you for it. I didn't even make the
+first advances towards your acquaintance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But you must admit, Miss Brewster, that it is very unfair to get a man
+to engage in what he thinks is a private conversation, and then to
+publish what he has said.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, if that were the case, how would we get anything for
+publication that people didn't want to be known? Why, I remember once,
+when the Secretary of State&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' interrupted Wentworth wearily; 'Fleming told me that story.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, did he? Well, I'm sure I'm much obliged to him. Then I need not
+repeat it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to say that you intend to send to the <i>Argus</i> for
+publication what I have told you in confidence?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. As I said before, that is what I am here for. Besides, there
+was no "in confidence" about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And yet you pretend to be a truthful, honest, honourable woman?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't <i>pretend</i> it; I am.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How much truth, then, is there in your story that you are a
+millionaire's daughter about to visit your father in Paris, and accompany
+him from there to the Riviera?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster laughed brightly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't call fibs, which a person has to tell in the way of
+business, untruths.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then probably you do not think your estimable colleague, Mr. J.K.
+Rivers, behaved dishonourably in Ottawa?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, hardly. I think Rivers was not justified in what he did because he
+was unsuccessful, that is all. I'll bet a dollar if I had got hold of
+these papers they would have gone through to New York; but, then, J.K.
+Rivers is only a stupid man, and most men <i>are</i> stupid'&mdash;with a sly
+glance at Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am willing to admit that, Miss Brewster, if you mean me. There never
+was a more stupid man than I have been.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear Mr. Wentworth, it will do you ever so much good if you come to
+a realization of that fact. The truth is, you take yourself much too
+seriously. Now, it won't hurt you a bit to have what I am going to send
+published in the <i>Argus</i>, and it will help me a great deal. Just you wait
+here for a few moments.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that she flung her book upon his lap, sprang up, and vanished down
+the companion-way. In a very short time she reappeared with some sheets
+of paper in her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now you see how fair and honest I am going to be. I am going to read you
+what I have written. If there is anything in it that is not true, I will
+very gladly cut it out; and if there is anything more to be added, I
+shall be very glad to add it. Isn't that fair?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth was so confounded with the woman's impudence that he could make
+no reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She began to read: '"By an unexampled stroke of enterprise the <i>New York
+Argus</i> is enabled this morning to lay before its readers a full and
+exclusive account of the report made by the two English specialists, Mr.
+George Wentworth and Mr. John Kenyon, who were sent over by the London
+Syndicate to examine into the accounts, and inquire into the true value
+of the mines of the Ottawa River."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She looked up from the paper, and said, with an air of friendly
+confidence:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shouldn't send that if I thought the people at the New York end would
+know enough to write it themselves; but as the paper is edited by dull
+men, and not by a sharp woman, I have to make them pay twenty-five cents
+a word for puffing their own enterprise. Well, to go on: "When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend entirely
+on the report of these two gentlemen&mdash;"'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wouldn't put it that way,' interrupted Wentworth in his despair. 'I
+would use the word "largely" for "entirely."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, <i>thank</i> you,' said Miss Brewster cordially. She placed the
+manuscript on her knee, and, with her pencil, marked out the word
+'entirely,' substituting 'largely.' The reading went on: '"When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend <i>largely</i>
+on the report of these two gentlemen, the enterprise of the <i>Argus</i> in
+getting this exclusive information, which will be immediately cabled to
+London, may be imagined." That is the preliminary, you see; and, as I
+said, it wouldn't be necessary to cable it if women were at the head of
+affairs over there, which they are not. "Mr. John Kenyon, the mining
+expert, has visited all the mineral ranges along the Ottawa River, and
+his report is that the mines are very much what is claimed for them; but
+he thinks they are not worked properly, although, with judicious
+management and more careful mining, the properties can be made to pay
+good dividends. Mr. George Wentworth, who is one of the leading
+accountants of London&mdash;"'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wouldn't say that, either,' groaned George. 'Just strike out the words
+"one of the leading accountants of London."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes?' said Miss Brewster; 'and what shall I put in the place of them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Put in place of them "the stupidest ass in London"!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster laughed at that.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; I shall put in what I first wrote: "Mr. George Wentworth, one of
+the leading accountants of London, has gone through the books of the
+different mines. He has made some startling discoveries. The accounts
+have been kept in such a way as to completely delude investors, and this
+fact will have a powerful effect on the minds of the London Syndicate.
+The books of the different mines show a profit of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, whereas the actual facts of the case are that there has
+been an annual loss of something like one hundred thousand dollars&mdash;"'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What's that? what's that?' cried Wentworth sharply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dollars, you know. You said twenty thousand pounds. We put it in
+dollars, don't you see?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh,' said Wentworth, relapsing again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'"One hundred thousand dollars"&mdash;where was I? Oh yes. "It is claimed
+that an American expert went over these books before Mr. Wentworth, and
+that he asserted they were all right. An explanation from this gentleman
+will now be in order."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There!' cried the young lady, 'that is the substance of the thing. Of
+course, I may amplify a little more before we get to Queenstown, so as to
+make them pay more money. People don't value a thing that doesn't cost
+them dearly. How do you like it? Is it correct?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perfectly correct,' answered the miserable young man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I am so glad you like it! I do love to have things right.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't say I <i>liked</i> it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, of course, you couldn't be expected to say that; but I am glad you
+think it is accurate. I will add a note to the effect that you think it
+is a good <i>résumé</i> of your report.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'For Heaven's sake, don't drag me into the matter!' cried Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I won't, if you don't want me to.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was silence for a few moments, during which the young woman seemed
+to be adding commas and full-stops to the MS. on her knee. Wentworth
+cleared his throat two or three times, but his lips were so dry that he
+could hardly speak. At last he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Brewster, how can I induce you not to send that from Queenstown to
+your paper?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young woman looked up at him with a pleasant bright smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Induce me? Why, you couldn't do it&mdash;it couldn't be done. This will be
+one of the greatest triumphs I have ever achieved. Think of Rivers
+failing in it, and me accomplishing it!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I have thought of that,' replied the young man despondently. 'Now,
+perhaps you don't know that the full report was mailed from Ottawa to our
+house in London, and the moment we get to Queenstown I will telegraph my
+partners to put the report in the hands of the directors?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I know all about that,' replied Miss Brewster; 'Rivers told me. He
+read the letter that was enclosed with the documents he took from your
+friend. Now, have you made any calculations about this voyage?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Calculations? I don't know what you mean.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I mean just this: We shall probably reach Queenstown on Saturday
+afternoon. This report, making allowance for the difference in the time,
+will appear in the <i>Argus</i> on Sunday morning. Your telegram will reach
+your house or your firm on Saturday night, when nothing can be done with
+it. Sunday nothing can be done. Monday morning, before your report will
+reach the directors, the substance of what has appeared in the <i>Argus</i>
+will be in the financial papers, cabled over to London on Sunday night.
+The first thing your directors will see of it will be in the London
+financial papers on Monday morning. That's what I mean, Mr. Wentworth, by
+calculating the voyage.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth said no more. He staggered to his feet and made his way as best
+he could to the state-room, groping like a blind man. There he sat down
+with his head in his hands, and there his friend Kenyon found him.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap09"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER IX.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+'Tell me what has happened,' demanded John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth looked up at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Everything has happened,' he answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you mean, George? Are you ill? What is the matter with you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am worse than ill, John&mdash;a great deal worse than ill. I wish I
+were ill.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That wouldn't help things, whatever is wrong. Come, wake up. Tell me
+what the trouble is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'John, I am a fool&mdash;an ass&mdash;a gibbering idiot.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Admitting that, what then?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I trusted a woman&mdash;imbecile that I am; and now&mdash;now&mdash;I'm what you see
+me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Has&mdash;has Miss Brewster anything to do with it?' asked Kenyon
+suspiciously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She has everything to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Has she&mdash;rejected you, George?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What! <i>that</i> girl? Oh, you're the idiot now. Do you think I would
+ask <i>her</i>?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I cannot be blamed for jumping at conclusions. You must remember "that
+girl," as you call her, has had most of your company during this voyage;
+and most of your good words when you were not with her. What <i>is</i> the
+matter? What has she to do with your trouble?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth paced up and down the narrow limits of the state-room as if he
+were caged. He smote his hand against his thigh, while Kenyon looked at
+him in wonder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know how I can tell you, John,' he said. 'I must, of course; but
+I don't know how I can.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come on deck with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come out, I say, into the fresh air. It is stuffy here, and, besides,
+there is more danger of being overheard in the state-room than on deck.
+Come along, old fellow.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He caught his companion by the arm, and partly dragged him out of the
+room, closing the door behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Pull yourself together,' he said. 'A little fresh air will do you good.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They made their way to the deck, and, linking arms, walked up and down.
+For a long time Wentworth said nothing, and Kenyon had the tact to hold
+his peace. Suddenly Wentworth noticed that they were pacing back and
+forth in front of Miss Brewster, so he drew his friend away to another
+part of the ship. After a few turns up and down, he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You remember Rivers, of course.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Distinctly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He was employed on that vile sheet, the <i>New York Argus</i>.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose it is a vile sheet. I don't remember ever seeing it. Yes, I
+know he was connected with that paper. What then? What has Miss Brewster
+to do with Rivers?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She is one of the <i>Argus</i> staff, too.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'George Wentworth, you don't mean to tell me that!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And is she here to find out about the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly. She was put on the job after Rivers had failed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'George!' said Kenyon, suddenly dropping his companion's arm and facing
+him. 'What have you told her?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is the misery of it. I have told her everything.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear fellow, how could you be&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I know&mdash;I know! I know everything you would say. Everything you can
+say I have said to myself, and ten times more and ten times worse. There
+is nothing you can say of me more bitter than what I think about myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did you tell her anything about <i>my</i> report?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I told her everything&mdash;<i>everything</i>! Do you understand? She is going
+to telegraph from Queenstown the full essence of the reports&mdash;of both
+our reports.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Heavens! this is fearful. Is there no way to prevent her sending it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you think you can prevent her, I wish you would try it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How did you find it out? Did <i>she</i> tell you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it doesn't matter how I found it out. I did find it out. A man told
+me who she was; then I asked her, and she was perfectly frank about it.
+She read me the report, even.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Read it to you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, read it to me, and punctuated it in my presence&mdash;put in some words
+that I suggested as being better than those she had used. Oh, it was the
+coolest piece of work you ever saw!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But there must be some way of preventing her getting that account to New
+York in time. You see, all we have to do is to wire your people to hand
+in our report to the directors, and then hers is forestalled. She has to
+telegraph from a British office, and it seems to me that we could stop
+her in some way.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As, for instance, how?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't know just how at the moment, but we ought to be able to do
+it. If it were a man, we could have him arrested as a dynamiter or
+something; but a woman, of course, is more difficult to deal with.
+George, I would appeal to her better nature if I were you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth laughed sneeringly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Better nature?' he said. 'She hasn't any; and that is not the worst of
+it. She has "calculated," as she calls it, all the possibilities in the
+affair; she "calculates" that we will reach Queenstown about Saturday
+night. If we do, she will get her report through in time to be
+published on Sunday in the <i>New York Argus</i>. If that is the case, then
+see where our telegram will be. We telegraph our people to send in the
+report. It reaches the office Saturday night, and is not read. The
+office closes at two o'clock; but even if they got it, and understood
+the urgency of the matter, they could not place the papers before the
+directors until Monday morning, and by Monday morning it will be in the
+London financial sheets.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'George, that woman is a fiend.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, she isn't, John. She is merely a clever American journalist, who
+thinks she has done a very good piece of work indeed, and who, through
+the stupidity of one man, has succeeded, that's all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you made any appeal to her at all?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, haven't I! Of course I have. What good did it do? She merely laughed
+at me. Don't you understand? That is what she is here for. Her whole
+voyage is for that one purpose; and it's not likely the woman is going to
+forego her triumph after having succeeded&mdash;more especially as somebody
+else in the same office has failed. That's what gives additional zest to
+what she has done. The fact that Rivers has failed and she has triumphed
+seems to be the great feather in her cap.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then,' said Kenyon, 'I'm going to appeal to Miss Brewster myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. I wish you joy of your job. But do what you can, John,
+there's a good fellow. Meanwhile, I want to be alone somewhere.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth went down the stairway that led to the steerage department, and
+for a few moments sat among the steerage passengers. Then he climbed up
+another ladder, and got to the very front of the ship. Here he sat down
+on a coil of rope, and thought over the situation. Thinking, however, did
+him very little good. He realized that, even if he got hold of the paper
+Miss Brewster had, she could easily write another. She had the facts in
+her head, and all that she needed to do was to get to a telegraph office
+and there hand in her message.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, Kenyon took a few turns up and down the deck, thinking deeply
+on the same subject. He passed over to the side where Miss Brewster sat,
+but on coming opposite her had not the courage to take his place beside
+her. She was calmly reading her book. Three times he came opposite her,
+paused for a moment, and then continued his hopeless march. He saw that
+his courage was not going to be sufficient for the task, and yet he felt
+the task must be accomplished. He didn't know how to begin. He didn't
+know what inducement to offer the young woman for foregoing the fruits of
+her ingenuity. He felt that this was the weak point in his armour. The
+third time he paused in front of Miss Brewster; she looked up and
+motioned him to the chair beside her, saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know you very well, Mr. Kenyon, but I know who you are. Won't
+you sit down here for a moment?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bewildered man took the chair she indicated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, Mr. Kenyon, I know just what is troubling you. You have passed
+three or four times wishing to sit down beside me, and yet afraid to
+venture. Is that not true?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Quite true.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I knew it was. Now I know also what you have come for. Mr. Wentworth
+has told you what the trouble is. He has told you that he has given me
+all the particulars about the mines, hasn't he?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He has.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And he has gone off to his state-room to think over the matter, and has
+left the affair in your hands, and you imagine you can come here to me
+and, perhaps, talk me out of sending that despatch to the <i>Argus</i>. Isn't
+that your motive?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is about what I hope to be able to do,' said Kenyon, mopping his
+brow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I thought I might just as well put you out of your misery at once.
+You take things very seriously, Mr. Kenyon&mdash;I can see that. Now, don't
+you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, of course you do. The publication of this, as I told Mr. Wentworth,
+will really not matter at all. It will not be any reflection on either of
+you, because your friends will be sure that, if you had known to whom you
+were talking, you would never have said anything about the mines.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon smiled grimly at this piece of comfort.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, I have been thinking about something since Mr. Wentworth went away.
+I am really very sorry for him. I am more sorry than I can tell.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then,' said Kenyon eagerly, 'won't you&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I won't, so we needn't recur to that phase of the subject. That is
+what I am here for, and, no matter what you say, the despatch is going to
+be sent. Now, it is better to understand that at the first, and then it
+will create no trouble afterwards. Don't you think that is the best?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Probably,' answered the wretched man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, then, let us start there. I will say in the cablegram that the
+information comes from neither Mr. Kenyon nor Mr. Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, but that wouldn't be true.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, of course it wouldn't be true; but that doesn't matter, does it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, on our side of the water,' said Kenyon, 'we think the truth
+does matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster laughed heartily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me!' she said, 'what little tact you have! How does it concern you
+whether it is true or not? If there is any falsehood, it is not you who
+tell it, so you are free from all blame. Indeed, you are free from all
+blame anyhow, in this affair; it is all your friend Wentworth's fault;
+but still, if it hadn't been Wentworth, it would have been you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon looked up at her incredulously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, it would,' she said, nodding confidently at him. 'You must not
+flatter yourself, because Mr. Wentworth told me everything about it, that
+you wouldn't have done just the same, if I had had to find it out from
+you. All men are pretty much alike where women are concerned.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Can I say nothing to you, Miss Brewster, which will keep you from
+sending the message to America?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You cannot, Mr. Kenyon. I thought we had settled that at the beginning.
+I see there is no use talking to you. I will return to my book, which is
+very interesting. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon felt the hopelessness of his project quite as much as Wentworth
+had done, and, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he wandered
+disconsolately up and down the deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he went to the other side of the deck, he met Miss Longworth walking
+alone. She smiled a cordial welcome to him, so he turned and changed his
+step to suit hers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May I walk with you a few minutes?' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course you may,' was the reply, 'What is the matter? You are looking
+very unhappy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My comrade and myself are in great trouble, and I thought I should like
+to talk with you about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sure if there is anything I can do to help you, I shall be most
+glad to do it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps you may suggest something. You see, two men dealing with one
+woman are perfectly helpless.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, who is the one woman&mdash;not I, is it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, not you, Miss Longworth. I wish it were, then we would have no
+trouble.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, thank you!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see, it is like this: When we were in Quebec&mdash;I think I told you
+about that&mdash;the <i>New York Argus</i> sent a man to find out what we had
+reported, or were going to report, to the London Syndicate.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, you told me that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Rivers was his name. Well, this same paper, finding that Rivers had
+failed after having stolen the documents, has tried a much more subtle
+scheme, which promises to be successful. They have put on board this ship
+a young woman who has gained a reputation for learning secrets not
+intended for the public. This young woman is Miss Brewster, who sits next
+Wentworth at the table. Fate seems to have played right into her hand
+and placed her beside him. They became acquainted, and, unfortunately, my
+friend has told her a great deal about the mines, which she professed an
+interest in. Or, rather, she pretended to have an interest in him, and so
+he spoke, being, of course, off his guard. There is no more careful
+fellow in the world than George Wentworth, but a man does not expect that
+a private conversation with a lady will ever appear in a newspaper.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Naturally not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, that is the state of things. In some manner Wentworth came to
+know that this young woman was the special correspondent of the <i>New York
+Argus</i>. He spoke to her about it, and she is perfectly frank in saying
+she is here solely for the purpose of finding out what the reports will
+be, and that the moment she gets to Queenstown she will cable what she
+has discovered to New York.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me! that is very perplexing. What have you done?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We have done nothing so far, or rather, I should say, we have tried
+everything we could think of, and have accomplished nothing. Wentworth
+has appealed to her, and I made a clumsy attempt at an appeal also, but
+it was of no use. I feel my own helplessness in this matter, and
+Wentworth is completely broken down over it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Poor fellow! I am sure of that. Let me think a moment.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They walked up and down the deck in silence for a few minutes. Then Miss
+Longworth looked up at Kenyon, and said;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you place this matter in my hands?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly, if you will be so kind as to take any interest in it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I take a great deal of interest. Of course, you know my father is deeply
+concerned in it also, so I am acting in a measure for him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you any plan?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; my plan is simply this: The young woman is working for money; now,
+if we can offer her more than her paper gives, she will very quickly
+accept, or I am much mistaken in the kind of woman she is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, yes,' said Kenyon; 'but we haven't the money, you see.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never mind; the money will be quickly forthcoming. Don't trouble any
+more about it. I am sure that can be arranged.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon thanked her, looking his gratitude rather than speaking it, for
+he was an unready man, and she bade him good-bye until she could think
+over her plan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That evening there was a tap at the state-room door of Miss Jennie
+Brewster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come in,' cried the occupant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth entered, and the occupant of the room looked up, with a
+frown, from her writing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May I have a few moments' conversation with you?' asked the visitor
+gravely.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap10"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER X.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Miss Jennie Brewster was very much annoyed at being interrupted, and she
+took no pains to conceal her feelings. She was writing an article
+entitled 'How People kill Time on Shipboard,' and she did not wish to be
+disturbed; besides, as she often said of herself, she was not 'a woman's
+woman,' and she neither liked, nor was liked by, her own sex.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I desire a few moments' conversation with you, if I have your
+permission,' said Edith Longworth, as she closed the door behind her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly,' answered Jennie Brewster. 'Will you sit down?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you,' replied the other, as she took a seat on the sofa. 'I do not
+know just how to begin what I wish to say. Perhaps it will be better to
+commence by telling you that I know why you are on board this steamer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; and why am I on board the steamer, may I ask?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are here, I understand, to get certain information from Mr.
+Wentworth. You have obtained it, and it is in reference to this that I
+have come to see you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Indeed! and are you so friendly with Mr. Wentworth that you&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I scarcely know Mr. Wentworth at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, why do you come on a mission from him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is not a mission from him. It is not a mission from anyone. I was
+speaking to Mr. Kenyon, or, rather, Mr. Kenyon was speaking to me, about
+a subject which troubled him greatly. It is a subject in which my father
+is interested. My father is a member of the London Syndicate, and he
+naturally would not desire to have your intended cable message sent to
+New York.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really; are you quite sure that you are not speaking less for your
+father than for your friend Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anger burned in Miss Longworth's face, and flashed from her eyes as
+she answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You must not speak to me in that way.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Excuse me, I shall speak to you in just the way I please. I did not ask
+for this conference; you did, and as you have taken it upon yourself to
+come into this room uninvited, you will have to put up with what you
+hear. Those who interfere with other people's business, as a general
+thing, do not have a nice time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I quite appreciated all the possible disagreeableness of coming here,
+when I came.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am glad of that, because if you hear anything you do not like, you
+will not be disappointed, and will have only yourself to thank for it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would like to talk about this matter in a spirit of friendliness if I
+can. I think nothing is to be attained by speaking in any other way.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then. What excuse have you to give me for coming into my
+state-room to talk about business which does not concern you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Brewster, it <i>does</i> concern me&mdash;it concerns my father, and that
+concerns me. I am, in a measure, my father's private secretary, and am
+intimately acquainted with all the business he has in hand. This
+particular business is his affair, and therefore mine. That is the reason
+I am here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are you sure?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Am I sure of what?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are you sure that what you say is true?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not in the habit of speaking anything but the truth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps you flatter yourself that is the case, but it does not deceive
+me. You merely come here because Mr. Kenyon is in a muddle about what I
+am going to do. Isn't that the reason?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth saw that her task was going to be even harder than she
+had expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Suppose we let all question of motive rest? I have come here&mdash;I have
+asked your permission to speak on this subject, and you have given me the
+permission. Having done so, it seems to me you should hear me out. You
+say that I should not be offended&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't say so. I do not care a rap whether you are offended or not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You at least said I might hear something that would not be pleasant.
+What I wanted to say is this: I have taken the risk of that, and, as you
+remark, whether I am offended or not does not matter. Now we will come to
+the point&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Just before you come to the point, please let me know if Mr. Kenyon told
+you he had spoken to me on this subject already.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he told me so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did he tell you that his friend Wentworth had also had a conversation
+with me about it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he told me that also.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, if those two men can do nothing to shake my purpose,
+how do you expect to do it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is what I am about to tell you. This is a commercial world, and I
+am a commercial man's daughter. I recognise the fact that you are going
+to cable this information for the money it brings. Is that not the case?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is partly the case.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'For what other consideration do you work, then?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'For the consideration of being known as one of the best newspaper women
+in the city of New York. That is the other consideration.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I understood you were already known as the most noted newspaper woman in
+New York.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This remark was much more diplomatic than Miss Longworth herself
+suspected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster looked rather pleased, then she said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't know about that; but I intend it shall be so before a
+year is past.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, you have plenty of time to accomplish your object without
+using the information you have obtained on board this ship. Now, as I was
+saying, the <i>New York Argus</i> pays you a certain amount for doing this
+work. If you will promise not to send the report over to that paper, I
+will give you a cheque for double the sum the <i>Argus</i> will pay you,
+besides refunding all your expenses twice over.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In other words, you ask me to be bribed and refuse to perform my duty to
+the paper.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It isn't bribery. I merely pay you, or will pay you, double what you
+will receive from that paper. I presume your connection with it is purely
+commercial. You work for it because you receive a certain amount of
+money; if the editor found someone who would do the same work cheaper, he
+would at once employ that person, and your services would be no longer
+required. Is that not true?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is true.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, the question of duty hardly enters into such a compact.
+They have sent you on what would be to most people a very difficult
+mission. You have succeeded. You have, therefore, in your possession
+something to sell. The New York paper will pay you a certain sum in cash
+for it. I offer you, for the same article, double the price the <i>New York
+Argus</i> will pay you. Is not that a fair offer?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster had arisen. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. For a small space of time nothing was said, and Edith
+Longworth imagined she had gained her point. The woman standing looked
+down at the woman sitting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know all the particulars about the attempt to get this
+information?' asked Miss Brewster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know some of them. What particulars do you mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know that a man from the <i>Argus</i> tried to get this information
+from Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in Canada?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I know about that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know that he stole the reports, and that they were taken from him
+before he could use them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know he offered Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth double the price the
+London Syndicate would have paid them, on condition they gave him a
+synopsis of the reports?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I know that also.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know that, in doing what he asked, they would not have been
+keeping back for a single day the real report from the people who engaged
+them? You know all that, do you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I know all that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then. Now you ask me to do very much more than Rivers asked
+them, because you ask me to keep my paper completely in the dark about
+the information I have got. Isn't that so?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, you can keep them in the dark until after the report has been given
+to the directors; then, of course, you can do what you please with the
+information.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, but by that time it will be of no value. By that time it will have
+been published in the London financial papers. At that time anybody can
+get it. Isn't that the case?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, I want to ask you one other question, Miss&mdash;Miss&mdash;I don't think you
+told me your name.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My name is Edith Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, Miss Longworth. I want to ask you one more question. What do
+you think of the conduct of Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in refusing to
+take double what they had been promised for making the report?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do I think of them?' repeated the girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; what do you think of them? You hesitate. You realize that you are
+in a corner. You think Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Kenyon did very nobly in
+refusing Rivers' offer?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So do I. I think they acted rightly, and did as honourable men should
+do. Now, when you think that, Miss Longworth, how dare you come and offer
+me double, or three times, or four times, the amount my paper gives to me
+for getting this information? Do you think that I am any less honourable
+than Kenyon or Wentworth? Your offer is an insult to me; nobody but a
+woman, and a woman of your class, would have made it. Kenyon wouldn't
+have made it. Wentworth wouldn't have made it. You come here to bribe
+me. You come here to do exactly what J. K. Rivers tried to do for the
+<i>Argus</i> in Canada. You think money will purchase anything&mdash;that is the
+thought of all your class. Now, I want you to understand that I am a
+woman of the people. I was born and brought up in poverty in New York.
+You were born and brought up amid luxury in London. I have suffered
+privation and hardships that you know nothing of, and, even if you read
+about them, you wouldn't understand. You, with the impudence of your
+class, think you can come to me and bribe me to betray my employer. I am
+here to do a certain thing, and I am going to do that certain thing in
+spite of all the money that all the Longworths ever possessed, or ever
+will possess. Do I make myself sufficiently plain?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. I don't think anyone could misunderstand you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I am glad of that, because one can never tell how thickheaded some
+people may be.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think there is any parallel between your case and Mr.
+Wentworth's?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course I do. We were each sent to do a certain piece of work. We
+each did our work. We have both been offered a bribe to cheat our
+employers of the fruits of our labour; only in my case it is very much
+worse than in Wentworth's, because his employers would not have suffered,
+while mine will.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This is all very plausible, Miss Brewster, but now allow me to tell you
+that what you have done is a most dishonourable thing, and that you are a
+disgrace to our common womanhood. You have managed, during a very short
+acquaintance, to win the confidence of a man&mdash;there is a kind of woman
+who knows how to do that: I thank Heaven I am not of that class; I prefer
+to belong to the class you have just now been reviling. Some men have an
+inherent respect for all women; Mr. Wentworth is apparently one of those,
+and, while he was on his guard with a man, he was not on his guard with a
+woman. You took advantage of that and you managed to secure certain
+information which you knew he would never have given you if he had
+thought it was to be published. You stole that information just as
+disreputably as that man stole the documents from Mr. Kenyon's pocket.
+<i>You</i> talk of your honour and your truth when you did such a contemptible
+thing! <i>You</i> prate of unbribeableness, when the only method possible is
+adopted of making you do what is right and just and honest! Your conduct
+makes me ashamed of being a woman. A thoroughly bad woman I can
+understand, but not a woman like you, who trade on the fact that you
+<i>are</i> a woman, and that you are pretty, and that you have a pleasing
+manner. You use those qualities as a thief or a counterfeiter would use
+the peculiar talents God had given him. How dare you pretend for a moment
+that your case is similar to Mr. Wentworth's? Mr. Wentworth is an
+honourable man, engaged in an honourable business; as for you and your
+business, I have no words to express my contempt for both. Picking
+pockets is reputable compared with such work.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth was now standing up, her face flushed and her hands
+clenched. She spoke with a vehemence which she very much regretted when
+she thought of the circumstance afterwards; but her chagrin and
+disappointment at failure, where she had a moment before been sure of
+success, overcame her. Her opponent stood before her, angry and pale. At
+first Edith Longworth thought she was going to strike her, but if any
+such idea passed through the brain of the journalist, she thought better
+of it. For a few moments neither spoke, then Jennie Brewster said, in a
+voice of unnatural calmness:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are quite welcome to your opinion of me, Miss Longworth, and I
+presume I am entitled to my opinion of Kenyon and Wentworth. They are
+two fools, and you are a third in thinking you can control the actions of
+a woman where two young men have failed. Do you think for a moment I
+would grant to you, a woman of a class I hate, what I would not grant to
+a man like Wentworth? They say there is no fool like an old fool, but it
+should be said that there is no fool like a young woman who has had
+everything her own way in this world. You are&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not stay and listen to your abuse. I wish to have nothing more
+to do with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, yes! you will stay,' cried the other, placing her back against the
+door. '<i>You</i> came here at your own pleasure; you will leave at mine. I
+will tell you more truth in five minutes than you ever heard in your life
+before. I will tell you, in the first place, that my business is quite as
+honourable as Kenyon's or Wentworth's. What does Kenyon do but try to get
+information about mines which other people are vitally interested in
+keeping from him? What does Wentworth do but ferret about among accounts
+like a detective trying to find out what other people are endeavouring to
+conceal? What is the whole mining business but one vast swindle, whose
+worst enemy is the press? No wonder anyone connected with mining fears
+publicity. If your father has made a million out of mines, he has made it
+simply by swindling unfortunate victims. I do my business my way, and
+your two friends do theirs in their way. Of the two, I consider my
+vocation much the more upright. Now that you have heard what I have to
+say, you may go, and let me tell you that I never wish to see you or
+speak with you again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you for your permission to go. I am sure I cordially echo your
+wish that we may never meet again. I may say, however, that I am sorry I
+spoke to you in the way I did. It is, of course, impossible for you to
+look on the matter from my point of view, just as it is impossible for me
+to look upon it from yours. Nevertheless, I wish you would forget what I
+said, and think over the matter a little more, and if you see your way to
+accepting my offer it will be always open to you. Should you forego the
+sending of that cablegram, I will willingly pay you three times what the
+<i>New York Argus</i> will give you for it. I do not offer that as a bribe; I
+merely offer it so that you will not suffer from doing what I believe to
+be a just action. It seems to me a great pity that two young men should
+have to endure a serious check to their own business advancement because
+one of them was foolish enough to confide in a woman in whom he
+believed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth was young, and therefore scarcely likely to be a mistress
+of diplomacy, but she might have known the last sentence she uttered
+spoiled the effect of all that had gone before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really, Miss Longworth, I had some little admiration for you when you
+blazed out at me in the way you did; but now, when you coolly repeat
+your offer of a bribe, adding one-third to it, all my respect for you
+vanishes. You may go and tell those who sent you that nothing under
+heaven can prevent that cablegram being sent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In saying this, however, Miss Brewster somewhat exceeded her knowledge.
+Few of us can foretell what may or may not happen under heaven.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap11"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth went to her state-room and there had what women call 'a
+good cry' over her failure. Jennie Brewster continued her writing, every
+now and then pausing as she thought, with regret, of some sharp thing she
+might have said, which did not occur to her at the time of the interview.
+Kenyon spent his time in pacing up and down the deck, hoping for the
+reappearance of Miss Longworth&mdash;an expectation which, for a time at
+least, was the hope deferred which maketh the heart sick. Fleming, the
+New York politician, kept the smoking-room merry, listening to the
+stories he told. He varied the proceedings by frequently asking everybody
+to drink with him, an invitation that met with no general refusal. Old
+Mr. Longworth dozed most of his time in his steamer chair. Wentworth, who
+still bitterly accused himself of having been a fool, talked with no one,
+not even his friend Kenyon. All the time, the great steamship kept
+forging along through the reasonably calm water just as if nothing had
+happened or was going to happen. There had been one day of rain, and one
+night and part of a day of storm. Saturday morning broke, and it was
+expected that some time in the night Queenstown would be reached. Early
+on Saturday morning the clouds looked lowering, as they have a right to
+look near Ireland.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth, the cause of all the worry, gave Kenyon very little assistance
+in the matter that troubled his mind. He was in the habit, when the
+subject was referred to, of thrusting his hands into his hair, or
+plunging them down into his pockets, and breaking out into language which
+was as deplorable as it was expressive. The more Kenyon advised him to be
+calm, the less Wentworth followed that advice. As a general thing, he
+spent most of his time alone in a very gloomy state of mind. On one
+occasion when the genial Fleming slapped him on the shoulder, Wentworth,
+to his great astonishment, turned fiercely round and cried:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you do that again, sir, I'll knock you down.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fleming said afterwards that he was 'completely flabbergasted' by
+this&mdash;whatever that may mean&mdash;and he added that the English in general
+were a queer race. It is true that he gathered himself together at the
+time and, having laughed a little over the remark, said to Wentworth:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come and have a drink; then you'll feel better.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This invitation Wentworth did not even take the trouble to decline, but
+thrust his hands in his pockets once more, and turned his back on the
+popular New York politician.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth summed up the situation to John Kenyon when he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is no use in our talking or thinking any more about it. We can
+simply do nothing. I shall take the whole blame on my shoulders. I am
+resolved that you shall not suffer from my indiscretion. Now, don't talk
+to me any more about it. I want to forget the wretched business, if
+possible.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So thus it came about quite naturally that John Kenyon, who was a good
+deal troubled about the matter, took as his confidante Edith
+Longworth, who also betrayed the greatest interest in the problem.
+Miss Longworth was left all the more alone because her cousin had
+taken permanently to the smoking-room. Someone had introduced him to
+the fascinating game of poker, and in the practice of this particular
+amusement Mr. William Longworth was now spending a good deal of his
+surplus cash, as well as his time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster was seldom seen on deck. She applied herself assiduously
+to the writing of those brilliant articles which appeared later in the
+Sunday edition of the <i>New York Argus</i> under the general title of 'Life
+at Sea,' and which have more recently been issued in book form. As
+everybody is already aware, her sketches of the genial New York
+politician, and also of the taciturn, glum Englishman, are considered the
+finest things in the little volume. They have been largely copied as
+typical examples of American humour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Jennie Brewster did appear on deck, she walked alone up and down the
+promenade, with a sort of half-defiant look in her eyes as she passed
+Kenyon and Edith Longworth, and she generally encountered them together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On this particularly eventful Saturday morning, Kenyon and Edith had the
+deck to themselves. The conversation naturally turned to the subject
+which for the last few days had occupied the minds of both.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know,' said the girl, 'I have been thinking all along that she
+will come to me at the last for the money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not at all sure about that,' answered Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought she would probably keep us on the tenterhooks just as long
+as possible, and then at the last moment come and say she would accept
+the offer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If she does,' said Kenyon, 'I would not trust her. I would give her to
+understand that a cheque would be handed to her when we were certain the
+article had not been used.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think that would be a safe way to act if she came and said she
+would take the money for not sending the cablegram? Don't you think it
+would be better to pay her and trust to her honour?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not think I would trust much to her honour.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, do you know, I have a different opinion of her. I feel sure that if
+she said she would do a thing, she <i>would</i> do it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have no such faith,' answered Kenyon. 'I think, on the contrary, that
+she is quite capable of asking you for the money and still sending her
+telegram.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I doubt if she would do so. I think the girl really believes she
+is acting rightly, and imagines she has done a creditable action in a
+very smart way. If she were not what she calls "honest," she would not
+have shown so much temper as she did. Not but that I gave a deplorable
+exhibition of temper myself, for which there was really no excuse.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sure,' said Kenyon warmly, 'you did nothing of the kind. At all
+events, I am certain everything you did was perfectly right; and I know
+you were completely justified in anything you said.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish I could think so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I want to ask you one question,' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But what that question was will never be known. It was never asked; and
+when Edith Longworth inquired about it some time later, the question had
+entirely gone from Kenyon's mind. The steamship, which was ploughing
+along through the waters, suddenly gave a shiver, as if it were shaken by
+an earthquake; there were three tremendous bumps, such as a sledge might
+make by going suddenly over logs concealed in the snow. Both Kenyon and
+Miss Longworth sprang to their feet. There was a low roar of steam, and
+they saw a cloud rise amidships, apparently pouring out of every aperture
+through which it could escape. Then there was silence. The engines had
+stopped, and the vessel heeled distinctly over to the port side. When
+Edith Longworth began to realize the situation, she found herself very
+close to Kenyon, clasping his arm with both hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What&mdash;what is it?' she cried in alarm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Something is wrong,' said Kenyon. 'Nothing serious, I hope. Will you
+wait here a moment while I go and see?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is stupid of me,' she answered, releasing his arm; 'but I feel
+dreadfully frightened.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps you would rather not be left alone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, it is all over now; but when the first of those terrible shocks
+came it seemed to me we had struck a rock.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There are no rocks here,' said Kenyon. 'The day is perfectly clear, and
+we are evidently not out of our course. Something has gone wrong with the
+machinery, I imagine. Just wait a moment, and I will find out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Kenyon rushed towards the companion-way, he met a sailor hurrying in
+the other direction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is the matter?' cried Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sailor gave no answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On entering the companion-way door, Kenyon found the place full of steam,
+and he ran against an officer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is wrong? Is anything the matter?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How should I know?' was the answer, very curtly given. 'Please do not
+ask any questions. Everything will be attended to.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was scant encouragement. People began crowding up the companion-way,
+coughing and wheezing in the steam; and soon the deck, that but a moment
+before had been almost without an occupant, was crowded with excited
+human beings in all states of dress and undress.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is wrong?' was the question on every lip, to which, as yet, there
+was no answer. The officers who hurried to and fro were mute, or gave
+short and unsatisfactory replies to the inquiries which poured in upon
+them. People did not pause to reflect that even an officer could hardly
+be expected to know off-hand what the cause of the sudden stoppage of the
+engine might be. By-and-by the captain appeared, smiling and bland. He
+told them there was no danger. Something had gone amiss with the
+machinery, exactly what he could not, at the moment, tell; but
+there was no necessity for being panic-stricken, everything would
+be all right in a short time if they merely remained calm. These,
+and a lot of other nautical lies, which are always told on such
+occasions, served to calm the fears of the crowd; and by-and-by one
+after another went down to their state-rooms on finding the vessel was
+not going to sink immediately. They all appeared some time afterward in
+more suitable apparel. The steam which had filled the saloon soon
+disappeared, leaving the furniture dripping with warm moisture. Finally,
+the loud clang of the breakfast-gong sounded as if nothing had happened,
+and that did more, perhaps, than anything else to allay the fears of the
+passengers. If breakfast was about to be served, then, of course, things
+were not serious. Nevertheless, a great many people that morning had a
+very poor appetite for the breakfast served to them. The one blessing, as
+everybody said, was that the weather kept so fine and the sea so calm. To
+those few who knew anything about disasters at sea, the list of the ship
+to the port side was a most serious sign. The majority of the passengers,
+however, did not notice it. After breakfast people came up on deck. There
+was a wonderful avoidance of hurry, alike by officers and sailors. Orders
+were given calmly and quietly, and as calmly and quietly obeyed. Officers
+were still up on the bridge, although there were no commands to give to
+the man at the wheel and no screw turning. The helmsman stood at the
+wheel as if he expected at any time the order to turn it port or
+starboard. All this absence of rush had a very soothing effect on the
+passengers, many of whom wanted only a slight excuse to become
+hysterical. As the day wore on, however, a general feeling of security
+seemed to have come upon all on board. They one and all congratulated
+themselves on the fact that they had behaved in a most exemplary manner
+considering the somewhat alarming circumstances. Nevertheless, those who
+watched the captain saw that he swept the long line of the horizon
+through his glass every now and then with a good deal of anxiety, and
+they noticed on looking at the long level line where sea and sky met
+that not a sail was visible around the complete circle. Up from the
+engine-room came the clank of hammers, and the opinion was general that,
+whatever was amiss with the engine, it was capable of being repaired. One
+thing had become certain, there was nothing wrong with the shafts. The
+damage, whatever it was, had been to the engine alone. All of the
+passengers found themselves more or less affected by the peculiar
+sensation of the steamer being at rest&mdash;the awe-inspiring and helpless
+consciousness of complete silence&mdash;after the steady throb they had become
+so accustomed to all the way across. That night at dinner the captain
+took his place at the head of the table, urbane and courteous, as if
+nothing unusual had happened; and the people, who, notwithstanding their
+outward calmness, were in a state of anxious tension, noticed this with
+gratified feelings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is the matter?' asked a passenger of the captain; 'and what is the
+extent of the accident?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The captain looked down the long table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid,' said he, 'that if I went into technical details you would
+not understand them. There was a flaw in one of the rods connected with
+the engine. That rod broke, and in breaking it damaged other parts of
+the machinery. Doubtless you heard the three thuds which it gave before
+the engine was stopped. At present it is impossible to tell how long it
+will take to repair the damage. However, even if the accident were
+serious, we are right in the track of vessels, and there is no danger.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was reassuring; but those who lay awake that night heard the
+ominous sound of the pumps, and the swishing of water splashing down
+into the ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap12"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Most of the passengers awoke next morning with a bewildering feeling of
+vague apprehension. The absence of all motion in the ship, the unusual
+and intense silence, had a depressing effect. The engines had not yet
+started; that at least was evident. Kenyon was one of the first on deck.
+He noticed that the pumps were still working at their full speed, and
+that the steamer had still the unexplained list to port. Happily, the
+weather continued good, so far as the quietness of the sea was concerned.
+A slight drizzle of rain had set in, and the horizon was not many miles
+from the ship. There would not be much chance of sighting another liner
+while such weather continued.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before Kenyon had been many minutes on deck, Edith Longworth came up the
+companion-way. She approached him with a smile on her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said, 'you, at least, do not seem to be suffering any anxiety
+because of our situation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really,' she replied, 'I was not thinking of that at all, but about
+something else. Can you not guess what it is?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' he answered hesitatingly. 'What is it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you forgotten that this is Sunday morning?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is it? Of course it is. So far as I am concerned, time seemed to stop
+when the engines broke down. But I do not understand why Sunday morning
+means anything in particular.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't you? Well, for a person who has been thinking for the last two or
+three days very earnestly on one particular subject, I am astonished at
+you. Sunday morning and no land in sight! Reflect for a moment.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon's face brightened.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah,' he cried, 'I see what you mean now! Miss Brewster's cable message
+will not appear in this morning's <i>New York Argus</i>.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course it will not; and don't you see, also, that when we do arrive
+you will have an equal chance in the race. If we get in before next
+Sunday, your telegram to the London people will go as quickly as her
+cable despatch to New York; thus you will be saved the humiliation of
+seeing the substance of your report in the London papers before the
+directors see the report itself. It is not much, to be sure, but, still,
+it puts you on equal terms; while if we had got into Queenstown last
+night that would have been impossible.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said, 'for such a result the cause is rather tremendous, isn't
+it? It is something like burning down the house to roast the pig!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Shortly after ten o'clock the atmosphere cleared, and showed in the
+distance a steamer, westward bound. The vessel evidently belonged to one
+of the great ocean lines. The moment it was sighted there fluttered up to
+the masthead a number of signal-flags, and people crowded to the side of
+the ship to watch the effect on the outgoing vessel. Minute after minute
+passed, but there was no response from the other liner. People watched
+her with breathless anxiety, as though their fate depended on her
+noticing their signals. Of course, everybody thought she must see them,
+but still she steamed westward. A cloud of black smoke came out of her
+funnel, and then a long dark trail, like the tail of a comet, floated out
+behind; but no notice was taken of the fluttering flags at the masthead.
+For more than an hour the steamer was in sight. Then she gradually faded
+away into the west, and finally disappeared.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This incident had a depressing effect on the passengers of the disabled
+ship. Although every officer had maintained there was no danger, yet the
+floating away of that steamer seemed somehow to leave them alone; and
+people, after gazing toward the west until not a vestige of her remained
+in the horizon, went back to their deck-chairs, feeling more despondent
+than ever.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fleming, however, maintained that if people had to drown, it was just as
+well to drown jolly as mournful, and so he invited everybody to take a
+drink at his expense&mdash;a generous offer, taken instant advantage of by all
+the smoking-room frequenters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My idea is this,' said Fleming, as he sipped the cocktail which was
+brought to him, 'if anything happens, let it happen; if nothing happens,
+why, then let nothing happen. There is no use worrying about anything,
+especially something we cannot help. Here we are on the ocean in a
+disabled vessel&mdash;very good; we cannot do anything about it, and so long
+as the bar remains open, gentlemen, here's to you!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And with this cheerful philosophy the New York politician swallowed the
+liquor he had paid for.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Still the swish of water from the pumps could be heard, but the metallic
+clanking of steel on steel no longer came up from the engine-room. This
+in itself was ominous to those who knew. It showed that the engineer had
+given up all hope of repairing the damage, whatever it was, and the real
+cause of the disaster was as much a mystery as ever. Shortly before lunch
+it became evident to people on board the ship that something was about to
+be done. The sailors undid the fastenings of one of the large boats, and
+swung it out on the davits until it hung over the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gradually rumour took form, and it became known that one of the officers
+and certain of the crew were about to make an attempt to reach the coast
+of Ireland and telegraph to Queenstown for tugs to bring the steamer in.
+The captain still asserted that there was no danger whatever, and it was
+only to prevent delay that this expedient was about to be tried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know what they are going to do?' cried Edith Longworth, in a
+state of great excitement, to John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon had been walking the deck with Wentworth, who now had gone below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have heard,' said Kenyon, 'that they intend trying to reach the
+coast.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly. Now, why should you not send a telegram to your people in
+London, and have the reports forwarded at once? The chances are that
+Miss Brewster will never think of sending her cablegram with the officer
+who is going to make the trip; then you will be a clear day or two ahead
+of her, and everything will be all right. In fact, when she understands
+what has been done, she probably will not send her own message at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By George!' cried Kenyon, 'that is a good idea. I will see the mate at
+once, and find out whether he will take a telegram.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went accordingly, and spoke to the mate about sending a message with
+him. The officer said that any passenger who wished to send a telegraphic
+message would be at liberty to do so. He would take charge of the
+telegrams very gladly. Kenyon went down to his state-room and told
+Wentworth what was going to be done. For the first time in several days
+George Wentworth exhibited something like energy. He went to the steward
+and bought the stamps to put on the telegram, while John Kenyon wrote it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The message was given to the officer, who put it into his inside pocket,
+and then Kenyon thought all was safe. But Edith Longworth was not so sure
+of that. Jennie Brewster sat in her deck-chair calmly reading her usual
+paper-covered novel. She apparently knew nothing of what was going on,
+and Edith Longworth, nervous with suppressed excitement, sat near her,
+watching her narrowly, while preparations for launching the boat were
+being completed. Suddenly, to Edith's horror, the deck-steward appeared,
+and in a loud voice cried:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ladies and gentlemen, anyone wishing to send telegrams to friends has a
+few minutes now to write them. The mate will take them ashore with him,
+and will send them from the first office that he reaches. No letters can
+be taken, only telegrams.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster looked up languidly from her book during the first part of
+this recital. Then she sprang suddenly to her feet, and threw the book
+on the deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who is it will take the telegrams?' she asked the steward.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The mate, miss. There he is standing yonder, miss.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She made her way quickly to that official.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you take a cable despatch to be sent to New York?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, miss. Is it a very long one?' he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is a very long one.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, miss,' was the answer, 'you haven't much time to write it. We
+leave now in a very few minutes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is all written out; I have only to add a few words to it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster at once flew to her state-room. The telegram about the mine
+was soon before her with the words counted, and the silver and gold that
+were to pay for it piled on the table. She resolved to run no risk of
+delay by having the message sent 'to collect.' Then she dashed off, as
+quickly as she could, a brief and very graphic account of the disaster
+which had overtaken the <i>Caloric</i>. If this account was slightly
+exaggerated, Miss Brewster had no time to tone it down. Picturesque and
+dramatic description was what she aimed at. Her pen flew over the paper
+with great rapidity, and she looked up every now and then, through her
+state-room window, to see dangling from the ropes the boat that was to
+make the attempt to reach the Irish coast. As she could thus see how the
+preparations for the departure were going forward, she lingered longer
+than she might otherwise have done, and added line after line to the
+despatch which told of the disaster. At last she saw the men take their
+places in the longboat. She hurriedly counted the words in the new
+despatch she had written, and quickly from her purse piled the gold that
+was necessary to pay for their transmission. Then she sealed the two
+despatches in an envelope, put the two piles of gold into one after
+rapidly counting them again, cast a quick look up at the still motionless
+boat, grasped the gold in one hand, the envelope in the other, and sprang
+to her feet; but, as she did so, she gave a shriek and took a step
+backwards.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Standing with her back to the door was Edith Longworth. When she had
+entered the state-room, Miss Brewster did not know, but her heart beat
+wildly as she saw the girl standing silently there, as if she had risen
+up through the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What are you doing here?' she demanded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am here,' said Miss Longworth, 'because I wish to talk with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Stand aside; I have no time to talk to you just now. I told you I didn't
+want to see you again. Stand aside, I tell you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not stand aside.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean that I shall not stand aside.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then I will ring the bell and have you thrust out of here for your
+impudence.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You shall not ring the bell,' said Edith calmly, putting her hand over
+the white china plaque that held in its centre the black electric button.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to tell me that you intend to keep me from leaving my own
+state-room?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean to tell you exactly that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know that you can be imprisoned for attempting such a thing?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't care.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Stand aside, you vixen, or I will strike you!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For a moment the two girls stood there, the one flushed and excited, the
+other apparently calm, with her back against the door and her hand over
+the electric button. A glance through the window showed Miss Brewster
+that the mate had got into the boat, and that they were steadily
+lowering away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Let me pass, you&mdash;you wretch!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All in good time,' replied Edith Longworth, whose gaze was also upon the
+boat swinging in mid-air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster saw at once that, if it came to a hand-to-hand encounter,
+she would have no chance whatever against the English girl, who was in
+every way her physical superior. She had her envelope in one hand and the
+gold in the other. She thrust both of them into her pocket, which, after
+some fumbling, she found. Then she raised her voice in one of the
+shrillest screams which Edith Longworth had ever heard. As if in answer
+to that ear-piercing sound, there rose from the steamer a loud and
+ringing cheer. Both glanced up to see where the boat was, but it was not
+in sight. Several ropes were dangling down past the porthole. Miss
+Brewster sprang up on the sofa, and with her small hands turned round
+the screw which held the window closed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth looked at her without making any attempt to prevent the
+unfastening of the window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster flung open the heavy brass circle which held the thick
+green glass, and again she screamed at the top of her voice, crying
+'Help!' and 'Murder!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The other did not move from her position. In the silence that followed,
+the steady splash of oars could be heard, and again a rousing cheer rang
+out from those who were left upon the motionless steamer. Edith Longworth
+raised herself on tiptoe and looked out of the open window. On the crest
+of a wave, five hundred yards away from the vessel, she saw the boat for
+a moment appear, showing the white glitter of her six dripping oars; then
+it vanished down the other side of the wave into the trough of the sea.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, Miss Brewster', she said, 'you are at liberty to go.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap13"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+After Edith Longworth left her, Jennie Brewster indulged in a brief spasm
+of hysterics. Her common-sense, however, speedily came to her rescue;
+and, as she became more calm, she began to wonder why she had not
+assaulted the girl who had dared to imprison her. She dimly remembered
+that she thought of a fierce onslaught at the time, and she also
+recollected that her fear of the boat leaving during the struggle had
+stayed her hand. But now that the boat had left she bitterly regretted
+her inaction, and grieved unavailingly over the fact that she had
+stopped to write the account of the disaster which befell the <i>Caloric</i>.
+Had she not done so, all might have been well, but her great ambition to
+be counted the best-newspaper woman in New York, and to show the editor
+that she was equal to any emergency that might arise, had undone her.
+While it would have been possible for her to send away one telegram, her
+desire to write the second had resulted in her sending none at all.
+Although she impugned her own conduct in language that one would not have
+expected to have heard from the lips of a millionaire's daughter, her
+anger against Edith Longworth became more intense, and a fierce desire
+for revenge took possession of the fair correspondent. She resolved that
+she would go up on deck and shame this woman before everybody. She would
+attract public attention to the affair by tearing Edith Longworth from
+her deck-chair, and in her present state of mind she had no doubt of her
+strength to do it. With the yearning for vengeance fierce and strong upon
+her, the newspaper woman put on her hat and departed for the deck. She
+passed up one side and down the other, but her intended victim was not
+visible. The rage of Miss Brewster increased when she did not find her
+prey where she expected. She had a fear that, when she calmed down, a
+different disposition would assert itself, and her revenge would be lost.
+In going to and fro along the deck she met Kenyon and Fleming walking
+together. Fleming had just that moment come up to Kenyon, who was quietly
+pacing the deck alone, and, slapping him on the shoulder, asked him to
+have a drink.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It seems to me,' he said, 'that I never have had the pleasure of
+offering you a drink since we came on board this ship. I want to drink
+with everybody here, and especially now, when something has happened to
+make it worth while.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said John Kenyon coldly, 'but I never
+drink with anybody.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What, never touch it at all? Not even beer?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not even beer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I am astonished to hear that. I thought every Englishman drank
+beer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is at least one Englishman who does not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All right, then; no harm done, and no offence given, I hope. I may say,
+however, that you miss a lot of fun in this world.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose I miss a few headaches also.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, not necessarily. I have one great recipe for not having a headache.
+You see, this is the philosophy of headaches.' And then, much to John's
+chagrin, he linked arms with him and changed his step to suit Kenyon's,
+talking all the time as if they were the most intimate friends in the
+world. 'I have a sure plan for avoiding a headache. You see, when you
+look into the matter, it is this way: The headache only comes when you
+are sober. Very well, then. It is as simple as A B C. Never get sober;
+that's my plan. I simply keep on, and never get sober, so I have no
+headaches. If people who drink would avoid the disagreeable necessity of
+ever getting sober, they would be all right. Don't you see what I mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And how about their brains in the meantime?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, their brains are all right. Good liquor sharpens a man's brains
+wonderfully. Now, you try it some time. Let me have them mix a cocktail
+for you? I tell you, John, a cocktail is one of the finest drinks that
+ever was made, and this man at the bar&mdash;when I came on board, he thought
+he could make a cocktail, but he didn't know even the rudiments&mdash;I have
+taught him how to do it; and I tell you that secret will be worth a
+fortune to him, because if there is anything Americans like, it is to
+have their cocktails mixed correctly. There's no one man in all England
+can do it, and very few men on the Atlantic service. But I'm gradually
+educating them. Been across six times. They pretend to give you American
+drinks over in England, but you must know how disappointing they are.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I don't see how I should know, for I never taste any of them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, true; I had forgotten that. Well, I took this bar-keeper here in
+hand, and he knows now how to make a reasonably good cocktail; and, as I
+say, that secret will be worth money to him from American passengers.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John Kenyon was revolving in his mind the problem of how to get rid of
+this loquacious and generous individual, when he saw, bearing down upon
+them, the natty figure of Miss Jennie Brewster; and he wondered why such
+a look of bitter indignation was flashing from her eyes. He thought that
+she intended to address the American politician, but he was mistaken. She
+came directly at him, and said in an excited tone, with a ring of anger
+in it:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, John Kenyon, what do you think of your work?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What work?' asked the bewildered man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You know very well what work I mean. A fine specimen of a man you are!
+Without the courage yourself to prevent my sending that telegram, you
+induced your dupe to come down to my state-room and brazenly keep me from
+sending it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The blank look of utter astonishment upon the face of honest John Kenyon
+would have convinced any woman in her senses that he knew nothing at all
+of what she was speaking. A dim impression of this, indeed, flashed
+across the young woman's heated brain. But before she could speak,
+Fleming said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Tut, tut, my dear girl! you are talking too loud altogether. Do you want
+to attract the attention of everybody on the deck? You mustn't make a
+scandal in this way on board ship.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Scandal!' she cried. 'We will soon see whether there will be a scandal
+or not. Attract the attention of those on deck! That is exactly what I am
+going to do, until I show up the villainy of this man you are talking to.
+He was the concocter of it, and he knows it. She never had brains enough
+to think of it. He was too much of a coward to carry it through himself,
+and so he set her to do his dastardly piece of work.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, well,' said Fleming, 'even if he has done all that, whatever it
+is, it will do no good to attract attention to it here on deck. See how
+everybody is listening to what you are saying. My dear girl, you are too
+angry to talk just now; the best thing you can do is to go down to your
+state-room.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who asked you to interfere?' she cried, turning furiously upon him.
+'I'll thank you to mind your own business, and let me attend to mine. I
+should have thought that you would have found out before this that I am
+capable of attending to my own affairs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly, certainly, my dear child,' answered the politician
+soothingly; 'I'm sorry I can't get you all to come and have a drink with
+me, and talk this matter over quietly. That's the correct way to do
+things, not to stand here scolding on the deck, with everybody listening.
+Now, if you will quietly discuss the matter with John here, I'm sure
+everything will be all right.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't know what you are talking about,' replied the young lady. 'Do
+you know that I had an important despatch to send to the <i>Argus</i>, and
+that this man's friend, doubtless at his instigation, came into my room
+and practically held me prisoner there until the boat had left, so that I
+could not send the despatch? Think of the cheek and villainy of that, and
+then speak to me of talking wildly!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An expression of amazement upon Kenyon's face convinced the newspaper
+woman, more than all his protestations would have done, that he knew
+nothing whatever of the escapade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And who kept you from coming out?' asked Fleming.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is none of your business,' she replied tartly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you will believe me,' said Kenyon at last, 'I had absolutely no
+knowledge of all this; so, you see, there is no use speaking to me about
+it. I won't pretend I am sorry, because I am not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This added fuel to the flames, and she was about to blaze out again, when
+Kenyon, turning on his heel, left her and Fleming standing facing each
+other. Then the young woman herself turned and quickly departed, leaving
+the bewildered politician entirely alone, so that there was nothing for
+him to do but to go into the smoking-room and ask somebody else to drink
+with him, which he promptly did.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster made her way to the captain's room and rapped at the door.
+On being told to enter, she found that officer seated at his table with
+some charts before him, and a haggard look upon his face, which might
+have warned her that this was not the proper time to air any personal
+grievances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well?' he said briefly as she entered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I came to see you, captain,' she began, 'because an outrageous thing has
+been done on board this ship, and I desire reparation. What is more, I
+will have it!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is the "outrageous thing"?' asked the captain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I had some despatches to send to New York, to the <i>New York Argus</i>, on
+whose staff I am.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said the captain with interest; 'despatches relating to what has
+happened to the ship?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'One of them did, the other did not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I hope,' said the captain, 'you have not given an exaggerated
+account of the condition we are in.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have given no account at all, simply because I was prevented from
+sending the cablegrams.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, indeed,' said the captain, a look of relief coming over his face, in
+spite of his efforts to conceal it; 'and pray what prevented you from
+sending your cablegrams? The mate would have taken any messages that were
+given to him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know that,' cried the young woman; 'but when I was in my room writing
+the last of the despatches, a person who is on board as a passenger
+here&mdash;Miss Longworth&mdash;came into my room and held me prisoner there until
+the boat had left the ship.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The captain arched his eyebrows in surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear madam,' he said, 'you make a very serious charge. Miss Longworth
+has crossed several times with me, and I am bound to say that a
+better-behaved young lady I never had on board my ship.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Extremely well behaved she is!' cried the correspondent angrily, 'she
+stood against my door and prevented me from going out. I screamed for
+help, but my screams were drowned in the cheers of the passengers when
+the boat left.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why did you not ring your bell?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I couldn't ring my bell because she prevented me. Besides, if I had
+reached the bell, it is not likely anybody would have answered it;
+everybody seemed to be bawling after the boat that was leaving.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You can hardly blame them for that. A great deal depends on the safety
+of that boat. In fact, if you come to think about it, you will see that
+whatever grievance you may have, it is, after all, a very trivial one
+compared with the burden that weighs on me just now, and I should much
+prefer not to have anything to do with disputes between the passengers
+until we are out of our present predicament.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The predicament has nothing whatever to do with it. I tell you a fact.
+I tell you that one of your passengers came and imprisoned me in my
+state-room. I come to you for redress. Now, there must be some law on
+shipboard that takes the place of ordinary law on land. I make this
+demand officially to you. If you decline to hear me, and refuse to
+redress my wrong, then I have public opinion, to which I can appeal
+through my paper, and perhaps there will also be a chance of obtaining
+justice through the law of the land to which I am going.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear madam,' said the captain calmly, 'you must not use threats to
+me. I am not accustomed to be addressed in the tone you have taken upon
+yourself to use. Now tell me what it is you wish me to do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is for you to say what you will do. I am a passenger on board this
+ship, and am supposed to be under the protection of its captain. I
+therefore tell you I have been forcibly detained in my state-room, and I
+demand that the person who did this shall be punished.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You say that Miss Longworth is the person who did this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, do you know you make a serious charge against that young lady&mdash;a
+charge that I find it remarkably difficult to believe? May I ask you what
+reason she had for doing what you say she has done?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is a long story. I am quite prepared to show that she tried to
+bribe me not to send a despatch, and, finding herself unsuccessful, she
+forcibly detained me in my room until too late to send the telegram.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The captain pondered over what had been said to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you any proof of this charge?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Proof! What do you mean? Do you doubt my word?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean exactly what I say. Have you anybody to prove the exceedingly
+serious charge you bring?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly not. I have no proof. If there had been a witness there, the
+thing would not have happened. If I could have summoned help, it would
+not have happened. How could I have any proof of such an outrage?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, do you not see that it is impossible for me to take action on your
+unsupported word? Do you not see that, if you take further steps in this
+extraordinary affair, Miss Longworth will ask you for proof of what you
+state? If she denies acting as you say she did, and you fail to prove
+your allegation, it seems to me that you will be in rather a difficult
+position. You would be liable to a suit for slander. Just think the
+matter over calmly for the rest of the day before you take any further
+action upon it, and I would strongly advise you not to mention this to
+anyone on board. Then to-morrow, if you are still in the same frame of
+mind, come to me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus dismissed, the young woman left the captain's room, and met Fleming
+just outside, who said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Look here, Miss Brewster, I want to have a word with you. You were very
+curt with me just now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Fleming, I do not wish to speak to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that's all right&mdash;that's all right; but let me tell you this: you're
+a pretty smart young woman, and you have done me one or two very evil
+turns in your life. I have found out all about this affair, and it's one
+of the funniest things I ever heard of.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very funny, isn't it?' snapped the young woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course it's very funny; but when it appears in full in the opposition
+papers to the <i>Argus</i>, perhaps you won't see the humour of it&mdash;though
+everybody else in New York will, that's one consolation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean to say, Jennie Brewster, that unless you are a fool, you will
+drop this thing. Don't, for Heaven's sake, let anybody know you were
+treated by an English girl in the way you were. Take my advice: say no
+more about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what business is it of yours?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It isn't mine at all; that is why I am meddling with it. Aren't you well
+enough acquainted with me to know that nothing in the world pleases me so
+much as to interfere in other people's business? I have found out all
+about the girl who kept you in, and a mighty plucky action it was too. I
+have seen that girl on the deck, and I like the cut of her jib. I like
+the way she walks. Her independence suits me. She is a girl who wouldn't
+give a man any trouble, now, I tell you, if he were lucky enough to win
+her. And I am not going to see that girl put to any trouble by you,
+understand that!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And how are you going to prevent it, may I ask?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May you ask? Why, of course you may. I will tell you how I am going
+to prevent it. Simply by restraining you from doing another thing in
+the matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you think you can do that, you are very much mistaken. I am going to
+have that girl put in prison, if there is a law in the land.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, in the first place, we are not on land; and, in the second place,
+you are going to do nothing of the kind, because, if you do, I shall go
+to the London correspondents of the other New York papers and give the
+whole blessed snap away. I'll tell them how the smart and cute Miss Dolly
+Dimple, who has bamboozled so many persons in her life, was once caught
+in her own trap; and I shall inform them how it took place. And they'll
+be glad to get it, you bet! It will make quite interesting reading in the
+New York opposition papers some fine Sunday morning&mdash;about a column and a
+half, say. Won't there be some swearing in the <i>Argus</i> when that appears!
+It won't be your losing the despatch you were going to send, but it will
+be your utter idiocy in making the thing public, and letting the other
+papers on to it. Why, the best thing in the world for you to do, and the
+<i>only</i> thing, is to keep as quiet as possible about it. I am astonished
+at a girl of your sense, Dolly, making a public fuss like this, when you
+should be the very one trying to keep it secret.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The newspaper correspondent pondered on these words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And if I keep quiet about it, will you do the same?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly; but you must remember that if ever you attempt any of your
+tricks of interviewing on me again, out comes this whole thing. Don't
+forget that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I won't,' said Miss Jennie Brewster.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And next morning, when the captain was anxiously awaiting her arrival in
+his room, she did not appear.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap14"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+After all, it must be admitted that George Wentworth was a man of
+somewhat changeable character. For the last two or three days he had been
+moping like one who meditated suicide; now when everyone else was
+anxiously wondering what was going to happen to the ship, he suddenly
+became the brightest individual on board. For a man to be moody and
+distraught while danger was impending was not at all surprising; but for
+a man, right in the midst of gloom, to blossom suddenly out into a
+general hilarity of manner, was something extraordinary. People thought
+it must be a case of brain trouble. They watched the young man with
+interest as he walked with a springy step up and down the deck. Every now
+and again a bright smile illuminated his face, and then he seemed to be
+ashamed that people should notice he was feeling so happy. When he was
+alone he had a habit of smiting his thigh and bursting out into a laugh
+that was long and low, rather than loud and boisterous. No one was more
+astonished at this change than Fleming, the politician. George met him on
+deck, and, to the great surprise of that worthy gentleman, smote him on
+the back and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, I am afraid the other day, when you spoke to me, I answered
+a little gruffly. I beg to apologize. Come and have a drink with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, don't mention it,' said Fleming joyously; 'we all of us have our
+little down-turns now and then. Why, I have them myself, when liquor is
+bad or scarce! You mightn't believe it, but some days I feel away down in
+the mouth. It is true I have a recipe for getting up again, which I
+always use. And that reminds me: do you remember what the Governor of
+North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I don't know,' said Wentworth; 'you see, I'm not very well
+versed in United States politics.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, there wasn't much politics about his remark. He merely said,
+"It's a long time between drinks;" come in and have something with me.
+It seems to me you haven't tasted anything in my company since the
+voyage began.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I believe,' said Wentworth, 'that is a true statement. Let us amend it
+as soon as possible, only in this case let me pay for the drinks. I
+invited you to drink with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not at all, not at all!' cried Fleming; 'not while I'm here. This is my
+treat, and it is funny to think that a man should spend a week with
+another man without knowing him. Really, you see, I haven't known you
+till now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so the two worthy gentlemen disappeared into the smoking-room and
+rang the electric bell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But it was in his own state-room that George Wentworth's jocularity came
+out at its best. He would grasp John Kenyon by the shoulder and shake
+that solemn man, over whose face a grim smile generally appeared when he
+noticed the exuberant jollity of his comrade.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'John,' Wentworth cried, 'why don't you laugh?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it seems to me,' replied his comrade, 'that you are doing laughing
+enough for us both. It is necessary to have one member of the firm solid
+and substantial. I'm trying to keep the average about right. When you
+were in the dumps I had to be cheerful for two. Now that you feel so
+lively, I take a refuge in melancholy, to rest me after my hard efforts
+at cheerfulness.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, John, it seems to me too good to be true. What a plucky girl she
+was to do such a thing! How did she know but that the little vixen had a
+revolver with her, and might have shot her?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose she didn't think about it at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you seen her since that dramatic incident?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Seen whom? Miss Brewster?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no; I mean Miss Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, she hasn't appeared yet. I suppose she fears there will be a scene,
+and she is anxious to avoid it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very likely that is the case,' said Wentworth. 'Well, if you do see her,
+you can tell her there is no danger. Our genial friend, Fleming, has had
+a talk with that newspaper woman, so he tells me, and the way he
+describes it is exceedingly picturesque. He has threatened her with
+giving away the "snap," as he calls it, to the other New York papers, and
+it seems that the only thing on earth Miss Brewster is afraid of is the
+opposition press. So she has promised to say nothing more whatever about
+the incident.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, you have been talking with Fleming?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly I have; a jovial good fellow he is, too. I have been doing
+something more than talking with him; I have been drinking with him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And yet a day or two ago, I understand, you threatened to strike him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A day or two ago, John! It was ages and ages ago. A day or two isn't in
+it. That was years and centuries since, as it appears to me. I was an old
+man then; now I have become young again, and all on account of the plucky
+action of that angel of a girl of yours.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not of mine,' said Kenyon seriously; 'I wish she were.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, cheer up. Everything will come out right; you see, it always does.
+Nothing looked blacker than this matter about the telegram a few days
+ago, and see how beautifully it has turned out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon said nothing. He did not desire to discuss the matter even with
+his best friend. The two went up on deck together, and took a few turns
+along the promenade, during which promenade the eyes of Kenyon were
+directed to the occupants of the deckchairs, but he did not see the
+person whom he sought. Telling Wentworth he was going below for a moment,
+he left him to continue his walk alone, and on reaching the saloon Kenyon
+spoke to a stewardess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know if Miss Longworth is in her stateroom?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir, I think she is,' was the answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you take this note to her?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John sat down to wait for an answer. The answer did not come by the hand
+of the stewardess. Edith herself timorously glanced into the saloon, and,
+seeing Kenyon alone, ventured in. He sprang up to meet her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I was afraid,' he said, 'that you had been ill.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, not quite, but almost,' she answered. 'Oh, Mr. Kenyon, I have done
+the most terrible thing! You could not imagine that I was so bold and
+wicked;' and tears gathered in the eyes of the girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon stretched out his hand to her, and she took it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid to stay here with you,' she said, 'for fear&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I know all about it,' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You cannot know about it; you surely do not know what I have done?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I know exactly what you've done; and we all very much admire your
+pluck.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It hasn't, surely, been the talk of the ship?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it has not; but Miss Brewster charged me with being an accomplice.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you told her you were not, of course?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I couldn't tell her anything, for the simple reason that I hadn't the
+faintest idea what she was talking about; but that's how I came to know
+what had happened, and I am here to thank you, Miss Longworth, for your
+action. I really believe you have saved the sanity of my friend
+Wentworth. He is a different man since the incident we are speaking of
+occurred.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And have you seen Miss Brewster since?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes; as I was telling you, she met me on the deck. Dear me! how
+thoughtless of me! I had forgotten you were standing. Won't you sit
+down?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no; I have been in my room so long that I am glad to stand
+anywhere.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, won't you come up on deck with me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I'm afraid,' she said. 'I am afraid of a public scene; and I am
+sure, by the last look I caught in that girl's eyes, she will stop at no
+scandal to have her revenge. I am sorry to say that I am too much of a
+coward to meet her. Of course, from her point of view I have done her
+eternal wrong. Perhaps it was wrong from anybody's point of view.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Longworth,' said John Kenyon cordially, 'you need have no fear
+whatever of meeting her. She will say nothing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you know that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it is a long story. She went to the captain with her complaint, and
+received very little comfort there. I will tell you all about it on deck.
+Get a wrap and come with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As Kenyon gave this peremptory order, he realized that he was taking a
+liberty he had no right to take, and his face flushed as he wondered if
+Edith would resent the familiarity of his tones; but she merely looked up
+at him with a bright smile, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will do, sir, as you command.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no,' said Kenyon; 'it was not a command, although it sounded like
+one. It was a very humble request; at least, I intended it to be such.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I will get my wrap.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she left for her state-room, a rousing cheer was heard from on deck.
+She stopped, and looked at Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What does that mean?' she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know,' was the answer. 'Please get your things on and we will
+go up and see.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When they reached the deck they saw everybody at the forward part of the
+ship. Just becoming visible in the eastern horizon were three trails of
+black smoke, apparently coming towards them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The word was whispered from one to the other: 'It is the tug-boats. It
+is relief.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Few people on board the steamer knew that their very existence depended
+entirely on the good weather. The incessant pumping showed everybody, who
+gave a thought to the matter, that the leak had been serious; but as the
+subsidence of the vessel was imperceptible to all save experts, no one
+but the officers really knew the grave danger they were in. Glad as the
+passengers were to see those three boats approach, the one who most
+rejoiced was the one who knew everything respecting the disaster and its
+effects&mdash;the captain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth and John Kenyon paced the deck together, and did not form
+two of the crowd who could not tear themselves away from the front of
+the ship, watching the gradually approaching tug boats. Purposely, John
+Kenyon brought the girl who was with him past Miss Jennie Brewster, and
+although that person glared with a good deal of anger at Edith, who
+blushed to her temples with fear and confusion, yet nothing was said; and
+Kenyon knew that afterwards his companion would feel easier in her mind
+about meeting the woman with whom she had had such a stormy five minutes.
+The tug boats speedily took the big steamer in tow, and slowly the four
+of them made progress towards Queenstown, it having been resolved to land
+all the passengers there, and to tow the disabled vessel to Liverpool, if
+an examination of the hull showed such a course to be a safe one. The
+passengers bade each other good-bye after they left the tender, and many
+that were on board that ship never saw each other again. One at least,
+had few regrets and no good-byes to make, but a surprise was in store for
+her. Jennie Brewster found a cablegram from New York waiting for her. It
+said 'Cable nothing respecting mines. Letter follows.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap15"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+London again! Muddy, drizzly, foggy London, London, with its well filled
+omnibuses tearing along the streets, more dangerous than the chariots of
+Rome, London, with its bustling thoroughfares, with its traffic blocked
+at the corners by the raised white gloved hand of the policeman, London,
+with the four wheeled growler piled high with luggage, and the dashing
+hansom whirling along, missing the wheels of other vehicles by half an
+inch, while its occupant sits serenely smoking, or motioning his
+directions to his cabman with an umbrella; London, with its constantly
+moving procession of every sort of wheeled carriage, from the four-horsed
+coach to the coster barrow. London, London, London, London! the name
+seemed to ring in John Kenyon's ears as he walked briskly along the
+crowded pavement towards the City. The roar of its busy streets was the
+sweetest music in the world to him, as it is to every man who has once
+acquired the taste for London. Drink of the fountain of Trevi, and you
+will return to Rome. Drink of the roar and the bustle of London, and no
+other metropolis in the world, can ever satisfy the city-hunger in you
+again. London is London, and John Kenyon loved its very disadvantages as
+he strode along the streets.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He called at the office of George Wentworth, took that young man with
+him, and together they went to the place where the adjourned meeting of
+the London Syndicate was to be held. There were questions to be asked of
+the two young men, and the directors couldn't quite see why the reports
+had been so suddenly precipitated upon them, before the arrival of the
+experts they had sent out. So they had merely read the documents at the
+former meeting and adjourned until such time as the two young men could
+appear in person. Most of the directors were there, but, though Kenyon
+looked anxiously among them, he did not see the face of old Mr.
+Longworth. Questions were asked Kenyon about the position of the mines,
+about their output, and such other particulars as the directors wished
+to know. Then Wentworth underwent a similar examination. He pointed out
+the discrepancies which he had found in the accounts. He showed that
+there was an evident desire on the part of the owners of the different
+mines to make it appear that the properties paid better than they
+actually did, and he answered in a clear and satisfactory way all the
+questions asked him. The chairman thanked the young men for the evident
+care with which they had done their work, and the meeting then went into
+a private session to consider what action should be taken respecting the
+mines. When the two friends got out of the building, Kenyon said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, thank goodness that is over and done with. Now, George, what have
+you to suggest with reference to the mica-mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'we had better adjourn to my office and have a
+talk over the matter quietly there. Let us go into private session as the
+directors have done. I feel rich after having got my cheque, and the vote
+of thanks from the chairman; so I will spend a shilling on a hansom and
+get there with speed and comfort. Actually, since I have got back to
+London, I am spending all my surplus cash on hansoms. They are certainly
+the best and cheapest vehicles in the world. Think of what that pirate
+charged us for a ride from the hotel to the steamer in New York.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't like to think of it,' said Kenyon; 'it makes me shudder!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know, John, I should not be inconsolable if I never saw the great
+city of New York again. London is good enough for me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't know! New York is all right. I confess there are one or two
+of her citizens that I do not care much about.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah,' said Wentworth; then, after a few moments' reflection, he remarked
+suddenly, apropos of nothing: 'Do you know, John, I was very nearly in
+love with that girl?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought you were drifting in that direction.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Drifting! It wasn't drifting. It was a mad plunge down the rapids, and
+it is only lately I have begun to think what a close shave I had of it.
+The horror of those days, when I thought that despatch was going to New
+York, completely obliterated any other feeling in regard to her. If I had
+found she was a hopeless flirt, or something of that kind, who was
+trifling with me, I should have been very much shocked, of course, but I
+should have thought about my own feelings. Now, the curious thing is that
+I never began to think about them till I got to London.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, Wentworth; I wouldn't think about them now, if I were you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I don't intend to, particularly. The fact that I talk over them with
+you shows that the impression was not very deep.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth drew a long breath that might have been mistaken for a sigh, if
+he had not just before explained how completely free he was from the
+thraldom in which Miss Brewster at one time held him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Still, she was a very pretty girl, John. You can't deny that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have no wish to deny it. I simply don't want to think about her at
+all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, and we don't need to, thank goodness. But she <i>was</i> very bright and
+clever. Of course you didn't know her as I did. I never before met
+anyone who&mdash;Well, that's all past and done with. I told her all about our
+mica-mine, and she gave me much sage advice.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon smiled, but held his peace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, I know what you are thinking of. I spoke of other mines as well;
+still, that was my folly, and not her fault exactly. She imagined she was
+doing right, and after all, you know, I think we sometimes don't make
+enough allowance for another's point of view.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon laughed outright.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It seems to me you are actually defending her. My remembrance is that
+you didn't make much allowance for her point of view when your own point
+was that coil of rope in the front of the ship&mdash;those days when you
+wouldn't speak even to me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I admit it, John. No, I'm not defending her. I have succeeded in
+putting her entirely out of my mind&mdash;with an effort. How about your own
+case, John?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My own case! What do you mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You know very well what I mean.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose I do forgive the little bit of affectation, will you? but a
+man gets somewhat nervous when such a question is sprung upon him. My own
+case is just where we left it at Queenstown.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Haven't you seen her since?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Aren't you going to?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I really do not know what I am going to do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'John, that young woman has a decided personal interest in you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish I were sure of that, or, rather, I wish I were sure of it and
+in a position to&mdash;But what is the use of talking? I haven't a penny
+to my name.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; but if our mine goes through, you soon will have.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, but what will it amount to? I never can forget the lofty disdain
+with which a certain person spoke of fifty thousand pounds. It sends a
+cold chill over me whenever I think of it. Fifty thousand pounds to her
+seemed so trivial; to me it was something that might be obtained after
+the struggle of a lifetime.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I wouldn't let that discourage me too much if I were you; besides,
+you see&mdash;Oh! here we are. We'll talk about this some other time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having paid the cabman, the two young men went upstairs into Wentworth's
+room, where they closed the door, and John drew up a seat by the side of
+his friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, then,' said Wentworth, 'what have you done about the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have done absolutely nothing. I have been waiting for this conference
+with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, my boy, time is the great factor in anything of this sort.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I suppose it is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see, our option is running along; every day we lose is so much taken
+off our chances of success. Have you anything to propose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'll tell you what I thought of doing. You know young Longworth spoke to
+me a good deal about the mine at one time. His cousin introduced me to
+him, and she seemed to think he might take some interest in forming the
+company. I was to have a talk with you, because Longworth gave it as his
+opinion that the amount should be put at two hundred thousand pounds
+rather than at fifty thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth gave a long whistle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it seems a very large amount; but he claims that if it would pay
+ten per cent. on that sum&mdash;if we could show that there was a reasonable
+chance of its paying so much&mdash;we could put it at two hundred thousand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, that looks reasonable. What else did he say?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He did not say very much more about it, because I told him I should have
+to consult you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And why didn't you? On board ship there was one of the best
+opportunities we could have had of having a talk with him. In fact, the
+whole matter might perhaps have been arranged there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, well, you know, I couldn't talk to you about it, because a certain
+circumstance arose, and you spent your time very much in the forward
+part of the steamer, sitting on a coil of rope and cursing the universe
+generally and yourself in particular'.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, yes, I remember, of course&mdash;yes. Very well, then, you have not seen
+young Longworth since, have you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I have not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wouldn't the old gentleman go in for it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'His daughter seemed to think he would not, because the amount was
+too small.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why couldn't he be got to go into it entirely by himself? If we put the
+price up to one hundred thousand pounds or two hundred thousand pounds,
+that ought to be large enough for him, if he were playing a lone hand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, I don't suppose they thought of going in for it at that,
+except as a matter of speculation. Of course, if they intended to buy
+some shares, it is not likely they would propose to raise the price from
+fifty thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds. Young Longworth
+spoke of dividing the profit. He claimed that whatever we made on fifty
+thousand pounds would be too small to be divided into three. I told him,
+of course, that you were my partner in this, and that is why he proposed
+the price should be made two hundred thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose he seemed indifferent on the question whether it should pay a
+dividend on that amount of money or not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He didn't mention that particularly&mdash;at least, he did not dwell upon it.
+He asked if it would pay a dividend on two hundred thousand, and I told
+him I thought it would pay ten per cent. if rightly managed; then he said
+of course that was its price, and we should be great fools to float it at
+fifty thousand pounds when it was really worth two hundred thousand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth pondered for a few minutes on this, tapping his pencil on the
+desk and knitting his brow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It seems an awful jump, from fifty thousand pounds to two hundred
+thousand pounds, doesn't it, John?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it does; it has a certain look of swindling about it. But what a
+glorious thing it would be if it could be done, and if it would pay the
+right percentage when we got the scheme working!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course I wouldn't be connected, nor you either, with anything that
+was bogus.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly not. I wouldn't think for a moment of inflating it if I were
+not positive the property would stand it. I have been making, and have
+here in my pocket, an elaborate array of figures which will show
+approximately what the mine will yield, and I am quite convinced that it
+will pay at least ten per cent., and possible twelve or fifteen.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, nobody wants a better percentage on their money. Have you the
+figures with you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, here they are.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, you had better leave them with me, and I will go over them as
+critically as if they were the figures of somebody I was deeply
+suspicious of, I hope they will hold water; but if they do not, I will
+point out to you where the discrepancies are.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, you see, George, it is more a question of facts than of figures. I
+believe the whole mountain is made of the mineral which is so valuable,
+but I take only about an eighth of it as being possible to get out, which
+seems to me a very moderate estimate.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, but how much demand is there for it? That is the real question. The
+thing may be valuable enough, but if there is only a limited demand&mdash;that
+is to say, if we have ten times the material that the world needs&mdash;the
+other nine parts are comparatively valueless.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is true.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know how many establishments there are in the world that use
+this mineral?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There are a great many in England, and also in the United States.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And how about the duty on it in the United States?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that I do not know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, we must find that out. Just write down here what it is used for;
+then I shall try to get some information about the factories that require
+it, and also what quantities they need in a year. We shall have to get
+all these facts and figures to lay before the people who are going to
+invest, because, as I understand it, the great point we make is not on
+the mica, but on the other mineral.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, you leave me what you know already about it, and I will
+try to supplement your information. In fact, we shall have to supplement
+it, before we can go before anybody with it. Now, I advise you to see the
+Longworths&mdash;both old and young Longworth&mdash;and you may find that talking
+with them in the City of London is very different from talking with them
+on the <i>Caloric</i>. By the way, I wonder why Longworth was not at the
+directors' meeting to-day.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know. I noticed he was absent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He very likely intends to have nothing more to do with the other mines,
+and so there may be a possibility of his investing in ours. Do you know
+his address?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I have it with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, if I were you, I would jump into a hansom and go there at once.
+Meanwhile, I will try to get your figures into shipshape order, and
+supplement them as far as it is possible to do so. This is going to be no
+easy matter, John. There are a great many properties now being offered
+to the public&mdash;the papers are full of them&mdash;and each of them appears to
+be the most money-making scheme in existence; so if we are going to float
+this mine without knowing any particular capitalist, we have our work cut
+out for us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, you would be willing to put the price up to two hundred thousand
+pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, if you say the mine will stand it. That we can tell better after
+we have gone over the figures together. We ought to be sure of our
+facts first.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. Good-bye; I will go and see Mr. Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap16"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+John Kenyon did not take a cab. He walked so that he might have time to
+think. He wanted to arrange in his mind just what he would say to Mr.
+Longworth, so he pondered over the coming interview as he walked through
+the busy streets of the City.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He had not yet settled things satisfactorily to himself when he came to
+the door leading to Mr. Longworth's offices.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'After all,' he said to himself, as he paused there, 'Mr. Longworth has
+never said anything to me about the mica-mine; and, from what his
+daughter thought, it is not likely that he will care to interest himself
+in it. It was the young man who spoke about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He felt that it was really the young man on whom he should call, but he
+was rather afraid of meeting him. The little he had seen of William
+Longworth on board the <i>Caloric</i> had not given him a very high opinion of
+that gentleman, and he wondered if it would not have been better to have
+told Wentworth that nothing was to be expected from the Longworths.
+However, he resolved not to shirk the interview, so passed up the steps
+and into the outer office. He found the establishment much larger than he
+had expected. At numerous desks there were numerous clerks writing away
+for dear life. He approached the inquiry counter, and a man came forward
+to hear what he had to say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is Mr. Longworth in?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir. Which Mr. Longworth do you want&mdash;the young gentleman or Mr.
+John Longworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish to see the senior member of the firm.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah! have you an appointment with him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I have not; but perhaps if you will take this card to him, and if he
+is not busy, he may see me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He is always very busy, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, take the card to him; and if he doesn't happen to remember the
+name, tell him I met him on board the <i>Caloric</i>.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good, sir.' And with that the clerk disappeared, leaving Kenyon to
+ponder over in his mind the still unsettled question of what he should
+say to Mr. Longworth if he were ushered into his presence. As he stood
+there waiting, with the host of men busily and silently working around
+him, amid the general air of important affairs pervading the place, he
+made up his mind that Mr. Longworth would not see him, and so was rather
+surprised when the clerk came back without the card, and said, 'Will you
+please step this way, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing through a pair of swinging doors, his conductor tapped lightly at
+a closed one, and then opened it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Kenyon, sir,' he said respectfully, and then closed the door behind
+him, leaving John Kenyon standing in a large room somewhat handsomely
+furnished, with two desks near the window. From an inner room came the
+muffled click, click, click of a type-writer. Seated at one of the desks
+was young Longworth, who did not look round as Kenyon was announced. The
+elder gentleman, however, arose, and cordially held out his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' he said. 'I am very pleased to meet you again.
+The terror of our situation on board that ship does not seem to have left
+an indelible mark upon you. You are looking well.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said John; 'I am very glad to be back in London again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I imagine we all like to get back. By the way, it was a much more
+serious affair than we thought at the time on board the <i>Caloric</i>.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So I see by the papers.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How is your friend? He seemed to take it very badly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Take what badly?' asked John in astonishment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, he appeared to me, at the time of the accident, to feel very
+despondent about our situation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, I remember now. Yes, he did feel a little depressed at the time;
+but it was not on account of the accident. It was another matter
+altogether, which, happily, turned out all right.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am glad of that. By the way, have you made your report to the
+directors yet?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; we were at a meeting of the directors to-day.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I could not manage to be there. To tell the truth, I have made up my
+mind to do nothing with those Ottawa mines. You do not know what action
+the Board took in the matter, do you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, they merely received our report; in fact, they had had the report
+before, but there were some questions they desired to ask us, which we
+answered apparently to their satisfaction.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who were there? Sir Ropes McKenna was in the chair, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir, he was there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, so I thought. Well, my opinion of him is that he is merely a
+guinea-pig&mdash;you know what that is? I have made up my mind to have nothing
+more to do with the venture, at any rate. And so they were pleased with
+your report, were they?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'They appeared to be. They passed us a vote of thanks, and one or two
+of the gentlemen spoke in rather a complimentary manner of what we had
+done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am glad of that. By the way, William, you know Mr. Kenyon, do you
+not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man looked round with an abstracted air, and gazed past, rather
+than at, John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Kenyon, Kenyon,' he said to himself, as if trying to recollect a name
+that he had once heard somewhere. 'I really don't&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Tut, tut!' said the old man, 'you remember Mr. Kenyon on board the
+<i>Caloric</i>?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, ah, yes; certainly&mdash;oh, certainly. How do you do, Mr. Kenyon? I had
+forgotten for the moment. I thought I had met you in the City somewhere.
+Feeling first-rate after your trip, I hope.' And young Mr. Longworth
+fixed his one eyeglass in its place and flashed its glitter on Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am very well, thanks.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's right. Let me see, your business with the London Syndicate is
+concluded now, is it not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is done with.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, and what are you doing? Have you anything else on hand?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, that is what I wish to see you about.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I&mdash;you remember, perhaps, we had some talk about a mica-mine near
+the Ottawa River?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'On my soul, I don't. You see, the voyage rather&mdash;that was on board ship,
+I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said John, crossing over to the young man's desk and taking a
+chair beside him. The old gentleman now turned to his own papers, and
+left the two young men to talk together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to say you don't remember a talk we had on deck once about a
+mica-mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Longworth looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he could
+not quite make out what he was talking about.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I remember,' he said, 'your telling me that you had been sent over by
+the London Syndicate to see after certain mines there; but I don't
+remember anything being said in reference to them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It was not in reference to them at all; it was in reference to another
+mine, of which I have secured the option. You will, perhaps, recollect
+that your cousin introduced me to you. You seemed to think at the time
+that the price at which we were going to offer the mine was too low.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By Jove, yes! now I do recollect something about it, when you mention
+that. Let me see, how much was it? A million, was it not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no' said Kenyon, mopping his brow. He did not at all like the turn
+the conversation had taken. 'Not a million, nor anything like that
+amount.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. You see, my uncle and myself rarely touch
+anything that is not worth while; and anything under a million would be
+hardly worth bothering with, don't you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think so; it seems to me that something below a million would be
+worth spending a little time on; at least, it would be worth <i>my</i> while.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That may be very true; but, you see, my uncle takes large interests only
+in large businesses.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you remember, Mr. Longworth, your uncle was not mentioned in
+connection with this at all. Your cousin seemed to think you might take
+some interest in it yourself. You told me, when I said the price at which
+we wished to offer the mine was fifty thousand pounds, that the sum was
+altogether too small; at least, it left too little margin to divide
+amongst three.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I think I was perfectly correct in that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you further said that, if we increased the capital to two hundred
+thousand pounds, you would take a share in it with us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did I say that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes. It rested with my partner then. I said I would speak to him about
+it, and, if he were willing, I should be. Circumstances occurred which
+made it impossible for me to go into details with him on board the ship;
+but I have spoken to him to-day at his own office, and he is quite
+willing to offer the mine at two hundred thousand pounds, provided the
+figures which I have given him show that it will pay a handsome dividend
+on that sum.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it seems to me that, if the mine is really worth two hundred
+thousand pounds, it is a pity to offer it at fifty thousand pounds.
+Doesn't it strike you that way?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it does; so I called to see you with reference to it. I wanted to
+say that Wentworth will go carefully over the figures I have given him,
+and see if there is any mistake about them. If there is not, and if we
+find that the mine will bear inflation to two hundred thousand pounds, we
+shall be very glad of your aid in the matter, and will divide everything
+equally with you. That is to say, each of us will take a third.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If I remember rightly, I asked you a question which you did not answer.
+I asked you how much you paid for the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon was astonished at this peculiar kind of memory, that could forget
+a whole conversation, and yet remember accurately one detail of it.
+However, he replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course, at that time you had not said you would join us. I recognise
+that, if you are to be a partner, it is your right to know exactly what
+we pay for the mine. I may say that we have not paid for it, but have
+merely got an option on it at a certain price, and of course, if we can
+sell it for two hundred thousand pounds, we shall have a large amount to
+divide. Now, if you think you will go in with us, and do your best to
+make this project a success, I will tell you what our option is on the
+mica-mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, I can hardly say that I will join you. It is really a
+very small matter. There ought not to be any difficulty in floating that
+mine on the London market, except that it is hardly worth one's while to
+take it up. Still, I should have to know exactly what you are to pay for
+the property before I went any further in the matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, I tell you in confidence, and only because I expect
+you to become a partner with us, that the amount the mine is offered to
+us for is twenty thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Longworth arched his eyeglass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It cannot be worth very much if that is all they ask for it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The price they ask for it has really nothing at all to do with the value
+of the mine. They do not know the value of it. They are not working it,
+even now, so as to bring out all there is in it. They are mining for
+mica, and, as I told you, the mineral which they are throwing away is
+very much more valuable than all the mica they can get out of the mine.
+If it were worked rightly, the mica would pay all expenses, as well as a
+good dividend on fifty thousand pounds, while the other mineral would pay
+a large dividend on one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or even two
+hundred thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see. And you feel positive that there is enough of this mineral to
+hold out for some time?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I am positive of that. There is a whole mountain of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you get the mountain as well as the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We get three hundred acres of it, and I think there would be no
+difficulty in buying the rest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, that would seem to be a good speculation, and I am sure I hope you
+will succeed in forming your company. How much money are you prepared to
+spend in floating the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have practically nothing at all. My asset, as it were, is the option I
+have on the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, how are you going to pay the preliminary fees, the advertising in
+the newspapers, the cost of counsel, and all that? These expenses will
+amount to something very heavy in the formation of a company. Of course
+you know that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, I think that perhaps we can get two or three men to go
+into this and form our company quietly, without having any of those heavy
+expenses which are necessary in the forming of some companies.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, when you have been in this business a little longer, you
+will be very much wiser. That cannot be done&mdash;at least, I do not believe
+it can be done. I do not know of its having been done, and if you can do
+it, you are a very much cleverer man than I am. Companies are not formed
+for nothing in the City of London. You seem to have the vaguest possible
+notion about how this sort of thing is managed. I may tell you frankly I
+do not think I can go in with you; I have too much else on hand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although Kenyon expected this, he nevertheless felt a grim sense of
+defeat as the young man calmly said these words. Then he blurted out:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you had no idea of going in with us, why have you asked me certain
+questions about the property which I would not have answered if I had not
+thought you were going to take an interest in it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' said the other blandly, 'you were at perfect liberty to
+answer those questions or not, as you chose. You chose to answer them,
+and you have no one to blame but yourself if you are sorry you have
+answered them. It really doesn't matter at all to me, as I shall forget
+all you have said in a day or two at furthest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; I have nothing more to say except that what I have told you
+has been said in confidence.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, of course. I shall mention it to nobody.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then I wish you good-day.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning to the elder gentleman, he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man raised his eyes rather abstractedly from the paper he was
+reading, and then cordially shook hands with Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If I can do anything,' he said, 'to help you in any matter you have on
+hand, I shall be very pleased to do it. I hope to see you succeed.
+Good-day, Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And with that the young man found himself again in the outer office, and
+shortly afterwards in the busy street, with a keen sense of frustration
+upon him. His first move in the direction of forming a company had been a
+disastrous failure; and thinking of this, he walked past the Mansion
+House and down Cheapside.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap17"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+John Kenyon walked along Cheapside feeling very much downhearted over his
+rebuff with Longworth. The pretended forgetfulness of the young man, of
+course, he took at its proper value. He, nevertheless, felt very sorry
+the interview had been so futile, and, instead of going back to Wentworth
+and telling him his experience, he thought it best to walk off a little
+of his disappointment first. He was somewhat startled when a man
+accosted him; and, glancing up, he saw standing there a tall footman,
+arrayed in a drab coat that came down to his heels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the footman, 'but Miss Longworth would
+like to speak to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Longworth!' cried Kenyon, in surprise; 'where is she?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She is here in her carriage, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The carriage had drawn up beside the pavement, and John Kenyon looked
+round in confusion to see that Miss Longworth was regarding him and the
+footman with an amused air. An elderly woman sat in the carriage opposite
+her, while a grave and dignified coachman, attired somewhat similarly to
+the footman, kept his place like a seated statue in front. John Kenyon
+took off his hat as he approached the young woman, whom he had not seen
+since the last day on the steamer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' said Edith Longworth brightly, holding out her
+hand to the young man by her carriage. 'Will you not step in? I want to
+talk with you, and I am afraid the police will not allow us to block such
+a crowded thoroughfare as Cheapside.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she said this, the nimble footman threw open the door of the carriage,
+while John, not knowing what to say, stepped inside and took his seat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Holborn,' said the young woman to the coachman; then, turning to Kenyon,
+she continued: 'Will you not tell me where you are going, so that I may
+know where to set you down?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'To tell the truth,' said John, 'I do not think I was going anywhere.
+I am afraid I have not yet got over the delight of being back in
+London again, so I sometimes walk along the streets in rather a
+purposeless manner.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you did not seem delighted when I first caught sight of you. I
+thought you looked very dejected, and that gave me courage enough to ask
+you to come and talk with me. I said to myself, "There is something wrong
+with the mica-mine," and, with a woman's I curiosity, I wanted to know
+all about it. Now tell me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is really very little to tell. We have hardly begun yet.
+Wentworth is to-day looking over the figures I gave him, and I have been
+making a beginning by seeing some people who I thought might be
+interested in the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And were they?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; they were not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, that was the reason you were looking so distressed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose it was.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, now, Mr. Kenyon, if you get discouraged after an interview with
+the first person you think will be interested in the mine, what will you
+do when a dozen or more people refuse to have anything to do with it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I do not know. I am afraid I am not the right person to float
+a mine on the London market. I am really a student, you see, and flatter
+myself I am a man of science. I know what I am about when I am in a
+mine, miles away from civilization; but when I get among men, I feel
+somehow at a loss. I do not understand them. When a man tells me one
+thing to-day, and to-morrow calmly forgets all about it, I confess
+it&mdash;well, confuses me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then the man you have seen to-day has forgotten what he told you
+yesterday. Is that the case?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; that is partly the case.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, Mr. Kenyon, the success of your project is not going to depend upon
+what one man says, or two, or three, is it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; I don't suppose it is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, if I were you, I would not feel discouraged because one man has
+forgotten. I wish I were acquainted with your one man, and I would make
+him ashamed of himself, I think.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon flushed as she said this, but made no reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The coachman looked round as he came to Holborn, and Miss Longworth
+nodded to him; so he went on without stopping into Oxford Street.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, I take a great interest in your mine, Mr. Kenyon, and hope to see
+you succeed with it. I wish I could help you, or, rather, I wish you
+would be frank with me, and tell me how I can help you. I know a good
+deal about City men and their ways, and I think I may be able to give you
+some good advice&mdash;at least, if you would have the condescension to
+consult me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon smiled.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are making game of me now, Miss Longworth. Of course, as you said on
+board ship, it is but a very small matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I never said any such thing. When did I say that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You said that fifty thousand pounds was a small matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did I? Well, I am like your man who has forgotten; I have forgotten
+that. I remember saying something about its being too small an amount
+for my father to deal with. Was not that what I said?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I think that was it. It conveyed the idea to my mind that you
+thought fifty thousand pounds a trifling sum indeed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What a terrible memory you have! I do not wonder at your City man
+forgetting. Are you sure what you told him did not happen longer ago than
+yesterday?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it happened some time before.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I thought so; I am afraid it is your own terrible memory, and not
+his forgetfulness, that is to blame.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I am not blaming him at all. A man has every right to change his
+mind, if he wants to do so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought only a woman had that privilege.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; for my part I freely accord it to everybody, only sometimes it is a
+little depressing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I can imagine that; in fact, I think no one could be a more undesirable
+acquaintance than a man who forgets to-day what he promised yesterday,
+especially if anything particular depends upon it. Now, why cannot you
+come to our house some evening and have a talk about the mine with my
+cousin or my father? My father could give you much valuable advice with
+reference to it, and I am anxious that my cousin should help to carry
+this project on to success. It is better to talk with them there than at
+their office, because they are both so busy during the day that I am
+afraid they might not be able to give the time necessary to its I
+discussion.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John Kenyon shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid,' he said, 'that would do no good. I do not think your
+cousin cares to have anything to do with the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How can you say that? Did he not discuss the matter with you on
+board ship?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; we had some conversation about it there, but I imagine that&mdash;I
+really do not think he would care to go any farther with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I see,' said Edith Longworth. 'My cousin is the man who "forgot
+to-day what he said yesterday."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What am I to say, Miss Longworth? I do not want to say "Yes," and I
+cannot truthfully say "No."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You need say nothing. I know exactly how it has been. So he does not
+want to have anything to do with it. What reason did he give?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You will not say anything to him about the matter? I should be very
+sorry if he thought that I talked to anyone else of my conference
+with him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, certainly not; I will say nothing to him at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He gave no particular reason; he simply seemed to have changed his mind.
+But I must say this: he did not appear to be very enthusiastic when I
+discussed it with him on board ship.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, Mr. Kenyon, it rests with me now to maintain the honour
+of the Longworth family. Do you want to make all the profit there is to
+be made in the mica-mine&mdash;that is, yourself and your friend Mr.
+Wentworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you mean&mdash;"all the profit"?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I mean&mdash;would you share the profit with anyone?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly, if that person could help us to form the company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; it was on that basis you were going to take in my cousin as a
+partner, was it not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then I should like to share in the profits of the mine if he does not
+take an interest in it. If you will let me pay the preliminary expenses
+of forming this company, and if you will then give me a share of what you
+make, I shall be glad to furnish the money you need at the outset.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John Kenyon looked at Miss Longworth with a smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are very ingenious, Miss Longworth, but I can see, in spite of your
+way of putting it, that what you propose is merely a form of charity.
+Suppose we did not succeed in forming our company, how could we repay you
+the money?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You would not need to repay the money. I would take that risk. It is a
+sort of speculation. If you form the company, then I shall expect a very
+large reward for furnishing the funds. It is purely selfishness on my
+part. I believe I have a head for business. Women in this country do not
+get such chances of developing their business talents as they seem to
+have in America. In that country there are women who have made fortunes
+for themselves. I believe in your mine, and I am convinced you will
+succeed in forming your company. If you or Mr. Wentworth were
+capitalists, of course there would be no need of my assistance. If I were
+alone, I could not form a company. You and Mr. Wentworth can do what I
+cannot do. You can appear before the public and attend to all
+preliminaries. On the other hand, I believe I can do what neither of you
+can do; that is, I can supply a certain amount of money from time to time
+to pay the expenses of forming the company&mdash;because a company is not
+formed in London for nothing, I assure you. Perhaps you think you have
+simply to go and see a sufficient number of people and get your company
+formed. I fancy you will find it not so easy as all that. Besides this
+business interest I have in it, I have a very friendly interest in Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she said this, she bent over towards John Kenyon, and spoke in a lower
+tone of voice:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Please do not tell him so, because I think that he is a young man who
+has possibilities of being conceited.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall say nothing about it,' said Kenyon dolefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Please do not. By the way, I wish you would give me Mr. Wentworth's
+address, so that I may communicate with him if a good idea occurs to me,
+or if I find out something of value in forming our company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon took out a card, wrote the address of Wentworth upon it, and
+handed it to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you,' she said 'You see, I deeply sympathized with Mr. Wentworth
+for what he had to pass through on the steamer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He is very grateful for all you did for him on that occasion,' replied
+Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am glad of that. People, as a general thing, are not grateful for what
+their friends do for them. I am glad, therefore, that Mr. Wentworth is an
+exception. Well, suppose you talk with him about what I have said, before
+you make up your own mind. I shall be quite content with whatever share
+of the profits you allow me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that is not business, Miss Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it is not; but I am dealing with you&mdash;that is, with Mr.
+Wentworth&mdash;and I am sure both of you will do what is right. Perhaps it
+would be better not to tell him who is to furnish the money. Just say you
+have met a friend to-day who offers, for a reasonable share of the
+profits, to supply all the money necessary for the preliminary expenses.
+You will consult with him about it, will you not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, if it is your wish.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly it is my wish; and I also wish you to do it so diplomatically
+that you will conceal my name from him more successfully than you
+concealed my cousin's name from me this afternoon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid I am very awkward,' said John, blushing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; you are very honest, that's all. You are not accomplished in the art
+of telling what is not true. Now, this is where we live; will you come
+in?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you, no; I'm afraid not,' said John. 'I must really be going now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Let the coachman take you to your station.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no, it is not worth the trouble; it is only a step from here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is no trouble. Which is your station&mdash;South Kensington?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. Drive to South Kensington Station, Parker,' she said to the
+coachman; and then, running up the steps, she waved her hand in good-bye,
+as the carriage turned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so John Kenyon, feeling abashed at his own poverty, was driven in
+this gorgeous equipage to the Underground Railway station, where he took
+the train for the City.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he stepped from the carriage at South Kensington, young Mr. Longworth
+came out of the station on his way home, and was simply dumfounded to see
+Kenyon in the Longworths' carriage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John passed him without noticing who he was, and just as the coachman was
+going to start again, Longworth said to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Parker, have you been picking up fares in the street?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, sir,' replied the respectable Parker; 'the young gentleman as
+just left us came from the City with Miss Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did he, indeed? Where did you pick him up, Parker?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We picked him up in Cheapside, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, indeed;' and with that, muttering some imprecations on the cheek of
+Kenyon, he stepped into the carriage and drove home.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap18"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth was a very much better man than John Kenyon to undertake
+the commercial task they hoped to accomplish. Wentworth had mixed with
+men, and was not afraid of them. Although he had suffered keenly from the
+little episode on the steamer, and although at that trying time he
+appeared to but poor advantage so far as an exhibition of courage was
+concerned, the reason was largely because the blow had been dealt him by
+a woman, and not by a man. If one of Wentworth's fellow-men so far forgot
+himself as to make an insulting or cutting remark to him, Wentworth
+merely shrugged his shoulders and thought no more about it. On the other
+hand, notwithstanding his somewhat cold and calm exterior, John Kenyon
+was as sensitive as a child, and a rebuff such as he received from the
+Longworths was enough to depress him for a week. He had been a student
+all his life, and had not yet learnt the valuable lesson of knowing how
+to look at men's actions with an eye to proportion. Wentworth said to
+himself that nobody's opinion amounted to very much, but Kenyon knew too
+little of his fellows to have arrived at this comforting conclusion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth closed his door when he was alone, drew the mass of
+papers, which Kenyon had left, towards him on his desk, and proceeded
+systematically to find a flaw in them if possible. He said to himself: 'I
+must attack this thing without enthusiasm, and treat Kenyon as if he were
+a thief. I must find an error in the reasoning or something shaky about
+the facts.' He perused the papers earnestly, making pencil-marks on the
+margin here and there. At first he said to himself: 'It is quite evident
+that the mining of the mica will pay for the working of the mine. We can
+look upon the demand for mica as being in a certain sense settled. It has
+paid for the working of the mine so far, also a small dividend, and there
+is no reason to think it should not go on doing so. Now, the uncertain
+quantity is this other stuff, and the uncertain thing about this
+uncertain quantity is the demand for it in the markets of the world, also
+how much the carriage of it is going to cost.' Wentworth had a theory
+that all things were possible if you only knew a man who knew <i>the</i> man.
+There is always <i>the</i> man in everything&mdash;the man who is the authority on
+iron; the man who is the authority on mines; the man who is the authority
+on the currency, and the man who knows all about the printing trade. If
+you want any information on any particular subject, it was not necessary
+to know <i>the</i> man, but it was very essential to know a man who can put
+his finger on <i>the</i> man. Get a note of introduction from a man who knows
+<i>the</i> man, and there you are!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth touched his bell, and a boy answered his summons.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ask Mr. Close to step in here for a moment, will you, please?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy disappeared, and shortly after an oldish man with a very
+deferential look, who was perpetually engaged in smoothing one hand
+over the other, came in, and, in a timid manner, closed the door softly
+behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Close,' said Wentworth, 'who is it that knows everything about the
+china trade?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'About the china trade, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, about the china trade.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wholesale or retail, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I want to get at somebody who knows all about the manufacture of china.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, the manufacture, sir,' said Close, in a tone that indicated this was
+another matter altogether; 'the manufacture, sir; yes, sir, I really do
+not know who could tell everything about the manufacture of china, sir,
+but I know of a man who could put you on the right track.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; that is quite as good.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would see Mr. Melville, if I were you, sir&mdash;Mr. Melville, of the great
+Scranton China Company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what is his address?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'His address is&mdash;&mdash;' And here the old man stooped over and wrote it on a
+card. 'That will find him, sir. If you can drop a note to Mr. Melville,
+sir, and say you want to learn who knows all about the production of
+china, he will be able to tell you just the man, sir. He is in the
+wholesale china trade himself, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Would he be in at this hour, do you think?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, sir, he is sure to be in his office now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then; I think I will just run over and see him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good, sir; anything more, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing more, Close, thank you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When the valuable Close had departed as softly and apologetically as he
+had entered, Wentworth picked up one of the specimens of spar which
+Kenyon had taken from the mine, and put it into his pocket. In two
+minutes more he was in a cab, dashing through the crowded streets towards
+Melville's office. By the side of the door of the china company's
+warehouse, inside the hall, were two parallel rows of names&mdash;one under
+the general heading of 'Out,' the other under the heading of 'In.' It
+appeared that Mr. Smith was out and Mr. Jones was in, but, what was more
+to the purpose, the name of Richard Melville happened to be in the column
+of those who were inside. After a few moments' delay, Wentworth was
+ushered into the office of this gentleman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Melville,' he said, 'I have been recommended to come to you for
+information regarding the china trade. The information I want, you will,
+perhaps, not be able to give me, but I believe you can tell me to whom I
+should apply for it.' Saying this, he took out of his pocket the specimen
+of mineral which he had brought with him. 'What I want to know is, how
+much of this material you use each year in the manufacture of china; what
+price you pay for it; and I should like to get at an estimate, if
+possible, of the quantity used in England every year.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Melville picked up the specimen and turned it round and round, looking at
+it attentively.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I could tell you anything you wished about the
+wholesale china trade, but about the manufacture of it I am not so well
+informed. Where did you get this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That,' said Wentworth, 'is from a mine in which I am interested.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, where is the mine situated, may I ask?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is in America,' said Wentworth vaguely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see. Have you considered the question of carriage in proposing to put
+it on the English market? That, as you know, is an important question.
+The cost of taking a heavy article a long distance is a great factor in
+the question of its commercial value.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I recognise that,' said Wentworth; 'and it is to enable me to form some
+estimate of the value of this material that I ask for particulars of its
+price here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I understand, but I am not able to answer your questions. If you have
+time to wait and see Mr. Brand, our manager of the works, who is also one
+of the owners, he could easily tell you everything about this
+mineral&mdash;whether used at all or not. He comes up to London once every
+fortnight, and to-day is his day. I am expecting him here at any time.
+You might wait, if you liked, and see him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not think that will be necessary. I will write, if you will allow
+me, just what I want to know, and in two or three minutes he could jot
+down the information I require. Then I will call again to-morrow, if you
+don't mind.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not in the least. I will submit the matter to him. You can leave me this
+piece of mineral, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly,' said Wentworth, writing on a sheet of paper the questions:
+'First, What quantity of this mineral is used in your works in a year?
+second, What price per ton do you pay for it? third, Will you give me, if
+possible, an estimate of how much of this is used in England?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There,' he said, 'if you will give him this slip of paper, and show him
+the specimen of mineral, I shall be very much obliged.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By the way,' said Melville, 'is this mine in operation?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is there anyone else beside yourself interested in it in this country?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, with some hesitation; 'John Kenyon, a mining
+expert, is interested in it, and Mr. Longworth&mdash;young Mr. Longworth of
+the City.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Any relation to John Longworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'His nephew.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, well, anything that Longworth has an interest in is reasonably sure
+of being successful.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am perhaps going too far in saying he has an interest in the mine, but
+in coming from America he seemed desirous of going in with us. My
+partner. John Kenyon, of whom I spoke just now, is with him at the
+present moment, I believe.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. I will submit this specimen to Mr. Brand as you desire, and
+will let you know to-morrow what he says.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that Wentworth took his leave, and in going out through the hall he
+met the manager of the china works, although he didn't know at the time
+who he was. He was a very shrewd-faced individual, who walked with a
+brisk business step which showed he believed that time was money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, Melville,' he said when he entered, 'I am a little late to-day,
+am I not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are a little behind the usual time, but not much.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By the way&mdash;&mdash;' began the manager, and then his eye wandered to the
+specimen on the desk before Melville. 'Hello!' he cried, 'where did you
+get this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That was left here a moment ago by a gentleman whom I wanted to wait
+until you came, but he seemed to be in a hurry. He is going to call again
+to-morrow.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is his name?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wentworth. Here's his card.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, of a firm of accountants, eh? How did he come to have this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He wanted to get some information about it, and I told him I would show
+it to you. Here is the note he left.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The manager turned the crystal over and over in his hand, put on his
+eyeglasses and peered into it, then picked up the piece of paper and
+looked at what Kenyon had written.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did he say where he had got this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; he says there is a mine of it in America.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In America, eh? Did he say how much of this stuff there was?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; he didn't tell me that. The mine is working, however.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is very curious! I never heard of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I gathered from him,' said Mr. Melville, 'that he wishes to do something
+with the mine over here. He did not say much, but he told me his
+partner&mdash;I forget his name&mdash;was talking at the present moment with young
+Longworth about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Longworth&mdash;who's he?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He's a man who goes in for mines or other investments; that is, his
+uncle does&mdash;a very shrewd old fellow, too. He is always on the right side
+of the market, no matter how it turns.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, he would be a man certain to know the value of the property if he
+had it, wouldn't he?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know anybody who knows the value of what he has better than
+Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that's a pity,' mused the manager.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why? Is it a mineral of any worth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Worth! A quarry of this would be better for us than a gold-mine!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it struck me, in talking with Mr. Wentworth, that he had no
+particular idea of its utility. He seemed to know nothing about it, and
+that's why he came here for information.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Again the manager looked at the paper before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm not so sure about that,' he said. 'He wants to know the quantity
+used in a year, how much of it is consumed in England, and the price we
+pay for it per ton. I should judge, from that, he has an inkling of its
+value, and wants merely to corroborate it. Yes, I feel certain that is
+his move. I fear nothing very much can be done with Mr. Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What were you thinking of doing?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear Melville, if we could get hold of such a mine, supposing it has
+an unlimited quantity of this mineral in it, we could control the china
+markets of the world.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't mean it!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It's a fact, because of the purity of the mineral. The stuff that we use
+is heavily impregnated with iron; we have to get the iron out of it, and
+that costs money. Not that the stuff itself is uncommon at all, it is one
+of the most common substances in Nature; but anything so pure as this I
+have never seen. I wonder if it is a fair specimen of what they can get
+out of the mine? If it is, I would rather own that property than any
+gold-mine I know of.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I will see Mr. Wentworth, if you like. He is going to call here
+about this time to-morrow, and I will find out if some arrangement cannot
+be made with him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I wouldn't do that,' replied the manager, who preferred never to do
+things in a direct way. 'I think your best plan is to see Longworth. The
+chances are that a City man like him does not know the value of the
+property; and, if you don't mind, I will write a letter to Mr. Wentworth
+and give him my opinion on this mineral.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What shall I say to Longworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Say anything you like; you understand that kind of business better than
+I. Here are the facts of the case. If we can get a controlling interest
+in this mine, always supposing that it turns out mineral up to sample&mdash;I
+suspect that this is a picked specimen; of course we should have to send
+a man to America and see&mdash;if we could get hold of this property, it would
+be the greatest feat in business we have ever done, provided, of course,
+we get it at a cheap enough price.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you call a cheap enough price?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You find out what Longworth will sell the mine for.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But supposing Wentworth owns the mine, or as much of it as
+Longworth does?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think, somehow, that if you know Longworth you can perhaps make better
+terms with him. Meanwhile I will send a letter to Wentworth. You have his
+address there?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Taking his pen, he dashed off the following letter:
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'DEAR SIR,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I regret to say that the mineral you left at our office yesterday is of
+no value to us. We do not use mineral of this nature, and, so far as I
+know, it is not used anywhere in England.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'Yours truly,
+<br />
+'ADAM BRAND.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap19"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XIX.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The chances are that, no matter under what circumstances young Longworth
+and Kenyon had first met, the former would have disliked the latter.
+Although strong friendships are formed between men who are dissimilar,
+it must not be forgotten that equally strong hatreds have arisen between
+people merely because they were of opposite natures. No two young men
+could have been more unlike each other; and as Longworth recalled the
+different meetings he had had with Kenyon, he admitted to himself that he
+had an extreme antipathy to the engineer. The evident friendship which
+his cousin felt for Kenyon added a bitterness to this dislike which was
+rapidly turning it into hate. However, he calmed down sufficiently, on
+going home in the carriage, to become convinced that it was better to say
+nothing about her meeting with Kenyon unless she introduced the subject.
+After all, the carriage was hers, not his, and he recognised that fact.
+He wondered how much Kenyon had told her of the interview at his uncle's
+office. He flattered himself, however, that he knew enough of women to be
+sure that she would very speedily refer to the subject, and then he hoped
+to learn just how much had been said. To his surprise, his cousin said
+nothing at all about the matter, neither that evening nor the next
+morning, and, consequently, he went to his office in a somewhat
+bewildered state of mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On arriving at his room in the City, he found Melville waiting for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Melville shook hands with young Longworth, and, taking a mineral specimen
+from his pocket, placed it on the young man's desk, saying;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose you know where that comes from?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth looked at it with an air of indecision which made Melville
+suspect he knew very little about it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I haven't the slightest idea, really.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No? I was told you were interested in the mine from which this was
+taken. Mr. Wentworth called on me yesterday, and gave your name as one of
+those who were concerned with the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, yes, I see; yes, yes, I have&mdash;some interest in the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it is about that I came to talk with you. Where is the mine
+situated?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is near the Ottawa River, I believe, some distance above Montreal. I
+am not certain about its exact position, but it is somewhere in that
+neighbourhood.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought by the way Wentworth talked it was in the United States. He
+mentioned another person as being his partner in the affair; I forget
+his name.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'John Kenyon, probably.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Kenyon! Yes, I think that was the name. Yes, I am sure it was. Now, may
+I ask what is your connection with that mine? Are you a partner of
+Wentworth's and Kenyon's? Are you the chief owner of the mine, or is the
+mine owned by them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In the first place, Mr. Melville, I should like to know why you ask me
+these questions?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Melville laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I will tell you. We should like to know what chance there is of
+our getting a controlling interest in the mine. That is very frankly put,
+isn't it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is. But whom do you mean by "we"? Who else besides yourself?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By "we" I mean the china company to which I belong. This mineral is
+useful in making china. That I suppose you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I was aware of that,' answered Longworth, although he heard it now
+for the first time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then; I should like to know who is the owner of the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The owner of the mine at present is some foreigner whose name and
+address I do not know. The two young men you speak of have an option on
+that mine for a certain length of time&mdash;how long I don't know. They have
+been urging me to go in with them to form a company for the floating of
+that mine for two hundred thousand pounds on the London market.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Two hundred thousand pounds!' said Melville. 'That seems to me rather a
+large amount.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think so? Well, the objection I had to it was that it was too
+small.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Those two men must have an exaggerated idea of the value of this mineral
+if they think it will pay dividends on two hundred thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This mineral is not all there is in the mine. In fact, it is already
+paying a dividend on fifty thousand pounds or thereabouts, because of the
+mica in it. It is being mined for mica alone. To tell the truth, I did
+not know much about the other mineral.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you think the mine is worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Frankly, I do not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then why are you connected with it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not connected with it&mdash;at least, not definitely connected with it.
+I have the matter under consideration. Of course, if there is anything
+approaching a swindle in it, I shall have nothing to do with it. It will
+depend largely on the figures that the two men show me whether I have
+anything to do with it or not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see; I understand your position.' Then, lowering his voice, Melville
+leaned over towards Longworth, and said: 'You are a man of business. Now,
+I want to ask you what would be the chance of our getting the mine at
+something like the original option priced which is, of course, very much
+less than two hundred thousand pounds? We do not want to have too many in
+it. In fact, if you could get it for us at a reasonable rate, and did not
+care to be troubled with the property yourself, we would take the whole
+ourselves.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Longworth pondered a moment, and then said to Melville:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to freeze out the other two fellows, as they say in
+America?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know about freezing out; but, of course, with the other two
+there is so much less profit to be divided. We should like to deal with
+just as few as if possible.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly. I see what you mean. I think it can be done. Are you in any
+great hurry to secure the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not particularly. Why?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, if things are worked rightly, I don't know but what we could get
+it for the original option. That would mean, of course, to wait until
+this first option had run out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wouldn't there be a little danger in that? They may form their company
+in the meantime, and then we should lose everything. Our interest in the
+matter is as much to prevent anyone else getting hold of the mine as to
+get it ourselves.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see. I will think it over. I believe it can be done without great
+risk; but, of course, we shall have to be reasonably quiet about the
+matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see the necessity of that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good. I will see you again after I have thought over the affair,
+and we can come to some arrangement.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I may say that our manager has written a note to Wentworth, saying that
+this mineral is of no particular use to us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly,' said young Longworth, with a look of intelligence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So, of course, in speaking with Wentworth about the mine, it is just as
+well not to mention us in any way.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. I will leave the matter in your hands for the present.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, do so. I will think over it this afternoon, and probably see
+Wentworth and Kenyon to-morrow. There is no immediate hurry, for I happen
+to know they have not done anything yet.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that Mr. Melville took his leave, and young Longworth paced up and
+down the room, evolving a plan that would at once bring him money and
+give him the satisfaction of making it lively for John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he reached home, Longworth waited for his cousin to say something
+about Kenyon; but he soon saw that she did not intend to speak of him at
+all. So he said to her:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Edith, do you remember Kenyon and Wentworth&mdash;who were on board our
+steamer?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I remember them very well.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did you know they had a mining property for sale?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have been thinking about it&mdash;in fact, Kenyon called at my office a day
+or two ago, and at that time, not having given the subject much thought,
+I could not give him any encouragement; but I have been pondering over it
+since, and have almost decided to help them. What do you think about it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I think it would be an excellent plan. I am sure the property is a
+good one, or Mr. Kenyon would have nothing to do with it. I shall write a
+note to them, if you think it advisable, inviting them here to talk with
+you about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That will not be necessary at all. I do not want people to come here to
+talk business. My office is the proper place.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Still, we met them in a friendly way on board the steamer, and I think
+it would be nice if they came here some evening and talked over the
+matter with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't believe in introducing business into a man's home. This would be
+a purely business conversation, and it may as well take place at my
+office, or at Wentworth's, if he has one, as I suppose he has.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, certainly; his address is&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, you know it, do you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith blushed as she realized what she had said; then she remarked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is there any harm in my knowing the business address of Mr. Wentworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, not at all&mdash;not at all. I merely wondered how you happened to know
+his address, when I didn't.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it doesn't matter how I know it. I am glad you are going to join
+him, and I am sure you will be successful. Will you see them to-morrow?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think so. I shall call on Wentworth and have a talk with him about it.
+Of course we may not be able to come to a workable arrangement. If not,
+it really does not matter very much. But if I can make satisfactory terms
+with them, I will help them to form their company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Edith went to her own room she wrote a note. It was addressed to
+George Wentworth in the City, but above that address was the name John
+Kenyon. She said:
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'DEAR MR. KENYON,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I was certain at the time you spoke that my cousin was not so much at
+fault in forgetting his conversation as you thought. We had a talk to
+night about the mine, and when he calls upon you tomorrow, as he intends
+to do, I want you to know that I said nothing whatever to him of what you
+told me. He mentioned the subject first. I wanted you to know this
+because you might feel embarrassed when you met him by thinking I had
+sent him to you. That is not at all the case. He goes to you of his own
+accord, and I am sure you will find his assistance in forming a company
+very valuable. I am glad to think you will be partners.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'Yours very truly,
+<br />
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She gave this letter to her maid to post, and young Longworth met the
+maid in the hall with the letter in her hand. He somehow suspected, after
+the foregoing conversation, to whom the letter was addressed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Where are you going with that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'To the post, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am going out; to save you the trouble I will take it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After passing the corner, he looked at the address on the envelope; then
+he swore to himself a little. If he had been a villain in a play he would
+have opened the letter; but he did not. He merely dropped it into the
+first pillar-box he came to, and in due time it reached John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap20"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XX.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Although Jennie Brewster arrived in London angry with the world in
+general, and with several of its inhabitants in particular, she soon
+began to revel in the delights of the great city. It was so old that it
+was new to her, and she visited Westminster Abbey and other of its
+ancient landmarks in rapid succession. The cheapness of the hansoms
+delighted her, and she spent most of her time dashing about in cabs. She
+put up at one of the big hotels, and ordered many new dresses at a place
+in Regent Street. She bought most of the newspapers, morning and evening,
+and declared she could not find an interesting article in any of them.
+From her point of view they were stupid and unenterprising, and she
+resolved to run down the editor of one of the big dailies when she got
+time, interview him, and discover how he reconciled it with his
+conscience to publish so dull a sheet every day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She wrote to her editor in New York that London, though a slow town, was
+full of good material, and that nobody had touched it in the writing line
+since Dickens' time; therefore she proposed to write a series of
+articles on the Metropolis that would wake them up a bit. The editor
+cabled to her to go ahead, and she went.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie engaged a chaperon, and took great satisfaction in this unwonted
+luxury. It had been intimated to her that Lady Willow was a sort of
+society St. Peter, who held keys that would open the gates of the social
+heaven, if she were sufficiently recompensed. Of all the ancient
+landmarks of England, none attracted Jennie so much as the aristocracy,
+and although she had written to New York for letters of introduction that
+would be useful in London, she was too impatient to await their arrival.
+Thus she came to secure the services of Lady Willow, the widow of Sir
+Debenham Willow, who had died abroad, insolvent, some years before,
+mourned by the creditors he left behind him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie was suspicious about the title, and demanded convincing proofs of
+its genuineness before she engaged Lady Willow. She was amazed that any
+real lady would, as it were, sell her social influence at so much a week;
+but, as Lady Willow was equally astonished that an American girl earned
+her livelihood by writing for the papers, the surprise of the one found
+its counterpart in the wonder of the other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow thought all American girls were born daughters of
+millionaires, in accordance with some unexplained Western by-law of
+nature, and imagined that their sole object in desiring to enter London
+society was to purchase for themselves a more or less expensive scion of
+the aristocracy; she was therefore inclined to resent meeting a shrewd
+young woman apparently determined on getting the value for her money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is not my custom to chaffer about terms,' said Lady Willow with
+much dignity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is mine,' replied Jennie complacently; 'I always like to know what I
+am buying, and the price I am to pay for it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are dealing with me,' said the lady, rising indignantly, 'as if you
+were engaging a cook. I am sure we would not suit each other at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Please sit down, Lady Willow, and don't be offended. Let us talk it over
+in an amicable manner, even if we come to no arrangement. I think a cook
+an exceedingly important person, and I assure you I would treat one in
+the most deferential manner; while with you, on the other hand, I talk in
+an open and frank way, as between friend and friend. I take it that you
+and I are somewhat similarly situated. We are neither of us rich, and so
+we have each of us to earn the money we need in our own way. It would be
+dishonest if I pretended to you that I was wealthy, and then couldn't pay
+what you expected after you had done all you could for me&mdash;now, wouldn't
+it? Very well, if you have anyone else to chaperon who can afford to pay
+more than I can, you shouldn't bother about me at all, but secure a
+richer client.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow remembered that this was not the season when rich clients
+abounded; so she smothered her resentment, and sat down again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's right,' said Jennie; 'we'll have a nice quiet talk, whatever
+comes of it. Now, if you like, I could write a lovely article about you
+in the <i>Sunday Argus</i>, and then all rich girls who come over here would
+go direct to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh dear! oh dear!' cried Lady Willow, evidently inexpressibly shocked
+at the idea, 'you would surely never do so cruel a thing as that? If my
+friends knew I chaperoned young ladies and took money for it, I would
+never be allowed to enter their doors again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I didn't think of that. Of course it wouldn't do. What a curious
+thing it is that those who want to be written up in the papers generally
+never see their names in print; while those who don't want to have
+anything said about them are the people the reporters are always after.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you write for the papers, then?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'For one of them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How dreadful!' said Lady Willow, rising again, with an air of finality
+about her movement. It was evident that any dealings with this American
+girl were out of the question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do sit down again, Lady Willow. We will take it that I am hopelessly
+ineligible, and so say no more about it; but I do want to have a talk
+with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But you will write something&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not write a word about you or about anything you tell me. You
+see, your profession is as strange to me as mine is to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My profession? I have none.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, whatever you call it. I mean the way in which you make your
+money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow sighed, and the tears came into her eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You little know, my child, to what straits one may come who is left
+unprovided for, and who has to do the best to keep up appearances.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie sprang up instantly and took the unresisting hand of the elder
+woman, smoothing it with her own caressingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, of course I know,' she cried, with a little quaver in her voice;
+'and there is nothing more terrible on earth than lack of money. If there
+was a single really civilized country in existence, it would make
+provision for its women. Every woman should be assured enough to live on,
+merely because she is a woman. If England had put aside as much for its
+women as it has spent in the last hundred years on foolish wars, or if
+America had made a fund of what its politicians have been allowed to
+steal, the women of both barbarous countries might have been provided
+with incomes that would at least keep them from the fear of want.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow seemed more alarmed than comforted by the vehemence of Miss
+Brewster. She said hesitatingly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm afraid you have some very strange ideas, my dear.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps; but I have one idea that isn't strange: it is that you are
+going to take charge of a lonesome, friendless girl for a few weeks at
+least&mdash;until the rich pork-packer's daughter from Chicago comes along,
+and she won't be here for a month or two yet. We won't say a word about
+terms; I'll pay you all that's left over from my hansom fares.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall be very happy to do what I can for you, my dear.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow had softened towards her fair client, and had now adopted a
+somewhat motherly tone with her, which Jennie evidently liked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will try and be very little trouble to you, although I shall probably
+ask you ever so many questions. All I really want is merely to see the
+Zoo, hear the animals roar, and watch them being fed. I have no ambition
+to steal any of them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that will be easily done,' said Lady Willow in surprise. 'We can get
+tickets from one of the Fellows of the Zoological Society which will
+admit us on Sunday, when there are but few people there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie laughed merrily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean the social Zoo, Lady Willow; I have visited the other already.
+Please do not look so shocked at me, and don't be afraid; I really
+talk very nicely when I am in society, and I am sure you will not be
+in the least ashamed of me. You see, I haven't had a soul to speak with
+since I came to London, so I think I ought to be allowed a little
+latitude at first.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow so far relaxed her dignity as to smile, although a little
+dubiously; and Jennie joyfully proclaimed that their compact was sealed
+and that she was sure they would be great friends.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now you must tell me what I am to do,' she continued. 'I suppose dresses
+are the most important preliminaries when one is meditating a siege on
+society. Well, I've ordered ever so many, so that's all right. What's the
+next thing?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, dress is important; but I think the first thing to do is to choose
+pleasant rooms somewhere. You can't stay at this hotel, you know;
+besides, it must be very expensive.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is rather; but it is so handy and central.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is not central for society.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, isn't it? I was thinking of Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square,
+and that sort of thing. Besides, there's <i>always</i> a nice hansom right at
+the door whenever one wants to go out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, but you mustn't ride in hansoms, you know!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why? I thought the aristocracy&mdash;the very highest&mdash;rode in hansoms.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Some of them have private hansoms; but that's a very different thing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And I heard somewhere that most of the hansoms in London are owned by
+the aristocracy. I am sure I rode in one belonging to the Marquis of
+Something&mdash;I forget his name. I don't suppose the Marquis himself drove
+it. Perhaps it was driven by his hired man; but the driver was such a
+nice young fellow, and he gave me a lot of information. He told me that
+the Marquis owned the hansom; for I asked him whose it was. I thought
+perhaps it belonged to the driver. I'll give up the hotel willingly, but
+I don't know about hansoms. I'm afraid to promise; for I feel sure I'll
+hail a hansom automatically the moment I go out alone. So we will
+postpone the hansom question until later. Now, where would you recommend
+me to stay while in London?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You could stop with me if you liked. I have not a large house; but there
+is room for one or two friends, and it is in a very good locality.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that will be delightful. I suppose the correct address on one's
+notepaper is everything, almost as good as a coat-of-arms&mdash;if they use
+coats-of-arms as letter-heads; and there is a difference between Drury
+and Park when they precede the word "Lane."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two ladies speedily came to an understanding that was satisfactory to
+each of them, and Lady Willow found, to the no small comforting of her
+dignity, that, although she came to the hotel in the attitude of one who,
+if it may be so expressed, sought a favour, the impetuous eagerness of
+the younger woman had so changed the situation that the elder lady now
+left with the gratifying self complacency of a generous person who has
+conferred a boon. Nor was her condescension without its reward, both
+material and intellectual, for not only did Jennie pay her way with some
+lavishness, but her immediate social success was flattering to Lady
+Willow as the introducer of a Transatlantic cousin so bright and
+vivacious.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So great an impression did Jennie make upon the more susceptible portion
+of the young men she met under Lady Willow's chaperonage, that even the
+rumour which got abroad, that she had no money, did not damp the devotion
+of all of them. Lord Frederick Bingham was quite as assiduous in his
+attentions as if she were the greatest heiress that ever crossed the
+ocean to exchange dubiously won gold for a title founded by some thief in
+the Middle Ages, thus bringing ancient and modern villainy into
+juxtaposition.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow saw Lord Frederick's preference with pleasurable surprise.
+Although she did not altogether approve of the damsel in her care, she
+had become very fond of her; but she failed to see why Jennie was so much
+sought after, when other girls, almost as pretty and much more eligible,
+were neglected. She hinted delicately to the young woman one day that
+perhaps her visit to England would not be, after all, so futile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think I understand you,' said Jennie.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, my dear, with a little tact on your part, I'm not at all sure but
+Lord Frederick Bingham might propose.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie, who was putting on her gloves, paused and looked at Lady Willow,
+with a merry twinkle in her eyes, and a demure smile hovering about the
+corners of her mouth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you imagine, then, that I have come over here to ensnare some poor
+unprotected nobleman&mdash;with a display of tact? Oh dear me! As if tact had
+anything to do with it! Never, never, never, Lady Willow! I wouldn't
+marry an Englishman if he were the last man left on earth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Many Englishmen are very nice, my dear,' protested Lady Willow gently,
+with a deep sigh, for she thought of her own husband, who, having been
+all his life an irreclaimable reprobate, had commanded her utmost
+affection while he lived, and was the object of her tenderest regret now
+that he had taken his departure from a world that had never appreciated
+his talents; although its influence was, in the estimation of the widow,
+entirely to blame for those shortcomings which Sir Debenham had been
+unable to conceal.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And yet,' continued Jennie inconsequently, as she buttoned her glove,
+'I do adore a title; I wonder why that is? I suppose no woman is ever at
+heart a republican, and if the United States is to be wrecked, it is the
+women who will do the wrecking, and start a monarchy. I have no doubt
+the men would let us proclaim an empire now if they imagined it would
+please us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought you were all sovereigns over there already,' said Lady Willow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, we are, but that's just the trouble. There is too much competition
+in the queen business; there are too many of us, and so we exchange our
+sovereignty for the lesser titles of duchesses and countesses and all
+that.
+</p>
+
+<p class="poem">
+  '"It is no trivial thing, I ween,<br />
+  To be a regular Royal Queen.<br />
+  No half and half affair, I mean,<br />
+  But a right down regular, regular regular regular Royal Queen."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I don't know that the words are right, but the sentiment is there. Oh
+dear me! I'm afraid I'm becoming quite English, you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't see many signs of it,' said Lady Willow, smiling in spite of
+herself as her voluble companion sang and danced about the room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come, Lady Willow,' cried Jennie, 'get on your things; I am going to a
+City bank to cash a cheque, and I warn you that I will take a hansom.
+Lord Freddie agrees with me that a hansom is the jolliest kind of
+vehicle: please don't frown at me, Lady Willow&mdash;"jolliest" is Lord
+Freddie's word, not mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What I didn't like,' said Lady Willow, with as near an approach to
+severity as the kindly woman could assume, 'was your calling him
+Lord Freddie.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that's his phrase, too! He says everybody calls him Lord Freddie.
+But come along, and I'll call him Lord&mdash;Frederick&mdash;Bingham,' with a voice
+of awe and appropriate pauses between the words. 'He always seems so
+trivial compared with his name; he reminds me of a salesman at a remnant
+counter, and I don't wonder everybody calls him Lord Freddie. I'm afraid
+I'm a disappointed woman, Lady Willow. I suppose the men have retrograded
+since armour went out of fashion; they had to be big and strong then to
+carry so much hardware. Of course it makes a difference to a man whether
+his tailor cuts him a suit out of broadcloth or out of sheet iron. Yes,
+I begin to suspect that I've come to England several centuries too late.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow was too much shocked at these frivolous remarks to make any
+reply, so, attempting none, she went to her room to prepare for her trip
+to the City.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving Lady Willow in the hansom, Jennie entered the bank and got the
+white notes, generally alluded to in fiction as 'crisp,' stuffing them
+with greater carelessness than their value warranted into her purse. She
+took from this receptacle of her wealth a bit of paper on which was
+written an address, and this she looked at for some moments before
+leaving the bank. On reaching the hansom, she handed up the slip of paper
+to the driver.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know where that is?' she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, miss; it is just round the corner.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, drive to the opposite side of the street, and stop where I can see
+the door of No. 23.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good, miss.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Arriving nearly opposite No. 23, the driver pulled up. Jennie looked
+across at the doorway where many hurrying men were entering and leaving.
+It was a large building evidently filled with offices; the girl drew a
+deep breath, but made no motion to leave the hansom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you business here, too?' asked Lady Willow, to whom the City was an
+unknown land, the rush and noise of which were unpleasantly bewildering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' said Jennie, with a doleful note in her voice, 'this is not
+business; it is pleasure. I want to sit here for a few minutes and
+think.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, my dear child,' expostulated Lady Willow, 'you can't think in this
+babel; besides, the police will not allow the hansom to stand here unless
+one of us is shopping, or has business in an office.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, dear Lady Willow, do go shopping for ten minutes; I saw some
+lovely shops just down the street. Here are five pounds, and if you see
+anything that I ought to have, buy it for me. One must think now and
+then, you know. Our thoughts are like the letters we receive; we need to
+sort them out periodically, and discard those that we don't wish to keep.
+I want to rummage over my thoughts and see whether some of them are to be
+abandoned or not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Lady Willow left her, Jennie sat with her chin in her hands and her
+elbows on her knees gazing across at No. 23. The faces of none who went
+in or came out were familiar to her. Frequently glances were cast at her
+by passers-by, but she paid no heed to the crowd, nor to the fleeting
+admiration her pretty face aroused in many a flinty stockbroking breast,
+if, indeed, she was conscious of the attention she received. She awoke
+from her reverie when Lady Willow stepped into the hansom.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What, back already?' she cried.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have been away for a quarter of an hour,' said the elder woman
+reproachfully. 'Besides, the money is all spent, and here are the
+parcels.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Money doesn't go far in the City, does it?' said Jennie.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, what's the matter with you, my dear?' asked the elder woman; 'your
+voice sounds as if you had been crying.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nonsense! What an idea! This street reminds me so of Broadway that I
+have become quite homesick, that's all. I think I'll go back to New
+York.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you met somebody from over there?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, no. I've seen no one I knew.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did you expect to?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't know you had any friends in the City.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I haven't. He's an enemy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really? An enemy who was once a friend?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes. Why do you ask so many questions?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Lady Willow took the girl's hand, and said soothingly:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sorry there was a misunderstanding.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So am I,' agreed Jennie.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap21"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When John Kenyon entered the office of his friend next morning, Wentworth
+said to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, what luck with the Longworths?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No luck at all,' was the answer; 'the young man seemed to have forgotten
+all about our conversation on board the steamer, and the old gentleman
+takes no interest in the matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth hemmed and tapped on the desk with the end of his lead pencil.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I never counted much on that young fellow,' he said at last. 'What
+appeared to be his reason?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know exactly. He didn't give any reason. He merely said that he
+would have nothing to do with it, after having got me to tell him what
+our option on the mine was.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why did you tell him that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it seemed, after I had talked to him a little, that there was some
+hope of his going in with us. I told him point-blank that I didn't care
+to say at what figure we had the option unless he was going in with us.
+He said of course he couldn't consider the matter at all unless he knew
+to what he was committed; and so I told him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what excuse did he make for not joining us?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, he merely said he thought he would have nothing to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, what do you imagine his object was in pumping you if he had no
+intention of taking an interest in the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I don't know. I do not understand that sort of man at all. In
+fact, I feel rather relieved he is going to have nothing to do with it. I
+distrust him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's all very well, John, you are prejudiced against him; but you know
+the name of Longworth would have a very great effect upon the minds of
+other City men. If we can get the Longworths into this, even for a small
+amount, I am certain that we shall have very little trouble in floating
+the company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, all I can say is, my mission to the Longworths was a failure. Have
+you looked over the papers?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, and that reminds me. The point on which the whole scheme turns
+is the availability of the mineral for the making of china, isn't it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, look at this letter; it came this morning.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He tossed the letter over to Kenyon, who read it, and then asked:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who's Adam Brand? He doesn't know what he is talking about.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, but the trouble is that he does. No man in England better, I should
+imagine. He is the manager and part owner of the big Scranton china
+works. I went to see Melville of that company yesterday. He could tell
+me nothing about the mineral, but kept the specimen I gave him, and told
+me he would show it to the manager when he came in. Brand is the manager
+of the works, and if anybody knows the value of the mineral, he ought to
+be the man.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nevertheless,' said Kenyon, 'he is mistaken.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is just the point of the whole matter&mdash;is he? The mineral is either
+valueless, as he says, or he is telling a deliberate lie for some
+particular purpose; and I can't see, for the life of me, why a stranger
+should not only tell a falsehood, but write it on paper. Now, John, what
+do you know about china manufacture?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know very little indeed about it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, how can you put your knowledge against this man's, who
+is a practical manufacturer?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon looked at Wentworth, who was evidently not feeling in the best
+of humours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to say, George, that I do not know what I am talking about
+when I tell you that this mineral is valuable for a certain purpose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you have just admitted that you know nothing about the china
+trade.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not "nothing," George&mdash;I know something about it; but what I do
+understand is the value of minerals. The reason I know anything at all
+about china manufacture is simply because I learned that this mineral is
+one of the most important components of china.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then why did that man write such a letter?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I don't know. As you saw the man, you can judge better than I
+whether he would tell a deliberate falsehood, or whether he was merely
+ignorant.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't see Brand at all; I saw Melville. Melville was to submit this
+mineral to Brand, and let me know what he thought about it. Of course,
+everything depends upon the value of it in the china trade.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well then, I took the only way that was open to me to find out what
+practical men say about it. If they say they will have nothing to do with
+it, then we might as well give up our mining scheme and send back our
+option to Mr. Von Brent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon read the letter again, and pondered deeply over it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see, of course,' said George once more, 'everything hinges on that,
+don't you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I certainly see that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, what have you to say?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have to say this&mdash;that I shall have to take a trip among the china
+works of Great Britain. I think it would be a good plan if you were to
+write to the different manufacturers in the United States and find out
+how much they use of it. There is no necessity for sending the mineral.
+They have to use that, and nothing else will do. Find out from them, if
+you can, how much of it they need, what price they will pay for pure
+material, and what they pay for the impure material they use now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you know, John, that there are not a dozen mines with that
+material in them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do I know? Well, if you want to impugn my knowledge of mineralogy, I
+wish you would do so straight out. I either know my business or I do not.
+If you think I do not, then leave this matter entirely alone. I tell you
+that what I say about this mineral is true. What I say about its scarcity
+is true. There are no other mines with mineral so pure as this.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am perfectly satisfied when you say that, but you must remember those
+who are going to put their money in this company will not be satisfied.
+They must have the facts and figures down before them, and they are not
+going to take either your word or mine as to the value of the mineral.
+Your proposal about seeing the different manufactories is good. I would
+act upon it at once, if I were you. We must have the opinions of
+practical men set forth clearly before we can make a move in the matter.
+Now, how much of this mineral have you got?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Only the few lumps I took with me in my portmanteau. The barrel full of
+it which we got at Burntpine has not arrived yet. I suppose it came by
+slow steamer and is probably on the ocean still.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good. Take what specimens you have, go to the North, and see those
+manufacturers. Get, in some way or another, whether from the principals
+or from the subordinates, the price they pay for it, and the cost of
+removing the adulteration from the stuff they employ now; because that is
+really the material we come into competition with. It is not with their
+first raw material, but with their material as cleared from the
+deleterious foreign substances, that we have to deal. Find out exactly
+what it costs to do this purifying, and then, when you get your facts and
+figures, I will arrange them for you in the best order. Meanwhile, as you
+suggest, I will learn what manufactories there are in the States. Nothing
+can be done except that until you come back, and, if I were you, I should
+leave at once.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am quite ready. I don't want to lose any further time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So John Kenyon departed, and was soon on his way to the North, with a
+list of china manufactories in his note-book.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That afternoon Wentworth got the letters off by the American mail, and he
+felt that they were doing business as rapidly as could be expected. Next
+morning there was a letter for John Kenyon addressed to the care of
+Wentworth, and by a later mail there came a letter to Wentworth himself
+from John, who had reached his first district and had had an interview
+already with the manager of the works. He found the mineral was all he
+had expected, and they would be glad to take a certain quantity each year
+at a specified rate. This letter Wentworth filed away with a smile of
+satisfaction, and then he began again to wonder why Adam Brand,
+representing such a well-known manufactory, should have written a
+deliberate falsehood. Before he had time to fathom this mystery, the
+office-boy announced that a gentleman wished to see him, and handed
+Wentworth a card which bore the name of William Longworth. Wentworth
+arched his eyebrows as he looked at it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ask the gentleman to step in, please,' he said; and the gentleman
+stepped in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How are you, Mr. Wentworth? I suppose you remember me, although I did
+not see much of you on board the steamer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I remember you perfectly,' replied Wentworth. 'Won't you sit down?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you. I did not know where to find Mr. Kenyon, and so, being aware
+that both of you were interested in this mica-mine, I called to see you
+with reference to it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Indeed! I understood Mr. Kenyon to say that he had called upon you, and
+that you had decided to have nothing to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hardly think he was justified in saying anything quite so definite. I
+got from him such particulars as he cared to give. He is not a very
+communicative man at the best, but he told me something about it, and I
+have been thinking over his proposal. I have now concluded to help you in
+this matter, if you care to have my aid. Perhaps, however, things have
+got to such a stage that you do not wish any assistance?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'On the contrary, we have done very little. Mr. Kenyon is just now among
+the china manufactories in the North, finding out what demand there will
+be in England for this mineral.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I see. Have you had reports from him yet?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing further than a letter this morning, which is very satisfactory.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is no question, then, about the mineral being useful in the china
+trade?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No question whatever.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I am glad of that. Now, Mr. Kenyon spoke to me on the steamer of
+going in share and share alike; that is, you taking a third, he taking a
+third, and I taking a third. We did not go very minutely into
+particulars, but I suppose we each share the expense in the same way&mdash;the
+preliminary expenses, I mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'that would be the arrangement, I imagine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, have you the authority to deal with me in the matter, or would it
+be better for me to wait until Kenyon comes back?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We can settle everything here and now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good. Would you have any objection to my seeing the papers that
+relate to the mine? I should like to get the figures of the output as
+nearly as possible, and any other particulars you may have that would
+enable me to estimate the value of the property. Also I should like to
+see a copy of the option, or the original document by which you hold
+the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly; I shall be very pleased to give you all the information in
+my power.' Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote for a few moments,
+then blotted the paper he had been writing, and handed it to Longworth.
+'You have no objection, before this is done, to signing this document,
+have you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth adjusted his one eyeglass and looked at the paper, which read:
+'I hereby agree to do my best to form a limited liability company for the
+purpose of taking over the Ottawa Mica-mine. I agree to pay my share of
+the expenses, and to accept one-third of the profits.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I don't object to sign this, though I think it should be a little
+more definite. I think it should state that the liability I incur is
+to be one-third of the whole preliminary expenses, the other
+two-thirds to be paid by Kenyon and yourself; and that, in return, I
+am to get one-third of the profits, the other two-thirds going to
+yourself and Kenyon. I think it should also state the amount of the
+capital of the new company; two hundred thousand pounds was suggested,
+if I remember rightly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' answered Wentworth; 'I will rewrite that in accordance with
+your wishes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This he did, and Longworth, again adjusting his eyeglass, read it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' he said, 'as we are so formal about the matter, perhaps it would
+be as well for you to give me a note which I can keep, setting forth
+these same particulars.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Undoubtedly,' said Wentworth, 'I shall do that. Probably it would be
+better for you to write the document to suit your own views, and I
+will sign it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, not at all. Write whatever is embodied there, so that you will
+have one paper and I the other.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was done.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now then,' said Longworth, 'when does your option run out?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth named the date.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who is the owner of the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is owned by the Austrian Mining Company, headquarters at Vienna, and
+the option is signed by a Mr. Von Brent, of Ottawa, who is manager of the
+mine and one of the owners.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are perfectly certain that he has every right to sell the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; Mr. Kenyon's lawyer saw to that while he was in Ottawa.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you are sure, also, that your option is a thoroughly legal
+instrument?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We are sure of that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Has it been examined by a London solicitor?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It has been submitted to a Canadian lawyer. The bargain was made in
+Canada, and it will have to be carried out in Canada, under the laws
+of Canada.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Still, don't you think it would be just as well to get the opinion of an
+English lawyer on it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think that would be an unnecessary expense. However, if you wish to
+have that done, we will do it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I think we shall need to have the opinion of a good lawyer upon it
+before we submit it to the stockholders.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, I will have it done. Is there anyone whom you wish to give an
+opinion on it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it is a matter of indifference to me; your own solicitor would do as
+well as anyone else. Perhaps, however, it will be better to have a legal
+adviser for the Mica Mining Company, Limited&mdash;we shall have to have one
+as we go on&mdash;and it might be as well to submit the document to whomever
+we are going to place in that position. It will not increase the legal
+expenses at all, or at least by only a very trifling amount. Have you
+anyone to suggest?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have not thought about the matter,' said Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Suppose you let me look up a firm who will answer our purpose? My uncle
+is sure to know the right men, and that will be something towards my
+share of forming the company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good,' said Wentworth; 'that will be satisfactory to me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, there is a good deal to be done in the forming of a company, and it
+is going to take three men a good deal of time, besides some expense.
+What do you say to letting me look up offices?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think it is necessary to have offices?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, certainly. A great deal depends, in this sort of thing, on
+appearances. We shall need to get offices in a good locality.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'To tell the truth, Mr. Longworth, Kenyon and I have not very much money,
+and we do not want to enter into any expense that is needless.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, it is not needless. This business is one of those things
+into which, if you go boldly, you win; while if you go gingerly, on the
+economical plan, you lose everything. Of course, if there is to be a
+scarcity of cash, I shall have nothing to do with the scheme, because I
+know how these half-economically worked affairs turn out. I have seen too
+much of them. We are making a strike for sixty thousand pounds each. That
+is a sum worth risking something for, and, if you will believe me, you
+will not get it unless you venture something for it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose that is true.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is very true. Of course I've had more experience in matters of
+this kind than either of you, and I know we shall have to get good
+offices, with a certain prosperous look about them. People are very much
+influenced by appearances. Now, if you like, I will see to getting the
+offices and to engaging a solicitor. Every step must be taken under legal
+advice, otherwise we may get into a very bad tangle and spend a great
+deal more money in the end.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' said Wentworth. 'Is there anything else you can suggest?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not just at present; nothing need be done until Kenyon comes back, and
+then we can have a meeting to see what is the best way to proceed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth then looked over the papers, took a note of some things
+mentioned in the option, and finally said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish you would get these papers copied for me, I suppose you have
+someone in the office who can do it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then just have duplicates made of each of them. Good-morning, Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth mused for a few moments over the unexpected turn affairs had
+taken. He was very glad to get the assistance of Longworth; the name
+itself was a tower of strength in the City. Then, Kenyon's letter from
+the North was encouraging. Thinking of the letter brought the writer of
+it to his mind, so he took a telegraph-form from his desk, and wrote a
+message to the address given on the letter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Everything right. Longworth has joined us, and signed papers to assist
+in forming company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There,' he said, as he sent the boy out with the message, 'that will
+cheer up old John when he gets it.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap22"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When John Kenyon returned from the North and entered the office of his
+friend Wentworth, he found that gentleman and young Longworth talking in
+the outer room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There's a letter for you on my desk,' said Wentworth, after shaking
+hands with him. 'I'll be there in a minute.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon entered the room and found the letter. Then he did a very
+unbusinesslike thing. He pressed the writing to his lips and placed the
+letter in his pocket-book. This act deserves mention because it is an
+unusual thing in the City. As a general rule, City men do not press
+business communications to their lips, and the letter John had received
+was entirely a business communication, relating only to the mine, and to
+William Longworth's proposed connection with it. He wondered whether he
+should write an answer to it or not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sat down at Wentworth's desk, and came upon an obstacle at the very
+beginning. He did not know how to address the young woman. Whether to say
+'My dear Miss Longworth,' or 'My dear madam,' or whether to use the
+adjective 'dear' at all, was a puzzle to him; and over this he was
+meditating when Wentworth came bustling in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' said the latter, as John tore into small pieces a sheet of
+notepaper and threw the bits into the waste-basket, 'how have you got on?
+Your letters were very short indeed, but rather to the point. You seem to
+have succeeded.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I have succeeded very well. I have got all the figures and prices
+and everything else that it is necessary to have. I succeeded with
+everybody except Brand, who wrote that letter to you. I cannot make him
+out at all. He would give me no information, and he managed to prevent
+everyone else in his works from giving me any. He pooh-poohed the
+scheme&mdash;in fact, wouldn't listen to it. He said it was not usual for men
+to give away information regarding their business, and in that, of
+course, he was perfectly justified; but when I tried to argue with him as
+to whether this mineral was used in his manufactory or not, he would not
+listen. I asked him what he used in place of it, but he would not tell.
+All in all, he is a most extraordinary man, and I confess I do not
+understand him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it doesn't matter about him in the least. I was speaking with
+Longworth just now about that curious letter of his, and he agrees with
+me that it makes no difference. He says, what is quite true, that in
+every business you find some man with whom it is difficult to deal.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that is so; but, still, he either uses this substance or he does
+not. I can understand a man who says, "We have no need for that,
+because we use another material." But that is one of the things Brand
+does not say.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it is not worth while talking about him. By the way, you have all
+your figures and notes with you, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I have everything.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. Leave them with me, and I will get them into some sort of
+shape. Longworth says we shall have to have everything printed relating
+to this&mdash;your statements and all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That will cost a great deal of money, will it not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, not very much. It is necessary, it seems. We must have printed
+matter to give to those who make application for information. It would be
+impossible to explain personally to everybody who inquires, and to show
+them these documents.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I suppose so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Longworth was just now speaking to me about offices he has seen, and he
+is anxious to secure them at once. He is attending to that matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think we need an office? Why could not the business be transacted
+here; or perhaps a room might be had on this floor that would do
+perfectly well; then we should be close together, and able to communicate
+when necessary.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Longworth seems to think differently. He says you must impress the
+public, and so he is going in for fine offices.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, but who is to pay for them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why, we must, of course&mdash;you and Longworth and myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you the money?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have a certain amount. I think we shall have enough to see it through,
+and if not, we can easily get it, and settle up when we finish the
+business.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you know I have no money to spare.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I know that well enough. Perhaps Longworth will see us through,
+for, as he says, this sort of thing can be spoilt by niggardliness. He
+has known, and so have I, many a business go to pieces because of
+false economy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But it seems to me all this is needless expense. We only want to get a
+few moneyed men interested in our project, and if they are sensible men,
+they will look to the probability of getting a good dividend, not at
+fine offices.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, John; you get the men, and I shall be satisfied. I am sure I
+am as anxious to do this cheaply as you are. If you think you can go out
+and interest a dozen or twenty-four men in the City, and persuade them
+to go in for our mine, I will cry "Halt!" on our part until you do it.
+Will you try that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon pondered for a few minutes, and then said: 'I suppose that would
+be rather a difficult thing to do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that is the way it strikes me. I do not know to whom I could go.
+Longworth is a good man, and we have gone to him. Now it seems to me,
+having got his assistance, the least we can do, unless we are prepared to
+produce the men ourselves forthwith, is to act as he wishes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I quite appreciate that, and I also grasp the fact that too close
+economy is not the best thing; but, on the other hand, George, how are we
+to perform our part with Longworth? His ideas of economy and yours may be
+vastly different. What is a mere trifle to him would bankrupt us!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know that. Well, he is coming here this afternoon at three. Suppose
+you manage to be in then, and talk with him. Meanwhile, I will go over
+the papers and get them into tabulated form.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; I shall be here at three o'clock.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It will hardly be credited that a business man like John Kenyon spent
+most of the time between that hour and three o'clock trying to compose a
+business letter in answer to the business communication he had received
+that morning. Yet such was the astonishing fact, and it showed, perhaps
+more than anything else, how utterly unfit Mr. John Kenyon was to join in
+a commercial undertaking in a city of hard-headed people. At last,
+however, the letter was posted, and Kenyon hurried away to be in time for
+his three-o'clock appointment. He found Wentworth and young Mr. Longworth
+together, the latter looking more like a young man from the West End
+than a typical City business man. His monocle was in his eye, and it
+shone on Kenyon as he entered. It was evident something was troubling
+Wentworth, and it was equally evident that the something, whatever it
+was, was not troubling young Longworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are late, John,' was Wentworth's greeting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A little,' he answered. 'I was detained.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was silence for a few moments, and Wentworth appeared to be waiting
+for Longworth to speak. At last Longworth said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have succeeded in getting very nice offices indeed, and I was telling
+Mr. Wentworth about them. You see, it is not very easy to engage offices
+in a good part of the City by the week. They do not care to let them in
+that way, because, while a weekly tenant is occupying them, somebody
+else, who wants them for a longer time, might have to be sent away.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Kenyon in a non-committal manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I have got just the offices we need, and have now set the men at
+putting gilt lettering on the windows. I have taken the offices in the
+name of "The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited," which I shall have
+on the plate-glass windows in a very short time. Now, Mr. Wentworth here
+seems to think the offices rather expensive. I have told him before what
+my ideas are in the matter of expense. Perhaps, before anything more is
+said on the subject, we ought to go and look at the rooms.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How much are they a week?' asked Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Mr. Longworth did not answer, because at that moment his monocle
+fell out of its place and had to be adjusted again; but Wentworth jerked
+out the two words, 'Thirty pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A <i>week</i>?' cried John.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Longworth, after having succeeded in replacing the round bit
+of glass&mdash;'yes; Mr. Wentworth seems to think that is rather high, but I
+defy him to get as fine offices in the City for anything less in price.
+It is merely ten pounds a week for each of us. However, before you can
+judge of their dearness or cheapness, you must see them. If you ask me, I
+think they are a bargain.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' said Kenyon. 'Have you the time, George?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth, without answering, shoved the papers into his desk and closed
+it. The three young men went out together, and after a short walk came to
+large plate-glass windows, where a man on a ladder was chalking the words
+'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited,' in a semicircle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see,' said Longworth, 'this is one of the very best situations in
+the City. As I said before, I doubt if you could get anything like it for
+the price.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They could not deny the excellence of the position, or that the
+plate-glass looked very imposing and the gilt letters exceedingly fine;
+but the cost of this running on perhaps for two or three months seemed to
+appal them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come inside,' said young Longworth suavely; 'I am sure you will be
+pleased with the rooms we have. You see,' he said, entering and nodding
+to the carpenters who were at work there, 'this will be the front
+office, where the public is received. Here you have room for an
+accountant or two and your secretary. The back-room, which you see is
+also well lighted, is just the spot for our people to meet. We will get
+in a large long table here, and a number of chairs, and there we
+are&mdash;capital directors' room.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Does the thirty pounds a week include the furnishing of the place?'
+asked Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, bless you, no! You surely couldn't expect that? We shall have to put
+in the furniture, of course.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you intend to put in desks and counter and everything of that
+sort here?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course. Beside that, we will get in a large safe. There is nothing
+like a ponderous safe, with the name of the company in gilt letters on
+it, for impressing the general public.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And how much is the furnishing of this place to cost?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really, I don't know that. The men I have engaged will do it very
+reasonably. They have done work for me before. You don't get it done any
+cheaper by haggling about the price beforehand&mdash;I've found that out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not see how we are to pay our share of all this,' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing easier, my boy; I've arranged all that. I will pay them my third
+in cash when it is finished, and, they have agreed to wait three months
+for the remainder. By that time you will have sixty thousand pounds each,
+and a little bill like this will be nothing to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon looked grave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It's a little like counting your chickens,' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, they'll hatch all right,' laughed Longworth. And then his eyeglass
+dropped out.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap23"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+It is never wise to despise an enemy, no matter how humble he may be.
+The mouse liberated the enmeshed lion. Jennie Brewster should have been
+thankful that circumstances, working in her favour, had rendered her
+account of the discoveries she made about the mines unnecessary. She was
+saved the bitterness of acknowledged defeat by the cable despatch that
+awaited her at Queenstown, telling her not to forward her information.
+The letter she received from the editor of the <i>Argus</i> later explained
+the cable message. The <i>Argus</i> had obtained from a different source what
+purported to be an account of the reports on the mines, and this had
+been published. If Jennie's contribution corroborated this article, it
+was unnecessary; if it contradicted what had been already published,
+then, of course, it was equally unavailable, for the <i>Argus</i> was a paper
+that never stultified itself by acknowledging an error. So the editor
+sent his correspondent a short cable message to save the expense of a
+long and costly despatch that would have been useless when it reached
+the <i>Argus</i> office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Instead, however, of being grateful to the stars that fought so well for
+her, Jennie became bitterly resentful against Fleming, and hardly less so
+against Miss Longworth. If it had not been for the meddling politician's
+interference, Wentworth would never have discovered who she was, and the
+whole train of humiliating events that followed would not have taken
+place. She would have parted with Wentworth on a friendly basis, at
+least. She was forced, reluctantly, to admit to herself that she liked
+Wentworth better than any young man she had ever before met; and now that
+there was little chance of seeing him again, her regret had become more
+and more poignant as time went on. He had told her all his hopes about
+the mica-mine before their unfortunate disaster, and had taken her into
+his confidence in a way, she felt sure, he had never done with any other
+woman. She saw the earnest look in his honest eyes whenever she closed
+her own, and this look haunted her day and night, alternating with the
+remembrance of that gaze of incredulous reproach with which he regarded
+her when he discovered her mission, which was even harder to bear than
+the recollection of his confidence and esteem.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And the sting of the situation lay in the fact that it had all been so
+useless and unnecessary. She had wounded her friend and humiliated
+herself all for nothing! The rapid changes that had taken place in the
+newspaper office since she left, had rendered her sacrifices futile, and
+while she had buoyed herself up on shipboard by holding that she was
+merely doing her duty to her employers, even that consolation had been
+made naught by the editor's letter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus it ever is in that kaleidoscopic, gigantic and fascinating lottery,
+the modern press. The sensation for which an editor to-day would sell his
+soul, is to-morrow worthless. The greatest fool in the office will
+sometimes stumble stupidly upon the most important news of the day, while
+the cleverest reporter may be baffled in his constant fight against time,
+for the paper goes to press at a certain hour, and after that, effort is
+useless. The conductor of a great paper is like the driver of a Roman
+chariot; he needs a cool head and a strong arm, with a clear eye that
+peers into the future, and that pays little heed to the victims of the
+whirling scythe-blades at the hub. He may overturn a Government or be
+himself thrown, by an unexpected jolt, under the wheels. The fiery steeds
+never stop, and when one drops the reins, another grasps them, to be in
+turn lost and forgotten in the mad race, wherein never a glance is cast
+to the rear. The best brains in the country are called into requisition,
+squeezed, and flung aside. With a lavish but indiscriminating hand are
+thrown broadcast fame and dishonour, riches and disaster. Unbribable in
+the ordinary sense of the word, the press will, for the accumulation of
+the smallest coins of the realm, exaggerate a cholera scare and paralyze
+the business of a nation; then it will turn on a corrupt Government and
+rend it, although millions might be made by taking another course. It is
+the terror of scoundrels and the despair of honest men.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster, in the midst of her unavailing regrets, clenched her
+little fist when she thought of Fleming. It is both customary and
+consoling to place the blame on other shoulders than our own. Human
+nature is such an erring quantity, that usually we can find a scapegoat
+among our fellow-beings, who can be made responsible for any misdeeds or
+failings which are so much a part of ourselves that they escape
+recognition. If Fleming had only attended his own business, as a man
+should, Wentworth would never have known that Jennie wrote for the
+<i>Argus</i>, and Jennie might have had a friend in London who would have
+added that spice of interest to her visit which usually accompanies the
+friendship of an agreeable young man for a girl so pretty and
+fascinating.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fleming put up at the hotel that Jennie had at first selected, and now
+and then she met him in the extensive halls of the great building; but
+she invariably passed him with the dignity of an offended queen, although
+the unfortunate man always took off his hat, and once or twice paused as
+if about to speak with her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On the last day of her stay at the hotel, she met Fleming oftener than
+ever before; but it did not occur to her that the unhappy politician was
+lying in wait for her, never being able to muster up enough courage to
+address her when his opportunity came. At last a note was brought up to
+the room she occupied, from Fleming, in which he said that he would like
+to have a few moments' conversation with her, and would wait for a reply.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Tell him there is no reply,' said the girl to the messenger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is sometimes well to know the point of view, even of an enemy, but
+Jenny was too angry with him to think of that. However, a politician, to
+be successful, must not be easily rebuffed, and as a rule he is not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fleming, when he got the curt reply to his note, threw away his cigar,
+put on his hat, took the lift, passed through the long corridor, and
+knocked at Jennie's door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl's amazement at seeing her enemy there was so great that the
+obvious act of shutting the door in his face did not occur to her until
+it was too late, and Fleming had carelessly placed his large foot in the
+way of its closing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How dare you come here, when I refused to see you?' she cried, with her
+eyes ablaze.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I understood the messenger to say I might come,' replied the
+untruthful politician. 'You see, it's not a personal matter, but the very
+biggest sensation that ever went under the ocean on a cable, and I
+thought&mdash;Well, you know, I felt I had done you&mdash;quite unintentionally&mdash;a
+mean trick on board the <i>Caloric</i> and this was kind of to make up for it,
+don't you know.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You can never repair what you have done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, I can, Jennie.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall be obliged to you if you remember that my name is Miss
+Brewster,' said the girl, drawing herself up; but Fleming noticed, with
+relief, that since he had mentioned the sensation she had made no motion
+to close the door, while the eagerness of the newspaper woman was
+gradually replacing the anger with which she had at first regarded him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All right, Miss Brewster. I meant no disrespect, you know; and,
+honestly, I would rather give you a big item than anybody else.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, you're very honest&mdash;I know that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I am, you know, Jen&mdash;I mean Miss Brewster; although I tell you
+it don't pay in politics any more than in the newspaper business.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you only came to speak like that of the newspapers, I don't care to
+listen to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wait a minute. I don't blame you for being angry&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, all the same, if you let this item get away, you'll be sorry. I'm
+giving you the straight tip. I could get more gold than you ever saw for
+giving this snap away, yet here you're treating me as if I were&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A New York politician. Why do you come to me with this valuable piece
+of information? Just because you have a great regard for me, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's right. That's it exactly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought so. Very well. There is a parlour on this floor where we can
+talk without being interrupted. Come with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie closed the door and walked down the passage, followed by Fleming,
+who smiled with satisfaction at his own tact and shrewdness, as, indeed,
+he had every right to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the deserted sitting-room was a writing-table, and Jennie sat down
+beside it, motioning Fleming to a chair opposite her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' she said, drawing some paper towards her, and taking up a pen,
+'what is this important bit of news?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, before we begin,' replied Fleming, 'I would like to tell you why I
+interfered on shipboard and let that Englishman know who you were.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never mind that. Better let it rest.' There was a flash of anger in the
+girl's eye, but, in spite of it, Fleming continued. He was a persistent
+man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But it has some bearing on what I'm going to tell you. When I saw you on
+board the <i>Caloric</i>, my heart went down into my boots. I thought the game
+was up, and that you were after me. I was bound to find out whether the
+<i>Argus</i> knew anything of my trip or not, and whether it had put you on my
+track. Only five men in New York knew of my journey across, and as a good
+deal depended on secrecy, I had to find out in some way whether you were
+there for the purpose of&mdash;well, you know. So I spoke to the Englishman,
+and raised a hornets' nest about my ears; but I soon saw you had no
+suspicion of what I was engaged in, otherwise I would have had to
+telegraph to certain persons then in London, and scatter them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Dear me! And what villainy were you concocting? Counterfeiting?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; politics. Just as bad, I suppose you think. Now, do you know where
+Crupper is?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The Boss of New York? I heard before I left that he was at Carlsbad for
+his health.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He was there,' said Fleming mysteriously; 'but now&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The politician solemnly pointed downwards with his forefinger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What! Dead?' cried Jennie, the ominous motion of Fleming's finger
+naturally suggesting what all good people believed to be the arch-thief's
+ultimate destination.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' said Fleming, laughing; 'he's in this hotel.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, and Senator Smollet, leader of the Conscientious Party, is here
+too, although you don't meet them in the halls as often as you do me.
+These good men supposed to be political opponents, are lying low and
+saying nothing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see. And they've had a conference.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly. Now, it's like this.' Fleming pulled a sheet of paper towards
+him, and drew on it an oval. 'That's New York. We'll call it a
+pumpkin-pie, if you like, the material of which it is composed being
+typical of the heads of its conscientious citizens. Or a pigeon-pie,
+perhaps, for the New Yorker is made to be plucked. Well, look here.'
+Fleming drew from a point in the centre several radiating lines. 'That's
+what Crupper and Smollet are doing in London. They're dividing the pie
+between the two parties.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's very interesting, but how are they going to deliver the pieces?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Simple as shelling peas. You see, our great pull is the conscientious
+citizen&mdash;the voter who wants to vote right, and for a good man. If it
+weren't for the good men as candidates and the good men as voters, New
+York politics would be a pretty uncertain game. You see, the so-called
+respectable element in both parties is our only hope. Each believes in
+his party, thinks his crowd is better than the other fellow's, so all you
+have to do is to nominate an honest man to represent each party, and then
+that divides what they call the reputable vote, and we real politicians
+get our man in between the two. That's all there is in New York politics.
+Well, Senator Smollet threatened not to put up a good man on the
+conscientious ticket, and that would have turned the whole unbribable
+vote of both parties against us, so we had to make a deal with him, and
+throw in the next Presidential election. Crupper's no hog; he knows when
+he's had plenty, and New York's good enough for him. He don't care who
+gets the Presidency.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And this conference has been held?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's right. It took place in this hotel.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The bargain was made, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It was. The pie was divided.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you didn't get a slice?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I beg your pardon, I did!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, why do you come to me and tell me all this&mdash;if it's true?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Honest indignation shone in Fleming's face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'<i>If</i> it's true? Of course it's true. Why do I come to you? Because I
+want to be friendly with you, that's why.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie, nibbling the end of her pen, looked thoughtfully across at him
+for a few moments, then slowly shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you get me to believe that, Mr. Fleming, I'll not cable a word. No, I
+must have an adequate motive, for I won't cable anything I don't believe
+to be absolutely true.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I assure you, Jennie&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wait a moment. You say you are promised your share in the new deal, but
+it is not as big a slice as what you have now. It stands to reason that,
+if Crupper is to divide with Smollet's rascals, each of Crupper's rascals
+must content himself with a smaller piece. The greater the number of
+thieves, the smaller each portion of booty. You didn't see that when you
+left New York, and therefore you were afraid of publicity. You see it
+now, and you want a sensational article published, so that Senator
+Smollet will be forced to deny it, or further arouse the suspicions of
+the honest men in his party. In either case publicity will nullify the
+results of the deal, and you will hold the share you have. As you didn't
+know any of the regular London representatives of the New York papers,
+you couldn't trust them not to tell on you, and so you came to me. Now
+that I see a good substantial selfish motive for your action, I am ready
+to believe you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+An expression of dismay at first overspread the countenance of the
+politician, but this gave way to a look of undisguised admiration as the
+girl went on.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By Jove, Jennie!' he cried, bringing his fist down on the table when she
+had finished; 'you're wasted in the newspaper business; you ought to be a
+politician! Say, girl, if you marry me, I'll be President of the United
+States yet.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, you wouldn't,' said Jennie, quite unabashed by his handsome, if
+excited, proposal. 'No corrupt New York politician will ever be President
+of the United States. You have the great honest bulk of the people to
+deal with there, and I'm Democrat enough to believe in them when it comes
+to big issues, however much you may befog them in small; you can't fool
+all people for all time, Mr. Fleming, as a man who was not in little
+politics once said. Every now and then the awakened people will get up
+and smash you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fleming laughed boisterously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's just it,' he said. 'It's every now and then. If they did it every
+year I would have to quit politics. But will you send the particulars of
+this meeting to the <i>Argus</i> without giving me away?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I recognise its importance. Now, I want you to give me every
+detail&mdash;the number of the room they met in, the exact hour, and all that.
+What I like to get in a report of a secret meeting is absolute accuracy
+in small matters, so that those who were there will know it is not
+guesswork. That always takes the backbone out of future denials. I'll
+mention your name&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Bless my soul, don't do that!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I must say you were present.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why? Dear me! you can't be so stupid as not to see that, if your name
+is left out, suspicion will at once point to you as the divulger?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes I suppose that is so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And this man is a ruler in one of the greatest cities in the world! Go
+on, Mr. Fleming; who else was there besides Crupper, Smollet, and
+yourself?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The account&mdash;two columns and a half&mdash;was a bombshell in political New
+York the morning it appeared in the <i>Argus</i>. Senator Smollet cabled from
+Paris that there wasn't a word of truth in it, that he wasn't in London
+on the date mentioned, and had never seen Crupper there or elsewhere.
+Crupper cabled from Carlsbad that he was ill, and had not been out of
+bed for a month. He would sue the <i>Argus</i> for libel, which, by the way,
+he never did. The reporters flocked to meet Fleming when his steamer
+came in, but of course <i>he</i> knew nothing about it; he had been across
+the ocean solely on private business that had no connection with
+politics. He knew nothing of Crupper's whereabouts, but he knew <i>one</i>
+thing, which was that Crupper was too honest and honourable a man to
+traffic with the enemy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding all these denials, the report bore the marks of truth on
+its face, and everybody believed it, although many pretended not to. The
+division of the spoils aroused the greatest consternation and indignation
+among Crupper's own following, and a deputation went over to see the old
+man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Meanwhile, the <i>Argus</i>, with much dignity of diction, explained that it
+stood for the best interests of the people, and in the people's cause was
+fearless. It defied all and sundry to bring libel suits if they wanted
+to; it was prepared to battle for the people's rights. And its
+circulation went up and up, its many web presses being taxed to their
+utmost in supplying the demand. Thus are the truly good rewarded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A great newspaper is as lavishly generous as a despotic monarch, to those
+who serve it well, and the cheque which Jennie cashed when Lady Willow
+accompanied her to the City lined her purse with banknotes to a fulness
+that receptacle had never known before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a few weeks with Lady Willow, Jennie seemed to tire of the
+frivolities of society, and even of the sedate company of the good lady
+with whom she lived. She announced that she was going to Paris for a week
+or two, but, owing to uncertainty of address, her letters were not to be
+forwarded. She merely took a hand-bag, leaving the rest of her luggage
+with Lady Willow, who was thus sustained by the hope that her paying
+guest would soon return.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie took a hansom to Charing Cross, but instead of departing on the
+Paris express, she hailed a four-wheeler, and, giving a West End address
+to the driver, entered the closed vehicle.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap24"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+On the big plate-glass windows of the new rooms there soon appeared, in
+gilt letters with black edges, the words, 'Canadian Mica Mining Company,
+Limited: London Offices.' But the workmen who were finishing the
+interior were not so quick as the painters and gilders. The new offices
+took a long time to prepare, and both Kenyon and Wentworth chafed at the
+delay, because Longworth said nothing could be done until the rooms
+were occupied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is like this, Longworth,' said Wentworth to him: 'every moment is of
+value. Time is running on, and we have not for ever in which to form
+this company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you must remember,' replied young Mr. Longworth, gazing
+reproachfully at him through his glittering monocle, 'that I am equally
+interested in this project with you. It is just as much to my interest to
+save time as it is to yours. You must not worry about the matter, Mr.
+Wentworth; everything is all right. The men are doing a good job for us,
+and it will not be long before their work is completed. As I have told
+you time and again, a great deal depends on the appearance we present to
+the public. We have nearly the best offices in the City. The workmen have
+certainly taken longer than I expected they would, but, you see, they
+have a great deal of work on hand. When we get this started it will not
+take long. I, in the meanwhile, have not been idle. At least half a dozen
+moneyed men are ready to go in with us on this project. The moment the
+offices are finished we will have a meeting of the proposed shareholders.
+If they subscribe sufficiently large amounts&mdash;and I think they will&mdash;all
+the rest is a mere matter of detail which our solicitors will attend to.
+But if you imagine that you and Mr. Kenyon can manage everything better
+than I am doing, you are perfectly at liberty to go ahead. I am sure I
+have no desire to monopolize all the work. What have <i>you</i> done, for
+instance? What has Mr. Kenyon done?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Kenyon, as I think you know, has got all the facts in reference to the
+demand for the mineral, and I have arranged them. We have had everything
+printed as you suggested, and the papers are ready. They were delivered
+at my office to-day.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' answered young Longworth; 'we are getting on. That is so
+much done which will not have to be done over again. Perhaps it will be
+as well to send me some of the printed matter, so that I can give it to
+the men I was speaking of. Meanwhile, don't worry about the offices; they
+will be ready in good time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth and Kenyon visited the new offices time and again, but still
+the work seemed to drag. At last Wentworth said very sharply to the
+foreman:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Unless this is finished by next Monday, we will have nothing to do with
+it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The foreman seemed astonished.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I understood from Mr. Longworth,' he said, 'from whom we take our
+instructions, that there was no particular hurry about this job.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, there is a particular hurry. We must be in here by the first of
+next week, and if you have not finished by that time, we shall have to
+come in with it unfinished.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In that case,' said the foreman, 'I will do the best I can. I think we
+can finish it this week.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And finished it was accordingly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Kenyon entered his new offices, he found them rather oppressive for
+so modest a man as himself. Wentworth laughed at his doleful expression
+as he viewed the general grandeur of his surroundings.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What bothers me,' said John, 'is knowing that all this has to be paid
+for.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, yes,' answered Wentworth; 'but by the time the debts become due I
+hope we shall have plenty of money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I must confess I do not understand Longworth in this matter. He seems to
+be doing nothing; at least, he has nothing to show for what he has done,
+and he does not appear to realize that time is an object with us; in
+fact, that our company-forming has really become a race against time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, we shall see very shortly what he is going to do. I have sent a
+messenger for him to meet us here&mdash;he ought to be here now&mdash;and we must
+certainly push things. There is no time to lose.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Has he said anything to you&mdash;he talks more freely with you than he does
+to me&mdash;about what the next move is to be?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; he has said nothing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, don't you see the situation in which we stand? We are practically
+doing nothing&mdash;leaving everything in his hands. Now, if he should tell us
+some fine day that he can have nothing more to do with our project (and I
+believe he is quite capable of it), here we are with our time nearly
+spent, deeply in debt, and nothing done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear John, what a brain you have for conjuring up awful
+possibilities! Trust me, Longworth won't act in the way you suggest. It
+would be dishonourable, and he is, so far as I know, an honourable man of
+business. I think you take a certain prejudice against a person, and then
+can see nothing good in anything he does. Longworth told me the other day
+that he had five or six people who are ready to go into this business
+with us, and if such is the case he has certainly done his share.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I admit that. Did he give you their names?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, he did not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The thing that troubles me is our own helplessness. We seem, in some way
+or other, to have been shoved into the background.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So far from that being the case,' said Wentworth, 'Longworth told me
+that, if anything suggested itself to us, we were to go ahead with it. He
+asked what you had done and what I had done, and I told him. He seemed
+quite anxious that we should do everything we could, as he is doing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, but, don't you see, the situation is this: if we make a move at
+all, we may do something of which he does not approve. Haven't you
+noticed that whenever I suggest anything, or whenever you suggest
+anything, for that matter, he always has something counter to it? And I
+don't like the solicitors he has engaged for this business. They are what
+is known as "shady"; you know that as well as I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Bless me, John! then suggest something yourself if you have such dark
+suspicions of Longworth. I'm sure I'm willing to do anything you want
+done. Suggest something.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before John could make the required suggestion, the messenger Wentworth
+had sent to young Longworth returned.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'His uncle says, sir,' began the messenger, 'that Master William has gone
+to the North, and will not be back for a week.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A week!' cried both the young men together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir, a week was what he said. He left a note to be given to either
+of you if you called. Here is the note, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth took the envelope handed to him and tore it open. The contents
+ran thus:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have been suddenly called away to the North, and may be gone for a
+week or ten days. I am sorry to be away at this particular juncture, but
+as it is not likely that the men will have the offices finished before I
+come back, no great harm will be done. Meanwhile I shall see several
+gentlemen I have in my mind's eye, men that seldom come to London, who
+will be of great service to us. If you think of anything to forward the
+mica-mine, pray go on with it. You can send any letters for me to my
+uncle, and I shall get them. As there is no hurry in the matter of time,
+however, I should strongly advise that nothing be done until my return,
+when we can all go at the business with a will.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'Yours truly,
+<br />
+'WILLIAM LONGWORTH.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Wentworth had finished reading this letter, the two young men looked
+at each other.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you make of that?' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure I do not know. In the first place, he is gone for a week.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; that one thing is certain.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well now, John, one of two things has to be done. We have either to
+trust this Longworth, or we have to go on alone without him. Which is
+it to be?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sure I don't know,' answered Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, my dear fellow, we have come to a point when we must decide. You
+are, evidently, suspicious of Longworth. What you say really amounts to
+this: that he, for some reason of his own, which I confess I cannot see
+or understand, desires to delay forming this company until it is too
+late.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I didn't say that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You say what practically amounts to that. Either he is honest or he is
+not. Now, we have to decide to-day, and here, whether we are going to
+ignore him and go on with the forming of the company, or work with him.
+Unless you can give some good reason for doing otherwise, I propose to
+work with him. I think it will be very much worse if he leaves us now
+than if he had never gone into it. People will ask why he left.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Probably he wouldn't leave, even if you wanted him to do so. He has your
+signature to an agreement, and you have his.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not see how we can help ourselves.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then I think these suspicions should be dropped, because you cannot work
+with a man whom you suspect of being a rascal.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I quite admit of the justice of that, so I shall say nothing more.
+Meanwhile, do you propose to wait until he comes back?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall write him to-night and ask him what he intends to do. I shall
+tell him, as I have told him before, that time is pressing, and we want
+to know what is being done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' said John; 'I will wait till you get the answer to your
+letter. In the meantime, I do not see that there is anything to do but
+occupy this gorgeous office as well as I can, and wait to see what
+turns up.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is my own idea. I think, myself, it is rather unfair to suspect
+a man of being a villain when he has really done nothing to show that
+he is one.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this John made no answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next day Kenyon occupied the new offices, and set himself to the
+task of getting accustomed to them. The first day a few people dropped
+in, made inquiries about the mine, took some printed matter, and
+generally managed to ask several questions to which Kenyon was unable to
+reply. On the second day a number of newspaper men called&mdash;advertising
+canvassers, most of them, who left cards or circulars with Kenyon,
+showing that unless a commercial venture was advertised in their
+particular papers it was certain not to be a success. One very swell
+individual, with a cast of countenance that betokened a frugal,
+money-making, and shrewd race, asked Kenyon for a private interview. He
+said he belonged to the <i>Financial Field</i>, the great newspaper of London,
+which was read by every investor both in the City and in the country. All
+he wanted was some particulars of the mine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had the company been formed yet?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+No, it had not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When did they intend to go to the public?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That Kenyon could not say.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its
+recommendation to investors?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon said the full particulars would be found in the printed sheet he
+handed him, and with profuse thanks the newspaper man put it in his
+pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How had the mine paid in previous years?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It had paid a small dividend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On what amount?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That Kenyon was not prepared to answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How long had it been in operation?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For several years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Had it ever been placed on the London market before?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not so far as Kenyon was aware.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Who was at present interested in the mine?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That Mr. Kenyon did not care to answer, and he further stated, so far as
+giving out advertisements was concerned, he was not yet prepared to do
+any advertising. The visitor, who had taken down these notes, said his
+object was not to get an advertisement, but to obtain information about
+the mine. People could advertise in his paper or not, as they chose. The
+journal was such a well-known medium for reaching investors that everyone
+who knew his business advertised in it as a matter of course, and so they
+kept no canvassers, and made no applications for advertisements.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The chances are,' said the newspaper man, as he took his leave, 'that
+our editor will write an editorial on this mine, and, in order that there
+may be no inaccuracy, I shall bring it to you to read, and shall be very
+much obliged if you will correct any mistakes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall be glad to do so,' returned Kenyon, as the representative of the
+<i>Financial Field</i> took his leave.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The newspaper men were rather hard to please, and to get rid of; but John
+had a visitor on the afternoon of the second day who almost caused his
+wits to desert him. He looked up from his desk as the door opened, and
+was astonished to see the smiling face of Edith Longworth, while behind
+her came the old lady who had been an occupant of the carriage when John
+had taken his drive to the west.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You did not expect to see me here among the investors who have been
+calling upon you, Mr. Kenyon, did you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon held out his hand, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am very pleased indeed to see you, whether you come as an investor or
+not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And so this is your new office?' she cried, looking round. 'How you have
+blossomed out, haven't you? These offices are as fine as any in the
+City.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said John; 'they are too fine to suit me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't see why you should not have handsome offices as well as
+anyone else. You have been in my father's place of business, of course.
+But it is not so grand as these rooms.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think that helps to show the absurdity of ours. Your father's house is
+an old-standing one, and this gives us an air of new riches which, I must
+confess, I don't like, especially as we have not the riches.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, why did you agree to have such offices? I suppose you had
+something to say about them?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very little, I must own. They were engaged while I was in the North, and
+after they had been engaged, of course I did not like to say anything
+against them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, and how is the mine getting on? You have not applied to me yet to
+fulfil my offer, which I think was a very fair one.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have not needed to do so,' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, then, subscriptions are coming in, are they? Where is the list?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We have no list yet. We are waiting for your cousin, who is in the
+North.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In the North!' said Edith, with her eyes open wide. 'He is not in the
+North; he is in Paris, and we expect him home to-night.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, indeed!' said John, who made no further comment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, where's your subscription-list? Oh, you told me you have none yet.
+Very well; this sheet of paper will do.' And the young woman drew some
+lines across the paper, heading it, 'The Canadian Mica-mine.' Then
+underneath she wrote the name Edith Longworth, and after it&mdash;'For ten
+thousand pounds.' 'There! I am the first subscriber to the new company;
+if you get the others as easily, you will be very fortunate.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And, before John could thank her, she laughingly turned to her companion,
+and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We must go.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap25"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When Wentworth dropped in to see if anything had happened, Kenyon told
+him that young Longworth was not in the North at all, but in Paris.
+Wentworth pondered over this piece of information for a moment, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have written him, but have received no answer. I have just been to
+see the solicitors, and have told them that time was pressing; that we
+must do something. They quite agreed it was desirable some action should
+be taken at once, but, of course, as they said, they merely waited our
+instructions. They are willing to do anything we ask them to do. However,
+they advised waiting until Longworth got back, and then they proposed we
+should have a meeting at the offices here. They said, moreover, that, if
+Longworth had five or six men who would go at work with a will, the whole
+affair would be finished in a week at most. They did not appear to be at
+all alarmed at the shortening time, but said everything depended upon the
+men Longworth was going to bring with him. If they were the right men,
+there would be no trouble. So, all in all, they advised me not to worry
+about it, but to communicate with Longworth, if I could, and get him to
+come as soon as possible. I had to admit myself that this was the only
+thing to do, so I called round to see if you had heard anything from
+him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have heard nothing about him,' said Kenyon, 'except that he has lied,
+and has gone to Paris instead of going North.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' mused Wentworth, 'I don't know that that is a very important
+point. He may have business in Paris, and he may have thought it was no
+affair of ours where he went, in which he was partly right and partly
+wrong. He thought, no doubt, that if he said he was going North, to see
+some men who could not be seen without his going there, it would relieve
+our minds, and make us imagine we were going on all right.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is just what I object to, Wentworth. His whole demeanour seems to
+show that he wants us to think things are all right when they are not
+all right.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, John, as I said before, you've got to do one thing or the other.
+You have to trust Longworth or to go on without him. Now, for Heaven's
+sake make up your mind which it is to be, and don't grumble.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not grumbling. A man that is really honest will not say what is
+false, even about a small thing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, you are too particular. Wait till you have been in the City ten
+years longer, and you won't mind a little thing like that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Little things like that, as you call them, are indicative of general
+character.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. You mustn't take things too seriously.
+I do not see that anything can be done until Longworth chooses to exhibit
+himself. If you can suggest anything better, as I said before, tell me
+what it is, and I am ready to do my part.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I confess I don't see what we can do. We might wait a day or two longer
+yet, and then, if we hear nothing more from Longworth, dismiss those
+solicitors he has chosen, and take the gentlemen who act for you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The people Longworth has engaged do not bear a very good reputation;
+still, I must admit they talk in a very straightforward manner. As you
+say, it is perhaps better to let matters rest for a day or two.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so the days passed. Wentworth wrote again to Longworth at his office,
+and said they would wait for two days, and if he did not put in an
+appearance, before that time, they would go on forming the company as if
+he did not exist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this no answer came, and Kenyon and Wentworth again held consultation
+in the sumptuous offices which had been chosen for them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No news yet, I suppose?' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'None whatever,' was the answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; I have made up my mind what to do&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But before John Kenyon could say what he had resolved to do, the door
+opened, and there entered unto them Mr. William Longworth, with his silk
+hat as glossy as a mirror, a general trim and prosperous appearance about
+him, a flower in his buttonhole and his eyeglass in its place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good-morning, gentlemen,' he said. 'I thought I should find you here,
+and so I did not call at your office, Wentworth. Ah,' he cried, looking
+round, 'this is the proper caper! These offices look even better than I
+thought they would. I just got back this morning,' he added, turning to
+his partners.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Indeed,' said Wentworth, 'we are very glad to see you. How did you enjoy
+your trip to Paris?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man did not appear in the least abashed by this remark. He
+merely elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, well, as both of you are doubtless aware, Paris is not what it used
+to be. Still, I had a very good time there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm glad of that,' said Wentworth; 'and did you see the gentlemen you
+expected to meet?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I must confess I did not. I did not think it was necessary. I have five
+or six men interested already, practically pledged to furnish all the
+capital.' And, saying this, he walked round the desk at which they stood,
+and sat down, throwing the right leg across the left and clasping his
+knee in his hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, what has been done during my absence? The mine floated yet?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' said Wentworth; 'the mine is not yet floated. Now, Mr. Longworth,
+the time has come for plain speaking. You have gone off to Paris without
+a word of warning to us at a very critical time, and you have not
+answered any of the letters I sent to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, my dear boy, the reason was that I expected every day to get back
+here, and each day was detained a little longer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good; the point I want to impress upon you is this&mdash;time is
+getting short. If we are going to form this company, we have to set about
+it at once.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear fellow,' said Longworth, in an expostulating tone of voice,
+'that is exactly what I told myself. The time <i>is</i> getting short, as you
+say. Of course, as I said when I joined you, I cannot give my whole time
+to this. We are equal partners, and the fact that I had to leave for a
+few days should not interrupt the business we have on hand. What did you
+expect to do if I had not been a partner at all?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you were not a partner,' replied Wentworth with some heat, 'we should
+have gone on and formed our company, or failed; but the very fact that
+you <i>are</i> a partner is just what now retards us. We do not feel justified
+in doing anything until it has your approval, or until we know that it
+does not run counter with something you have already done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, gentlemen, if you feel like that about it, I am quite willing to
+withdraw. I am ready to give up the paper I hold from you, and receive
+back the paper you hold from me. Of course we cannot work together if
+there are to be any recriminations. I have done my best; I have done
+everything that I promised to do&mdash;even more than that; but if you think
+for a moment you can get on better without me, I am ready at any time
+to retire.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is easy to say that, Mr. Longworth, now that the time of the option
+has only a month further to run. You must remember that a great deal of
+time has been lost, and not through our fault.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah! do you mean it has been lost through my fault?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean that if we had been alone something would have been done,
+whereas we are now in the same position as when we started. We are in a
+worse position than we were at the beginning, because we have not only
+spent our money, but are deeply in debt into the bargain.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, Mr. Wentworth, I did not propose to withdraw until you, as a
+matter of fact, almost suggested it. I am quite willing and anxious
+to help, but if I do stay with you it must be understood that we
+have no such recriminations as these. You must do your best, and I
+must do my best.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then,' said Wentworth; 'your leaving us at this time is
+entirely out of the question. Now, will you give me the names of those
+gentlemen who have offered to go in with us?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And Longworth pulled out a note-book from his inside pocket, while
+Wentworth took up a pen from the desk and pulled a sheet of paper
+towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'First, Mr. Melville.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is that the Melville I saw in relation to this mineral?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sure I do not know. He is at the head of the Scranton China
+Company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Has <i>he</i> spoken of going in with us?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he seems to think the scheme is a good one. Why do you ask?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, merely because I took a specimen of the mineral to him and his
+manager wrote to me that it was of no value. It seems rather remarkable
+that he should go in for the mine if his manager believes it to be
+worthless.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, he goes in entirely in his own private capacity. He is not at all
+affected by what the manager says. The manager has nothing to do with
+Melville's private affairs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Still, it seems very strange, because, when Kenyon saw the manager in
+the North, he claimed they did not use this material, and said it would
+be of no benefit whatever to him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is very singular,' mused Longworth. 'Well, all I can say is,
+Melville has intimated that he should like to have a share in this mine,
+so, I take it, he and the manager do not agree as to the value of the
+mineral. You can set down Mr. Melville's name with perfect confidence. I
+know him very well, and I know that he's a thorough man of business.
+Besides, it will be a great advantage to have a man connected with the
+china trade in with us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no denying this point, so Wentworth said nothing more.
+Longworth named five other persons, none of whom Wentworth knew. Then he
+closed his note-book and put it in his pocket.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The question now is: Have these gentlemen stated how much they will
+subscribe?' asked Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, they have not. Of course, everything will depend on how they are
+impressed with what we can tell them. The great thing is to get men who
+are willing even to listen to you. The rest depends on the inducements
+you offer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you expect to get any more men interested?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think any more are needed. The best thing to do now is to get
+those we have together and summon our solicitors here. Then our friend
+Kenyon, who is a fluent speaker, can lay the case before them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon, who had not spoken at all during the interview, did not even
+look up, and apparently did not hear the satirical allusion to his
+eloquence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; when would be a good time to call this meeting?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As soon as possible, I think,' said Longworth. 'What do you say to
+Monday, at three o'clock? Men come from lunch about that hour, and are in
+a good humour. If you send out a letter saying a meeting will be held
+here in the directors' room at three o'clock, prompt, on Monday, I will
+see the men and get them to come. Of course they are generally busy, and
+may have other appointments; still, we must do something, and nothing can
+be done until we get them together.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Right; the invitations to the meeting shall be sent out at once.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth rose, went to the desk and picked up a paper.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is this?' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon looked up suddenly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That,' he said, flushing slightly, 'is our first subscription.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Who wrote the name of Miss Edith Longworth here?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The young lady herself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Has she been here?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She called, and desired to be the first subscriber.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nonsense!' cried Longworth, with a frown; 'we don't want any women in
+this business;' and, saying that, he tore the paper in two.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon clenched his fist and was about to say something, when Wentworth's
+hand came down on his shoulder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think I would refuse ten thousands pounds,' said Wentworth,
+'from anybody who offered it, woman or man. Perhaps we had better see
+whether your men will subscribe as much before we throw away a
+subscription already received.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But she hasn't the ten thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I fancy,' said Wentworth, 'that whatever Miss Longworth puts her name
+to, she is ready to stand by;' and with that he placed the two pieces of
+paper in a drawer. 'Now, I think that is all,' he added; 'we will call
+the meeting for Monday, and see what comes of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap26"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+William Longworth had an eye for beauty. One of his eyes was generally
+covered by a round disc of glass, save when the disc fell out of its
+place and dangled in front of his waistcoat. Whether the monocle assisted
+his sight or not, it is certain that William knew a pretty girl when he
+saw her. One of the housemaids in the Longworth household left suddenly,
+without just cause or provocation, as the advertisements say, and in her
+place a girl was engaged who was so pretty that, when William Longworth
+caught sight of her, his monocle dropped from its usual position, and he
+stared at her with his two natural eyes, unassisted by science. He tried
+to speak to her on one or two occasions when he met her alone; but he
+could get no answer from the girl, who was very shy and demure, and knew
+her place, as people say. All this only enhanced her value in young
+Longworth's estimation, and he thought highly of his cousin's taste in
+choosing this young person to dust the furniture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+William had a room in the house which was partly sitting-room and partly
+study, and there he kept many of his papers. He was supposed to ponder
+over matters of business in this room, and it gave him a good excuse for
+arriving late at the office in the morning. He had been sitting up into
+the small hours, he would tell his uncle; although he would sometimes
+vary the excuse by saying that it was quieter at home than in the City,
+and that he had spent the early part of the morning in reading documents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The first time William got an answer from the new housemaid was when he
+expressed his anxiety about the care of this room. He said that servants
+generally were very careless, and he hoped she would attend to things,
+and see that his papers were kept nicely in order. This, without glancing
+up at him, the girl promised to do, and William thereafter found his
+apartment kept with a scrupulous neatness which would have delighted the
+most particular of men.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One morning when he was sitting by his table, enjoying an after-breakfast
+cigarette, the door opened softly, and the new housemaid entered. Seeing
+him there, she seemed confused, and was about to retire, when William,
+throwing his cigarette away, sprang to his feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, don't go,' he said; 'I was just about to ring.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl paused with her hand on the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' he continued, 'I was just going to ring, but you have saved me
+the trouble; but, by the way, what is your name?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Susy, if you please, sir,' replied the girl modestly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah well, Susy, just shut the door for a moment.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl did so, but evidently with some reluctance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, Susy,' said William jauntily, 'I suppose that I'm not the first
+one who has told you that you are very pretty.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, sir!' said Susy, blushing and looking down on the carpet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, Susy, and you take such good care of this room that I want to thank
+you for it,' continued William.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here he fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and drew out half a
+sovereign.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Here, my girl, is something for your trouble. Keep this for yourself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I couldn't think of taking money, sir,' said the girl, drawing back.
+'I couldn't indeed, sir!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nonsense!' said William; 'isn't it enough?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it's more than enough. Miss Longworth pays me well for what I do,
+sir, and it's only my duty to keep things tidy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, Susy, that is very true; but very few of us do our duty, you know,
+in this world.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But we ought to, sir,' said the girl, in a tone of quiet reproof that
+made the young man smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps,' said he; 'but then, you see, we are not all pretty and good,
+like you. I'm sorry you won't take the money. I hope you are not offended
+at me for offering it;' and William adjusted his eye-glass, looking his
+sweetest at the young person standing before him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, sir,' she said, 'I'm not at all offended, and I thank you very
+much, very much indeed, sir, and I would like to ask you a question, if
+you wouldn't think me too bold.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Bold?' cried William. 'Why, I think you are the shyest little woman I
+have ever seen. I'll be very pleased to answer any question you may ask
+me. What is it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see, sir, I've got a little money of my own.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I declare, Susy, this is very interesting. I'd no idea you were
+an heiress.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, not an heiress, sir&mdash;far from it. It's only a little matter of four
+or five hundred pounds, sir,' said Susy, dropping him an awkward little
+curtsy, which he thought most charming. 'The money is in the bank, and
+earns no interest, and I thought I would like to invest it where it would
+bring in something.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly, Susy, and a most laudable desire on your part. Was it about
+that you wished to question me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, if you please, sir. I saw this paper on your desk, and I thought I
+would ask you if it would be safe for me to put my money in these mines,
+sir. Seeing the paper here, I supposed you had something to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+William whistled a long incredulous note, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So you have been reading my papers, have you, miss?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, sir,' said the girl, looking up at him with startled eyes. 'I
+only saw the name Canadian Mica-mine on this, and the paper said it would
+pay ten per cent., and I thought if you had anything to do with it that
+my money would be quite safe.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that goes without saying,' said William; 'but if I were you, my
+dear, I should not put my money in the mica-mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, then, you haven't anything to do with the mine, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, Susy, I have. You know, fools build houses, and wise men live in
+them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So I have heard,' said Susy thoughtfully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, two fools are building the house that we will call the Canadian
+Mica-mine, and I am the wise man, don't you see, Susy?' said the young
+man, with a sweet smile.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm afraid I don't quite understand, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't suppose, Susy,' replied the young man, with a laugh, 'that
+there are many who do; but I think in a month's time I shall own this
+mica-mine, and then, my dear, if you still want to own a share or two,
+I shall be very pleased to give you a few without your spending any
+money at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, would you, sir?' cried Susy in glad surprise; 'and who owns the
+mine now?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, two fellows; you wouldn't know their names if I told them to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And are they going to sell it to you, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+William laughed heartily, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no! they themselves will be sold.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But how can that be if they don't own the mine? You see, I'm only a very
+stupid girl, and don't understand business. That's why I asked you about
+my money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't suppose you know what an option is, do you, Susy?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, sir, I don't; I never heard of it before.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, these two young men have what is called an option on the mine,
+which is to say that they are to pay a certain sum of money at a certain
+time and the mine is theirs; but if they don't pay the certain sum at the
+certain time, the mine isn't theirs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And won't they pay the money, sir?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, Susy, they will not, because, don't you know, they haven't got it.
+Then these two fools will be sold, for they think they are going to get
+the money, and they are not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you have the money to buy the mine when the option runs out, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By Jove!' said William in surprise, 'you have a prodigious head for
+business, Susy; I never saw anyone pick it up so fast. You will have to
+take lessons from me, and go on the market and speculate yourself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I should like to do that, sir&mdash;I should indeed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' said William kindly, 'whenever you have time, come to me, and I
+will give you lessons.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man approached her, holding out his hand, but the girl slipped
+away from him and opened the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think,' he said in a whisper, 'that you might give me a kiss after all
+this valuable information.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, Mr. William!' cried Susy, horrified.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He stepped forward and tried to catch her, but the girl was too nimble
+for him, and sprang out into the passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Surely,' protested William, 'this is getting information under false
+pretences; I expected my fee, you know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And you shall have it,' said the girl, laughing softly, 'when I get ten
+per cent. on my money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Egad!' said William to himself as he entered his room again, 'I will see
+that you get it. She's as clever an outside broker.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When young Longworth had left for his office, Susy swept and dusted out
+his room again, and then went downstairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Where's the mistress?' she asked a fellow-servant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In the library,' was the answer, and to the library Susy went, entering
+the room without knocking, much to the amazement of Edith Longworth, who
+sat near the window with a book in her lap. But further surprise was in
+store for the lady of the house. The housemaid closed the door, and then,
+selecting a comfortable chair, threw herself down into it, exclaiming:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh dear me! I'm so tired.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Susy,' said Miss Longworth, 'what is the meaning of this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It means, mum,' said Susy, 'that I'm going to chuck it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Going to <i>what</i>?' asked Miss Longworth, amazed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Going to chuck it. Didn't you understand? Going to give up my situation.
+I'm tired of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' said the young woman, rising, 'you may give notice in the
+proper way. You have no right to come into this room in this impudent
+manner. Be so good as to go to your own room.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My!' said Susy, 'you can do the dignified! I must practise and see if I
+can accomplish an attitude like that. If you were a little prettier, Miss
+Longworth, I should call that striking;' and the girl threw back her head
+and laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Something in the laugh aroused Miss Longworth's recollection, and a chill
+of fear came over her; but, looking at the girl again, she saw she was
+mistaken. Susy jumped up, still laughing, and drew a pin from the little
+cap she wore, flinging it on the chair; then she pulled off her wig, and
+stood before Edith Longworth her natural self.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Brewster!' gasped the astonished Edith. 'What are you doing in my
+house in that disguise?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh,' said Jennie, 'I'm an amateur housemaid. How do you think I have
+acted the part? Now sit down, Miss Dignity, and I will tell you something
+about your own family. I thought you were a set of rogues, and now I can
+prove it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you leave my house this instant?' cried Edith, in anger. 'I shall
+not listen to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, you will,' said Jennie, 'for I shall follow your own example,
+and not let you out until you do hear what I have to tell you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Saying which the amateur housemaid skipped nimbly to the door, and placed
+her back against it.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap27"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster stood with her back to the door, a sweet smile on her
+face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This is my day for acting, Miss Longworth. I think I did the <i>rôle</i> of
+housemaid so well that it deceived several members of this family. I am
+now giving an imitation of yourself in your thrilling drama, "All at
+Sea." Don't you think I do it most admirably?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Edith, sitting down again. 'I wonder you did not adopt the
+stage as a profession.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have often thought of doing so, but journalism is more exciting.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps. Still, it has its disappointments. When I gave my thrilling
+drama, as you call it, on shipboard, I had my stage accessories arranged
+to better advantage than you have now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean the putting off of the boat?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; I mean that the electric button was under my hand&mdash;it was impossible
+for you to ring for help. Now, while you hold the door, you cannot stop
+me from ringing, for the bell-rope is here beside me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that is a disadvantage, I admit. Do you intend to ring, then, and
+have me turned out?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think that will be necessary. I imagine you will go quietly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are a pretty clever girl, Miss Longworth. I wish I liked you, but I
+don't, so we won't waste valuable time deploring that fact. Have you no
+curiosity to hear what I was going to tell you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not the slightest; but there is one thing I should like to know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, is there? Well, that's human, at any rate. What do you wish to
+know?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You came here well recommended. How did you know I wanted a housemaid,
+and were your testimonials&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith paused for a word, which Jennie promptly supplied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Forged? Oh dear no! There is no necessity for doing anything criminal in
+this country, if you have the money. I didn't forge them&mdash;I bought them.
+Didn't you write to any of the good ladies who stood sponsor for me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, and received most flattering accounts of you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. That was part of the contract. Oh, you can do anything with
+money in London; it is a most delightful town. Then, as for knowing
+there was a vacancy, that also was money. I bribed the other housemaid
+to leave.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see. And what object had you in all this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster laughed&mdash;the same silvery laugh that had charmed William
+Longworth an hour or two before, a laugh that sometimes haunted
+Wentworth's memory in the City. She left her sentinel-like position at
+the door and threw herself into a chair.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Longworth,' she said, 'you are not consistent. You first pretend
+that you have no curiosity to hear what I have to say, then you ask me
+exactly what I was going to tell you. Of course, you are dying to know
+why I am here; you wouldn't be a woman if you weren't. Now, I've changed
+my mind, and I don't intend to tell you. I will say, though, that my
+object in coming here was, first, to find out for myself how servants are
+treated in this country. You see, my sympathies are all with the women
+who work, and not with women&mdash;well, like yourself, for instance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I think you said that once before. And how do we treat our
+servants?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So far as my experience goes, very well indeed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is most gratifying to hear you say this. I was afraid we might not
+have met with your approval. And now, where shall I send your month's
+money, Miss Brewster?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie Brewster leaned back in her chair, her eyes all but closed; an
+angry light shooting from them reminded Edith of her glance of hatred on
+board the steamship. A rich warm colour overspread her fair face, and her
+lips closed tightly. There was a moment's silence, and then Jennie's
+indignation passed away as quickly as it came. She laughed, with just a
+touch of restraint in her tone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You can say an insulting thing more calmly and sweetly than anyone I
+ever met before; I envy you that. When I say anything low down and mean,
+I say it in anger, and my voice has a certain amount of acridity in it. I
+can't purr like a cat and scratch at the same time&mdash;I wish I could.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is it an insult to offer you the money you have earned?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it is, and you knew it was when you spoke. You don't understand me
+a little bit.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is it necessary that I should?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't suppose you think it is,' said Jennie meditatively, resting her
+elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. 'That is where our point of
+view differs. I like to know everything. It interests me to learn what
+people think and talk about, and somehow it doesn't seem to matter to me
+who the people are, for I was even more interested in your butler's
+political opinions than I was in Lord Frederick Bingham's. They are both
+Conservatives, but Lord Freddie seems shaky in his views, for you can
+argue him down in five minutes, but the butler is as steadfast as a rock.
+I do admire that butler. I hope you will break the news of my departure
+gently to him, for he proposed to me, and he has not yet had his answer.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is still time,' said Edith, smiling in spite of herself. 'Shall I
+ring for him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Please do not. I want to avoid a painful scene, because he is so sure of
+himself, and never dreams of a refusal. It is such a pity, too, for the
+butler is my ideal of what a member of the aristocracy should be. His
+dignity is positively awe-inspiring; while Lord Freddie is such a simple,
+good-natured, everyday young fellow, that if I imported him to the States
+I am sure no one would believe he was a real lord. With the butler it
+would be <i>so</i> different,' added Jennie, with a deep sigh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is too bad that you cannot exchange the declaration of the butler for
+one from Lord Frederick.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Too bad!' cried Jennie, looking with wide-open eyes at the girl before
+her; 'why, bless you! I had a proposal from Lord Freddie two weeks before
+I ever saw the butler. I see you don't believe a word I say. Well, you
+ask Lord Freddie. I'll introduce you, and tell him you don't believe he
+asked me to be Lady Freddie, if that's the title. He'll look sheepish,
+but he won't deny it. You see, when I found I was going to stay in
+England for a time, I wrote to the editor of the <i>Argus</i> to get me a
+bunch of letters of introduction and send them over, as I wanted
+particularly to study the aristocracy. So he sent them, and, I assure
+you, I found it much more difficult to get into your servants' hall than
+I did into the halls of the nobility&mdash;besides, it costs less to mix with
+the Upper Ten.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith sat in silence, looking with amazed interest at the girl, who
+talked so rapidly that there was sometimes difficulty in following
+what she said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, Lord Freddie is not half so condescending as the butler, neither is
+his language so well chosen; but then, I suppose, the butler's had more
+practice, for Freddie is very young. I am exceedingly disappointed with
+the aristocracy. They are not nearly so haughty as I had imagined them
+to be. But what astonishes me in this country is the way you women
+spoil the men. You are much too good to them. You pet them and fawn on
+them, and naturally they get conceited. It is such a pity, too; for
+they are nice fellows, most of them. It is the same everywhere I've
+been&mdash;servants' hall included. Why, when you meet a young couple, of what
+you are pleased to call the "lower classes," walking in the Park, the man
+hangs down his head as he slouches along, but the girl looks defiantly at
+you, as much as to say, "I've got him. Bless him! What have you to say
+about it?" while the man seems to be ashamed of himself, and evidently
+feels that he's been had. Now, a man should be made to understand that
+you're doing him a great favour when you give him a civil word. That's
+the proper state of mind to keep a man in, and then you can do what you
+like with him. I generally make him propose, so as to get it over before
+any real harm's done, and to give an artistic finish to the episode.
+After that we can be excellent friends, and have a jolly time. That's the
+way I did with Lord Freddie. Now, here am I, chattering away as if I were
+paid for talking instead of writing. Why do you look at me so? Don't you
+believe what I tell you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I believe all you say. What I can't understand is, why a bright
+girl like you should enter a house and,&mdash;well, do what you have done
+here, for instance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why shouldn't I? I am after accurate information. I get it in my own
+way. Your writers here tell how the poor live, and that sort of thing.
+They enter the houses of the poor quite unblushingly, and print their
+impressions of the poverty-stricken homes. Now, why should the rich man
+be exempt from a similar investigation?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In either case it is the work of a spy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; but a spy is not a dishonourable person&mdash;at least, he need not be.
+I saw a monument in Westminster Abbey to a man who was hanged as a spy. A
+spy must be brave; he must have nerve, caution, and resource. He
+sometimes does more for his country than a whole regiment. Oh, there are
+worse persons than spies in this world.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose there are, still&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I know. It is easy for persons with plenty of money to moralize on
+the shortcomings of others. I'll tell you a secret. I'm writing a book,
+and if it's a success, then good-bye to journalism. I don't like the spy
+business myself any too well; I'm afraid England is contaminating me, and
+if I stayed here a few years I might degenerate so far as to think your
+newspapers interesting. By the way, have you seen Mr. Wentworth lately?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith hesitated a moment, and at last answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I saw him a day or two ago.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Was he looking well? I think I ought to write him a note of apology for
+all the anxiety I caused him on board ship. You may not believe it, but I
+have actually had some twinges of conscience over that episode. I suppose
+that's why I partially forgave you for stopping the cablegram.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth was astonished at herself for giving the young woman
+information about Wentworth, but she gave it, and the amateur housemaid
+departed in peace, saying, by way of farewell:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm not going to write up your household, after all.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap28"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+One day when Kenyon entered the office, the clerk said to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That young gentleman has been here twice to see you. He said it was very
+important, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What young gentleman?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The gentleman&mdash;here is his card&mdash;who belongs to the <i>Financial Field</i>,
+sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did he leave any message?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, sir; he said he would call again at three o'clock.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good,' said Kenyon; and he began composing his address to the
+proposed subscribers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At three o'clock the smooth, oily person from the <i>Financial Field</i> put
+in an appearance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, Mr. Kenyon,' he said, 'I am glad to meet you. I called in twice,
+but had not the good fortune to find you in. Can I see you in private
+for a moment?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon. 'Come into the directors' room;' and into the
+directors room they went, Kenyon closing the door behind them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' said the representative of the <i>Financial Field</i>, 'I have brought
+you a proof of the editorial we propose using, which I am desired by the
+proprietor to show you, so that it may be free, if possible, from any
+error. We are very anxious to have things correct in the <i>Financial
+Field</i>;' and with this he handed to John a long slip of paper with a
+column of printed matter upon it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The article was headed, 'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited.' It
+went on to show what the mine had been, what it had done, and what
+chances there were for investors getting a good return for their money by
+buying the shares. John read it through carefully.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is a very handsome article,' he said; 'and it is without an error,
+so far as I can see.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am glad you think so,' replied the young gentleman, folding up the
+proof and putting it in his inside pocket. 'Now, as I said before,
+although I am not the advertising canvasser of the <i>Financial Field</i>,
+I thought I would see you with reference to an advertisement for the
+paper.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you know, we have not had a meeting of the proposed stockholders
+yet, and therefore are not in a position to give any advertisements
+regarding the mine. I have no doubt advertisements will be given, and, of
+course, your paper will be remembered among the rest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah,' said the young man, 'that is hardly satisfactory to us. We have a
+vacant half-page for Monday, the very best position in the paper, which
+the proprietor thought you would like to secure.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As I said a moment ago, we are not in a position to secure it. It is
+premature to talk of advertising at the present state of affairs.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think, you know, it will be to your interest to take the half-page.
+The price is three hundred pounds, and besides that amount we should like
+to have some shares in the company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean three hundred pounds for one insertion of the
+advertisement?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Doesn't that strike you as being a trifle exorbitant? Your paper has a
+comparatively limited circulation, and they do not ask us such a price
+even in the large dailies.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, my dear sir, the large dailies are quite different. They have a
+tremendous circulation, it is true, but it is not the kind of circulation
+we have. No other paper circulates so largely among investors as the
+<i>Financial Field.</i> It is read by exactly the class of people you desire
+to reach, and I may say that, except through the <i>Financial Field</i>, you
+cannot get at some of the best men in the City.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, admitting all that, as I have said once or twice, we are not yet
+in a position to give an advertisement.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, I am very sorry to say that we cannot, on Monday, publish the
+article I have shown you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; I cannot help it. You are not compelled to print it unless
+you wish. I am not sure, either, that publishing the article on Monday
+would do us any good. It would be premature, as I say. We are not yet
+ready to court publicity until we have had our first meeting of proposed
+stockholders.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'When is your first meeting of stockholders?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'On Monday, at three o'clock.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, we could put that announcement in another column, and I am
+sure you would find the attendance at your meeting would be very largely
+and substantially increased.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Possibly; but I decline to do anything till after the meeting.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think you would find it pay you extremely well to take that
+half-page.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not questioning the fact at all. I am merely saying what I have
+said to everyone else, that we are not ready to consider advertising.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am sorry we cannot come to an arrangement, Mr. Kenyon&mdash;very sorry
+indeed;' and, saying this, he took another proof-sheet out of his pocket,
+which he handed to Kenyon. 'If we cannot come to an understanding, the
+manager has determined to print this, instead of the article I showed
+you. Would you kindly glance over it, because we should like to have it
+as correct as possible.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon opened his eyes, and unfolded the paper. The heading was the same,
+but he had read only a sentence or two when he found that the mica-mine
+was one of the greatest swindles ever attempted on poor old innocent
+financial London!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to say,' cried John, looking up at him, with his anger
+kindling, 'that if I do not bribe you to the extent of three hundred
+pounds, besides giving you an unknown quantity of stock, you will publish
+this libel?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not say it is a libel,' said the young man smoothly; 'that would be
+a matter for the courts to decide. You might sue us for libel, if you
+thought we had treated you badly. I may say that has been tried several
+times, but with indifferent success.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But do you mean to tell me that you intend to publish this article if I
+do not pay you the three hundred pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; putting it crudely, that is exactly what I do mean.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon rose in his wrath and flung open the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I must ask you to leave this place, and leave it at once. If you ever
+put in an appearance here again while I am in the office, I will call a
+policeman and have you turned out!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' expostulated the other suavely, 'it is merely a matter of
+business. If you find it impossible to deal with us, there is no harm
+done. If our paper has no influence, we cannot possibly injure you. That,
+of course, is entirely for you to judge. If, any time between now and
+Sunday night, you conclude to act otherwise, a wire to our office will
+hold things over until we have had an opportunity of coming to an
+arrangement with you. If not, this article will be published on Monday
+morning. I wish you a very good afternoon, sir.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John said nothing, but watched his visitor out on the pavement, and then
+returned to the making of his report.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On Monday morning, as he came in by train, his eye caught a flaming
+poster on one of the bill-boards at the station. It was headed <i>Financial
+Field</i>, and the next line, in heavy black letters, was, 'The Mica Mining
+Swindle,' Kenyon called a newsboy to him and bought a copy of the paper.
+There, in leaded type, was the article before him. It seemed, somehow,
+much more important on the printed page than it had looked in the proof.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he read it, he noticed an air of truthful sincerity about the
+editorial that had escaped him during the brief glance he had given it on
+Friday. It went on to say that the Austrian Mining Company had sunk a
+good deal of money in the mine, and that it had never paid a penny of
+dividends; that they merely kept on at a constant loss to themselves in
+the hope of being able to swindle some confiding investors&mdash;but that even
+their designs were as nothing compared to the barefaced rascality
+contemplated by John Kenyon. He caught his breath as he saw his own name
+in print. It was a shock for which he was not prepared, as he had not
+noticed it in the proof. Then he read on. It seemed that this man,
+Kenyon, had secured the mine at something like ten thousand pounds, and
+was trying to palm it off on the unfortunate British public at the
+enormous increase of two hundred thousand pounds; but this nefarious
+attempt would doubtless be frustrated so long as there were papers of the
+integrity of the <i>Financial Field</i>, to take the risk and expense of
+making such an exposure as was here set forth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The article possessed a singular fascination for Kenyon. He read and
+re-read it in a dazed way, as if the statement referred to some other
+person, and he could not help feeling sorry for that person.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He still had the paper in his hand as he walked up the street, and he
+felt numbed and dazed as if someone had struck him a blow. He was nearly
+run over in crossing one of the thoroughfares, and heard an outburst of
+profanity directed at him from a cab-driver and a man on a bus; but he
+heeded them not, walking through the crowd as if under a spell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He passed the door of his own gorgeous office, and walked some distance
+up the street before he realized what he had done. Then he turned back
+again, and, just at the doorstep, paused with a pang at his heart.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wonder if Edith Longworth will read that article,' he said to himself.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap29"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When John Kenyon entered his office, he thought the clerk looked at him
+askance. He imagined that innocent employee had been reading the article
+in the <i>Financial Field</i>; but the truth is, John was hardly in a frame of
+mind to form a correct opinion on what other people were doing. Everybody
+he met in the street, it seemed to him, was discussing the article in the
+<i>Financial Field</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He asked if anybody had been in that morning, and was told there had been
+no callers. Then he passed into the directors' room, closed the door
+behind him, sat down on a chair, and leaned his head on his hands with
+his elbows on the table. In this position Wentworth found him some time
+later, and when John looked up his face was haggard and aged.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I see you have read it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think Longworth is at the bottom of that article?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no,' he said; 'he had nothing whatever to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you know?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon related exactly what had passed between the oily young man of the
+<i>Financial Field</i> and himself in that very room. While this recital was
+going on, Wentworth walked up and down, expressing his opinion now and
+then, in remarks that were short and pithy, but hardly fit for
+publication. When the story was told he turned to Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said, 'there is nothing for it but to sue the paper for
+libel.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What good will that do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What good will it do? Do you mean to say that you intend to sit here
+under such an imputation as they have cast upon you, and do nothing? What
+<i>good</i> will it do? It will do all the good in the world.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We cannot form our company and sue the paper at the same time. All our
+energies will have to be directed towards the matter we have in hand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, my dear John, don't you see the effect of that article? How can we
+form our company if such a lie remains unchallenged? Nobody will look at
+our proposals. Everyone will say, "What have you done about the article
+that appeared in the <i>Financial Field</i>?" If we say we have done nothing,
+then, of course, the natural inference is that we are a pair of
+swindlers, and that our scheme is a fraud.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have always thought,' said John, 'that the capitalization is too
+high.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really, I believe you think that article is not so unfair, after all.
+John, I'm astonished at you!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But if we do commence a libel suit, it cannot be finished before our
+option has expired. If we tell people that we have begun a suit against
+the <i>Financial Field</i> for libel, they will merely say they prefer to wait
+and hear what the result of the case is. By that time our chances of
+forming a company will be gone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is a certain amount of truth in that; nevertheless, I do not see
+how we are to go on with our company unless suit for libel is at least
+begun.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before John could reply there was a knock at the door, and the clerk
+entered with a letter in his hand which had just come in. Kenyon tore it
+open, read it, and then tossed it across the table to Wentworth.
+Wentworth saw the name of their firm of solicitors at the top of the
+letter-paper. Then he read:
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'DEAR SIR,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You have doubtless seen the article in the <i>Financial Field</i> of this
+morning, referring to the Canadian Mica Mining Company. We should be
+pleased to know what action you intend to take in the matter. We may
+say that, in justice to our reputation, we can no longer represent
+your company unless a suit is brought against the paper which contains
+the article.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'Yours truly,
+<br />
+'W. HAWK.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth laughed with a certain bitterness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said, 'if it has come to such a pass that Hawk fears for his
+reputation, the sooner we begin a libel suit against the paper the
+better!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps,' said John, with a look of agony on his face, 'you will tell me
+where the money is to come from. The moment we get into the Law Courts
+money will simply flow like water, and doubtless the <i>Financial Field</i>
+has plenty of it. It will add to their reputation, and they will make a
+boast that they are fighting the battle of the investor in London.
+Everything is grist that comes to their mill. Meanwhile, we shall be
+paying out money, or we shall be at a tremendous disadvantage, and the
+result of it all will probably be a disagreement of the jury and
+practical ruin for us. You see, I have no witnesses.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, but what about the mine? How can we go on without vindicating
+ourselves?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before anything further could be said, young Mr. Longworth came in,
+looking as cool, calm, and unruffled as if there were no such things in
+the world as financial newspapers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Discussing it, I see,' were his first words.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'I am very glad you have come. We have a little
+difference of opinion in the matter of that article. Kenyon here is
+averse to suing that paper for libel; I am in favour of prosecuting it.
+Now, what do <i>you</i> say?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear fellow,' replied Longworth, 'I am delighted to be able to agree
+with Mr. Kenyon for once. Sue them! Why, of course not. That is just what
+they want.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But,' said Wentworth, 'if we do not, who is going to look at our mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly the same number of people as would look at it before the article
+appeared.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't you think it will have any effect?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not the slightest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But look at this letter from your own lawyers on the subject.' Wentworth
+handed Longworth the letter from Hawk. Longworth adjusted his glass and
+read it carefully through.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By Jove!' he said with a laugh, 'I call that good; I call that
+distinctly good. I had no idea old Hawk was such a humorist! His
+reputation indeed; well, that beats me! All that Hawk wants is another
+suit on his hands. I wish you would let me keep this letter. I will have
+some fun with my friend Hawk over it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are welcome to the letter, so far as I am concerned,' said
+Wentworth; 'but do you mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that we have to sit
+here calmly under this imputation and do nothing?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean to say nothing of the kind; but I don't propose to play into
+their hands by suing them&mdash;at least, I should not if it were my case
+instead of Kenyon's.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What would you do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would let them sue me if they wanted to. Of course, their canvasser
+called to see you, didn't he, Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he did.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He told you that he had a certain amount of space to sell for a certain
+sum in cash?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And, if you did not buy that space, this certain article would appear;
+whereas, if you did, an article of quite a different complexion would
+be printed?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You seem to know all about it,' said Kenyon suspiciously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course I do, my dear boy! Everybody knows all about it. That's the
+way those papers make their money. I think myself, as a general rule, it
+is cheaper to buy them off. I believe my uncle always does that when he
+has anything special on hand, and doesn't want to be bothered with
+outside issues. But we haven't done so in this instance, and this is the
+result. It can be easily remedied yet, mind you, if you like. All that
+you have to do is to pay his price, and there will be an equally lengthy
+article saying that, from outside information received with regard to the
+Canadian Mining Company, he regrets very much that the former article was
+an entire mistake, and that there is no more secure investment in England
+than this particular mine. But now, when he has come out with his
+editorial, I think it isn't worth while to have any further dealings
+with him. Anything he can say now will not matter. He has done all the
+harm he can. But I would at once put the boot on the other foot. I would
+write down all the circumstances just as they happened&mdash;give the name of
+the young man who called upon you, tell exactly the price he demanded for
+his silence, and I will have that printed in an opposition paper
+to-morrow. Then it will be our friend the <i>Financial Field's</i> turn to
+squirm! He will say it is all a lie, of course, but nobody will believe
+him, and we can tell him, from the opposition paper, that if it is a lie
+he is perfectly at liberty to sue us for libel. Let him begin the suit if
+he wants to do so. Let him defend his reputation. Sue him for libel! I
+know a game worth two of that. Could you get out the statement before the
+meeting this afternoon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon, who had been looking, for the first time in his life, gratefully
+at Longworth, said he could.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; just set it down in your own words as plainly as possible,
+and give date, hour, and full particulars. Sign your name to it, and I
+will take it when I come to the meeting this afternoon. It would not be
+a bad plan to read it to those who are here. There is nothing like
+fighting the devil with fire. Fight a paper with another paper. Nothing
+new, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'nothing new except what we are discussing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, don't let that trouble you. Do as I say, and we will begin an
+interesting controversy. People like a fight, and it will attract
+attention to the mine. Good-bye. I shall see you this afternoon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He left both Kenyon and Wentworth in a much happier frame of mind than
+that in which he had found them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I say, Kenyon,' said Wentworth, 'that fellow is a trump. His advice has
+cleared the air wonderfully. I believe his plan is the best, after all,
+and, as you say, we have no money for an expensive lawsuit. I shall leave
+you now to get on with your work, and will return at three o'clock.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At that hour John had his statement finished. The first man to arrive was
+Longworth, who read the article with approval, merely suggesting a change
+here and there, which was duly made. Then he put the communication into
+an envelope, and sent it to the editor of the opposition paper. Wentworth
+came in next, then Melville, then Mr. King. After this they all adjourned
+to the directors' room, and in a few minutes the others were present.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' said Longworth, 'as we are all here, I do not see any necessity
+for delay. You have probably read the article that appeared in this
+morning's <i>Financial Field</i>. Mr. Kenyon has written a statement in
+relation to that, which gives the full particulars of the inside of a
+very disreputable piece of business. It was merely an attempt at
+blackmailing which failed. I intended to have had the statement read to
+you, but we thought it best to get it off as quickly as possible, and it
+will appear to-morrow in the <i>Financial Eagle</i>, where, I hope, you will
+all read it. Now, Mr. Kenyon, perhaps you will tell us something about
+the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon, like many men of worth and not of words, was a very poor speaker.
+He seemed confused, and was often a little obscure in his remarks, but he
+was listened to with great attention by those present. He was helped
+here and there by a judicious question from young Longworth, and when he
+sat down the impression was not so bad as might have been expected. After
+a moment's silence, it was Mr. King who spoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As I take it,' he said, 'all we wish to know is this: Is the mine what
+it is represented to be? Is the mineral the best for the use Mr. Kenyon
+has indicated? Is there a sufficient quantity of that mineral in the
+mountain he speaks of to make it worth while to organize this company? It
+seems to me that this can only be answered by some practical man going
+out there and seeing the mine for himself. Mr. Melville is, I understand,
+a practical man. If he has the time to spare, I would propose that he
+should go to America, see this mine, and report.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another person asked when the option on the mine ran out. This was
+answered by Longworth, who said that the person who went over and
+reported on the mine could cable the word 'Right' or 'Wrong'; then there
+would be time to act in London in getting up the list of subscribers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose,' said another, 'that in case of delay there would be no
+trouble in renewing the option for a month or two?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this Kenyon replied that he did not know. The owners might put a
+higher price on the property, or the mine might be producing more mica
+than it had been heretofore, and they perhaps might not be inclined to
+sell. He thought that things should be arranged so that there would be
+no necessity of asking for an extension of the option, and to this they
+all agreed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Melville then said he had no objection to taking a trip to Canada. It
+was merely a question of the amount of the mineral in sight, and he
+thought he could determine that as well as anybody else. And so the
+matter was about to be settled, when Longworth rose, and said that he was
+perfectly willing to go to Canada himself, in company with Mr. Melville;
+that he would pay all his own expenses, and give them the benefit of his
+opinion as well. This was received with applause, and the meeting
+terminated. Longworth shook hands with Kenyon and Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We will sail by the first steamer,' he said, 'and, as I may not see you
+again, you might write me a letter of introduction to Mr. Von Brent, and
+tell him that I am acting for you in this affair. That will make matters
+smooth in getting an extension of the option, if it should be necessary.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap30"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXX.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon was on his way to lunch next day, when he met Wentworth at the
+door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Going to feed?' asked the latter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; I'll go with you. I couldn't stay last night to have a talk
+with you over the meeting; but what did you think of it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, considering the article which appeared in the morning, and
+considering also the exhibition I made of myself in attempting to explain
+the merits of the mine, I think things went off rather smoothly.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So do I. It doesn't strike you that they went off a little <i>too</i>
+smoothly, does it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know exactly what I mean. I merely wanted to get your own
+opinion about it. You see, I have attended a great many gatherings of
+this sort, and it struck me there was a certain cut-and-driedness about
+the meeting. I can't say whether it impressed me favourably or
+unfavourably, but I noticed it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I still don't understand what you mean.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, as a general thing in such meetings, when a man gets up and
+proposes a certain action there is some opposition, or somebody has a
+suggestion to make, or something better to propose&mdash;or thinks he has&mdash;and
+so there is a good deal of talk. Now, when King got up and proposed
+calmly that Melville should go to America, it appeared to me rather an
+extraordinary thing to do, unless he had consulted Melville beforehand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps he had done so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, perhaps. What do you think of it all?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon mused for a moment before he replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As I said before, I thought things went off very smoothly. Whom do you
+suspect&mdash;young Longworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know whom I suspect. I am merely getting anxious about the
+shortness of the time. I think, myself, you ought to go to America. There
+is nothing to be done here. You should go, see Von Brent, and get a
+renewal of the option. Don't you see that when they get over there,
+allowing them a few days in New York, and a day or two to get out to the
+mine, we shall have little more than a week, after the cable despatch
+comes, in which to do anything, should they happen to report
+unfavourably.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I see that. Still, it is only a question of facts on which they
+have to report, and you know, as well as I do, that no truthful men can
+report unfavourably on what we have certified. We have understated the
+case in every instance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know that. I am perfectly well aware of that. Everything is all right
+if&mdash;if&mdash;Longworth is dealing honestly with us. If he is not, then
+everything is all wrong, and I should feel a great deal easier if we had
+in our possession another three months' option of the mine. We are now at
+the fag-end of this option, and, it seems to me, as protection to
+ourselves, we ought either to write to Von Brent&mdash;By the way, have you
+ever written to him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wrote one letter telling him how we were getting on, but have received
+no answer; perhaps he is not in Ottawa at present.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I think you ought to go to the mine with Longworth and Melville.
+It is the conjunction of those two men that makes me suspicious. I can't
+tell what I distrust. I can give nothing definite; but I have a vague
+uneasiness when I think that the man who tried to mislead us regarding
+the value of the mineral is going with the man who has led us into all
+this expense. Longworth refused to go into the scheme in the first place,
+pretended he had forgotten all about it in the second place, and then
+suddenly developed an interest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John knitted his brows and said nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't want to worry you about it, but I am anxious to have your candid
+opinion. What had we better do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It seems to me,' said John, after a pause, 'that we can do nothing. It
+is a very perplexing situation. I think, however, we should turn it over
+in our minds for a few days, and then I can get to America in plenty of
+time, if necessary.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, suppose we give them ten days to get to the mine and reply.
+If no reply comes by the eleventh day then you will still have eighteen
+or nineteen days before the option expires. Put it at twelve days. I
+propose, if you hear nothing by then, you go over.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Right,' said John; 'we may take that as settled.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By the way, you got an invitation to-day, did you not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are you going?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know. I should like to go and yet, you know, I am entirely
+unused to fashionable assemblages. I should not know what to say or do
+while I was there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As I understand, it is not to be a fashionable party, but merely a
+little friendly gathering which Miss Longworth gives because her cousin
+is about to sail for Canada. I don't want to flatter you, John, at all,
+but I imagine Miss Longworth would be rather disappointed if you did not
+put in an appearance. Besides, as we are partners with Longworth in this,
+and as he is going away on account of the mine. I think it would be a
+little ungracious of us not to go.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, I will go. Shall I call for you, or will you come for me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will call for you and we will go there together in a cab. Be ready
+about eight o'clock.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The mansion of the Longworths was brilliantly lighted, and John felt
+rather faint-hearted as he stood on the steps before going in. The
+chances are he would not have had the courage to allow himself to be
+announced if his friend Wentworth had not been with him. George,
+however, had no such qualms, being more experienced in this kind of
+thing than his comrade. So they entered together, and were warmly
+greeted by the young hostess.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is so kind of you to come,' she said, 'on such short notice. I was
+afraid you might have had some prior engagement, and would have found it
+impossible to be with us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You must not think that of me,' said Wentworth. 'I was certain to come;
+but I must confess my friend Kenyon here was rather difficult to manage.
+He seems to frown on social festivities, and actually had the coolness to
+propose that we should both plead more important business.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith looked reproachfully at Kenyon, who flushed to the temples, as was
+his custom, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, Wentworth, that is unfair. You must not mind what he says, Miss
+Longworth; he likes to bring confusion on me, and he knows how to do it.
+I certainly said nothing about a prior engagement.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, now you are here, I hope you will enjoy yourselves. It is quite an
+informal little gathering, with nothing to abash even Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They found young Longworth there in company with Melville, who was to be
+his companion on the voyage. He shook hands, but without exhibiting the
+pleasure at meeting them which his cousin had shown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My cousin,' said the young man, 'seems resolved to make the going of the
+prodigal nephew an occasion for killing the fatted calf. I'm sure I don't
+know why, unless it is that she is glad to be rid of me for a month.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith laughed at this, and left the men together. Wentworth speedily
+contrived to make himself agreeable to the young ladies who were present;
+but John, it must be admitted, felt awkward and out of place. He was not
+enjoying himself. He caught himself now and then following Edith
+Longworth with his eyes, and when he realized he was doing this, would
+abruptly look at the floor. In her handsome evening dress she appeared
+supremely lovely, and this John Kenyon admitted to himself with a sigh,
+for her very loveliness seemed to place her further and further away from
+him. Somebody played something on the piano, and this was, in a way, a
+respite for John. He felt that nobody was looking at him. Then a young
+man gave a recitation, which was very well received, and Kenyon began to
+forget his uneasiness. A German gentleman with long hair sat down at the
+piano with a good deal of importance in his demeanour. There was much
+arranging of music, and finally, when the leaves were settled to his
+satisfaction, there was a tremendous crash of chords, the beginning of
+what was evidently going to be a troublesome time for the piano. In the
+midst of this hurricane of sound John Kenyon became aware that Edith
+Longworth had sat down beside him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have got everyone comfortably settled with everyone else,' she said
+in a whisper to him, 'and you seem to be the only one who is, as it
+were, out in the cold, so, you see, I have done you the honour to come
+and talk to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is indeed an honour,' said John earnestly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, really,' said the young woman, laughing very softly, 'you must not
+take things so seriously. I didn't mean quite what I said, you
+know&mdash;that was only, as the children say, "pretended"; but you take one's
+light remarks as if they were most weighty sentences. Now, you must look
+as if you were entertaining me charmingly, whereas I have sat down beside
+you to have a very few minutes' talk on business; I know it's very bad
+form to talk business at an evening party, but, you see, I have no other
+chance to speak with you. I understand you have had a meeting of
+shareholders, and yet you never sent me an invitation. I told you that I
+wished to help you in forming a company; but that is the way you business
+men always treat a woman.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really, Miss Longworth,' began Kenyon; but she speedily interrupted him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am not going to let you make any explanation. I have come over here to
+enjoy scolding you, and I am not to be cheated out of my pleasure.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think,' said John, 'if you knew how much I have suffered during this
+last day or two, you would be very lenient with me. Did you read that
+article upon me in the <i>Financial Field</i>?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I did not, but I read your reply to it this morning, and I think it
+was excellent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that was hardly fair. A person should read both sides of the
+question before passing judgment.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is a woman's idea of fairness,' said Edith, 'to read what pertains to
+her friend, and to form her judgment without hearing the other side. But
+you must not think I am going to forego scolding you because of my
+sympathy with you. Don't you remember you promised to let me know how
+your company was progressing from time to time, and here I have never
+had a word from you; now tell me how you have been getting on.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hardly know, but I think we are doing very well indeed. You know, of
+course, that your cousin is going to America to report upon the mine. As
+I have stated nothing but what is perfectly true about the property,
+there can be no question as to what that report will be, so it seems to
+me everything is going on nicely.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why do not you go to America?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, well, I am an interested party, and those who are thinking of going
+in with us have my report already. It is necessary to corroborate that.
+When it is corroborated, I expect we shall have no trouble in forming
+the company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And was William chosen by those men to go to Canada?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He was not exactly chosen; he volunteered. Mr. Melville here was the one
+who was chosen.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And why Mr. Melville more than you, for instance?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, as I said, I am out of the question because I am an interested
+party. Melville is a man connected with china works, and as such, in a
+measure, an expert.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is Mr. Melville a friend of yours?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, he is not. I never saw him until he came to the meeting.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know,' she said, lowering her voice and bending towards him,
+'that I do not like Mr. Melville's face?' Kenyon glanced at Melville, who
+was at the other side of the room, and Edith went on: 'You must not look
+at people when I mention them in that way, or they will know we are
+talking about them. I do not like his face. He is too handsome a man, and
+I don't like handsome men.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't you, really,' said John; 'then, you ought to&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith laughed softly, a low, musical laugh that was not heard above the
+piano din, and was intended for John alone, and to his ears it was the
+sweetest music he had ever heard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know what you were going to say,' she said; 'you were going to say
+that in that case I ought to like <i>you</i>. Well, I do; that is why I am
+taking such an interest in your mine, and in your friend Mr. Wentworth.
+And so my cousin volunteered to go to Canada. Now, I think you ought to
+go yourself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why?' said Kenyon, startled that she should have touched the point that
+had been discussed between Wentworth and himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I can only give you a woman's reason&mdash;"because I do." It seems to me you
+ought to be there to know what they report at the time they <i>do</i> report.
+Perhaps they won't understand the mine without your explanation, and then
+you see an adverse report might come back in perfect good faith. I think
+you ought to go to America, Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is just what George Wentworth says.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Does he? I always thought he was a very sensible young man, and now I am
+sure of it. Well, I must not stay here gossiping with you on business. I
+see the professor is going to finish, and so I shall have to look after
+my other guests. If I don't see you again this evening, or have no
+opportunity of speaking with you, think over what I have said.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And then, with the most charming hypocrisy, the young woman thanked the
+professor for the music to which she had not listened in the least.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, how did you enjoy yourself?' said Wentworth when they had got
+outside again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a clear, starlight night, and they had resolved to walk home
+together.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I enjoyed myself very well indeed,' answered Kenyon; 'much better than I
+expected. It was a little awkward at first, but I got over that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I noticed you did&mdash;with help.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, "with help."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you are inclined to rave, John, now that we are under the stars,
+remember I am a close confidant, and a sympathetic listener. I should like
+to hear you rave, just to learn how an exasperatingly sensible man acts
+under the circumstances.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not rave about anything, George, but I will tell you something.
+I am going to Canada.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, did she speak about that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'She did.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And of course her advice at once decides the matter, after my most
+cogent arguments have failed?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't be offended, George, but&mdash;<i>it does</i>.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap31"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+'What name, please?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Tell Mr. Wentworth a lady wishes to see him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The boy departed rather dubiously, for he knew this message was decidedly
+irregular in a business office. People should give their names.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A lady to see you, sir,' he said to Wentworth; and, then, just as the
+boy had expected, his employer wanted to know the lady's name.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ladies are not frequent visitors at the office of an accountant in the
+City, so Wentworth touched his collar and tie to make sure they were in
+their correct position, and, wondering who the lady was, asked the boy to
+show her in.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you do, Mr. Wentworth?' she said brightly, advancing towards his
+table and holding out her hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth caught his breath, and took her extended hand somewhat limply,
+then he pulled himself together; saying:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This is an unexpected pleasure, Miss Brewster.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie blushed very prettily, and laughed a laugh that Wentworth thought
+was like a little ripple of music from a mellow flute.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It may be unexpected,' she said, 'but you don't look a bit like a
+man suffering from an overdose of pure joy. You didn't expect to see
+me, did you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I did not; but now that you are here, may I ask in what way I can
+serve you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, in the first place, you may ask me to take a chair, and in the
+second place you may sit down yourself; for I've come to have a long talk
+with you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prospect did not seem to be so alluring to Wentworth as one might
+have expected, when the announcement was made by a girl so pretty, and
+dressed in such exquisite taste; but the young man promptly offered her a
+chair, and then sat down, with the table between them. She placed her
+parasol and a few things she had been carrying on the table, arranging
+them with some care; then, having given him time to recover from his
+surprise, she flashed a look at him that sent a thrill to the finger-tips
+of the young man. Yet a danger understood is a danger half overcome; and
+Wentworth, unconsciously drawing a deep breath, nerved himself against
+any recurrence of a feeling he had been trying with but indifferent
+success to forget, saying grimly, but only half convincingly, to himself:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are not going to fool me a second time, my girl, lovely as you are.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A glimmer of a smile hovered about the red lips of the girl, a smile
+hardly perceptible, but giving an effect to her clear complexion as if a
+sunbeam had crept into the room, and its reflection had lit up her face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have come to apologize, Mr. Wentworth,' she said at last. 'I find it a
+very difficult thing to do, and, as I don't quite know how to begin, I
+plunge right into it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't need to apologize to me for anything, Miss Brewster,' replied
+Wentworth, rather stiffly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, I do. Don't make it harder than it is by being too frigidly
+polite about it, but say you accept the apology, and that you're
+sorry&mdash;no, I don't mean that&mdash;I should say that you're sure I'm sorry,
+and that you know I won't do it again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth laughed, and Miss Brewster joined him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There,' she said, 'that's ever so much better. I suppose you've been
+thinking hard things of me ever since we last met.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I've tried to,' replied Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, that's what I call honest; besides, I like the implied compliment.
+I think it's very neat indeed. I'm really very, very sorry that I&mdash;that
+things happened as they did. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had used
+exceedingly strong language about it at the time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I must confess that I did.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah!' said Jennie, with a sigh, 'you men have so many comforts denied to
+us women. But I came here for another purpose; if I had merely wanted to
+apologize, I think I would have written. I want some information which
+you can give me, if you like.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young woman rested her elbows on the table, with her chin in her
+hands, gazing across at him earnestly and innocently. Poor George felt
+that it would be almost impossible to refuse anything to those large
+beseeching eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I want you to tell me about your mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All the geniality that had gradually come into Wentworth's face and
+manner vanished instantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So this is the old business over again,' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How can you say that!' cried Jennie reproachfully. 'I am asking for my
+own satisfaction entirely, and not for my paper. Besides, I tell you
+frankly what I want to know, and don't try to get it by indirect
+means&mdash;by false pretences, as you once said.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How can you expect me to give you information that does not belong to me
+alone? I have no right to speak of a business which concerns others
+without their permission.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, then, there are at least two more concerned in the mine,' said
+Jennie gleefully. 'Kenyon is one, I know; who is the other?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Brewster, I will tell you nothing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But you have told me something already. Please go on and talk, Mr.
+Wentworth&mdash;about anything you like&mdash;and I shall soon find out all I want
+to know about the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She paused, but Wentworth remained silent, which, indeed, the bewildered
+young man realized was the only safe thing to do.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'They speak of the talkativeness of women,' Miss Brewster went on, as if
+soliloquizing, 'but it is nothing to that of the men. Once set a man
+talking, and you learn everything he knows&mdash;besides ever so much more
+that he doesn't.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster had abandoned her very taking attitude, with its suggestion
+of confidential relations, and had removed her elbows from the table,
+sitting now back in her chair, gazing dreamily at the dingy window which
+let the light in from the dingy court. She seemed to have forgotten that
+Wentworth was there, and said, more to herself than to him:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wonder if Kenyon would tell me about the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You might ask him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; it wouldn't do any good,' she continued, gently shaking her head.
+'He's one of your silent men, and there are so few of them in this
+world. Perhaps I had better go to William Longworth himself; he's not
+suspicious of me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As she said this, she threw a quick glance at Wentworth, and the
+unfortunate young man's face at once told her that she had hit the mark.
+She bent her head over the table, and laughed with such evident enjoyment
+that Wentworth, in spite of his helpless anger, smiled grimly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie raised her head, but the sight of his perplexed countenance was
+too much for her, and it was some time before her merriment allowed her
+to speak. At last she said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Wouldn't you like to take me by the shoulders and put me out of the
+room, Mr. Wentworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'd like to take you by the shoulders and shake you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah! that would be taking a liberty, and could not be permitted. We must
+leave punishment to the law, you know, although I do think a man should
+be allowed to turn an objectionable visitor into the street.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Miss Brewster,' cried the young man earnestly, leaning over the table
+towards her, 'why don't you abandon your horrible inquisitorial
+profession, and put your undoubted talents to some other use?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What, for instance?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, anything.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie rested her fair cheek against her open palm again, and looked at
+the dingy window. There was a long silence between them&mdash;Wentworth
+absorbed in watching her clear-cut profile and her white throat, his
+breath quickening as he feasted his eyes on her beauty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have always got angry,' she said at last, in a low voice with the quiver
+of a suppressed sigh in it, 'when other people have said that to me&mdash;I
+wonder why it is I merely feel hurt and sad when you say it? It is so easy
+to say, "Oh, anything"&mdash;so easy, so easy. You are a man, with the strength
+and determination of a man, yet you have met with disappointments and
+obstacles that have required all your courage to overcome. Every man has,
+and with most men it is a fight until the head is gray, and the brain
+weary with the ceaseless struggle. The world is utterly merciless; it
+will trample you down relentlessly if it can, and if your vigilance
+relaxes for a moment, it will steal your crust and leave you to starve.
+Every time I think of this incessant sullen contest, with no quarter
+given or taken, I shudder, and pray that I may die before I am at the
+mercy of the pitiless world. When I came to London, I saw, for the first
+time in my life, that hopeless, melancholy promenade of the sandwich-men;
+human wreckage drifting along the edge of the street, as if cast there by
+the rushing tide sweeping past them. They&mdash;they seemed to me like a
+tottering procession of the dead; and on their backs was the announcement
+of a play that was making all London roar with laughter. The awful comedy
+and tragedy of it! Well, I simply couldn't stand it. I had to run up a
+side-street and cry like the little fool I was, right in broad daylight.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie paused and tried to laugh, but the effort ended in a sound
+suspiciously like a sob. She dashed her hand with quick impatience across
+her eyes, from which Wentworth had never taken his own, seeing them
+become dim, as if the light from the window proved too strong for them,
+and finally fill as she ceased to speak. Searching ineffectually about
+her dress for a handkerchief, which lay on the table beside her parasol
+unnoticed by either, Jennie went on with some difficulty:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, these poor forlorn creatures were once men&mdash;men who have gone
+down&mdash;and if the world is so hard on a man with all his strength and
+resourcefulness, think&mdash;think what it is for a woman thrown into this
+inhuman turmoil&mdash;a woman without friends&mdash;without money&mdash;flung among
+these relentless wolves&mdash;to live if she can&mdash;or&mdash;to die&mdash;if she can.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The girl's voice broke, and she buried her face in her arms, which rested
+on the table.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth sprang to his feet and came round to where she sat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Jennie,' he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The girl, without
+looking up, shook off the hand that touched her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Go back to your place,' she cried, in a smothered voice. 'Leave me
+alone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Jennie,' persisted Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young woman rose from her chair and faced him, stepping back a pace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't you hear what I say? Go back and sit down. I came here to talk
+business, not to make a fool of myself. It's all your fault, and I hate
+you for it&mdash;you and your silly questions.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But the young man stood where he was, in spite of the dangerous sparkle
+that shone in his visitor's wet eyes. A frown gathered on his brow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Jennie,' he said slowly, 'are you playing with me again?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The swift anger that blazed up in her face, reddening her cheeks, dried
+the tears.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How <i>dare</i> you say such a thing to me!' she cried hotly. 'Do you flatter
+yourself that, because I came here to talk business, I have also some
+personal interest in you? Surely even <i>your</i> self-conceit doesn't run so
+far as that!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth stood silent, and Miss Brewster picked up her parasol,
+scattering, in her haste, the other articles on the floor. If she
+expected Wentworth to put them on the table again, she was disappointed,
+for, although his eyes were upon her, his thoughts were far away upon the
+Atlantic Ocean.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not stay here to be insulted,' she cried resentfully, bringing
+Wentworth's thoughts back with a rush to London again. 'It is intolerable
+that you should use such an expression to me. Playing with you indeed!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I had no intention of insulting you, Miss Brewster.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What is it but an insult to use such a phrase? It implies that I either
+care for you, or&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do I what?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you care for me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Jennie shook out the lace fringes of her parasol; and smoothed them with
+some precision. Her eyes were bent on what she was doing; consequently,
+they did not meet those of her questioner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I care for you as a friend, of course,' she said at last, still giving
+much attention to the parasol. 'If I had not looked on you as a friend, I
+would not have come here to consult with you, would I?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I suppose not. Well, I am sorry I used the words that displeased
+you, and now, if you will permit it, we will go on with the
+consultation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It wasn't a pretty thing to say.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm afraid I'm not good at saying pretty things.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You used to be.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The parasol being arranged to her liking, she glanced up at him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Still, you said you were sorry, and that's all a man can say&mdash;or a
+woman either, for that's what I said myself when I came in. Now, if you
+will pick up those things from the floor&mdash;thanks&mdash;we will talk about
+the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth seated himself again, and said;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, what is it you wish to know about the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing at all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But you said you wanted information.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What a funny reason to give! And how a man misses all the fine points of
+a conversation! No; just because I asked for information, you might have
+known that was not what I really wanted.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm afraid I'm very stupid. I hate to ask boldly what you did want, but
+I would like to know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wanted a vote of confidence. I told you I was sorry because of a
+certain episode. I wished to see if you trusted me, and I found you
+didn't. There!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think that was hardly a fair test. You see, the facts did not belong
+to me alone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster sighed, and slowly shook her head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That wouldn't have made the least difference if you had really trusted
+me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I say! You couldn't expect a man to&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes I could.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What, merely a friend?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster nodded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, all I can say,' remarked Wentworth, with a laugh, 'is that
+friendship has made greater strides in the States than it has in
+this country.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Before Jennie could reply, the useful boy knocked at the door and brought
+in a tea-tray, which he placed before his master; then silently departed,
+closing the door noiselessly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'May I offer you a cup of tea?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Please. What a curious custom this drinking of tea is in business
+offices! I think I shall write an article on "A Nation of Tea-tipplers."
+If I were an enemy of England, instead of being its greatest friend, I
+would descend with my army on this country between the hours of four and
+five in the afternoon, and so take the population unawares while it was
+drinking tea. What would you do if the enemy came down on you during such
+a sacred national ceremony?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would offer her a cup of tea,' replied Wentworth, suiting the action
+to the phrase.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Wentworth,' said the girl archly, 'you're improving. That remark was
+distinctly good. Still, you must remember that I come as a friend, not as
+an enemy. Did you ever read the "Babes in the Wood"? It is a most
+instructive, but pathetic, work of fiction. You remember the wicked
+uncle, surely? Well, you and Mr. Kenyon remind me of the "Babes," poor
+innocent little things! and London&mdash;this part of it&mdash;is the dark and
+pathless forest. I am the bird hovering about you, waiting to cover you
+with leaves. The leaves, to do any good, ought to be cheques fluttering
+down on you, but, alas! I haven't any. If negotiable cheques only grew on
+trees, life would not be so difficult.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Brewster sipped her tea pensively, and Wentworth listened
+contentedly to the musical murmur of her voice. Such an entrancing effect
+had it on him that he paid less heed to what she said than a man ought
+when a lady is speaking. The tea-drinking had added a touch of
+domesticity to the <i>tête-a-tête</i> which rather went to the head of the
+young man. He clinched and unclinched his hand out of sight under the
+table, and felt the moisture on his palm. He hoped he would be able to
+retain control over himself, but the difficulty of his task almost
+overcame him when she now and then appealed to him with glance or
+gesture, and he felt as if he must cry out, 'My girl, my girl, don't do
+that, if you expect me to stay where I am.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I see you are not paying the slightest attention to what I am saying,'
+she said, pushing the cup from her. She rested her arms on the table,
+leaning slightly forward, and turning her face full upon him: 'I can tell
+by your eyes that you are thinking of something else.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I assure you,' said George, drawing a deep breath, 'I am listening with
+intense interest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, that's right, for what I am going to say is important. Now, to
+wake you up, I will first tell you all about your mine; you will
+understand thereafter that I did not need to ask anyone for information
+regarding it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, to Wentworth's astonishment, she gave a rapid and accurate sketch
+of the negotiations and arrangements between the three partners, and the
+present position of affairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you know all this?' he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never mind that; and you mustn't ask how I know what I am now going to
+tell you, but you must believe it implicitly, and act upon it promptly.
+Longworth is fooling both you and Kenyon. He is marking time, so that
+your option will run out; then he will pay cash for the mine at the
+original price, and you and Kenyon will be left to pay two-thirds of the
+debt incurred. Where is Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He has gone to America.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's good. Cable him to get the option renewed. You can then try to
+form the company yourselves in London. If he can't obtain a renewal, you
+have very little time to get the cash together, and if you are not able
+to do that, then you lose everything. This is what I came to tell you,
+although I have been a long time about it. Now I must go.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She rose, gathered her belongings from the table, and stood with the
+parasol pressed against her. Wentworth came around to where she was
+standing, his face paler than usual, probably because of the news he had
+heard. One hand was grasped tightly around one wrist in front of him. He
+felt that he should thank her for what she had done, but his lips were
+dry, and, somehow, the proper words were not at his command.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She, holding her fragile lace-fringed parasol against her with one arm,
+was adjusting her long neatly fitting glove, which she had removed before
+tea. A button, one of many, was difficult to fasten, and as she
+endeavoured to put it in its place, her sleeve fell away, showing a round
+white arm above the glove.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see,' she said, a little breathlessly, her eyes upon her glove, 'it
+is a very serious situation, and time is of immense importance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I realize that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It would be such a pity to lose everything now, when you have had so
+much trouble and worry.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It would.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And I think that whatever is done should be done quickly. You should act
+at once and with energy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am convinced that is so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course it is. You are of too trusting a nature; you should be more
+suspicious, then you wouldn't be tricked as you have been.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No. The trouble is I have been too sceptical, but that is past. I won't
+be again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What are you talking about?' she said, looking quickly up at him. 'Don't
+you know you'll lose the mine if&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Hang the mine!' he cried, flinging his wrist free, and clasping her to
+him before she could step back or move from her place. 'There is
+something more important than mines or money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The parasol broke with a sharp snap, and the girl murmured 'Oh!' but the
+murmur was faint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never mind the parasol,' he said, pulling it from between them and
+tossing it aside; 'I'll get you another.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Reckless man!' she gasped; 'you little know how much it cost, and I
+think, you know, I ought to have been consulted&mdash;in an&mdash;in an&mdash;affair of
+this kind&mdash;George.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There was no time. I acted upon your own advice&mdash;promptly. You are not
+angry, Jennie, my dear girl, are you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose I'm not, though I think I ought to be; especially as I know
+only too well that I held my heart in my hand the whole time, almost
+offering it to you. I hope you won't treat it as you have treated the
+sunshade.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He kissed her for answer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see,' she said, putting his necktie straight, 'I liked you from the
+very first, far more than I knew at the time. If you&mdash;I'm not trying to
+justify myself, you know&mdash;but if you had, well, just coaxed me a little
+yourself, I would never have sent that cable message. You seemed to give
+up everything, and you sent Kenyon to me, and that made me angry. I
+expected you to come back to me, but you never came.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I was a stupid fool. I always am when I get a fair chance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no, you're not, but you do need someone to take care of you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She suddenly held him at arm's length from her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't imagine for a moment, George Wentworth, that I came here
+to-day for&mdash;for this.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly not!' cried the honest young man, with much indignant fervour,
+drawing her again towards him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then it's all right. I couldn't bear to have you think such a thing,
+especially&mdash;well, I'll tell you why some day. But I do wish you had a
+title. Do they ever ennoble accountants in this country, George?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; they knight only rich fools.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I'm so glad of that; for you'll get rich on the mine, and I'll be
+Lady Wentworth yet.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then she drew his head down until her laughing lips touched his.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap32"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Although the steamship that took Kenyon to America was one of the
+speediest in the Atlantic service, yet the voyage was inexpressibly
+dreary to him. He spent most of his time walking up and down the deck,
+thinking about the other voyage of a few weeks before. The one
+consolation of his present trip was its quickness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When he arrived at his hotel in New York, he asked if there was any
+message there for him, and the clerk handed him an envelope, which he
+tore open. It was a cable despatch from Wentworth, with the words:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Longworth at Windsor. Proceed to Ottawa immediately. Get option renewed.
+Longworth duping us.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John knitted his brows and wondered where Windsor was. The clerk, seeing
+his perplexity, asked if he could be of any assistance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have received this cablegram, but don't quite understand it. Where
+is Windsor?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, that means the Windsor Hotel. Just up the street.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon registered, told the clerk to assign him a room, and send his
+baggage up to it when it came. Then he walked out from the hotel and
+sought the Windsor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He found that colossal hostelry, and was just inquiring of the clerk
+whether a Mr. Longworth was staying there, when that gentleman appeared
+at the desk, took some letters and his key.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon tapped him on the shoulder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Longworth turned round with more alacrity than he usually
+displayed, and gave a long whistle of surprise when he saw who it was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'In the name of all the gods,' he cried, 'what are <i>you</i> doing here?'
+Then, before Kenyon could reply, he said: 'Come up to my room.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They went to the elevator, rose a few stories, and passed down an
+apparently endless hall, carpeted with some noiseless stuff that gave no
+echo of the footfall. Longworth put the key into his door and opened it.
+They entered a large and pleasant room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' he said, 'this <i>is</i> a surprise. What is the reason of your being
+here? Anything wrong in London?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing wrong, so far as I am aware. We received no cablegram from you,
+and thought there might be some hitch in the business; therefore I came.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I see. I cabled over to your address, and said I was staying at the
+Windsor for a few days. I sent a cablegram almost as long as a letter,
+but it didn't appear to do any good.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I did not receive it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what did you expect was wrong over here?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That I did not know. I knew you had time to get to Ottawa and see the
+mine in twelve days from London. Not hearing from you in that time, and
+knowing the option was running out, both Wentworth and I became anxious,
+and so I came over.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Exactly. Well, I'm afraid you've had your trip for nothing.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What do you mean? Is not the mine all I said it was?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, the mine is all right; all I meant was, there was really no
+necessity for your coming.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, you know, the option ends in a very short time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, the option, like the mine, is all right. I think you might quite
+safely have left it in my hands.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It must be admitted that John Kenyon began to feel he had acted with
+unreasonable rashness in taking his long voyage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is Mr. Melville here with you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Melville has returned home. He had not time to stay longer. All he
+wanted was to satisfy himself about the mine. He was satisfied, and he
+has gone home. If you were in London now, you would be able to see him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did you meet Mr. Von Brent?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he took us to the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And did you say anything about the option to him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, we had some conversation about it. There will be no trouble about
+the option. What Von Brent wants is to sell his mine, that is all.'
+There was a few moments' silence, then Longworth said: 'When are you
+going back?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know. I think I ought to see Von Brent. I am not at all easy
+about leaving matters as they are. I think I ought to get a renewal of
+the option. It is not wise to risk things as we are doing. Von Brent
+might at any time get an offer for his mine, just as we are forming our
+company, and, of course, if the option had not been renewed, he would
+sell to the first man who put down the money. As you say, all he wants is
+to sell his mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth was busy opening his letters, and apparently paying very little
+attention to what Kenyon said. At last, however, he spoke:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If I were you&mdash;if you care to take my advice&mdash;I would go straight back
+to England. You will do no good here. I merely say this to save you any
+further trouble, time, and expense.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't you think it would be as well to get a renewal of the option?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, certainly; but, as I told you before, it was not at all necessary
+for you to come over. I may say, furthermore, that Von Brent will not
+renew the option without a handsome sum down, to be forfeited if the
+company is not formed. Have you the money to pay him?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I have not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, why waste time and money going to Ottawa?' Young Mr.
+Longworth arched his eye-brows and gazed at John through his eyeglass. 'I
+will let you have my third of the money, if that will do any good.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How much money does Von Brent want?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How should I know? To tell you the truth, Mr. Kenyon&mdash;and truth never
+hurts, or oughtn't to&mdash;I don't at all like this visit to America. You and
+Mr. Wentworth have been good enough to be suspicious about me from the
+very first. You have not taken any pains to conceal it, either of you.
+Your appearance in America at this particular juncture is nothing more
+nor less than an insult to me. I intend to receive it as such.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have no intention of insulting you,' said Kenyon, 'if you are dealing
+fairly with me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There it is again. That remark is an insult. Everything you say is a
+reflection upon me. I wish to have nothing more to say to you. I give you
+my advice that it is better for you, and cheaper, to go back to London.
+You need not act on it unless you like. I have nothing further to say to
+you and so this interview may be considered closed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And how about the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I imagine the mine will take care of itself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you think this is courteous treatment of a business partner?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, I do not take my lessons in courtesy from you. Whether you
+are pleased or displeased with my treatment of you is a matter of supreme
+indifference to me. I am tired of living in an atmosphere of suspicion,
+and I have done with it&mdash;that is all. You think some game is being played
+on you&mdash;both you and Mr. Wentworth think that&mdash;and yet you haven't the
+"cuteness," as they call it here, or sharpness, to find it out. Now, a
+man who has suspicions he cannot prove to be well founded should keep
+those suspicions to himself until he can prove them. That is my advice
+to you. I wish you a good-day.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John Kenyon walked back to his hotel with more misgivings than ever. He
+wrote a letter to Wentworth detailing the conversation, telling him
+Melville had sailed for home, and advising him to see that gentleman when
+he arrived. He stayed in New York that night, and took the morning train
+to Montreal. In due time he arrived at Ottawa, and called on Von Brent.
+He found that gentleman in his chambers, looking as if he had never left
+the room since the option was signed. Von Brent at first did not
+recognise his visitor, but after gazing a moment at him he sprang from
+his chair and held out his hand.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I really did not know you,' he said; 'you have changed a great deal
+since I saw you last. You look haggard, and not at all well. What is the
+matter with you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not think anything is the matter. I am in very good health, thank
+you; I have had a few business worries, that is all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, yes,' said Von Brent; 'I am very sorry indeed you failed to form
+your company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Failed!' echoed Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; you haven't succeeded, have you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I don't know about that; we are in a fair way to succeed. You met
+Longworth and Melville, who came out to see the mine? I saw Longworth in
+New York, and he told me you had taken them out there.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are they interested with you in the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly; they are helping me to form the company.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Brent seemed amazed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I did not understand that at all. In fact, I understood the exact
+opposite. I thought you had attempted to form a company, and failed. They
+showed me an attack in one of the financial papers upon you, and said
+that killed your chances of forming a company in London. They were here,
+apparently, on their own business.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And what was their business?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'To buy the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have they bought it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Practically, yes. Of course, while your option holds good I cannot sell
+it, but that, as you know, expires in a very few days.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon, finding his worst suspicions confirmed, seemed speechless with
+amazement, and in his agony mopped from his brow the drops collected
+there.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You appear to be astonished at this,' said Von Brent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am very much astonished.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you cannot blame me. I have acted perfectly square in the matter.
+I had no idea Longworth, and the gentleman who was with him, had any
+connection with you whatever. Their attention had been drawn to the mine,
+they said, by that article. They had investigated it and appeared to be
+satisfied there was something in it&mdash;in the mine, I mean, not in the
+article. They said they had attended a meeting which you had called, but
+it was quite evident you were not going to be able to form the company.
+So they came here and made me a cash offer for the mine. They have
+deposited twenty thousand pounds at the bank here, and on the day your
+option closes they will give me a cheque for the amount.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It serves me right,' said Kenyon. 'I have been cheated and duped. I had
+grave suspicions of it all along, but I did not act upon them. I have
+been too timorous and cowardly. This man Longworth has made a pretence of
+helping me to form a company. Everything he has done has been to delay
+me. He came out here, apparently, in the interests of the company I was
+forming, and now he has got the option for himself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he has,' said Von Brent. 'I may say I am very sorry indeed for the
+turn affairs have taken. Of course, as I have told you, I had no idea how
+the land lay. You see, you had placed no deposit with me, and I had to
+look after my own interests. However, the option is open for a few days
+more, and I will not turn the mine over to them till the last minute of
+the time has expired. Isn't there any chance of your getting the money
+before then?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not the slightest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you see, in that case I cannot help myself. I am bound by a legal
+document to turn the mine over to them on receipt of the twenty thousand
+pounds the moment your option is ended. Everything is done legally, and I
+am perfectly helpless in the matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I see that,' said John. 'Good-bye.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went to the telegraph-office and sent a cablegram.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth received the message in London the next morning. It read:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We are cheated. Longworth has the option on the mine in his own name.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap33"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When George Wentworth received this message, he read it several times
+over before its full meaning dawned upon him. Then he paced up and down
+his room, and gave way to his feelings. His best friends, who had been
+privileged to hear George's vocabulary when he was rather angry, admitted
+that the young man had a fluency of expression which was very more terse
+than proper. When the real significance of the despatch became apparent
+to him, George outdid himself in this particular line. Then he realized
+that, however consolatory such language is to a very angry man, it does
+little good in any practical way. He paced silently up and down the room,
+wondering what he could do, and the more he wondered the less light he
+saw through the fog. He put on his hat and went into the other room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Henry,' he said to his partner, 'do you know anybody who would lend me
+twenty thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Henry laughed. The idea of anybody lending that sum of money, except on
+the very best security, was in itself extremely comic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you want it to-day?' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I want it to-day.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I don't know any better plan than to go out into the street and
+ask every man you meet if he has that sum about him. You are certain to
+encounter men who have very much more than twenty thousand pounds, and
+perhaps one of them, struck by your very sane appearance at the moment,
+might hand over the sum to you. I think, however, George, that you would
+be more successful if you met the capitalist in a secluded lane some
+dark night, and had a good reliable club in your hand.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are right,' said George. 'Of course, there is just as much
+possibility of my reaching the moon as getting that sum of money on
+short notice.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, or on long notice either, I imagine. I know plenty of men who have
+the money, but I wouldn't undertake to ask them for it, and I don't
+believe you would. Still there is nothing like trying. He who tries may
+succeed, but no one can succeed who doesn't try. Why not go to old
+Longworth? He could let you have the money in a moment if he wanted to do
+so. He knows you. What's your security? What are you going to do with
+it&mdash;that eternal mine of yours?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that "eternal mine"; I want it to <i>be</i> mine. That is why I need the
+twenty thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, George, I don't see much hope for you. You never spoke to old
+Longworth about it, did you? He wasn't one of the men you intended to get
+into this company?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, he was not. I wish he had been. He would have treated us better than
+his rascally nephew has done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that immaculate young man has been playing you tricks, has he?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He has played me one trick, which is enough.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, why don't you go and see the old man, and lay the case before him?
+He treats that nephew as if he were his son. Now, a man will do a great
+deal for his son, and perhaps old Longworth might do something for
+his nephew.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; but I should have to explain to him that his nephew is a
+scoundrel.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; that is just the kind of explanation to bring the twenty
+thousand pounds. If his nephew really is a scoundrel, and you can prove
+it, you could not want a better lever than that on the old man's
+money-bags.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'By Jove!' said Wentworth, 'I believe I shall try it. I want to let him
+know, anyhow, what sort of man his nephew is. I'll go and see him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would,' said the other, turning to his work.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so George Wentworth, putting the cablegram in his pocket, went to see
+old Mr. Longworth in a frame of mind in which no man should see his
+fellow-man. He did not wait to be announced, but walked, to the
+astonishment of the clerk, straight through into Mr. Longworth's room. He
+found the old man seated at his desk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good-day, Mr. Wentworth,' said the financier cordially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Good-day,' replied George curtly. 'I have come to read a cable despatch
+to you, or to let you read it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He threw the paper down before the old gentleman, who adjusted his
+spectacles and read it. Then he looked up inquiringly at Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You don't understand it, do you?' said the latter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I confess I do not. The Longworth in this telegram does not refer to
+me, does it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it does not refer to you, but it refers to one of your house. Your
+nephew, William Longworth, is a scoundrel!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah!' said the old man, placing the despatch on the desk again, and
+removing his glasses, 'have you come to tell me that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I have. Did you know it before?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I did not,' answered the old gentleman, his colour rising; 'and I
+do not know it now. I know you say so, and I think very likely you will
+be glad to take back what you have said. I will at least give you the
+opportunity.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So far from taking it back, Mr. Longworth, I shall prove it. Your nephew
+formed a partnership with my friend Kenyon and myself to float on the
+London market a certain Canadian mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' broke in the old gentleman, 'I have no desire to hear of
+my nephew's private speculations; I have nothing to do with them. I have
+nothing to do with your mine. The matter is of no interest whatever to
+me, and I must decline to hear anything about it. You are, also, if you
+will excuse my saying so, not in a fit state of temper to talk to any
+gentleman. If you like to come back here when you are calmer, I shall be
+very pleased to listen to what you have to say.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall never be calmer on this subject. I have told you that your
+nephew is a scoundrel. You are pleased to deny the accusation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not deny it; I merely said I did not know it was the case, and I do
+not believe it, that is all.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; the moment I begin to show you proof that things are as
+I say&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' cried the elder man, with some heat, 'you are not showing
+proof. You are merely making assertions, and assertions about a man who
+is absent&mdash;who is not here to defend himself. If you have anything to say
+against William Longworth, come and say it when he is here, and he shall
+answer for himself. It is cowardly of you, and ungenerous to me, to make
+a number of accusations which I am in no wise able to refute.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you listen to what I have to say?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; I will not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, by God, you shall!' and with that Wentworth strode to the door and
+turned the key, while the old man rose from his seat and faced him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you mean to threaten me, sir, in my own office?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that I have made a statement which I am
+going to prove to you. I mean that you shall listen to me, and listen to
+me <i>now</i>!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And I say, if you have anything to charge against my nephew, come and
+say it when he is here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'When he is here, Mr. Longworth, it will be too late to say it; at
+present you can repair the injury he has done. When he returns to England
+you cannot do so, no matter how much you might wish to make the attempt.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man stood irresolute for a moment, then he sat down in his chair
+again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' he said, with a sigh; 'I am not so combative as I once was.
+Go on with your story.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My story is very short,' said Wentworth; 'it simply amounts to this:
+You know your nephew formed a partnership with us in relation to the
+Canadian mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know nothing about it, I tell you,' answered Mr. Longworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, you know it now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I know you say so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you doubt my word?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall tell you more definitely when I hear what you have to say. Go
+on.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, your nephew, pretending to aid us in forming this company, did
+everything to retard our progress. He engaged offices that took a long
+time to fit up, and which we had at last to take in hand ourselves. Then
+he left for a week, leaving us no address, and refusing to answer the
+letters I sent to his office for him. On one pretext or another, the
+forming of the company was delayed; until at length, when the option by
+which Mr. Kenyon held the mine had less than a month to run, your nephew
+went to America in company with Mr. Melville, ostensibly to see and
+report upon the property. After waiting a certain length of time and
+hearing nothing from him (he had promised to cable us), Kenyon went to
+America to get a renewal of the option. This cablegram explains his
+success. He finds, on going there, that your nephew has secured the
+option of the mine in his own name, and, as Kenyon says, we are cheated.
+Now have you any doubt whether your nephew is a scoundrel or not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Longworth mused for a few moments on what the young man had told him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If what you say is exactly true, there is no doubt William has been
+guilty of a piece of very sharp practice.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Sharp practice!' cried the other. 'You might as well call robbery sharp
+practice!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, I have listened to you; now I ask you to listen to me. If,
+as I say, what you have stated is true, my nephew has done something
+which I think an honourable man would not do; but as to that I cannot
+judge until I hear his side of the story. It may put a different
+complexion on the matter, and I have no doubt it will; but even granting
+your version is true in every particular, what have I to do with it? I
+am not responsible for my nephew's actions. He has entered into a
+business connection, it seems, with two young men, and has outwitted
+them. That is probably what the world would say about it. Perhaps, as
+you say, he has been guilty of something worse, and has cheated his
+partners. But even admitting everything to be true, I do not see how I
+am responsible in any way.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Legally, you are not; morally, I think you are.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If he were your son&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But he is not my son; he is my nephew.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If your son had committed a theft, would you not do everything in your
+power to counteract the evil he had done?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I might, and I might not. Some fathers pay their sons' debts, others do
+not. I cannot say what action I should take in a purely imaginary case.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; all I have to say is, our option runs out in two or three
+days. Twenty thousand pounds will secure the mine for us. I want that
+twenty thousand pounds before the option ceases.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you expect me to pay you twenty thousand pounds for this?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Old Mr. Longworth leaned back in his office chair, and looked at the
+young man in amazement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'To think that you, a man of the City, should come to me, another man of
+the City, with such an absurd idea in your head, is simply grotesque.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then the name of the Longworths is nothing to you&mdash;the good name, I
+mean?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The good name of the Longworths, my dear sir, is everything to me; but
+I fancy it will be able to take care of itself without any assistance
+from you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was silence for a few moments. Then Wentworth said, in a voice of
+suppressed anguish:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought, Mr. Longworth, one of your family was a scoundrel; I now wish
+to say I believe the epithet covers uncle as well as nephew. You have had
+a chance to repair the mischief a member of your family has done. You
+have answered me with contempt. You have not shown the slightest
+indication of wishing to make amends.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He unlocked the door.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come, now,' said old Mr. Longworth, rising, 'that will do, that will do,
+Mr. Wentworth.' Then he pressed an electric bell, and, when the clerk
+appeared, he said: 'Show this gentleman the door, please, and if ever he
+calls here again, do not admit him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so George Wentworth, clenching his hands with rage, was shown to the
+door. He had the rest of the day to ponder on the fact that an angry man
+seldom accomplishes his purpose.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap34"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+The stormy interview with Wentworth disturbed the usual serenity of Mr.
+Longworth's temper. He went home earlier than was customary with him
+that night, and the more he thought over the attack, the more
+unjustifiable it seemed. He wondered what his nephew had really done,
+and tried to remember what Wentworth had charged against him. He could
+not recollect, the angrier portions of the interview having, as it were,
+blotted the charges from his mind. There remained, however, a very
+bitter resentment against Wentworth. Mr. Longworth searched his
+conscience to see if he could be in the least to blame, but he found
+nothing in the recollections of his dealings with the young men to
+justify him in feeling at all responsible for the disaster that had
+overtaken them. He read his favourite evening paper with less than his
+usual interest, for every now and then the episode in his office would
+occur to him. Finally he said sharply:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Edith!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, father,' answered his daughter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You remember a person named Wentworth, whom you had here the evening
+William went away?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, father.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. Never invite him to this house again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What has he been doing?' asked the young woman in rather a tremulous
+voice.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I desire you also never to ask anyone connected with him&mdash;that man
+Kenyon, for instance,' continued her father, ignoring her question.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I thought,' she answered, 'that Mr. Kenyon was not in this country at
+present.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He is not, but he will be back again, I suppose. At any rate, I wish to
+have nothing more to do with those people. You understand that?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, father.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Longworth went on with his reading. Edith saw her father was greatly
+disturbed, and eagerly desired to know the reason, but knew enough of
+human nature to understand that in a short time he would relieve her
+anxiety. He again appeared to be trying to fix his attention on the
+paper. At length he threw it down, and turned towards her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That man, Wentworth,' he said bitterly, 'behaved to-day in a most
+unjustifiable manner to me in my own office. It seems that William and he
+and Kenyon embarked in some mine project. I knew nothing of their doings,
+and was not even consulted with regard to them. Now it appears William
+has gone to America and done something Wentworth considers wrong.
+Wentworth came to me and demanded twenty thousand pounds&mdash;the most
+preposterous thing ever heard of&mdash;said I owed it to clear the good name
+of Longworth. As if the good name were dependent on him, or anyone like
+him! I turned him out of the office.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith did not answer for a few moments, while her father gave
+expression to his indignation by various ejaculations that need not be
+here recorded.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did he say,' she spoke at length, 'in what way William had done wrong?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not remember now just what he said. I know I told him to come again
+when my nephew was present, and then make his charges against him if he
+wanted to do so. Not that I admitted I had anything to do with the matter
+at all, but I simply refused to listen to charges against an absent man.
+I paid no attention to them.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That certainly was reasonable,' replied Edith. 'What did he say to it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, he abused me, and abused William, and went on at a dreadful rate,
+until I was obliged to order him out of the office.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But what did he say about meeting William when he returned, and making
+the charges against him then?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What did he say? I don't remember. Oh yes! he said it would be too late
+then; that they had only a few days to do what business they have to do,
+and that is why he made the demand for twenty thousand pounds. It was to
+repair the harm, whatever the harm was, William had done. I look on it
+simply as some blackmailing scheme of his, and I am astonished that a man
+belonging to so good a house as he does should try that game with me. I
+shall speak to the elder partner about it to-morrow, and if he does not
+make the young man apologize in the most abject manner he will be the
+loser by it, I can tell him that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I would think no more about it, father, if I were you. Do not let it
+trouble you in the least.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, it doesn't trouble me, but young men nowadays seem to think they can
+say anything to their elders.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I mean,' she continued, 'that I would not go to his partner for a day or
+two. Wait and see what happens. I have no doubt, when he considers the
+matter, he will be thoroughly ashamed of himself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I hope so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then give him the chance of being ashamed of himself, and take no
+further steps in the meantime.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith shortly afterwards went to her own room; there, clasping her hands
+behind her, she walked up and down thinking, with a very troubled heart,
+of what she had heard. Her view of the occurrence was very different from
+that taken by her father. She felt certain something dishonourable had
+been done by her cousin. For a long time she had mistrusted his supposed
+friendship for the two young men, and now she pictured to herself John
+Kenyon in the wilds of Canada, helpless and despondent because of the
+great wrong that had been done him. It was far into the night when she
+retired, and it was early next morning when she arose. Her father was
+bright and cheerful at breakfast, and had evidently forgotten all about
+the unpleasant incident of the day before. A good night's sleep had
+erased it from his memory. Edith was glad of this, and she did not
+mention the subject. After he had gone to the City, his daughter prepared
+to follow him. She did not take her carriage, but hailed a hansom, and
+gave the driver the number of Wentworth's offices. That young man was
+evidently somewhat surprised to see her. He had been trying to write to
+Kenyon an account of his interview with old Mr. Longworth; but after he
+had finished, he thought John Kenyon would not approve of his zeal, so
+had just torn the letter up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Take this chair,' he said, wheeling an armchair into position. 'It is
+the only comfortable one we have in the room.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Comfort does not matter,' said Miss Longworth. 'I came to see you about
+the mica-mine. What has my cousin done?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you know he has done anything?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That does not matter. I know. Tell me as quickly as you can what he
+has done.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is not a very pleasant story to tell,' he said, 'to a young lady
+about one of her relatives.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never mind that. Tell me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, he has done this: He has pretended he was our friend, and
+professed to aid us in forming this company. He has delayed us by every
+means in his power until the option has nearly expired. Then he has gone
+to Canada and secured for himself, and a man named Melville, the option
+of the mine when John Kenyon's time is up&mdash;that is to say, at twelve
+o'clock to-morrow, when Kenyon's option expires, your cousin will pay the
+money and own the mine; after which, of course, Kenyon and myself will be
+out of it. I don't mind the loss at all&mdash;I would gladly give Kenyon my
+share&mdash;but for John it is a terrible blow. He had counted on the money to
+pay debts which he considers he owes to his father for his education. He
+calls them debts of honour, though they are not debts of honour in the
+ordinary sense of the words. Therefore, it seemed to me a terrible thing
+that&mdash;' Here he paused and did not go on. He saw there were tears in the
+eyes of the girl to whom he was talking. 'It is brutal,' he said, 'to
+tell you all this. You are not to blame for it and neither is your
+father, although I spoke to him in a heated manner yesterday.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'When did you say the option expires?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'At twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How much money is required to buy the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Twenty thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Can money be sent to Canada by cable?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I think so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Aren't you quite sure?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I am not. It can be sent by telegraph in this country, and in
+America.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How long will it take you to find out?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Only a few moments.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well. Where is Mr. Kenyon now?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Kenyon is in Ottawa. I had a cablegram from him yesterday.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, will you write a cablegram that can be sent away at once, asking
+him to wait at the telegraph-office until he receives a further message
+from you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I can do that; but what good will it do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never mind that; perhaps it will do no good. I am going to try to make
+it worth doing. Meanwhile remember, if I succeed, John Kenyon must never
+know the particulars of this transaction.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'He never will&mdash;if you say so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I say so. Now, there is six hours' difference of time between this
+country and Canada, is there not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'About that, I think.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; lose no time in getting the cable-message sent to him, and
+tell him to answer, so that we shall be sure he is at the other end of
+the wire. Then find out about the cabling of the money. I shall be back
+here, I think, as soon as you are.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that she left the office, and, getting into her cab, was driven to
+her father's place of business.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, my girl,' said the old man, pushing his spectacles up on his brow,
+and gazing at her, 'what is it now&mdash;some new extravagance?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, father, some new extravagance.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His daughter was evidently excited, and her breath came quickly. She
+closed the door, and took a chair opposite her father.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Father,' she said, 'I have been your business man, as you call me, for a
+long time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, you have. Are you going to strike for an increase of salary?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Father,' she said earnestly, not heeding the jocularity of his tone,
+'this is very serious. I want you to give me some money for myself&mdash;to
+speculate with.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will do that very gladly. How much do you want?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man turned his chair round and pulled out his cheque-book.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I want thirty thousand pounds,' she answered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Longworth wheeled quickly round in his chair and looked at her in
+astonishment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thirty thousand what?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thirty thousand pounds, father; and I want it now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear girl,' he expostulated, 'have you any idea how much thirty
+thousand pounds is? Do you know that thirty thousand pounds is a
+fortune?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I know that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you know that there is not one in twenty of the richest merchants in
+London who could at a moment's notice produce thirty thousand pounds in
+ready money?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I suppose that is true. Have you not the ready money?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I have the money. I can draw a cheque for that amount, and it will
+be honoured at once; but I cannot give you so much money without knowing
+what you are going to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And suppose, father, you do not approve of what I am going to do with
+it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All the more reason, my dear, that I should know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, father, I suppose you mean that whatever services I have rendered
+you, whatever comfort I have given you, what I have been to you all my
+life, is not worth thirty thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You shouldn't talk like that, my daughter. Everything I have is
+yours, or will be, when I die. It is for you I work; it is for you I
+accumulate money. You will have everything I own the moment I have to
+lay down my work.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Father!' cried the girl, standing up before him, 'I do not want your
+money when you die. I do not want you to die, as you know; but I do want
+thirty thousand pounds to-day, and now. I want it more than I ever
+wanted anything else before in my life, or ever shall again. Will you
+give it to me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I will not, unless you tell me what you are going to do with it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, father, you can leave your money to your nephew when you die; I
+shall never touch a penny of it. I now bid you good-bye. I will go out
+from this room and earn my own living.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With that the young woman turned to go, but her father, with a
+sprightliness one would not have expected from his years, sprang to the
+door and looked at her with alarm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Edith, my child, you never talked to me like this before in your life.
+What is wrong with you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing, father, except that I want a cheque for thirty thousand pounds,
+and want it now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you mean to say that you will leave me if I do not give it to
+you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you ever broken your word, father?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Never, my child, that I know of.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then remember I am your daughter. I have said, if I do not get that
+money now, I shall never enter our house again.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But thirty thousand pounds is a tremendous amount. Remember, I have
+given <i>my</i> word, too, that I would not give you the money unless you told
+me what it was for.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, father, I will tell what it is for when you ask me. I would
+advise you, though, not to ask me; and I would advise you to give me the
+money. It will all be returned to you if you want it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I don't care about the money at all, Edith. I merely, of course,
+don't want to see it wasted.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And, father, have you no trust in my judgment?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you know I haven't much faith in any woman's wisdom, in the matter
+of investing money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Trust me this time, father. I shall never ask you for any more.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old man went slowly to his desk, wrote out a cheque, and handed it to
+his daughter. It was for thirty thousand pounds.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap35"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Edith Longworth, with that precious bit of paper in her pocket, once more
+got into her hansom and drove to Wentworth's office. Again she took the
+only easy-chair in the room. Her face was very serious, and Wentworth,
+the moment he saw it, said to himself. 'She has failed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you telegraphed to Mr. Kenyon?' she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are you sure you made it clear to him what was wanted? Cablegrams are
+apt to be rather brief.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I told him to keep in communication with us. Here is a copy of the
+cablegram.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth read it approvingly, but said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You have not put in the word "answer."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No; but I put it in the despatch I sent. I remember that now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you had a reply yet?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh no; you see, it takes a long time to get there, because there are so
+many changes from the end of the cable to the office where Kenyon is. And
+then, again, you see, they may have to look for him. He may not be
+expecting a message; in fact, he is sure not to be expecting any. From
+his own cablegram to me, it is quite evident he has given up all hope.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Show me that cablegram, please.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth hesitated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is hardly couched in language you will enjoy reading,' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That doesn't matter. Show it to me. I must see all the documents in
+the case.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He handed her the paper, which she read in silence, and gave it back to
+him without a word.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I knew you wouldn't like it,' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have not said I do not like it. It is not a bit too strong under the
+circumstances. In fact, I do not see how he could have put it in other
+words. It is very concise and to the point.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; there is no doubt about that, especially the first three words, "We
+are cheated!" Those are the words that make me think Kenyon has given up
+all hope; so there may be some trouble in finding him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did you learn whether money could be sent by cable or not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes; there is no difficulty about that. The money is deposited in a
+bank here, and will be credited to Kenyon in the bank at Ottawa.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then,' said Miss Longworth, handing him the piece of paper,
+'there is the money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth gave a long whistle as he looked at it. 'Excuse my rudeness,'
+he said; 'I don't see a bit of paper like this every day. You mean, then,
+to buy the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I mean to buy the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well; but there is ten thousand pounds more here than is
+necessary.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes. I mean not only to buy the mine, but to work it; and so some
+working capital will be necessary. How much do you suppose.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'About that I have no idea,' said Wentworth. 'I should think five
+thousand pounds would be ample.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, we shall leave five thousand pounds in the bank here for
+contingencies, and cable twenty-five thousand pounds to Mr. Kenyon. I
+shall expect him to get me a good man to manage the mine. I am sure he
+will be glad to do that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Most certainly he will. John Kenyon, now that the mine has not fallen
+into the hands of those who tried to cheat him, will be glad to do
+anything for the new owner of it. He won't mind, in the least, losing his
+money if he knows that you have the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, but that is the one thing he must not know. As to losing the money,
+neither you nor Mr. Kenyon are to lose a penny. If the mine is all you
+think it is, then it will be an exceedingly profitable investment; and I
+intend that we shall each take our third, just as if you had contributed
+one-third of the money, and Mr. Kenyon another.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But, my dear Miss Longworth, that is absurd. We could never accept any
+such terms.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes, you can. I spoke to John Kenyon himself about being a partner
+in this mine. I am afraid he thought very little of the offer at the
+time. I don't intend him to know anything at all about my ownership now.
+He has discovered the mine&mdash;you and he together. If it is valueless,
+then you and he will be two of the sufferers; if it is all you think it
+is, then you will be the gainers. The labourer is worthy of his hire,
+and I am sure both you and Mr. Kenyon have laboured hard enough in this
+venture. Should he guess I bought it, the chances are that he will be
+stupidly and stubbornly conscientious, and decline to share the fruits
+of his labours.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And do you think, Miss Longworth, I am not conscientious enough
+to refuse?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, yes; you are conscientious, but you are sensible. Mr. Kenyon isn't.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think you are mistaken about that. He is one of the most sensible men
+in the world&mdash;morbidly sensible, perhaps.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I think, if Mr. Kenyon knew I owned the mine, he would not take a
+penny as his share. So I trust you will never let him know I am the
+person who gave the money to buy the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'But is he never to know it, Miss Longworth?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps not. If he is to learn, I am the person to tell him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I quite agree with you there, and I shall respect your confidence.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, what time,' said the young woman, looking at her watch, 'ought we
+to get an answer from Mr. Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, that, as I said before, no one can tell.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose, then, the best plan is to send the money at once, or put it
+in the way of being sent, to some bank in Ottawa.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that is the best thing to do; although, of course, if John Kenyon
+is not there&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If he is not there what shall we do?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not exactly know. I could cable to Mr. Von Brent. Von Brent is the
+owner of the mine, and the man who gave John the option. I do not know
+how far he is committed to the others. If he is as honest as I take him
+to be, he will accept the money, providing it is sent in before twelve
+o'clock, and then we shall have the mine. Of that I know nothing
+whatever, because I have no particulars except John's cable-message.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, I can do no more just now?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, you can. You will have to write a cheque for the twenty-five
+thousand pounds. You see, this cheque is crossed, and will go into
+your banking account. An other cheque will have to be drawn to get the
+money out.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I see. I have not my cheque-book here, but perhaps you can send this
+cheque to the bank, and I will return. There will be time enough, I
+suppose, before the closing hour of the bank?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, there will be plenty of time. Of course, the sooner we get the
+money away the better.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall return shortly after lunch. Perhaps you will then have heard
+from Mr. Kenyon. If anything comes sooner, will you send me a telegram?
+Here is my address.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will do that,' said Wentworth, as he bade her good-bye.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As soon as lunch was over, Miss Longworth, with her cheque-book, again
+visited Wentworth's office. When she entered he shook his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No news yet,' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This is terrible,' she answered; 'suppose he has left Ottawa and started
+for home?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not think he would do that. Still, I imagine he would think there
+was no reason for staying in Ottawa. Nevertheless, I know Kenyon well
+enough to believe that he will wait there till the last minute of the
+option has expired, in the hope that something may happen. He knows, of
+course, that I shall be doing everything I can in London, and he may have
+a faint expectation that I shall be able to accomplish something.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It would be useless to cable again?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Quite. If that message does not reach him, none will.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As he was speaking, a boy entered the room with a telegram in his hand.
+Its contents were short and to the point:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Cablegram received.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'KENYON.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, that's all right,' said Wentworth; 'now I shall cable that we have
+the money, and advise him to identify himself at the bank, so that there
+can be no formalities about the drawing of it, to detain him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Saying this, Wentworth pulled the telegraph-forms towards him, and, after
+considerable labour, managed to concoct a satisfactory despatch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Don't spare money on it,' urged his visitor; 'be sure and make it
+plain to him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think that will do, don't you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' she answered, after reading the despatch; 'that will do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' she said, 'here is the cheque. Shall I wait here while you do all
+that is necessary to cable the money, or had I better go, and return
+again to see if everything is all right?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If you don't mind, just sit where you are. You may lock this door, if
+you like, and you will not be disturbed.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was an hour before Wentworth returned, but his face was radiant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'We have done everything we can,' he said, 'the money is at his order
+there, if the cablegram gets over before twelve o'clock to-morrow, as of
+course it will.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, good-bye,' said the girl with a smile, holding out her
+hand.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap36"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+If any man more miserable and dejected than John Kenyon existed in the
+broad dominion of Canada, he was indeed a person to be pitied. After
+having sent his cablegram to Wentworth, he returned to his very cheerless
+hotel. Next morning when he awoke he knew that Wentworth would have
+received the message, but that the chances were ten thousand to one that
+he could not get the money in time, even if he could get it at all.
+Still, he resolved to stay in Ottawa, much as he detested the place,
+until the hour the option expired. Then, he thought, he would look round
+among the mines, and see if he could not get something to do in the
+management of one of them. This would enable him to make some money,
+wherewith to pay the debts which he and Wentworth would have incurred as
+a result of their disastrous speculation. He felt so depressed that he
+did what most other Englishmen would have done in his place&mdash;took a long
+walk. He stood on the bridge over the Ottawa River and gazed for a while
+at the Chaudière Falls, watching the mist rising from the chasm into
+which the waters plunged. Then he walked along the other side of the
+river, among big saw-mills and huge interminable piles of lumber, with
+their grateful piny smell. By-and-by he found himself in the country, and
+then the forest closed in upon the bad road on which he walked.
+Nevertheless, he kept on and on, without heeding where he was going. Here
+and there he saw clearings in the woods, and a log shanty, or perhaps a
+barn. The result of all this was that, being a healthy man, he soon
+developed an enormous appetite, which forced itself upon his attention in
+spite of his depression. He noticed the evening was closing around him,
+and so was glad to come to a farmhouse that looked better than the
+ordinary shanties he had left behind. Here he asked for food, and soon
+sat down to a plentiful meal, the coarseness of which was more than
+compensated for by the excellence of his appetite. After dinner he began
+to realize how tired he was, and felt astonished to hear from his host
+how far he was from Ottawa.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You can't get there to-night,' said the farmer; 'it is no use your
+trying. You stay with us, and I'll take you in to-morrow. I'm going there
+in the afternoon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so Kenyon remained all night, and slept the dreamless sleep of health
+and exhaustion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was somewhat late in the afternoon when he reached the city of
+Ottawa. Going towards his hotel, he was astonished to hear his name
+shouted after him. Turning round, he saw a man, whom he did not
+recognise, running after him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Your name is Kenyon, isn't it?' asked the man, somewhat out of breath.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that is my name.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I guess you don't remember me. I am the telegraph operator. We have had
+a despatch waiting for you for some time, a cablegram from London. We
+have searched all over the town for you, but couldn't find you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah,' said Kenyon, 'is it important?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, that I don't know. You had better come with me to the office and
+get it. Of course, they don't generally cable unimportant things. I
+remember it said something about you keeping yourself in readiness for
+something.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They walked together to the telegraph-office. The boy was still searching
+for Kenyon with the original despatch, but the operator turned up the
+file and read the copy to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see, it wants an answer,' he said; 'that's why I thought it was
+important to get you. You will have plenty of time for an answer
+to-night.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John took a lead pencil and wrote the cable despatch which Wentworth
+received. He paid his money, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will go to my hotel; it is the &mdash;&mdash; House. I will wait there, and if
+anything comes for me, send it over as soon as possible.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All right,' said the operator, 'that is the best plan; then we will
+know exactly where to find you. Of course, there is no use in your
+waiting here, because we can get you in five minutes. Perhaps I had
+better telephone to the hotel for you if anything comes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well,' said Kenyon; 'I will leave it all in your hands.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Whether it was the effect of having been in the country or not, John
+felt that the cablegram he had received was a good omen. He meditated
+over the tremendous ill-fortune he had suffered in the whole business
+from beginning to end, and thought of old Mr. Longworth's favourite
+phrase, 'There's no such thing as luck.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then came a rap at his door, and the bell-boy said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is a gentleman here wishes to speak to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ask him to come up,' was the answer; and two minutes later Von Brent
+entered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Any news?' he asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John, who was in a state of mind which made him suspicious of everything
+and everybody, answered:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, nothing new.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. I had some hopes that perhaps you might be able
+to raise the money before twelve o'clock to-morrow. Of course you know
+the option ends at noon to-morrow?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I know that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Did you know that Longworth was in Ottawa?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'I have been out of town myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, he came last night. He has the money in the bank, as I told you.
+Now, I will not accept it until the very latest moment. Of course,
+legally, I cannot accept it before that time, and, just as legally, I
+cannot refuse his money when he tenders it. I am very sorry all this has
+happened&mdash;more sorry than I can tell you. I hope you will not think that
+I am to blame in the matter?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, you are not in the slightest to blame. There is nobody in fault
+except myself. I feel that I have been culpably negligent, and altogether
+too trustful.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish to goodness I knew where you could get the money; but, of
+course, if I knew that, I would have had it myself long ago.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said Kenyon; 'but the only thing you can
+do for me is to see that your clock is not ahead of time to-morrow. I
+may, perhaps, be up at the office before twelve o'clock&mdash;that is where I
+shall find you, I suppose?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I shall be there all the forenoon. I shall not leave until twelve.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good; I am much obliged to you, Mr. Von Brent, for your sympathy. I
+assure you, I haven't many friends, and it&mdash;well, I'm obliged to you,
+that's all. An Englishman, you know, is not very profuse in the matter of
+thanks, but I mean it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm sure you do,' said Von Brent, 'and I'm only sorry that my assistance
+cannot be something substantial. Well, good-bye, hoping to see you
+to-morrow.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After he had departed, Kenyon's impatience increased as the hours went
+on. He left the hotel, and went direct to the telegraph-office; but
+nothing had come for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I'm afraid,' said the operator, 'that there won't be anything more
+to-night. If it should come late, shall I send it to your hotel?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly; no matter at what hour it comes, I wish you would let me
+have it as soon as possible. It is very important.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the office, he went up the street and, passing the principal
+hotel in the place, saw young Longworth standing under the portico of the
+hotel as dapper and correct in costume as ever, his single eyeglass the
+admiration of all Ottawa, for there was not another like it in the city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How do you do, Kenyon?' said that young man.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir,' replied Kenyon, 'the last time you spoke to me you said
+you desired to have nothing more to say to me. I cordially reciprocated
+that sentiment, and I want to have nothing to say to you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear fellow,' cried Longworth jauntily, 'there is no harm done. Of
+course, in New York I was a little out of sorts. Everybody is in New
+York&mdash;beastly hole! I don't think it is worse than Ottawa, but the air is
+purer here. By the way, perhaps you and I can make a little arrangement.
+I am going to buy that mine to-morrow, as doubtless you know. Now, I
+should like to see it in the hands of a good and competent man. If a
+couple of hundred pounds a year would be any temptation to you, I think
+we can afford to let you develop the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you!' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I knew you would be grateful; just think over the matter, will you? and
+don't come to any rash decision. We can probably give a little more than
+that; but until we see how the mine is turning out, it is not likely we
+shall spend a great deal of money on it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course,' said John, 'the proper answer to your remark would be to
+knock you down; but, besides being a law-abiding citizen, I have no
+desire to get into gaol to-night for doing it, because there is one
+chance in a thousand, Mr. Longworth, that I may have some business to do
+with that mine myself before twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, it is my turn to be grateful now!' said Longworth. 'In a
+rough-and-tumble fight I am afraid you would master me easier than you
+would do in a contest of diplomacy.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do you call it diplomacy? You refer, I suppose, to your action in
+relation to the mine. I call it robbery.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, do you? Well, that is the kind of conversation which leads to
+breaches of the peace; and as I also am a law-abiding subject, I will
+not continue the discussion any further. I bid you a very good evening,
+Mr. Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young man turned on his heel and went into the hotel. John walked to
+his own much more modest inn, and retired for the night. He did not sleep
+well. All night long, phantom telegraph-messengers were rapping at the
+door, and he started up every now and then to receive cablegrams which
+faded away as he awoke. Shortly after breakfast he went to the
+telegraph-office, but found that nothing had arrived for him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid,' said the operator, 'that nothing will come on before
+noon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Before noon!' echoed John. 'Why?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The wires are down in some places in the East, and messages are delayed
+a good deal. Perhaps you noticed the lack of Eastern news in the morning
+papers? Very little news came from the East last night.' Seeing John's
+look of anxious interest, the operator continued: 'Does the despatch you
+expect pertain to money matters?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, it does.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Do they know you at the bank?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I don't think they do.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, if I were you, I would go up to the bank and be identified, so
+that, if it is a matter of minutes, no unnecessary time may be lost. You
+had better tell them you expect a money-order by cable, and, although
+such orders are paid without any identification at the bank, yet they
+take every precaution to see that it does not get into the hands of the
+wrong man.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Thank you,' said Kenyon. 'I am much obliged to you for your suggestion.
+I will act upon it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And as soon as the bank opened, John Kenyon presented himself to the
+cashier.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am expecting a large amount of money from England to-day. It is very
+important that, when it arrives, there shall be no delay in having it
+placed at my disposal. I want to know if there are any formalities to be
+gone through.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Where is the money coming from?' said the clerk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is coming from England.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is there anyone in Ottawa who can identify you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I know the telegraph operator here.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah!' said the cashier somewhat doubtfully. 'Anybody else?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Von Brent knows me very well.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That will do. Suppose you get Mr. Von Brent to come here and identify
+you as the man who bears the name of Kenyon. Then the moment your
+cablegram comes the money will be at your disposal.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon hurried to Von Brent's rooms and found him alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you come down to the bank and identify me as Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. Has the money arrived?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it has not; but I expect it, and want to provide for every
+contingency. I do not wish to have any delay in my identification when it
+does come.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If it comes by cable,' said Von Brent, 'there will be no need of
+identification. The bank is not responsible, you know. They take the
+money entirely at the sender's risk. They might pay it to the telegraph
+operator who receives the message! I believe they would not be held
+liable. However, it is better to see that nothing is left undone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Going over to the bank, Von Brent said to the cashier: 'This is John
+Kenyon.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very good,' replied the cashier. 'Have you been at the telegraph-office
+lately, Mr. Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I have not&mdash;at least, not for half an hour or so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I would go there as soon as possible, if I were you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That means,' said Von Brent, as soon as they had reached the door, 'that
+they have had their notice about the money. I believe it is already in
+the bank for you. I will go back to my rooms and not leave them till you
+come.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John hurried to the telegraph-office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Anything for me yet?' he said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nothing as yet, Mr. Kenyon; I think, however,' he added with a smile,
+'that it will be all right. I hope so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The moments ticked along with their usual rapidity, yet it seemed to
+Kenyon the clock was going fearfully fast. Eleven o'clock came and found
+him still pacing up and down the office of the telegraph. The operator
+offered him the hospitality of the private room, but this he declined.
+Every time the machine clicked, John's ears were on the alert, trying to
+catch a meaning from the instrument.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ten minutes after eleven!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Twenty minutes after eleven, and still no despatch! The cold perspiration
+stood on John's brow, and he groaned aloud.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I suppose it's very important,' said the operator.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'<i>Very</i> important.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, now, I shouldn't say so, but I know the money is in the bank for
+you. Perhaps if you went up there and demanded it, they would give it to
+you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was twenty-five minutes past the hour when John hurried towards the
+bank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have every belief,' he said to the cashier, 'that the money is here
+for me now. Is it possible for me to get it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you your cablegram?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I have not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, you know, we cannot pay the money until we see your cablegram. If
+time is of importance, you should not leave the telegraph-office, and the
+moment you get your message, come here; then there will be no delay
+whatever. Do you wish to draw all the money at once?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't know how much there is, but I must have twenty thousand pounds.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, to save time you had better make out a cheque for twenty
+thousand pounds; that will be&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And here he gave the number of dollars at the rate of the day on the
+pound. 'Just make out a cheque for that amount, and I will certify it. A
+certified cheque is as good as gold. The moment you get your message I
+will hand you the certified cheque.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John wrote out the order and gave it to the cashier, glancing at the
+clock as he did so. It was now twenty-five minutes to twelve. He rushed
+to the telegraph-office with all the speed of which he was capable, but
+met only a blank look again from the chief operator.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It has not come yet,' he said, shaking his head.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gradually despair began to descend on the waiting man. It was worse to
+miss everything now, than never to have had the hope of success. It was
+like hanging a man who had once been reprieved. He resumed his nervous
+pace up and down that chamber of torture. A quarter to twelve. He heard
+chimes ring somewhere. If the message did not come before they rang
+again, it would be for ever too late.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fourteen minutes&mdash;thirteen minutes&mdash;twelve minutes&mdash;eleven minutes&mdash;ten
+minutes to twelve, and yet, no&mdash;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Here you are!' shouted the operator in great glee, 'she's a-coming&mdash;it's
+all right&mdash;"John Kenyon, Ottawa."' Then he wrote as rapidly as the
+machine ticked out the message. 'There it is; now rush!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John needed no telling to rush. People had begun to notice him as
+the man who was doing nothing but running between the bank and the
+telegraph-office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was seven minutes to twelve when he got to the bank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is that despatch right?' he said, shoving it through the arched
+aperture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The clerk looked at it with provoking composure, and then compared it
+with some papers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'For God's sake, hurry!' pleaded John.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You have plenty of time,' said the cashier coolly, looking up at the
+clock and going on with his examination. 'Yes,' he added, 'that is right.
+Here is your certified cheque.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John clasped it, and bolted out of the bank as a burglar might have done.
+It was five minutes to twelve when he got to the steps that led to the
+rooms of Mr. Von Brent. Now all his excitement seemed to have deserted
+him. He was as cool and calm as if he had five days, instead of so many
+minutes, in which to make the payment. He mounted the steps quietly,
+walked along the passage, and knocked at the door of Von Brent's room.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come in!' was the shout that greeted him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He opened the door, glancing at the clock behind Von Brent's head as
+he did so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It stood at three minutes to twelve.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Mr. Longworth was sitting there, with just a touch of pallor on his
+countenance, and there seemed to be an ominous glitter in his eyeglass.
+He said nothing, and John Kenyon completely ignored his presence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is still some life left in my option, I believe?' he said to Von
+Brent, after nodding good-day to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very little, but perhaps it will serve. You have two minutes and a
+half,' said Von Brent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are the papers ready?' inquired John.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All ready, everything except putting in the names.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, here is the money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Von Brent looked at the certified cheque. 'That is perfectly right,' he
+said, 'the mine is yours.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he rose and stretched his hand across the table to Kenyon, who
+grasped it cordially.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Mr. Longworth also rose, and said languidly 'As this seems to be
+a meeting of long-lost brothers, I shall not intrude. Good-day, Mr.
+Von Brent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then, adjusting his eyeglass in a leisurely manner, he walked out
+of the room.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap37"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When Edith Longworth entered the office of George Wentworth, that young
+gentleman somewhat surprised her. He sprang from his chair the moment she
+entered the room, rushed out of the door, and shouted at the top of his
+voice to the boy, who answered him, whereupon Wentworth returned to the
+room, apparently in his right mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Longworth,' he said, laughing; 'the fact was, I
+had just sent my boy with a telegram for you, and now, you see, I have
+saved sixpence.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then you have heard from Canada?' said the young lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; a short message, but to the point.' He handed her the cablegram,
+and she read:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mine purchased; shall take charge temporarily.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, the money got there in time,' she said, handing him back the
+telegraphic message.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh yes,' said George, with the easy confidence of a man who doesn't at
+all know what he is talking about. 'We had plenty of time; I knew it
+would get there all right.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am glad of that; I was afraid perhaps we might have sent it too late.
+One can never tell what delays or formalities there may be.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Evidently there was no trouble. And now, Miss Longworth, what are your
+commands? Am I to be your agent here, in Great Britain?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you written to Mr. Kenyon?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I wrote to him just after I sent the cable message.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course you didn't&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I didn't say a word that would lead him to suspect who was the
+mistress of the mine. In my zeal I even went so far as to give you a
+name. You are hereafter to be known in the correspondence as Mr. Smith,
+the owner of the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'And&mdash;oh, by the way,' cried Wentworth, 'here is a barrel belonging to
+you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A barrel!' she said, and, looking in the direction to which he pointed,
+she saw in the corner of the room a barrel with the head taken away. 'If
+it is my property,' continued the young woman, 'who has taken the liberty
+of opening it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I did that as your agent. That barrel contains the mineral from the
+mine, which we hope will prove so valuable. It started from Canada over
+three months ago, and only arrived here the other day. It seems that the
+idiot who sent it addressed it by way of New York, and it was held by
+some Jack-in-office belonging to the United States Customs. We have had
+more diplomatic correspondence and trouble about that barrel than you
+can imagine, and now it comes a day behind the fair, when it is really of
+no use to anyone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth rose and went to the barrel. She picked out some of the
+beautiful white specimens that were in it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Is this the mineral?' she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth laughed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Imagine a person buying a mine at an exorbitant price, and not knowing
+what it produces. Yes, that is the mineral.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This is not mica, of course?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, it is not mica. That is the stuff used for the making of china.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It looks as if it would take a good polish. Will it, do you know?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know. I could easily find out for you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish you would, and get a piece of it polished, which I will use as a
+paper-weight.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What are your orders for the rest of the barrel?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'What did you intend doing with it?' said the young woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, I was thinking the best plan would be to send some of it to each
+of the pottery works in this country, and get their orders for more of
+the stuff, if they want to use it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I think that an extremely good idea. I understand from the cablegram
+that Mr. Kenyon says he will take charge of the mine temporarily.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes; I imagine he left Ottawa at once, as soon as he had concluded his
+bargain. Of course, we shall not know for certain until he writes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well, then, it appears to me the best thing you could do over here
+would be to secure what orders can be obtained in England for the
+mineral. Then, I suppose, you could write to Mr. Kenyon, and ask him to
+engage a proper person to work the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I will do that.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'When he comes over here, you and he can have a consultation as to the
+best thing to do next. I expect nothing very definite can be arranged
+until he comes. You may make whatever excuse you can for the absence of
+the mythical Mr. Smith, and say that you act for him. Then you may tell
+Mr. Kenyon, in whatever manner you choose, that Mr. Smith intends both
+you and Mr. Kenyon to share conjointly with him. I think you will have no
+trouble in making John&mdash;that is, in making Mr. Kenyon&mdash;believe there is
+such a person as Mr. Smith, if you put it strongly enough to him. Make
+him understand that Mr. Smith would never have heard of the mine unless
+Mr. Kenyon and you had discovered it, and that he is very glad indeed to
+have such a good opportunity of investing his money; so that, naturally,
+he wishes those who have been instrumental in helping him to this
+investment to share in its profits. I imagine you can make all this clear
+enough, so that your friend will suspect nothing. Don't you think so?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, with any other man than John Kenyon I should have my doubts,
+because, as a fabricator, I don't think I have a very high reputation;
+but with John I have no fears whatever. He will believe everything I
+say. It is almost a pity to delude so trustful a man, but it's so very
+much to his own advantage that I shall have no hesitation in doing it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, you will write to him about getting a fit and proper person to
+manage the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes. I don't think there will be any necessity for doing so, but I will
+make sure. I imagine John will not leave there until he sees everything
+to his satisfaction. He will be very anxious indeed for the mine to prove
+the great success he has always believed it to be, even though, at
+present, he does not know he is to have any pecuniary interest in its
+prosperity.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very well then, I shall bid you good-bye. I may not be here again, but
+whenever you hear from Mr. Kenyon, I shall be very glad if you will let
+me know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly; I will send you all the documents in the case, as you once
+remarked. You always like to see the original papers, don't you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I suppose I do.' Miss Longworth lingered a moment at the door,
+then, looking straight at Wentworth, she said to him, 'You remember you
+spoke rather bitterly to my father the other day?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, colouring; 'I remember it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are a young man; he is old. Besides that, I think you were entirely
+in the wrong. He had nothing whatever to do with his nephew's action.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, I know that,' said Wentworth. 'I would have apologized to him long
+ago, only&mdash;well, you know, he told me I shouldn't be allowed in the
+office again, and I don't suppose I should.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A letter from you would be allowed in the office,' replied the young
+lady, looking at the floor.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of course it would,' said George; 'I will write to him instantly and
+apologize.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is very good of you,' said, Edith, holding out her hand to him; the
+next moment she was gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote a letter of apology. Then
+he mused to himself upon the strange and incomprehensible nature of
+women. 'She makes me apologize to him, and quite right too; but if it
+hadn't been for the row with her father, she never would have heard about
+the transaction, and therefore couldn't have bought the mine, which she
+was anxious to do for Kenyon's sake&mdash;lucky beggar John is, after all!'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap38"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+When the business of transferring the mine to its new owner was
+completed, John Kenyon went to the telegraph-office, and sent a short
+cable-message to Wentworth. Then he turned his steps to the hotel, an
+utterly exhausted man. The excitement and tension of the day had been too
+much for him, and he felt that, if he did not get out of the city of
+Ottawa and into the country, where there were fewer people and more air,
+he was going to be ill. He resolved to leave for the mine as soon as
+possible. There he would get affairs in as good order as might be, and
+keep things going until he heard from the owner. When he reached his
+hotel, he wrote a letter to Wentworth, detailing briefly the
+circumstances under which he had secured the mine, and dealing with other
+more personal matters. Having posted this, he began to pack his
+portmanteau, preparatory to leaving early next morning. While thus
+occupied, the bell-boy came into his room, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is a gentleman wants to see you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He imagined at once that it was Von Brent, who wished to see him with
+regard to some formality relating to the transfer, and he was, therefore,
+very much astonished&mdash;in fact, for the moment speechless&mdash;when Mr.
+William Longworth entered and calmly gazed round the rather shabby room
+with his critical eyeglass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah,' he said, 'these are your diggings, are they? This is what they call
+a dollar hotel, I suppose, over here. Well, some people may like it, but,
+I confess, I don't care much about it, myself. Their three or four
+dollars a day hotels are bad enough for me. By the way, you look rather
+surprised to see me; being strangers together in a strange country, I
+expected a warmer greeting. You said last night, in front of the Russell
+House, that it would please you very much to give me a warm greeting;
+perhaps you would like to do so to-night.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you come up here to provoke a quarrel with me?' asked Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Oh, bless you, no! Quarrel! Nothing of the sort. What should I want to
+quarrel about?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Perhaps you will be good enough to tell me why you come here, then?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A very reasonable request. Very reasonable indeed, and perfectly
+natural, but still quite unnecessary. It is not likely that a man would
+climb up here into your rooms, and then not be prepared to tell you why
+he came. I came, in the first place, to congratulate you on the beautiful
+and dramatic way in which you secured the mine at the last moment, or
+apparently at the last moment. I suppose you had the money all the time?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, I had not.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then you came in to Von Brent just as soon as you received it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, now, I don't see that it is the business of anyone else but
+myself. Still, if you want to know, I may say that I came to Mr. Von
+Brent's room at the moment I received the money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really! Then it was sent over by cable, I presume?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Your presumption is entirely correct.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear Kenyon,' said the young man, seating himself without being
+asked, and gazing at John in a benevolent kind of way, 'you really show
+some temper over this little affair of yours. Now, here is the whole
+thing in a nutshell&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear sir, I don't wish to hear the whole thing, in a nutshell. I know
+all about it&mdash;all I wish to know.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, precisely; of course you do; certainly; but, nevertheless, let me
+have my say. Here is the whole thing. I tried to&mdash;well, to cheat you.
+I thought I could make a little money by doing so, and my scheme
+failed. Now, if anybody should be in a bad temper, it is I, not you.
+Don't you see that? You are not acting your part well at all. I'm
+astonished at you!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Longworth, I wish to have nothing whatever to say to you. If you
+have anything to ask, I wish you would ask it as quickly as possible, and
+then leave me alone.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The chief fault I find with you, Kenyon,' said Longworth, throwing one
+leg over the other, and clasping his hands round his knee&mdash;'the chief
+fault I have to find is your painful lack of a sense of humour. Now,
+you remember last night I offered you the managership of the mine. I
+thought, certainly, that by this time to-day I should be owner of it,
+or, at least, one of the owners. Now, you don't appear to appreciate the
+funniness of the situation. Here you are the owner of the mine, and I am
+out in the cold&mdash;"left," as they say here in America. I am the man who
+is left&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'If that is all you have to talk about,' said Kenyon gravely, 'I must ask
+you to allow me to go on with my packing. I am going to the mine
+to-morrow.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly, my dear fellow; go at once and never mind me. Can I be of any
+assistance to you? It requires a special genius, you know, to pack a
+portmanteau properly. But what I wanted to say was this: Why didn't you
+turn round, when you had got the mine, and offer <i>me</i> the managership of
+it? Then you would have had your revenge. The more I think of that
+episode in Von Brent's office, the more I think you utterly failed to
+realize the dramatic possibilities of the situation.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon was silent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now, all this time you are wondering why I came here. Doubtless you wish
+to know what I want.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have not the slightest interest in the matter,' said Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That is ungracious, but, nevertheless, I will continue. It is better, I
+see, to be honest with you, if a man wants to get anything from you. Now,
+I want to get a bit of information from you. I want to know where you got
+the money with which you bought the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I got it from the bank.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, yes, but I want to know who sent it over to you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It was sent to me by George Wentworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Quite so; but <i>now</i> I want to know who gave Wentworth the money?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You will have a chance of finding that out when you go to England, by
+asking him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then you won't tell me?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I can't tell you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You mean by that, of course, that you won't.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I always mean, Mr. Longworth, exactly what I say. I mean that I can't
+tell you. I don't know myself.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, really. You seem to have some difficulty in believing that anybody
+can speak the truth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, it isn't a common vice, speaking the truth. You must forgive a
+little surprise.' He nursed his knee for a moment, and looked
+meditatively up at the ceiling. 'Now, would you like to know who
+furnished that money?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have no curiosity in the matter whatever.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Have you not? You are a singular man. It seems to me that a person into
+whose lap twenty thousand pounds drops from the skies would have some
+little curiosity to know from whom the money came.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I haven't the slightest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Nevertheless, I will tell you who gave the money to Wentworth. It was
+my dear friend Melville. I didn't tell you in New York, of course, that
+Melville and I had a little quarrel about this matter, and he went home
+decidedly huffy. I had no idea he would take this method of revenge; but
+I see it quite clearly now. He knew I had secured the option of the
+mine. There was a little trouble as to what our respective shares were
+to be, and I thought, as I had secured the option, I had the right to
+dictate terms. He thought differently. He was going to Von Brent to
+explain the whole matter; but I pointed out that such a course would do
+no good, the option being legally made out in my name, so that the
+moment your claim expired mine began. When this dawned upon him, he took
+the steamer and went to England. Now, I can see his hand in this
+artistic finish to the affair. It was a pretty sharp trick of
+Melville's, and I give him credit for it. He is a very much shrewder and
+cleverer man than I thought he was.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It seems to me, Mr. Longworth, that your inordinate conceit makes you
+always underestimate your friends, or your enemies either, for that
+matter.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is something in that, Kenyon; I think you are more than half right,
+but I thought, perhaps, I could make it advantageous to you to do
+me a favour in this matter. I thought you might have no objection to
+writing a little document to the effect that the money did not come in
+time, and consequently, I had secured the mine. Then, if you would sign
+that, I would take it over to Melville and make terms with him. Of
+course, if he knows that he has the mine there will not be much chance of
+coming to any arrangement with him.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You can make no arrangements with me, Mr. Longworth, that involve
+sacrifice of the truth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Ah, well, I suspected as much; but I thought it was worth trying.
+However, my dear sir, I may make terms with Melville yet, and then, I
+imagine, you won't have much to do with the mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall not have anything to do with it if you and Melville have a share
+in it; and if, as you suspect, Melville has the mine, I consider you are
+in a bad way. My opinion is that, when one rascal gets advantage over
+another rascal, the other rascal will be, as you say, "left."'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Longworth mused over this for a moment, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, I fear you are right&mdash;in fact, I am certain of it. Well, that is
+all I wanted to know. I will bid you good-bye. I shan't see you again in
+Ottawa, as I shall sail very shortly for England. Have you any messages
+you would like given to your friends over there?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'None, thank you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, ta-ta!' And John was left to his packing. That necessary operation
+concluded, Kenyon sat down and thought over what young Longworth had told
+him. His triumph, after all, had been short-lived. The choice between the
+two scoundrels was so small that he felt he didn't care which of them
+owned the mine. Meditating on this disagreeable subject, he suddenly
+remembered a request he had asked Wentworth to place before the new owner
+of the mine. He wanted no favour from Melville, so he wrote a second
+letter, contradicting the request made in the first, and, after posting
+it, returned to his hotel, and went to bed, probably the most tired man
+in the city of Ottawa.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap39"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+This chapter consists largely of letters. As a general rule, letters are
+of little concern to anyone except the writers and the receivers, but
+they are inserted here in the hope that the reader is already well
+enough acquainted with the correspondents to feel some interest in what
+they have written.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was nearly a fortnight after the receipt of the cablegram from Kenyon
+that George Wentworth found, one morning, on his desk two letters, each
+bearing a Canadian postage-stamp. One was somewhat bulky and one was
+thin, but they were both from the same writer. He tore open the thin one
+first, without looking at the date stamped upon it. He was a little
+bewildered by its contents, which ran as follows:
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'MY DEAR GEORGE,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have just heard that Melville is the man who has bought the mine. The
+circumstances of the case leave no doubt in my mind that such is the
+fact; therefore, please disregard the request I made as to employment in
+the letter I posted to you a short time ago. I feel a certain sense of
+disappointment in the fact that Melville is the owner of the mine. It
+seems I have only kept one rascal from buying it in order to put it in
+the hands of another rascal.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'Your friend,
+<br />
+'JOHN KENYON.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Melville the owner!' cried Wentworth to himself. 'What could have put
+that into John's head? This letter is evidently the one posted a few
+hours before, so it will contain whatever request he has to make;' and,
+without delay, George Wentworth tore open the envelope of the second
+letter, which was obviously the one written first.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It contained a number of documents relating to the transfer of the mine.
+The letter from John himself went on to give particulars of the buying of
+the property. Then it continued:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I wish you would do me a favour, George. Will you kindly ask the owner
+of the mine if he will give me charge of it? I am, of course, anxious to
+make it turn out as well as possible, and I believe I can more than earn
+my salary, whatever it is. You know I am not grasping in the matter of
+money, but get me as large a salary as you think I deserve. I desire to
+make money for reasons that are not entirely selfish, as you know. To
+tell you the truth, George, I am tired of cities and of people. I want to
+live here in the woods, where there is not so much deceit and treachery
+as there seems to be in the big towns. When I reached London last time, I
+felt like a boy getting home. My feelings have undergone a complete
+change, and I think, if it were not for you and a certain young lady, I
+should never care to see the big city again. What is the use of my
+affecting mystery, and writing the words "a certain young lady"? Of
+course, you know whom I mean&mdash;Miss Edith Longworth. You know, also, that
+I am, and have long been, in love with her. If I had succeeded in making
+the money I thought I should by selling the mine, I might have had some
+hopes of making more, and of ultimately being in a position to ask her to
+be my wife; but that and very many other hopes have disappeared with my
+recent London experiences. I want to get into the forest and recover some
+of my lost tone, and my lost faith in human nature. If you can arrange
+matters with the owner of the mine, so that I may stay here for a year
+or two, you will do me a great favour.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth read over the latter part of this letter two or three
+times. Then he rose, paced the floor, and pondered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It isn't a thing upon which I can ask anyone's advice,' he muttered to
+himself. 'The trouble with Kenyon is, he is entirely too modest; a little
+useful self-esteem would be just the thing for him.' At last he stopped
+suddenly in his walk. 'By Jove!' he said to himself, slapping his thigh,
+'I shall do it, let the consequences be what they may.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then he sat down at his desk and wrote a letter.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'DEAR Miss LONGWORTH' (it began),
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You told me when you were here last that you wanted all the documents
+pertaining to the mine, in every instance. A document has come this
+morning that is rather important. John Kenyon, as you will learn by
+reading the letter, desires the managership of the mine. I need not say
+that I think he is the best man in the world for the position, and that
+everything will be safe in his hands. I therefore enclose you his letter.
+I had some thought of cutting out a part of it, but knowing your desire
+to have all the documents in the case, I take the liberty of sending this
+one exactly as it reached me, and if anyone is to blame, I am the person.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'I remain, your agent,
+<br />
+'GEORGE WENTWORTH.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He sent this letter out at once, so that he would not have a chance to
+change his mind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It will reach her this afternoon, and doubtless she will call and see
+me.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say she did <i>not</i> call, and she did
+not see him for many days afterwards; but next morning, when he came to
+his office, he found a letter from her. It ran:
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'DEAR MR. WENTWORTH,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The sending of Mr. Kenyon's letter to me is a somewhat dangerous
+precedent, which you must on no account follow by sending any letters you
+may receive from any other person to Mr. Kenyon. However, as you were
+probably aware when you sent the letter, no blame will rest on your
+shoulders, or on those of anyone else, in this instance. Still, be very
+careful in future, because letter-sending, unabridged, is sometimes a
+risky thing to do. You are to remember that I always want all the
+documents in the case, and I want them with nothing eliminated. I am very
+much obliged to you for forwarding the letter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'As to the managership of the mine, of course I thought Mr. Kenyon would
+desire to come back to London. If he is content to stay abroad, and
+really wants to stay there, I wish you would tell him that Mr. Smith is
+exceedingly pleased to know he is willing to take charge of the mine. It
+would not look businesslike on the part of Mr. Smith to say that Mr.
+Kenyon is to name his own salary, but, unfortunately, Mr. Smith is very
+ignorant as to what a proper salary should be, so will you kindly settle
+that question? You know the usual salary for such an occupation. Please
+write down that figure, and add two hundred a year to it. Tell Mr.
+Kenyon the amount named is the salary Mr. Smith assigns to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Pray be very careful in the wording of the letters, so that Mr. Kenyon
+will not have any idea who Mr. Smith is.
+</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">
+'Yours truly,
+<br />
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Wentworth received this letter, being a man, he did not know whether
+Miss Longworth was pleased or not. However, he speedily wrote to John,
+telling him that he was appointed manager of the mine, and that Mr. Smith
+was very much pleased to have him in that capacity. He named the salary,
+but said if it was not enough, no doubt Mr. Smith was so anxious for his
+services that the amount would be increased.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+John, when he got the letter, was more than satisfied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the time Wentworth was reading his letters, John had received those
+which had been sent when the mine was bought. He was relieved to find
+that Melville was not, after all, the owner; and he went to work with a
+will, intending to put in two or three years of his life, with hard
+labour, in developing the resources of the property. The first fortnight,
+before he received any letters, he did nothing but make himself
+acquainted with the way work was being carried on there. He found many
+things to improve. The machinery had been allowed to run down, and the
+men worked in the listless way men do when they are under no particular
+supervision. The manager of the mine was very anxious about his position.
+John told him the property had changed hands but, until he had further
+news from England, he could not tell just what would be done. When the
+letters came, John took hold with a will, and there was soon a decided
+improvement in the way affairs were going. He allowed the old manager to
+remain as a sort of sub-manager; but that individual soon found that the
+easy times of the Austrian Mining Company were for ever gone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon had to take one or two long trips in Canada and the United
+States, to arrange for the disposal of the products of the mine; but,
+as a general rule, his time was spent entirely in the log village near
+the river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When a year had passed, he was able to write a very jubilant letter to
+Wentworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You see,' he said, 'after all, the mine was worth the two hundred
+thousand pounds we asked for it. It pays, even the first year, ten per
+cent. on that amount. This will give back all the mine has cost, and I
+think, George, the honest thing for us to do would be to let the whole
+proceeds go to Mr. Smith this year, who advanced the money at a critical
+time. This will recoup him for his outlay, because the working capital
+has not been touched. The mica has more than paid the working of the
+mine, and all the rest is clear profit. Therefore, if you are willing, we
+will let our third go this year, and then we can take our large dividend
+next year with a clear conscience. I enclose the balance-sheet.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To this letter there came an answer in due time from Wentworth, who said
+that he had placed John's proposal before Mr. Smith; but it seemed the
+gentleman was so pleased with the profitable investment he had made that
+he would hear of no other division of the profits but that of share and
+share alike. He appeared to be very much touched by the offer John had
+made, and respected him for making it, but the proposed rescinding on
+his part and Wentworth's was a thing not to be thought of. This being
+the case, John sent a letter and a very large cheque to his father. The
+moment of posting that letter was, doubtless, one of the happiest of his
+life, and this ends the formidable array of letters which appears in
+this chapter.
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap40"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XL.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Wentworth had written to Kenyon that Mr. Smith absolutely refused to take
+more than one-third of the profits of the mine. It was true that the
+offer had been declined, but Wentworth never knew how much tempted the
+Mistress of the Mine had been when he made it. Her one great desire was
+to pay back the thirty thousand pounds to her father, and she wanted to
+do it as speedily as possible. At the end of the second year her profits
+from the mine, including the return of the five thousand pounds which had
+been sent to Ottawa as working capital, was still about five thousand
+pounds under the thirty thousand pounds. She looked forward eagerly to
+the time when she would be able to pay the thirty thousand pounds to her
+father. Old Mr. Longworth had never spoken a word to his daughter about
+the money. She had expected he would ask her what she had done with it,
+but he had never mentioned the subject. Her conscience troubled her very
+frequently about the method she had taken to obtain that large amount.
+She saw that her father had changed in his manner towards her since that
+day. He had given her the money, but he had given it, as one might say,
+almost under compulsion, and there was no doubt that, generous as he
+was, he did not like being coerced into parting with his money. Edith
+Longworth had paid more for the mine than the amount of cash she had
+deposited in Ottawa. She had paid for it by being cut off from her
+father's confidence. Now he never asked her advice about any of his
+business ventures, and, for the first time in many years, he had taken a
+long sea-voyage without inviting her to accompany him. All this made the
+girl more and more anxious to obtain the money to pay back her
+indebtedness, and, if Wentworth had made the same offer at the end of the
+second year which he had made at the close of the first, she would have
+accepted it. The offer, however, was not made, and Miss Longworth said
+nothing, but took her share of the profits and put them into the bank.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The plan of placing all one's eggs into the same basket is a good
+one&mdash;until something happens to the basket! It is said that lightning
+never strikes twice in the same place, and, as the small boy remarked,
+'it never needed to.' In Mr. Longworth's affairs lightning struck in
+three places, and in each of those strokes it hit a large basket. A new
+law had been passed in one part of the world that vitally affected great
+interests he held there. In another part of the world, at the same time,
+there occurred a revolution, and every business in that country stopped
+for the time being. In still another part of the world there had been a
+commercial crisis; and, in sympathy with all these financial disasters,
+the money market in London was exceedingly stringent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everybody wanted to sell, and nobody wished to buy. This unfortunate
+combination of circumstances hit old Mr. Longworth hard. It was not that
+he did not believe all his investments were secure, could he only
+weather the gale, but there was an immediate need of ready money which it
+seemed absolutely impossible to obtain. Day by day his daughter saw him
+ageing perceptibly. She knew worry was the cause of this, and she knew
+the events that were happening in different parts of the world must
+seriously embarrass her father. She longed to speak to him about his
+business, but one attempt she made in this direction had been very rudely
+rebuffed, and she was not a woman to tempt a second repulse of that kind.
+So she kept silent, and saw with grief the havoc business troubles were
+making with her father's health.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'The old man,' said young Longworth, 'seems to be in a corner.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not want you ever again to allude to my father as "the old
+man"&mdash;remember that!' cried the girl indignantly.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Young Longworth shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I don't think you can insist on my calling him a young man much longer.
+If he isn't an old man, I should like to know who is?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That doesn't matter,' said Edith. 'You must not use such a phrase again
+in my hearing. What do you mean by saying he is in a corner?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well,' returned the young man, 'I don't know much about his business. He
+does not take me into his confidence at all. In fact, the older he grows,
+the closer he gets, and the chances are he will make some very bad
+speculation before long, if he has not done so already. That is the way
+with old men, begging your pardon for using the phrase. It is not
+levelled against your father in this instance, but at old men as a class,
+especially men who have been successful. They seem to resent anybody
+giving them advice.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day Edith received a telegram, asking her to come to the office in
+the City without delay. She was panic-stricken when she read the message,
+feeling sure her father had been stricken down in his office, and was
+probably dying&mdash;perhaps dead. She had feared some such result for a long
+time, because of the intense anxiety to which he had been subjected, and
+he was not a man who could be counselled to take care of himself on the
+plea that he was getting old. He resented any intimation that he was not
+as good a business man as he had ever been, and so it was extremely
+difficult to get him to listen to reason, if anyone had the courage to
+talk reason to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith, without a moment's delay, sprang lightly into a hansom, and went
+to the District Railway without waiting for her carriage. From the
+Mansion House Station another cab took her quickly to her father's
+office.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was immensely relieved, as she passed through, to see the clerks
+working as if nothing particular had happened. On entering her father's
+room, she found him pacing up and down the apartment, while her cousin
+sat, apparently absorbed in his own affairs, at his desk. Her father was
+evidently greatly excited.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Edith,' he cried the moment she entered, 'where is that money I gave you
+two years ago?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is invested,' she answered, turning slightly pale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her father laughed&mdash;a hoarse, dry laugh.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Just as I thought,' he sneered&mdash;'put in such shape that a person
+cannot touch a penny of it, I suppose. In what is it invested? I must
+have that money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'How soon do you need it, father?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I want it just now, at this moment; if I don't have that money I am a
+ruined man.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'This moment. I suppose, means any time to-day, before the bank closes?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her father looked at her for a moment, then said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes that is what it means.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will try and get you the money before that time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear girl,' he said bitterly, 'you don't know what you are talking
+about. If you have that money invested, even if your investment is worth
+three times now what it was then, you could not get a penny on it. Don't
+you know the state of the London money market? Don't you know how close
+money is? I thought perhaps you might have some portion of it yet, not
+sunk in your silly investment, whatever it is. I have never asked you
+what it was. You told me you would tell me, but you never have done so. I
+looked on that money as lost. I look on it still as lost. If you can get
+me a remnant of it, it will help me now more than the whole amount, or
+double the amount, would have done at the time I gave it to you. What
+have you done with the money? What is it invested in?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'It is invested in a mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'A mine. Of all things in the world in which to sink money, a mine is the
+worst. Just what a woman or a fool would do! How do you expect to raise
+money on a mine in the present state of the market? What, in the name of
+wonder, made you put it into a mine? Whose mine did you buy?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I do not know whose it was, father, but I was willing to tell you all I
+knew at the time you asked me and if you ask me now what mine I bought, I
+will tell you.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly I ask you. What mine did you buy?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I bought the mine for which John Kenyon was agent.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The moment these words were said, her cousin sprang to his feet and
+glared at her like a man demented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You bought that mine&mdash;you? Then Wentworth lied to me. He said a Mr.
+Smith had given him the money.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am the Mr. Smith, William.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'You are the Mr. Smith! You are the one who has cheated me out of that
+mine!'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'My dear cousin, the less we say about cheating, the better. I am talking
+to my father just now, and I do not wish to be interrupted. Will you be
+so kind as to leave the room until my interview with him is over?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'So you bought the mica-mine, did you! Pretending to be friendly with me,
+and knowing all the time that you were doing your best to cheat&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Come, come!' interrupted the old gentleman; 'William, none of this. If
+anyone is to talk roughly to Edith, it will be me, not you. Come, sir,
+leave the room, as she has asked you to do. Now, my daughter,' he
+continued, in a much milder tone of voice, after young Longworth had left
+the office, 'have you any ready money? It is no use saying the mine is
+worth a hundred thousand pounds, or a million, just now, if you haven't
+the ready money. Edith, my child,' he cried, 'sit down with me a moment,
+and I will explain the whole situation to you. It seems to me that ever
+since I stopped consulting you things have gone wrong. Perhaps, even if
+you have the money, it is better not to risk it just now; but one pound
+will do what two pounds will not do a year hence, or perhaps six months
+from now, when this panic is over.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Edith sat down beside her father and heard from him exactly how things
+stood. Then she said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'All you really need is about fifteen thousand pounds?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, that would do; I'm sure that would carry me over. Can you get it
+for me, my child?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes, and more. I will try to get you the whole amount. Wait for me here
+twenty minutes or half an hour.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+George Wentworth was very much surprised when he saw Edith Longworth
+enter his office. It had been many months since she was there before, and
+he cordially held out his hand to the girl.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Wentworth,' she began at once, 'have you any of the money the mica
+mine has brought you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Yes. I invested the first year's proceeds, but, since I got the last
+amount, things have been so shaky in the City that it is still at the
+bank.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Will you lend me&mdash;<i>can</i> you lend me five thousand pounds of it?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Of, course I can, and will; and very glad I am to get the chance of
+doing so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then, please write me out a cheque for it at once, and whatever papers
+you want as security, make them out, and I will see that you are
+secured.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Look here, Miss Longworth,' said the young man, placing his hands on his
+hips and gazing at her, 'do you mean to insult me? Do you not know that
+the reason I am able to write out a cheque for five thousand pounds, that
+will be honoured, is entirely because you trusted your money to me and
+Kenyon without security? Do you think I want security? Take back the
+word, Miss Longworth.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I will&mdash;I will,' she said; 'but I am in a great hurry. Please write me
+out the cheque, for I must have it before the bank closes.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cheque was promptly written out and handed to her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I am afraid,' she said, 'I am not very polite to-day, and rather abrupt;
+but I will make up for it some other time.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And so, bidding the young man good-bye, she drove to the bank, deposited
+the cheque, drew her own for thirty thousand pounds, and carried it to
+her father.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There,' she said, 'is thirty thousand pounds, and I still own the mine,
+or, at least, part of it. All the money is made from the cheque you gave
+me, or, rather, two-thirds of it, because one-third was never touched.
+Now, it seems to me, father, that, if I am a good enough business woman
+to more than double my money in two years, I am a good enough business
+woman to be consulted by my father whenever he needs a confidant. My dear
+father, I want to take some of the burden off your shoulders.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were tears in her father's eyes as he put his arm round her waist
+and whispered to her:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'There is no one in all London like you, my dear&mdash;no one, no one. I'll
+have no more secrets from you, my own brave girl.'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p><a id="chap41"></a></p>
+<h3>
+CHAPTER XLI.
+</h3>
+
+<p>
+Kenyon's luck, as he said to himself, had turned. The second year was
+even more prosperous than the first, and the third as successful as the
+second. He had a steady market for his mineral, and, besides, he had the
+great advantage of knowing the rogues to avoid. Some new swindles he had
+encountered during his first year's experience had taught him lessons
+that he profited by in the second and third. He liked his home in the
+wilderness, and he liked the rough people amongst whom he found himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding his renunciation of London, however, there would now and
+then come upon him a yearning for the big city, and he promised himself a
+trip there at the end of the third year. Wentworth had been threatening
+month after month to come out and see him, but something had always
+interfered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Taking it all in all, John liked it better in the winter than in the
+summer, in spite of the extreme cold. The cold was steady and could be
+depended upon; moreover, it was healthful and invigorating. In summer,
+John never quite became accustomed to the ravages of the black fly, the
+mosquito, and other insect pests of that region. His first interview with
+the black fly left his face in such a condition that he was glad he lived
+in a wilderness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the beginning of the second winter John treated himself to a luxury.
+He bought a natty little French Canadian horse that was very quick and
+accustomed to the ice of the river, which formed the highway by which he
+reached Burntpine from the mine in the cold season. To supplement the
+horse, he also got a comfortable little cutter, and with this turn-out
+he made his frequent journeys between the mine and Burntpine with comfort
+and speed, wrapped snugly in buffalo robes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If London often reverted to his mind, there was another subject that
+obtruded itself even more frequently. His increased prosperity had
+something to do with this. He saw that, if he was to have a third of the
+receipts of the mine, he was not to remain a poor man for very long, and
+this fact gave him a certain courage which had been lacking before. He
+wondered if she remembered him. Wentworth had said very little about her
+when he wrote, for his letters were largely devoted to enthusiastic
+eulogies of Jennie Brewster, and Kenyon, in spite of the confession he
+had made when his case seemed hopeless, was loath to write and ask his
+friend anything about Edith.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One day, on a clear sharp frosty winter morning, Kenyon had his little
+pony harnessed for his weekly journey to Burntpine. After the rougher
+part of the road between the mine and the river had been left behind, and
+the pony got down to her work on the ice, with the two white banks of
+snow on either side of the smooth track, John gave himself up to thinking
+about the subject which now so often engrossed his mind. Wrapped closely
+in his furs, with the cutter skimming along the ice, these thoughts found
+a pleasant accompaniment in the silvery tinkle of the bells which jingled
+around his horse's neck. As a general thing, he met no one on the icy
+road from the mine to the village. Sometimes there was a procession of
+sleighs bearing supplies for his own mine and those beyond, and when this
+procession was seen, Kenyon had to look out for some place by the side of
+the track where he could pull up his horse and cutter and allow the
+teams to pass. The snow on each side of the cutting was so deep that
+these bays were shovelled out here and there to permit teams to get past
+each other. He had gone halfway to the village, when he saw ahead of him
+a pair of horses which he at once recognised as those belonging to the
+hotel-keeper. He drew up in the first bay and awaited the approach of the
+sleigh. He saw that it contained visitors for himself, because the
+driver, on recognising him, had turned round and spoken to the occupants
+of the vehicle. As it came along, the man drew up and nodded to Kenyon,
+who, although ordinarily the most polite of men, did not return the
+salutation. He was stricken dumb with astonishment on seeing who was in
+the sleigh. One woman was so bundled up that not even her nose appeared
+out in the cold, but the smiling rosy face of the other needed no
+introduction to John Kenyon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Well, Mr. Kenyon,' cried a laughing voice, 'you did not expect to see me
+this morning, did you?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I confess I did not,' said John, 'and yet&mdash;.' Here he paused; he was
+going to say, 'and yet I was thinking of you,' but he checked himself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth, who had a talent for reading the unspoken thoughts of
+John Kenyon, probably did not need to be told the end of the sentence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Are you going to the village?' she asked.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I <i>was</i> going. I am not going now.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'That's right. I was just about to invite you to turn round with us. You
+see, we are on our way to look at the mine, and, I suppose, we shall have
+to obtain the consent of the manager before we can do so.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Miss Longworth's companion had emerged for a moment from her wraps and
+looked at John, but instantly retired among the furs again with a
+shiver. She was not so young as her companion, and she considered this
+the most frightful climate she had ever encountered.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Now,' said John, 'although your sleigh is very comfortable, I think this
+cutter of mine is even more so. It is intended for two; won't you step
+out of the sleigh into the cutter? Then, if the driver will move on, I
+can turn, and we will follow the sleigh.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I shall be delighted to do so,' said the young woman, shaking herself
+free from the buffalo robe, and stepping lightly from the sleigh into the
+cutter, pausing, however, for a moment, before she did so, to put her own
+wraps over her companion. John tucked her in beside himself, and, as the
+sleigh jingled on, he slowly turned his pony round into the road again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have got a pretty fast pony,' he said, 'but I think we will let
+them drive on ahead. It irritates this little horse to see anything in
+front of it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then we can make up speed,' said Edith, 'and catch them before they get
+to the mine. Is it far from here?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'No, not very far; at least, it doesn't take long to get there with a
+smart horse.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I have enjoyed this experience ever so much,' she said; 'you see, my
+father had to come to Montreal on business, so I came with him, as usual,
+and, being there, I thought I would run up here and see the mine. I
+wanted,' she continued, looking at the other side of the cutter and
+trailing her well-gloved fingers in the snow&mdash;'I wanted to know
+personally whether my manager was conducting my property in the way it
+ought to be conducted, notwithstanding the very satisfactory
+balance-sheets he sends.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'<i>Your</i> property!' exclaimed John, in amazement.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Certainly. You didn't know that, did you?' she replied, looking for a
+moment at him, and then away from him. 'I call myself the Mistress of
+the Mine.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Then you are&mdash;you are&mdash;&mdash;'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Mr. Smith,' said the girl coming to his rescue.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a moment's pause, and the next words John said were not at all
+what she expected.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Take your hand out of the snow,' he commanded, 'and put it in under the
+buffalo robe; you have no idea how cold it is here, and your hand will be
+frozen in a moment.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Really,' said the girl, 'an employee must not talk to his employer in
+that tone! My hand is my own, is it not?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'I hope it is,' said John, 'because I want to ask you for it.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+For answer Miss Edith Longworth placed her hand in his.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Actions speak louder than words. The sleigh was far in advance, and there
+were no witnesses on the white topped hills.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Were you astonished?' she said, 'when I told you that I owned the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Very much so indeed. Were <i>you</i> astonished when I told you I wished to
+own the owner of the mine?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Not in the slightest.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Why?'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+'Because your treacherous friend Wentworth sent me your letter applying
+for a situation. You got the situation, didn't you, John?'
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+<p class="finis">
+THE END
+</p>
+
+<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
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+</body>
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+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
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+
+Title: A Woman Intervenes
+
+Author: Robert Barr
+
+Posting Date: March 22, 2014 [EBook #9379]
+Release Date: November, 2005
+First Posted: September 27, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN INTERVENES ***
+
+
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+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG
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+
+                           A WOMAN INTERVENES
+
+                                   BY
+
+                               ROBERT BARR
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+'IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS,' 'IN A STEAMER CHAIR,' 'FROM WHOSE BOURNE,'
+ETC.
+
+
+
+WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAL HURST
+
+
+
+1896
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MY FRIEND
+
+HORACE HART
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+'I HAD NO INTENTION OF INSULTING YOU' _Frontispiece_
+
+WENTWORTH SHOWED HER HOW TO TURN IT ROUND
+
+MISS JENNIE ALLOWED HIM TO ADJUST THE WRAPS AROUND HER
+
+'OH, YES! YOU WILL STAY,' CRIED THE OTHER
+
+SHE WALKED ALONE UP AND DOWN THE PROMENADE
+
+SHE SPRANG SUDDENLY TO HER FEET
+
+'YOU HAVE A PRODIGIOUS HEAD FOR BUSINESS'
+
+EDITH LONGWORTH HAD SAT DOWN BESIDE HIM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+The managing editor of the _New York Argus_ sat at his desk with a deep
+frown on his face, looking out from under his shaggy eyebrows at the
+young man who had just thrown a huge fur overcoat on the back of one
+chair, while he sat down himself on another.
+
+'I got your telegram,' began the editor. 'Am I to understand from it that
+you have failed?'
+
+'Yes, sir,' answered the young man, without the slightest hesitation.
+
+'Completely?'
+
+'Utterly.'
+
+'Didn't you even get a synopsis of the documents?'
+
+'Not a hanged synop.'
+
+The editor's frown grew deeper. The ends of his fingers drummed nervously
+on the desk.
+
+'You take failure rather jauntily, it strikes me,' he said at last.
+
+'What's the use of taking it any other way? I have the consciousness of
+knowing that I did my best.'
+
+'Um, yes. It's a great consolation, no doubt, but it doesn't count in
+the newspaper business. What did you do?'
+
+'I received your telegram at Montreal, and at once left for Burnt
+Pine--most outlandish spot on earth. I found that Kenyon and
+Wentworth were staying at the only hotel in the place. Tried to worm
+out of them what their reports were to be. They were very polite, but
+I didn't succeed. Then I tried to bribe them, and they ordered me out
+of the room.'
+
+'Perhaps you didn't offer them enough.'
+
+'I offered double what the London Syndicate was to pay them for making
+the report, taking their own word for the amount. I couldn't offer more,
+because at that point they closed the discussion by ordering me out of
+the room. I tried to get the papers that night, on the quiet, out of
+Wentworth's valise, but was unfortunately interrupted. The young men
+were suspicious, and next morning they left for Ottawa to post the
+reports, as I gathered afterwards, to England. I succeeded in getting
+hold of the reports, but I couldn't hang on. There are too many police
+in Ottawa to suit me.'
+
+'Do you mean to tell me,' said the editor, 'that you actually had the
+reports in your hands, and that they were taken from you?'
+
+'Certainly I had; and as to their being taken from me, it was either that
+or gaol. They don't mince matters in Canada as they do in the United
+States, you know.'
+
+'But I should think a man of your shrewdness would have been able to get
+at least a synopsis of the reports before letting them out of his
+possession.'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the reporter, rather angry, 'the whole thing covered
+I forget how many pages of foolscap paper, and was the most mixed-up
+matter I ever saw in my life. I tried--I sat in my room at the hotel, and
+did my best to master the details. It was full of technicalities, and I
+couldn't make it out. It required a mining expert to get the hang of
+their phrases and figures, so I thought the best thing to do was to
+telegraph it all straight through to New York. I knew it would cost a lot
+of money, but I knew, also, you didn't mind that; and I thought, perhaps,
+somebody here could make sense out of what baffled me; besides, I wanted
+to get the documents out of my possession just as quickly as possible.'
+
+'Hem!' said the editor. 'You took no notes whatever?'
+
+'No, I did not. I had no time. I knew the moment they missed the
+documents they would have the detectives on my track. As it was, I was
+arrested when I entered the telegraph-office.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' said the managing editor, 'if I had once had the
+papers in my hand, I should not have let them go until I had got the gist
+of what was in them.'
+
+'Oh, it's all very well for you to say so,' replied the reporter, with
+the free and easy manner in which an American newspaper man talks to his
+employer; 'but I can tell you, with a Canadian gaol facing a man, it is
+hard to decide what is best to do. I couldn't get out of the town for
+three hours, and before the end of that time they would have had my
+description in the hands of every policeman in the place. They knew well
+enough who took the papers, so my only hope lay in getting the thing
+telegraphed through; and if that had been accomplished, everything would
+have been all right. I would have gone to gaol with pleasure if I had
+got the particulars through to New York.'
+
+'Well, what are we to do now?' asked the editor.
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. The two men will be in New York very shortly.
+They sail, I understand, on the _Caloric_, which leaves in a week. If you
+think you have a reporter who can get the particulars out of these men, I
+should be very pleased to see you set him on. I tell you it isn't so easy
+to discover what an Englishman doesn't want you to know.'
+
+'Well,' said the editor, 'perhaps that's true. I will think about it. Of
+course you did your best, and I appreciate your efforts; but I am sorry
+you failed.'
+
+'You are not half so sorry as I am,' said Rivers, as he picked up his big
+Canadian fur coat and took his leave.
+
+The editor did think about it. He thought for fully two minutes. Then he
+dashed off a note on a sheet of paper, pulled down the little knob that
+rang the District Messenger alarm, and when the uniformed boy appeared,
+gave him the note, saying:
+
+'Deliver this as quickly as you can.'
+
+The boy disappeared, and the result of his trip was soon apparent in the
+arrival of a very natty young woman in the editorial rooms. She was
+dressed in a neatly-fitting tailor-made costume, and was a very pretty
+girl, who looked about nineteen, but was, in reality, somewhat older. She
+had large, appealing blue eyes, with a tender, trustful expression in
+them, which made the ordinary man say: 'What a sweet, innocent look that
+girl has!' yet, what the young woman didn't know about New York was not
+worth knowing. She boasted that she could get State secrets from
+dignified members of the Cabinet, and an ordinary Senator or Congressman
+she looked upon as her lawful prey. That which had been told her in the
+strictest confidence had often become the sensation of the next day in
+the paper she represented. She wrote over a _nom de guerre_, and had
+tried her hand at nearly everything. She had answered advertisements,
+exposed rogues and swindlers, and had gone to a hotel as chambermaid, in
+order to write her experiences. She had been arrested and locked up, so
+that she might write a three-column account, for the Sunday edition of
+the _Argus_, of 'How Women are Treated at Police Headquarters.' The
+editor looked upon her as one of the most valuable members of his staff,
+and she was paid accordingly.
+
+She came into the room with the self-possessed air of the owner of the
+building, took a seat, after nodding to the editor, and said, 'Well?'
+
+'Look here, Jennie,' began that austere individual, 'do you wish to take
+a trip to Europe?'
+
+'That depends,' said Jennie; 'this is not just the time of year that
+people go to Europe for pleasure, you know.'
+
+'Well, this is not exactly a pleasure trip. The truth of the matter is,
+Rivers has been on a job and has bungled it fearfully, besides nearly
+getting himself arrested.'
+
+The young woman's eyes twinkled. She liked anything with a spice of
+danger in it, and did not object to hear that she was expected to succeed
+where a mere masculine reporter had failed.
+
+The editor continued:
+
+'Two young men are going across to England on the _Caloric_. It sails in
+a week. I want you to take a ticket for Liverpool by that boat, and
+obtain from either of those two men the particulars--the _full_
+particulars--of reports they have made on some mining properties in
+Canada. Then you must land at Queenstown and cable a complete account to
+the _Argus_.'
+
+'Mining isn't much in my line,' said Miss Jennie, with a frown on her
+pretty brow. 'What sort of mines were they dealing with--gold, silver,
+copper, or what?'
+
+'They are certain mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'That's rather indefinite.'
+
+'I know it is. I can't give you much information about the matter. I
+don't know myself, to tell the truth, but I know it is vitally important
+that we should get a synopsis of what the reports of these young men are
+to be. A company, called the London Syndicate, has been formed in
+England. This syndicate is to acquire a large number of mines in Canada,
+if the accounts given by the present owners are anything like correct.
+Two men, Kenyon and Wentworth--the first a mining engineer, and the
+second an experienced accountant--have been sent from London to Canada,
+one to examine the mines, the other to examine the books of the various
+corporations. Whether the mines are bought or not will depend a good deal
+on the reports these two men have in their possession. The reports, when
+published, will make a big difference, one way or the other, on the Stock
+Exchange. I want to have the gist of them before the London Syndicate
+sees them. It will be a big thing for the _Argus_ if it is the first in
+the field, and I am willing to spend a pile of hard cash to succeed. So,
+don't economize on your cable expenses.'
+
+'Very well; have you a book on Canadian mines?'
+
+'I don't know that we have; but there is a book here, "The Mining
+Resources of Canada;" will that be of any use?'
+
+'I shall need something of that sort. I want to be a little familiar with
+the subject, you know.'
+
+'Quite so,' said the editor; 'I will see what can be got in that line.
+You can read it before you start, and on the way over.'
+
+'All right,' said Miss Jennie; 'and am I to take my pick of the two
+young men?'
+
+'Certainly,' answered the editor. 'You will see them both, and can easily
+make up your mind which will the sooner fall a victim.'
+
+'The _Caloric_ sails in a week, does it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I shall need at least five hundred dollars to get new dresses
+with.'
+
+'Good gracious!' cried the editor.
+
+'There is no "good gracious" about it. I'm going to travel as a
+millionaire's daughter, and it isn't likely that one or two dresses will
+do me all the way over.'
+
+'But you can't get new dresses made in a week,' said the editor.
+
+'Can't I? Well, you just get me the five hundred dollars, and I'll see
+about the making.'
+
+The editor jotted the amount down.
+
+'You don't think four hundred dollars would do?' he said.
+
+'No, I don't. And, say, am I to get a trip to Paris after this is over,
+or must I come directly back?'
+
+'Oh, I guess we can throw in the trip to Paris,' said the editor.
+
+'What did you say the names of the young men are?--or are they not
+young? Probably they are old fogies, if they are in the mining business.'
+
+'No; they are young, they are shrewd, and they are English. So you see
+your work is cut out for you. Their names are George Wentworth and
+John Kenyon.'
+
+'Oh, Wentworth is my man,' said the young woman breezily. 'John Kenyon! I
+know just what sort of a person he is--sombre and taciturn. Sounds too
+much like John Bunyan, or John Milton, or names of that sort.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't be too sure about it until you see them. Better not
+make up your mind about the matter.'
+
+'When shall I call for the five hundred dollars?'
+
+'Oh, that you needn't trouble about. The better way is to get your
+dresses made, and tell the people to send the bills to our office.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman. 'I shall be ready. Don't be frightened
+at the bills when they come in. If they come up to a thousand dollars,
+remember I told you I would let you off for five hundred dollars.'
+
+The editor looked at her for a moment, and seemed to reflect that
+perhaps it was better not to give a young lady unlimited credit in New
+York. So he said:
+
+'Wait a bit; I'll write you out the order, and you can take it
+downstairs.'
+
+Miss Jennie took the paper when it was offered to her, and disappeared.
+When she presented the order in the business office, the cashier raised
+his eyebrows as he noticed the amount, and, with a low whistle, said to
+himself:
+
+'Five hundred dollars! I wonder what game Jennie Brewster's up to now.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The last bell had rung. Those who were going ashore had taken their
+departure. Crowds of human beings clustered on the pier-head, and at the
+large doorways of the warehouse which stood open on the steamer wharf. As
+the big ship slowly backed out there was a fluttering of handkerchiefs
+from the mass on the pier, and an answering flutter from those who
+crowded along the bulwarks of the steamer. The tug slowly pulled the prow
+of the vessel round, and at last the engines of the steamship began their
+pulsating throbs--throbs that would vibrate night and day until the
+steamer reached an older civilization. The crowd on the pier became more
+and more indistinct to those on board, and many of the passengers went
+below, for the air was bitterly cold, and the boat was forcing its way
+down the bay among huge blocks of ice.
+
+Two, at least, of the passengers had taken little interest in the
+departure. They were leaving no friends behind them, and were both
+setting their faces toward friends at home.
+
+'Let us go down,' said Wentworth to Kenyon, 'and see that we get seats
+together at table before all are taken.'
+
+'Very good,' replied his companion, and they descended to the roomy
+saloon, where two long tables were already laid with an ostentatious
+display of silver, glassware, and cutlery, which made many, who looked on
+this wilderness of white linen with something like dismay, hope that the
+voyage would be smooth, although, as it was a winter passage, there was
+every chance it would not be. The purser and two of his assistants sat
+at one of the shorter tables with a plan before them, marking off the
+names of passengers who wished to be together, or who wanted some
+particular place at any of the tables. The smaller side-tables were still
+uncovered because the number of passengers at that season of the year was
+comparatively few. As the places were assigned, one of the helpers to the
+purser wrote the names of the passengers on small cards, and the other
+put the cards on the tables.
+
+One young woman, in a beautifully-fitting travelling gown, which was
+evidently of the newest cut and design, stood a little apart from the
+general group which surrounded the purser and his assistants. She eagerly
+scanned every face, and listened attentively to the names given.
+Sometimes a shade of disappointment crossed her brow, as if she expected
+some particular person to possess some particular name which that
+particular person did not bear. At last her eyes sparkled.
+
+'My name is Wentworth,' said the young man whose turn it was.
+
+'Ah! any favourite place, Mr. Wentworth?' asked the purser blandly, as if
+he had known Wentworth all his life.
+
+'No, we don't care where we sit; but my friend Mr. Kenyon and myself
+would like places together.'
+
+'Very good; you had better come to my table,' replied the purser.
+'Numbers 23 and 24--Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+The steward took the cards that were given him, and placed them to
+correspond with the numbers the purser had named. Then the young woman
+moved gracefully along, as if she were interested in the names upon the
+table. She looked at Wentworth's name for a moment, and saw in the place
+next to his the name of Mr. Brown. She gave a quick, apprehensive glance
+around the saloon, and observed the two young men who had arranged for
+their seats at table now walking leisurely toward the companion-way. She
+took the card with the name of Mr. Brown upon it, and slipped upon the
+table another on which were written the words 'Miss Jennie Brewster.' Mr.
+Brown's card she placed on the spot from which she had taken her own.
+
+'I hope Mr. Brown is not particular which place he occupies,' said Jennie
+to herself; 'but at any rate I shall see that I am early for dinner, and
+I'm sure Mr. Brown, whoever he is, will not be so ungallant as to insist
+on having this place if he knows his card was here.'
+
+Subsequent events proved her surmise regarding Mr. Brown's indifference
+to be perfectly well founded. That young man searched for his card, found
+it, and sat down on the chair opposite the young woman, who already
+occupied her chair, and was, in fact, the first one at table. Seeing
+there would be no unseemly dispute about places, she began to plan in her
+own mind how she would first attract the attention of Mr. Wentworth.
+While thinking how best to approach her victim, Jennie heard his voice.
+
+'Here you are, Kenyon; here are our places.'
+
+'Which is mine?' said the voice of Kenyon.
+
+'It doesn't matter,' answered Wentworth, and then a thrill of fear went
+through the gentle heart of Miss Jennie Brewster. She had not thought of
+the young man not caring which seat he occupied, and she dreaded the
+possibility of finding herself next to Kenyon rather than Wentworth. Her
+first estimate of the characters of the two men seemed to be correct. She
+always thought of Kenyon as Bunyan, and she felt certain that Wentworth
+would be the easier man of the two to influence. The next moment her
+fears were allayed, for Kenyon, giving a rapid glance at the handsome
+young woman, deliberately chose the seat farthest from her, and
+Wentworth, with 'I beg your pardon,' slipped in and sat down on the chair
+beside her.
+
+'Now,' thought Jennie, with a sigh of relief, 'our positions are fixed
+for the meals of the voyage.' She had made her plans for beginning an
+acquaintance with the young man, but they were rendered unnecessary by
+the polite Mr. Wentworth handing her the bill of fare.
+
+'Oh, thank you,' said the girl, in a low voice, which was so musical that
+Wentworth glanced at her a second time and saw how sweet and pretty and
+innocent she was.
+
+'I'm in luck,' said the unfortunate young man to himself. Then he
+remarked aloud: 'We have not many ladies with us this voyage.'
+
+'No,' replied Miss Brewster; 'I suppose nobody crosses at this time of
+the year unless compelled to.'
+
+'I can answer for two passengers that such is the case.'
+
+'Do you mean yourself as one?'
+
+'Yes, myself and my friend.'
+
+'How pleasant it must be,' said Miss Brewster, 'to travel with a friend!
+Then one is not lonely. I, unfortunately, am travelling alone.'
+
+'I fancy,' said the gallant Wentworth, 'that if you are lonely while on
+board ship, it will be entirely your own fault.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed a silvery little laugh.
+
+'I don't know about that,' she said. 'I am going to that Mecca of all
+Americans--Paris. My father is to meet me there, and we are then going on
+to the Riviera together.'
+
+'Ah, that will be very pleasant,' said Wentworth. 'The Riviera at this
+season is certainly a place to be desired.'
+
+'So I have heard,' she replied.
+
+'Have you not been across before?'
+
+'No, this is my first trip. I suppose you have crossed many times?'
+
+'Oh no,' answered the Englishman; 'this is only my second voyage, my
+first having been the one that took me to America.'
+
+'Ah, then you are not an American,' returned Miss Brewster, with
+apparent surprise.
+
+She imagined that a man is generally flattered when a mistake of this
+kind is made. No matter how proud he may be of his country, he is pleased
+to learn that there is no provincialism about him which, as the Americans
+say, 'gives him away.'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'as a general thing, I am not taken for
+anything but what I am--an Englishman.'
+
+'I have met so few Englishmen,' said the guileless young woman, 'that
+really I should not be expected to know.'
+
+'I understand it is a common delusion among Americans that every
+Englishman drops his "h's," and is to be detected in that way.'
+
+Jennie laughed again, and George Wentworth thought it one of the
+prettiest laughs he had ever heard.
+
+Poor Kenyon was rather neglected by his friend during the dinner. He felt
+a little gloomy while the courses went on, and wished he had an evening
+paper. Meanwhile, Wentworth and the handsome girl beside him got on very
+well together. At the end of the dinner she seemed to have some
+difficulty in getting up from her chair, and Wentworth showed her how to
+turn it round, leaving her free to rise. She thanked him prettily.
+
+'I am going on deck,' she said, turning to go; 'I am so anxious to get my
+first glimpse of the ocean at night from the deck of a steamer.'
+
+'I hope you will let me accompany you,' returned young Wentworth. 'The
+decks are rather slippery, and even when the boat is not rolling it
+isn't quite safe for a lady unused to the motion of a ship to walk alone
+in the dark.'
+
+'Oh, thank you very much,' replied Miss Brewster, with effusion. 'It
+is kind of you, I am sure; and if you promise not to let me rob you
+of the pleasure of your after-dinner cigar, I shall be most happy to
+have you accompany me. I will meet you at the top of the stairway in
+five minutes.'
+
+'You are getting on,' said Kenyon, as the young woman disappeared.
+
+'What's the use of being on board ship,' said Wentworth, 'If you don't
+take advantage of the opportunity for making shipboard acquaintances?
+There is an unconventionality about life on a steamer that is not without
+its charm, as perhaps you will find out before the voyage is over, John.'
+
+'You are merely trying to ease your conscience because of your heartless
+desertion of me.'
+
+George Wentworth had waited at the top of the companion-way a little more
+than five minutes when Miss Brewster appeared, wrapped in a cloak edged
+with fur, which lent an additional charm to her complexion, set off as it
+was by a jaunty steamer cap. They stepped out on the deck, and found it
+not at all so dark as they had expected. Little globes of electric light
+were placed at regular intervals on the walls of the deck building.
+Overhead was stretched a sort of canvas roof, against which the sleety
+rain pattered. One of the sailors, with a rubber mop, was pushing into
+the gutter by the side of the ship the moisture from the deck. All around
+the boat the night was as black as ink, except here and there where the
+white curl of a wave showed luminous for a moment in the darkness.
+
+Miss Brewster insisted that Wentworth should light his cigar, which,
+after some persuasion, he did. Then he tucked her hand snugly under his
+arm, and she adjusted her step to suit his. They had the promenade all to
+themselves. The rainy winter night was not so inviting to most of the
+passengers as the comfortable rooms below. Kenyon, however, and one or
+two others came up, and sat on the steamer chairs that were tied to the
+brass rod which ran along the deckhouse wall. He saw the glow of
+Wentworth's cigar as the couple turned at the farther end of the walk,
+and when they passed him he heard a low murmur of conversation, and
+caught now and then a snatch of silvery laughter. It was not because
+Wentworth had deserted him that Kenyon felt so uncomfortable and
+depressed. He could not tell just what it was, but there had settled on
+his mind a strange, uneasy foreboding. After a time he went down into the
+saloon and tried to read, but could not, and so wandered along the
+seemingly endless narrow passage to his room (which was Wentworth's as
+well), and, in nautical phrase, 'turned in.' It was late when his
+companion came.
+
+'Asleep, Kenyon?' asked the latter.
+
+'No,' was the answer.
+
+'By George! John, she is one of the most charming girls I ever met.
+Wonderfully clever, too; makes a man feel like a fool beside her. She has
+read nearly everything. Has opinions on all our authors, a great many of
+whom I've never heard of. I wish, for your sake, John, she had a sister
+on board.'
+
+'Thanks, old man; awfully good of you, I'm sure,' said Kenyon. 'Don't
+you think it's about time to stop raving, get into your bunk, and turn
+out that confounded light?'
+
+'All right, growler, I will.'
+
+Meanwhile, in her own state-room, Miss Jennie Brewster was looking at her
+reflection in the glass. As she shook out her long hair until it rippled
+down her back, she smiled sweetly, and said to herself:
+
+'Poor Mr. Wentworth! Only the first night out, and he told me his name
+was George.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+The second day out was a pleasant surprise for all on board who had made
+up their minds to a disagreeable winter passage. The air was clear, the
+sky blue as if it were spring-time, instead of midwinter. They were in
+the Gulf Stream. The sun shone brightly and the temperature was mild.
+Nevertheless, it was an uncomfortable day for those who were poor
+sailors. Although there did not seem, to the casual observer, to be much
+of a sea running, the ship rolled atrociously. Those who had made heroic
+resolutions on the subject were sitting in silent misery in their
+deck-chairs, which had been lashed to firm stanchions. Few were walking
+the clean bright deck, because walking that morning was a gymnastic feat.
+Three or four who evidently wished to show they had crossed before, and
+knew all about it, managed to make their way along the deck. Those
+recumbent in the steamer-chairs watched with lazy interest the
+pedestrians who now and then stood still, leaning apparently far out of
+the perpendicular, as the deck inclined downward. Sometimes the
+pedestrian's feet slipped, and he shot swiftly down the incline. Such an
+incident was invariably welcomed by those who sat. Even the invalids
+smiled wanly.
+
+Kenyon reclined in his deck-chair with his eyes fixed on the blue sky.
+His mind was at rest about the syndicate report now that it had been
+mailed to London. His thoughts wandered to his own affairs, and he
+wondered whether he would make money out of the option he had acquired at
+Ottawa. He was not an optimistic man, and he doubted.
+
+After their work for the London Syndicate was finished, the young men had
+done a little business on their own account. They visited together a
+mica-mine that was barely paying expenses, and which the proprietors were
+anxious to sell. The mine was owned by the Austrian Mining Company,
+whose agent, Von Brent, was interviewed by Kenyon in Ottawa. The young
+men obtained an option on this mine for three months from Von Brent.
+Kenyon's educated eye had told him that the white mineral they were
+placing on the dump at the mouth of the mine was even more valuable than
+the mica for which they were mining.
+
+Kenyon was scrupulously honest--a quality somewhat at a discount in the
+mining business--and it seemed to him hardly the fair thing that he
+should take advantage of the ignorance of Von Brent regarding the mineral
+on the dump. Wentworth had some trouble in overcoming his friend's
+scruples. He claimed that knowledge always had to be paid for, in law,
+medicine, or mineralogy, and therefore that they were perfectly justified
+in profiting by their superior wisdom. So it came about that the young
+men took to England with them a three months' option on the mine.
+
+Wentworth had been walking about all morning like a lost spirit
+apparently seeking what was not. 'It can't be,' he said to himself. No;
+the thought was too horrible, and he dismissed it from his mind, merely
+conjecturing that perhaps she was not an early riser, which was indeed
+the case. No one who works on a morning newspaper ever takes advantage of
+the lark's example.
+
+'Well, Kenyon,' said Wentworth 'you look as if you were writing a poem,
+or doing something that required deep mental agony.'
+
+'The writing of poems, my dear Wentworth, I leave to you. I am doing
+something infinitely more practical--something that you ought to be at.
+I am thinking what we are to do with our mica-mine when we get it over
+to London.'
+
+'Oh, "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,"' cried Wentworth
+jauntily; 'besides, half an hour's thinking by a solid-brained fellow
+like you is worth a whole voyage of my deepest meditation.'
+
+'She hasn't appeared yet?' said Kenyon.
+
+'No, dear boy; no, she has _not_. You see, I make no pretence with you as
+other less ingenuous men might. No, she has _not_ appeared, and she has
+not breakfasted.'
+
+'Perhaps----' began Kenyon.
+
+'No, no!' cried Wentworth; 'I'll have no "perhaps." I thought of that, but
+I instantly dismissed the idea. She's too good a sailor.'
+
+'It requires a very good sailor to stand this sort of thing. It looks so
+unnecessary, too. I wonder what the ship is rolling about?'
+
+'I can't tell, but she seems to be rolling about half over. I say,
+Kenyon, old fellow, I feel horrible pangs of conscience about
+deserting you in this way, and so early in the voyage. I didn't do it
+last time, did I?'
+
+'You were a model travelling companion on the last voyage,' returned
+Kenyon.
+
+'I don't wish to make impertinent suggestions, my boy, but allow me to
+tell you that there are some other very nice girls on board.'
+
+'You are not so bad as I feared, then,' replied Kenyon, 'or you wouldn't
+admit that. I thought you had eyes for no one but Miss--Miss--I really
+didn't catch her name.'
+
+'I don't mind telling you confidentially, Kenyon, that her name is
+Jennie.'
+
+'Dear me!' cried Kenyon, 'has it got so far as that? Doesn't it strike
+you, Wentworth, that you are somewhat in a hurry? It seems decidedly
+more American than English. Englishmen are apt to weigh matters a
+little more.'
+
+'There is no necessity for weighing, my boy. I don't see any harm in
+making the acquaintance of a pretty girl when you have a long voyage
+before you.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let it grow too serious, if I were you.'
+
+'There isn't the slightest danger of seriousness about the affair. On
+shore the young lady wouldn't cast a second look at me. She is the
+daughter of a millionaire. Her father is in Paris, and they are going on
+to the Riviera in a few weeks.'
+
+'All the more reason,' said Kenyon, 'that you shouldn't let this go too
+far. Be on your guard, my boy. I've heard it said that American girls
+have the delightful little practice of leading a man on until it comes to
+a certain point, and then arching their pretty eyebrows, looking
+astonished, and forgetting all about him afterwards. You had better wait
+until we make our fortunes on this mica-mine, and then, perhaps, your
+fair millionairess may listen to you.'
+
+'John,' cried Wentworth, 'you are the most cold-blooded man I know of. I
+never noticed it so particularly before, but it seems to me that years
+and years of acquaintance with minerals of all kinds, hard and flinty,
+transform a man. Be careful that you don't become like the minerals you
+work among.'
+
+'Well, I don't know anything that has less tendency to soften a man than
+long columns of figures. I think the figures you work at are quite as
+demoralizing as the minerals I have spent my life with.'
+
+'Perhaps you are right, but a girl would have to be thrown into your
+arms before you would admit that such a thing as a charming young lady
+existed.'
+
+'If I make all the money I hope to make out of the mica-mine, I expect
+the young ladies will not be thrown into my arms, but at my head. Money
+goes a long way toward reconciling a girl to marriage.'
+
+'It certainly goes a long way toward reconciling her mother to the
+marriage. I don't believe,' said Wentworth slowly, 'that my--that Miss
+Brewster ever thinks about money.'
+
+'She probably doesn't need to, but no doubt there is someone who does the
+thinking for her. If her father is a millionaire, and has, like many
+Americans, made his own money, you may depend upon it he will do the
+thinking for her; and if Miss Brewster should prove to be thoughtless in
+the matter, the old gentleman will very speedily bring you both to your
+senses. It would be different if you had a title.'
+
+'I haven't any,' replied Wentworth, 'except the title George Wentworth,
+accountant, with an address in the City and rooms in the suburbs.'
+
+'Precisely; if you were Lord George Wentworth, or even Sir George, or
+Baron Wentworth of something or other, you might have a chance; as it is,
+the title of accountant would not go far with an American millionaire, or
+his daughter either.'
+
+'You are a cold, calculating wretch.'
+
+'Nothing of the sort. I merely have my senses about me, and you haven't
+at this particular moment. You wouldn't think of trusting a book-keeper's
+figures without seeing his vouchers. Well, my boy, you haven't the
+vouchers--at least, not yet, so that is why I ask you to give your
+attention to what we are going to do with our mine; and if you take my
+advice you will not think seriously about American millionaires or their
+daughters.'
+
+George Wentworth jumped to his feet, the ship gave a lurch at that
+particular moment, and he no sooner found his feet than he nearly lost
+them again; however, he was an expert at balancing himself as well as his
+accounts, and though for the moment his attention was occupied in keeping
+his equilibrium, he looked down on his companion, still placidly
+reclining in his chair, with a smile on his face.
+
+'Kenyon,' he said, 'I am going to look for another girl.'
+
+'Is one not enough for you?'
+
+'No, I want two--one for myself, and one for you. No man can sympathize
+with another unless he is in the same position himself. John, I want
+sympathy, and I'm not getting it.'
+
+'What you need more urgently,' said Kenyon calmly, 'is common-sense, and
+that I am trying to supply.'
+
+'You are doing your duty in that direction; but a man doesn't live by
+common-sense alone. There comes a time when common-sense is a drug in
+the market. I don't say it has come to me yet, but I'm resolved to get
+you into a more sympathetic mood, so I am going to find a suitable young
+lady for you.'
+
+'More probably you are going to look for your own,' answered Kenyon, as
+his friend walked off, and, disappearing round the corner, crossed to
+the other side of the ship.
+
+Kenyon did not turn again to his figures when his companion left him. He
+mused over the curiously rapid turn of circumstances. He hoped Wentworth
+would not take it too seriously, for he felt that, somehow or other, Miss
+Brewster was just the sort of girl to throw him over after she had whiled
+away a tedious voyage. Of course he could not say this to his friend, who
+evidently admired Miss Brewster, but he had said as much as he could to
+put Wentworth on his guard.
+
+'Now,' said Kenyon to himself, 'if she had been a girl like _that_, I
+wouldn't have minded.' The girl 'like _that_' was a young woman who for
+half an hour had been walking the deck alone with marvellous skill. She
+was not so handsome as the American girl, but she had a better
+complexion, and there was a colour in her cheek which seemed to suggest
+England. Her dress was not quite so smart nor so well-fitting as that of
+the American girl; but, nevertheless, she was warmly and sensibly clad,
+and a brown Tam o' Shanter covered her fair head. The tips of her hands
+were in the pockets of her short blue-cloth jacket; and she walked the
+deck with a firm, reliant tread that aroused the admiration of John
+Kenyon. 'If she were only a girl like _that_,' he repeated to himself, 'I
+wouldn't mind. There's something fresh and genuine about her. She makes
+me think of the breezy English downs.'
+
+As she walked back and forward, one or two young men seemingly made an
+attempt to become acquainted with her, but it was evident to Kenyon that
+the young woman had made it plain to them, politely enough, that she
+preferred walking alone, and they raised their sea-caps and left her.
+
+'She doesn't pick up the first man who comes,' he mused.
+
+The ship was beginning to roll more and more, and yet the day was
+beautiful and the sea seemingly calm. Most of the promenaders had left
+the deck. Two or three of them had maintained their equilibrium with a
+gratifying success which engendered the pride that goeth before a fall,
+but the moment came at last when their feet slipped and they had found
+themselves thrown against the bulwark of the steamer. Then they had
+laughed a little in a crestfallen manner, picked themselves up, and
+promenaded the deck no more. Many of those who were lying in the
+steamer-chairs gave up the struggle and went down to their cabins. There
+was a momentary excitement as one chair broke from its fastenings and
+slid down with a crash against the bulwarks. The occupant was picked up
+in a hysterical condition and taken below. The deck steward tied the
+chair more firmly, so that the accident would not happen again. The young
+English girl was opposite John Kenyon when this disaster took place, and
+her attention being diverted by fear for the safety of the occupant of
+the sliding chair, her care for herself was withdrawn at the very moment
+when it was most needed. The succeeding lurch which the ship gave to the
+other side was the most tremendous of the day. The deck rose until the
+girl leaning outward could almost touch it with her hand, then, in spite
+of herself, she slipped with the rapidity of lightning against the chair
+John Kenyon occupied, and that tripping her up, flung her upon him with
+an unexpectedness that would have taken his breath away if the sudden
+landing of a plump young woman upon him had not accomplished the same
+thing. The fragile deck-chair gave way with a crash, and it would be hard
+to say which was the more discomfited by the sudden catastrophe, John
+Kenyon or the girl.
+
+'I hope you are not hurt,' he managed to stammer.
+
+'Don't think about me!' she cried. 'I have broken your chair, and--and----'
+
+'The chair doesn't matter,' cried Kenyon. 'It was a flimsy structure at
+best. I am not hurt, if that is what you mean--and you mustn't mind it.'
+
+Then there came to his recollection the sentence of George Wentworth: 'A
+girl will have to be thrown into your arms before you will admit that
+such a thing as a charming young woman exists.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth could hardly be said to be a typical representative of
+the English girl. She had the English girl's education, but not her
+training. She had lost her mother in early life, which makes a great
+difference in a girl's bringing up, however wealthy her father may be;
+and Edith's father was wealthy, there was no doubt of that. If you asked
+any City man about the standing of John Longworth, you would learn that
+the 'house' was well thought of. People said he was lucky, but old John
+Longworth asserted that there was no such thing as luck in business--in
+which statement he was very likely incorrect. He had large investments in
+almost every quarter of the globe. When he went into any enterprise, he
+went into it thoroughly. Men talk about the inadvisability of putting all
+one's eggs into one basket, but John Longworth was a believer in doing
+that very thing--and in watching the basket. Not that he had all his eggs
+in one basket, or even in one kind of basket; but when John Longworth was
+satisfied with the particular variety of basket presented to him, he put
+a large number of eggs in it. When anything was offered for
+investment--whether it was a mine or a brewery or a railway--John
+Longworth took an expert's opinion upon it, and then the chances were
+that he would disregard the advice given. He was in the habit of going
+personally to see what had been offered to him. If the enterprise were
+big enough, he thought little of taking a voyage to the other end of the
+world for the sole purpose of looking the investment over. It was true
+that in many cases he knew nothing whatever of the business he went to
+examine, but that did not matter; he liked to have a personal inspection
+where a large amount of his money was to be placed. Investment seemed to
+be a sort of intuition with him. Often, when the experts' opinions were
+unanimously in favour of the project, and when everything appeared to be
+perfectly safe, Longworth would pay a personal visit to the business
+offered for sale, and come to a sudden conclusion not to have anything to
+do with it. He would give no reasons to his colleagues for his change of
+front; he simply refused to entertain the proposal any further, and
+withdrew. Several instances of this kind had occurred. Sometimes a large
+and profitable business, held out in the prospectus to be exceedingly
+desirable, had come to nothing, and when the company was wound up,
+people remembered what Longworth had said about it. So there came to be a
+certain superstitious feeling among those who knew him, that, if old Mr.
+Longworth was in a thing, the thing was safe, and if a company promoter
+managed to get his name on the prospectus, his project was almost certain
+to succeed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Edith Longworth was pronounced finished so far as education was
+concerned, she became more and more the companion of her father, and he
+often jokingly referred to her as his man of business. She went with him
+on his long journeys, and so had been several times to America, once to
+the Cape, and one long voyage, with Australia as the objective point, had
+taken her completely round the world. She inherited much of her father's
+shrewdness, and there is no doubt that, if Edith Longworth had been cast
+upon her own resources, she would have become an excellent woman of
+business. She knew exactly the extent of her father's investments, and
+she was his confidante in a way that few women are with their male
+relatives. The old man had a great faith in Edith's opinion, although he
+rarely acknowledged it. Having been together so much on such long trips,
+they naturally became, in a way, boon companions. Thus, Edith's education
+was very unlike that of the ordinary English girl, and this particular
+training caused her to develop into a different kind of woman than she
+might have been had her mother lived.
+
+Perfect confidence existed between father and daughter, and only lately
+had there come a shadow upon their relations, about which neither ever
+spoke to the other since their first conversation on the subject.
+
+Edith had said, with perhaps more than her usual outspokenness, that she
+had no thought whatever of marriage, and least of all had her thoughts
+turned toward the man her father seemed to have chosen. In answer to
+this, her father had said nothing, but Edith knew him too well to believe
+that he had changed his mind about the matter. The fact that he had
+invited her cousin to join them on this particular journey showed her
+that he evidently believed all that was necessary was to throw them more
+together than had been the case previously; and, although Edith was
+silent, she thought her father had not the same shrewdness in these
+matters that he showed in the purchasing of a growing business. Edith had
+been perfectly civil to the young man--as she would have been to
+anyone--but he saw that she preferred her own company to his; and so,
+much to the disgust of Mr. Longworth, he spent most of his time at cards
+in the smoking-room, whereas, according to the elder gentleman's opinion,
+he should have been promenading the deck with his cousin.
+
+William Longworth, the cousin, was inclined to be a trifle put out, for
+he looked upon himself as quite an eligible person, one whom any girl in
+her senses would be glad to look forward to as a possible husband. He
+made no pretence of being madly in love with Edith, but he thought the
+marriage would be an admirable thing all round. She was a nice girl, he
+said to himself, and his uncle's money was well worth thinking about. In
+fact, he was becoming desirous that the marriage should take place; but,
+as there was no one upon whom he could look as a rival, he had the field
+to himself. He would therefore show Miss Edith that he was by no means
+entirely dependent for his happiness upon her company; and this he
+proceeded to do by spending his time in the smoking-room, and playing
+cards with his fellow-passengers. It was quite evident to anyone who saw
+Edith, that, if this suited him, it certainly suited her; so they rarely
+met on shipboard except at table, where Edith's place was between her
+father and her cousin. Miss Longworth and her cousin had had one brief
+conversation on the subject of marriage. He spoke of it rather jauntily,
+as being quite a good arrangement, but she said very shortly that she had
+no desire to change her name.
+
+'You don't need to,' said Cousin William; 'my name is Longworth, and so
+is yours.'
+
+'It is not a subject for a joke,' she answered.
+
+'I am not joking, my dear Edith. I am merely telling you what everybody
+knows to be true. You surely don't deny that my name is Longworth?'
+
+'I don't mean to deny or affirm anything in relation to the matter,'
+replied the young woman, 'and you will oblige me very much if you will
+never recur to this subject again.'
+
+And so the young man betook himself once more to the smoking-room.
+
+On this trip Edith had seen a good deal of American society. People over
+there had made it very pleasant for her, and, although the weather was
+somewhat trying, she had greatly enjoyed the sleigh-rides and the
+different festivities which winter brings to the citizen of Northern
+America. Her father and her cousin had gone to America to see numerous
+breweries that were situated in different parts of the country, and
+which it was proposed to combine into one large company. They had made a
+Western city their headquarters, and while Edith was enjoying herself
+with her newly-found friends, the two men had visited the breweries in
+different sections of the country--all, however, near the city where
+Edith was staying. The breweries seemed to be in a very prosperous
+condition, although the young man declared the beer they brewed was the
+vilest he had ever tasted, and he said he wouldn't like to have anything
+to do with the production of it, even if it did turn in money. His uncle
+had not tried the beer, but confined himself solely to the good old
+bottled English ale, which had increased in price, if not in excellence,
+by its transportation. But there was something about the combination
+that did not please him; and, from the few words he dropped on the
+subject, his nephew saw that Longworth was not going to be a member of
+the big Beer Syndicate. The intention had been to take a trip to Canada,
+and Edith had some hopes of seeing the city of Montreal in its winter
+dress; but that visit had been abandoned, as so much time had been
+consumed in the Western States. So they began their homeward voyage,
+with the elder Longworth sitting a good deal in his deck-chair, and
+young Longworth spending much of his time in the smoking-room, while
+Edith walked the deck alone. And this was the lady whom Fate threw into
+the arms of John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Steamer friendships ripen quickly. It is true that, as a general thing,
+they perish with equal suddenness. The moment a man sets his foot on
+solid land the glamour of the sea seems to leave him, and the friend to
+whom he was ready to swear eternal fealty while treading the deck, is
+speedily forgotten on shore. Edith Longworth gave no thought to the
+subject of the innocent nature of steamer friendships when she reviewed
+in her own mind her pleasant walk along the deck with Kenyon. She had met
+many interesting people during her numerous voyages, but they had all
+proved to be steamer acquaintances, whose names she had now considerable
+difficulty in remembering. Perhaps she would not have given a second
+thought to Mr. Kenyon that night if it had not been for some
+ill-considered remarks her cousin saw fit to make at the dinner-table.
+
+'Who was that fellow you were walking with today?' young Longworth asked.
+
+Edith smiled upon him pleasantly, and answered:
+
+'Mr. Kenyon you mean, I suppose?'
+
+'Oh, you know his name, do you?' he answered gruffly.
+
+'Certainly,' she replied; 'I would not walk with a gentleman whose name I
+did not know.'
+
+'Really?' sneered her cousin. 'And pray were you introduced to him?'
+
+'I do not think,' answered Edith quietly, 'any person has a right to ask
+me that question except my father. He has not asked it, and, as you have,
+I will merely answer that I _was_ introduced to Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'I did not know you had any mutual acquaintance on board who could make
+you known to each other.'
+
+'Well, the ceremony was a little informal. We were introduced by our
+mutual friend, old Father Neptune. Father Neptune, being, as you know, a
+little boisterous this morning, took the liberty of flinging me upon Mr.
+Kenyon. I weigh something more than a feather, and the result
+was--although Mr. Kenyon was good enough to say he was uninjured--that
+the chair on which he sat had not the same consideration for my feelings,
+and it went down with a crash. I thought Mr. Kenyon should take my chair
+in exchange for the one I had the misfortune to break, but Mr. Kenyon
+thought otherwise. He said he was a mining engineer, and that he could
+not claim to be a very good one if he found any difficulty in mending a
+deck-chair. It seems he succeeded in doing so, and that is the whole
+history of my introduction to, and my intercourse with, Mr. Kenyon,
+Mining Engineer.'
+
+'Most interesting and romantic,' replied the young man; 'and do you think
+that your father approves of your picking up indiscriminate acquaintances
+in this way?'
+
+Edith, flushing a little at this, said:
+
+'I would not willingly do what my father disapproved of;' then in a lower
+voice she added: 'except, perhaps, one thing.'
+
+Her father, who had caught snatches of the conversation, now leaned
+across towards his nephew, and said warningly:
+
+'I think Edith is quite capable of judging for herself. This is my
+seventh voyage with her, and I have always found such to be the case.
+This happens to be your first, and so, were I you, I would not pursue the
+subject further.'
+
+The young man was silent, and Edith gave her father a grateful glance.
+Thus it was that, while she might not have given a thought to Kenyon, the
+remarks which her cousin had made, brought to her mind, when she was
+alone, the two young men, and the contrast between them was not at all to
+the advantage of her cousin.
+
+The scrubbing-brushes on the deck above him woke Kenyon early next
+morning. For a few moments after getting on deck he thought he had the
+ship to himself. One side of the deck was clean and wet; on the other
+side the men were slowly moving the scrubbing-brushes backward and
+forward, with a drowsy swish-swish. As he walked up the deck, he saw
+there was one passenger who had been earlier than himself.
+
+Edith Longworth turned round as she heard his step, and her face
+brightened into a smile when she saw who it was.
+
+Kenyon gravely raised his steamer cap and bade her 'Good-morning.'
+
+'You are an early riser, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Not so early as you are, I see.'
+
+'I think I am an exceptional passenger in that way,' replied the girl. 'I
+always enjoy the early morning at sea. I like to get as far forward on
+the steamer as possible, so that there is nothing between me and the
+boundless anywhere. Then it seems as if the world belongs to myself, with
+nobody else in it.'
+
+'Isn't that a rather selfish view?' put in Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, I don't think so. There is certainly nothing selfish in my
+enjoyment of it; but, you know, there are times when one wishes to be
+alone, and to forget everybody.'
+
+'I hope I have not stumbled upon one of those times.'
+
+'Oh, not at all, Mr. Kenyon,' replied his companion, laughing. 'There
+was nothing personal in the remark. If I wished to be alone, I would
+have no hesitation in walking off. I am not given to hinting; I speak
+plainly--some of my friends think a little too plainly. Have you ever
+been on the Pacific Ocean?'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Ah, there the mornings are delicious. It is very beautiful here now, but
+in summer on the Pacific some of the mornings are so calm and peaceful
+and fresh, that it would seem as if the world had been newly made.'
+
+'You have travelled a great deal, Miss Longworth. I envy you.'
+
+'I often think I am a person to be envied, but there may come a shipwreck
+one day, and then I shall not be in so enviable a position.'
+
+'I sincerely hope you may never have such an experience.'
+
+'Have you ever been shipwrecked, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Oh no; my travelling experiences are very limited. But to read of a
+shipwreck is bad enough.'
+
+'We have had a most delightful voyage so far. Quite like summer. One can
+scarcely believe that we left America in the depth of winter, with snow
+everywhere and the thermometer ever so far below zero. Have you mended
+your deck-chair yet, sufficiently well to trust yourself upon it again?'
+
+'Oh!' said Kenyon, with a laugh, 'you really must not make fun of my
+amateur carpentering like that. As I told you, I am a mining engineer,
+and if I cannot mend a deck-chair, what would you expect me to do with a
+mine?'
+
+'Have you had much to do with mines?' asked the young woman.
+
+'I am just beginning,' replied Kenyon; 'this, in fact, is one of my first
+commissions. I have been sent with my friend Wentworth to examine certain
+mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'The Ottawa River!' cried Edith. 'Are you one of those who were sent out
+by the London Syndicate?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon with astonishment. 'What do you know about it?'
+
+'Oh, I know everything about it. Everything, except what the mining
+expert's report is to be, and that information, I suppose, you have; so,
+between the two of us, we know a great deal about the fortunes of the
+London Syndicate.'
+
+'Really! I am astonished to meet a young lady who knows anything about
+the matter. I understood it was rather a secret combination up to the
+present.'
+
+'Ah! but, you see, I am one of the syndicate.'
+
+'You!'
+
+'Certainly,' answered Edith Longworth, laughing. 'At least, my father is,
+and that is the same thing, or almost the same thing. We intended to go
+to Canada ourselves, and I was very much disappointed at not going. I
+understand that the sleighing, and the snowshoeing, and the tobogganing
+are something wonderful.'
+
+'I saw very little of the social side of life in the district, my whole
+time being employed at the mines; but even in the mining village where we
+stayed, they had a snowshoe club, and a very good toboggan slide--so
+good, in fact, that, having gone down once, I never ventured to risk my
+life on it again.'
+
+'If my father knew you were on board, he would be anxious to meet you.
+Doubtless you know the London Syndicate will be a very large company.'
+
+'Yes, I am aware of that.'
+
+'And you know that a great deal is going to depend upon your report?'
+
+'I suppose that is so, and I hope the syndicate will find my report at
+least an honest and thorough one.'
+
+'Is the colleague who was with you also on board?'
+
+'Yes, he is here.'
+
+'He, then, was the accountant who was sent out?'
+
+'Yes, and he is a man who does his business very thoroughly, and I think
+the syndicate will be satisfied with his work.'
+
+'And do you not think they will be satisfied with yours also? I am sure
+you did your work conscientiously.'
+
+Kenyon almost blushed as the young woman made this remark, but she looked
+intently at him, and he saw that her thoughts were not on him, but on the
+large interests he represented.
+
+'Were you favourably impressed with the Ottawa as a mining region?' she
+asked.
+
+'Very much so,' he answered, and, anxious to turn the conversation away
+from his own report, he said: 'I was so much impressed with it that I
+secured the option of a mine there for myself.'
+
+'Oh! do you intend to buy one of the mines there?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'No, I am no capitalist seeking investment for my money, but I saw that
+the mine contained possibilities of producing a great deal of money for
+those who possess it. It is very much more valuable, in my opinion, than
+the owners themselves suspect; so I secured an option upon it for three
+months, and hope when I reach England to form a company to take it up.'
+
+'Well, I am sure,' said the young lady, 'if you are confident that the
+mine is a good one, you could see no one who would help you more in that
+way than my father. He has been looking at a brewery business he thought
+of investing in, but which he has concluded to have nothing to do with,
+so he will be anxious to find something reliable in its place. How much
+would be required for the purchase of the mine you mention?'
+
+'I was thinking of asking fifty thousand pounds for it,' said Kenyon,
+flushing, as he thought of his own temerity in more than doubling the
+price of the mine.
+
+Wentworth and he had estimated the probable value of the mine, and had
+concluded that even selling it at that price--which would give them
+thirty thousand pounds to divide between them--they were selling a mine
+that was really worth very much more, and would soon pay tremendous
+dividends on the fifty thousand pounds. He expected the young woman to
+be impressed by the amount, and was, therefore, very much surprised
+when she said:
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! Is that all? Then I am afraid my father would
+have nothing to do with it. He only deals with large businesses, and a
+company with a capitalization of fifty thousand pounds I am sure he would
+not look at.'
+
+'You talk of fifty thousand pounds,' said Kenyon, 'as if it were a mere
+trifle. To me it seems an immense fortune. I only wish I had it, or half
+of it.'
+
+'You are not rich, then?' said the girl, with apparent interest.
+
+'No,' replied the young man. 'Far otherwise.'
+
+At that moment the elder Mr. Longworth appeared in the door of the
+companion-way, and looked up and down the deck.
+
+'Oh, here you are,' he said, as his daughter sprang from her chair.
+
+'Father,' she cried, 'let me introduce to you Mr. Kenyon, who is the
+mining expert sent out by our syndicate to look at the Ottawa mines.'
+
+'I am pleased to meet you,' said the elder gentleman.
+
+The capitalist sat down beside the mining engineer, and began, somewhat
+to Kenyon's embarrassment, to talk of the London Syndicate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+A few mornings later Wentworth worked his way, with much balancing and
+grasping of stanchions, along the deck, for the ship rolled fearfully,
+but the person he sought was nowhere visible. He thought he would go into
+the smoking-room, but changed his mind at the door, and turned down the
+companion-way to the main saloon. The tables had been cleared of the
+breakfast belongings, but on one of the small tables a white cloth had
+been laid, and at this spot of purity in the general desert of red plush
+sat Miss Brewster, who was complacently ordering what she wanted from a
+steward, who did not seem at all pleased in serving one who had
+disregarded the breakfast-hour, to the disarrangement of all saloon
+rules. The chief steward stood by a door and looked disapprovingly at the
+tardy guest. It was almost time to lay the tables for lunch, and the
+young woman was as calmly ordering her breakfast as if she had been the
+first person at table.
+
+She looked up brightly at Wentworth, and smiled as he approached her.
+
+'I suppose,' she began, 'I'm dreadfully late, and the steward looks as if
+he would like to scold me. How awfully the ship is rolling! Is there a
+storm?'
+
+'No. She seems to be doing this sort of thing for amusement. Wants to
+make it interesting for the unfortunate passengers who are not good
+sailors, I suppose. She's doing it, too. There's scarcely anyone on
+deck.'
+
+'Dear me! I thought we were having a dreadful storm. Is it raining?'
+
+'No. It's a beautiful sunshiny day; without much wind either, in spite of
+all this row.'
+
+'I suppose you have had your breakfast long ago?'
+
+'So long since that I am beginning to look forward with pleasant
+anticipation to lunch.'
+
+'Oh dear! I had no idea I was so late as that. Perhaps _you_ had
+better scold me. Somebody ought to do it, and the steward seems a
+little afraid.'
+
+'You over-estimate my courage. I am a little afraid, too.'
+
+'Then you _do_ think I deserve it?'
+
+'I didn't say that, nor do I think it. I confess, however, that up to
+this moment I felt just a trifle lonely.'
+
+'Just a trifle! Well, that _is_ flattery. How nicely you English do turn
+a compliment! Just a trifle!'
+
+'I believe, as a race, we do not venture much into compliment making at
+all. We leave that for the polite foreigner. He would say what I tried
+to say a great deal better than I did, of course, but he would not mean
+half so much.'
+
+'Oh, that's very nice, Mr. Wentworth. No foreigner could have put it
+nearly so well. Now, what about going on deck?'
+
+'Anywhere, if you let me accompany you.'
+
+'I shall be most delighted to have you. I won't say merely a trifle
+delighted.'
+
+'Ah! Haven't you forgiven that remark yet?'
+
+'There's nothing to forgive, and it is quite too delicious to forget. I
+shall never forget it.'
+
+'I believe that you are very cruel at heart, Miss Brewster.'
+
+The young woman gave him a curious side-look, but did not answer. She
+gathered the wraps she had taken from her cabin, and, handing them to him
+before he had thought of offering to take them, she led the way to the
+deck. He found their chairs side by side, and admired the intelligence of
+the deck-steward, who seemed to understand which chairs to place
+together. Miss Jennie sank gracefully into her own, and allowed him to
+adjust the wraps around her.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's very nicely done; as well as the deck-steward
+himself could do it, and I am sure it is impossible to pay you a more
+graceful compliment than that. So few men know how to arrange one
+comfortably in a steamer chair.'
+
+'You speak as though you had vast experience in steamer life, and yet you
+told me this was your first voyage.'
+
+'It is. But it doesn't take a woman more than a day to see that the
+average man attends to such little niceties very clumsily. Now just tuck
+in the corner out of sight. There! Thank you, ever so much. And would you
+be kind enough to--Yes, that's better. And this other wrap so. Oh, that
+is perfect. What a patient man you are, Mr. Wentworth!'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. You _are_ a foreigner. I can see that now. Your
+professed compliment was hollow. You said I did it perfectly, and then
+immediately directed me how to do it.'
+
+'Nothing of the kind. You did it well, and I think you ought not to
+grudge me the pleasure of adding my own little improvements.'
+
+'Oh, if you put it in that way, I will not. Now, before I sit down, tell
+me what book I can get that will interest you. The library contains a
+very good assortment.'
+
+'I don't think I care about reading. Sit down and talk. I suppose I am
+too indolent to-day. I thought, when I came on board, that I would do a
+lot of reading, but I believe the sea-air makes one lazy. I must confess
+I feel entirely indifferent to mental improvement.'
+
+'You evidently do not think my conversation will be at all worth
+listening to.'
+
+'How quick you are to pervert my meaning! Don't you see that I think
+your conversation better worth listening to than the most interesting or
+improving book you can choose from the library? Really, in trying to
+avoid giving you cause for making such a remark, I have apparently
+stumbled into a worse error. I was just going to say I would like your
+conversation much better than a book, when I thought you would take that
+as a reflection on your reading. If you take me up so sharply I will sit
+here and say nothing. Now then, talk!'
+
+'What shall I say?'
+
+'Oh, if I told you what to say I should be doing the talking. Tell me
+about yourself. What do you do in London?'
+
+'I work hard. I am an accountant.'
+
+'And what is an accountant? What does he do? Keep accounts?'
+
+'Some of them do; I do not. I see, rather, that accounts which other
+people keep have been correctly kept.'
+
+'Aren't they always correctly kept? I thought that was what book-keepers
+were hired for.'
+
+'If books were always correctly kept there would be little for us to do;
+but it happens, unfortunately for some, but fortunately for us, that
+people occasionally do not keep their accounts accurately.'
+
+'And can you always find that out if you examine the books?'
+
+'Always.'
+
+'Can't a man make up his accounts so that no one can tell there is
+anything wrong?'
+
+'The belief that such a thing can be done has placed many a poor wretch
+in prison. It has been tried often enough.'
+
+'I am sure they can do it in the States. I have read of it being done and
+continued for years. Men have made off with great sums of money by
+falsifying the books, and no one found it out until the one who did it
+died or ran away.'
+
+'Nevertheless, if an expert accountant had been called in, he would have
+found out very soon that something was wrong, and just where the wrong
+was, and how much.'
+
+'I didn't think such cleverness possible. Have you ever discovered
+anything like that?'
+
+'I have.'
+
+'What is done when such a thing is discovered?'
+
+'That depends upon circumstances. Usually a policeman is called in.'
+
+'Why, it's like being a detective. I wish you would tell me about some of
+the cases you have had. Don't make me ask so many questions. Talk.'
+
+'I don't think my experiences would interest you in the least. There
+was one case with which I had something to do in London, two years
+ago, that----'
+
+'Oh, London! I don't believe the book-keepers there are half so sharp as
+ours. If you had to deal with American accountants, you would not find
+out so easily what they had or had not done.'
+
+'Well, Miss Brewster, I may say I have just had an experience of that
+kind with some of your very sharpest American book-keepers. I found that
+the books had been kept in the most ingenious way with the intent to
+deceive. The system had been going on for years.'
+
+'How interesting! And did you call in a policeman?'
+
+'No. This was one of the cases where a policeman was not necessary. The
+books were kept with the object of showing that the profits of the m--of
+the business--had been much greater than they really were. I may say that
+one of your American accountants had already looked over the books, and,
+whether through ignorance or carelessness, or from a worse motive, he
+reported them all right. They were not all right, and the fact that they
+were not, will mean the loss of a fortune to some people on your side of
+the water, and the saving of good money to others on my side.'
+
+'Then I think your profession must be a very important one.'
+
+'We think so, Miss Brewster. I would like to be paid a percentage on the
+money saved because of my report.'
+
+'And won't you?'
+
+'Unfortunately, no.'
+
+'I think that is too bad. I suppose the discrepancy must have been small,
+or the American accountant would not have overlooked it?'
+
+'I didn't say he overlooked it. Still, the size of a discrepancy does not
+make any difference. A small error is as easily found as a large one.
+This one was large. I suppose there is no harm in my saying that the
+books, taking them together, showed a profit of forty thousand pounds,
+when they should have shown a loss of nearly half that amount. I hope
+nobody overhears me.'
+
+'No; we are quite alone, and you may be sure I will not breathe a word
+of what you have been telling me.'
+
+'Don't breathe it to Kenyon, at least. He would think me insane if he
+knew what I have said.'
+
+'Is Mr. Kenyon an accountant, too?'
+
+'Oh no. He is a mineralogist. He can go into a mine, and tell with
+reasonable certainty whether it will pay the working or not. Of course,
+as he says himself, any man can see six feet into the earth as well as he
+can. But it is not every man that can gauge the value of a working mine
+so well as John Kenyon.'
+
+'Then, while you were delving among the figures, your companion was
+delving among the minerals?'
+
+'Precisely.'
+
+'And did he make any such startling discovery as you did?'
+
+'No; rather the other way. He finds the mines very good properties, and
+he thinks that if they were managed intelligently they would be good
+paying investments--that is, at a proper price, you know--not at what the
+owners ask for them at present. But you can have no possible interest in
+these dry details.'
+
+'Indeed, you are mistaken. I think what you have told me intensely
+interesting.'
+
+For once in her life Miss Jennie Brewster told the exact truth. The
+unfortunate man at her side was flattered.
+
+'For what I have told you,' he said, 'we were offered twice what the
+London people pay us for coming out here. In fact, even more than that:
+we were asked to name our own price.'
+
+'Really now! By the owners of the property, I suppose, if you wouldn't
+tell on them?'
+
+'No. By one of your famous New York newspaper men. He even went so far
+as to steal the papers that Kenyon had in Ottawa. He was cleverly caught,
+though, before he could make any use of what he had stolen. In fact,
+unless his people in New York had the figures which were originally
+placed before the London Board, I doubt if my statistics would have been
+of much use to him even if he had been allowed to keep them. The full
+significance of my report will not show until the figures I have given
+are compared with those already in the hands of the London people, which
+were vouched for as correct by your clever American accountant.'
+
+'You shouldn't run down an accountant just because he is American.
+Perhaps there will come a day, Mr. Wentworth, when you will admit that
+there are Americans who are more clever than either that accountant or
+that newspaper man. I don't think your specimens are typical.'
+
+'I don't "run down," as you call it, the men because they are Americans.
+I "run down" the accountant because he was either ignorant or corrupt. I
+"run down" the newspaper man because he was a thief.'
+
+Miss Brewster was silent for a few moments. She was impressing on her
+memory what he had said to her, and was anxious to get away, so that she
+could write out in her cabin exactly what had been told her. The sound of
+the lunch-gong gave her the excuse she needed, so, bidding her victim a
+pleasant and friendly farewell, she hurried from the deck to her
+state-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+One morning, when Kenyon went to his state-room on hearing the
+breakfast-gong, he found the lazy occupant of the upper berth still
+in his bunk.
+
+'Come, Wentworth,' he shouted, 'this won't do, you know. Get up! get up!
+breakfast, my boy! breakfast!--the most important meal in the day to a
+healthy man.'
+
+Wentworth yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
+
+'What's the row?' he asked.
+
+'The row is, it's time to get up. The second gong has sounded.'
+
+'Dear me! is it so late? I didn't hear it.' Wentworth sat up in his bunk,
+and looked ruefully over the precipice down the chasm to the floor. 'Have
+you been up long?' he asked.
+
+'Long? I have been on deck an hour and a half,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'Then, Miss What's-her-Name must have been there also.'
+
+'Her name is Miss Longworth,' replied Kenyon, without looking at his
+comrade.
+
+'That's her name, is it? and she _was_ on deck?'
+
+'She was.'
+
+'I thought so,' said Wentworth; 'just look at the divine influence of
+woman! Miss Longworth rises early, therefore John Kenyon rises early.
+Miss Brewster rises late, therefore George Wentworth is not seen until
+breakfast-time. If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up
+time of the two men would be changed accordingly.'
+
+'Not at all, George--not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else
+on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected
+to have it to myself.'
+
+'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you
+found you hadn't a monopoly?'
+
+'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly
+sensible girl.'
+
+'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for
+me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across
+the water.'
+
+'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.'
+
+'Really? Did you get so far?'
+
+'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?'
+
+'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand
+pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get
+anybody interested in it in London.'
+
+Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long
+whistle.
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy!
+Probably more so than the American millionairess.'
+
+'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is
+this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense
+wealth, English women say nothing about it.'
+
+'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely
+mistaken. She has never alluded to her wealth at all, with the exception
+of saying that her father was a millionaire. So if the young woman you
+speak of has been talking of her wealth at all, she has done more than
+the American girl.'
+
+'She said nothing to indicate she was wealthy. I merely conjectured it
+when I discovered she looked upon fifty thousand pounds as a triviality.'
+
+'Well, the fault is easily remedied. We may raise the price of the mine
+to one hundred thousand pounds if we can get people to invest. Perhaps
+the young lady's father might care to go in for it at that figure.'
+
+'Oh, by the way, Wentworth,' said Kenyon, 'I forgot to tell you, Miss
+Longworth's father is one of the London Syndicate.'
+
+'By Jove! are you sure of that? How do you know? You weren't talking of
+our mission out there, were you?'
+
+'Certainly not,' replied Kenyon, flushing. 'You don't think I would speak
+of that to a stranger, do you? nor of anything concerned with our
+reports.'
+
+Wentworth proceeded with his dressing, a guilty feeling rising in his
+heart.
+
+'I want to ask you a question about that.'
+
+'About what?' said Wentworth shortly.
+
+'About those mines. Miss Longworth's father being a member of the London
+Syndicate, suppose he asks what our views in relation to the matter are:
+would we be justified in telling him anything?'
+
+'He won't ask me as I don't know him; he may ask you, and if he does,
+then you will have to decide the question for yourself.'
+
+'Would you say anything about it if you were in my place?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know. If we were certain it was all right--if you are sure
+he _is_ a member of the syndicate, and he happens to ask you about it, I
+scarcely see how you can avoid telling him.'
+
+'It would be embarrassing; so I hope he won't ask me. We should not speak
+of it until we give in our reports. He knows, however, that you are the
+accountant who has that part of the business in charge.'
+
+'Oh, then you have been talking with him?'
+
+'Just a moment or two, after his daughter introduced me.'
+
+'What did you say his name was?'
+
+'John Longworth, I believe. I am sure about the Longworth, but not about
+the John.'
+
+'Oh, old John Longworth in the City! Certainly; I know all about him. I
+never saw him before, but I think we are quite safe in telling him
+anything he wants to know, if he asks.'
+
+'Breakfast, gentlemen,' said the steward, putting his head in at the
+door.
+
+After breakfast Edith Longworth and her cousin walked the deck together.
+Young Longworth, although in better humour than he had been the night
+before, was still rather short in his replies, and irritating in his
+questions.
+
+'Aren't you tired of this eternal parade up and down?' he asked his
+cousin. 'It seems to me like a treadmill--as if a person had to work for
+his board and lodging.'
+
+'Let us sit down then,' she replied; 'although I think a walk before
+lunch or dinner increases the attractiveness of those meals wonderfully.'
+
+'I never feel the need of working up an appetite,' he answered pettishly.
+
+'Well, as I said before, let us sit down;' and the girl, having found
+her chair, lifted the rug that lay upon it, and took her place.
+
+The young man, after standing for a moment looking at her through his
+glistening monocle, finally sat down beside her.
+
+'The beastly nuisance of living on board ship,' he said, 'is that you
+can't play billiards.'
+
+'I am sure you play enough at cards to satisfy you during the few days we
+are at sea,' she answered.
+
+'Oh, cards! I soon tire of them.'
+
+'You tire very quickly of everything.'
+
+'I certainly get tired of lounging about the deck, either walking or
+sitting.'
+
+'Then, pray don't let me keep you.'
+
+'You want me to go so you may walk with your newly-found friend, that
+miner fellow?'
+
+'That miner fellow is talking with my father just now. Still, if you
+would like to know, I have no hesitation in telling you I would much
+prefer his company to yours if you continue in your present mood.'
+
+'Yes, or in any mood.'
+
+'I did not say that; but if it will comfort you to have me say it, I
+shall be glad to oblige you.'
+
+'Perhaps, then, I should go and talk with your father, and let the miner
+fellow come here and talk with you.'
+
+'Please do not call him the miner fellow. His name is Mr. Kenyon. It is
+not difficult to remember.'
+
+'I know his name well enough. Shall I send him to you?'
+
+'No. I want to talk with you in spite of your disagreeableness. And what
+is more, I want to talk with you about Mr. Kenyon. So I wish you to
+assume your very best behaviour. It may be for your benefit.'
+
+The young man indulged in a sarcastic laugh.
+
+'Oh, if you are going to do that, I have nothing more to say,' remarked
+Edith quietly, rising from her chair.
+
+'I meant no harm. Sit down and go on with your talk.'
+
+'Listen, then. Mr. Kenyon has the option of a mine in Canada, which he
+believes to be a good property. He intends to form a company when he
+reaches London. Now, why shouldn't you make friends with him, and, if you
+found the property is as good as he thinks it is, help him to form the
+company, and so make some money for both of you?'
+
+'You are saying one word for me and two for Kenyon.'
+
+'No, it would be as much for your benefit as for his, so it is a word for
+each of you.'
+
+'You are very much interested in him.'
+
+'My dear cousin, I am very much interested in the mine, and I am very
+much interested in you. Mr. Kenyon can speak of nothing but the mine,
+and I am sure my father would be pleased to see you take an interest in
+something of the sort. I mean, you know that if you would do something
+of your own accord--something that was not suggested to you by him--he
+would like it.'
+
+'Well, it is suggested to me by you, and that's almost the same thing.'
+
+'No, it is not the same thing at all. Father would indeed be glad if he
+saw you take up anything on your own account and make a success of it.
+Why can you not spend some of your time talking with Mr. Kenyon
+discussing arrangements, so that when you return to London you might be
+prepared to put the mine on the market and bring out the company?'
+
+'If I thought you were talking to me for my own sake, I would do what
+you suggest; but I believe you are speaking only because you are
+interested in Kenyon.'
+
+'Nonsense! How can you be so absurd? I have known Mr. Kenyon but for a
+few hours--a day or two at most.'
+
+The young man pulled his moustache for a moment, adjusted his eyeglass,
+and then said:
+
+'Very good. I will speak to Kenyon on the subject if you wish it, but I
+don't say that I can help him.'
+
+'I don't ask you to help him. I ask you to help yourself. Here is Mr.
+Kenyon. Let me introduce you, and then you can talk over the project at
+your leisure.'
+
+'I don't suppose an introduction is necessary,' growled the young man;
+but as Kenyon approached them, Edith Longworth said:
+
+'We are a board of directors, Mr. Kenyon, on the great mica-mine. Will
+you join the Board now, or after allotment?' Then, before he could reply,
+she said: 'Mr. Kenyon, this is my cousin, Mr. William Longworth.'
+
+Longworth, without rising from his chair, shook hands in rather a surly
+fashion.
+
+'I am going to speak to my father,' said the girl, 'and will leave you to
+talk over the mica-mine.'
+
+When she had gone, young Longworth asked Kenyon:
+
+'Where is the mine my cousin speaks of?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, in Canada,' was the answer.
+
+'And what do you expect to sell it for?'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! That will leave nothing to divide up among--by
+the way, how many are there in this thing--yourself alone?'
+
+'No; my friend Wentworth shares with me.'
+
+'Share and share alike?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Of course, you think this mine is worth the money you ask for it--there
+is no swindle about it, is there?'
+
+Kenyon drew himself up sharply as this remark was made. Then he answered
+coldly:
+
+'If there was any swindle about it, I should have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Well, you see, I didn't know; mining swindles are not such rarities as
+you may imagine. If the mine is so valuable, why are the proprietors
+anxious to sell?'
+
+'The owners are in Austria, and the mine in Canada, and so it is rather
+at arm's-length, as it were. They are mining for mica, but the mine is
+more valuable in other respects than it is as a mica property. They have
+placed a figure on the mine which is more than it has cost them so far.'
+
+'You know its value in those other respects?'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'Does anyone know this except yourself?'
+
+'I think not--no one but my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'How did you come to learn its value?'
+
+'By visiting the mine. Wentworth and I went together to see it.'
+
+'Oh, is Wentworth also a mining expert?'
+
+'No; he is an accountant in London.'
+
+'Both of you were sent out by the London Syndicate, I understand, to look
+after their mines, or the mines they thought of purchasing, were you
+not?'
+
+'We were.'
+
+'And you spent your time in looking up other properties for yourselves,
+did you?'
+
+Kenyon reddened at this question.
+
+'My dear sir,' he said, 'if you are going to talk in this strain, you
+will have to excuse me. We were sent by the London Syndicate to do a
+certain thing. We did it, and did it thoroughly. After it was done the
+time was our own, as much as it is at the present moment. We were not
+hired by the day, but took a stated sum for doing a certain piece of
+work. I may go further and say that the time was our own at any period
+of our visit, so long as we fulfilled what the London Syndicate
+required of us.'
+
+'Oh, I meant no offence,' said Longworth. 'You merely seemed to be posing
+as a sort of goody-goody young man when I spoke of mining swindles, so I
+only wished to startle you. How much have you to pay for the mine--that
+is the mica-mine?'
+
+Kenyon hesitated for a moment.
+
+'I do not feel at liberty to mention the sum until I have consulted with
+my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'Well, you see, if I am to help you in this matter, I shall need to know
+every particular.'
+
+'Certainly. I shall have to consult Wentworth as to whether we require
+any help or not.'
+
+'Oh, you will speedily find that you require all the help you can get in
+London. You will probably learn that a hundred such mines are for sale
+now, and the chances are you will find that this very mica-mine has been
+offered. What do you believe the mine is really worth?'
+
+'I think it is worth anywhere from one hundred thousand pounds to two
+hundred thousand pounds, perhaps more.'
+
+'Is it actually worth one hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'According to my estimate, it is.'
+
+'Is it worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds?'
+
+'It is.'
+
+'Is it worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'I think so.'
+
+'What percentage would it pay on two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'It might pay ten per cent., perhaps more.'
+
+'Why, in the name of all that is wonderful, don't you put the price at
+two hundred thousand pounds? If it will pay ten per cent and more on that
+amount of money, then that sum is what you ought to sell it for. Now we
+will investigate this matter, if you like, and if you wish to take me in
+with you, and put the price up to two hundred thousand pounds, I will see
+what can be done about it when we get to London. Of course, it will mean
+somebody going out to Canada again to report on the mine. Your report
+would naturally not be taken in such a case; you are too vitally
+interested.'
+
+'Of course,' replied Kenyon, 'I shouldn't expect my report to have any
+weight.'
+
+'Well, somebody would have to be sent out to report on the mine. Are you
+certain that it will stand thorough investigation?'
+
+'I am convinced of it.'
+
+'Would you be willing to make this proposition to the investors, that, if
+the expert did not support your statement, you would pay his expenses out
+there and back?'
+
+'I would be willing to do that,' said Kenyon, 'if I had the money; but I
+haven't the money.'
+
+'Then, how do you expect to float the mine on the London market? It
+cannot be done without money.'
+
+'I thought I might be able to interest some capitalist.'
+
+'I am much afraid, Mr. Kenyon, that you have vague ideas of how companies
+are formed. Perhaps your friend Wentworth, being an accountant, may know
+more about it.'
+
+'Yes, I confess I am relying mainly on his assistance.'
+
+'Well, will you agree to put the price of the mine at two hundred
+thousand pounds, and share what we make equally between the three of us?'
+
+'It is a large price.'
+
+'It is not a large price if the mine will pay good dividends upon it; if
+it will pay eight per cent. on that amount, it is the real price of the
+mine, while you say that you are certain it will pay ten per cent.'
+
+'I say I think it will pay that percentage. One never can speak with
+entire certainty where a mine is concerned.'
+
+'Are you willing to put the price of the mine at that figure? Otherwise,
+I will have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'As I said, I shall have to consult my friend about it, but that can be
+done in a very short time, and I will answer you in the afternoon.'
+
+'Good; there is no particular hurry. Have a talk over it with him, and
+while I do not promise anything, I think the scheme looks feasible, if
+the property is good. Remember, I know nothing at all about that, but if
+you agree to take me in, I shall have to know full particulars of what
+you are going to pay for the property, and what its peculiar value is.'
+
+'Certainly. If we agree to take a partner, we will give that partner our
+full confidence.'
+
+'Well, there is nothing more to say until you have had a consultation
+with your friend. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon;' and with that Longworth
+arose and lounged off to the smoking-room.
+
+Kenyon waited where he was for some time, hoping Wentworth would come
+along, but the young man did not appear. At last he went in search of
+him. He passed along the deck, but found no trace of his friend, and
+looked for a moment into the smoking-room, but Wentworth was not there.
+He went downstairs to the saloon, but his search below was equally
+fruitless. Coming up on deck again, he saw Miss Brewster sitting alone
+reading a paper-covered novel.
+
+'Have you seen my friend Wentworth?' he asked.
+
+She laid the book open-faced upon her lap, and looked quickly up at
+Kenyon before answering.
+
+'I saw him not so very long ago, but I don't know where he is now.
+Perhaps you will find him in his state-room; in fact, I think it more
+than likely that he is there.'
+
+With that, Miss Brewster resumed her book.
+
+Kenyon descended to the state-room, opened the door, and saw his comrade
+sitting upon the plush-covered sofa, with his head in his hands. At the
+opening of the door, Wentworth started and looked for a moment at his
+friend, apparently not seeing him. His face was so gray and ghastly that
+Kenyon leaned against the door for support as he saw it.
+
+'My God, George!' he cried, 'what is the matter with you? What has
+happened? Tell me!'
+
+Wentworth gazed in front of him with glassy eyes for a moment, but did
+not answer. Then his head dropped again in his hands, and he groaned
+aloud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+There was one man on board the _Caloric_ to whom Wentworth had taken an
+extreme dislike. His name was Fleming, and he claimed to be a New York
+politician. As none of his friends or enemies asserted anything worse
+about him, it may be assumed that Fleming had designated his occupation
+correctly. If Wentworth were asked what he most disliked about the man,
+he would probably have said his offensive familiarity. Fleming seemed to
+think himself a genial good fellow, and he was immensely popular with a
+certain class in the smoking-room. He was lavishly free with his
+invitations to drink, and always had a case of good cigars in his pocket,
+which he bestowed with great liberality. He had the habit of slapping a
+man boisterously on the back, and saying, 'Well, old fellow, how are you?
+How's things?' He usually confided to his listeners that he was a
+self-made man: had landed at New York without a cent in his pocket, and
+look at him now!
+
+Wentworth was icy towards this man; but frigidity had no effect whatever
+on the exuberant spirits of the New York politician.
+
+'Well, old man!' cried Fleming to Wentworth, as he came up to the latter
+and linked arms affectionately. 'What lovely weather we are having for
+winter time!'
+
+'It _is_ good,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Good? It's glorious! Who would have thought, when leaving New York in a
+snowstorm as we did, that we would run right into the heart of spring? I
+hope you are enjoying your voyage?'
+
+'I am.'
+
+'You ought to. By the way, why are you so awful stand-offish? Is it
+natural, or merely put on "for this occasion only"?'
+
+'I do not know what you mean by "stand-offish."'
+
+'You know very well what I mean. Why do you pretend to be so stiff and
+formal with a fellow?'
+
+'I am never stiff and formal with anyone unless I do not desire his
+acquaintance.'
+
+Fleming laughed loudly.
+
+'I suppose that's a personal hint. Well, it seems to me, if this
+exclusiveness is genuine, that you would be more afraid of newspaper
+notoriety than of anything else.'
+
+'Why do you say that?'
+
+'Because I can't, for the life of me, see why you spend so much time with
+Dolly Dimple. I am sure I don't know why she is here; but I do know this:
+that you will be served up to the extent of two or three columns in the
+_Sunday Argus_ as sure as you live.'
+
+'I don't understand you.'
+
+'You don't? Why, it's plain enough. You spend all your time with her.'
+
+'I do not even know of whom you are speaking.'
+
+'Oh, come now, that's too rich! Is it possible you don't know that Miss
+Jennie Brewster is the one who writes those Sunday articles over the
+signature of "Dolly Dimple"?'
+
+A strange fear fell upon Wentworth as his companion mentioned the
+_Argus_. He remembered it as J.K. Rivers' paper; but when Fleming said
+Miss Brewster was a correspondent of the _Argus_, he was aghast.
+
+'I--I--I don't think I quite catch your meaning,' he stammered.
+
+'Well, my meaning's easy enough to see. Hasn't she ever told you? Then it
+shows she wants to do you up on toast. You're not an English politician,
+are you? You haven't any political secrets that Dolly wants to get at,
+have you? Why, she is the greatest girl there is in the whole United
+States for finding out just what a man doesn't want to have known. You
+know the Secretary of State'--and here Fleming went on to relate a
+wonderfully brilliant feat of Dolly's; but the person to whom he was
+talking had neither eyes nor ears. He heard nothing and he saw nothing.
+
+'Dear me!' said Fleming, drawing himself up and slapping the other on the
+back, 'you look perfectly dumfounded. I suppose I oughtn't to have given
+Dolly away like this; but she has pretended all along that she didn't
+know me, and so I've got even with her. You take my advice, and anything
+you don't want to see in print, don't tell Miss Brewster, that's all.
+Have a cigar?'
+
+'No, thank you,' replied the other mechanically.
+
+'Better come in and have a drink.'
+
+'No, thank you.'
+
+'Well, so long. I'll see you later.'
+
+'It can't be true--it can't be true!' Wentworth repeated to himself in
+deep consternation, but still an inward misgiving warned him that, after
+all, it might be true. With his hands clasped behind him he walked up and
+down, trying to collect himself--trying to remember what he had told and
+what he had not. As he walked along, heeding nobody, a sweet voice from
+one of the chairs thrilled him, and he paused.
+
+'Why, Mr. Wentworth, what is the matter with you this morning? You look
+as if you had seen a ghost.'
+
+Wentworth glanced at the young woman seated in the chair, who was gazing
+up brightly at him.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I am not sure but I _have_ seen a ghost. May I
+sit down beside you?'
+
+'May you? Why, of course you may. I shall be delighted to have you. Is
+there anything wrong?'
+
+'I don't know. Yes, I think there is.'
+
+'Well, tell it to me; perhaps I can help you. A woman's wit, you know.
+What is the trouble?'
+
+'May I ask you a few questions, Miss Brewster?'
+
+'Certainly. A thousand of them, if you like, and I will answer them all
+if I can.'
+
+'Thank you. Will you tell me, Miss Brewster, if you are connected with
+any newspaper?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed her merry, silvery little laugh.
+
+'Who told you? Ah! I see how it is. It was that creature Fleming. I'll
+get even with him for this some day. I know what office he is after, and
+the next time he wants a good notice from the _Argus_ he'll get it; see
+if he don't. I know some things about him that he would just as soon not
+see in print. Why, what a fool the man is! I suppose he told you out of
+revenge because I wouldn't speak to him the other evening. Never mind; I
+can afford to wait.'
+
+'Then--then, Miss Brewster, it _is_ true?'
+
+'Certainly it is true; is there anything wrong about it? I hope you don't
+think it is disreputable to belong to a good newspaper?'
+
+'To a good newspaper, no; to a bad newspaper, yes.'
+
+'Oh, I don't think the _Argus_ is a bad newspaper. It pays me well.'
+
+'Then it is to the _Argus_ that you belong?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'May I ask, Miss Brewster, if there is anything I have spoken about to
+you that you intend to use in your paper?'
+
+Again Miss Brewster laughed.
+
+'I will be perfectly frank with you. I never tell a lie--it doesn't pay.
+Yes. The reason I am here is because _you_ are here. I am here to find
+out what your report on those mines will be, also what the report of your
+friend will be. I have found out.'
+
+'And do you intend to use the information you have thus obtained--if I
+may say it--under false pretences?'
+
+'My dear sir, you are forgetting yourself. You must remember that you are
+talking to a lady.'
+
+'A lady!' cried Wentworth in his anguish.
+
+'Yes, sir, a lady; and you must be careful how you talk to _this_ lady.
+There was no false pretence about it, if you remember. What you told me
+was in conversation; I didn't ask you for it. I didn't even make the
+first advances towards your acquaintance.'
+
+'But you must admit, Miss Brewster, that it is very unfair to get a man
+to engage in what he thinks is a private conversation, and then to
+publish what he has said.'
+
+'My dear sir, if that were the case, how would we get anything for
+publication that people didn't want to be known? Why, I remember once,
+when the Secretary of State----'
+
+'Yes,' interrupted Wentworth wearily; 'Fleming told me that story.'
+
+'Oh, did he? Well, I'm sure I'm much obliged to him. Then I need not
+repeat it.'
+
+'Do you mean to say that you intend to send to the _Argus_ for
+publication what I have told you in confidence?'
+
+'Certainly. As I said before, that is what I am here for. Besides, there
+was no "in confidence" about it.'
+
+'And yet you pretend to be a truthful, honest, honourable woman?'
+
+'I don't _pretend_ it; I am.'
+
+'How much truth, then, is there in your story that you are a
+millionaire's daughter about to visit your father in Paris, and accompany
+him from there to the Riviera?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed brightly.
+
+'Oh, I don't call fibs, which a person has to tell in the way of
+business, untruths.'
+
+'Then probably you do not think your estimable colleague, Mr. J.K.
+Rivers, behaved dishonourably in Ottawa?'
+
+'Well, hardly. I think Rivers was not justified in what he did because he
+was unsuccessful, that is all. I'll bet a dollar if I had got hold of
+these papers they would have gone through to New York; but, then, J.K.
+Rivers is only a stupid man, and most men _are_ stupid'--with a sly
+glance at Wentworth.
+
+'I am willing to admit that, Miss Brewster, if you mean me. There never
+was a more stupid man than I have been.'
+
+'My dear Mr. Wentworth, it will do you ever so much good if you come to
+a realization of that fact. The truth is, you take yourself much too
+seriously. Now, it won't hurt you a bit to have what I am going to send
+published in the _Argus_, and it will help me a great deal. Just you wait
+here for a few moments.'
+
+With that she flung her book upon his lap, sprang up, and vanished down
+the companion-way. In a very short time she reappeared with some sheets
+of paper in her hand.
+
+'Now you see how fair and honest I am going to be. I am going to read you
+what I have written. If there is anything in it that is not true, I will
+very gladly cut it out; and if there is anything more to be added, I
+shall be very glad to add it. Isn't that fair?'
+
+Wentworth was so confounded with the woman's impudence that he could make
+no reply.
+
+She began to read: '"By an unexampled stroke of enterprise the _New York
+Argus_ is enabled this morning to lay before its readers a full and
+exclusive account of the report made by the two English specialists, Mr.
+George Wentworth and Mr. John Kenyon, who were sent over by the London
+Syndicate to examine into the accounts, and inquire into the true value
+of the mines of the Ottawa River."'
+
+She looked up from the paper, and said, with an air of friendly
+confidence:
+
+'I shouldn't send that if I thought the people at the New York end would
+know enough to write it themselves; but as the paper is edited by dull
+men, and not by a sharp woman, I have to make them pay twenty-five cents
+a word for puffing their own enterprise. Well, to go on: "When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend entirely
+on the report of these two gentlemen--"'
+
+'I wouldn't put it that way,' interrupted Wentworth in his despair. 'I
+would use the word "largely" for "entirely."'
+
+'Oh, _thank_ you,' said Miss Brewster cordially. She placed the
+manuscript on her knee, and, with her pencil, marked out the word
+'entirely,' substituting 'largely.' The reading went on: '"When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend _largely_
+on the report of these two gentlemen, the enterprise of the _Argus_ in
+getting this exclusive information, which will be immediately cabled to
+London, may be imagined." That is the preliminary, you see; and, as I
+said, it wouldn't be necessary to cable it if women were at the head of
+affairs over there, which they are not. "Mr. John Kenyon, the mining
+expert, has visited all the mineral ranges along the Ottawa River, and
+his report is that the mines are very much what is claimed for them; but
+he thinks they are not worked properly, although, with judicious
+management and more careful mining, the properties can be made to pay
+good dividends. Mr. George Wentworth, who is one of the leading
+accountants of London--"'
+
+'I wouldn't say that, either,' groaned George. 'Just strike out the words
+"one of the leading accountants of London."'
+
+'Yes?' said Miss Brewster; 'and what shall I put in the place of them?'
+
+'Put in place of them "the stupidest ass in London"!'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed at that.
+
+'No; I shall put in what I first wrote: "Mr. George Wentworth, one of
+the leading accountants of London, has gone through the books of the
+different mines. He has made some startling discoveries. The accounts
+have been kept in such a way as to completely delude investors, and this
+fact will have a powerful effect on the minds of the London Syndicate.
+The books of the different mines show a profit of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, whereas the actual facts of the case are that there has
+been an annual loss of something like one hundred thousand dollars--"'
+
+'What's that? what's that?' cried Wentworth sharply.
+
+'Dollars, you know. You said twenty thousand pounds. We put it in
+dollars, don't you see?'
+
+'Oh,' said Wentworth, relapsing again.
+
+'"One hundred thousand dollars"--where was I? Oh yes. "It is claimed
+that an American expert went over these books before Mr. Wentworth, and
+that he asserted they were all right. An explanation from this gentleman
+will now be in order."'
+
+'There!' cried the young lady, 'that is the substance of the thing. Of
+course, I may amplify a little more before we get to Queenstown, so as to
+make them pay more money. People don't value a thing that doesn't cost
+them dearly. How do you like it? Is it correct?'
+
+'Perfectly correct,' answered the miserable young man.
+
+'Oh, I am so glad you like it! I do love to have things right.'
+
+'I didn't say I _liked_ it.'
+
+'No, of course, you couldn't be expected to say that; but I am glad you
+think it is accurate. I will add a note to the effect that you think it
+is a good _resume_ of your report.'
+
+'For Heaven's sake, don't drag me into the matter!' cried Wentworth.
+
+'Well, I won't, if you don't want me to.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, during which the young woman seemed
+to be adding commas and full-stops to the MS. on her knee. Wentworth
+cleared his throat two or three times, but his lips were so dry that he
+could hardly speak. At last he said:
+
+'Miss Brewster, how can I induce you not to send that from Queenstown to
+your paper?'
+
+The young woman looked up at him with a pleasant bright smile.
+
+'Induce me? Why, you couldn't do it--it couldn't be done. This will be
+one of the greatest triumphs I have ever achieved. Think of Rivers
+failing in it, and me accomplishing it!'
+
+'Yes; I have thought of that,' replied the young man despondently. 'Now,
+perhaps you don't know that the full report was mailed from Ottawa to our
+house in London, and the moment we get to Queenstown I will telegraph my
+partners to put the report in the hands of the directors?'
+
+'Oh, I know all about that,' replied Miss Brewster; 'Rivers told me. He
+read the letter that was enclosed with the documents he took from your
+friend. Now, have you made any calculations about this voyage?'
+
+'Calculations? I don't know what you mean.'
+
+'Well, I mean just this: We shall probably reach Queenstown on Saturday
+afternoon. This report, making allowance for the difference in the time,
+will appear in the _Argus_ on Sunday morning. Your telegram will reach
+your house or your firm on Saturday night, when nothing can be done with
+it. Sunday nothing can be done. Monday morning, before your report will
+reach the directors, the substance of what has appeared in the _Argus_
+will be in the financial papers, cabled over to London on Sunday night.
+The first thing your directors will see of it will be in the London
+financial papers on Monday morning. That's what I mean, Mr. Wentworth, by
+calculating the voyage.'
+
+Wentworth said no more. He staggered to his feet and made his way as best
+he could to the state-room, groping like a blind man. There he sat down
+with his head in his hands, and there his friend Kenyon found him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+'Tell me what has happened,' demanded John Kenyon.
+
+Wentworth looked up at him.
+
+'Everything has happened,' he answered.
+
+'What do you mean, George? Are you ill? What is the matter with you?'
+
+'I am worse than ill, John--a great deal worse than ill. I wish I
+were ill.'
+
+'That wouldn't help things, whatever is wrong. Come, wake up. Tell me
+what the trouble is.'
+
+'John, I am a fool--an ass--a gibbering idiot.'
+
+'Admitting that, what then?'
+
+'I trusted a woman--imbecile that I am; and now--now--I'm what you see
+me.'
+
+'Has--has Miss Brewster anything to do with it?' asked Kenyon
+suspiciously.
+
+'She has everything to do with it.'
+
+'Has she--rejected you, George?'
+
+'What! _that_ girl? Oh, you're the idiot now. Do you think I would
+ask _her_?'
+
+'I cannot be blamed for jumping at conclusions. You must remember "that
+girl," as you call her, has had most of your company during this voyage;
+and most of your good words when you were not with her. What _is_ the
+matter? What has she to do with your trouble?'
+
+Wentworth paced up and down the narrow limits of the state-room as if he
+were caged. He smote his hand against his thigh, while Kenyon looked at
+him in wonder.
+
+'I don't know how I can tell you, John,' he said. 'I must, of course; but
+I don't know how I can.'
+
+'Come on deck with me.'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Come out, I say, into the fresh air. It is stuffy here, and, besides,
+there is more danger of being overheard in the state-room than on deck.
+Come along, old fellow.'
+
+He caught his companion by the arm, and partly dragged him out of the
+room, closing the door behind him.
+
+'Pull yourself together,' he said. 'A little fresh air will do you good.'
+
+They made their way to the deck, and, linking arms, walked up and down.
+For a long time Wentworth said nothing, and Kenyon had the tact to hold
+his peace. Suddenly Wentworth noticed that they were pacing back and
+forth in front of Miss Brewster, so he drew his friend away to another
+part of the ship. After a few turns up and down, he said:
+
+'You remember Rivers, of course.'
+
+'Distinctly.'
+
+'He was employed on that vile sheet, the _New York Argus_.'
+
+'I suppose it is a vile sheet. I don't remember ever seeing it. Yes, I
+know he was connected with that paper. What then? What has Miss Brewster
+to do with Rivers?'
+
+'She is one of the _Argus_ staff, too.'
+
+'George Wentworth, you don't mean to tell me that!'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'And is she here to find out about the mine?'
+
+'Exactly. She was put on the job after Rivers had failed.'
+
+'George!' said Kenyon, suddenly dropping his companion's arm and facing
+him. 'What have you told her?'
+
+'There is the misery of it. I have told her everything.'
+
+'My dear fellow, how could you be----'
+
+'Oh, I know--I know! I know everything you would say. Everything you can
+say I have said to myself, and ten times more and ten times worse. There
+is nothing you can say of me more bitter than what I think about myself.'
+
+'Did you tell her anything about _my_ report?'
+
+'I told her everything--_everything_! Do you understand? She is going
+to telegraph from Queenstown the full essence of the reports--of both
+our reports.'
+
+'Heavens! this is fearful. Is there no way to prevent her sending it?'
+
+'If you think you can prevent her, I wish you would try it.'
+
+'How did you find it out? Did _she_ tell you?'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter how I found it out. I did find it out. A man told
+me who she was; then I asked her, and she was perfectly frank about it.
+She read me the report, even.'
+
+'Read it to you?'
+
+'Yes, read it to me, and punctuated it in my presence--put in some words
+that I suggested as being better than those she had used. Oh, it was the
+coolest piece of work you ever saw!'
+
+'But there must be some way of preventing her getting that account to New
+York in time. You see, all we have to do is to wire your people to hand
+in our report to the directors, and then hers is forestalled. She has to
+telegraph from a British office, and it seems to me that we could stop
+her in some way.'
+
+'As, for instance, how?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know just how at the moment, but we ought to be able to do
+it. If it were a man, we could have him arrested as a dynamiter or
+something; but a woman, of course, is more difficult to deal with.
+George, I would appeal to her better nature if I were you.'
+
+Wentworth laughed sneeringly.
+
+'Better nature?' he said. 'She hasn't any; and that is not the worst of
+it. She has "calculated," as she calls it, all the possibilities in the
+affair; she "calculates" that we will reach Queenstown about Saturday
+night. If we do, she will get her report through in time to be
+published on Sunday in the _New York Argus_. If that is the case, then
+see where our telegram will be. We telegraph our people to send in the
+report. It reaches the office Saturday night, and is not read. The
+office closes at two o'clock; but even if they got it, and understood
+the urgency of the matter, they could not place the papers before the
+directors until Monday morning, and by Monday morning it will be in the
+London financial sheets.'
+
+'George, that woman is a fiend.'
+
+'No, she isn't, John. She is merely a clever American journalist, who
+thinks she has done a very good piece of work indeed, and who, through
+the stupidity of one man, has succeeded, that's all.'
+
+'Have you made any appeal to her at all?'
+
+'Oh, haven't I! Of course I have. What good did it do? She merely laughed
+at me. Don't you understand? That is what she is here for. Her whole
+voyage is for that one purpose; and it's not likely the woman is going to
+forego her triumph after having succeeded--more especially as somebody
+else in the same office has failed. That's what gives additional zest to
+what she has done. The fact that Rivers has failed and she has triumphed
+seems to be the great feather in her cap.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon, 'I'm going to appeal to Miss Brewster myself.'
+
+'Very well. I wish you joy of your job. But do what you can, John,
+there's a good fellow. Meanwhile, I want to be alone somewhere.'
+
+Wentworth went down the stairway that led to the steerage department, and
+for a few moments sat among the steerage passengers. Then he climbed up
+another ladder, and got to the very front of the ship. Here he sat down
+on a coil of rope, and thought over the situation. Thinking, however, did
+him very little good. He realized that, even if he got hold of the paper
+Miss Brewster had, she could easily write another. She had the facts in
+her head, and all that she needed to do was to get to a telegraph office
+and there hand in her message.
+
+Meanwhile, Kenyon took a few turns up and down the deck, thinking deeply
+on the same subject. He passed over to the side where Miss Brewster sat,
+but on coming opposite her had not the courage to take his place beside
+her. She was calmly reading her book. Three times he came opposite her,
+paused for a moment, and then continued his hopeless march. He saw that
+his courage was not going to be sufficient for the task, and yet he felt
+the task must be accomplished. He didn't know how to begin. He didn't
+know what inducement to offer the young woman for foregoing the fruits of
+her ingenuity. He felt that this was the weak point in his armour. The
+third time he paused in front of Miss Brewster; she looked up and
+motioned him to the chair beside her, saying:
+
+'I do not know you very well, Mr. Kenyon, but I know who you are. Won't
+you sit down here for a moment?'
+
+The bewildered man took the chair she indicated.
+
+'Now, Mr. Kenyon, I know just what is troubling you. You have passed
+three or four times wishing to sit down beside me, and yet afraid to
+venture. Is that not true?'
+
+'Quite true.'
+
+'I knew it was. Now I know also what you have come for. Mr. Wentworth
+has told you what the trouble is. He has told you that he has given me
+all the particulars about the mines, hasn't he?'
+
+'He has.'
+
+'And he has gone off to his state-room to think over the matter, and has
+left the affair in your hands, and you imagine you can come here to me
+and, perhaps, talk me out of sending that despatch to the _Argus_. Isn't
+that your motive?'
+
+'That is about what I hope to be able to do,' said Kenyon, mopping his
+brow.
+
+'Well, I thought I might just as well put you out of your misery at once.
+You take things very seriously, Mr. Kenyon--I can see that. Now, don't
+you?'
+
+'I am afraid I do.'
+
+'Why, of course you do. The publication of this, as I told Mr. Wentworth,
+will really not matter at all. It will not be any reflection on either of
+you, because your friends will be sure that, if you had known to whom you
+were talking, you would never have said anything about the mines.'
+
+Kenyon smiled grimly at this piece of comfort.
+
+'Now, I have been thinking about something since Mr. Wentworth went away.
+I am really very sorry for him. I am more sorry than I can tell.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon eagerly, 'won't you----'
+
+'No, I won't, so we needn't recur to that phase of the subject. That is
+what I am here for, and, no matter what you say, the despatch is going to
+be sent. Now, it is better to understand that at the first, and then it
+will create no trouble afterwards. Don't you think that is the best?'
+
+'Probably,' answered the wretched man.
+
+'Well, then, let us start there. I will say in the cablegram that the
+information comes from neither Mr. Kenyon nor Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'Yes, but that wouldn't be true.'
+
+'Why, of course it wouldn't be true; but that doesn't matter, does it?'
+
+'Well, on our side of the water,' said Kenyon, 'we think the truth
+does matter.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed heartily.
+
+'Dear me!' she said, 'what little tact you have! How does it concern you
+whether it is true or not? If there is any falsehood, it is not you who
+tell it, so you are free from all blame. Indeed, you are free from all
+blame anyhow, in this affair; it is all your friend Wentworth's fault;
+but still, if it hadn't been Wentworth, it would have been you.'
+
+Kenyon looked up at her incredulously.
+
+'Oh yes, it would,' she said, nodding confidently at him. 'You must not
+flatter yourself, because Mr. Wentworth told me everything about it, that
+you wouldn't have done just the same, if I had had to find it out from
+you. All men are pretty much alike where women are concerned.'
+
+'Can I say nothing to you, Miss Brewster, which will keep you from
+sending the message to America?'
+
+'You cannot, Mr. Kenyon. I thought we had settled that at the beginning.
+I see there is no use talking to you. I will return to my book, which is
+very interesting. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+Kenyon felt the hopelessness of his project quite as much as Wentworth
+had done, and, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he wandered
+disconsolately up and down the deck.
+
+As he went to the other side of the deck, he met Miss Longworth walking
+alone. She smiled a cordial welcome to him, so he turned and changed his
+step to suit hers.
+
+'May I walk with you a few minutes?' he said.
+
+'Of course you may,' was the reply, 'What is the matter? You are looking
+very unhappy.'
+
+'My comrade and myself are in great trouble, and I thought I should like
+to talk with you about it.'
+
+'I am sure if there is anything I can do to help you, I shall be most
+glad to do it.'
+
+'Perhaps you may suggest something. You see, two men dealing with one
+woman are perfectly helpless.'
+
+'Ah, who is the one woman--not I, is it?'
+
+'No, not you, Miss Longworth. I wish it were, then we would have no
+trouble.'
+
+'Oh, thank you!'
+
+'You see, it is like this: When we were in Quebec--I think I told you
+about that--the _New York Argus_ sent a man to find out what we had
+reported, or were going to report, to the London Syndicate.'
+
+'Yes, you told me that.'
+
+'Rivers was his name. Well, this same paper, finding that Rivers had
+failed after having stolen the documents, has tried a much more subtle
+scheme, which promises to be successful. They have put on board this ship
+a young woman who has gained a reputation for learning secrets not
+intended for the public. This young woman is Miss Brewster, who sits next
+Wentworth at the table. Fate seems to have played right into her hand
+and placed her beside him. They became acquainted, and, unfortunately, my
+friend has told her a great deal about the mines, which she professed an
+interest in. Or, rather, she pretended to have an interest in him, and so
+he spoke, being, of course, off his guard. There is no more careful
+fellow in the world than George Wentworth, but a man does not expect that
+a private conversation with a lady will ever appear in a newspaper.'
+
+'Naturally not.'
+
+'Very well, that is the state of things. In some manner Wentworth came to
+know that this young woman was the special correspondent of the _New York
+Argus_. He spoke to her about it, and she is perfectly frank in saying
+she is here solely for the purpose of finding out what the reports will
+be, and that the moment she gets to Queenstown she will cable what she
+has discovered to New York.'
+
+'Dear me! that is very perplexing. What have you done?'
+
+'We have done nothing so far, or rather, I should say, we have tried
+everything we could think of, and have accomplished nothing. Wentworth
+has appealed to her, and I made a clumsy attempt at an appeal also, but
+it was of no use. I feel my own helplessness in this matter, and
+Wentworth is completely broken down over it.'
+
+'Poor fellow! I am sure of that. Let me think a moment.'
+
+They walked up and down the deck in silence for a few minutes. Then Miss
+Longworth looked up at Kenyon, and said;
+
+'Will you place this matter in my hands?'
+
+'Certainly, if you will be so kind as to take any interest in it.'
+
+'I take a great deal of interest. Of course, you know my father is deeply
+concerned in it also, so I am acting in a measure for him.'
+
+'Have you any plan?'
+
+'Yes; my plan is simply this: The young woman is working for money; now,
+if we can offer her more than her paper gives, she will very quickly
+accept, or I am much mistaken in the kind of woman she is.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Kenyon; 'but we haven't the money, you see.'
+
+'Never mind; the money will be quickly forthcoming. Don't trouble any
+more about it. I am sure that can be arranged.'
+
+Kenyon thanked her, looking his gratitude rather than speaking it, for
+he was an unready man, and she bade him good-bye until she could think
+over her plan.
+
+That evening there was a tap at the state-room door of Miss Jennie
+Brewster.
+
+'Come in,' cried the occupant.
+
+Miss Longworth entered, and the occupant of the room looked up, with a
+frown, from her writing.
+
+'May I have a few moments' conversation with you?' asked the visitor
+gravely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Miss Jennie Brewster was very much annoyed at being interrupted, and she
+took no pains to conceal her feelings. She was writing an article
+entitled 'How People kill Time on Shipboard,' and she did not wish to be
+disturbed; besides, as she often said of herself, she was not 'a woman's
+woman,' and she neither liked, nor was liked by, her own sex.
+
+'I desire a few moments' conversation with you, if I have your
+permission,' said Edith Longworth, as she closed the door behind her.
+
+'Certainly,' answered Jennie Brewster. 'Will you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you,' replied the other, as she took a seat on the sofa. 'I do not
+know just how to begin what I wish to say. Perhaps it will be better to
+commence by telling you that I know why you are on board this steamer.'
+
+'Yes; and why am I on board the steamer, may I ask?'
+
+'You are here, I understand, to get certain information from Mr.
+Wentworth. You have obtained it, and it is in reference to this that I
+have come to see you.'
+
+'Indeed! and are you so friendly with Mr. Wentworth that you----'
+
+'I scarcely know Mr. Wentworth at all.'
+
+'Then, why do you come on a mission from him?'
+
+'It is not a mission from him. It is not a mission from anyone. I was
+speaking to Mr. Kenyon, or, rather, Mr. Kenyon was speaking to me, about
+a subject which troubled him greatly. It is a subject in which my father
+is interested. My father is a member of the London Syndicate, and he
+naturally would not desire to have your intended cable message sent to
+New York.'
+
+'Really; are you quite sure that you are not speaking less for your
+father than for your friend Kenyon?'
+
+Anger burned in Miss Longworth's face, and flashed from her eyes as
+she answered:
+
+'You must not speak to me in that way.'
+
+'Excuse me, I shall speak to you in just the way I please. I did not ask
+for this conference; you did, and as you have taken it upon yourself to
+come into this room uninvited, you will have to put up with what you
+hear. Those who interfere with other people's business, as a general
+thing, do not have a nice time.'
+
+'I quite appreciated all the possible disagreeableness of coming here,
+when I came.'
+
+'I am glad of that, because if you hear anything you do not like, you
+will not be disappointed, and will have only yourself to thank for it.'
+
+'I would like to talk about this matter in a spirit of friendliness if I
+can. I think nothing is to be attained by speaking in any other way.'
+
+'Very well, then. What excuse have you to give me for coming into my
+state-room to talk about business which does not concern you?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, it _does_ concern me--it concerns my father, and that
+concerns me. I am, in a measure, my father's private secretary, and am
+intimately acquainted with all the business he has in hand. This
+particular business is his affair, and therefore mine. That is the reason
+I am here.'
+
+'Are you sure?'
+
+'Am I sure of what?'
+
+'Are you sure that what you say is true?'
+
+'I am not in the habit of speaking anything but the truth.'
+
+'Perhaps you flatter yourself that is the case, but it does not deceive
+me. You merely come here because Mr. Kenyon is in a muddle about what I
+am going to do. Isn't that the reason?'
+
+Miss Longworth saw that her task was going to be even harder than she
+had expected.
+
+'Suppose we let all question of motive rest? I have come here--I have
+asked your permission to speak on this subject, and you have given me the
+permission. Having done so, it seems to me you should hear me out. You
+say that I should not be offended----'
+
+'I didn't say so. I do not care a rap whether you are offended or not.'
+
+'You at least said I might hear something that would not be pleasant.
+What I wanted to say is this: I have taken the risk of that, and, as you
+remark, whether I am offended or not does not matter. Now we will come to
+the point----'
+
+'Just before you come to the point, please let me know if Mr. Kenyon told
+you he had spoken to me on this subject already.'
+
+'Yes, he told me so.'
+
+'Did he tell you that his friend Wentworth had also had a conversation
+with me about it?'
+
+'Yes, he told me that also.'
+
+'Very well, then, if those two men can do nothing to shake my purpose,
+how do you expect to do it?'
+
+'That is what I am about to tell you. This is a commercial world, and I
+am a commercial man's daughter. I recognise the fact that you are going
+to cable this information for the money it brings. Is that not the case?'
+
+'It is partly the case.'
+
+'For what other consideration do you work, then?'
+
+'For the consideration of being known as one of the best newspaper women
+in the city of New York. That is the other consideration.'
+
+'I understood you were already known as the most noted newspaper woman in
+New York.'
+
+This remark was much more diplomatic than Miss Longworth herself
+suspected.
+
+Jennie Brewster looked rather pleased, then she said:
+
+'Oh, I don't know about that; but I intend it shall be so before a
+year is past.'
+
+'Very well, you have plenty of time to accomplish your object without
+using the information you have obtained on board this ship. Now, as I was
+saying, the _New York Argus_ pays you a certain amount for doing this
+work. If you will promise not to send the report over to that paper, I
+will give you a cheque for double the sum the _Argus_ will pay you,
+besides refunding all your expenses twice over.'
+
+'In other words, you ask me to be bribed and refuse to perform my duty to
+the paper.'
+
+'It isn't bribery. I merely pay you, or will pay you, double what you
+will receive from that paper. I presume your connection with it is purely
+commercial. You work for it because you receive a certain amount of
+money; if the editor found someone who would do the same work cheaper, he
+would at once employ that person, and your services would be no longer
+required. Is that not true?'
+
+'Yes, it is true.'
+
+'Very well, then, the question of duty hardly enters into such a compact.
+They have sent you on what would be to most people a very difficult
+mission. You have succeeded. You have, therefore, in your possession
+something to sell. The New York paper will pay you a certain sum in cash
+for it. I offer you, for the same article, double the price the _New York
+Argus_ will pay you. Is not that a fair offer?'
+
+Jennie Brewster had arisen. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. For a small space of time nothing was said, and Edith
+Longworth imagined she had gained her point. The woman standing looked
+down at the woman sitting.
+
+'Do you know all the particulars about the attempt to get this
+information?' asked Miss Brewster.
+
+'I know some of them. What particulars do you mean?'
+
+'Do you know that a man from the _Argus_ tried to get this information
+from Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in Canada?'
+
+'Yes; I know about that.'
+
+'Do you know that he stole the reports, and that they were taken from him
+before he could use them?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you know he offered Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth double the price the
+London Syndicate would have paid them, on condition they gave him a
+synopsis of the reports?'
+
+'Yes, I know that also.'
+
+'Do you know that, in doing what he asked, they would not have been
+keeping back for a single day the real report from the people who engaged
+them? You know all that, do you?'
+
+'Yes; I know all that.'
+
+'Very well, then. Now you ask me to do very much more than Rivers asked
+them, because you ask me to keep my paper completely in the dark about
+the information I have got. Isn't that so?'
+
+'Yes, you can keep them in the dark until after the report has been given
+to the directors; then, of course, you can do what you please with the
+information.'
+
+'Ah, but by that time it will be of no value. By that time it will have
+been published in the London financial papers. At that time anybody can
+get it. Isn't that the case?'
+
+'I suppose so.'
+
+'Now, I want to ask you one other question, Miss--Miss--I don't think you
+told me your name.'
+
+'My name is Edith Longworth.'
+
+'Very well, Miss Longworth. I want to ask you one more question. What do
+you think of the conduct of Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in refusing to
+take double what they had been promised for making the report?'
+
+'What do I think of them?' repeated the girl.
+
+'Yes; what do you think of them? You hesitate. You realize that you are
+in a corner. You think Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Kenyon did very nobly in
+refusing Rivers' offer?'
+
+'Of course I do.'
+
+'So do I. I think they acted rightly, and did as honourable men should
+do. Now, when you think that, Miss Longworth, how dare you come and offer
+me double, or three times, or four times, the amount my paper gives to me
+for getting this information? Do you think that I am any less honourable
+than Kenyon or Wentworth? Your offer is an insult to me; nobody but a
+woman, and a woman of your class, would have made it. Kenyon wouldn't
+have made it. Wentworth wouldn't have made it. You come here to bribe
+me. You come here to do exactly what J. K. Rivers tried to do for the
+_Argus_ in Canada. You think money will purchase anything--that is the
+thought of all your class. Now, I want you to understand that I am a
+woman of the people. I was born and brought up in poverty in New York.
+You were born and brought up amid luxury in London. I have suffered
+privation and hardships that you know nothing of, and, even if you read
+about them, you wouldn't understand. You, with the impudence of your
+class, think you can come to me and bribe me to betray my employer. I am
+here to do a certain thing, and I am going to do that certain thing in
+spite of all the money that all the Longworths ever possessed, or ever
+will possess. Do I make myself sufficiently plain?'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. I don't think anyone could misunderstand you.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that, because one can never tell how thickheaded some
+people may be.'
+
+'Do you think there is any parallel between your case and Mr.
+Wentworth's?'
+
+'Of course I do. We were each sent to do a certain piece of work. We
+each did our work. We have both been offered a bribe to cheat our
+employers of the fruits of our labour; only in my case it is very much
+worse than in Wentworth's, because his employers would not have suffered,
+while mine will.'
+
+'This is all very plausible, Miss Brewster, but now allow me to tell you
+that what you have done is a most dishonourable thing, and that you are a
+disgrace to our common womanhood. You have managed, during a very short
+acquaintance, to win the confidence of a man--there is a kind of woman
+who knows how to do that: I thank Heaven I am not of that class; I prefer
+to belong to the class you have just now been reviling. Some men have an
+inherent respect for all women; Mr. Wentworth is apparently one of those,
+and, while he was on his guard with a man, he was not on his guard with a
+woman. You took advantage of that and you managed to secure certain
+information which you knew he would never have given you if he had
+thought it was to be published. You stole that information just as
+disreputably as that man stole the documents from Mr. Kenyon's pocket.
+_You_ talk of your honour and your truth when you did such a contemptible
+thing! _You_ prate of unbribeableness, when the only method possible is
+adopted of making you do what is right and just and honest! Your conduct
+makes me ashamed of being a woman. A thoroughly bad woman I can
+understand, but not a woman like you, who trade on the fact that you
+_are_ a woman, and that you are pretty, and that you have a pleasing
+manner. You use those qualities as a thief or a counterfeiter would use
+the peculiar talents God had given him. How dare you pretend for a moment
+that your case is similar to Mr. Wentworth's? Mr. Wentworth is an
+honourable man, engaged in an honourable business; as for you and your
+business, I have no words to express my contempt for both. Picking
+pockets is reputable compared with such work.'
+
+Edith Longworth was now standing up, her face flushed and her hands
+clenched. She spoke with a vehemence which she very much regretted when
+she thought of the circumstance afterwards; but her chagrin and
+disappointment at failure, where she had a moment before been sure of
+success, overcame her. Her opponent stood before her, angry and pale. At
+first Edith Longworth thought she was going to strike her, but if any
+such idea passed through the brain of the journalist, she thought better
+of it. For a few moments neither spoke, then Jennie Brewster said, in a
+voice of unnatural calmness:
+
+'You are quite welcome to your opinion of me, Miss Longworth, and I
+presume I am entitled to my opinion of Kenyon and Wentworth. They are
+two fools, and you are a third in thinking you can control the actions of
+a woman where two young men have failed. Do you think for a moment I
+would grant to you, a woman of a class I hate, what I would not grant to
+a man like Wentworth? They say there is no fool like an old fool, but it
+should be said that there is no fool like a young woman who has had
+everything her own way in this world. You are----'
+
+'I shall not stay and listen to your abuse. I wish to have nothing more
+to do with you.'
+
+'Oh, yes! you will stay,' cried the other, placing her back against the
+door. '_You_ came here at your own pleasure; you will leave at mine. I
+will tell you more truth in five minutes than you ever heard in your life
+before. I will tell you, in the first place, that my business is quite as
+honourable as Kenyon's or Wentworth's. What does Kenyon do but try to get
+information about mines which other people are vitally interested in
+keeping from him? What does Wentworth do but ferret about among accounts
+like a detective trying to find out what other people are endeavouring to
+conceal? What is the whole mining business but one vast swindle, whose
+worst enemy is the press? No wonder anyone connected with mining fears
+publicity. If your father has made a million out of mines, he has made it
+simply by swindling unfortunate victims. I do my business my way, and
+your two friends do theirs in their way. Of the two, I consider my
+vocation much the more upright. Now that you have heard what I have to
+say, you may go, and let me tell you that I never wish to see you or
+speak with you again.'
+
+'Thank you for your permission to go. I am sure I cordially echo your
+wish that we may never meet again. I may say, however, that I am sorry I
+spoke to you in the way I did. It is, of course, impossible for you to
+look on the matter from my point of view, just as it is impossible for me
+to look upon it from yours. Nevertheless, I wish you would forget what I
+said, and think over the matter a little more, and if you see your way to
+accepting my offer it will be always open to you. Should you forego the
+sending of that cablegram, I will willingly pay you three times what the
+_New York Argus_ will give you for it. I do not offer that as a bribe; I
+merely offer it so that you will not suffer from doing what I believe to
+be a just action. It seems to me a great pity that two young men should
+have to endure a serious check to their own business advancement because
+one of them was foolish enough to confide in a woman in whom he
+believed.'
+
+Edith Longworth was young, and therefore scarcely likely to be a mistress
+of diplomacy, but she might have known the last sentence she uttered
+spoiled the effect of all that had gone before.
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth, I had some little admiration for you when you
+blazed out at me in the way you did; but now, when you coolly repeat
+your offer of a bribe, adding one-third to it, all my respect for you
+vanishes. You may go and tell those who sent you that nothing under
+heaven can prevent that cablegram being sent.'
+
+In saying this, however, Miss Brewster somewhat exceeded her knowledge.
+Few of us can foretell what may or may not happen under heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Edith Longworth went to her state-room and there had what women call 'a
+good cry' over her failure. Jennie Brewster continued her writing, every
+now and then pausing as she thought, with regret, of some sharp thing she
+might have said, which did not occur to her at the time of the interview.
+Kenyon spent his time in pacing up and down the deck, hoping for the
+reappearance of Miss Longworth--an expectation which, for a time at
+least, was the hope deferred which maketh the heart sick. Fleming, the
+New York politician, kept the smoking-room merry, listening to the
+stories he told. He varied the proceedings by frequently asking everybody
+to drink with him, an invitation that met with no general refusal. Old
+Mr. Longworth dozed most of his time in his steamer chair. Wentworth, who
+still bitterly accused himself of having been a fool, talked with no one,
+not even his friend Kenyon. All the time, the great steamship kept
+forging along through the reasonably calm water just as if nothing had
+happened or was going to happen. There had been one day of rain, and one
+night and part of a day of storm. Saturday morning broke, and it was
+expected that some time in the night Queenstown would be reached. Early
+on Saturday morning the clouds looked lowering, as they have a right to
+look near Ireland.
+
+Wentworth, the cause of all the worry, gave Kenyon very little assistance
+in the matter that troubled his mind. He was in the habit, when the
+subject was referred to, of thrusting his hands into his hair, or
+plunging them down into his pockets, and breaking out into language which
+was as deplorable as it was expressive. The more Kenyon advised him to be
+calm, the less Wentworth followed that advice. As a general thing, he
+spent most of his time alone in a very gloomy state of mind. On one
+occasion when the genial Fleming slapped him on the shoulder, Wentworth,
+to his great astonishment, turned fiercely round and cried:
+
+'If you do that again, sir, I'll knock you down.'
+
+Fleming said afterwards that he was 'completely flabbergasted' by
+this--whatever that may mean--and he added that the English in general
+were a queer race. It is true that he gathered himself together at the
+time and, having laughed a little over the remark, said to Wentworth:
+
+'Come and have a drink; then you'll feel better.'
+
+This invitation Wentworth did not even take the trouble to decline, but
+thrust his hands in his pockets once more, and turned his back on the
+popular New York politician.
+
+Wentworth summed up the situation to John Kenyon when he said:
+
+'There is no use in our talking or thinking any more about it. We can
+simply do nothing. I shall take the whole blame on my shoulders. I am
+resolved that you shall not suffer from my indiscretion. Now, don't talk
+to me any more about it. I want to forget the wretched business, if
+possible.'
+
+So thus it came about quite naturally that John Kenyon, who was a good
+deal troubled about the matter, took as his confidante Edith
+Longworth, who also betrayed the greatest interest in the problem.
+Miss Longworth was left all the more alone because her cousin had
+taken permanently to the smoking-room. Someone had introduced him to
+the fascinating game of poker, and in the practice of this particular
+amusement Mr. William Longworth was now spending a good deal of his
+surplus cash, as well as his time.
+
+Jennie Brewster was seldom seen on deck. She applied herself assiduously
+to the writing of those brilliant articles which appeared later in the
+Sunday edition of the _New York Argus_ under the general title of 'Life
+at Sea,' and which have more recently been issued in book form. As
+everybody is already aware, her sketches of the genial New York
+politician, and also of the taciturn, glum Englishman, are considered the
+finest things in the little volume. They have been largely copied as
+typical examples of American humour.
+
+When Jennie Brewster did appear on deck, she walked alone up and down the
+promenade, with a sort of half-defiant look in her eyes as she passed
+Kenyon and Edith Longworth, and she generally encountered them together.
+
+On this particularly eventful Saturday morning, Kenyon and Edith had the
+deck to themselves. The conversation naturally turned to the subject
+which for the last few days had occupied the minds of both.
+
+'Do you know,' said the girl, 'I have been thinking all along that she
+will come to me at the last for the money.'
+
+'I am not at all sure about that,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'I thought she would probably keep us on the tenterhooks just as long
+as possible, and then at the last moment come and say she would accept
+the offer.'
+
+'If she does,' said Kenyon, 'I would not trust her. I would give her to
+understand that a cheque would be handed to her when we were certain the
+article had not been used.'
+
+'Do you think that would be a safe way to act if she came and said she
+would take the money for not sending the cablegram? Don't you think it
+would be better to pay her and trust to her honour?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'I do not think I would trust much to her honour.'
+
+'Now, do you know, I have a different opinion of her. I feel sure that if
+she said she would do a thing, she _would_ do it.'
+
+'I have no such faith,' answered Kenyon. 'I think, on the contrary, that
+she is quite capable of asking you for the money and still sending her
+telegram.'
+
+'Well, I doubt if she would do so. I think the girl really believes she
+is acting rightly, and imagines she has done a creditable action in a
+very smart way. If she were not what she calls "honest," she would not
+have shown so much temper as she did. Not but that I gave a deplorable
+exhibition of temper myself, for which there was really no excuse.'
+
+'I am sure,' said Kenyon warmly, 'you did nothing of the kind. At all
+events, I am certain everything you did was perfectly right; and I know
+you were completely justified in anything you said.'
+
+'I wish I could think so.'
+
+'I want to ask you one question,' said Kenyon.
+
+But what that question was will never be known. It was never asked; and
+when Edith Longworth inquired about it some time later, the question had
+entirely gone from Kenyon's mind. The steamship, which was ploughing
+along through the waters, suddenly gave a shiver, as if it were shaken by
+an earthquake; there were three tremendous bumps, such as a sledge might
+make by going suddenly over logs concealed in the snow. Both Kenyon and
+Miss Longworth sprang to their feet. There was a low roar of steam, and
+they saw a cloud rise amidships, apparently pouring out of every aperture
+through which it could escape. Then there was silence. The engines had
+stopped, and the vessel heeled distinctly over to the port side. When
+Edith Longworth began to realize the situation, she found herself very
+close to Kenyon, clasping his arm with both hands.
+
+'What--what is it?' she cried in alarm.
+
+'Something is wrong,' said Kenyon. 'Nothing serious, I hope. Will you
+wait here a moment while I go and see?'
+
+'It is stupid of me,' she answered, releasing his arm; 'but I feel
+dreadfully frightened.'
+
+'Perhaps you would rather not be left alone.'
+
+'Oh no, it is all over now; but when the first of those terrible shocks
+came it seemed to me we had struck a rock.'
+
+'There are no rocks here,' said Kenyon. 'The day is perfectly clear, and
+we are evidently not out of our course. Something has gone wrong with the
+machinery, I imagine. Just wait a moment, and I will find out.'
+
+As Kenyon rushed towards the companion-way, he met a sailor hurrying in
+the other direction.
+
+'What is the matter?' cried Kenyon.
+
+The sailor gave no answer.
+
+On entering the companion-way door, Kenyon found the place full of steam,
+and he ran against an officer.
+
+'What is wrong? Is anything the matter?'
+
+'How should I know?' was the answer, very curtly given. 'Please do not
+ask any questions. Everything will be attended to.'
+
+This was scant encouragement. People began crowding up the companion-way,
+coughing and wheezing in the steam; and soon the deck, that but a moment
+before had been almost without an occupant, was crowded with excited
+human beings in all states of dress and undress.
+
+'What is wrong?' was the question on every lip, to which, as yet, there
+was no answer. The officers who hurried to and fro were mute, or gave
+short and unsatisfactory replies to the inquiries which poured in upon
+them. People did not pause to reflect that even an officer could hardly
+be expected to know off-hand what the cause of the sudden stoppage of the
+engine might be. By-and-by the captain appeared, smiling and bland. He
+told them there was no danger. Something had gone amiss with the
+machinery, exactly what he could not, at the moment, tell; but
+there was no necessity for being panic-stricken, everything would
+be all right in a short time if they merely remained calm. These,
+and a lot of other nautical lies, which are always told on such
+occasions, served to calm the fears of the crowd; and by-and-by one
+after another went down to their state-rooms on finding the vessel was
+not going to sink immediately. They all appeared some time afterward in
+more suitable apparel. The steam which had filled the saloon soon
+disappeared, leaving the furniture dripping with warm moisture. Finally,
+the loud clang of the breakfast-gong sounded as if nothing had happened,
+and that did more, perhaps, than anything else to allay the fears of the
+passengers. If breakfast was about to be served, then, of course, things
+were not serious. Nevertheless, a great many people that morning had a
+very poor appetite for the breakfast served to them. The one blessing, as
+everybody said, was that the weather kept so fine and the sea so calm. To
+those few who knew anything about disasters at sea, the list of the ship
+to the port side was a most serious sign. The majority of the passengers,
+however, did not notice it. After breakfast people came up on deck. There
+was a wonderful avoidance of hurry, alike by officers and sailors. Orders
+were given calmly and quietly, and as calmly and quietly obeyed. Officers
+were still up on the bridge, although there were no commands to give to
+the man at the wheel and no screw turning. The helmsman stood at the
+wheel as if he expected at any time the order to turn it port or
+starboard. All this absence of rush had a very soothing effect on the
+passengers, many of whom wanted only a slight excuse to become
+hysterical. As the day wore on, however, a general feeling of security
+seemed to have come upon all on board. They one and all congratulated
+themselves on the fact that they had behaved in a most exemplary manner
+considering the somewhat alarming circumstances. Nevertheless, those who
+watched the captain saw that he swept the long line of the horizon
+through his glass every now and then with a good deal of anxiety, and
+they noticed on looking at the long level line where sea and sky met
+that not a sail was visible around the complete circle. Up from the
+engine-room came the clank of hammers, and the opinion was general that,
+whatever was amiss with the engine, it was capable of being repaired. One
+thing had become certain, there was nothing wrong with the shafts. The
+damage, whatever it was, had been to the engine alone. All of the
+passengers found themselves more or less affected by the peculiar
+sensation of the steamer being at rest--the awe-inspiring and helpless
+consciousness of complete silence--after the steady throb they had become
+so accustomed to all the way across. That night at dinner the captain
+took his place at the head of the table, urbane and courteous, as if
+nothing unusual had happened; and the people, who, notwithstanding their
+outward calmness, were in a state of anxious tension, noticed this with
+gratified feelings.
+
+'What is the matter?' asked a passenger of the captain; 'and what is the
+extent of the accident?'
+
+The captain looked down the long table.
+
+'I am afraid,' said he, 'that if I went into technical details you would
+not understand them. There was a flaw in one of the rods connected with
+the engine. That rod broke, and in breaking it damaged other parts of
+the machinery. Doubtless you heard the three thuds which it gave before
+the engine was stopped. At present it is impossible to tell how long it
+will take to repair the damage. However, even if the accident were
+serious, we are right in the track of vessels, and there is no danger.'
+
+This was reassuring; but those who lay awake that night heard the
+ominous sound of the pumps, and the swishing of water splashing down
+into the ocean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Most of the passengers awoke next morning with a bewildering feeling of
+vague apprehension. The absence of all motion in the ship, the unusual
+and intense silence, had a depressing effect. The engines had not yet
+started; that at least was evident. Kenyon was one of the first on deck.
+He noticed that the pumps were still working at their full speed, and
+that the steamer had still the unexplained list to port. Happily, the
+weather continued good, so far as the quietness of the sea was concerned.
+A slight drizzle of rain had set in, and the horizon was not many miles
+from the ship. There would not be much chance of sighting another liner
+while such weather continued.
+
+Before Kenyon had been many minutes on deck, Edith Longworth came up the
+companion-way. She approached him with a smile on her face.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'you, at least, do not seem to be suffering any anxiety
+because of our situation.'
+
+'Really,' she replied, 'I was not thinking of that at all, but about
+something else. Can you not guess what it is?'
+
+'No,' he answered hesitatingly. 'What is it?'
+
+'Have you forgotten that this is Sunday morning?'
+
+'Is it? Of course it is. So far as I am concerned, time seemed to stop
+when the engines broke down. But I do not understand why Sunday morning
+means anything in particular.'
+
+'Don't you? Well, for a person who has been thinking for the last two or
+three days very earnestly on one particular subject, I am astonished at
+you. Sunday morning and no land in sight! Reflect for a moment.'
+
+Kenyon's face brightened.
+
+'Ah,' he cried, 'I see what you mean now! Miss Brewster's cable message
+will not appear in this morning's _New York Argus_.'
+
+'Of course it will not; and don't you see, also, that when we do arrive
+you will have an equal chance in the race. If we get in before next
+Sunday, your telegram to the London people will go as quickly as her
+cable despatch to New York; thus you will be saved the humiliation of
+seeing the substance of your report in the London papers before the
+directors see the report itself. It is not much, to be sure, but, still,
+it puts you on equal terms; while if we had got into Queenstown last
+night that would have been impossible.'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'for such a result the cause is rather tremendous, isn't
+it? It is something like burning down the house to roast the pig!'
+
+Shortly after ten o'clock the atmosphere cleared, and showed in the
+distance a steamer, westward bound. The vessel evidently belonged to one
+of the great ocean lines. The moment it was sighted there fluttered up to
+the masthead a number of signal-flags, and people crowded to the side of
+the ship to watch the effect on the outgoing vessel. Minute after minute
+passed, but there was no response from the other liner. People watched
+her with breathless anxiety, as though their fate depended on her
+noticing their signals. Of course, everybody thought she must see them,
+but still she steamed westward. A cloud of black smoke came out of her
+funnel, and then a long dark trail, like the tail of a comet, floated out
+behind; but no notice was taken of the fluttering flags at the masthead.
+For more than an hour the steamer was in sight. Then she gradually faded
+away into the west, and finally disappeared.
+
+This incident had a depressing effect on the passengers of the disabled
+ship. Although every officer had maintained there was no danger, yet the
+floating away of that steamer seemed somehow to leave them alone; and
+people, after gazing toward the west until not a vestige of her remained
+in the horizon, went back to their deck-chairs, feeling more despondent
+than ever.
+
+Fleming, however, maintained that if people had to drown, it was just as
+well to drown jolly as mournful, and so he invited everybody to take a
+drink at his expense--a generous offer, taken instant advantage of by all
+the smoking-room frequenters.
+
+'My idea is this,' said Fleming, as he sipped the cocktail which was
+brought to him, 'if anything happens, let it happen; if nothing happens,
+why, then let nothing happen. There is no use worrying about anything,
+especially something we cannot help. Here we are on the ocean in a
+disabled vessel--very good; we cannot do anything about it, and so long
+as the bar remains open, gentlemen, here's to you!'
+
+And with this cheerful philosophy the New York politician swallowed the
+liquor he had paid for.
+
+Still the swish of water from the pumps could be heard, but the metallic
+clanking of steel on steel no longer came up from the engine-room. This
+in itself was ominous to those who knew. It showed that the engineer had
+given up all hope of repairing the damage, whatever it was, and the real
+cause of the disaster was as much a mystery as ever. Shortly before lunch
+it became evident to people on board the ship that something was about to
+be done. The sailors undid the fastenings of one of the large boats, and
+swung it out on the davits until it hung over the sea.
+
+Gradually rumour took form, and it became known that one of the officers
+and certain of the crew were about to make an attempt to reach the coast
+of Ireland and telegraph to Queenstown for tugs to bring the steamer in.
+The captain still asserted that there was no danger whatever, and it was
+only to prevent delay that this expedient was about to be tried.
+
+'Do you know what they are going to do?' cried Edith Longworth, in a
+state of great excitement, to John Kenyon.
+
+Kenyon had been walking the deck with Wentworth, who now had gone below.
+
+'I have heard,' said Kenyon, 'that they intend trying to reach the
+coast.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, why should you not send a telegram to your people in
+London, and have the reports forwarded at once? The chances are that
+Miss Brewster will never think of sending her cablegram with the officer
+who is going to make the trip; then you will be a clear day or two ahead
+of her, and everything will be all right. In fact, when she understands
+what has been done, she probably will not send her own message at all.'
+
+'By George!' cried Kenyon, 'that is a good idea. I will see the mate at
+once, and find out whether he will take a telegram.'
+
+He went accordingly, and spoke to the mate about sending a message with
+him. The officer said that any passenger who wished to send a telegraphic
+message would be at liberty to do so. He would take charge of the
+telegrams very gladly. Kenyon went down to his state-room and told
+Wentworth what was going to be done. For the first time in several days
+George Wentworth exhibited something like energy. He went to the steward
+and bought the stamps to put on the telegram, while John Kenyon wrote it.
+
+The message was given to the officer, who put it into his inside pocket,
+and then Kenyon thought all was safe. But Edith Longworth was not so sure
+of that. Jennie Brewster sat in her deck-chair calmly reading her usual
+paper-covered novel. She apparently knew nothing of what was going on,
+and Edith Longworth, nervous with suppressed excitement, sat near her,
+watching her narrowly, while preparations for launching the boat were
+being completed. Suddenly, to Edith's horror, the deck-steward appeared,
+and in a loud voice cried:
+
+'Ladies and gentlemen, anyone wishing to send telegrams to friends has a
+few minutes now to write them. The mate will take them ashore with him,
+and will send them from the first office that he reaches. No letters can
+be taken, only telegrams.'
+
+Miss Brewster looked up languidly from her book during the first part of
+this recital. Then she sprang suddenly to her feet, and threw the book
+on the deck.
+
+'Who is it will take the telegrams?' she asked the steward.
+
+'The mate, miss. There he is standing yonder, miss.'
+
+She made her way quickly to that official.
+
+'Will you take a cable despatch to be sent to New York?'
+
+'Yes, miss. Is it a very long one?' he asked.
+
+'Yes, it is a very long one.'
+
+'Well, miss,' was the answer, 'you haven't much time to write it. We
+leave now in a very few minutes.'
+
+'It is all written out; I have only to add a few words to it.'
+
+Miss Brewster at once flew to her state-room. The telegram about the mine
+was soon before her with the words counted, and the silver and gold that
+were to pay for it piled on the table. She resolved to run no risk of
+delay by having the message sent 'to collect.' Then she dashed off, as
+quickly as she could, a brief and very graphic account of the disaster
+which had overtaken the _Caloric_. If this account was slightly
+exaggerated, Miss Brewster had no time to tone it down. Picturesque and
+dramatic description was what she aimed at. Her pen flew over the paper
+with great rapidity, and she looked up every now and then, through her
+state-room window, to see dangling from the ropes the boat that was to
+make the attempt to reach the Irish coast. As she could thus see how the
+preparations for the departure were going forward, she lingered longer
+than she might otherwise have done, and added line after line to the
+despatch which told of the disaster. At last she saw the men take their
+places in the longboat. She hurriedly counted the words in the new
+despatch she had written, and quickly from her purse piled the gold that
+was necessary to pay for their transmission. Then she sealed the two
+despatches in an envelope, put the two piles of gold into one after
+rapidly counting them again, cast a quick look up at the still motionless
+boat, grasped the gold in one hand, the envelope in the other, and sprang
+to her feet; but, as she did so, she gave a shriek and took a step
+backwards.
+
+Standing with her back to the door was Edith Longworth. When she had
+entered the state-room, Miss Brewster did not know, but her heart beat
+wildly as she saw the girl standing silently there, as if she had risen
+up through the floor.
+
+'What are you doing here?' she demanded.
+
+'I am here,' said Miss Longworth, 'because I wish to talk with you.'
+
+'Stand aside; I have no time to talk to you just now. I told you I didn't
+want to see you again. Stand aside, I tell you.'
+
+'I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean that I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'Then I will ring the bell and have you thrust out of here for your
+impudence.'
+
+'You shall not ring the bell,' said Edith calmly, putting her hand over
+the white china plaque that held in its centre the black electric button.
+
+'Do you mean to tell me that you intend to keep me from leaving my own
+state-room?'
+
+'I mean to tell you exactly that.'
+
+'Do you know that you can be imprisoned for attempting such a thing?'
+
+'I don't care.'
+
+'Stand aside, you vixen, or I will strike you!'
+
+'Do it.'
+
+For a moment the two girls stood there, the one flushed and excited, the
+other apparently calm, with her back against the door and her hand over
+the electric button. A glance through the window showed Miss Brewster
+that the mate had got into the boat, and that they were steadily
+lowering away.
+
+'Let me pass, you--you wretch!'
+
+'All in good time,' replied Edith Longworth, whose gaze was also upon the
+boat swinging in mid-air.
+
+Jennie Brewster saw at once that, if it came to a hand-to-hand encounter,
+she would have no chance whatever against the English girl, who was in
+every way her physical superior. She had her envelope in one hand and the
+gold in the other. She thrust both of them into her pocket, which, after
+some fumbling, she found. Then she raised her voice in one of the
+shrillest screams which Edith Longworth had ever heard. As if in answer
+to that ear-piercing sound, there rose from the steamer a loud and
+ringing cheer. Both glanced up to see where the boat was, but it was not
+in sight. Several ropes were dangling down past the porthole. Miss
+Brewster sprang up on the sofa, and with her small hands turned round
+the screw which held the window closed.
+
+Edith Longworth looked at her without making any attempt to prevent the
+unfastening of the window.
+
+Jennie Brewster flung open the heavy brass circle which held the thick
+green glass, and again she screamed at the top of her voice, crying
+'Help!' and 'Murder!'
+
+The other did not move from her position. In the silence that followed,
+the steady splash of oars could be heard, and again a rousing cheer rang
+out from those who were left upon the motionless steamer. Edith Longworth
+raised herself on tiptoe and looked out of the open window. On the crest
+of a wave, five hundred yards away from the vessel, she saw the boat for
+a moment appear, showing the white glitter of her six dripping oars; then
+it vanished down the other side of the wave into the trough of the sea.
+
+'Now, Miss Brewster', she said, 'you are at liberty to go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+After Edith Longworth left her, Jennie Brewster indulged in a brief spasm
+of hysterics. Her common-sense, however, speedily came to her rescue;
+and, as she became more calm, she began to wonder why she had not
+assaulted the girl who had dared to imprison her. She dimly remembered
+that she thought of a fierce onslaught at the time, and she also
+recollected that her fear of the boat leaving during the struggle had
+stayed her hand. But now that the boat had left she bitterly regretted
+her inaction, and grieved unavailingly over the fact that she had
+stopped to write the account of the disaster which befell the _Caloric_.
+Had she not done so, all might have been well, but her great ambition to
+be counted the best-newspaper woman in New York, and to show the editor
+that she was equal to any emergency that might arise, had undone her.
+While it would have been possible for her to send away one telegram, her
+desire to write the second had resulted in her sending none at all.
+Although she impugned her own conduct in language that one would not have
+expected to have heard from the lips of a millionaire's daughter, her
+anger against Edith Longworth became more intense, and a fierce desire
+for revenge took possession of the fair correspondent. She resolved that
+she would go up on deck and shame this woman before everybody. She would
+attract public attention to the affair by tearing Edith Longworth from
+her deck-chair, and in her present state of mind she had no doubt of her
+strength to do it. With the yearning for vengeance fierce and strong upon
+her, the newspaper woman put on her hat and departed for the deck. She
+passed up one side and down the other, but her intended victim was not
+visible. The rage of Miss Brewster increased when she did not find her
+prey where she expected. She had a fear that, when she calmed down, a
+different disposition would assert itself, and her revenge would be lost.
+In going to and fro along the deck she met Kenyon and Fleming walking
+together. Fleming had just that moment come up to Kenyon, who was quietly
+pacing the deck alone, and, slapping him on the shoulder, asked him to
+have a drink.
+
+'It seems to me,' he said, 'that I never have had the pleasure of
+offering you a drink since we came on board this ship. I want to drink
+with everybody here, and especially now, when something has happened to
+make it worth while.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said John Kenyon coldly, 'but I never
+drink with anybody.'
+
+'What, never touch it at all? Not even beer?'
+
+'Not even beer.'
+
+'Well, I am astonished to hear that. I thought every Englishman drank
+beer.'
+
+'There is at least one Englishman who does not.'
+
+'All right, then; no harm done, and no offence given, I hope. I may say,
+however, that you miss a lot of fun in this world.'
+
+'I suppose I miss a few headaches also.'
+
+'Oh, not necessarily. I have one great recipe for not having a headache.
+You see, this is the philosophy of headaches.' And then, much to John's
+chagrin, he linked arms with him and changed his step to suit Kenyon's,
+talking all the time as if they were the most intimate friends in the
+world. 'I have a sure plan for avoiding a headache. You see, when you
+look into the matter, it is this way: The headache only comes when you
+are sober. Very well, then. It is as simple as A B C. Never get sober;
+that's my plan. I simply keep on, and never get sober, so I have no
+headaches. If people who drink would avoid the disagreeable necessity of
+ever getting sober, they would be all right. Don't you see what I mean?'
+
+'And how about their brains in the meantime?'
+
+'Oh, their brains are all right. Good liquor sharpens a man's brains
+wonderfully. Now, you try it some time. Let me have them mix a cocktail
+for you? I tell you, John, a cocktail is one of the finest drinks that
+ever was made, and this man at the bar--when I came on board, he thought
+he could make a cocktail, but he didn't know even the rudiments--I have
+taught him how to do it; and I tell you that secret will be worth a
+fortune to him, because if there is anything Americans like, it is to
+have their cocktails mixed correctly. There's no one man in all England
+can do it, and very few men on the Atlantic service. But I'm gradually
+educating them. Been across six times. They pretend to give you American
+drinks over in England, but you must know how disappointing they are.'
+
+'I'm sure I don't see how I should know, for I never taste any of them.'
+
+'Ah, true; I had forgotten that. Well, I took this bar-keeper here in
+hand, and he knows now how to make a reasonably good cocktail; and, as I
+say, that secret will be worth money to him from American passengers.'
+
+John Kenyon was revolving in his mind the problem of how to get rid of
+this loquacious and generous individual, when he saw, bearing down upon
+them, the natty figure of Miss Jennie Brewster; and he wondered why such
+a look of bitter indignation was flashing from her eyes. He thought that
+she intended to address the American politician, but he was mistaken. She
+came directly at him, and said in an excited tone, with a ring of anger
+in it:
+
+'Well, John Kenyon, what do you think of your work?'
+
+'What work?' asked the bewildered man.
+
+'You know very well what work I mean. A fine specimen of a man you are!
+Without the courage yourself to prevent my sending that telegram, you
+induced your dupe to come down to my state-room and brazenly keep me from
+sending it.'
+
+The blank look of utter astonishment upon the face of honest John Kenyon
+would have convinced any woman in her senses that he knew nothing at all
+of what she was speaking. A dim impression of this, indeed, flashed
+across the young woman's heated brain. But before she could speak,
+Fleming said:
+
+'Tut, tut, my dear girl! you are talking too loud altogether. Do you want
+to attract the attention of everybody on the deck? You mustn't make a
+scandal in this way on board ship.'
+
+'Scandal!' she cried. 'We will soon see whether there will be a scandal
+or not. Attract the attention of those on deck! That is exactly what I am
+going to do, until I show up the villainy of this man you are talking to.
+He was the concocter of it, and he knows it. She never had brains enough
+to think of it. He was too much of a coward to carry it through himself,
+and so he set her to do his dastardly piece of work.'
+
+'Well, well,' said Fleming, 'even if he has done all that, whatever it
+is, it will do no good to attract attention to it here on deck. See how
+everybody is listening to what you are saying. My dear girl, you are too
+angry to talk just now; the best thing you can do is to go down to your
+state-room.'
+
+'Who asked you to interfere?' she cried, turning furiously upon him.
+'I'll thank you to mind your own business, and let me attend to mine. I
+should have thought that you would have found out before this that I am
+capable of attending to my own affairs.'
+
+'Certainly, certainly, my dear child,' answered the politician
+soothingly; 'I'm sorry I can't get you all to come and have a drink with
+me, and talk this matter over quietly. That's the correct way to do
+things, not to stand here scolding on the deck, with everybody listening.
+Now, if you will quietly discuss the matter with John here, I'm sure
+everything will be all right.'
+
+'You don't know what you are talking about,' replied the young lady. 'Do
+you know that I had an important despatch to send to the _Argus_, and
+that this man's friend, doubtless at his instigation, came into my room
+and practically held me prisoner there until the boat had left, so that I
+could not send the despatch? Think of the cheek and villainy of that, and
+then speak to me of talking wildly!'
+
+An expression of amazement upon Kenyon's face convinced the newspaper
+woman, more than all his protestations would have done, that he knew
+nothing whatever of the escapade.
+
+'And who kept you from coming out?' asked Fleming.
+
+'It is none of your business,' she replied tartly.
+
+'If you will believe me,' said Kenyon at last, 'I had absolutely no
+knowledge of all this; so, you see, there is no use speaking to me about
+it. I won't pretend I am sorry, because I am not.'
+
+This added fuel to the flames, and she was about to blaze out again, when
+Kenyon, turning on his heel, left her and Fleming standing facing each
+other. Then the young woman herself turned and quickly departed, leaving
+the bewildered politician entirely alone, so that there was nothing for
+him to do but to go into the smoking-room and ask somebody else to drink
+with him, which he promptly did.
+
+Miss Brewster made her way to the captain's room and rapped at the door.
+On being told to enter, she found that officer seated at his table with
+some charts before him, and a haggard look upon his face, which might
+have warned her that this was not the proper time to air any personal
+grievances.
+
+'Well?' he said briefly as she entered.
+
+'I came to see you, captain,' she began, 'because an outrageous thing has
+been done on board this ship, and I desire reparation. What is more, I
+will have it!
+
+'What is the "outrageous thing"?' asked the captain.
+
+'I had some despatches to send to New York, to the _New York Argus_, on
+whose staff I am.'
+
+'Yes,' said the captain with interest; 'despatches relating to what has
+happened to the ship?'
+
+'One of them did, the other did not.'
+
+'Well, I hope,' said the captain, 'you have not given an exaggerated
+account of the condition we are in.'
+
+'I have given no account at all, simply because I was prevented from
+sending the cablegrams.'
+
+'Ah, indeed,' said the captain, a look of relief coming over his face, in
+spite of his efforts to conceal it; 'and pray what prevented you from
+sending your cablegrams? The mate would have taken any messages that were
+given to him.'
+
+'I know that,' cried the young woman; 'but when I was in my room writing
+the last of the despatches, a person who is on board as a passenger
+here--Miss Longworth--came into my room and held me prisoner there until
+the boat had left the ship.'
+
+The captain arched his eyebrows in surprise.
+
+'My dear madam,' he said, 'you make a very serious charge. Miss Longworth
+has crossed several times with me, and I am bound to say that a
+better-behaved young lady I never had on board my ship.'
+
+'Extremely well behaved she is!' cried the correspondent angrily, 'she
+stood against my door and prevented me from going out. I screamed for
+help, but my screams were drowned in the cheers of the passengers when
+the boat left.'
+
+'Why did you not ring your bell?'
+
+'I couldn't ring my bell because she prevented me. Besides, if I had
+reached the bell, it is not likely anybody would have answered it;
+everybody seemed to be bawling after the boat that was leaving.'
+
+'You can hardly blame them for that. A great deal depends on the safety
+of that boat. In fact, if you come to think about it, you will see that
+whatever grievance you may have, it is, after all, a very trivial one
+compared with the burden that weighs on me just now, and I should much
+prefer not to have anything to do with disputes between the passengers
+until we are out of our present predicament.'
+
+'The predicament has nothing whatever to do with it. I tell you a fact.
+I tell you that one of your passengers came and imprisoned me in my
+state-room. I come to you for redress. Now, there must be some law on
+shipboard that takes the place of ordinary law on land. I make this
+demand officially to you. If you decline to hear me, and refuse to
+redress my wrong, then I have public opinion, to which I can appeal
+through my paper, and perhaps there will also be a chance of obtaining
+justice through the law of the land to which I am going.'
+
+'My dear madam,' said the captain calmly, 'you must not use threats to
+me. I am not accustomed to be addressed in the tone you have taken upon
+yourself to use. Now tell me what it is you wish me to do?'
+
+'It is for you to say what you will do. I am a passenger on board this
+ship, and am supposed to be under the protection of its captain. I
+therefore tell you I have been forcibly detained in my state-room, and I
+demand that the person who did this shall be punished.'
+
+'You say that Miss Longworth is the person who did this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+'Now, do you know you make a serious charge against that young lady--a
+charge that I find it remarkably difficult to believe? May I ask you what
+reason she had for doing what you say she has done?'
+
+'That is a long story. I am quite prepared to show that she tried to
+bribe me not to send a despatch, and, finding herself unsuccessful, she
+forcibly detained me in my room until too late to send the telegram.'
+
+The captain pondered over what had been said to him.
+
+'Have you any proof of this charge?'
+
+'Proof! What do you mean? Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I mean exactly what I say. Have you anybody to prove the exceedingly
+serious charge you bring?'
+
+'Certainly not. I have no proof. If there had been a witness there, the
+thing would not have happened. If I could have summoned help, it would
+not have happened. How could I have any proof of such an outrage?'
+
+'Well, do you not see that it is impossible for me to take action on your
+unsupported word? Do you not see that, if you take further steps in this
+extraordinary affair, Miss Longworth will ask you for proof of what you
+state? If she denies acting as you say she did, and you fail to prove
+your allegation, it seems to me that you will be in rather a difficult
+position. You would be liable to a suit for slander. Just think the
+matter over calmly for the rest of the day before you take any further
+action upon it, and I would strongly advise you not to mention this to
+anyone on board. Then to-morrow, if you are still in the same frame of
+mind, come to me.'
+
+Thus dismissed, the young woman left the captain's room, and met Fleming
+just outside, who said:
+
+'Look here, Miss Brewster, I want to have a word with you. You were very
+curt with me just now.'
+
+'Mr. Fleming, I do not wish to speak to you.'
+
+'Oh, that's all right--that's all right; but let me tell you this: you're
+a pretty smart young woman, and you have done me one or two very evil
+turns in your life. I have found out all about this affair, and it's one
+of the funniest things I ever heard of.'
+
+'Very funny, isn't it?' snapped the young woman.
+
+'Of course it's very funny; but when it appears in full in the opposition
+papers to the _Argus_, perhaps you won't see the humour of it--though
+everybody else in New York will, that's one consolation.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean to say, Jennie Brewster, that unless you are a fool, you will
+drop this thing. Don't, for Heaven's sake, let anybody know you were
+treated by an English girl in the way you were. Take my advice: say no
+more about it.'
+
+'And what business is it of yours?'
+
+'It isn't mine at all; that is why I am meddling with it. Aren't you well
+enough acquainted with me to know that nothing in the world pleases me so
+much as to interfere in other people's business? I have found out all
+about the girl who kept you in, and a mighty plucky action it was too. I
+have seen that girl on the deck, and I like the cut of her jib. I like
+the way she walks. Her independence suits me. She is a girl who wouldn't
+give a man any trouble, now, I tell you, if he were lucky enough to win
+her. And I am not going to see that girl put to any trouble by you,
+understand that!'
+
+'And how are you going to prevent it, may I ask?'
+
+'May you ask? Why, of course you may. I will tell you how I am going
+to prevent it. Simply by restraining you from doing another thing in
+the matter.'
+
+'If you think you can do that, you are very much mistaken. I am going to
+have that girl put in prison, if there is a law in the land.'
+
+'Well, in the first place, we are not on land; and, in the second place,
+you are going to do nothing of the kind, because, if you do, I shall go
+to the London correspondents of the other New York papers and give the
+whole blessed snap away. I'll tell them how the smart and cute Miss Dolly
+Dimple, who has bamboozled so many persons in her life, was once caught
+in her own trap; and I shall inform them how it took place. And they'll
+be glad to get it, you bet! It will make quite interesting reading in the
+New York opposition papers some fine Sunday morning--about a column and a
+half, say. Won't there be some swearing in the _Argus_ when that appears!
+It won't be your losing the despatch you were going to send, but it will
+be your utter idiocy in making the thing public, and letting the other
+papers on to it. Why, the best thing in the world for you to do, and the
+_only_ thing, is to keep as quiet as possible about it. I am astonished
+at a girl of your sense, Dolly, making a public fuss like this, when you
+should be the very one trying to keep it secret.'
+
+The newspaper correspondent pondered on these words.
+
+'And if I keep quiet about it, will you do the same?'
+
+'Certainly; but you must remember that if ever you attempt any of your
+tricks of interviewing on me again, out comes this whole thing. Don't
+forget that.'
+
+'I won't,' said Miss Jennie Brewster.
+
+And next morning, when the captain was anxiously awaiting her arrival in
+his room, she did not appear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+After all, it must be admitted that George Wentworth was a man of
+somewhat changeable character. For the last two or three days he had been
+moping like one who meditated suicide; now when everyone else was
+anxiously wondering what was going to happen to the ship, he suddenly
+became the brightest individual on board. For a man to be moody and
+distraught while danger was impending was not at all surprising; but for
+a man, right in the midst of gloom, to blossom suddenly out into a
+general hilarity of manner, was something extraordinary. People thought
+it must be a case of brain trouble. They watched the young man with
+interest as he walked with a springy step up and down the deck. Every now
+and again a bright smile illuminated his face, and then he seemed to be
+ashamed that people should notice he was feeling so happy. When he was
+alone he had a habit of smiting his thigh and bursting out into a laugh
+that was long and low, rather than loud and boisterous. No one was more
+astonished at this change than Fleming, the politician. George met him on
+deck, and, to the great surprise of that worthy gentleman, smote him on
+the back and said:
+
+'My dear sir, I am afraid the other day, when you spoke to me, I answered
+a little gruffly. I beg to apologize. Come and have a drink with me.'
+
+'Oh, don't mention it,' said Fleming joyously; 'we all of us have our
+little down-turns now and then. Why, I have them myself, when liquor is
+bad or scarce! You mightn't believe it, but some days I feel away down in
+the mouth. It is true I have a recipe for getting up again, which I
+always use. And that reminds me: do you remember what the Governor of
+North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know,' said Wentworth; 'you see, I'm not very well
+versed in United States politics.'
+
+'Well, there wasn't much politics about his remark. He merely said,
+"It's a long time between drinks;" come in and have something with me.
+It seems to me you haven't tasted anything in my company since the
+voyage began.'
+
+'I believe,' said Wentworth, 'that is a true statement. Let us amend it
+as soon as possible, only in this case let me pay for the drinks. I
+invited you to drink with me.'
+
+'Not at all, not at all!' cried Fleming; 'not while I'm here. This is my
+treat, and it is funny to think that a man should spend a week with
+another man without knowing him. Really, you see, I haven't known you
+till now.'
+
+And so the two worthy gentlemen disappeared into the smoking-room and
+rang the electric bell.
+
+But it was in his own state-room that George Wentworth's jocularity came
+out at its best. He would grasp John Kenyon by the shoulder and shake
+that solemn man, over whose face a grim smile generally appeared when he
+noticed the exuberant jollity of his comrade.
+
+'John,' Wentworth cried, 'why don't you laugh?'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' replied his comrade, 'that you are doing laughing
+enough for us both. It is necessary to have one member of the firm solid
+and substantial. I'm trying to keep the average about right. When you
+were in the dumps I had to be cheerful for two. Now that you feel so
+lively, I take a refuge in melancholy, to rest me after my hard efforts
+at cheerfulness.'
+
+'Well, John, it seems to me too good to be true. What a plucky girl she
+was to do such a thing! How did she know but that the little vixen had a
+revolver with her, and might have shot her?'
+
+'I suppose she didn't think about it at all.'
+
+'Have you seen her since that dramatic incident?'
+
+'Seen whom? Miss Brewster?'
+
+'No, no; I mean Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, she hasn't appeared yet. I suppose she fears there will be a scene,
+and she is anxious to avoid it.'
+
+'Very likely that is the case,' said Wentworth. 'Well, if you do see her,
+you can tell her there is no danger. Our genial friend, Fleming, has had
+a talk with that newspaper woman, so he tells me, and the way he
+describes it is exceedingly picturesque. He has threatened her with
+giving away the "snap," as he calls it, to the other New York papers, and
+it seems that the only thing on earth Miss Brewster is afraid of is the
+opposition press. So she has promised to say nothing more whatever about
+the incident.'
+
+'Then, you have been talking with Fleming?'
+
+'Certainly I have; a jovial good fellow he is, too. I have been doing
+something more than talking with him; I have been drinking with him.'
+
+'And yet a day or two ago, I understand, you threatened to strike him.'
+
+'A day or two ago, John! It was ages and ages ago. A day or two isn't in
+it. That was years and centuries since, as it appears to me. I was an old
+man then; now I have become young again, and all on account of the plucky
+action of that angel of a girl of yours.'
+
+'Not of mine,' said Kenyon seriously; 'I wish she were.'
+
+'Well, cheer up. Everything will come out right; you see, it always does.
+Nothing looked blacker than this matter about the telegram a few days
+ago, and see how beautifully it has turned out.'
+
+Kenyon said nothing. He did not desire to discuss the matter even with
+his best friend. The two went up on deck together, and took a few turns
+along the promenade, during which promenade the eyes of Kenyon were
+directed to the occupants of the deckchairs, but he did not see the
+person whom he sought. Telling Wentworth he was going below for a moment,
+he left him to continue his walk alone, and on reaching the saloon Kenyon
+spoke to a stewardess.
+
+'Do you know if Miss Longworth is in her stateroom?'
+
+'Yes, sir, I think she is,' was the answer.
+
+'Will you take this note to her?'
+
+John sat down to wait for an answer. The answer did not come by the hand
+of the stewardess. Edith herself timorously glanced into the saloon, and,
+seeing Kenyon alone, ventured in. He sprang up to meet her.
+
+'I was afraid,' he said, 'that you had been ill.'
+
+'No, not quite, but almost,' she answered. 'Oh, Mr. Kenyon, I have done
+the most terrible thing! You could not imagine that I was so bold and
+wicked;' and tears gathered in the eyes of the girl.
+
+Kenyon stretched out his hand to her, and she took it.
+
+'I am afraid to stay here with you,' she said, 'for fear----'
+
+'Oh, I know all about it,' said Kenyon.
+
+'You cannot know about it; you surely do not know what I have done?'
+
+'Yes, I know exactly what you've done; and we all very much admire your
+pluck.'
+
+'It hasn't, surely, been the talk of the ship?'
+
+'No, it has not; but Miss Brewster charged me with being an accomplice.'
+
+'And you told her you were not, of course?'
+
+'I couldn't tell her anything, for the simple reason that I hadn't the
+faintest idea what she was talking about; but that's how I came to know
+what had happened, and I am here to thank you, Miss Longworth, for your
+action. I really believe you have saved the sanity of my friend
+Wentworth. He is a different man since the incident we are speaking of
+occurred.'
+
+'And have you seen Miss Brewster since?'
+
+'Oh yes; as I was telling you, she met me on the deck. Dear me! how
+thoughtless of me! I had forgotten you were standing. Won't you sit
+down?'
+
+'No, no; I have been in my room so long that I am glad to stand
+anywhere.'
+
+'Then, won't you come up on deck with me?'
+
+'Oh, I'm afraid,' she said. 'I am afraid of a public scene; and I am
+sure, by the last look I caught in that girl's eyes, she will stop at no
+scandal to have her revenge. I am sorry to say that I am too much of a
+coward to meet her. Of course, from her point of view I have done her
+eternal wrong. Perhaps it was wrong from anybody's point of view.'
+
+'Miss Longworth,' said John Kenyon cordially, 'you need have no fear
+whatever of meeting her. She will say nothing.'
+
+'How do you know that?'
+
+'Oh, it is a long story. She went to the captain with her complaint, and
+received very little comfort there. I will tell you all about it on deck.
+Get a wrap and come with me.'
+
+As Kenyon gave this peremptory order, he realized that he was taking a
+liberty he had no right to take, and his face flushed as he wondered if
+Edith would resent the familiarity of his tones; but she merely looked up
+at him with a bright smile, and said:
+
+'I will do, sir, as you command.'
+
+'No, no,' said Kenyon; 'it was not a command, although it sounded like
+one. It was a very humble request; at least, I intended it to be such.'
+
+'Well, I will get my wrap.'
+
+As she left for her state-room, a rousing cheer was heard from on deck.
+She stopped, and looked at Kenyon.
+
+'What does that mean?' she asked.
+
+'I do not know,' was the answer. 'Please get your things on and we will
+go up and see.'
+
+When they reached the deck they saw everybody at the forward part of the
+ship. Just becoming visible in the eastern horizon were three trails of
+black smoke, apparently coming towards them.
+
+The word was whispered from one to the other: 'It is the tug-boats. It
+is relief.'
+
+Few people on board the steamer knew that their very existence depended
+entirely on the good weather. The incessant pumping showed everybody, who
+gave a thought to the matter, that the leak had been serious; but as the
+subsidence of the vessel was imperceptible to all save experts, no one
+but the officers really knew the grave danger they were in. Glad as the
+passengers were to see those three boats approach, the one who most
+rejoiced was the one who knew everything respecting the disaster and its
+effects--the captain.
+
+Edith Longworth and John Kenyon paced the deck together, and did not form
+two of the crowd who could not tear themselves away from the front of
+the ship, watching the gradually approaching tug boats. Purposely, John
+Kenyon brought the girl who was with him past Miss Jennie Brewster, and
+although that person glared with a good deal of anger at Edith, who
+blushed to her temples with fear and confusion, yet nothing was said; and
+Kenyon knew that afterwards his companion would feel easier in her mind
+about meeting the woman with whom she had had such a stormy five minutes.
+The tug boats speedily took the big steamer in tow, and slowly the four
+of them made progress towards Queenstown, it having been resolved to land
+all the passengers there, and to tow the disabled vessel to Liverpool, if
+an examination of the hull showed such a course to be a safe one. The
+passengers bade each other good-bye after they left the tender, and many
+that were on board that ship never saw each other again. One at least,
+had few regrets and no good-byes to make, but a surprise was in store for
+her. Jennie Brewster found a cablegram from New York waiting for her. It
+said 'Cable nothing respecting mines. Letter follows.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+London again! Muddy, drizzly, foggy London, London, with its well filled
+omnibuses tearing along the streets, more dangerous than the chariots of
+Rome, London, with its bustling thoroughfares, with its traffic blocked
+at the corners by the raised white gloved hand of the policeman, London,
+with the four wheeled growler piled high with luggage, and the dashing
+hansom whirling along, missing the wheels of other vehicles by half an
+inch, while its occupant sits serenely smoking, or motioning his
+directions to his cabman with an umbrella; London, with its constantly
+moving procession of every sort of wheeled carriage, from the four-horsed
+coach to the coster barrow. London, London, London, London! the name
+seemed to ring in John Kenyon's ears as he walked briskly along the
+crowded pavement towards the City. The roar of its busy streets was the
+sweetest music in the world to him, as it is to every man who has once
+acquired the taste for London. Drink of the fountain of Trevi, and you
+will return to Rome. Drink of the roar and the bustle of London, and no
+other metropolis in the world, can ever satisfy the city-hunger in you
+again. London is London, and John Kenyon loved its very disadvantages as
+he strode along the streets.
+
+He called at the office of George Wentworth, took that young man with
+him, and together they went to the place where the adjourned meeting of
+the London Syndicate was to be held. There were questions to be asked of
+the two young men, and the directors couldn't quite see why the reports
+had been so suddenly precipitated upon them, before the arrival of the
+experts they had sent out. So they had merely read the documents at the
+former meeting and adjourned until such time as the two young men could
+appear in person. Most of the directors were there, but, though Kenyon
+looked anxiously among them, he did not see the face of old Mr.
+Longworth. Questions were asked Kenyon about the position of the mines,
+about their output, and such other particulars as the directors wished
+to know. Then Wentworth underwent a similar examination. He pointed out
+the discrepancies which he had found in the accounts. He showed that
+there was an evident desire on the part of the owners of the different
+mines to make it appear that the properties paid better than they
+actually did, and he answered in a clear and satisfactory way all the
+questions asked him. The chairman thanked the young men for the evident
+care with which they had done their work, and the meeting then went into
+a private session to consider what action should be taken respecting the
+mines. When the two friends got out of the building, Kenyon said:
+
+'Well, thank goodness that is over and done with. Now, George, what have
+you to suggest with reference to the mica-mine?'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'we had better adjourn to my office and have a
+talk over the matter quietly there. Let us go into private session as the
+directors have done. I feel rich after having got my cheque, and the vote
+of thanks from the chairman; so I will spend a shilling on a hansom and
+get there with speed and comfort. Actually, since I have got back to
+London, I am spending all my surplus cash on hansoms. They are certainly
+the best and cheapest vehicles in the world. Think of what that pirate
+charged us for a ride from the hotel to the steamer in New York.'
+
+'I don't like to think of it,' said Kenyon; 'it makes me shudder!'
+
+'Do you know, John, I should not be inconsolable if I never saw the great
+city of New York again. London is good enough for me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't know! New York is all right. I confess there are one or two
+of her citizens that I do not care much about.'
+
+'Ah,' said Wentworth; then, after a few moments' reflection, he remarked
+suddenly, apropos of nothing: 'Do you know, John, I was very nearly in
+love with that girl?'
+
+'I thought you were drifting in that direction.'
+
+'Drifting! It wasn't drifting. It was a mad plunge down the rapids, and
+it is only lately I have begun to think what a close shave I had of it.
+The horror of those days, when I thought that despatch was going to New
+York, completely obliterated any other feeling in regard to her. If I had
+found she was a hopeless flirt, or something of that kind, who was
+trifling with me, I should have been very much shocked, of course, but I
+should have thought about my own feelings. Now, the curious thing is that
+I never began to think about them till I got to London.'
+
+'Very well, Wentworth; I wouldn't think about them now, if I were you.'
+
+'No, I don't intend to, particularly. The fact that I talk over them with
+you shows that the impression was not very deep.'
+
+Wentworth drew a long breath that might have been mistaken for a sigh, if
+he had not just before explained how completely free he was from the
+thraldom in which Miss Brewster at one time held him.
+
+'Still, she was a very pretty girl, John. You can't deny that.'
+
+'I have no wish to deny it. I simply don't want to think about her at
+all.'
+
+'No, and we don't need to, thank goodness. But she _was_ very bright and
+clever. Of course you didn't know her as I did. I never before met
+anyone who--Well, that's all past and done with. I told her all about our
+mica-mine, and she gave me much sage advice.'
+
+Kenyon smiled, but held his peace.
+
+'Oh yes, I know what you are thinking of. I spoke of other mines as well;
+still, that was my folly, and not her fault exactly. She imagined she was
+doing right, and after all, you know, I think we sometimes don't make
+enough allowance for another's point of view.'
+
+Kenyon laughed outright.
+
+'It seems to me you are actually defending her. My remembrance is that
+you didn't make much allowance for her point of view when your own point
+was that coil of rope in the front of the ship--those days when you
+wouldn't speak even to me.'
+
+'I admit it, John. No, I'm not defending her. I have succeeded in
+putting her entirely out of my mind--with an effort. How about your own
+case, John?'
+
+'My own case! What do you mean?'
+
+'You know very well what I mean.'
+
+'I suppose I do forgive the little bit of affectation, will you? but a
+man gets somewhat nervous when such a question is sprung upon him. My own
+case is just where we left it at Queenstown.'
+
+'Haven't you seen her since?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Aren't you going to?'
+
+'I really do not know what I am going to do.'
+
+'John, that young woman has a decided personal interest in you.'
+
+'I wish I were sure of that, or, rather, I wish I were sure of it and
+in a position to--But what is the use of talking? I haven't a penny
+to my name.'
+
+'No; but if our mine goes through, you soon will have.'
+
+'Yes, but what will it amount to? I never can forget the lofty disdain
+with which a certain person spoke of fifty thousand pounds. It sends a
+cold chill over me whenever I think of it. Fifty thousand pounds to her
+seemed so trivial; to me it was something that might be obtained after
+the struggle of a lifetime.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let that discourage me too much if I were you; besides,
+you see--Oh! here we are. We'll talk about this some other time.'
+
+Having paid the cabman, the two young men went upstairs into Wentworth's
+room, where they closed the door, and John drew up a seat by the side of
+his friend.
+
+'Now, then,' said Wentworth, 'what have you done about the mine?'
+
+'I have done absolutely nothing. I have been waiting for this conference
+with you.'
+
+'Well, my boy, time is the great factor in anything of this sort.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose it is.'
+
+'You see, our option is running along; every day we lose is so much taken
+off our chances of success. Have you anything to propose?'
+
+'I'll tell you what I thought of doing. You know young Longworth spoke to
+me a good deal about the mine at one time. His cousin introduced me to
+him, and she seemed to think he might take some interest in forming the
+company. I was to have a talk with you, because Longworth gave it as his
+opinion that the amount should be put at two hundred thousand pounds
+rather than at fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle.
+
+'Yes, it seems a very large amount; but he claims that if it would pay
+ten per cent. on that sum--if we could show that there was a reasonable
+chance of its paying so much--we could put it at two hundred thousand.'
+
+'Well, that looks reasonable. What else did he say?'
+
+'He did not say very much more about it, because I told him I should have
+to consult you.'
+
+'And why didn't you? On board ship there was one of the best
+opportunities we could have had of having a talk with him. In fact, the
+whole matter might perhaps have been arranged there.'
+
+'Oh, well, you know, I couldn't talk to you about it, because a certain
+circumstance arose, and you spent your time very much in the forward
+part of the steamer, sitting on a coil of rope and cursing the universe
+generally and yourself in particular'.
+
+'Ah, yes, I remember, of course--yes. Very well, then, you have not seen
+young Longworth since, have you?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Wouldn't the old gentleman go in for it?'
+
+'His daughter seemed to think he would not, because the amount was
+too small.'
+
+'Why couldn't he be got to go into it entirely by himself? If we put the
+price up to one hundred thousand pounds or two hundred thousand pounds,
+that ought to be large enough for him, if he were playing a lone hand.'
+
+'Well, you see, I don't suppose they thought of going in for it at that,
+except as a matter of speculation. Of course, if they intended to buy
+some shares, it is not likely they would propose to raise the price from
+fifty thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds. Young Longworth
+spoke of dividing the profit. He claimed that whatever we made on fifty
+thousand pounds would be too small to be divided into three. I told him,
+of course, that you were my partner in this, and that is why he proposed
+the price should be made two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I suppose he seemed indifferent on the question whether it should pay a
+dividend on that amount of money or not?'
+
+'He didn't mention that particularly--at least, he did not dwell upon it.
+He asked if it would pay a dividend on two hundred thousand, and I told
+him I thought it would pay ten per cent. if rightly managed; then he said
+of course that was its price, and we should be great fools to float it at
+fifty thousand pounds when it was really worth two hundred thousand.'
+
+Wentworth pondered for a few minutes on this, tapping his pencil on the
+desk and knitting his brow.
+
+'It seems an awful jump, from fifty thousand pounds to two hundred
+thousand pounds, doesn't it, John?'
+
+'Yes, it does; it has a certain look of swindling about it. But what a
+glorious thing it would be if it could be done, and if it would pay the
+right percentage when we got the scheme working!'
+
+'Of course I wouldn't be connected, nor you either, with anything that
+was bogus.'
+
+'Certainly not. I wouldn't think for a moment of inflating it if I were
+not positive the property would stand it. I have been making, and have
+here in my pocket, an elaborate array of figures which will show
+approximately what the mine will yield, and I am quite convinced that it
+will pay at least ten per cent., and possible twelve or fifteen.'
+
+'Well, nobody wants a better percentage on their money. Have you the
+figures with you?'
+
+'Yes, here they are.'
+
+'Very well, you had better leave them with me, and I will go over them as
+critically as if they were the figures of somebody I was deeply
+suspicious of, I hope they will hold water; but if they do not, I will
+point out to you where the discrepancies are.'
+
+'But, you see, George, it is more a question of facts than of figures. I
+believe the whole mountain is made of the mineral which is so valuable,
+but I take only about an eighth of it as being possible to get out, which
+seems to me a very moderate estimate.'
+
+'Yes, but how much demand is there for it? That is the real question. The
+thing may be valuable enough, but if there is only a limited demand--that
+is to say, if we have ten times the material that the world needs--the
+other nine parts are comparatively valueless.'
+
+'That is true.'
+
+'Do you know how many establishments there are in the world that use
+this mineral?'
+
+'There are a great many in England, and also in the United States.'
+
+'And how about the duty on it in the United States?'
+
+'Ah, that I do not know.'
+
+'Well, we must find that out. Just write down here what it is used for;
+then I shall try to get some information about the factories that require
+it, and also what quantities they need in a year. We shall have to get
+all these facts and figures to lay before the people who are going to
+invest, because, as I understand it, the great point we make is not on
+the mica, but on the other mineral.'
+
+'Exactly.'
+
+'Very well, then, you leave me what you know already about it, and I will
+try to supplement your information. In fact, we shall have to supplement
+it, before we can go before anybody with it. Now, I advise you to see the
+Longworths--both old and young Longworth--and you may find that talking
+with them in the City of London is very different from talking with them
+on the _Caloric_. By the way, I wonder why Longworth was not at the
+directors' meeting to-day.'
+
+'I do not know. I noticed he was absent.'
+
+'He very likely intends to have nothing more to do with the other mines,
+and so there may be a possibility of his investing in ours. Do you know
+his address?'
+
+'Yes, I have it with me.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would jump into a hansom and go there at once.
+Meanwhile, I will try to get your figures into shipshape order, and
+supplement them as far as it is possible to do so. This is going to be no
+easy matter, John. There are a great many properties now being offered
+to the public--the papers are full of them--and each of them appears to
+be the most money-making scheme in existence; so if we are going to float
+this mine without knowing any particular capitalist, we have our work cut
+out for us.'
+
+'Then, you would be willing to put the price up to two hundred thousand
+pounds?'
+
+'Yes, if you say the mine will stand it. That we can tell better after
+we have gone over the figures together. We ought to be sure of our
+facts first.'
+
+'Very well. Good-bye; I will go and see Mr. Longworth.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+John Kenyon did not take a cab. He walked so that he might have time to
+think. He wanted to arrange in his mind just what he would say to Mr.
+Longworth, so he pondered over the coming interview as he walked through
+the busy streets of the City.
+
+He had not yet settled things satisfactorily to himself when he came to
+the door leading to Mr. Longworth's offices.
+
+'After all,' he said to himself, as he paused there, 'Mr. Longworth has
+never said anything to me about the mica-mine; and, from what his
+daughter thought, it is not likely that he will care to interest himself
+in it. It was the young man who spoke about it.'
+
+He felt that it was really the young man on whom he should call, but he
+was rather afraid of meeting him. The little he had seen of William
+Longworth on board the _Caloric_ had not given him a very high opinion of
+that gentleman, and he wondered if it would not have been better to have
+told Wentworth that nothing was to be expected from the Longworths.
+However, he resolved not to shirk the interview, so passed up the steps
+and into the outer office. He found the establishment much larger than he
+had expected. At numerous desks there were numerous clerks writing away
+for dear life. He approached the inquiry counter, and a man came forward
+to hear what he had to say.
+
+'Is Mr. Longworth in?'
+
+'Yes, sir. Which Mr. Longworth do you want--the young gentleman or Mr.
+John Longworth?'
+
+'I wish to see the senior member of the firm.'
+
+'Ah! have you an appointment with him?'
+
+'No, I have not; but perhaps if you will take this card to him, and if he
+is not busy, he may see me.'
+
+'He is always very busy, sir.'
+
+'Well, take the card to him; and if he doesn't happen to remember the
+name, tell him I met him on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'Very good, sir.' And with that the clerk disappeared, leaving Kenyon to
+ponder over in his mind the still unsettled question of what he should
+say to Mr. Longworth if he were ushered into his presence. As he stood
+there waiting, with the host of men busily and silently working around
+him, amid the general air of important affairs pervading the place, he
+made up his mind that Mr. Longworth would not see him, and so was rather
+surprised when the clerk came back without the card, and said, 'Will you
+please step this way, sir?'
+
+Passing through a pair of swinging doors, his conductor tapped lightly at
+a closed one, and then opened it.
+
+'Mr. Kenyon, sir,' he said respectfully, and then closed the door behind
+him, leaving John Kenyon standing in a large room somewhat handsomely
+furnished, with two desks near the window. From an inner room came the
+muffled click, click, click of a type-writer. Seated at one of the desks
+was young Longworth, who did not look round as Kenyon was announced. The
+elder gentleman, however, arose, and cordially held out his hand.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' he said. 'I am very pleased to meet you again.
+The terror of our situation on board that ship does not seem to have left
+an indelible mark upon you. You are looking well.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'I am very glad to be back in London again.'
+
+'Ah, I imagine we all like to get back. By the way, it was a much more
+serious affair than we thought at the time on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'So I see by the papers.'
+
+'How is your friend? He seemed to take it very badly.'
+
+'Take what badly?' asked John in astonishment.
+
+'Well, he appeared to me, at the time of the accident, to feel very
+despondent about our situation.'
+
+'Oh yes, I remember now. Yes, he did feel a little depressed at the time;
+but it was not on account of the accident. It was another matter
+altogether, which, happily, turned out all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, have you made your report to the
+directors yet?'
+
+'Yes; we were at a meeting of the directors to-day.'
+
+'Ah, I could not manage to be there. To tell the truth, I have made up my
+mind to do nothing with those Ottawa mines. You do not know what action
+the Board took in the matter, do you?'
+
+'No, they merely received our report; in fact, they had had the report
+before, but there were some questions they desired to ask us, which we
+answered apparently to their satisfaction.'
+
+'Who were there? Sir Ropes McKenna was in the chair, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, sir, he was there.'
+
+'Ah, so I thought. Well, my opinion of him is that he is merely a
+guinea-pig--you know what that is? I have made up my mind to have nothing
+more to do with the venture, at any rate. And so they were pleased with
+your report, were they?'
+
+'They appeared to be. They passed us a vote of thanks, and one or two
+of the gentlemen spoke in rather a complimentary manner of what we had
+done.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, William, you know Mr. Kenyon, do you
+not?'
+
+The young man looked round with an abstracted air, and gazed past, rather
+than at, John Kenyon.
+
+'Kenyon, Kenyon,' he said to himself, as if trying to recollect a name
+that he had once heard somewhere. 'I really don't----'
+
+'Tut, tut!' said the old man, 'you remember Mr. Kenyon on board the
+_Caloric_?'
+
+'Oh, ah, yes; certainly--oh, certainly. How do you do, Mr. Kenyon? I had
+forgotten for the moment. I thought I had met you in the City somewhere.
+Feeling first-rate after your trip, I hope.' And young Mr. Longworth
+fixed his one eyeglass in its place and flashed its glitter on Kenyon.
+
+'I am very well, thanks.'
+
+'That's right. Let me see, your business with the London Syndicate is
+concluded now, is it not?'
+
+'Yes, it is done with.'
+
+'Ah, and what are you doing? Have you anything else on hand?'
+
+'Well, that is what I wish to see you about.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes; I--you remember, perhaps, we had some talk about a mica-mine near
+the Ottawa River?'
+
+'On my soul, I don't. You see, the voyage rather--that was on board ship,
+I suppose?'
+
+'Yes,' said John, crossing over to the young man's desk and taking a
+chair beside him. The old gentleman now turned to his own papers, and
+left the two young men to talk together.
+
+'Do you mean to say you don't remember a talk we had on deck once about a
+mica-mine?'
+
+Young Longworth looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he could
+not quite make out what he was talking about.
+
+'I remember,' he said, 'your telling me that you had been sent over by
+the London Syndicate to see after certain mines there; but I don't
+remember anything being said in reference to them.'
+
+'It was not in reference to them at all; it was in reference to another
+mine, of which I have secured the option. You will, perhaps, recollect
+that your cousin introduced me to you. You seemed to think at the time
+that the price at which we were going to offer the mine was too low.'
+
+'By Jove, yes! now I do recollect something about it, when you mention
+that. Let me see, how much was it? A million, was it not?'
+
+'No, no' said Kenyon, mopping his brow. He did not at all like the turn
+the conversation had taken. 'Not a million, nor anything like that
+amount.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. You see, my uncle and myself rarely touch
+anything that is not worth while; and anything under a million would be
+hardly worth bothering with, don't you know.'
+
+'I don't think so; it seems to me that something below a million would be
+worth spending a little time on; at least, it would be worth _my_ while.'
+
+'That may be very true; but, you see, my uncle takes large interests only
+in large businesses.'
+
+'If you remember, Mr. Longworth, your uncle was not mentioned in
+connection with this at all. Your cousin seemed to think you might take
+some interest in it yourself. You told me, when I said the price at which
+we wished to offer the mine was fifty thousand pounds, that the sum was
+altogether too small; at least, it left too little margin to divide
+amongst three.'
+
+'Well, I think I was perfectly correct in that.'
+
+'And you further said that, if we increased the capital to two hundred
+thousand pounds, you would take a share in it with us.'
+
+'Did I say that?'
+
+'Yes. It rested with my partner then. I said I would speak to him about
+it, and, if he were willing, I should be. Circumstances occurred which
+made it impossible for me to go into details with him on board the ship;
+but I have spoken to him to-day at his own office, and he is quite
+willing to offer the mine at two hundred thousand pounds, provided the
+figures which I have given him show that it will pay a handsome dividend
+on that sum.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me that, if the mine is really worth two hundred
+thousand pounds, it is a pity to offer it at fifty thousand pounds.
+Doesn't it strike you that way?'
+
+'Yes, it does; so I called to see you with reference to it. I wanted to
+say that Wentworth will go carefully over the figures I have given him,
+and see if there is any mistake about them. If there is not, and if we
+find that the mine will bear inflation to two hundred thousand pounds, we
+shall be very glad of your aid in the matter, and will divide everything
+equally with you. That is to say, each of us will take a third.'
+
+'If I remember rightly, I asked you a question which you did not answer.
+I asked you how much you paid for the mine.'
+
+Kenyon was astonished at this peculiar kind of memory, that could forget
+a whole conversation, and yet remember accurately one detail of it.
+However, he replied:
+
+'Of course, at that time you had not said you would join us. I recognise
+that, if you are to be a partner, it is your right to know exactly what
+we pay for the mine. I may say that we have not paid for it, but have
+merely got an option on it at a certain price, and of course, if we can
+sell it for two hundred thousand pounds, we shall have a large amount to
+divide. Now, if you think you will go in with us, and do your best to
+make this project a success, I will tell you what our option is on the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Well, you see, I can hardly say that I will join you. It is really a
+very small matter. There ought not to be any difficulty in floating that
+mine on the London market, except that it is hardly worth one's while to
+take it up. Still, I should have to know exactly what you are to pay for
+the property before I went any further in the matter.'
+
+'Very well, then, I tell you in confidence, and only because I expect
+you to become a partner with us, that the amount the mine is offered to
+us for is twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+Young Longworth arched his eyeglass.
+
+'It cannot be worth very much if that is all they ask for it.'
+
+'The price they ask for it has really nothing at all to do with the value
+of the mine. They do not know the value of it. They are not working it,
+even now, so as to bring out all there is in it. They are mining for
+mica, and, as I told you, the mineral which they are throwing away is
+very much more valuable than all the mica they can get out of the mine.
+If it were worked rightly, the mica would pay all expenses, as well as a
+good dividend on fifty thousand pounds, while the other mineral would pay
+a large dividend on one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or even two
+hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I see. And you feel positive that there is enough of this mineral to
+hold out for some time?'
+
+'Oh, I am positive of that. There is a whole mountain of it.'
+
+'And do you get the mountain as well as the mine?'
+
+'We get three hundred acres of it, and I think there would be no
+difficulty in buying the rest.'
+
+'Well, that would seem to be a good speculation, and I am sure I hope you
+will succeed in forming your company. How much money are you prepared to
+spend in floating the mine?'
+
+'I have practically nothing at all. My asset, as it were, is the option I
+have on the mine.'
+
+'Then, how are you going to pay the preliminary fees, the advertising in
+the newspapers, the cost of counsel, and all that? These expenses will
+amount to something very heavy in the formation of a company. Of course
+you know that.'
+
+'Well, you see, I think that perhaps we can get two or three men to go
+into this and form our company quietly, without having any of those heavy
+expenses which are necessary in the forming of some companies.'
+
+'My dear sir, when you have been in this business a little longer, you
+will be very much wiser. That cannot be done--at least, I do not believe
+it can be done. I do not know of its having been done, and if you can do
+it, you are a very much cleverer man than I am. Companies are not formed
+for nothing in the City of London. You seem to have the vaguest possible
+notion about how this sort of thing is managed. I may tell you frankly I
+do not think I can go in with you; I have too much else on hand.'
+
+Although Kenyon expected this, he nevertheless felt a grim sense of
+defeat as the young man calmly said these words. Then he blurted out:
+
+'If you had no idea of going in with us, why have you asked me certain
+questions about the property which I would not have answered if I had not
+thought you were going to take an interest in it?'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the other blandly, 'you were at perfect liberty to
+answer those questions or not, as you chose. You chose to answer them,
+and you have no one to blame but yourself if you are sorry you have
+answered them. It really doesn't matter at all to me, as I shall forget
+all you have said in a day or two at furthest.'
+
+'Very well; I have nothing more to say except that what I have told you
+has been said in confidence.'
+
+'Oh, of course. I shall mention it to nobody.'
+
+'Then I wish you good-day.'
+
+Turning to the elder gentleman, he said:
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+The old man raised his eyes rather abstractedly from the paper he was
+reading, and then cordially shook hands with Kenyon.
+
+'If I can do anything,' he said, 'to help you in any matter you have on
+hand, I shall be very pleased to do it. I hope to see you succeed.
+Good-day, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+And with that the young man found himself again in the outer office, and
+shortly afterwards in the busy street, with a keen sense of frustration
+upon him. His first move in the direction of forming a company had been a
+disastrous failure; and thinking of this, he walked past the Mansion
+House and down Cheapside.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+John Kenyon walked along Cheapside feeling very much downhearted over his
+rebuff with Longworth. The pretended forgetfulness of the young man, of
+course, he took at its proper value. He, nevertheless, felt very sorry
+the interview had been so futile, and, instead of going back to Wentworth
+and telling him his experience, he thought it best to walk off a little
+of his disappointment first. He was somewhat startled when a man
+accosted him; and, glancing up, he saw standing there a tall footman,
+arrayed in a drab coat that came down to his heels.
+
+'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the footman, 'but Miss Longworth would
+like to speak to you.'
+
+'Miss Longworth!' cried Kenyon, in surprise; 'where is she?'
+
+'She is here in her carriage, sir.'
+
+The carriage had drawn up beside the pavement, and John Kenyon looked
+round in confusion to see that Miss Longworth was regarding him and the
+footman with an amused air. An elderly woman sat in the carriage opposite
+her, while a grave and dignified coachman, attired somewhat similarly to
+the footman, kept his place like a seated statue in front. John Kenyon
+took off his hat as he approached the young woman, whom he had not seen
+since the last day on the steamer.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' said Edith Longworth brightly, holding out her
+hand to the young man by her carriage. 'Will you not step in? I want to
+talk with you, and I am afraid the police will not allow us to block such
+a crowded thoroughfare as Cheapside.'
+
+As she said this, the nimble footman threw open the door of the carriage,
+while John, not knowing what to say, stepped inside and took his seat.
+
+'Holborn,' said the young woman to the coachman; then, turning to Kenyon,
+she continued: 'Will you not tell me where you are going, so that I may
+know where to set you down?'
+
+'To tell the truth,' said John, 'I do not think I was going anywhere.
+I am afraid I have not yet got over the delight of being back in
+London again, so I sometimes walk along the streets in rather a
+purposeless manner.'
+
+'Well, you did not seem delighted when I first caught sight of you. I
+thought you looked very dejected, and that gave me courage enough to ask
+you to come and talk with me. I said to myself, "There is something wrong
+with the mica-mine," and, with a woman's I curiosity, I wanted to know
+all about it. Now tell me.'
+
+'There is really very little to tell. We have hardly begun yet.
+Wentworth is to-day looking over the figures I gave him, and I have been
+making a beginning by seeing some people who I thought might be
+interested in the mine.'
+
+'And were they?'
+
+'No; they were not.'
+
+'Then, that was the reason you were looking so distressed.'
+
+'I suppose it was.'
+
+'Well, now, Mr. Kenyon, if you get discouraged after an interview with
+the first person you think will be interested in the mine, what will you
+do when a dozen or more people refuse to have anything to do with it?'
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. I am afraid I am not the right person to float
+a mine on the London market. I am really a student, you see, and flatter
+myself I am a man of science. I know what I am about when I am in a
+mine, miles away from civilization; but when I get among men, I feel
+somehow at a loss. I do not understand them. When a man tells me one
+thing to-day, and to-morrow calmly forgets all about it, I confess
+it--well, confuses me.'
+
+'Then the man you have seen to-day has forgotten what he told you
+yesterday. Is that the case?'
+
+'Yes; that is partly the case.'
+
+'But, Mr. Kenyon, the success of your project is not going to depend upon
+what one man says, or two, or three, is it?'
+
+'No; I don't suppose it is.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would not feel discouraged because one man has
+forgotten. I wish I were acquainted with your one man, and I would make
+him ashamed of himself, I think.'
+
+Kenyon flushed as she said this, but made no reply.
+
+The coachman looked round as he came to Holborn, and Miss Longworth
+nodded to him; so he went on without stopping into Oxford Street.
+
+'Now, I take a great interest in your mine, Mr. Kenyon, and hope to see
+you succeed with it. I wish I could help you, or, rather, I wish you
+would be frank with me, and tell me how I can help you. I know a good
+deal about City men and their ways, and I think I may be able to give you
+some good advice--at least, if you would have the condescension to
+consult me.'
+
+Kenyon smiled.
+
+'You are making game of me now, Miss Longworth. Of course, as you said on
+board ship, it is but a very small matter.'
+
+'I never said any such thing. When did I say that?'
+
+'You said that fifty thousand pounds was a small matter.'
+
+'Did I? Well, I am like your man who has forgotten; I have forgotten
+that. I remember saying something about its being too small an amount
+for my father to deal with. Was not that what I said?'
+
+'Yes, I think that was it. It conveyed the idea to my mind that you
+thought fifty thousand pounds a trifling sum indeed.'
+
+Edith Longworth laughed.
+
+'What a terrible memory you have! I do not wonder at your City man
+forgetting. Are you sure what you told him did not happen longer ago than
+yesterday?'
+
+'Yes, it happened some time before.'
+
+'Ah, I thought so; I am afraid it is your own terrible memory, and not
+his forgetfulness, that is to blame.'
+
+'Oh, I am not blaming him at all. A man has every right to change his
+mind, if he wants to do so.'
+
+'I thought only a woman had that privilege.'
+
+'No; for my part I freely accord it to everybody, only sometimes it is a
+little depressing.'
+
+'I can imagine that; in fact, I think no one could be a more undesirable
+acquaintance than a man who forgets to-day what he promised yesterday,
+especially if anything particular depends upon it. Now, why cannot you
+come to our house some evening and have a talk about the mine with my
+cousin or my father? My father could give you much valuable advice with
+reference to it, and I am anxious that my cousin should help to carry
+this project on to success. It is better to talk with them there than at
+their office, because they are both so busy during the day that I am
+afraid they might not be able to give the time necessary to its I
+discussion.'
+
+John Kenyon shook his head.
+
+'I am afraid,' he said, 'that would do no good. I do not think your
+cousin cares to have anything to do with the mine.'
+
+'How can you say that? Did he not discuss the matter with you on
+board ship?'
+
+'Yes; we had some conversation about it there, but I imagine that--I
+really do not think he would care to go any farther with it.'
+
+'Ah, I see,' said Edith Longworth. 'My cousin is the man who "forgot
+to-day what he said yesterday."'
+
+'What am I to say, Miss Longworth? I do not want to say "Yes," and I
+cannot truthfully say "No."'
+
+'You need say nothing. I know exactly how it has been. So he does not
+want to have anything to do with it. What reason did he give?'
+
+'You will not say anything to him about the matter? I should be very
+sorry if he thought that I talked to anyone else of my conference
+with him.'
+
+'Oh, certainly not; I will say nothing to him at all.'
+
+'He gave no particular reason; he simply seemed to have changed his mind.
+But I must say this: he did not appear to be very enthusiastic when I
+discussed it with him on board ship.'
+
+'Well, you see, Mr. Kenyon, it rests with me now to maintain the honour
+of the Longworth family. Do you want to make all the profit there is to
+be made in the mica-mine--that is, yourself and your friend Mr.
+Wentworth?'
+
+'How do you mean--"all the profit"?'
+
+'Well, I mean--would you share the profit with anyone?'
+
+'Certainly, if that person could help us to form the company.'
+
+'Very well; it was on that basis you were going to take in my cousin as a
+partner, was it not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I should like to share in the profits of the mine if he does not
+take an interest in it. If you will let me pay the preliminary expenses
+of forming this company, and if you will then give me a share of what you
+make, I shall be glad to furnish the money you need at the outset.'
+
+John Kenyon looked at Miss Longworth with a smile.
+
+'You are very ingenious, Miss Longworth, but I can see, in spite of your
+way of putting it, that what you propose is merely a form of charity.
+Suppose we did not succeed in forming our company, how could we repay you
+the money?'
+
+'You would not need to repay the money. I would take that risk. It is a
+sort of speculation. If you form the company, then I shall expect a very
+large reward for furnishing the funds. It is purely selfishness on my
+part. I believe I have a head for business. Women in this country do not
+get such chances of developing their business talents as they seem to
+have in America. In that country there are women who have made fortunes
+for themselves. I believe in your mine, and I am convinced you will
+succeed in forming your company. If you or Mr. Wentworth were
+capitalists, of course there would be no need of my assistance. If I were
+alone, I could not form a company. You and Mr. Wentworth can do what I
+cannot do. You can appear before the public and attend to all
+preliminaries. On the other hand, I believe I can do what neither of you
+can do; that is, I can supply a certain amount of money from time to time
+to pay the expenses of forming the company--because a company is not
+formed in London for nothing, I assure you. Perhaps you think you have
+simply to go and see a sufficient number of people and get your company
+formed. I fancy you will find it not so easy as all that. Besides this
+business interest I have in it, I have a very friendly interest in Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+As she said this, she bent over towards John Kenyon, and spoke in a lower
+tone of voice:
+
+'Please do not tell him so, because I think that he is a young man who
+has possibilities of being conceited.'
+
+'I shall say nothing about it,' said Kenyon dolefully.
+
+'Please do not. By the way, I wish you would give me Mr. Wentworth's
+address, so that I may communicate with him if a good idea occurs to me,
+or if I find out something of value in forming our company.'
+
+Kenyon took out a card, wrote the address of Wentworth upon it, and
+handed it to her.
+
+'Thank you,' she said 'You see, I deeply sympathized with Mr. Wentworth
+for what he had to pass through on the steamer.'
+
+'He is very grateful for all you did for him on that occasion,' replied
+Kenyon.
+
+'I am glad of that. People, as a general thing, are not grateful for what
+their friends do for them. I am glad, therefore, that Mr. Wentworth is an
+exception. Well, suppose you talk with him about what I have said, before
+you make up your own mind. I shall be quite content with whatever share
+of the profits you allow me.'
+
+'Ah, that is not business, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, it is not; but I am dealing with you--that is, with Mr.
+Wentworth--and I am sure both of you will do what is right. Perhaps it
+would be better not to tell him who is to furnish the money. Just say you
+have met a friend to-day who offers, for a reasonable share of the
+profits, to supply all the money necessary for the preliminary expenses.
+You will consult with him about it, will you not?'
+
+'Yes, if it is your wish.'
+
+'Certainly it is my wish; and I also wish you to do it so diplomatically
+that you will conceal my name from him more successfully than you
+concealed my cousin's name from me this afternoon.'
+
+'I am afraid I am very awkward,' said John, blushing.
+
+'No; you are very honest, that's all. You are not accomplished in the art
+of telling what is not true. Now, this is where we live; will you come
+in?'
+
+'Thank you, no; I'm afraid not,' said John. 'I must really be going now.'
+
+'Let the coachman take you to your station.'
+
+'No, no, it is not worth the trouble; it is only a step from here.'
+
+'It is no trouble. Which is your station--South Kensington?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well. Drive to South Kensington Station, Parker,' she said to the
+coachman; and then, running up the steps, she waved her hand in good-bye,
+as the carriage turned.
+
+And so John Kenyon, feeling abashed at his own poverty, was driven in
+this gorgeous equipage to the Underground Railway station, where he took
+the train for the City.
+
+As he stepped from the carriage at South Kensington, young Mr. Longworth
+came out of the station on his way home, and was simply dumfounded to see
+Kenyon in the Longworths' carriage.
+
+John passed him without noticing who he was, and just as the coachman was
+going to start again, Longworth said to him:
+
+'Parker, have you been picking up fares in the street?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' replied the respectable Parker; 'the young gentleman as
+just left us came from the City with Miss Longworth.'
+
+'Did he, indeed? Where did you pick him up, Parker?'
+
+'We picked him up in Cheapside, sir.'
+
+'Ah, indeed;' and with that, muttering some imprecations on the cheek of
+Kenyon, he stepped into the carriage and drove home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+George Wentworth was a very much better man than John Kenyon to undertake
+the commercial task they hoped to accomplish. Wentworth had mixed with
+men, and was not afraid of them. Although he had suffered keenly from the
+little episode on the steamer, and although at that trying time he
+appeared to but poor advantage so far as an exhibition of courage was
+concerned, the reason was largely because the blow had been dealt him by
+a woman, and not by a man. If one of Wentworth's fellow-men so far forgot
+himself as to make an insulting or cutting remark to him, Wentworth
+merely shrugged his shoulders and thought no more about it. On the other
+hand, notwithstanding his somewhat cold and calm exterior, John Kenyon
+was as sensitive as a child, and a rebuff such as he received from the
+Longworths was enough to depress him for a week. He had been a student
+all his life, and had not yet learnt the valuable lesson of knowing how
+to look at men's actions with an eye to proportion. Wentworth said to
+himself that nobody's opinion amounted to very much, but Kenyon knew too
+little of his fellows to have arrived at this comforting conclusion.
+
+George Wentworth closed his door when he was alone, drew the mass of
+papers, which Kenyon had left, towards him on his desk, and proceeded
+systematically to find a flaw in them if possible. He said to himself: 'I
+must attack this thing without enthusiasm, and treat Kenyon as if he were
+a thief. I must find an error in the reasoning or something shaky about
+the facts.' He perused the papers earnestly, making pencil-marks on the
+margin here and there. At first he said to himself: 'It is quite evident
+that the mining of the mica will pay for the working of the mine. We can
+look upon the demand for mica as being in a certain sense settled. It has
+paid for the working of the mine so far, also a small dividend, and there
+is no reason to think it should not go on doing so. Now, the uncertain
+quantity is this other stuff, and the uncertain thing about this
+uncertain quantity is the demand for it in the markets of the world, also
+how much the carriage of it is going to cost.' Wentworth had a theory
+that all things were possible if you only knew a man who knew _the_ man.
+There is always _the_ man in everything--the man who is the authority on
+iron; the man who is the authority on mines; the man who is the authority
+on the currency, and the man who knows all about the printing trade. If
+you want any information on any particular subject, it was not necessary
+to know _the_ man, but it was very essential to know a man who can put
+his finger on _the_ man. Get a note of introduction from a man who knows
+_the_ man, and there you are!
+
+Wentworth touched his bell, and a boy answered his summons.
+
+'Ask Mr. Close to step in here for a moment, will you, please?'
+
+The boy disappeared, and shortly after an oldish man with a very
+deferential look, who was perpetually engaged in smoothing one hand
+over the other, came in, and, in a timid manner, closed the door softly
+behind him.
+
+'Close,' said Wentworth, 'who is it that knows everything about the
+china trade?'
+
+'About the china trade, sir?'
+
+'Yes, about the china trade.'
+
+'Wholesale or retail, sir?'
+
+'I want to get at somebody who knows all about the manufacture of china.'
+
+'Ah, the manufacture, sir,' said Close, in a tone that indicated this was
+another matter altogether; 'the manufacture, sir; yes, sir, I really do
+not know who could tell everything about the manufacture of china, sir,
+but I know of a man who could put you on the right track.'
+
+'Very well; that is quite as good.'
+
+'I would see Mr. Melville, if I were you, sir--Mr. Melville, of the great
+Scranton China Company.'
+
+'And what is his address?'
+
+'His address is----' And here the old man stooped over and wrote it on a
+card. 'That will find him, sir. If you can drop a note to Mr. Melville,
+sir, and say you want to learn who knows all about the production of
+china, he will be able to tell you just the man, sir. He is in the
+wholesale china trade himself, sir.'
+
+'Would he be in at this hour, do you think?'
+
+'Oh yes, sir, he is sure to be in his office now.'
+
+'Very well, then; I think I will just run over and see him.'
+
+'Very good, sir; anything more, sir?'
+
+'Nothing more, Close, thank you.'
+
+When the valuable Close had departed as softly and apologetically as he
+had entered, Wentworth picked up one of the specimens of spar which
+Kenyon had taken from the mine, and put it into his pocket. In two
+minutes more he was in a cab, dashing through the crowded streets towards
+Melville's office. By the side of the door of the china company's
+warehouse, inside the hall, were two parallel rows of names--one under
+the general heading of 'Out,' the other under the heading of 'In.' It
+appeared that Mr. Smith was out and Mr. Jones was in, but, what was more
+to the purpose, the name of Richard Melville happened to be in the column
+of those who were inside. After a few moments' delay, Wentworth was
+ushered into the office of this gentleman.
+
+'Mr. Melville,' he said, 'I have been recommended to come to you for
+information regarding the china trade. The information I want, you will,
+perhaps, not be able to give me, but I believe you can tell me to whom I
+should apply for it.' Saying this, he took out of his pocket the specimen
+of mineral which he had brought with him. 'What I want to know is, how
+much of this material you use each year in the manufacture of china; what
+price you pay for it; and I should like to get at an estimate, if
+possible, of the quantity used in England every year.'
+
+Melville picked up the specimen and turned it round and round, looking at
+it attentively.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I could tell you anything you wished about the
+wholesale china trade, but about the manufacture of it I am not so well
+informed. Where did you get this?'
+
+'That,' said Wentworth, 'is from a mine in which I am interested.'
+
+'Ah, where is the mine situated, may I ask?'
+
+'It is in America,' said Wentworth vaguely.
+
+'I see. Have you considered the question of carriage in proposing to put
+it on the English market? That, as you know, is an important question.
+The cost of taking a heavy article a long distance is a great factor in
+the question of its commercial value.'
+
+'I recognise that,' said Wentworth; 'and it is to enable me to form some
+estimate of the value of this material that I ask for particulars of its
+price here.'
+
+'I understand, but I am not able to answer your questions. If you have
+time to wait and see Mr. Brand, our manager of the works, who is also one
+of the owners, he could easily tell you everything about this
+mineral--whether used at all or not. He comes up to London once every
+fortnight, and to-day is his day. I am expecting him here at any time.
+You might wait, if you liked, and see him.'
+
+'I do not think that will be necessary. I will write, if you will allow
+me, just what I want to know, and in two or three minutes he could jot
+down the information I require. Then I will call again to-morrow, if you
+don't mind.'
+
+'Not in the least. I will submit the matter to him. You can leave me this
+piece of mineral, I suppose?'
+
+'Certainly,' said Wentworth, writing on a sheet of paper the questions:
+'First, What quantity of this mineral is used in your works in a year?
+second, What price per ton do you pay for it? third, Will you give me, if
+possible, an estimate of how much of this is used in England?'
+
+'There,' he said, 'if you will give him this slip of paper, and show him
+the specimen of mineral, I shall be very much obliged.'
+
+'By the way,' said Melville, 'is this mine in operation?'
+
+'Yes, it is.'
+
+'Is there anyone else beside yourself interested in it in this country?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, with some hesitation; 'John Kenyon, a mining
+expert, is interested in it, and Mr. Longworth--young Mr. Longworth of
+the City.'
+
+'Any relation to John Longworth?'
+
+'His nephew.'
+
+'Ah, well, anything that Longworth has an interest in is reasonably sure
+of being successful.'
+
+'I am perhaps going too far in saying he has an interest in the mine, but
+in coming from America he seemed desirous of going in with us. My
+partner. John Kenyon, of whom I spoke just now, is with him at the
+present moment, I believe.'
+
+'Very well. I will submit this specimen to Mr. Brand as you desire, and
+will let you know to-morrow what he says.'
+
+With that Wentworth took his leave, and in going out through the hall he
+met the manager of the china works, although he didn't know at the time
+who he was. He was a very shrewd-faced individual, who walked with a
+brisk business step which showed he believed that time was money.
+
+'Well, Melville,' he said when he entered, 'I am a little late to-day,
+am I not?'
+
+'You are a little behind the usual time, but not much.'
+
+'By the way----' began the manager, and then his eye wandered to the
+specimen on the desk before Melville. 'Hello!' he cried, 'where did you
+get this?'
+
+'That was left here a moment ago by a gentleman whom I wanted to wait
+until you came, but he seemed to be in a hurry. He is going to call again
+to-morrow.'
+
+'What is his name?'
+
+'Wentworth. Here's his card.'
+
+'Ah, of a firm of accountants, eh? How did he come to have this?'
+
+'He wanted to get some information about it, and I told him I would show
+it to you. Here is the note he left.'
+
+The manager turned the crystal over and over in his hand, put on his
+eyeglasses and peered into it, then picked up the piece of paper and
+looked at what Kenyon had written.
+
+'Did he say where he had got this?'
+
+'Yes; he says there is a mine of it in America.'
+
+'In America, eh? Did he say how much of this stuff there was?
+
+'No; he didn't tell me that. The mine is working, however.'
+
+'It is very curious! I never heard of it.'
+
+'I gathered from him,' said Mr. Melville, 'that he wishes to do something
+with the mine over here. He did not say much, but he told me his
+partner--I forget his name--was talking at the present moment with young
+Longworth about it.'
+
+'Longworth--who's he?'
+
+'He's a man who goes in for mines or other investments; that is, his
+uncle does--a very shrewd old fellow, too. He is always on the right side
+of the market, no matter how it turns.'
+
+'Then, he would be a man certain to know the value of the property if he
+had it, wouldn't he?'
+
+'I don't know anybody who knows the value of what he has better than
+Longworth.'
+
+'Ah, that's a pity,' mused the manager.
+
+'Why? Is it a mineral of any worth?'
+
+'Worth! A quarry of this would be better for us than a gold-mine!'
+
+'Well, it struck me, in talking with Mr. Wentworth, that he had no
+particular idea of its utility. He seemed to know nothing about it, and
+that's why he came here for information.'
+
+Again the manager looked at the paper before him.
+
+'I'm not so sure about that,' he said. 'He wants to know the quantity
+used in a year, how much of it is consumed in England, and the price we
+pay for it per ton. I should judge, from that, he has an inkling of its
+value, and wants merely to corroborate it. Yes, I feel certain that is
+his move. I fear nothing very much can be done with Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'What were you thinking of doing?'
+
+'My dear Melville, if we could get hold of such a mine, supposing it has
+an unlimited quantity of this mineral in it, we could control the china
+markets of the world.'
+
+'You don't mean it!'
+
+'It's a fact, because of the purity of the mineral. The stuff that we use
+is heavily impregnated with iron; we have to get the iron out of it, and
+that costs money. Not that the stuff itself is uncommon at all, it is one
+of the most common substances in Nature; but anything so pure as this I
+have never seen. I wonder if it is a fair specimen of what they can get
+out of the mine? If it is, I would rather own that property than any
+gold-mine I know of.'
+
+'Well, I will see Mr. Wentworth, if you like. He is going to call here
+about this time to-morrow, and I will find out if some arrangement cannot
+be made with him.'
+
+'No, I wouldn't do that,' replied the manager, who preferred never to do
+things in a direct way. 'I think your best plan is to see Longworth. The
+chances are that a City man like him does not know the value of the
+property; and, if you don't mind, I will write a letter to Mr. Wentworth
+and give him my opinion on this mineral.'
+
+'What shall I say to Longworth?'
+
+'Say anything you like; you understand that kind of business better than
+I. Here are the facts of the case. If we can get a controlling interest
+in this mine, always supposing that it turns out mineral up to sample--I
+suspect that this is a picked specimen; of course we should have to send
+a man to America and see--if we could get hold of this property, it would
+be the greatest feat in business we have ever done, provided, of course,
+we get it at a cheap enough price.'
+
+'What do you call a cheap enough price?'
+
+'You find out what Longworth will sell the mine for.'
+
+'But supposing Wentworth owns the mine, or as much of it as
+Longworth does?'
+
+'I think, somehow, that if you know Longworth you can perhaps make better
+terms with him. Meanwhile I will send a letter to Wentworth. You have his
+address there?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well.'
+
+Taking his pen, he dashed off the following letter:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'I regret to say that the mineral you left at our office yesterday is of
+no value to us. We do not use mineral of this nature, and, so far as I
+know, it is not used anywhere in England.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'ADAM BRAND.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+The chances are that, no matter under what circumstances young Longworth
+and Kenyon had first met, the former would have disliked the latter.
+Although strong friendships are formed between men who are dissimilar,
+it must not be forgotten that equally strong hatreds have arisen between
+people merely because they were of opposite natures. No two young men
+could have been more unlike each other; and as Longworth recalled the
+different meetings he had had with Kenyon, he admitted to himself that he
+had an extreme antipathy to the engineer. The evident friendship which
+his cousin felt for Kenyon added a bitterness to this dislike which was
+rapidly turning it into hate. However, he calmed down sufficiently, on
+going home in the carriage, to become convinced that it was better to say
+nothing about her meeting with Kenyon unless she introduced the subject.
+After all, the carriage was hers, not his, and he recognised that fact.
+He wondered how much Kenyon had told her of the interview at his uncle's
+office. He flattered himself, however, that he knew enough of women to be
+sure that she would very speedily refer to the subject, and then he hoped
+to learn just how much had been said. To his surprise, his cousin said
+nothing at all about the matter, neither that evening nor the next
+morning, and, consequently, he went to his office in a somewhat
+bewildered state of mind.
+
+On arriving at his room in the City, he found Melville waiting for him.
+
+Melville shook hands with young Longworth, and, taking a mineral specimen
+from his pocket, placed it on the young man's desk, saying;
+
+'I suppose you know where that comes from?'
+
+Longworth looked at it with an air of indecision which made Melville
+suspect he knew very little about it.
+
+'I haven't the slightest idea, really.'
+
+'No? I was told you were interested in the mine from which this was
+taken. Mr. Wentworth called on me yesterday, and gave your name as one of
+those who were concerned with the mine.'
+
+'Ah, yes, I see; yes, yes, I have--some interest in the mine.'
+
+'Well, it is about that I came to talk with you. Where is the mine
+situated?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, I believe, some distance above Montreal. I
+am not certain about its exact position, but it is somewhere in that
+neighbourhood.'
+
+'I thought by the way Wentworth talked it was in the United States. He
+mentioned another person as being his partner in the affair; I forget
+his name.'
+
+'John Kenyon, probably.'
+
+'Kenyon! Yes, I think that was the name. Yes, I am sure it was. Now, may
+I ask what is your connection with that mine? Are you a partner of
+Wentworth's and Kenyon's? Are you the chief owner of the mine, or is the
+mine owned by them?'
+
+'In the first place, Mr. Melville, I should like to know why you ask me
+these questions?'
+
+Melville laughed.
+
+'Well, I will tell you. We should like to know what chance there is of
+our getting a controlling interest in the mine. That is very frankly put,
+isn't it?'
+
+'Yes, it is. But whom do you mean by "we"? Who else besides yourself?'
+
+'By "we" I mean the china company to which I belong. This mineral is
+useful in making china. That I suppose you know.'
+
+'Yes, I was aware of that,' answered Longworth, although he heard it now
+for the first time.
+
+'Very well, then; I should like to know who is the owner of the mine.'
+
+'The owner of the mine at present is some foreigner whose name and
+address I do not know. The two young men you speak of have an option on
+that mine for a certain length of time--how long I don't know. They have
+been urging me to go in with them to form a company for the floating of
+that mine for two hundred thousand pounds on the London market.'
+
+'Two hundred thousand pounds!' said Melville. 'That seems to me rather a
+large amount.'
+
+'Do you think so? Well, the objection I had to it was that it was too
+small.'
+
+'Those two men must have an exaggerated idea of the value of this mineral
+if they think it will pay dividends on two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'This mineral is not all there is in the mine. In fact, it is already
+paying a dividend on fifty thousand pounds or thereabouts, because of the
+mica in it. It is being mined for mica alone. To tell the truth, I did
+not know much about the other mineral.'
+
+'And do you think the mine is worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'Frankly, I do not.'
+
+'Then why are you connected with it?'
+
+'I am not connected with it--at least, not definitely connected with it.
+I have the matter under consideration. Of course, if there is anything
+approaching a swindle in it, I shall have nothing to do with it. It will
+depend largely on the figures that the two men show me whether I have
+anything to do with it or not.'
+
+'I see; I understand your position.' Then, lowering his voice, Melville
+leaned over towards Longworth, and said: 'You are a man of business. Now,
+I want to ask you what would be the chance of our getting the mine at
+something like the original option priced which is, of course, very much
+less than two hundred thousand pounds? We do not want to have too many in
+it. In fact, if you could get it for us at a reasonable rate, and did not
+care to be troubled with the property yourself, we would take the whole
+ourselves.'
+
+Young Longworth pondered a moment, and then said to Melville:
+
+'Do you mean to freeze out the other two fellows, as they say in
+America?'
+
+'I do not know about freezing out; but, of course, with the other two
+there is so much less profit to be divided. We should like to deal with
+just as few as if possible.'
+
+'Exactly. I see what you mean. I think it can be done. Are you in any
+great hurry to secure the mine?'
+
+'Not particularly. Why?'
+
+'Well, if things are worked rightly, I don't know but what we could get
+it for the original option. That would mean, of course, to wait until
+this first option had run out.'
+
+'Wouldn't there be a little danger in that? They may form their company
+in the meantime, and then we should lose everything. Our interest in the
+matter is as much to prevent anyone else getting hold of the mine as to
+get it ourselves.'
+
+'I see. I will think it over. I believe it can be done without great
+risk; but, of course, we shall have to be reasonably quiet about the
+matter.'
+
+'I see the necessity of that.'
+
+'Very good. I will see you again after I have thought over the affair,
+and we can come to some arrangement.'
+
+'I may say that our manager has written a note to Wentworth, saying that
+this mineral is of no particular use to us.'
+
+'Exactly,' said young Longworth, with a look of intelligence.
+
+'So, of course, in speaking with Wentworth about the mine, it is just as
+well not to mention us in any way.'
+
+'I shall not.'
+
+'Very well. I will leave the matter in your hands for the present.'
+
+'Yes, do so. I will think over it this afternoon, and probably see
+Wentworth and Kenyon to-morrow. There is no immediate hurry, for I happen
+to know they have not done anything yet.'
+
+With that Mr. Melville took his leave, and young Longworth paced up and
+down the room, evolving a plan that would at once bring him money and
+give him the satisfaction of making it lively for John Kenyon.
+
+When he reached home, Longworth waited for his cousin to say something
+about Kenyon; but he soon saw that she did not intend to speak of him at
+all. So he said to her:
+
+'Edith, do you remember Kenyon and Wentworth--who were on board our
+steamer?'
+
+'I remember them very well.'
+
+'Did you know they had a mining property for sale?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'I have been thinking about it--in fact, Kenyon called at my office a day
+or two ago, and at that time, not having given the subject much thought,
+I could not give him any encouragement; but I have been pondering over it
+since, and have almost decided to help them. What do you think about it?'
+
+'Oh, I think it would be an excellent plan. I am sure the property is a
+good one, or Mr. Kenyon would have nothing to do with it. I shall write a
+note to them, if you think it advisable, inviting them here to talk with
+you about it.'
+
+'That will not be necessary at all. I do not want people to come here to
+talk business. My office is the proper place.'
+
+'Still, we met them in a friendly way on board the steamer, and I think
+it would be nice if they came here some evening and talked over the
+matter with you.'
+
+'I don't believe in introducing business into a man's home. This would be
+a purely business conversation, and it may as well take place at my
+office, or at Wentworth's, if he has one, as I suppose he has.'
+
+'Oh, certainly; his address is----'
+
+'Oh, you know it, do you?'
+
+Edith blushed as she realized what she had said; then she remarked:
+
+'Is there any harm in my knowing the business address of Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'Oh, not at all--not at all. I merely wondered how you happened to know
+his address, when I didn't.'
+
+'Well, it doesn't matter how I know it. I am glad you are going to join
+him, and I am sure you will be successful. Will you see them to-morrow?'
+
+'I think so. I shall call on Wentworth and have a talk with him about it.
+Of course we may not be able to come to a workable arrangement. If not,
+it really does not matter very much. But if I can make satisfactory terms
+with them, I will help them to form their company.'
+
+When Edith went to her own room she wrote a note. It was addressed to
+George Wentworth in the City, but above that address was the name John
+Kenyon. She said:
+
+'DEAR MR. KENYON,
+
+'I was certain at the time you spoke that my cousin was not so much at
+fault in forgetting his conversation as you thought. We had a talk to
+night about the mine, and when he calls upon you tomorrow, as he intends
+to do, I want you to know that I said nothing whatever to him of what you
+told me. He mentioned the subject first. I wanted you to know this
+because you might feel embarrassed when you met him by thinking I had
+sent him to you. That is not at all the case. He goes to you of his own
+accord, and I am sure you will find his assistance in forming a company
+very valuable. I am glad to think you will be partners.
+
+'Yours very truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.'
+
+She gave this letter to her maid to post, and young Longworth met the
+maid in the hall with the letter in her hand. He somehow suspected, after
+the foregoing conversation, to whom the letter was addressed.
+
+'Where are you going with that?'
+
+'To the post, sir.'
+
+'I am going out; to save you the trouble I will take it.'
+
+After passing the corner, he looked at the address on the envelope; then
+he swore to himself a little. If he had been a villain in a play he would
+have opened the letter; but he did not. He merely dropped it into the
+first pillar-box he came to, and in due time it reached John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+Although Jennie Brewster arrived in London angry with the world in
+general, and with several of its inhabitants in particular, she soon
+began to revel in the delights of the great city. It was so old that it
+was new to her, and she visited Westminster Abbey and other of its
+ancient landmarks in rapid succession. The cheapness of the hansoms
+delighted her, and she spent most of her time dashing about in cabs. She
+put up at one of the big hotels, and ordered many new dresses at a place
+in Regent Street. She bought most of the newspapers, morning and evening,
+and declared she could not find an interesting article in any of them.
+From her point of view they were stupid and unenterprising, and she
+resolved to run down the editor of one of the big dailies when she got
+time, interview him, and discover how he reconciled it with his
+conscience to publish so dull a sheet every day.
+
+She wrote to her editor in New York that London, though a slow town, was
+full of good material, and that nobody had touched it in the writing line
+since Dickens' time; therefore she proposed to write a series of
+articles on the Metropolis that would wake them up a bit. The editor
+cabled to her to go ahead, and she went.
+
+Jennie engaged a chaperon, and took great satisfaction in this unwonted
+luxury. It had been intimated to her that Lady Willow was a sort of
+society St. Peter, who held keys that would open the gates of the social
+heaven, if she were sufficiently recompensed. Of all the ancient
+landmarks of England, none attracted Jennie so much as the aristocracy,
+and although she had written to New York for letters of introduction that
+would be useful in London, she was too impatient to await their arrival.
+Thus she came to secure the services of Lady Willow, the widow of Sir
+Debenham Willow, who had died abroad, insolvent, some years before,
+mourned by the creditors he left behind him.
+
+Jennie was suspicious about the title, and demanded convincing proofs of
+its genuineness before she engaged Lady Willow. She was amazed that any
+real lady would, as it were, sell her social influence at so much a week;
+but, as Lady Willow was equally astonished that an American girl earned
+her livelihood by writing for the papers, the surprise of the one found
+its counterpart in the wonder of the other.
+
+Lady Willow thought all American girls were born daughters of
+millionaires, in accordance with some unexplained Western by-law of
+nature, and imagined that their sole object in desiring to enter London
+society was to purchase for themselves a more or less expensive scion of
+the aristocracy; she was therefore inclined to resent meeting a shrewd
+young woman apparently determined on getting the value for her money.
+
+'It is not my custom to chaffer about terms,' said Lady Willow with
+much dignity.
+
+'It is mine,' replied Jennie complacently; 'I always like to know what I
+am buying, and the price I am to pay for it.'
+
+'You are dealing with me,' said the lady, rising indignantly, 'as if you
+were engaging a cook. I am sure we would not suit each other at all.'
+
+'Please sit down, Lady Willow, and don't be offended. Let us talk it over
+in an amicable manner, even if we come to no arrangement. I think a cook
+an exceedingly important person, and I assure you I would treat one in
+the most deferential manner; while with you, on the other hand, I talk in
+an open and frank way, as between friend and friend. I take it that you
+and I are somewhat similarly situated. We are neither of us rich, and so
+we have each of us to earn the money we need in our own way. It would be
+dishonest if I pretended to you that I was wealthy, and then couldn't pay
+what you expected after you had done all you could for me--now, wouldn't
+it? Very well, if you have anyone else to chaperon who can afford to pay
+more than I can, you shouldn't bother about me at all, but secure a
+richer client.'
+
+Lady Willow remembered that this was not the season when rich clients
+abounded; so she smothered her resentment, and sat down again.
+
+'That's right,' said Jennie; 'we'll have a nice quiet talk, whatever
+comes of it. Now, if you like, I could write a lovely article about you
+in the _Sunday Argus_, and then all rich girls who come over here would
+go direct to you.'
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear!' cried Lady Willow, evidently inexpressibly shocked
+at the idea, 'you would surely never do so cruel a thing as that? If my
+friends knew I chaperoned young ladies and took money for it, I would
+never be allowed to enter their doors again.'
+
+'Ah, I didn't think of that. Of course it wouldn't do. What a curious
+thing it is that those who want to be written up in the papers generally
+never see their names in print; while those who don't want to have
+anything said about them are the people the reporters are always after.'
+
+'Do you write for the papers, then?'
+
+'For one of them.'
+
+'How dreadful!' said Lady Willow, rising again, with an air of finality
+about her movement. It was evident that any dealings with this American
+girl were out of the question.
+
+'Do sit down again, Lady Willow. We will take it that I am hopelessly
+ineligible, and so say no more about it; but I do want to have a talk
+with you.'
+
+'But you will write something----'
+
+'I shall not write a word about you or about anything you tell me. You
+see, your profession is as strange to me as mine is to you.'
+
+'My profession? I have none.'
+
+'Well, whatever you call it. I mean the way in which you make your
+money.'
+
+Lady Willow sighed, and the tears came into her eyes.
+
+'You little know, my child, to what straits one may come who is left
+unprovided for, and who has to do the best to keep up appearances.'
+
+Jennie sprang up instantly and took the unresisting hand of the elder
+woman, smoothing it with her own caressingly.
+
+'Why, of course I know,' she cried, with a little quaver in her voice;
+'and there is nothing more terrible on earth than lack of money. If there
+was a single really civilized country in existence, it would make
+provision for its women. Every woman should be assured enough to live on,
+merely because she is a woman. If England had put aside as much for its
+women as it has spent in the last hundred years on foolish wars, or if
+America had made a fund of what its politicians have been allowed to
+steal, the women of both barbarous countries might have been provided
+with incomes that would at least keep them from the fear of want.'
+
+Lady Willow seemed more alarmed than comforted by the vehemence of Miss
+Brewster. She said hesitatingly:
+
+'I'm afraid you have some very strange ideas, my dear.'
+
+'Perhaps; but I have one idea that isn't strange: it is that you are
+going to take charge of a lonesome, friendless girl for a few weeks at
+least--until the rich pork-packer's daughter from Chicago comes along,
+and she won't be here for a month or two yet. We won't say a word about
+terms; I'll pay you all that's left over from my hansom fares.'
+
+'I shall be very happy to do what I can for you, my dear.'
+
+Lady Willow had softened towards her fair client, and had now adopted a
+somewhat motherly tone with her, which Jennie evidently liked.
+
+'I will try and be very little trouble to you, although I shall probably
+ask you ever so many questions. All I really want is merely to see the
+Zoo, hear the animals roar, and watch them being fed. I have no ambition
+to steal any of them.'
+
+'Oh, that will be easily done,' said Lady Willow in surprise. 'We can get
+tickets from one of the Fellows of the Zoological Society which will
+admit us on Sunday, when there are but few people there.'
+
+Jennie laughed merrily.
+
+'I mean the social Zoo, Lady Willow; I have visited the other already.
+Please do not look so shocked at me, and don't be afraid; I really
+talk very nicely when I am in society, and I am sure you will not be
+in the least ashamed of me. You see, I haven't had a soul to speak with
+since I came to London, so I think I ought to be allowed a little
+latitude at first.'
+
+Lady Willow so far relaxed her dignity as to smile, although a little
+dubiously; and Jennie joyfully proclaimed that their compact was sealed
+and that she was sure they would be great friends.
+
+'Now you must tell me what I am to do,' she continued. 'I suppose dresses
+are the most important preliminaries when one is meditating a siege on
+society. Well, I've ordered ever so many, so that's all right. What's the
+next thing?'
+
+'Yes, dress is important; but I think the first thing to do is to choose
+pleasant rooms somewhere. You can't stay at this hotel, you know;
+besides, it must be very expensive.'
+
+'Yes, it is rather; but it is so handy and central.'
+
+'It is not central for society.'
+
+'Oh, isn't it? I was thinking of Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square,
+and that sort of thing. Besides, there's _always_ a nice hansom right at
+the door whenever one wants to go out.'
+
+'Oh, but you mustn't ride in hansoms, you know!'
+
+'Why? I thought the aristocracy--the very highest--rode in hansoms.'
+
+'Some of them have private hansoms; but that's a very different thing.'
+
+'And I heard somewhere that most of the hansoms in London are owned by
+the aristocracy. I am sure I rode in one belonging to the Marquis of
+Something--I forget his name. I don't suppose the Marquis himself drove
+it. Perhaps it was driven by his hired man; but the driver was such a
+nice young fellow, and he gave me a lot of information. He told me that
+the Marquis owned the hansom; for I asked him whose it was. I thought
+perhaps it belonged to the driver. I'll give up the hotel willingly, but
+I don't know about hansoms. I'm afraid to promise; for I feel sure I'll
+hail a hansom automatically the moment I go out alone. So we will
+postpone the hansom question until later. Now, where would you recommend
+me to stay while in London?'
+
+'You could stop with me if you liked. I have not a large house; but there
+is room for one or two friends, and it is in a very good locality.'
+
+'Oh, that will be delightful. I suppose the correct address on one's
+notepaper is everything, almost as good as a coat-of-arms--if they use
+coats-of-arms as letter-heads; and there is a difference between Drury
+and Park when they precede the word "Lane."'
+
+The two ladies speedily came to an understanding that was satisfactory to
+each of them, and Lady Willow found, to the no small comforting of her
+dignity, that, although she came to the hotel in the attitude of one who,
+if it may be so expressed, sought a favour, the impetuous eagerness of
+the younger woman had so changed the situation that the elder lady now
+left with the gratifying self complacency of a generous person who has
+conferred a boon. Nor was her condescension without its reward, both
+material and intellectual, for not only did Jennie pay her way with some
+lavishness, but her immediate social success was flattering to Lady
+Willow as the introducer of a Transatlantic cousin so bright and
+vivacious.
+
+So great an impression did Jennie make upon the more susceptible portion
+of the young men she met under Lady Willow's chaperonage, that even the
+rumour which got abroad, that she had no money, did not damp the devotion
+of all of them. Lord Frederick Bingham was quite as assiduous in his
+attentions as if she were the greatest heiress that ever crossed the
+ocean to exchange dubiously won gold for a title founded by some thief in
+the Middle Ages, thus bringing ancient and modern villainy into
+juxtaposition.
+
+Lady Willow saw Lord Frederick's preference with pleasurable surprise.
+Although she did not altogether approve of the damsel in her care, she
+had become very fond of her; but she failed to see why Jennie was so much
+sought after, when other girls, almost as pretty and much more eligible,
+were neglected. She hinted delicately to the young woman one day that
+perhaps her visit to England would not be, after all, so futile.
+
+'I don't think I understand you,' said Jennie.
+
+'Well, my dear, with a little tact on your part, I'm not at all sure but
+Lord Frederick Bingham might propose.'
+
+Jennie, who was putting on her gloves, paused and looked at Lady Willow,
+with a merry twinkle in her eyes, and a demure smile hovering about the
+corners of her mouth.
+
+'Do you imagine, then, that I have come over here to ensnare some poor
+unprotected nobleman--with a display of tact? Oh dear me! As if tact had
+anything to do with it! Never, never, never, Lady Willow! I wouldn't
+marry an Englishman if he were the last man left on earth.'
+
+'Many Englishmen are very nice, my dear,' protested Lady Willow gently,
+with a deep sigh, for she thought of her own husband, who, having been
+all his life an irreclaimable reprobate, had commanded her utmost
+affection while he lived, and was the object of her tenderest regret now
+that he had taken his departure from a world that had never appreciated
+his talents; although its influence was, in the estimation of the widow,
+entirely to blame for those shortcomings which Sir Debenham had been
+unable to conceal.
+
+'And yet,' continued Jennie inconsequently, as she buttoned her glove,
+'I do adore a title; I wonder why that is? I suppose no woman is ever at
+heart a republican, and if the United States is to be wrecked, it is the
+women who will do the wrecking, and start a monarchy. I have no doubt
+the men would let us proclaim an empire now if they imagined it would
+please us.'
+
+'I thought you were all sovereigns over there already,' said Lady Willow.
+
+'Oh, we are, but that's just the trouble. There is too much competition
+in the queen business; there are too many of us, and so we exchange our
+sovereignty for the lesser titles of duchesses and countesses and all
+that.
+
+  '"It is no trivial thing, I ween,
+  To be a regular Royal Queen.
+  No half and half affair, I mean,
+  But a right down regular, regular regular regular Royal Queen."
+
+I don't know that the words are right, but the sentiment is there. Oh
+dear me! I'm afraid I'm becoming quite English, you know.'
+
+'I don't see many signs of it,' said Lady Willow, smiling in spite of
+herself as her voluble companion sang and danced about the room.
+
+'Come, Lady Willow,' cried Jennie, 'get on your things; I am going to a
+City bank to cash a cheque, and I warn you that I will take a hansom.
+Lord Freddie agrees with me that a hansom is the jolliest kind of
+vehicle: please don't frown at me, Lady Willow--"jolliest" is Lord
+Freddie's word, not mine.'
+
+'What I didn't like,' said Lady Willow, with as near an approach to
+severity as the kindly woman could assume, 'was your calling him
+Lord Freddie.'
+
+'Oh, that's his phrase, too! He says everybody calls him Lord Freddie.
+But come along, and I'll call him Lord--Frederick--Bingham,' with a voice
+of awe and appropriate pauses between the words. 'He always seems so
+trivial compared with his name; he reminds me of a salesman at a remnant
+counter, and I don't wonder everybody calls him Lord Freddie. I'm afraid
+I'm a disappointed woman, Lady Willow. I suppose the men have retrograded
+since armour went out of fashion; they had to be big and strong then to
+carry so much hardware. Of course it makes a difference to a man whether
+his tailor cuts him a suit out of broadcloth or out of sheet iron. Yes,
+I begin to suspect that I've come to England several centuries too late.'
+
+Lady Willow was too much shocked at these frivolous remarks to make any
+reply, so, attempting none, she went to her room to prepare for her trip
+to the City.
+
+Leaving Lady Willow in the hansom, Jennie entered the bank and got the
+white notes, generally alluded to in fiction as 'crisp,' stuffing them
+with greater carelessness than their value warranted into her purse. She
+took from this receptacle of her wealth a bit of paper on which was
+written an address, and this she looked at for some moments before
+leaving the bank. On reaching the hansom, she handed up the slip of paper
+to the driver.
+
+'Do you know where that is?' she asked.
+
+'Yes, miss; it is just round the corner.'
+
+'Well, drive to the opposite side of the street, and stop where I can see
+the door of No. 23.'
+
+'Very good, miss.'
+
+Arriving nearly opposite No. 23, the driver pulled up. Jennie looked
+across at the doorway where many hurrying men were entering and leaving.
+It was a large building evidently filled with offices; the girl drew a
+deep breath, but made no motion to leave the hansom.
+
+'Have you business here, too?' asked Lady Willow, to whom the City was an
+unknown land, the rush and noise of which were unpleasantly bewildering.
+
+'No,' said Jennie, with a doleful note in her voice, 'this is not
+business; it is pleasure. I want to sit here for a few minutes and
+think.'
+
+'But, my dear child,' expostulated Lady Willow, 'you can't think in this
+babel; besides, the police will not allow the hansom to stand here unless
+one of us is shopping, or has business in an office.'
+
+'Then, dear Lady Willow, do go shopping for ten minutes; I saw some
+lovely shops just down the street. Here are five pounds, and if you see
+anything that I ought to have, buy it for me. One must think now and
+then, you know. Our thoughts are like the letters we receive; we need to
+sort them out periodically, and discard those that we don't wish to keep.
+I want to rummage over my thoughts and see whether some of them are to be
+abandoned or not.'
+
+When Lady Willow left her, Jennie sat with her chin in her hands and her
+elbows on her knees gazing across at No. 23. The faces of none who went
+in or came out were familiar to her. Frequently glances were cast at her
+by passers-by, but she paid no heed to the crowd, nor to the fleeting
+admiration her pretty face aroused in many a flinty stockbroking breast,
+if, indeed, she was conscious of the attention she received. She awoke
+from her reverie when Lady Willow stepped into the hansom.
+
+'What, back already?' she cried.
+
+'I have been away for a quarter of an hour,' said the elder woman
+reproachfully. 'Besides, the money is all spent, and here are the
+parcels.'
+
+'Money doesn't go far in the City, does it?' said Jennie.
+
+'Why, what's the matter with you, my dear?' asked the elder woman; 'your
+voice sounds as if you had been crying.'
+
+'Nonsense! What an idea! This street reminds me so of Broadway that I
+have become quite homesick, that's all. I think I'll go back to New
+York.'
+
+'Have you met somebody from over there?'
+
+'No, no. I've seen no one I knew.'
+
+'Did you expect to?'
+
+'Perhaps.'
+
+'I didn't know you had any friends in the City.'
+
+'I haven't. He's an enemy.'
+
+'Really? An enemy who was once a friend?'
+
+'Yes. Why do you ask so many questions?'
+
+Lady Willow took the girl's hand, and said soothingly:
+
+'I am sorry there was a misunderstanding.'
+
+'So am I,' agreed Jennie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered the office of his friend next morning, Wentworth
+said to him:
+
+'Well, what luck with the Longworths?'
+
+'No luck at all,' was the answer; 'the young man seemed to have forgotten
+all about our conversation on board the steamer, and the old gentleman
+takes no interest in the matter.'
+
+Wentworth hemmed and tapped on the desk with the end of his lead pencil.
+
+'I never counted much on that young fellow,' he said at last. 'What
+appeared to be his reason?'
+
+'I don't know exactly. He didn't give any reason. He merely said that he
+would have nothing to do with it, after having got me to tell him what
+our option on the mine was.'
+
+'Why did you tell him that?'
+
+'Well, it seemed, after I had talked to him a little, that there was some
+hope of his going in with us. I told him point-blank that I didn't care
+to say at what figure we had the option unless he was going in with us.
+He said of course he couldn't consider the matter at all unless he knew
+to what he was committed; and so I told him.'
+
+'And what excuse did he make for not joining us?'
+
+'Oh, he merely said he thought he would have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Now, what do you imagine his object was in pumping you if he had no
+intention of taking an interest in the mine?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. I do not understand that sort of man at all. In
+fact, I feel rather relieved he is going to have nothing to do with it. I
+distrust him.'
+
+'That's all very well, John, you are prejudiced against him; but you know
+the name of Longworth would have a very great effect upon the minds of
+other City men. If we can get the Longworths into this, even for a small
+amount, I am certain that we shall have very little trouble in floating
+the company.'
+
+'Well, all I can say is, my mission to the Longworths was a failure. Have
+you looked over the papers?'
+
+'Oh yes, and that reminds me. The point on which the whole scheme turns
+is the availability of the mineral for the making of china, isn't it?'
+
+'That is so.'
+
+'Well, look at this letter; it came this morning.'
+
+He tossed the letter over to Kenyon, who read it, and then asked:
+
+'Who's Adam Brand? He doesn't know what he is talking about.'
+
+'Ah, but the trouble is that he does. No man in England better, I should
+imagine. He is the manager and part owner of the big Scranton china
+works. I went to see Melville of that company yesterday. He could tell
+me nothing about the mineral, but kept the specimen I gave him, and told
+me he would show it to the manager when he came in. Brand is the manager
+of the works, and if anybody knows the value of the mineral, he ought to
+be the man.'
+
+'Nevertheless,' said Kenyon, 'he is mistaken.'
+
+'That is just the point of the whole matter--is he? The mineral is either
+valueless, as he says, or he is telling a deliberate lie for some
+particular purpose; and I can't see, for the life of me, why a stranger
+should not only tell a falsehood, but write it on paper. Now, John, what
+do you know about china manufacture?'
+
+'I know very little indeed about it.'
+
+'Very well, then, how can you put your knowledge against this man's, who
+is a practical manufacturer?'
+
+Kenyon looked at Wentworth, who was evidently not feeling in the best
+of humours.
+
+'Do you mean to say, George, that I do not know what I am talking about
+when I tell you that this mineral is valuable for a certain purpose?'
+
+'Well, you have just admitted that you know nothing about the china
+trade.'
+
+'Not "nothing," George--I know something about it; but what I do
+understand is the value of minerals. The reason I know anything at all
+about china manufacture is simply because I learned that this mineral is
+one of the most important components of china.'
+
+'Then why did that man write such a letter?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. As you saw the man, you can judge better than I
+whether he would tell a deliberate falsehood, or whether he was merely
+ignorant.'
+
+'I didn't see Brand at all; I saw Melville. Melville was to submit this
+mineral to Brand, and let me know what he thought about it. Of course,
+everything depends upon the value of it in the china trade.'
+
+'Of course.'
+
+'Very well then, I took the only way that was open to me to find out what
+practical men say about it. If they say they will have nothing to do with
+it, then we might as well give up our mining scheme and send back our
+option to Mr. Von Brent.'
+
+Kenyon read the letter again, and pondered deeply over it.
+
+'You see, of course,' said George once more, 'everything hinges on that,
+don't you?'
+
+'I certainly see that.'
+
+'Then, what have you to say?'
+
+'I have to say this--that I shall have to take a trip among the china
+works of Great Britain. I think it would be a good plan if you were to
+write to the different manufacturers in the United States and find out
+how much they use of it. There is no necessity for sending the mineral.
+They have to use that, and nothing else will do. Find out from them, if
+you can, how much of it they need, what price they will pay for pure
+material, and what they pay for the impure material they use now.'
+
+'How do you know, John, that there are not a dozen mines with that
+material in them?'
+
+'How do I know? Well, if you want to impugn my knowledge of mineralogy, I
+wish you would do so straight out. I either know my business or I do not.
+If you think I do not, then leave this matter entirely alone. I tell you
+that what I say about this mineral is true. What I say about its scarcity
+is true. There are no other mines with mineral so pure as this.'
+
+'I am perfectly satisfied when you say that, but you must remember those
+who are going to put their money in this company will not be satisfied.
+They must have the facts and figures down before them, and they are not
+going to take either your word or mine as to the value of the mineral.
+Your proposal about seeing the different manufactories is good. I would
+act upon it at once, if I were you. We must have the opinions of
+practical men set forth clearly before we can make a move in the matter.
+Now, how much of this mineral have you got?'
+
+'Only the few lumps I took with me in my portmanteau. The barrel full of
+it which we got at Burntpine has not arrived yet. I suppose it came by
+slow steamer and is probably on the ocean still.'
+
+'Very good. Take what specimens you have, go to the North, and see those
+manufacturers. Get, in some way or another, whether from the principals
+or from the subordinates, the price they pay for it, and the cost of
+removing the adulteration from the stuff they employ now; because that is
+really the material we come into competition with. It is not with their
+first raw material, but with their material as cleared from the
+deleterious foreign substances, that we have to deal. Find out exactly
+what it costs to do this purifying, and then, when you get your facts and
+figures, I will arrange them for you in the best order. Meanwhile, as you
+suggest, I will learn what manufactories there are in the States. Nothing
+can be done except that until you come back, and, if I were you, I should
+leave at once.'
+
+'I am quite ready. I don't want to lose any further time.'
+
+So John Kenyon departed, and was soon on his way to the North, with a
+list of china manufactories in his note-book.
+
+That afternoon Wentworth got the letters off by the American mail, and he
+felt that they were doing business as rapidly as could be expected. Next
+morning there was a letter for John Kenyon addressed to the care of
+Wentworth, and by a later mail there came a letter to Wentworth himself
+from John, who had reached his first district and had had an interview
+already with the manager of the works. He found the mineral was all he
+had expected, and they would be glad to take a certain quantity each year
+at a specified rate. This letter Wentworth filed away with a smile of
+satisfaction, and then he began again to wonder why Adam Brand,
+representing such a well-known manufactory, should have written a
+deliberate falsehood. Before he had time to fathom this mystery, the
+office-boy announced that a gentleman wished to see him, and handed
+Wentworth a card which bore the name of William Longworth. Wentworth
+arched his eyebrows as he looked at it.
+
+'Ask the gentleman to step in, please,' he said; and the gentleman
+stepped in.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Wentworth? I suppose you remember me, although I did
+not see much of you on board the steamer.'
+
+'I remember you perfectly,' replied Wentworth. 'Won't you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you. I did not know where to find Mr. Kenyon, and so, being aware
+that both of you were interested in this mica-mine, I called to see you
+with reference to it.'
+
+'Indeed! I understood Mr. Kenyon to say that he had called upon you, and
+that you had decided to have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'I hardly think he was justified in saying anything quite so definite. I
+got from him such particulars as he cared to give. He is not a very
+communicative man at the best, but he told me something about it, and I
+have been thinking over his proposal. I have now concluded to help you in
+this matter, if you care to have my aid. Perhaps, however, things have
+got to such a stage that you do not wish any assistance?'
+
+'On the contrary, we have done very little. Mr. Kenyon is just now among
+the china manufactories in the North, finding out what demand there will
+be in England for this mineral.'
+
+'Ah, I see. Have you had reports from him yet?'
+
+'Nothing further than a letter this morning, which is very satisfactory.'
+
+'There is no question, then, about the mineral being useful in the china
+trade?'
+
+'No question whatever.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that. Now, Mr. Kenyon spoke to me on the steamer of
+going in share and share alike; that is, you taking a third, he taking a
+third, and I taking a third. We did not go very minutely into
+particulars, but I suppose we each share the expense in the same way--the
+preliminary expenses, I mean?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'that would be the arrangement, I imagine.'
+
+'Well, have you the authority to deal with me in the matter, or would it
+be better for me to wait until Kenyon comes back?'
+
+'We can settle everything here and now.'
+
+'Very good. Would you have any objection to my seeing the papers that
+relate to the mine? I should like to get the figures of the output as
+nearly as possible, and any other particulars you may have that would
+enable me to estimate the value of the property. Also I should like to
+see a copy of the option, or the original document by which you hold
+the mine.'
+
+'Certainly; I shall be very pleased to give you all the information in
+my power.' Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote for a few moments,
+then blotted the paper he had been writing, and handed it to Longworth.
+'You have no objection, before this is done, to signing this document,
+have you?'
+
+Longworth adjusted his one eyeglass and looked at the paper, which read:
+'I hereby agree to do my best to form a limited liability company for the
+purpose of taking over the Ottawa Mica-mine. I agree to pay my share of
+the expenses, and to accept one-third of the profits.'
+
+'No, I don't object to sign this, though I think it should be a little
+more definite. I think it should state that the liability I incur is
+to be one-third of the whole preliminary expenses, the other
+two-thirds to be paid by Kenyon and yourself; and that, in return, I
+am to get one-third of the profits, the other two-thirds going to
+yourself and Kenyon. I think it should also state the amount of the
+capital of the new company; two hundred thousand pounds was suggested,
+if I remember rightly.'
+
+'Very well,' answered Wentworth; 'I will rewrite that in accordance with
+your wishes.'
+
+This he did, and Longworth, again adjusting his eyeglass, read it.
+
+'Now,' he said, 'as we are so formal about the matter, perhaps it would
+be as well for you to give me a note which I can keep, setting forth
+these same particulars.'
+
+'Undoubtedly,' said Wentworth, 'I shall do that. Probably it would be
+better for you to write the document to suit your own views, and I
+will sign it.'
+
+'Oh no, not at all. Write whatever is embodied there, so that you will
+have one paper and I the other.'
+
+This was done.
+
+'Now then,' said Longworth, 'when does your option run out?'
+
+Wentworth named the date.
+
+'Who is the owner of the mine?'
+
+'It is owned by the Austrian Mining Company, headquarters at Vienna, and
+the option is signed by a Mr. Von Brent, of Ottawa, who is manager of the
+mine and one of the owners.'
+
+'You are perfectly certain that he has every right to sell the mine?'
+
+'Yes; Mr. Kenyon's lawyer saw to that while he was in Ottawa.'
+
+'And you are sure, also, that your option is a thoroughly legal
+instrument?'
+
+'We are sure of that.'
+
+'Has it been examined by a London solicitor?'
+
+'It has been submitted to a Canadian lawyer. The bargain was made in
+Canada, and it will have to be carried out in Canada, under the laws
+of Canada.'
+
+'Still, don't you think it would be just as well to get the opinion of an
+English lawyer on it?'
+
+'I think that would be an unnecessary expense. However, if you wish to
+have that done, we will do it.'
+
+'Yes; I think we shall need to have the opinion of a good lawyer upon it
+before we submit it to the stockholders.'
+
+'Very well, I will have it done. Is there anyone whom you wish to give an
+opinion on it?'
+
+'Oh, it is a matter of indifference to me; your own solicitor would do as
+well as anyone else. Perhaps, however, it will be better to have a legal
+adviser for the Mica Mining Company, Limited--we shall have to have one
+as we go on--and it might be as well to submit the document to whomever
+we are going to place in that position. It will not increase the legal
+expenses at all, or at least by only a very trifling amount. Have you
+anyone to suggest?'
+
+'I have not thought about the matter,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Suppose you let me look up a firm who will answer our purpose? My uncle
+is sure to know the right men, and that will be something towards my
+share of forming the company.'
+
+'Very good,' said Wentworth; 'that will be satisfactory to me.'
+
+'Now, there is a good deal to be done in the forming of a company, and it
+is going to take three men a good deal of time, besides some expense.
+What do you say to letting me look up offices?'
+
+'Do you think it is necessary to have offices?'
+
+'Oh, certainly. A great deal depends, in this sort of thing, on
+appearances. We shall need to get offices in a good locality.'
+
+'To tell the truth, Mr. Longworth, Kenyon and I have not very much money,
+and we do not want to enter into any expense that is needless.'
+
+'My dear sir, it is not needless. This business is one of those things
+into which, if you go boldly, you win; while if you go gingerly, on the
+economical plan, you lose everything. Of course, if there is to be a
+scarcity of cash, I shall have nothing to do with the scheme, because I
+know how these half-economically worked affairs turn out. I have seen too
+much of them. We are making a strike for sixty thousand pounds each. That
+is a sum worth risking something for, and, if you will believe me, you
+will not get it unless you venture something for it.'
+
+'I suppose that is true.'
+
+'Yes, it is very true. Of course I've had more experience in matters of
+this kind than either of you, and I know we shall have to get good
+offices, with a certain prosperous look about them. People are very much
+influenced by appearances. Now, if you like, I will see to getting the
+offices and to engaging a solicitor. Every step must be taken under legal
+advice, otherwise we may get into a very bad tangle and spend a great
+deal more money in the end.'
+
+'Very well,' said Wentworth. 'Is there anything else you can suggest?'
+
+'Not just at present; nothing need be done until Kenyon comes back, and
+then we can have a meeting to see what is the best way to proceed.'
+
+Longworth then looked over the papers, took a note of some things
+mentioned in the option, and finally said:
+
+'I wish you would get these papers copied for me, I suppose you have
+someone in the office who can do it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then just have duplicates made of each of them. Good-morning, Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+Wentworth mused for a few moments over the unexpected turn affairs had
+taken. He was very glad to get the assistance of Longworth; the name
+itself was a tower of strength in the City. Then, Kenyon's letter from
+the North was encouraging. Thinking of the letter brought the writer of
+it to his mind, so he took a telegraph-form from his desk, and wrote a
+message to the address given on the letter.
+
+'Everything right. Longworth has joined us, and signed papers to assist
+in forming company.'
+
+'There,' he said, as he sent the boy out with the message, 'that will
+cheer up old John when he gets it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+When John Kenyon returned from the North and entered the office of his
+friend Wentworth, he found that gentleman and young Longworth talking in
+the outer room.
+
+'There's a letter for you on my desk,' said Wentworth, after shaking
+hands with him. 'I'll be there in a minute.'
+
+Kenyon entered the room and found the letter. Then he did a very
+unbusinesslike thing. He pressed the writing to his lips and placed the
+letter in his pocket-book. This act deserves mention because it is an
+unusual thing in the City. As a general rule, City men do not press
+business communications to their lips, and the letter John had received
+was entirely a business communication, relating only to the mine, and to
+William Longworth's proposed connection with it. He wondered whether he
+should write an answer to it or not.
+
+He sat down at Wentworth's desk, and came upon an obstacle at the very
+beginning. He did not know how to address the young woman. Whether to say
+'My dear Miss Longworth,' or 'My dear madam,' or whether to use the
+adjective 'dear' at all, was a puzzle to him; and over this he was
+meditating when Wentworth came bustling in.
+
+'Well,' said the latter, as John tore into small pieces a sheet of
+notepaper and threw the bits into the waste-basket, 'how have you got on?
+Your letters were very short indeed, but rather to the point. You seem to
+have succeeded.'
+
+'Yes, I have succeeded very well. I have got all the figures and prices
+and everything else that it is necessary to have. I succeeded with
+everybody except Brand, who wrote that letter to you. I cannot make him
+out at all. He would give me no information, and he managed to prevent
+everyone else in his works from giving me any. He pooh-poohed the
+scheme--in fact, wouldn't listen to it. He said it was not usual for men
+to give away information regarding their business, and in that, of
+course, he was perfectly justified; but when I tried to argue with him as
+to whether this mineral was used in his manufactory or not, he would not
+listen. I asked him what he used in place of it, but he would not tell.
+All in all, he is a most extraordinary man, and I confess I do not
+understand him.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter about him in the least. I was speaking with
+Longworth just now about that curious letter of his, and he agrees with
+me that it makes no difference. He says, what is quite true, that in
+every business you find some man with whom it is difficult to deal.'
+
+'Yes, that is so; but, still, he either uses this substance or he does
+not. I can understand a man who says, "We have no need for that,
+because we use another material." But that is one of the things Brand
+does not say.'
+
+'Well, it is not worth while talking about him. By the way, you have all
+your figures and notes with you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, I have everything.'
+
+'Very well. Leave them with me, and I will get them into some sort of
+shape. Longworth says we shall have to have everything printed relating
+to this--your statements and all.'
+
+'That will cost a great deal of money, will it not?'
+
+'Oh, not very much. It is necessary, it seems. We must have printed
+matter to give to those who make application for information. It would be
+impossible to explain personally to everybody who inquires, and to show
+them these documents.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose so.'
+
+'Longworth was just now speaking to me about offices he has seen, and he
+is anxious to secure them at once. He is attending to that matter.'
+
+'Do you think we need an office? Why could not the business be transacted
+here; or perhaps a room might be had on this floor that would do
+perfectly well; then we should be close together, and able to communicate
+when necessary.'
+
+'Longworth seems to think differently. He says you must impress the
+public, and so he is going in for fine offices.'
+
+'Yes, but who is to pay for them?'
+
+'Why, we must, of course--you and Longworth and myself.'
+
+'Have you the money?'
+
+'I have a certain amount. I think we shall have enough to see it through,
+and if not, we can easily get it, and settle up when we finish the
+business.'
+
+'Well, you know I have no money to spare.'
+
+'Oh, I know that well enough. Perhaps Longworth will see us through,
+for, as he says, this sort of thing can be spoilt by niggardliness. He
+has known, and so have I, many a business go to pieces because of
+false economy.'
+
+'But it seems to me all this is needless expense. We only want to get a
+few moneyed men interested in our project, and if they are sensible men,
+they will look to the probability of getting a good dividend, not at
+fine offices.'
+
+'Very well, John; you get the men, and I shall be satisfied. I am sure I
+am as anxious to do this cheaply as you are. If you think you can go out
+and interest a dozen or twenty-four men in the City, and persuade them
+to go in for our mine, I will cry "Halt!" on our part until you do it.
+Will you try that?'
+
+Kenyon pondered for a few minutes, and then said: 'I suppose that would
+be rather a difficult thing to do.'
+
+'Yes, that is the way it strikes me. I do not know to whom I could go.
+Longworth is a good man, and we have gone to him. Now it seems to me,
+having got his assistance, the least we can do, unless we are prepared to
+produce the men ourselves forthwith, is to act as he wishes.'
+
+'Yes, I quite appreciate that, and I also grasp the fact that too close
+economy is not the best thing; but, on the other hand, George, how are we
+to perform our part with Longworth? His ideas of economy and yours may be
+vastly different. What is a mere trifle to him would bankrupt us!'
+
+'I know that. Well, he is coming here this afternoon at three. Suppose
+you manage to be in then, and talk with him. Meanwhile, I will go over
+the papers and get them into tabulated form.'
+
+'Very well; I shall be here at three o'clock.'
+
+It will hardly be credited that a business man like John Kenyon spent
+most of the time between that hour and three o'clock trying to compose a
+business letter in answer to the business communication he had received
+that morning. Yet such was the astonishing fact, and it showed, perhaps
+more than anything else, how utterly unfit Mr. John Kenyon was to join in
+a commercial undertaking in a city of hard-headed people. At last,
+however, the letter was posted, and Kenyon hurried away to be in time for
+his three-o'clock appointment. He found Wentworth and young Mr. Longworth
+together, the latter looking more like a young man from the West End
+than a typical City business man. His monocle was in his eye, and it
+shone on Kenyon as he entered. It was evident something was troubling
+Wentworth, and it was equally evident that the something, whatever it
+was, was not troubling young Longworth.
+
+'You are late, John,' was Wentworth's greeting.
+
+'A little,' he answered. 'I was detained.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, and Wentworth appeared to be waiting
+for Longworth to speak. At last Longworth said:
+
+'I have succeeded in getting very nice offices indeed, and I was telling
+Mr. Wentworth about them. You see, it is not very easy to engage offices
+in a good part of the City by the week. They do not care to let them in
+that way, because, while a weekly tenant is occupying them, somebody
+else, who wants them for a longer time, might have to be sent away.'
+
+'Yes,' said Kenyon in a non-committal manner.
+
+'Well, I have got just the offices we need, and have now set the men at
+putting gilt lettering on the windows. I have taken the offices in the
+name of "The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited," which I shall have
+on the plate-glass windows in a very short time. Now, Mr. Wentworth here
+seems to think the offices rather expensive. I have told him before what
+my ideas are in the matter of expense. Perhaps, before anything more is
+said on the subject, we ought to go and look at the rooms.'
+
+'How much are they a week?' asked Kenyon.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth did not answer, because at that moment his monocle
+fell out of its place and had to be adjusted again; but Wentworth jerked
+out the two words, 'Thirty pounds.'
+
+'A _week_?' cried John.
+
+'Yes,' said Longworth, after having succeeded in replacing the round bit
+of glass--'yes; Mr. Wentworth seems to think that is rather high, but I
+defy him to get as fine offices in the City for anything less in price.
+It is merely ten pounds a week for each of us. However, before you can
+judge of their dearness or cheapness, you must see them. If you ask me, I
+think they are a bargain.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon. 'Have you the time, George?'
+
+Wentworth, without answering, shoved the papers into his desk and closed
+it. The three young men went out together, and after a short walk came to
+large plate-glass windows, where a man on a ladder was chalking the words
+'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited,' in a semicircle.
+
+'You see,' said Longworth, 'this is one of the very best situations in
+the City. As I said before, I doubt if you could get anything like it for
+the price.'
+
+They could not deny the excellence of the position, or that the
+plate-glass looked very imposing and the gilt letters exceedingly fine;
+but the cost of this running on perhaps for two or three months seemed to
+appal them.
+
+'Come inside,' said young Longworth suavely; 'I am sure you will be
+pleased with the rooms we have. You see,' he said, entering and nodding
+to the carpenters who were at work there, 'this will be the front
+office, where the public is received. Here you have room for an
+accountant or two and your secretary. The back-room, which you see is
+also well lighted, is just the spot for our people to meet. We will get
+in a large long table here, and a number of chairs, and there we
+are--capital directors' room.'
+
+'Does the thirty pounds a week include the furnishing of the place?'
+asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! You surely couldn't expect that? We shall have to put
+in the furniture, of course.'
+
+'And do you intend to put in desks and counter and everything of that
+sort here?'
+
+'Of course. Beside that, we will get in a large safe. There is nothing
+like a ponderous safe, with the name of the company in gilt letters on
+it, for impressing the general public.'
+
+'And how much is the furnishing of this place to cost?'
+
+'Really, I don't know that. The men I have engaged will do it very
+reasonably. They have done work for me before. You don't get it done any
+cheaper by haggling about the price beforehand--I've found that out.'
+
+'I do not see how we are to pay our share of all this,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Nothing easier, my boy; I've arranged all that. I will pay them my third
+in cash when it is finished, and, they have agreed to wait three months
+for the remainder. By that time you will have sixty thousand pounds each,
+and a little bill like this will be nothing to you.'
+
+Kenyon looked grave.
+
+'It's a little like counting your chickens,' he said.
+
+'Ah, they'll hatch all right,' laughed Longworth. And then his eyeglass
+dropped out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+It is never wise to despise an enemy, no matter how humble he may be.
+The mouse liberated the enmeshed lion. Jennie Brewster should have been
+thankful that circumstances, working in her favour, had rendered her
+account of the discoveries she made about the mines unnecessary. She was
+saved the bitterness of acknowledged defeat by the cable despatch that
+awaited her at Queenstown, telling her not to forward her information.
+The letter she received from the editor of the _Argus_ later explained
+the cable message. The _Argus_ had obtained from a different source what
+purported to be an account of the reports on the mines, and this had
+been published. If Jennie's contribution corroborated this article, it
+was unnecessary; if it contradicted what had been already published,
+then, of course, it was equally unavailable, for the _Argus_ was a paper
+that never stultified itself by acknowledging an error. So the editor
+sent his correspondent a short cable message to save the expense of a
+long and costly despatch that would have been useless when it reached
+the _Argus_ office.
+
+Instead, however, of being grateful to the stars that fought so well for
+her, Jennie became bitterly resentful against Fleming, and hardly less so
+against Miss Longworth. If it had not been for the meddling politician's
+interference, Wentworth would never have discovered who she was, and the
+whole train of humiliating events that followed would not have taken
+place. She would have parted with Wentworth on a friendly basis, at
+least. She was forced, reluctantly, to admit to herself that she liked
+Wentworth better than any young man she had ever before met; and now that
+there was little chance of seeing him again, her regret had become more
+and more poignant as time went on. He had told her all his hopes about
+the mica-mine before their unfortunate disaster, and had taken her into
+his confidence in a way, she felt sure, he had never done with any other
+woman. She saw the earnest look in his honest eyes whenever she closed
+her own, and this look haunted her day and night, alternating with the
+remembrance of that gaze of incredulous reproach with which he regarded
+her when he discovered her mission, which was even harder to bear than
+the recollection of his confidence and esteem.
+
+And the sting of the situation lay in the fact that it had all been so
+useless and unnecessary. She had wounded her friend and humiliated
+herself all for nothing! The rapid changes that had taken place in the
+newspaper office since she left, had rendered her sacrifices futile, and
+while she had buoyed herself up on shipboard by holding that she was
+merely doing her duty to her employers, even that consolation had been
+made naught by the editor's letter.
+
+Thus it ever is in that kaleidoscopic, gigantic and fascinating lottery,
+the modern press. The sensation for which an editor to-day would sell his
+soul, is to-morrow worthless. The greatest fool in the office will
+sometimes stumble stupidly upon the most important news of the day, while
+the cleverest reporter may be baffled in his constant fight against time,
+for the paper goes to press at a certain hour, and after that, effort is
+useless. The conductor of a great paper is like the driver of a Roman
+chariot; he needs a cool head and a strong arm, with a clear eye that
+peers into the future, and that pays little heed to the victims of the
+whirling scythe-blades at the hub. He may overturn a Government or be
+himself thrown, by an unexpected jolt, under the wheels. The fiery steeds
+never stop, and when one drops the reins, another grasps them, to be in
+turn lost and forgotten in the mad race, wherein never a glance is cast
+to the rear. The best brains in the country are called into requisition,
+squeezed, and flung aside. With a lavish but indiscriminating hand are
+thrown broadcast fame and dishonour, riches and disaster. Unbribable in
+the ordinary sense of the word, the press will, for the accumulation of
+the smallest coins of the realm, exaggerate a cholera scare and paralyze
+the business of a nation; then it will turn on a corrupt Government and
+rend it, although millions might be made by taking another course. It is
+the terror of scoundrels and the despair of honest men.
+
+Jennie Brewster, in the midst of her unavailing regrets, clenched her
+little fist when she thought of Fleming. It is both customary and
+consoling to place the blame on other shoulders than our own. Human
+nature is such an erring quantity, that usually we can find a scapegoat
+among our fellow-beings, who can be made responsible for any misdeeds or
+failings which are so much a part of ourselves that they escape
+recognition. If Fleming had only attended his own business, as a man
+should, Wentworth would never have known that Jennie wrote for the
+_Argus_, and Jennie might have had a friend in London who would have
+added that spice of interest to her visit which usually accompanies the
+friendship of an agreeable young man for a girl so pretty and
+fascinating.
+
+Fleming put up at the hotel that Jennie had at first selected, and now
+and then she met him in the extensive halls of the great building; but
+she invariably passed him with the dignity of an offended queen, although
+the unfortunate man always took off his hat, and once or twice paused as
+if about to speak with her.
+
+On the last day of her stay at the hotel, she met Fleming oftener than
+ever before; but it did not occur to her that the unhappy politician was
+lying in wait for her, never being able to muster up enough courage to
+address her when his opportunity came. At last a note was brought up to
+the room she occupied, from Fleming, in which he said that he would like
+to have a few moments' conversation with her, and would wait for a reply.
+
+'Tell him there is no reply,' said the girl to the messenger.
+
+It is sometimes well to know the point of view, even of an enemy, but
+Jenny was too angry with him to think of that. However, a politician, to
+be successful, must not be easily rebuffed, and as a rule he is not.
+
+Fleming, when he got the curt reply to his note, threw away his cigar,
+put on his hat, took the lift, passed through the long corridor, and
+knocked at Jennie's door.
+
+The girl's amazement at seeing her enemy there was so great that the
+obvious act of shutting the door in his face did not occur to her until
+it was too late, and Fleming had carelessly placed his large foot in the
+way of its closing.
+
+'How dare you come here, when I refused to see you?' she cried, with her
+eyes ablaze.
+
+'Oh, I understood the messenger to say I might come,' replied the
+untruthful politician. 'You see, it's not a personal matter, but the very
+biggest sensation that ever went under the ocean on a cable, and I
+thought--Well, you know, I felt I had done you--quite unintentionally--a
+mean trick on board the _Caloric_ and this was kind of to make up for it,
+don't you know.
+
+'You can never repair what you have done.'
+
+'Oh yes, I can, Jennie.'
+
+'I shall be obliged to you if you remember that my name is Miss
+Brewster,' said the girl, drawing herself up; but Fleming noticed, with
+relief, that since he had mentioned the sensation she had made no motion
+to close the door, while the eagerness of the newspaper woman was
+gradually replacing the anger with which she had at first regarded him.
+
+'All right, Miss Brewster. I meant no disrespect, you know; and,
+honestly, I would rather give you a big item than anybody else.'
+
+'Oh, you're very honest--I know that.'
+
+'Well, I am, you know, Jen--I mean Miss Brewster; although I tell you
+it don't pay in politics any more than in the newspaper business.'
+
+'If you only came to speak like that of the newspapers, I don't care to
+listen to you.'
+
+'Wait a minute. I don't blame you for being angry----'
+
+'Thank you.'
+
+'But, all the same, if you let this item get away, you'll be sorry. I'm
+giving you the straight tip. I could get more gold than you ever saw for
+giving this snap away, yet here you're treating me as if I were----'
+
+'A New York politician. Why do you come to me with this valuable piece
+of information? Just because you have a great regard for me, I suppose?'
+
+'That's right. That's it exactly.'
+
+'I thought so. Very well. There is a parlour on this floor where we can
+talk without being interrupted. Come with me.'
+
+Jennie closed the door and walked down the passage, followed by Fleming,
+who smiled with satisfaction at his own tact and shrewdness, as, indeed,
+he had every right to do.
+
+In the deserted sitting-room was a writing-table, and Jennie sat down
+beside it, motioning Fleming to a chair opposite her.
+
+'Now,' she said, drawing some paper towards her, and taking up a pen,
+'what is this important bit of news?'
+
+'Well, before we begin,' replied Fleming, 'I would like to tell you why I
+interfered on shipboard and let that Englishman know who you were.'
+
+'Never mind that. Better let it rest.' There was a flash of anger in the
+girl's eye, but, in spite of it, Fleming continued. He was a persistent
+man.
+
+'But it has some bearing on what I'm going to tell you. When I saw you on
+board the _Caloric_, my heart went down into my boots. I thought the game
+was up, and that you were after me. I was bound to find out whether the
+_Argus_ knew anything of my trip or not, and whether it had put you on my
+track. Only five men in New York knew of my journey across, and as a good
+deal depended on secrecy, I had to find out in some way whether you were
+there for the purpose of--well, you know. So I spoke to the Englishman,
+and raised a hornets' nest about my ears; but I soon saw you had no
+suspicion of what I was engaged in, otherwise I would have had to
+telegraph to certain persons then in London, and scatter them.'
+
+'Dear me! And what villainy were you concocting? Counterfeiting?'
+
+'No; politics. Just as bad, I suppose you think. Now, do you know where
+Crupper is?'
+
+'The Boss of New York? I heard before I left that he was at Carlsbad for
+his health.'
+
+'He was there,' said Fleming mysteriously; 'but now----'
+
+The politician solemnly pointed downwards with his forefinger.
+
+'What! Dead?' cried Jennie, the ominous motion of Fleming's finger
+naturally suggesting what all good people believed to be the arch-thief's
+ultimate destination.
+
+'No,' said Fleming, laughing; 'he's in this hotel.'
+
+'Oh!'
+
+'Yes, and Senator Smollet, leader of the Conscientious Party, is here
+too, although you don't meet them in the halls as often as you do me.
+These good men supposed to be political opponents, are lying low and
+saying nothing.'
+
+'I see. And they've had a conference.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, it's like this.' Fleming pulled a sheet of paper towards
+him, and drew on it an oval. 'That's New York. We'll call it a
+pumpkin-pie, if you like, the material of which it is composed being
+typical of the heads of its conscientious citizens. Or a pigeon-pie,
+perhaps, for the New Yorker is made to be plucked. Well, look here.'
+Fleming drew from a point in the centre several radiating lines. 'That's
+what Crupper and Smollet are doing in London. They're dividing the pie
+between the two parties.'
+
+'That's very interesting, but how are they going to deliver the pieces?'
+
+'Simple as shelling peas. You see, our great pull is the conscientious
+citizen--the voter who wants to vote right, and for a good man. If it
+weren't for the good men as candidates and the good men as voters, New
+York politics would be a pretty uncertain game. You see, the so-called
+respectable element in both parties is our only hope. Each believes in
+his party, thinks his crowd is better than the other fellow's, so all you
+have to do is to nominate an honest man to represent each party, and then
+that divides what they call the reputable vote, and we real politicians
+get our man in between the two. That's all there is in New York politics.
+Well, Senator Smollet threatened not to put up a good man on the
+conscientious ticket, and that would have turned the whole unbribable
+vote of both parties against us, so we had to make a deal with him, and
+throw in the next Presidential election. Crupper's no hog; he knows when
+he's had plenty, and New York's good enough for him. He don't care who
+gets the Presidency.'
+
+'And this conference has been held?'
+
+'That's right. It took place in this hotel.'
+
+'The bargain was made, I suppose?'
+
+'It was. The pie was divided.'
+
+'And you didn't get a slice?'
+
+'Oh, I beg your pardon, I did!'
+
+'Then, why do you come to me and tell me all this--if it's true?'
+
+Honest indignation shone in Fleming's face.
+
+'_If_ it's true? Of course it's true. Why do I come to you? Because I
+want to be friendly with you, that's why.'
+
+Jennie, nibbling the end of her pen, looked thoughtfully across at him
+for a few moments, then slowly shook her head.
+
+'If you get me to believe that, Mr. Fleming, I'll not cable a word. No, I
+must have an adequate motive, for I won't cable anything I don't believe
+to be absolutely true.'
+
+'I assure you, Jennie----'
+
+'Wait a moment. You say you are promised your share in the new deal, but
+it is not as big a slice as what you have now. It stands to reason that,
+if Crupper is to divide with Smollet's rascals, each of Crupper's rascals
+must content himself with a smaller piece. The greater the number of
+thieves, the smaller each portion of booty. You didn't see that when you
+left New York, and therefore you were afraid of publicity. You see it
+now, and you want a sensational article published, so that Senator
+Smollet will be forced to deny it, or further arouse the suspicions of
+the honest men in his party. In either case publicity will nullify the
+results of the deal, and you will hold the share you have. As you didn't
+know any of the regular London representatives of the New York papers,
+you couldn't trust them not to tell on you, and so you came to me. Now
+that I see a good substantial selfish motive for your action, I am ready
+to believe you.'
+
+An expression of dismay at first overspread the countenance of the
+politician, but this gave way to a look of undisguised admiration as the
+girl went on.
+
+'By Jove, Jennie!' he cried, bringing his fist down on the table when she
+had finished; 'you're wasted in the newspaper business; you ought to be a
+politician! Say, girl, if you marry me, I'll be President of the United
+States yet.'
+
+'Oh no, you wouldn't,' said Jennie, quite unabashed by his handsome, if
+excited, proposal. 'No corrupt New York politician will ever be President
+of the United States. You have the great honest bulk of the people to
+deal with there, and I'm Democrat enough to believe in them when it comes
+to big issues, however much you may befog them in small; you can't fool
+all people for all time, Mr. Fleming, as a man who was not in little
+politics once said. Every now and then the awakened people will get up
+and smash you.'
+
+Fleming laughed boisterously.
+
+'That's just it,' he said. 'It's every now and then. If they did it every
+year I would have to quit politics. But will you send the particulars of
+this meeting to the _Argus_ without giving me away?'
+
+'Yes, I recognise its importance. Now, I want you to give me every
+detail--the number of the room they met in, the exact hour, and all that.
+What I like to get in a report of a secret meeting is absolute accuracy
+in small matters, so that those who were there will know it is not
+guesswork. That always takes the backbone out of future denials. I'll
+mention your name----'
+
+'Bless my soul, don't do that!'
+
+'I must say you were present.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Why? Dear me! you can't be so stupid as not to see that, if your name
+is left out, suspicion will at once point to you as the divulger?'
+
+'Yes I suppose that is so.'
+
+'And this man is a ruler in one of the greatest cities in the world! Go
+on, Mr. Fleming; who else was there besides Crupper, Smollet, and
+yourself?'
+
+The account--two columns and a half--was a bombshell in political New
+York the morning it appeared in the _Argus_. Senator Smollet cabled from
+Paris that there wasn't a word of truth in it, that he wasn't in London
+on the date mentioned, and had never seen Crupper there or elsewhere.
+Crupper cabled from Carlsbad that he was ill, and had not been out of
+bed for a month. He would sue the _Argus_ for libel, which, by the way,
+he never did. The reporters flocked to meet Fleming when his steamer
+came in, but of course _he_ knew nothing about it; he had been across
+the ocean solely on private business that had no connection with
+politics. He knew nothing of Crupper's whereabouts, but he knew _one_
+thing, which was that Crupper was too honest and honourable a man to
+traffic with the enemy.
+
+Notwithstanding all these denials, the report bore the marks of truth on
+its face, and everybody believed it, although many pretended not to. The
+division of the spoils aroused the greatest consternation and indignation
+among Crupper's own following, and a deputation went over to see the old
+man.
+
+Meanwhile, the _Argus_, with much dignity of diction, explained that it
+stood for the best interests of the people, and in the people's cause was
+fearless. It defied all and sundry to bring libel suits if they wanted
+to; it was prepared to battle for the people's rights. And its
+circulation went up and up, its many web presses being taxed to their
+utmost in supplying the demand. Thus are the truly good rewarded.
+
+A great newspaper is as lavishly generous as a despotic monarch, to those
+who serve it well, and the cheque which Jennie cashed when Lady Willow
+accompanied her to the City lined her purse with banknotes to a fulness
+that receptacle had never known before.
+
+After a few weeks with Lady Willow, Jennie seemed to tire of the
+frivolities of society, and even of the sedate company of the good lady
+with whom she lived. She announced that she was going to Paris for a week
+or two, but, owing to uncertainty of address, her letters were not to be
+forwarded. She merely took a hand-bag, leaving the rest of her luggage
+with Lady Willow, who was thus sustained by the hope that her paying
+guest would soon return.
+
+Jennie took a hansom to Charing Cross, but instead of departing on the
+Paris express, she hailed a four-wheeler, and, giving a West End address
+to the driver, entered the closed vehicle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+On the big plate-glass windows of the new rooms there soon appeared, in
+gilt letters with black edges, the words, 'Canadian Mica Mining Company,
+Limited: London Offices.' But the workmen who were finishing the
+interior were not so quick as the painters and gilders. The new offices
+took a long time to prepare, and both Kenyon and Wentworth chafed at the
+delay, because Longworth said nothing could be done until the rooms
+were occupied.
+
+'It is like this, Longworth,' said Wentworth to him: 'every moment is of
+value. Time is running on, and we have not for ever in which to form
+this company.'
+
+'And you must remember,' replied young Mr. Longworth, gazing
+reproachfully at him through his glittering monocle, 'that I am equally
+interested in this project with you. It is just as much to my interest to
+save time as it is to yours. You must not worry about the matter, Mr.
+Wentworth; everything is all right. The men are doing a good job for us,
+and it will not be long before their work is completed. As I have told
+you time and again, a great deal depends on the appearance we present to
+the public. We have nearly the best offices in the City. The workmen have
+certainly taken longer than I expected they would, but, you see, they
+have a great deal of work on hand. When we get this started it will not
+take long. I, in the meanwhile, have not been idle. At least half a dozen
+moneyed men are ready to go in with us on this project. The moment the
+offices are finished we will have a meeting of the proposed shareholders.
+If they subscribe sufficiently large amounts--and I think they will--all
+the rest is a mere matter of detail which our solicitors will attend to.
+But if you imagine that you and Mr. Kenyon can manage everything better
+than I am doing, you are perfectly at liberty to go ahead. I am sure I
+have no desire to monopolize all the work. What have _you_ done, for
+instance? What has Mr. Kenyon done?'
+
+'Kenyon, as I think you know, has got all the facts in reference to the
+demand for the mineral, and I have arranged them. We have had everything
+printed as you suggested, and the papers are ready. They were delivered
+at my office to-day.'
+
+'Very well,' answered young Longworth; 'we are getting on. That is so
+much done which will not have to be done over again. Perhaps it will be
+as well to send me some of the printed matter, so that I can give it to
+the men I was speaking of. Meanwhile, don't worry about the offices; they
+will be ready in good time.'
+
+Wentworth and Kenyon visited the new offices time and again, but still
+the work seemed to drag. At last Wentworth said very sharply to the
+foreman:
+
+'Unless this is finished by next Monday, we will have nothing to do with
+it.'
+
+The foreman seemed astonished.
+
+'I understood from Mr. Longworth,' he said, 'from whom we take our
+instructions, that there was no particular hurry about this job.'
+
+'Well, there is a particular hurry. We must be in here by the first of
+next week, and if you have not finished by that time, we shall have to
+come in with it unfinished.'
+
+'In that case,' said the foreman, 'I will do the best I can. I think we
+can finish it this week.'
+
+And finished it was accordingly.
+
+When Kenyon entered his new offices, he found them rather oppressive for
+so modest a man as himself. Wentworth laughed at his doleful expression
+as he viewed the general grandeur of his surroundings.
+
+'What bothers me,' said John, 'is knowing that all this has to be paid
+for.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' answered Wentworth; 'but by the time the debts become due I
+hope we shall have plenty of money.'
+
+'I must confess I do not understand Longworth in this matter. He seems to
+be doing nothing; at least, he has nothing to show for what he has done,
+and he does not appear to realize that time is an object with us; in
+fact, that our company-forming has really become a race against time.'
+
+'Well, we shall see very shortly what he is going to do. I have sent a
+messenger for him to meet us here--he ought to be here now--and we must
+certainly push things. There is no time to lose.'
+
+'Has he said anything to you--he talks more freely with you than he does
+to me--about what the next move is to be?'
+
+'No; he has said nothing.'
+
+'Well, don't you see the situation in which we stand? We are practically
+doing nothing--leaving everything in his hands. Now, if he should tell us
+some fine day that he can have nothing more to do with our project (and I
+believe he is quite capable of it), here we are with our time nearly
+spent, deeply in debt, and nothing done.'
+
+'My dear John, what a brain you have for conjuring up awful
+possibilities! Trust me, Longworth won't act in the way you suggest. It
+would be dishonourable, and he is, so far as I know, an honourable man of
+business. I think you take a certain prejudice against a person, and then
+can see nothing good in anything he does. Longworth told me the other day
+that he had five or six people who are ready to go into this business
+with us, and if such is the case he has certainly done his share.'
+
+'Yes, I admit that. Did he give you their names?'
+
+'No, he did not.'
+
+'The thing that troubles me is our own helplessness. We seem, in some way
+or other, to have been shoved into the background.'
+
+'So far from that being the case,' said Wentworth, 'Longworth told me
+that, if anything suggested itself to us, we were to go ahead with it. He
+asked what you had done and what I had done, and I told him. He seemed
+quite anxious that we should do everything we could, as he is doing.'
+
+'Well, but, don't you see, the situation is this: if we make a move at
+all, we may do something of which he does not approve. Haven't you
+noticed that whenever I suggest anything, or whenever you suggest
+anything, for that matter, he always has something counter to it? And I
+don't like the solicitors he has engaged for this business. They are what
+is known as "shady"; you know that as well as I do.'
+
+'Bless me, John! then suggest something yourself if you have such dark
+suspicions of Longworth. I'm sure I'm willing to do anything you want
+done. Suggest something.'
+
+Before John could make the required suggestion, the messenger Wentworth
+had sent to young Longworth returned.
+
+'His uncle says, sir,' began the messenger, 'that Master William has gone
+to the North, and will not be back for a week.'
+
+'A week!' cried both the young men together.
+
+'Yes, sir, a week was what he said. He left a note to be given to either
+of you if you called. Here is the note, sir.'
+
+Wentworth took the envelope handed to him and tore it open. The contents
+ran thus:
+
+'I have been suddenly called away to the North, and may be gone for a
+week or ten days. I am sorry to be away at this particular juncture, but
+as it is not likely that the men will have the offices finished before I
+come back, no great harm will be done. Meanwhile I shall see several
+gentlemen I have in my mind's eye, men that seldom come to London, who
+will be of great service to us. If you think of anything to forward the
+mica-mine, pray go on with it. You can send any letters for me to my
+uncle, and I shall get them. As there is no hurry in the matter of time,
+however, I should strongly advise that nothing be done until my return,
+when we can all go at the business with a will.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'WILLIAM LONGWORTH.'
+
+When Wentworth had finished reading this letter, the two young men looked
+at each other.
+
+'What do you make of that?' said Kenyon.
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. In the first place, he is gone for a week.'
+
+'Yes; that one thing is certain.'
+
+'Well now, John, one of two things has to be done. We have either to
+trust this Longworth, or we have to go on alone without him. Which is
+it to be?'
+
+'I am sure I don't know,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'But, my dear fellow, we have come to a point when we must decide. You
+are, evidently, suspicious of Longworth. What you say really amounts to
+this: that he, for some reason of his own, which I confess I cannot see
+or understand, desires to delay forming this company until it is too
+late.'
+
+'I didn't say that.'
+
+'You say what practically amounts to that. Either he is honest or he is
+not. Now, we have to decide to-day, and here, whether we are going to
+ignore him and go on with the forming of the company, or work with him.
+Unless you can give some good reason for doing otherwise, I propose to
+work with him. I think it will be very much worse if he leaves us now
+than if he had never gone into it. People will ask why he left.'
+
+'Probably he wouldn't leave, even if you wanted him to do so. He has your
+signature to an agreement, and you have his.'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'I do not see how we can help ourselves.'
+
+'Then I think these suspicions should be dropped, because you cannot work
+with a man whom you suspect of being a rascal.'
+
+'I quite admit of the justice of that, so I shall say nothing more.
+Meanwhile, do you propose to wait until he comes back?'
+
+'I shall write him to-night and ask him what he intends to do. I shall
+tell him, as I have told him before, that time is pressing, and we want
+to know what is being done.'
+
+'Very well,' said John; 'I will wait till you get the answer to your
+letter. In the meantime, I do not see that there is anything to do but
+occupy this gorgeous office as well as I can, and wait to see what
+turns up.'
+
+'That is my own idea. I think, myself, it is rather unfair to suspect
+a man of being a villain when he has really done nothing to show that
+he is one.'
+
+To this John made no answer.
+
+The next day Kenyon occupied the new offices, and set himself to the
+task of getting accustomed to them. The first day a few people dropped
+in, made inquiries about the mine, took some printed matter, and
+generally managed to ask several questions to which Kenyon was unable to
+reply. On the second day a number of newspaper men called--advertising
+canvassers, most of them, who left cards or circulars with Kenyon,
+showing that unless a commercial venture was advertised in their
+particular papers it was certain not to be a success. One very swell
+individual, with a cast of countenance that betokened a frugal,
+money-making, and shrewd race, asked Kenyon for a private interview. He
+said he belonged to the _Financial Field_, the great newspaper of London,
+which was read by every investor both in the City and in the country. All
+he wanted was some particulars of the mine.
+
+Had the company been formed yet?
+
+No, it had not.
+
+When did they intend to go to the public?
+
+That Kenyon could not say.
+
+What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its
+recommendation to investors?
+
+Kenyon said the full particulars would be found in the printed sheet he
+handed him, and with profuse thanks the newspaper man put it in his
+pocket.
+
+How had the mine paid in previous years?
+
+It had paid a small dividend.
+
+On what amount?
+
+That Kenyon was not prepared to answer.
+
+How long had it been in operation?
+
+For several years.
+
+Had it ever been placed on the London market before?
+
+Not so far as Kenyon was aware.
+
+Who was at present interested in the mine?
+
+That Mr. Kenyon did not care to answer, and he further stated, so far as
+giving out advertisements was concerned, he was not yet prepared to do
+any advertising. The visitor, who had taken down these notes, said his
+object was not to get an advertisement, but to obtain information about
+the mine. People could advertise in his paper or not, as they chose. The
+journal was such a well-known medium for reaching investors that everyone
+who knew his business advertised in it as a matter of course, and so they
+kept no canvassers, and made no applications for advertisements.
+
+'The chances are,' said the newspaper man, as he took his leave, 'that
+our editor will write an editorial on this mine, and, in order that there
+may be no inaccuracy, I shall bring it to you to read, and shall be very
+much obliged if you will correct any mistakes.'
+
+'I shall be glad to do so,' returned Kenyon, as the representative of the
+_Financial Field_ took his leave.
+
+The newspaper men were rather hard to please, and to get rid of; but John
+had a visitor on the afternoon of the second day who almost caused his
+wits to desert him. He looked up from his desk as the door opened, and
+was astonished to see the smiling face of Edith Longworth, while behind
+her came the old lady who had been an occupant of the carriage when John
+had taken his drive to the west.
+
+'You did not expect to see me here among the investors who have been
+calling upon you, Mr. Kenyon, did you?'
+
+Kenyon held out his hand, and said:
+
+'I am very pleased indeed to see you, whether you come as an investor or
+not.'
+
+'And so this is your new office?' she cried, looking round. 'How you have
+blossomed out, haven't you? These offices are as fine as any in the
+City.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'they are too fine to suit me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't see why you should not have handsome offices as well as
+anyone else. You have been in my father's place of business, of course.
+But it is not so grand as these rooms.'
+
+'I think that helps to show the absurdity of ours. Your father's house is
+an old-standing one, and this gives us an air of new riches which, I must
+confess, I don't like, especially as we have not the riches.'
+
+'Then, why did you agree to have such offices? I suppose you had
+something to say about them?'
+
+'Very little, I must own. They were engaged while I was in the North, and
+after they had been engaged, of course I did not like to say anything
+against them.'
+
+'Well, and how is the mine getting on? You have not applied to me yet to
+fulfil my offer, which I think was a very fair one.'
+
+'I have not needed to do so,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Ah, then, subscriptions are coming in, are they? Where is the list?'
+
+'We have no list yet. We are waiting for your cousin, who is in the
+North.'
+
+'In the North!' said Edith, with her eyes open wide. 'He is not in the
+North; he is in Paris, and we expect him home to-night.'
+
+'Oh, indeed!' said John, who made no further comment.
+
+'Now, where's your subscription-list? Oh, you told me you have none yet.
+Very well; this sheet of paper will do.' And the young woman drew some
+lines across the paper, heading it, 'The Canadian Mica-mine.' Then
+underneath she wrote the name Edith Longworth, and after it--'For ten
+thousand pounds.' 'There! I am the first subscriber to the new company;
+if you get the others as easily, you will be very fortunate.'
+
+And, before John could thank her, she laughingly turned to her companion,
+and said:
+
+'We must go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+When Wentworth dropped in to see if anything had happened, Kenyon told
+him that young Longworth was not in the North at all, but in Paris.
+Wentworth pondered over this piece of information for a moment, and said:
+
+'I have written him, but have received no answer. I have just been to
+see the solicitors, and have told them that time was pressing; that we
+must do something. They quite agreed it was desirable some action should
+be taken at once, but, of course, as they said, they merely waited our
+instructions. They are willing to do anything we ask them to do. However,
+they advised waiting until Longworth got back, and then they proposed we
+should have a meeting at the offices here. They said, moreover, that, if
+Longworth had five or six men who would go at work with a will, the whole
+affair would be finished in a week at most. They did not appear to be at
+all alarmed at the shortening time, but said everything depended upon the
+men Longworth was going to bring with him. If they were the right men,
+there would be no trouble. So, all in all, they advised me not to worry
+about it, but to communicate with Longworth, if I could, and get him to
+come as soon as possible. I had to admit myself that this was the only
+thing to do, so I called round to see if you had heard anything from
+him.'
+
+'I have heard nothing about him,' said Kenyon, 'except that he has lied,
+and has gone to Paris instead of going North.'
+
+'Well,' mused Wentworth, 'I don't know that that is a very important
+point. He may have business in Paris, and he may have thought it was no
+affair of ours where he went, in which he was partly right and partly
+wrong. He thought, no doubt, that if he said he was going North, to see
+some men who could not be seen without his going there, it would relieve
+our minds, and make us imagine we were going on all right.'
+
+'That is just what I object to, Wentworth. His whole demeanour seems to
+show that he wants us to think things are all right when they are not
+all right.'
+
+'Well, John, as I said before, you've got to do one thing or the other.
+You have to trust Longworth or to go on without him. Now, for Heaven's
+sake make up your mind which it is to be, and don't grumble.'
+
+'I am not grumbling. A man that is really honest will not say what is
+false, even about a small thing.'
+
+'Oh, you are too particular. Wait till you have been in the City ten
+years longer, and you won't mind a little thing like that.'
+
+'Little things like that, as you call them, are indicative of general
+character.'
+
+'Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. You mustn't take things too seriously.
+I do not see that anything can be done until Longworth chooses to exhibit
+himself. If you can suggest anything better, as I said before, tell me
+what it is, and I am ready to do my part.'
+
+'I confess I don't see what we can do. We might wait a day or two longer
+yet, and then, if we hear nothing more from Longworth, dismiss those
+solicitors he has chosen, and take the gentlemen who act for you.'
+
+'The people Longworth has engaged do not bear a very good reputation;
+still, I must admit they talk in a very straightforward manner. As you
+say, it is perhaps better to let matters rest for a day or two.'
+
+And so the days passed. Wentworth wrote again to Longworth at his office,
+and said they would wait for two days, and if he did not put in an
+appearance, before that time, they would go on forming the company as if
+he did not exist.
+
+To this no answer came, and Kenyon and Wentworth again held consultation
+in the sumptuous offices which had been chosen for them.
+
+'No news yet, I suppose?' said Kenyon.
+
+'None whatever,' was the answer.
+
+'Very well; I have made up my mind what to do----'
+
+But before John Kenyon could say what he had resolved to do, the door
+opened, and there entered unto them Mr. William Longworth, with his silk
+hat as glossy as a mirror, a general trim and prosperous appearance about
+him, a flower in his buttonhole and his eyeglass in its place.
+
+'Good-morning, gentlemen,' he said. 'I thought I should find you here,
+and so I did not call at your office, Wentworth. Ah,' he cried, looking
+round, 'this is the proper caper! These offices look even better than I
+thought they would. I just got back this morning,' he added, turning to
+his partners.
+
+'Indeed,' said Wentworth, 'we are very glad to see you. How did you enjoy
+your trip to Paris?'
+
+The young man did not appear in the least abashed by this remark. He
+merely elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'Ah, well, as both of you are doubtless aware, Paris is not what it used
+to be. Still, I had a very good time there.'
+
+'I'm glad of that,' said Wentworth; 'and did you see the gentlemen you
+expected to meet?'
+
+'I must confess I did not. I did not think it was necessary. I have five
+or six men interested already, practically pledged to furnish all the
+capital.' And, saying this, he walked round the desk at which they stood,
+and sat down, throwing the right leg across the left and clasping his
+knee in his hands.
+
+'Well, what has been done during my absence? The mine floated yet?'
+
+'No,' said Wentworth; 'the mine is not yet floated. Now, Mr. Longworth,
+the time has come for plain speaking. You have gone off to Paris without
+a word of warning to us at a very critical time, and you have not
+answered any of the letters I sent to you.'
+
+'Well, my dear boy, the reason was that I expected every day to get back
+here, and each day was detained a little longer.'
+
+'Very good; the point I want to impress upon you is this--time is
+getting short. If we are going to form this company, we have to set about
+it at once.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' said Longworth, in an expostulating tone of voice,
+'that is exactly what I told myself. The time _is_ getting short, as you
+say. Of course, as I said when I joined you, I cannot give my whole time
+to this. We are equal partners, and the fact that I had to leave for a
+few days should not interrupt the business we have on hand. What did you
+expect to do if I had not been a partner at all?'
+
+'If you were not a partner,' replied Wentworth with some heat, 'we should
+have gone on and formed our company, or failed; but the very fact that
+you _are_ a partner is just what now retards us. We do not feel justified
+in doing anything until it has your approval, or until we know that it
+does not run counter with something you have already done.'
+
+'Well, gentlemen, if you feel like that about it, I am quite willing to
+withdraw. I am ready to give up the paper I hold from you, and receive
+back the paper you hold from me. Of course we cannot work together if
+there are to be any recriminations. I have done my best; I have done
+everything that I promised to do--even more than that; but if you think
+for a moment you can get on better without me, I am ready at any time
+to retire.'
+
+'It is easy to say that, Mr. Longworth, now that the time of the option
+has only a month further to run. You must remember that a great deal of
+time has been lost, and not through our fault.'
+
+'Ah! do you mean it has been lost through my fault?'
+
+'I mean that if we had been alone something would have been done,
+whereas we are now in the same position as when we started. We are in a
+worse position than we were at the beginning, because we have not only
+spent our money, but are deeply in debt into the bargain.'
+
+'Well, Mr. Wentworth, I did not propose to withdraw until you, as a
+matter of fact, almost suggested it. I am quite willing and anxious
+to help, but if I do stay with you it must be understood that we
+have no such recriminations as these. You must do your best, and I
+must do my best.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Wentworth; 'your leaving us at this time is
+entirely out of the question. Now, will you give me the names of those
+gentlemen who have offered to go in with us?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+And Longworth pulled out a note-book from his inside pocket, while
+Wentworth took up a pen from the desk and pulled a sheet of paper
+towards him.
+
+'First, Mr. Melville.'
+
+'Is that the Melville I saw in relation to this mineral?'
+
+'I am sure I do not know. He is at the head of the Scranton China
+Company.'
+
+'Has _he_ spoken of going in with us?'
+
+'Yes, he seems to think the scheme is a good one. Why do you ask?'
+
+'Well, merely because I took a specimen of the mineral to him and his
+manager wrote to me that it was of no value. It seems rather remarkable
+that he should go in for the mine if his manager believes it to be
+worthless.'
+
+'Oh, he goes in entirely in his own private capacity. He is not at all
+affected by what the manager says. The manager has nothing to do with
+Melville's private affairs.'
+
+'Still, it seems very strange, because, when Kenyon saw the manager in
+the North, he claimed they did not use this material, and said it would
+be of no benefit whatever to him.'
+
+'That is very singular,' mused Longworth. 'Well, all I can say is,
+Melville has intimated that he should like to have a share in this mine,
+so, I take it, he and the manager do not agree as to the value of the
+mineral. You can set down Mr. Melville's name with perfect confidence. I
+know him very well, and I know that he's a thorough man of business.
+Besides, it will be a great advantage to have a man connected with the
+china trade in with us.'
+
+There was no denying this point, so Wentworth said nothing more.
+Longworth named five other persons, none of whom Wentworth knew. Then he
+closed his note-book and put it in his pocket.
+
+'The question now is: Have these gentlemen stated how much they will
+subscribe?' asked Wentworth.
+
+'No, they have not. Of course, everything will depend on how they are
+impressed with what we can tell them. The great thing is to get men who
+are willing even to listen to you. The rest depends on the inducements
+you offer.'
+
+'Do you expect to get any more men interested?'
+
+'I don't think any more are needed. The best thing to do now is to get
+those we have together and summon our solicitors here. Then our friend
+Kenyon, who is a fluent speaker, can lay the case before them.'
+
+Kenyon, who had not spoken at all during the interview, did not even
+look up, and apparently did not hear the satirical allusion to his
+eloquence.
+
+'Very well; when would be a good time to call this meeting?'
+
+'As soon as possible, I think,' said Longworth. 'What do you say to
+Monday, at three o'clock? Men come from lunch about that hour, and are in
+a good humour. If you send out a letter saying a meeting will be held
+here in the directors' room at three o'clock, prompt, on Monday, I will
+see the men and get them to come. Of course they are generally busy, and
+may have other appointments; still, we must do something, and nothing can
+be done until we get them together.'
+
+'Right; the invitations to the meeting shall be sent out at once.'
+
+Longworth rose, went to the desk and picked up a paper.
+
+'What is this?' he said.
+
+Kenyon looked up suddenly.
+
+'That,' he said, flushing slightly, 'is our first subscription.'
+
+'Who wrote the name of Miss Edith Longworth here?'
+
+'The young lady herself.'
+
+'Has she been here?'
+
+'She called, and desired to be the first subscriber.'
+
+'Nonsense!' cried Longworth, with a frown; 'we don't want any women in
+this business;' and, saying that, he tore the paper in two.
+
+Kenyon clenched his fist and was about to say something, when Wentworth's
+hand came down on his shoulder.
+
+'I don't think I would refuse ten thousands pounds,' said Wentworth,
+'from anybody who offered it, woman or man. Perhaps we had better see
+whether your men will subscribe as much before we throw away a
+subscription already received.'
+
+'But she hasn't the ten thousand pounds.'
+
+'I fancy,' said Wentworth, 'that whatever Miss Longworth puts her name
+to, she is ready to stand by;' and with that he placed the two pieces of
+paper in a drawer. 'Now, I think that is all,' he added; 'we will call
+the meeting for Monday, and see what comes of it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+William Longworth had an eye for beauty. One of his eyes was generally
+covered by a round disc of glass, save when the disc fell out of its
+place and dangled in front of his waistcoat. Whether the monocle assisted
+his sight or not, it is certain that William knew a pretty girl when he
+saw her. One of the housemaids in the Longworth household left suddenly,
+without just cause or provocation, as the advertisements say, and in her
+place a girl was engaged who was so pretty that, when William Longworth
+caught sight of her, his monocle dropped from its usual position, and he
+stared at her with his two natural eyes, unassisted by science. He tried
+to speak to her on one or two occasions when he met her alone; but he
+could get no answer from the girl, who was very shy and demure, and knew
+her place, as people say. All this only enhanced her value in young
+Longworth's estimation, and he thought highly of his cousin's taste in
+choosing this young person to dust the furniture.
+
+William had a room in the house which was partly sitting-room and partly
+study, and there he kept many of his papers. He was supposed to ponder
+over matters of business in this room, and it gave him a good excuse for
+arriving late at the office in the morning. He had been sitting up into
+the small hours, he would tell his uncle; although he would sometimes
+vary the excuse by saying that it was quieter at home than in the City,
+and that he had spent the early part of the morning in reading documents.
+
+The first time William got an answer from the new housemaid was when he
+expressed his anxiety about the care of this room. He said that servants
+generally were very careless, and he hoped she would attend to things,
+and see that his papers were kept nicely in order. This, without glancing
+up at him, the girl promised to do, and William thereafter found his
+apartment kept with a scrupulous neatness which would have delighted the
+most particular of men.
+
+One morning when he was sitting by his table, enjoying an after-breakfast
+cigarette, the door opened softly, and the new housemaid entered. Seeing
+him there, she seemed confused, and was about to retire, when William,
+throwing his cigarette away, sprang to his feet.
+
+'No, don't go,' he said; 'I was just about to ring.'
+
+The girl paused with her hand on the door.
+
+'Yes,' he continued, 'I was just going to ring, but you have saved me
+the trouble; but, by the way, what is your name?'
+
+'Susy, if you please, sir,' replied the girl modestly.
+
+'Ah well, Susy, just shut the door for a moment.'
+
+The girl did so, but evidently with some reluctance.
+
+'Well, Susy,' said William jauntily, 'I suppose that I'm not the first
+one who has told you that you are very pretty.'
+
+'Oh, sir!' said Susy, blushing and looking down on the carpet.
+
+'Yes, Susy, and you take such good care of this room that I want to thank
+you for it,' continued William.
+
+Here he fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and drew out half a
+sovereign.
+
+'Here, my girl, is something for your trouble. Keep this for yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I couldn't think of taking money, sir,' said the girl, drawing back.
+'I couldn't indeed, sir!'
+
+'Nonsense!' said William; 'isn't it enough?'
+
+'Oh, it's more than enough. Miss Longworth pays me well for what I do,
+sir, and it's only my duty to keep things tidy.'
+
+'Yes, Susy, that is very true; but very few of us do our duty, you know,
+in this world.'
+
+'But we ought to, sir,' said the girl, in a tone of quiet reproof that
+made the young man smile.
+
+'Perhaps,' said he; 'but then, you see, we are not all pretty and good,
+like you. I'm sorry you won't take the money. I hope you are not offended
+at me for offering it;' and William adjusted his eye-glass, looking his
+sweetest at the young person standing before him.
+
+'Oh no, sir,' she said, 'I'm not at all offended, and I thank you very
+much, very much indeed, sir, and I would like to ask you a question, if
+you wouldn't think me too bold.'
+
+'Bold?' cried William. 'Why, I think you are the shyest little woman I
+have ever seen. I'll be very pleased to answer any question you may ask
+me. What is it?'
+
+'You see, sir, I've got a little money of my own.'
+
+'Well, I declare, Susy, this is very interesting. I'd no idea you were
+an heiress.'
+
+'Oh, not an heiress, sir--far from it. It's only a little matter of four
+or five hundred pounds, sir,' said Susy, dropping him an awkward little
+curtsy, which he thought most charming. 'The money is in the bank, and
+earns no interest, and I thought I would like to invest it where it would
+bring in something.'
+
+'Certainly, Susy, and a most laudable desire on your part. Was it about
+that you wished to question me?'
+
+'Yes, if you please, sir. I saw this paper on your desk, and I thought I
+would ask you if it would be safe for me to put my money in these mines,
+sir. Seeing the paper here, I supposed you had something to do with it.'
+
+William whistled a long incredulous note, and said:
+
+'So you have been reading my papers, have you, miss?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' said the girl, looking up at him with startled eyes. 'I
+only saw the name Canadian Mica-mine on this, and the paper said it would
+pay ten per cent., and I thought if you had anything to do with it that
+my money would be quite safe.'
+
+'Oh, that goes without saying,' said William; 'but if I were you, my
+dear, I should not put my money in the mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, then, you haven't anything to do with the mine, sir?'
+
+'Yes, Susy, I have. You know, fools build houses, and wise men live in
+them.'
+
+'So I have heard,' said Susy thoughtfully.
+
+'Well, two fools are building the house that we will call the Canadian
+Mica-mine, and I am the wise man, don't you see, Susy?' said the young
+man, with a sweet smile.
+
+'I'm afraid I don't quite understand, sir.'
+
+'I don't suppose, Susy,' replied the young man, with a laugh, 'that
+there are many who do; but I think in a month's time I shall own this
+mica-mine, and then, my dear, if you still want to own a share or two,
+I shall be very pleased to give you a few without your spending any
+money at all.'
+
+'Oh, would you, sir?' cried Susy in glad surprise; 'and who owns the
+mine now?'
+
+'Oh, two fellows; you wouldn't know their names if I told them to you.'
+
+'And are they going to sell it to you, sir?'
+
+William laughed heartily, and said:
+
+'Oh no! they themselves will be sold.'
+
+'But how can that be if they don't own the mine? You see, I'm only a very
+stupid girl, and don't understand business. That's why I asked you about
+my money.'
+
+'I don't suppose you know what an option is, do you, Susy?'
+
+'No, sir, I don't; I never heard of it before.'
+
+'Well, these two young men have what is called an option on the mine,
+which is to say that they are to pay a certain sum of money at a certain
+time and the mine is theirs; but if they don't pay the certain sum at the
+certain time, the mine isn't theirs.'
+
+'And won't they pay the money, sir?'
+
+'No, Susy, they will not, because, don't you know, they haven't got it.
+Then these two fools will be sold, for they think they are going to get
+the money, and they are not.'
+
+'And you have the money to buy the mine when the option runs out, sir.'
+
+'By Jove!' said William in surprise, 'you have a prodigious head for
+business, Susy; I never saw anyone pick it up so fast. You will have to
+take lessons from me, and go on the market and speculate yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I should like to do that, sir--I should indeed.'
+
+'Well,' said William kindly, 'whenever you have time, come to me, and I
+will give you lessons.'
+
+The young man approached her, holding out his hand, but the girl slipped
+away from him and opened the door.
+
+'I think,' he said in a whisper, 'that you might give me a kiss after all
+this valuable information.'
+
+'Oh, Mr. William!' cried Susy, horrified.
+
+He stepped forward and tried to catch her, but the girl was too nimble
+for him, and sprang out into the passage.
+
+'Surely,' protested William, 'this is getting information under false
+pretences; I expected my fee, you know.'
+
+'And you shall have it,' said the girl, laughing softly, 'when I get ten
+per cent. on my money.'
+
+'Egad!' said William to himself as he entered his room again, 'I will see
+that you get it. She's as clever an outside broker.'
+
+When young Longworth had left for his office, Susy swept and dusted out
+his room again, and then went downstairs.
+
+'Where's the mistress?' she asked a fellow-servant.
+
+'In the library,' was the answer, and to the library Susy went, entering
+the room without knocking, much to the amazement of Edith Longworth, who
+sat near the window with a book in her lap. But further surprise was in
+store for the lady of the house. The housemaid closed the door, and then,
+selecting a comfortable chair, threw herself down into it, exclaiming:
+
+'Oh dear me! I'm so tired.'
+
+'Susy,' said Miss Longworth, 'what is the meaning of this?'
+
+'It means, mum,' said Susy, 'that I'm going to chuck it.'
+
+'Going to _what_?' asked Miss Longworth, amazed.
+
+'Going to chuck it. Didn't you understand? Going to give up my situation.
+I'm tired of it.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman, rising, 'you may give notice in the
+proper way. You have no right to come into this room in this impudent
+manner. Be so good as to go to your own room.'
+
+'My!' said Susy, 'you can do the dignified! I must practise and see if I
+can accomplish an attitude like that. If you were a little prettier, Miss
+Longworth, I should call that striking;' and the girl threw back her head
+and laughed.
+
+Something in the laugh aroused Miss Longworth's recollection, and a chill
+of fear came over her; but, looking at the girl again, she saw she was
+mistaken. Susy jumped up, still laughing, and drew a pin from the little
+cap she wore, flinging it on the chair; then she pulled off her wig, and
+stood before Edith Longworth her natural self.
+
+'Miss Brewster!' gasped the astonished Edith. 'What are you doing in my
+house in that disguise?'
+
+'Oh,' said Jennie, 'I'm an amateur housemaid. How do you think I have
+acted the part? Now sit down, Miss Dignity, and I will tell you something
+about your own family. I thought you were a set of rogues, and now I can
+prove it.'
+
+'Will you leave my house this instant?' cried Edith, in anger. 'I shall
+not listen to you.'
+
+'Oh yes, you will,' said Jennie, 'for I shall follow your own example,
+and not let you out until you do hear what I have to tell you.'
+
+Saying which the amateur housemaid skipped nimbly to the door, and placed
+her back against it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Jennie Brewster stood with her back to the door, a sweet smile on her
+face.
+
+'This is my day for acting, Miss Longworth. I think I did the _role_ of
+housemaid so well that it deceived several members of this family. I am
+now giving an imitation of yourself in your thrilling drama, "All at
+Sea." Don't you think I do it most admirably?'
+
+'Yes,' said Edith, sitting down again. 'I wonder you did not adopt the
+stage as a profession.'
+
+'I have often thought of doing so, but journalism is more exciting.'
+
+'Perhaps. Still, it has its disappointments. When I gave my thrilling
+drama, as you call it, on shipboard, I had my stage accessories arranged
+to better advantage than you have now.'
+
+'Do you mean the putting off of the boat?'
+
+'No; I mean that the electric button was under my hand--it was impossible
+for you to ring for help. Now, while you hold the door, you cannot stop
+me from ringing, for the bell-rope is here beside me.'
+
+'Yes, that is a disadvantage, I admit. Do you intend to ring, then, and
+have me turned out?'
+
+'I don't think that will be necessary. I imagine you will go quietly.'
+
+'You are a pretty clever girl, Miss Longworth. I wish I liked you, but I
+don't, so we won't waste valuable time deploring that fact. Have you no
+curiosity to hear what I was going to tell you?'
+
+'Not the slightest; but there is one thing I should like to know.'
+
+'Oh, is there? Well, that's human, at any rate. What do you wish to
+know?'
+
+'You came here well recommended. How did you know I wanted a housemaid,
+and were your testimonials----'
+
+Edith paused for a word, which Jennie promptly supplied.
+
+'Forged? Oh dear no! There is no necessity for doing anything criminal in
+this country, if you have the money. I didn't forge them--I bought them.
+Didn't you write to any of the good ladies who stood sponsor for me?'
+
+'Yes, and received most flattering accounts of you.'
+
+'Certainly. That was part of the contract. Oh, you can do anything with
+money in London; it is a most delightful town. Then, as for knowing
+there was a vacancy, that also was money. I bribed the other housemaid
+to leave.'
+
+'I see. And what object had you in all this?'
+
+Jennie Brewster laughed--the same silvery laugh that had charmed William
+Longworth an hour or two before, a laugh that sometimes haunted
+Wentworth's memory in the City. She left her sentinel-like position at
+the door and threw herself into a chair.
+
+'Miss Longworth,' she said, 'you are not consistent. You first pretend
+that you have no curiosity to hear what I have to say, then you ask me
+exactly what I was going to tell you. Of course, you are dying to know
+why I am here; you wouldn't be a woman if you weren't. Now, I've changed
+my mind, and I don't intend to tell you. I will say, though, that my
+object in coming here was, first, to find out for myself how servants are
+treated in this country. You see, my sympathies are all with the women
+who work, and not with women--well, like yourself, for instance.'
+
+'Yes, I think you said that once before. And how do we treat our
+servants?'
+
+'So far as my experience goes, very well indeed.'
+
+'It is most gratifying to hear you say this. I was afraid we might not
+have met with your approval. And now, where shall I send your month's
+money, Miss Brewster?'
+
+Jennie Brewster leaned back in her chair, her eyes all but closed; an
+angry light shooting from them reminded Edith of her glance of hatred on
+board the steamship. A rich warm colour overspread her fair face, and her
+lips closed tightly. There was a moment's silence, and then Jennie's
+indignation passed away as quickly as it came. She laughed, with just a
+touch of restraint in her tone.
+
+'You can say an insulting thing more calmly and sweetly than anyone I
+ever met before; I envy you that. When I say anything low down and mean,
+I say it in anger, and my voice has a certain amount of acridity in it. I
+can't purr like a cat and scratch at the same time--I wish I could.'
+
+'Is it an insult to offer you the money you have earned?'
+
+'Yes, it is, and you knew it was when you spoke. You don't understand me
+a little bit.'
+
+'Is it necessary that I should?'
+
+'I don't suppose you think it is,' said Jennie meditatively, resting her
+elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. 'That is where our point of
+view differs. I like to know everything. It interests me to learn what
+people think and talk about, and somehow it doesn't seem to matter to me
+who the people are, for I was even more interested in your butler's
+political opinions than I was in Lord Frederick Bingham's. They are both
+Conservatives, but Lord Freddie seems shaky in his views, for you can
+argue him down in five minutes, but the butler is as steadfast as a rock.
+I do admire that butler. I hope you will break the news of my departure
+gently to him, for he proposed to me, and he has not yet had his answer.'
+
+'There is still time,' said Edith, smiling in spite of herself. 'Shall I
+ring for him?'
+
+'Please do not. I want to avoid a painful scene, because he is so sure of
+himself, and never dreams of a refusal. It is such a pity, too, for the
+butler is my ideal of what a member of the aristocracy should be. His
+dignity is positively awe-inspiring; while Lord Freddie is such a simple,
+good-natured, everyday young fellow, that if I imported him to the States
+I am sure no one would believe he was a real lord. With the butler it
+would be _so_ different,' added Jennie, with a deep sigh.
+
+'It is too bad that you cannot exchange the declaration of the butler for
+one from Lord Frederick.'
+
+'Too bad!' cried Jennie, looking with wide-open eyes at the girl before
+her; 'why, bless you! I had a proposal from Lord Freddie two weeks before
+I ever saw the butler. I see you don't believe a word I say. Well, you
+ask Lord Freddie. I'll introduce you, and tell him you don't believe he
+asked me to be Lady Freddie, if that's the title. He'll look sheepish,
+but he won't deny it. You see, when I found I was going to stay in
+England for a time, I wrote to the editor of the _Argus_ to get me a
+bunch of letters of introduction and send them over, as I wanted
+particularly to study the aristocracy. So he sent them, and, I assure
+you, I found it much more difficult to get into your servants' hall than
+I did into the halls of the nobility--besides, it costs less to mix with
+the Upper Ten.'
+
+Edith sat in silence, looking with amazed interest at the girl, who
+talked so rapidly that there was sometimes difficulty in following
+what she said.
+
+'No, Lord Freddie is not half so condescending as the butler, neither is
+his language so well chosen; but then, I suppose, the butler's had more
+practice, for Freddie is very young. I am exceedingly disappointed with
+the aristocracy. They are not nearly so haughty as I had imagined them
+to be. But what astonishes me in this country is the way you women
+spoil the men. You are much too good to them. You pet them and fawn on
+them, and naturally they get conceited. It is such a pity, too; for
+they are nice fellows, most of them. It is the same everywhere I've
+been--servants' hall included. Why, when you meet a young couple, of what
+you are pleased to call the "lower classes," walking in the Park, the man
+hangs down his head as he slouches along, but the girl looks defiantly at
+you, as much as to say, "I've got him. Bless him! What have you to say
+about it?" while the man seems to be ashamed of himself, and evidently
+feels that he's been had. Now, a man should be made to understand that
+you're doing him a great favour when you give him a civil word. That's
+the proper state of mind to keep a man in, and then you can do what you
+like with him. I generally make him propose, so as to get it over before
+any real harm's done, and to give an artistic finish to the episode.
+After that we can be excellent friends, and have a jolly time. That's the
+way I did with Lord Freddie. Now, here am I, chattering away as if I were
+paid for talking instead of writing. Why do you look at me so? Don't you
+believe what I tell you?'
+
+'Yes, I believe all you say. What I can't understand is, why a bright
+girl like you should enter a house and,--well, do what you have done
+here, for instance.'
+
+'Why shouldn't I? I am after accurate information. I get it in my own
+way. Your writers here tell how the poor live, and that sort of thing.
+They enter the houses of the poor quite unblushingly, and print their
+impressions of the poverty-stricken homes. Now, why should the rich man
+be exempt from a similar investigation?'
+
+'In either case it is the work of a spy.'
+
+'Yes; but a spy is not a dishonourable person--at least, he need not be.
+I saw a monument in Westminster Abbey to a man who was hanged as a spy. A
+spy must be brave; he must have nerve, caution, and resource. He
+sometimes does more for his country than a whole regiment. Oh, there are
+worse persons than spies in this world.'
+
+'I suppose there are, still----'
+
+'Yes, I know. It is easy for persons with plenty of money to moralize on
+the shortcomings of others. I'll tell you a secret. I'm writing a book,
+and if it's a success, then good-bye to journalism. I don't like the spy
+business myself any too well; I'm afraid England is contaminating me, and
+if I stayed here a few years I might degenerate so far as to think your
+newspapers interesting. By the way, have you seen Mr. Wentworth lately?'
+
+Edith hesitated a moment, and at last answered:
+
+'Yes, I saw him a day or two ago.'
+
+'Was he looking well? I think I ought to write him a note of apology for
+all the anxiety I caused him on board ship. You may not believe it, but I
+have actually had some twinges of conscience over that episode. I suppose
+that's why I partially forgave you for stopping the cablegram.'
+
+Edith Longworth was astonished at herself for giving the young woman
+information about Wentworth, but she gave it, and the amateur housemaid
+departed in peace, saying, by way of farewell:
+
+'I'm not going to write up your household, after all.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+One day when Kenyon entered the office, the clerk said to him:
+
+'That young gentleman has been here twice to see you. He said it was very
+important, sir.'
+
+'What young gentleman?'
+
+'The gentleman--here is his card--who belongs to the _Financial Field_,
+sir.'
+
+'Did he leave any message?'
+
+'Yes, sir; he said he would call again at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very good,' said Kenyon; and he began composing his address to the
+proposed subscribers.
+
+At three o'clock the smooth, oily person from the _Financial Field_ put
+in an appearance.
+
+'Ah, Mr. Kenyon,' he said, 'I am glad to meet you. I called in twice,
+but had not the good fortune to find you in. Can I see you in private
+for a moment?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon. 'Come into the directors' room;' and into the
+directors room they went, Kenyon closing the door behind them.
+
+'Now,' said the representative of the _Financial Field_, 'I have brought
+you a proof of the editorial we propose using, which I am desired by the
+proprietor to show you, so that it may be free, if possible, from any
+error. We are very anxious to have things correct in the _Financial
+Field_;' and with this he handed to John a long slip of paper with a
+column of printed matter upon it.
+
+The article was headed, 'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited.' It
+went on to show what the mine had been, what it had done, and what
+chances there were for investors getting a good return for their money by
+buying the shares. John read it through carefully.
+
+'That is a very handsome article,' he said; 'and it is without an error,
+so far as I can see.'
+
+'I am glad you think so,' replied the young gentleman, folding up the
+proof and putting it in his inside pocket. 'Now, as I said before,
+although I am not the advertising canvasser of the _Financial Field_,
+I thought I would see you with reference to an advertisement for the
+paper.'
+
+'Well, you know, we have not had a meeting of the proposed stockholders
+yet, and therefore are not in a position to give any advertisements
+regarding the mine. I have no doubt advertisements will be given, and, of
+course, your paper will be remembered among the rest.'
+
+'Ah,' said the young man, 'that is hardly satisfactory to us. We have a
+vacant half-page for Monday, the very best position in the paper, which
+the proprietor thought you would like to secure.'
+
+'As I said a moment ago, we are not in a position to secure it. It is
+premature to talk of advertising at the present state of affairs.'
+
+'I think, you know, it will be to your interest to take the half-page.
+The price is three hundred pounds, and besides that amount we should like
+to have some shares in the company.'
+
+'Do you mean three hundred pounds for one insertion of the
+advertisement?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Doesn't that strike you as being a trifle exorbitant? Your paper has a
+comparatively limited circulation, and they do not ask us such a price
+even in the large dailies.'
+
+'Ah, my dear sir, the large dailies are quite different. They have a
+tremendous circulation, it is true, but it is not the kind of circulation
+we have. No other paper circulates so largely among investors as the
+_Financial Field._ It is read by exactly the class of people you desire
+to reach, and I may say that, except through the _Financial Field_, you
+cannot get at some of the best men in the City.'
+
+'Well, admitting all that, as I have said once or twice, we are not yet
+in a position to give an advertisement.'
+
+'Then, I am very sorry to say that we cannot, on Monday, publish the
+article I have shown you.'
+
+'Very well; I cannot help it. You are not compelled to print it unless
+you wish. I am not sure, either, that publishing the article on Monday
+would do us any good. It would be premature, as I say. We are not yet
+ready to court publicity until we have had our first meeting of proposed
+stockholders.'
+
+'When is your first meeting of stockholders?'
+
+'On Monday, at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very well, we could put that announcement in another column, and I am
+sure you would find the attendance at your meeting would be very largely
+and substantially increased.'
+
+'Possibly; but I decline to do anything till after the meeting.'
+
+'I think you would find it pay you extremely well to take that
+half-page.'
+
+'I am not questioning the fact at all. I am merely saying what I have
+said to everyone else, that we are not ready to consider advertising.'
+
+'I am sorry we cannot come to an arrangement, Mr. Kenyon--very sorry
+indeed;' and, saying this, he took another proof-sheet out of his pocket,
+which he handed to Kenyon. 'If we cannot come to an understanding, the
+manager has determined to print this, instead of the article I showed
+you. Would you kindly glance over it, because we should like to have it
+as correct as possible.'
+
+Kenyon opened his eyes, and unfolded the paper. The heading was the same,
+but he had read only a sentence or two when he found that the mica-mine
+was one of the greatest swindles ever attempted on poor old innocent
+financial London!
+
+'Do you mean to say,' cried John, looking up at him, with his anger
+kindling, 'that if I do not bribe you to the extent of three hundred
+pounds, besides giving you an unknown quantity of stock, you will publish
+this libel?'
+
+'I do not say it is a libel,' said the young man smoothly; 'that would be
+a matter for the courts to decide. You might sue us for libel, if you
+thought we had treated you badly. I may say that has been tried several
+times, but with indifferent success.'
+
+'But do you mean to tell me that you intend to publish this article if I
+do not pay you the three hundred pounds?'
+
+'Yes; putting it crudely, that is exactly what I do mean.'
+
+Kenyon rose in his wrath and flung open the door.
+
+'I must ask you to leave this place, and leave it at once. If you ever
+put in an appearance here again while I am in the office, I will call a
+policeman and have you turned out!'
+
+'My dear sir,' expostulated the other suavely, 'it is merely a matter of
+business. If you find it impossible to deal with us, there is no harm
+done. If our paper has no influence, we cannot possibly injure you. That,
+of course, is entirely for you to judge. If, any time between now and
+Sunday night, you conclude to act otherwise, a wire to our office will
+hold things over until we have had an opportunity of coming to an
+arrangement with you. If not, this article will be published on Monday
+morning. I wish you a very good afternoon, sir.'
+
+John said nothing, but watched his visitor out on the pavement, and then
+returned to the making of his report.
+
+On Monday morning, as he came in by train, his eye caught a flaming
+poster on one of the bill-boards at the station. It was headed _Financial
+Field_, and the next line, in heavy black letters, was, 'The Mica Mining
+Swindle,' Kenyon called a newsboy to him and bought a copy of the paper.
+There, in leaded type, was the article before him. It seemed, somehow,
+much more important on the printed page than it had looked in the proof.
+
+As he read it, he noticed an air of truthful sincerity about the
+editorial that had escaped him during the brief glance he had given it on
+Friday. It went on to say that the Austrian Mining Company had sunk a
+good deal of money in the mine, and that it had never paid a penny of
+dividends; that they merely kept on at a constant loss to themselves in
+the hope of being able to swindle some confiding investors--but that even
+their designs were as nothing compared to the barefaced rascality
+contemplated by John Kenyon. He caught his breath as he saw his own name
+in print. It was a shock for which he was not prepared, as he had not
+noticed it in the proof. Then he read on. It seemed that this man,
+Kenyon, had secured the mine at something like ten thousand pounds, and
+was trying to palm it off on the unfortunate British public at the
+enormous increase of two hundred thousand pounds; but this nefarious
+attempt would doubtless be frustrated so long as there were papers of the
+integrity of the _Financial Field_, to take the risk and expense of
+making such an exposure as was here set forth.
+
+The article possessed a singular fascination for Kenyon. He read and
+re-read it in a dazed way, as if the statement referred to some other
+person, and he could not help feeling sorry for that person.
+
+He still had the paper in his hand as he walked up the street, and he
+felt numbed and dazed as if someone had struck him a blow. He was nearly
+run over in crossing one of the thoroughfares, and heard an outburst of
+profanity directed at him from a cab-driver and a man on a bus; but he
+heeded them not, walking through the crowd as if under a spell.
+
+He passed the door of his own gorgeous office, and walked some distance
+up the street before he realized what he had done. Then he turned back
+again, and, just at the doorstep, paused with a pang at his heart.
+
+'I wonder if Edith Longworth will read that article,' he said to himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered his office, he thought the clerk looked at him
+askance. He imagined that innocent employee had been reading the article
+in the _Financial Field_; but the truth is, John was hardly in a frame of
+mind to form a correct opinion on what other people were doing. Everybody
+he met in the street, it seemed to him, was discussing the article in the
+_Financial Field_.
+
+He asked if anybody had been in that morning, and was told there had been
+no callers. Then he passed into the directors' room, closed the door
+behind him, sat down on a chair, and leaned his head on his hands with
+his elbows on the table. In this position Wentworth found him some time
+later, and when John looked up his face was haggard and aged.
+
+'Ah, I see you have read it.'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you think Longworth is at the bottom of that article?'
+
+John shook his head.
+
+'Oh no,' he said; 'he had nothing whatever to do with it.'
+
+'How do you know?'
+
+Kenyon related exactly what had passed between the oily young man of the
+_Financial Field_ and himself in that very room. While this recital was
+going on, Wentworth walked up and down, expressing his opinion now and
+then, in remarks that were short and pithy, but hardly fit for
+publication. When the story was told he turned to Kenyon.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'there is nothing for it but to sue the paper for
+libel.'
+
+'What good will that do?'
+
+'What good will it do? Do you mean to say that you intend to sit here
+under such an imputation as they have cast upon you, and do nothing? What
+_good_ will it do? It will do all the good in the world.'
+
+'We cannot form our company and sue the paper at the same time. All our
+energies will have to be directed towards the matter we have in hand.'
+
+'But, my dear John, don't you see the effect of that article? How can we
+form our company if such a lie remains unchallenged? Nobody will look at
+our proposals. Everyone will say, "What have you done about the article
+that appeared in the _Financial Field_?" If we say we have done nothing,
+then, of course, the natural inference is that we are a pair of
+swindlers, and that our scheme is a fraud.'
+
+'I have always thought,' said John, 'that the capitalization is too
+high.'
+
+'Really, I believe you think that article is not so unfair, after all.
+John, I'm astonished at you!'
+
+'But if we do commence a libel suit, it cannot be finished before our
+option has expired. If we tell people that we have begun a suit against
+the _Financial Field_ for libel, they will merely say they prefer to wait
+and hear what the result of the case is. By that time our chances of
+forming a company will be gone.'
+
+'There is a certain amount of truth in that; nevertheless, I do not see
+how we are to go on with our company unless suit for libel is at least
+begun.'
+
+Before John could reply there was a knock at the door, and the clerk
+entered with a letter in his hand which had just come in. Kenyon tore it
+open, read it, and then tossed it across the table to Wentworth.
+Wentworth saw the name of their firm of solicitors at the top of the
+letter-paper. Then he read:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'You have doubtless seen the article in the _Financial Field_ of this
+morning, referring to the Canadian Mica Mining Company. We should be
+pleased to know what action you intend to take in the matter. We may
+say that, in justice to our reputation, we can no longer represent
+your company unless a suit is brought against the paper which contains
+the article.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'W. HAWK.'
+
+Wentworth laughed with a certain bitterness.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'if it has come to such a pass that Hawk fears for his
+reputation, the sooner we begin a libel suit against the paper the
+better!'
+
+'Perhaps,' said John, with a look of agony on his face, 'you will tell me
+where the money is to come from. The moment we get into the Law Courts
+money will simply flow like water, and doubtless the _Financial Field_
+has plenty of it. It will add to their reputation, and they will make a
+boast that they are fighting the battle of the investor in London.
+Everything is grist that comes to their mill. Meanwhile, we shall be
+paying out money, or we shall be at a tremendous disadvantage, and the
+result of it all will probably be a disagreement of the jury and
+practical ruin for us. You see, I have no witnesses.'
+
+'Yes, but what about the mine? How can we go on without vindicating
+ourselves?'
+
+Before anything further could be said, young Mr. Longworth came in,
+looking as cool, calm, and unruffled as if there were no such things in
+the world as financial newspapers.
+
+'Discussing it, I see,' were his first words.
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'I am very glad you have come. We have a little
+difference of opinion in the matter of that article. Kenyon here is
+averse to suing that paper for libel; I am in favour of prosecuting it.
+Now, what do _you_ say?'
+
+'My dear fellow,' replied Longworth, 'I am delighted to be able to agree
+with Mr. Kenyon for once. Sue them! Why, of course not. That is just what
+they want.'
+
+'But,' said Wentworth, 'if we do not, who is going to look at our mine?'
+
+'Exactly the same number of people as would look at it before the article
+appeared.'
+
+'Don't you think it will have any effect?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'But look at this letter from your own lawyers on the subject.' Wentworth
+handed Longworth the letter from Hawk. Longworth adjusted his glass and
+read it carefully through.
+
+'By Jove!' he said with a laugh, 'I call that good; I call that
+distinctly good. I had no idea old Hawk was such a humorist! His
+reputation indeed; well, that beats me! All that Hawk wants is another
+suit on his hands. I wish you would let me keep this letter. I will have
+some fun with my friend Hawk over it.'
+
+'You are welcome to the letter, so far as I am concerned,' said
+Wentworth; 'but do you mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that we have to sit
+here calmly under this imputation and do nothing?'
+
+'I mean to say nothing of the kind; but I don't propose to play into
+their hands by suing them--at least, I should not if it were my case
+instead of Kenyon's.'
+
+'What would you do?'
+
+'I would let them sue me if they wanted to. Of course, their canvasser
+called to see you, didn't he, Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, he did.'
+
+'He told you that he had a certain amount of space to sell for a certain
+sum in cash?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'And, if you did not buy that space, this certain article would appear;
+whereas, if you did, an article of quite a different complexion would
+be printed?'
+
+'You seem to know all about it,' said Kenyon suspiciously.
+
+'Of course I do, my dear boy! Everybody knows all about it. That's the
+way those papers make their money. I think myself, as a general rule, it
+is cheaper to buy them off. I believe my uncle always does that when he
+has anything special on hand, and doesn't want to be bothered with
+outside issues. But we haven't done so in this instance, and this is the
+result. It can be easily remedied yet, mind you, if you like. All that
+you have to do is to pay his price, and there will be an equally lengthy
+article saying that, from outside information received with regard to the
+Canadian Mining Company, he regrets very much that the former article was
+an entire mistake, and that there is no more secure investment in England
+than this particular mine. But now, when he has come out with his
+editorial, I think it isn't worth while to have any further dealings
+with him. Anything he can say now will not matter. He has done all the
+harm he can. But I would at once put the boot on the other foot. I would
+write down all the circumstances just as they happened--give the name of
+the young man who called upon you, tell exactly the price he demanded for
+his silence, and I will have that printed in an opposition paper
+to-morrow. Then it will be our friend the _Financial Field's_ turn to
+squirm! He will say it is all a lie, of course, but nobody will believe
+him, and we can tell him, from the opposition paper, that if it is a lie
+he is perfectly at liberty to sue us for libel. Let him begin the suit if
+he wants to do so. Let him defend his reputation. Sue him for libel! I
+know a game worth two of that. Could you get out the statement before the
+meeting this afternoon?'
+
+Kenyon, who had been looking, for the first time in his life, gratefully
+at Longworth, said he could.
+
+'Very well; just set it down in your own words as plainly as possible,
+and give date, hour, and full particulars. Sign your name to it, and I
+will take it when I come to the meeting this afternoon. It would not be
+a bad plan to read it to those who are here. There is nothing like
+fighting the devil with fire. Fight a paper with another paper. Nothing
+new, I suppose?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'nothing new except what we are discussing.'
+
+'Well, don't let that trouble you. Do as I say, and we will begin an
+interesting controversy. People like a fight, and it will attract
+attention to the mine. Good-bye. I shall see you this afternoon.'
+
+He left both Kenyon and Wentworth in a much happier frame of mind than
+that in which he had found them.
+
+'I say, Kenyon,' said Wentworth, 'that fellow is a trump. His advice has
+cleared the air wonderfully. I believe his plan is the best, after all,
+and, as you say, we have no money for an expensive lawsuit. I shall leave
+you now to get on with your work, and will return at three o'clock.'
+
+At that hour John had his statement finished. The first man to arrive was
+Longworth, who read the article with approval, merely suggesting a change
+here and there, which was duly made. Then he put the communication into
+an envelope, and sent it to the editor of the opposition paper. Wentworth
+came in next, then Melville, then Mr. King. After this they all adjourned
+to the directors' room, and in a few minutes the others were present.
+
+'Now,' said Longworth, 'as we are all here, I do not see any necessity
+for delay. You have probably read the article that appeared in this
+morning's _Financial Field_. Mr. Kenyon has written a statement in
+relation to that, which gives the full particulars of the inside of a
+very disreputable piece of business. It was merely an attempt at
+blackmailing which failed. I intended to have had the statement read to
+you, but we thought it best to get it off as quickly as possible, and it
+will appear to-morrow in the _Financial Eagle_, where, I hope, you will
+all read it. Now, Mr. Kenyon, perhaps you will tell us something about
+the mine.'
+
+Kenyon, like many men of worth and not of words, was a very poor speaker.
+He seemed confused, and was often a little obscure in his remarks, but he
+was listened to with great attention by those present. He was helped
+here and there by a judicious question from young Longworth, and when he
+sat down the impression was not so bad as might have been expected. After
+a moment's silence, it was Mr. King who spoke.
+
+'As I take it,' he said, 'all we wish to know is this: Is the mine what
+it is represented to be? Is the mineral the best for the use Mr. Kenyon
+has indicated? Is there a sufficient quantity of that mineral in the
+mountain he speaks of to make it worth while to organize this company? It
+seems to me that this can only be answered by some practical man going
+out there and seeing the mine for himself. Mr. Melville is, I understand,
+a practical man. If he has the time to spare, I would propose that he
+should go to America, see this mine, and report.'
+
+Another person asked when the option on the mine ran out. This was
+answered by Longworth, who said that the person who went over and
+reported on the mine could cable the word 'Right' or 'Wrong'; then there
+would be time to act in London in getting up the list of subscribers.
+
+'I suppose,' said another, 'that in case of delay there would be no
+trouble in renewing the option for a month or two?'
+
+To this Kenyon replied that he did not know. The owners might put a
+higher price on the property, or the mine might be producing more mica
+than it had been heretofore, and they perhaps might not be inclined to
+sell. He thought that things should be arranged so that there would be
+no necessity of asking for an extension of the option, and to this they
+all agreed.
+
+Melville then said he had no objection to taking a trip to Canada. It
+was merely a question of the amount of the mineral in sight, and he
+thought he could determine that as well as anybody else. And so the
+matter was about to be settled, when Longworth rose, and said that he was
+perfectly willing to go to Canada himself, in company with Mr. Melville;
+that he would pay all his own expenses, and give them the benefit of his
+opinion as well. This was received with applause, and the meeting
+terminated. Longworth shook hands with Kenyon and Wentworth.
+
+'We will sail by the first steamer,' he said, 'and, as I may not see you
+again, you might write me a letter of introduction to Mr. Von Brent, and
+tell him that I am acting for you in this affair. That will make matters
+smooth in getting an extension of the option, if it should be necessary.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+Kenyon was on his way to lunch next day, when he met Wentworth at the
+door.
+
+'Going to feed?' asked the latter.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well; I'll go with you. I couldn't stay last night to have a talk
+with you over the meeting; but what did you think of it?'
+
+'Well, considering the article which appeared in the morning, and
+considering also the exhibition I made of myself in attempting to explain
+the merits of the mine, I think things went off rather smoothly.'
+
+'So do I. It doesn't strike you that they went off a little _too_
+smoothly, does it?'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I don't know exactly what I mean. I merely wanted to get your own
+opinion about it. You see, I have attended a great many gatherings of
+this sort, and it struck me there was a certain cut-and-driedness about
+the meeting. I can't say whether it impressed me favourably or
+unfavourably, but I noticed it.'
+
+'I still don't understand what you mean.'
+
+'Well, as a general thing in such meetings, when a man gets up and
+proposes a certain action there is some opposition, or somebody has a
+suggestion to make, or something better to propose--or thinks he has--and
+so there is a good deal of talk. Now, when King got up and proposed
+calmly that Melville should go to America, it appeared to me rather an
+extraordinary thing to do, unless he had consulted Melville beforehand.'
+
+'Perhaps he had done so.'
+
+'Yes, perhaps. What do you think of it all?'
+
+Kenyon mused for a moment before he replied:
+
+'As I said before, I thought things went off very smoothly. Whom do you
+suspect--young Longworth?'
+
+'I do not know whom I suspect. I am merely getting anxious about the
+shortness of the time. I think, myself, you ought to go to America. There
+is nothing to be done here. You should go, see Von Brent, and get a
+renewal of the option. Don't you see that when they get over there,
+allowing them a few days in New York, and a day or two to get out to the
+mine, we shall have little more than a week, after the cable despatch
+comes, in which to do anything, should they happen to report
+unfavourably.'
+
+'Yes, I see that. Still, it is only a question of facts on which they
+have to report, and you know, as well as I do, that no truthful men can
+report unfavourably on what we have certified. We have understated the
+case in every instance.'
+
+'I know that. I am perfectly well aware of that. Everything is all right
+if--if--Longworth is dealing honestly with us. If he is not, then
+everything is all wrong, and I should feel a great deal easier if we had
+in our possession another three months' option of the mine. We are now at
+the fag-end of this option, and, it seems to me, as protection to
+ourselves, we ought either to write to Von Brent--By the way, have you
+ever written to him?'
+
+'I wrote one letter telling him how we were getting on, but have received
+no answer; perhaps he is not in Ottawa at present.'
+
+'Well, I think you ought to go to the mine with Longworth and Melville.
+It is the conjunction of those two men that makes me suspicious. I can't
+tell what I distrust. I can give nothing definite; but I have a vague
+uneasiness when I think that the man who tried to mislead us regarding
+the value of the mineral is going with the man who has led us into all
+this expense. Longworth refused to go into the scheme in the first place,
+pretended he had forgotten all about it in the second place, and then
+suddenly developed an interest.'
+
+John knitted his brows and said nothing.
+
+'I don't want to worry you about it, but I am anxious to have your candid
+opinion. What had we better do?'
+
+'It seems to me,' said John, after a pause, 'that we can do nothing. It
+is a very perplexing situation. I think, however, we should turn it over
+in our minds for a few days, and then I can get to America in plenty of
+time, if necessary.'
+
+'Very well, suppose we give them ten days to get to the mine and reply.
+If no reply comes by the eleventh day then you will still have eighteen
+or nineteen days before the option expires. Put it at twelve days. I
+propose, if you hear nothing by then, you go over.'
+
+'Right,' said John; 'we may take that as settled.'
+
+'By the way, you got an invitation to-day, did you not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you going?'
+
+'I do not know. I should like to go and yet, you know, I am entirely
+unused to fashionable assemblages. I should not know what to say or do
+while I was there.'
+
+'As I understand, it is not to be a fashionable party, but merely a
+little friendly gathering which Miss Longworth gives because her cousin
+is about to sail for Canada. I don't want to flatter you, John, at all,
+but I imagine Miss Longworth would be rather disappointed if you did not
+put in an appearance. Besides, as we are partners with Longworth in this,
+and as he is going away on account of the mine. I think it would be a
+little ungracious of us not to go.'
+
+'Very well, I will go. Shall I call for you, or will you come for me?'
+
+'I will call for you and we will go there together in a cab. Be ready
+about eight o'clock.'
+
+The mansion of the Longworths was brilliantly lighted, and John felt
+rather faint-hearted as he stood on the steps before going in. The
+chances are he would not have had the courage to allow himself to be
+announced if his friend Wentworth had not been with him. George,
+however, had no such qualms, being more experienced in this kind of
+thing than his comrade. So they entered together, and were warmly
+greeted by the young hostess.
+
+'It is so kind of you to come,' she said, 'on such short notice. I was
+afraid you might have had some prior engagement, and would have found it
+impossible to be with us.'
+
+'You must not think that of me,' said Wentworth. 'I was certain to come;
+but I must confess my friend Kenyon here was rather difficult to manage.
+He seems to frown on social festivities, and actually had the coolness to
+propose that we should both plead more important business.'
+
+Edith looked reproachfully at Kenyon, who flushed to the temples, as was
+his custom, and said:
+
+'Now, Wentworth, that is unfair. You must not mind what he says, Miss
+Longworth; he likes to bring confusion on me, and he knows how to do it.
+I certainly said nothing about a prior engagement.'
+
+'Well, now you are here, I hope you will enjoy yourselves. It is quite an
+informal little gathering, with nothing to abash even Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+They found young Longworth there in company with Melville, who was to be
+his companion on the voyage. He shook hands, but without exhibiting the
+pleasure at meeting them which his cousin had shown.
+
+'My cousin,' said the young man, 'seems resolved to make the going of the
+prodigal nephew an occasion for killing the fatted calf. I'm sure I don't
+know why, unless it is that she is glad to be rid of me for a month.'
+
+Edith laughed at this, and left the men together. Wentworth speedily
+contrived to make himself agreeable to the young ladies who were present;
+but John, it must be admitted, felt awkward and out of place. He was not
+enjoying himself. He caught himself now and then following Edith
+Longworth with his eyes, and when he realized he was doing this, would
+abruptly look at the floor. In her handsome evening dress she appeared
+supremely lovely, and this John Kenyon admitted to himself with a sigh,
+for her very loveliness seemed to place her further and further away from
+him. Somebody played something on the piano, and this was, in a way, a
+respite for John. He felt that nobody was looking at him. Then a young
+man gave a recitation, which was very well received, and Kenyon began to
+forget his uneasiness. A German gentleman with long hair sat down at the
+piano with a good deal of importance in his demeanour. There was much
+arranging of music, and finally, when the leaves were settled to his
+satisfaction, there was a tremendous crash of chords, the beginning of
+what was evidently going to be a troublesome time for the piano. In the
+midst of this hurricane of sound John Kenyon became aware that Edith
+Longworth had sat down beside him.
+
+'I have got everyone comfortably settled with everyone else,' she said
+in a whisper to him, 'and you seem to be the only one who is, as it
+were, out in the cold, so, you see, I have done you the honour to come
+and talk to you.'
+
+'It is indeed an honour,' said John earnestly.
+
+'Oh, really,' said the young woman, laughing very softly, 'you must not
+take things so seriously. I didn't mean quite what I said, you
+know--that was only, as the children say, "pretended"; but you take one's
+light remarks as if they were most weighty sentences. Now, you must look
+as if you were entertaining me charmingly, whereas I have sat down beside
+you to have a very few minutes' talk on business; I know it's very bad
+form to talk business at an evening party, but, you see, I have no other
+chance to speak with you. I understand you have had a meeting of
+shareholders, and yet you never sent me an invitation. I told you that I
+wished to help you in forming a company; but that is the way you business
+men always treat a woman.'
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth,' began Kenyon; but she speedily interrupted him.
+
+'I am not going to let you make any explanation. I have come over here to
+enjoy scolding you, and I am not to be cheated out of my pleasure.'
+
+'I think,' said John, 'if you knew how much I have suffered during this
+last day or two, you would be very lenient with me. Did you read that
+article upon me in the _Financial Field_?'
+
+'No, I did not, but I read your reply to it this morning, and I think it
+was excellent.'
+
+'Ah, that was hardly fair. A person should read both sides of the
+question before passing judgment.'
+
+'It is a woman's idea of fairness,' said Edith, 'to read what pertains to
+her friend, and to form her judgment without hearing the other side. But
+you must not think I am going to forego scolding you because of my
+sympathy with you. Don't you remember you promised to let me know how
+your company was progressing from time to time, and here I have never
+had a word from you; now tell me how you have been getting on.'
+
+'I hardly know, but I think we are doing very well indeed. You know, of
+course, that your cousin is going to America to report upon the mine. As
+I have stated nothing but what is perfectly true about the property,
+there can be no question as to what that report will be, so it seems to
+me everything is going on nicely.'
+
+'Why do not you go to America?'
+
+'Ah, well, I am an interested party, and those who are thinking of going
+in with us have my report already. It is necessary to corroborate that.
+When it is corroborated, I expect we shall have no trouble in forming
+the company.'
+
+'And was William chosen by those men to go to Canada?'
+
+'He was not exactly chosen; he volunteered. Mr. Melville here was the one
+who was chosen.'
+
+'And why Mr. Melville more than you, for instance?'
+
+'Well, as I said, I am out of the question because I am an interested
+party. Melville is a man connected with china works, and as such, in a
+measure, an expert.'
+
+'Is Mr. Melville a friend of yours?'
+
+'No, he is not. I never saw him until he came to the meeting.'
+
+'Do you know,' she said, lowering her voice and bending towards him,
+'that I do not like Mr. Melville's face?' Kenyon glanced at Melville, who
+was at the other side of the room, and Edith went on: 'You must not look
+at people when I mention them in that way, or they will know we are
+talking about them. I do not like his face. He is too handsome a man, and
+I don't like handsome men.'
+
+'Don't you, really,' said John; 'then, you ought to----'
+
+Edith laughed softly, a low, musical laugh that was not heard above the
+piano din, and was intended for John alone, and to his ears it was the
+sweetest music he had ever heard.
+
+'I know what you were going to say,' she said; 'you were going to say
+that in that case I ought to like _you_. Well, I do; that is why I am
+taking such an interest in your mine, and in your friend Mr. Wentworth.
+And so my cousin volunteered to go to Canada. Now, I think you ought to
+go yourself.'
+
+'Why?' said Kenyon, startled that she should have touched the point that
+had been discussed between Wentworth and himself.
+
+'I can only give you a woman's reason--"because I do." It seems to me you
+ought to be there to know what they report at the time they _do_ report.
+Perhaps they won't understand the mine without your explanation, and then
+you see an adverse report might come back in perfect good faith. I think
+you ought to go to America, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'That is just what George Wentworth says.'
+
+'Does he? I always thought he was a very sensible young man, and now I am
+sure of it. Well, I must not stay here gossiping with you on business. I
+see the professor is going to finish, and so I shall have to look after
+my other guests. If I don't see you again this evening, or have no
+opportunity of speaking with you, think over what I have said.'
+
+And then, with the most charming hypocrisy, the young woman thanked the
+professor for the music to which she had not listened in the least.
+
+'Well, how did you enjoy yourself?' said Wentworth when they had got
+outside again.
+
+It was a clear, starlight night, and they had resolved to walk home
+together.
+
+'I enjoyed myself very well indeed,' answered Kenyon; 'much better than I
+expected. It was a little awkward at first, but I got over that.'
+
+'I noticed you did--with help.'
+
+'Yes, "with help."'
+
+'If you are inclined to rave, John, now that we are under the stars,
+remember I am a close confidant, and a sympathetic listener. I should like
+to hear you rave, just to learn how an exasperatingly sensible man acts
+under the circumstances.'
+
+'I shall not rave about anything, George, but I will tell you something.
+I am going to Canada.'
+
+'Ah, did she speak about that?'
+
+'She did.'
+
+'And of course her advice at once decides the matter, after my most
+cogent arguments have failed?'
+
+'Don't be offended, George, but--_it does_.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+'What name, please?'
+
+'Tell Mr. Wentworth a lady wishes to see him.'
+
+The boy departed rather dubiously, for he knew this message was decidedly
+irregular in a business office. People should give their names.
+
+'A lady to see you, sir,' he said to Wentworth; and, then, just as the
+boy had expected, his employer wanted to know the lady's name.
+
+Ladies are not frequent visitors at the office of an accountant in the
+City, so Wentworth touched his collar and tie to make sure they were in
+their correct position, and, wondering who the lady was, asked the boy to
+show her in.
+
+'How do you do, Mr. Wentworth?' she said brightly, advancing towards his
+table and holding out her hand.
+
+Wentworth caught his breath, and took her extended hand somewhat limply,
+then he pulled himself together; saying:
+
+'This is an unexpected pleasure, Miss Brewster.'
+
+Jennie blushed very prettily, and laughed a laugh that Wentworth thought
+was like a little ripple of music from a mellow flute.
+
+'It may be unexpected,' she said, 'but you don't look a bit like a
+man suffering from an overdose of pure joy. You didn't expect to see
+me, did you?'
+
+'I did not; but now that you are here, may I ask in what way I can
+serve you?'
+
+'Well, in the first place, you may ask me to take a chair, and in the
+second place you may sit down yourself; for I've come to have a long talk
+with you.'
+
+The prospect did not seem to be so alluring to Wentworth as one might
+have expected, when the announcement was made by a girl so pretty, and
+dressed in such exquisite taste; but the young man promptly offered her a
+chair, and then sat down, with the table between them. She placed her
+parasol and a few things she had been carrying on the table, arranging
+them with some care; then, having given him time to recover from his
+surprise, she flashed a look at him that sent a thrill to the finger-tips
+of the young man. Yet a danger understood is a danger half overcome; and
+Wentworth, unconsciously drawing a deep breath, nerved himself against
+any recurrence of a feeling he had been trying with but indifferent
+success to forget, saying grimly, but only half convincingly, to himself:
+
+'You are not going to fool me a second time, my girl, lovely as you are.'
+
+A glimmer of a smile hovered about the red lips of the girl, a smile
+hardly perceptible, but giving an effect to her clear complexion as if a
+sunbeam had crept into the room, and its reflection had lit up her face.
+
+'I have come to apologize, Mr. Wentworth,' she said at last. 'I find it a
+very difficult thing to do, and, as I don't quite know how to begin, I
+plunge right into it.'
+
+'You don't need to apologize to me for anything, Miss Brewster,' replied
+Wentworth, rather stiffly.
+
+'Oh yes, I do. Don't make it harder than it is by being too frigidly
+polite about it, but say you accept the apology, and that you're
+sorry--no, I don't mean that--I should say that you're sure I'm sorry,
+and that you know I won't do it again.'
+
+Wentworth laughed, and Miss Brewster joined him.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's ever so much better. I suppose you've been
+thinking hard things of me ever since we last met.'
+
+'I've tried to,' replied Wentworth.
+
+'Now, that's what I call honest; besides, I like the implied compliment.
+I think it's very neat indeed. I'm really very, very sorry that I--that
+things happened as they did. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had used
+exceedingly strong language about it at the time.'
+
+'I must confess that I did.'
+
+'Ah!' said Jennie, with a sigh, 'you men have so many comforts denied to
+us women. But I came here for another purpose; if I had merely wanted to
+apologize, I think I would have written. I want some information which
+you can give me, if you like.'
+
+The young woman rested her elbows on the table, with her chin in her
+hands, gazing across at him earnestly and innocently. Poor George felt
+that it would be almost impossible to refuse anything to those large
+beseeching eyes.
+
+'I want you to tell me about your mine.'
+
+All the geniality that had gradually come into Wentworth's face and
+manner vanished instantly.
+
+'So this is the old business over again,' he said.
+
+'How can you say that!' cried Jennie reproachfully. 'I am asking for my
+own satisfaction entirely, and not for my paper. Besides, I tell you
+frankly what I want to know, and don't try to get it by indirect
+means--by false pretences, as you once said.'
+
+'How can you expect me to give you information that does not belong to me
+alone? I have no right to speak of a business which concerns others
+without their permission.'
+
+'Ah, then, there are at least two more concerned in the mine,' said
+Jennie gleefully. 'Kenyon is one, I know; who is the other?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, I will tell you nothing.'
+
+'But you have told me something already. Please go on and talk, Mr.
+Wentworth--about anything you like--and I shall soon find out all I want
+to know about the mine.'
+
+She paused, but Wentworth remained silent, which, indeed, the bewildered
+young man realized was the only safe thing to do.
+
+'They speak of the talkativeness of women,' Miss Brewster went on, as if
+soliloquizing, 'but it is nothing to that of the men. Once set a man
+talking, and you learn everything he knows--besides ever so much more
+that he doesn't.'
+
+Miss Brewster had abandoned her very taking attitude, with its suggestion
+of confidential relations, and had removed her elbows from the table,
+sitting now back in her chair, gazing dreamily at the dingy window which
+let the light in from the dingy court. She seemed to have forgotten that
+Wentworth was there, and said, more to herself than to him:
+
+'I wonder if Kenyon would tell me about the mine.'
+
+'You might ask him.'
+
+'No; it wouldn't do any good,' she continued, gently shaking her head.
+'He's one of your silent men, and there are so few of them in this
+world. Perhaps I had better go to William Longworth himself; he's not
+suspicious of me.'
+
+As she said this, she threw a quick glance at Wentworth, and the
+unfortunate young man's face at once told her that she had hit the mark.
+She bent her head over the table, and laughed with such evident enjoyment
+that Wentworth, in spite of his helpless anger, smiled grimly.
+
+Jennie raised her head, but the sight of his perplexed countenance was
+too much for her, and it was some time before her merriment allowed her
+to speak. At last she said:
+
+'Wouldn't you like to take me by the shoulders and put me out of the
+room, Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'I'd like to take you by the shoulders and shake you.'
+
+'Ah! that would be taking a liberty, and could not be permitted. We must
+leave punishment to the law, you know, although I do think a man should
+be allowed to turn an objectionable visitor into the street.'
+
+'Miss Brewster,' cried the young man earnestly, leaning over the table
+towards her, 'why don't you abandon your horrible inquisitorial
+profession, and put your undoubted talents to some other use?'
+
+'What, for instance?'
+
+'Oh, anything.'
+
+Jennie rested her fair cheek against her open palm again, and looked at
+the dingy window. There was a long silence between them--Wentworth
+absorbed in watching her clear-cut profile and her white throat, his
+breath quickening as he feasted his eyes on her beauty.
+
+'I have always got angry,' she said at last, in a low voice with the quiver
+of a suppressed sigh in it, 'when other people have said that to me--I
+wonder why it is I merely feel hurt and sad when you say it? It is so easy
+to say, "Oh, anything"--so easy, so easy. You are a man, with the strength
+and determination of a man, yet you have met with disappointments and
+obstacles that have required all your courage to overcome. Every man has,
+and with most men it is a fight until the head is gray, and the brain
+weary with the ceaseless struggle. The world is utterly merciless; it
+will trample you down relentlessly if it can, and if your vigilance
+relaxes for a moment, it will steal your crust and leave you to starve.
+Every time I think of this incessant sullen contest, with no quarter
+given or taken, I shudder, and pray that I may die before I am at the
+mercy of the pitiless world. When I came to London, I saw, for the first
+time in my life, that hopeless, melancholy promenade of the sandwich-men;
+human wreckage drifting along the edge of the street, as if cast there by
+the rushing tide sweeping past them. They--they seemed to me like a
+tottering procession of the dead; and on their backs was the announcement
+of a play that was making all London roar with laughter. The awful comedy
+and tragedy of it! Well, I simply couldn't stand it. I had to run up a
+side-street and cry like the little fool I was, right in broad daylight.'
+
+Jennie paused and tried to laugh, but the effort ended in a sound
+suspiciously like a sob. She dashed her hand with quick impatience across
+her eyes, from which Wentworth had never taken his own, seeing them
+become dim, as if the light from the window proved too strong for them,
+and finally fill as she ceased to speak. Searching ineffectually about
+her dress for a handkerchief, which lay on the table beside her parasol
+unnoticed by either, Jennie went on with some difficulty:
+
+'Well, these poor forlorn creatures were once men--men who have gone
+down--and if the world is so hard on a man with all his strength and
+resourcefulness, think--think what it is for a woman thrown into this
+inhuman turmoil--a woman without friends--without money--flung among
+these relentless wolves--to live if she can--or--to die--if she can.'
+
+The girl's voice broke, and she buried her face in her arms, which rested
+on the table.
+
+Wentworth sprang to his feet and came round to where she sat.
+
+'Jennie,' he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The girl, without
+looking up, shook off the hand that touched her.
+
+'Go back to your place,' she cried, in a smothered voice. 'Leave me
+alone.'
+
+'Jennie,' persisted Wentworth.
+
+The young woman rose from her chair and faced him, stepping back a pace.
+
+'Don't you hear what I say? Go back and sit down. I came here to talk
+business, not to make a fool of myself. It's all your fault, and I hate
+you for it--you and your silly questions.'
+
+But the young man stood where he was, in spite of the dangerous sparkle
+that shone in his visitor's wet eyes. A frown gathered on his brow.
+
+'Jennie,' he said slowly, 'are you playing with me again?'
+
+The swift anger that blazed up in her face, reddening her cheeks, dried
+the tears.
+
+'How _dare_ you say such a thing to me!' she cried hotly. 'Do you flatter
+yourself that, because I came here to talk business, I have also some
+personal interest in you? Surely even _your_ self-conceit doesn't run so
+far as that!'
+
+Wentworth stood silent, and Miss Brewster picked up her parasol,
+scattering, in her haste, the other articles on the floor. If she
+expected Wentworth to put them on the table again, she was disappointed,
+for, although his eyes were upon her, his thoughts were far away upon the
+Atlantic Ocean.
+
+'I shall not stay here to be insulted,' she cried resentfully, bringing
+Wentworth's thoughts back with a rush to London again. 'It is intolerable
+that you should use such an expression to me. Playing with you indeed!'
+
+'I had no intention of insulting you, Miss Brewster.'
+
+'What is it but an insult to use such a phrase? It implies that I either
+care for you, or----'
+
+'And do you?'
+
+'Do I what?'
+
+'Do you care for me?'
+
+Jennie shook out the lace fringes of her parasol; and smoothed them with
+some precision. Her eyes were bent on what she was doing; consequently,
+they did not meet those of her questioner.
+
+'I care for you as a friend, of course,' she said at last, still giving
+much attention to the parasol. 'If I had not looked on you as a friend, I
+would not have come here to consult with you, would I?'
+
+'No, I suppose not. Well, I am sorry I used the words that displeased
+you, and now, if you will permit it, we will go on with the
+consultation.'
+
+'It wasn't a pretty thing to say.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm not good at saying pretty things.'
+
+'You used to be.'
+
+The parasol being arranged to her liking, she glanced up at him.
+
+'Still, you said you were sorry, and that's all a man can say--or a
+woman either, for that's what I said myself when I came in. Now, if you
+will pick up those things from the floor--thanks--we will talk about
+the mine.'
+
+Wentworth seated himself again, and said;
+
+'Well, what is it you wish to know about the mine?'
+
+'Nothing at all.'
+
+'But you said you wanted information.'
+
+'What a funny reason to give! And how a man misses all the fine points of
+a conversation! No; just because I asked for information, you might have
+known that was not what I really wanted.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm very stupid. I hate to ask boldly what you did want, but
+I would like to know.'
+
+'I wanted a vote of confidence. I told you I was sorry because of a
+certain episode. I wished to see if you trusted me, and I found you
+didn't. There!'
+
+'I think that was hardly a fair test. You see, the facts did not belong
+to me alone.'
+
+Miss Brewster sighed, and slowly shook her head.
+
+'That wouldn't have made the least difference if you had really trusted
+me.'
+
+'Oh, I say! You couldn't expect a man to----'
+
+'Yes I could.'
+
+'What, merely a friend?'
+
+Miss Brewster nodded.
+
+'Well, all I can say,' remarked Wentworth, with a laugh, 'is that
+friendship has made greater strides in the States than it has in
+this country.'
+
+Before Jennie could reply, the useful boy knocked at the door and brought
+in a tea-tray, which he placed before his master; then silently departed,
+closing the door noiselessly.
+
+'May I offer you a cup of tea?'
+
+'Please. What a curious custom this drinking of tea is in business
+offices! I think I shall write an article on "A Nation of Tea-tipplers."
+If I were an enemy of England, instead of being its greatest friend, I
+would descend with my army on this country between the hours of four and
+five in the afternoon, and so take the population unawares while it was
+drinking tea. What would you do if the enemy came down on you during such
+a sacred national ceremony?'
+
+'I would offer her a cup of tea,' replied Wentworth, suiting the action
+to the phrase.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' said the girl archly, 'you're improving. That remark was
+distinctly good. Still, you must remember that I come as a friend, not as
+an enemy. Did you ever read the "Babes in the Wood"? It is a most
+instructive, but pathetic, work of fiction. You remember the wicked
+uncle, surely? Well, you and Mr. Kenyon remind me of the "Babes," poor
+innocent little things! and London--this part of it--is the dark and
+pathless forest. I am the bird hovering about you, waiting to cover you
+with leaves. The leaves, to do any good, ought to be cheques fluttering
+down on you, but, alas! I haven't any. If negotiable cheques only grew on
+trees, life would not be so difficult.'
+
+Miss Brewster sipped her tea pensively, and Wentworth listened
+contentedly to the musical murmur of her voice. Such an entrancing effect
+had it on him that he paid less heed to what she said than a man ought
+when a lady is speaking. The tea-drinking had added a touch of
+domesticity to the _tete-a-tete_ which rather went to the head of the
+young man. He clinched and unclinched his hand out of sight under the
+table, and felt the moisture on his palm. He hoped he would be able to
+retain control over himself, but the difficulty of his task almost
+overcame him when she now and then appealed to him with glance or
+gesture, and he felt as if he must cry out, 'My girl, my girl, don't do
+that, if you expect me to stay where I am.'
+
+'I see you are not paying the slightest attention to what I am saying,'
+she said, pushing the cup from her. She rested her arms on the table,
+leaning slightly forward, and turning her face full upon him: 'I can tell
+by your eyes that you are thinking of something else.'
+
+'I assure you,' said George, drawing a deep breath, 'I am listening with
+intense interest.'
+
+'Well, that's right, for what I am going to say is important. Now, to
+wake you up, I will first tell you all about your mine; you will
+understand thereafter that I did not need to ask anyone for information
+regarding it.'
+
+Here, to Wentworth's astonishment, she gave a rapid and accurate sketch
+of the negotiations and arrangements between the three partners, and the
+present position of affairs.
+
+'How do you know all this?' he asked.
+
+'Never mind that; and you mustn't ask how I know what I am now going to
+tell you, but you must believe it implicitly, and act upon it promptly.
+Longworth is fooling both you and Kenyon. He is marking time, so that
+your option will run out; then he will pay cash for the mine at the
+original price, and you and Kenyon will be left to pay two-thirds of the
+debt incurred. Where is Kenyon?'
+
+'He has gone to America.'
+
+'That's good. Cable him to get the option renewed. You can then try to
+form the company yourselves in London. If he can't obtain a renewal, you
+have very little time to get the cash together, and if you are not able
+to do that, then you lose everything. This is what I came to tell you,
+although I have been a long time about it. Now I must go.'
+
+She rose, gathered her belongings from the table, and stood with the
+parasol pressed against her. Wentworth came around to where she was
+standing, his face paler than usual, probably because of the news he had
+heard. One hand was grasped tightly around one wrist in front of him. He
+felt that he should thank her for what she had done, but his lips were
+dry, and, somehow, the proper words were not at his command.
+
+She, holding her fragile lace-fringed parasol against her with one arm,
+was adjusting her long neatly fitting glove, which she had removed before
+tea. A button, one of many, was difficult to fasten, and as she
+endeavoured to put it in its place, her sleeve fell away, showing a round
+white arm above the glove.
+
+'You see,' she said, a little breathlessly, her eyes upon her glove, 'it
+is a very serious situation, and time is of immense importance.'
+
+'I realize that.'
+
+'It would be such a pity to lose everything now, when you have had so
+much trouble and worry.'
+
+'It would.'
+
+'And I think that whatever is done should be done quickly. You should act
+at once and with energy.'
+
+'I am convinced that is so.'
+
+'Of course it is. You are of too trusting a nature; you should be more
+suspicious, then you wouldn't be tricked as you have been.'
+
+'No. The trouble is I have been too sceptical, but that is past. I won't
+be again.'
+
+'What are you talking about?' she said, looking quickly up at him. 'Don't
+you know you'll lose the mine if----'
+
+'Hang the mine!' he cried, flinging his wrist free, and clasping her to
+him before she could step back or move from her place. 'There is
+something more important than mines or money.'
+
+The parasol broke with a sharp snap, and the girl murmured 'Oh!' but the
+murmur was faint.
+
+'Never mind the parasol,' he said, pulling it from between them and
+tossing it aside; 'I'll get you another.'
+
+'Reckless man!' she gasped; 'you little know how much it cost, and I
+think, you know, I ought to have been consulted--in an--in an--affair of
+this kind--George.'
+
+'There was no time. I acted upon your own advice--promptly. You are not
+angry, Jennie, my dear girl, are you?'
+
+'I suppose I'm not, though I think I ought to be; especially as I know
+only too well that I held my heart in my hand the whole time, almost
+offering it to you. I hope you won't treat it as you have treated the
+sunshade.'
+
+He kissed her for answer.
+
+'You see,' she said, putting his necktie straight, 'I liked you from the
+very first, far more than I knew at the time. If you--I'm not trying to
+justify myself, you know--but if you had, well, just coaxed me a little
+yourself, I would never have sent that cable message. You seemed to give
+up everything, and you sent Kenyon to me, and that made me angry. I
+expected you to come back to me, but you never came.'
+
+'I was a stupid fool. I always am when I get a fair chance.'
+
+'Oh no, you're not, but you do need someone to take care of you.'
+
+She suddenly held him at arm's length from her.
+
+'You don't imagine for a moment, George Wentworth, that I came here
+to-day for--for this.'
+
+'Certainly not!' cried the honest young man, with much indignant fervour,
+drawing her again towards him.
+
+'Then it's all right. I couldn't bear to have you think such a thing,
+especially--well, I'll tell you why some day. But I do wish you had a
+title. Do they ever ennoble accountants in this country, George?'
+
+'No; they knight only rich fools.'
+
+'Oh, I'm so glad of that; for you'll get rich on the mine, and I'll be
+Lady Wentworth yet.'
+
+Then she drew his head down until her laughing lips touched his.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Although the steamship that took Kenyon to America was one of the
+speediest in the Atlantic service, yet the voyage was inexpressibly
+dreary to him. He spent most of his time walking up and down the deck,
+thinking about the other voyage of a few weeks before. The one
+consolation of his present trip was its quickness.
+
+When he arrived at his hotel in New York, he asked if there was any
+message there for him, and the clerk handed him an envelope, which he
+tore open. It was a cable despatch from Wentworth, with the words:
+
+'Longworth at Windsor. Proceed to Ottawa immediately. Get option renewed.
+Longworth duping us.'
+
+John knitted his brows and wondered where Windsor was. The clerk, seeing
+his perplexity, asked if he could be of any assistance.
+
+'I have received this cablegram, but don't quite understand it. Where
+is Windsor?'
+
+'Oh, that means the Windsor Hotel. Just up the street.'
+
+Kenyon registered, told the clerk to assign him a room, and send his
+baggage up to it when it came. Then he walked out from the hotel and
+sought the Windsor.
+
+He found that colossal hostelry, and was just inquiring of the clerk
+whether a Mr. Longworth was staying there, when that gentleman appeared
+at the desk, took some letters and his key.
+
+Kenyon tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+Young Longworth turned round with more alacrity than he usually
+displayed, and gave a long whistle of surprise when he saw who it was.
+
+'In the name of all the gods,' he cried, 'what are _you_ doing here?'
+Then, before Kenyon could reply, he said: 'Come up to my room.'
+
+They went to the elevator, rose a few stories, and passed down an
+apparently endless hall, carpeted with some noiseless stuff that gave no
+echo of the footfall. Longworth put the key into his door and opened it.
+They entered a large and pleasant room.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'this _is_ a surprise. What is the reason of your being
+here? Anything wrong in London?'
+
+'Nothing wrong, so far as I am aware. We received no cablegram from you,
+and thought there might be some hitch in the business; therefore I came.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I cabled over to your address, and said I was staying at the
+Windsor for a few days. I sent a cablegram almost as long as a letter,
+but it didn't appear to do any good.'
+
+'No, I did not receive it.'
+
+'And what did you expect was wrong over here?'
+
+'That I did not know. I knew you had time to get to Ottawa and see the
+mine in twelve days from London. Not hearing from you in that time, and
+knowing the option was running out, both Wentworth and I became anxious,
+and so I came over.'
+
+'Exactly. Well, I'm afraid you've had your trip for nothing.'
+
+'What do you mean? Is not the mine all I said it was?'
+
+'Oh, the mine is all right; all I meant was, there was really no
+necessity for your coming.'
+
+'But, you know, the option ends in a very short time.'
+
+'Well, the option, like the mine, is all right. I think you might quite
+safely have left it in my hands.'
+
+It must be admitted that John Kenyon began to feel he had acted with
+unreasonable rashness in taking his long voyage.
+
+'Is Mr. Melville here with you?'
+
+'Melville has returned home. He had not time to stay longer. All he
+wanted was to satisfy himself about the mine. He was satisfied, and he
+has gone home. If you were in London now, you would be able to see him.'
+
+'Did you meet Mr. Von Brent?'
+
+'Yes, he took us to the mine.'
+
+'And did you say anything about the option to him?'
+
+'Well, we had some conversation about it. There will be no trouble about
+the option. What Von Brent wants is to sell his mine, that is all.'
+There was a few moments' silence, then Longworth said: 'When are you
+going back?'
+
+'I do not know. I think I ought to see Von Brent. I am not at all easy
+about leaving matters as they are. I think I ought to get a renewal of
+the option. It is not wise to risk things as we are doing. Von Brent
+might at any time get an offer for his mine, just as we are forming our
+company, and, of course, if the option had not been renewed, he would
+sell to the first man who put down the money. As you say, all he wants is
+to sell his mine.'
+
+Longworth was busy opening his letters, and apparently paying very little
+attention to what Kenyon said. At last, however, he spoke:
+
+'If I were you--if you care to take my advice--I would go straight back
+to England. You will do no good here. I merely say this to save you any
+further trouble, time, and expense.'
+
+'Don't you think it would be as well to get a renewal of the option?'
+
+'Oh, certainly; but, as I told you before, it was not at all necessary
+for you to come over. I may say, furthermore, that Von Brent will not
+renew the option without a handsome sum down, to be forfeited if the
+company is not formed. Have you the money to pay him?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Very well, then, why waste time and money going to Ottawa?' Young Mr.
+Longworth arched his eye-brows and gazed at John through his eyeglass. 'I
+will let you have my third of the money, if that will do any good.'
+
+'How much money does Von Brent want?'
+
+'How should I know? To tell you the truth, Mr. Kenyon--and truth never
+hurts, or oughtn't to--I don't at all like this visit to America. You and
+Mr. Wentworth have been good enough to be suspicious about me from the
+very first. You have not taken any pains to conceal it, either of you.
+Your appearance in America at this particular juncture is nothing more
+nor less than an insult to me. I intend to receive it as such.'
+
+'I have no intention of insulting you,' said Kenyon, 'if you are dealing
+fairly with me.'
+
+'There it is again. That remark is an insult. Everything you say is a
+reflection upon me. I wish to have nothing more to say to you. I give you
+my advice that it is better for you, and cheaper, to go back to London.
+You need not act on it unless you like. I have nothing further to say to
+you and so this interview may be considered closed.'
+
+'And how about the mine?'
+
+'I imagine the mine will take care of itself.'
+
+'Do you think this is courteous treatment of a business partner?'
+
+'My dear sir, I do not take my lessons in courtesy from you. Whether you
+are pleased or displeased with my treatment of you is a matter of supreme
+indifference to me. I am tired of living in an atmosphere of suspicion,
+and I have done with it--that is all. You think some game is being played
+on you--both you and Mr. Wentworth think that--and yet you haven't the
+"cuteness," as they call it here, or sharpness, to find it out. Now, a
+man who has suspicions he cannot prove to be well founded should keep
+those suspicions to himself until he can prove them. That is my advice
+to you. I wish you a good-day.'
+
+John Kenyon walked back to his hotel with more misgivings than ever. He
+wrote a letter to Wentworth detailing the conversation, telling him
+Melville had sailed for home, and advising him to see that gentleman when
+he arrived. He stayed in New York that night, and took the morning train
+to Montreal. In due time he arrived at Ottawa, and called on Von Brent.
+He found that gentleman in his chambers, looking as if he had never left
+the room since the option was signed. Von Brent at first did not
+recognise his visitor, but after gazing a moment at him he sprang from
+his chair and held out his hand.
+
+'I really did not know you,' he said; 'you have changed a great deal
+since I saw you last. You look haggard, and not at all well. What is the
+matter with you?'
+
+'I do not think anything is the matter. I am in very good health, thank
+you; I have had a few business worries, that is all.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Von Brent; 'I am very sorry indeed you failed to form
+your company.'
+
+'Failed!' echoed Kenyon.
+
+'Yes; you haven't succeeded, have you?'
+
+'Well, I don't know about that; we are in a fair way to succeed. You met
+Longworth and Melville, who came out to see the mine? I saw Longworth in
+New York, and he told me you had taken them out there.'
+
+'Are they interested with you in the mine?'
+
+'Certainly; they are helping me to form the company.'
+
+Von Brent seemed amazed.
+
+'I did not understand that at all. In fact, I understood the exact
+opposite. I thought you had attempted to form a company, and failed. They
+showed me an attack in one of the financial papers upon you, and said
+that killed your chances of forming a company in London. They were here,
+apparently, on their own business.'
+
+'And what was their business?'
+
+'To buy the mine.'
+
+'Have they bought it?'
+
+'Practically, yes. Of course, while your option holds good I cannot sell
+it, but that, as you know, expires in a very few days.'
+
+Kenyon, finding his worst suspicions confirmed, seemed speechless with
+amazement, and in his agony mopped from his brow the drops collected
+there.
+
+'You appear to be astonished at this,' said Von Brent.
+
+'I am very much astonished.'
+
+'Well, you cannot blame me. I have acted perfectly square in the matter.
+I had no idea Longworth, and the gentleman who was with him, had any
+connection with you whatever. Their attention had been drawn to the mine,
+they said, by that article. They had investigated it and appeared to be
+satisfied there was something in it--in the mine, I mean, not in the
+article. They said they had attended a meeting which you had called, but
+it was quite evident you were not going to be able to form the company.
+So they came here and made me a cash offer for the mine. They have
+deposited twenty thousand pounds at the bank here, and on the day your
+option closes they will give me a cheque for the amount.'
+
+'It serves me right,' said Kenyon. 'I have been cheated and duped. I had
+grave suspicions of it all along, but I did not act upon them. I have
+been too timorous and cowardly. This man Longworth has made a pretence of
+helping me to form a company. Everything he has done has been to delay
+me. He came out here, apparently, in the interests of the company I was
+forming, and now he has got the option for himself.'
+
+'Yes, he has,' said Von Brent. 'I may say I am very sorry indeed for the
+turn affairs have taken. Of course, as I have told you, I had no idea how
+the land lay. You see, you had placed no deposit with me, and I had to
+look after my own interests. However, the option is open for a few days
+more, and I will not turn the mine over to them till the last minute of
+the time has expired. Isn't there any chance of your getting the money
+before then?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'Well, you see, in that case I cannot help myself. I am bound by a legal
+document to turn the mine over to them on receipt of the twenty thousand
+pounds the moment your option is ended. Everything is done legally, and I
+am perfectly helpless in the matter.'
+
+'Yes, I see that,' said John. 'Good-bye.'
+
+He went to the telegraph-office and sent a cablegram.
+
+Wentworth received the message in London the next morning. It read:
+
+'We are cheated. Longworth has the option on the mine in his own name.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+When George Wentworth received this message, he read it several times
+over before its full meaning dawned upon him. Then he paced up and down
+his room, and gave way to his feelings. His best friends, who had been
+privileged to hear George's vocabulary when he was rather angry, admitted
+that the young man had a fluency of expression which was very more terse
+than proper. When the real significance of the despatch became apparent
+to him, George outdid himself in this particular line. Then he realized
+that, however consolatory such language is to a very angry man, it does
+little good in any practical way. He paced silently up and down the room,
+wondering what he could do, and the more he wondered the less light he
+saw through the fog. He put on his hat and went into the other room.
+
+'Henry,' he said to his partner, 'do you know anybody who would lend me
+twenty thousand pounds?'
+
+Henry laughed. The idea of anybody lending that sum of money, except on
+the very best security, was in itself extremely comic.
+
+'Do you want it to-day?' he said.
+
+'Yes, I want it to-day.'
+
+'Well, I don't know any better plan than to go out into the street and
+ask every man you meet if he has that sum about him. You are certain to
+encounter men who have very much more than twenty thousand pounds, and
+perhaps one of them, struck by your very sane appearance at the moment,
+might hand over the sum to you. I think, however, George, that you would
+be more successful if you met the capitalist in a secluded lane some
+dark night, and had a good reliable club in your hand.'
+
+'You are right,' said George. 'Of course, there is just as much
+possibility of my reaching the moon as getting that sum of money on
+short notice.'
+
+'Yes, or on long notice either, I imagine. I know plenty of men who have
+the money, but I wouldn't undertake to ask them for it, and I don't
+believe you would. Still there is nothing like trying. He who tries may
+succeed, but no one can succeed who doesn't try. Why not go to old
+Longworth? He could let you have the money in a moment if he wanted to do
+so. He knows you. What's your security? What are you going to do with
+it--that eternal mine of yours?'
+
+'Yes, that "eternal mine"; I want it to _be_ mine. That is why I need the
+twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Well, George, I don't see much hope for you. You never spoke to old
+Longworth about it, did you? He wasn't one of the men you intended to get
+into this company?'
+
+'No, he was not. I wish he had been. He would have treated us better than
+his rascally nephew has done.'
+
+'Ah, that immaculate young man has been playing you tricks, has he?'
+
+'He has played me one trick, which is enough.'
+
+'Well, why don't you go and see the old man, and lay the case before him?
+He treats that nephew as if he were his son. Now, a man will do a great
+deal for his son, and perhaps old Longworth might do something for
+his nephew.'
+
+'Yes; but I should have to explain to him that his nephew is a
+scoundrel.'
+
+'Very well; that is just the kind of explanation to bring the twenty
+thousand pounds. If his nephew really is a scoundrel, and you can prove
+it, you could not want a better lever than that on the old man's
+money-bags.'
+
+'By Jove!' said Wentworth, 'I believe I shall try it. I want to let him
+know, anyhow, what sort of man his nephew is. I'll go and see him.'
+
+'I would,' said the other, turning to his work.
+
+And so George Wentworth, putting the cablegram in his pocket, went to see
+old Mr. Longworth in a frame of mind in which no man should see his
+fellow-man. He did not wait to be announced, but walked, to the
+astonishment of the clerk, straight through into Mr. Longworth's room. He
+found the old man seated at his desk.
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Wentworth,' said the financier cordially.
+
+'Good-day,' replied George curtly. 'I have come to read a cable despatch
+to you, or to let you read it.'
+
+He threw the paper down before the old gentleman, who adjusted his
+spectacles and read it. Then he looked up inquiringly at Wentworth.
+
+'You don't understand it, do you?' said the latter.
+
+'I confess I do not. The Longworth in this telegram does not refer to
+me, does it?'
+
+'No, it does not refer to you, but it refers to one of your house. Your
+nephew, William Longworth, is a scoundrel!'
+
+'Ah!' said the old man, placing the despatch on the desk again, and
+removing his glasses, 'have you come to tell me that?'
+
+'Yes, I have. Did you know it before?'
+
+'No, I did not,' answered the old gentleman, his colour rising; 'and I
+do not know it now. I know you say so, and I think very likely you will
+be glad to take back what you have said. I will at least give you the
+opportunity.'
+
+'So far from taking it back, Mr. Longworth, I shall prove it. Your nephew
+formed a partnership with my friend Kenyon and myself to float on the
+London market a certain Canadian mine.'
+
+'My dear sir,' broke in the old gentleman, 'I have no desire to hear of
+my nephew's private speculations; I have nothing to do with them. I have
+nothing to do with your mine. The matter is of no interest whatever to
+me, and I must decline to hear anything about it. You are, also, if you
+will excuse my saying so, not in a fit state of temper to talk to any
+gentleman. If you like to come back here when you are calmer, I shall be
+very pleased to listen to what you have to say.'
+
+'I shall never be calmer on this subject. I have told you that your
+nephew is a scoundrel. You are pleased to deny the accusation.'
+
+'I do not deny it; I merely said I did not know it was the case, and I do
+not believe it, that is all.'
+
+'Very well; the moment I begin to show you proof that things are as
+I say----'
+
+'My dear sir,' cried the elder man, with some heat, 'you are not showing
+proof. You are merely making assertions, and assertions about a man who
+is absent--who is not here to defend himself. If you have anything to say
+against William Longworth, come and say it when he is here, and he shall
+answer for himself. It is cowardly of you, and ungenerous to me, to make
+a number of accusations which I am in no wise able to refute.'
+
+'Will you listen to what I have to say?'
+
+'No; I will not.'
+
+'Then, by God, you shall!' and with that Wentworth strode to the door and
+turned the key, while the old man rose from his seat and faced him.
+
+'Do you mean to threaten me, sir, in my own office?'
+
+'I mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that I have made a statement which I am
+going to prove to you. I mean that you shall listen to me, and listen to
+me _now_!'
+
+'And I say, if you have anything to charge against my nephew, come and
+say it when he is here.'
+
+'When he is here, Mr. Longworth, it will be too late to say it; at
+present you can repair the injury he has done. When he returns to England
+you cannot do so, no matter how much you might wish to make the attempt.'
+
+The old man stood irresolute for a moment, then he sat down in his chair
+again.
+
+'Very well,' he said, with a sigh; 'I am not so combative as I once was.
+Go on with your story.'
+
+'My story is very short,' said Wentworth; 'it simply amounts to this:
+You know your nephew formed a partnership with us in relation to the
+Canadian mine?'
+
+'I know nothing about it, I tell you,' answered Mr. Longworth.
+
+'Very well, you know it now.'
+
+'I know you say so.'
+
+'Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I shall tell you more definitely when I hear what you have to say. Go
+on.'
+
+'Well, your nephew, pretending to aid us in forming this company, did
+everything to retard our progress. He engaged offices that took a long
+time to fit up, and which we had at last to take in hand ourselves. Then
+he left for a week, leaving us no address, and refusing to answer the
+letters I sent to his office for him. On one pretext or another, the
+forming of the company was delayed; until at length, when the option by
+which Mr. Kenyon held the mine had less than a month to run, your nephew
+went to America in company with Mr. Melville, ostensibly to see and
+report upon the property. After waiting a certain length of time and
+hearing nothing from him (he had promised to cable us), Kenyon went to
+America to get a renewal of the option. This cablegram explains his
+success. He finds, on going there, that your nephew has secured the
+option of the mine in his own name, and, as Kenyon says, we are cheated.
+Now have you any doubt whether your nephew is a scoundrel or not?'
+
+Mr. Longworth mused for a few moments on what the young man had told him.
+
+'If what you say is exactly true, there is no doubt William has been
+guilty of a piece of very sharp practice.'
+
+'Sharp practice!' cried the other. 'You might as well call robbery sharp
+practice!'
+
+'My dear sir, I have listened to you; now I ask you to listen to me. If,
+as I say, what you have stated is true, my nephew has done something
+which I think an honourable man would not do; but as to that I cannot
+judge until I hear his side of the story. It may put a different
+complexion on the matter, and I have no doubt it will; but even granting
+your version is true in every particular, what have I to do with it? I
+am not responsible for my nephew's actions. He has entered into a
+business connection, it seems, with two young men, and has outwitted
+them. That is probably what the world would say about it. Perhaps, as
+you say, he has been guilty of something worse, and has cheated his
+partners. But even admitting everything to be true, I do not see how I
+am responsible in any way.'
+
+'Legally, you are not; morally, I think you are.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'If he were your son----'
+
+'But he is not my son; he is my nephew.'
+
+'If your son had committed a theft, would you not do everything in your
+power to counteract the evil he had done?'
+
+'I might, and I might not. Some fathers pay their sons' debts, others do
+not. I cannot say what action I should take in a purely imaginary case.'
+
+'Very well; all I have to say is, our option runs out in two or three
+days. Twenty thousand pounds will secure the mine for us. I want that
+twenty thousand pounds before the option ceases.'
+
+'And do you expect me to pay you twenty thousand pounds for this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+Old Mr. Longworth leaned back in his office chair, and looked at the
+young man in amazement.
+
+'To think that you, a man of the City, should come to me, another man of
+the City, with such an absurd idea in your head, is simply grotesque.'
+
+'Then the name of the Longworths is nothing to you--the good name, I
+mean?'
+
+'The good name of the Longworths, my dear sir, is everything to me; but
+I fancy it will be able to take care of itself without any assistance
+from you.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments. Then Wentworth said, in a voice of
+suppressed anguish:
+
+'I thought, Mr. Longworth, one of your family was a scoundrel; I now wish
+to say I believe the epithet covers uncle as well as nephew. You have had
+a chance to repair the mischief a member of your family has done. You
+have answered me with contempt. You have not shown the slightest
+indication of wishing to make amends.'
+
+He unlocked the door.
+
+'Come, now,' said old Mr. Longworth, rising, 'that will do, that will do,
+Mr. Wentworth.' Then he pressed an electric bell, and, when the clerk
+appeared, he said: 'Show this gentleman the door, please, and if ever he
+calls here again, do not admit him.'
+
+And so George Wentworth, clenching his hands with rage, was shown to the
+door. He had the rest of the day to ponder on the fact that an angry man
+seldom accomplishes his purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+The stormy interview with Wentworth disturbed the usual serenity of Mr.
+Longworth's temper. He went home earlier than was customary with him
+that night, and the more he thought over the attack, the more
+unjustifiable it seemed. He wondered what his nephew had really done,
+and tried to remember what Wentworth had charged against him. He could
+not recollect, the angrier portions of the interview having, as it were,
+blotted the charges from his mind. There remained, however, a very
+bitter resentment against Wentworth. Mr. Longworth searched his
+conscience to see if he could be in the least to blame, but he found
+nothing in the recollections of his dealings with the young men to
+justify him in feeling at all responsible for the disaster that had
+overtaken them. He read his favourite evening paper with less than his
+usual interest, for every now and then the episode in his office would
+occur to him. Finally he said sharply:
+
+'Edith!'
+
+'Yes, father,' answered his daughter.
+
+'You remember a person named Wentworth, whom you had here the evening
+William went away?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+'Very well. Never invite him to this house again.'
+
+'What has he been doing?' asked the young woman in rather a tremulous
+voice.
+
+'I desire you also never to ask anyone connected with him--that man
+Kenyon, for instance,' continued her father, ignoring her question.
+
+'I thought,' she answered, 'that Mr. Kenyon was not in this country at
+present.'
+
+'He is not, but he will be back again, I suppose. At any rate, I wish to
+have nothing more to do with those people. You understand that?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+Mr. Longworth went on with his reading. Edith saw her father was greatly
+disturbed, and eagerly desired to know the reason, but knew enough of
+human nature to understand that in a short time he would relieve her
+anxiety. He again appeared to be trying to fix his attention on the
+paper. At length he threw it down, and turned towards her.
+
+'That man, Wentworth,' he said bitterly, 'behaved to-day in a most
+unjustifiable manner to me in my own office. It seems that William and he
+and Kenyon embarked in some mine project. I knew nothing of their doings,
+and was not even consulted with regard to them. Now it appears William
+has gone to America and done something Wentworth considers wrong.
+Wentworth came to me and demanded twenty thousand pounds--the most
+preposterous thing ever heard of--said I owed it to clear the good name
+of Longworth. As if the good name were dependent on him, or anyone like
+him! I turned him out of the office.'
+
+Edith did not answer for a few moments, while her father gave
+expression to his indignation by various ejaculations that need not be
+here recorded.
+
+'Did he say,' she spoke at length, 'in what way William had done wrong?'
+
+'I do not remember now just what he said. I know I told him to come again
+when my nephew was present, and then make his charges against him if he
+wanted to do so. Not that I admitted I had anything to do with the matter
+at all, but I simply refused to listen to charges against an absent man.
+I paid no attention to them.'
+
+'That certainly was reasonable,' replied Edith. 'What did he say to it?'
+
+'Oh, he abused me, and abused William, and went on at a dreadful rate,
+until I was obliged to order him out of the office.'
+
+'But what did he say about meeting William when he returned, and making
+the charges against him then?'
+
+'What did he say? I don't remember. Oh yes! he said it would be too late
+then; that they had only a few days to do what business they have to do,
+and that is why he made the demand for twenty thousand pounds. It was to
+repair the harm, whatever the harm was, William had done. I look on it
+simply as some blackmailing scheme of his, and I am astonished that a man
+belonging to so good a house as he does should try that game with me. I
+shall speak to the elder partner about it to-morrow, and if he does not
+make the young man apologize in the most abject manner he will be the
+loser by it, I can tell him that.'
+
+'I would think no more about it, father, if I were you. Do not let it
+trouble you in the least.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't trouble me, but young men nowadays seem to think they can
+say anything to their elders.'
+
+'I mean,' she continued, 'that I would not go to his partner for a day or
+two. Wait and see what happens. I have no doubt, when he considers the
+matter, he will be thoroughly ashamed of himself.'
+
+'Well, I hope so.'
+
+'Then give him the chance of being ashamed of himself, and take no
+further steps in the meantime.'
+
+Edith shortly afterwards went to her own room; there, clasping her hands
+behind her, she walked up and down thinking, with a very troubled heart,
+of what she had heard. Her view of the occurrence was very different from
+that taken by her father. She felt certain something dishonourable had
+been done by her cousin. For a long time she had mistrusted his supposed
+friendship for the two young men, and now she pictured to herself John
+Kenyon in the wilds of Canada, helpless and despondent because of the
+great wrong that had been done him. It was far into the night when she
+retired, and it was early next morning when she arose. Her father was
+bright and cheerful at breakfast, and had evidently forgotten all about
+the unpleasant incident of the day before. A good night's sleep had
+erased it from his memory. Edith was glad of this, and she did not
+mention the subject. After he had gone to the City, his daughter prepared
+to follow him. She did not take her carriage, but hailed a hansom, and
+gave the driver the number of Wentworth's offices. That young man was
+evidently somewhat surprised to see her. He had been trying to write to
+Kenyon an account of his interview with old Mr. Longworth; but after he
+had finished, he thought John Kenyon would not approve of his zeal, so
+had just torn the letter up.
+
+'Take this chair,' he said, wheeling an armchair into position. 'It is
+the only comfortable one we have in the room.'
+
+'Comfort does not matter,' said Miss Longworth. 'I came to see you about
+the mica-mine. What has my cousin done?'
+
+'How do you know he has done anything?'
+
+'That does not matter. I know. Tell me as quickly as you can what he
+has done.'
+
+'It is not a very pleasant story to tell,' he said, 'to a young lady
+about one of her relatives.'
+
+'Never mind that. Tell me.'
+
+'Very well, he has done this: He has pretended he was our friend, and
+professed to aid us in forming this company. He has delayed us by every
+means in his power until the option has nearly expired. Then he has gone
+to Canada and secured for himself, and a man named Melville, the option
+of the mine when John Kenyon's time is up--that is to say, at twelve
+o'clock to-morrow, when Kenyon's option expires, your cousin will pay the
+money and own the mine; after which, of course, Kenyon and myself will be
+out of it. I don't mind the loss at all--I would gladly give Kenyon my
+share--but for John it is a terrible blow. He had counted on the money to
+pay debts which he considers he owes to his father for his education. He
+calls them debts of honour, though they are not debts of honour in the
+ordinary sense of the words. Therefore, it seemed to me a terrible thing
+that--' Here he paused and did not go on. He saw there were tears in the
+eyes of the girl to whom he was talking. 'It is brutal,' he said, 'to
+tell you all this. You are not to blame for it and neither is your
+father, although I spoke to him in a heated manner yesterday.'
+
+'When did you say the option expires?'
+
+'At twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'How much money is required to buy the mine?'
+
+'Twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Can money be sent to Canada by cable?'
+
+'Yes, I think so.'
+
+'Aren't you quite sure?'
+
+'No, I am not. It can be sent by telegraph in this country, and in
+America.'
+
+'How long will it take you to find out?'
+
+'Only a few moments.'
+
+'Very well. Where is Mr. Kenyon now?'
+
+'Kenyon is in Ottawa. I had a cablegram from him yesterday.'
+
+'Then, will you write a cablegram that can be sent away at once, asking
+him to wait at the telegraph-office until he receives a further message
+from you?'
+
+'Yes, I can do that; but what good will it do?'
+
+'Never mind that; perhaps it will do no good. I am going to try to make
+it worth doing. Meanwhile remember, if I succeed, John Kenyon must never
+know the particulars of this transaction.'
+
+'He never will--if you say so.'
+
+'I say so. Now, there is six hours' difference of time between this
+country and Canada, is there not?'
+
+'About that, I think.'
+
+'Very well; lose no time in getting the cable-message sent to him, and
+tell him to answer, so that we shall be sure he is at the other end of
+the wire. Then find out about the cabling of the money. I shall be back
+here, I think, as soon as you are.'
+
+With that she left the office, and, getting into her cab, was driven to
+her father's place of business.
+
+'Well, my girl,' said the old man, pushing his spectacles up on his brow,
+and gazing at her, 'what is it now--some new extravagance?'
+
+'Yes, father, some new extravagance.'
+
+His daughter was evidently excited, and her breath came quickly. She
+closed the door, and took a chair opposite her father.
+
+'Father,' she said, 'I have been your business man, as you call me, for a
+long time.'
+
+'Yes, you have. Are you going to strike for an increase of salary?'
+
+'Father,' she said earnestly, not heeding the jocularity of his tone,
+'this is very serious. I want you to give me some money for myself--to
+speculate with.'
+
+'I will do that very gladly. How much do you want?'
+
+The old man turned his chair round and pulled out his cheque-book.
+
+'I want thirty thousand pounds,' she answered.
+
+Mr. Longworth wheeled quickly round in his chair and looked at her in
+astonishment.
+
+'Thirty thousand what?'
+
+'Thirty thousand pounds, father; and I want it now.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he expostulated, 'have you any idea how much thirty
+thousand pounds is? Do you know that thirty thousand pounds is a
+fortune?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Do you know that there is not one in twenty of the richest merchants in
+London who could at a moment's notice produce thirty thousand pounds in
+ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose that is true. Have you not the ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I have the money. I can draw a cheque for that amount, and it will
+be honoured at once; but I cannot give you so much money without knowing
+what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'And suppose, father, you do not approve of what I am going to do with
+it?'
+
+'All the more reason, my dear, that I should know.'
+
+'Then, father, I suppose you mean that whatever services I have rendered
+you, whatever comfort I have given you, what I have been to you all my
+life, is not worth thirty thousand pounds?'
+
+'You shouldn't talk like that, my daughter. Everything I have is
+yours, or will be, when I die. It is for you I work; it is for you I
+accumulate money. You will have everything I own the moment I have to
+lay down my work.'
+
+'Father!' cried the girl, standing up before him, 'I do not want your
+money when you die. I do not want you to die, as you know; but I do want
+thirty thousand pounds to-day, and now. I want it more than I ever
+wanted anything else before in my life, or ever shall again. Will you
+give it to me?'
+
+'No, I will not, unless you tell me what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'Then, father, you can leave your money to your nephew when you die; I
+shall never touch a penny of it. I now bid you good-bye. I will go out
+from this room and earn my own living.'
+
+With that the young woman turned to go, but her father, with a
+sprightliness one would not have expected from his years, sprang to the
+door and looked at her with alarm.
+
+'Edith, my child, you never talked to me like this before in your life.
+What is wrong with you?'
+
+'Nothing, father, except that I want a cheque for thirty thousand pounds,
+and want it now.'
+
+'And do you mean to say that you will leave me if I do not give it to
+you?'
+
+'Have you ever broken your word, father?'
+
+'Never, my child, that I know of.'
+
+'Then remember I am your daughter. I have said, if I do not get that
+money now, I shall never enter our house again.'
+
+'But thirty thousand pounds is a tremendous amount. Remember, I have
+given _my_ word, too, that I would not give you the money unless you told
+me what it was for.'
+
+'Very well, father, I will tell what it is for when you ask me. I would
+advise you, though, not to ask me; and I would advise you to give me the
+money. It will all be returned to you if you want it.
+
+'Oh, I don't care about the money at all, Edith. I merely, of course,
+don't want to see it wasted.'
+
+'And, father, have you no trust in my judgment?'
+
+'Well, you know I haven't much faith in any woman's wisdom, in the matter
+of investing money.'
+
+'Trust me this time, father. I shall never ask you for any more.'
+
+The old man went slowly to his desk, wrote out a cheque, and handed it to
+his daughter. It was for thirty thousand pounds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth, with that precious bit of paper in her pocket, once more
+got into her hansom and drove to Wentworth's office. Again she took the
+only easy-chair in the room. Her face was very serious, and Wentworth,
+the moment he saw it, said to himself. 'She has failed.'
+
+'Have you telegraphed to Mr. Kenyon?' she asked.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you sure you made it clear to him what was wanted? Cablegrams are
+apt to be rather brief.'
+
+'I told him to keep in communication with us. Here is a copy of the
+cablegram.'
+
+Miss Longworth read it approvingly, but said:
+
+'You have not put in the word "answer."'
+
+'No; but I put it in the despatch I sent. I remember that now.'
+
+'Have you had a reply yet?'
+
+'Oh no; you see, it takes a long time to get there, because there are so
+many changes from the end of the cable to the office where Kenyon is. And
+then, again, you see, they may have to look for him. He may not be
+expecting a message; in fact, he is sure not to be expecting any. From
+his own cablegram to me, it is quite evident he has given up all hope.'
+
+'Show me that cablegram, please.'
+
+Wentworth hesitated.
+
+'It is hardly couched in language you will enjoy reading,' he said.
+
+'That doesn't matter. Show it to me. I must see all the documents in
+the case.'
+
+He handed her the paper, which she read in silence, and gave it back to
+him without a word.
+
+'I knew you wouldn't like it,' he said.
+
+'I have not said I do not like it. It is not a bit too strong under the
+circumstances. In fact, I do not see how he could have put it in other
+words. It is very concise and to the point.'
+
+'Yes; there is no doubt about that, especially the first three words, "We
+are cheated!" Those are the words that make me think Kenyon has given up
+all hope; so there may be some trouble in finding him.'
+
+'Did you learn whether money could be sent by cable or not?'
+
+'Oh yes; there is no difficulty about that. The money is deposited in a
+bank here, and will be credited to Kenyon in the bank at Ottawa.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Miss Longworth, handing him the piece of paper,
+'there is the money.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle as he looked at it. 'Excuse my rudeness,'
+he said; 'I don't see a bit of paper like this every day. You mean, then,
+to buy the mine?'
+
+'Yes, I mean to buy the mine.'
+
+'Very well; but there is ten thousand pounds more here than is
+necessary.'
+
+'Yes. I mean not only to buy the mine, but to work it; and so some
+working capital will be necessary. How much do you suppose.'
+
+'About that I have no idea,' said Wentworth. 'I should think five
+thousand pounds would be ample.'
+
+'Then, we shall leave five thousand pounds in the bank here for
+contingencies, and cable twenty-five thousand pounds to Mr. Kenyon. I
+shall expect him to get me a good man to manage the mine. I am sure he
+will be glad to do that.'
+
+'Most certainly he will. John Kenyon, now that the mine has not fallen
+into the hands of those who tried to cheat him, will be glad to do
+anything for the new owner of it. He won't mind, in the least, losing his
+money if he knows that you have the mine.'
+
+'Ah, but that is the one thing he must not know. As to losing the money,
+neither you nor Mr. Kenyon are to lose a penny. If the mine is all you
+think it is, then it will be an exceedingly profitable investment; and I
+intend that we shall each take our third, just as if you had contributed
+one-third of the money, and Mr. Kenyon another.'
+
+'But, my dear Miss Longworth, that is absurd. We could never accept any
+such terms.'
+
+'Oh yes, you can. I spoke to John Kenyon himself about being a partner
+in this mine. I am afraid he thought very little of the offer at the
+time. I don't intend him to know anything at all about my ownership now.
+He has discovered the mine--you and he together. If it is valueless,
+then you and he will be two of the sufferers; if it is all you think it
+is, then you will be the gainers. The labourer is worthy of his hire,
+and I am sure both you and Mr. Kenyon have laboured hard enough in this
+venture. Should he guess I bought it, the chances are that he will be
+stupidly and stubbornly conscientious, and decline to share the fruits
+of his labours.'
+
+'And do you think, Miss Longworth, I am not conscientious enough
+to refuse?'
+
+'Oh, yes; you are conscientious, but you are sensible. Mr. Kenyon isn't.'
+
+'I think you are mistaken about that. He is one of the most sensible men
+in the world--morbidly sensible, perhaps.'
+
+'Well, I think, if Mr. Kenyon knew I owned the mine, he would not take a
+penny as his share. So I trust you will never let him know I am the
+person who gave the money to buy the mine.'
+
+'But is he never to know it, Miss Longworth?'
+
+'Perhaps not. If he is to learn, I am the person to tell him.'
+
+'I quite agree with you there, and I shall respect your confidence.'
+
+'Now, what time,' said the young woman, looking at her watch, 'ought we
+to get an answer from Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Ah, that, as I said before, no one can tell.'
+
+'I suppose, then, the best plan is to send the money at once, or put it
+in the way of being sent, to some bank in Ottawa.'
+
+'Yes, that is the best thing to do; although, of course, if John Kenyon
+is not there----'
+
+'If he is not there what shall we do?'
+
+'I do not exactly know. I could cable to Mr. Von Brent. Von Brent is the
+owner of the mine, and the man who gave John the option. I do not know
+how far he is committed to the others. If he is as honest as I take him
+to be, he will accept the money, providing it is sent in before twelve
+o'clock, and then we shall have the mine. Of that I know nothing
+whatever, because I have no particulars except John's cable-message.'
+
+'Then, I can do no more just now?'
+
+'Yes, you can. You will have to write a cheque for the twenty-five
+thousand pounds. You see, this cheque is crossed, and will go into
+your banking account. An other cheque will have to be drawn to get the
+money out.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I have not my cheque-book here, but perhaps you can send this
+cheque to the bank, and I will return. There will be time enough, I
+suppose, before the closing hour of the bank?'
+
+'Yes, there will be plenty of time. Of course, the sooner we get the
+money away the better.'
+
+'I shall return shortly after lunch. Perhaps you will then have heard
+from Mr. Kenyon. If anything comes sooner, will you send me a telegram?
+Here is my address.'
+
+'I will do that,' said Wentworth, as he bade her good-bye.
+
+As soon as lunch was over, Miss Longworth, with her cheque-book, again
+visited Wentworth's office. When she entered he shook his head.
+
+'No news yet,' he said.
+
+'This is terrible,' she answered; 'suppose he has left Ottawa and started
+for home?'
+
+'I do not think he would do that. Still, I imagine he would think there
+was no reason for staying in Ottawa. Nevertheless, I know Kenyon well
+enough to believe that he will wait there till the last minute of the
+option has expired, in the hope that something may happen. He knows, of
+course, that I shall be doing everything I can in London, and he may have
+a faint expectation that I shall be able to accomplish something.'
+
+'It would be useless to cable again?'
+
+'Quite. If that message does not reach him, none will.'
+
+As he was speaking, a boy entered the room with a telegram in his hand.
+Its contents were short and to the point:
+
+'Cablegram received.
+
+'KENYON.'
+
+'Well, that's all right,' said Wentworth; 'now I shall cable that we have
+the money, and advise him to identify himself at the bank, so that there
+can be no formalities about the drawing of it, to detain him.'
+
+Saying this, Wentworth pulled the telegraph-forms towards him, and, after
+considerable labour, managed to concoct a satisfactory despatch.
+
+'Don't spare money on it,' urged his visitor; 'be sure and make it
+plain to him.'
+
+'I think that will do, don't you?'
+
+'Yes,' she answered, after reading the despatch; 'that will do.'
+
+'Now,' she said, 'here is the cheque. Shall I wait here while you do all
+that is necessary to cable the money, or had I better go, and return
+again to see if everything is all right?'
+
+'If you don't mind, just sit where you are. You may lock this door, if
+you like, and you will not be disturbed.'
+
+It was an hour before Wentworth returned, but his face was radiant.
+
+'We have done everything we can,' he said, 'the money is at his order
+there, if the cablegram gets over before twelve o'clock to-morrow, as of
+course it will.'
+
+'Very well, then, good-bye,' said the girl with a smile, holding out her
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+
+If any man more miserable and dejected than John Kenyon existed in the
+broad dominion of Canada, he was indeed a person to be pitied. After
+having sent his cablegram to Wentworth, he returned to his very cheerless
+hotel. Next morning when he awoke he knew that Wentworth would have
+received the message, but that the chances were ten thousand to one that
+he could not get the money in time, even if he could get it at all.
+Still, he resolved to stay in Ottawa, much as he detested the place,
+until the hour the option expired. Then, he thought, he would look round
+among the mines, and see if he could not get something to do in the
+management of one of them. This would enable him to make some money,
+wherewith to pay the debts which he and Wentworth would have incurred as
+a result of their disastrous speculation. He felt so depressed that he
+did what most other Englishmen would have done in his place--took a long
+walk. He stood on the bridge over the Ottawa River and gazed for a while
+at the Chaudiere Falls, watching the mist rising from the chasm into
+which the waters plunged. Then he walked along the other side of the
+river, among big saw-mills and huge interminable piles of lumber, with
+their grateful piny smell. By-and-by he found himself in the country, and
+then the forest closed in upon the bad road on which he walked.
+Nevertheless, he kept on and on, without heeding where he was going. Here
+and there he saw clearings in the woods, and a log shanty, or perhaps a
+barn. The result of all this was that, being a healthy man, he soon
+developed an enormous appetite, which forced itself upon his attention in
+spite of his depression. He noticed the evening was closing around him,
+and so was glad to come to a farmhouse that looked better than the
+ordinary shanties he had left behind. Here he asked for food, and soon
+sat down to a plentiful meal, the coarseness of which was more than
+compensated for by the excellence of his appetite. After dinner he began
+to realize how tired he was, and felt astonished to hear from his host
+how far he was from Ottawa.
+
+'You can't get there to-night,' said the farmer; 'it is no use your
+trying. You stay with us, and I'll take you in to-morrow. I'm going there
+in the afternoon.'
+
+And so Kenyon remained all night, and slept the dreamless sleep of health
+and exhaustion.
+
+It was somewhat late in the afternoon when he reached the city of
+Ottawa. Going towards his hotel, he was astonished to hear his name
+shouted after him. Turning round, he saw a man, whom he did not
+recognise, running after him.
+
+'Your name is Kenyon, isn't it?' asked the man, somewhat out of breath.
+
+'Yes, that is my name.'
+
+'I guess you don't remember me. I am the telegraph operator. We have had
+a despatch waiting for you for some time, a cablegram from London. We
+have searched all over the town for you, but couldn't find you.'
+
+'Ah,' said Kenyon, 'is it important?'
+
+'Well, that I don't know. You had better come with me to the office and
+get it. Of course, they don't generally cable unimportant things. I
+remember it said something about you keeping yourself in readiness for
+something.'
+
+They walked together to the telegraph-office. The boy was still searching
+for Kenyon with the original despatch, but the operator turned up the
+file and read the copy to him.
+
+'You see, it wants an answer,' he said; 'that's why I thought it was
+important to get you. You will have plenty of time for an answer
+to-night.'
+
+John took a lead pencil and wrote the cable despatch which Wentworth
+received. He paid his money, and said:
+
+'I will go to my hotel; it is the ---- House. I will wait there, and if
+anything comes for me, send it over as soon as possible.'
+
+'All right,' said the operator, 'that is the best plan; then we will
+know exactly where to find you. Of course, there is no use in your
+waiting here, because we can get you in five minutes. Perhaps I had
+better telephone to the hotel for you if anything comes.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon; 'I will leave it all in your hands.'
+
+Whether it was the effect of having been in the country or not, John
+felt that the cablegram he had received was a good omen. He meditated
+over the tremendous ill-fortune he had suffered in the whole business
+from beginning to end, and thought of old Mr. Longworth's favourite
+phrase, 'There's no such thing as luck.'
+
+Then came a rap at his door, and the bell-boy said:
+
+'There is a gentleman here wishes to speak to you.'
+
+'Ask him to come up,' was the answer; and two minutes later Von Brent
+entered.
+
+'Any news?' he asked.
+
+John, who was in a state of mind which made him suspicious of everything
+and everybody, answered:
+
+'No, nothing new.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. I had some hopes that perhaps you might be able
+to raise the money before twelve o'clock to-morrow. Of course you know
+the option ends at noon to-morrow?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Did you know that Longworth was in Ottawa?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'I have been out of town myself.'
+
+'Yes, he came last night. He has the money in the bank, as I told you.
+Now, I will not accept it until the very latest moment. Of course,
+legally, I cannot accept it before that time, and, just as legally, I
+cannot refuse his money when he tenders it. I am very sorry all this has
+happened--more sorry than I can tell you. I hope you will not think that
+I am to blame in the matter?'
+
+'No, you are not in the slightest to blame. There is nobody in fault
+except myself. I feel that I have been culpably negligent, and altogether
+too trustful.'
+
+'I wish to goodness I knew where you could get the money; but, of
+course, if I knew that, I would have had it myself long ago.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said Kenyon; 'but the only thing you can
+do for me is to see that your clock is not ahead of time to-morrow. I
+may, perhaps, be up at the office before twelve o'clock--that is where I
+shall find you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes; I shall be there all the forenoon. I shall not leave until twelve.'
+
+'Very good; I am much obliged to you, Mr. Von Brent, for your sympathy. I
+assure you, I haven't many friends, and it--well, I'm obliged to you,
+that's all. An Englishman, you know, is not very profuse in the matter of
+thanks, but I mean it.'
+
+'I'm sure you do,' said Von Brent, 'and I'm only sorry that my assistance
+cannot be something substantial. Well, good-bye, hoping to see you
+to-morrow.'
+
+After he had departed, Kenyon's impatience increased as the hours went
+on. He left the hotel, and went direct to the telegraph-office; but
+nothing had come for him.
+
+'I'm afraid,' said the operator, 'that there won't be anything more
+to-night. If it should come late, shall I send it to your hotel?'
+
+'Certainly; no matter at what hour it comes, I wish you would let me
+have it as soon as possible. It is very important.'
+
+Leaving the office, he went up the street and, passing the principal
+hotel in the place, saw young Longworth standing under the portico of the
+hotel as dapper and correct in costume as ever, his single eyeglass the
+admiration of all Ottawa, for there was not another like it in the city.
+
+'How do you do, Kenyon?' said that young man.
+
+'My dear sir,' replied Kenyon, 'the last time you spoke to me you said
+you desired to have nothing more to say to me. I cordially reciprocated
+that sentiment, and I want to have nothing to say to you.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' cried Longworth jauntily, 'there is no harm done. Of
+course, in New York I was a little out of sorts. Everybody is in New
+York--beastly hole! I don't think it is worse than Ottawa, but the air is
+purer here. By the way, perhaps you and I can make a little arrangement.
+I am going to buy that mine to-morrow, as doubtless you know. Now, I
+should like to see it in the hands of a good and competent man. If a
+couple of hundred pounds a year would be any temptation to you, I think
+we can afford to let you develop the mine.'
+
+'Thank you!' said Kenyon.
+
+'I knew you would be grateful; just think over the matter, will you? and
+don't come to any rash decision. We can probably give a little more than
+that; but until we see how the mine is turning out, it is not likely we
+shall spend a great deal of money on it.'
+
+'Of course,' said John, 'the proper answer to your remark would be to
+knock you down; but, besides being a law-abiding citizen, I have no
+desire to get into gaol to-night for doing it, because there is one
+chance in a thousand, Mr. Longworth, that I may have some business to do
+with that mine myself before twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'Ah, it is my turn to be grateful now!' said Longworth. 'In a
+rough-and-tumble fight I am afraid you would master me easier than you
+would do in a contest of diplomacy.'
+
+'Do you call it diplomacy? You refer, I suppose, to your action in
+relation to the mine. I call it robbery.'
+
+'Oh, do you? Well, that is the kind of conversation which leads to
+breaches of the peace; and as I also am a law-abiding subject, I will
+not continue the discussion any further. I bid you a very good evening,
+Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+The young man turned on his heel and went into the hotel. John walked to
+his own much more modest inn, and retired for the night. He did not sleep
+well. All night long, phantom telegraph-messengers were rapping at the
+door, and he started up every now and then to receive cablegrams which
+faded away as he awoke. Shortly after breakfast he went to the
+telegraph-office, but found that nothing had arrived for him.
+
+'I am afraid,' said the operator, 'that nothing will come on before
+noon.'
+
+'Before noon!' echoed John. 'Why?'
+
+'The wires are down in some places in the East, and messages are delayed
+a good deal. Perhaps you noticed the lack of Eastern news in the morning
+papers? Very little news came from the East last night.' Seeing John's
+look of anxious interest, the operator continued: 'Does the despatch you
+expect pertain to money matters?'
+
+'Yes, it does.'
+
+'Do they know you at the bank?'
+
+'No, I don't think they do.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would go up to the bank and be identified, so
+that, if it is a matter of minutes, no unnecessary time may be lost. You
+had better tell them you expect a money-order by cable, and, although
+such orders are paid without any identification at the bank, yet they
+take every precaution to see that it does not get into the hands of the
+wrong man.'
+
+'Thank you,' said Kenyon. 'I am much obliged to you for your suggestion.
+I will act upon it.'
+
+And as soon as the bank opened, John Kenyon presented himself to the
+cashier.
+
+'I am expecting a large amount of money from England to-day. It is very
+important that, when it arrives, there shall be no delay in having it
+placed at my disposal. I want to know if there are any formalities to be
+gone through.'
+
+'Where is the money coming from?' said the clerk.
+
+'It is coming from England.'
+
+'Is there anyone in Ottawa who can identify you?'
+
+'Yes; I know the telegraph operator here.'
+
+'Ah!' said the cashier somewhat doubtfully. 'Anybody else?'
+
+'Mr. Von Brent knows me very well.'
+
+'That will do. Suppose you get Mr. Von Brent to come here and identify
+you as the man who bears the name of Kenyon. Then the moment your
+cablegram comes the money will be at your disposal.'
+
+Kenyon hurried to Von Brent's rooms and found him alone.
+
+'Will you come down to the bank and identify me as Kenyon?'
+
+'Certainly. Has the money arrived?'
+
+'No, it has not; but I expect it, and want to provide for every
+contingency. I do not wish to have any delay in my identification when it
+does come.'
+
+'If it comes by cable,' said Von Brent, 'there will be no need of
+identification. The bank is not responsible, you know. They take the
+money entirely at the sender's risk. They might pay it to the telegraph
+operator who receives the message! I believe they would not be held
+liable. However, it is better to see that nothing is left undone.'
+
+Going over to the bank, Von Brent said to the cashier: 'This is John
+Kenyon.'
+
+'Very good,' replied the cashier. 'Have you been at the telegraph-office
+lately, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'No, I have not--at least, not for half an hour or so.'
+
+'Well, I would go there as soon as possible, if I were you.'
+
+'That means,' said Von Brent, as soon as they had reached the door, 'that
+they have had their notice about the money. I believe it is already in
+the bank for you. I will go back to my rooms and not leave them till you
+come.'
+
+John hurried to the telegraph-office.
+
+'Anything for me yet?' he said.
+
+'Nothing as yet, Mr. Kenyon; I think, however,' he added with a smile,
+'that it will be all right. I hope so.'
+
+The moments ticked along with their usual rapidity, yet it seemed to
+Kenyon the clock was going fearfully fast. Eleven o'clock came and found
+him still pacing up and down the office of the telegraph. The operator
+offered him the hospitality of the private room, but this he declined.
+Every time the machine clicked, John's ears were on the alert, trying to
+catch a meaning from the instrument.
+
+Ten minutes after eleven!
+
+Twenty minutes after eleven, and still no despatch! The cold perspiration
+stood on John's brow, and he groaned aloud.
+
+'I suppose it's very important,' said the operator.
+
+'_Very_ important.'
+
+'Well, now, I shouldn't say so, but I know the money is in the bank for
+you. Perhaps if you went up there and demanded it, they would give it to
+you.'
+
+It was twenty-five minutes past the hour when John hurried towards the
+bank.
+
+'I have every belief,' he said to the cashier, 'that the money is here
+for me now. Is it possible for me to get it?'
+
+'Have you your cablegram?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Well, you know, we cannot pay the money until we see your cablegram. If
+time is of importance, you should not leave the telegraph-office, and the
+moment you get your message, come here; then there will be no delay
+whatever. Do you wish to draw all the money at once?'
+
+'I don't know how much there is, but I must have twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Very well, to save time you had better make out a cheque for twenty
+thousand pounds; that will be----'
+
+And here he gave the number of dollars at the rate of the day on the
+pound. 'Just make out a cheque for that amount, and I will certify it. A
+certified cheque is as good as gold. The moment you get your message I
+will hand you the certified cheque.'
+
+John wrote out the order and gave it to the cashier, glancing at the
+clock as he did so. It was now twenty-five minutes to twelve. He rushed
+to the telegraph-office with all the speed of which he was capable, but
+met only a blank look again from the chief operator.
+
+'It has not come yet,' he said, shaking his head.
+
+Gradually despair began to descend on the waiting man. It was worse to
+miss everything now, than never to have had the hope of success. It was
+like hanging a man who had once been reprieved. He resumed his nervous
+pace up and down that chamber of torture. A quarter to twelve. He heard
+chimes ring somewhere. If the message did not come before they rang
+again, it would be for ever too late.
+
+Fourteen minutes--thirteen minutes--twelve minutes--eleven minutes--ten
+minutes to twelve, and yet, no--
+
+'Here you are!' shouted the operator in great glee, 'she's a-coming--it's
+all right--"John Kenyon, Ottawa."' Then he wrote as rapidly as the
+machine ticked out the message. 'There it is; now rush!'
+
+John needed no telling to rush. People had begun to notice him as
+the man who was doing nothing but running between the bank and the
+telegraph-office.
+
+It was seven minutes to twelve when he got to the bank.
+
+'Is that despatch right?' he said, shoving it through the arched
+aperture.
+
+The clerk looked at it with provoking composure, and then compared it
+with some papers.
+
+'For God's sake, hurry!' pleaded John.
+
+'You have plenty of time,' said the cashier coolly, looking up at the
+clock and going on with his examination. 'Yes,' he added, 'that is right.
+Here is your certified cheque.'
+
+John clasped it, and bolted out of the bank as a burglar might have done.
+It was five minutes to twelve when he got to the steps that led to the
+rooms of Mr. Von Brent. Now all his excitement seemed to have deserted
+him. He was as cool and calm as if he had five days, instead of so many
+minutes, in which to make the payment. He mounted the steps quietly,
+walked along the passage, and knocked at the door of Von Brent's room.
+
+'Come in!' was the shout that greeted him.
+
+He opened the door, glancing at the clock behind Von Brent's head as
+he did so.
+
+It stood at three minutes to twelve.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth was sitting there, with just a touch of pallor on his
+countenance, and there seemed to be an ominous glitter in his eyeglass.
+He said nothing, and John Kenyon completely ignored his presence.
+
+'There is still some life left in my option, I believe?' he said to Von
+Brent, after nodding good-day to him.
+
+'Very little, but perhaps it will serve. You have two minutes and a
+half,' said Von Brent.
+
+'Are the papers ready?' inquired John.
+
+'All ready, everything except putting in the names.'
+
+'Very well, here is the money.'
+
+Von Brent looked at the certified cheque. 'That is perfectly right,' he
+said, 'the mine is yours.'
+
+Then he rose and stretched his hand across the table to Kenyon, who
+grasped it cordially.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth also rose, and said languidly 'As this seems to be
+a meeting of long-lost brothers, I shall not intrude. Good-day, Mr.
+Von Brent.'
+
+Then, adjusting his eyeglass in a leisurely manner, he walked out
+of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+
+When Edith Longworth entered the office of George Wentworth, that young
+gentleman somewhat surprised her. He sprang from his chair the moment she
+entered the room, rushed out of the door, and shouted at the top of his
+voice to the boy, who answered him, whereupon Wentworth returned to the
+room, apparently in his right mind.
+
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Longworth,' he said, laughing; 'the fact was, I
+had just sent my boy with a telegram for you, and now, you see, I have
+saved sixpence.'
+
+'Then you have heard from Canada?' said the young lady.
+
+'Yes; a short message, but to the point.' He handed her the cablegram,
+and she read:
+
+'Mine purchased; shall take charge temporarily.'
+
+'Then, the money got there in time,' she said, handing him back the
+telegraphic message.
+
+'Oh yes,' said George, with the easy confidence of a man who doesn't at
+all know what he is talking about. 'We had plenty of time; I knew it
+would get there all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that; I was afraid perhaps we might have sent it too late.
+One can never tell what delays or formalities there may be.'
+
+'Evidently there was no trouble. And now, Miss Longworth, what are your
+commands? Am I to be your agent here, in Great Britain?'
+
+'Have you written to Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, I wrote to him just after I sent the cable message.'
+
+'Of course you didn't----'
+
+'No, I didn't say a word that would lead him to suspect who was the
+mistress of the mine. In my zeal I even went so far as to give you a
+name. You are hereafter to be known in the correspondence as Mr. Smith,
+the owner of the mine.'
+
+Miss Longworth laughed.
+
+'And--oh, by the way,' cried Wentworth, 'here is a barrel belonging to
+you.'
+
+'A barrel!' she said, and, looking in the direction to which he pointed,
+she saw in the corner of the room a barrel with the head taken away. 'If
+it is my property,' continued the young woman, 'who has taken the liberty
+of opening it?'
+
+'Oh, I did that as your agent. That barrel contains the mineral from the
+mine, which we hope will prove so valuable. It started from Canada over
+three months ago, and only arrived here the other day. It seems that the
+idiot who sent it addressed it by way of New York, and it was held by
+some Jack-in-office belonging to the United States Customs. We have had
+more diplomatic correspondence and trouble about that barrel than you
+can imagine, and now it comes a day behind the fair, when it is really of
+no use to anyone.'
+
+Miss Longworth rose and went to the barrel. She picked out some of the
+beautiful white specimens that were in it.
+
+'Is this the mineral?' she asked.
+
+Wentworth laughed.
+
+'Imagine a person buying a mine at an exorbitant price, and not knowing
+what it produces. Yes, that is the mineral.'
+
+'This is not mica, of course?'
+
+'No, it is not mica. That is the stuff used for the making of china.'
+
+'It looks as if it would take a good polish. Will it, do you know?'
+
+'I do not know. I could easily find out for you.'
+
+'I wish you would, and get a piece of it polished, which I will use as a
+paper-weight.'
+
+'What are your orders for the rest of the barrel?'
+
+'What did you intend doing with it?' said the young woman.
+
+'Well, I was thinking the best plan would be to send some of it to each
+of the pottery works in this country, and get their orders for more of
+the stuff, if they want to use it.'
+
+'I think that an extremely good idea. I understand from the cablegram
+that Mr. Kenyon says he will take charge of the mine temporarily.'
+
+'Yes; I imagine he left Ottawa at once, as soon as he had concluded his
+bargain. Of course, we shall not know for certain until he writes.'
+
+'Very well, then, it appears to me the best thing you could do over here
+would be to secure what orders can be obtained in England for the
+mineral. Then, I suppose, you could write to Mr. Kenyon, and ask him to
+engage a proper person to work the mine.'
+
+'Yes, I will do that.'
+
+'When he comes over here, you and he can have a consultation as to the
+best thing to do next. I expect nothing very definite can be arranged
+until he comes. You may make whatever excuse you can for the absence of
+the mythical Mr. Smith, and say that you act for him. Then you may tell
+Mr. Kenyon, in whatever manner you choose, that Mr. Smith intends both
+you and Mr. Kenyon to share conjointly with him. I think you will have no
+trouble in making John--that is, in making Mr. Kenyon--believe there is
+such a person as Mr. Smith, if you put it strongly enough to him. Make
+him understand that Mr. Smith would never have heard of the mine unless
+Mr. Kenyon and you had discovered it, and that he is very glad indeed to
+have such a good opportunity of investing his money; so that, naturally,
+he wishes those who have been instrumental in helping him to this
+investment to share in its profits. I imagine you can make all this clear
+enough, so that your friend will suspect nothing. Don't you think so?'
+
+'Well, with any other man than John Kenyon I should have my doubts,
+because, as a fabricator, I don't think I have a very high reputation;
+but with John I have no fears whatever. He will believe everything I
+say. It is almost a pity to delude so trustful a man, but it's so very
+much to his own advantage that I shall have no hesitation in doing it.'
+
+'Then, you will write to him about getting a fit and proper person to
+manage the mine?'
+
+'Yes. I don't think there will be any necessity for doing so, but I will
+make sure. I imagine John will not leave there until he sees everything
+to his satisfaction. He will be very anxious indeed for the mine to prove
+the great success he has always believed it to be, even though, at
+present, he does not know he is to have any pecuniary interest in its
+prosperity.'
+
+'Very well then, I shall bid you good-bye. I may not be here again, but
+whenever you hear from Mr. Kenyon, I shall be very glad if you will let
+me know.'
+
+'Certainly; I will send you all the documents in the case, as you once
+remarked. You always like to see the original papers, don't you?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose I do.' Miss Longworth lingered a moment at the door,
+then, looking straight at Wentworth, she said to him, 'You remember you
+spoke rather bitterly to my father the other day?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, colouring; 'I remember it.'
+
+'You are a young man; he is old. Besides that, I think you were entirely
+in the wrong. He had nothing whatever to do with his nephew's action.'
+
+'Oh, I know that,' said Wentworth. 'I would have apologized to him long
+ago, only--well, you know, he told me I shouldn't be allowed in the
+office again, and I don't suppose I should.'
+
+'A letter from you would be allowed in the office,' replied the young
+lady, looking at the floor.
+
+'Of course it would,' said George; 'I will write to him instantly and
+apologize.'
+
+'It is very good of you,' said, Edith, holding out her hand to him; the
+next moment she was gone.
+
+George Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote a letter of apology. Then
+he mused to himself upon the strange and incomprehensible nature of
+women. 'She makes me apologize to him, and quite right too; but if it
+hadn't been for the row with her father, she never would have heard about
+the transaction, and therefore couldn't have bought the mine, which she
+was anxious to do for Kenyon's sake--lucky beggar John is, after all!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+When the business of transferring the mine to its new owner was
+completed, John Kenyon went to the telegraph-office, and sent a short
+cable-message to Wentworth. Then he turned his steps to the hotel, an
+utterly exhausted man. The excitement and tension of the day had been too
+much for him, and he felt that, if he did not get out of the city of
+Ottawa and into the country, where there were fewer people and more air,
+he was going to be ill. He resolved to leave for the mine as soon as
+possible. There he would get affairs in as good order as might be, and
+keep things going until he heard from the owner. When he reached his
+hotel, he wrote a letter to Wentworth, detailing briefly the
+circumstances under which he had secured the mine, and dealing with other
+more personal matters. Having posted this, he began to pack his
+portmanteau, preparatory to leaving early next morning. While thus
+occupied, the bell-boy came into his room, and said:
+
+'There is a gentleman wants to see you.'
+
+He imagined at once that it was Von Brent, who wished to see him with
+regard to some formality relating to the transfer, and he was, therefore,
+very much astonished--in fact, for the moment speechless--when Mr.
+William Longworth entered and calmly gazed round the rather shabby room
+with his critical eyeglass.
+
+'Ah,' he said, 'these are your diggings, are they? This is what they call
+a dollar hotel, I suppose, over here. Well, some people may like it, but,
+I confess, I don't care much about it, myself. Their three or four
+dollars a day hotels are bad enough for me. By the way, you look rather
+surprised to see me; being strangers together in a strange country, I
+expected a warmer greeting. You said last night, in front of the Russell
+House, that it would please you very much to give me a warm greeting;
+perhaps you would like to do so to-night.'
+
+'Have you come up here to provoke a quarrel with me?' asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! Quarrel! Nothing of the sort. What should I want to
+quarrel about?'
+
+'Perhaps you will be good enough to tell me why you come here, then?'
+
+'A very reasonable request. Very reasonable indeed, and perfectly
+natural, but still quite unnecessary. It is not likely that a man would
+climb up here into your rooms, and then not be prepared to tell you why
+he came. I came, in the first place, to congratulate you on the beautiful
+and dramatic way in which you secured the mine at the last moment, or
+apparently at the last moment. I suppose you had the money all the time?'
+
+'No, I had not.'
+
+'Then you came in to Von Brent just as soon as you received it?'
+
+'Well, now, I don't see that it is the business of anyone else but
+myself. Still, if you want to know, I may say that I came to Mr. Von
+Brent's room at the moment I received the money.'
+
+'Really! Then it was sent over by cable, I presume?'
+
+'Your presumption is entirely correct.'
+
+'My dear Kenyon,' said the young man, seating himself without being
+asked, and gazing at John in a benevolent kind of way, 'you really show
+some temper over this little affair of yours. Now, here is the whole
+thing in a nutshell----'
+
+'My dear sir, I don't wish to hear the whole thing, in a nutshell. I know
+all about it--all I wish to know.'
+
+'Ah, precisely; of course you do; certainly; but, nevertheless, let me
+have my say. Here is the whole thing. I tried to--well, to cheat you.
+I thought I could make a little money by doing so, and my scheme
+failed. Now, if anybody should be in a bad temper, it is I, not you.
+Don't you see that? You are not acting your part well at all. I'm
+astonished at you!'
+
+'Mr. Longworth, I wish to have nothing whatever to say to you. If you
+have anything to ask, I wish you would ask it as quickly as possible, and
+then leave me alone.'
+
+'The chief fault I find with you, Kenyon,' said Longworth, throwing one
+leg over the other, and clasping his hands round his knee--'the chief
+fault I have to find is your painful lack of a sense of humour. Now,
+you remember last night I offered you the managership of the mine. I
+thought, certainly, that by this time to-day I should be owner of it,
+or, at least, one of the owners. Now, you don't appear to appreciate the
+funniness of the situation. Here you are the owner of the mine, and I am
+out in the cold--"left," as they say here in America. I am the man who
+is left----'
+
+'If that is all you have to talk about,' said Kenyon gravely, 'I must ask
+you to allow me to go on with my packing. I am going to the mine
+to-morrow.'
+
+'Certainly, my dear fellow; go at once and never mind me. Can I be of any
+assistance to you? It requires a special genius, you know, to pack a
+portmanteau properly. But what I wanted to say was this: Why didn't you
+turn round, when you had got the mine, and offer _me_ the managership of
+it? Then you would have had your revenge. The more I think of that
+episode in Von Brent's office, the more I think you utterly failed to
+realize the dramatic possibilities of the situation.'
+
+Kenyon was silent.
+
+'Now, all this time you are wondering why I came here. Doubtless you wish
+to know what I want.'
+
+'I have not the slightest interest in the matter,' said Kenyon.
+
+'That is ungracious, but, nevertheless, I will continue. It is better, I
+see, to be honest with you, if a man wants to get anything from you. Now,
+I want to get a bit of information from you. I want to know where you got
+the money with which you bought the mine?'
+
+'I got it from the bank.'
+
+'Ah, yes, but I want to know who sent it over to you?'
+
+'It was sent to me by George Wentworth.'
+
+'Quite so; but _now_ I want to know who gave Wentworth the money?'
+
+'You will have a chance of finding that out when you go to England, by
+asking him.'
+
+'Then you won't tell me?'
+
+'I can't tell you.'
+
+'You mean by that, of course, that you won't.'
+
+'I always mean, Mr. Longworth, exactly what I say. I mean that I can't
+tell you. I don't know myself.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes, really. You seem to have some difficulty in believing that anybody
+can speak the truth.'
+
+'Well, it isn't a common vice, speaking the truth. You must forgive a
+little surprise.' He nursed his knee for a moment, and looked
+meditatively up at the ceiling. 'Now, would you like to know who
+furnished that money?'
+
+'I have no curiosity in the matter whatever.'
+
+'Have you not? You are a singular man. It seems to me that a person into
+whose lap twenty thousand pounds drops from the skies would have some
+little curiosity to know from whom the money came.'
+
+'I haven't the slightest.'
+
+'Nevertheless, I will tell you who gave the money to Wentworth. It was
+my dear friend Melville. I didn't tell you in New York, of course, that
+Melville and I had a little quarrel about this matter, and he went home
+decidedly huffy. I had no idea he would take this method of revenge; but
+I see it quite clearly now. He knew I had secured the option of the
+mine. There was a little trouble as to what our respective shares were
+to be, and I thought, as I had secured the option, I had the right to
+dictate terms. He thought differently. He was going to Von Brent to
+explain the whole matter; but I pointed out that such a course would do
+no good, the option being legally made out in my name, so that the
+moment your claim expired mine began. When this dawned upon him, he took
+the steamer and went to England. Now, I can see his hand in this
+artistic finish to the affair. It was a pretty sharp trick of
+Melville's, and I give him credit for it. He is a very much shrewder and
+cleverer man than I thought he was.'
+
+'It seems to me, Mr. Longworth, that your inordinate conceit makes you
+always underestimate your friends, or your enemies either, for that
+matter.'
+
+'There is something in that, Kenyon; I think you are more than half right,
+but I thought, perhaps, I could make it advantageous to you to do
+me a favour in this matter. I thought you might have no objection to
+writing a little document to the effect that the money did not come in
+time, and consequently, I had secured the mine. Then, if you would sign
+that, I would take it over to Melville and make terms with him. Of
+course, if he knows that he has the mine there will not be much chance of
+coming to any arrangement with him.'
+
+'You can make no arrangements with me, Mr. Longworth, that involve
+sacrifice of the truth.'
+
+'Ah, well, I suspected as much; but I thought it was worth trying.
+However, my dear sir, I may make terms with Melville yet, and then, I
+imagine, you won't have much to do with the mine.'
+
+'I shall not have anything to do with it if you and Melville have a share
+in it; and if, as you suspect, Melville has the mine, I consider you are
+in a bad way. My opinion is that, when one rascal gets advantage over
+another rascal, the other rascal will be, as you say, "left."'
+
+Longworth mused over this for a moment, and said:
+
+'Yes, I fear you are right--in fact, I am certain of it. Well, that is
+all I wanted to know. I will bid you good-bye. I shan't see you again in
+Ottawa, as I shall sail very shortly for England. Have you any messages
+you would like given to your friends over there?'
+
+'None, thank you.'
+
+'Well, ta-ta!' And John was left to his packing. That necessary operation
+concluded, Kenyon sat down and thought over what young Longworth had told
+him. His triumph, after all, had been short-lived. The choice between the
+two scoundrels was so small that he felt he didn't care which of them
+owned the mine. Meditating on this disagreeable subject, he suddenly
+remembered a request he had asked Wentworth to place before the new owner
+of the mine. He wanted no favour from Melville, so he wrote a second
+letter, contradicting the request made in the first, and, after posting
+it, returned to his hotel, and went to bed, probably the most tired man
+in the city of Ottawa.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+
+This chapter consists largely of letters. As a general rule, letters are
+of little concern to anyone except the writers and the receivers, but
+they are inserted here in the hope that the reader is already well
+enough acquainted with the correspondents to feel some interest in what
+they have written.
+
+It was nearly a fortnight after the receipt of the cablegram from Kenyon
+that George Wentworth found, one morning, on his desk two letters, each
+bearing a Canadian postage-stamp. One was somewhat bulky and one was
+thin, but they were both from the same writer. He tore open the thin one
+first, without looking at the date stamped upon it. He was a little
+bewildered by its contents, which ran as follows:
+
+'MY DEAR GEORGE,
+
+'I have just heard that Melville is the man who has bought the mine. The
+circumstances of the case leave no doubt in my mind that such is the
+fact; therefore, please disregard the request I made as to employment in
+the letter I posted to you a short time ago. I feel a certain sense of
+disappointment in the fact that Melville is the owner of the mine. It
+seems I have only kept one rascal from buying it in order to put it in
+the hands of another rascal.
+
+'Your friend,
+
+'JOHN KENYON.'
+
+'Melville the owner!' cried Wentworth to himself. 'What could have put
+that into John's head? This letter is evidently the one posted a few
+hours before, so it will contain whatever request he has to make;' and,
+without delay, George Wentworth tore open the envelope of the second
+letter, which was obviously the one written first.
+
+It contained a number of documents relating to the transfer of the mine.
+The letter from John himself went on to give particulars of the buying of
+the property. Then it continued:
+
+'I wish you would do me a favour, George. Will you kindly ask the owner
+of the mine if he will give me charge of it? I am, of course, anxious to
+make it turn out as well as possible, and I believe I can more than earn
+my salary, whatever it is. You know I am not grasping in the matter of
+money, but get me as large a salary as you think I deserve. I desire to
+make money for reasons that are not entirely selfish, as you know. To
+tell you the truth, George, I am tired of cities and of people. I want to
+live here in the woods, where there is not so much deceit and treachery
+as there seems to be in the big towns. When I reached London last time, I
+felt like a boy getting home. My feelings have undergone a complete
+change, and I think, if it were not for you and a certain young lady, I
+should never care to see the big city again. What is the use of my
+affecting mystery, and writing the words "a certain young lady"? Of
+course, you know whom I mean--Miss Edith Longworth. You know, also, that
+I am, and have long been, in love with her. If I had succeeded in making
+the money I thought I should by selling the mine, I might have had some
+hopes of making more, and of ultimately being in a position to ask her to
+be my wife; but that and very many other hopes have disappeared with my
+recent London experiences. I want to get into the forest and recover some
+of my lost tone, and my lost faith in human nature. If you can arrange
+matters with the owner of the mine, so that I may stay here for a year
+or two, you will do me a great favour.'
+
+George Wentworth read over the latter part of this letter two or three
+times. Then he rose, paced the floor, and pondered.
+
+'It isn't a thing upon which I can ask anyone's advice,' he muttered to
+himself. 'The trouble with Kenyon is, he is entirely too modest; a little
+useful self-esteem would be just the thing for him.' At last he stopped
+suddenly in his walk. 'By Jove!' he said to himself, slapping his thigh,
+'I shall do it, let the consequences be what they may.'
+
+Then he sat down at his desk and wrote a letter.
+
+'DEAR Miss LONGWORTH' (it began),
+
+'You told me when you were here last that you wanted all the documents
+pertaining to the mine, in every instance. A document has come this
+morning that is rather important. John Kenyon, as you will learn by
+reading the letter, desires the managership of the mine. I need not say
+that I think he is the best man in the world for the position, and that
+everything will be safe in his hands. I therefore enclose you his letter.
+I had some thought of cutting out a part of it, but knowing your desire
+to have all the documents in the case, I take the liberty of sending this
+one exactly as it reached me, and if anyone is to blame, I am the person.
+
+'I remain, your agent,
+
+'GEORGE WENTWORTH.'
+
+He sent this letter out at once, so that he would not have a chance to
+change his mind.
+
+'It will reach her this afternoon, and doubtless she will call and see
+me.'
+
+It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say she did _not_ call, and she did
+not see him for many days afterwards; but next morning, when he came to
+his office, he found a letter from her. It ran:
+
+'DEAR MR. WENTWORTH,
+
+'The sending of Mr. Kenyon's letter to me is a somewhat dangerous
+precedent, which you must on no account follow by sending any letters you
+may receive from any other person to Mr. Kenyon. However, as you were
+probably aware when you sent the letter, no blame will rest on your
+shoulders, or on those of anyone else, in this instance. Still, be very
+careful in future, because letter-sending, unabridged, is sometimes a
+risky thing to do. You are to remember that I always want all the
+documents in the case, and I want them with nothing eliminated. I am very
+much obliged to you for forwarding the letter.
+
+'As to the managership of the mine, of course I thought Mr. Kenyon would
+desire to come back to London. If he is content to stay abroad, and
+really wants to stay there, I wish you would tell him that Mr. Smith is
+exceedingly pleased to know he is willing to take charge of the mine. It
+would not look businesslike on the part of Mr. Smith to say that Mr.
+Kenyon is to name his own salary, but, unfortunately, Mr. Smith is very
+ignorant as to what a proper salary should be, so will you kindly settle
+that question? You know the usual salary for such an occupation. Please
+write down that figure, and add two hundred a year to it. Tell Mr.
+Kenyon the amount named is the salary Mr. Smith assigns to him.
+
+'Pray be very careful in the wording of the letters, so that Mr. Kenyon
+will not have any idea who Mr. Smith is.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.
+
+When Wentworth received this letter, being a man, he did not know whether
+Miss Longworth was pleased or not. However, he speedily wrote to John,
+telling him that he was appointed manager of the mine, and that Mr. Smith
+was very much pleased to have him in that capacity. He named the salary,
+but said if it was not enough, no doubt Mr. Smith was so anxious for his
+services that the amount would be increased.
+
+John, when he got the letter, was more than satisfied.
+
+At the time Wentworth was reading his letters, John had received those
+which had been sent when the mine was bought. He was relieved to find
+that Melville was not, after all, the owner; and he went to work with a
+will, intending to put in two or three years of his life, with hard
+labour, in developing the resources of the property. The first fortnight,
+before he received any letters, he did nothing but make himself
+acquainted with the way work was being carried on there. He found many
+things to improve. The machinery had been allowed to run down, and the
+men worked in the listless way men do when they are under no particular
+supervision. The manager of the mine was very anxious about his position.
+John told him the property had changed hands but, until he had further
+news from England, he could not tell just what would be done. When the
+letters came, John took hold with a will, and there was soon a decided
+improvement in the way affairs were going. He allowed the old manager to
+remain as a sort of sub-manager; but that individual soon found that the
+easy times of the Austrian Mining Company were for ever gone.
+
+Kenyon had to take one or two long trips in Canada and the United
+States, to arrange for the disposal of the products of the mine; but,
+as a general rule, his time was spent entirely in the log village near
+the river.
+
+When a year had passed, he was able to write a very jubilant letter to
+Wentworth.
+
+'You see,' he said, 'after all, the mine was worth the two hundred
+thousand pounds we asked for it. It pays, even the first year, ten per
+cent. on that amount. This will give back all the mine has cost, and I
+think, George, the honest thing for us to do would be to let the whole
+proceeds go to Mr. Smith this year, who advanced the money at a critical
+time. This will recoup him for his outlay, because the working capital
+has not been touched. The mica has more than paid the working of the
+mine, and all the rest is clear profit. Therefore, if you are willing, we
+will let our third go this year, and then we can take our large dividend
+next year with a clear conscience. I enclose the balance-sheet.'
+
+To this letter there came an answer in due time from Wentworth, who said
+that he had placed John's proposal before Mr. Smith; but it seemed the
+gentleman was so pleased with the profitable investment he had made that
+he would hear of no other division of the profits but that of share and
+share alike. He appeared to be very much touched by the offer John had
+made, and respected him for making it, but the proposed rescinding on
+his part and Wentworth's was a thing not to be thought of. This being
+the case, John sent a letter and a very large cheque to his father. The
+moment of posting that letter was, doubtless, one of the happiest of his
+life, and this ends the formidable array of letters which appears in
+this chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+
+Wentworth had written to Kenyon that Mr. Smith absolutely refused to take
+more than one-third of the profits of the mine. It was true that the
+offer had been declined, but Wentworth never knew how much tempted the
+Mistress of the Mine had been when he made it. Her one great desire was
+to pay back the thirty thousand pounds to her father, and she wanted to
+do it as speedily as possible. At the end of the second year her profits
+from the mine, including the return of the five thousand pounds which had
+been sent to Ottawa as working capital, was still about five thousand
+pounds under the thirty thousand pounds. She looked forward eagerly to
+the time when she would be able to pay the thirty thousand pounds to her
+father. Old Mr. Longworth had never spoken a word to his daughter about
+the money. She had expected he would ask her what she had done with it,
+but he had never mentioned the subject. Her conscience troubled her very
+frequently about the method she had taken to obtain that large amount.
+She saw that her father had changed in his manner towards her since that
+day. He had given her the money, but he had given it, as one might say,
+almost under compulsion, and there was no doubt that, generous as he
+was, he did not like being coerced into parting with his money. Edith
+Longworth had paid more for the mine than the amount of cash she had
+deposited in Ottawa. She had paid for it by being cut off from her
+father's confidence. Now he never asked her advice about any of his
+business ventures, and, for the first time in many years, he had taken a
+long sea-voyage without inviting her to accompany him. All this made the
+girl more and more anxious to obtain the money to pay back her
+indebtedness, and, if Wentworth had made the same offer at the end of the
+second year which he had made at the close of the first, she would have
+accepted it. The offer, however, was not made, and Miss Longworth said
+nothing, but took her share of the profits and put them into the bank.
+
+The plan of placing all one's eggs into the same basket is a good
+one--until something happens to the basket! It is said that lightning
+never strikes twice in the same place, and, as the small boy remarked,
+'it never needed to.' In Mr. Longworth's affairs lightning struck in
+three places, and in each of those strokes it hit a large basket. A new
+law had been passed in one part of the world that vitally affected great
+interests he held there. In another part of the world, at the same time,
+there occurred a revolution, and every business in that country stopped
+for the time being. In still another part of the world there had been a
+commercial crisis; and, in sympathy with all these financial disasters,
+the money market in London was exceedingly stringent.
+
+Everybody wanted to sell, and nobody wished to buy. This unfortunate
+combination of circumstances hit old Mr. Longworth hard. It was not that
+he did not believe all his investments were secure, could he only
+weather the gale, but there was an immediate need of ready money which it
+seemed absolutely impossible to obtain. Day by day his daughter saw him
+ageing perceptibly. She knew worry was the cause of this, and she knew
+the events that were happening in different parts of the world must
+seriously embarrass her father. She longed to speak to him about his
+business, but one attempt she made in this direction had been very rudely
+rebuffed, and she was not a woman to tempt a second repulse of that kind.
+So she kept silent, and saw with grief the havoc business troubles were
+making with her father's health.
+
+'The old man,' said young Longworth, 'seems to be in a corner.'
+
+'I do not want you ever again to allude to my father as "the old
+man"--remember that!' cried the girl indignantly.
+
+Young Longworth shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'I don't think you can insist on my calling him a young man much longer.
+If he isn't an old man, I should like to know who is?'
+
+'That doesn't matter,' said Edith. 'You must not use such a phrase again
+in my hearing. What do you mean by saying he is in a corner?'
+
+'Well,' returned the young man, 'I don't know much about his business. He
+does not take me into his confidence at all. In fact, the older he grows,
+the closer he gets, and the chances are he will make some very bad
+speculation before long, if he has not done so already. That is the way
+with old men, begging your pardon for using the phrase. It is not
+levelled against your father in this instance, but at old men as a class,
+especially men who have been successful. They seem to resent anybody
+giving them advice.'
+
+One day Edith received a telegram, asking her to come to the office in
+the City without delay. She was panic-stricken when she read the message,
+feeling sure her father had been stricken down in his office, and was
+probably dying--perhaps dead. She had feared some such result for a long
+time, because of the intense anxiety to which he had been subjected, and
+he was not a man who could be counselled to take care of himself on the
+plea that he was getting old. He resented any intimation that he was not
+as good a business man as he had ever been, and so it was extremely
+difficult to get him to listen to reason, if anyone had the courage to
+talk reason to him.
+
+Edith, without a moment's delay, sprang lightly into a hansom, and went
+to the District Railway without waiting for her carriage. From the
+Mansion House Station another cab took her quickly to her father's
+office.
+
+She was immensely relieved, as she passed through, to see the clerks
+working as if nothing particular had happened. On entering her father's
+room, she found him pacing up and down the apartment, while her cousin
+sat, apparently absorbed in his own affairs, at his desk. Her father was
+evidently greatly excited.
+
+'Edith,' he cried the moment she entered, 'where is that money I gave you
+two years ago?'
+
+'It is invested,' she answered, turning slightly pale.
+
+Her father laughed--a hoarse, dry laugh.
+
+'Just as I thought,' he sneered--'put in such shape that a person
+cannot touch a penny of it, I suppose. In what is it invested? I must
+have that money.'
+
+'How soon do you need it, father?
+
+'I want it just now, at this moment; if I don't have that money I am a
+ruined man.'
+
+'This moment. I suppose, means any time to-day, before the bank closes?'
+
+Her father looked at her for a moment, then said:
+
+'Yes that is what it means.
+
+'I will try and get you the money before that time.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he said bitterly, 'you don't know what you are talking
+about. If you have that money invested, even if your investment is worth
+three times now what it was then, you could not get a penny on it. Don't
+you know the state of the London money market? Don't you know how close
+money is? I thought perhaps you might have some portion of it yet, not
+sunk in your silly investment, whatever it is. I have never asked you
+what it was. You told me you would tell me, but you never have done so. I
+looked on that money as lost. I look on it still as lost. If you can get
+me a remnant of it, it will help me now more than the whole amount, or
+double the amount, would have done at the time I gave it to you. What
+have you done with the money? What is it invested in?'
+
+'It is invested in a mine.'
+
+'A mine. Of all things in the world in which to sink money, a mine is the
+worst. Just what a woman or a fool would do! How do you expect to raise
+money on a mine in the present state of the market? What, in the name of
+wonder, made you put it into a mine? Whose mine did you buy?'
+
+'I do not know whose it was, father, but I was willing to tell you all I
+knew at the time you asked me and if you ask me now what mine I bought, I
+will tell you.'
+
+'Certainly I ask you. What mine did you buy?'
+
+'I bought the mine for which John Kenyon was agent.'
+
+The moment these words were said, her cousin sprang to his feet and
+glared at her like a man demented.
+
+'You bought that mine--you? Then Wentworth lied to me. He said a Mr.
+Smith had given him the money.'
+
+'I am the Mr. Smith, William.'
+
+'You are the Mr. Smith! You are the one who has cheated me out of that
+mine!'
+
+'My dear cousin, the less we say about cheating, the better. I am talking
+to my father just now, and I do not wish to be interrupted. Will you be
+so kind as to leave the room until my interview with him is over?'
+
+'So you bought the mica-mine, did you! Pretending to be friendly with me,
+and knowing all the time that you were doing your best to cheat----'
+
+'Come, come!' interrupted the old gentleman; 'William, none of this. If
+anyone is to talk roughly to Edith, it will be me, not you. Come, sir,
+leave the room, as she has asked you to do. Now, my daughter,' he
+continued, in a much milder tone of voice, after young Longworth had left
+the office, 'have you any ready money? It is no use saying the mine is
+worth a hundred thousand pounds, or a million, just now, if you haven't
+the ready money. Edith, my child,' he cried, 'sit down with me a moment,
+and I will explain the whole situation to you. It seems to me that ever
+since I stopped consulting you things have gone wrong. Perhaps, even if
+you have the money, it is better not to risk it just now; but one pound
+will do what two pounds will not do a year hence, or perhaps six months
+from now, when this panic is over.'
+
+Edith sat down beside her father and heard from him exactly how things
+stood. Then she said:
+
+'All you really need is about fifteen thousand pounds?'
+
+'Yes, that would do; I'm sure that would carry me over. Can you get it
+for me, my child?'
+
+'Yes, and more. I will try to get you the whole amount. Wait for me here
+twenty minutes or half an hour.'
+
+George Wentworth was very much surprised when he saw Edith Longworth
+enter his office. It had been many months since she was there before, and
+he cordially held out his hand to the girl.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' she began at once, 'have you any of the money the mica
+mine has brought you?'
+
+'Yes. I invested the first year's proceeds, but, since I got the last
+amount, things have been so shaky in the City that it is still at the
+bank.'
+
+'Will you lend me--_can_ you lend me five thousand pounds of it?'
+
+'Of, course I can, and will; and very glad I am to get the chance of
+doing so.'
+
+'Then, please write me out a cheque for it at once, and whatever papers
+you want as security, make them out, and I will see that you are
+secured.'
+
+'Look here, Miss Longworth,' said the young man, placing his hands on his
+hips and gazing at her, 'do you mean to insult me? Do you not know that
+the reason I am able to write out a cheque for five thousand pounds, that
+will be honoured, is entirely because you trusted your money to me and
+Kenyon without security? Do you think I want security? Take back the
+word, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'I will--I will,' she said; 'but I am in a great hurry. Please write me
+out the cheque, for I must have it before the bank closes.'
+
+The cheque was promptly written out and handed to her.
+
+'I am afraid,' she said, 'I am not very polite to-day, and rather abrupt;
+but I will make up for it some other time.'
+
+And so, bidding the young man good-bye, she drove to the bank, deposited
+the cheque, drew her own for thirty thousand pounds, and carried it to
+her father.
+
+'There,' she said, 'is thirty thousand pounds, and I still own the mine,
+or, at least, part of it. All the money is made from the cheque you gave
+me, or, rather, two-thirds of it, because one-third was never touched.
+Now, it seems to me, father, that, if I am a good enough business woman
+to more than double my money in two years, I am a good enough business
+woman to be consulted by my father whenever he needs a confidant. My dear
+father, I want to take some of the burden off your shoulders.'
+
+There were tears in her father's eyes as he put his arm round her waist
+and whispered to her:
+
+'There is no one in all London like you, my dear--no one, no one. I'll
+have no more secrets from you, my own brave girl.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+
+Kenyon's luck, as he said to himself, had turned. The second year was
+even more prosperous than the first, and the third as successful as the
+second. He had a steady market for his mineral, and, besides, he had the
+great advantage of knowing the rogues to avoid. Some new swindles he had
+encountered during his first year's experience had taught him lessons
+that he profited by in the second and third. He liked his home in the
+wilderness, and he liked the rough people amongst whom he found himself.
+
+Notwithstanding his renunciation of London, however, there would now and
+then come upon him a yearning for the big city, and he promised himself a
+trip there at the end of the third year. Wentworth had been threatening
+month after month to come out and see him, but something had always
+interfered.
+
+Taking it all in all, John liked it better in the winter than in the
+summer, in spite of the extreme cold. The cold was steady and could be
+depended upon; moreover, it was healthful and invigorating. In summer,
+John never quite became accustomed to the ravages of the black fly, the
+mosquito, and other insect pests of that region. His first interview with
+the black fly left his face in such a condition that he was glad he lived
+in a wilderness.
+
+At the beginning of the second winter John treated himself to a luxury.
+He bought a natty little French Canadian horse that was very quick and
+accustomed to the ice of the river, which formed the highway by which he
+reached Burntpine from the mine in the cold season. To supplement the
+horse, he also got a comfortable little cutter, and with this turn-out
+he made his frequent journeys between the mine and Burntpine with comfort
+and speed, wrapped snugly in buffalo robes.
+
+If London often reverted to his mind, there was another subject that
+obtruded itself even more frequently. His increased prosperity had
+something to do with this. He saw that, if he was to have a third of the
+receipts of the mine, he was not to remain a poor man for very long, and
+this fact gave him a certain courage which had been lacking before. He
+wondered if she remembered him. Wentworth had said very little about her
+when he wrote, for his letters were largely devoted to enthusiastic
+eulogies of Jennie Brewster, and Kenyon, in spite of the confession he
+had made when his case seemed hopeless, was loath to write and ask his
+friend anything about Edith.
+
+One day, on a clear sharp frosty winter morning, Kenyon had his little
+pony harnessed for his weekly journey to Burntpine. After the rougher
+part of the road between the mine and the river had been left behind, and
+the pony got down to her work on the ice, with the two white banks of
+snow on either side of the smooth track, John gave himself up to thinking
+about the subject which now so often engrossed his mind. Wrapped closely
+in his furs, with the cutter skimming along the ice, these thoughts found
+a pleasant accompaniment in the silvery tinkle of the bells which jingled
+around his horse's neck. As a general thing, he met no one on the icy
+road from the mine to the village. Sometimes there was a procession of
+sleighs bearing supplies for his own mine and those beyond, and when this
+procession was seen, Kenyon had to look out for some place by the side of
+the track where he could pull up his horse and cutter and allow the
+teams to pass. The snow on each side of the cutting was so deep that
+these bays were shovelled out here and there to permit teams to get past
+each other. He had gone halfway to the village, when he saw ahead of him
+a pair of horses which he at once recognised as those belonging to the
+hotel-keeper. He drew up in the first bay and awaited the approach of the
+sleigh. He saw that it contained visitors for himself, because the
+driver, on recognising him, had turned round and spoken to the occupants
+of the vehicle. As it came along, the man drew up and nodded to Kenyon,
+who, although ordinarily the most polite of men, did not return the
+salutation. He was stricken dumb with astonishment on seeing who was in
+the sleigh. One woman was so bundled up that not even her nose appeared
+out in the cold, but the smiling rosy face of the other needed no
+introduction to John Kenyon.
+
+'Well, Mr. Kenyon,' cried a laughing voice, 'you did not expect to see me
+this morning, did you?'
+
+'I confess I did not,' said John, 'and yet--.' Here he paused; he was
+going to say, 'and yet I was thinking of you,' but he checked himself.
+
+Miss Longworth, who had a talent for reading the unspoken thoughts of
+John Kenyon, probably did not need to be told the end of the sentence.
+
+'Are you going to the village?' she asked.
+
+'I _was_ going. I am not going now.'
+
+'That's right. I was just about to invite you to turn round with us. You
+see, we are on our way to look at the mine, and, I suppose, we shall have
+to obtain the consent of the manager before we can do so.'
+
+Miss Longworth's companion had emerged for a moment from her wraps and
+looked at John, but instantly retired among the furs again with a
+shiver. She was not so young as her companion, and she considered this
+the most frightful climate she had ever encountered.
+
+'Now,' said John, 'although your sleigh is very comfortable, I think this
+cutter of mine is even more so. It is intended for two; won't you step
+out of the sleigh into the cutter? Then, if the driver will move on, I
+can turn, and we will follow the sleigh.'
+
+'I shall be delighted to do so,' said the young woman, shaking herself
+free from the buffalo robe, and stepping lightly from the sleigh into the
+cutter, pausing, however, for a moment, before she did so, to put her own
+wraps over her companion. John tucked her in beside himself, and, as the
+sleigh jingled on, he slowly turned his pony round into the road again.
+
+'I have got a pretty fast pony,' he said, 'but I think we will let
+them drive on ahead. It irritates this little horse to see anything in
+front of it.'
+
+'Then we can make up speed,' said Edith, 'and catch them before they get
+to the mine. Is it far from here?'
+
+'No, not very far; at least, it doesn't take long to get there with a
+smart horse.'
+
+'I have enjoyed this experience ever so much,' she said; 'you see, my
+father had to come to Montreal on business, so I came with him, as usual,
+and, being there, I thought I would run up here and see the mine. I
+wanted,' she continued, looking at the other side of the cutter and
+trailing her well-gloved fingers in the snow--'I wanted to know
+personally whether my manager was conducting my property in the way it
+ought to be conducted, notwithstanding the very satisfactory
+balance-sheets he sends.'
+
+'_Your_ property!' exclaimed John, in amazement.
+
+'Certainly. You didn't know that, did you?' she replied, looking for a
+moment at him, and then away from him. 'I call myself the Mistress of
+the Mine.'
+
+'Then you are--you are----'
+
+'Mr. Smith,' said the girl coming to his rescue.
+
+There was a moment's pause, and the next words John said were not at all
+what she expected.
+
+'Take your hand out of the snow,' he commanded, 'and put it in under the
+buffalo robe; you have no idea how cold it is here, and your hand will be
+frozen in a moment.'
+
+'Really,' said the girl, 'an employee must not talk to his employer in
+that tone! My hand is my own, is it not?'
+
+'I hope it is,' said John, 'because I want to ask you for it.'
+
+For answer Miss Edith Longworth placed her hand in his.
+
+Actions speak louder than words. The sleigh was far in advance, and there
+were no witnesses on the white topped hills.
+
+'Were you astonished?' she said, 'when I told you that I owned the mine?'
+
+'Very much so indeed. Were _you_ astonished when I told you I wished to
+own the owner of the mine?'
+
+'Not in the slightest.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Because your treacherous friend Wentworth sent me your letter applying
+for a situation. You got the situation, didn't you, John?'
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
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+Title: A Woman Intervenes
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+Author: Robert Barr
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+Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9379]
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN INTERVENES ***
+
+
+
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+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously made
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+
+                           A WOMAN INTERVENES
+
+                                   BY
+
+                               ROBERT BARR
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+'IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS,' 'IN A STEAMER CHAIR,' 'FROM WHOSE BOURNE,'
+ETC.
+
+WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAL HURST
+
+1896
+
+TO
+
+MY FRIEND
+
+HORACE HART
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+'I HAD NO INTENTION OF INSULTING YOU' _Frontispiece_
+
+WENTWORTH SHOWED HER HOW TO TURN IT ROUND
+
+MISS JENNIE ALLOWED HIM TO ADJUST THE WRAPS AROUND HER
+
+'OH, YES! YOU WILL STAY,' CRIED THE OTHER
+
+SHE WALKED ALONE UP AND DOWN THE PROMENADE
+
+SHE SPRANG SUDDENLY TO HER FEET
+
+'YOU HAVE A PRODIGIOUS HEAD FOR BUSINESS'
+
+EDITH LONGWORTH HAD SAT DOWN BESIDE HIM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+The managing editor of the _New York Argus_ sat at his desk with a deep
+frown on his face, looking out from under his shaggy eyebrows at the
+young man who had just thrown a huge fur overcoat on the back of one
+chair, while he sat down himself on another.
+
+'I got your telegram,' began the editor. 'Am I to understand from it that
+you have failed?'
+
+'Yes, sir,' answered the young man, without the slightest hesitation.
+
+'Completely?'
+
+'Utterly.'
+
+'Didn't you even get a synopsis of the documents?'
+
+'Not a hanged synop.'
+
+The editor's frown grew deeper. The ends of his fingers drummed nervously
+on the desk.
+
+'You take failure rather jauntily, it strikes me,' he said at last.
+
+'What's the use of taking it any other way? I have the consciousness of
+knowing that I did my best.'
+
+'Um, yes. It's a great consolation, no doubt, but it doesn't count in
+the newspaper business. What did you do?'
+
+'I received your telegram at Montreal, and at once left for Burnt
+Pine--most outlandish spot on earth. I found that Kenyon and
+Wentworth were staying at the only hotel in the place. Tried to worm
+out of them what their reports were to be. They were very polite, but
+I didn't succeed. Then I tried to bribe them, and they ordered me out
+of the room.'
+
+'Perhaps you didn't offer them enough.'
+
+'I offered double what the London Syndicate was to pay them for making
+the report, taking their own word for the amount. I couldn't offer more,
+because at that point they closed the discussion by ordering me out of
+the room. I tried to get the papers that night, on the quiet, out of
+Wentworth's valise, but was unfortunately interrupted. The young men
+were suspicious, and next morning they left for Ottawa to post the
+reports, as I gathered afterwards, to England. I succeeded in getting
+hold of the reports, but I couldn't hang on. There are too many police
+in Ottawa to suit me.'
+
+'Do you mean to tell me,' said the editor, 'that you actually had the
+reports in your hands, and that they were taken from you?'
+
+'Certainly I had; and as to their being taken from me, it was either that
+or gaol. They don't mince matters in Canada as they do in the United
+States, you know.'
+
+'But I should think a man of your shrewdness would have been able to get
+at least a synopsis of the reports before letting them out of his
+possession.'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the reporter, rather angry, 'the whole thing covered
+I forget how many pages of foolscap paper, and was the most mixed-up
+matter I ever saw in my life. I tried--I sat in my room at the hotel, and
+did my best to master the details. It was full of technicalities, and I
+couldn't make it out. It required a mining expert to get the hang of
+their phrases and figures, so I thought the best thing to do was to
+telegraph it all straight through to New York. I knew it would cost a lot
+of money, but I knew, also, you didn't mind that; and I thought, perhaps,
+somebody here could make sense out of what baffled me; besides, I wanted
+to get the documents out of my possession just as quickly as possible.'
+
+'Hem!' said the editor. 'You took no notes whatever?'
+
+'No, I did not. I had no time. I knew the moment they missed the
+documents they would have the detectives on my track. As it was, I was
+arrested when I entered the telegraph-office.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' said the managing editor, 'if I had once had the
+papers in my hand, I should not have let them go until I had got the gist
+of what was in them.'
+
+'Oh, it's all very well for you to say so,' replied the reporter, with
+the free and easy manner in which an American newspaper man talks to his
+employer; 'but I can tell you, with a Canadian gaol facing a man, it is
+hard to decide what is best to do. I couldn't get out of the town for
+three hours, and before the end of that time they would have had my
+description in the hands of every policeman in the place. They knew well
+enough who took the papers, so my only hope lay in getting the thing
+telegraphed through; and if that had been accomplished, everything would
+have been all right. I would have gone to gaol with pleasure if I had
+got the particulars through to New York.'
+
+'Well, what are we to do now?' asked the editor.
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. The two men will be in New York very shortly.
+They sail, I understand, on the _Caloric_, which leaves in a week. If you
+think you have a reporter who can get the particulars out of these men, I
+should be very pleased to see you set him on. I tell you it isn't so easy
+to discover what an Englishman doesn't want you to know.'
+
+'Well,' said the editor, 'perhaps that's true. I will think about it. Of
+course you did your best, and I appreciate your efforts; but I am sorry
+you failed.'
+
+'You are not half so sorry as I am,' said Rivers, as he picked up his big
+Canadian fur coat and took his leave.
+
+The editor did think about it. He thought for fully two minutes. Then he
+dashed off a note on a sheet of paper, pulled down the little knob that
+rang the District Messenger alarm, and when the uniformed boy appeared,
+gave him the note, saying:
+
+'Deliver this as quickly as you can.'
+
+The boy disappeared, and the result of his trip was soon apparent in the
+arrival of a very natty young woman in the editorial rooms. She was
+dressed in a neatly-fitting tailor-made costume, and was a very pretty
+girl, who looked about nineteen, but was, in reality, somewhat older. She
+had large, appealing blue eyes, with a tender, trustful expression in
+them, which made the ordinary man say: 'What a sweet, innocent look that
+girl has!' yet, what the young woman didn't know about New York was not
+worth knowing. She boasted that she could get State secrets from
+dignified members of the Cabinet, and an ordinary Senator or Congressman
+she looked upon as her lawful prey. That which had been told her in the
+strictest confidence had often become the sensation of the next day in
+the paper she represented. She wrote over a _nom de guerre_, and had
+tried her hand at nearly everything. She had answered advertisements,
+exposed rogues and swindlers, and had gone to a hotel as chambermaid, in
+order to write her experiences. She had been arrested and locked up, so
+that she might write a three-column account, for the Sunday edition of
+the _Argus_, of 'How Women are Treated at Police Headquarters.' The
+editor looked upon her as one of the most valuable members of his staff,
+and she was paid accordingly.
+
+She came into the room with the self-possessed air of the owner of the
+building, took a seat, after nodding to the editor, and said, 'Well?'
+
+'Look here, Jennie,' began that austere individual, 'do you wish to take
+a trip to Europe?'
+
+'That depends,' said Jennie; 'this is not just the time of year that
+people go to Europe for pleasure, you know.'
+
+'Well, this is not exactly a pleasure trip. The truth of the matter is,
+Rivers has been on a job and has bungled it fearfully, besides nearly
+getting himself arrested.'
+
+The young woman's eyes twinkled. She liked anything with a spice of
+danger in it, and did not object to hear that she was expected to succeed
+where a mere masculine reporter had failed.
+
+The editor continued:
+
+'Two young men are going across to England on the _Caloric_. It sails in
+a week. I want you to take a ticket for Liverpool by that boat, and
+obtain from either of those two men the particulars--the _full_
+particulars--of reports they have made on some mining properties in
+Canada. Then you must land at Queenstown and cable a complete account to
+the _Argus_.'
+
+'Mining isn't much in my line,' said Miss Jennie, with a frown on her
+pretty brow. 'What sort of mines were they dealing with--gold, silver,
+copper, or what?'
+
+'They are certain mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'That's rather indefinite.'
+
+'I know it is. I can't give you much information about the matter. I
+don't know myself, to tell the truth, but I know it is vitally important
+that we should get a synopsis of what the reports of these young men are
+to be. A company, called the London Syndicate, has been formed in
+England. This syndicate is to acquire a large number of mines in Canada,
+if the accounts given by the present owners are anything like correct.
+Two men, Kenyon and Wentworth--the first a mining engineer, and the
+second an experienced accountant--have been sent from London to Canada,
+one to examine the mines, the other to examine the books of the various
+corporations. Whether the mines are bought or not will depend a good deal
+on the reports these two men have in their possession. The reports, when
+published, will make a big difference, one way or the other, on the Stock
+Exchange. I want to have the gist of them before the London Syndicate
+sees them. It will be a big thing for the _Argus_ if it is the first in
+the field, and I am willing to spend a pile of hard cash to succeed. So,
+don't economize on your cable expenses.'
+
+'Very well; have you a book on Canadian mines?'
+
+'I don't know that we have; but there is a book here, "The Mining
+Resources of Canada;" will that be of any use?'
+
+'I shall need something of that sort. I want to be a little familiar with
+the subject, you know.'
+
+'Quite so,' said the editor; 'I will see what can be got in that line.
+You can read it before you start, and on the way over.'
+
+'All right,' said Miss Jennie; 'and am I to take my pick of the two
+young men?'
+
+'Certainly,' answered the editor. 'You will see them both, and can easily
+make up your mind which will the sooner fall a victim.'
+
+'The _Caloric_ sails in a week, does it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I shall need at least five hundred dollars to get new dresses
+with.'
+
+'Good gracious!' cried the editor.
+
+'There is no "good gracious" about it. I'm going to travel as a
+millionaire's daughter, and it isn't likely that one or two dresses will
+do me all the way over.'
+
+'But you can't get new dresses made in a week,' said the editor.
+
+'Can't I? Well, you just get me the five hundred dollars, and I'll see
+about the making.'
+
+The editor jotted the amount down.
+
+'You don't think four hundred dollars would do?' he said.
+
+'No, I don't. And, say, am I to get a trip to Paris after this is over,
+or must I come directly back?'
+
+'Oh, I guess we can throw in the trip to Paris,' said the editor.
+
+'What did you say the names of the young men are?--or are they not
+young? Probably they are old fogies, if they are in the mining business.'
+
+'No; they are young, they are shrewd, and they are English. So you see
+your work is cut out for you. Their names are George Wentworth and
+John Kenyon.'
+
+'Oh, Wentworth is my man,' said the young woman breezily. 'John Kenyon! I
+know just what sort of a person he is--sombre and taciturn. Sounds too
+much like John Bunyan, or John Milton, or names of that sort.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't be too sure about it until you see them. Better not
+make up your mind about the matter.'
+
+'When shall I call for the five hundred dollars?'
+
+'Oh, that you needn't trouble about. The better way is to get your
+dresses made, and tell the people to send the bills to our office.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman. 'I shall be ready. Don't be frightened
+at the bills when they come in. If they come up to a thousand dollars,
+remember I told you I would let you off for five hundred dollars.'
+
+The editor looked at her for a moment, and seemed to reflect that
+perhaps it was better not to give a young lady unlimited credit in New
+York. So he said:
+
+'Wait a bit; I'll write you out the order, and you can take it
+downstairs.'
+
+Miss Jennie took the paper when it was offered to her, and disappeared.
+When she presented the order in the business office, the cashier raised
+his eyebrows as he noticed the amount, and, with a low whistle, said to
+himself:
+
+'Five hundred dollars! I wonder what game Jennie Brewster's up to now.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The last bell had rung. Those who were going ashore had taken their
+departure. Crowds of human beings clustered on the pier-head, and at the
+large doorways of the warehouse which stood open on the steamer wharf. As
+the big ship slowly backed out there was a fluttering of handkerchiefs
+from the mass on the pier, and an answering flutter from those who
+crowded along the bulwarks of the steamer. The tug slowly pulled the prow
+of the vessel round, and at last the engines of the steamship began their
+pulsating throbs--throbs that would vibrate night and day until the
+steamer reached an older civilization. The crowd on the pier became more
+and more indistinct to those on board, and many of the passengers went
+below, for the air was bitterly cold, and the boat was forcing its way
+down the bay among huge blocks of ice.
+
+Two, at least, of the passengers had taken little interest in the
+departure. They were leaving no friends behind them, and were both
+setting their faces toward friends at home.
+
+'Let us go down,' said Wentworth to Kenyon, 'and see that we get seats
+together at table before all are taken.'
+
+'Very good,' replied his companion, and they descended to the roomy
+saloon, where two long tables were already laid with an ostentatious
+display of silver, glassware, and cutlery, which made many, who looked on
+this wilderness of white linen with something like dismay, hope that the
+voyage would be smooth, although, as it was a winter passage, there was
+every chance it would not be. The purser and two of his assistants sat
+at one of the shorter tables with a plan before them, marking off the
+names of passengers who wished to be together, or who wanted some
+particular place at any of the tables. The smaller side-tables were still
+uncovered because the number of passengers at that season of the year was
+comparatively few. As the places were assigned, one of the helpers to the
+purser wrote the names of the passengers on small cards, and the other
+put the cards on the tables.
+
+One young woman, in a beautifully-fitting travelling gown, which was
+evidently of the newest cut and design, stood a little apart from the
+general group which surrounded the purser and his assistants. She eagerly
+scanned every face, and listened attentively to the names given.
+Sometimes a shade of disappointment crossed her brow, as if she expected
+some particular person to possess some particular name which that
+particular person did not bear. At last her eyes sparkled.
+
+'My name is Wentworth,' said the young man whose turn it was.
+
+'Ah! any favourite place, Mr. Wentworth?' asked the purser blandly, as if
+he had known Wentworth all his life.
+
+'No, we don't care where we sit; but my friend Mr. Kenyon and myself
+would like places together.'
+
+'Very good; you had better come to my table,' replied the purser.
+'Numbers 23 and 24--Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+The steward took the cards that were given him, and placed them to
+correspond with the numbers the purser had named. Then the young woman
+moved gracefully along, as if she were interested in the names upon the
+table. She looked at Wentworth's name for a moment, and saw in the place
+next to his the name of Mr. Brown. She gave a quick, apprehensive glance
+around the saloon, and observed the two young men who had arranged for
+their seats at table now walking leisurely toward the companion-way. She
+took the card with the name of Mr. Brown upon it, and slipped upon the
+table another on which were written the words 'Miss Jennie Brewster.' Mr.
+Brown's card she placed on the spot from which she had taken her own.
+
+'I hope Mr. Brown is not particular which place he occupies,' said Jennie
+to herself; 'but at any rate I shall see that I am early for dinner, and
+I'm sure Mr. Brown, whoever he is, will not be so ungallant as to insist
+on having this place if he knows his card was here.'
+
+Subsequent events proved her surmise regarding Mr. Brown's indifference
+to be perfectly well founded. That young man searched for his card, found
+it, and sat down on the chair opposite the young woman, who already
+occupied her chair, and was, in fact, the first one at table. Seeing
+there would be no unseemly dispute about places, she began to plan in her
+own mind how she would first attract the attention of Mr. Wentworth.
+While thinking how best to approach her victim, Jennie heard his voice.
+
+'Here you are, Kenyon; here are our places.'
+
+'Which is mine?' said the voice of Kenyon.
+
+'It doesn't matter,' answered Wentworth, and then a thrill of fear went
+through the gentle heart of Miss Jennie Brewster. She had not thought of
+the young man not caring which seat he occupied, and she dreaded the
+possibility of finding herself next to Kenyon rather than Wentworth. Her
+first estimate of the characters of the two men seemed to be correct. She
+always thought of Kenyon as Bunyan, and she felt certain that Wentworth
+would be the easier man of the two to influence. The next moment her
+fears were allayed, for Kenyon, giving a rapid glance at the handsome
+young woman, deliberately chose the seat farthest from her, and
+Wentworth, with 'I beg your pardon,' slipped in and sat down on the chair
+beside her.
+
+'Now,' thought Jennie, with a sigh of relief, 'our positions are fixed
+for the meals of the voyage.' She had made her plans for beginning an
+acquaintance with the young man, but they were rendered unnecessary by
+the polite Mr. Wentworth handing her the bill of fare.
+
+'Oh, thank you,' said the girl, in a low voice, which was so musical that
+Wentworth glanced at her a second time and saw how sweet and pretty and
+innocent she was.
+
+'I'm in luck,' said the unfortunate young man to himself. Then he
+remarked aloud: 'We have not many ladies with us this voyage.'
+
+'No,' replied Miss Brewster; 'I suppose nobody crosses at this time of
+the year unless compelled to.'
+
+'I can answer for two passengers that such is the case.'
+
+'Do you mean yourself as one?'
+
+'Yes, myself and my friend.'
+
+'How pleasant it must be,' said Miss Brewster, 'to travel with a friend!
+Then one is not lonely. I, unfortunately, am travelling alone.'
+
+'I fancy,' said the gallant Wentworth, 'that if you are lonely while on
+board ship, it will be entirely your own fault.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed a silvery little laugh.
+
+'I don't know about that,' she said. 'I am going to that Mecca of all
+Americans--Paris. My father is to meet me there, and we are then going on
+to the Riviera together.'
+
+'Ah, that will be very pleasant,' said Wentworth. 'The Riviera at this
+season is certainly a place to be desired.'
+
+'So I have heard,' she replied.
+
+'Have you not been across before?'
+
+'No, this is my first trip. I suppose you have crossed many times?'
+
+'Oh no,' answered the Englishman; 'this is only my second voyage, my
+first having been the one that took me to America.'
+
+'Ah, then you are not an American,' returned Miss Brewster, with
+apparent surprise.
+
+She imagined that a man is generally flattered when a mistake of this
+kind is made. No matter how proud he may be of his country, he is pleased
+to learn that there is no provincialism about him which, as the Americans
+say, 'gives him away.'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'as a general thing, I am not taken for
+anything but what I am--an Englishman.'
+
+'I have met so few Englishmen,' said the guileless young woman, 'that
+really I should not be expected to know.'
+
+'I understand it is a common delusion among Americans that every
+Englishman drops his "h's," and is to be detected in that way.'
+
+Jennie laughed again, and George Wentworth thought it one of the
+prettiest laughs he had ever heard.
+
+Poor Kenyon was rather neglected by his friend during the dinner. He felt
+a little gloomy while the courses went on, and wished he had an evening
+paper. Meanwhile, Wentworth and the handsome girl beside him got on very
+well together. At the end of the dinner she seemed to have some
+difficulty in getting up from her chair, and Wentworth showed her how to
+turn it round, leaving her free to rise. She thanked him prettily.
+
+'I am going on deck,' she said, turning to go; 'I am so anxious to get my
+first glimpse of the ocean at night from the deck of a steamer.'
+
+'I hope you will let me accompany you,' returned young Wentworth. 'The
+decks are rather slippery, and even when the boat is not rolling it
+isn't quite safe for a lady unused to the motion of a ship to walk alone
+in the dark.'
+
+'Oh, thank you very much,' replied Miss Brewster, with effusion. 'It
+is kind of you, I am sure; and if you promise not to let me rob you
+of the pleasure of your after-dinner cigar, I shall be most happy to
+have you accompany me. I will meet you at the top of the stairway in
+five minutes.'
+
+'You are getting on,' said Kenyon, as the young woman disappeared.
+
+'What's the use of being on board ship,' said Wentworth, 'If you don't
+take advantage of the opportunity for making shipboard acquaintances?
+There is an unconventionality about life on a steamer that is not without
+its charm, as perhaps you will find out before the voyage is over, John.'
+
+'You are merely trying to ease your conscience because of your heartless
+desertion of me.'
+
+George Wentworth had waited at the top of the companion-way a little more
+than five minutes when Miss Brewster appeared, wrapped in a cloak edged
+with fur, which lent an additional charm to her complexion, set off as it
+was by a jaunty steamer cap. They stepped out on the deck, and found it
+not at all so dark as they had expected. Little globes of electric light
+were placed at regular intervals on the walls of the deck building.
+Overhead was stretched a sort of canvas roof, against which the sleety
+rain pattered. One of the sailors, with a rubber mop, was pushing into
+the gutter by the side of the ship the moisture from the deck. All around
+the boat the night was as black as ink, except here and there where the
+white curl of a wave showed luminous for a moment in the darkness.
+
+Miss Brewster insisted that Wentworth should light his cigar, which,
+after some persuasion, he did. Then he tucked her hand snugly under his
+arm, and she adjusted her step to suit his. They had the promenade all to
+themselves. The rainy winter night was not so inviting to most of the
+passengers as the comfortable rooms below. Kenyon, however, and one or
+two others came up, and sat on the steamer chairs that were tied to the
+brass rod which ran along the deckhouse wall. He saw the glow of
+Wentworth's cigar as the couple turned at the farther end of the walk,
+and when they passed him he heard a low murmur of conversation, and
+caught now and then a snatch of silvery laughter. It was not because
+Wentworth had deserted him that Kenyon felt so uncomfortable and
+depressed. He could not tell just what it was, but there had settled on
+his mind a strange, uneasy foreboding. After a time he went down into the
+saloon and tried to read, but could not, and so wandered along the
+seemingly endless narrow passage to his room (which was Wentworth's as
+well), and, in nautical phrase, 'turned in.' It was late when his
+companion came.
+
+'Asleep, Kenyon?' asked the latter.
+
+'No,' was the answer.
+
+'By George! John, she is one of the most charming girls I ever met.
+Wonderfully clever, too; makes a man feel like a fool beside her. She has
+read nearly everything. Has opinions on all our authors, a great many of
+whom I've never heard of. I wish, for your sake, John, she had a sister
+on board.'
+
+'Thanks, old man; awfully good of you, I'm sure,' said Kenyon. 'Don't
+you think it's about time to stop raving, get into your bunk, and turn
+out that confounded light?'
+
+'All right, growler, I will.'
+
+Meanwhile, in her own state-room, Miss Jennie Brewster was looking at her
+reflection in the glass. As she shook out her long hair until it rippled
+down her back, she smiled sweetly, and said to herself:
+
+'Poor Mr. Wentworth! Only the first night out, and he told me his name
+was George.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+The second day out was a pleasant surprise for all on board who had made
+up their minds to a disagreeable winter passage. The air was clear, the
+sky blue as if it were spring-time, instead of midwinter. They were in
+the Gulf Stream. The sun shone brightly and the temperature was mild.
+Nevertheless, it was an uncomfortable day for those who were poor
+sailors. Although there did not seem, to the casual observer, to be much
+of a sea running, the ship rolled atrociously. Those who had made heroic
+resolutions on the subject were sitting in silent misery in their
+deck-chairs, which had been lashed to firm stanchions. Few were walking
+the clean bright deck, because walking that morning was a gymnastic feat.
+Three or four who evidently wished to show they had crossed before, and
+knew all about it, managed to make their way along the deck. Those
+recumbent in the steamer-chairs watched with lazy interest the
+pedestrians who now and then stood still, leaning apparently far out of
+the perpendicular, as the deck inclined downward. Sometimes the
+pedestrian's feet slipped, and he shot swiftly down the incline. Such an
+incident was invariably welcomed by those who sat. Even the invalids
+smiled wanly.
+
+Kenyon reclined in his deck-chair with his eyes fixed on the blue sky.
+His mind was at rest about the syndicate report now that it had been
+mailed to London. His thoughts wandered to his own affairs, and he
+wondered whether he would make money out of the option he had acquired at
+Ottawa. He was not an optimistic man, and he doubted.
+
+After their work for the London Syndicate was finished, the young men had
+done a little business on their own account. They visited together a
+mica-mine that was barely paying expenses, and which the proprietors were
+anxious to sell. The mine was owned by the Austrian Mining Company,
+whose agent, Von Brent, was interviewed by Kenyon in Ottawa. The young
+men obtained an option on this mine for three months from Von Brent.
+Kenyon's educated eye had told him that the white mineral they were
+placing on the dump at the mouth of the mine was even more valuable than
+the mica for which they were mining.
+
+Kenyon was scrupulously honest--a quality somewhat at a discount in the
+mining business--and it seemed to him hardly the fair thing that he
+should take advantage of the ignorance of Von Brent regarding the mineral
+on the dump. Wentworth had some trouble in overcoming his friend's
+scruples. He claimed that knowledge always had to be paid for, in law,
+medicine, or mineralogy, and therefore that they were perfectly justified
+in profiting by their superior wisdom. So it came about that the young
+men took to England with them a three months' option on the mine.
+
+Wentworth had been walking about all morning like a lost spirit
+apparently seeking what was not. 'It can't be,' he said to himself. No;
+the thought was too horrible, and he dismissed it from his mind, merely
+conjecturing that perhaps she was not an early riser, which was indeed
+the case. No one who works on a morning newspaper ever takes advantage of
+the lark's example.
+
+'Well, Kenyon,' said Wentworth 'you look as if you were writing a poem,
+or doing something that required deep mental agony.'
+
+'The writing of poems, my dear Wentworth, I leave to you. I am doing
+something infinitely more practical--something that you ought to be at.
+I am thinking what we are to do with our mica-mine when we get it over
+to London.'
+
+'Oh, "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,"' cried Wentworth
+jauntily; 'besides, half an hour's thinking by a solid-brained fellow
+like you is worth a whole voyage of my deepest meditation.'
+
+'She hasn't appeared yet?' said Kenyon.
+
+'No, dear boy; no, she has _not_. You see, I make no pretence with you as
+other less ingenuous men might. No, she has _not_ appeared, and she has
+not breakfasted.'
+
+'Perhaps----' began Kenyon.
+
+'No, no!' cried Wentworth; 'I'll have no "perhaps." I thought of that, but
+I instantly dismissed the idea. She's too good a sailor.'
+
+'It requires a very good sailor to stand this sort of thing. It looks so
+unnecessary, too. I wonder what the ship is rolling about?'
+
+'I can't tell, but she seems to be rolling about half over. I say,
+Kenyon, old fellow, I feel horrible pangs of conscience about
+deserting you in this way, and so early in the voyage. I didn't do it
+last time, did I?'
+
+'You were a model travelling companion on the last voyage,' returned
+Kenyon.
+
+'I don't wish to make impertinent suggestions, my boy, but allow me to
+tell you that there are some other very nice girls on board.'
+
+'You are not so bad as I feared, then,' replied Kenyon, 'or you wouldn't
+admit that. I thought you had eyes for no one but Miss--Miss--I really
+didn't catch her name.'
+
+'I don't mind telling you confidentially, Kenyon, that her name is
+Jennie.'
+
+'Dear me!' cried Kenyon, 'has it got so far as that? Doesn't it strike
+you, Wentworth, that you are somewhat in a hurry? It seems decidedly
+more American than English. Englishmen are apt to weigh matters a
+little more.'
+
+'There is no necessity for weighing, my boy. I don't see any harm in
+making the acquaintance of a pretty girl when you have a long voyage
+before you.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let it grow too serious, if I were you.'
+
+'There isn't the slightest danger of seriousness about the affair. On
+shore the young lady wouldn't cast a second look at me. She is the
+daughter of a millionaire. Her father is in Paris, and they are going on
+to the Riviera in a few weeks.'
+
+'All the more reason,' said Kenyon, 'that you shouldn't let this go too
+far. Be on your guard, my boy. I've heard it said that American girls
+have the delightful little practice of leading a man on until it comes to
+a certain point, and then arching their pretty eyebrows, looking
+astonished, and forgetting all about him afterwards. You had better wait
+until we make our fortunes on this mica-mine, and then, perhaps, your
+fair millionairess may listen to you.'
+
+'John,' cried Wentworth, 'you are the most cold-blooded man I know of. I
+never noticed it so particularly before, but it seems to me that years
+and years of acquaintance with minerals of all kinds, hard and flinty,
+transform a man. Be careful that you don't become like the minerals you
+work among.'
+
+'Well, I don't know anything that has less tendency to soften a man than
+long columns of figures. I think the figures you work at are quite as
+demoralizing as the minerals I have spent my life with.'
+
+'Perhaps you are right, but a girl would have to be thrown into your
+arms before you would admit that such a thing as a charming young lady
+existed.'
+
+'If I make all the money I hope to make out of the mica-mine, I expect
+the young ladies will not be thrown into my arms, but at my head. Money
+goes a long way toward reconciling a girl to marriage.'
+
+'It certainly goes a long way toward reconciling her mother to the
+marriage. I don't believe,' said Wentworth slowly, 'that my--that Miss
+Brewster ever thinks about money.'
+
+'She probably doesn't need to, but no doubt there is someone who does the
+thinking for her. If her father is a millionaire, and has, like many
+Americans, made his own money, you may depend upon it he will do the
+thinking for her; and if Miss Brewster should prove to be thoughtless in
+the matter, the old gentleman will very speedily bring you both to your
+senses. It would be different if you had a title.'
+
+'I haven't any,' replied Wentworth, 'except the title George Wentworth,
+accountant, with an address in the City and rooms in the suburbs.'
+
+'Precisely; if you were Lord George Wentworth, or even Sir George, or
+Baron Wentworth of something or other, you might have a chance; as it is,
+the title of accountant would not go far with an American millionaire, or
+his daughter either.'
+
+'You are a cold, calculating wretch.'
+
+'Nothing of the sort. I merely have my senses about me, and you haven't
+at this particular moment. You wouldn't think of trusting a book-keeper's
+figures without seeing his vouchers. Well, my boy, you haven't the
+vouchers--at least, not yet, so that is why I ask you to give your
+attention to what we are going to do with our mine; and if you take my
+advice you will not think seriously about American millionaires or their
+daughters.'
+
+George Wentworth jumped to his feet, the ship gave a lurch at that
+particular moment, and he no sooner found his feet than he nearly lost
+them again; however, he was an expert at balancing himself as well as his
+accounts, and though for the moment his attention was occupied in keeping
+his equilibrium, he looked down on his companion, still placidly
+reclining in his chair, with a smile on his face.
+
+'Kenyon,' he said, 'I am going to look for another girl.'
+
+'Is one not enough for you?'
+
+'No, I want two--one for myself, and one for you. No man can sympathize
+with another unless he is in the same position himself. John, I want
+sympathy, and I'm not getting it.'
+
+'What you need more urgently,' said Kenyon calmly, 'is common-sense, and
+that I am trying to supply.'
+
+'You are doing your duty in that direction; but a man doesn't live by
+common-sense alone. There comes a time when common-sense is a drug in
+the market. I don't say it has come to me yet, but I'm resolved to get
+you into a more sympathetic mood, so I am going to find a suitable young
+lady for you.'
+
+'More probably you are going to look for your own,' answered Kenyon, as
+his friend walked off, and, disappearing round the corner, crossed to
+the other side of the ship.
+
+Kenyon did not turn again to his figures when his companion left him. He
+mused over the curiously rapid turn of circumstances. He hoped Wentworth
+would not take it too seriously, for he felt that, somehow or other, Miss
+Brewster was just the sort of girl to throw him over after she had whiled
+away a tedious voyage. Of course he could not say this to his friend, who
+evidently admired Miss Brewster, but he had said as much as he could to
+put Wentworth on his guard.
+
+'Now,' said Kenyon to himself, 'if she had been a girl like _that_, I
+wouldn't have minded.' The girl 'like _that_' was a young woman who for
+half an hour had been walking the deck alone with marvellous skill. She
+was not so handsome as the American girl, but she had a better
+complexion, and there was a colour in her cheek which seemed to suggest
+England. Her dress was not quite so smart nor so well-fitting as that of
+the American girl; but, nevertheless, she was warmly and sensibly clad,
+and a brown Tam o' Shanter covered her fair head. The tips of her hands
+were in the pockets of her short blue-cloth jacket; and she walked the
+deck with a firm, reliant tread that aroused the admiration of John
+Kenyon. 'If she were only a girl like _that_,' he repeated to himself, 'I
+wouldn't mind. There's something fresh and genuine about her. She makes
+me think of the breezy English downs.'
+
+As she walked back and forward, one or two young men seemingly made an
+attempt to become acquainted with her, but it was evident to Kenyon that
+the young woman had made it plain to them, politely enough, that she
+preferred walking alone, and they raised their sea-caps and left her.
+
+'She doesn't pick up the first man who comes,' he mused.
+
+The ship was beginning to roll more and more, and yet the day was
+beautiful and the sea seemingly calm. Most of the promenaders had left
+the deck. Two or three of them had maintained their equilibrium with a
+gratifying success which engendered the pride that goeth before a fall,
+but the moment came at last when their feet slipped and they had found
+themselves thrown against the bulwark of the steamer. Then they had
+laughed a little in a crestfallen manner, picked themselves up, and
+promenaded the deck no more. Many of those who were lying in the
+steamer-chairs gave up the struggle and went down to their cabins. There
+was a momentary excitement as one chair broke from its fastenings and
+slid down with a crash against the bulwarks. The occupant was picked up
+in a hysterical condition and taken below. The deck steward tied the
+chair more firmly, so that the accident would not happen again. The young
+English girl was opposite John Kenyon when this disaster took place, and
+her attention being diverted by fear for the safety of the occupant of
+the sliding chair, her care for herself was withdrawn at the very moment
+when it was most needed. The succeeding lurch which the ship gave to the
+other side was the most tremendous of the day. The deck rose until the
+girl leaning outward could almost touch it with her hand, then, in spite
+of herself, she slipped with the rapidity of lightning against the chair
+John Kenyon occupied, and that tripping her up, flung her upon him with
+an unexpectedness that would have taken his breath away if the sudden
+landing of a plump young woman upon him had not accomplished the same
+thing. The fragile deck-chair gave way with a crash, and it would be hard
+to say which was the more discomfited by the sudden catastrophe, John
+Kenyon or the girl.
+
+'I hope you are not hurt,' he managed to stammer.
+
+'Don't think about me!' she cried. 'I have broken your chair, and--and----'
+
+'The chair doesn't matter,' cried Kenyon. 'It was a flimsy structure at
+best. I am not hurt, if that is what you mean--and you mustn't mind it.'
+
+Then there came to his recollection the sentence of George Wentworth: 'A
+girl will have to be thrown into your arms before you will admit that
+such a thing as a charming young woman exists.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth could hardly be said to be a typical representative of
+the English girl. She had the English girl's education, but not her
+training. She had lost her mother in early life, which makes a great
+difference in a girl's bringing up, however wealthy her father may be;
+and Edith's father was wealthy, there was no doubt of that. If you asked
+any City man about the standing of John Longworth, you would learn that
+the 'house' was well thought of. People said he was lucky, but old John
+Longworth asserted that there was no such thing as luck in business--in
+which statement he was very likely incorrect. He had large investments in
+almost every quarter of the globe. When he went into any enterprise, he
+went into it thoroughly. Men talk about the inadvisability of putting all
+one's eggs into one basket, but John Longworth was a believer in doing
+that very thing--and in watching the basket. Not that he had all his eggs
+in one basket, or even in one kind of basket; but when John Longworth was
+satisfied with the particular variety of basket presented to him, he put
+a large number of eggs in it. When anything was offered for
+investment--whether it was a mine or a brewery or a railway--John
+Longworth took an expert's opinion upon it, and then the chances were
+that he would disregard the advice given. He was in the habit of going
+personally to see what had been offered to him. If the enterprise were
+big enough, he thought little of taking a voyage to the other end of the
+world for the sole purpose of looking the investment over. It was true
+that in many cases he knew nothing whatever of the business he went to
+examine, but that did not matter; he liked to have a personal inspection
+where a large amount of his money was to be placed. Investment seemed to
+be a sort of intuition with him. Often, when the experts' opinions were
+unanimously in favour of the project, and when everything appeared to be
+perfectly safe, Longworth would pay a personal visit to the business
+offered for sale, and come to a sudden conclusion not to have anything to
+do with it. He would give no reasons to his colleagues for his change of
+front; he simply refused to entertain the proposal any further, and
+withdrew. Several instances of this kind had occurred. Sometimes a large
+and profitable business, held out in the prospectus to be exceedingly
+desirable, had come to nothing, and when the company was wound up,
+people remembered what Longworth had said about it. So there came to be a
+certain superstitious feeling among those who knew him, that, if old Mr.
+Longworth was in a thing, the thing was safe, and if a company promoter
+managed to get his name on the prospectus, his project was almost certain
+to succeed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Edith Longworth was pronounced finished so far as education was
+concerned, she became more and more the companion of her father, and he
+often jokingly referred to her as his man of business. She went with him
+on his long journeys, and so had been several times to America, once to
+the Cape, and one long voyage, with Australia as the objective point, had
+taken her completely round the world. She inherited much of her father's
+shrewdness, and there is no doubt that, if Edith Longworth had been cast
+upon her own resources, she would have become an excellent woman of
+business. She knew exactly the extent of her father's investments, and
+she was his confidante in a way that few women are with their male
+relatives. The old man had a great faith in Edith's opinion, although he
+rarely acknowledged it. Having been together so much on such long trips,
+they naturally became, in a way, boon companions. Thus, Edith's education
+was very unlike that of the ordinary English girl, and this particular
+training caused her to develop into a different kind of woman than she
+might have been had her mother lived.
+
+Perfect confidence existed between father and daughter, and only lately
+had there come a shadow upon their relations, about which neither ever
+spoke to the other since their first conversation on the subject.
+
+Edith had said, with perhaps more than her usual outspokenness, that she
+had no thought whatever of marriage, and least of all had her thoughts
+turned toward the man her father seemed to have chosen. In answer to
+this, her father had said nothing, but Edith knew him too well to believe
+that he had changed his mind about the matter. The fact that he had
+invited her cousin to join them on this particular journey showed her
+that he evidently believed all that was necessary was to throw them more
+together than had been the case previously; and, although Edith was
+silent, she thought her father had not the same shrewdness in these
+matters that he showed in the purchasing of a growing business. Edith had
+been perfectly civil to the young man--as she would have been to
+anyone--but he saw that she preferred her own company to his; and so,
+much to the disgust of Mr. Longworth, he spent most of his time at cards
+in the smoking-room, whereas, according to the elder gentleman's opinion,
+he should have been promenading the deck with his cousin.
+
+William Longworth, the cousin, was inclined to be a trifle put out, for
+he looked upon himself as quite an eligible person, one whom any girl in
+her senses would be glad to look forward to as a possible husband. He
+made no pretence of being madly in love with Edith, but he thought the
+marriage would be an admirable thing all round. She was a nice girl, he
+said to himself, and his uncle's money was well worth thinking about. In
+fact, he was becoming desirous that the marriage should take place; but,
+as there was no one upon whom he could look as a rival, he had the field
+to himself. He would therefore show Miss Edith that he was by no means
+entirely dependent for his happiness upon her company; and this he
+proceeded to do by spending his time in the smoking-room, and playing
+cards with his fellow-passengers. It was quite evident to anyone who saw
+Edith, that, if this suited him, it certainly suited her; so they rarely
+met on shipboard except at table, where Edith's place was between her
+father and her cousin. Miss Longworth and her cousin had had one brief
+conversation on the subject of marriage. He spoke of it rather jauntily,
+as being quite a good arrangement, but she said very shortly that she had
+no desire to change her name.
+
+'You don't need to,' said Cousin William; 'my name is Longworth, and so
+is yours.'
+
+'It is not a subject for a joke,' she answered.
+
+'I am not joking, my dear Edith. I am merely telling you what everybody
+knows to be true. You surely don't deny that my name is Longworth?'
+
+'I don't mean to deny or affirm anything in relation to the matter,'
+replied the young woman, 'and you will oblige me very much if you will
+never recur to this subject again.'
+
+And so the young man betook himself once more to the smoking-room.
+
+On this trip Edith had seen a good deal of American society. People over
+there had made it very pleasant for her, and, although the weather was
+somewhat trying, she had greatly enjoyed the sleigh-rides and the
+different festivities which winter brings to the citizen of Northern
+America. Her father and her cousin had gone to America to see numerous
+breweries that were situated in different parts of the country, and
+which it was proposed to combine into one large company. They had made a
+Western city their headquarters, and while Edith was enjoying herself
+with her newly-found friends, the two men had visited the breweries in
+different sections of the country--all, however, near the city where
+Edith was staying. The breweries seemed to be in a very prosperous
+condition, although the young man declared the beer they brewed was the
+vilest he had ever tasted, and he said he wouldn't like to have anything
+to do with the production of it, even if it did turn in money. His uncle
+had not tried the beer, but confined himself solely to the good old
+bottled English ale, which had increased in price, if not in excellence,
+by its transportation. But there was something about the combination
+that did not please him; and, from the few words he dropped on the
+subject, his nephew saw that Longworth was not going to be a member of
+the big Beer Syndicate. The intention had been to take a trip to Canada,
+and Edith had some hopes of seeing the city of Montreal in its winter
+dress; but that visit had been abandoned, as so much time had been
+consumed in the Western States. So they began their homeward voyage,
+with the elder Longworth sitting a good deal in his deck-chair, and
+young Longworth spending much of his time in the smoking-room, while
+Edith walked the deck alone. And this was the lady whom Fate threw into
+the arms of John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Steamer friendships ripen quickly. It is true that, as a general thing,
+they perish with equal suddenness. The moment a man sets his foot on
+solid land the glamour of the sea seems to leave him, and the friend to
+whom he was ready to swear eternal fealty while treading the deck, is
+speedily forgotten on shore. Edith Longworth gave no thought to the
+subject of the innocent nature of steamer friendships when she reviewed
+in her own mind her pleasant walk along the deck with Kenyon. She had met
+many interesting people during her numerous voyages, but they had all
+proved to be steamer acquaintances, whose names she had now considerable
+difficulty in remembering. Perhaps she would not have given a second
+thought to Mr. Kenyon that night if it had not been for some
+ill-considered remarks her cousin saw fit to make at the dinner-table.
+
+'Who was that fellow you were walking with today?' young Longworth asked.
+
+Edith smiled upon him pleasantly, and answered:
+
+'Mr. Kenyon you mean, I suppose?'
+
+'Oh, you know his name, do you?' he answered gruffly.
+
+'Certainly,' she replied; 'I would not walk with a gentleman whose name I
+did not know.'
+
+'Really?' sneered her cousin. 'And pray were you introduced to him?'
+
+'I do not think,' answered Edith quietly, 'any person has a right to ask
+me that question except my father. He has not asked it, and, as you have,
+I will merely answer that I _was_ introduced to Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'I did not know you had any mutual acquaintance on board who could make
+you known to each other.'
+
+'Well, the ceremony was a little informal. We were introduced by our
+mutual friend, old Father Neptune. Father Neptune, being, as you know, a
+little boisterous this morning, took the liberty of flinging me upon Mr.
+Kenyon. I weigh something more than a feather, and the result
+was--although Mr. Kenyon was good enough to say he was uninjured--that
+the chair on which he sat had not the same consideration for my feelings,
+and it went down with a crash. I thought Mr. Kenyon should take my chair
+in exchange for the one I had the misfortune to break, but Mr. Kenyon
+thought otherwise. He said he was a mining engineer, and that he could
+not claim to be a very good one if he found any difficulty in mending a
+deck-chair. It seems he succeeded in doing so, and that is the whole
+history of my introduction to, and my intercourse with, Mr. Kenyon,
+Mining Engineer.'
+
+'Most interesting and romantic,' replied the young man; 'and do you think
+that your father approves of your picking up indiscriminate acquaintances
+in this way?'
+
+Edith, flushing a little at this, said:
+
+'I would not willingly do what my father disapproved of;' then in a lower
+voice she added: 'except, perhaps, one thing.'
+
+Her father, who had caught snatches of the conversation, now leaned
+across towards his nephew, and said warningly:
+
+'I think Edith is quite capable of judging for herself. This is my
+seventh voyage with her, and I have always found such to be the case.
+This happens to be your first, and so, were I you, I would not pursue the
+subject further.'
+
+The young man was silent, and Edith gave her father a grateful glance.
+Thus it was that, while she might not have given a thought to Kenyon, the
+remarks which her cousin had made, brought to her mind, when she was
+alone, the two young men, and the contrast between them was not at all to
+the advantage of her cousin.
+
+The scrubbing-brushes on the deck above him woke Kenyon early next
+morning. For a few moments after getting on deck he thought he had the
+ship to himself. One side of the deck was clean and wet; on the other
+side the men were slowly moving the scrubbing-brushes backward and
+forward, with a drowsy swish-swish. As he walked up the deck, he saw
+there was one passenger who had been earlier than himself.
+
+Edith Longworth turned round as she heard his step, and her face
+brightened into a smile when she saw who it was.
+
+Kenyon gravely raised his steamer cap and bade her 'Good-morning.'
+
+'You are an early riser, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Not so early as you are, I see.'
+
+'I think I am an exceptional passenger in that way,' replied the girl. 'I
+always enjoy the early morning at sea. I like to get as far forward on
+the steamer as possible, so that there is nothing between me and the
+boundless anywhere. Then it seems as if the world belongs to myself, with
+nobody else in it.'
+
+'Isn't that a rather selfish view?' put in Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, I don't think so. There is certainly nothing selfish in my
+enjoyment of it; but, you know, there are times when one wishes to be
+alone, and to forget everybody.'
+
+'I hope I have not stumbled upon one of those times.'
+
+'Oh, not at all, Mr. Kenyon,' replied his companion, laughing. 'There
+was nothing personal in the remark. If I wished to be alone, I would
+have no hesitation in walking off. I am not given to hinting; I speak
+plainly--some of my friends think a little too plainly. Have you ever
+been on the Pacific Ocean?'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Ah, there the mornings are delicious. It is very beautiful here now, but
+in summer on the Pacific some of the mornings are so calm and peaceful
+and fresh, that it would seem as if the world had been newly made.'
+
+'You have travelled a great deal, Miss Longworth. I envy you.'
+
+'I often think I am a person to be envied, but there may come a shipwreck
+one day, and then I shall not be in so enviable a position.'
+
+'I sincerely hope you may never have such an experience.'
+
+'Have you ever been shipwrecked, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Oh no; my travelling experiences are very limited. But to read of a
+shipwreck is bad enough.'
+
+'We have had a most delightful voyage so far. Quite like summer. One can
+scarcely believe that we left America in the depth of winter, with snow
+everywhere and the thermometer ever so far below zero. Have you mended
+your deck-chair yet, sufficiently well to trust yourself upon it again?'
+
+'Oh!' said Kenyon, with a laugh, 'you really must not make fun of my
+amateur carpentering like that. As I told you, I am a mining engineer,
+and if I cannot mend a deck-chair, what would you expect me to do with a
+mine?'
+
+'Have you had much to do with mines?' asked the young woman.
+
+'I am just beginning,' replied Kenyon; 'this, in fact, is one of my first
+commissions. I have been sent with my friend Wentworth to examine certain
+mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'The Ottawa River!' cried Edith. 'Are you one of those who were sent out
+by the London Syndicate?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon with astonishment. 'What do you know about it?'
+
+'Oh, I know everything about it. Everything, except what the mining
+expert's report is to be, and that information, I suppose, you have; so,
+between the two of us, we know a great deal about the fortunes of the
+London Syndicate.'
+
+'Really! I am astonished to meet a young lady who knows anything about
+the matter. I understood it was rather a secret combination up to the
+present.'
+
+'Ah! but, you see, I am one of the syndicate.'
+
+'You!'
+
+'Certainly,' answered Edith Longworth, laughing. 'At least, my father is,
+and that is the same thing, or almost the same thing. We intended to go
+to Canada ourselves, and I was very much disappointed at not going. I
+understand that the sleighing, and the snowshoeing, and the tobogganing
+are something wonderful.'
+
+'I saw very little of the social side of life in the district, my whole
+time being employed at the mines; but even in the mining village where we
+stayed, they had a snowshoe club, and a very good toboggan slide--so
+good, in fact, that, having gone down once, I never ventured to risk my
+life on it again.'
+
+'If my father knew you were on board, he would be anxious to meet you.
+Doubtless you know the London Syndicate will be a very large company.'
+
+'Yes, I am aware of that.'
+
+'And you know that a great deal is going to depend upon your report?'
+
+'I suppose that is so, and I hope the syndicate will find my report at
+least an honest and thorough one.'
+
+'Is the colleague who was with you also on board?'
+
+'Yes, he is here.'
+
+'He, then, was the accountant who was sent out?'
+
+'Yes, and he is a man who does his business very thoroughly, and I think
+the syndicate will be satisfied with his work.'
+
+'And do you not think they will be satisfied with yours also? I am sure
+you did your work conscientiously.'
+
+Kenyon almost blushed as the young woman made this remark, but she looked
+intently at him, and he saw that her thoughts were not on him, but on the
+large interests he represented.
+
+'Were you favourably impressed with the Ottawa as a mining region?' she
+asked.
+
+'Very much so,' he answered, and, anxious to turn the conversation away
+from his own report, he said: 'I was so much impressed with it that I
+secured the option of a mine there for myself.'
+
+'Oh! do you intend to buy one of the mines there?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'No, I am no capitalist seeking investment for my money, but I saw that
+the mine contained possibilities of producing a great deal of money for
+those who possess it. It is very much more valuable, in my opinion, than
+the owners themselves suspect; so I secured an option upon it for three
+months, and hope when I reach England to form a company to take it up.'
+
+'Well, I am sure,' said the young lady, 'if you are confident that the
+mine is a good one, you could see no one who would help you more in that
+way than my father. He has been looking at a brewery business he thought
+of investing in, but which he has concluded to have nothing to do with,
+so he will be anxious to find something reliable in its place. How much
+would be required for the purchase of the mine you mention?'
+
+'I was thinking of asking fifty thousand pounds for it,' said Kenyon,
+flushing, as he thought of his own temerity in more than doubling the
+price of the mine.
+
+Wentworth and he had estimated the probable value of the mine, and had
+concluded that even selling it at that price--which would give them
+thirty thousand pounds to divide between them--they were selling a mine
+that was really worth very much more, and would soon pay tremendous
+dividends on the fifty thousand pounds. He expected the young woman to
+be impressed by the amount, and was, therefore, very much surprised
+when she said:
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! Is that all? Then I am afraid my father would
+have nothing to do with it. He only deals with large businesses, and a
+company with a capitalization of fifty thousand pounds I am sure he would
+not look at.'
+
+'You talk of fifty thousand pounds,' said Kenyon, 'as if it were a mere
+trifle. To me it seems an immense fortune. I only wish I had it, or half
+of it.'
+
+'You are not rich, then?' said the girl, with apparent interest.
+
+'No,' replied the young man. 'Far otherwise.'
+
+At that moment the elder Mr. Longworth appeared in the door of the
+companion-way, and looked up and down the deck.
+
+'Oh, here you are,' he said, as his daughter sprang from her chair.
+
+'Father,' she cried, 'let me introduce to you Mr. Kenyon, who is the
+mining expert sent out by our syndicate to look at the Ottawa mines.'
+
+'I am pleased to meet you,' said the elder gentleman.
+
+The capitalist sat down beside the mining engineer, and began, somewhat
+to Kenyon's embarrassment, to talk of the London Syndicate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+A few mornings later Wentworth worked his way, with much balancing and
+grasping of stanchions, along the deck, for the ship rolled fearfully,
+but the person he sought was nowhere visible. He thought he would go into
+the smoking-room, but changed his mind at the door, and turned down the
+companion-way to the main saloon. The tables had been cleared of the
+breakfast belongings, but on one of the small tables a white cloth had
+been laid, and at this spot of purity in the general desert of red plush
+sat Miss Brewster, who was complacently ordering what she wanted from a
+steward, who did not seem at all pleased in serving one who had
+disregarded the breakfast-hour, to the disarrangement of all saloon
+rules. The chief steward stood by a door and looked disapprovingly at the
+tardy guest. It was almost time to lay the tables for lunch, and the
+young woman was as calmly ordering her breakfast as if she had been the
+first person at table.
+
+She looked up brightly at Wentworth, and smiled as he approached her.
+
+'I suppose,' she began, 'I'm dreadfully late, and the steward looks as if
+he would like to scold me. How awfully the ship is rolling! Is there a
+storm?'
+
+'No. She seems to be doing this sort of thing for amusement. Wants to
+make it interesting for the unfortunate passengers who are not good
+sailors, I suppose. She's doing it, too. There's scarcely anyone on
+deck.'
+
+'Dear me! I thought we were having a dreadful storm. Is it raining?'
+
+'No. It's a beautiful sunshiny day; without much wind either, in spite of
+all this row.'
+
+'I suppose you have had your breakfast long ago?'
+
+'So long since that I am beginning to look forward with pleasant
+anticipation to lunch.'
+
+'Oh dear! I had no idea I was so late as that. Perhaps _you_ had
+better scold me. Somebody ought to do it, and the steward seems a
+little afraid.'
+
+'You over-estimate my courage. I am a little afraid, too.'
+
+'Then you _do_ think I deserve it?'
+
+'I didn't say that, nor do I think it. I confess, however, that up to
+this moment I felt just a trifle lonely.'
+
+'Just a trifle! Well, that _is_ flattery. How nicely you English do turn
+a compliment! Just a trifle!'
+
+'I believe, as a race, we do not venture much into compliment making at
+all. We leave that for the polite foreigner. He would say what I tried
+to say a great deal better than I did, of course, but he would not mean
+half so much.'
+
+'Oh, that's very nice, Mr. Wentworth. No foreigner could have put it
+nearly so well. Now, what about going on deck?'
+
+'Anywhere, if you let me accompany you.'
+
+'I shall be most delighted to have you. I won't say merely a trifle
+delighted.'
+
+'Ah! Haven't you forgiven that remark yet?'
+
+'There's nothing to forgive, and it is quite too delicious to forget. I
+shall never forget it.'
+
+'I believe that you are very cruel at heart, Miss Brewster.'
+
+The young woman gave him a curious side-look, but did not answer. She
+gathered the wraps she had taken from her cabin, and, handing them to him
+before he had thought of offering to take them, she led the way to the
+deck. He found their chairs side by side, and admired the intelligence of
+the deck-steward, who seemed to understand which chairs to place
+together. Miss Jennie sank gracefully into her own, and allowed him to
+adjust the wraps around her.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's very nicely done; as well as the deck-steward
+himself could do it, and I am sure it is impossible to pay you a more
+graceful compliment than that. So few men know how to arrange one
+comfortably in a steamer chair.'
+
+'You speak as though you had vast experience in steamer life, and yet you
+told me this was your first voyage.'
+
+'It is. But it doesn't take a woman more than a day to see that the
+average man attends to such little niceties very clumsily. Now just tuck
+in the corner out of sight. There! Thank you, ever so much. And would you
+be kind enough to--Yes, that's better. And this other wrap so. Oh, that
+is perfect. What a patient man you are, Mr. Wentworth!'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. You _are_ a foreigner. I can see that now. Your
+professed compliment was hollow. You said I did it perfectly, and then
+immediately directed me how to do it.'
+
+'Nothing of the kind. You did it well, and I think you ought not to
+grudge me the pleasure of adding my own little improvements.'
+
+'Oh, if you put it in that way, I will not. Now, before I sit down, tell
+me what book I can get that will interest you. The library contains a
+very good assortment.'
+
+'I don't think I care about reading. Sit down and talk. I suppose I am
+too indolent to-day. I thought, when I came on board, that I would do a
+lot of reading, but I believe the sea-air makes one lazy. I must confess
+I feel entirely indifferent to mental improvement.'
+
+'You evidently do not think my conversation will be at all worth
+listening to.'
+
+'How quick you are to pervert my meaning! Don't you see that I think
+your conversation better worth listening to than the most interesting or
+improving book you can choose from the library? Really, in trying to
+avoid giving you cause for making such a remark, I have apparently
+stumbled into a worse error. I was just going to say I would like your
+conversation much better than a book, when I thought you would take that
+as a reflection on your reading. If you take me up so sharply I will sit
+here and say nothing. Now then, talk!'
+
+'What shall I say?'
+
+'Oh, if I told you what to say I should be doing the talking. Tell me
+about yourself. What do you do in London?'
+
+'I work hard. I am an accountant.'
+
+'And what is an accountant? What does he do? Keep accounts?'
+
+'Some of them do; I do not. I see, rather, that accounts which other
+people keep have been correctly kept.'
+
+'Aren't they always correctly kept? I thought that was what book-keepers
+were hired for.'
+
+'If books were always correctly kept there would be little for us to do;
+but it happens, unfortunately for some, but fortunately for us, that
+people occasionally do not keep their accounts accurately.'
+
+'And can you always find that out if you examine the books?'
+
+'Always.'
+
+'Can't a man make up his accounts so that no one can tell there is
+anything wrong?'
+
+'The belief that such a thing can be done has placed many a poor wretch
+in prison. It has been tried often enough.'
+
+'I am sure they can do it in the States. I have read of it being done and
+continued for years. Men have made off with great sums of money by
+falsifying the books, and no one found it out until the one who did it
+died or ran away.'
+
+'Nevertheless, if an expert accountant had been called in, he would have
+found out very soon that something was wrong, and just where the wrong
+was, and how much.'
+
+'I didn't think such cleverness possible. Have you ever discovered
+anything like that?'
+
+'I have.'
+
+'What is done when such a thing is discovered?'
+
+'That depends upon circumstances. Usually a policeman is called in.'
+
+'Why, it's like being a detective. I wish you would tell me about some of
+the cases you have had. Don't make me ask so many questions. Talk.'
+
+'I don't think my experiences would interest you in the least. There
+was one case with which I had something to do in London, two years
+ago, that----'
+
+'Oh, London! I don't believe the book-keepers there are half so sharp as
+ours. If you had to deal with American accountants, you would not find
+out so easily what they had or had not done.'
+
+'Well, Miss Brewster, I may say I have just had an experience of that
+kind with some of your very sharpest American book-keepers. I found that
+the books had been kept in the most ingenious way with the intent to
+deceive. The system had been going on for years.'
+
+'How interesting! And did you call in a policeman?'
+
+'No. This was one of the cases where a policeman was not necessary. The
+books were kept with the object of showing that the profits of the m--of
+the business--had been much greater than they really were. I may say that
+one of your American accountants had already looked over the books, and,
+whether through ignorance or carelessness, or from a worse motive, he
+reported them all right. They were not all right, and the fact that they
+were not, will mean the loss of a fortune to some people on your side of
+the water, and the saving of good money to others on my side.'
+
+'Then I think your profession must be a very important one.'
+
+'We think so, Miss Brewster. I would like to be paid a percentage on the
+money saved because of my report.'
+
+'And won't you?'
+
+'Unfortunately, no.'
+
+'I think that is too bad. I suppose the discrepancy must have been small,
+or the American accountant would not have overlooked it?'
+
+'I didn't say he overlooked it. Still, the size of a discrepancy does not
+make any difference. A small error is as easily found as a large one.
+This one was large. I suppose there is no harm in my saying that the
+books, taking them together, showed a profit of forty thousand pounds,
+when they should have shown a loss of nearly half that amount. I hope
+nobody overhears me.'
+
+'No; we are quite alone, and you may be sure I will not breathe a word
+of what you have been telling me.'
+
+'Don't breathe it to Kenyon, at least. He would think me insane if he
+knew what I have said.'
+
+'Is Mr. Kenyon an accountant, too?'
+
+'Oh no. He is a mineralogist. He can go into a mine, and tell with
+reasonable certainty whether it will pay the working or not. Of course,
+as he says himself, any man can see six feet into the earth as well as he
+can. But it is not every man that can gauge the value of a working mine
+so well as John Kenyon.'
+
+'Then, while you were delving among the figures, your companion was
+delving among the minerals?'
+
+'Precisely.'
+
+'And did he make any such startling discovery as you did?'
+
+'No; rather the other way. He finds the mines very good properties, and
+he thinks that if they were managed intelligently they would be good
+paying investments--that is, at a proper price, you know--not at what the
+owners ask for them at present. But you can have no possible interest in
+these dry details.'
+
+'Indeed, you are mistaken. I think what you have told me intensely
+interesting.'
+
+For once in her life Miss Jennie Brewster told the exact truth. The
+unfortunate man at her side was flattered.
+
+'For what I have told you,' he said, 'we were offered twice what the
+London people pay us for coming out here. In fact, even more than that:
+we were asked to name our own price.'
+
+'Really now! By the owners of the property, I suppose, if you wouldn't
+tell on them?'
+
+'No. By one of your famous New York newspaper men. He even went so far
+as to steal the papers that Kenyon had in Ottawa. He was cleverly caught,
+though, before he could make any use of what he had stolen. In fact,
+unless his people in New York had the figures which were originally
+placed before the London Board, I doubt if my statistics would have been
+of much use to him even if he had been allowed to keep them. The full
+significance of my report will not show until the figures I have given
+are compared with those already in the hands of the London people, which
+were vouched for as correct by your clever American accountant.'
+
+'You shouldn't run down an accountant just because he is American.
+Perhaps there will come a day, Mr. Wentworth, when you will admit that
+there are Americans who are more clever than either that accountant or
+that newspaper man. I don't think your specimens are typical.'
+
+'I don't "run down," as you call it, the men because they are Americans.
+I "run down" the accountant because he was either ignorant or corrupt. I
+"run down" the newspaper man because he was a thief.'
+
+Miss Brewster was silent for a few moments. She was impressing on her
+memory what he had said to her, and was anxious to get away, so that she
+could write out in her cabin exactly what had been told her. The sound of
+the lunch-gong gave her the excuse she needed, so, bidding her victim a
+pleasant and friendly farewell, she hurried from the deck to her
+state-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+One morning, when Kenyon went to his state-room on hearing the
+breakfast-gong, he found the lazy occupant of the upper berth still
+in his bunk.
+
+'Come, Wentworth,' he shouted, 'this won't do, you know. Get up! get up!
+breakfast, my boy! breakfast!--the most important meal in the day to a
+healthy man.'
+
+Wentworth yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
+
+'What's the row?' he asked.
+
+'The row is, it's time to get up. The second gong has sounded.'
+
+'Dear me! is it so late? I didn't hear it.' Wentworth sat up in his bunk,
+and looked ruefully over the precipice down the chasm to the floor. 'Have
+you been up long?' he asked.
+
+'Long? I have been on deck an hour and a half,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'Then, Miss What's-her-Name must have been there also.'
+
+'Her name is Miss Longworth,' replied Kenyon, without looking at his
+comrade.
+
+'That's her name, is it? and she _was_ on deck?'
+
+'She was.'
+
+'I thought so,' said Wentworth; 'just look at the divine influence of
+woman! Miss Longworth rises early, therefore John Kenyon rises early.
+Miss Brewster rises late, therefore George Wentworth is not seen until
+breakfast-time. If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up
+time of the two men would be changed accordingly.'
+
+'Not at all, George--not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else
+on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected
+to have it to myself.'
+
+'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you
+found you hadn't a monopoly?'
+
+'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly
+sensible girl.'
+
+'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for
+me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across
+the water.'
+
+'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.'
+
+'Really? Did you get so far?'
+
+'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?'
+
+'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand
+pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get
+anybody interested in it in London.'
+
+Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long
+whistle.
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy!
+Probably more so than the American millionairess.'
+
+'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is
+this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense
+wealth, English women say nothing about it.'
+
+'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely
+mistaken. She has never alluded to her wealth at all, with the exception
+of saying that her father was a millionaire. So if the young woman you
+speak of has been talking of her wealth at all, she has done more than
+the American girl.'
+
+'She said nothing to indicate she was wealthy. I merely conjectured it
+when I discovered she looked upon fifty thousand pounds as a triviality.'
+
+'Well, the fault is easily remedied. We may raise the price of the mine
+to one hundred thousand pounds if we can get people to invest. Perhaps
+the young lady's father might care to go in for it at that figure.'
+
+'Oh, by the way, Wentworth,' said Kenyon, 'I forgot to tell you, Miss
+Longworth's father is one of the London Syndicate.'
+
+'By Jove! are you sure of that? How do you know? You weren't talking of
+our mission out there, were you?'
+
+'Certainly not,' replied Kenyon, flushing. 'You don't think I would speak
+of that to a stranger, do you? nor of anything concerned with our
+reports.'
+
+Wentworth proceeded with his dressing, a guilty feeling rising in his
+heart.
+
+'I want to ask you a question about that.'
+
+'About what?' said Wentworth shortly.
+
+'About those mines. Miss Longworth's father being a member of the London
+Syndicate, suppose he asks what our views in relation to the matter are:
+would we be justified in telling him anything?'
+
+'He won't ask me as I don't know him; he may ask you, and if he does,
+then you will have to decide the question for yourself.'
+
+'Would you say anything about it if you were in my place?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know. If we were certain it was all right--if you are sure
+he _is_ a member of the syndicate, and he happens to ask you about it, I
+scarcely see how you can avoid telling him.'
+
+'It would be embarrassing; so I hope he won't ask me. We should not speak
+of it until we give in our reports. He knows, however, that you are the
+accountant who has that part of the business in charge.'
+
+'Oh, then you have been talking with him?'
+
+'Just a moment or two, after his daughter introduced me.'
+
+'What did you say his name was?'
+
+'John Longworth, I believe. I am sure about the Longworth, but not about
+the John.'
+
+'Oh, old John Longworth in the City! Certainly; I know all about him. I
+never saw him before, but I think we are quite safe in telling him
+anything he wants to know, if he asks.'
+
+'Breakfast, gentlemen,' said the steward, putting his head in at the
+door.
+
+After breakfast Edith Longworth and her cousin walked the deck together.
+Young Longworth, although in better humour than he had been the night
+before, was still rather short in his replies, and irritating in his
+questions.
+
+'Aren't you tired of this eternal parade up and down?' he asked his
+cousin. 'It seems to me like a treadmill--as if a person had to work for
+his board and lodging.'
+
+'Let us sit down then,' she replied; 'although I think a walk before
+lunch or dinner increases the attractiveness of those meals wonderfully.'
+
+'I never feel the need of working up an appetite,' he answered pettishly.
+
+'Well, as I said before, let us sit down;' and the girl, having found
+her chair, lifted the rug that lay upon it, and took her place.
+
+The young man, after standing for a moment looking at her through his
+glistening monocle, finally sat down beside her.
+
+'The beastly nuisance of living on board ship,' he said, 'is that you
+can't play billiards.'
+
+'I am sure you play enough at cards to satisfy you during the few days we
+are at sea,' she answered.
+
+'Oh, cards! I soon tire of them.'
+
+'You tire very quickly of everything.'
+
+'I certainly get tired of lounging about the deck, either walking or
+sitting.'
+
+'Then, pray don't let me keep you.'
+
+'You want me to go so you may walk with your newly-found friend, that
+miner fellow?'
+
+'That miner fellow is talking with my father just now. Still, if you
+would like to know, I have no hesitation in telling you I would much
+prefer his company to yours if you continue in your present mood.'
+
+'Yes, or in any mood.'
+
+'I did not say that; but if it will comfort you to have me say it, I
+shall be glad to oblige you.'
+
+'Perhaps, then, I should go and talk with your father, and let the miner
+fellow come here and talk with you.'
+
+'Please do not call him the miner fellow. His name is Mr. Kenyon. It is
+not difficult to remember.'
+
+'I know his name well enough. Shall I send him to you?'
+
+'No. I want to talk with you in spite of your disagreeableness. And what
+is more, I want to talk with you about Mr. Kenyon. So I wish you to
+assume your very best behaviour. It may be for your benefit.'
+
+The young man indulged in a sarcastic laugh.
+
+'Oh, if you are going to do that, I have nothing more to say,' remarked
+Edith quietly, rising from her chair.
+
+'I meant no harm. Sit down and go on with your talk.'
+
+'Listen, then. Mr. Kenyon has the option of a mine in Canada, which he
+believes to be a good property. He intends to form a company when he
+reaches London. Now, why shouldn't you make friends with him, and, if you
+found the property is as good as he thinks it is, help him to form the
+company, and so make some money for both of you?'
+
+'You are saying one word for me and two for Kenyon.'
+
+'No, it would be as much for your benefit as for his, so it is a word for
+each of you.'
+
+'You are very much interested in him.'
+
+'My dear cousin, I am very much interested in the mine, and I am very
+much interested in you. Mr. Kenyon can speak of nothing but the mine,
+and I am sure my father would be pleased to see you take an interest in
+something of the sort. I mean, you know that if you would do something
+of your own accord--something that was not suggested to you by him--he
+would like it.'
+
+'Well, it is suggested to me by you, and that's almost the same thing.'
+
+'No, it is not the same thing at all. Father would indeed be glad if he
+saw you take up anything on your own account and make a success of it.
+Why can you not spend some of your time talking with Mr. Kenyon
+discussing arrangements, so that when you return to London you might be
+prepared to put the mine on the market and bring out the company?'
+
+'If I thought you were talking to me for my own sake, I would do what
+you suggest; but I believe you are speaking only because you are
+interested in Kenyon.'
+
+'Nonsense! How can you be so absurd? I have known Mr. Kenyon but for a
+few hours--a day or two at most.'
+
+The young man pulled his moustache for a moment, adjusted his eyeglass,
+and then said:
+
+'Very good. I will speak to Kenyon on the subject if you wish it, but I
+don't say that I can help him.'
+
+'I don't ask you to help him. I ask you to help yourself. Here is Mr.
+Kenyon. Let me introduce you, and then you can talk over the project at
+your leisure.'
+
+'I don't suppose an introduction is necessary,' growled the young man;
+but as Kenyon approached them, Edith Longworth said:
+
+'We are a board of directors, Mr. Kenyon, on the great mica-mine. Will
+you join the Board now, or after allotment?' Then, before he could reply,
+she said: 'Mr. Kenyon, this is my cousin, Mr. William Longworth.'
+
+Longworth, without rising from his chair, shook hands in rather a surly
+fashion.
+
+'I am going to speak to my father,' said the girl, 'and will leave you to
+talk over the mica-mine.'
+
+When she had gone, young Longworth asked Kenyon:
+
+'Where is the mine my cousin speaks of?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, in Canada,' was the answer.
+
+'And what do you expect to sell it for?'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! That will leave nothing to divide up among--by
+the way, how many are there in this thing--yourself alone?'
+
+'No; my friend Wentworth shares with me.'
+
+'Share and share alike?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Of course, you think this mine is worth the money you ask for it--there
+is no swindle about it, is there?'
+
+Kenyon drew himself up sharply as this remark was made. Then he answered
+coldly:
+
+'If there was any swindle about it, I should have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Well, you see, I didn't know; mining swindles are not such rarities as
+you may imagine. If the mine is so valuable, why are the proprietors
+anxious to sell?'
+
+'The owners are in Austria, and the mine in Canada, and so it is rather
+at arm's-length, as it were. They are mining for mica, but the mine is
+more valuable in other respects than it is as a mica property. They have
+placed a figure on the mine which is more than it has cost them so far.'
+
+'You know its value in those other respects?'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'Does anyone know this except yourself?'
+
+'I think not--no one but my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'How did you come to learn its value?'
+
+'By visiting the mine. Wentworth and I went together to see it.'
+
+'Oh, is Wentworth also a mining expert?'
+
+'No; he is an accountant in London.'
+
+'Both of you were sent out by the London Syndicate, I understand, to look
+after their mines, or the mines they thought of purchasing, were you
+not?'
+
+'We were.'
+
+'And you spent your time in looking up other properties for yourselves,
+did you?'
+
+Kenyon reddened at this question.
+
+'My dear sir,' he said, 'if you are going to talk in this strain, you
+will have to excuse me. We were sent by the London Syndicate to do a
+certain thing. We did it, and did it thoroughly. After it was done the
+time was our own, as much as it is at the present moment. We were not
+hired by the day, but took a stated sum for doing a certain piece of
+work. I may go further and say that the time was our own at any period
+of our visit, so long as we fulfilled what the London Syndicate
+required of us.'
+
+'Oh, I meant no offence,' said Longworth. 'You merely seemed to be posing
+as a sort of goody-goody young man when I spoke of mining swindles, so I
+only wished to startle you. How much have you to pay for the mine--that
+is the mica-mine?'
+
+Kenyon hesitated for a moment.
+
+'I do not feel at liberty to mention the sum until I have consulted with
+my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'Well, you see, if I am to help you in this matter, I shall need to know
+every particular.'
+
+'Certainly. I shall have to consult Wentworth as to whether we require
+any help or not.'
+
+'Oh, you will speedily find that you require all the help you can get in
+London. You will probably learn that a hundred such mines are for sale
+now, and the chances are you will find that this very mica-mine has been
+offered. What do you believe the mine is really worth?'
+
+'I think it is worth anywhere from one hundred thousand pounds to two
+hundred thousand pounds, perhaps more.'
+
+'Is it actually worth one hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'According to my estimate, it is.'
+
+'Is it worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds?'
+
+'It is.'
+
+'Is it worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'I think so.'
+
+'What percentage would it pay on two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'It might pay ten per cent., perhaps more.'
+
+'Why, in the name of all that is wonderful, don't you put the price at
+two hundred thousand pounds? If it will pay ten per cent and more on that
+amount of money, then that sum is what you ought to sell it for. Now we
+will investigate this matter, if you like, and if you wish to take me in
+with you, and put the price up to two hundred thousand pounds, I will see
+what can be done about it when we get to London. Of course, it will mean
+somebody going out to Canada again to report on the mine. Your report
+would naturally not be taken in such a case; you are too vitally
+interested.'
+
+'Of course,' replied Kenyon, 'I shouldn't expect my report to have any
+weight.'
+
+'Well, somebody would have to be sent out to report on the mine. Are you
+certain that it will stand thorough investigation?'
+
+'I am convinced of it.'
+
+'Would you be willing to make this proposition to the investors, that, if
+the expert did not support your statement, you would pay his expenses out
+there and back?'
+
+'I would be willing to do that,' said Kenyon, 'if I had the money; but I
+haven't the money.'
+
+'Then, how do you expect to float the mine on the London market? It
+cannot be done without money.'
+
+'I thought I might be able to interest some capitalist.'
+
+'I am much afraid, Mr. Kenyon, that you have vague ideas of how companies
+are formed. Perhaps your friend Wentworth, being an accountant, may know
+more about it.'
+
+'Yes, I confess I am relying mainly on his assistance.'
+
+'Well, will you agree to put the price of the mine at two hundred
+thousand pounds, and share what we make equally between the three of us?'
+
+'It is a large price.'
+
+'It is not a large price if the mine will pay good dividends upon it; if
+it will pay eight per cent. on that amount, it is the real price of the
+mine, while you say that you are certain it will pay ten per cent.'
+
+'I say I think it will pay that percentage. One never can speak with
+entire certainty where a mine is concerned.'
+
+'Are you willing to put the price of the mine at that figure? Otherwise,
+I will have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'As I said, I shall have to consult my friend about it, but that can be
+done in a very short time, and I will answer you in the afternoon.'
+
+'Good; there is no particular hurry. Have a talk over it with him, and
+while I do not promise anything, I think the scheme looks feasible, if
+the property is good. Remember, I know nothing at all about that, but if
+you agree to take me in, I shall have to know full particulars of what
+you are going to pay for the property, and what its peculiar value is.'
+
+'Certainly. If we agree to take a partner, we will give that partner our
+full confidence.'
+
+'Well, there is nothing more to say until you have had a consultation
+with your friend. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon;' and with that Longworth
+arose and lounged off to the smoking-room.
+
+Kenyon waited where he was for some time, hoping Wentworth would come
+along, but the young man did not appear. At last he went in search of
+him. He passed along the deck, but found no trace of his friend, and
+looked for a moment into the smoking-room, but Wentworth was not there.
+He went downstairs to the saloon, but his search below was equally
+fruitless. Coming up on deck again, he saw Miss Brewster sitting alone
+reading a paper-covered novel.
+
+'Have you seen my friend Wentworth?' he asked.
+
+She laid the book open-faced upon her lap, and looked quickly up at
+Kenyon before answering.
+
+'I saw him not so very long ago, but I don't know where he is now.
+Perhaps you will find him in his state-room; in fact, I think it more
+than likely that he is there.'
+
+With that, Miss Brewster resumed her book.
+
+Kenyon descended to the state-room, opened the door, and saw his comrade
+sitting upon the plush-covered sofa, with his head in his hands. At the
+opening of the door, Wentworth started and looked for a moment at his
+friend, apparently not seeing him. His face was so gray and ghastly that
+Kenyon leaned against the door for support as he saw it.
+
+'My God, George!' he cried, 'what is the matter with you? What has
+happened? Tell me!'
+
+Wentworth gazed in front of him with glassy eyes for a moment, but did
+not answer. Then his head dropped again in his hands, and he groaned
+aloud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+There was one man on board the _Caloric_ to whom Wentworth had taken an
+extreme dislike. His name was Fleming, and he claimed to be a New York
+politician. As none of his friends or enemies asserted anything worse
+about him, it may be assumed that Fleming had designated his occupation
+correctly. If Wentworth were asked what he most disliked about the man,
+he would probably have said his offensive familiarity. Fleming seemed to
+think himself a genial good fellow, and he was immensely popular with a
+certain class in the smoking-room. He was lavishly free with his
+invitations to drink, and always had a case of good cigars in his pocket,
+which he bestowed with great liberality. He had the habit of slapping a
+man boisterously on the back, and saying, 'Well, old fellow, how are you?
+How's things?' He usually confided to his listeners that he was a
+self-made man: had landed at New York without a cent in his pocket, and
+look at him now!
+
+Wentworth was icy towards this man; but frigidity had no effect whatever
+on the exuberant spirits of the New York politician.
+
+'Well, old man!' cried Fleming to Wentworth, as he came up to the latter
+and linked arms affectionately. 'What lovely weather we are having for
+winter time!'
+
+'It _is_ good,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Good? It's glorious! Who would have thought, when leaving New York in a
+snowstorm as we did, that we would run right into the heart of spring? I
+hope you are enjoying your voyage?'
+
+'I am.'
+
+'You ought to. By the way, why are you so awful stand-offish? Is it
+natural, or merely put on "for this occasion only"?'
+
+'I do not know what you mean by "stand-offish."'
+
+'You know very well what I mean. Why do you pretend to be so stiff and
+formal with a fellow?'
+
+'I am never stiff and formal with anyone unless I do not desire his
+acquaintance.'
+
+Fleming laughed loudly.
+
+'I suppose that's a personal hint. Well, it seems to me, if this
+exclusiveness is genuine, that you would be more afraid of newspaper
+notoriety than of anything else.'
+
+'Why do you say that?'
+
+'Because I can't, for the life of me, see why you spend so much time with
+Dolly Dimple. I am sure I don't know why she is here; but I do know this:
+that you will be served up to the extent of two or three columns in the
+_Sunday Argus_ as sure as you live.'
+
+'I don't understand you.'
+
+'You don't? Why, it's plain enough. You spend all your time with her.'
+
+'I do not even know of whom you are speaking.'
+
+'Oh, come now, that's too rich! Is it possible you don't know that Miss
+Jennie Brewster is the one who writes those Sunday articles over the
+signature of "Dolly Dimple"?'
+
+A strange fear fell upon Wentworth as his companion mentioned the
+_Argus_. He remembered it as J.K. Rivers' paper; but when Fleming said
+Miss Brewster was a correspondent of the _Argus_, he was aghast.
+
+'I--I--I don't think I quite catch your meaning,' he stammered.
+
+'Well, my meaning's easy enough to see. Hasn't she ever told you? Then it
+shows she wants to do you up on toast. You're not an English politician,
+are you? You haven't any political secrets that Dolly wants to get at,
+have you? Why, she is the greatest girl there is in the whole United
+States for finding out just what a man doesn't want to have known. You
+know the Secretary of State'--and here Fleming went on to relate a
+wonderfully brilliant feat of Dolly's; but the person to whom he was
+talking had neither eyes nor ears. He heard nothing and he saw nothing.
+
+'Dear me!' said Fleming, drawing himself up and slapping the other on the
+back, 'you look perfectly dumfounded. I suppose I oughtn't to have given
+Dolly away like this; but she has pretended all along that she didn't
+know me, and so I've got even with her. You take my advice, and anything
+you don't want to see in print, don't tell Miss Brewster, that's all.
+Have a cigar?'
+
+'No, thank you,' replied the other mechanically.
+
+'Better come in and have a drink.'
+
+'No, thank you.'
+
+'Well, so long. I'll see you later.'
+
+'It can't be true--it can't be true!' Wentworth repeated to himself in
+deep consternation, but still an inward misgiving warned him that, after
+all, it might be true. With his hands clasped behind him he walked up and
+down, trying to collect himself--trying to remember what he had told and
+what he had not. As he walked along, heeding nobody, a sweet voice from
+one of the chairs thrilled him, and he paused.
+
+'Why, Mr. Wentworth, what is the matter with you this morning? You look
+as if you had seen a ghost.'
+
+Wentworth glanced at the young woman seated in the chair, who was gazing
+up brightly at him.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I am not sure but I _have_ seen a ghost. May I
+sit down beside you?'
+
+'May you? Why, of course you may. I shall be delighted to have you. Is
+there anything wrong?'
+
+'I don't know. Yes, I think there is.'
+
+'Well, tell it to me; perhaps I can help you. A woman's wit, you know.
+What is the trouble?'
+
+'May I ask you a few questions, Miss Brewster?'
+
+'Certainly. A thousand of them, if you like, and I will answer them all
+if I can.'
+
+'Thank you. Will you tell me, Miss Brewster, if you are connected with
+any newspaper?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed her merry, silvery little laugh.
+
+'Who told you? Ah! I see how it is. It was that creature Fleming. I'll
+get even with him for this some day. I know what office he is after, and
+the next time he wants a good notice from the _Argus_ he'll get it; see
+if he don't. I know some things about him that he would just as soon not
+see in print. Why, what a fool the man is! I suppose he told you out of
+revenge because I wouldn't speak to him the other evening. Never mind; I
+can afford to wait.'
+
+'Then--then, Miss Brewster, it _is_ true?'
+
+'Certainly it is true; is there anything wrong about it? I hope you don't
+think it is disreputable to belong to a good newspaper?'
+
+'To a good newspaper, no; to a bad newspaper, yes.'
+
+'Oh, I don't think the _Argus_ is a bad newspaper. It pays me well.'
+
+'Then it is to the _Argus_ that you belong?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'May I ask, Miss Brewster, if there is anything I have spoken about to
+you that you intend to use in your paper?'
+
+Again Miss Brewster laughed.
+
+'I will be perfectly frank with you. I never tell a lie--it doesn't pay.
+Yes. The reason I am here is because _you_ are here. I am here to find
+out what your report on those mines will be, also what the report of your
+friend will be. I have found out.'
+
+'And do you intend to use the information you have thus obtained--if I
+may say it--under false pretences?'
+
+'My dear sir, you are forgetting yourself. You must remember that you are
+talking to a lady.'
+
+'A lady!' cried Wentworth in his anguish.
+
+'Yes, sir, a lady; and you must be careful how you talk to _this_ lady.
+There was no false pretence about it, if you remember. What you told me
+was in conversation; I didn't ask you for it. I didn't even make the
+first advances towards your acquaintance.'
+
+'But you must admit, Miss Brewster, that it is very unfair to get a man
+to engage in what he thinks is a private conversation, and then to
+publish what he has said.'
+
+'My dear sir, if that were the case, how would we get anything for
+publication that people didn't want to be known? Why, I remember once,
+when the Secretary of State----'
+
+'Yes,' interrupted Wentworth wearily; 'Fleming told me that story.'
+
+'Oh, did he? Well, I'm sure I'm much obliged to him. Then I need not
+repeat it.'
+
+'Do you mean to say that you intend to send to the _Argus_ for
+publication what I have told you in confidence?'
+
+'Certainly. As I said before, that is what I am here for. Besides, there
+was no "in confidence" about it.'
+
+'And yet you pretend to be a truthful, honest, honourable woman?'
+
+'I don't _pretend_ it; I am.'
+
+'How much truth, then, is there in your story that you are a
+millionaire's daughter about to visit your father in Paris, and accompany
+him from there to the Riviera?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed brightly.
+
+'Oh, I don't call fibs, which a person has to tell in the way of
+business, untruths.'
+
+'Then probably you do not think your estimable colleague, Mr. J.K.
+Rivers, behaved dishonourably in Ottawa?'
+
+'Well, hardly. I think Rivers was not justified in what he did because he
+was unsuccessful, that is all. I'll bet a dollar if I had got hold of
+these papers they would have gone through to New York; but, then, J.K.
+Rivers is only a stupid man, and most men _are_ stupid'--with a sly
+glance at Wentworth.
+
+'I am willing to admit that, Miss Brewster, if you mean me. There never
+was a more stupid man than I have been.'
+
+'My dear Mr. Wentworth, it will do you ever so much good if you come to
+a realization of that fact. The truth is, you take yourself much too
+seriously. Now, it won't hurt you a bit to have what I am going to send
+published in the _Argus_, and it will help me a great deal. Just you wait
+here for a few moments.'
+
+With that she flung her book upon his lap, sprang up, and vanished down
+the companion-way. In a very short time she reappeared with some sheets
+of paper in her hand.
+
+'Now you see how fair and honest I am going to be. I am going to read you
+what I have written. If there is anything in it that is not true, I will
+very gladly cut it out; and if there is anything more to be added, I
+shall be very glad to add it. Isn't that fair?'
+
+Wentworth was so confounded with the woman's impudence that he could make
+no reply.
+
+She began to read: '"By an unexampled stroke of enterprise the _New York
+Argus_ is enabled this morning to lay before its readers a full and
+exclusive account of the report made by the two English specialists, Mr.
+George Wentworth and Mr. John Kenyon, who were sent over by the London
+Syndicate to examine into the accounts, and inquire into the true value
+of the mines of the Ottawa River."'
+
+She looked up from the paper, and said, with an air of friendly
+confidence:
+
+'I shouldn't send that if I thought the people at the New York end would
+know enough to write it themselves; but as the paper is edited by dull
+men, and not by a sharp woman, I have to make them pay twenty-five cents
+a word for puffing their own enterprise. Well, to go on: "When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend entirely
+on the report of these two gentlemen--"'
+
+'I wouldn't put it that way,' interrupted Wentworth in his despair. 'I
+would use the word "largely" for "entirely."'
+
+'Oh, _thank_ you,' said Miss Brewster cordially. She placed the
+manuscript on her knee, and, with her pencil, marked out the word
+'entirely,' substituting 'largely.' The reading went on: '"When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend _largely_
+on the report of these two gentlemen, the enterprise of the _Argus_ in
+getting this exclusive information, which will be immediately cabled to
+London, may be imagined." That is the preliminary, you see; and, as I
+said, it wouldn't be necessary to cable it if women were at the head of
+affairs over there, which they are not. "Mr. John Kenyon, the mining
+expert, has visited all the mineral ranges along the Ottawa River, and
+his report is that the mines are very much what is claimed for them; but
+he thinks they are not worked properly, although, with judicious
+management and more careful mining, the properties can be made to pay
+good dividends. Mr. George Wentworth, who is one of the leading
+accountants of London--"'
+
+'I wouldn't say that, either,' groaned George. 'Just strike out the words
+"one of the leading accountants of London."'
+
+'Yes?' said Miss Brewster; 'and what shall I put in the place of them?'
+
+'Put in place of them "the stupidest ass in London"!'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed at that.
+
+'No; I shall put in what I first wrote: "Mr. George Wentworth, one of
+the leading accountants of London, has gone through the books of the
+different mines. He has made some startling discoveries. The accounts
+have been kept in such a way as to completely delude investors, and this
+fact will have a powerful effect on the minds of the London Syndicate.
+The books of the different mines show a profit of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, whereas the actual facts of the case are that there has
+been an annual loss of something like one hundred thousand dollars--"'
+
+'What's that? what's that?' cried Wentworth sharply.
+
+'Dollars, you know. You said twenty thousand pounds. We put it in
+dollars, don't you see?'
+
+'Oh,' said Wentworth, relapsing again.
+
+'"One hundred thousand dollars"--where was I? Oh yes. "It is claimed
+that an American expert went over these books before Mr. Wentworth, and
+that he asserted they were all right. An explanation from this gentleman
+will now be in order."'
+
+'There!' cried the young lady, 'that is the substance of the thing. Of
+course, I may amplify a little more before we get to Queenstown, so as to
+make them pay more money. People don't value a thing that doesn't cost
+them dearly. How do you like it? Is it correct?'
+
+'Perfectly correct,' answered the miserable young man.
+
+'Oh, I am so glad you like it! I do love to have things right.'
+
+'I didn't say I _liked_ it.'
+
+'No, of course, you couldn't be expected to say that; but I am glad you
+think it is accurate. I will add a note to the effect that you think it
+is a good _resume_ of your report.'
+
+'For Heaven's sake, don't drag me into the matter!' cried Wentworth.
+
+'Well, I won't, if you don't want me to.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, during which the young woman seemed
+to be adding commas and full-stops to the MS. on her knee. Wentworth
+cleared his throat two or three times, but his lips were so dry that he
+could hardly speak. At last he said:
+
+'Miss Brewster, how can I induce you not to send that from Queenstown to
+your paper?'
+
+The young woman looked up at him with a pleasant bright smile.
+
+'Induce me? Why, you couldn't do it--it couldn't be done. This will be
+one of the greatest triumphs I have ever achieved. Think of Rivers
+failing in it, and me accomplishing it!'
+
+'Yes; I have thought of that,' replied the young man despondently. 'Now,
+perhaps you don't know that the full report was mailed from Ottawa to our
+house in London, and the moment we get to Queenstown I will telegraph my
+partners to put the report in the hands of the directors?'
+
+'Oh, I know all about that,' replied Miss Brewster; 'Rivers told me. He
+read the letter that was enclosed with the documents he took from your
+friend. Now, have you made any calculations about this voyage?'
+
+'Calculations? I don't know what you mean.'
+
+'Well, I mean just this: We shall probably reach Queenstown on Saturday
+afternoon. This report, making allowance for the difference in the time,
+will appear in the _Argus_ on Sunday morning. Your telegram will reach
+your house or your firm on Saturday night, when nothing can be done with
+it. Sunday nothing can be done. Monday morning, before your report will
+reach the directors, the substance of what has appeared in the _Argus_
+will be in the financial papers, cabled over to London on Sunday night.
+The first thing your directors will see of it will be in the London
+financial papers on Monday morning. That's what I mean, Mr. Wentworth, by
+calculating the voyage.'
+
+Wentworth said no more. He staggered to his feet and made his way as best
+he could to the state-room, groping like a blind man. There he sat down
+with his head in his hands, and there his friend Kenyon found him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+'Tell me what has happened,' demanded John Kenyon.
+
+Wentworth looked up at him.
+
+'Everything has happened,' he answered.
+
+'What do you mean, George? Are you ill? What is the matter with you?'
+
+'I am worse than ill, John--a great deal worse than ill. I wish I
+were ill.'
+
+'That wouldn't help things, whatever is wrong. Come, wake up. Tell me
+what the trouble is.'
+
+'John, I am a fool--an ass--a gibbering idiot.'
+
+'Admitting that, what then?'
+
+'I trusted a woman--imbecile that I am; and now--now--I'm what you see
+me.'
+
+'Has--has Miss Brewster anything to do with it?' asked Kenyon
+suspiciously.
+
+'She has everything to do with it.'
+
+'Has she--rejected you, George?'
+
+'What! _that_ girl? Oh, you're the idiot now. Do you think I would
+ask _her_?'
+
+'I cannot be blamed for jumping at conclusions. You must remember "that
+girl," as you call her, has had most of your company during this voyage;
+and most of your good words when you were not with her. What _is_ the
+matter? What has she to do with your trouble?'
+
+Wentworth paced up and down the narrow limits of the state-room as if he
+were caged. He smote his hand against his thigh, while Kenyon looked at
+him in wonder.
+
+'I don't know how I can tell you, John,' he said. 'I must, of course; but
+I don't know how I can.'
+
+'Come on deck with me.'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Come out, I say, into the fresh air. It is stuffy here, and, besides,
+there is more danger of being overheard in the state-room than on deck.
+Come along, old fellow.'
+
+He caught his companion by the arm, and partly dragged him out of the
+room, closing the door behind him.
+
+'Pull yourself together,' he said. 'A little fresh air will do you good.'
+
+They made their way to the deck, and, linking arms, walked up and down.
+For a long time Wentworth said nothing, and Kenyon had the tact to hold
+his peace. Suddenly Wentworth noticed that they were pacing back and
+forth in front of Miss Brewster, so he drew his friend away to another
+part of the ship. After a few turns up and down, he said:
+
+'You remember Rivers, of course.'
+
+'Distinctly.'
+
+'He was employed on that vile sheet, the _New York Argus_.'
+
+'I suppose it is a vile sheet. I don't remember ever seeing it. Yes, I
+know he was connected with that paper. What then? What has Miss Brewster
+to do with Rivers?'
+
+'She is one of the _Argus_ staff, too.'
+
+'George Wentworth, you don't mean to tell me that!'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'And is she here to find out about the mine?'
+
+'Exactly. She was put on the job after Rivers had failed.'
+
+'George!' said Kenyon, suddenly dropping his companion's arm and facing
+him. 'What have you told her?'
+
+'There is the misery of it. I have told her everything.'
+
+'My dear fellow, how could you be----'
+
+'Oh, I know--I know! I know everything you would say. Everything you can
+say I have said to myself, and ten times more and ten times worse. There
+is nothing you can say of me more bitter than what I think about myself.'
+
+'Did you tell her anything about _my_ report?'
+
+'I told her everything--_everything_! Do you understand? She is going
+to telegraph from Queenstown the full essence of the reports--of both
+our reports.'
+
+'Heavens! this is fearful. Is there no way to prevent her sending it?'
+
+'If you think you can prevent her, I wish you would try it.'
+
+'How did you find it out? Did _she_ tell you?'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter how I found it out. I did find it out. A man told
+me who she was; then I asked her, and she was perfectly frank about it.
+She read me the report, even.'
+
+'Read it to you?'
+
+'Yes, read it to me, and punctuated it in my presence--put in some words
+that I suggested as being better than those she had used. Oh, it was the
+coolest piece of work you ever saw!'
+
+'But there must be some way of preventing her getting that account to New
+York in time. You see, all we have to do is to wire your people to hand
+in our report to the directors, and then hers is forestalled. She has to
+telegraph from a British office, and it seems to me that we could stop
+her in some way.'
+
+'As, for instance, how?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know just how at the moment, but we ought to be able to do
+it. If it were a man, we could have him arrested as a dynamiter or
+something; but a woman, of course, is more difficult to deal with.
+George, I would appeal to her better nature if I were you.'
+
+Wentworth laughed sneeringly.
+
+'Better nature?' he said. 'She hasn't any; and that is not the worst of
+it. She has "calculated," as she calls it, all the possibilities in the
+affair; she "calculates" that we will reach Queenstown about Saturday
+night. If we do, she will get her report through in time to be
+published on Sunday in the _New York Argus_. If that is the case, then
+see where our telegram will be. We telegraph our people to send in the
+report. It reaches the office Saturday night, and is not read. The
+office closes at two o'clock; but even if they got it, and understood
+the urgency of the matter, they could not place the papers before the
+directors until Monday morning, and by Monday morning it will be in the
+London financial sheets.'
+
+'George, that woman is a fiend.'
+
+'No, she isn't, John. She is merely a clever American journalist, who
+thinks she has done a very good piece of work indeed, and who, through
+the stupidity of one man, has succeeded, that's all.'
+
+'Have you made any appeal to her at all?'
+
+'Oh, haven't I! Of course I have. What good did it do? She merely laughed
+at me. Don't you understand? That is what she is here for. Her whole
+voyage is for that one purpose; and it's not likely the woman is going to
+forego her triumph after having succeeded--more especially as somebody
+else in the same office has failed. That's what gives additional zest to
+what she has done. The fact that Rivers has failed and she has triumphed
+seems to be the great feather in her cap.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon, 'I'm going to appeal to Miss Brewster myself.'
+
+'Very well. I wish you joy of your job. But do what you can, John,
+there's a good fellow. Meanwhile, I want to be alone somewhere.'
+
+Wentworth went down the stairway that led to the steerage department, and
+for a few moments sat among the steerage passengers. Then he climbed up
+another ladder, and got to the very front of the ship. Here he sat down
+on a coil of rope, and thought over the situation. Thinking, however, did
+him very little good. He realized that, even if he got hold of the paper
+Miss Brewster had, she could easily write another. She had the facts in
+her head, and all that she needed to do was to get to a telegraph office
+and there hand in her message.
+
+Meanwhile, Kenyon took a few turns up and down the deck, thinking deeply
+on the same subject. He passed over to the side where Miss Brewster sat,
+but on coming opposite her had not the courage to take his place beside
+her. She was calmly reading her book. Three times he came opposite her,
+paused for a moment, and then continued his hopeless march. He saw that
+his courage was not going to be sufficient for the task, and yet he felt
+the task must be accomplished. He didn't know how to begin. He didn't
+know what inducement to offer the young woman for foregoing the fruits of
+her ingenuity. He felt that this was the weak point in his armour. The
+third time he paused in front of Miss Brewster; she looked up and
+motioned him to the chair beside her, saying:
+
+'I do not know you very well, Mr. Kenyon, but I know who you are. Won't
+you sit down here for a moment?'
+
+The bewildered man took the chair she indicated.
+
+'Now, Mr. Kenyon, I know just what is troubling you. You have passed
+three or four times wishing to sit down beside me, and yet afraid to
+venture. Is that not true?'
+
+'Quite true.'
+
+'I knew it was. Now I know also what you have come for. Mr. Wentworth
+has told you what the trouble is. He has told you that he has given me
+all the particulars about the mines, hasn't he?'
+
+'He has.'
+
+'And he has gone off to his state-room to think over the matter, and has
+left the affair in your hands, and you imagine you can come here to me
+and, perhaps, talk me out of sending that despatch to the _Argus_. Isn't
+that your motive?'
+
+'That is about what I hope to be able to do,' said Kenyon, mopping his
+brow.
+
+'Well, I thought I might just as well put you out of your misery at once.
+You take things very seriously, Mr. Kenyon--I can see that. Now, don't
+you?'
+
+'I am afraid I do.'
+
+'Why, of course you do. The publication of this, as I told Mr. Wentworth,
+will really not matter at all. It will not be any reflection on either of
+you, because your friends will be sure that, if you had known to whom you
+were talking, you would never have said anything about the mines.'
+
+Kenyon smiled grimly at this piece of comfort.
+
+'Now, I have been thinking about something since Mr. Wentworth went away.
+I am really very sorry for him. I am more sorry than I can tell.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon eagerly, 'won't you----'
+
+'No, I won't, so we needn't recur to that phase of the subject. That is
+what I am here for, and, no matter what you say, the despatch is going to
+be sent. Now, it is better to understand that at the first, and then it
+will create no trouble afterwards. Don't you think that is the best?'
+
+'Probably,' answered the wretched man.
+
+'Well, then, let us start there. I will say in the cablegram that the
+information comes from neither Mr. Kenyon nor Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'Yes, but that wouldn't be true.'
+
+'Why, of course it wouldn't be true; but that doesn't matter, does it?'
+
+'Well, on our side of the water,' said Kenyon, 'we think the truth
+does matter.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed heartily.
+
+'Dear me!' she said, 'what little tact you have! How does it concern you
+whether it is true or not? If there is any falsehood, it is not you who
+tell it, so you are free from all blame. Indeed, you are free from all
+blame anyhow, in this affair; it is all your friend Wentworth's fault;
+but still, if it hadn't been Wentworth, it would have been you.'
+
+Kenyon looked up at her incredulously.
+
+'Oh yes, it would,' she said, nodding confidently at him. 'You must not
+flatter yourself, because Mr. Wentworth told me everything about it, that
+you wouldn't have done just the same, if I had had to find it out from
+you. All men are pretty much alike where women are concerned.'
+
+'Can I say nothing to you, Miss Brewster, which will keep you from
+sending the message to America?'
+
+'You cannot, Mr. Kenyon. I thought we had settled that at the beginning.
+I see there is no use talking to you. I will return to my book, which is
+very interesting. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+Kenyon felt the hopelessness of his project quite as much as Wentworth
+had done, and, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he wandered
+disconsolately up and down the deck.
+
+As he went to the other side of the deck, he met Miss Longworth walking
+alone. She smiled a cordial welcome to him, so he turned and changed his
+step to suit hers.
+
+'May I walk with you a few minutes?' he said.
+
+'Of course you may,' was the reply, 'What is the matter? You are looking
+very unhappy.'
+
+'My comrade and myself are in great trouble, and I thought I should like
+to talk with you about it.'
+
+'I am sure if there is anything I can do to help you, I shall be most
+glad to do it.'
+
+'Perhaps you may suggest something. You see, two men dealing with one
+woman are perfectly helpless.'
+
+'Ah, who is the one woman--not I, is it?'
+
+'No, not you, Miss Longworth. I wish it were, then we would have no
+trouble.'
+
+'Oh, thank you!'
+
+'You see, it is like this: When we were in Quebec--I think I told you
+about that--the _New York Argus_ sent a man to find out what we had
+reported, or were going to report, to the London Syndicate.'
+
+'Yes, you told me that.'
+
+'Rivers was his name. Well, this same paper, finding that Rivers had
+failed after having stolen the documents, has tried a much more subtle
+scheme, which promises to be successful. They have put on board this ship
+a young woman who has gained a reputation for learning secrets not
+intended for the public. This young woman is Miss Brewster, who sits next
+Wentworth at the table. Fate seems to have played right into her hand
+and placed her beside him. They became acquainted, and, unfortunately, my
+friend has told her a great deal about the mines, which she professed an
+interest in. Or, rather, she pretended to have an interest in him, and so
+he spoke, being, of course, off his guard. There is no more careful
+fellow in the world than George Wentworth, but a man does not expect that
+a private conversation with a lady will ever appear in a newspaper.'
+
+'Naturally not.'
+
+'Very well, that is the state of things. In some manner Wentworth came to
+know that this young woman was the special correspondent of the _New York
+Argus_. He spoke to her about it, and she is perfectly frank in saying
+she is here solely for the purpose of finding out what the reports will
+be, and that the moment she gets to Queenstown she will cable what she
+has discovered to New York.'
+
+'Dear me! that is very perplexing. What have you done?'
+
+'We have done nothing so far, or rather, I should say, we have tried
+everything we could think of, and have accomplished nothing. Wentworth
+has appealed to her, and I made a clumsy attempt at an appeal also, but
+it was of no use. I feel my own helplessness in this matter, and
+Wentworth is completely broken down over it.'
+
+'Poor fellow! I am sure of that. Let me think a moment.'
+
+They walked up and down the deck in silence for a few minutes. Then Miss
+Longworth looked up at Kenyon, and said;
+
+'Will you place this matter in my hands?'
+
+'Certainly, if you will be so kind as to take any interest in it.'
+
+'I take a great deal of interest. Of course, you know my father is deeply
+concerned in it also, so I am acting in a measure for him.'
+
+'Have you any plan?'
+
+'Yes; my plan is simply this: The young woman is working for money; now,
+if we can offer her more than her paper gives, she will very quickly
+accept, or I am much mistaken in the kind of woman she is.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Kenyon; 'but we haven't the money, you see.'
+
+'Never mind; the money will be quickly forthcoming. Don't trouble any
+more about it. I am sure that can be arranged.'
+
+Kenyon thanked her, looking his gratitude rather than speaking it, for
+he was an unready man, and she bade him good-bye until she could think
+over her plan.
+
+That evening there was a tap at the state-room door of Miss Jennie
+Brewster.
+
+'Come in,' cried the occupant.
+
+Miss Longworth entered, and the occupant of the room looked up, with a
+frown, from her writing.
+
+'May I have a few moments' conversation with you?' asked the visitor
+gravely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Miss Jennie Brewster was very much annoyed at being interrupted, and she
+took no pains to conceal her feelings. She was writing an article
+entitled 'How People kill Time on Shipboard,' and she did not wish to be
+disturbed; besides, as she often said of herself, she was not 'a woman's
+woman,' and she neither liked, nor was liked by, her own sex.
+
+'I desire a few moments' conversation with you, if I have your
+permission,' said Edith Longworth, as she closed the door behind her.
+
+'Certainly,' answered Jennie Brewster. 'Will you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you,' replied the other, as she took a seat on the sofa. 'I do not
+know just how to begin what I wish to say. Perhaps it will be better to
+commence by telling you that I know why you are on board this steamer.'
+
+'Yes; and why am I on board the steamer, may I ask?'
+
+'You are here, I understand, to get certain information from Mr.
+Wentworth. You have obtained it, and it is in reference to this that I
+have come to see you.'
+
+'Indeed! and are you so friendly with Mr. Wentworth that you----'
+
+'I scarcely know Mr. Wentworth at all.'
+
+'Then, why do you come on a mission from him?'
+
+'It is not a mission from him. It is not a mission from anyone. I was
+speaking to Mr. Kenyon, or, rather, Mr. Kenyon was speaking to me, about
+a subject which troubled him greatly. It is a subject in which my father
+is interested. My father is a member of the London Syndicate, and he
+naturally would not desire to have your intended cable message sent to
+New York.'
+
+'Really; are you quite sure that you are not speaking less for your
+father than for your friend Kenyon?'
+
+Anger burned in Miss Longworth's face, and flashed from her eyes as
+she answered:
+
+'You must not speak to me in that way.'
+
+'Excuse me, I shall speak to you in just the way I please. I did not ask
+for this conference; you did, and as you have taken it upon yourself to
+come into this room uninvited, you will have to put up with what you
+hear. Those who interfere with other people's business, as a general
+thing, do not have a nice time.'
+
+'I quite appreciated all the possible disagreeableness of coming here,
+when I came.'
+
+'I am glad of that, because if you hear anything you do not like, you
+will not be disappointed, and will have only yourself to thank for it.'
+
+'I would like to talk about this matter in a spirit of friendliness if I
+can. I think nothing is to be attained by speaking in any other way.'
+
+'Very well, then. What excuse have you to give me for coming into my
+state-room to talk about business which does not concern you?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, it _does_ concern me--it concerns my father, and that
+concerns me. I am, in a measure, my father's private secretary, and am
+intimately acquainted with all the business he has in hand. This
+particular business is his affair, and therefore mine. That is the reason
+I am here.'
+
+'Are you sure?'
+
+'Am I sure of what?'
+
+'Are you sure that what you say is true?'
+
+'I am not in the habit of speaking anything but the truth.'
+
+'Perhaps you flatter yourself that is the case, but it does not deceive
+me. You merely come here because Mr. Kenyon is in a muddle about what I
+am going to do. Isn't that the reason?'
+
+Miss Longworth saw that her task was going to be even harder than she
+had expected.
+
+'Suppose we let all question of motive rest? I have come here--I have
+asked your permission to speak on this subject, and you have given me the
+permission. Having done so, it seems to me you should hear me out. You
+say that I should not be offended----'
+
+'I didn't say so. I do not care a rap whether you are offended or not.'
+
+'You at least said I might hear something that would not be pleasant.
+What I wanted to say is this: I have taken the risk of that, and, as you
+remark, whether I am offended or not does not matter. Now we will come to
+the point----'
+
+'Just before you come to the point, please let me know if Mr. Kenyon told
+you he had spoken to me on this subject already.'
+
+'Yes, he told me so.'
+
+'Did he tell you that his friend Wentworth had also had a conversation
+with me about it?'
+
+'Yes, he told me that also.'
+
+'Very well, then, if those two men can do nothing to shake my purpose,
+how do you expect to do it?'
+
+'That is what I am about to tell you. This is a commercial world, and I
+am a commercial man's daughter. I recognise the fact that you are going
+to cable this information for the money it brings. Is that not the case?'
+
+'It is partly the case.'
+
+'For what other consideration do you work, then?'
+
+'For the consideration of being known as one of the best newspaper women
+in the city of New York. That is the other consideration.'
+
+'I understood you were already known as the most noted newspaper woman in
+New York.'
+
+This remark was much more diplomatic than Miss Longworth herself
+suspected.
+
+Jennie Brewster looked rather pleased, then she said:
+
+'Oh, I don't know about that; but I intend it shall be so before a
+year is past.'
+
+'Very well, you have plenty of time to accomplish your object without
+using the information you have obtained on board this ship. Now, as I was
+saying, the _New York Argus_ pays you a certain amount for doing this
+work. If you will promise not to send the report over to that paper, I
+will give you a cheque for double the sum the _Argus_ will pay you,
+besides refunding all your expenses twice over.'
+
+'In other words, you ask me to be bribed and refuse to perform my duty to
+the paper.'
+
+'It isn't bribery. I merely pay you, or will pay you, double what you
+will receive from that paper. I presume your connection with it is purely
+commercial. You work for it because you receive a certain amount of
+money; if the editor found someone who would do the same work cheaper, he
+would at once employ that person, and your services would be no longer
+required. Is that not true?'
+
+'Yes, it is true.'
+
+'Very well, then, the question of duty hardly enters into such a compact.
+They have sent you on what would be to most people a very difficult
+mission. You have succeeded. You have, therefore, in your possession
+something to sell. The New York paper will pay you a certain sum in cash
+for it. I offer you, for the same article, double the price the _New York
+Argus_ will pay you. Is not that a fair offer?'
+
+Jennie Brewster had arisen. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. For a small space of time nothing was said, and Edith
+Longworth imagined she had gained her point. The woman standing looked
+down at the woman sitting.
+
+'Do you know all the particulars about the attempt to get this
+information?' asked Miss Brewster.
+
+'I know some of them. What particulars do you mean?'
+
+'Do you know that a man from the _Argus_ tried to get this information
+from Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in Canada?'
+
+'Yes; I know about that.'
+
+'Do you know that he stole the reports, and that they were taken from him
+before he could use them?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you know he offered Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth double the price the
+London Syndicate would have paid them, on condition they gave him a
+synopsis of the reports?'
+
+'Yes, I know that also.'
+
+'Do you know that, in doing what he asked, they would not have been
+keeping back for a single day the real report from the people who engaged
+them? You know all that, do you?'
+
+'Yes; I know all that.'
+
+'Very well, then. Now you ask me to do very much more than Rivers asked
+them, because you ask me to keep my paper completely in the dark about
+the information I have got. Isn't that so?'
+
+'Yes, you can keep them in the dark until after the report has been given
+to the directors; then, of course, you can do what you please with the
+information.'
+
+'Ah, but by that time it will be of no value. By that time it will have
+been published in the London financial papers. At that time anybody can
+get it. Isn't that the case?'
+
+'I suppose so.'
+
+'Now, I want to ask you one other question, Miss--Miss--I don't think you
+told me your name.'
+
+'My name is Edith Longworth.'
+
+'Very well, Miss Longworth. I want to ask you one more question. What do
+you think of the conduct of Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in refusing to
+take double what they had been promised for making the report?'
+
+'What do I think of them?' repeated the girl.
+
+'Yes; what do you think of them? You hesitate. You realize that you are
+in a corner. You think Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Kenyon did very nobly in
+refusing Rivers' offer?'
+
+'Of course I do.'
+
+'So do I. I think they acted rightly, and did as honourable men should
+do. Now, when you think that, Miss Longworth, how dare you come and offer
+me double, or three times, or four times, the amount my paper gives to me
+for getting this information? Do you think that I am any less honourable
+than Kenyon or Wentworth? Your offer is an insult to me; nobody but a
+woman, and a woman of your class, would have made it. Kenyon wouldn't
+have made it. Wentworth wouldn't have made it. You come here to bribe
+me. You come here to do exactly what J. K. Rivers tried to do for the
+_Argus_ in Canada. You think money will purchase anything--that is the
+thought of all your class. Now, I want you to understand that I am a
+woman of the people. I was born and brought up in poverty in New York.
+You were born and brought up amid luxury in London. I have suffered
+privation and hardships that you know nothing of, and, even if you read
+about them, you wouldn't understand. You, with the impudence of your
+class, think you can come to me and bribe me to betray my employer. I am
+here to do a certain thing, and I am going to do that certain thing in
+spite of all the money that all the Longworths ever possessed, or ever
+will possess. Do I make myself sufficiently plain?'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. I don't think anyone could misunderstand you.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that, because one can never tell how thickheaded some
+people may be.'
+
+'Do you think there is any parallel between your case and Mr.
+Wentworth's?'
+
+'Of course I do. We were each sent to do a certain piece of work. We
+each did our work. We have both been offered a bribe to cheat our
+employers of the fruits of our labour; only in my case it is very much
+worse than in Wentworth's, because his employers would not have suffered,
+while mine will.'
+
+'This is all very plausible, Miss Brewster, but now allow me to tell you
+that what you have done is a most dishonourable thing, and that you are a
+disgrace to our common womanhood. You have managed, during a very short
+acquaintance, to win the confidence of a man--there is a kind of woman
+who knows how to do that: I thank Heaven I am not of that class; I prefer
+to belong to the class you have just now been reviling. Some men have an
+inherent respect for all women; Mr. Wentworth is apparently one of those,
+and, while he was on his guard with a man, he was not on his guard with a
+woman. You took advantage of that and you managed to secure certain
+information which you knew he would never have given you if he had
+thought it was to be published. You stole that information just as
+disreputably as that man stole the documents from Mr. Kenyon's pocket.
+_You_ talk of your honour and your truth when you did such a contemptible
+thing! _You_ prate of unbribeableness, when the only method possible is
+adopted of making you do what is right and just and honest! Your conduct
+makes me ashamed of being a woman. A thoroughly bad woman I can
+understand, but not a woman like you, who trade on the fact that you
+_are_ a woman, and that you are pretty, and that you have a pleasing
+manner. You use those qualities as a thief or a counterfeiter would use
+the peculiar talents God had given him. How dare you pretend for a moment
+that your case is similar to Mr. Wentworth's? Mr. Wentworth is an
+honourable man, engaged in an honourable business; as for you and your
+business, I have no words to express my contempt for both. Picking
+pockets is reputable compared with such work.'
+
+Edith Longworth was now standing up, her face flushed and her hands
+clenched. She spoke with a vehemence which she very much regretted when
+she thought of the circumstance afterwards; but her chagrin and
+disappointment at failure, where she had a moment before been sure of
+success, overcame her. Her opponent stood before her, angry and pale. At
+first Edith Longworth thought she was going to strike her, but if any
+such idea passed through the brain of the journalist, she thought better
+of it. For a few moments neither spoke, then Jennie Brewster said, in a
+voice of unnatural calmness:
+
+'You are quite welcome to your opinion of me, Miss Longworth, and I
+presume I am entitled to my opinion of Kenyon and Wentworth. They are
+two fools, and you are a third in thinking you can control the actions of
+a woman where two young men have failed. Do you think for a moment I
+would grant to you, a woman of a class I hate, what I would not grant to
+a man like Wentworth? They say there is no fool like an old fool, but it
+should be said that there is no fool like a young woman who has had
+everything her own way in this world. You are----'
+
+'I shall not stay and listen to your abuse. I wish to have nothing more
+to do with you.'
+
+'Oh, yes! you will stay,' cried the other, placing her back against the
+door. '_You_ came here at your own pleasure; you will leave at mine. I
+will tell you more truth in five minutes than you ever heard in your life
+before. I will tell you, in the first place, that my business is quite as
+honourable as Kenyon's or Wentworth's. What does Kenyon do but try to get
+information about mines which other people are vitally interested in
+keeping from him? What does Wentworth do but ferret about among accounts
+like a detective trying to find out what other people are endeavouring to
+conceal? What is the whole mining business but one vast swindle, whose
+worst enemy is the press? No wonder anyone connected with mining fears
+publicity. If your father has made a million out of mines, he has made it
+simply by swindling unfortunate victims. I do my business my way, and
+your two friends do theirs in their way. Of the two, I consider my
+vocation much the more upright. Now that you have heard what I have to
+say, you may go, and let me tell you that I never wish to see you or
+speak with you again.'
+
+'Thank you for your permission to go. I am sure I cordially echo your
+wish that we may never meet again. I may say, however, that I am sorry I
+spoke to you in the way I did. It is, of course, impossible for you to
+look on the matter from my point of view, just as it is impossible for me
+to look upon it from yours. Nevertheless, I wish you would forget what I
+said, and think over the matter a little more, and if you see your way to
+accepting my offer it will be always open to you. Should you forego the
+sending of that cablegram, I will willingly pay you three times what the
+_New York Argus_ will give you for it. I do not offer that as a bribe; I
+merely offer it so that you will not suffer from doing what I believe to
+be a just action. It seems to me a great pity that two young men should
+have to endure a serious check to their own business advancement because
+one of them was foolish enough to confide in a woman in whom he
+believed.'
+
+Edith Longworth was young, and therefore scarcely likely to be a mistress
+of diplomacy, but she might have known the last sentence she uttered
+spoiled the effect of all that had gone before.
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth, I had some little admiration for you when you
+blazed out at me in the way you did; but now, when you coolly repeat
+your offer of a bribe, adding one-third to it, all my respect for you
+vanishes. You may go and tell those who sent you that nothing under
+heaven can prevent that cablegram being sent.'
+
+In saying this, however, Miss Brewster somewhat exceeded her knowledge.
+Few of us can foretell what may or may not happen under heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Edith Longworth went to her state-room and there had what women call 'a
+good cry' over her failure. Jennie Brewster continued her writing, every
+now and then pausing as she thought, with regret, of some sharp thing she
+might have said, which did not occur to her at the time of the interview.
+Kenyon spent his time in pacing up and down the deck, hoping for the
+reappearance of Miss Longworth--an expectation which, for a time at
+least, was the hope deferred which maketh the heart sick. Fleming, the
+New York politician, kept the smoking-room merry, listening to the
+stories he told. He varied the proceedings by frequently asking everybody
+to drink with him, an invitation that met with no general refusal. Old
+Mr. Longworth dozed most of his time in his steamer chair. Wentworth, who
+still bitterly accused himself of having been a fool, talked with no one,
+not even his friend Kenyon. All the time, the great steamship kept
+forging along through the reasonably calm water just as if nothing had
+happened or was going to happen. There had been one day of rain, and one
+night and part of a day of storm. Saturday morning broke, and it was
+expected that some time in the night Queenstown would be reached. Early
+on Saturday morning the clouds looked lowering, as they have a right to
+look near Ireland.
+
+Wentworth, the cause of all the worry, gave Kenyon very little assistance
+in the matter that troubled his mind. He was in the habit, when the
+subject was referred to, of thrusting his hands into his hair, or
+plunging them down into his pockets, and breaking out into language which
+was as deplorable as it was expressive. The more Kenyon advised him to be
+calm, the less Wentworth followed that advice. As a general thing, he
+spent most of his time alone in a very gloomy state of mind. On one
+occasion when the genial Fleming slapped him on the shoulder, Wentworth,
+to his great astonishment, turned fiercely round and cried:
+
+'If you do that again, sir, I'll knock you down.'
+
+Fleming said afterwards that he was 'completely flabbergasted' by
+this--whatever that may mean--and he added that the English in general
+were a queer race. It is true that he gathered himself together at the
+time and, having laughed a little over the remark, said to Wentworth:
+
+'Come and have a drink; then you'll feel better.'
+
+This invitation Wentworth did not even take the trouble to decline, but
+thrust his hands in his pockets once more, and turned his back on the
+popular New York politician.
+
+Wentworth summed up the situation to John Kenyon when he said:
+
+'There is no use in our talking or thinking any more about it. We can
+simply do nothing. I shall take the whole blame on my shoulders. I am
+resolved that you shall not suffer from my indiscretion. Now, don't talk
+to me any more about it. I want to forget the wretched business, if
+possible.'
+
+So thus it came about quite naturally that John Kenyon, who was a good
+deal troubled about the matter, took as his confidante Edith
+Longworth, who also betrayed the greatest interest in the problem.
+Miss Longworth was left all the more alone because her cousin had
+taken permanently to the smoking-room. Someone had introduced him to
+the fascinating game of poker, and in the practice of this particular
+amusement Mr. William Longworth was now spending a good deal of his
+surplus cash, as well as his time.
+
+Jennie Brewster was seldom seen on deck. She applied herself assiduously
+to the writing of those brilliant articles which appeared later in the
+Sunday edition of the _New York Argus_ under the general title of 'Life
+at Sea,' and which have more recently been issued in book form. As
+everybody is already aware, her sketches of the genial New York
+politician, and also of the taciturn, glum Englishman, are considered the
+finest things in the little volume. They have been largely copied as
+typical examples of American humour.
+
+When Jennie Brewster did appear on deck, she walked alone up and down the
+promenade, with a sort of half-defiant look in her eyes as she passed
+Kenyon and Edith Longworth, and she generally encountered them together.
+
+On this particularly eventful Saturday morning, Kenyon and Edith had the
+deck to themselves. The conversation naturally turned to the subject
+which for the last few days had occupied the minds of both.
+
+'Do you know,' said the girl, 'I have been thinking all along that she
+will come to me at the last for the money.'
+
+'I am not at all sure about that,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'I thought she would probably keep us on the tenterhooks just as long
+as possible, and then at the last moment come and say she would accept
+the offer.'
+
+'If she does,' said Kenyon, 'I would not trust her. I would give her to
+understand that a cheque would be handed to her when we were certain the
+article had not been used.'
+
+'Do you think that would be a safe way to act if she came and said she
+would take the money for not sending the cablegram? Don't you think it
+would be better to pay her and trust to her honour?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'I do not think I would trust much to her honour.'
+
+'Now, do you know, I have a different opinion of her. I feel sure that if
+she said she would do a thing, she _would_ do it.'
+
+'I have no such faith,' answered Kenyon. 'I think, on the contrary, that
+she is quite capable of asking you for the money and still sending her
+telegram.'
+
+'Well, I doubt if she would do so. I think the girl really believes she
+is acting rightly, and imagines she has done a creditable action in a
+very smart way. If she were not what she calls "honest," she would not
+have shown so much temper as she did. Not but that I gave a deplorable
+exhibition of temper myself, for which there was really no excuse.'
+
+'I am sure,' said Kenyon warmly, 'you did nothing of the kind. At all
+events, I am certain everything you did was perfectly right; and I know
+you were completely justified in anything you said.'
+
+'I wish I could think so.'
+
+'I want to ask you one question,' said Kenyon.
+
+But what that question was will never be known. It was never asked; and
+when Edith Longworth inquired about it some time later, the question had
+entirely gone from Kenyon's mind. The steamship, which was ploughing
+along through the waters, suddenly gave a shiver, as if it were shaken by
+an earthquake; there were three tremendous bumps, such as a sledge might
+make by going suddenly over logs concealed in the snow. Both Kenyon and
+Miss Longworth sprang to their feet. There was a low roar of steam, and
+they saw a cloud rise amidships, apparently pouring out of every aperture
+through which it could escape. Then there was silence. The engines had
+stopped, and the vessel heeled distinctly over to the port side. When
+Edith Longworth began to realize the situation, she found herself very
+close to Kenyon, clasping his arm with both hands.
+
+'What--what is it?' she cried in alarm.
+
+'Something is wrong,' said Kenyon. 'Nothing serious, I hope. Will you
+wait here a moment while I go and see?'
+
+'It is stupid of me,' she answered, releasing his arm; 'but I feel
+dreadfully frightened.'
+
+'Perhaps you would rather not be left alone.'
+
+'Oh no, it is all over now; but when the first of those terrible shocks
+came it seemed to me we had struck a rock.'
+
+'There are no rocks here,' said Kenyon. 'The day is perfectly clear, and
+we are evidently not out of our course. Something has gone wrong with the
+machinery, I imagine. Just wait a moment, and I will find out.'
+
+As Kenyon rushed towards the companion-way, he met a sailor hurrying in
+the other direction.
+
+'What is the matter?' cried Kenyon.
+
+The sailor gave no answer.
+
+On entering the companion-way door, Kenyon found the place full of steam,
+and he ran against an officer.
+
+'What is wrong? Is anything the matter?'
+
+'How should I know?' was the answer, very curtly given. 'Please do not
+ask any questions. Everything will be attended to.'
+
+This was scant encouragement. People began crowding up the companion-way,
+coughing and wheezing in the steam; and soon the deck, that but a moment
+before had been almost without an occupant, was crowded with excited
+human beings in all states of dress and undress.
+
+'What is wrong?' was the question on every lip, to which, as yet, there
+was no answer. The officers who hurried to and fro were mute, or gave
+short and unsatisfactory replies to the inquiries which poured in upon
+them. People did not pause to reflect that even an officer could hardly
+be expected to know off-hand what the cause of the sudden stoppage of the
+engine might be. By-and-by the captain appeared, smiling and bland. He
+told them there was no danger. Something had gone amiss with the
+machinery, exactly what he could not, at the moment, tell; but
+there was no necessity for being panic-stricken, everything would
+be all right in a short time if they merely remained calm. These,
+and a lot of other nautical lies, which are always told on such
+occasions, served to calm the fears of the crowd; and by-and-by one
+after another went down to their state-rooms on finding the vessel was
+not going to sink immediately. They all appeared some time afterward in
+more suitable apparel. The steam which had filled the saloon soon
+disappeared, leaving the furniture dripping with warm moisture. Finally,
+the loud clang of the breakfast-gong sounded as if nothing had happened,
+and that did more, perhaps, than anything else to allay the fears of the
+passengers. If breakfast was about to be served, then, of course, things
+were not serious. Nevertheless, a great many people that morning had a
+very poor appetite for the breakfast served to them. The one blessing, as
+everybody said, was that the weather kept so fine and the sea so calm. To
+those few who knew anything about disasters at sea, the list of the ship
+to the port side was a most serious sign. The majority of the passengers,
+however, did not notice it. After breakfast people came up on deck. There
+was a wonderful avoidance of hurry, alike by officers and sailors. Orders
+were given calmly and quietly, and as calmly and quietly obeyed. Officers
+were still up on the bridge, although there were no commands to give to
+the man at the wheel and no screw turning. The helmsman stood at the
+wheel as if he expected at any time the order to turn it port or
+starboard. All this absence of rush had a very soothing effect on the
+passengers, many of whom wanted only a slight excuse to become
+hysterical. As the day wore on, however, a general feeling of security
+seemed to have come upon all on board. They one and all congratulated
+themselves on the fact that they had behaved in a most exemplary manner
+considering the somewhat alarming circumstances. Nevertheless, those who
+watched the captain saw that he swept the long line of the horizon
+through his glass every now and then with a good deal of anxiety, and
+they noticed on looking at the long level line where sea and sky met
+that not a sail was visible around the complete circle. Up from the
+engine-room came the clank of hammers, and the opinion was general that,
+whatever was amiss with the engine, it was capable of being repaired. One
+thing had become certain, there was nothing wrong with the shafts. The
+damage, whatever it was, had been to the engine alone. All of the
+passengers found themselves more or less affected by the peculiar
+sensation of the steamer being at rest--the awe-inspiring and helpless
+consciousness of complete silence--after the steady throb they had become
+so accustomed to all the way across. That night at dinner the captain
+took his place at the head of the table, urbane and courteous, as if
+nothing unusual had happened; and the people, who, notwithstanding their
+outward calmness, were in a state of anxious tension, noticed this with
+gratified feelings.
+
+'What is the matter?' asked a passenger of the captain; 'and what is the
+extent of the accident?'
+
+The captain looked down the long table.
+
+'I am afraid,' said he, 'that if I went into technical details you would
+not understand them. There was a flaw in one of the rods connected with
+the engine. That rod broke, and in breaking it damaged other parts of
+the machinery. Doubtless you heard the three thuds which it gave before
+the engine was stopped. At present it is impossible to tell how long it
+will take to repair the damage. However, even if the accident were
+serious, we are right in the track of vessels, and there is no danger.'
+
+This was reassuring; but those who lay awake that night heard the
+ominous sound of the pumps, and the swishing of water splashing down
+into the ocean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Most of the passengers awoke next morning with a bewildering feeling of
+vague apprehension. The absence of all motion in the ship, the unusual
+and intense silence, had a depressing effect. The engines had not yet
+started; that at least was evident. Kenyon was one of the first on deck.
+He noticed that the pumps were still working at their full speed, and
+that the steamer had still the unexplained list to port. Happily, the
+weather continued good, so far as the quietness of the sea was concerned.
+A slight drizzle of rain had set in, and the horizon was not many miles
+from the ship. There would not be much chance of sighting another liner
+while such weather continued.
+
+Before Kenyon had been many minutes on deck, Edith Longworth came up the
+companion-way. She approached him with a smile on her face.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'you, at least, do not seem to be suffering any anxiety
+because of our situation.'
+
+'Really,' she replied, 'I was not thinking of that at all, but about
+something else. Can you not guess what it is?'
+
+'No,' he answered hesitatingly. 'What is it?'
+
+'Have you forgotten that this is Sunday morning?'
+
+'Is it? Of course it is. So far as I am concerned, time seemed to stop
+when the engines broke down. But I do not understand why Sunday morning
+means anything in particular.'
+
+'Don't you? Well, for a person who has been thinking for the last two or
+three days very earnestly on one particular subject, I am astonished at
+you. Sunday morning and no land in sight! Reflect for a moment.'
+
+Kenyon's face brightened.
+
+'Ah,' he cried, 'I see what you mean now! Miss Brewster's cable message
+will not appear in this morning's _New York Argus_.'
+
+'Of course it will not; and don't you see, also, that when we do arrive
+you will have an equal chance in the race. If we get in before next
+Sunday, your telegram to the London people will go as quickly as her
+cable despatch to New York; thus you will be saved the humiliation of
+seeing the substance of your report in the London papers before the
+directors see the report itself. It is not much, to be sure, but, still,
+it puts you on equal terms; while if we had got into Queenstown last
+night that would have been impossible.'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'for such a result the cause is rather tremendous, isn't
+it? It is something like burning down the house to roast the pig!'
+
+Shortly after ten o'clock the atmosphere cleared, and showed in the
+distance a steamer, westward bound. The vessel evidently belonged to one
+of the great ocean lines. The moment it was sighted there fluttered up to
+the masthead a number of signal-flags, and people crowded to the side of
+the ship to watch the effect on the outgoing vessel. Minute after minute
+passed, but there was no response from the other liner. People watched
+her with breathless anxiety, as though their fate depended on her
+noticing their signals. Of course, everybody thought she must see them,
+but still she steamed westward. A cloud of black smoke came out of her
+funnel, and then a long dark trail, like the tail of a comet, floated out
+behind; but no notice was taken of the fluttering flags at the masthead.
+For more than an hour the steamer was in sight. Then she gradually faded
+away into the west, and finally disappeared.
+
+This incident had a depressing effect on the passengers of the disabled
+ship. Although every officer had maintained there was no danger, yet the
+floating away of that steamer seemed somehow to leave them alone; and
+people, after gazing toward the west until not a vestige of her remained
+in the horizon, went back to their deck-chairs, feeling more despondent
+than ever.
+
+Fleming, however, maintained that if people had to drown, it was just as
+well to drown jolly as mournful, and so he invited everybody to take a
+drink at his expense--a generous offer, taken instant advantage of by all
+the smoking-room frequenters.
+
+'My idea is this,' said Fleming, as he sipped the cocktail which was
+brought to him, 'if anything happens, let it happen; if nothing happens,
+why, then let nothing happen. There is no use worrying about anything,
+especially something we cannot help. Here we are on the ocean in a
+disabled vessel--very good; we cannot do anything about it, and so long
+as the bar remains open, gentlemen, here's to you!'
+
+And with this cheerful philosophy the New York politician swallowed the
+liquor he had paid for.
+
+Still the swish of water from the pumps could be heard, but the metallic
+clanking of steel on steel no longer came up from the engine-room. This
+in itself was ominous to those who knew. It showed that the engineer had
+given up all hope of repairing the damage, whatever it was, and the real
+cause of the disaster was as much a mystery as ever. Shortly before lunch
+it became evident to people on board the ship that something was about to
+be done. The sailors undid the fastenings of one of the large boats, and
+swung it out on the davits until it hung over the sea.
+
+Gradually rumour took form, and it became known that one of the officers
+and certain of the crew were about to make an attempt to reach the coast
+of Ireland and telegraph to Queenstown for tugs to bring the steamer in.
+The captain still asserted that there was no danger whatever, and it was
+only to prevent delay that this expedient was about to be tried.
+
+'Do you know what they are going to do?' cried Edith Longworth, in a
+state of great excitement, to John Kenyon.
+
+Kenyon had been walking the deck with Wentworth, who now had gone below.
+
+'I have heard,' said Kenyon, 'that they intend trying to reach the
+coast.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, why should you not send a telegram to your people in
+London, and have the reports forwarded at once? The chances are that
+Miss Brewster will never think of sending her cablegram with the officer
+who is going to make the trip; then you will be a clear day or two ahead
+of her, and everything will be all right. In fact, when she understands
+what has been done, she probably will not send her own message at all.'
+
+'By George!' cried Kenyon, 'that is a good idea. I will see the mate at
+once, and find out whether he will take a telegram.'
+
+He went accordingly, and spoke to the mate about sending a message with
+him. The officer said that any passenger who wished to send a telegraphic
+message would be at liberty to do so. He would take charge of the
+telegrams very gladly. Kenyon went down to his state-room and told
+Wentworth what was going to be done. For the first time in several days
+George Wentworth exhibited something like energy. He went to the steward
+and bought the stamps to put on the telegram, while John Kenyon wrote it.
+
+The message was given to the officer, who put it into his inside pocket,
+and then Kenyon thought all was safe. But Edith Longworth was not so sure
+of that. Jennie Brewster sat in her deck-chair calmly reading her usual
+paper-covered novel. She apparently knew nothing of what was going on,
+and Edith Longworth, nervous with suppressed excitement, sat near her,
+watching her narrowly, while preparations for launching the boat were
+being completed. Suddenly, to Edith's horror, the deck-steward appeared,
+and in a loud voice cried:
+
+'Ladies and gentlemen, anyone wishing to send telegrams to friends has a
+few minutes now to write them. The mate will take them ashore with him,
+and will send them from the first office that he reaches. No letters can
+be taken, only telegrams.'
+
+Miss Brewster looked up languidly from her book during the first part of
+this recital. Then she sprang suddenly to her feet, and threw the book
+on the deck.
+
+'Who is it will take the telegrams?' she asked the steward.
+
+'The mate, miss. There he is standing yonder, miss.'
+
+She made her way quickly to that official.
+
+'Will you take a cable despatch to be sent to New York?'
+
+'Yes, miss. Is it a very long one?' he asked.
+
+'Yes, it is a very long one.'
+
+'Well, miss,' was the answer, 'you haven't much time to write it. We
+leave now in a very few minutes.'
+
+'It is all written out; I have only to add a few words to it.'
+
+Miss Brewster at once flew to her state-room. The telegram about the mine
+was soon before her with the words counted, and the silver and gold that
+were to pay for it piled on the table. She resolved to run no risk of
+delay by having the message sent 'to collect.' Then she dashed off, as
+quickly as she could, a brief and very graphic account of the disaster
+which had overtaken the _Caloric_. If this account was slightly
+exaggerated, Miss Brewster had no time to tone it down. Picturesque and
+dramatic description was what she aimed at. Her pen flew over the paper
+with great rapidity, and she looked up every now and then, through her
+state-room window, to see dangling from the ropes the boat that was to
+make the attempt to reach the Irish coast. As she could thus see how the
+preparations for the departure were going forward, she lingered longer
+than she might otherwise have done, and added line after line to the
+despatch which told of the disaster. At last she saw the men take their
+places in the longboat. She hurriedly counted the words in the new
+despatch she had written, and quickly from her purse piled the gold that
+was necessary to pay for their transmission. Then she sealed the two
+despatches in an envelope, put the two piles of gold into one after
+rapidly counting them again, cast a quick look up at the still motionless
+boat, grasped the gold in one hand, the envelope in the other, and sprang
+to her feet; but, as she did so, she gave a shriek and took a step
+backwards.
+
+Standing with her back to the door was Edith Longworth. When she had
+entered the state-room, Miss Brewster did not know, but her heart beat
+wildly as she saw the girl standing silently there, as if she had risen
+up through the floor.
+
+'What are you doing here?' she demanded.
+
+'I am here,' said Miss Longworth, 'because I wish to talk with you.'
+
+'Stand aside; I have no time to talk to you just now. I told you I didn't
+want to see you again. Stand aside, I tell you.'
+
+'I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean that I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'Then I will ring the bell and have you thrust out of here for your
+impudence.'
+
+'You shall not ring the bell,' said Edith calmly, putting her hand over
+the white china plaque that held in its centre the black electric button.
+
+'Do you mean to tell me that you intend to keep me from leaving my own
+state-room?'
+
+'I mean to tell you exactly that.'
+
+'Do you know that you can be imprisoned for attempting such a thing?'
+
+'I don't care.'
+
+'Stand aside, you vixen, or I will strike you!'
+
+'Do it.'
+
+For a moment the two girls stood there, the one flushed and excited, the
+other apparently calm, with her back against the door and her hand over
+the electric button. A glance through the window showed Miss Brewster
+that the mate had got into the boat, and that they were steadily
+lowering away.
+
+'Let me pass, you--you wretch!'
+
+'All in good time,' replied Edith Longworth, whose gaze was also upon the
+boat swinging in mid-air.
+
+Jennie Brewster saw at once that, if it came to a hand-to-hand encounter,
+she would have no chance whatever against the English girl, who was in
+every way her physical superior. She had her envelope in one hand and the
+gold in the other. She thrust both of them into her pocket, which, after
+some fumbling, she found. Then she raised her voice in one of the
+shrillest screams which Edith Longworth had ever heard. As if in answer
+to that ear-piercing sound, there rose from the steamer a loud and
+ringing cheer. Both glanced up to see where the boat was, but it was not
+in sight. Several ropes were dangling down past the porthole. Miss
+Brewster sprang up on the sofa, and with her small hands turned round
+the screw which held the window closed.
+
+Edith Longworth looked at her without making any attempt to prevent the
+unfastening of the window.
+
+Jennie Brewster flung open the heavy brass circle which held the thick
+green glass, and again she screamed at the top of her voice, crying
+'Help!' and 'Murder!'
+
+The other did not move from her position. In the silence that followed,
+the steady splash of oars could be heard, and again a rousing cheer rang
+out from those who were left upon the motionless steamer. Edith Longworth
+raised herself on tiptoe and looked out of the open window. On the crest
+of a wave, five hundred yards away from the vessel, she saw the boat for
+a moment appear, showing the white glitter of her six dripping oars; then
+it vanished down the other side of the wave into the trough of the sea.
+
+'Now, Miss Brewster', she said, 'you are at liberty to go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+After Edith Longworth left her, Jennie Brewster indulged in a brief spasm
+of hysterics. Her common-sense, however, speedily came to her rescue;
+and, as she became more calm, she began to wonder why she had not
+assaulted the girl who had dared to imprison her. She dimly remembered
+that she thought of a fierce onslaught at the time, and she also
+recollected that her fear of the boat leaving during the struggle had
+stayed her hand. But now that the boat had left she bitterly regretted
+her inaction, and grieved unavailingly over the fact that she had
+stopped to write the account of the disaster which befell the _Caloric_.
+Had she not done so, all might have been well, but her great ambition to
+be counted the best-newspaper woman in New York, and to show the editor
+that she was equal to any emergency that might arise, had undone her.
+While it would have been possible for her to send away one telegram, her
+desire to write the second had resulted in her sending none at all.
+Although she impugned her own conduct in language that one would not have
+expected to have heard from the lips of a millionaire's daughter, her
+anger against Edith Longworth became more intense, and a fierce desire
+for revenge took possession of the fair correspondent. She resolved that
+she would go up on deck and shame this woman before everybody. She would
+attract public attention to the affair by tearing Edith Longworth from
+her deck-chair, and in her present state of mind she had no doubt of her
+strength to do it. With the yearning for vengeance fierce and strong upon
+her, the newspaper woman put on her hat and departed for the deck. She
+passed up one side and down the other, but her intended victim was not
+visible. The rage of Miss Brewster increased when she did not find her
+prey where she expected. She had a fear that, when she calmed down, a
+different disposition would assert itself, and her revenge would be lost.
+In going to and fro along the deck she met Kenyon and Fleming walking
+together. Fleming had just that moment come up to Kenyon, who was quietly
+pacing the deck alone, and, slapping him on the shoulder, asked him to
+have a drink.
+
+'It seems to me,' he said, 'that I never have had the pleasure of
+offering you a drink since we came on board this ship. I want to drink
+with everybody here, and especially now, when something has happened to
+make it worth while.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said John Kenyon coldly, 'but I never
+drink with anybody.'
+
+'What, never touch it at all? Not even beer?'
+
+'Not even beer.'
+
+'Well, I am astonished to hear that. I thought every Englishman drank
+beer.'
+
+'There is at least one Englishman who does not.'
+
+'All right, then; no harm done, and no offence given, I hope. I may say,
+however, that you miss a lot of fun in this world.'
+
+'I suppose I miss a few headaches also.'
+
+'Oh, not necessarily. I have one great recipe for not having a headache.
+You see, this is the philosophy of headaches.' And then, much to John's
+chagrin, he linked arms with him and changed his step to suit Kenyon's,
+talking all the time as if they were the most intimate friends in the
+world. 'I have a sure plan for avoiding a headache. You see, when you
+look into the matter, it is this way: The headache only comes when you
+are sober. Very well, then. It is as simple as A B C. Never get sober;
+that's my plan. I simply keep on, and never get sober, so I have no
+headaches. If people who drink would avoid the disagreeable necessity of
+ever getting sober, they would be all right. Don't you see what I mean?'
+
+'And how about their brains in the meantime?'
+
+'Oh, their brains are all right. Good liquor sharpens a man's brains
+wonderfully. Now, you try it some time. Let me have them mix a cocktail
+for you? I tell you, John, a cocktail is one of the finest drinks that
+ever was made, and this man at the bar--when I came on board, he thought
+he could make a cocktail, but he didn't know even the rudiments--I have
+taught him how to do it; and I tell you that secret will be worth a
+fortune to him, because if there is anything Americans like, it is to
+have their cocktails mixed correctly. There's no one man in all England
+can do it, and very few men on the Atlantic service. But I'm gradually
+educating them. Been across six times. They pretend to give you American
+drinks over in England, but you must know how disappointing they are.'
+
+'I'm sure I don't see how I should know, for I never taste any of them.'
+
+'Ah, true; I had forgotten that. Well, I took this bar-keeper here in
+hand, and he knows now how to make a reasonably good cocktail; and, as I
+say, that secret will be worth money to him from American passengers.'
+
+John Kenyon was revolving in his mind the problem of how to get rid of
+this loquacious and generous individual, when he saw, bearing down upon
+them, the natty figure of Miss Jennie Brewster; and he wondered why such
+a look of bitter indignation was flashing from her eyes. He thought that
+she intended to address the American politician, but he was mistaken. She
+came directly at him, and said in an excited tone, with a ring of anger
+in it:
+
+'Well, John Kenyon, what do you think of your work?'
+
+'What work?' asked the bewildered man.
+
+'You know very well what work I mean. A fine specimen of a man you are!
+Without the courage yourself to prevent my sending that telegram, you
+induced your dupe to come down to my state-room and brazenly keep me from
+sending it.'
+
+The blank look of utter astonishment upon the face of honest John Kenyon
+would have convinced any woman in her senses that he knew nothing at all
+of what she was speaking. A dim impression of this, indeed, flashed
+across the young woman's heated brain. But before she could speak,
+Fleming said:
+
+'Tut, tut, my dear girl! you are talking too loud altogether. Do you want
+to attract the attention of everybody on the deck? You mustn't make a
+scandal in this way on board ship.'
+
+'Scandal!' she cried. 'We will soon see whether there will be a scandal
+or not. Attract the attention of those on deck! That is exactly what I am
+going to do, until I show up the villainy of this man you are talking to.
+He was the concocter of it, and he knows it. She never had brains enough
+to think of it. He was too much of a coward to carry it through himself,
+and so he set her to do his dastardly piece of work.'
+
+'Well, well,' said Fleming, 'even if he has done all that, whatever it
+is, it will do no good to attract attention to it here on deck. See how
+everybody is listening to what you are saying. My dear girl, you are too
+angry to talk just now; the best thing you can do is to go down to your
+state-room.'
+
+'Who asked you to interfere?' she cried, turning furiously upon him.
+'I'll thank you to mind your own business, and let me attend to mine. I
+should have thought that you would have found out before this that I am
+capable of attending to my own affairs.'
+
+'Certainly, certainly, my dear child,' answered the politician
+soothingly; 'I'm sorry I can't get you all to come and have a drink with
+me, and talk this matter over quietly. That's the correct way to do
+things, not to stand here scolding on the deck, with everybody listening.
+Now, if you will quietly discuss the matter with John here, I'm sure
+everything will be all right.'
+
+'You don't know what you are talking about,' replied the young lady. 'Do
+you know that I had an important despatch to send to the _Argus_, and
+that this man's friend, doubtless at his instigation, came into my room
+and practically held me prisoner there until the boat had left, so that I
+could not send the despatch? Think of the cheek and villainy of that, and
+then speak to me of talking wildly!'
+
+An expression of amazement upon Kenyon's face convinced the newspaper
+woman, more than all his protestations would have done, that he knew
+nothing whatever of the escapade.
+
+'And who kept you from coming out?' asked Fleming.
+
+'It is none of your business,' she replied tartly.
+
+'If you will believe me,' said Kenyon at last, 'I had absolutely no
+knowledge of all this; so, you see, there is no use speaking to me about
+it. I won't pretend I am sorry, because I am not.'
+
+This added fuel to the flames, and she was about to blaze out again, when
+Kenyon, turning on his heel, left her and Fleming standing facing each
+other. Then the young woman herself turned and quickly departed, leaving
+the bewildered politician entirely alone, so that there was nothing for
+him to do but to go into the smoking-room and ask somebody else to drink
+with him, which he promptly did.
+
+Miss Brewster made her way to the captain's room and rapped at the door.
+On being told to enter, she found that officer seated at his table with
+some charts before him, and a haggard look upon his face, which might
+have warned her that this was not the proper time to air any personal
+grievances.
+
+'Well?' he said briefly as she entered.
+
+'I came to see you, captain,' she began, 'because an outrageous thing has
+been done on board this ship, and I desire reparation. What is more, I
+will have it!
+
+'What is the "outrageous thing"?' asked the captain.
+
+'I had some despatches to send to New York, to the _New York Argus_, on
+whose staff I am.'
+
+'Yes,' said the captain with interest; 'despatches relating to what has
+happened to the ship?'
+
+'One of them did, the other did not.'
+
+'Well, I hope,' said the captain, 'you have not given an exaggerated
+account of the condition we are in.'
+
+'I have given no account at all, simply because I was prevented from
+sending the cablegrams.'
+
+'Ah, indeed,' said the captain, a look of relief coming over his face, in
+spite of his efforts to conceal it; 'and pray what prevented you from
+sending your cablegrams? The mate would have taken any messages that were
+given to him.'
+
+'I know that,' cried the young woman; 'but when I was in my room writing
+the last of the despatches, a person who is on board as a passenger
+here--Miss Longworth--came into my room and held me prisoner there until
+the boat had left the ship.'
+
+The captain arched his eyebrows in surprise.
+
+'My dear madam,' he said, 'you make a very serious charge. Miss Longworth
+has crossed several times with me, and I am bound to say that a
+better-behaved young lady I never had on board my ship.'
+
+'Extremely well behaved she is!' cried the correspondent angrily, 'she
+stood against my door and prevented me from going out. I screamed for
+help, but my screams were drowned in the cheers of the passengers when
+the boat left.'
+
+'Why did you not ring your bell?'
+
+'I couldn't ring my bell because she prevented me. Besides, if I had
+reached the bell, it is not likely anybody would have answered it;
+everybody seemed to be bawling after the boat that was leaving.'
+
+'You can hardly blame them for that. A great deal depends on the safety
+of that boat. In fact, if you come to think about it, you will see that
+whatever grievance you may have, it is, after all, a very trivial one
+compared with the burden that weighs on me just now, and I should much
+prefer not to have anything to do with disputes between the passengers
+until we are out of our present predicament.'
+
+'The predicament has nothing whatever to do with it. I tell you a fact.
+I tell you that one of your passengers came and imprisoned me in my
+state-room. I come to you for redress. Now, there must be some law on
+shipboard that takes the place of ordinary law on land. I make this
+demand officially to you. If you decline to hear me, and refuse to
+redress my wrong, then I have public opinion, to which I can appeal
+through my paper, and perhaps there will also be a chance of obtaining
+justice through the law of the land to which I am going.'
+
+'My dear madam,' said the captain calmly, 'you must not use threats to
+me. I am not accustomed to be addressed in the tone you have taken upon
+yourself to use. Now tell me what it is you wish me to do?'
+
+'It is for you to say what you will do. I am a passenger on board this
+ship, and am supposed to be under the protection of its captain. I
+therefore tell you I have been forcibly detained in my state-room, and I
+demand that the person who did this shall be punished.'
+
+'You say that Miss Longworth is the person who did this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+'Now, do you know you make a serious charge against that young lady--a
+charge that I find it remarkably difficult to believe? May I ask you what
+reason she had for doing what you say she has done?'
+
+'That is a long story. I am quite prepared to show that she tried to
+bribe me not to send a despatch, and, finding herself unsuccessful, she
+forcibly detained me in my room until too late to send the telegram.'
+
+The captain pondered over what had been said to him.
+
+'Have you any proof of this charge?'
+
+'Proof! What do you mean? Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I mean exactly what I say. Have you anybody to prove the exceedingly
+serious charge you bring?'
+
+'Certainly not. I have no proof. If there had been a witness there, the
+thing would not have happened. If I could have summoned help, it would
+not have happened. How could I have any proof of such an outrage?'
+
+'Well, do you not see that it is impossible for me to take action on your
+unsupported word? Do you not see that, if you take further steps in this
+extraordinary affair, Miss Longworth will ask you for proof of what you
+state? If she denies acting as you say she did, and you fail to prove
+your allegation, it seems to me that you will be in rather a difficult
+position. You would be liable to a suit for slander. Just think the
+matter over calmly for the rest of the day before you take any further
+action upon it, and I would strongly advise you not to mention this to
+anyone on board. Then to-morrow, if you are still in the same frame of
+mind, come to me.'
+
+Thus dismissed, the young woman left the captain's room, and met Fleming
+just outside, who said:
+
+'Look here, Miss Brewster, I want to have a word with you. You were very
+curt with me just now.'
+
+'Mr. Fleming, I do not wish to speak to you.'
+
+'Oh, that's all right--that's all right; but let me tell you this: you're
+a pretty smart young woman, and you have done me one or two very evil
+turns in your life. I have found out all about this affair, and it's one
+of the funniest things I ever heard of.'
+
+'Very funny, isn't it?' snapped the young woman.
+
+'Of course it's very funny; but when it appears in full in the opposition
+papers to the _Argus_, perhaps you won't see the humour of it--though
+everybody else in New York will, that's one consolation.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean to say, Jennie Brewster, that unless you are a fool, you will
+drop this thing. Don't, for Heaven's sake, let anybody know you were
+treated by an English girl in the way you were. Take my advice: say no
+more about it.'
+
+'And what business is it of yours?'
+
+'It isn't mine at all; that is why I am meddling with it. Aren't you well
+enough acquainted with me to know that nothing in the world pleases me so
+much as to interfere in other people's business? I have found out all
+about the girl who kept you in, and a mighty plucky action it was too. I
+have seen that girl on the deck, and I like the cut of her jib. I like
+the way she walks. Her independence suits me. She is a girl who wouldn't
+give a man any trouble, now, I tell you, if he were lucky enough to win
+her. And I am not going to see that girl put to any trouble by you,
+understand that!'
+
+'And how are you going to prevent it, may I ask?'
+
+'May you ask? Why, of course you may. I will tell you how I am going
+to prevent it. Simply by restraining you from doing another thing in
+the matter.'
+
+'If you think you can do that, you are very much mistaken. I am going to
+have that girl put in prison, if there is a law in the land.'
+
+'Well, in the first place, we are not on land; and, in the second place,
+you are going to do nothing of the kind, because, if you do, I shall go
+to the London correspondents of the other New York papers and give the
+whole blessed snap away. I'll tell them how the smart and cute Miss Dolly
+Dimple, who has bamboozled so many persons in her life, was once caught
+in her own trap; and I shall inform them how it took place. And they'll
+be glad to get it, you bet! It will make quite interesting reading in the
+New York opposition papers some fine Sunday morning--about a column and a
+half, say. Won't there be some swearing in the _Argus_ when that appears!
+It won't be your losing the despatch you were going to send, but it will
+be your utter idiocy in making the thing public, and letting the other
+papers on to it. Why, the best thing in the world for you to do, and the
+_only_ thing, is to keep as quiet as possible about it. I am astonished
+at a girl of your sense, Dolly, making a public fuss like this, when you
+should be the very one trying to keep it secret.'
+
+The newspaper correspondent pondered on these words.
+
+'And if I keep quiet about it, will you do the same?'
+
+'Certainly; but you must remember that if ever you attempt any of your
+tricks of interviewing on me again, out comes this whole thing. Don't
+forget that.'
+
+'I won't,' said Miss Jennie Brewster.
+
+And next morning, when the captain was anxiously awaiting her arrival in
+his room, she did not appear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+After all, it must be admitted that George Wentworth was a man of
+somewhat changeable character. For the last two or three days he had been
+moping like one who meditated suicide; now when everyone else was
+anxiously wondering what was going to happen to the ship, he suddenly
+became the brightest individual on board. For a man to be moody and
+distraught while danger was impending was not at all surprising; but for
+a man, right in the midst of gloom, to blossom suddenly out into a
+general hilarity of manner, was something extraordinary. People thought
+it must be a case of brain trouble. They watched the young man with
+interest as he walked with a springy step up and down the deck. Every now
+and again a bright smile illuminated his face, and then he seemed to be
+ashamed that people should notice he was feeling so happy. When he was
+alone he had a habit of smiting his thigh and bursting out into a laugh
+that was long and low, rather than loud and boisterous. No one was more
+astonished at this change than Fleming, the politician. George met him on
+deck, and, to the great surprise of that worthy gentleman, smote him on
+the back and said:
+
+'My dear sir, I am afraid the other day, when you spoke to me, I answered
+a little gruffly. I beg to apologize. Come and have a drink with me.'
+
+'Oh, don't mention it,' said Fleming joyously; 'we all of us have our
+little down-turns now and then. Why, I have them myself, when liquor is
+bad or scarce! You mightn't believe it, but some days I feel away down in
+the mouth. It is true I have a recipe for getting up again, which I
+always use. And that reminds me: do you remember what the Governor of
+North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know,' said Wentworth; 'you see, I'm not very well
+versed in United States politics.'
+
+'Well, there wasn't much politics about his remark. He merely said,
+"It's a long time between drinks;" come in and have something with me.
+It seems to me you haven't tasted anything in my company since the
+voyage began.'
+
+'I believe,' said Wentworth, 'that is a true statement. Let us amend it
+as soon as possible, only in this case let me pay for the drinks. I
+invited you to drink with me.'
+
+'Not at all, not at all!' cried Fleming; 'not while I'm here. This is my
+treat, and it is funny to think that a man should spend a week with
+another man without knowing him. Really, you see, I haven't known you
+till now.'
+
+And so the two worthy gentlemen disappeared into the smoking-room and
+rang the electric bell.
+
+But it was in his own state-room that George Wentworth's jocularity came
+out at its best. He would grasp John Kenyon by the shoulder and shake
+that solemn man, over whose face a grim smile generally appeared when he
+noticed the exuberant jollity of his comrade.
+
+'John,' Wentworth cried, 'why don't you laugh?'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' replied his comrade, 'that you are doing laughing
+enough for us both. It is necessary to have one member of the firm solid
+and substantial. I'm trying to keep the average about right. When you
+were in the dumps I had to be cheerful for two. Now that you feel so
+lively, I take a refuge in melancholy, to rest me after my hard efforts
+at cheerfulness.'
+
+'Well, John, it seems to me too good to be true. What a plucky girl she
+was to do such a thing! How did she know but that the little vixen had a
+revolver with her, and might have shot her?'
+
+'I suppose she didn't think about it at all.'
+
+'Have you seen her since that dramatic incident?'
+
+'Seen whom? Miss Brewster?'
+
+'No, no; I mean Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, she hasn't appeared yet. I suppose she fears there will be a scene,
+and she is anxious to avoid it.'
+
+'Very likely that is the case,' said Wentworth. 'Well, if you do see her,
+you can tell her there is no danger. Our genial friend, Fleming, has had
+a talk with that newspaper woman, so he tells me, and the way he
+describes it is exceedingly picturesque. He has threatened her with
+giving away the "snap," as he calls it, to the other New York papers, and
+it seems that the only thing on earth Miss Brewster is afraid of is the
+opposition press. So she has promised to say nothing more whatever about
+the incident.'
+
+'Then, you have been talking with Fleming?'
+
+'Certainly I have; a jovial good fellow he is, too. I have been doing
+something more than talking with him; I have been drinking with him.'
+
+'And yet a day or two ago, I understand, you threatened to strike him.'
+
+'A day or two ago, John! It was ages and ages ago. A day or two isn't in
+it. That was years and centuries since, as it appears to me. I was an old
+man then; now I have become young again, and all on account of the plucky
+action of that angel of a girl of yours.'
+
+'Not of mine,' said Kenyon seriously; 'I wish she were.'
+
+'Well, cheer up. Everything will come out right; you see, it always does.
+Nothing looked blacker than this matter about the telegram a few days
+ago, and see how beautifully it has turned out.'
+
+Kenyon said nothing. He did not desire to discuss the matter even with
+his best friend. The two went up on deck together, and took a few turns
+along the promenade, during which promenade the eyes of Kenyon were
+directed to the occupants of the deckchairs, but he did not see the
+person whom he sought. Telling Wentworth he was going below for a moment,
+he left him to continue his walk alone, and on reaching the saloon Kenyon
+spoke to a stewardess.
+
+'Do you know if Miss Longworth is in her stateroom?'
+
+'Yes, sir, I think she is,' was the answer.
+
+'Will you take this note to her?'
+
+John sat down to wait for an answer. The answer did not come by the hand
+of the stewardess. Edith herself timorously glanced into the saloon, and,
+seeing Kenyon alone, ventured in. He sprang up to meet her.
+
+'I was afraid,' he said, 'that you had been ill.'
+
+'No, not quite, but almost,' she answered. 'Oh, Mr. Kenyon, I have done
+the most terrible thing! You could not imagine that I was so bold and
+wicked;' and tears gathered in the eyes of the girl.
+
+Kenyon stretched out his hand to her, and she took it.
+
+'I am afraid to stay here with you,' she said, 'for fear----'
+
+'Oh, I know all about it,' said Kenyon.
+
+'You cannot know about it; you surely do not know what I have done?'
+
+'Yes, I know exactly what you've done; and we all very much admire your
+pluck.'
+
+'It hasn't, surely, been the talk of the ship?'
+
+'No, it has not; but Miss Brewster charged me with being an accomplice.'
+
+'And you told her you were not, of course?'
+
+'I couldn't tell her anything, for the simple reason that I hadn't the
+faintest idea what she was talking about; but that's how I came to know
+what had happened, and I am here to thank you, Miss Longworth, for your
+action. I really believe you have saved the sanity of my friend
+Wentworth. He is a different man since the incident we are speaking of
+occurred.'
+
+'And have you seen Miss Brewster since?'
+
+'Oh yes; as I was telling you, she met me on the deck. Dear me! how
+thoughtless of me! I had forgotten you were standing. Won't you sit
+down?'
+
+'No, no; I have been in my room so long that I am glad to stand
+anywhere.'
+
+'Then, won't you come up on deck with me?'
+
+'Oh, I'm afraid,' she said. 'I am afraid of a public scene; and I am
+sure, by the last look I caught in that girl's eyes, she will stop at no
+scandal to have her revenge. I am sorry to say that I am too much of a
+coward to meet her. Of course, from her point of view I have done her
+eternal wrong. Perhaps it was wrong from anybody's point of view.'
+
+'Miss Longworth,' said John Kenyon cordially, 'you need have no fear
+whatever of meeting her. She will say nothing.'
+
+'How do you know that?'
+
+'Oh, it is a long story. She went to the captain with her complaint, and
+received very little comfort there. I will tell you all about it on deck.
+Get a wrap and come with me.'
+
+As Kenyon gave this peremptory order, he realized that he was taking a
+liberty he had no right to take, and his face flushed as he wondered if
+Edith would resent the familiarity of his tones; but she merely looked up
+at him with a bright smile, and said:
+
+'I will do, sir, as you command.'
+
+'No, no,' said Kenyon; 'it was not a command, although it sounded like
+one. It was a very humble request; at least, I intended it to be such.'
+
+'Well, I will get my wrap.'
+
+As she left for her state-room, a rousing cheer was heard from on deck.
+She stopped, and looked at Kenyon.
+
+'What does that mean?' she asked.
+
+'I do not know,' was the answer. 'Please get your things on and we will
+go up and see.'
+
+When they reached the deck they saw everybody at the forward part of the
+ship. Just becoming visible in the eastern horizon were three trails of
+black smoke, apparently coming towards them.
+
+The word was whispered from one to the other: 'It is the tug-boats. It
+is relief.'
+
+Few people on board the steamer knew that their very existence depended
+entirely on the good weather. The incessant pumping showed everybody, who
+gave a thought to the matter, that the leak had been serious; but as the
+subsidence of the vessel was imperceptible to all save experts, no one
+but the officers really knew the grave danger they were in. Glad as the
+passengers were to see those three boats approach, the one who most
+rejoiced was the one who knew everything respecting the disaster and its
+effects--the captain.
+
+Edith Longworth and John Kenyon paced the deck together, and did not form
+two of the crowd who could not tear themselves away from the front of
+the ship, watching the gradually approaching tug boats. Purposely, John
+Kenyon brought the girl who was with him past Miss Jennie Brewster, and
+although that person glared with a good deal of anger at Edith, who
+blushed to her temples with fear and confusion, yet nothing was said; and
+Kenyon knew that afterwards his companion would feel easier in her mind
+about meeting the woman with whom she had had such a stormy five minutes.
+The tug boats speedily took the big steamer in tow, and slowly the four
+of them made progress towards Queenstown, it having been resolved to land
+all the passengers there, and to tow the disabled vessel to Liverpool, if
+an examination of the hull showed such a course to be a safe one. The
+passengers bade each other good-bye after they left the tender, and many
+that were on board that ship never saw each other again. One at least,
+had few regrets and no good-byes to make, but a surprise was in store for
+her. Jennie Brewster found a cablegram from New York waiting for her. It
+said 'Cable nothing respecting mines. Letter follows.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+London again! Muddy, drizzly, foggy London, London, with its well filled
+omnibuses tearing along the streets, more dangerous than the chariots of
+Rome, London, with its bustling thoroughfares, with its traffic blocked
+at the corners by the raised white gloved hand of the policeman, London,
+with the four wheeled growler piled high with luggage, and the dashing
+hansom whirling along, missing the wheels of other vehicles by half an
+inch, while its occupant sits serenely smoking, or motioning his
+directions to his cabman with an umbrella; London, with its constantly
+moving procession of every sort of wheeled carriage, from the four-horsed
+coach to the coster barrow. London, London, London, London! the name
+seemed to ring in John Kenyon's ears as he walked briskly along the
+crowded pavement towards the City. The roar of its busy streets was the
+sweetest music in the world to him, as it is to every man who has once
+acquired the taste for London. Drink of the fountain of Trevi, and you
+will return to Rome. Drink of the roar and the bustle of London, and no
+other metropolis in the world, can ever satisfy the city-hunger in you
+again. London is London, and John Kenyon loved its very disadvantages as
+he strode along the streets.
+
+He called at the office of George Wentworth, took that young man with
+him, and together they went to the place where the adjourned meeting of
+the London Syndicate was to be held. There were questions to be asked of
+the two young men, and the directors couldn't quite see why the reports
+had been so suddenly precipitated upon them, before the arrival of the
+experts they had sent out. So they had merely read the documents at the
+former meeting and adjourned until such time as the two young men could
+appear in person. Most of the directors were there, but, though Kenyon
+looked anxiously among them, he did not see the face of old Mr.
+Longworth. Questions were asked Kenyon about the position of the mines,
+about their output, and such other particulars as the directors wished
+to know. Then Wentworth underwent a similar examination. He pointed out
+the discrepancies which he had found in the accounts. He showed that
+there was an evident desire on the part of the owners of the different
+mines to make it appear that the properties paid better than they
+actually did, and he answered in a clear and satisfactory way all the
+questions asked him. The chairman thanked the young men for the evident
+care with which they had done their work, and the meeting then went into
+a private session to consider what action should be taken respecting the
+mines. When the two friends got out of the building, Kenyon said:
+
+'Well, thank goodness that is over and done with. Now, George, what have
+you to suggest with reference to the mica-mine?'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'we had better adjourn to my office and have a
+talk over the matter quietly there. Let us go into private session as the
+directors have done. I feel rich after having got my cheque, and the vote
+of thanks from the chairman; so I will spend a shilling on a hansom and
+get there with speed and comfort. Actually, since I have got back to
+London, I am spending all my surplus cash on hansoms. They are certainly
+the best and cheapest vehicles in the world. Think of what that pirate
+charged us for a ride from the hotel to the steamer in New York.'
+
+'I don't like to think of it,' said Kenyon; 'it makes me shudder!'
+
+'Do you know, John, I should not be inconsolable if I never saw the great
+city of New York again. London is good enough for me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't know! New York is all right. I confess there are one or two
+of her citizens that I do not care much about.'
+
+'Ah,' said Wentworth; then, after a few moments' reflection, he remarked
+suddenly, apropos of nothing: 'Do you know, John, I was very nearly in
+love with that girl?'
+
+'I thought you were drifting in that direction.'
+
+'Drifting! It wasn't drifting. It was a mad plunge down the rapids, and
+it is only lately I have begun to think what a close shave I had of it.
+The horror of those days, when I thought that despatch was going to New
+York, completely obliterated any other feeling in regard to her. If I had
+found she was a hopeless flirt, or something of that kind, who was
+trifling with me, I should have been very much shocked, of course, but I
+should have thought about my own feelings. Now, the curious thing is that
+I never began to think about them till I got to London.'
+
+'Very well, Wentworth; I wouldn't think about them now, if I were you.'
+
+'No, I don't intend to, particularly. The fact that I talk over them with
+you shows that the impression was not very deep.'
+
+Wentworth drew a long breath that might have been mistaken for a sigh, if
+he had not just before explained how completely free he was from the
+thraldom in which Miss Brewster at one time held him.
+
+'Still, she was a very pretty girl, John. You can't deny that.'
+
+'I have no wish to deny it. I simply don't want to think about her at
+all.'
+
+'No, and we don't need to, thank goodness. But she _was_ very bright and
+clever. Of course you didn't know her as I did. I never before met
+anyone who--Well, that's all past and done with. I told her all about our
+mica-mine, and she gave me much sage advice.'
+
+Kenyon smiled, but held his peace.
+
+'Oh yes, I know what you are thinking of. I spoke of other mines as well;
+still, that was my folly, and not her fault exactly. She imagined she was
+doing right, and after all, you know, I think we sometimes don't make
+enough allowance for another's point of view.'
+
+Kenyon laughed outright.
+
+'It seems to me you are actually defending her. My remembrance is that
+you didn't make much allowance for her point of view when your own point
+was that coil of rope in the front of the ship--those days when you
+wouldn't speak even to me.'
+
+'I admit it, John. No, I'm not defending her. I have succeeded in
+putting her entirely out of my mind--with an effort. How about your own
+case, John?'
+
+'My own case! What do you mean?'
+
+'You know very well what I mean.'
+
+'I suppose I do forgive the little bit of affectation, will you? but a
+man gets somewhat nervous when such a question is sprung upon him. My own
+case is just where we left it at Queenstown.'
+
+'Haven't you seen her since?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Aren't you going to?'
+
+'I really do not know what I am going to do.'
+
+'John, that young woman has a decided personal interest in you.'
+
+'I wish I were sure of that, or, rather, I wish I were sure of it and
+in a position to--But what is the use of talking? I haven't a penny
+to my name.'
+
+'No; but if our mine goes through, you soon will have.'
+
+'Yes, but what will it amount to? I never can forget the lofty disdain
+with which a certain person spoke of fifty thousand pounds. It sends a
+cold chill over me whenever I think of it. Fifty thousand pounds to her
+seemed so trivial; to me it was something that might be obtained after
+the struggle of a lifetime.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let that discourage me too much if I were you; besides,
+you see--Oh! here we are. We'll talk about this some other time.'
+
+Having paid the cabman, the two young men went upstairs into Wentworth's
+room, where they closed the door, and John drew up a seat by the side of
+his friend.
+
+'Now, then,' said Wentworth, 'what have you done about the mine?'
+
+'I have done absolutely nothing. I have been waiting for this conference
+with you.'
+
+'Well, my boy, time is the great factor in anything of this sort.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose it is.'
+
+'You see, our option is running along; every day we lose is so much taken
+off our chances of success. Have you anything to propose?'
+
+'I'll tell you what I thought of doing. You know young Longworth spoke to
+me a good deal about the mine at one time. His cousin introduced me to
+him, and she seemed to think he might take some interest in forming the
+company. I was to have a talk with you, because Longworth gave it as his
+opinion that the amount should be put at two hundred thousand pounds
+rather than at fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle.
+
+'Yes, it seems a very large amount; but he claims that if it would pay
+ten per cent. on that sum--if we could show that there was a reasonable
+chance of its paying so much--we could put it at two hundred thousand.'
+
+'Well, that looks reasonable. What else did he say?'
+
+'He did not say very much more about it, because I told him I should have
+to consult you.'
+
+'And why didn't you? On board ship there was one of the best
+opportunities we could have had of having a talk with him. In fact, the
+whole matter might perhaps have been arranged there.'
+
+'Oh, well, you know, I couldn't talk to you about it, because a certain
+circumstance arose, and you spent your time very much in the forward
+part of the steamer, sitting on a coil of rope and cursing the universe
+generally and yourself in particular'.
+
+'Ah, yes, I remember, of course--yes. Very well, then, you have not seen
+young Longworth since, have you?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Wouldn't the old gentleman go in for it?'
+
+'His daughter seemed to think he would not, because the amount was
+too small.'
+
+'Why couldn't he be got to go into it entirely by himself? If we put the
+price up to one hundred thousand pounds or two hundred thousand pounds,
+that ought to be large enough for him, if he were playing a lone hand.'
+
+'Well, you see, I don't suppose they thought of going in for it at that,
+except as a matter of speculation. Of course, if they intended to buy
+some shares, it is not likely they would propose to raise the price from
+fifty thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds. Young Longworth
+spoke of dividing the profit. He claimed that whatever we made on fifty
+thousand pounds would be too small to be divided into three. I told him,
+of course, that you were my partner in this, and that is why he proposed
+the price should be made two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I suppose he seemed indifferent on the question whether it should pay a
+dividend on that amount of money or not?'
+
+'He didn't mention that particularly--at least, he did not dwell upon it.
+He asked if it would pay a dividend on two hundred thousand, and I told
+him I thought it would pay ten per cent. if rightly managed; then he said
+of course that was its price, and we should be great fools to float it at
+fifty thousand pounds when it was really worth two hundred thousand.'
+
+Wentworth pondered for a few minutes on this, tapping his pencil on the
+desk and knitting his brow.
+
+'It seems an awful jump, from fifty thousand pounds to two hundred
+thousand pounds, doesn't it, John?'
+
+'Yes, it does; it has a certain look of swindling about it. But what a
+glorious thing it would be if it could be done, and if it would pay the
+right percentage when we got the scheme working!'
+
+'Of course I wouldn't be connected, nor you either, with anything that
+was bogus.'
+
+'Certainly not. I wouldn't think for a moment of inflating it if I were
+not positive the property would stand it. I have been making, and have
+here in my pocket, an elaborate array of figures which will show
+approximately what the mine will yield, and I am quite convinced that it
+will pay at least ten per cent., and possible twelve or fifteen.'
+
+'Well, nobody wants a better percentage on their money. Have you the
+figures with you?'
+
+'Yes, here they are.'
+
+'Very well, you had better leave them with me, and I will go over them as
+critically as if they were the figures of somebody I was deeply
+suspicious of, I hope they will hold water; but if they do not, I will
+point out to you where the discrepancies are.'
+
+'But, you see, George, it is more a question of facts than of figures. I
+believe the whole mountain is made of the mineral which is so valuable,
+but I take only about an eighth of it as being possible to get out, which
+seems to me a very moderate estimate.'
+
+'Yes, but how much demand is there for it? That is the real question. The
+thing may be valuable enough, but if there is only a limited demand--that
+is to say, if we have ten times the material that the world needs--the
+other nine parts are comparatively valueless.'
+
+'That is true.'
+
+'Do you know how many establishments there are in the world that use
+this mineral?'
+
+'There are a great many in England, and also in the United States.'
+
+'And how about the duty on it in the United States?'
+
+'Ah, that I do not know.'
+
+'Well, we must find that out. Just write down here what it is used for;
+then I shall try to get some information about the factories that require
+it, and also what quantities they need in a year. We shall have to get
+all these facts and figures to lay before the people who are going to
+invest, because, as I understand it, the great point we make is not on
+the mica, but on the other mineral.'
+
+'Exactly.'
+
+'Very well, then, you leave me what you know already about it, and I will
+try to supplement your information. In fact, we shall have to supplement
+it, before we can go before anybody with it. Now, I advise you to see the
+Longworths--both old and young Longworth--and you may find that talking
+with them in the City of London is very different from talking with them
+on the _Caloric_. By the way, I wonder why Longworth was not at the
+directors' meeting to-day.'
+
+'I do not know. I noticed he was absent.'
+
+'He very likely intends to have nothing more to do with the other mines,
+and so there may be a possibility of his investing in ours. Do you know
+his address?'
+
+'Yes, I have it with me.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would jump into a hansom and go there at once.
+Meanwhile, I will try to get your figures into shipshape order, and
+supplement them as far as it is possible to do so. This is going to be no
+easy matter, John. There are a great many properties now being offered
+to the public--the papers are full of them--and each of them appears to
+be the most money-making scheme in existence; so if we are going to float
+this mine without knowing any particular capitalist, we have our work cut
+out for us.'
+
+'Then, you would be willing to put the price up to two hundred thousand
+pounds?'
+
+'Yes, if you say the mine will stand it. That we can tell better after
+we have gone over the figures together. We ought to be sure of our
+facts first.'
+
+'Very well. Good-bye; I will go and see Mr. Longworth.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+John Kenyon did not take a cab. He walked so that he might have time to
+think. He wanted to arrange in his mind just what he would say to Mr.
+Longworth, so he pondered over the coming interview as he walked through
+the busy streets of the City.
+
+He had not yet settled things satisfactorily to himself when he came to
+the door leading to Mr. Longworth's offices.
+
+'After all,' he said to himself, as he paused there, 'Mr. Longworth has
+never said anything to me about the mica-mine; and, from what his
+daughter thought, it is not likely that he will care to interest himself
+in it. It was the young man who spoke about it.'
+
+He felt that it was really the young man on whom he should call, but he
+was rather afraid of meeting him. The little he had seen of William
+Longworth on board the _Caloric_ had not given him a very high opinion of
+that gentleman, and he wondered if it would not have been better to have
+told Wentworth that nothing was to be expected from the Longworths.
+However, he resolved not to shirk the interview, so passed up the steps
+and into the outer office. He found the establishment much larger than he
+had expected. At numerous desks there were numerous clerks writing away
+for dear life. He approached the inquiry counter, and a man came forward
+to hear what he had to say.
+
+'Is Mr. Longworth in?'
+
+'Yes, sir. Which Mr. Longworth do you want--the young gentleman or Mr.
+John Longworth?'
+
+'I wish to see the senior member of the firm.'
+
+'Ah! have you an appointment with him?'
+
+'No, I have not; but perhaps if you will take this card to him, and if he
+is not busy, he may see me.'
+
+'He is always very busy, sir.'
+
+'Well, take the card to him; and if he doesn't happen to remember the
+name, tell him I met him on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'Very good, sir.' And with that the clerk disappeared, leaving Kenyon to
+ponder over in his mind the still unsettled question of what he should
+say to Mr. Longworth if he were ushered into his presence. As he stood
+there waiting, with the host of men busily and silently working around
+him, amid the general air of important affairs pervading the place, he
+made up his mind that Mr. Longworth would not see him, and so was rather
+surprised when the clerk came back without the card, and said, 'Will you
+please step this way, sir?'
+
+Passing through a pair of swinging doors, his conductor tapped lightly at
+a closed one, and then opened it.
+
+'Mr. Kenyon, sir,' he said respectfully, and then closed the door behind
+him, leaving John Kenyon standing in a large room somewhat handsomely
+furnished, with two desks near the window. From an inner room came the
+muffled click, click, click of a type-writer. Seated at one of the desks
+was young Longworth, who did not look round as Kenyon was announced. The
+elder gentleman, however, arose, and cordially held out his hand.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' he said. 'I am very pleased to meet you again.
+The terror of our situation on board that ship does not seem to have left
+an indelible mark upon you. You are looking well.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'I am very glad to be back in London again.'
+
+'Ah, I imagine we all like to get back. By the way, it was a much more
+serious affair than we thought at the time on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'So I see by the papers.'
+
+'How is your friend? He seemed to take it very badly.'
+
+'Take what badly?' asked John in astonishment.
+
+'Well, he appeared to me, at the time of the accident, to feel very
+despondent about our situation.'
+
+'Oh yes, I remember now. Yes, he did feel a little depressed at the time;
+but it was not on account of the accident. It was another matter
+altogether, which, happily, turned out all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, have you made your report to the
+directors yet?'
+
+'Yes; we were at a meeting of the directors to-day.'
+
+'Ah, I could not manage to be there. To tell the truth, I have made up my
+mind to do nothing with those Ottawa mines. You do not know what action
+the Board took in the matter, do you?'
+
+'No, they merely received our report; in fact, they had had the report
+before, but there were some questions they desired to ask us, which we
+answered apparently to their satisfaction.'
+
+'Who were there? Sir Ropes McKenna was in the chair, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, sir, he was there.'
+
+'Ah, so I thought. Well, my opinion of him is that he is merely a
+guinea-pig--you know what that is? I have made up my mind to have nothing
+more to do with the venture, at any rate. And so they were pleased with
+your report, were they?'
+
+'They appeared to be. They passed us a vote of thanks, and one or two
+of the gentlemen spoke in rather a complimentary manner of what we had
+done.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, William, you know Mr. Kenyon, do you
+not?'
+
+The young man looked round with an abstracted air, and gazed past, rather
+than at, John Kenyon.
+
+'Kenyon, Kenyon,' he said to himself, as if trying to recollect a name
+that he had once heard somewhere. 'I really don't----'
+
+'Tut, tut!' said the old man, 'you remember Mr. Kenyon on board the
+_Caloric_?'
+
+'Oh, ah, yes; certainly--oh, certainly. How do you do, Mr. Kenyon? I had
+forgotten for the moment. I thought I had met you in the City somewhere.
+Feeling first-rate after your trip, I hope.' And young Mr. Longworth
+fixed his one eyeglass in its place and flashed its glitter on Kenyon.
+
+'I am very well, thanks.'
+
+'That's right. Let me see, your business with the London Syndicate is
+concluded now, is it not?'
+
+'Yes, it is done with.'
+
+'Ah, and what are you doing? Have you anything else on hand?'
+
+'Well, that is what I wish to see you about.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes; I--you remember, perhaps, we had some talk about a mica-mine near
+the Ottawa River?'
+
+'On my soul, I don't. You see, the voyage rather--that was on board ship,
+I suppose?'
+
+'Yes,' said John, crossing over to the young man's desk and taking a
+chair beside him. The old gentleman now turned to his own papers, and
+left the two young men to talk together.
+
+'Do you mean to say you don't remember a talk we had on deck once about a
+mica-mine?'
+
+Young Longworth looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he could
+not quite make out what he was talking about.
+
+'I remember,' he said, 'your telling me that you had been sent over by
+the London Syndicate to see after certain mines there; but I don't
+remember anything being said in reference to them.'
+
+'It was not in reference to them at all; it was in reference to another
+mine, of which I have secured the option. You will, perhaps, recollect
+that your cousin introduced me to you. You seemed to think at the time
+that the price at which we were going to offer the mine was too low.'
+
+'By Jove, yes! now I do recollect something about it, when you mention
+that. Let me see, how much was it? A million, was it not?'
+
+'No, no' said Kenyon, mopping his brow. He did not at all like the turn
+the conversation had taken. 'Not a million, nor anything like that
+amount.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. You see, my uncle and myself rarely touch
+anything that is not worth while; and anything under a million would be
+hardly worth bothering with, don't you know.'
+
+'I don't think so; it seems to me that something below a million would be
+worth spending a little time on; at least, it would be worth _my_ while.'
+
+'That may be very true; but, you see, my uncle takes large interests only
+in large businesses.'
+
+'If you remember, Mr. Longworth, your uncle was not mentioned in
+connection with this at all. Your cousin seemed to think you might take
+some interest in it yourself. You told me, when I said the price at which
+we wished to offer the mine was fifty thousand pounds, that the sum was
+altogether too small; at least, it left too little margin to divide
+amongst three.'
+
+'Well, I think I was perfectly correct in that.'
+
+'And you further said that, if we increased the capital to two hundred
+thousand pounds, you would take a share in it with us.'
+
+'Did I say that?'
+
+'Yes. It rested with my partner then. I said I would speak to him about
+it, and, if he were willing, I should be. Circumstances occurred which
+made it impossible for me to go into details with him on board the ship;
+but I have spoken to him to-day at his own office, and he is quite
+willing to offer the mine at two hundred thousand pounds, provided the
+figures which I have given him show that it will pay a handsome dividend
+on that sum.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me that, if the mine is really worth two hundred
+thousand pounds, it is a pity to offer it at fifty thousand pounds.
+Doesn't it strike you that way?'
+
+'Yes, it does; so I called to see you with reference to it. I wanted to
+say that Wentworth will go carefully over the figures I have given him,
+and see if there is any mistake about them. If there is not, and if we
+find that the mine will bear inflation to two hundred thousand pounds, we
+shall be very glad of your aid in the matter, and will divide everything
+equally with you. That is to say, each of us will take a third.'
+
+'If I remember rightly, I asked you a question which you did not answer.
+I asked you how much you paid for the mine.'
+
+Kenyon was astonished at this peculiar kind of memory, that could forget
+a whole conversation, and yet remember accurately one detail of it.
+However, he replied:
+
+'Of course, at that time you had not said you would join us. I recognise
+that, if you are to be a partner, it is your right to know exactly what
+we pay for the mine. I may say that we have not paid for it, but have
+merely got an option on it at a certain price, and of course, if we can
+sell it for two hundred thousand pounds, we shall have a large amount to
+divide. Now, if you think you will go in with us, and do your best to
+make this project a success, I will tell you what our option is on the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Well, you see, I can hardly say that I will join you. It is really a
+very small matter. There ought not to be any difficulty in floating that
+mine on the London market, except that it is hardly worth one's while to
+take it up. Still, I should have to know exactly what you are to pay for
+the property before I went any further in the matter.'
+
+'Very well, then, I tell you in confidence, and only because I expect
+you to become a partner with us, that the amount the mine is offered to
+us for is twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+Young Longworth arched his eyeglass.
+
+'It cannot be worth very much if that is all they ask for it.'
+
+'The price they ask for it has really nothing at all to do with the value
+of the mine. They do not know the value of it. They are not working it,
+even now, so as to bring out all there is in it. They are mining for
+mica, and, as I told you, the mineral which they are throwing away is
+very much more valuable than all the mica they can get out of the mine.
+If it were worked rightly, the mica would pay all expenses, as well as a
+good dividend on fifty thousand pounds, while the other mineral would pay
+a large dividend on one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or even two
+hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I see. And you feel positive that there is enough of this mineral to
+hold out for some time?'
+
+'Oh, I am positive of that. There is a whole mountain of it.'
+
+'And do you get the mountain as well as the mine?'
+
+'We get three hundred acres of it, and I think there would be no
+difficulty in buying the rest.'
+
+'Well, that would seem to be a good speculation, and I am sure I hope you
+will succeed in forming your company. How much money are you prepared to
+spend in floating the mine?'
+
+'I have practically nothing at all. My asset, as it were, is the option I
+have on the mine.'
+
+'Then, how are you going to pay the preliminary fees, the advertising in
+the newspapers, the cost of counsel, and all that? These expenses will
+amount to something very heavy in the formation of a company. Of course
+you know that.'
+
+'Well, you see, I think that perhaps we can get two or three men to go
+into this and form our company quietly, without having any of those heavy
+expenses which are necessary in the forming of some companies.'
+
+'My dear sir, when you have been in this business a little longer, you
+will be very much wiser. That cannot be done--at least, I do not believe
+it can be done. I do not know of its having been done, and if you can do
+it, you are a very much cleverer man than I am. Companies are not formed
+for nothing in the City of London. You seem to have the vaguest possible
+notion about how this sort of thing is managed. I may tell you frankly I
+do not think I can go in with you; I have too much else on hand.'
+
+Although Kenyon expected this, he nevertheless felt a grim sense of
+defeat as the young man calmly said these words. Then he blurted out:
+
+'If you had no idea of going in with us, why have you asked me certain
+questions about the property which I would not have answered if I had not
+thought you were going to take an interest in it?'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the other blandly, 'you were at perfect liberty to
+answer those questions or not, as you chose. You chose to answer them,
+and you have no one to blame but yourself if you are sorry you have
+answered them. It really doesn't matter at all to me, as I shall forget
+all you have said in a day or two at furthest.'
+
+'Very well; I have nothing more to say except that what I have told you
+has been said in confidence.'
+
+'Oh, of course. I shall mention it to nobody.'
+
+'Then I wish you good-day.'
+
+Turning to the elder gentleman, he said:
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+The old man raised his eyes rather abstractedly from the paper he was
+reading, and then cordially shook hands with Kenyon.
+
+'If I can do anything,' he said, 'to help you in any matter you have on
+hand, I shall be very pleased to do it. I hope to see you succeed.
+Good-day, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+And with that the young man found himself again in the outer office, and
+shortly afterwards in the busy street, with a keen sense of frustration
+upon him. His first move in the direction of forming a company had been a
+disastrous failure; and thinking of this, he walked past the Mansion
+House and down Cheapside.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+John Kenyon walked along Cheapside feeling very much downhearted over his
+rebuff with Longworth. The pretended forgetfulness of the young man, of
+course, he took at its proper value. He, nevertheless, felt very sorry
+the interview had been so futile, and, instead of going back to Wentworth
+and telling him his experience, he thought it best to walk off a little
+of his disappointment first. He was somewhat startled when a man
+accosted him; and, glancing up, he saw standing there a tall footman,
+arrayed in a drab coat that came down to his heels.
+
+'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the footman, 'but Miss Longworth would
+like to speak to you.'
+
+'Miss Longworth!' cried Kenyon, in surprise; 'where is she?'
+
+'She is here in her carriage, sir.'
+
+The carriage had drawn up beside the pavement, and John Kenyon looked
+round in confusion to see that Miss Longworth was regarding him and the
+footman with an amused air. An elderly woman sat in the carriage opposite
+her, while a grave and dignified coachman, attired somewhat similarly to
+the footman, kept his place like a seated statue in front. John Kenyon
+took off his hat as he approached the young woman, whom he had not seen
+since the last day on the steamer.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' said Edith Longworth brightly, holding out her
+hand to the young man by her carriage. 'Will you not step in? I want to
+talk with you, and I am afraid the police will not allow us to block such
+a crowded thoroughfare as Cheapside.'
+
+As she said this, the nimble footman threw open the door of the carriage,
+while John, not knowing what to say, stepped inside and took his seat.
+
+'Holborn,' said the young woman to the coachman; then, turning to Kenyon,
+she continued: 'Will you not tell me where you are going, so that I may
+know where to set you down?'
+
+'To tell the truth,' said John, 'I do not think I was going anywhere.
+I am afraid I have not yet got over the delight of being back in
+London again, so I sometimes walk along the streets in rather a
+purposeless manner.'
+
+'Well, you did not seem delighted when I first caught sight of you. I
+thought you looked very dejected, and that gave me courage enough to ask
+you to come and talk with me. I said to myself, "There is something wrong
+with the mica-mine," and, with a woman's I curiosity, I wanted to know
+all about it. Now tell me.'
+
+'There is really very little to tell. We have hardly begun yet.
+Wentworth is to-day looking over the figures I gave him, and I have been
+making a beginning by seeing some people who I thought might be
+interested in the mine.'
+
+'And were they?'
+
+'No; they were not.'
+
+'Then, that was the reason you were looking so distressed.'
+
+'I suppose it was.'
+
+'Well, now, Mr. Kenyon, if you get discouraged after an interview with
+the first person you think will be interested in the mine, what will you
+do when a dozen or more people refuse to have anything to do with it?'
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. I am afraid I am not the right person to float
+a mine on the London market. I am really a student, you see, and flatter
+myself I am a man of science. I know what I am about when I am in a
+mine, miles away from civilization; but when I get among men, I feel
+somehow at a loss. I do not understand them. When a man tells me one
+thing to-day, and to-morrow calmly forgets all about it, I confess
+it--well, confuses me.'
+
+'Then the man you have seen to-day has forgotten what he told you
+yesterday. Is that the case?'
+
+'Yes; that is partly the case.'
+
+'But, Mr. Kenyon, the success of your project is not going to depend upon
+what one man says, or two, or three, is it?'
+
+'No; I don't suppose it is.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would not feel discouraged because one man has
+forgotten. I wish I were acquainted with your one man, and I would make
+him ashamed of himself, I think.'
+
+Kenyon flushed as she said this, but made no reply.
+
+The coachman looked round as he came to Holborn, and Miss Longworth
+nodded to him; so he went on without stopping into Oxford Street.
+
+'Now, I take a great interest in your mine, Mr. Kenyon, and hope to see
+you succeed with it. I wish I could help you, or, rather, I wish you
+would be frank with me, and tell me how I can help you. I know a good
+deal about City men and their ways, and I think I may be able to give you
+some good advice--at least, if you would have the condescension to
+consult me.'
+
+Kenyon smiled.
+
+'You are making game of me now, Miss Longworth. Of course, as you said on
+board ship, it is but a very small matter.'
+
+'I never said any such thing. When did I say that?'
+
+'You said that fifty thousand pounds was a small matter.'
+
+'Did I? Well, I am like your man who has forgotten; I have forgotten
+that. I remember saying something about its being too small an amount
+for my father to deal with. Was not that what I said?'
+
+'Yes, I think that was it. It conveyed the idea to my mind that you
+thought fifty thousand pounds a trifling sum indeed.'
+
+Edith Longworth laughed.
+
+'What a terrible memory you have! I do not wonder at your City man
+forgetting. Are you sure what you told him did not happen longer ago than
+yesterday?'
+
+'Yes, it happened some time before.'
+
+'Ah, I thought so; I am afraid it is your own terrible memory, and not
+his forgetfulness, that is to blame.'
+
+'Oh, I am not blaming him at all. A man has every right to change his
+mind, if he wants to do so.'
+
+'I thought only a woman had that privilege.'
+
+'No; for my part I freely accord it to everybody, only sometimes it is a
+little depressing.'
+
+'I can imagine that; in fact, I think no one could be a more undesirable
+acquaintance than a man who forgets to-day what he promised yesterday,
+especially if anything particular depends upon it. Now, why cannot you
+come to our house some evening and have a talk about the mine with my
+cousin or my father? My father could give you much valuable advice with
+reference to it, and I am anxious that my cousin should help to carry
+this project on to success. It is better to talk with them there than at
+their office, because they are both so busy during the day that I am
+afraid they might not be able to give the time necessary to its I
+discussion.'
+
+John Kenyon shook his head.
+
+'I am afraid,' he said, 'that would do no good. I do not think your
+cousin cares to have anything to do with the mine.'
+
+'How can you say that? Did he not discuss the matter with you on
+board ship?'
+
+'Yes; we had some conversation about it there, but I imagine that--I
+really do not think he would care to go any farther with it.'
+
+'Ah, I see,' said Edith Longworth. 'My cousin is the man who "forgot
+to-day what he said yesterday."'
+
+'What am I to say, Miss Longworth? I do not want to say "Yes," and I
+cannot truthfully say "No."'
+
+'You need say nothing. I know exactly how it has been. So he does not
+want to have anything to do with it. What reason did he give?'
+
+'You will not say anything to him about the matter? I should be very
+sorry if he thought that I talked to anyone else of my conference
+with him.'
+
+'Oh, certainly not; I will say nothing to him at all.'
+
+'He gave no particular reason; he simply seemed to have changed his mind.
+But I must say this: he did not appear to be very enthusiastic when I
+discussed it with him on board ship.'
+
+'Well, you see, Mr. Kenyon, it rests with me now to maintain the honour
+of the Longworth family. Do you want to make all the profit there is to
+be made in the mica-mine--that is, yourself and your friend Mr.
+Wentworth?'
+
+'How do you mean--"all the profit"?'
+
+'Well, I mean--would you share the profit with anyone?'
+
+'Certainly, if that person could help us to form the company.'
+
+'Very well; it was on that basis you were going to take in my cousin as a
+partner, was it not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I should like to share in the profits of the mine if he does not
+take an interest in it. If you will let me pay the preliminary expenses
+of forming this company, and if you will then give me a share of what you
+make, I shall be glad to furnish the money you need at the outset.'
+
+John Kenyon looked at Miss Longworth with a smile.
+
+'You are very ingenious, Miss Longworth, but I can see, in spite of your
+way of putting it, that what you propose is merely a form of charity.
+Suppose we did not succeed in forming our company, how could we repay you
+the money?'
+
+'You would not need to repay the money. I would take that risk. It is a
+sort of speculation. If you form the company, then I shall expect a very
+large reward for furnishing the funds. It is purely selfishness on my
+part. I believe I have a head for business. Women in this country do not
+get such chances of developing their business talents as they seem to
+have in America. In that country there are women who have made fortunes
+for themselves. I believe in your mine, and I am convinced you will
+succeed in forming your company. If you or Mr. Wentworth were
+capitalists, of course there would be no need of my assistance. If I were
+alone, I could not form a company. You and Mr. Wentworth can do what I
+cannot do. You can appear before the public and attend to all
+preliminaries. On the other hand, I believe I can do what neither of you
+can do; that is, I can supply a certain amount of money from time to time
+to pay the expenses of forming the company--because a company is not
+formed in London for nothing, I assure you. Perhaps you think you have
+simply to go and see a sufficient number of people and get your company
+formed. I fancy you will find it not so easy as all that. Besides this
+business interest I have in it, I have a very friendly interest in Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+As she said this, she bent over towards John Kenyon, and spoke in a lower
+tone of voice:
+
+'Please do not tell him so, because I think that he is a young man who
+has possibilities of being conceited.'
+
+'I shall say nothing about it,' said Kenyon dolefully.
+
+'Please do not. By the way, I wish you would give me Mr. Wentworth's
+address, so that I may communicate with him if a good idea occurs to me,
+or if I find out something of value in forming our company.'
+
+Kenyon took out a card, wrote the address of Wentworth upon it, and
+handed it to her.
+
+'Thank you,' she said 'You see, I deeply sympathized with Mr. Wentworth
+for what he had to pass through on the steamer.'
+
+'He is very grateful for all you did for him on that occasion,' replied
+Kenyon.
+
+'I am glad of that. People, as a general thing, are not grateful for what
+their friends do for them. I am glad, therefore, that Mr. Wentworth is an
+exception. Well, suppose you talk with him about what I have said, before
+you make up your own mind. I shall be quite content with whatever share
+of the profits you allow me.'
+
+'Ah, that is not business, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, it is not; but I am dealing with you--that is, with Mr.
+Wentworth--and I am sure both of you will do what is right. Perhaps it
+would be better not to tell him who is to furnish the money. Just say you
+have met a friend to-day who offers, for a reasonable share of the
+profits, to supply all the money necessary for the preliminary expenses.
+You will consult with him about it, will you not?'
+
+'Yes, if it is your wish.'
+
+'Certainly it is my wish; and I also wish you to do it so diplomatically
+that you will conceal my name from him more successfully than you
+concealed my cousin's name from me this afternoon.'
+
+'I am afraid I am very awkward,' said John, blushing.
+
+'No; you are very honest, that's all. You are not accomplished in the art
+of telling what is not true. Now, this is where we live; will you come
+in?'
+
+'Thank you, no; I'm afraid not,' said John. 'I must really be going now.'
+
+'Let the coachman take you to your station.'
+
+'No, no, it is not worth the trouble; it is only a step from here.'
+
+'It is no trouble. Which is your station--South Kensington?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well. Drive to South Kensington Station, Parker,' she said to the
+coachman; and then, running up the steps, she waved her hand in good-bye,
+as the carriage turned.
+
+And so John Kenyon, feeling abashed at his own poverty, was driven in
+this gorgeous equipage to the Underground Railway station, where he took
+the train for the City.
+
+As he stepped from the carriage at South Kensington, young Mr. Longworth
+came out of the station on his way home, and was simply dumfounded to see
+Kenyon in the Longworths' carriage.
+
+John passed him without noticing who he was, and just as the coachman was
+going to start again, Longworth said to him:
+
+'Parker, have you been picking up fares in the street?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' replied the respectable Parker; 'the young gentleman as
+just left us came from the City with Miss Longworth.'
+
+'Did he, indeed? Where did you pick him up, Parker?'
+
+'We picked him up in Cheapside, sir.'
+
+'Ah, indeed;' and with that, muttering some imprecations on the cheek of
+Kenyon, he stepped into the carriage and drove home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+George Wentworth was a very much better man than John Kenyon to undertake
+the commercial task they hoped to accomplish. Wentworth had mixed with
+men, and was not afraid of them. Although he had suffered keenly from the
+little episode on the steamer, and although at that trying time he
+appeared to but poor advantage so far as an exhibition of courage was
+concerned, the reason was largely because the blow had been dealt him by
+a woman, and not by a man. If one of Wentworth's fellow-men so far forgot
+himself as to make an insulting or cutting remark to him, Wentworth
+merely shrugged his shoulders and thought no more about it. On the other
+hand, notwithstanding his somewhat cold and calm exterior, John Kenyon
+was as sensitive as a child, and a rebuff such as he received from the
+Longworths was enough to depress him for a week. He had been a student
+all his life, and had not yet learnt the valuable lesson of knowing how
+to look at men's actions with an eye to proportion. Wentworth said to
+himself that nobody's opinion amounted to very much, but Kenyon knew too
+little of his fellows to have arrived at this comforting conclusion.
+
+George Wentworth closed his door when he was alone, drew the mass of
+papers, which Kenyon had left, towards him on his desk, and proceeded
+systematically to find a flaw in them if possible. He said to himself: 'I
+must attack this thing without enthusiasm, and treat Kenyon as if he were
+a thief. I must find an error in the reasoning or something shaky about
+the facts.' He perused the papers earnestly, making pencil-marks on the
+margin here and there. At first he said to himself: 'It is quite evident
+that the mining of the mica will pay for the working of the mine. We can
+look upon the demand for mica as being in a certain sense settled. It has
+paid for the working of the mine so far, also a small dividend, and there
+is no reason to think it should not go on doing so. Now, the uncertain
+quantity is this other stuff, and the uncertain thing about this
+uncertain quantity is the demand for it in the markets of the world, also
+how much the carriage of it is going to cost.' Wentworth had a theory
+that all things were possible if you only knew a man who knew _the_ man.
+There is always _the_ man in everything--the man who is the authority on
+iron; the man who is the authority on mines; the man who is the authority
+on the currency, and the man who knows all about the printing trade. If
+you want any information on any particular subject, it was not necessary
+to know _the_ man, but it was very essential to know a man who can put
+his finger on _the_ man. Get a note of introduction from a man who knows
+_the_ man, and there you are!
+
+Wentworth touched his bell, and a boy answered his summons.
+
+'Ask Mr. Close to step in here for a moment, will you, please?'
+
+The boy disappeared, and shortly after an oldish man with a very
+deferential look, who was perpetually engaged in smoothing one hand
+over the other, came in, and, in a timid manner, closed the door softly
+behind him.
+
+'Close,' said Wentworth, 'who is it that knows everything about the
+china trade?'
+
+'About the china trade, sir?'
+
+'Yes, about the china trade.'
+
+'Wholesale or retail, sir?'
+
+'I want to get at somebody who knows all about the manufacture of china.'
+
+'Ah, the manufacture, sir,' said Close, in a tone that indicated this was
+another matter altogether; 'the manufacture, sir; yes, sir, I really do
+not know who could tell everything about the manufacture of china, sir,
+but I know of a man who could put you on the right track.'
+
+'Very well; that is quite as good.'
+
+'I would see Mr. Melville, if I were you, sir--Mr. Melville, of the great
+Scranton China Company.'
+
+'And what is his address?'
+
+'His address is----' And here the old man stooped over and wrote it on a
+card. 'That will find him, sir. If you can drop a note to Mr. Melville,
+sir, and say you want to learn who knows all about the production of
+china, he will be able to tell you just the man, sir. He is in the
+wholesale china trade himself, sir.'
+
+'Would he be in at this hour, do you think?'
+
+'Oh yes, sir, he is sure to be in his office now.'
+
+'Very well, then; I think I will just run over and see him.'
+
+'Very good, sir; anything more, sir?'
+
+'Nothing more, Close, thank you.'
+
+When the valuable Close had departed as softly and apologetically as he
+had entered, Wentworth picked up one of the specimens of spar which
+Kenyon had taken from the mine, and put it into his pocket. In two
+minutes more he was in a cab, dashing through the crowded streets towards
+Melville's office. By the side of the door of the china company's
+warehouse, inside the hall, were two parallel rows of names--one under
+the general heading of 'Out,' the other under the heading of 'In.' It
+appeared that Mr. Smith was out and Mr. Jones was in, but, what was more
+to the purpose, the name of Richard Melville happened to be in the column
+of those who were inside. After a few moments' delay, Wentworth was
+ushered into the office of this gentleman.
+
+'Mr. Melville,' he said, 'I have been recommended to come to you for
+information regarding the china trade. The information I want, you will,
+perhaps, not be able to give me, but I believe you can tell me to whom I
+should apply for it.' Saying this, he took out of his pocket the specimen
+of mineral which he had brought with him. 'What I want to know is, how
+much of this material you use each year in the manufacture of china; what
+price you pay for it; and I should like to get at an estimate, if
+possible, of the quantity used in England every year.'
+
+Melville picked up the specimen and turned it round and round, looking at
+it attentively.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I could tell you anything you wished about the
+wholesale china trade, but about the manufacture of it I am not so well
+informed. Where did you get this?'
+
+'That,' said Wentworth, 'is from a mine in which I am interested.'
+
+'Ah, where is the mine situated, may I ask?'
+
+'It is in America,' said Wentworth vaguely.
+
+'I see. Have you considered the question of carriage in proposing to put
+it on the English market? That, as you know, is an important question.
+The cost of taking a heavy article a long distance is a great factor in
+the question of its commercial value.'
+
+'I recognise that,' said Wentworth; 'and it is to enable me to form some
+estimate of the value of this material that I ask for particulars of its
+price here.'
+
+'I understand, but I am not able to answer your questions. If you have
+time to wait and see Mr. Brand, our manager of the works, who is also one
+of the owners, he could easily tell you everything about this
+mineral--whether used at all or not. He comes up to London once every
+fortnight, and to-day is his day. I am expecting him here at any time.
+You might wait, if you liked, and see him.'
+
+'I do not think that will be necessary. I will write, if you will allow
+me, just what I want to know, and in two or three minutes he could jot
+down the information I require. Then I will call again to-morrow, if you
+don't mind.'
+
+'Not in the least. I will submit the matter to him. You can leave me this
+piece of mineral, I suppose?'
+
+'Certainly,' said Wentworth, writing on a sheet of paper the questions:
+'First, What quantity of this mineral is used in your works in a year?
+second, What price per ton do you pay for it? third, Will you give me, if
+possible, an estimate of how much of this is used in England?'
+
+'There,' he said, 'if you will give him this slip of paper, and show him
+the specimen of mineral, I shall be very much obliged.'
+
+'By the way,' said Melville, 'is this mine in operation?'
+
+'Yes, it is.'
+
+'Is there anyone else beside yourself interested in it in this country?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, with some hesitation; 'John Kenyon, a mining
+expert, is interested in it, and Mr. Longworth--young Mr. Longworth of
+the City.'
+
+'Any relation to John Longworth?'
+
+'His nephew.'
+
+'Ah, well, anything that Longworth has an interest in is reasonably sure
+of being successful.'
+
+'I am perhaps going too far in saying he has an interest in the mine, but
+in coming from America he seemed desirous of going in with us. My
+partner. John Kenyon, of whom I spoke just now, is with him at the
+present moment, I believe.'
+
+'Very well. I will submit this specimen to Mr. Brand as you desire, and
+will let you know to-morrow what he says.'
+
+With that Wentworth took his leave, and in going out through the hall he
+met the manager of the china works, although he didn't know at the time
+who he was. He was a very shrewd-faced individual, who walked with a
+brisk business step which showed he believed that time was money.
+
+'Well, Melville,' he said when he entered, 'I am a little late to-day,
+am I not?'
+
+'You are a little behind the usual time, but not much.'
+
+'By the way----' began the manager, and then his eye wandered to the
+specimen on the desk before Melville. 'Hello!' he cried, 'where did you
+get this?'
+
+'That was left here a moment ago by a gentleman whom I wanted to wait
+until you came, but he seemed to be in a hurry. He is going to call again
+to-morrow.'
+
+'What is his name?'
+
+'Wentworth. Here's his card.'
+
+'Ah, of a firm of accountants, eh? How did he come to have this?'
+
+'He wanted to get some information about it, and I told him I would show
+it to you. Here is the note he left.'
+
+The manager turned the crystal over and over in his hand, put on his
+eyeglasses and peered into it, then picked up the piece of paper and
+looked at what Kenyon had written.
+
+'Did he say where he had got this?'
+
+'Yes; he says there is a mine of it in America.'
+
+'In America, eh? Did he say how much of this stuff there was?
+
+'No; he didn't tell me that. The mine is working, however.'
+
+'It is very curious! I never heard of it.'
+
+'I gathered from him,' said Mr. Melville, 'that he wishes to do something
+with the mine over here. He did not say much, but he told me his
+partner--I forget his name--was talking at the present moment with young
+Longworth about it.'
+
+'Longworth--who's he?'
+
+'He's a man who goes in for mines or other investments; that is, his
+uncle does--a very shrewd old fellow, too. He is always on the right side
+of the market, no matter how it turns.'
+
+'Then, he would be a man certain to know the value of the property if he
+had it, wouldn't he?'
+
+'I don't know anybody who knows the value of what he has better than
+Longworth.'
+
+'Ah, that's a pity,' mused the manager.
+
+'Why? Is it a mineral of any worth?'
+
+'Worth! A quarry of this would be better for us than a gold-mine!'
+
+'Well, it struck me, in talking with Mr. Wentworth, that he had no
+particular idea of its utility. He seemed to know nothing about it, and
+that's why he came here for information.'
+
+Again the manager looked at the paper before him.
+
+'I'm not so sure about that,' he said. 'He wants to know the quantity
+used in a year, how much of it is consumed in England, and the price we
+pay for it per ton. I should judge, from that, he has an inkling of its
+value, and wants merely to corroborate it. Yes, I feel certain that is
+his move. I fear nothing very much can be done with Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'What were you thinking of doing?'
+
+'My dear Melville, if we could get hold of such a mine, supposing it has
+an unlimited quantity of this mineral in it, we could control the china
+markets of the world.'
+
+'You don't mean it!'
+
+'It's a fact, because of the purity of the mineral. The stuff that we use
+is heavily impregnated with iron; we have to get the iron out of it, and
+that costs money. Not that the stuff itself is uncommon at all, it is one
+of the most common substances in Nature; but anything so pure as this I
+have never seen. I wonder if it is a fair specimen of what they can get
+out of the mine? If it is, I would rather own that property than any
+gold-mine I know of.'
+
+'Well, I will see Mr. Wentworth, if you like. He is going to call here
+about this time to-morrow, and I will find out if some arrangement cannot
+be made with him.'
+
+'No, I wouldn't do that,' replied the manager, who preferred never to do
+things in a direct way. 'I think your best plan is to see Longworth. The
+chances are that a City man like him does not know the value of the
+property; and, if you don't mind, I will write a letter to Mr. Wentworth
+and give him my opinion on this mineral.'
+
+'What shall I say to Longworth?'
+
+'Say anything you like; you understand that kind of business better than
+I. Here are the facts of the case. If we can get a controlling interest
+in this mine, always supposing that it turns out mineral up to sample--I
+suspect that this is a picked specimen; of course we should have to send
+a man to America and see--if we could get hold of this property, it would
+be the greatest feat in business we have ever done, provided, of course,
+we get it at a cheap enough price.'
+
+'What do you call a cheap enough price?'
+
+'You find out what Longworth will sell the mine for.'
+
+'But supposing Wentworth owns the mine, or as much of it as
+Longworth does?'
+
+'I think, somehow, that if you know Longworth you can perhaps make better
+terms with him. Meanwhile I will send a letter to Wentworth. You have his
+address there?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well.'
+
+Taking his pen, he dashed off the following letter:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'I regret to say that the mineral you left at our office yesterday is of
+no value to us. We do not use mineral of this nature, and, so far as I
+know, it is not used anywhere in England.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'ADAM BRAND.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+The chances are that, no matter under what circumstances young Longworth
+and Kenyon had first met, the former would have disliked the latter.
+Although strong friendships are formed between men who are dissimilar,
+it must not be forgotten that equally strong hatreds have arisen between
+people merely because they were of opposite natures. No two young men
+could have been more unlike each other; and as Longworth recalled the
+different meetings he had had with Kenyon, he admitted to himself that he
+had an extreme antipathy to the engineer. The evident friendship which
+his cousin felt for Kenyon added a bitterness to this dislike which was
+rapidly turning it into hate. However, he calmed down sufficiently, on
+going home in the carriage, to become convinced that it was better to say
+nothing about her meeting with Kenyon unless she introduced the subject.
+After all, the carriage was hers, not his, and he recognised that fact.
+He wondered how much Kenyon had told her of the interview at his uncle's
+office. He flattered himself, however, that he knew enough of women to be
+sure that she would very speedily refer to the subject, and then he hoped
+to learn just how much had been said. To his surprise, his cousin said
+nothing at all about the matter, neither that evening nor the next
+morning, and, consequently, he went to his office in a somewhat
+bewildered state of mind.
+
+On arriving at his room in the City, he found Melville waiting for him.
+
+Melville shook hands with young Longworth, and, taking a mineral specimen
+from his pocket, placed it on the young man's desk, saying;
+
+'I suppose you know where that comes from?'
+
+Longworth looked at it with an air of indecision which made Melville
+suspect he knew very little about it.
+
+'I haven't the slightest idea, really.'
+
+'No? I was told you were interested in the mine from which this was
+taken. Mr. Wentworth called on me yesterday, and gave your name as one of
+those who were concerned with the mine.'
+
+'Ah, yes, I see; yes, yes, I have--some interest in the mine.'
+
+'Well, it is about that I came to talk with you. Where is the mine
+situated?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, I believe, some distance above Montreal. I
+am not certain about its exact position, but it is somewhere in that
+neighbourhood.'
+
+'I thought by the way Wentworth talked it was in the United States. He
+mentioned another person as being his partner in the affair; I forget
+his name.'
+
+'John Kenyon, probably.'
+
+'Kenyon! Yes, I think that was the name. Yes, I am sure it was. Now, may
+I ask what is your connection with that mine? Are you a partner of
+Wentworth's and Kenyon's? Are you the chief owner of the mine, or is the
+mine owned by them?'
+
+'In the first place, Mr. Melville, I should like to know why you ask me
+these questions?'
+
+Melville laughed.
+
+'Well, I will tell you. We should like to know what chance there is of
+our getting a controlling interest in the mine. That is very frankly put,
+isn't it?'
+
+'Yes, it is. But whom do you mean by "we"? Who else besides yourself?'
+
+'By "we" I mean the china company to which I belong. This mineral is
+useful in making china. That I suppose you know.'
+
+'Yes, I was aware of that,' answered Longworth, although he heard it now
+for the first time.
+
+'Very well, then; I should like to know who is the owner of the mine.'
+
+'The owner of the mine at present is some foreigner whose name and
+address I do not know. The two young men you speak of have an option on
+that mine for a certain length of time--how long I don't know. They have
+been urging me to go in with them to form a company for the floating of
+that mine for two hundred thousand pounds on the London market.'
+
+'Two hundred thousand pounds!' said Melville. 'That seems to me rather a
+large amount.'
+
+'Do you think so? Well, the objection I had to it was that it was too
+small.'
+
+'Those two men must have an exaggerated idea of the value of this mineral
+if they think it will pay dividends on two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'This mineral is not all there is in the mine. In fact, it is already
+paying a dividend on fifty thousand pounds or thereabouts, because of the
+mica in it. It is being mined for mica alone. To tell the truth, I did
+not know much about the other mineral.'
+
+'And do you think the mine is worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'Frankly, I do not.'
+
+'Then why are you connected with it?'
+
+'I am not connected with it--at least, not definitely connected with it.
+I have the matter under consideration. Of course, if there is anything
+approaching a swindle in it, I shall have nothing to do with it. It will
+depend largely on the figures that the two men show me whether I have
+anything to do with it or not.'
+
+'I see; I understand your position.' Then, lowering his voice, Melville
+leaned over towards Longworth, and said: 'You are a man of business. Now,
+I want to ask you what would be the chance of our getting the mine at
+something like the original option priced which is, of course, very much
+less than two hundred thousand pounds? We do not want to have too many in
+it. In fact, if you could get it for us at a reasonable rate, and did not
+care to be troubled with the property yourself, we would take the whole
+ourselves.'
+
+Young Longworth pondered a moment, and then said to Melville:
+
+'Do you mean to freeze out the other two fellows, as they say in
+America?'
+
+'I do not know about freezing out; but, of course, with the other two
+there is so much less profit to be divided. We should like to deal with
+just as few as if possible.'
+
+'Exactly. I see what you mean. I think it can be done. Are you in any
+great hurry to secure the mine?'
+
+'Not particularly. Why?'
+
+'Well, if things are worked rightly, I don't know but what we could get
+it for the original option. That would mean, of course, to wait until
+this first option had run out.'
+
+'Wouldn't there be a little danger in that? They may form their company
+in the meantime, and then we should lose everything. Our interest in the
+matter is as much to prevent anyone else getting hold of the mine as to
+get it ourselves.'
+
+'I see. I will think it over. I believe it can be done without great
+risk; but, of course, we shall have to be reasonably quiet about the
+matter.'
+
+'I see the necessity of that.'
+
+'Very good. I will see you again after I have thought over the affair,
+and we can come to some arrangement.'
+
+'I may say that our manager has written a note to Wentworth, saying that
+this mineral is of no particular use to us.'
+
+'Exactly,' said young Longworth, with a look of intelligence.
+
+'So, of course, in speaking with Wentworth about the mine, it is just as
+well not to mention us in any way.'
+
+'I shall not.'
+
+'Very well. I will leave the matter in your hands for the present.'
+
+'Yes, do so. I will think over it this afternoon, and probably see
+Wentworth and Kenyon to-morrow. There is no immediate hurry, for I happen
+to know they have not done anything yet.'
+
+With that Mr. Melville took his leave, and young Longworth paced up and
+down the room, evolving a plan that would at once bring him money and
+give him the satisfaction of making it lively for John Kenyon.
+
+When he reached home, Longworth waited for his cousin to say something
+about Kenyon; but he soon saw that she did not intend to speak of him at
+all. So he said to her:
+
+'Edith, do you remember Kenyon and Wentworth--who were on board our
+steamer?'
+
+'I remember them very well.'
+
+'Did you know they had a mining property for sale?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'I have been thinking about it--in fact, Kenyon called at my office a day
+or two ago, and at that time, not having given the subject much thought,
+I could not give him any encouragement; but I have been pondering over it
+since, and have almost decided to help them. What do you think about it?'
+
+'Oh, I think it would be an excellent plan. I am sure the property is a
+good one, or Mr. Kenyon would have nothing to do with it. I shall write a
+note to them, if you think it advisable, inviting them here to talk with
+you about it.'
+
+'That will not be necessary at all. I do not want people to come here to
+talk business. My office is the proper place.'
+
+'Still, we met them in a friendly way on board the steamer, and I think
+it would be nice if they came here some evening and talked over the
+matter with you.'
+
+'I don't believe in introducing business into a man's home. This would be
+a purely business conversation, and it may as well take place at my
+office, or at Wentworth's, if he has one, as I suppose he has.'
+
+'Oh, certainly; his address is----'
+
+'Oh, you know it, do you?'
+
+Edith blushed as she realized what she had said; then she remarked:
+
+'Is there any harm in my knowing the business address of Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'Oh, not at all--not at all. I merely wondered how you happened to know
+his address, when I didn't.'
+
+'Well, it doesn't matter how I know it. I am glad you are going to join
+him, and I am sure you will be successful. Will you see them to-morrow?'
+
+'I think so. I shall call on Wentworth and have a talk with him about it.
+Of course we may not be able to come to a workable arrangement. If not,
+it really does not matter very much. But if I can make satisfactory terms
+with them, I will help them to form their company.'
+
+When Edith went to her own room she wrote a note. It was addressed to
+George Wentworth in the City, but above that address was the name John
+Kenyon. She said:
+
+'DEAR MR. KENYON,
+
+'I was certain at the time you spoke that my cousin was not so much at
+fault in forgetting his conversation as you thought. We had a talk to
+night about the mine, and when he calls upon you tomorrow, as he intends
+to do, I want you to know that I said nothing whatever to him of what you
+told me. He mentioned the subject first. I wanted you to know this
+because you might feel embarrassed when you met him by thinking I had
+sent him to you. That is not at all the case. He goes to you of his own
+accord, and I am sure you will find his assistance in forming a company
+very valuable. I am glad to think you will be partners.
+
+'Yours very truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.'
+
+She gave this letter to her maid to post, and young Longworth met the
+maid in the hall with the letter in her hand. He somehow suspected, after
+the foregoing conversation, to whom the letter was addressed.
+
+'Where are you going with that?'
+
+'To the post, sir.'
+
+'I am going out; to save you the trouble I will take it.'
+
+After passing the corner, he looked at the address on the envelope; then
+he swore to himself a little. If he had been a villain in a play he would
+have opened the letter; but he did not. He merely dropped it into the
+first pillar-box he came to, and in due time it reached John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+Although Jennie Brewster arrived in London angry with the world in
+general, and with several of its inhabitants in particular, she soon
+began to revel in the delights of the great city. It was so old that it
+was new to her, and she visited Westminster Abbey and other of its
+ancient landmarks in rapid succession. The cheapness of the hansoms
+delighted her, and she spent most of her time dashing about in cabs. She
+put up at one of the big hotels, and ordered many new dresses at a place
+in Regent Street. She bought most of the newspapers, morning and evening,
+and declared she could not find an interesting article in any of them.
+From her point of view they were stupid and unenterprising, and she
+resolved to run down the editor of one of the big dailies when she got
+time, interview him, and discover how he reconciled it with his
+conscience to publish so dull a sheet every day.
+
+She wrote to her editor in New York that London, though a slow town, was
+full of good material, and that nobody had touched it in the writing line
+since Dickens' time; therefore she proposed to write a series of
+articles on the Metropolis that would wake them up a bit. The editor
+cabled to her to go ahead, and she went.
+
+Jennie engaged a chaperon, and took great satisfaction in this unwonted
+luxury. It had been intimated to her that Lady Willow was a sort of
+society St. Peter, who held keys that would open the gates of the social
+heaven, if she were sufficiently recompensed. Of all the ancient
+landmarks of England, none attracted Jennie so much as the aristocracy,
+and although she had written to New York for letters of introduction that
+would be useful in London, she was too impatient to await their arrival.
+Thus she came to secure the services of Lady Willow, the widow of Sir
+Debenham Willow, who had died abroad, insolvent, some years before,
+mourned by the creditors he left behind him.
+
+Jennie was suspicious about the title, and demanded convincing proofs of
+its genuineness before she engaged Lady Willow. She was amazed that any
+real lady would, as it were, sell her social influence at so much a week;
+but, as Lady Willow was equally astonished that an American girl earned
+her livelihood by writing for the papers, the surprise of the one found
+its counterpart in the wonder of the other.
+
+Lady Willow thought all American girls were born daughters of
+millionaires, in accordance with some unexplained Western by-law of
+nature, and imagined that their sole object in desiring to enter London
+society was to purchase for themselves a more or less expensive scion of
+the aristocracy; she was therefore inclined to resent meeting a shrewd
+young woman apparently determined on getting the value for her money.
+
+'It is not my custom to chaffer about terms,' said Lady Willow with
+much dignity.
+
+'It is mine,' replied Jennie complacently; 'I always like to know what I
+am buying, and the price I am to pay for it.'
+
+'You are dealing with me,' said the lady, rising indignantly, 'as if you
+were engaging a cook. I am sure we would not suit each other at all.'
+
+'Please sit down, Lady Willow, and don't be offended. Let us talk it over
+in an amicable manner, even if we come to no arrangement. I think a cook
+an exceedingly important person, and I assure you I would treat one in
+the most deferential manner; while with you, on the other hand, I talk in
+an open and frank way, as between friend and friend. I take it that you
+and I are somewhat similarly situated. We are neither of us rich, and so
+we have each of us to earn the money we need in our own way. It would be
+dishonest if I pretended to you that I was wealthy, and then couldn't pay
+what you expected after you had done all you could for me--now, wouldn't
+it? Very well, if you have anyone else to chaperon who can afford to pay
+more than I can, you shouldn't bother about me at all, but secure a
+richer client.'
+
+Lady Willow remembered that this was not the season when rich clients
+abounded; so she smothered her resentment, and sat down again.
+
+'That's right,' said Jennie; 'we'll have a nice quiet talk, whatever
+comes of it. Now, if you like, I could write a lovely article about you
+in the _Sunday Argus_, and then all rich girls who come over here would
+go direct to you.'
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear!' cried Lady Willow, evidently inexpressibly shocked
+at the idea, 'you would surely never do so cruel a thing as that? If my
+friends knew I chaperoned young ladies and took money for it, I would
+never be allowed to enter their doors again.'
+
+'Ah, I didn't think of that. Of course it wouldn't do. What a curious
+thing it is that those who want to be written up in the papers generally
+never see their names in print; while those who don't want to have
+anything said about them are the people the reporters are always after.'
+
+'Do you write for the papers, then?'
+
+'For one of them.'
+
+'How dreadful!' said Lady Willow, rising again, with an air of finality
+about her movement. It was evident that any dealings with this American
+girl were out of the question.
+
+'Do sit down again, Lady Willow. We will take it that I am hopelessly
+ineligible, and so say no more about it; but I do want to have a talk
+with you.'
+
+'But you will write something----'
+
+'I shall not write a word about you or about anything you tell me. You
+see, your profession is as strange to me as mine is to you.'
+
+'My profession? I have none.'
+
+'Well, whatever you call it. I mean the way in which you make your
+money.'
+
+Lady Willow sighed, and the tears came into her eyes.
+
+'You little know, my child, to what straits one may come who is left
+unprovided for, and who has to do the best to keep up appearances.'
+
+Jennie sprang up instantly and took the unresisting hand of the elder
+woman, smoothing it with her own caressingly.
+
+'Why, of course I know,' she cried, with a little quaver in her voice;
+'and there is nothing more terrible on earth than lack of money. If there
+was a single really civilized country in existence, it would make
+provision for its women. Every woman should be assured enough to live on,
+merely because she is a woman. If England had put aside as much for its
+women as it has spent in the last hundred years on foolish wars, or if
+America had made a fund of what its politicians have been allowed to
+steal, the women of both barbarous countries might have been provided
+with incomes that would at least keep them from the fear of want.'
+
+Lady Willow seemed more alarmed than comforted by the vehemence of Miss
+Brewster. She said hesitatingly:
+
+'I'm afraid you have some very strange ideas, my dear.'
+
+'Perhaps; but I have one idea that isn't strange: it is that you are
+going to take charge of a lonesome, friendless girl for a few weeks at
+least--until the rich pork-packer's daughter from Chicago comes along,
+and she won't be here for a month or two yet. We won't say a word about
+terms; I'll pay you all that's left over from my hansom fares.'
+
+'I shall be very happy to do what I can for you, my dear.'
+
+Lady Willow had softened towards her fair client, and had now adopted a
+somewhat motherly tone with her, which Jennie evidently liked.
+
+'I will try and be very little trouble to you, although I shall probably
+ask you ever so many questions. All I really want is merely to see the
+Zoo, hear the animals roar, and watch them being fed. I have no ambition
+to steal any of them.'
+
+'Oh, that will be easily done,' said Lady Willow in surprise. 'We can get
+tickets from one of the Fellows of the Zoological Society which will
+admit us on Sunday, when there are but few people there.'
+
+Jennie laughed merrily.
+
+'I mean the social Zoo, Lady Willow; I have visited the other already.
+Please do not look so shocked at me, and don't be afraid; I really
+talk very nicely when I am in society, and I am sure you will not be
+in the least ashamed of me. You see, I haven't had a soul to speak with
+since I came to London, so I think I ought to be allowed a little
+latitude at first.'
+
+Lady Willow so far relaxed her dignity as to smile, although a little
+dubiously; and Jennie joyfully proclaimed that their compact was sealed
+and that she was sure they would be great friends.
+
+'Now you must tell me what I am to do,' she continued. 'I suppose dresses
+are the most important preliminaries when one is meditating a siege on
+society. Well, I've ordered ever so many, so that's all right. What's the
+next thing?'
+
+'Yes, dress is important; but I think the first thing to do is to choose
+pleasant rooms somewhere. You can't stay at this hotel, you know;
+besides, it must be very expensive.'
+
+'Yes, it is rather; but it is so handy and central.'
+
+'It is not central for society.'
+
+'Oh, isn't it? I was thinking of Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square,
+and that sort of thing. Besides, there's _always_ a nice hansom right at
+the door whenever one wants to go out.'
+
+'Oh, but you mustn't ride in hansoms, you know!'
+
+'Why? I thought the aristocracy--the very highest--rode in hansoms.'
+
+'Some of them have private hansoms; but that's a very different thing.'
+
+'And I heard somewhere that most of the hansoms in London are owned by
+the aristocracy. I am sure I rode in one belonging to the Marquis of
+Something--I forget his name. I don't suppose the Marquis himself drove
+it. Perhaps it was driven by his hired man; but the driver was such a
+nice young fellow, and he gave me a lot of information. He told me that
+the Marquis owned the hansom; for I asked him whose it was. I thought
+perhaps it belonged to the driver. I'll give up the hotel willingly, but
+I don't know about hansoms. I'm afraid to promise; for I feel sure I'll
+hail a hansom automatically the moment I go out alone. So we will
+postpone the hansom question until later. Now, where would you recommend
+me to stay while in London?'
+
+'You could stop with me if you liked. I have not a large house; but there
+is room for one or two friends, and it is in a very good locality.'
+
+'Oh, that will be delightful. I suppose the correct address on one's
+notepaper is everything, almost as good as a coat-of-arms--if they use
+coats-of-arms as letter-heads; and there is a difference between Drury
+and Park when they precede the word "Lane."'
+
+The two ladies speedily came to an understanding that was satisfactory to
+each of them, and Lady Willow found, to the no small comforting of her
+dignity, that, although she came to the hotel in the attitude of one who,
+if it may be so expressed, sought a favour, the impetuous eagerness of
+the younger woman had so changed the situation that the elder lady now
+left with the gratifying self complacency of a generous person who has
+conferred a boon. Nor was her condescension without its reward, both
+material and intellectual, for not only did Jennie pay her way with some
+lavishness, but her immediate social success was flattering to Lady
+Willow as the introducer of a Transatlantic cousin so bright and
+vivacious.
+
+So great an impression did Jennie make upon the more susceptible portion
+of the young men she met under Lady Willow's chaperonage, that even the
+rumour which got abroad, that she had no money, did not damp the devotion
+of all of them. Lord Frederick Bingham was quite as assiduous in his
+attentions as if she were the greatest heiress that ever crossed the
+ocean to exchange dubiously won gold for a title founded by some thief in
+the Middle Ages, thus bringing ancient and modern villainy into
+juxtaposition.
+
+Lady Willow saw Lord Frederick's preference with pleasurable surprise.
+Although she did not altogether approve of the damsel in her care, she
+had become very fond of her; but she failed to see why Jennie was so much
+sought after, when other girls, almost as pretty and much more eligible,
+were neglected. She hinted delicately to the young woman one day that
+perhaps her visit to England would not be, after all, so futile.
+
+'I don't think I understand you,' said Jennie.
+
+'Well, my dear, with a little tact on your part, I'm not at all sure but
+Lord Frederick Bingham might propose.'
+
+Jennie, who was putting on her gloves, paused and looked at Lady Willow,
+with a merry twinkle in her eyes, and a demure smile hovering about the
+corners of her mouth.
+
+'Do you imagine, then, that I have come over here to ensnare some poor
+unprotected nobleman--with a display of tact? Oh dear me! As if tact had
+anything to do with it! Never, never, never, Lady Willow! I wouldn't
+marry an Englishman if he were the last man left on earth.'
+
+'Many Englishmen are very nice, my dear,' protested Lady Willow gently,
+with a deep sigh, for she thought of her own husband, who, having been
+all his life an irreclaimable reprobate, had commanded her utmost
+affection while he lived, and was the object of her tenderest regret now
+that he had taken his departure from a world that had never appreciated
+his talents; although its influence was, in the estimation of the widow,
+entirely to blame for those shortcomings which Sir Debenham had been
+unable to conceal.
+
+'And yet,' continued Jennie inconsequently, as she buttoned her glove,
+'I do adore a title; I wonder why that is? I suppose no woman is ever at
+heart a republican, and if the United States is to be wrecked, it is the
+women who will do the wrecking, and start a monarchy. I have no doubt
+the men would let us proclaim an empire now if they imagined it would
+please us.'
+
+"I thought you were all sovereigns over there already,' said Lady Willow.
+
+'Oh, we are, but that's just the trouble. There is too much competition
+in the queen business; there are too many of us, and so we exchange our
+sovereignty for the lesser titles of duchesses and countesses and all
+that.
+
+  '"It is no trivial thing, I ween,
+  To be a regular Royal Queen.
+  No half and half affair, I mean,
+  But a right down regular, regular regular regular Royal Queen."
+
+I don't know that the words are right, but the sentiment is there. Oh
+dear me! I'm afraid I'm becoming quite English, you know.'
+
+'I don't see many signs of it,' said Lady Willow, smiling in spite of
+herself as her voluble companion sang and danced about the room.
+
+'Come, Lady Willow,' cried Jennie, 'get on your things; I am going to a
+City bank to cash a cheque, and I warn you that I will take a hansom.
+Lord Freddie agrees with me that a hansom is the jolliest kind of
+vehicle: please don't frown at me, Lady Willow--"jolliest" is Lord
+Freddie's word, not mine.'
+
+'What I didn't like,' said Lady Willow, with as near an approach to
+severity as the kindly woman could assume, 'was your calling him
+Lord Freddie.'
+
+'Oh, that's his phrase, too! He says everybody calls him Lord Freddie.
+But come along, and I'll call him Lord--Frederick--Bingham,' with a voice
+of awe and appropriate pauses between the words. 'He always seems so
+trivial compared with his name; he reminds me of a salesman at a remnant
+counter, and I don't wonder everybody calls him Lord Freddie. I'm afraid
+I'm a disappointed woman, Lady Willow. I suppose the men have retrograded
+since armour went out of fashion; they had to be big and strong then to
+carry so much hardware. Of course it makes a difference to a man whether
+his tailor cuts him a suit out of broadcloth or out of sheet iron. Yes,
+I begin to suspect that I've come to England several centuries too late.'
+
+Lady Willow was too much shocked at these frivolous remarks to make any
+reply, so, attempting none, she went to her room to prepare for her trip
+to the City.
+
+Leaving Lady Willow in the hansom, Jennie entered the bank and got the
+white notes, generally alluded to in fiction as 'crisp,' stuffing them
+with greater carelessness than their value warranted into her purse. She
+took from this receptacle of her wealth a bit of paper on which was
+written an address, and this she looked at for some moments before
+leaving the bank. On reaching the hansom, she handed up the slip of paper
+to the driver.
+
+'Do you know where that is?' she asked.
+
+'Yes, miss; it is just round the corner.'
+
+'Well, drive to the opposite side of the street, and stop where I can see
+the door of No. 23.'
+
+'Very good, miss.'
+
+Arriving nearly opposite No. 23, the driver pulled up. Jennie looked
+across at the doorway where many hurrying men were entering and leaving.
+It was a large building evidently filled with offices; the girl drew a
+deep breath, but made no motion to leave the hansom.
+
+'Have you business here, too?' asked Lady Willow, to whom the City was an
+unknown land, the rush and noise of which were unpleasantly bewildering.
+
+'No,' said Jennie, with a doleful note in her voice, 'this is not
+business; it is pleasure. I want to sit here for a few minutes and
+think.'
+
+'But, my dear child,' expostulated Lady Willow, 'you can't think in this
+babel; besides, the police will not allow the hansom to stand here unless
+one of us is shopping, or has business in an office.'
+
+'Then, dear Lady Willow, do go shopping for ten minutes; I saw some
+lovely shops just down the street. Here are five pounds, and if you see
+anything that I ought to have, buy it for me. One must think now and
+then, you know. Our thoughts are like the letters we receive; we need to
+sort them out periodically, and discard those that we don't wish to keep.
+I want to rummage over my thoughts and see whether some of them are to be
+abandoned or not.'
+
+When Lady Willow left her, Jennie sat with her chin in her hands and her
+elbows on her knees gazing across at No. 23. The faces of none who went
+in or came out were familiar to her. Frequently glances were cast at her
+by passers-by, but she paid no heed to the crowd, nor to the fleeting
+admiration her pretty face aroused in many a flinty stockbroking breast,
+if, indeed, she was conscious of the attention she received. She awoke
+from her reverie when Lady Willow stepped into the hansom.
+
+'What, back already?' she cried.
+
+'I have been away for a quarter of an hour,' said the elder woman
+reproachfully. 'Besides, the money is all spent, and here are the
+parcels.'
+
+'Money doesn't go far in the City, does it?' said Jennie.
+
+'Why, what's the matter with you, my dear?' asked the elder woman; 'your
+voice sounds as if you had been crying.'
+
+'Nonsense! What an idea! This street reminds me so of Broadway that I
+have become quite homesick, that's all. I think I'll go back to New
+York.'
+
+'Have you met somebody from over there?'
+
+'No, no. I've seen no one I knew.'
+
+'Did you expect to?'
+
+'Perhaps.'
+
+'I didn't know you had any friends in the City.'
+
+'I haven't. He's an enemy.'
+
+'Really? An enemy who was once a friend?'
+
+'Yes. Why do you ask so many questions?'
+
+Lady Willow took the girl's hand, and said soothingly:
+
+'I am sorry there was a misunderstanding.'
+
+'So am I,' agreed Jennie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered the office of his friend next morning, Wentworth
+said to him:
+
+'Well, what luck with the Longworths?'
+
+'No luck at all,' was the answer; 'the young man seemed to have forgotten
+all about our conversation on board the steamer, and the old gentleman
+takes no interest in the matter.'
+
+Wentworth hemmed and tapped on the desk with the end of his lead pencil.
+
+'I never counted much on that young fellow,' he said at last. 'What
+appeared to be his reason?'
+
+'I don't know exactly. He didn't give any reason. He merely said that he
+would have nothing to do with it, after having got me to tell him what
+our option on the mine was.'
+
+'Why did you tell him that?'
+
+'Well, it seemed, after I had talked to him a little, that there was some
+hope of his going in with us. I told him point-blank that I didn't care
+to say at what figure we had the option unless he was going in with us.
+He said of course he couldn't consider the matter at all unless he knew
+to what he was committed; and so I told him.'
+
+'And what excuse did he make for not joining us?'
+
+'Oh, he merely said he thought he would have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Now, what do you imagine his object was in pumping you if he had no
+intention of taking an interest in the mine?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. I do not understand that sort of man at all. In
+fact, I feel rather relieved he is going to have nothing to do with it. I
+distrust him.'
+
+'That's all very well, John, you are prejudiced against him; but you know
+the name of Longworth would have a very great effect upon the minds of
+other City men. If we can get the Longworths into this, even for a small
+amount, I am certain that we shall have very little trouble in floating
+the company.'
+
+'Well, all I can say is, my mission to the Longworths was a failure. Have
+you looked over the papers?'
+
+'Oh yes, and that reminds me. The point on which the whole scheme turns
+is the availability of the mineral for the making of china, isn't it?'
+
+'That is so.'
+
+'Well, look at this letter; it came this morning.'
+
+He tossed the letter over to Kenyon, who read it, and then asked:
+
+'Who's Adam Brand? He doesn't know what he is talking about.'
+
+'Ah, but the trouble is that he does. No man in England better, I should
+imagine. He is the manager and part owner of the big Scranton china
+works. I went to see Melville of that company yesterday. He could tell
+me nothing about the mineral, but kept the specimen I gave him, and told
+me he would show it to the manager when he came in. Brand is the manager
+of the works, and if anybody knows the value of the mineral, he ought to
+be the man.'
+
+'Nevertheless,' said Kenyon, 'he is mistaken.'
+
+'That is just the point of the whole matter--is he? The mineral is either
+valueless, as he says, or he is telling a deliberate lie for some
+particular purpose; and I can't see, for the life of me, why a stranger
+should not only tell a falsehood, but write it on paper. Now, John, what
+do you know about china manufacture?'
+
+'I know very little indeed about it.'
+
+'Very well, then, how can you put your knowledge against this man's, who
+is a practical manufacturer?'
+
+Kenyon looked at Wentworth, who was evidently not feeling in the best
+of humours.
+
+'Do you mean to say, George, that I do not know what I am talking about
+when I tell you that this mineral is valuable for a certain purpose?'
+
+'Well, you have just admitted that you know nothing about the china
+trade.'
+
+'Not "nothing," George--I know something about it; but what I do
+understand is the value of minerals. The reason I know anything at all
+about china manufacture is simply because I learned that this mineral is
+one of the most important components of china.'
+
+'Then why did that man write such a letter?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. As you saw the man, you can judge better than I
+whether he would tell a deliberate falsehood, or whether he was merely
+ignorant.'
+
+'I didn't see Brand at all; I saw Melville. Melville was to submit this
+mineral to Brand, and let me know what he thought about it. Of course,
+everything depends upon the value of it in the china trade.'
+
+'Of course.'
+
+'Very well then, I took the only way that was open to me to find out what
+practical men say about it. If they say they will have nothing to do with
+it, then we might as well give up our mining scheme and send back our
+option to Mr. Von Brent.'
+
+Kenyon read the letter again, and pondered deeply over it.
+
+'You see, of course,' said George once more, 'everything hinges on that,
+don't you?'
+
+'I certainly see that.'
+
+'Then, what have you to say?'
+
+'I have to say this--that I shall have to take a trip among the china
+works of Great Britain. I think it would be a good plan if you were to
+write to the different manufacturers in the United States and find out
+how much they use of it. There is no necessity for sending the mineral.
+They have to use that, and nothing else will do. Find out from them, if
+you can, how much of it they need, what price they will pay for pure
+material, and what they pay for the impure material they use now.'
+
+'How do you know, John, that there are not a dozen mines with that
+material in them?'
+
+'How do I know? Well, if you want to impugn my knowledge of mineralogy, I
+wish you would do so straight out. I either know my business or I do not.
+If you think I do not, then leave this matter entirely alone. I tell you
+that what I say about this mineral is true. What I say about its scarcity
+is true. There are no other mines with mineral so pure as this.'
+
+'I am perfectly satisfied when you say that, but you must remember those
+who are going to put their money in this company will not be satisfied.
+They must have the facts and figures down before them, and they are not
+going to take either your word or mine as to the value of the mineral.
+Your proposal about seeing the different manufactories is good. I would
+act upon it at once, if I were you. We must have the opinions of
+practical men set forth clearly before we can make a move in the matter.
+Now, how much of this mineral have you got?'
+
+'Only the few lumps I took with me in my portmanteau. The barrel full of
+it which we got at Burntpine has not arrived yet. I suppose it came by
+slow steamer and is probably on the ocean still.'
+
+'Very good. Take what specimens you have, go to the North, and see those
+manufacturers. Get, in some way or another, whether from the principals
+or from the subordinates, the price they pay for it, and the cost of
+removing the adulteration from the stuff they employ now; because that is
+really the material we come into competition with. It is not with their
+first raw material, but with their material as cleared from the
+deleterious foreign substances, that we have to deal. Find out exactly
+what it costs to do this purifying, and then, when you get your facts and
+figures, I will arrange them for you in the best order. Meanwhile, as you
+suggest, I will learn what manufactories there are in the States. Nothing
+can be done except that until you come back, and, if I were you, I should
+leave at once.'
+
+'I am quite ready. I don't want to lose any further time.'
+
+So John Kenyon departed, and was soon on his way to the North, with a
+list of china manufactories in his note-book.
+
+That afternoon Wentworth got the letters off by the American mail, and he
+felt that they were doing business as rapidly as could be expected. Next
+morning there was a letter for John Kenyon addressed to the care of
+Wentworth, and by a later mail there came a letter to Wentworth himself
+from John, who had reached his first district and had had an interview
+already with the manager of the works. He found the mineral was all he
+had expected, and they would be glad to take a certain quantity each year
+at a specified rate. This letter Wentworth filed away with a smile of
+satisfaction, and then he began again to wonder why Adam Brand,
+representing such a well-known manufactory, should have written a
+deliberate falsehood. Before he had time to fathom this mystery, the
+office-boy announced that a gentleman wished to see him, and handed
+Wentworth a card which bore the name of William Longworth. Wentworth
+arched his eyebrows as he looked at it.
+
+'Ask the gentleman to step in, please,' he said; and the gentleman
+stepped in.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Wentworth? I suppose you remember me, although I did
+not see much of you on board the steamer.'
+
+'I remember you perfectly,' replied Wentworth. 'Won't you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you. I did not know where to find Mr. Kenyon, and so, being aware
+that both of you were interested in this mica-mine, I called to see you
+with reference to it.'
+
+'Indeed! I understood Mr. Kenyon to say that he had called upon you, and
+that you had decided to have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'I hardly think he was justified in saying anything quite so definite. I
+got from him such particulars as he cared to give. He is not a very
+communicative man at the best, but he told me something about it, and I
+have been thinking over his proposal. I have now concluded to help you in
+this matter, if you care to have my aid. Perhaps, however, things have
+got to such a stage that you do not wish any assistance?'
+
+'On the contrary, we have done very little. Mr. Kenyon is just now among
+the china manufactories in the North, finding out what demand there will
+be in England for this mineral.'
+
+'Ah, I see. Have you had reports from him yet?'
+
+'Nothing further than a letter this morning, which is very satisfactory.'
+
+'There is no question, then, about the mineral being useful in the china
+trade?'
+
+'No question whatever.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that. Now, Mr. Kenyon spoke to me on the steamer of
+going in share and share alike; that is, you taking a third, he taking a
+third, and I taking a third. We did not go very minutely into
+particulars, but I suppose we each share the expense in the same way--the
+preliminary expenses, I mean?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'that would be the arrangement, I imagine.'
+
+'Well, have you the authority to deal with me in the matter, or would it
+be better for me to wait until Kenyon comes back?'
+
+'We can settle everything here and now.'
+
+'Very good. Would you have any objection to my seeing the papers that
+relate to the mine? I should like to get the figures of the output as
+nearly as possible, and any other particulars you may have that would
+enable me to estimate the value of the property. Also I should like to
+see a copy of the option, or the original document by which you hold
+the mine.'
+
+'Certainly; I shall be very pleased to give you all the information in
+my power.' Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote for a few moments,
+then blotted the paper he had been writing, and handed it to Longworth.
+'You have no objection, before this is done, to signing this document,
+have you?'
+
+Longworth adjusted his one eyeglass and looked at the paper, which read:
+'I hereby agree to do my best to form a limited liability company for the
+purpose of taking over the Ottawa Mica-mine. I agree to pay my share of
+the expenses, and to accept one-third of the profits.'
+
+'No, I don't object to sign this, though I think it should be a little
+more definite. I think it should state that the liability I incur is
+to be one-third of the whole preliminary expenses, the other
+two-thirds to be paid by Kenyon and yourself; and that, in return, I
+am to get one-third of the profits, the other two-thirds going to
+yourself and Kenyon. I think it should also state the amount of the
+capital of the new company; two hundred thousand pounds was suggested,
+if I remember rightly.'
+
+'Very well,' answered Wentworth; 'I will rewrite that in accordance with
+your wishes.'
+
+This he did, and Longworth, again adjusting his eyeglass, read it.
+
+'Now,' he said, 'as we are so formal about the matter, perhaps it would
+be as well for you to give me a note which I can keep, setting forth
+these same particulars.'
+
+'Undoubtedly,' said Wentworth, 'I shall do that. Probably it would be
+better for you to write the document to suit your own views, and I
+will sign it.'
+
+'Oh no, not at all. Write whatever is embodied there, so that you will
+have one paper and I the other.'
+
+This was done.
+
+'Now then,' said Longworth, 'when does your option run out?'
+
+Wentworth named the date.
+
+'Who is the owner of the mine?'
+
+'It is owned by the Austrian Mining Company, headquarters at Vienna, and
+the option is signed by a Mr. Von Brent, of Ottawa, who is manager of the
+mine and one of the owners.'
+
+'You are perfectly certain that he has every right to sell the mine?'
+
+'Yes; Mr. Kenyon's lawyer saw to that while he was in Ottawa.'
+
+'And you are sure, also, that your option is a thoroughly legal
+instrument?'
+
+'We are sure of that.'
+
+'Has it been examined by a London solicitor?'
+
+'It has been submitted to a Canadian lawyer. The bargain was made in
+Canada, and it will have to be carried out in Canada, under the laws
+of Canada.'
+
+'Still, don't you think it would be just as well to get the opinion of an
+English lawyer on it?'
+
+'I think that would be an unnecessary expense. However, if you wish to
+have that done, we will do it.'
+
+'Yes; I think we shall need to have the opinion of a good lawyer upon it
+before we submit it to the stockholders.'
+
+'Very well, I will have it done. Is there anyone whom you wish to give an
+opinion on it?'
+
+'Oh, it is a matter of indifference to me; your own solicitor would do as
+well as anyone else. Perhaps, however, it will be better to have a legal
+adviser for the Mica Mining Company, Limited--we shall have to have one
+as we go on--and it might be as well to submit the document to whomever
+we are going to place in that position. It will not increase the legal
+expenses at all, or at least by only a very trifling amount. Have you
+anyone to suggest?'
+
+'I have not thought about the matter,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Suppose you let me look up a firm who will answer our purpose? My uncle
+is sure to know the right men, and that will be something towards my
+share of forming the company.'
+
+'Very good,' said Wentworth; 'that will be satisfactory to me.'
+
+'Now, there is a good deal to be done in the forming of a company, and it
+is going to take three men a good deal of time, besides some expense.
+What do you say to letting me look up offices?'
+
+'Do you think it is necessary to have offices?'
+
+'Oh, certainly. A great deal depends, in this sort of thing, on
+appearances. We shall need to get offices in a good locality.'
+
+'To tell the truth, Mr. Longworth, Kenyon and I have not very much money,
+and we do not want to enter into any expense that is needless.'
+
+'My dear sir, it is not needless. This business is one of those things
+into which, if you go boldly, you win; while if you go gingerly, on the
+economical plan, you lose everything. Of course, if there is to be a
+scarcity of cash, I shall have nothing to do with the scheme, because I
+know how these half-economically worked affairs turn out. I have seen too
+much of them. We are making a strike for sixty thousand pounds each. That
+is a sum worth risking something for, and, if you will believe me, you
+will not get it unless you venture something for it.'
+
+'I suppose that is true.'
+
+'Yes, it is very true. Of course I've had more experience in matters of
+this kind than either of you, and I know we shall have to get good
+offices, with a certain prosperous look about them. People are very much
+influenced by appearances. Now, if you like, I will see to getting the
+offices and to engaging a solicitor. Every step must be taken under legal
+advice, otherwise we may get into a very bad tangle and spend a great
+deal more money in the end.'
+
+'Very well,' said Wentworth. 'Is there anything else you can suggest?'
+
+'Not just at present; nothing need be done until Kenyon comes back, and
+then we can have a meeting to see what is the best way to proceed.'
+
+Longworth then looked over the papers, took a note of some things
+mentioned in the option, and finally said:
+
+'I wish you would get these papers copied for me, I suppose you have
+someone in the office who can do it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then just have duplicates made of each of them. Good-morning, Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+Wentworth mused for a few moments over the unexpected turn affairs had
+taken. He was very glad to get the assistance of Longworth; the name
+itself was a tower of strength in the City. Then, Kenyon's letter from
+the North was encouraging. Thinking of the letter brought the writer of
+it to his mind, so he took a telegraph-form from his desk, and wrote a
+message to the address given on the letter.
+
+'Everything right. Longworth has joined us, and signed papers to assist
+in forming company.'
+
+'There,' he said, as he sent the boy out with the message, 'that will
+cheer up old John when he gets it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+When John Kenyon returned from the North and entered the office of his
+friend Wentworth, he found that gentleman and young Longworth talking in
+the outer room.
+
+'There's a letter for you on my desk,' said Wentworth, after shaking
+hands with him. 'I'll be there in a minute.'
+
+Kenyon entered the room and found the letter. Then he did a very
+unbusinesslike thing. He pressed the writing to his lips and placed the
+letter in his pocket-book. This act deserves mention because it is an
+unusual thing in the City. As a general rule, City men do not press
+business communications to their lips, and the letter John had received
+was entirely a business communication, relating only to the mine, and to
+William Longworth's proposed connection with it. He wondered whether he
+should write an answer to it or not.
+
+He sat down at Wentworth's desk, and came upon an obstacle at the very
+beginning. He did not know how to address the young woman. Whether to say
+'My dear Miss Longworth,' or 'My dear madam,' or whether to use the
+adjective 'dear' at all, was a puzzle to him; and over this he was
+meditating when Wentworth came bustling in.
+
+'Well,' said the latter, as John tore into small pieces a sheet of
+notepaper and threw the bits into the waste-basket, 'how have you got on?
+Your letters were very short indeed, but rather to the point. You seem to
+have succeeded.'
+
+'Yes, I have succeeded very well. I have got all the figures and prices
+and everything else that it is necessary to have. I succeeded with
+everybody except Brand, who wrote that letter to you. I cannot make him
+out at all. He would give me no information, and he managed to prevent
+everyone else in his works from giving me any. He pooh-poohed the
+scheme--in fact, wouldn't listen to it. He said it was not usual for men
+to give away information regarding their business, and in that, of
+course, he was perfectly justified; but when I tried to argue with him as
+to whether this mineral was used in his manufactory or not, he would not
+listen. I asked him what he used in place of it, but he would not tell.
+All in all, he is a most extraordinary man, and I confess I do not
+understand him.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter about him in the least. I was speaking with
+Longworth just now about that curious letter of his, and he agrees with
+me that it makes no difference. He says, what is quite true, that in
+every business you find some man with whom it is difficult to deal.'
+
+'Yes, that is so; but, still, he either uses this substance or he does
+not. I can understand a man who says, "We have no need for that,
+because we use another material." But that is one of the things Brand
+does not say.'
+
+'Well, it is not worth while talking about him. By the way, you have all
+your figures and notes with you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, I have everything.'
+
+'Very well. Leave them with me, and I will get them into some sort of
+shape. Longworth says we shall have to have everything printed relating
+to this--your statements and all.'
+
+'That will cost a great deal of money, will it not?'
+
+'Oh, not very much. It is necessary, it seems. We must have printed
+matter to give to those who make application for information. It would be
+impossible to explain personally to everybody who inquires, and to show
+them these documents.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose so.'
+
+'Longworth was just now speaking to me about offices he has seen, and he
+is anxious to secure them at once. He is attending to that matter.'
+
+'Do you think we need an office? Why could not the business be transacted
+here; or perhaps a room might be had on this floor that would do
+perfectly well; then we should be close together, and able to communicate
+when necessary.'
+
+'Longworth seems to think differently. He says you must impress the
+public, and so he is going in for fine offices.'
+
+'Yes, but who is to pay for them?'
+
+'Why, we must, of course--you and Longworth and myself.'
+
+'Have you the money?'
+
+'I have a certain amount. I think we shall have enough to see it through,
+and if not, we can easily get it, and settle up when we finish the
+business.'
+
+'Well, you know I have no money to spare.'
+
+'Oh, I know that well enough. Perhaps Longworth will see us through,
+for, as he says, this sort of thing can be spoilt by niggardliness. He
+has known, and so have I, many a business go to pieces because of
+false economy.'
+
+'But it seems to me all this is needless expense. We only want to get a
+few moneyed men interested in our project, and if they are sensible men,
+they will look to the probability of getting a good dividend, not at
+fine offices.'
+
+'Very well, John; you get the men, and I shall be satisfied. I am sure I
+am as anxious to do this cheaply as you are. If you think you can go out
+and interest a dozen or twenty-four men in the City, and persuade them
+to go in for our mine, I will cry "Halt!" on our part until you do it.
+Will you try that?'
+
+Kenyon pondered for a few minutes, and then said: 'I suppose that would
+be rather a difficult thing to do.'
+
+'Yes, that is the way it strikes me. I do not know to whom I could go.
+Longworth is a good man, and we have gone to him. Now it seems to me,
+having got his assistance, the least we can do, unless we are prepared to
+produce the men ourselves forthwith, is to act as he wishes.'
+
+'Yes, I quite appreciate that, and I also grasp the fact that too close
+economy is not the best thing; but, on the other hand, George, how are we
+to perform our part with Longworth? His ideas of economy and yours may be
+vastly different. What is a mere trifle to him would bankrupt us!'
+
+'I know that. Well, he is coming here this afternoon at three. Suppose
+you manage to be in then, and talk with him. Meanwhile, I will go over
+the papers and get them into tabulated form.'
+
+'Very well; I shall be here at three o'clock.'
+
+It will hardly be credited that a business man like John Kenyon spent
+most of the time between that hour and three o'clock trying to compose a
+business letter in answer to the business communication he had received
+that morning. Yet such was the astonishing fact, and it showed, perhaps
+more than anything else, how utterly unfit Mr. John Kenyon was to join in
+a commercial undertaking in a city of hard-headed people. At last,
+however, the letter was posted, and Kenyon hurried away to be in time for
+his three-o'clock appointment. He found Wentworth and young Mr. Longworth
+together, the latter looking more like a young man from the West End
+than a typical City business man. His monocle was in his eye, and it
+shone on Kenyon as he entered. It was evident something was troubling
+Wentworth, and it was equally evident that the something, whatever it
+was, was not troubling young Longworth.
+
+'You are late, John,' was Wentworth's greeting.
+
+'A little,' he answered. 'I was detained.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, and Wentworth appeared to be waiting
+for Longworth to speak. At last Longworth said:
+
+'I have succeeded in getting very nice offices indeed, and I was telling
+Mr. Wentworth about them. You see, it is not very easy to engage offices
+in a good part of the City by the week. They do not care to let them in
+that way, because, while a weekly tenant is occupying them, somebody
+else, who wants them for a longer time, might have to be sent away.'
+
+'Yes,' said Kenyon in a non-committal manner.
+
+'Well, I have got just the offices we need, and have now set the men at
+putting gilt lettering on the windows. I have taken the offices in the
+name of "The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited," which I shall have
+on the plate-glass windows in a very short time. Now, Mr. Wentworth here
+seems to think the offices rather expensive. I have told him before what
+my ideas are in the matter of expense. Perhaps, before anything more is
+said on the subject, we ought to go and look at the rooms.'
+
+'How much are they a week?' asked Kenyon.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth did not answer, because at that moment his monocle
+fell out of its place and had to be adjusted again; but Wentworth jerked
+out the two words, 'Thirty pounds.'
+
+'A _week_?' cried John.
+
+'Yes,' said Longworth, after having succeeded in replacing the round bit
+of glass--'yes; Mr. Wentworth seems to think that is rather high, but I
+defy him to get as fine offices in the City for anything less in price.
+It is merely ten pounds a week for each of us. However, before you can
+judge of their dearness or cheapness, you must see them. If you ask me, I
+think they are a bargain.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon. 'Have you the time, George?'
+
+Wentworth, without answering, shoved the papers into his desk and closed
+it. The three young men went out together, and after a short walk came to
+large plate-glass windows, where a man on a ladder was chalking the words
+'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited,' in a semicircle.
+
+'You see,' said Longworth, 'this is one of the very best situations in
+the City. As I said before, I doubt if you could get anything like it for
+the price.'
+
+They could not deny the excellence of the position, or that the
+plate-glass looked very imposing and the gilt letters exceedingly fine;
+but the cost of this running on perhaps for two or three months seemed to
+appal them.
+
+'Come inside,' said young Longworth suavely; 'I am sure you will be
+pleased with the rooms we have. You see,' he said, entering and nodding
+to the carpenters who were at work there, 'this will be the front
+office, where the public is received. Here you have room for an
+accountant or two and your secretary. The back-room, which you see is
+also well lighted, is just the spot for our people to meet. We will get
+in a large long table here, and a number of chairs, and there we
+are--capital directors' room.'
+
+'Does the thirty pounds a week include the furnishing of the place?'
+asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! You surely couldn't expect that? We shall have to put
+in the furniture, of course.'
+
+'And do you intend to put in desks and counter and everything of that
+sort here?'
+
+'Of course. Beside that, we will get in a large safe. There is nothing
+like a ponderous safe, with the name of the company in gilt letters on
+it, for impressing the general public.'
+
+'And how much is the furnishing of this place to cost?'
+
+'Really, I don't know that. The men I have engaged will do it very
+reasonably. They have done work for me before. You don't get it done any
+cheaper by haggling about the price beforehand--I've found that out.'
+
+'I do not see how we are to pay our share of all this,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Nothing easier, my boy; I've arranged all that. I will pay them my third
+in cash when it is finished, and, they have agreed to wait three months
+for the remainder. By that time you will have sixty thousand pounds each,
+and a little bill like this will be nothing to you.'
+
+Kenyon looked grave.
+
+'It's a little like counting your chickens,' he said.
+
+'Ah, they'll hatch all right,' laughed Longworth. And then his eyeglass
+dropped out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+It is never wise to despise an enemy, no matter how humble he may be.
+The mouse liberated the enmeshed lion. Jennie Brewster should have been
+thankful that circumstances, working in her favour, had rendered her
+account of the discoveries she made about the mines unnecessary. She was
+saved the bitterness of acknowledged defeat by the cable despatch that
+awaited her at Queenstown, telling her not to forward her information.
+The letter she received from the editor of the _Argus_ later explained
+the cable message. The _Argus_ had obtained from a different source what
+purported to be an account of the reports on the mines, and this had
+been published. If Jennie's contribution corroborated this article, it
+was unnecessary; if it contradicted what had been already published,
+then, of course, it was equally unavailable, for the _Argus_ was a paper
+that never stultified itself by acknowledging an error. So the editor
+sent his correspondent a short cable message to save the expense of a
+long and costly despatch that would have been useless when it reached
+the _Argus_ office.
+
+Instead, however, of being grateful to the stars that fought so well for
+her, Jennie became bitterly resentful against Fleming, and hardly less so
+against Miss Longworth. If it had not been for the meddling politician's
+interference, Wentworth would never have discovered who she was, and the
+whole train of humiliating events that followed would not have taken
+place. She would have parted with Wentworth on a friendly basis, at
+least. She was forced, reluctantly, to admit to herself that she liked
+Wentworth better than any young man she had ever before met; and now that
+there was little chance of seeing him again, her regret had become more
+and more poignant as time went on. He had told her all his hopes about
+the mica-mine before their unfortunate disaster, and had taken her into
+his confidence in a way, she felt sure, he had never done with any other
+woman. She saw the earnest look in his honest eyes whenever she closed
+her own, and this look haunted her day and night, alternating with the
+remembrance of that gaze of incredulous reproach with which he regarded
+her when he discovered her mission, which was even harder to bear than
+the recollection of his confidence and esteem.
+
+And the sting of the situation lay in the fact that it had all been so
+useless and unnecessary. She had wounded her friend and humiliated
+herself all for nothing! The rapid changes that had taken place in the
+newspaper office since she left, had rendered her sacrifices futile, and
+while she had buoyed herself up on shipboard by holding that she was
+merely doing her duty to her employers, even that consolation had been
+made naught by the editor's letter.
+
+Thus it ever is in that kaleidoscopic, gigantic and fascinating lottery,
+the modern press. The sensation for which an editor to-day would sell his
+soul, is to-morrow worthless. The greatest fool in the office will
+sometimes stumble stupidly upon the most important news of the day, while
+the cleverest reporter may be baffled in his constant fight against time,
+for the paper goes to press at a certain hour, and after that, effort is
+useless. The conductor of a great paper is like the driver of a Roman
+chariot; he needs a cool head and a strong arm, with a clear eye that
+peers into the future, and that pays little heed to the victims of the
+whirling scythe-blades at the hub. He may overturn a Government or be
+himself thrown, by an unexpected jolt, under the wheels. The fiery steeds
+never stop, and when one drops the reins, another grasps them, to be in
+turn lost and forgotten in the mad race, wherein never a glance is cast
+to the rear. The best brains in the country are called into requisition,
+squeezed, and flung aside. With a lavish but indiscriminating hand are
+thrown broadcast fame and dishonour, riches and disaster. Unbribable in
+the ordinary sense of the word, the press will, for the accumulation of
+the smallest coins of the realm, exaggerate a cholera scare and paralyze
+the business of a nation; then it will turn on a corrupt Government and
+rend it, although millions might be made by taking another course. It is
+the terror of scoundrels and the despair of honest men.
+
+Jennie Brewster, in the midst of her unavailing regrets, clenched her
+little fist when she thought of Fleming. It is both customary and
+consoling to place the blame on other shoulders than our own. Human
+nature is such an erring quantity, that usually we can find a scapegoat
+among our fellow-beings, who can be made responsible for any misdeeds or
+failings which are so much a part of ourselves that they escape
+recognition. If Fleming had only attended his own business, as a man
+should, Wentworth would never have known that Jennie wrote for the
+_Argus_, and Jennie might have had a friend in London who would have
+added that spice of interest to her visit which usually accompanies the
+friendship of an agreeable young man for a girl so pretty and
+fascinating.
+
+Fleming put up at the hotel that Jennie had at first selected, and now
+and then she met him in the extensive halls of the great building; but
+she invariably passed him with the dignity of an offended queen, although
+the unfortunate man always took off his hat, and once or twice paused as
+if about to speak with her.
+
+On the last day of her stay at the hotel, she met Fleming oftener than
+ever before; but it did not occur to her that the unhappy politician was
+lying in wait for her, never being able to muster up enough courage to
+address her when his opportunity came. At last a note was brought up to
+the room she occupied, from Fleming, in which he said that he would like
+to have a few moments' conversation with her, and would wait for a reply.
+
+'Tell him there is no reply,' said the girl to the messenger.
+
+It is sometimes well to know the point of view, even of an enemy, but
+Jenny was too angry with him to think of that. However, a politician, to
+be successful, must not be easily rebuffed, and as a rule he is not.
+
+Fleming, when he got the curt reply to his note, threw away his cigar,
+put on his hat, took the lift, passed through the long corridor, and
+knocked at Jennie's door.
+
+The girl's amazement at seeing her enemy there was so great that the
+obvious act of shutting the door in his face did not occur to her until
+it was too late, and Fleming had carelessly placed his large foot in the
+way of its closing.
+
+'How dare you come here, when I refused to see you?' she cried, with her
+eyes ablaze.
+
+'Oh, I understood the messenger to say I might come,' replied the
+untruthful politician. 'You see, it's not a personal matter, but the very
+biggest sensation that ever went under the ocean on a cable, and I
+thought--Well, you know, I felt I had done you--quite unintentionally--a
+mean trick on board the _Caloric_ and this was kind of to make up for it,
+don't you know.
+
+'You can never repair what you have done.'
+
+'Oh yes, I can, Jennie.'
+
+'I shall be obliged to you if you remember that my name is Miss
+Brewster,' said the girl, drawing herself up; but Fleming noticed, with
+relief, that since he had mentioned the sensation she had made no motion
+to close the door, while the eagerness of the newspaper woman was
+gradually replacing the anger with which she had at first regarded him.
+
+'All right, Miss Brewster. I meant no disrespect, you know; and,
+honestly, I would rather give you a big item than anybody else.'
+
+'Oh, you're very honest--I know that.'
+
+'Well, I am, you know, Jen--I mean Miss Brewster; although I tell you
+it don't pay in politics any more than in the newspaper business.'
+
+'If you only came to speak like that of the newspapers, I don't care to
+listen to you.'
+
+'Wait a minute. I don't blame you for being angry----'
+
+'Thank you.'
+
+'But, all the same, if you let this item get away, you'll be sorry. I'm
+giving you the straight tip. I could get more gold than you ever saw for
+giving this snap away, yet here you're treating me as if I were----'
+
+'A New York politician. Why do you come to me with this valuable piece
+of information? Just because you have a great regard for me, I suppose?'
+
+'That's right. That's it exactly.'
+
+'I thought so. Very well. There is a parlour on this floor where we can
+talk without being interrupted. Come with me.'
+
+Jennie closed the door and walked down the passage, followed by Fleming,
+who smiled with satisfaction at his own tact and shrewdness, as, indeed,
+he had every right to do.
+
+In the deserted sitting-room was a writing-table, and Jennie sat down
+beside it, motioning Fleming to a chair opposite her.
+
+'Now,' she said, drawing some paper towards her, and taking up a pen,
+'what is this important bit of news?'
+
+'Well, before we begin,' replied Fleming, 'I would like to tell you why I
+interfered on shipboard and let that Englishman know who you were.'
+
+'Never mind that. Better let it rest.' There was a flash of anger in the
+girl's eye, but, in spite of it, Fleming continued. He was a persistent
+man.
+
+'But it has some bearing on what I'm going to tell you. When I saw you on
+board the _Caloric_, my heart went down into my boots. I thought the game
+was up, and that you were after me. I was bound to find out whether the
+_Argus_ knew anything of my trip or not, and whether it had put you on my
+track. Only five men in New York knew of my journey across, and as a good
+deal depended on secrecy, I had to find out in some way whether you were
+there for the purpose of--well, you know. So I spoke to the Englishman,
+and raised a hornets' nest about my ears; but I soon saw you had no
+suspicion of what I was engaged in, otherwise I would have had to
+telegraph to certain persons then in London, and scatter them.'
+
+'Dear me! And what villainy were you concocting? Counterfeiting?'
+
+'No; politics. Just as bad, I suppose you think. Now, do you know where
+Crupper is?'
+
+'The Boss of New York? I heard before I left that he was at Carlsbad for
+his health.'
+
+'He was there,' said Fleming mysteriously; 'but now----'
+
+The politician solemnly pointed downwards with his forefinger.
+
+'What! Dead?' cried Jennie, the ominous motion of Fleming's finger
+naturally suggesting what all good people believed to be the arch-thief's
+ultimate destination.
+
+'No,' said Fleming, laughing; 'he's in this hotel.'
+
+'Oh!'
+
+'Yes, and Senator Smollet, leader of the Conscientious Party, is here
+too, although you don't meet them in the halls as often as you do me.
+These good men supposed to be political opponents, are lying low and
+saying nothing.'
+
+'I see. And they've had a conference.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, it's like this.' Fleming pulled a sheet of paper towards
+him, and drew on it an oval. 'That's New York. We'll call it a
+pumpkin-pie, if you like, the material of which it is composed being
+typical of the heads of its conscientious citizens. Or a pigeon-pie,
+perhaps, for the New Yorker is made to be plucked. Well, look here.'
+Fleming drew from a point in the centre several radiating lines. 'That's
+what Crupper and Smollet are doing in London. They're dividing the pie
+between the two parties.'
+
+'That's very interesting, but how are they going to deliver the pieces?'
+
+'Simple as shelling peas. You see, our great pull is the conscientious
+citizen--the voter who wants to vote right, and for a good man. If it
+weren't for the good men as candidates and the good men as voters, New
+York politics would be a pretty uncertain game. You see, the so-called
+respectable element in both parties is our only hope. Each believes in
+his party, thinks his crowd is better than the other fellow's, so all you
+have to do is to nominate an honest man to represent each party, and then
+that divides what they call the reputable vote, and we real politicians
+get our man in between the two. That's all there is in New York politics.
+Well, Senator Smollet threatened not to put up a good man on the
+conscientious ticket, and that would have turned the whole unbribable
+vote of both parties against us, so we had to make a deal with him, and
+throw in the next Presidential election. Crupper's no hog; he knows when
+he's had plenty, and New York's good enough for him. He don't care who
+gets the Presidency.'
+
+'And this conference has been held?'
+
+'That's right. It took place in this hotel.'
+
+'The bargain was made, I suppose?'
+
+'It was. The pie was divided.'
+
+'And you didn't get a slice?'
+
+'Oh, I beg your pardon, I did!'
+
+'Then, why do you come to me and tell me all this--if it's true?'
+
+Honest indignation shone in Fleming's face.
+
+'_If_ it's true? Of course it's true. Why do I come to you? Because I
+want to be friendly with you, that's why.'
+
+Jennie, nibbling the end of her pen, looked thoughtfully across at him
+for a few moments, then slowly shook her head.
+
+'If you get me to believe that, Mr. Fleming, I'll not cable a word. No, I
+must have an adequate motive, for I won't cable anything I don't believe
+to be absolutely true.'
+
+'I assure you, Jennie----'
+
+'Wait a moment. You say you are promised your share in the new deal, but
+it is not as big a slice as what you have now. It stands to reason that,
+if Crupper is to divide with Smollet's rascals, each of Crupper's rascals
+must content himself with a smaller piece. The greater the number of
+thieves, the smaller each portion of booty. You didn't see that when you
+left New York, and therefore you were afraid of publicity. You see it
+now, and you want a sensational article published, so that Senator
+Smollet will be forced to deny it, or further arouse the suspicions of
+the honest men in his party. In either case publicity will nullify the
+results of the deal, and you will hold the share you have. As you didn't
+know any of the regular London representatives of the New York papers,
+you couldn't trust them not to tell on you, and so you came to me. Now
+that I see a good substantial selfish motive for your action, I am ready
+to believe you.'
+
+An expression of dismay at first overspread the countenance of the
+politician, but this gave way to a look of undisguised admiration as the
+girl went on.
+
+'By Jove, Jennie!' he cried, bringing his fist down on the table when she
+had finished; 'you're wasted in the newspaper business; you ought to be a
+politician! Say, girl, if you marry me, I'll be President of the United
+States yet.'
+
+'Oh no, you wouldn't,' said Jennie, quite unabashed by his handsome, if
+excited, proposal. 'No corrupt New York politician will ever be President
+of the United States. You have the great honest bulk of the people to
+deal with there, and I'm Democrat enough to believe in them when it comes
+to big issues, however much you may befog them in small; you can't fool
+all people for all time, Mr. Fleming, as a man who was not in little
+politics once said. Every now and then the awakened people will get up
+and smash you.'
+
+Fleming laughed boisterously.
+
+'That's just it,' he said. 'It's every now and then. If they did it every
+year I would have to quit politics. But will you send the particulars of
+this meeting to the _Argus_ without giving me away?'
+
+'Yes, I recognise its importance. Now, I want you to give me every
+detail--the number of the room they met in, the exact hour, and all that.
+What I like to get in a report of a secret meeting is absolute accuracy
+in small matters, so that those who were there will know it is not
+guesswork. That always takes the backbone out of future denials. I'll
+mention your name----'
+
+'Bless my soul, don't do that!'
+
+'I must say you were present.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Why? Dear me! you can't be so stupid as not to see that, if your name
+is left out, suspicion will at once point to you as the divulger?'
+
+'Yes I suppose that is so.'
+
+'And this man is a ruler in one of the greatest cities in the world! Go
+on, Mr. Fleming; who else was there besides Crupper, Smollet, and
+yourself?'
+
+The account--two columns and a half--was a bombshell in political New
+York the morning it appeared in the _Argus_. Senator Smollet cabled from
+Paris that there wasn't a word of truth in it, that he wasn't in London
+on the date mentioned, and had never seen Crupper there or elsewhere.
+Crupper cabled from Carlsbad that he was ill, and had not been out of
+bed for a month. He would sue the _Argus_ for libel, which, by the way,
+he never did. The reporters flocked to meet Fleming when his steamer
+came in, but of course _he_ knew nothing about it; he had been across
+the ocean solely on private business that had no connection with
+politics. He knew nothing of Crupper's whereabouts, but he knew _one_
+thing, which was that Crupper was too honest and honourable a man to
+traffic with the enemy.
+
+Notwithstanding all these denials, the report bore the marks of truth on
+its face, and everybody believed it, although many pretended not to. The
+division of the spoils aroused the greatest consternation and indignation
+among Crupper's own following, and a deputation went over to see the old
+man.
+
+Meanwhile, the _Argus_, with much dignity of diction, explained that it
+stood for the best interests of the people, and in the people's cause was
+fearless. It defied all and sundry to bring libel suits if they wanted
+to; it was prepared to battle for the people's rights. And its
+circulation went up and up, its many web presses being taxed to their
+utmost in supplying the demand. Thus are the truly good rewarded.
+
+A great newspaper is as lavishly generous as a despotic monarch, to those
+who serve it well, and the cheque which Jennie cashed when Lady Willow
+accompanied her to the City lined her purse with banknotes to a fulness
+that receptacle had never known before.
+
+After a few weeks with Lady Willow, Jennie seemed to tire of the
+frivolities of society, and even of the sedate company of the good lady
+with whom she lived. She announced that she was going to Paris for a week
+or two, but, owing to uncertainty of address, her letters were not to be
+forwarded. She merely took a hand-bag, leaving the rest of her luggage
+with Lady Willow, who was thus sustained by the hope that her paying
+guest would soon return.
+
+Jennie took a hansom to Charing Cross, but instead of departing on the
+Paris express, she hailed a four-wheeler, and, giving a West End address
+to the driver, entered the closed vehicle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+On the big plate-glass windows of the new rooms there soon appeared, in
+gilt letters with black edges, the words, 'Canadian Mica Mining Company,
+Limited: London Offices.' But the workmen who were finishing the
+interior were not so quick as the painters and gilders. The new offices
+took a long time to prepare, and both Kenyon and Wentworth chafed at the
+delay, because Longworth said nothing could be done until the rooms
+were occupied.
+
+'It is like this, Longworth,' said Wentworth to him: 'every moment is of
+value. Time is running on, and we have not for ever in which to form
+this company.'
+
+'And you must remember,' replied young Mr. Longworth, gazing
+reproachfully at him through his glittering monocle, 'that I am equally
+interested in this project with you. It is just as much to my interest to
+save time as it is to yours. You must not worry about the matter, Mr.
+Wentworth; everything is all right. The men are doing a good job for us,
+and it will not be long before their work is completed. As I have told
+you time and again, a great deal depends on the appearance we present to
+the public. We have nearly the best offices in the City. The workmen have
+certainly taken longer than I expected they would, but, you see, they
+have a great deal of work on hand. When we get this started it will not
+take long. I, in the meanwhile, have not been idle. At least half a dozen
+moneyed men are ready to go in with us on this project. The moment the
+offices are finished we will have a meeting of the proposed shareholders.
+If they subscribe sufficiently large amounts--and I think they will--all
+the rest is a mere matter of detail which our solicitors will attend to.
+But if you imagine that you and Mr. Kenyon can manage everything better
+than I am doing, you are perfectly at liberty to go ahead. I am sure I
+have no desire to monopolize all the work. What have _you_ done, for
+instance? What has Mr. Kenyon done?'
+
+'Kenyon, as I think you know, has got all the facts in reference to the
+demand for the mineral, and I have arranged them. We have had everything
+printed as you suggested, and the papers are ready. They were delivered
+at my office to-day.'
+
+'Very well,' answered young Longworth; 'we are getting on. That is so
+much done which will not have to be done over again. Perhaps it will be
+as well to send me some of the printed matter, so that I can give it to
+the men I was speaking of. Meanwhile, don't worry about the offices; they
+will be ready in good time.'
+
+Wentworth and Kenyon visited the new offices time and again, but still
+the work seemed to drag. At last Wentworth said very sharply to the
+foreman:
+
+'Unless this is finished by next Monday, we will have nothing to do with
+it.'
+
+The foreman seemed astonished.
+
+'I understood from Mr. Longworth,' he said, 'from whom we take our
+instructions, that there was no particular hurry about this job.'
+
+'Well, there is a particular hurry. We must be in here by the first of
+next week, and if you have not finished by that time, we shall have to
+come in with it unfinished.'
+
+'In that case,' said the foreman, 'I will do the best I can. I think we
+can finish it this week.'
+
+And finished it was accordingly.
+
+When Kenyon entered his new offices, he found them rather oppressive for
+so modest a man as himself. Wentworth laughed at his doleful expression
+as he viewed the general grandeur of his surroundings.
+
+'What bothers me,' said John, 'is knowing that all this has to be paid
+for.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' answered Wentworth; 'but by the time the debts become due I
+hope we shall have plenty of money.'
+
+'I must confess I do not understand Longworth in this matter. He seems to
+be doing nothing; at least, he has nothing to show for what he has done,
+and he does not appear to realize that time is an object with us; in
+fact, that our company-forming has really become a race against time.'
+
+'Well, we shall see very shortly what he is going to do. I have sent a
+messenger for him to meet us here--he ought to be here now--and we must
+certainly push things. There is no time to lose.'
+
+'Has he said anything to you--he talks more freely with you than he does
+to me--about what the next move is to be?'
+
+'No; he has said nothing.'
+
+'Well, don't you see the situation in which we stand? We are practically
+doing nothing--leaving everything in his hands. Now, if he should tell us
+some fine day that he can have nothing more to do with our project (and I
+believe he is quite capable of it), here we are with our time nearly
+spent, deeply in debt, and nothing done.'
+
+'My dear John, what a brain you have for conjuring up awful
+possibilities! Trust me, Longworth won't act in the way you suggest. It
+would be dishonourable, and he is, so far as I know, an honourable man of
+business. I think you take a certain prejudice against a person, and then
+can see nothing good in anything he does. Longworth told me the other day
+that he had five or six people who are ready to go into this business
+with us, and if such is the case he has certainly done his share.'
+
+'Yes, I admit that. Did he give you their names?'
+
+'No, he did not.'
+
+'The thing that troubles me is our own helplessness. We seem, in some way
+or other, to have been shoved into the background.'
+
+'So far from that being the case,' said Wentworth, 'Longworth told me
+that, if anything suggested itself to us, we were to go ahead with it. He
+asked what you had done and what I had done, and I told him. He seemed
+quite anxious that we should do everything we could, as he is doing.'
+
+'Well, but, don't you see, the situation is this: if we make a move at
+all, we may do something of which he does not approve. Haven't you
+noticed that whenever I suggest anything, or whenever you suggest
+anything, for that matter, he always has something counter to it? And I
+don't like the solicitors he has engaged for this business. They are what
+is known as "shady"; you know that as well as I do.'
+
+'Bless me, John! then suggest something yourself if you have such dark
+suspicions of Longworth. I'm sure I'm willing to do anything you want
+done. Suggest something.'
+
+Before John could make the required suggestion, the messenger Wentworth
+had sent to young Longworth returned.
+
+'His uncle says, sir,' began the messenger, 'that Master William has gone
+to the North, and will not be back for a week.'
+
+'A week!' cried both the young men together.
+
+'Yes, sir, a week was what he said. He left a note to be given to either
+of you if you called. Here is the note, sir.'
+
+Wentworth took the envelope handed to him and tore it open. The contents
+ran thus:
+
+'I have been suddenly called away to the North, and may be gone for a
+week or ten days. I am sorry to be away at this particular juncture, but
+as it is not likely that the men will have the offices finished before I
+come back, no great harm will be done. Meanwhile I shall see several
+gentlemen I have in my mind's eye, men that seldom come to London, who
+will be of great service to us. If you think of anything to forward the
+mica-mine, pray go on with it. You can send any letters for me to my
+uncle, and I shall get them. As there is no hurry in the matter of time,
+however, I should strongly advise that nothing be done until my return,
+when we can all go at the business with a will.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'WILLIAM LONGWORTH.'
+
+When Wentworth had finished reading this letter, the two young men looked
+at each other.
+
+'What do you make of that?' said Kenyon.
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. In the first place, he is gone for a week.'
+
+'Yes; that one thing is certain.'
+
+'Well now, John, one of two things has to be done. We have either to
+trust this Longworth, or we have to go on alone without him. Which is
+it to be?'
+
+'I am sure I don't know,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'But, my dear fellow, we have come to a point when we must decide. You
+are, evidently, suspicious of Longworth. What you say really amounts to
+this: that he, for some reason of his own, which I confess I cannot see
+or understand, desires to delay forming this company until it is too
+late.'
+
+'I didn't say that.'
+
+'You say what practically amounts to that. Either he is honest or he is
+not. Now, we have to decide to-day, and here, whether we are going to
+ignore him and go on with the forming of the company, or work with him.
+Unless you can give some good reason for doing otherwise, I propose to
+work with him. I think it will be very much worse if he leaves us now
+than if he had never gone into it. People will ask why he left.'
+
+'Probably he wouldn't leave, even if you wanted him to do so. He has your
+signature to an agreement, and you have his.'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'I do not see how we can help ourselves.'
+
+'Then I think these suspicions should be dropped, because you cannot work
+with a man whom you suspect of being a rascal.'
+
+'I quite admit of the justice of that, so I shall say nothing more.
+Meanwhile, do you propose to wait until he comes back?'
+
+'I shall write him to-night and ask him what he intends to do. I shall
+tell him, as I have told him before, that time is pressing, and we want
+to know what is being done.'
+
+'Very well,' said John; 'I will wait till you get the answer to your
+letter. In the meantime, I do not see that there is anything to do but
+occupy this gorgeous office as well as I can, and wait to see what
+turns up.'
+
+'That is my own idea. I think, myself, it is rather unfair to suspect
+a man of being a villain when he has really done nothing to show that
+he is one.'
+
+To this John made no answer.
+
+The next day Kenyon occupied the new offices, and set himself to the
+task of getting accustomed to them. The first day a few people dropped
+in, made inquiries about the mine, took some printed matter, and
+generally managed to ask several questions to which Kenyon was unable to
+reply. On the second day a number of newspaper men called--advertising
+canvassers, most of them, who left cards or circulars with Kenyon,
+showing that unless a commercial venture was advertised in their
+particular papers it was certain not to be a success. One very swell
+individual, with a cast of countenance that betokened a frugal,
+money-making, and shrewd race, asked Kenyon for a private interview. He
+said he belonged to the _Financial Field_, the great newspaper of London,
+which was read by every investor both in the City and in the country. All
+he wanted was some particulars of the mine.
+
+Had the company been formed yet?
+
+No, it had not.
+
+When did they intend to go to the public?
+
+That Kenyon could not say.
+
+What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its
+recommendation to investors?
+
+Kenyon said the full particulars would be found in the printed sheet he
+handed him, and with profuse thanks the newspaper man put it in his
+pocket.
+
+How had the mine paid in previous years?
+
+It had paid a small dividend.
+
+On what amount?
+
+That Kenyon was not prepared to answer.
+
+How long had it been in operation?
+
+For several years.
+
+Had it ever been placed on the London market before?
+
+Not so far as Kenyon was aware.
+
+Who was at present interested in the mine?
+
+That Mr. Kenyon did not care to answer, and he further stated, so far as
+giving out advertisements was concerned, he was not yet prepared to do
+any advertising. The visitor, who had taken down these notes, said his
+object was not to get an advertisement, but to obtain information about
+the mine. People could advertise in his paper or not, as they chose. The
+journal was such a well-known medium for reaching investors that everyone
+who knew his business advertised in it as a matter of course, and so they
+kept no canvassers, and made no applications for advertisements.
+
+'The chances are,' said the newspaper man, as he took his leave, 'that
+our editor will write an editorial on this mine, and, in order that there
+may be no inaccuracy, I shall bring it to you to read, and shall be very
+much obliged if you will correct any mistakes.'
+
+'I shall be glad to do so,' returned Kenyon, as the representative of the
+_Financial Field_ took his leave.
+
+The newspaper men were rather hard to please, and to get rid of; but John
+had a visitor on the afternoon of the second day who almost caused his
+wits to desert him. He looked up from his desk as the door opened, and
+was astonished to see the smiling face of Edith Longworth, while behind
+her came the old lady who had been an occupant of the carriage when John
+had taken his drive to the west.
+
+'You did not expect to see me here among the investors who have been
+calling upon you, Mr. Kenyon, did you?'
+
+Kenyon held out his hand, and said:
+
+'I am very pleased indeed to see you, whether you come as an investor or
+not.'
+
+'And so this is your new office?' she cried, looking round. 'How you have
+blossomed out, haven't you? These offices are as fine as any in the
+City.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'they are too fine to suit me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't see why you should not have handsome offices as well as
+anyone else. You have been in my father's place of business, of course.
+But it is not so grand as these rooms.'
+
+'I think that helps to show the absurdity of ours. Your father's house is
+an old-standing one, and this gives us an air of new riches which, I must
+confess, I don't like, especially as we have not the riches.'
+
+'Then, why did you agree to have such offices? I suppose you had
+something to say about them?'
+
+'Very little, I must own. They were engaged while I was in the North, and
+after they had been engaged, of course I did not like to say anything
+against them.'
+
+'Well, and how is the mine getting on? You have not applied to me yet to
+fulfil my offer, which I think was a very fair one.'
+
+'I have not needed to do so,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Ah, then, subscriptions are coming in, are they? Where is the list?'
+
+'We have no list yet. We are waiting for your cousin, who is in the
+North.'
+
+'In the North!' said Edith, with her eyes open wide. 'He is not in the
+North; he is in Paris, and we expect him home to-night.'
+
+'Oh, indeed!' said John, who made no further comment.
+
+'Now, where's your subscription-list? Oh, you told me you have none yet.
+Very well; this sheet of paper will do.' And the young woman drew some
+lines across the paper, heading it, 'The Canadian Mica-mine.' Then
+underneath she wrote the name Edith Longworth, and after it--'For ten
+thousand pounds.' 'There! I am the first subscriber to the new company;
+if you get the others as easily, you will be very fortunate.'
+
+And, before John could thank her, she laughingly turned to her companion,
+and said:
+
+'We must go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+When Wentworth dropped in to see if anything had happened, Kenyon told
+him that young Longworth was not in the North at all, but in Paris.
+Wentworth pondered over this piece of information for a moment, and said:
+
+'I have written him, but have received no answer. I have just been to
+see the solicitors, and have told them that time was pressing; that we
+must do something. They quite agreed it was desirable some action should
+be taken at once, but, of course, as they said, they merely waited our
+instructions. They are willing to do anything we ask them to do. However,
+they advised waiting until Longworth got back, and then they proposed we
+should have a meeting at the offices here. They said, moreover, that, if
+Longworth had five or six men who would go at work with a will, the whole
+affair would be finished in a week at most. They did not appear to be at
+all alarmed at the shortening time, but said everything depended upon the
+men Longworth was going to bring with him. If they were the right men,
+there would be no trouble. So, all in all, they advised me not to worry
+about it, but to communicate with Longworth, if I could, and get him to
+come as soon as possible. I had to admit myself that this was the only
+thing to do, so I called round to see if you had heard anything from
+him.'
+
+'I have heard nothing about him,' said Kenyon, 'except that he has lied,
+and has gone to Paris instead of going North.'
+
+'Well,' mused Wentworth, 'I don't know that that is a very important
+point. He may have business in Paris, and he may have thought it was no
+affair of ours where he went, in which he was partly right and partly
+wrong. He thought, no doubt, that if he said he was going North, to see
+some men who could not be seen without his going there, it would relieve
+our minds, and make us imagine we were going on all right.'
+
+'That is just what I object to, Wentworth. His whole demeanour seems to
+show that he wants us to think things are all right when they are not
+all right.'
+
+'Well, John, as I said before, you've got to do one thing or the other.
+You have to trust Longworth or to go on without him. Now, for Heaven's
+sake make up your mind which it is to be, and don't grumble.'
+
+'I am not grumbling. A man that is really honest will not say what is
+false, even about a small thing.'
+
+'Oh, you are too particular. Wait till you have been in the City ten
+years longer, and you won't mind a little thing like that.'
+
+'Little things like that, as you call them, are indicative of general
+character.'
+
+'Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. You mustn't take things too seriously.
+I do not see that anything can be done until Longworth chooses to exhibit
+himself. If you can suggest anything better, as I said before, tell me
+what it is, and I am ready to do my part.'
+
+'I confess I don't see what we can do. We might wait a day or two longer
+yet, and then, if we hear nothing more from Longworth, dismiss those
+solicitors he has chosen, and take the gentlemen who act for you.'
+
+'The people Longworth has engaged do not bear a very good reputation;
+still, I must admit they talk in a very straightforward manner. As you
+say, it is perhaps better to let matters rest for a day or two.'
+
+And so the days passed. Wentworth wrote again to Longworth at his office,
+and said they would wait for two days, and if he did not put in an
+appearance, before that time, they would go on forming the company as if
+he did not exist.
+
+To this no answer came, and Kenyon and Wentworth again held consultation
+in the sumptuous offices which had been chosen for them.
+
+'No news yet, I suppose?' said Kenyon.
+
+'None whatever,' was the answer.
+
+'Very well; I have made up my mind what to do----'
+
+But before John Kenyon could say what he had resolved to do, the door
+opened, and there entered unto them Mr. William Longworth, with his silk
+hat as glossy as a mirror, a general trim and prosperous appearance about
+him, a flower in his buttonhole and his eyeglass in its place.
+
+'Good-morning, gentlemen,' he said. 'I thought I should find you here,
+and so I did not call at your office, Wentworth. Ah,' he cried, looking
+round, 'this is the proper caper! These offices look even better than I
+thought they would. I just got back this morning,' he added, turning to
+his partners.
+
+'Indeed,' said Wentworth, 'we are very glad to see you. How did you enjoy
+your trip to Paris?'
+
+The young man did not appear in the least abashed by this remark. He
+merely elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'Ah, well, as both of you are doubtless aware, Paris is not what it used
+to be. Still, I had a very good time there.'
+
+'I'm glad of that,' said Wentworth; 'and did you see the gentlemen you
+expected to meet?'
+
+'I must confess I did not. I did not think it was necessary. I have five
+or six men interested already, practically pledged to furnish all the
+capital.' And, saying this, he walked round the desk at which they stood,
+and sat down, throwing the right leg across the left and clasping his
+knee in his hands.
+
+'Well, what has been done during my absence? The mine floated yet?'
+
+'No,' said Wentworth; 'the mine is not yet floated. Now, Mr. Longworth,
+the time has come for plain speaking. You have gone off to Paris without
+a word of warning to us at a very critical time, and you have not
+answered any of the letters I sent to you.'
+
+'Well, my dear boy, the reason was that I expected every day to get back
+here, and each day was detained a little longer.'
+
+'Very good; the point I want to impress upon you is this--time is
+getting short. If we are going to form this company, we have to set about
+it at once.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' said Longworth, in an expostulating tone of voice,
+'that is exactly what I told myself. The time _is_ getting short, as you
+say. Of course, as I said when I joined you, I cannot give my whole time
+to this. We are equal partners, and the fact that I had to leave for a
+few days should not interrupt the business we have on hand. What did you
+expect to do if I had not been a partner at all?'
+
+'If you were not a partner,' replied Wentworth with some heat, 'we should
+have gone on and formed our company, or failed; but the very fact that
+you _are_ a partner is just what now retards us. We do not feel justified
+in doing anything until it has your approval, or until we know that it
+does not run counter with something you have already done.'
+
+'Well, gentlemen, if you feel like that about it, I am quite willing to
+withdraw. I am ready to give up the paper I hold from you, and receive
+back the paper you hold from me. Of course we cannot work together if
+there are to be any recriminations. I have done my best; I have done
+everything that I promised to do--even more than that; but if you think
+for a moment you can get on better without me, I am ready at any time
+to retire.'
+
+'It is easy to say that, Mr. Longworth, now that the time of the option
+has only a month further to run. You must remember that a great deal of
+time has been lost, and not through our fault.'
+
+'Ah! do you mean it has been lost through my fault?'
+
+'I mean that if we had been alone something would have been done,
+whereas we are now in the same position as when we started. We are in a
+worse position than we were at the beginning, because we have not only
+spent our money, but are deeply in debt into the bargain.'
+
+'Well, Mr. Wentworth, I did not propose to withdraw until you, as a
+matter of fact, almost suggested it. I am quite willing and anxious
+to help, but if I do stay with you it must be understood that we
+have no such recriminations as these. You must do your best, and I
+must do my best.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Wentworth; 'your leaving us at this time is
+entirely out of the question. Now, will you give me the names of those
+gentlemen who have offered to go in with us?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+And Longworth pulled out a note-book from his inside pocket, while
+Wentworth took up a pen from the desk and pulled a sheet of paper
+towards him.
+
+'First, Mr. Melville.'
+
+'Is that the Melville I saw in relation to this mineral?'
+
+'I am sure I do not know. He is at the head of the Scranton China
+Company.'
+
+'Has _he_ spoken of going in with us?'
+
+'Yes, he seems to think the scheme is a good one. Why do you ask?'
+
+'Well, merely because I took a specimen of the mineral to him and his
+manager wrote to me that it was of no value. It seems rather remarkable
+that he should go in for the mine if his manager believes it to be
+worthless.'
+
+'Oh, he goes in entirely in his own private capacity. He is not at all
+affected by what the manager says. The manager has nothing to do with
+Melville's private affairs.'
+
+'Still, it seems very strange, because, when Kenyon saw the manager in
+the North, he claimed they did not use this material, and said it would
+be of no benefit whatever to him.'
+
+'That is very singular,' mused Longworth. 'Well, all I can say is,
+Melville has intimated that he should like to have a share in this mine,
+so, I take it, he and the manager do not agree as to the value of the
+mineral. You can set down Mr. Melville's name with perfect confidence. I
+know him very well, and I know that he's a thorough man of business.
+Besides, it will be a great advantage to have a man connected with the
+china trade in with us.'
+
+There was no denying this point, so Wentworth said nothing more.
+Longworth named five other persons, none of whom Wentworth knew. Then he
+closed his note-book and put it in his pocket.
+
+'The question now is: Have these gentlemen stated how much they will
+subscribe?' asked Wentworth.
+
+'No, they have not. Of course, everything will depend on how they are
+impressed with what we can tell them. The great thing is to get men who
+are willing even to listen to you. The rest depends on the inducements
+you offer.'
+
+'Do you expect to get any more men interested?'
+
+'I don't think any more are needed. The best thing to do now is to get
+those we have together and summon our solicitors here. Then our friend
+Kenyon, who is a fluent speaker, can lay the case before them.'
+
+Kenyon, who had not spoken at all during the interview, did not even
+look up, and apparently did not hear the satirical allusion to his
+eloquence.
+
+'Very well; when would be a good time to call this meeting?'
+
+'As soon as possible, I think,' said Longworth. 'What do you say to
+Monday, at three o'clock? Men come from lunch about that hour, and are in
+a good humour. If you send out a letter saying a meeting will be held
+here in the directors' room at three o'clock, prompt, on Monday, I will
+see the men and get them to come. Of course they are generally busy, and
+may have other appointments; still, we must do something, and nothing can
+be done until we get them together.'
+
+'Right; the invitations to the meeting shall be sent out at once.'
+
+Longworth rose, went to the desk and picked up a paper.
+
+'What is this?' he said.
+
+Kenyon looked up suddenly.
+
+'That,' he said, flushing slightly, 'is our first subscription.'
+
+'Who wrote the name of Miss Edith Longworth here?'
+
+'The young lady herself.'
+
+'Has she been here?'
+
+'She called, and desired to be the first subscriber.'
+
+'Nonsense!' cried Longworth, with a frown; 'we don't want any women in
+this business;' and, saying that, he tore the paper in two.
+
+Kenyon clenched his fist and was about to say something, when Wentworth's
+hand came down on his shoulder.
+
+'I don't think I would refuse ten thousands pounds,' said Wentworth,
+'from anybody who offered it, woman or man. Perhaps we had better see
+whether your men will subscribe as much before we throw away a
+subscription already received.'
+
+'But she hasn't the ten thousand pounds.'
+
+'I fancy,' said Wentworth, 'that whatever Miss Longworth puts her name
+to, she is ready to stand by;' and with that he placed the two pieces of
+paper in a drawer. 'Now, I think that is all,' he added; 'we will call
+the meeting for Monday, and see what comes of it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+William Longworth had an eye for beauty. One of his eyes was generally
+covered by a round disc of glass, save when the disc fell out of its
+place and dangled in front of his waistcoat. Whether the monocle assisted
+his sight or not, it is certain that William knew a pretty girl when he
+saw her. One of the housemaids in the Longworth household left suddenly,
+without just cause or provocation, as the advertisements say, and in her
+place a girl was engaged who was so pretty that, when William Longworth
+caught sight of her, his monocle dropped from its usual position, and he
+stared at her with his two natural eyes, unassisted by science. He tried
+to speak to her on one or two occasions when he met her alone; but he
+could get no answer from the girl, who was very shy and demure, and knew
+her place, as people say. All this only enhanced her value in young
+Longworth's estimation, and he thought highly of his cousin's taste in
+choosing this young person to dust the furniture.
+
+William had a room in the house which was partly sitting-room and partly
+study, and there he kept many of his papers. He was supposed to ponder
+over matters of business in this room, and it gave him a good excuse for
+arriving late at the office in the morning. He had been sitting up into
+the small hours, he would tell his uncle; although he would sometimes
+vary the excuse by saying that it was quieter at home than in the City,
+and that he had spent the early part of the morning in reading documents.
+
+The first time William got an answer from the new housemaid was when he
+expressed his anxiety about the care of this room. He said that servants
+generally were very careless, and he hoped she would attend to things,
+and see that his papers were kept nicely in order. This, without glancing
+up at him, the girl promised to do, and William thereafter found his
+apartment kept with a scrupulous neatness which would have delighted the
+most particular of men.
+
+One morning when he was sitting by his table, enjoying an after-breakfast
+cigarette, the door opened softly, and the new housemaid entered. Seeing
+him there, she seemed confused, and was about to retire, when William,
+throwing his cigarette away, sprang to his feet.
+
+'No, don't go,' he said; 'I was just about to ring.'
+
+The girl paused with her hand on the door.
+
+'Yes,' he continued, 'I was just going to ring, but you have saved me
+the trouble; but, by the way, what is your name?'
+
+'Susy, if you please, sir,' replied the girl modestly.
+
+'Ah well, Susy, just shut the door for a moment.'
+
+The girl did so, but evidently with some reluctance.
+
+'Well, Susy,' said William jauntily, 'I suppose that I'm not the first
+one who has told you that you are very pretty.'
+
+'Oh, sir!' said Susy, blushing and looking down on the carpet.
+
+'Yes, Susy, and you take such good care of this room that I want to thank
+you for it,' continued William.
+
+Here he fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and drew out half a
+sovereign.
+
+'Here, my girl, is something for your trouble. Keep this for yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I couldn't think of taking money, sir,' said the girl, drawing back.
+'I couldn't indeed, sir!'
+
+'Nonsense!' said William; 'isn't it enough?'
+
+'Oh, it's more than enough. Miss Longworth pays me well for what I do,
+sir, and it's only my duty to keep things tidy.'
+
+'Yes, Susy, that is very true; but very few of us do our duty, you know,
+in this world.'
+
+'But we ought to, sir,' said the girl, in a tone of quiet reproof that
+made the young man smile.
+
+'Perhaps,' said he; 'but then, you see, we are not all pretty and good,
+like you. I'm sorry you won't take the money. I hope you are not offended
+at me for offering it;' and William adjusted his eye-glass, looking his
+sweetest at the young person standing before him.
+
+'Oh no, sir,' she said, 'I'm not at all offended, and I thank you very
+much, very much indeed, sir, and I would like to ask you a question, if
+you wouldn't think me too bold.'
+
+'Bold?' cried William. 'Why, I think you are the shyest little woman I
+have ever seen. I'll be very pleased to answer any question you may ask
+me. What is it?'
+
+'You see, sir, I've got a little money of my own.'
+
+'Well, I declare, Susy, this is very interesting. I'd no idea you were
+an heiress.'
+
+'Oh, not an heiress, sir--far from it. It's only a little matter of four
+or five hundred pounds, sir,' said Susy, dropping him an awkward little
+curtsy, which he thought most charming. 'The money is in the bank, and
+earns no interest, and I thought I would like to invest it where it would
+bring in something.'
+
+'Certainly, Susy, and a most laudable desire on your part. Was it about
+that you wished to question me?'
+
+'Yes, if you please, sir. I saw this paper on your desk, and I thought I
+would ask you if it would be safe for me to put my money in these mines,
+sir. Seeing the paper here, I supposed you had something to do with it.'
+
+William whistled a long incredulous note, and said:
+
+'So you have been reading my papers, have you, miss?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' said the girl, looking up at him with startled eyes. 'I
+only saw the name Canadian Mica-mine on this, and the paper said it would
+pay ten per cent., and I thought if you had anything to do with it that
+my money would be quite safe.'
+
+'Oh, that goes without saying,' said William; 'but if I were you, my
+dear, I should not put my money in the mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, then, you haven't anything to do with the mine, sir?'
+
+'Yes, Susy, I have. You know, fools build houses, and wise men live in
+them.'
+
+'So I have heard,' said Susy thoughtfully.
+
+'Well, two fools are building the house that we will call the Canadian
+Mica-mine, and I am the wise man, don't you see, Susy?' said the young
+man, with a sweet smile.
+
+'I'm afraid I don't quite understand, sir.'
+
+'I don't suppose, Susy,' replied the young man, with a laugh, 'that
+there are many who do; but I think in a month's time I shall own this
+mica-mine, and then, my dear, if you still want to own a share or two,
+I shall be very pleased to give you a few without your spending any
+money at all.'
+
+'Oh, would you, sir?' cried Susy in glad surprise; 'and who owns the
+mine now?'
+
+'Oh, two fellows; you wouldn't know their names if I told them to you.'
+
+'And are they going to sell it to you, sir?'
+
+William laughed heartily, and said:
+
+'Oh no! they themselves will be sold.'
+
+'But how can that be if they don't own the mine? You see, I'm only a very
+stupid girl, and don't understand business. That's why I asked you about
+my money.'
+
+'I don't suppose you know what an option is, do you, Susy?'
+
+'No, sir, I don't; I never heard of it before.'
+
+'Well, these two young men have what is called an option on the mine,
+which is to say that they are to pay a certain sum of money at a certain
+time and the mine is theirs; but if they don't pay the certain sum at the
+certain time, the mine isn't theirs.'
+
+'And won't they pay the money, sir?'
+
+'No, Susy, they will not, because, don't you know, they haven't got it.
+Then these two fools will be sold, for they think they are going to get
+the money, and they are not.'
+
+'And you have the money to buy the mine when the option runs out, sir.'
+
+'By Jove!' said William in surprise, 'you have a prodigious head for
+business, Susy; I never saw anyone pick it up so fast. You will have to
+take lessons from me, and go on the market and speculate yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I should like to do that, sir--I should indeed.'
+
+'Well,' said William kindly, 'whenever you have time, come to me, and I
+will give you lessons.'
+
+The young man approached her, holding out his hand, but the girl slipped
+away from him and opened the door.
+
+'I think,' he said in a whisper, 'that you might give me a kiss after all
+this valuable information.'
+
+'Oh, Mr. William!' cried Susy, horrified.
+
+He stepped forward and tried to catch her, but the girl was too nimble
+for him, and sprang out into the passage.
+
+'Surely,' protested William, 'this is getting information under false
+pretences; I expected my fee, you know.'
+
+'And you shall have it,' said the girl, laughing softly, 'when I get ten
+per cent. on my money.'
+
+'Egad!' said William to himself as he entered his room again, 'I will see
+that you get it. She's as clever an outside broker.'
+
+When young Longworth had left for his office, Susy swept and dusted out
+his room again, and then went downstairs.
+
+'Where's the mistress?' she asked a fellow-servant.
+
+'In the library,' was the answer, and to the library Susy went, entering
+the room without knocking, much to the amazement of Edith Longworth, who
+sat near the window with a book in her lap. But further surprise was in
+store for the lady of the house. The housemaid closed the door, and then,
+selecting a comfortable chair, threw herself down into it, exclaiming:
+
+'Oh dear me! I'm so tired.'
+
+'Susy,' said Miss Longworth, 'what is the meaning of this?'
+
+'It means, mum,' said Susy, 'that I'm going to chuck it.'
+
+'Going to _what_?' asked Miss Longworth, amazed.
+
+'Going to chuck it. Didn't you understand? Going to give up my situation.
+I'm tired of it.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman, rising, 'you may give notice in the
+proper way. You have no right to come into this room in this impudent
+manner. Be so good as to go to your own room.'
+
+'My!' said Susy, 'you can do the dignified! I must practise and see if I
+can accomplish an attitude like that. If you were a little prettier, Miss
+Longworth, I should call that striking;' and the girl threw back her head
+and laughed.
+
+Something in the laugh aroused Miss Longworth's recollection, and a chill
+of fear came over her; but, looking at the girl again, she saw she was
+mistaken. Susy jumped up, still laughing, and drew a pin from the little
+cap she wore, flinging it on the chair; then she pulled off her wig, and
+stood before Edith Longworth her natural self.
+
+'Miss Brewster!' gasped the astonished Edith. 'What are you doing in my
+house in that disguise?'
+
+'Oh,' said Jennie, 'I'm an amateur housemaid. How do you think I have
+acted the part? Now sit down, Miss Dignity, and I will tell you something
+about your own family. I thought you were a set of rogues, and now I can
+prove it.'
+
+'Will you leave my house this instant?' cried Edith, in anger. 'I shall
+not listen to you.'
+
+'Oh yes, you will,' said Jennie, 'for I shall follow your own example,
+and not let you out until you do hear what I have to tell you.'
+
+Saying which the amateur housemaid skipped nimbly to the door, and placed
+her back against it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Jennie Brewster stood with her back to the door, a sweet smile on her
+face.
+
+'This is my day for acting, Miss Longworth. I think I did the _role_ of
+housemaid so well that it deceived several members of this family. I am
+now giving an imitation of yourself in your thrilling drama, "All at
+Sea." Don't you think I do it most admirably?'
+
+'Yes,' said Edith, sitting down again. 'I wonder you did not adopt the
+stage as a profession.'
+
+'I have often thought of doing so, but journalism is more exciting.'
+
+'Perhaps. Still, it has its disappointments. When I gave my thrilling
+drama, as you call it, on shipboard, I had my stage accessories arranged
+to better advantage than you have now.'
+
+'Do you mean the putting off of the boat?'
+
+'No; I mean that the electric button was under my hand--it was impossible
+for you to ring for help. Now, while you hold the door, you cannot stop
+me from ringing, for the bell-rope is here beside me.'
+
+'Yes, that is a disadvantage, I admit. Do you intend to ring, then, and
+have me turned out?'
+
+'I don't think that will be necessary. I imagine you will go quietly.'
+
+'You are a pretty clever girl, Miss Longworth. I wish I liked you, but I
+don't, so we won't waste valuable time deploring that fact. Have you no
+curiosity to hear what I was going to tell you?'
+
+'Not the slightest; but there is one thing I should like to know.'
+
+'Oh, is there? Well, that's human, at any rate. What do you wish to
+know?'
+
+'You came here well recommended. How did you know I wanted a housemaid,
+and were your testimonials----'
+
+Edith paused for a word, which Jennie promptly supplied.
+
+'Forged? Oh dear no! There is no necessity for doing anything criminal in
+this country, if you have the money. I didn't forge them--I bought them.
+Didn't you write to any of the good ladies who stood sponsor for me?'
+
+'Yes, and received most flattering accounts of you.'
+
+'Certainly. That was part of the contract. Oh, you can do anything with
+money in London; it is a most delightful town. Then, as for knowing
+there was a vacancy, that also was money. I bribed the other housemaid
+to leave.'
+
+'I see. And what object had you in all this?'
+
+Jennie Brewster laughed--the same silvery laugh that had charmed William
+Longworth an hour or two before, a laugh that sometimes haunted
+Wentworth's memory in the City. She left her sentinel-like position at
+the door and threw herself into a chair.
+
+'Miss Longworth,' she said, 'you are not consistent. You first pretend
+that you have no curiosity to hear what I have to say, then you ask me
+exactly what I was going to tell you. Of course, you are dying to know
+why I am here; you wouldn't be a woman if you weren't. Now, I've changed
+my mind, and I don't intend to tell you. I will say, though, that my
+object in coming here was, first, to find out for myself how servants are
+treated in this country. You see, my sympathies are all with the women
+who work, and not with women--well, like yourself, for instance.'
+
+'Yes, I think you said that once before. And how do we treat our
+servants?'
+
+'So far as my experience goes, very well indeed.'
+
+'It is most gratifying to hear you say this. I was afraid we might not
+have met with your approval. And now, where shall I send your month's
+money, Miss Brewster?'
+
+Jennie Brewster leaned back in her chair, her eyes all but closed; an
+angry light shooting from them reminded Edith of her glance of hatred on
+board the steamship. A rich warm colour overspread her fair face, and her
+lips closed tightly. There was a moment's silence, and then Jennie's
+indignation passed away as quickly as it came. She laughed, with just a
+touch of restraint in her tone.
+
+'You can say an insulting thing more calmly and sweetly than anyone I
+ever met before; I envy you that. When I say anything low down and mean,
+I say it in anger, and my voice has a certain amount of acridity in it. I
+can't purr like a cat and scratch at the same time--I wish I could.'
+
+'Is it an insult to offer you the money you have earned?'
+
+'Yes, it is, and you knew it was when you spoke. You don't understand me
+a little bit.'
+
+'Is it necessary that I should?'
+
+'I don't suppose you think it is,' said Jennie meditatively, resting her
+elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. 'That is where our point of
+view differs. I like to know everything. It interests me to learn what
+people think and talk about, and somehow it doesn't seem to matter to me
+who the people are, for I was even more interested in your butler's
+political opinions than I was in Lord Frederick Bingham's. They are both
+Conservatives, but Lord Freddie seems shaky in his views, for you can
+argue him down in five minutes, but the butler is as steadfast as a rock.
+I do admire that butler. I hope you will break the news of my departure
+gently to him, for he proposed to me, and he has not yet had his answer.'
+
+'There is still time,' said Edith, smiling in spite of herself. 'Shall I
+ring for him?'
+
+'Please do not. I want to avoid a painful scene, because he is so sure of
+himself, and never dreams of a refusal. It is such a pity, too, for the
+butler is my ideal of what a member of the aristocracy should be. His
+dignity is positively awe-inspiring; while Lord Freddie is such a simple,
+good-natured, everyday young fellow, that if I imported him to the States
+I am sure no one would believe he was a real lord. With the butler it
+would be _so_ different,' added Jennie, with a deep sigh.
+
+'It is too bad that you cannot exchange the declaration of the butler for
+one from Lord Frederick.'
+
+'Too bad!' cried Jennie, looking with wide-open eyes at the girl before
+her; 'why, bless you! I had a proposal from Lord Freddie two weeks before
+I ever saw the butler. I see you don't believe a word I say. Well, you
+ask Lord Freddie. I'll introduce you, and tell him you don't believe he
+asked me to be Lady Freddie, if that's the title. He'll look sheepish,
+but he won't deny it. You see, when I found I was going to stay in
+England for a time, I wrote to the editor of the _Argus_ to get me a
+bunch of letters of introduction and send them over, as I wanted
+particularly to study the aristocracy. So he sent them, and, I assure
+you, I found it much more difficult to get into your servants' hall than
+I did into the halls of the nobility--besides, it costs less to mix with
+the Upper Ten.'
+
+Edith sat in silence, looking with amazed interest at the girl, who
+talked so rapidly that there was sometimes difficulty in following
+what she said.
+
+'No, Lord Freddie is not half so condescending as the butler, neither is
+his language so well chosen; but then, I suppose, the butler's had more
+practice, for Freddie is very young. I am exceedingly disappointed with
+the aristocracy. They are not nearly so haughty as I had imagined them
+to be. But what astonishes me in this country is the way you women
+spoil the men. You are much too good to them. You pet them and fawn on
+them, and naturally they get conceited. It is such a pity, too; for
+they are nice fellows, most of them. It is the same everywhere I've
+been--servants' hall included. Why, when you meet a young couple, of what
+you are pleased to call the "lower classes," walking in the Park, the man
+hangs down his head as he slouches along, but the girl looks defiantly at
+you, as much as to say, "I've got him. Bless him! What have you to say
+about it?" while the man seems to be ashamed of himself, and evidently
+feels that he's been had. Now, a man should be made to understand that
+you're doing him a great favour when you give him a civil word. That's
+the proper state of mind to keep a man in, and then you can do what you
+like with him. I generally make him propose, so as to get it over before
+any real harm's done, and to give an artistic finish to the episode.
+After that we can be excellent friends, and have a jolly time. That's the
+way I did with Lord Freddie. Now, here am I, chattering away as if I were
+paid for talking instead of writing. Why do you look at me so? Don't you
+believe what I tell you?'
+
+'Yes, I believe all you say. What I can't understand is, why a bright
+girl like you should enter a house and,--well, do what you have done
+here, for instance.'
+
+'Why shouldn't I? I am after accurate information. I get it in my own
+way. Your writers here tell how the poor live, and that sort of thing.
+They enter the houses of the poor quite unblushingly, and print their
+impressions of the poverty-stricken homes. Now, why should the rich man
+be exempt from a similar investigation?'
+
+'In either case it is the work of a spy.'
+
+'Yes; but a spy is not a dishonourable person--at least, he need not be.
+I saw a monument in Westminster Abbey to a man who was hanged as a spy. A
+spy must be brave; he must have nerve, caution, and resource. He
+sometimes does more for his country than a whole regiment. Oh, there are
+worse persons than spies in this world.'
+
+'I suppose there are, still----'
+
+'Yes, I know. It is easy for persons with plenty of money to moralize on
+the shortcomings of others. I'll tell you a secret. I'm writing a book,
+and if it's a success, then good-bye to journalism. I don't like the spy
+business myself any too well; I'm afraid England is contaminating me, and
+if I stayed here a few years I might degenerate so far as to think your
+newspapers interesting. By the way, have you seen Mr. Wentworth lately?'
+
+Edith hesitated a moment, and at last answered:
+
+'Yes, I saw him a day or two ago.'
+
+'Was he looking well? I think I ought to write him a note of apology for
+all the anxiety I caused him on board ship. You may not believe it, but I
+have actually had some twinges of conscience over that episode. I suppose
+that's why I partially forgave you for stopping the cablegram.'
+
+Edith Longworth was astonished at herself for giving the young woman
+information about Wentworth, but she gave it, and the amateur housemaid
+departed in peace, saying, by way of farewell:
+
+'I'm not going to write up your household, after all.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+One day when Kenyon entered the office, the clerk said to him:
+
+'That young gentleman has been here twice to see you. He said it was very
+important, sir.'
+
+'What young gentleman?'
+
+'The gentleman--here is his card--who belongs to the _Financial Field_,
+sir.'
+
+'Did he leave any message?'
+
+'Yes, sir; he said he would call again at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very good,' said Kenyon; and he began composing his address to the
+proposed subscribers.
+
+At three o'clock the smooth, oily person from the _Financial Field_ put
+in an appearance.
+
+'Ah, Mr. Kenyon,' he said, 'I am glad to meet you. I called in twice,
+but had not the good fortune to find you in. Can I see you in private
+for a moment?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon. 'Come into the directors' room;' and into the
+directors room they went, Kenyon closing the door behind them.
+
+'Now,' said the representative of the _Financial Field_, 'I have brought
+you a proof of the editorial we propose using, which I am desired by the
+proprietor to show you, so that it may be free, if possible, from any
+error. We are very anxious to have things correct in the _Financial
+Field_;' and with this he handed to John a long slip of paper with a
+column of printed matter upon it.
+
+The article was headed, 'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited.' It
+went on to show what the mine had been, what it had done, and what
+chances there were for investors getting a good return for their money by
+buying the shares. John read it through carefully.
+
+'That is a very handsome article,' he said; 'and it is without an error,
+so far as I can see.'
+
+'I am glad you think so,' replied the young gentleman, folding up the
+proof and putting it in his inside pocket. 'Now, as I said before,
+although I am not the advertising canvasser of the _Financial Field_,
+I thought I would see you with reference to an advertisement for the
+paper.'
+
+'Well, you know, we have not had a meeting of the proposed stockholders
+yet, and therefore are not in a position to give any advertisements
+regarding the mine. I have no doubt advertisements will be given, and, of
+course, your paper will be remembered among the rest.'
+
+'Ah,' said the young man, 'that is hardly satisfactory to us. We have a
+vacant half-page for Monday, the very best position in the paper, which
+the proprietor thought you would like to secure.'
+
+'As I said a moment ago, we are not in a position to secure it. It is
+premature to talk of advertising at the present state of affairs.'
+
+'I think, you know, it will be to your interest to take the half-page.
+The price is three hundred pounds, and besides that amount we should like
+to have some shares in the company.'
+
+'Do you mean three hundred pounds for one insertion of the
+advertisement?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Doesn't that strike you as being a trifle exorbitant? Your paper has a
+comparatively limited circulation, and they do not ask us such a price
+even in the large dailies.'
+
+'Ah, my dear sir, the large dailies are quite different. They have a
+tremendous circulation, it is true, but it is not the kind of circulation
+we have. No other paper circulates so largely among investors as the
+_Financial Field._ It is read by exactly the class of people you desire
+to reach, and I may say that, except through the _Financial Field_, you
+cannot get at some of the best men in the City.'
+
+'Well, admitting all that, as I have said once or twice, we are not yet
+in a position to give an advertisement.'
+
+'Then, I am very sorry to say that we cannot, on Monday, publish the
+article I have shown you.'
+
+'Very well; I cannot help it. You are not compelled to print it unless
+you wish. I am not sure, either, that publishing the article on Monday
+would do us any good. It would be premature, as I say. We are not yet
+ready to court publicity until we have had our first meeting of proposed
+stockholders.'
+
+'When is your first meeting of stockholders?'
+
+'On Monday, at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very well, we could put that announcement in another column, and I am
+sure you would find the attendance at your meeting would be very largely
+and substantially increased.'
+
+'Possibly; but I decline to do anything till after the meeting.'
+
+'I think you would find it pay you extremely well to take that
+half-page.'
+
+'I am not questioning the fact at all. I am merely saying what I have
+said to everyone else, that we are not ready to consider advertising.'
+
+'I am sorry we cannot come to an arrangement, Mr. Kenyon--very sorry
+indeed;' and, saying this, he took another proof-sheet out of his pocket,
+which he handed to Kenyon. 'If we cannot come to an understanding, the
+manager has determined to print this, instead of the article I showed
+you. Would you kindly glance over it, because we should like to have it
+as correct as possible.'
+
+Kenyon opened his eyes, and unfolded the paper. The heading was the same,
+but he had read only a sentence or two when he found that the mica-mine
+was one of the greatest swindles ever attempted on poor old innocent
+financial London!
+
+'Do you mean to say,' cried John, looking up at him, with his anger
+kindling, 'that if I do not bribe you to the extent of three hundred
+pounds, besides giving you an unknown quantity of stock, you will publish
+this libel?'
+
+'I do not say it is a libel,' said the young man smoothly; 'that would be
+a matter for the courts to decide. You might sue us for libel, if you
+thought we had treated you badly. I may say that has been tried several
+times, but with indifferent success.'
+
+'But do you mean to tell me that you intend to publish this article if I
+do not pay you the three hundred pounds?'
+
+'Yes; putting it crudely, that is exactly what I do mean.'
+
+Kenyon rose in his wrath and flung open the door.
+
+'I must ask you to leave this place, and leave it at once. If you ever
+put in an appearance here again while I am in the office, I will call a
+policeman and have you turned out!'
+
+'My dear sir,' expostulated the other suavely, 'it is merely a matter of
+business. If you find it impossible to deal with us, there is no harm
+done. If our paper has no influence, we cannot possibly injure you. That,
+of course, is entirely for you to judge. If, any time between now and
+Sunday night, you conclude to act otherwise, a wire to our office will
+hold things over until we have had an opportunity of coming to an
+arrangement with you. If not, this article will be published on Monday
+morning. I wish you a very good afternoon, sir.'
+
+John said nothing, but watched his visitor out on the pavement, and then
+returned to the making of his report.
+
+On Monday morning, as he came in by train, his eye caught a flaming
+poster on one of the bill-boards at the station. It was headed _Financial
+Field_, and the next line, in heavy black letters, was, 'The Mica Mining
+Swindle,' Kenyon called a newsboy to him and bought a copy of the paper.
+There, in leaded type, was the article before him. It seemed, somehow,
+much more important on the printed page than it had looked in the proof.
+
+As he read it, he noticed an air of truthful sincerity about the
+editorial that had escaped him during the brief glance he had given it on
+Friday. It went on to say that the Austrian Mining Company had sunk a
+good deal of money in the mine, and that it had never paid a penny of
+dividends; that they merely kept on at a constant loss to themselves in
+the hope of being able to swindle some confiding investors--but that even
+their designs were as nothing compared to the barefaced rascality
+contemplated by John Kenyon. He caught his breath as he saw his own name
+in print. It was a shock for which he was not prepared, as he had not
+noticed it in the proof. Then he read on. It seemed that this man,
+Kenyon, had secured the mine at something like ten thousand pounds, and
+was trying to palm it off on the unfortunate British public at the
+enormous increase of two hundred thousand pounds; but this nefarious
+attempt would doubtless be frustrated so long as there were papers of the
+integrity of the _Financial Field_, to take the risk and expense of
+making such an exposure as was here set forth.
+
+The article possessed a singular fascination for Kenyon. He read and
+re-read it in a dazed way, as if the statement referred to some other
+person, and he could not help feeling sorry for that person.
+
+He still had the paper in his hand as he walked up the street, and he
+felt numbed and dazed as if someone had struck him a blow. He was nearly
+run over in crossing one of the thoroughfares, and heard an outburst of
+profanity directed at him from a cab-driver and a man on a bus; but he
+heeded them not, walking through the crowd as if under a spell.
+
+He passed the door of his own gorgeous office, and walked some distance
+up the street before he realized what he had done. Then he turned back
+again, and, just at the doorstep, paused with a pang at his heart.
+
+'I wonder if Edith Longworth will read that article,' he said to himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered his office, he thought the clerk looked at him
+askance. He imagined that innocent employee had been reading the article
+in the _Financial Field_; but the truth is, John was hardly in a frame of
+mind to form a correct opinion on what other people were doing. Everybody
+he met in the street, it seemed to him, was discussing the article in the
+_Financial Field_.
+
+He asked if anybody had been in that morning, and was told there had been
+no callers. Then he passed into the directors' room, closed the door
+behind him, sat down on a chair, and leaned his head on his hands with
+his elbows on the table. In this position Wentworth found him some time
+later, and when John looked up his face was haggard and aged.
+
+'Ah, I see you have read it.'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you think Longworth is at the bottom of that article?'
+
+John shook his head.
+
+'Oh no,' he said; 'he had nothing whatever to do with it.'
+
+'How do you know?'
+
+Kenyon related exactly what had passed between the oily young man of the
+_Financial Field_ and himself in that very room. While this recital was
+going on, Wentworth walked up and down, expressing his opinion now and
+then, in remarks that were short and pithy, but hardly fit for
+publication. When the story was told he turned to Kenyon.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'there is nothing for it but to sue the paper for
+libel.'
+
+'What good will that do?'
+
+'What good will it do? Do you mean to say that you intend to sit here
+under such an imputation as they have cast upon you, and do nothing? What
+_good_ will it do? It will do all the good in the world.'
+
+'We cannot form our company and sue the paper at the same time. All our
+energies will have to be directed towards the matter we have in hand.'
+
+'But, my dear John, don't you see the effect of that article? How can we
+form our company if such a lie remains unchallenged? Nobody will look at
+our proposals. Everyone will say, "What have you done about the article
+that appeared in the _Financial Field_?" If we say we have done nothing,
+then, of course, the natural inference is that we are a pair of
+swindlers, and that our scheme is a fraud.'
+
+'I have always thought,' said John, 'that the capitalization is too
+high.'
+
+'Really, I believe you think that article is not so unfair, after all.
+John, I'm astonished at you!'
+
+'But if we do commence a libel suit, it cannot be finished before our
+option has expired. If we tell people that we have begun a suit against
+the _Financial Field_ for libel, they will merely say they prefer to wait
+and hear what the result of the case is. By that time our chances of
+forming a company will be gone.'
+
+'There is a certain amount of truth in that; nevertheless, I do not see
+how we are to go on with our company unless suit for libel is at least
+begun.'
+
+Before John could reply there was a knock at the door, and the clerk
+entered with a letter in his hand which had just come in. Kenyon tore it
+open, read it, and then tossed it across the table to Wentworth.
+Wentworth saw the name of their firm of solicitors at the top of the
+letter-paper. Then he read:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'You have doubtless seen the article in the _Financial Field_ of this
+morning, referring to the Canadian Mica Mining Company. We should be
+pleased to know what action you intend to take in the matter. We may
+say that, in justice to our reputation, we can no longer represent
+your company unless a suit is brought against the paper which contains
+the article.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'W. HAWK.'
+
+Wentworth laughed with a certain bitterness.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'if it has come to such a pass that Hawk fears for his
+reputation, the sooner we begin a libel suit against the paper the
+better!'
+
+'Perhaps,' said John, with a look of agony on his face, 'you will tell me
+where the money is to come from. The moment we get into the Law Courts
+money will simply flow like water, and doubtless the _Financial Field_
+has plenty of it. It will add to their reputation, and they will make a
+boast that they are fighting the battle of the investor in London.
+Everything is grist that comes to their mill. Meanwhile, we shall be
+paying out money, or we shall be at a tremendous disadvantage, and the
+result of it all will probably be a disagreement of the jury and
+practical ruin for us. You see, I have no witnesses.'
+
+'Yes, but what about the mine? How can we go on without vindicating
+ourselves?'
+
+Before anything further could be said, young Mr. Longworth came in,
+looking as cool, calm, and unruffled as if there were no such things in
+the world as financial newspapers.
+
+'Discussing it, I see,' were his first words.
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'I am very glad you have come. We have a little
+difference of opinion in the matter of that article. Kenyon here is
+averse to suing that paper for libel; I am in favour of prosecuting it.
+Now, what do _you_ say?'
+
+'My dear fellow,' replied Longworth, 'I am delighted to be able to agree
+with Mr. Kenyon for once. Sue them! Why, of course not. That is just what
+they want.'
+
+'But,' said Wentworth, 'if we do not, who is going to look at our mine?'
+
+'Exactly the same number of people as would look at it before the article
+appeared.'
+
+'Don't you think it will have any effect?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'But look at this letter from your own lawyers on the subject.' Wentworth
+handed Longworth the letter from Hawk. Longworth adjusted his glass and
+read it carefully through.
+
+'By Jove!' he said with a laugh, 'I call that good; I call that
+distinctly good. I had no idea old Hawk was such a humorist! His
+reputation indeed; well, that beats me! All that Hawk wants is another
+suit on his hands. I wish you would let me keep this letter. I will have
+some fun with my friend Hawk over it.'
+
+'You are welcome to the letter, so far as I am concerned,' said
+Wentworth; 'but do you mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that we have to sit
+here calmly under this imputation and do nothing?'
+
+'I mean to say nothing of the kind; but I don't propose to play into
+their hands by suing them--at least, I should not if it were my case
+instead of Kenyon's.'
+
+'What would you do?'
+
+'I would let them sue me if they wanted to. Of course, their canvasser
+called to see you, didn't he, Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, he did.'
+
+'He told you that he had a certain amount of space to sell for a certain
+sum in cash?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'And, if you did not buy that space, this certain article would appear;
+whereas, if you did, an article of quite a different complexion would
+be printed?'
+
+'You seem to know all about it,' said Kenyon suspiciously.
+
+'Of course I do, my dear boy! Everybody knows all about it. That's the
+way those papers make their money. I think myself, as a general rule, it
+is cheaper to buy them off. I believe my uncle always does that when he
+has anything special on hand, and doesn't want to be bothered with
+outside issues. But we haven't done so in this instance, and this is the
+result. It can be easily remedied yet, mind you, if you like. All that
+you have to do is to pay his price, and there will be an equally lengthy
+article saying that, from outside information received with regard to the
+Canadian Mining Company, he regrets very much that the former article was
+an entire mistake, and that there is no more secure investment in England
+than this particular mine. But now, when he has come out with his
+editorial, I think it isn't worth while to have any further dealings
+with him. Anything he can say now will not matter. He has done all the
+harm he can. But I would at once put the boot on the other foot. I would
+write down all the circumstances just as they happened--give the name of
+the young man who called upon you, tell exactly the price he demanded for
+his silence, and I will have that printed in an opposition paper
+to-morrow. Then it will be our friend the _Financial Field's_ turn to
+squirm! He will say it is all a lie, of course, but nobody will believe
+him, and we can tell him, from the opposition paper, that if it is a lie
+he is perfectly at liberty to sue us for libel. Let him begin the suit if
+he wants to do so. Let him defend his reputation. Sue him for libel! I
+know a game worth two of that. Could you get out the statement before the
+meeting this afternoon?'
+
+Kenyon, who had been looking, for the first time in his life, gratefully
+at Longworth, said he could.
+
+'Very well; just set it down in your own words as plainly as possible,
+and give date, hour, and full particulars. Sign your name to it, and I
+will take it when I come to the meeting this afternoon. It would not be
+a bad plan to read it to those who are here. There is nothing like
+fighting the devil with fire. Fight a paper with another paper. Nothing
+new, I suppose?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'nothing new except what we are discussing.'
+
+'Well, don't let that trouble you. Do as I say, and we will begin an
+interesting controversy. People like a fight, and it will attract
+attention to the mine. Good-bye. I shall see you this afternoon.'
+
+He left both Kenyon and Wentworth in a much happier frame of mind than
+that in which he had found them.
+
+'I say, Kenyon,' said Wentworth, 'that fellow is a trump. His advice has
+cleared the air wonderfully. I believe his plan is the best, after all,
+and, as you say, we have no money for an expensive lawsuit. I shall leave
+you now to get on with your work, and will return at three o'clock.'
+
+At that hour John had his statement finished. The first man to arrive was
+Longworth, who read the article with approval, merely suggesting a change
+here and there, which was duly made. Then he put the communication into
+an envelope, and sent it to the editor of the opposition paper. Wentworth
+came in next, then Melville, then Mr. King. After this they all adjourned
+to the directors' room, and in a few minutes the others were present.
+
+'Now,' said Longworth, 'as we are all here, I do not see any necessity
+for delay. You have probably read the article that appeared in this
+morning's _Financial Field_. Mr. Kenyon has written a statement in
+relation to that, which gives the full particulars of the inside of a
+very disreputable piece of business. It was merely an attempt at
+blackmailing which failed. I intended to have had the statement read to
+you, but we thought it best to get it off as quickly as possible, and it
+will appear to-morrow in the _Financial Eagle_, where, I hope, you will
+all read it. Now, Mr. Kenyon, perhaps you will tell us something about
+the mine.'
+
+Kenyon, like many men of worth and not of words, was a very poor speaker.
+He seemed confused, and was often a little obscure in his remarks, but he
+was listened to with great attention by those present. He was helped
+here and there by a judicious question from young Longworth, and when he
+sat down the impression was not so bad as might have been expected. After
+a moment's silence, it was Mr. King who spoke.
+
+'As I take it,' he said, 'all we wish to know is this: Is the mine what
+it is represented to be? Is the mineral the best for the use Mr. Kenyon
+has indicated? Is there a sufficient quantity of that mineral in the
+mountain he speaks of to make it worth while to organize this company? It
+seems to me that this can only be answered by some practical man going
+out there and seeing the mine for himself. Mr. Melville is, I understand,
+a practical man. If he has the time to spare, I would propose that he
+should go to America, see this mine, and report.'
+
+Another person asked when the option on the mine ran out. This was
+answered by Longworth, who said that the person who went over and
+reported on the mine could cable the word 'Right' or 'Wrong'; then there
+would be time to act in London in getting up the list of subscribers.
+
+'I suppose,' said another, 'that in case of delay there would be no
+trouble in renewing the option for a month or two?'
+
+To this Kenyon replied that he did not know. The owners might put a
+higher price on the property, or the mine might be producing more mica
+than it had been heretofore, and they perhaps might not be inclined to
+sell. He thought that things should be arranged so that there would be
+no necessity of asking for an extension of the option, and to this they
+all agreed.
+
+Melville then said he had no objection to taking a trip to Canada. It
+was merely a question of the amount of the mineral in sight, and he
+thought he could determine that as well as anybody else. And so the
+matter was about to be settled, when Longworth rose, and said that he was
+perfectly willing to go to Canada himself, in company with Mr. Melville;
+that he would pay all his own expenses, and give them the benefit of his
+opinion as well. This was received with applause, and the meeting
+terminated. Longworth shook hands with Kenyon and Wentworth.
+
+'We will sail by the first steamer,' he said, 'and, as I may not see you
+again, you might write me a letter of introduction to Mr. Von Brent, and
+tell him that I am acting for you in this affair. That will make matters
+smooth in getting an extension of the option, if it should be necessary.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+Kenyon was on his way to lunch next day, when he met Wentworth at the
+door.
+
+'Going to feed?' asked the latter.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well; I'll go with you. I couldn't stay last night to have a talk
+with you over the meeting; but what did you think of it?'
+
+'Well, considering the article which appeared in the morning, and
+considering also the exhibition I made of myself in attempting to explain
+the merits of the mine, I think things went off rather smoothly.'
+
+'So do I. It doesn't strike you that they went off a little _too_
+smoothly, does it?'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I don't know exactly what I mean. I merely wanted to get your own
+opinion about it. You see, I have attended a great many gatherings of
+this sort, and it struck me there was a certain cut-and-driedness about
+the meeting. I can't say whether it impressed me favourably or
+unfavourably, but I noticed it.'
+
+'I still don't understand what you mean.'
+
+'Well, as a general thing in such meetings, when a man gets up and
+proposes a certain action there is some opposition, or somebody has a
+suggestion to make, or something better to propose--or thinks he has--and
+so there is a good deal of talk. Now, when King got up and proposed
+calmly that Melville should go to America, it appeared to me rather an
+extraordinary thing to do, unless he had consulted Melville beforehand.'
+
+'Perhaps he had done so.'
+
+'Yes, perhaps. What do you think of it all?'
+
+Kenyon mused for a moment before he replied:
+
+'As I said before, I thought things went off very smoothly. Whom do you
+suspect--young Longworth?'
+
+'I do not know whom I suspect. I am merely getting anxious about the
+shortness of the time. I think, myself, you ought to go to America. There
+is nothing to be done here. You should go, see Von Brent, and get a
+renewal of the option. Don't you see that when they get over there,
+allowing them a few days in New York, and a day or two to get out to the
+mine, we shall have little more than a week, after the cable despatch
+comes, in which to do anything, should they happen to report
+unfavourably.'
+
+'Yes, I see that. Still, it is only a question of facts on which they
+have to report, and you know, as well as I do, that no truthful men can
+report unfavourably on what we have certified. We have understated the
+case in every instance.'
+
+'I know that. I am perfectly well aware of that. Everything is all right
+if--if--Longworth is dealing honestly with us. If he is not, then
+everything is all wrong, and I should feel a great deal easier if we had
+in our possession another three months' option of the mine. We are now at
+the fag-end of this option, and, it seems to me, as protection to
+ourselves, we ought either to write to Von Brent--By the way, have you
+ever written to him?'
+
+'I wrote one letter telling him how we were getting on, but have received
+no answer; perhaps he is not in Ottawa at present.'
+
+'Well, I think you ought to go to the mine with Longworth and Melville.
+It is the conjunction of those two men that makes me suspicious. I can't
+tell what I distrust. I can give nothing definite; but I have a vague
+uneasiness when I think that the man who tried to mislead us regarding
+the value of the mineral is going with the man who has led us into all
+this expense. Longworth refused to go into the scheme in the first place,
+pretended he had forgotten all about it in the second place, and then
+suddenly developed an interest.'
+
+John knitted his brows and said nothing.
+
+'I don't want to worry you about it, but I am anxious to have your candid
+opinion. What had we better do?'
+
+'It seems to me,' said John, after a pause, 'that we can do nothing. It
+is a very perplexing situation. I think, however, we should turn it over
+in our minds for a few days, and then I can get to America in plenty of
+time, if necessary.'
+
+'Very well, suppose we give them ten days to get to the mine and reply.
+If no reply comes by the eleventh day then you will still have eighteen
+or nineteen days before the option expires. Put it at twelve days. I
+propose, if you hear nothing by then, you go over.'
+
+'Right,' said John; 'we may take that as settled.'
+
+'By the way, you got an invitation to-day, did you not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you going?'
+
+'I do not know. I should like to go and yet, you know, I am entirely
+unused to fashionable assemblages. I should not know what to say or do
+while I was there.'
+
+'As I understand, it is not to be a fashionable party, but merely a
+little friendly gathering which Miss Longworth gives because her cousin
+is about to sail for Canada. I don't want to flatter you, John, at all,
+but I imagine Miss Longworth would be rather disappointed if you did not
+put in an appearance. Besides, as we are partners with Longworth in this,
+and as he is going away on account of the mine. I think it would be a
+little ungracious of us not to go.'
+
+'Very well, I will go. Shall I call for you, or will you come for me?'
+
+'I will call for you and we will go there together in a cab. Be ready
+about eight o'clock.'
+
+The mansion of the Longworths was brilliantly lighted, and John felt
+rather faint-hearted as he stood on the steps before going in. The
+chances are he would not have had the courage to allow himself to be
+announced if his friend Wentworth had not been with him. George,
+however, had no such qualms, being more experienced in this kind of
+thing than his comrade. So they entered together, and were warmly
+greeted by the young hostess.
+
+'It is so kind of you to come,' she said, 'on such short notice. I was
+afraid you might have had some prior engagement, and would have found it
+impossible to be with us.'
+
+'You must not think that of me,' said Wentworth. 'I was certain to come;
+but I must confess my friend Kenyon here was rather difficult to manage.
+He seems to frown on social festivities, and actually had the coolness to
+propose that we should both plead more important business.'
+
+Edith looked reproachfully at Kenyon, who flushed to the temples, as was
+his custom, and said:
+
+'Now, Wentworth, that is unfair. You must not mind what he says, Miss
+Longworth; he likes to bring confusion on me, and he knows how to do it.
+I certainly said nothing about a prior engagement.'
+
+'Well, now you are here, I hope you will enjoy yourselves. It is quite an
+informal little gathering, with nothing to abash even Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+They found young Longworth there in company with Melville, who was to be
+his companion on the voyage. He shook hands, but without exhibiting the
+pleasure at meeting them which his cousin had shown.
+
+'My cousin,' said the young man, 'seems resolved to make the going of the
+prodigal nephew an occasion for killing the fatted calf. I'm sure I don't
+know why, unless it is that she is glad to be rid of me for a month.'
+
+Edith laughed at this, and left the men together. Wentworth speedily
+contrived to make himself agreeable to the young ladies who were present;
+but John, it must be admitted, felt awkward and out of place. He was not
+enjoying himself. He caught himself now and then following Edith
+Longworth with his eyes, and when he realized he was doing this, would
+abruptly look at the floor. In her handsome evening dress she appeared
+supremely lovely, and this John Kenyon admitted to himself with a sigh,
+for her very loveliness seemed to place her further and further away from
+him. Somebody played something on the piano, and this was, in a way, a
+respite for John. He felt that nobody was looking at him. Then a young
+man gave a recitation, which was very well received, and Kenyon began to
+forget his uneasiness. A German gentleman with long hair sat down at the
+piano with a good deal of importance in his demeanour. There was much
+arranging of music, and finally, when the leaves were settled to his
+satisfaction, there was a tremendous crash of chords, the beginning of
+what was evidently going to be a troublesome time for the piano. In the
+midst of this hurricane of sound John Kenyon became aware that Edith
+Longworth had sat down beside him.
+
+'I have got everyone comfortably settled with everyone else,' she said
+in a whisper to him, 'and you seem to be the only one who is, as it
+were, out in the cold, so, you see, I have done you the honour to come
+and talk to you.'
+
+'It is indeed an honour,' said John earnestly.
+
+'Oh, really,' said the young woman, laughing very softly, 'you must not
+take things so seriously. I didn't mean quite what I said, you
+know--that was only, as the children say, "pretended"; but you take one's
+light remarks as if they were most weighty sentences. Now, you must look
+as if you were entertaining me charmingly, whereas I have sat down beside
+you to have a very few minutes' talk on business; I know it's very bad
+form to talk business at an evening party, but, you see, I have no other
+chance to speak with you. I understand you have had a meeting of
+shareholders, and yet you never sent me an invitation. I told you that I
+wished to help you in forming a company; but that is the way you business
+men always treat a woman.'
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth,' began Kenyon; but she speedily interrupted him.
+
+'I am not going to let you make any explanation. I have come over here to
+enjoy scolding you, and I am not to be cheated out of my pleasure.'
+
+'I think,' said John, 'if you knew how much I have suffered during this
+last day or two, you would be very lenient with me. Did you read that
+article upon me in the _Financial Field_?'
+
+'No, I did not, but I read your reply to it this morning, and I think it
+was excellent.'
+
+'Ah, that was hardly fair. A person should read both sides of the
+question before passing judgment.'
+
+'It is a woman's idea of fairness,' said Edith, 'to read what pertains to
+her friend, and to form her judgment without hearing the other side. But
+you must not think I am going to forego scolding you because of my
+sympathy with you. Don't you remember you promised to let me know how
+your company was progressing from time to time, and here I have never
+had a word from you; now tell me how you have been getting on.'
+
+'I hardly know, but I think we are doing very well indeed. You know, of
+course, that your cousin is going to America to report upon the mine. As
+I have stated nothing but what is perfectly true about the property,
+there can be no question as to what that report will be, so it seems to
+me everything is going on nicely.'
+
+'Why do not you go to America?'
+
+'Ah, well, I am an interested party, and those who are thinking of going
+in with us have my report already. It is necessary to corroborate that.
+When it is corroborated, I expect we shall have no trouble in forming
+the company.'
+
+'And was William chosen by those men to go to Canada?'
+
+'He was not exactly chosen; he volunteered. Mr. Melville here was the one
+who was chosen.'
+
+'And why Mr. Melville more than you, for instance?'
+
+'Well, as I said, I am out of the question because I am an interested
+party. Melville is a man connected with china works, and as such, in a
+measure, an expert.'
+
+'Is Mr. Melville a friend of yours?'
+
+'No, he is not. I never saw him until he came to the meeting.'
+
+'Do you know,' she said, lowering her voice and bending towards him,
+'that I do not like Mr. Melville's face?' Kenyon glanced at Melville, who
+was at the other side of the room, and Edith went on: 'You must not look
+at people when I mention them in that way, or they will know we are
+talking about them. I do not like his face. He is too handsome a man, and
+I don't like handsome men.'
+
+'Don't you, really,' said John; 'then, you ought to----'
+
+Edith laughed softly, a low, musical laugh that was not heard above the
+piano din, and was intended for John alone, and to his ears it was the
+sweetest music he had ever heard.
+
+'I know what you were going to say,' she said; 'you were going to say
+that in that case I ought to like _you_. Well, I do; that is why I am
+taking such an interest in your mine, and in your friend Mr. Wentworth.
+And so my cousin volunteered to go to Canada. Now, I think you ought to
+go yourself.'
+
+'Why?' said Kenyon, startled that she should have touched the point that
+had been discussed between Wentworth and himself.
+
+'I can only give you a woman's reason--"because I do." It seems to me you
+ought to be there to know what they report at the time they _do_ report.
+Perhaps they won't understand the mine without your explanation, and then
+you see an adverse report might come back in perfect good faith. I think
+you ought to go to America, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'That is just what George Wentworth says.'
+
+'Does he? I always thought he was a very sensible young man, and now I am
+sure of it. Well, I must not stay here gossiping with you on business. I
+see the professor is going to finish, and so I shall have to look after
+my other guests. If I don't see you again this evening, or have no
+opportunity of speaking with you, think over what I have said.'
+
+And then, with the most charming hypocrisy, the young woman thanked the
+professor for the music to which she had not listened in the least.
+
+'Well, how did you enjoy yourself?' said Wentworth when they had got
+outside again.
+
+It was a clear, starlight night, and they had resolved to walk home
+together.
+
+'I enjoyed myself very well indeed,' answered Kenyon; 'much better than I
+expected. It was a little awkward at first, but I got over that.'
+
+'I noticed you did--with help.'
+
+'Yes, "with help."'
+
+'If you are inclined to rave, John, now that we are under the stars,
+remember I am a close confidant, and a sympathetic listener. I should like
+to hear you rave, just to learn how an exasperatingly sensible man acts
+under the circumstances.'
+
+'I shall not rave about anything, George, but I will tell you something.
+I am going to Canada.'
+
+'Ah, did she speak about that?'
+
+'She did.'
+
+'And of course her advice at once decides the matter, after my most
+cogent arguments have failed?'
+
+'Don't be offended, George, but--_it does_.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+'What name, please?'
+
+'Tell Mr. Wentworth a lady wishes to see him.'
+
+The boy departed rather dubiously, for he knew this message was decidedly
+irregular in a business office. People should give their names.
+
+'A lady to see you, sir,' he said to Wentworth; and, then, just as the
+boy had expected, his employer wanted to know the lady's name.
+
+Ladies are not frequent visitors at the office of an accountant in the
+City, so Wentworth touched his collar and tie to make sure they were in
+their correct position, and, wondering who the lady was, asked the boy to
+show her in.
+
+'How do you do, Mr. Wentworth?' she said brightly, advancing towards his
+table and holding out her hand.
+
+Wentworth caught his breath, and took her extended hand somewhat limply,
+then he pulled himself together; saying:
+
+'This is an unexpected pleasure, Miss Brewster.'
+
+Jennie blushed very prettily, and laughed a laugh that Wentworth thought
+was like a little ripple of music from a mellow flute.
+
+'It may be unexpected,' she said, 'but you don't look a bit like a
+man suffering from an overdose of pure joy. You didn't expect to see
+me, did you?'
+
+'I did not; but now that you are here, may I ask in what way I can
+serve you?'
+
+'Well, in the first place, you may ask me to take a chair, and in the
+second place you may sit down yourself; for I've come to have a long talk
+with you.'
+
+The prospect did not seem to be so alluring to Wentworth as one might
+have expected, when the announcement was made by a girl so pretty, and
+dressed in such exquisite taste; but the young man promptly offered her a
+chair, and then sat down, with the table between them. She placed her
+parasol and a few things she had been carrying on the table, arranging
+them with some care; then, having given him time to recover from his
+surprise, she flashed a look at him that sent a thrill to the finger-tips
+of the young man. Yet a danger understood is a danger half overcome; and
+Wentworth, unconsciously drawing a deep breath, nerved himself against
+any recurrence of a feeling he had been trying with but indifferent
+success to forget, saying grimly, but only half convincingly, to himself:
+
+'You are not going to fool me a second time, my girl, lovely as you are.'
+
+A glimmer of a smile hovered about the red lips of the girl, a smile
+hardly perceptible, but giving an effect to her clear complexion as if a
+sunbeam had crept into the room, and its reflection had lit up her face.
+
+'I have come to apologize, Mr. Wentworth,' she said at last. 'I find it a
+very difficult thing to do, and, as I don't quite know how to begin, I
+plunge right into it.'
+
+'You don't need to apologize to me for anything, Miss Brewster,' replied
+Wentworth, rather stiffly.
+
+'Oh yes, I do. Don't make it harder than it is by being too frigidly
+polite about it, but say you accept the apology, and that you're
+sorry--no, I don't mean that--I should say that you're sure I'm sorry,
+and that you know I won't do it again.'
+
+Wentworth laughed, and Miss Brewster joined him.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's ever so much better. I suppose you've been
+thinking hard things of me ever since we last met.'
+
+'I've tried to,' replied Wentworth.
+
+'Now, that's what I call honest; besides, I like the implied compliment.
+I think it's very neat indeed. I'm really very, very sorry that I--that
+things happened as they did. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had used
+exceedingly strong language about it at the time.'
+
+'I must confess that I did.'
+
+'Ah!' said Jennie, with a sigh, 'you men have so many comforts denied to
+us women. But I came here for another purpose; if I had merely wanted to
+apologize, I think I would have written. I want some information which
+you can give me, if you like.'
+
+The young woman rested her elbows on the table, with her chin in her
+hands, gazing across at him earnestly and innocently. Poor George felt
+that it would be almost impossible to refuse anything to those large
+beseeching eyes.
+
+'I want you to tell me about your mine.'
+
+All the geniality that had gradually come into Wentworth's face and
+manner vanished instantly.
+
+'So this is the old business over again,' he said.
+
+'How can you say that!' cried Jennie reproachfully. 'I am asking for my
+own satisfaction entirely, and not for my paper. Besides, I tell you
+frankly what I want to know, and don't try to get it by indirect
+means--by false pretences, as you once said.'
+
+'How can you expect me to give you information that does not belong to me
+alone? I have no right to speak of a business which concerns others
+without their permission.'
+
+'Ah, then, there are at least two more concerned in the mine,' said
+Jennie gleefully. 'Kenyon is one, I know; who is the other?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, I will tell you nothing.'
+
+'But you have told me something already. Please go on and talk, Mr.
+Wentworth--about anything you like--and I shall soon find out all I want
+to know about the mine.'
+
+She paused, but Wentworth remained silent, which, indeed, the bewildered
+young man realized was the only safe thing to do.
+
+'They speak of the talkativeness of women,' Miss Brewster went on, as if
+soliloquizing, 'but it is nothing to that of the men. Once set a man
+talking, and you learn everything he knows--besides ever so much more
+that he doesn't.'
+
+Miss Brewster had abandoned her very taking attitude, with its suggestion
+of confidential relations, and had removed her elbows from the table,
+sitting now back in her chair, gazing dreamily at the dingy window which
+let the light in from the dingy court. She seemed to have forgotten that
+Wentworth was there, and said, more to herself than to him:
+
+'I wonder if Kenyon would tell me about the mine.'
+
+'You might ask him.'
+
+'No; it wouldn't do any good,' she continued, gently shaking her head.
+'He's one of your silent men, and there are so few of them in this
+world. Perhaps I had better go to William Longworth himself; he's not
+suspicious of me.'
+
+As she said this, she threw a quick glance at Wentworth, and the
+unfortunate young man's face at once told her that she had hit the mark.
+She bent her head over the table, and laughed with such evident enjoyment
+that Wentworth, in spite of his helpless anger, smiled grimly.
+
+Jennie raised her head, but the sight of his perplexed countenance was
+too much for her, and it was some time before her merriment allowed her
+to speak. At last she said:
+
+'Wouldn't you like to take me by the shoulders and put me out of the
+room, Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'I'd like to take you by the shoulders and shake you.'
+
+'Ah! that would be taking a liberty, and could not be permitted. We must
+leave punishment to the law, you know, although I do think a man should
+be allowed to turn an objectionable visitor into the street.'
+
+'Miss Brewster,' cried the young man earnestly, leaning over the table
+towards her, 'why don't you abandon your horrible inquisitorial
+profession, and put your undoubted talents to some other use?'
+
+'What, for instance?'
+
+'Oh, anything.'
+
+Jennie rested her fair cheek against her open palm again, and looked at
+the dingy window. There was a long silence between them--Wentworth
+absorbed in watching her clear-cut profile and her white throat, his
+breath quickening as he feasted his eyes on her beauty.
+
+'I have always got angry,' she said at last, in a low voice with the quiver
+of a suppressed sigh in it, 'when other people have said that to me--I wonder
+why it is I merely feel hurt and sad when you say it? It is so easy to
+say, "Oh, anything"--so easy, so easy. You are a man, with the strength
+and determination of a man, yet you have met with disappointments and
+obstacles that have required all your courage to overcome. Every man has,
+and with most men it is a fight until the head is gray, and the brain
+weary with the ceaseless struggle. The world is utterly merciless; it
+will trample you down relentlessly if it can, and if your vigilance
+relaxes for a moment, it will steal your crust and leave you to starve.
+Every time I think of this incessant sullen contest, with no quarter
+given or taken, I shudder, and pray that I may die before I am at the
+mercy of the pitiless world. When I came to London, I saw, for the first
+time in my life, that hopeless, melancholy promenade of the sandwich-men;
+human wreckage drifting along the edge of the street, as if cast there by
+the rushing tide sweeping past them. They--they seemed to me like a
+tottering procession of the dead; and on their backs was the announcement
+of a play that was making all London roar with laughter. The awful comedy
+and tragedy of it! Well, I simply couldn't stand it. I had to run up a
+side-street and cry like the little fool I was, right in broad daylight.'
+
+Jennie paused and tried to laugh, but the effort ended in a sound
+suspiciously like a sob. She dashed her hand with quick impatience across
+her eyes, from which Wentworth had never taken his own, seeing them
+become dim, as if the light from the window proved too strong for them,
+and finally fill as she ceased to speak. Searching ineffectually about
+her dress for a handkerchief, which lay on the table beside her parasol
+unnoticed by either, Jennie went on with some difficulty:
+
+'Well, these poor forlorn creatures were once men--men who have gone
+down--and if the world is so hard on a man with all his strength and
+resourcefulness, think--think what it is for a woman thrown into this
+inhuman turmoil--a woman without friends--without money--flung among
+these relentless wolves--to live if she can--or--to die--if she can.'
+
+The girl's voice broke, and she buried her face in her arms, which rested
+on the table.
+
+Wentworth sprang to his feet and came round to where she sat.
+
+'Jennie,' he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The girl, without
+looking up, shook off the hand that touched her.
+
+'Go back to your place,' she cried, in a smothered voice. 'Leave me
+alone.'
+
+'Jennie,' persisted Wentworth.
+
+The young woman rose from her chair and faced him, stepping back a pace.
+
+'Don't you hear what I say? Go back and sit down. I came here to talk
+business, not to make a fool of myself. It's all your fault, and I hate
+you for it--you and your silly questions.'
+
+But the young man stood where he was, in spite of the dangerous sparkle
+that shone in his visitor's wet eyes. A frown gathered on his brow.
+
+'Jennie,' he said slowly, 'are you playing with me again?'
+
+The swift anger that blazed up in her face, reddening her cheeks, dried
+the tears.
+
+'How _dare_ you say such a thing to me!' she cried hotly. 'Do you flatter
+yourself that, because I came here to talk business, I have also some
+personal interest in you? Surely even _your_ self-conceit doesn't run so
+far as that!'
+
+Wentworth stood silent, and Miss Brewster picked up her parasol,
+scattering, in her haste, the other articles on the floor. If she
+expected Wentworth to put them on the table again, she was disappointed,
+for, although his eyes were upon her, his thoughts were far away upon the
+Atlantic Ocean.
+
+'I shall not stay here to be insulted,' she cried resentfully, bringing
+Wentworth's thoughts back with a rush to London again. 'It is intolerable
+that you should use such an expression to me. Playing with you indeed!'
+
+'I had no intention of insulting you, Miss Brewster.'
+
+'What is it but an insult to use such a phrase? It implies that I either
+care for you, or----'
+
+'And do you?'
+
+'Do I what?'
+
+'Do you care for me?'
+
+Jennie shook out the lace fringes of her parasol; and smoothed them with
+some precision. Her eyes were bent on what she was doing; consequently,
+they did not meet those of her questioner.
+
+'I care for you as a friend, of course,' she said at last, still giving
+much attention to the parasol. 'If I had not looked on you as a friend, I
+would not have come here to consult with you, would I?'
+
+'No, I suppose not. Well, I am sorry I used the words that displeased
+you, and now, if you will permit it, we will go on with the
+consultation.'
+
+'It wasn't a pretty thing to say.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm not good at saying pretty things.'
+
+'You used to be.'
+
+The parasol being arranged to her liking, she glanced up at him.
+
+'Still, you said you were sorry, and that's all a man can say--or a
+woman either, for that's what I said myself when I came in. Now, if you
+will pick up those things from the floor--thanks--we will talk about
+the mine.'
+
+Wentworth seated himself again, and said;
+
+'Well, what is it you wish to know about the mine?'
+
+'Nothing at all.'
+
+'But you said you wanted information.'
+
+'What a funny reason to give! And how a man misses all the fine points of
+a conversation! No; just because I asked for information, you might have
+known that was not what I really wanted.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm very stupid. I hate to ask boldly what you did want, but
+I would like to know.'
+
+'I wanted a vote of confidence. I told you I was sorry because of a
+certain episode. I wished to see if you trusted me, and I found you
+didn't. There!'
+
+'I think that was hardly a fair test. You see, the facts did not belong
+to me alone.'
+
+Miss Brewster sighed, and slowly shook her head.
+
+'That wouldn't have made the least difference if you had really trusted
+me.'
+
+'Oh, I say! You couldn't expect a man to----'
+
+'Yes I could.'
+
+'What, merely a friend?'
+
+Miss Brewster nodded.
+
+'Well, all I can say,' remarked Wentworth, with a laugh, 'is that
+friendship has made greater strides in the States than it has in
+this country.'
+
+Before Jennie could reply, the useful boy knocked at the door and brought
+in a tea-tray, which he placed before his master; then silently departed,
+closing the door noiselessly.
+
+'May I offer you a cup of tea?'
+
+'Please. What a curious custom this drinking of tea is in business
+offices! I think I shall write an article on "A Nation of Tea-tipplers."
+If I were an enemy of England, instead of being its greatest friend, I
+would descend with my army on this country between the hours of four and
+five in the afternoon, and so take the population unawares while it was
+drinking tea. What would you do if the enemy came down on you during such
+a sacred national ceremony?'
+
+'I would offer her a cup of tea,' replied Wentworth, suiting the action
+to the phrase.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' said the girl archly, 'you're improving. That remark was
+distinctly good. Still, you must remember that I come as a friend, not as
+an enemy. Did you ever read the "Babes in the Wood"? It is a most
+instructive, but pathetic, work of fiction. You remember the wicked
+uncle, surely? Well, you and Mr. Kenyon remind me of the "Babes," poor
+innocent little things! and London--this part of it--is the dark and
+pathless forest. I am the bird hovering about you, waiting to cover you
+with leaves. The leaves, to do any good, ought to be cheques fluttering
+down on you, but, alas! I haven't any. If negotiable cheques only grew on
+trees, life would not be so difficult.'
+
+Miss Brewster sipped her tea pensively, and Wentworth listened
+contentedly to the musical murmur of her voice. Such an entrancing effect
+had it on him that he paid less heed to what she said than a man ought
+when a lady is speaking. The tea-drinking had added a touch of
+domesticity to the _tete-a-tete_ which rather went to the head of the
+young man. He clinched and unclinched his hand out of sight under the
+table, and felt the moisture on his palm. He hoped he would be able to
+retain control over himself, but the difficulty of his task almost
+overcame him when she now and then appealed to him with glance or
+gesture, and he felt as if he must cry out, 'My girl, my girl, don't do
+that, if you expect me to stay where I am.'
+
+'I see you are not paying the slightest attention to what I am saying,'
+she said, pushing the cup from her. She rested her arms on the table,
+leaning slightly forward, and turning her face full upon him: 'I can tell
+by your eyes that you are thinking of something else.'
+
+'I assure you,' said George, drawing a deep breath, 'I am listening with
+intense interest.'
+
+'Well, that's right, for what I am going to say is important. Now, to
+wake you up, I will first tell you all about your mine; you will
+understand thereafter that I did not need to ask anyone for information
+regarding it.'
+
+Here, to Wentworth's astonishment, she gave a rapid and accurate sketch
+of the negotiations and arrangements between the three partners, and the
+present position of affairs.
+
+'How do you know all this?' he asked.
+
+'Never mind that; and you mustn't ask how I know what I am now going to
+tell you, but you must believe it implicitly, and act upon it promptly.
+Longworth is fooling both you and Kenyon. He is marking time, so that
+your option will run out; then he will pay cash for the mine at the
+original price, and you and Kenyon will be left to pay two-thirds of the
+debt incurred. Where is Kenyon?'
+
+'He has gone to America.'
+
+'That's good. Cable him to get the option renewed. You can then try to
+form the company yourselves in London. If he can't obtain a renewal, you
+have very little time to get the cash together, and if you are not able
+to do that, then you lose everything. This is what I came to tell you,
+although I have been a long time about it. Now I must go.'
+
+She rose, gathered her belongings from the table, and stood with the
+parasol pressed against her. Wentworth came around to where she was
+standing, his face paler than usual, probably because of the news he had
+heard. One hand was grasped tightly around one wrist in front of him. He
+felt that he should thank her for what she had done, but his lips were
+dry, and, somehow, the proper words were not at his command.
+
+She, holding her fragile lace-fringed parasol against her with one arm,
+was adjusting her long neatly fitting glove, which she had removed before
+tea. A button, one of many, was difficult to fasten, and as she
+endeavoured to put it in its place, her sleeve fell away, showing a round
+white arm above the glove.
+
+'You see,' she said, a little breathlessly, her eyes upon her glove, 'it
+is a very serious situation, and time is of immense importance.'
+
+'I realize that.'
+
+'It would be such a pity to lose everything now, when you have had so
+much trouble and worry.'
+
+'It would.'
+
+'And I think that whatever is done should be done quickly. You should act
+at once and with energy.'
+
+'I am convinced that is so.'
+
+'Of course it is. You are of too trusting a nature; you should be more
+suspicious, then you wouldn't be tricked as you have been.'
+
+'No. The trouble is I have been too sceptical, but that is past. I won't
+be again.'
+
+'What are you talking about?' she said, looking quickly up at him. 'Don't
+you know you'll lose the mine if----'
+
+'Hang the mine!' he cried, flinging his wrist free, and clasping her to
+him before she could step back or move from her place. 'There is
+something more important than mines or money.'
+
+The parasol broke with a sharp snap, and the girl murmured 'Oh!' but the
+murmur was faint.
+
+'Never mind the parasol,' he said, pulling it from between them and
+tossing it aside; 'I'll get you another.'
+
+'Reckless man!' she gasped; 'you little know how much it cost, and I
+think, you know, I ought to have been consulted--in an--in an--affair of
+this kind--George.'
+
+'There was no time. I acted upon your own advice--promptly. You are not
+angry, Jennie, my dear girl, are you?'
+
+'I suppose I'm not, though I think I ought to be; especially as I know
+only too well that I held my heart in my hand the whole time, almost
+offering it to you. I hope you won't treat it as you have treated the
+sunshade.'
+
+He kissed her for answer.
+
+'You see,' she said, putting his necktie straight, 'I liked you from the
+very first, far more than I knew at the time. If you--I'm not trying to
+justify myself, you know--but if you had, well, just coaxed me a little
+yourself, I would never have sent that cable message. You seemed to give
+up everything, and you sent Kenyon to me, and that made me angry. I
+expected you to come back to me, but you never came.'
+
+'I was a stupid fool. I always am when I get a fair chance.'
+
+'Oh no, you're not, but you do need someone to take care of you.'
+
+She suddenly held him at arm's length from her.
+
+'You don't imagine for a moment, George Wentworth, that I came here
+to-day for--for this.'
+
+'Certainly not!' cried the honest young man, with much indignant fervour,
+drawing her again towards him.
+
+'Then it's all right. I couldn't bear to have you think such a thing,
+especially--well, I'll tell you why some day. But I do wish you had a
+title. Do they ever ennoble accountants in this country, George?'
+
+'No; they knight only rich fools.'
+
+'Oh, I'm so glad of that; for you'll get rich on the mine, and I'll be
+Lady Wentworth yet.'
+
+Then she drew his head down until her laughing lips touched his.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Although the steamship that took Kenyon to America was one of the
+speediest in the Atlantic service, yet the voyage was inexpressibly
+dreary to him. He spent most of his time walking up and down the deck,
+thinking about the other voyage of a few weeks before. The one
+consolation of his present trip was its quickness.
+
+When he arrived at his hotel in New York, he asked if there was any
+message there for him, and the clerk handed him an envelope, which he
+tore open. It was a cable despatch from Wentworth, with the words:
+
+'Longworth at Windsor. Proceed to Ottawa immediately. Get option renewed.
+Longworth duping us.'
+
+John knitted his brows and wondered where Windsor was. The clerk, seeing
+his perplexity, asked if he could be of any assistance.
+
+'I have received this cablegram, but don't quite understand it. Where
+is Windsor?'
+
+'Oh, that means the Windsor Hotel. Just up the street.'
+
+Kenyon registered, told the clerk to assign him a room, and send his
+baggage up to it when it came. Then he walked out from the hotel and
+sought the Windsor.
+
+He found that colossal hostelry, and was just inquiring of the clerk
+whether a Mr. Longworth was staying there, when that gentleman appeared
+at the desk, took some letters and his key.
+
+Kenyon tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+Young Longworth turned round with more alacrity than he usually
+displayed, and gave a long whistle of surprise when he saw who it was.
+
+'In the name of all the gods,' he cried, 'what are _you_ doing here?'
+Then, before Kenyon could reply, he said: 'Come up to my room.'
+
+They went to the elevator, rose a few stories, and passed down an
+apparently endless hall, carpeted with some noiseless stuff that gave no
+echo of the footfall. Longworth put the key into his door and opened it.
+They entered a large and pleasant room.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'this _is_ a surprise. What is the reason of your being
+here? Anything wrong in London?'
+
+'Nothing wrong, so far as I am aware. We received no cablegram from you,
+and thought there might be some hitch in the business; therefore I came.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I cabled over to your address, and said I was staying at the
+Windsor for a few days. I sent a cablegram almost as long as a letter,
+but it didn't appear to do any good.'
+
+'No, I did not receive it.'
+
+'And what did you expect was wrong over here?'
+
+'That I did not know. I knew you had time to get to Ottawa and see the
+mine in twelve days from London. Not hearing from you in that time, and
+knowing the option was running out, both Wentworth and I became anxious,
+and so I came over.'
+
+'Exactly. Well, I'm afraid you've had your trip for nothing.'
+
+'What do you mean? Is not the mine all I said it was?'
+
+'Oh, the mine is all right; all I meant was, there was really no
+necessity for your coming.'
+
+'But, you know, the option ends in a very short time.'
+
+'Well, the option, like the mine, is all right. I think you might quite
+safely have left it in my hands.'
+
+It must be admitted that John Kenyon began to feel he had acted with
+unreasonable rashness in taking his long voyage.
+
+'Is Mr. Melville here with you?'
+
+'Melville has returned home. He had not time to stay longer. All he
+wanted was to satisfy himself about the mine. He was satisfied, and he
+has gone home. If you were in London now, you would be able to see him.'
+
+'Did you meet Mr. Von Brent?'
+
+'Yes, he took us to the mine.'
+
+'And did you say anything about the option to him?'
+
+'Well, we had some conversation about it. There will be no trouble about
+the option. What Von Brent wants is to sell his mine, that is all.'
+There was a few moments' silence, then Longworth said: 'When are you
+going back?'
+
+'I do not know. I think I ought to see Von Brent. I am not at all easy
+about leaving matters as they are. I think I ought to get a renewal of
+the option. It is not wise to risk things as we are doing. Von Brent
+might at any time get an offer for his mine, just as we are forming our
+company, and, of course, if the option had not been renewed, he would
+sell to the first man who put down the money. As you say, all he wants is
+to sell his mine.'
+
+Longworth was busy opening his letters, and apparently paying very little
+attention to what Kenyon said. At last, however, he spoke:
+
+'If I were you--if you care to take my advice--I would go straight back
+to England. You will do no good here. I merely say this to save you any
+further trouble, time, and expense.'
+
+'Don't you think it would be as well to get a renewal of the option?'
+
+'Oh, certainly; but, as I told you before, it was not at all necessary
+for you to come over. I may say, furthermore, that Von Brent will not
+renew the option without a handsome sum down, to be forfeited if the
+company is not formed. Have you the money to pay him?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Very well, then, why waste time and money going to Ottawa?' Young Mr.
+Longworth arched his eye-brows and gazed at John through his eyeglass. 'I
+will let you have my third of the money, if that will do any good.'
+
+'How much money does Von Brent want?'
+
+'How should I know? To tell you the truth, Mr. Kenyon--and truth never
+hurts, or oughtn't to--I don't at all like this visit to America. You and
+Mr. Wentworth have been good enough to be suspicious about me from the
+very first. You have not taken any pains to conceal it, either of you.
+Your appearance in America at this particular juncture is nothing more
+nor less than an insult to me. I intend to receive it as such.'
+
+'I have no intention of insulting you,' said Kenyon, 'if you are dealing
+fairly with me.'
+
+'There it is again. That remark is an insult. Everything you say is a
+reflection upon me. I wish to have nothing more to say to you. I give you
+my advice that it is better for you, and cheaper, to go back to London.
+You need not act on it unless you like. I have nothing further to say to
+you and so this interview may be considered closed.'
+
+'And how about the mine?'
+
+'I imagine the mine will take care of itself.'
+
+'Do you think this is courteous treatment of a business partner?'
+
+'My dear sir, I do not take my lessons in courtesy from you. Whether you
+are pleased or displeased with my treatment of you is a matter of supreme
+indifference to me. I am tired of living in an atmosphere of suspicion,
+and I have done with it--that is all. You think some game is being played
+on you--both you and Mr. Wentworth think that--and yet you haven't the
+"cuteness," as they call it here, or sharpness, to find it out. Now, a
+man who has suspicions he cannot prove to be well founded should keep
+those suspicions to himself until he can prove them. That is my advice
+to you. I wish you a good-day.'
+
+John Kenyon walked back to his hotel with more misgivings than ever. He
+wrote a letter to Wentworth detailing the conversation, telling him
+Melville had sailed for home, and advising him to see that gentleman when
+he arrived. He stayed in New York that night, and took the morning train
+to Montreal. In due time he arrived at Ottawa, and called on Von Brent.
+He found that gentleman in his chambers, looking as if he had never left
+the room since the option was signed. Von Brent at first did not
+recognise his visitor, but after gazing a moment at him he sprang from
+his chair and held out his hand.
+
+'I really did not know you,' he said; 'you have changed a great deal
+since I saw you last. You look haggard, and not at all well. What is the
+matter with you?'
+
+'I do not think anything is the matter. I am in very good health, thank
+you; I have had a few business worries, that is all.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Von Brent; 'I am very sorry indeed you failed to form
+your company.'
+
+'Failed!' echoed Kenyon.
+
+'Yes; you haven't succeeded, have you?'
+
+'Well, I don't know about that; we are in a fair way to succeed. You met
+Longworth and Melville, who came out to see the mine? I saw Longworth in
+New York, and he told me you had taken them out there.'
+
+'Are they interested with you in the mine?'
+
+'Certainly; they are helping me to form the company.'
+
+Von Brent seemed amazed.
+
+'I did not understand that at all. In fact, I understood the exact
+opposite. I thought you had attempted to form a company, and failed. They
+showed me an attack in one of the financial papers upon you, and said
+that killed your chances of forming a company in London. They were here,
+apparently, on their own business.'
+
+'And what was their business?'
+
+'To buy the mine.'
+
+'Have they bought it?'
+
+'Practically, yes. Of course, while your option holds good I cannot sell
+it, but that, as you know, expires in a very few days.'
+
+Kenyon, finding his worst suspicions confirmed, seemed speechless with
+amazement, and in his agony mopped from his brow the drops collected
+there.
+
+'You appear to be astonished at this,' said Von Brent.
+
+'I am very much astonished.'
+
+'Well, you cannot blame me. I have acted perfectly square in the matter.
+I had no idea Longworth, and the gentleman who was with him, had any
+connection with you whatever. Their attention had been drawn to the mine,
+they said, by that article. They had investigated it and appeared to be
+satisfied there was something in it--in the mine, I mean, not in the
+article. They said they had attended a meeting which you had called, but
+it was quite evident you were not going to be able to form the company.
+So they came here and made me a cash offer for the mine. They have
+deposited twenty thousand pounds at the bank here, and on the day your
+option closes they will give me a cheque for the amount.'
+
+'It serves me right,' said Kenyon. 'I have been cheated and duped. I had
+grave suspicions of it all along, but I did not act upon them. I have
+been too timorous and cowardly. This man Longworth has made a pretence of
+helping me to form a company. Everything he has done has been to delay
+me. He came out here, apparently, in the interests of the company I was
+forming, and now he has got the option for himself.'
+
+'Yes, he has,' said Von Brent. 'I may say I am very sorry indeed for the
+turn affairs have taken. Of course, as I have told you, I had no idea how
+the land lay. You see, you had placed no deposit with me, and I had to
+look after my own interests. However, the option is open for a few days
+more, and I will not turn the mine over to them till the last minute of
+the time has expired. Isn't there any chance of your getting the money
+before then?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'Well, you see, in that case I cannot help myself. I am bound by a legal
+document to turn the mine over to them on receipt of the twenty thousand
+pounds the moment your option is ended. Everything is done legally, and I
+am perfectly helpless in the matter.'
+
+'Yes, I see that,' said John. 'Good-bye.'
+
+He went to the telegraph-office and sent a cablegram.
+
+Wentworth received the message in London the next morning. It read:
+
+'We are cheated. Longworth has the option on the mine in his own name.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+When George Wentworth received this message, he read it several times
+over before its full meaning dawned upon him. Then he paced up and down
+his room, and gave way to his feelings. His best friends, who had been
+privileged to hear George's vocabulary when he was rather angry, admitted
+that the young man had a fluency of expression which was very more terse
+than proper. When the real significance of the despatch became apparent
+to him, George outdid himself in this particular line. Then he realized
+that, however consolatory such language is to a very angry man, it does
+little good in any practical way. He paced silently up and down the room,
+wondering what he could do, and the more he wondered the less light he
+saw through the fog. He put on his hat and went into the other room.
+
+'Henry,' he said to his partner, 'do you know anybody who would lend me
+twenty thousand pounds?'
+
+Henry laughed. The idea of anybody lending that sum of money, except on
+the very best security, was in itself extremely comic.
+
+'Do you want it to-day?' he said.
+
+'Yes, I want it to-day.'
+
+'Well, I don't know any better plan than to go out into the street and
+ask every man you meet if he has that sum about him. You are certain to
+encounter men who have very much more than twenty thousand pounds, and
+perhaps one of them, struck by your very sane appearance at the moment,
+might hand over the sum to you. I think, however, George, that you would
+be more successful if you met the capitalist in a secluded lane some
+dark night, and had a good reliable club in your hand.'
+
+'You are right,' said George. 'Of course, there is just as much
+possibility of my reaching the moon as getting that sum of money on
+short notice.'
+
+'Yes, or on long notice either, I imagine. I know plenty of men who have
+the money, but I wouldn't undertake to ask them for it, and I don't
+believe you would. Still there is nothing like trying. He who tries may
+succeed, but no one can succeed who doesn't try. Why not go to old
+Longworth? He could let you have the money in a moment if he wanted to do
+so. He knows you. What's your security? What are you going to do with
+it--that eternal mine of yours?'
+
+'Yes, that "eternal mine"; I want it to _be_ mine. That is why I need the
+twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Well, George, I don't see much hope for you. You never spoke to old
+Longworth about it, did you? He wasn't one of the men you intended to get
+into this company?'
+
+'No, he was not. I wish he had been. He would have treated us better than
+his rascally nephew has done.'
+
+'Ah, that immaculate young man has been playing you tricks, has he?'
+
+'He has played me one trick, which is enough.'
+
+'Well, why don't you go and see the old man, and lay the case before him?
+He treats that nephew as if he were his son. Now, a man will do a great
+deal for his son, and perhaps old Longworth might do something for
+his nephew.'
+
+'Yes; but I should have to explain to him that his nephew is a
+scoundrel.'
+
+'Very well; that is just the kind of explanation to bring the twenty
+thousand pounds. If his nephew really is a scoundrel, and you can prove
+it, you could not want a better lever than that on the old man's
+money-bags.'
+
+'By Jove!' said Wentworth, 'I believe I shall try it. I want to let him
+know, anyhow, what sort of man his nephew is. I'll go and see him.'
+
+'I would,' said the other, turning to his work.
+
+And so George Wentworth, putting the cablegram in his pocket, went to see
+old Mr. Longworth in a frame of mind in which no man should see his
+fellow-man. He did not wait to be announced, but walked, to the
+astonishment of the clerk, straight through into Mr. Longworth's room. He
+found the old man seated at his desk.
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Wentworth,' said the financier cordially.
+
+'Good-day,' replied George curtly. 'I have come to read a cable despatch
+to you, or to let you read it.'
+
+He threw the paper down before the old gentleman, who adjusted his
+spectacles and read it. Then he looked up inquiringly at Wentworth.
+
+'You don't understand it, do you?' said the latter.
+
+'I confess I do not. The Longworth in this telegram does not refer to
+me, does it?'
+
+'No, it does not refer to you, but it refers to one of your house. Your
+nephew, William Longworth, is a scoundrel!'
+
+'Ah!' said the old man, placing the despatch on the desk again, and
+removing his glasses, 'have you come to tell me that?'
+
+'Yes, I have. Did you know it before?'
+
+'No, I did not,' answered the old gentleman, his colour rising; 'and I
+do not know it now. I know you say so, and I think very likely you will
+be glad to take back what you have said. I will at least give you the
+opportunity.'
+
+'So far from taking it back, Mr. Longworth, I shall prove it. Your nephew
+formed a partnership with my friend Kenyon and myself to float on the
+London market a certain Canadian mine.'
+
+'My dear sir,' broke in the old gentleman, 'I have no desire to hear of
+my nephew's private speculations; I have nothing to do with them. I have
+nothing to do with your mine. The matter is of no interest whatever to
+me, and I must decline to hear anything about it. You are, also, if you
+will excuse my saying so, not in a fit state of temper to talk to any
+gentleman. If you like to come back here when you are calmer, I shall be
+very pleased to listen to what you have to say.'
+
+'I shall never be calmer on this subject. I have told you that your
+nephew is a scoundrel. You are pleased to deny the accusation.'
+
+'I do not deny it; I merely said I did not know it was the case, and I do
+not believe it, that is all.'
+
+'Very well; the moment I begin to show you proof that things are as
+I say----'
+
+'My dear sir,' cried the elder man, with some heat, 'you are not showing
+proof. You are merely making assertions, and assertions about a man who
+is absent--who is not here to defend himself. If you have anything to say
+against William Longworth, come and say it when he is here, and he shall
+answer for himself. It is cowardly of you, and ungenerous to me, to make
+a number of accusations which I am in no wise able to refute.'
+
+'Will you listen to what I have to say?'
+
+'No; I will not.'
+
+'Then, by God, you shall!' and with that Wentworth strode to the door and
+turned the key, while the old man rose from his seat and faced him.
+
+'Do you mean to threaten me, sir, in my own office?'
+
+'I mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that I have made a statement which I am
+going to prove to you. I mean that you shall listen to me, and listen to
+me _now_!'
+
+'And I say, if you have anything to charge against my nephew, come and
+say it when he is here.'
+
+'When he is here, Mr. Longworth, it will be too late to say it; at
+present you can repair the injury he has done. When he returns to England
+you cannot do so, no matter how much you might wish to make the attempt.'
+
+The old man stood irresolute for a moment, then he sat down in his chair
+again.
+
+'Very well,' he said, with a sigh; 'I am not so combative as I once was.
+Go on with your story.'
+
+'My story is very short,' said Wentworth; 'it simply amounts to this:
+You know your nephew formed a partnership with us in relation to the
+Canadian mine?'
+
+'I know nothing about it, I tell you,' answered Mr. Longworth.
+
+'Very well, you know it now.'
+
+'I know you say so.'
+
+'Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I shall tell you more definitely when I hear what you have to say. Go
+on.'
+
+'Well, your nephew, pretending to aid us in forming this company, did
+everything to retard our progress. He engaged offices that took a long
+time to fit up, and which we had at last to take in hand ourselves. Then
+he left for a week, leaving us no address, and refusing to answer the
+letters I sent to his office for him. On one pretext or another, the
+forming of the company was delayed; until at length, when the option by
+which Mr. Kenyon held the mine had less than a month to run, your nephew
+went to America in company with Mr. Melville, ostensibly to see and
+report upon the property. After waiting a certain length of time and
+hearing nothing from him (he had promised to cable us), Kenyon went to
+America to get a renewal of the option. This cablegram explains his
+success. He finds, on going there, that your nephew has secured the
+option of the mine in his own name, and, as Kenyon says, we are cheated.
+Now have you any doubt whether your nephew is a scoundrel or not?'
+
+Mr. Longworth mused for a few moments on what the young man had told him.
+
+'If what you say is exactly true, there is no doubt William has been
+guilty of a piece of very sharp practice.'
+
+'Sharp practice!' cried the other. 'You might as well call robbery sharp
+practice!'
+
+'My dear sir, I have listened to you; now I ask you to listen to me. If,
+as I say, what you have stated is true, my nephew has done something
+which I think an honourable man would not do; but as to that I cannot
+judge until I hear his side of the story. It may put a different
+complexion on the matter, and I have no doubt it will; but even granting
+your version is true in every particular, what have I to do with it? I
+am not responsible for my nephew's actions. He has entered into a
+business connection, it seems, with two young men, and has outwitted
+them. That is probably what the world would say about it. Perhaps, as
+you say, he has been guilty of something worse, and has cheated his
+partners. But even admitting everything to be true, I do not see how I
+am responsible in any way.'
+
+'Legally, you are not; morally, I think you are.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'If he were your son----'
+
+'But he is not my son; he is my nephew.'
+
+'If your son had committed a theft, would you not do everything in your
+power to counteract the evil he had done?'
+
+'I might, and I might not. Some fathers pay their sons' debts, others do
+not. I cannot say what action I should take in a purely imaginary case.'
+
+'Very well; all I have to say is, our option runs out in two or three
+days. Twenty thousand pounds will secure the mine for us. I want that
+twenty thousand pounds before the option ceases.'
+
+'And do you expect me to pay you twenty thousand pounds for this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+Old Mr. Longworth leaned back in his office chair, and looked at the
+young man in amazement.
+
+'To think that you, a man of the City, should come to me, another man of
+the City, with such an absurd idea in your head, is simply grotesque.'
+
+'Then the name of the Longworths is nothing to you--the good name, I
+mean?'
+
+'The good name of the Longworths, my dear sir, is everything to me; but
+I fancy it will be able to take care of itself without any assistance
+from you.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments. Then Wentworth said, in a voice of
+suppressed anguish:
+
+'I thought, Mr. Longworth, one of your family was a scoundrel; I now wish
+to say I believe the epithet covers uncle as well as nephew. You have had
+a chance to repair the mischief a member of your family has done. You
+have answered me with contempt. You have not shown the slightest
+indication of wishing to make amends.'
+
+He unlocked the door.
+
+'Come, now,' said old Mr. Longworth, rising, 'that will do, that will do,
+Mr. Wentworth.' Then he pressed an electric bell, and, when the clerk
+appeared, he said: 'Show this gentleman the door, please, and if ever he
+calls here again, do not admit him.'
+
+And so George Wentworth, clenching his hands with rage, was shown to the
+door. He had the rest of the day to ponder on the fact that an angry man
+seldom accomplishes his purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+The stormy interview with Wentworth disturbed the usual serenity of Mr.
+Longworth's temper. He went home earlier than was customary with him
+that night, and the more he thought over the attack, the more
+unjustifiable it seemed. He wondered what his nephew had really done,
+and tried to remember what Wentworth had charged against him. He could
+not recollect, the angrier portions of the interview having, as it were,
+blotted the charges from his mind. There remained, however, a very
+bitter resentment against Wentworth. Mr. Longworth searched his
+conscience to see if he could be in the least to blame, but he found
+nothing in the recollections of his dealings with the young men to
+justify him in feeling at all responsible for the disaster that had
+overtaken them. He read his favourite evening paper with less than his
+usual interest, for every now and then the episode in his office would
+occur to him. Finally he said sharply:
+
+'Edith!'
+
+'Yes, father,' answered his daughter.
+
+'You remember a person named Wentworth, whom you had here the evening
+William went away?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+'Very well. Never invite him to this house again.'
+
+'What has he been doing?' asked the young woman in rather a tremulous
+voice.
+
+'I desire you also never to ask anyone connected with him--that man
+Kenyon, for instance,' continued her father, ignoring her question.
+
+'I thought,' she answered, 'that Mr. Kenyon was not in this country at
+present.'
+
+'He is not, but he will be back again, I suppose. At any rate, I wish to
+have nothing more to do with those people. You understand that?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+Mr. Longworth went on with his reading. Edith saw her father was greatly
+disturbed, and eagerly desired to know the reason, but knew enough of
+human nature to understand that in a short time he would relieve her
+anxiety. He again appeared to be trying to fix his attention on the
+paper. At length he threw it down, and turned towards her.
+
+'That man, Wentworth,' he said bitterly, 'behaved to-day in a most
+unjustifiable manner to me in my own office. It seems that William and he
+and Kenyon embarked in some mine project. I knew nothing of their doings,
+and was not even consulted with regard to them. Now it appears William
+has gone to America and done something Wentworth considers wrong.
+Wentworth came to me and demanded twenty thousand pounds--the most
+preposterous thing ever heard of--said I owed it to clear the good name
+of Longworth. As if the good name were dependent on him, or anyone like
+him! I turned him out of the office.'
+
+Edith did not answer for a few moments, while her father gave
+expression to his indignation by various ejaculations that need not be
+here recorded.
+
+'Did he say,' she spoke at length, 'in what way William had done wrong?'
+
+'I do not remember now just what he said. I know I told him to come again
+when my nephew was present, and then make his charges against him if he
+wanted to do so. Not that I admitted I had anything to do with the matter
+at all, but I simply refused to listen to charges against an absent man.
+I paid no attention to them.'
+
+'That certainly was reasonable,' replied Edith. 'What did he say to it?'
+
+'Oh, he abused me, and abused William, and went on at a dreadful rate,
+until I was obliged to order him out of the office.'
+
+'But what did he say about meeting William when he returned, and making
+the charges against him then?'
+
+'What did he say? I don't remember. Oh yes! he said it would be too late
+then; that they had only a few days to do what business they have to do,
+and that is why he made the demand for twenty thousand pounds. It was to
+repair the harm, whatever the harm was, William had done. I look on it
+simply as some blackmailing scheme of his, and I am astonished that a man
+belonging to so good a house as he does should try that game with me. I
+shall speak to the elder partner about it to-morrow, and if he does not
+make the young man apologize in the most abject manner he will be the
+loser by it, I can tell him that.'
+
+'I would think no more about it, father, if I were you. Do not let it
+trouble you in the least.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't trouble me, but young men nowadays seem to think they can
+say anything to their elders.'
+
+'I mean,' she continued, 'that I would not go to his partner for a day or
+two. Wait and see what happens. I have no doubt, when he considers the
+matter, he will be thoroughly ashamed of himself.'
+
+'Well, I hope so.'
+
+'Then give him the chance of being ashamed of himself, and take no
+further steps in the meantime.'
+
+Edith shortly afterwards went to her own room; there, clasping her hands
+behind her, she walked up and down thinking, with a very troubled heart,
+of what she had heard. Her view of the occurrence was very different from
+that taken by her father. She felt certain something dishonourable had
+been done by her cousin. For a long time she had mistrusted his supposed
+friendship for the two young men, and now she pictured to herself John
+Kenyon in the wilds of Canada, helpless and despondent because of the
+great wrong that had been done him. It was far into the night when she
+retired, and it was early next morning when she arose. Her father was
+bright and cheerful at breakfast, and had evidently forgotten all about
+the unpleasant incident of the day before. A good night's sleep had
+erased it from his memory. Edith was glad of this, and she did not
+mention the subject. After he had gone to the City, his daughter prepared
+to follow him. She did not take her carriage, but hailed a hansom, and
+gave the driver the number of Wentworth's offices. That young man was
+evidently somewhat surprised to see her. He had been trying to write to
+Kenyon an account of his interview with old Mr. Longworth; but after he
+had finished, he thought John Kenyon would not approve of his zeal, so
+had just torn the letter up.
+
+'Take this chair,' he said, wheeling an armchair into position. 'It is
+the only comfortable one we have in the room.'
+
+'Comfort does not matter,' said Miss Longworth. 'I came to see you about
+the mica-mine. What has my cousin done?'
+
+'How do you know he has done anything?'
+
+'That does not matter. I know. Tell me as quickly as you can what he
+has done.'
+
+'It is not a very pleasant story to tell,' he said, 'to a young lady
+about one of her relatives.'
+
+'Never mind that. Tell me.'
+
+'Very well, he has done this: He has pretended he was our friend, and
+professed to aid us in forming this company. He has delayed us by every
+means in his power until the option has nearly expired. Then he has gone
+to Canada and secured for himself, and a man named Melville, the option
+of the mine when John Kenyon's time is up--that is to say, at twelve
+o'clock to-morrow, when Kenyon's option expires, your cousin will pay the
+money and own the mine; after which, of course, Kenyon and myself will be
+out of it. I don't mind the loss at all--I would gladly give Kenyon my
+share--but for John it is a terrible blow. He had counted on the money to
+pay debts which he considers he owes to his father for his education. He
+calls them debts of honour, though they are not debts of honour in the
+ordinary sense of the words. Therefore, it seemed to me a terrible thing
+that----' Here he paused and did not go on. He saw there were tears in the
+eyes of the girl to whom he was talking. 'It is brutal,' he said, 'to
+tell you all this. You are not to blame for it and neither is your
+father, although I spoke to him in a heated manner yesterday.'
+
+'When did you say the option expires?'
+
+'At twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'How much money is required to buy the mine?'
+
+'Twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Can money be sent to Canada by cable?'
+
+'Yes, I think so.'
+
+'Aren't you quite sure?'
+
+'No, I am not. It can be sent by telegraph in this country, and in
+America.'
+
+'How long will it take you to find out?'
+
+'Only a few moments.'
+
+'Very well. Where is Mr. Kenyon now?'
+
+'Kenyon is in Ottawa. I had a cablegram from him yesterday.'
+
+'Then, will you write a cablegram that can be sent away at once, asking
+him to wait at the telegraph-office until he receives a further message
+from you?'
+
+'Yes, I can do that; but what good will it do?'
+
+'Never mind that; perhaps it will do no good. I am going to try to make
+it worth doing. Meanwhile remember, if I succeed, John Kenyon must never
+know the particulars of this transaction.'
+
+'He never will--if you say so.'
+
+'I say so. Now, there is six hours' difference of time between this
+country and Canada, is there not?'
+
+'About that, I think.'
+
+'Very well; lose no time in getting the cable-message sent to him, and
+tell him to answer, so that we shall be sure he is at the other end of
+the wire. Then find out about the cabling of the money. I shall be back
+here, I think, as soon as you are.'
+
+With that she left the office, and, getting into her cab, was driven to
+her father's place of business.
+
+'Well, my girl,' said the old man, pushing his spectacles up on his brow,
+and gazing at her, 'what is it now--some new extravagance?'
+
+'Yes, father, some new extravagance.'
+
+His daughter was evidently excited, and her breath came quickly. She
+closed the door, and took a chair opposite her father.
+
+'Father,' she said, 'I have been your business man, as you call me, for a
+long time.'
+
+'Yes, you have. Are you going to strike for an increase of salary?'
+
+'Father,' she said earnestly, not heeding the jocularity of his tone,
+'this is very serious. I want you to give me some money for myself--to
+speculate with.'
+
+'I will do that very gladly. How much do you want?'
+
+The old man turned his chair round and pulled out his cheque-book.
+
+'I want thirty thousand pounds,' she answered.
+
+Mr. Longworth wheeled quickly round in his chair and looked at her in
+astonishment.
+
+'Thirty thousand what?'
+
+'Thirty thousand pounds, father; and I want it now.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he expostulated, 'have you any idea how much thirty
+thousand pounds is? Do you know that thirty thousand pounds is a
+fortune?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Do you know that there is not one in twenty of the richest merchants in
+London who could at a moment's notice produce thirty thousand pounds in
+ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose that is true. Have you not the ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I have the money. I can draw a cheque for that amount, and it will
+be honoured at once; but I cannot give you so much money without knowing
+what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'And suppose, father, you do not approve of what I am going to do with
+it?'
+
+'All the more reason, my dear, that I should know.'
+
+'Then, father, I suppose you mean that whatever services I have rendered
+you, whatever comfort I have given you, what I have been to you all my
+life, is not worth thirty thousand pounds?'
+
+'You shouldn't talk like that, my daughter. Everything I have is
+yours, or will be, when I die. It is for you I work; it is for you I
+accumulate money. You will have everything I own the moment I have to
+lay down my work.'
+
+'Father!' cried the girl, standing up before him, 'I do not want your
+money when you die. I do not want you to die, as you know; but I do want
+thirty thousand pounds to-day, and now. I want it more than I ever
+wanted anything else before in my life, or ever shall again. Will you
+give it to me?'
+
+'No, I will not, unless you tell me what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'Then, father, you can leave your money to your nephew when you die; I
+shall never touch a penny of it. I now bid you good-bye. I will go out
+from this room and earn my own living.'
+
+With that the young woman turned to go, but her father, with a
+sprightliness one would not have expected from his years, sprang to the
+door and looked at her with alarm.
+
+'Edith, my child, you never talked to me like this before in your life.
+What is wrong with you?'
+
+'Nothing, father, except that I want a cheque for thirty thousand pounds,
+and want it now.'
+
+'And do you mean to say that you will leave me if I do not give it to
+you?'
+
+'Have you ever broken your word, father?'
+
+'Never, my child, that I know of.'
+
+'Then remember I am your daughter. I have said, if I do not get that
+money now, I shall never enter our house again.'
+
+'But thirty thousand pounds is a tremendous amount. Remember, I have
+given _my_ word, too, that I would not give you the money unless you told
+me what it was for.'
+
+'Very well, father, I will tell what it is for when you ask me. I would
+advise you, though, not to ask me; and I would advise you to give me the
+money. It will all be returned to you if you want it.
+
+'Oh, I don't care about the money at all, Edith. I merely, of course,
+don't want to see it wasted.'
+
+'And, father, have you no trust in my judgment?'
+
+'Well, you know I haven't much faith in any woman's wisdom, in the matter
+of investing money.'
+
+'Trust me this time, father. I shall never ask you for any more.'
+
+The old man went slowly to his desk, wrote out a cheque, and handed it to
+his daughter. It was for thirty thousand pounds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth, with that precious bit of paper in her pocket, once more
+got into her hansom and drove to Wentworth's office. Again she took the
+only easy-chair in the room. Her face was very serious, and Wentworth,
+the moment he saw it, said to himself. 'She has failed.'
+
+'Have you telegraphed to Mr. Kenyon?' she asked.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you sure you made it clear to him what was wanted? Cablegrams are
+apt to be rather brief.'
+
+'I told him to keep in communication with us. Here is a copy of the
+cablegram.'
+
+Miss Longworth read it approvingly, but said:
+
+'You have not put in the word "answer."'
+
+'No; but I put it in the despatch I sent. I remember that now.'
+
+'Have you had a reply yet?'
+
+'Oh no; you see, it takes a long time to get there, because there are so
+many changes from the end of the cable to the office where Kenyon is. And
+then, again, you see, they may have to look for him. He may not be
+expecting a message; in fact, he is sure not to be expecting any. From
+his own cablegram to me, it is quite evident he has given up all hope.'
+
+'Show me that cablegram, please.'
+
+Wentworth hesitated.
+
+'It is hardly couched in language you will enjoy reading,' he said.
+
+'That doesn't matter. Show it to me. I must see all the documents in
+the case.'
+
+He handed her the paper, which she read in silence, and gave it back to
+him without a word.
+
+'I knew you wouldn't like it,' he said.
+
+'I have not said I do not like it. It is not a bit too strong under the
+circumstances. In fact, I do not see how he could have put it in other
+words. It is very concise and to the point.'
+
+'Yes; there is no doubt about that, especially the first three words, "We
+are cheated!" Those are the words that make me think Kenyon has given up
+all hope; so there may be some trouble in finding him.'
+
+'Did you learn whether money could be sent by cable or not?'
+
+'Oh yes; there is no difficulty about that. The money is deposited in a
+bank here, and will be credited to Kenyon in the bank at Ottawa.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Miss Longworth, handing him the piece of paper,
+'there is the money.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle as he looked at it. 'Excuse my rudeness,'
+he said; 'I don't see a bit of paper like this every day. You mean, then,
+to buy the mine?'
+
+'Yes, I mean to buy the mine.'
+
+'Very well; but there is ten thousand pounds more here than is
+necessary.'
+
+'Yes. I mean not only to buy the mine, but to work it; and so some
+working capital will be necessary. How much do you suppose.'
+
+'About that I have no idea,' said Wentworth. 'I should think five
+thousand pounds would be ample.'
+
+'Then, we shall leave five thousand pounds in the bank here for
+contingencies, and cable twenty-five thousand pounds to Mr. Kenyon. I
+shall expect him to get me a good man to manage the mine. I am sure he
+will be glad to do that.'
+
+'Most certainly he will. John Kenyon, now that the mine has not fallen
+into the hands of those who tried to cheat him, will be glad to do
+anything for the new owner of it. He won't mind, in the least, losing his
+money if he knows that you have the mine.'
+
+'Ah, but that is the one thing he must not know. As to losing the money,
+neither you nor Mr. Kenyon are to lose a penny. If the mine is all you
+think it is, then it will be an exceedingly profitable investment; and I
+intend that we shall each take our third, just as if you had contributed
+one-third of the money, and Mr. Kenyon another.'
+
+'But, my dear Miss Longworth, that is absurd. We could never accept any
+such terms.'
+
+'Oh yes, you can. I spoke to John Kenyon himself about being a partner
+in this mine. I am afraid he thought very little of the offer at the
+time. I don't intend him to know anything at all about my ownership now.
+He has discovered the mine--you and he together. If it is valueless,
+then you and he will be two of the sufferers; if it is all you think it
+is, then you will be the gainers. The labourer is worthy of his hire,
+and I am sure both you and Mr. Kenyon have laboured hard enough in this
+venture. Should he guess I bought it, the chances are that he will be
+stupidly and stubbornly conscientious, and decline to share the fruits
+of his labours.'
+
+'And do you think, Miss Longworth, I am not conscientious enough
+to refuse?'
+
+'Oh, yes; you are conscientious, but you are sensible. Mr. Kenyon isn't.'
+
+'I think you are mistaken about that. He is one of the most sensible men
+in the world--morbidly sensible, perhaps.'
+
+'Well, I think, if Mr. Kenyon knew I owned the mine, he would not take a
+penny as his share. So I trust you will never let him know I am the
+person who gave the money to buy the mine.'
+
+'But is he never to know it, Miss Longworth?'
+
+'Perhaps not. If he is to learn, I am the person to tell him.'
+
+'I quite agree with you there, and I shall respect your confidence.'
+
+'Now, what time,' said the young woman, looking at her watch, 'ought we
+to get an answer from Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Ah, that, as I said before, no one can tell.'
+
+'I suppose, then, the best plan is to send the money at once, or put it
+in the way of being sent, to some bank in Ottawa.'
+
+'Yes, that is the best thing to do; although, of course, if John Kenyon
+is not there----'
+
+'If he is not there what shall we do?'
+
+'I do not exactly know. I could cable to Mr. Von Brent. Von Brent is the
+owner of the mine, and the man who gave John the option. I do not know
+how far he is committed to the others. If he is as honest as I take him
+to be, he will accept the money, providing it is sent in before twelve
+o'clock, and then we shall have the mine. Of that I know nothing
+whatever, because I have no particulars except John's cable-message.'
+
+'Then, I can do no more just now?'
+
+'Yes, you can. You will have to write a cheque for the twenty-five
+thousand pounds. You see, this cheque is crossed, and will go into
+your banking account. An other cheque will have to be drawn to get the
+money out.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I have not my cheque-book here, but perhaps you can send this
+cheque to the bank, and I will return. There will be time enough, I
+suppose, before the closing hour of the bank?'
+
+'Yes, there will be plenty of time. Of course, the sooner we get the
+money away the better.'
+
+'I shall return shortly after lunch. Perhaps you will then have heard
+from Mr. Kenyon. If anything comes sooner, will you send me a telegram?
+Here is my address.'
+
+'I will do that,' said Wentworth, as he bade her good-bye.
+
+As soon as lunch was over, Miss Longworth, with her cheque-book, again
+visited Wentworth's office. When she entered he shook his head.
+
+'No news yet,' he said.
+
+'This is terrible,' she answered; 'suppose he has left Ottawa and started
+for home?'
+
+'I do not think he would do that. Still, I imagine he would think there
+was no reason for staying in Ottawa. Nevertheless, I know Kenyon well
+enough to believe that he will wait there till the last minute of the
+option has expired, in the hope that something may happen. He knows, of
+course, that I shall be doing everything I can in London, and he may have
+a faint expectation that I shall be able to accomplish something.'
+
+'It would be useless to cable again?'
+
+'Quite. If that message does not reach him, none will.'
+
+As he was speaking, a boy entered the room with a telegram in his hand.
+Its contents were short and to the point:
+
+'Cablegram received.
+
+'KENYON.'
+
+'Well, that's all right,' said Wentworth; 'now I shall cable that we have
+the money, and advise him to identify himself at the bank, so that there
+can be no formalities about the drawing of it, to detain him.'
+
+Saying this, Wentworth pulled the telegraph-forms towards him, and, after
+considerable labour, managed to concoct a satisfactory despatch.
+
+'Don't spare money on it,' urged his visitor; 'be sure and make it
+plain to him.'
+
+'I think that will do, don't you?'
+
+'Yes,' she answered, after reading the despatch; 'that will do.'
+
+'Now,' she said, 'here is the cheque. Shall I wait here while you do all
+that is necessary to cable the money, or had I better go, and return
+again to see if everything is all right?'
+
+'If you don't mind, just sit where you are. You may lock this door, if
+you like, and you will not be disturbed.'
+
+It was an hour before Wentworth returned, but his face was radiant.
+
+'We have done everything we can,' he said, 'the money is at his order
+there, if the cablegram gets over before twelve o'clock to-morrow, as of
+course it will.'
+
+'Very well, then, good-bye,' said the girl with a smile, holding out her
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+
+If any man more miserable and dejected than John Kenyon existed in the
+broad dominion of Canada, he was indeed a person to be pitied. After
+having sent his cablegram to Wentworth, he returned to his very cheerless
+hotel. Next morning when he awoke he knew that Wentworth would have
+received the message, but that the chances were ten thousand to one that
+he could not get the money in time, even if he could get it at all.
+Still, he resolved to stay in Ottawa, much as he detested the place,
+until the hour the option expired. Then, he thought, he would look round
+among the mines, and see if he could not get something to do in the
+management of one of them. This would enable him to make some money,
+wherewith to pay the debts which he and Wentworth would have incurred as
+a result of their disastrous speculation. He felt so depressed that he
+did what most other Englishmen would have done in his place--took a long
+walk. He stood on the bridge over the Ottawa River and gazed for a while
+at the Chaudiere Falls, watching the mist rising from the chasm into
+which the waters plunged. Then he walked along the other side of the
+river, among big saw-mills and huge interminable piles of lumber, with
+their grateful piny smell. By-and-by he found himself in the country, and
+then the forest closed in upon the bad road on which he walked.
+Nevertheless, he kept on and on, without heeding where he was going. Here
+and there he saw clearings in the woods, and a log shanty, or perhaps a
+barn. The result of all this was that, being a healthy man, he soon
+developed an enormous appetite, which forced itself upon his attention in
+spite of his depression. He noticed the evening was closing around him,
+and so was glad to come to a farmhouse that looked better than the
+ordinary shanties he had left behind. Here he asked for food, and soon
+sat down to a plentiful meal, the coarseness of which was more than
+compensated for by the excellence of his appetite. After dinner he began
+to realize how tired he was, and felt astonished to hear from his host
+how far he was from Ottawa.
+
+'You can't get there to-night,' said the farmer; 'it is no use your
+trying. You stay with us, and I'll take you in to-morrow. I'm going there
+in the afternoon.'
+
+And so Kenyon remained all night, and slept the dreamless sleep of health
+and exhaustion.
+
+It was somewhat late in the afternoon when he reached the city of
+Ottawa. Going towards his hotel, he was astonished to hear his name
+shouted after him. Turning round, he saw a man, whom he did not
+recognise, running after him.
+
+'Your name is Kenyon, isn't it?' asked the man, somewhat out of breath.
+
+'Yes, that is my name.'
+
+'I guess you don't remember me. I am the telegraph operator. We have had
+a despatch waiting for you for some time, a cablegram from London. We
+have searched all over the town for you, but couldn't find you.'
+
+'Ah,' said Kenyon, 'is it important?'
+
+'Well, that I don't know. You had better come with me to the office and
+get it. Of course, they don't generally cable unimportant things. I
+remember it said something about you keeping yourself in readiness for
+something.'
+
+They walked together to the telegraph-office. The boy was still searching
+for Kenyon with the original despatch, but the operator turned up the
+file and read the copy to him.
+
+'You see, it wants an answer,' he said; 'that's why I thought it was
+important to get you. You will have plenty of time for an answer
+to-night.'
+
+John took a lead pencil and wrote the cable despatch which Wentworth
+received. He paid his money, and said:
+
+'I will go to my hotel; it is the ---- House. I will wait there, and if
+anything comes for me, send it over as soon as possible.'
+
+'All right,' said the operator, 'that is the best plan; then we will
+know exactly where to find you. Of course, there is no use in your
+waiting here, because we can get you in five minutes. Perhaps I had
+better telephone to the hotel for you if anything comes.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon; 'I will leave it all in your hands.'
+
+Whether it was the effect of having been in the country or not, John
+felt that the cablegram he had received was a good omen. He meditated
+over the tremendous ill-fortune he had suffered in the whole business
+from beginning to end, and thought of old Mr. Longworth's favourite
+phrase, 'There's no such thing as luck.'
+
+Then came a rap at his door, and the bell-boy said:
+
+'There is a gentleman here wishes to speak to you.'
+
+'Ask him to come up,' was the answer; and two minutes later Von Brent
+entered.
+
+'Any news?' he asked.
+
+John, who was in a state of mind which made him suspicious of everything
+and everybody, answered:
+
+'No, nothing new.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. I had some hopes that perhaps you might be able
+to raise the money before twelve o'clock to-morrow. Of course you know
+the option ends at noon to-morrow?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Did you know that Longworth was in Ottawa?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'I have been out of town myself.'
+
+'Yes, he came last night. He has the money in the bank, as I told you.
+Now, I will not accept it until the very latest moment. Of course,
+legally, I cannot accept it before that time, and, just as legally, I
+cannot refuse his money when he tenders it. I am very sorry all this has
+happened--more sorry than I can tell you. I hope you will not think that
+I am to blame in the matter?'
+
+'No, you are not in the slightest to blame. There is nobody in fault
+except myself. I feel that I have been culpably negligent, and altogether
+too trustful.'
+
+'I wish to goodness I knew where you could get the money; but, of
+course, if I knew that, I would have had it myself long ago.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said Kenyon; 'but the only thing you can
+do for me is to see that your clock is not ahead of time to-morrow. I
+may, perhaps, be up at the office before twelve o'clock--that is where I
+shall find you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes; I shall be there all the forenoon. I shall not leave until twelve.'
+
+'Very good; I am much obliged to you, Mr. Von Brent, for your sympathy. I
+assure you, I haven't many friends, and it--well, I'm obliged to you,
+that's all. An Englishman, you know, is not very profuse in the matter of
+thanks, but I mean it.'
+
+'I'm sure you do,' said Von Brent, 'and I'm only sorry that my assistance
+cannot be something substantial. Well, good-bye, hoping to see you
+to-morrow.'
+
+After he had departed, Kenyon's impatience increased as the hours went
+on. He left the hotel, and went direct to the telegraph-office; but
+nothing had come for him.
+
+'I'm afraid,' said the operator, 'that there won't be anything more
+to-night. If it should come late, shall I send it to your hotel?'
+
+'Certainly; no matter at what hour it comes, I wish you would let me
+have it as soon as possible. It is very important.'
+
+Leaving the office, he went up the street and, passing the principal
+hotel in the place, saw young Longworth standing under the portico of the
+hotel as dapper and correct in costume as ever, his single eyeglass the
+admiration of all Ottawa, for there was not another like it in the city.
+
+'How do you do, Kenyon?' said that young man.
+
+'My dear sir,' replied Kenyon, 'the last time you spoke to me you said
+you desired to have nothing more to say to me. I cordially reciprocated
+that sentiment, and I want to have nothing to say to you.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' cried Longworth jauntily, 'there is no harm done. Of
+course, in New York I was a little out of sorts. Everybody is in New
+York--beastly hole! I don't think it is worse than Ottawa, but the air is
+purer here. By the way, perhaps you and I can make a little arrangement.
+I am going to buy that mine to-morrow, as doubtless you know. Now, I
+should like to see it in the hands of a good and competent man. If a
+couple of hundred pounds a year would be any temptation to you, I think
+we can afford to let you develop the mine.'
+
+'Thank you!' said Kenyon.
+
+'I knew you would be grateful; just think over the matter, will you? and
+don't come to any rash decision. We can probably give a little more than
+that; but until we see how the mine is turning out, it is not likely we
+shall spend a great deal of money on it.'
+
+'Of course,' said John, 'the proper answer to your remark would be to
+knock you down; but, besides being a law-abiding citizen, I have no
+desire to get into gaol to-night for doing it, because there is one
+chance in a thousand, Mr. Longworth, that I may have some business to do
+with that mine myself before twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'Ah, it is my turn to be grateful now!' said Longworth. 'In a
+rough-and-tumble fight I am afraid you would master me easier than you
+would do in a contest of diplomacy.'
+
+'Do you call it diplomacy? You refer, I suppose, to your action in
+relation to the mine. I call it robbery.'
+
+'Oh, do you? Well, that is the kind of conversation which leads to
+breaches of the peace; and as I also am a law-abiding subject, I will
+not continue the discussion any further. I bid you a very good evening,
+Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+The young man turned on his heel and went into the hotel. John walked to
+his own much more modest inn, and retired for the night. He did not sleep
+well. All night long, phantom telegraph-messengers were rapping at the
+door, and he started up every now and then to receive cablegrams which
+faded away as he awoke. Shortly after breakfast he went to the
+telegraph-office, but found that nothing had arrived for him.
+
+'I am afraid,' said the operator, 'that nothing will come on before
+noon.'
+
+'Before noon!' echoed John. 'Why?'
+
+'The wires are down in some places in the East, and messages are delayed
+a good deal. Perhaps you noticed the lack of Eastern news in the morning
+papers? Very little news came from the East last night.' Seeing John's
+look of anxious interest, the operator continued: 'Does the despatch you
+expect pertain to money matters?'
+
+'Yes, it does.'
+
+'Do they know you at the bank?'
+
+'No, I don't think they do.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would go up to the bank and be identified, so
+that, if it is a matter of minutes, no unnecessary time may be lost. You
+had better tell them you expect a money-order by cable, and, although
+such orders are paid without any identification at the bank, yet they
+take every precaution to see that it does not get into the hands of the
+wrong man.'
+
+'Thank you,' said Kenyon. 'I am much obliged to you for your suggestion.
+I will act upon it.'
+
+And as soon as the bank opened, John Kenyon presented himself to the
+cashier.
+
+'I am expecting a large amount of money from England to-day. It is very
+important that, when it arrives, there shall be no delay in having it
+placed at my disposal. I want to know if there are any formalities to be
+gone through.'
+
+'Where is the money coming from?' said the clerk.
+
+'It is coming from England.'
+
+'Is there anyone in Ottawa who can identify you?'
+
+'Yes; I know the telegraph operator here.'
+
+'Ah!' said the cashier somewhat doubtfully. 'Anybody else?'
+
+'Mr. Von Brent knows me very well.'
+
+'That will do. Suppose you get Mr. Von Brent to come here and identify
+you as the man who bears the name of Kenyon. Then the moment your
+cablegram comes the money will be at your disposal.'
+
+Kenyon hurried to Von Brent's rooms and found him alone.
+
+'Will you come down to the bank and identify me as Kenyon?'
+
+'Certainly. Has the money arrived?'
+
+'No, it has not; but I expect it, and want to provide for every
+contingency. I do not wish to have any delay in my identification when it
+does come.'
+
+'If it comes by cable,' said Von Brent, 'there will be no need of
+identification. The bank is not responsible, you know. They take the
+money entirely at the sender's risk. They might pay it to the telegraph
+operator who receives the message! I believe they would not be held
+liable. However, it is better to see that nothing is left undone.'
+
+Going over to the bank, Von Brent said to the cashier: 'This is John
+Kenyon.'
+
+'Very good,' replied the cashier. 'Have you been at the telegraph-office
+lately, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'No, I have not--at least, not for half an hour or so.'
+
+'Well, I would go there as soon as possible, if I were you.'
+
+'That means,' said Von Brent, as soon as they had reached the door, 'that
+they have had their notice about the money. I believe it is already in
+the bank for you. I will go back to my rooms and not leave them till you
+come.'
+
+John hurried to the telegraph-office.
+
+'Anything for me yet?' he said.
+
+'Nothing as yet, Mr. Kenyon; I think, however,' he added with a smile,
+'that it will be all right. I hope so.'
+
+The moments ticked along with their usual rapidity, yet it seemed to
+Kenyon the clock was going fearfully fast. Eleven o'clock came and found
+him still pacing up and down the office of the telegraph. The operator
+offered him the hospitality of the private room, but this he declined.
+Every time the machine clicked, John's ears were on the alert, trying to
+catch a meaning from the instrument.
+
+Ten minutes after eleven!
+
+Twenty minutes after eleven, and still no despatch! The cold perspiration
+stood on John's brow, and he groaned aloud.
+
+'I suppose it's very important,' said the operator.
+
+'_Very_ important.'
+
+'Well, now, I shouldn't say so, but I know the money is in the bank for
+you. Perhaps if you went up there and demanded it, they would give it to
+you.'
+
+It was twenty-five minutes past the hour when John hurried towards the
+bank.
+
+'I have every belief,' he said to the cashier, 'that the money is here
+for me now. Is it possible for me to get it?'
+
+'Have you your cablegram?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Well, you know, we cannot pay the money until we see your cablegram. If
+time is of importance, you should not leave the telegraph-office, and the
+moment you get your message, come here; then there will be no delay
+whatever. Do you wish to draw all the money at once?'
+
+'I don't know how much there is, but I must have twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Very well, to save time you had better make out a cheque for twenty
+thousand pounds; that will be----'
+
+And here he gave the number of dollars at the rate of the day on the
+pound. 'Just make out a cheque for that amount, and I will certify it. A
+certified cheque is as good as gold. The moment you get your message I
+will hand you the certified cheque.'
+
+John wrote out the order and gave it to the cashier, glancing at the
+clock as he did so. It was now twenty-five minutes to twelve. He rushed
+to the telegraph-office with all the speed of which he was capable, but
+met only a blank look again from the chief operator.
+
+'It has not come yet,' he said, shaking his head.
+
+Gradually despair began to descend on the waiting man. It was worse to
+miss everything now, than never to have had the hope of success. It was
+like hanging a man who had once been reprieved. He resumed his nervous
+pace up and down that chamber of torture. A quarter to twelve. He heard
+chimes ring somewhere. If the message did not come before they rang
+again, it would be for ever too late.
+
+Fourteen minutes--thirteen minutes--twelve minutes--eleven minutes--ten
+minutes to twelve, and yet, no--
+
+'Here you are!' shouted the operator in great glee, 'she's a-coming--it's
+all right--"John Kenyon, Ottawa."' Then he wrote as rapidly as the
+machine ticked out the message. 'There it is; now rush!'
+
+John needed no telling to rush. People had begun to notice him as
+the man who was doing nothing but running between the bank and the
+telegraph-office.
+
+It was seven minutes to twelve when he got to the bank.
+
+'Is that despatch right?' he said, shoving it through the arched
+aperture.
+
+The clerk looked at it with provoking composure, and then compared it
+with some papers.
+
+'For God's sake, hurry!' pleaded John.
+
+'You have plenty of time,' said the cashier coolly, looking up at the
+clock and going on with his examination. 'Yes,' he added, 'that is right.
+Here is your certified cheque.'
+
+John clasped it, and bolted out of the bank as a burglar might have done.
+It was five minutes to twelve when he got to the steps that led to the
+rooms of Mr. Von Brent. Now all his excitement seemed to have deserted
+him. He was as cool and calm as if he had five days, instead of so many
+minutes, in which to make the payment. He mounted the steps quietly,
+walked along the passage, and knocked at the door of Von Brent's room.
+
+'Come in!' was the shout that greeted him.
+
+He opened the door, glancing at the clock behind Von Brent's head as
+he did so.
+
+It stood at three minutes to twelve.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth was sitting there, with just a touch of pallor on his
+countenance, and there seemed to be an ominous glitter in his eyeglass.
+He said nothing, and John Kenyon completely ignored his presence.
+
+'There is still some life left in my option, I believe?' he said to Von
+Brent, after nodding good-day to him.
+
+'Very little, but perhaps it will serve. You have two minutes and a
+half,' said Von Brent.
+
+'Are the papers ready?' inquired John.
+
+'All ready, everything except putting in the names.'
+
+'Very well, here is the money.'
+
+Von Brent looked at the certified cheque. 'That is perfectly right,' he
+said, 'the mine is yours.'
+
+Then he rose and stretched his hand across the table to Kenyon, who
+grasped it cordially.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth also rose, and said languidly 'As this seems to be
+a meeting of long-lost brothers, I shall not intrude. Good-day, Mr.
+Von Brent.'
+
+Then, adjusting his eyeglass in a leisurely manner, he walked out
+of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+
+When Edith Longworth entered the office of George Wentworth, that young
+gentleman somewhat surprised her. He sprang from his chair the moment she
+entered the room, rushed out of the door, and shouted at the top of his
+voice to the boy, who answered him, whereupon Wentworth returned to the
+room, apparently in his right mind.
+
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Longworth,' he said, laughing; 'the fact was, I
+had just sent my boy with a telegram for you, and now, you see, I have
+saved sixpence.'
+
+'Then you have heard from Canada?' said the young lady.
+
+'Yes; a short message, but to the point.' He handed her the cablegram,
+and she read:
+
+'Mine purchased; shall take charge temporarily.'
+
+'Then, the money got there in time,' she said, handing him back the
+telegraphic message.
+
+'Oh yes,' said George, with the easy confidence of a man who doesn't at
+all know what he is talking about. 'We had plenty of time; I knew it
+would get there all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that; I was afraid perhaps we might have sent it too late.
+One can never tell what delays or formalities there may be.'
+
+'Evidently there was no trouble. And now, Miss Longworth, what are your
+commands? Am I to be your agent here, in Great Britain?'
+
+'Have you written to Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, I wrote to him just after I sent the cable message.'
+
+'Of course you didn't----'
+
+'No, I didn't say a word that would lead him to suspect who was the
+mistress of the mine. In my zeal I even went so far as to give you a
+name. You are hereafter to be known in the correspondence as Mr. Smith,
+the owner of the mine.'
+
+Miss Longworth laughed.
+
+'And--oh, by the way,' cried Wentworth, 'here is a barrel belonging to
+you.'
+
+'A barrel!' she said, and, looking in the direction to which he pointed,
+she saw in the corner of the room a barrel with the head taken away. 'If
+it is my property,' continued the young woman, 'who has taken the liberty
+of opening it?'
+
+'Oh, I did that as your agent. That barrel contains the mineral from the
+mine, which we hope will prove so valuable. It started from Canada over
+three months ago, and only arrived here the other day. It seems that the
+idiot who sent it addressed it by way of New York, and it was held by
+some Jack-in-office belonging to the United States Customs. We have had
+more diplomatic correspondence and trouble about that barrel than you
+can imagine, and now it comes a day behind the fair, when it is really of
+no use to anyone.'
+
+Miss Longworth rose and went to the barrel. She picked out some of the
+beautiful white specimens that were in it.
+
+'Is this the mineral?' she asked.
+
+Wentworth laughed.
+
+'Imagine a person buying a mine at an exorbitant price, and not knowing
+what it produces. Yes, that is the mineral.'
+
+'This is not mica, of course?'
+
+'No, it is not mica. That is the stuff used for the making of china.'
+
+'It looks as if it would take a good polish. Will it, do you know?'
+
+'I do not know. I could easily find out for you.'
+
+'I wish you would, and get a piece of it polished, which I will use as a
+paper-weight.'
+
+'What are your orders for the rest of the barrel?'
+
+'What did you intend doing with it?' said the young woman.
+
+'Well, I was thinking the best plan would be to send some of it to each
+of the pottery works in this country, and get their orders for more of
+the stuff, if they want to use it.'
+
+'I think that an extremely good idea. I understand from the cablegram
+that Mr. Kenyon says he will take charge of the mine temporarily.'
+
+'Yes; I imagine he left Ottawa at once, as soon as he had concluded his
+bargain. Of course, we shall not know for certain until he writes.'
+
+'Very well, then, it appears to me the best thing you could do over here
+would be to secure what orders can be obtained in England for the
+mineral. Then, I suppose, you could write to Mr. Kenyon, and ask him to
+engage a proper person to work the mine.'
+
+'Yes, I will do that.'
+
+'When he comes over here, you and he can have a consultation as to the
+best thing to do next. I expect nothing very definite can be arranged
+until he comes. You may make whatever excuse you can for the absence of
+the mythical Mr. Smith, and say that you act for him. Then you may tell
+Mr. Kenyon, in whatever manner you choose, that Mr. Smith intends both
+you and Mr. Kenyon to share conjointly with him. I think you will have no
+trouble in making John--that is, in making Mr. Kenyon--believe there is
+such a person as Mr. Smith, if you put it strongly enough to him. Make
+him understand that Mr. Smith would never have heard of the mine unless
+Mr. Kenyon and you had discovered it, and that he is very glad indeed to
+have such a good opportunity of investing his money; so that, naturally,
+he wishes those who have been instrumental in helping him to this
+investment to share in its profits. I imagine you can make all this clear
+enough, so that your friend will suspect nothing. Don't you think so?'
+
+'Well, with any other man than John Kenyon I should have my doubts,
+because, as a fabricator, I don't think I have a very high reputation;
+but with John I have no fears whatever. He will believe everything I
+say. It is almost a pity to delude so trustful a man, but it's so very
+much to his own advantage that I shall have no hesitation in doing it.'
+
+'Then, you will write to him about getting a fit and proper person to
+manage the mine?'
+
+'Yes. I don't think there will be any necessity for doing so, but I will
+make sure. I imagine John will not leave there until he sees everything
+to his satisfaction. He will be very anxious indeed for the mine to prove
+the great success he has always believed it to be, even though, at
+present, he does not know he is to have any pecuniary interest in its
+prosperity.'
+
+'Very well then, I shall bid you good-bye. I may not be here again, but
+whenever you hear from Mr. Kenyon, I shall be very glad if you will let
+me know.'
+
+'Certainly; I will send you all the documents in the case, as you once
+remarked. You always like to see the original papers, don't you?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose I do.' Miss Longworth lingered a moment at the door,
+then, looking straight at Wentworth, she said to him, 'You remember you
+spoke rather bitterly to my father the other day?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, colouring; 'I remember it.'
+
+'You are a young man; he is old. Besides that, I think you were entirely
+in the wrong. He had nothing whatever to do with his nephew's action.'
+
+'Oh, I know that,' said Wentworth. 'I would have apologized to him long
+ago, only--well, you know, he told me I shouldn't be allowed in the
+office again, and I don't suppose I should.'
+
+'A letter from you would be allowed in the office,' replied the young
+lady, looking at the floor.
+
+'Of course it would,' said George; 'I will write to him instantly and
+apologize.'
+
+'It is very good of you,' said, Edith, holding out her hand to him; the
+next moment she was gone.
+
+George Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote a letter of apology. Then
+he mused to himself upon the strange and incomprehensible nature of
+women. 'She makes me apologize to him, and quite right too; but if it
+hadn't been for the row with her father, she never would have heard about
+the transaction, and therefore couldn't have bought the mine, which she
+was anxious to do for Kenyon's sake--lucky beggar John is, after all!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+When the business of transferring the mine to its new owner was
+completed, John Kenyon went to the telegraph-office, and sent a short
+cable-message to Wentworth. Then he turned his steps to the hotel, an
+utterly exhausted man. The excitement and tension of the day had been too
+much for him, and he felt that, if he did not get out of the city of
+Ottawa and into the country, where there were fewer people and more air,
+he was going to be ill. He resolved to leave for the mine as soon as
+possible. There he would get affairs in as good order as might be, and
+keep things going until he heard from the owner. When he reached his
+hotel, he wrote a letter to Wentworth, detailing briefly the
+circumstances under which he had secured the mine, and dealing with other
+more personal matters. Having posted this, he began to pack his
+portmanteau, preparatory to leaving early next morning. While thus
+occupied, the bell-boy came into his room, and said:
+
+'There is a gentleman wants to see you.'
+
+He imagined at once that it was Von Brent, who wished to see him with
+regard to some formality relating to the transfer, and he was, therefore,
+very much astonished--in fact, for the moment speechless--when Mr.
+William Longworth entered and calmly gazed round the rather shabby room
+with his critical eyeglass.
+
+'Ah,' he said, 'these are your diggings, are they? This is what they call
+a dollar hotel, I suppose, over here. Well, some people may like it, but,
+I confess, I don't care much about it, myself. Their three or four
+dollars a day hotels are bad enough for me. By the way, you look rather
+surprised to see me; being strangers together in a strange country, I
+expected a warmer greeting. You said last night, in front of the Russell
+House, that it would please you very much to give me a warm greeting;
+perhaps you would like to do so to-night.'
+
+'Have you come up here to provoke a quarrel with me?' asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! Quarrel! Nothing of the sort. What should I want to
+quarrel about?'
+
+'Perhaps you will be good enough to tell me why you come here, then?'
+
+'A very reasonable request. Very reasonable indeed, and perfectly
+natural, but still quite unnecessary. It is not likely that a man would
+climb up here into your rooms, and then not be prepared to tell you why
+he came. I came, in the first place, to congratulate you on the beautiful
+and dramatic way in which you secured the mine at the last moment, or
+apparently at the last moment. I suppose you had the money all the time?'
+
+'No, I had not.'
+
+'Then you came in to Von Brent just as soon as you received it?'
+
+'Well, now, I don't see that it is the business of anyone else but
+myself. Still, if you want to know, I may say that I came to Mr. Von
+Brent's room at the moment I received the money.'
+
+'Really! Then it was sent over by cable, I presume?'
+
+'Your presumption is entirely correct.'
+
+'My dear Kenyon,' said the young man, seating himself without being
+asked, and gazing at John in a benevolent kind of way, 'you really show
+some temper over this little affair of yours. Now, here is the whole
+thing in a nutshell----'
+
+'My dear sir, I don't wish to hear the whole thing, in a nutshell. I know
+all about it--all I wish to know.'
+
+'Ah, precisely; of course you do; certainly; but, nevertheless, let me
+have my say. Here is the whole thing. I tried to--well, to cheat you.
+I thought I could make a little money by doing so, and my scheme
+failed. Now, if anybody should be in a bad temper, it is I, not you.
+Don't you see that? You are not acting your part well at all. I'm
+astonished at you!'
+
+'Mr. Longworth, I wish to have nothing whatever to say to you. If you
+have anything to ask, I wish you would ask it as quickly as possible, and
+then leave me alone.'
+
+'The chief fault I find with you, Kenyon,' said Longworth, throwing one
+leg over the other, and clasping his hands round his knee--'the chief
+fault I have to find is your painful lack of a sense of humour. Now,
+you remember last night I offered you the managership of the mine. I
+thought, certainly, that by this time to-day I should be owner of it,
+or, at least, one of the owners. Now, you don't appear to appreciate the
+funniness of the situation. Here you are the owner of the mine, and I am
+out in the cold--"left," as they say here in America. I am the man who
+is left----'
+
+'If that is all you have to talk about,' said Kenyon gravely, 'I must ask
+you to allow me to go on with my packing. I am going to the mine
+to-morrow.'
+
+'Certainly, my dear fellow; go at once and never mind me. Can I be of any
+assistance to you? It requires a special genius, you know, to pack a
+portmanteau properly. But what I wanted to say was this: Why didn't you
+turn round, when you had got the mine, and offer _me_ the managership of
+it? Then you would have had your revenge. The more I think of that
+episode in Von Brent's office, the more I think you utterly failed to
+realize the dramatic possibilities of the situation.'
+
+Kenyon was silent.
+
+'Now, all this time you are wondering why I came here. Doubtless you wish
+to know what I want.'
+
+'I have not the slightest interest in the matter,' said Kenyon.
+
+'That is ungracious, but, nevertheless, I will continue. It is better, I
+see, to be honest with you, if a man wants to get anything from you. Now,
+I want to get a bit of information from you. I want to know where you got
+the money with which you bought the mine?'
+
+'I got it from the bank.'
+
+'Ah, yes, but I want to know who sent it over to you?'
+
+'It was sent to me by George Wentworth.'
+
+'Quite so; but _now_ I want to know who gave Wentworth the money?'
+
+'You will have a chance of finding that out when you go to England, by
+asking him.'
+
+'Then you won't tell me?'
+
+'I can't tell you.'
+
+'You mean by that, of course, that you won't.'
+
+'I always mean, Mr. Longworth, exactly what I say. I mean that I can't
+tell you. I don't know myself.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes, really. You seem to have some difficulty in believing that anybody
+can speak the truth.'
+
+'Well, it isn't a common vice, speaking the truth. You must forgive a
+little surprise.' He nursed his knee for a moment, and looked
+meditatively up at the ceiling. 'Now, would you like to know who
+furnished that money?'
+
+'I have no curiosity in the matter whatever.'
+
+'Have you not? You are a singular man. It seems to me that a person into
+whose lap twenty thousand pounds drops from the skies would have some
+little curiosity to know from whom the money came.'
+
+'I haven't the slightest.'
+
+'Nevertheless, I will tell you who gave the money to Wentworth. It was
+my dear friend Melville. I didn't tell you in New York, of course, that
+Melville and I had a little quarrel about this matter, and he went home
+decidedly huffy. I had no idea he would take this method of revenge; but
+I see it quite clearly now. He knew I had secured the option of the
+mine. There was a little trouble as to what our respective shares were
+to be, and I thought, as I had secured the option, I had the right to
+dictate terms. He thought differently. He was going to Von Brent to
+explain the whole matter; but I pointed out that such a course would do
+no good, the option being legally made out in my name, so that the
+moment your claim expired mine began. When this dawned upon him, he took
+the steamer and went to England. Now, I can see his hand in this
+artistic finish to the affair. It was a pretty sharp trick of
+Melville's, and I give him credit for it. He is a very much shrewder and
+cleverer man than I thought he was.'
+
+'It seems to me, Mr. Longworth, that your inordinate conceit makes you
+always underestimate your friends, or your enemies either, for that
+matter.'
+
+'There is something in that, Kenyon; I think you are more than half right,
+but I thought, perhaps, I could make it advantageous to you to do
+me a favour in this matter. I thought you might have no objection to
+writing a little document to the effect that the money did not come in
+time, and consequently, I had secured the mine. Then, if you would sign
+that, I would take it over to Melville and make terms with him. Of
+course, if he knows that he has the mine there will not be much chance of
+coming to any arrangement with him.'
+
+'You can make no arrangements with me, Mr. Longworth, that involve
+sacrifice of the truth.'
+
+'Ah, well, I suspected as much; but I thought it was worth trying.
+However, my dear sir, I may make terms with Melville yet, and then, I
+imagine, you won't have much to do with the mine.'
+
+'I shall not have anything to do with it if you and Melville have a share
+in it; and if, as you suspect, Melville has the mine, I consider you are
+in a bad way. My opinion is that, when one rascal gets advantage over
+another rascal, the other rascal will be, as you say, "left."'
+
+Longworth mused over this for a moment, and said:
+
+'Yes, I fear you are right--in fact, I am certain of it. Well, that is
+all I wanted to know. I will bid you good-bye. I shan't see you again in
+Ottawa, as I shall sail very shortly for England. Have you any messages
+you would like given to your friends over there?'
+
+'None, thank you.'
+
+'Well, ta-ta!' And John was left to his packing. That necessary operation
+concluded, Kenyon sat down and thought over what young Longworth had told
+him. His triumph, after all, had been short-lived. The choice between the
+two scoundrels was so small that he felt he didn't care which of them
+owned the mine. Meditating on this disagreeable subject, he suddenly
+remembered a request he had asked Wentworth to place before the new owner
+of the mine. He wanted no favour from Melville, so he wrote a second
+letter, contradicting the request made in the first, and, after posting
+it, returned to his hotel, and went to bed, probably the most tired man
+in the city of Ottawa.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+
+This chapter consists largely of letters. As a general rule, letters are
+of little concern to anyone except the writers and the receivers, but
+they are inserted here in the hope that the reader is already well
+enough acquainted with the correspondents to feel some interest in what
+they have written.
+
+It was nearly a fortnight after the receipt of the cablegram from Kenyon
+that George Wentworth found, one morning, on his desk two letters, each
+bearing a Canadian postage-stamp. One was somewhat bulky and one was
+thin, but they were both from the same writer. He tore open the thin one
+first, without looking at the date stamped upon it. He was a little
+bewildered by its contents, which ran as follows:
+
+'MY DEAR GEORGE,
+
+'I have just heard that Melville is the man who has bought the mine. The
+circumstances of the case leave no doubt in my mind that such is the
+fact; therefore, please disregard the request I made as to employment in
+the letter I posted to you a short time ago. I feel a certain sense of
+disappointment in the fact that Melville is the owner of the mine. It
+seems I have only kept one rascal from buying it in order to put it in
+the hands of another rascal.
+
+'Your friend,
+
+'JOHN KENYON.'
+
+'Melville the owner!' cried Wentworth to himself. 'What could have put
+that into John's head? This letter is evidently the one posted a few
+hours before, so it will contain whatever request he has to make;' and,
+without delay, George Wentworth tore open the envelope of the second
+letter, which was obviously the one written first.
+
+It contained a number of documents relating to the transfer of the mine.
+The letter from John himself went on to give particulars of the buying of
+the property. Then it continued:
+
+'I wish you would do me a favour, George. Will you kindly ask the owner
+of the mine if he will give me charge of it? I am, of course, anxious to
+make it turn out as well as possible, and I believe I can more than earn
+my salary, whatever it is. You know I am not grasping in the matter of
+money, but get me as large a salary as you think I deserve. I desire to
+make money for reasons that are not entirely selfish, as you know. To
+tell you the truth, George, I am tired of cities and of people. I want to
+live here in the woods, where there is not so much deceit and treachery
+as there seems to be in the big towns. When I reached London last time, I
+felt like a boy getting home. My feelings have undergone a complete
+change, and I think, if it were not for you and a certain young lady, I
+should never care to see the big city again. What is the use of my
+affecting mystery, and writing the words "a certain young lady"? Of
+course, you know whom I mean--Miss Edith Longworth. You know, also, that
+I am, and have long been, in love with her. If I had succeeded in making
+the money I thought I should by selling the mine, I might have had some
+hopes of making more, and of ultimately being in a position to ask her to
+be my wife; but that and very many other hopes have disappeared with my
+recent London experiences. I want to get into the forest and recover some
+of my lost tone, and my lost faith in human nature. If you can arrange
+matters with the owner of the mine, so that I may stay here for a year
+or two, you will do me a great favour.'
+
+George Wentworth read over the latter part of this letter two or three
+times. Then he rose, paced the floor, and pondered.
+
+'It isn't a thing upon which I can ask anyone's advice,' he muttered to
+himself. 'The trouble with Kenyon is, he is entirely too modest; a little
+useful self-esteem would be just the thing for him.' At last he stopped
+suddenly in his walk. 'By Jove!' he said to himself, slapping his thigh,
+'I shall do it, let the consequences be what they may.'
+
+Then he sat down at his desk and wrote a letter.
+
+'DEAR Miss LONGWORTH' (it began),
+
+'You told me when you were here last that you wanted all the documents
+pertaining to the mine, in every instance. A document has come this
+morning that is rather important. John Kenyon, as you will learn by
+reading the letter, desires the managership of the mine. I need not say
+that I think he is the best man in the world for the position, and that
+everything will be safe in his hands. I therefore enclose you his letter.
+I had some thought of cutting out a part of it, but knowing your desire
+to have all the documents in the case, I take the liberty of sending this
+one exactly as it reached me, and if anyone is to blame, I am the person.
+
+'I remain, your agent,
+
+'GEORGE WENTWORTH.'
+
+He sent this letter out at once, so that he would not have a chance to
+change his mind.
+
+'It will reach her this afternoon, and doubtless she will call and see
+me.'
+
+It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say she did _not_ call, and she did
+not see him for many days afterwards; but next morning, when he came to
+his office, he found a letter from her. It ran:
+
+'DEAR MR. WENTWORTH,
+
+'The sending of Mr. Kenyon's letter to me is a somewhat dangerous
+precedent, which you must on no account follow by sending any letters you
+may receive from any other person to Mr. Kenyon. However, as you were
+probably aware when you sent the letter, no blame will rest on your
+shoulders, or on those of anyone else, in this instance. Still, be very
+careful in future, because letter-sending, unabridged, is sometimes a
+risky thing to do. You are to remember that I always want all the
+documents in the case, and I want them with nothing eliminated. I am very
+much obliged to you for forwarding the letter.
+
+'As to the managership of the mine, of course I thought Mr. Kenyon would
+desire to come back to London. If he is content to stay abroad, and
+really wants to stay there, I wish you would tell him that Mr. Smith is
+exceedingly pleased to know he is willing to take charge of the mine. It
+would not look businesslike on the part of Mr. Smith to say that Mr.
+Kenyon is to name his own salary, but, unfortunately, Mr. Smith is very
+ignorant as to what a proper salary should be, so will you kindly settle
+that question? You know the usual salary for such an occupation. Please
+write down that figure, and add two hundred a year to it. Tell Mr.
+Kenyon the amount named is the salary Mr. Smith assigns to him.
+
+'Pray be very careful in the wording of the letters, so that Mr. Kenyon
+will not have any idea who Mr. Smith is.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.
+
+When Wentworth received this letter, being a man, he did not know whether
+Miss Longworth was pleased or not. However, he speedily wrote to John,
+telling him that he was appointed manager of the mine, and that Mr. Smith
+was very much pleased to have him in that capacity. He named the salary,
+but said if it was not enough, no doubt Mr. Smith was so anxious for his
+services that the amount would be increased.
+
+John, when he got the letter, was more than satisfied.
+
+At the time Wentworth was reading his letters, John had received those
+which had been sent when the mine was bought. He was relieved to find
+that Melville was not, after all, the owner; and he went to work with a
+will, intending to put in two or three years of his life, with hard
+labour, in developing the resources of the property. The first fortnight,
+before he received any letters, he did nothing but make himself
+acquainted with the way work was being carried on there. He found many
+things to improve. The machinery had been allowed to run down, and the
+men worked in the listless way men do when they are under no particular
+supervision. The manager of the mine was very anxious about his position.
+John told him the property had changed hands but, until he had further
+news from England, he could not tell just what would be done. When the
+letters came, John took hold with a will, and there was soon a decided
+improvement in the way affairs were going. He allowed the old manager to
+remain as a sort of sub-manager; but that individual soon found that the
+easy times of the Austrian Mining Company were for ever gone.
+
+Kenyon had to take one or two long trips in Canada and the United
+States, to arrange for the disposal of the products of the mine; but,
+as a general rule, his time was spent entirely in the log village near
+the river.
+
+When a year had passed, he was able to write a very jubilant letter to
+Wentworth.
+
+'You see,' he said, 'after all, the mine was worth the two hundred
+thousand pounds we asked for it. It pays, even the first year, ten per
+cent. on that amount. This will give back all the mine has cost, and I
+think, George, the honest thing for us to do would be to let the whole
+proceeds go to Mr. Smith this year, who advanced the money at a critical
+time. This will recoup him for his outlay, because the working capital
+has not been touched. The mica has more than paid the working of the
+mine, and all the rest is clear profit. Therefore, if you are willing, we
+will let our third go this year, and then we can take our large dividend
+next year with a clear conscience. I enclose the balance-sheet.'
+
+To this letter there came an answer in due time from Wentworth, who said
+that he had placed John's proposal before Mr. Smith; but it seemed the
+gentleman was so pleased with the profitable investment he had made that
+he would hear of no other division of the profits but that of share and
+share alike. He appeared to be very much touched by the offer John had
+made, and respected him for making it, but the proposed rescinding on
+his part and Wentworth's was a thing not to be thought of. This being
+the case, John sent a letter and a very large cheque to his father. The
+moment of posting that letter was, doubtless, one of the happiest of his
+life, and this ends the formidable array of letters which appears in
+this chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+
+Wentworth had written to Kenyon that Mr. Smith absolutely refused to take
+more than one-third of the profits of the mine. It was true that the
+offer had been declined, but Wentworth never knew how much tempted the
+Mistress of the Mine had been when he made it. Her one great desire was
+to pay back the thirty thousand pounds to her father, and she wanted to
+do it as speedily as possible. At the end of the second year her profits
+from the mine, including the return of the five thousand pounds which had
+been sent to Ottawa as working capital, was still about five thousand
+pounds under the thirty thousand pounds. She looked forward eagerly to
+the time when she would be able to pay the thirty thousand pounds to her
+father. Old Mr. Longworth had never spoken a word to his daughter about
+the money. She had expected he would ask her what she had done with it,
+but he had never mentioned the subject. Her conscience troubled her very
+frequently about the method she had taken to obtain that large amount.
+She saw that her father had changed in his manner towards her since that
+day. He had given her the money, but he had given it, as one might say,
+almost under compulsion, and there was no doubt that, generous as he
+was, he did not like being coerced into parting with his money. Edith
+Longworth had paid more for the mine than the amount of cash she had
+deposited in Ottawa. She had paid for it by being cut off from her
+father's confidence. Now he never asked her advice about any of his
+business ventures, and, for the first time in many years, he had taken a
+long sea-voyage without inviting her to accompany him. All this made the
+girl more and more anxious to obtain the money to pay back her
+indebtedness, and, if Wentworth had made the same offer at the end of the
+second year which he had made at the close of the first, she would have
+accepted it. The offer, however, was not made, and Miss Longworth said
+nothing, but took her share of the profits and put them into the bank.
+
+The plan of placing all one's eggs into the same basket is a good
+one--until something happens to the basket! It is said that lightning
+never strikes twice in the same place, and, as the small boy remarked,
+'it never needed to.' In Mr. Longworth's affairs lightning struck in
+three places, and in each of those strokes it hit a large basket. A new
+law had been passed in one part of the world that vitally affected great
+interests he held there. In another part of the world, at the same time,
+there occurred a revolution, and every business in that country stopped
+for the time being. In still another part of the world there had been a
+commercial crisis; and, in sympathy with all these financial disasters,
+the money market in London was exceedingly stringent.
+
+Everybody wanted to sell, and nobody wished to buy. This unfortunate
+combination of circumstances hit old Mr. Longworth hard. It was not that
+he did not believe all his investments were secure, could he only
+weather the gale, but there was an immediate need of ready money which it
+seemed absolutely impossible to obtain. Day by day his daughter saw him
+ageing perceptibly. She knew worry was the cause of this, and she knew
+the events that were happening in different parts of the world must
+seriously embarrass her father. She longed to speak to him about his
+business, but one attempt she made in this direction had been very rudely
+rebuffed, and she was not a woman to tempt a second repulse of that kind.
+So she kept silent, and saw with grief the havoc business troubles were
+making with her father's health.
+
+'The old man,' said young Longworth, 'seems to be in a corner.'
+
+'I do not want you ever again to allude to my father as "the old
+man"--remember that!' cried the girl indignantly.
+
+Young Longworth shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'I don't think you can insist on my calling him a young man much longer.
+If he isn't an old man, I should like to know who is?'
+
+'That doesn't matter,' said Edith. 'You must not use such a phrase again
+in my hearing. What do you mean by saying he is in a corner?'
+
+'Well,' returned the young man, 'I don't know much about his business. He
+does not take me into his confidence at all. In fact, the older he grows,
+the closer he gets, and the chances are he will make some very bad
+speculation before long, if he has not done so already. That is the way
+with old men, begging your pardon for using the phrase. It is not
+levelled against your father in this instance, but at old men as a class,
+especially men who have been successful. They seem to resent anybody
+giving them advice.'
+
+One day Edith received a telegram, asking her to come to the office in
+the City without delay. She was panic-stricken when she read the message,
+feeling sure her father had been stricken down in his office, and was
+probably dying--perhaps dead. She had feared some such result for a long
+time, because of the intense anxiety to which he had been subjected, and
+he was not a man who could be counselled to take care of himself on the
+plea that he was getting old. He resented any intimation that he was not
+as good a business man as he had ever been, and so it was extremely
+difficult to get him to listen to reason, if anyone had the courage to
+talk reason to him.
+
+Edith, without a moment's delay, sprang lightly into a hansom, and went
+to the District Railway without waiting for her carriage. From the
+Mansion House Station another cab took her quickly to her father's
+office.
+
+She was immensely relieved, as she passed through, to see the clerks
+working as if nothing particular had happened. On entering her father's
+room, she found him pacing up and down the apartment, while her cousin
+sat, apparently absorbed in his own affairs, at his desk. Her father was
+evidently greatly excited.
+
+'Edith,' he cried the moment she entered, 'where is that money I gave you
+two years ago?'
+
+'It is invested,' she answered, turning slightly pale.
+
+Her father laughed--a hoarse, dry laugh.
+
+'Just as I thought,' he sneered--'put in such shape that a person
+cannot touch a penny of it, I suppose. In what is it invested? I must
+have that money.'
+
+'How soon do you need it, father?
+
+'I want it just now, at this moment; if I don't have that money I am a
+ruined man.'
+
+'This moment. I suppose, means any time to-day, before the bank closes?'
+
+Her father looked at her for a moment, then said:
+
+'Yes that is what it means.
+
+'I will try and get you the money before that time.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he said bitterly, 'you don't know what you are talking
+about. If you have that money invested, even if your investment is worth
+three times now what it was then, you could not get a penny on it. Don't
+you know the state of the London money market? Don't you know how close
+money is? I thought perhaps you might have some portion of it yet, not
+sunk in your silly investment, whatever it is. I have never asked you
+what it was. You told me you would tell me, but you never have done so. I
+looked on that money as lost. I look on it still as lost. If you can get
+me a remnant of it, it will help me now more than the whole amount, or
+double the amount, would have done at the time I gave it to you. What
+have you done with the money? What is it invested in?'
+
+'It is invested in a mine.'
+
+'A mine. Of all things in the world in which to sink money, a mine is the
+worst. Just what a woman or a fool would do! How do you expect to raise
+money on a mine in the present state of the market? What, in the name of
+wonder, made you put it into a mine? Whose mine did you buy?'
+
+'I do not know whose it was, father, but I was willing to tell you all I
+knew at the time you asked me and if you ask me now what mine I bought, I
+will tell you.'
+
+'Certainly I ask you. What mine did you buy?'
+
+'I bought the mine for which John Kenyon was agent.'
+
+The moment these words were said, her cousin sprang to his feet and
+glared at her like a man demented.
+
+'You bought that mine--you? Then Wentworth lied to me. He said a Mr.
+Smith had given him the money.'
+
+'I am the Mr. Smith, William.'
+
+'You are the Mr. Smith! You are the one who has cheated me out of that
+mine!'
+
+'My dear cousin, the less we say about cheating, the better. I am talking
+to my father just now, and I do not wish to be interrupted. Will you be
+so kind as to leave the room until my interview with him is over?'
+
+'So you bought the mica-mine, did you! Pretending to be friendly with me,
+and knowing all the time that you were doing your best to cheat----'
+
+'Come, come!' interrupted the old gentleman; 'William, none of this. If
+anyone is to talk roughly to Edith, it will be me, not you. Come, sir,
+leave the room, as she has asked you to do. Now, my daughter,' he
+continued, in a much milder tone of voice, after young Longworth had left
+the office, 'have you any ready money? It is no use saying the mine is
+worth a hundred thousand pounds, or a million, just now, if you haven't
+the ready money. Edith, my child,' he cried, 'sit down with me a moment,
+and I will explain the whole situation to you. It seems to me that ever
+since I stopped consulting you things have gone wrong. Perhaps, even if
+you have the money, it is better not to risk it just now; but one pound
+will do what two pounds will not do a year hence, or perhaps six months
+from now, when this panic is over.'
+
+Edith sat down beside her father and heard from him exactly how things
+stood. Then she said:
+
+'All you really need is about fifteen thousand pounds?'
+
+'Yes, that would do; I'm sure that would carry me over. Can you get it
+for me, my child?'
+
+'Yes, and more. I will try to get you the whole amount. Wait for me here
+twenty minutes or half an hour.'
+
+George Wentworth was very much surprised when he saw Edith Longworth
+enter his office. It had been many months since she was there before, and
+he cordially held out his hand to the girl.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' she began at once, 'have you any of the money the mica
+mine has brought you?'
+
+'Yes. I invested the first year's proceeds, but, since I got the last
+amount, things have been so shaky in the City that it is still at the
+bank.'
+
+'Will you lend me--_can_ you lend me five thousand pounds of it?'
+
+'Of, course I can, and will; and very glad I am to get the chance of
+doing so.'
+
+'Then, please write me out a cheque for it at once, and whatever papers
+you want as security, make them out, and I will see that you are
+secured.'
+
+'Look here, Miss Longworth,' said the young man, placing his hands on his
+hips and gazing at her, 'do you mean to insult me? Do you not know that
+the reason I am able to write out a cheque for five thousand pounds, that
+will be honoured, is entirely because you trusted your money to me and
+Kenyon without security? Do you think I want security? Take back the
+word, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'I will--I will,' she said; 'but I am in a great hurry. Please write me
+out the cheque, for I must have it before the bank closes.'
+
+The cheque was promptly written out and handed to her.
+
+'I am afraid,' she said, 'I am not very polite to-day, and rather abrupt;
+but I will make up for it some other time.'
+
+And so, bidding the young man good-bye, she drove to the bank, deposited
+the cheque, drew her own for thirty thousand pounds, and carried it to
+her father.
+
+'There,' she said, 'is thirty thousand pounds, and I still own the mine,
+or, at least, part of it. All the money is made from the cheque you gave
+me, or, rather, two-thirds of it, because one-third was never touched.
+Now, it seems to me, father, that, if I am a good enough business woman
+to more than double my money in two years, I am a good enough business
+woman to be consulted by my father whenever he needs a confidant. My dear
+father, I want to take some of the burden off your shoulders.'
+
+There were tears in her father's eyes as he put his arm round her waist
+and whispered to her:
+
+'There is no one in all London like you, my dear--no one, no one. I'll
+have no more secrets from you, my own brave girl.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+
+Kenyon's luck, as he said to himself, had turned. The second year was
+even more prosperous than the first, and the third as successful as the
+second. He had a steady market for his mineral, and, besides, he had the
+great advantage of knowing the rogues to avoid. Some new swindles he had
+encountered during his first year's experience had taught him lessons
+that he profited by in the second and third. He liked his home in the
+wilderness, and he liked the rough people amongst whom he found himself.
+
+Notwithstanding his renunciation of London, however, there would now and
+then come upon him a yearning for the big city, and he promised himself a
+trip there at the end of the third year. Wentworth had been threatening
+month after month to come out and see him, but something had always
+interfered.
+
+Taking it all in all, John liked it better in the winter than in the
+summer, in spite of the extreme cold. The cold was steady and could be
+depended upon; moreover, it was healthful and invigorating. In summer,
+John never quite became accustomed to the ravages of the black fly, the
+mosquito, and other insect pests of that region. His first interview with
+the black fly left his face in such a condition that he was glad he lived
+in a wilderness.
+
+At the beginning of the second winter John treated himself to a luxury.
+He bought a natty little French Canadian horse that was very quick and
+accustomed to the ice of the river, which formed the highway by which he
+reached Burntpine from the mine in the cold season. To supplement the
+horse, he also got a comfortable little cutter, and with this turn-out
+he made his frequent journeys between the mine and Burntpine with comfort
+and speed, wrapped snugly in buffalo robes.
+
+If London often reverted to his mind, there was another subject that
+obtruded itself even more frequently. His increased prosperity had
+something to do with this. He saw that, if he was to have a third of the
+receipts of the mine, he was not to remain a poor man for very long, and
+this fact gave him a certain courage which had been lacking before. He
+wondered if she remembered him. Wentworth had said very little about her
+when he wrote, for his letters were largely devoted to enthusiastic
+eulogies of Jennie Brewster, and Kenyon, in spite of the confession he
+had made when his case seemed hopeless, was loath to write and ask his
+friend anything about Edith.
+
+One day, on a clear sharp frosty winter morning, Kenyon had his little
+pony harnessed for his weekly journey to Burntpine. After the rougher
+part of the road between the mine and the river had been left behind, and
+the pony got down to her work on the ice, with the two white banks of
+snow on either side of the smooth track, John gave himself up to thinking
+about the subject which now so often engrossed his mind. Wrapped closely
+in his furs, with the cutter skimming along the ice, these thoughts found
+a pleasant accompaniment in the silvery tinkle of the bells which jingled
+around his horse's neck. As a general thing, he met no one on the icy
+road from the mine to the village. Sometimes there was a procession of
+sleighs bearing supplies for his own mine and those beyond, and when this
+procession was seen, Kenyon had to look out for some place by the side of
+the track where he could pull up his horse and cutter and allow the
+teams to pass. The snow on each side of the cutting was so deep that
+these bays were shovelled out here and there to permit teams to get past
+each other. He had gone halfway to the village, when he saw ahead of him
+a pair of horses which he at once recognised as those belonging to the
+hotel-keeper. He drew up in the first bay and awaited the approach of the
+sleigh. He saw that it contained visitors for himself, because the
+driver, on recognising him, had turned round and spoken to the occupants
+of the vehicle. As it came along, the man drew up and nodded to Kenyon,
+who, although ordinarily the most polite of men, did not return the
+salutation. He was stricken dumb with astonishment on seeing who was in
+the sleigh. One woman was so bundled up that not even her nose appeared
+out in the cold, but the smiling rosy face of the other needed no
+introduction to John Kenyon.
+
+'Well, Mr. Kenyon,' cried a laughing voice, 'you did not expect to see me
+this morning, did you?'
+
+'I confess I did not,' said John, 'and yet--.' Here he paused; he was
+going to say, 'and yet I was thinking of you,' but he checked himself.
+
+Miss Longworth, who had a talent for reading the unspoken thoughts of
+John Kenyon, probably did not need to be told the end of the sentence.
+
+'Are you going to the village?' she asked.
+
+'I _was_ going. I am not going now.'
+
+'That's right. I was just about to invite you to turn round with us. You
+see, we are on our way to look at the mine, and, I suppose, we shall have
+to obtain the consent of the manager before we can do so.'
+
+Miss Longworth's companion had emerged for a moment from her wraps and
+looked at John, but instantly retired among the furs again with a
+shiver. She was not so young as her companion, and she considered this
+the most frightful climate she had ever encountered.
+
+'Now,' said John, 'although your sleigh is very comfortable, I think this
+cutter of mine is even more so. It is intended for two; won't you step
+out of the sleigh into the cutter? Then, if the driver will move on, I
+can turn, and we will follow the sleigh.'
+
+'I shall be delighted to do so,' said the young woman, shaking herself
+free from the buffalo robe, and stepping lightly from the sleigh into the
+cutter, pausing, however, for a moment, before she did so, to put her own
+wraps over her companion. John tucked her in beside himself, and, as the
+sleigh jingled on, he slowly turned his pony round into the road again.
+
+'I have got a pretty fast pony,' he said, 'but I think we will let
+them drive on ahead. It irritates this little horse to see anything in
+front of it.'
+
+'Then we can make up speed,' said Edith, 'and catch them before they get
+to the mine. Is it far from here?'
+
+'No, not very far; at least, it doesn't take long to get there with a
+smart horse.'
+
+'I have enjoyed this experience ever so much,' she said; 'you see, my
+father had to come to Montreal on business, so I came with him, as usual,
+and, being there, I thought I would run up here and see the mine. I
+wanted,' she continued, looking at the other side of the cutter and
+trailing her well-gloved fingers in the snow--'I wanted to know
+personally whether my manager was conducting my property in the way it
+ought to be conducted, notwithstanding the very satisfactory
+balance-sheets he sends.'
+
+'_Your_ property!' exclaimed John, in amazement.
+
+'Certainly. You didn't know that, did you?' she replied, looking for a
+moment at him, and then away from him. 'I call myself the Mistress of
+the Mine.'
+
+'Then you are--you are----'
+
+'Mr. Smith,' said the girl coming to his rescue.
+
+There was a moment's pause, and the next words John said were not at all
+what she expected.
+
+'Take your hand out of the snow,' he commanded, 'and put it in under the
+buffalo robe; you have no idea how cold it is here, and your hand will be
+frozen in a moment.'
+
+'Really,' said the girl, 'an employee must not talk to his employer in
+that tone! My hand is my own, is it not?'
+
+'I hope it is,' said John, 'because I want to ask you for it.'
+
+For answer Miss Edith Longworth placed her hand in his.
+
+Actions speak louder than words. The sleigh was far in advance, and there
+were no witnesses on the white topped hills.
+
+'Were you astonished?' she said, 'when I told you that I owned the mine?'
+
+'Very much so indeed. Were _you_ astonished when I told you I wished to
+own the owner of the mine?'
+
+'Not in the slightest.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Because your treacherous friend Wentworth sent me your letter applying
+for a situation. You got the situation, didn't you, John?'
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
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+Title: A Woman Intervenes
+
+Author: Robert Barr
+
+Release Date: November, 2005 [EBook #9379]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on September 27, 2003]
+[Date last updated: November 1, 2004]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WOMAN INTERVENES ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan and PG Distributed
+Proofreaders. This file was produced from images generously made
+available by the Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions.
+
+
+
+
+                           A WOMAN INTERVENES
+
+                                   BY
+
+                               ROBERT BARR
+
+
+
+
+AUTHOR OF
+
+'IN THE MIDST OF ALARMS,' 'IN A STEAMER CHAIR,' 'FROM WHOSE BOURNE,'
+ETC.
+
+WITH EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY HAL HURST
+
+1896
+
+TO
+
+MY FRIEND
+
+HORACE HART
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+'I HAD NO INTENTION OF INSULTING YOU' _Frontispiece_
+
+WENTWORTH SHOWED HER HOW TO TURN IT ROUND
+
+MISS JENNIE ALLOWED HIM TO ADJUST THE WRAPS AROUND HER
+
+'OH, YES! YOU WILL STAY,' CRIED THE OTHER
+
+SHE WALKED ALONE UP AND DOWN THE PROMENADE
+
+SHE SPRANG SUDDENLY TO HER FEET
+
+'YOU HAVE A PRODIGIOUS HEAD FOR BUSINESS'
+
+EDITH LONGWORTH HAD SAT DOWN BESIDE HIM
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+
+The managing editor of the _New York Argus_ sat at his desk with a deep
+frown on his face, looking out from under his shaggy eyebrows at the
+young man who had just thrown a huge fur overcoat on the back of one
+chair, while he sat down himself on another.
+
+'I got your telegram,' began the editor. 'Am I to understand from it that
+you have failed?'
+
+'Yes, sir,' answered the young man, without the slightest hesitation.
+
+'Completely?'
+
+'Utterly.'
+
+'Didn't you even get a synopsis of the documents?'
+
+'Not a hanged synop.'
+
+The editor's frown grew deeper. The ends of his fingers drummed nervously
+on the desk.
+
+'You take failure rather jauntily, it strikes me,' he said at last.
+
+'What's the use of taking it any other way? I have the consciousness of
+knowing that I did my best.'
+
+'Um, yes. It's a great consolation, no doubt, but it doesn't count in
+the newspaper business. What did you do?'
+
+'I received your telegram at Montreal, and at once left for Burnt
+Pine--most outlandish spot on earth. I found that Kenyon and
+Wentworth were staying at the only hotel in the place. Tried to worm
+out of them what their reports were to be. They were very polite, but
+I didn't succeed. Then I tried to bribe them, and they ordered me out
+of the room.'
+
+'Perhaps you didn't offer them enough.'
+
+'I offered double what the London Syndicate was to pay them for making
+the report, taking their own word for the amount. I couldn't offer more,
+because at that point they closed the discussion by ordering me out of
+the room. I tried to get the papers that night, on the quiet, out of
+Wentworth's valise, but was unfortunately interrupted. The young men
+were suspicious, and next morning they left for Ottawa to post the
+reports, as I gathered afterwards, to England. I succeeded in getting
+hold of the reports, but I couldn't hang on. There are too many police
+in Ottawa to suit me.'
+
+'Do you mean to tell me,' said the editor, 'that you actually had the
+reports in your hands, and that they were taken from you?'
+
+'Certainly I had; and as to their being taken from me, it was either that
+or gaol. They don't mince matters in Canada as they do in the United
+States, you know.'
+
+'But I should think a man of your shrewdness would have been able to get
+at least a synopsis of the reports before letting them out of his
+possession.'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the reporter, rather angry, 'the whole thing covered
+I forget how many pages of foolscap paper, and was the most mixed-up
+matter I ever saw in my life. I tried--I sat in my room at the hotel, and
+did my best to master the details. It was full of technicalities, and I
+couldn't make it out. It required a mining expert to get the hang of
+their phrases and figures, so I thought the best thing to do was to
+telegraph it all straight through to New York. I knew it would cost a lot
+of money, but I knew, also, you didn't mind that; and I thought, perhaps,
+somebody here could make sense out of what baffled me; besides, I wanted
+to get the documents out of my possession just as quickly as possible.'
+
+'Hem!' said the editor. 'You took no notes whatever?'
+
+'No, I did not. I had no time. I knew the moment they missed the
+documents they would have the detectives on my track. As it was, I was
+arrested when I entered the telegraph-office.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' said the managing editor, 'if I had once had the
+papers in my hand, I should not have let them go until I had got the gist
+of what was in them.'
+
+'Oh, it's all very well for you to say so,' replied the reporter, with
+the free and easy manner in which an American newspaper man talks to his
+employer; 'but I can tell you, with a Canadian gaol facing a man, it is
+hard to decide what is best to do. I couldn't get out of the town for
+three hours, and before the end of that time they would have had my
+description in the hands of every policeman in the place. They knew well
+enough who took the papers, so my only hope lay in getting the thing
+telegraphed through; and if that had been accomplished, everything would
+have been all right. I would have gone to gaol with pleasure if I had
+got the particulars through to New York.'
+
+'Well, what are we to do now?' asked the editor.
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. The two men will be in New York very shortly.
+They sail, I understand, on the _Caloric_, which leaves in a week. If you
+think you have a reporter who can get the particulars out of these men, I
+should be very pleased to see you set him on. I tell you it isn't so easy
+to discover what an Englishman doesn't want you to know.'
+
+'Well,' said the editor, 'perhaps that's true. I will think about it. Of
+course you did your best, and I appreciate your efforts; but I am sorry
+you failed.'
+
+'You are not half so sorry as I am,' said Rivers, as he picked up his big
+Canadian fur coat and took his leave.
+
+The editor did think about it. He thought for fully two minutes. Then he
+dashed off a note on a sheet of paper, pulled down the little knob that
+rang the District Messenger alarm, and when the uniformed boy appeared,
+gave him the note, saying:
+
+'Deliver this as quickly as you can.'
+
+The boy disappeared, and the result of his trip was soon apparent in the
+arrival of a very natty young woman in the editorial rooms. She was
+dressed in a neatly-fitting tailor-made costume, and was a very pretty
+girl, who looked about nineteen, but was, in reality, somewhat older. She
+had large, appealing blue eyes, with a tender, trustful expression in
+them, which made the ordinary man say: 'What a sweet, innocent look that
+girl has!' yet, what the young woman didn't know about New York was not
+worth knowing. She boasted that she could get State secrets from
+dignified members of the Cabinet, and an ordinary Senator or Congressman
+she looked upon as her lawful prey. That which had been told her in the
+strictest confidence had often become the sensation of the next day in
+the paper she represented. She wrote over a _nom de guerre_, and had
+tried her hand at nearly everything. She had answered advertisements,
+exposed rogues and swindlers, and had gone to a hotel as chambermaid, in
+order to write her experiences. She had been arrested and locked up, so
+that she might write a three-column account, for the Sunday edition of
+the _Argus_, of 'How Women are Treated at Police Headquarters.' The
+editor looked upon her as one of the most valuable members of his staff,
+and she was paid accordingly.
+
+She came into the room with the self-possessed air of the owner of the
+building, took a seat, after nodding to the editor, and said, 'Well?'
+
+'Look here, Jennie,' began that austere individual, 'do you wish to take
+a trip to Europe?'
+
+'That depends,' said Jennie; 'this is not just the time of year that
+people go to Europe for pleasure, you know.'
+
+'Well, this is not exactly a pleasure trip. The truth of the matter is,
+Rivers has been on a job and has bungled it fearfully, besides nearly
+getting himself arrested.'
+
+The young woman's eyes twinkled. She liked anything with a spice of
+danger in it, and did not object to hear that she was expected to succeed
+where a mere masculine reporter had failed.
+
+The editor continued:
+
+'Two young men are going across to England on the _Caloric_. It sails in
+a week. I want you to take a ticket for Liverpool by that boat, and
+obtain from either of those two men the particulars--the _full_
+particulars--of reports they have made on some mining properties in
+Canada. Then you must land at Queenstown and cable a complete account to
+the _Argus_.'
+
+'Mining isn't much in my line,' said Miss Jennie, with a frown on her
+pretty brow. 'What sort of mines were they dealing with--gold, silver,
+copper, or what?'
+
+'They are certain mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'That's rather indefinite.'
+
+'I know it is. I can't give you much information about the matter. I
+don't know myself, to tell the truth, but I know it is vitally important
+that we should get a synopsis of what the reports of these young men are
+to be. A company, called the London Syndicate, has been formed in
+England. This syndicate is to acquire a large number of mines in Canada,
+if the accounts given by the present owners are anything like correct.
+Two men, Kenyon and Wentworth--the first a mining engineer, and the
+second an experienced accountant--have been sent from London to Canada,
+one to examine the mines, the other to examine the books of the various
+corporations. Whether the mines are bought or not will depend a good deal
+on the reports these two men have in their possession. The reports, when
+published, will make a big difference, one way or the other, on the Stock
+Exchange. I want to have the gist of them before the London Syndicate
+sees them. It will be a big thing for the _Argus_ if it is the first in
+the field, and I am willing to spend a pile of hard cash to succeed. So,
+don't economize on your cable expenses.'
+
+'Very well; have you a book on Canadian mines?'
+
+'I don't know that we have; but there is a book here, "The Mining
+Resources of Canada;" will that be of any use?'
+
+'I shall need something of that sort. I want to be a little familiar with
+the subject, you know.'
+
+'Quite so,' said the editor; 'I will see what can be got in that line.
+You can read it before you start, and on the way over.'
+
+'All right,' said Miss Jennie; 'and am I to take my pick of the two
+young men?'
+
+'Certainly,' answered the editor. 'You will see them both, and can easily
+make up your mind which will the sooner fall a victim.'
+
+'The _Caloric_ sails in a week, does it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I shall need at least five hundred dollars to get new dresses
+with.'
+
+'Good gracious!' cried the editor.
+
+'There is no "good gracious" about it. I'm going to travel as a
+millionaire's daughter, and it isn't likely that one or two dresses will
+do me all the way over.'
+
+'But you can't get new dresses made in a week,' said the editor.
+
+'Can't I? Well, you just get me the five hundred dollars, and I'll see
+about the making.'
+
+The editor jotted the amount down.
+
+'You don't think four hundred dollars would do?' he said.
+
+'No, I don't. And, say, am I to get a trip to Paris after this is over,
+or must I come directly back?'
+
+'Oh, I guess we can throw in the trip to Paris,' said the editor.
+
+'What did you say the names of the young men are?--or are they not
+young? Probably they are old fogies, if they are in the mining business.'
+
+'No; they are young, they are shrewd, and they are English. So you see
+your work is cut out for you. Their names are George Wentworth and
+John Kenyon.'
+
+'Oh, Wentworth is my man,' said the young woman breezily. 'John Kenyon! I
+know just what sort of a person he is--sombre and taciturn. Sounds too
+much like John Bunyan, or John Milton, or names of that sort.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't be too sure about it until you see them. Better not
+make up your mind about the matter.'
+
+'When shall I call for the five hundred dollars?'
+
+'Oh, that you needn't trouble about. The better way is to get your
+dresses made, and tell the people to send the bills to our office.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman. 'I shall be ready. Don't be frightened
+at the bills when they come in. If they come up to a thousand dollars,
+remember I told you I would let you off for five hundred dollars.'
+
+The editor looked at her for a moment, and seemed to reflect that
+perhaps it was better not to give a young lady unlimited credit in New
+York. So he said:
+
+'Wait a bit; I'll write you out the order, and you can take it
+downstairs.'
+
+Miss Jennie took the paper when it was offered to her, and disappeared.
+When she presented the order in the business office, the cashier raised
+his eyebrows as he noticed the amount, and, with a low whistle, said to
+himself:
+
+'Five hundred dollars! I wonder what game Jennie Brewster's up to now.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+
+The last bell had rung. Those who were going ashore had taken their
+departure. Crowds of human beings clustered on the pier-head, and at the
+large doorways of the warehouse which stood open on the steamer wharf. As
+the big ship slowly backed out there was a fluttering of handkerchiefs
+from the mass on the pier, and an answering flutter from those who
+crowded along the bulwarks of the steamer. The tug slowly pulled the prow
+of the vessel round, and at last the engines of the steamship began their
+pulsating throbs--throbs that would vibrate night and day until the
+steamer reached an older civilization. The crowd on the pier became more
+and more indistinct to those on board, and many of the passengers went
+below, for the air was bitterly cold, and the boat was forcing its way
+down the bay among huge blocks of ice.
+
+Two, at least, of the passengers had taken little interest in the
+departure. They were leaving no friends behind them, and were both
+setting their faces toward friends at home.
+
+'Let us go down,' said Wentworth to Kenyon, 'and see that we get seats
+together at table before all are taken.'
+
+'Very good,' replied his companion, and they descended to the roomy
+saloon, where two long tables were already laid with an ostentatious
+display of silver, glassware, and cutlery, which made many, who looked on
+this wilderness of white linen with something like dismay, hope that the
+voyage would be smooth, although, as it was a winter passage, there was
+every chance it would not be. The purser and two of his assistants sat
+at one of the shorter tables with a plan before them, marking off the
+names of passengers who wished to be together, or who wanted some
+particular place at any of the tables. The smaller side-tables were still
+uncovered because the number of passengers at that season of the year was
+comparatively few. As the places were assigned, one of the helpers to the
+purser wrote the names of the passengers on small cards, and the other
+put the cards on the tables.
+
+One young woman, in a beautifully-fitting travelling gown, which was
+evidently of the newest cut and design, stood a little apart from the
+general group which surrounded the purser and his assistants. She eagerly
+scanned every face, and listened attentively to the names given.
+Sometimes a shade of disappointment crossed her brow, as if she expected
+some particular person to possess some particular name which that
+particular person did not bear. At last her eyes sparkled.
+
+'My name is Wentworth,' said the young man whose turn it was.
+
+'Ah! any favourite place, Mr. Wentworth?' asked the purser blandly, as if
+he had known Wentworth all his life.
+
+'No, we don't care where we sit; but my friend Mr. Kenyon and myself
+would like places together.'
+
+'Very good; you had better come to my table,' replied the purser.
+'Numbers 23 and 24--Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+The steward took the cards that were given him, and placed them to
+correspond with the numbers the purser had named. Then the young woman
+moved gracefully along, as if she were interested in the names upon the
+table. She looked at Wentworth's name for a moment, and saw in the place
+next to his the name of Mr. Brown. She gave a quick, apprehensive glance
+around the saloon, and observed the two young men who had arranged for
+their seats at table now walking leisurely toward the companion-way. She
+took the card with the name of Mr. Brown upon it, and slipped upon the
+table another on which were written the words 'Miss Jennie Brewster.' Mr.
+Brown's card she placed on the spot from which she had taken her own.
+
+'I hope Mr. Brown is not particular which place he occupies,' said Jennie
+to herself; 'but at any rate I shall see that I am early for dinner, and
+I'm sure Mr. Brown, whoever he is, will not be so ungallant as to insist
+on having this place if he knows his card was here.'
+
+Subsequent events proved her surmise regarding Mr. Brown's indifference
+to be perfectly well founded. That young man searched for his card, found
+it, and sat down on the chair opposite the young woman, who already
+occupied her chair, and was, in fact, the first one at table. Seeing
+there would be no unseemly dispute about places, she began to plan in her
+own mind how she would first attract the attention of Mr. Wentworth.
+While thinking how best to approach her victim, Jennie heard his voice.
+
+'Here you are, Kenyon; here are our places.'
+
+'Which is mine?' said the voice of Kenyon.
+
+'It doesn't matter,' answered Wentworth, and then a thrill of fear went
+through the gentle heart of Miss Jennie Brewster. She had not thought of
+the young man not caring which seat he occupied, and she dreaded the
+possibility of finding herself next to Kenyon rather than Wentworth. Her
+first estimate of the characters of the two men seemed to be correct. She
+always thought of Kenyon as Bunyan, and she felt certain that Wentworth
+would be the easier man of the two to influence. The next moment her
+fears were allayed, for Kenyon, giving a rapid glance at the handsome
+young woman, deliberately chose the seat farthest from her, and
+Wentworth, with 'I beg your pardon,' slipped in and sat down on the chair
+beside her.
+
+'Now,' thought Jennie, with a sigh of relief, 'our positions are fixed
+for the meals of the voyage.' She had made her plans for beginning an
+acquaintance with the young man, but they were rendered unnecessary by
+the polite Mr. Wentworth handing her the bill of fare.
+
+'Oh, thank you,' said the girl, in a low voice, which was so musical that
+Wentworth glanced at her a second time and saw how sweet and pretty and
+innocent she was.
+
+'I'm in luck,' said the unfortunate young man to himself. Then he
+remarked aloud: 'We have not many ladies with us this voyage.'
+
+'No,' replied Miss Brewster; 'I suppose nobody crosses at this time of
+the year unless compelled to.'
+
+'I can answer for two passengers that such is the case.'
+
+'Do you mean yourself as one?'
+
+'Yes, myself and my friend.'
+
+'How pleasant it must be,' said Miss Brewster, 'to travel with a friend!
+Then one is not lonely. I, unfortunately, am travelling alone.'
+
+'I fancy,' said the gallant Wentworth, 'that if you are lonely while on
+board ship, it will be entirely your own fault.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed a silvery little laugh.
+
+'I don't know about that,' she said. 'I am going to that Mecca of all
+Americans--Paris. My father is to meet me there, and we are then going on
+to the Riviera together.'
+
+'Ah, that will be very pleasant,' said Wentworth. 'The Riviera at this
+season is certainly a place to be desired.'
+
+'So I have heard,' she replied.
+
+'Have you not been across before?'
+
+'No, this is my first trip. I suppose you have crossed many times?'
+
+'Oh no,' answered the Englishman; 'this is only my second voyage, my
+first having been the one that took me to America.'
+
+'Ah, then you are not an American,' returned Miss Brewster, with
+apparent surprise.
+
+She imagined that a man is generally flattered when a mistake of this
+kind is made. No matter how proud he may be of his country, he is pleased
+to learn that there is no provincialism about him which, as the Americans
+say, 'gives him away.'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'as a general thing, I am not taken for
+anything but what I am--an Englishman.'
+
+'I have met so few Englishmen,' said the guileless young woman, 'that
+really I should not be expected to know.'
+
+'I understand it is a common delusion among Americans that every
+Englishman drops his "h's," and is to be detected in that way.'
+
+Jennie laughed again, and George Wentworth thought it one of the
+prettiest laughs he had ever heard.
+
+Poor Kenyon was rather neglected by his friend during the dinner. He felt
+a little gloomy while the courses went on, and wished he had an evening
+paper. Meanwhile, Wentworth and the handsome girl beside him got on very
+well together. At the end of the dinner she seemed to have some
+difficulty in getting up from her chair, and Wentworth showed her how to
+turn it round, leaving her free to rise. She thanked him prettily.
+
+'I am going on deck,' she said, turning to go; 'I am so anxious to get my
+first glimpse of the ocean at night from the deck of a steamer.'
+
+'I hope you will let me accompany you,' returned young Wentworth. 'The
+decks are rather slippery, and even when the boat is not rolling it
+isn't quite safe for a lady unused to the motion of a ship to walk alone
+in the dark.'
+
+'Oh, thank you very much,' replied Miss Brewster, with effusion. 'It
+is kind of you, I am sure; and if you promise not to let me rob you
+of the pleasure of your after-dinner cigar, I shall be most happy to
+have you accompany me. I will meet you at the top of the stairway in
+five minutes.'
+
+'You are getting on,' said Kenyon, as the young woman disappeared.
+
+'What's the use of being on board ship,' said Wentworth, 'If you don't
+take advantage of the opportunity for making shipboard acquaintances?
+There is an unconventionality about life on a steamer that is not without
+its charm, as perhaps you will find out before the voyage is over, John.'
+
+'You are merely trying to ease your conscience because of your heartless
+desertion of me.'
+
+George Wentworth had waited at the top of the companion-way a little more
+than five minutes when Miss Brewster appeared, wrapped in a cloak edged
+with fur, which lent an additional charm to her complexion, set off as it
+was by a jaunty steamer cap. They stepped out on the deck, and found it
+not at all so dark as they had expected. Little globes of electric light
+were placed at regular intervals on the walls of the deck building.
+Overhead was stretched a sort of canvas roof, against which the sleety
+rain pattered. One of the sailors, with a rubber mop, was pushing into
+the gutter by the side of the ship the moisture from the deck. All around
+the boat the night was as black as ink, except here and there where the
+white curl of a wave showed luminous for a moment in the darkness.
+
+Miss Brewster insisted that Wentworth should light his cigar, which,
+after some persuasion, he did. Then he tucked her hand snugly under his
+arm, and she adjusted her step to suit his. They had the promenade all to
+themselves. The rainy winter night was not so inviting to most of the
+passengers as the comfortable rooms below. Kenyon, however, and one or
+two others came up, and sat on the steamer chairs that were tied to the
+brass rod which ran along the deckhouse wall. He saw the glow of
+Wentworth's cigar as the couple turned at the farther end of the walk,
+and when they passed him he heard a low murmur of conversation, and
+caught now and then a snatch of silvery laughter. It was not because
+Wentworth had deserted him that Kenyon felt so uncomfortable and
+depressed. He could not tell just what it was, but there had settled on
+his mind a strange, uneasy foreboding. After a time he went down into the
+saloon and tried to read, but could not, and so wandered along the
+seemingly endless narrow passage to his room (which was Wentworth's as
+well), and, in nautical phrase, 'turned in.' It was late when his
+companion came.
+
+'Asleep, Kenyon?' asked the latter.
+
+'No,' was the answer.
+
+'By George! John, she is one of the most charming girls I ever met.
+Wonderfully clever, too; makes a man feel like a fool beside her. She has
+read nearly everything. Has opinions on all our authors, a great many of
+whom I've never heard of. I wish, for your sake, John, she had a sister
+on board.'
+
+'Thanks, old man; awfully good of you, I'm sure,' said Kenyon. 'Don't
+you think it's about time to stop raving, get into your bunk, and turn
+out that confounded light?'
+
+'All right, growler, I will.'
+
+Meanwhile, in her own state-room, Miss Jennie Brewster was looking at her
+reflection in the glass. As she shook out her long hair until it rippled
+down her back, she smiled sweetly, and said to herself:
+
+'Poor Mr. Wentworth! Only the first night out, and he told me his name
+was George.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+
+The second day out was a pleasant surprise for all on board who had made
+up their minds to a disagreeable winter passage. The air was clear, the
+sky blue as if it were spring-time, instead of midwinter. They were in
+the Gulf Stream. The sun shone brightly and the temperature was mild.
+Nevertheless, it was an uncomfortable day for those who were poor
+sailors. Although there did not seem, to the casual observer, to be much
+of a sea running, the ship rolled atrociously. Those who had made heroic
+resolutions on the subject were sitting in silent misery in their
+deck-chairs, which had been lashed to firm stanchions. Few were walking
+the clean bright deck, because walking that morning was a gymnastic feat.
+Three or four who evidently wished to show they had crossed before, and
+knew all about it, managed to make their way along the deck. Those
+recumbent in the steamer-chairs watched with lazy interest the
+pedestrians who now and then stood still, leaning apparently far out of
+the perpendicular, as the deck inclined downward. Sometimes the
+pedestrian's feet slipped, and he shot swiftly down the incline. Such an
+incident was invariably welcomed by those who sat. Even the invalids
+smiled wanly.
+
+Kenyon reclined in his deck-chair with his eyes fixed on the blue sky.
+His mind was at rest about the syndicate report now that it had been
+mailed to London. His thoughts wandered to his own affairs, and he
+wondered whether he would make money out of the option he had acquired at
+Ottawa. He was not an optimistic man, and he doubted.
+
+After their work for the London Syndicate was finished, the young men had
+done a little business on their own account. They visited together a
+mica-mine that was barely paying expenses, and which the proprietors were
+anxious to sell. The mine was owned by the Austrian Mining Company,
+whose agent, Von Brent, was interviewed by Kenyon in Ottawa. The young
+men obtained an option on this mine for three months from Von Brent.
+Kenyon's educated eye had told him that the white mineral they were
+placing on the dump at the mouth of the mine was even more valuable than
+the mica for which they were mining.
+
+Kenyon was scrupulously honest--a quality somewhat at a discount in the
+mining business--and it seemed to him hardly the fair thing that he
+should take advantage of the ignorance of Von Brent regarding the mineral
+on the dump. Wentworth had some trouble in overcoming his friend's
+scruples. He claimed that knowledge always had to be paid for, in law,
+medicine, or mineralogy, and therefore that they were perfectly justified
+in profiting by their superior wisdom. So it came about that the young
+men took to England with them a three months' option on the mine.
+
+Wentworth had been walking about all morning like a lost spirit
+apparently seeking what was not. 'It can't be,' he said to himself. No;
+the thought was too horrible, and he dismissed it from his mind, merely
+conjecturing that perhaps she was not an early riser, which was indeed
+the case. No one who works on a morning newspaper ever takes advantage of
+the lark's example.
+
+'Well, Kenyon,' said Wentworth 'you look as if you were writing a poem,
+or doing something that required deep mental agony.'
+
+'The writing of poems, my dear Wentworth, I leave to you. I am doing
+something infinitely more practical--something that you ought to be at.
+I am thinking what we are to do with our mica-mine when we get it over
+to London.'
+
+'Oh, "sufficient for the day is the evil thereof,"' cried Wentworth
+jauntily; 'besides, half an hour's thinking by a solid-brained fellow
+like you is worth a whole voyage of my deepest meditation.'
+
+'She hasn't appeared yet?' said Kenyon.
+
+'No, dear boy; no, she has _not_. You see, I make no pretence with you as
+other less ingenuous men might. No, she has _not_ appeared, and she has
+not breakfasted.'
+
+'Perhaps----' began Kenyon.
+
+'No, no!' cried Wentworth; 'I'll have no "perhaps." I thought of that, but
+I instantly dismissed the idea. She's too good a sailor.'
+
+'It requires a very good sailor to stand this sort of thing. It looks so
+unnecessary, too. I wonder what the ship is rolling about?'
+
+'I can't tell, but she seems to be rolling about half over. I say,
+Kenyon, old fellow, I feel horrible pangs of conscience about
+deserting you in this way, and so early in the voyage. I didn't do it
+last time, did I?'
+
+'You were a model travelling companion on the last voyage,' returned
+Kenyon.
+
+'I don't wish to make impertinent suggestions, my boy, but allow me to
+tell you that there are some other very nice girls on board.'
+
+'You are not so bad as I feared, then,' replied Kenyon, 'or you wouldn't
+admit that. I thought you had eyes for no one but Miss--Miss--I really
+didn't catch her name.'
+
+'I don't mind telling you confidentially, Kenyon, that her name is
+Jennie.'
+
+'Dear me!' cried Kenyon, 'has it got so far as that? Doesn't it strike
+you, Wentworth, that you are somewhat in a hurry? It seems decidedly
+more American than English. Englishmen are apt to weigh matters a
+little more.'
+
+'There is no necessity for weighing, my boy. I don't see any harm in
+making the acquaintance of a pretty girl when you have a long voyage
+before you.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let it grow too serious, if I were you.'
+
+'There isn't the slightest danger of seriousness about the affair. On
+shore the young lady wouldn't cast a second look at me. She is the
+daughter of a millionaire. Her father is in Paris, and they are going on
+to the Riviera in a few weeks.'
+
+'All the more reason,' said Kenyon, 'that you shouldn't let this go too
+far. Be on your guard, my boy. I've heard it said that American girls
+have the delightful little practice of leading a man on until it comes to
+a certain point, and then arching their pretty eyebrows, looking
+astonished, and forgetting all about him afterwards. You had better wait
+until we make our fortunes on this mica-mine, and then, perhaps, your
+fair millionairess may listen to you.'
+
+'John,' cried Wentworth, 'you are the most cold-blooded man I know of. I
+never noticed it so particularly before, but it seems to me that years
+and years of acquaintance with minerals of all kinds, hard and flinty,
+transform a man. Be careful that you don't become like the minerals you
+work among.'
+
+'Well, I don't know anything that has less tendency to soften a man than
+long columns of figures. I think the figures you work at are quite as
+demoralizing as the minerals I have spent my life with.'
+
+'Perhaps you are right, but a girl would have to be thrown into your
+arms before you would admit that such a thing as a charming young lady
+existed.'
+
+'If I make all the money I hope to make out of the mica-mine, I expect
+the young ladies will not be thrown into my arms, but at my head. Money
+goes a long way toward reconciling a girl to marriage.'
+
+'It certainly goes a long way toward reconciling her mother to the
+marriage. I don't believe,' said Wentworth slowly, 'that my--that Miss
+Brewster ever thinks about money.'
+
+'She probably doesn't need to, but no doubt there is someone who does the
+thinking for her. If her father is a millionaire, and has, like many
+Americans, made his own money, you may depend upon it he will do the
+thinking for her; and if Miss Brewster should prove to be thoughtless in
+the matter, the old gentleman will very speedily bring you both to your
+senses. It would be different if you had a title.'
+
+'I haven't any,' replied Wentworth, 'except the title George Wentworth,
+accountant, with an address in the City and rooms in the suburbs.'
+
+'Precisely; if you were Lord George Wentworth, or even Sir George, or
+Baron Wentworth of something or other, you might have a chance; as it is,
+the title of accountant would not go far with an American millionaire, or
+his daughter either.'
+
+'You are a cold, calculating wretch.'
+
+'Nothing of the sort. I merely have my senses about me, and you haven't
+at this particular moment. You wouldn't think of trusting a book-keeper's
+figures without seeing his vouchers. Well, my boy, you haven't the
+vouchers--at least, not yet, so that is why I ask you to give your
+attention to what we are going to do with our mine; and if you take my
+advice you will not think seriously about American millionaires or their
+daughters.'
+
+George Wentworth jumped to his feet, the ship gave a lurch at that
+particular moment, and he no sooner found his feet than he nearly lost
+them again; however, he was an expert at balancing himself as well as his
+accounts, and though for the moment his attention was occupied in keeping
+his equilibrium, he looked down on his companion, still placidly
+reclining in his chair, with a smile on his face.
+
+'Kenyon,' he said, 'I am going to look for another girl.'
+
+'Is one not enough for you?'
+
+'No, I want two--one for myself, and one for you. No man can sympathize
+with another unless he is in the same position himself. John, I want
+sympathy, and I'm not getting it.'
+
+'What you need more urgently,' said Kenyon calmly, 'is common-sense, and
+that I am trying to supply.'
+
+'You are doing your duty in that direction; but a man doesn't live by
+common-sense alone. There comes a time when common-sense is a drug in
+the market. I don't say it has come to me yet, but I'm resolved to get
+you into a more sympathetic mood, so I am going to find a suitable young
+lady for you.'
+
+'More probably you are going to look for your own,' answered Kenyon, as
+his friend walked off, and, disappearing round the corner, crossed to
+the other side of the ship.
+
+Kenyon did not turn again to his figures when his companion left him. He
+mused over the curiously rapid turn of circumstances. He hoped Wentworth
+would not take it too seriously, for he felt that, somehow or other, Miss
+Brewster was just the sort of girl to throw him over after she had whiled
+away a tedious voyage. Of course he could not say this to his friend, who
+evidently admired Miss Brewster, but he had said as much as he could to
+put Wentworth on his guard.
+
+'Now,' said Kenyon to himself, 'if she had been a girl like _that_, I
+wouldn't have minded.' The girl 'like _that_' was a young woman who for
+half an hour had been walking the deck alone with marvellous skill. She
+was not so handsome as the American girl, but she had a better
+complexion, and there was a colour in her cheek which seemed to suggest
+England. Her dress was not quite so smart nor so well-fitting as that of
+the American girl; but, nevertheless, she was warmly and sensibly clad,
+and a brown Tam o' Shanter covered her fair head. The tips of her hands
+were in the pockets of her short blue-cloth jacket; and she walked the
+deck with a firm, reliant tread that aroused the admiration of John
+Kenyon. 'If she were only a girl like _that_,' he repeated to himself, 'I
+wouldn't mind. There's something fresh and genuine about her. She makes
+me think of the breezy English downs.'
+
+As she walked back and forward, one or two young men seemingly made an
+attempt to become acquainted with her, but it was evident to Kenyon that
+the young woman had made it plain to them, politely enough, that she
+preferred walking alone, and they raised their sea-caps and left her.
+
+'She doesn't pick up the first man who comes,' he mused.
+
+The ship was beginning to roll more and more, and yet the day was
+beautiful and the sea seemingly calm. Most of the promenaders had left
+the deck. Two or three of them had maintained their equilibrium with a
+gratifying success which engendered the pride that goeth before a fall,
+but the moment came at last when their feet slipped and they had found
+themselves thrown against the bulwark of the steamer. Then they had
+laughed a little in a crestfallen manner, picked themselves up, and
+promenaded the deck no more. Many of those who were lying in the
+steamer-chairs gave up the struggle and went down to their cabins. There
+was a momentary excitement as one chair broke from its fastenings and
+slid down with a crash against the bulwarks. The occupant was picked up
+in a hysterical condition and taken below. The deck steward tied the
+chair more firmly, so that the accident would not happen again. The young
+English girl was opposite John Kenyon when this disaster took place, and
+her attention being diverted by fear for the safety of the occupant of
+the sliding chair, her care for herself was withdrawn at the very moment
+when it was most needed. The succeeding lurch which the ship gave to the
+other side was the most tremendous of the day. The deck rose until the
+girl leaning outward could almost touch it with her hand, then, in spite
+of herself, she slipped with the rapidity of lightning against the chair
+John Kenyon occupied, and that tripping her up, flung her upon him with
+an unexpectedness that would have taken his breath away if the sudden
+landing of a plump young woman upon him had not accomplished the same
+thing. The fragile deck-chair gave way with a crash, and it would be hard
+to say which was the more discomfited by the sudden catastrophe, John
+Kenyon or the girl.
+
+'I hope you are not hurt,' he managed to stammer.
+
+'Don't think about me!' she cried. 'I have broken your chair, and--and----'
+
+'The chair doesn't matter,' cried Kenyon. 'It was a flimsy structure at
+best. I am not hurt, if that is what you mean--and you mustn't mind it.'
+
+Then there came to his recollection the sentence of George Wentworth: 'A
+girl will have to be thrown into your arms before you will admit that
+such a thing as a charming young woman exists.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth could hardly be said to be a typical representative of
+the English girl. She had the English girl's education, but not her
+training. She had lost her mother in early life, which makes a great
+difference in a girl's bringing up, however wealthy her father may be;
+and Edith's father was wealthy, there was no doubt of that. If you asked
+any City man about the standing of John Longworth, you would learn that
+the 'house' was well thought of. People said he was lucky, but old John
+Longworth asserted that there was no such thing as luck in business--in
+which statement he was very likely incorrect. He had large investments in
+almost every quarter of the globe. When he went into any enterprise, he
+went into it thoroughly. Men talk about the inadvisability of putting all
+one's eggs into one basket, but John Longworth was a believer in doing
+that very thing--and in watching the basket. Not that he had all his eggs
+in one basket, or even in one kind of basket; but when John Longworth was
+satisfied with the particular variety of basket presented to him, he put
+a large number of eggs in it. When anything was offered for
+investment--whether it was a mine or a brewery or a railway--John
+Longworth took an expert's opinion upon it, and then the chances were
+that he would disregard the advice given. He was in the habit of going
+personally to see what had been offered to him. If the enterprise were
+big enough, he thought little of taking a voyage to the other end of the
+world for the sole purpose of looking the investment over. It was true
+that in many cases he knew nothing whatever of the business he went to
+examine, but that did not matter; he liked to have a personal inspection
+where a large amount of his money was to be placed. Investment seemed to
+be a sort of intuition with him. Often, when the experts' opinions were
+unanimously in favour of the project, and when everything appeared to be
+perfectly safe, Longworth would pay a personal visit to the business
+offered for sale, and come to a sudden conclusion not to have anything to
+do with it. He would give no reasons to his colleagues for his change of
+front; he simply refused to entertain the proposal any further, and
+withdrew. Several instances of this kind had occurred. Sometimes a large
+and profitable business, held out in the prospectus to be exceedingly
+desirable, had come to nothing, and when the company was wound up,
+people remembered what Longworth had said about it. So there came to be a
+certain superstitious feeling among those who knew him, that, if old Mr.
+Longworth was in a thing, the thing was safe, and if a company promoter
+managed to get his name on the prospectus, his project was almost certain
+to succeed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When Edith Longworth was pronounced finished so far as education was
+concerned, she became more and more the companion of her father, and he
+often jokingly referred to her as his man of business. She went with him
+on his long journeys, and so had been several times to America, once to
+the Cape, and one long voyage, with Australia as the objective point, had
+taken her completely round the world. She inherited much of her father's
+shrewdness, and there is no doubt that, if Edith Longworth had been cast
+upon her own resources, she would have become an excellent woman of
+business. She knew exactly the extent of her father's investments, and
+she was his confidante in a way that few women are with their male
+relatives. The old man had a great faith in Edith's opinion, although he
+rarely acknowledged it. Having been together so much on such long trips,
+they naturally became, in a way, boon companions. Thus, Edith's education
+was very unlike that of the ordinary English girl, and this particular
+training caused her to develop into a different kind of woman than she
+might have been had her mother lived.
+
+Perfect confidence existed between father and daughter, and only lately
+had there come a shadow upon their relations, about which neither ever
+spoke to the other since their first conversation on the subject.
+
+Edith had said, with perhaps more than her usual outspokenness, that she
+had no thought whatever of marriage, and least of all had her thoughts
+turned toward the man her father seemed to have chosen. In answer to
+this, her father had said nothing, but Edith knew him too well to believe
+that he had changed his mind about the matter. The fact that he had
+invited her cousin to join them on this particular journey showed her
+that he evidently believed all that was necessary was to throw them more
+together than had been the case previously; and, although Edith was
+silent, she thought her father had not the same shrewdness in these
+matters that he showed in the purchasing of a growing business. Edith had
+been perfectly civil to the young man--as she would have been to
+anyone--but he saw that she preferred her own company to his; and so,
+much to the disgust of Mr. Longworth, he spent most of his time at cards
+in the smoking-room, whereas, according to the elder gentleman's opinion,
+he should have been promenading the deck with his cousin.
+
+William Longworth, the cousin, was inclined to be a trifle put out, for
+he looked upon himself as quite an eligible person, one whom any girl in
+her senses would be glad to look forward to as a possible husband. He
+made no pretence of being madly in love with Edith, but he thought the
+marriage would be an admirable thing all round. She was a nice girl, he
+said to himself, and his uncle's money was well worth thinking about. In
+fact, he was becoming desirous that the marriage should take place; but,
+as there was no one upon whom he could look as a rival, he had the field
+to himself. He would therefore show Miss Edith that he was by no means
+entirely dependent for his happiness upon her company; and this he
+proceeded to do by spending his time in the smoking-room, and playing
+cards with his fellow-passengers. It was quite evident to anyone who saw
+Edith, that, if this suited him, it certainly suited her; so they rarely
+met on shipboard except at table, where Edith's place was between her
+father and her cousin. Miss Longworth and her cousin had had one brief
+conversation on the subject of marriage. He spoke of it rather jauntily,
+as being quite a good arrangement, but she said very shortly that she had
+no desire to change her name.
+
+'You don't need to,' said Cousin William; 'my name is Longworth, and so
+is yours.'
+
+'It is not a subject for a joke,' she answered.
+
+'I am not joking, my dear Edith. I am merely telling you what everybody
+knows to be true. You surely don't deny that my name is Longworth?'
+
+'I don't mean to deny or affirm anything in relation to the matter,'
+replied the young woman, 'and you will oblige me very much if you will
+never recur to this subject again.'
+
+And so the young man betook himself once more to the smoking-room.
+
+On this trip Edith had seen a good deal of American society. People over
+there had made it very pleasant for her, and, although the weather was
+somewhat trying, she had greatly enjoyed the sleigh-rides and the
+different festivities which winter brings to the citizen of Northern
+America. Her father and her cousin had gone to America to see numerous
+breweries that were situated in different parts of the country, and
+which it was proposed to combine into one large company. They had made a
+Western city their headquarters, and while Edith was enjoying herself
+with her newly-found friends, the two men had visited the breweries in
+different sections of the country--all, however, near the city where
+Edith was staying. The breweries seemed to be in a very prosperous
+condition, although the young man declared the beer they brewed was the
+vilest he had ever tasted, and he said he wouldn't like to have anything
+to do with the production of it, even if it did turn in money. His uncle
+had not tried the beer, but confined himself solely to the good old
+bottled English ale, which had increased in price, if not in excellence,
+by its transportation. But there was something about the combination
+that did not please him; and, from the few words he dropped on the
+subject, his nephew saw that Longworth was not going to be a member of
+the big Beer Syndicate. The intention had been to take a trip to Canada,
+and Edith had some hopes of seeing the city of Montreal in its winter
+dress; but that visit had been abandoned, as so much time had been
+consumed in the Western States. So they began their homeward voyage,
+with the elder Longworth sitting a good deal in his deck-chair, and
+young Longworth spending much of his time in the smoking-room, while
+Edith walked the deck alone. And this was the lady whom Fate threw into
+the arms of John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+
+Steamer friendships ripen quickly. It is true that, as a general thing,
+they perish with equal suddenness. The moment a man sets his foot on
+solid land the glamour of the sea seems to leave him, and the friend to
+whom he was ready to swear eternal fealty while treading the deck, is
+speedily forgotten on shore. Edith Longworth gave no thought to the
+subject of the innocent nature of steamer friendships when she reviewed
+in her own mind her pleasant walk along the deck with Kenyon. She had met
+many interesting people during her numerous voyages, but they had all
+proved to be steamer acquaintances, whose names she had now considerable
+difficulty in remembering. Perhaps she would not have given a second
+thought to Mr. Kenyon that night if it had not been for some
+ill-considered remarks her cousin saw fit to make at the dinner-table.
+
+'Who was that fellow you were walking with today?' young Longworth asked.
+
+Edith smiled upon him pleasantly, and answered:
+
+'Mr. Kenyon you mean, I suppose?'
+
+'Oh, you know his name, do you?' he answered gruffly.
+
+'Certainly,' she replied; 'I would not walk with a gentleman whose name I
+did not know.'
+
+'Really?' sneered her cousin. 'And pray were you introduced to him?'
+
+'I do not think,' answered Edith quietly, 'any person has a right to ask
+me that question except my father. He has not asked it, and, as you have,
+I will merely answer that I _was_ introduced to Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'I did not know you had any mutual acquaintance on board who could make
+you known to each other.'
+
+'Well, the ceremony was a little informal. We were introduced by our
+mutual friend, old Father Neptune. Father Neptune, being, as you know, a
+little boisterous this morning, took the liberty of flinging me upon Mr.
+Kenyon. I weigh something more than a feather, and the result
+was--although Mr. Kenyon was good enough to say he was uninjured--that
+the chair on which he sat had not the same consideration for my feelings,
+and it went down with a crash. I thought Mr. Kenyon should take my chair
+in exchange for the one I had the misfortune to break, but Mr. Kenyon
+thought otherwise. He said he was a mining engineer, and that he could
+not claim to be a very good one if he found any difficulty in mending a
+deck-chair. It seems he succeeded in doing so, and that is the whole
+history of my introduction to, and my intercourse with, Mr. Kenyon,
+Mining Engineer.'
+
+'Most interesting and romantic,' replied the young man; 'and do you think
+that your father approves of your picking up indiscriminate acquaintances
+in this way?'
+
+Edith, flushing a little at this, said:
+
+'I would not willingly do what my father disapproved of;' then in a lower
+voice she added: 'except, perhaps, one thing.'
+
+Her father, who had caught snatches of the conversation, now leaned
+across towards his nephew, and said warningly:
+
+'I think Edith is quite capable of judging for herself. This is my
+seventh voyage with her, and I have always found such to be the case.
+This happens to be your first, and so, were I you, I would not pursue the
+subject further.'
+
+The young man was silent, and Edith gave her father a grateful glance.
+Thus it was that, while she might not have given a thought to Kenyon, the
+remarks which her cousin had made, brought to her mind, when she was
+alone, the two young men, and the contrast between them was not at all to
+the advantage of her cousin.
+
+The scrubbing-brushes on the deck above him woke Kenyon early next
+morning. For a few moments after getting on deck he thought he had the
+ship to himself. One side of the deck was clean and wet; on the other
+side the men were slowly moving the scrubbing-brushes backward and
+forward, with a drowsy swish-swish. As he walked up the deck, he saw
+there was one passenger who had been earlier than himself.
+
+Edith Longworth turned round as she heard his step, and her face
+brightened into a smile when she saw who it was.
+
+Kenyon gravely raised his steamer cap and bade her 'Good-morning.'
+
+'You are an early riser, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Not so early as you are, I see.'
+
+'I think I am an exceptional passenger in that way,' replied the girl. 'I
+always enjoy the early morning at sea. I like to get as far forward on
+the steamer as possible, so that there is nothing between me and the
+boundless anywhere. Then it seems as if the world belongs to myself, with
+nobody else in it.'
+
+'Isn't that a rather selfish view?' put in Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, I don't think so. There is certainly nothing selfish in my
+enjoyment of it; but, you know, there are times when one wishes to be
+alone, and to forget everybody.'
+
+'I hope I have not stumbled upon one of those times.'
+
+'Oh, not at all, Mr. Kenyon,' replied his companion, laughing. 'There
+was nothing personal in the remark. If I wished to be alone, I would
+have no hesitation in walking off. I am not given to hinting; I speak
+plainly--some of my friends think a little too plainly. Have you ever
+been on the Pacific Ocean?'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Ah, there the mornings are delicious. It is very beautiful here now, but
+in summer on the Pacific some of the mornings are so calm and peaceful
+and fresh, that it would seem as if the world had been newly made.'
+
+'You have travelled a great deal, Miss Longworth. I envy you.'
+
+'I often think I am a person to be envied, but there may come a shipwreck
+one day, and then I shall not be in so enviable a position.'
+
+'I sincerely hope you may never have such an experience.'
+
+'Have you ever been shipwrecked, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Oh no; my travelling experiences are very limited. But to read of a
+shipwreck is bad enough.'
+
+'We have had a most delightful voyage so far. Quite like summer. One can
+scarcely believe that we left America in the depth of winter, with snow
+everywhere and the thermometer ever so far below zero. Have you mended
+your deck-chair yet, sufficiently well to trust yourself upon it again?'
+
+'Oh!' said Kenyon, with a laugh, 'you really must not make fun of my
+amateur carpentering like that. As I told you, I am a mining engineer,
+and if I cannot mend a deck-chair, what would you expect me to do with a
+mine?'
+
+'Have you had much to do with mines?' asked the young woman.
+
+'I am just beginning,' replied Kenyon; 'this, in fact, is one of my first
+commissions. I have been sent with my friend Wentworth to examine certain
+mines on the Ottawa River.'
+
+'The Ottawa River!' cried Edith. 'Are you one of those who were sent out
+by the London Syndicate?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon with astonishment. 'What do you know about it?'
+
+'Oh, I know everything about it. Everything, except what the mining
+expert's report is to be, and that information, I suppose, you have; so,
+between the two of us, we know a great deal about the fortunes of the
+London Syndicate.'
+
+'Really! I am astonished to meet a young lady who knows anything about
+the matter. I understood it was rather a secret combination up to the
+present.'
+
+'Ah! but, you see, I am one of the syndicate.'
+
+'You!'
+
+'Certainly,' answered Edith Longworth, laughing. 'At least, my father is,
+and that is the same thing, or almost the same thing. We intended to go
+to Canada ourselves, and I was very much disappointed at not going. I
+understand that the sleighing, and the snowshoeing, and the tobogganing
+are something wonderful.'
+
+'I saw very little of the social side of life in the district, my whole
+time being employed at the mines; but even in the mining village where we
+stayed, they had a snowshoe club, and a very good toboggan slide--so
+good, in fact, that, having gone down once, I never ventured to risk my
+life on it again.'
+
+'If my father knew you were on board, he would be anxious to meet you.
+Doubtless you know the London Syndicate will be a very large company.'
+
+'Yes, I am aware of that.'
+
+'And you know that a great deal is going to depend upon your report?'
+
+'I suppose that is so, and I hope the syndicate will find my report at
+least an honest and thorough one.'
+
+'Is the colleague who was with you also on board?'
+
+'Yes, he is here.'
+
+'He, then, was the accountant who was sent out?'
+
+'Yes, and he is a man who does his business very thoroughly, and I think
+the syndicate will be satisfied with his work.'
+
+'And do you not think they will be satisfied with yours also? I am sure
+you did your work conscientiously.'
+
+Kenyon almost blushed as the young woman made this remark, but she looked
+intently at him, and he saw that her thoughts were not on him, but on the
+large interests he represented.
+
+'Were you favourably impressed with the Ottawa as a mining region?' she
+asked.
+
+'Very much so,' he answered, and, anxious to turn the conversation away
+from his own report, he said: 'I was so much impressed with it that I
+secured the option of a mine there for myself.'
+
+'Oh! do you intend to buy one of the mines there?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'No, I am no capitalist seeking investment for my money, but I saw that
+the mine contained possibilities of producing a great deal of money for
+those who possess it. It is very much more valuable, in my opinion, than
+the owners themselves suspect; so I secured an option upon it for three
+months, and hope when I reach England to form a company to take it up.'
+
+'Well, I am sure,' said the young lady, 'if you are confident that the
+mine is a good one, you could see no one who would help you more in that
+way than my father. He has been looking at a brewery business he thought
+of investing in, but which he has concluded to have nothing to do with,
+so he will be anxious to find something reliable in its place. How much
+would be required for the purchase of the mine you mention?'
+
+'I was thinking of asking fifty thousand pounds for it,' said Kenyon,
+flushing, as he thought of his own temerity in more than doubling the
+price of the mine.
+
+Wentworth and he had estimated the probable value of the mine, and had
+concluded that even selling it at that price--which would give them
+thirty thousand pounds to divide between them--they were selling a mine
+that was really worth very much more, and would soon pay tremendous
+dividends on the fifty thousand pounds. He expected the young woman to
+be impressed by the amount, and was, therefore, very much surprised
+when she said:
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! Is that all? Then I am afraid my father would
+have nothing to do with it. He only deals with large businesses, and a
+company with a capitalization of fifty thousand pounds I am sure he would
+not look at.'
+
+'You talk of fifty thousand pounds,' said Kenyon, 'as if it were a mere
+trifle. To me it seems an immense fortune. I only wish I had it, or half
+of it.'
+
+'You are not rich, then?' said the girl, with apparent interest.
+
+'No,' replied the young man. 'Far otherwise.'
+
+At that moment the elder Mr. Longworth appeared in the door of the
+companion-way, and looked up and down the deck.
+
+'Oh, here you are,' he said, as his daughter sprang from her chair.
+
+'Father,' she cried, 'let me introduce to you Mr. Kenyon, who is the
+mining expert sent out by our syndicate to look at the Ottawa mines.'
+
+'I am pleased to meet you,' said the elder gentleman.
+
+The capitalist sat down beside the mining engineer, and began, somewhat
+to Kenyon's embarrassment, to talk of the London Syndicate.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+
+A few mornings later Wentworth worked his way, with much balancing and
+grasping of stanchions, along the deck, for the ship rolled fearfully,
+but the person he sought was nowhere visible. He thought he would go into
+the smoking-room, but changed his mind at the door, and turned down the
+companion-way to the main saloon. The tables had been cleared of the
+breakfast belongings, but on one of the small tables a white cloth had
+been laid, and at this spot of purity in the general desert of red plush
+sat Miss Brewster, who was complacently ordering what she wanted from a
+steward, who did not seem at all pleased in serving one who had
+disregarded the breakfast-hour, to the disarrangement of all saloon
+rules. The chief steward stood by a door and looked disapprovingly at the
+tardy guest. It was almost time to lay the tables for lunch, and the
+young woman was as calmly ordering her breakfast as if she had been the
+first person at table.
+
+She looked up brightly at Wentworth, and smiled as he approached her.
+
+'I suppose,' she began, 'I'm dreadfully late, and the steward looks as if
+he would like to scold me. How awfully the ship is rolling! Is there a
+storm?'
+
+'No. She seems to be doing this sort of thing for amusement. Wants to
+make it interesting for the unfortunate passengers who are not good
+sailors, I suppose. She's doing it, too. There's scarcely anyone on
+deck.'
+
+'Dear me! I thought we were having a dreadful storm. Is it raining?'
+
+'No. It's a beautiful sunshiny day; without much wind either, in spite of
+all this row.'
+
+'I suppose you have had your breakfast long ago?'
+
+'So long since that I am beginning to look forward with pleasant
+anticipation to lunch.'
+
+'Oh dear! I had no idea I was so late as that. Perhaps _you_ had
+better scold me. Somebody ought to do it, and the steward seems a
+little afraid.'
+
+'You over-estimate my courage. I am a little afraid, too.'
+
+'Then you _do_ think I deserve it?'
+
+'I didn't say that, nor do I think it. I confess, however, that up to
+this moment I felt just a trifle lonely.'
+
+'Just a trifle! Well, that _is_ flattery. How nicely you English do turn
+a compliment! Just a trifle!'
+
+'I believe, as a race, we do not venture much into compliment making at
+all. We leave that for the polite foreigner. He would say what I tried
+to say a great deal better than I did, of course, but he would not mean
+half so much.'
+
+'Oh, that's very nice, Mr. Wentworth. No foreigner could have put it
+nearly so well. Now, what about going on deck?'
+
+'Anywhere, if you let me accompany you.'
+
+'I shall be most delighted to have you. I won't say merely a trifle
+delighted.'
+
+'Ah! Haven't you forgiven that remark yet?'
+
+'There's nothing to forgive, and it is quite too delicious to forget. I
+shall never forget it.'
+
+'I believe that you are very cruel at heart, Miss Brewster.'
+
+The young woman gave him a curious side-look, but did not answer. She
+gathered the wraps she had taken from her cabin, and, handing them to him
+before he had thought of offering to take them, she led the way to the
+deck. He found their chairs side by side, and admired the intelligence of
+the deck-steward, who seemed to understand which chairs to place
+together. Miss Jennie sank gracefully into her own, and allowed him to
+adjust the wraps around her.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's very nicely done; as well as the deck-steward
+himself could do it, and I am sure it is impossible to pay you a more
+graceful compliment than that. So few men know how to arrange one
+comfortably in a steamer chair.'
+
+'You speak as though you had vast experience in steamer life, and yet you
+told me this was your first voyage.'
+
+'It is. But it doesn't take a woman more than a day to see that the
+average man attends to such little niceties very clumsily. Now just tuck
+in the corner out of sight. There! Thank you, ever so much. And would you
+be kind enough to--Yes, that's better. And this other wrap so. Oh, that
+is perfect. What a patient man you are, Mr. Wentworth!'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. You _are_ a foreigner. I can see that now. Your
+professed compliment was hollow. You said I did it perfectly, and then
+immediately directed me how to do it.'
+
+'Nothing of the kind. You did it well, and I think you ought not to
+grudge me the pleasure of adding my own little improvements.'
+
+'Oh, if you put it in that way, I will not. Now, before I sit down, tell
+me what book I can get that will interest you. The library contains a
+very good assortment.'
+
+'I don't think I care about reading. Sit down and talk. I suppose I am
+too indolent to-day. I thought, when I came on board, that I would do a
+lot of reading, but I believe the sea-air makes one lazy. I must confess
+I feel entirely indifferent to mental improvement.'
+
+'You evidently do not think my conversation will be at all worth
+listening to.'
+
+'How quick you are to pervert my meaning! Don't you see that I think
+your conversation better worth listening to than the most interesting or
+improving book you can choose from the library? Really, in trying to
+avoid giving you cause for making such a remark, I have apparently
+stumbled into a worse error. I was just going to say I would like your
+conversation much better than a book, when I thought you would take that
+as a reflection on your reading. If you take me up so sharply I will sit
+here and say nothing. Now then, talk!'
+
+'What shall I say?'
+
+'Oh, if I told you what to say I should be doing the talking. Tell me
+about yourself. What do you do in London?'
+
+'I work hard. I am an accountant.'
+
+'And what is an accountant? What does he do? Keep accounts?'
+
+'Some of them do; I do not. I see, rather, that accounts which other
+people keep have been correctly kept.'
+
+'Aren't they always correctly kept? I thought that was what book-keepers
+were hired for.'
+
+'If books were always correctly kept there would be little for us to do;
+but it happens, unfortunately for some, but fortunately for us, that
+people occasionally do not keep their accounts accurately.'
+
+'And can you always find that out if you examine the books?'
+
+'Always.'
+
+'Can't a man make up his accounts so that no one can tell there is
+anything wrong?'
+
+'The belief that such a thing can be done has placed many a poor wretch
+in prison. It has been tried often enough.'
+
+'I am sure they can do it in the States. I have read of it being done and
+continued for years. Men have made off with great sums of money by
+falsifying the books, and no one found it out until the one who did it
+died or ran away.'
+
+'Nevertheless, if an expert accountant had been called in, he would have
+found out very soon that something was wrong, and just where the wrong
+was, and how much.'
+
+'I didn't think such cleverness possible. Have you ever discovered
+anything like that?'
+
+'I have.'
+
+'What is done when such a thing is discovered?'
+
+'That depends upon circumstances. Usually a policeman is called in.'
+
+'Why, it's like being a detective. I wish you would tell me about some of
+the cases you have had. Don't make me ask so many questions. Talk.'
+
+'I don't think my experiences would interest you in the least. There
+was one case with which I had something to do in London, two years
+ago, that----'
+
+'Oh, London! I don't believe the book-keepers there are half so sharp as
+ours. If you had to deal with American accountants, you would not find
+out so easily what they had or had not done.'
+
+'Well, Miss Brewster, I may say I have just had an experience of that
+kind with some of your very sharpest American book-keepers. I found that
+the books had been kept in the most ingenious way with the intent to
+deceive. The system had been going on for years.'
+
+'How interesting! And did you call in a policeman?'
+
+'No. This was one of the cases where a policeman was not necessary. The
+books were kept with the object of showing that the profits of the m--of
+the business--had been much greater than they really were. I may say that
+one of your American accountants had already looked over the books, and,
+whether through ignorance or carelessness, or from a worse motive, he
+reported them all right. They were not all right, and the fact that they
+were not, will mean the loss of a fortune to some people on your side of
+the water, and the saving of good money to others on my side.'
+
+'Then I think your profession must be a very important one.'
+
+'We think so, Miss Brewster. I would like to be paid a percentage on the
+money saved because of my report.'
+
+'And won't you?'
+
+'Unfortunately, no.'
+
+'I think that is too bad. I suppose the discrepancy must have been small,
+or the American accountant would not have overlooked it?'
+
+'I didn't say he overlooked it. Still, the size of a discrepancy does not
+make any difference. A small error is as easily found as a large one.
+This one was large. I suppose there is no harm in my saying that the
+books, taking them together, showed a profit of forty thousand pounds,
+when they should have shown a loss of nearly half that amount. I hope
+nobody overhears me.'
+
+'No; we are quite alone, and you may be sure I will not breathe a word
+of what you have been telling me.'
+
+'Don't breathe it to Kenyon, at least. He would think me insane if he
+knew what I have said.'
+
+'Is Mr. Kenyon an accountant, too?'
+
+'Oh no. He is a mineralogist. He can go into a mine, and tell with
+reasonable certainty whether it will pay the working or not. Of course,
+as he says himself, any man can see six feet into the earth as well as he
+can. But it is not every man that can gauge the value of a working mine
+so well as John Kenyon.'
+
+'Then, while you were delving among the figures, your companion was
+delving among the minerals?'
+
+'Precisely.'
+
+'And did he make any such startling discovery as you did?'
+
+'No; rather the other way. He finds the mines very good properties, and
+he thinks that if they were managed intelligently they would be good
+paying investments--that is, at a proper price, you know--not at what the
+owners ask for them at present. But you can have no possible interest in
+these dry details.'
+
+'Indeed, you are mistaken. I think what you have told me intensely
+interesting.'
+
+For once in her life Miss Jennie Brewster told the exact truth. The
+unfortunate man at her side was flattered.
+
+'For what I have told you,' he said, 'we were offered twice what the
+London people pay us for coming out here. In fact, even more than that:
+we were asked to name our own price.'
+
+'Really now! By the owners of the property, I suppose, if you wouldn't
+tell on them?'
+
+'No. By one of your famous New York newspaper men. He even went so far
+as to steal the papers that Kenyon had in Ottawa. He was cleverly caught,
+though, before he could make any use of what he had stolen. In fact,
+unless his people in New York had the figures which were originally
+placed before the London Board, I doubt if my statistics would have been
+of much use to him even if he had been allowed to keep them. The full
+significance of my report will not show until the figures I have given
+are compared with those already in the hands of the London people, which
+were vouched for as correct by your clever American accountant.'
+
+'You shouldn't run down an accountant just because he is American.
+Perhaps there will come a day, Mr. Wentworth, when you will admit that
+there are Americans who are more clever than either that accountant or
+that newspaper man. I don't think your specimens are typical.'
+
+'I don't "run down," as you call it, the men because they are Americans.
+I "run down" the accountant because he was either ignorant or corrupt. I
+"run down" the newspaper man because he was a thief.'
+
+Miss Brewster was silent for a few moments. She was impressing on her
+memory what he had said to her, and was anxious to get away, so that she
+could write out in her cabin exactly what had been told her. The sound of
+the lunch-gong gave her the excuse she needed, so, bidding her victim a
+pleasant and friendly farewell, she hurried from the deck to her
+state-room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+
+One morning, when Kenyon went to his state-room on hearing the
+breakfast-gong, he found the lazy occupant of the upper berth still
+in his bunk.
+
+'Come, Wentworth,' he shouted, 'this won't do, you know. Get up! get up!
+breakfast, my boy! breakfast!--the most important meal in the day to a
+healthy man.'
+
+Wentworth yawned and stretched his arms over his head.
+
+'What's the row?' he asked.
+
+'The row is, it's time to get up. The second gong has sounded.'
+
+'Dear me! is it so late? I didn't hear it.' Wentworth sat up in his bunk,
+and looked ruefully over the precipice down the chasm to the floor. 'Have
+you been up long?' he asked.
+
+'Long? I have been on deck an hour and a half,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'Then, Miss What's-her-Name must have been there also.'
+
+'Her name is Miss Longworth,' replied Kenyon, without looking at his
+comrade.
+
+'That's her name, is it? and she _was_ on deck?'
+
+'She was.'
+
+'I thought so,' said Wentworth; 'just look at the divine influence of
+woman! Miss Longworth rises early, therefore John Kenyon rises early.
+Miss Brewster rises late, therefore George Wentworth is not seen until
+breakfast-time. If the conditions were reversed, I suppose the getting-up
+time of the two men would be changed accordingly.'
+
+'Not at all, George--not at all. I would rise early whether anybody else
+on board did or not. In fact, when I got on deck this morning, I expected
+to have it to myself.'
+
+'I take it, though, that you were not grievously disappointed when you
+found you hadn't a monopoly?'
+
+'Well, to tell the truth, I was not; Miss Longworth is a charmingly
+sensible girl.'
+
+'Oh, they all are,' said Wentworth lightly. 'You had no sympathy for
+me the other day. Now you know how it is yourself, as they say across
+the water.'
+
+'I don't know how it is myself. The fact is, we were talking business.'
+
+'Really? Did you get so far?'
+
+'Yes, we got so far, if that is any distance. I told her about the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, you did! What did she say? Will she invest?'
+
+'Well, when I told her we expected to form a company for fifty thousand
+pounds, she said it was such a small sum, she doubted if we could get
+anybody interested in it in London.'
+
+Wentworth, who was now well advanced with his dressing, gave a long
+whistle.
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds a small sum? Why, John, she must be very wealthy!
+Probably more so than the American millionairess.'
+
+'Well, George, you see, the difference between the two young ladies is
+this: that while American heiresses are apt to boast of their immense
+wealth, English women say nothing about it.'
+
+'If you mean Miss Brewster when you speak in that way, you are entirely
+mistaken. She has never alluded to her wealth at all, with the exception
+of saying that her father was a millionaire. So if the young woman you
+speak of has been talking of her wealth at all, she has done more than
+the American girl.'
+
+'She said nothing to indicate she was wealthy. I merely conjectured it
+when I discovered she looked upon fifty thousand pounds as a triviality.'
+
+'Well, the fault is easily remedied. We may raise the price of the mine
+to one hundred thousand pounds if we can get people to invest. Perhaps
+the young lady's father might care to go in for it at that figure.'
+
+'Oh, by the way, Wentworth,' said Kenyon, 'I forgot to tell you, Miss
+Longworth's father is one of the London Syndicate.'
+
+'By Jove! are you sure of that? How do you know? You weren't talking of
+our mission out there, were you?'
+
+'Certainly not,' replied Kenyon, flushing. 'You don't think I would speak
+of that to a stranger, do you? nor of anything concerned with our
+reports.'
+
+Wentworth proceeded with his dressing, a guilty feeling rising in his
+heart.
+
+'I want to ask you a question about that.'
+
+'About what?' said Wentworth shortly.
+
+'About those mines. Miss Longworth's father being a member of the London
+Syndicate, suppose he asks what our views in relation to the matter are:
+would we be justified in telling him anything?'
+
+'He won't ask me as I don't know him; he may ask you, and if he does,
+then you will have to decide the question for yourself.'
+
+'Would you say anything about it if you were in my place?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know. If we were certain it was all right--if you are sure
+he _is_ a member of the syndicate, and he happens to ask you about it, I
+scarcely see how you can avoid telling him.'
+
+'It would be embarrassing; so I hope he won't ask me. We should not speak
+of it until we give in our reports. He knows, however, that you are the
+accountant who has that part of the business in charge.'
+
+'Oh, then you have been talking with him?'
+
+'Just a moment or two, after his daughter introduced me.'
+
+'What did you say his name was?'
+
+'John Longworth, I believe. I am sure about the Longworth, but not about
+the John.'
+
+'Oh, old John Longworth in the City! Certainly; I know all about him. I
+never saw him before, but I think we are quite safe in telling him
+anything he wants to know, if he asks.'
+
+'Breakfast, gentlemen,' said the steward, putting his head in at the
+door.
+
+After breakfast Edith Longworth and her cousin walked the deck together.
+Young Longworth, although in better humour than he had been the night
+before, was still rather short in his replies, and irritating in his
+questions.
+
+'Aren't you tired of this eternal parade up and down?' he asked his
+cousin. 'It seems to me like a treadmill--as if a person had to work for
+his board and lodging.'
+
+'Let us sit down then,' she replied; 'although I think a walk before
+lunch or dinner increases the attractiveness of those meals wonderfully.'
+
+'I never feel the need of working up an appetite,' he answered pettishly.
+
+'Well, as I said before, let us sit down;' and the girl, having found
+her chair, lifted the rug that lay upon it, and took her place.
+
+The young man, after standing for a moment looking at her through his
+glistening monocle, finally sat down beside her.
+
+'The beastly nuisance of living on board ship,' he said, 'is that you
+can't play billiards.'
+
+'I am sure you play enough at cards to satisfy you during the few days we
+are at sea,' she answered.
+
+'Oh, cards! I soon tire of them.'
+
+'You tire very quickly of everything.'
+
+'I certainly get tired of lounging about the deck, either walking or
+sitting.'
+
+'Then, pray don't let me keep you.'
+
+'You want me to go so you may walk with your newly-found friend, that
+miner fellow?'
+
+'That miner fellow is talking with my father just now. Still, if you
+would like to know, I have no hesitation in telling you I would much
+prefer his company to yours if you continue in your present mood.'
+
+'Yes, or in any mood.'
+
+'I did not say that; but if it will comfort you to have me say it, I
+shall be glad to oblige you.'
+
+'Perhaps, then, I should go and talk with your father, and let the miner
+fellow come here and talk with you.'
+
+'Please do not call him the miner fellow. His name is Mr. Kenyon. It is
+not difficult to remember.'
+
+'I know his name well enough. Shall I send him to you?'
+
+'No. I want to talk with you in spite of your disagreeableness. And what
+is more, I want to talk with you about Mr. Kenyon. So I wish you to
+assume your very best behaviour. It may be for your benefit.'
+
+The young man indulged in a sarcastic laugh.
+
+'Oh, if you are going to do that, I have nothing more to say,' remarked
+Edith quietly, rising from her chair.
+
+'I meant no harm. Sit down and go on with your talk.'
+
+'Listen, then. Mr. Kenyon has the option of a mine in Canada, which he
+believes to be a good property. He intends to form a company when he
+reaches London. Now, why shouldn't you make friends with him, and, if you
+found the property is as good as he thinks it is, help him to form the
+company, and so make some money for both of you?'
+
+'You are saying one word for me and two for Kenyon.'
+
+'No, it would be as much for your benefit as for his, so it is a word for
+each of you.'
+
+'You are very much interested in him.'
+
+'My dear cousin, I am very much interested in the mine, and I am very
+much interested in you. Mr. Kenyon can speak of nothing but the mine,
+and I am sure my father would be pleased to see you take an interest in
+something of the sort. I mean, you know that if you would do something
+of your own accord--something that was not suggested to you by him--he
+would like it.'
+
+'Well, it is suggested to me by you, and that's almost the same thing.'
+
+'No, it is not the same thing at all. Father would indeed be glad if he
+saw you take up anything on your own account and make a success of it.
+Why can you not spend some of your time talking with Mr. Kenyon
+discussing arrangements, so that when you return to London you might be
+prepared to put the mine on the market and bring out the company?'
+
+'If I thought you were talking to me for my own sake, I would do what
+you suggest; but I believe you are speaking only because you are
+interested in Kenyon.'
+
+'Nonsense! How can you be so absurd? I have known Mr. Kenyon but for a
+few hours--a day or two at most.'
+
+The young man pulled his moustache for a moment, adjusted his eyeglass,
+and then said:
+
+'Very good. I will speak to Kenyon on the subject if you wish it, but I
+don't say that I can help him.'
+
+'I don't ask you to help him. I ask you to help yourself. Here is Mr.
+Kenyon. Let me introduce you, and then you can talk over the project at
+your leisure.'
+
+'I don't suppose an introduction is necessary,' growled the young man;
+but as Kenyon approached them, Edith Longworth said:
+
+'We are a board of directors, Mr. Kenyon, on the great mica-mine. Will
+you join the Board now, or after allotment?' Then, before he could reply,
+she said: 'Mr. Kenyon, this is my cousin, Mr. William Longworth.'
+
+Longworth, without rising from his chair, shook hands in rather a surly
+fashion.
+
+'I am going to speak to my father,' said the girl, 'and will leave you to
+talk over the mica-mine.'
+
+When she had gone, young Longworth asked Kenyon:
+
+'Where is the mine my cousin speaks of?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, in Canada,' was the answer.
+
+'And what do you expect to sell it for?'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Fifty thousand pounds! That will leave nothing to divide up among--by
+the way, how many are there in this thing--yourself alone?'
+
+'No; my friend Wentworth shares with me.'
+
+'Share and share alike?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Of course, you think this mine is worth the money you ask for it--there
+is no swindle about it, is there?'
+
+Kenyon drew himself up sharply as this remark was made. Then he answered
+coldly:
+
+'If there was any swindle about it, I should have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Well, you see, I didn't know; mining swindles are not such rarities as
+you may imagine. If the mine is so valuable, why are the proprietors
+anxious to sell?'
+
+'The owners are in Austria, and the mine in Canada, and so it is rather
+at arm's-length, as it were. They are mining for mica, but the mine is
+more valuable in other respects than it is as a mica property. They have
+placed a figure on the mine which is more than it has cost them so far.'
+
+'You know its value in those other respects?'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'Does anyone know this except yourself?'
+
+'I think not--no one but my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'How did you come to learn its value?'
+
+'By visiting the mine. Wentworth and I went together to see it.'
+
+'Oh, is Wentworth also a mining expert?'
+
+'No; he is an accountant in London.'
+
+'Both of you were sent out by the London Syndicate, I understand, to look
+after their mines, or the mines they thought of purchasing, were you
+not?'
+
+'We were.'
+
+'And you spent your time in looking up other properties for yourselves,
+did you?'
+
+Kenyon reddened at this question.
+
+'My dear sir,' he said, 'if you are going to talk in this strain, you
+will have to excuse me. We were sent by the London Syndicate to do a
+certain thing. We did it, and did it thoroughly. After it was done the
+time was our own, as much as it is at the present moment. We were not
+hired by the day, but took a stated sum for doing a certain piece of
+work. I may go further and say that the time was our own at any period
+of our visit, so long as we fulfilled what the London Syndicate
+required of us.'
+
+'Oh, I meant no offence,' said Longworth. 'You merely seemed to be posing
+as a sort of goody-goody young man when I spoke of mining swindles, so I
+only wished to startle you. How much have you to pay for the mine--that
+is the mica-mine?'
+
+Kenyon hesitated for a moment.
+
+'I do not feel at liberty to mention the sum until I have consulted with
+my friend Wentworth.'
+
+'Well, you see, if I am to help you in this matter, I shall need to know
+every particular.'
+
+'Certainly. I shall have to consult Wentworth as to whether we require
+any help or not.'
+
+'Oh, you will speedily find that you require all the help you can get in
+London. You will probably learn that a hundred such mines are for sale
+now, and the chances are you will find that this very mica-mine has been
+offered. What do you believe the mine is really worth?'
+
+'I think it is worth anywhere from one hundred thousand pounds to two
+hundred thousand pounds, perhaps more.'
+
+'Is it actually worth one hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'According to my estimate, it is.'
+
+'Is it worth one hundred and fifty thousand pounds?'
+
+'It is.'
+
+'Is it worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'I think so.'
+
+'What percentage would it pay on two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'It might pay ten per cent., perhaps more.'
+
+'Why, in the name of all that is wonderful, don't you put the price at
+two hundred thousand pounds? If it will pay ten per cent and more on that
+amount of money, then that sum is what you ought to sell it for. Now we
+will investigate this matter, if you like, and if you wish to take me in
+with you, and put the price up to two hundred thousand pounds, I will see
+what can be done about it when we get to London. Of course, it will mean
+somebody going out to Canada again to report on the mine. Your report
+would naturally not be taken in such a case; you are too vitally
+interested.'
+
+'Of course,' replied Kenyon, 'I shouldn't expect my report to have any
+weight.'
+
+'Well, somebody would have to be sent out to report on the mine. Are you
+certain that it will stand thorough investigation?'
+
+'I am convinced of it.'
+
+'Would you be willing to make this proposition to the investors, that, if
+the expert did not support your statement, you would pay his expenses out
+there and back?'
+
+'I would be willing to do that,' said Kenyon, 'if I had the money; but I
+haven't the money.'
+
+'Then, how do you expect to float the mine on the London market? It
+cannot be done without money.'
+
+'I thought I might be able to interest some capitalist.'
+
+'I am much afraid, Mr. Kenyon, that you have vague ideas of how companies
+are formed. Perhaps your friend Wentworth, being an accountant, may know
+more about it.'
+
+'Yes, I confess I am relying mainly on his assistance.'
+
+'Well, will you agree to put the price of the mine at two hundred
+thousand pounds, and share what we make equally between the three of us?'
+
+'It is a large price.'
+
+'It is not a large price if the mine will pay good dividends upon it; if
+it will pay eight per cent. on that amount, it is the real price of the
+mine, while you say that you are certain it will pay ten per cent.'
+
+'I say I think it will pay that percentage. One never can speak with
+entire certainty where a mine is concerned.'
+
+'Are you willing to put the price of the mine at that figure? Otherwise,
+I will have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'As I said, I shall have to consult my friend about it, but that can be
+done in a very short time, and I will answer you in the afternoon.'
+
+'Good; there is no particular hurry. Have a talk over it with him, and
+while I do not promise anything, I think the scheme looks feasible, if
+the property is good. Remember, I know nothing at all about that, but if
+you agree to take me in, I shall have to know full particulars of what
+you are going to pay for the property, and what its peculiar value is.'
+
+'Certainly. If we agree to take a partner, we will give that partner our
+full confidence.'
+
+'Well, there is nothing more to say until you have had a consultation
+with your friend. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon;' and with that Longworth
+arose and lounged off to the smoking-room.
+
+Kenyon waited where he was for some time, hoping Wentworth would come
+along, but the young man did not appear. At last he went in search of
+him. He passed along the deck, but found no trace of his friend, and
+looked for a moment into the smoking-room, but Wentworth was not there.
+He went downstairs to the saloon, but his search below was equally
+fruitless. Coming up on deck again, he saw Miss Brewster sitting alone
+reading a paper-covered novel.
+
+'Have you seen my friend Wentworth?' he asked.
+
+She laid the book open-faced upon her lap, and looked quickly up at
+Kenyon before answering.
+
+'I saw him not so very long ago, but I don't know where he is now.
+Perhaps you will find him in his state-room; in fact, I think it more
+than likely that he is there.'
+
+With that, Miss Brewster resumed her book.
+
+Kenyon descended to the state-room, opened the door, and saw his comrade
+sitting upon the plush-covered sofa, with his head in his hands. At the
+opening of the door, Wentworth started and looked for a moment at his
+friend, apparently not seeing him. His face was so gray and ghastly that
+Kenyon leaned against the door for support as he saw it.
+
+'My God, George!' he cried, 'what is the matter with you? What has
+happened? Tell me!'
+
+Wentworth gazed in front of him with glassy eyes for a moment, but did
+not answer. Then his head dropped again in his hands, and he groaned
+aloud.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+
+There was one man on board the _Caloric_ to whom Wentworth had taken an
+extreme dislike. His name was Fleming, and he claimed to be a New York
+politician. As none of his friends or enemies asserted anything worse
+about him, it may be assumed that Fleming had designated his occupation
+correctly. If Wentworth were asked what he most disliked about the man,
+he would probably have said his offensive familiarity. Fleming seemed to
+think himself a genial good fellow, and he was immensely popular with a
+certain class in the smoking-room. He was lavishly free with his
+invitations to drink, and always had a case of good cigars in his pocket,
+which he bestowed with great liberality. He had the habit of slapping a
+man boisterously on the back, and saying, 'Well, old fellow, how are you?
+How's things?' He usually confided to his listeners that he was a
+self-made man: had landed at New York without a cent in his pocket, and
+look at him now!
+
+Wentworth was icy towards this man; but frigidity had no effect whatever
+on the exuberant spirits of the New York politician.
+
+'Well, old man!' cried Fleming to Wentworth, as he came up to the latter
+and linked arms affectionately. 'What lovely weather we are having for
+winter time!'
+
+'It _is_ good,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Good? It's glorious! Who would have thought, when leaving New York in a
+snowstorm as we did, that we would run right into the heart of spring? I
+hope you are enjoying your voyage?'
+
+'I am.'
+
+'You ought to. By the way, why are you so awful stand-offish? Is it
+natural, or merely put on "for this occasion only"?'
+
+'I do not know what you mean by "stand-offish."'
+
+'You know very well what I mean. Why do you pretend to be so stiff and
+formal with a fellow?'
+
+'I am never stiff and formal with anyone unless I do not desire his
+acquaintance.'
+
+Fleming laughed loudly.
+
+'I suppose that's a personal hint. Well, it seems to me, if this
+exclusiveness is genuine, that you would be more afraid of newspaper
+notoriety than of anything else.'
+
+'Why do you say that?'
+
+'Because I can't, for the life of me, see why you spend so much time with
+Dolly Dimple. I am sure I don't know why she is here; but I do know this:
+that you will be served up to the extent of two or three columns in the
+_Sunday Argus_ as sure as you live.'
+
+'I don't understand you.'
+
+'You don't? Why, it's plain enough. You spend all your time with her.'
+
+'I do not even know of whom you are speaking.'
+
+'Oh, come now, that's too rich! Is it possible you don't know that Miss
+Jennie Brewster is the one who writes those Sunday articles over the
+signature of "Dolly Dimple"?'
+
+A strange fear fell upon Wentworth as his companion mentioned the
+_Argus_. He remembered it as J.K. Rivers' paper; but when Fleming said
+Miss Brewster was a correspondent of the _Argus_, he was aghast.
+
+'I--I--I don't think I quite catch your meaning,' he stammered.
+
+'Well, my meaning's easy enough to see. Hasn't she ever told you? Then it
+shows she wants to do you up on toast. You're not an English politician,
+are you? You haven't any political secrets that Dolly wants to get at,
+have you? Why, she is the greatest girl there is in the whole United
+States for finding out just what a man doesn't want to have known. You
+know the Secretary of State'--and here Fleming went on to relate a
+wonderfully brilliant feat of Dolly's; but the person to whom he was
+talking had neither eyes nor ears. He heard nothing and he saw nothing.
+
+'Dear me!' said Fleming, drawing himself up and slapping the other on the
+back, 'you look perfectly dumfounded. I suppose I oughtn't to have given
+Dolly away like this; but she has pretended all along that she didn't
+know me, and so I've got even with her. You take my advice, and anything
+you don't want to see in print, don't tell Miss Brewster, that's all.
+Have a cigar?'
+
+'No, thank you,' replied the other mechanically.
+
+'Better come in and have a drink.'
+
+'No, thank you.'
+
+'Well, so long. I'll see you later.'
+
+'It can't be true--it can't be true!' Wentworth repeated to himself in
+deep consternation, but still an inward misgiving warned him that, after
+all, it might be true. With his hands clasped behind him he walked up and
+down, trying to collect himself--trying to remember what he had told and
+what he had not. As he walked along, heeding nobody, a sweet voice from
+one of the chairs thrilled him, and he paused.
+
+'Why, Mr. Wentworth, what is the matter with you this morning? You look
+as if you had seen a ghost.'
+
+Wentworth glanced at the young woman seated in the chair, who was gazing
+up brightly at him.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I am not sure but I _have_ seen a ghost. May I
+sit down beside you?'
+
+'May you? Why, of course you may. I shall be delighted to have you. Is
+there anything wrong?'
+
+'I don't know. Yes, I think there is.'
+
+'Well, tell it to me; perhaps I can help you. A woman's wit, you know.
+What is the trouble?'
+
+'May I ask you a few questions, Miss Brewster?'
+
+'Certainly. A thousand of them, if you like, and I will answer them all
+if I can.'
+
+'Thank you. Will you tell me, Miss Brewster, if you are connected with
+any newspaper?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed her merry, silvery little laugh.
+
+'Who told you? Ah! I see how it is. It was that creature Fleming. I'll
+get even with him for this some day. I know what office he is after, and
+the next time he wants a good notice from the _Argus_ he'll get it; see
+if he don't. I know some things about him that he would just as soon not
+see in print. Why, what a fool the man is! I suppose he told you out of
+revenge because I wouldn't speak to him the other evening. Never mind; I
+can afford to wait.'
+
+'Then--then, Miss Brewster, it _is_ true?'
+
+'Certainly it is true; is there anything wrong about it? I hope you don't
+think it is disreputable to belong to a good newspaper?'
+
+'To a good newspaper, no; to a bad newspaper, yes.'
+
+'Oh, I don't think the _Argus_ is a bad newspaper. It pays me well.'
+
+'Then it is to the _Argus_ that you belong?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'May I ask, Miss Brewster, if there is anything I have spoken about to
+you that you intend to use in your paper?'
+
+Again Miss Brewster laughed.
+
+'I will be perfectly frank with you. I never tell a lie--it doesn't pay.
+Yes. The reason I am here is because _you_ are here. I am here to find
+out what your report on those mines will be, also what the report of your
+friend will be. I have found out.'
+
+'And do you intend to use the information you have thus obtained--if I
+may say it--under false pretences?'
+
+'My dear sir, you are forgetting yourself. You must remember that you are
+talking to a lady.'
+
+'A lady!' cried Wentworth in his anguish.
+
+'Yes, sir, a lady; and you must be careful how you talk to _this_ lady.
+There was no false pretence about it, if you remember. What you told me
+was in conversation; I didn't ask you for it. I didn't even make the
+first advances towards your acquaintance.'
+
+'But you must admit, Miss Brewster, that it is very unfair to get a man
+to engage in what he thinks is a private conversation, and then to
+publish what he has said.'
+
+'My dear sir, if that were the case, how would we get anything for
+publication that people didn't want to be known? Why, I remember once,
+when the Secretary of State----'
+
+'Yes,' interrupted Wentworth wearily; 'Fleming told me that story.'
+
+'Oh, did he? Well, I'm sure I'm much obliged to him. Then I need not
+repeat it.'
+
+'Do you mean to say that you intend to send to the _Argus_ for
+publication what I have told you in confidence?'
+
+'Certainly. As I said before, that is what I am here for. Besides, there
+was no "in confidence" about it.'
+
+'And yet you pretend to be a truthful, honest, honourable woman?'
+
+'I don't _pretend_ it; I am.'
+
+'How much truth, then, is there in your story that you are a
+millionaire's daughter about to visit your father in Paris, and accompany
+him from there to the Riviera?'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed brightly.
+
+'Oh, I don't call fibs, which a person has to tell in the way of
+business, untruths.'
+
+'Then probably you do not think your estimable colleague, Mr. J.K.
+Rivers, behaved dishonourably in Ottawa?'
+
+'Well, hardly. I think Rivers was not justified in what he did because he
+was unsuccessful, that is all. I'll bet a dollar if I had got hold of
+these papers they would have gone through to New York; but, then, J.K.
+Rivers is only a stupid man, and most men _are_ stupid'--with a sly
+glance at Wentworth.
+
+'I am willing to admit that, Miss Brewster, if you mean me. There never
+was a more stupid man than I have been.'
+
+'My dear Mr. Wentworth, it will do you ever so much good if you come to
+a realization of that fact. The truth is, you take yourself much too
+seriously. Now, it won't hurt you a bit to have what I am going to send
+published in the _Argus_, and it will help me a great deal. Just you wait
+here for a few moments.'
+
+With that she flung her book upon his lap, sprang up, and vanished down
+the companion-way. In a very short time she reappeared with some sheets
+of paper in her hand.
+
+'Now you see how fair and honest I am going to be. I am going to read you
+what I have written. If there is anything in it that is not true, I will
+very gladly cut it out; and if there is anything more to be added, I
+shall be very glad to add it. Isn't that fair?'
+
+Wentworth was so confounded with the woman's impudence that he could make
+no reply.
+
+She began to read: '"By an unexampled stroke of enterprise the _New York
+Argus_ is enabled this morning to lay before its readers a full and
+exclusive account of the report made by the two English specialists, Mr.
+George Wentworth and Mr. John Kenyon, who were sent over by the London
+Syndicate to examine into the accounts, and inquire into the true value
+of the mines of the Ottawa River."'
+
+She looked up from the paper, and said, with an air of friendly
+confidence:
+
+'I shouldn't send that if I thought the people at the New York end would
+know enough to write it themselves; but as the paper is edited by dull
+men, and not by a sharp woman, I have to make them pay twenty-five cents
+a word for puffing their own enterprise. Well, to go on: "When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend entirely
+on the report of these two gentlemen--"'
+
+'I wouldn't put it that way,' interrupted Wentworth in his despair. 'I
+would use the word "largely" for "entirely."'
+
+'Oh, _thank_ you,' said Miss Brewster cordially. She placed the
+manuscript on her knee, and, with her pencil, marked out the word
+'entirely,' substituting 'largely.' The reading went on: '"When it is
+remembered that the action of the London Syndicate will depend _largely_
+on the report of these two gentlemen, the enterprise of the _Argus_ in
+getting this exclusive information, which will be immediately cabled to
+London, may be imagined." That is the preliminary, you see; and, as I
+said, it wouldn't be necessary to cable it if women were at the head of
+affairs over there, which they are not. "Mr. John Kenyon, the mining
+expert, has visited all the mineral ranges along the Ottawa River, and
+his report is that the mines are very much what is claimed for them; but
+he thinks they are not worked properly, although, with judicious
+management and more careful mining, the properties can be made to pay
+good dividends. Mr. George Wentworth, who is one of the leading
+accountants of London--"'
+
+'I wouldn't say that, either,' groaned George. 'Just strike out the words
+"one of the leading accountants of London."'
+
+'Yes?' said Miss Brewster; 'and what shall I put in the place of them?'
+
+'Put in place of them "the stupidest ass in London"!'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed at that.
+
+'No; I shall put in what I first wrote: "Mr. George Wentworth, one of
+the leading accountants of London, has gone through the books of the
+different mines. He has made some startling discoveries. The accounts
+have been kept in such a way as to completely delude investors, and this
+fact will have a powerful effect on the minds of the London Syndicate.
+The books of the different mines show a profit of about two hundred
+thousand dollars, whereas the actual facts of the case are that there has
+been an annual loss of something like one hundred thousand dollars--"'
+
+'What's that? what's that?' cried Wentworth sharply.
+
+'Dollars, you know. You said twenty thousand pounds. We put it in
+dollars, don't you see?'
+
+'Oh,' said Wentworth, relapsing again.
+
+'"One hundred thousand dollars"--where was I? Oh yes. "It is claimed
+that an American expert went over these books before Mr. Wentworth, and
+that he asserted they were all right. An explanation from this gentleman
+will now be in order."'
+
+'There!' cried the young lady, 'that is the substance of the thing. Of
+course, I may amplify a little more before we get to Queenstown, so as to
+make them pay more money. People don't value a thing that doesn't cost
+them dearly. How do you like it? Is it correct?'
+
+'Perfectly correct,' answered the miserable young man.
+
+'Oh, I am so glad you like it! I do love to have things right.'
+
+'I didn't say I _liked_ it.'
+
+'No, of course, you couldn't be expected to say that; but I am glad you
+think it is accurate. I will add a note to the effect that you think it
+is a good _résumé_ of your report.'
+
+'For Heaven's sake, don't drag me into the matter!' cried Wentworth.
+
+'Well, I won't, if you don't want me to.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, during which the young woman seemed
+to be adding commas and full-stops to the MS. on her knee. Wentworth
+cleared his throat two or three times, but his lips were so dry that he
+could hardly speak. At last he said:
+
+'Miss Brewster, how can I induce you not to send that from Queenstown to
+your paper?'
+
+The young woman looked up at him with a pleasant bright smile.
+
+'Induce me? Why, you couldn't do it--it couldn't be done. This will be
+one of the greatest triumphs I have ever achieved. Think of Rivers
+failing in it, and me accomplishing it!'
+
+'Yes; I have thought of that,' replied the young man despondently. 'Now,
+perhaps you don't know that the full report was mailed from Ottawa to our
+house in London, and the moment we get to Queenstown I will telegraph my
+partners to put the report in the hands of the directors?'
+
+'Oh, I know all about that,' replied Miss Brewster; 'Rivers told me. He
+read the letter that was enclosed with the documents he took from your
+friend. Now, have you made any calculations about this voyage?'
+
+'Calculations? I don't know what you mean.'
+
+'Well, I mean just this: We shall probably reach Queenstown on Saturday
+afternoon. This report, making allowance for the difference in the time,
+will appear in the _Argus_ on Sunday morning. Your telegram will reach
+your house or your firm on Saturday night, when nothing can be done with
+it. Sunday nothing can be done. Monday morning, before your report will
+reach the directors, the substance of what has appeared in the _Argus_
+will be in the financial papers, cabled over to London on Sunday night.
+The first thing your directors will see of it will be in the London
+financial papers on Monday morning. That's what I mean, Mr. Wentworth, by
+calculating the voyage.'
+
+Wentworth said no more. He staggered to his feet and made his way as best
+he could to the state-room, groping like a blind man. There he sat down
+with his head in his hands, and there his friend Kenyon found him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+
+'Tell me what has happened,' demanded John Kenyon.
+
+Wentworth looked up at him.
+
+'Everything has happened,' he answered.
+
+'What do you mean, George? Are you ill? What is the matter with you?'
+
+'I am worse than ill, John--a great deal worse than ill. I wish I
+were ill.'
+
+'That wouldn't help things, whatever is wrong. Come, wake up. Tell me
+what the trouble is.'
+
+'John, I am a fool--an ass--a gibbering idiot.'
+
+'Admitting that, what then?'
+
+'I trusted a woman--imbecile that I am; and now--now--I'm what you see
+me.'
+
+'Has--has Miss Brewster anything to do with it?' asked Kenyon
+suspiciously.
+
+'She has everything to do with it.'
+
+'Has she--rejected you, George?'
+
+'What! _that_ girl? Oh, you're the idiot now. Do you think I would
+ask _her_?'
+
+'I cannot be blamed for jumping at conclusions. You must remember "that
+girl," as you call her, has had most of your company during this voyage;
+and most of your good words when you were not with her. What _is_ the
+matter? What has she to do with your trouble?'
+
+Wentworth paced up and down the narrow limits of the state-room as if he
+were caged. He smote his hand against his thigh, while Kenyon looked at
+him in wonder.
+
+'I don't know how I can tell you, John,' he said. 'I must, of course; but
+I don't know how I can.'
+
+'Come on deck with me.'
+
+'Never.'
+
+'Come out, I say, into the fresh air. It is stuffy here, and, besides,
+there is more danger of being overheard in the state-room than on deck.
+Come along, old fellow.'
+
+He caught his companion by the arm, and partly dragged him out of the
+room, closing the door behind him.
+
+'Pull yourself together,' he said. 'A little fresh air will do you good.'
+
+They made their way to the deck, and, linking arms, walked up and down.
+For a long time Wentworth said nothing, and Kenyon had the tact to hold
+his peace. Suddenly Wentworth noticed that they were pacing back and
+forth in front of Miss Brewster, so he drew his friend away to another
+part of the ship. After a few turns up and down, he said:
+
+'You remember Rivers, of course.'
+
+'Distinctly.'
+
+'He was employed on that vile sheet, the _New York Argus_.'
+
+'I suppose it is a vile sheet. I don't remember ever seeing it. Yes, I
+know he was connected with that paper. What then? What has Miss Brewster
+to do with Rivers?'
+
+'She is one of the _Argus_ staff, too.'
+
+'George Wentworth, you don't mean to tell me that!'
+
+'I do.'
+
+'And is she here to find out about the mine?'
+
+'Exactly. She was put on the job after Rivers had failed.'
+
+'George!' said Kenyon, suddenly dropping his companion's arm and facing
+him. 'What have you told her?'
+
+'There is the misery of it. I have told her everything.'
+
+'My dear fellow, how could you be----'
+
+'Oh, I know--I know! I know everything you would say. Everything you can
+say I have said to myself, and ten times more and ten times worse. There
+is nothing you can say of me more bitter than what I think about myself.'
+
+'Did you tell her anything about _my_ report?'
+
+'I told her everything--_everything_! Do you understand? She is going
+to telegraph from Queenstown the full essence of the reports--of both
+our reports.'
+
+'Heavens! this is fearful. Is there no way to prevent her sending it?'
+
+'If you think you can prevent her, I wish you would try it.'
+
+'How did you find it out? Did _she_ tell you?'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter how I found it out. I did find it out. A man told
+me who she was; then I asked her, and she was perfectly frank about it.
+She read me the report, even.'
+
+'Read it to you?'
+
+'Yes, read it to me, and punctuated it in my presence--put in some words
+that I suggested as being better than those she had used. Oh, it was the
+coolest piece of work you ever saw!'
+
+'But there must be some way of preventing her getting that account to New
+York in time. You see, all we have to do is to wire your people to hand
+in our report to the directors, and then hers is forestalled. She has to
+telegraph from a British office, and it seems to me that we could stop
+her in some way.'
+
+'As, for instance, how?'
+
+'Oh, I don't know just how at the moment, but we ought to be able to do
+it. If it were a man, we could have him arrested as a dynamiter or
+something; but a woman, of course, is more difficult to deal with.
+George, I would appeal to her better nature if I were you.'
+
+Wentworth laughed sneeringly.
+
+'Better nature?' he said. 'She hasn't any; and that is not the worst of
+it. She has "calculated," as she calls it, all the possibilities in the
+affair; she "calculates" that we will reach Queenstown about Saturday
+night. If we do, she will get her report through in time to be
+published on Sunday in the _New York Argus_. If that is the case, then
+see where our telegram will be. We telegraph our people to send in the
+report. It reaches the office Saturday night, and is not read. The
+office closes at two o'clock; but even if they got it, and understood
+the urgency of the matter, they could not place the papers before the
+directors until Monday morning, and by Monday morning it will be in the
+London financial sheets.'
+
+'George, that woman is a fiend.'
+
+'No, she isn't, John. She is merely a clever American journalist, who
+thinks she has done a very good piece of work indeed, and who, through
+the stupidity of one man, has succeeded, that's all.'
+
+'Have you made any appeal to her at all?'
+
+'Oh, haven't I! Of course I have. What good did it do? She merely laughed
+at me. Don't you understand? That is what she is here for. Her whole
+voyage is for that one purpose; and it's not likely the woman is going to
+forego her triumph after having succeeded--more especially as somebody
+else in the same office has failed. That's what gives additional zest to
+what she has done. The fact that Rivers has failed and she has triumphed
+seems to be the great feather in her cap.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon, 'I'm going to appeal to Miss Brewster myself.'
+
+'Very well. I wish you joy of your job. But do what you can, John,
+there's a good fellow. Meanwhile, I want to be alone somewhere.'
+
+Wentworth went down the stairway that led to the steerage department, and
+for a few moments sat among the steerage passengers. Then he climbed up
+another ladder, and got to the very front of the ship. Here he sat down
+on a coil of rope, and thought over the situation. Thinking, however, did
+him very little good. He realized that, even if he got hold of the paper
+Miss Brewster had, she could easily write another. She had the facts in
+her head, and all that she needed to do was to get to a telegraph office
+and there hand in her message.
+
+Meanwhile, Kenyon took a few turns up and down the deck, thinking deeply
+on the same subject. He passed over to the side where Miss Brewster sat,
+but on coming opposite her had not the courage to take his place beside
+her. She was calmly reading her book. Three times he came opposite her,
+paused for a moment, and then continued his hopeless march. He saw that
+his courage was not going to be sufficient for the task, and yet he felt
+the task must be accomplished. He didn't know how to begin. He didn't
+know what inducement to offer the young woman for foregoing the fruits of
+her ingenuity. He felt that this was the weak point in his armour. The
+third time he paused in front of Miss Brewster; she looked up and
+motioned him to the chair beside her, saying:
+
+'I do not know you very well, Mr. Kenyon, but I know who you are. Won't
+you sit down here for a moment?'
+
+The bewildered man took the chair she indicated.
+
+'Now, Mr. Kenyon, I know just what is troubling you. You have passed
+three or four times wishing to sit down beside me, and yet afraid to
+venture. Is that not true?'
+
+'Quite true.'
+
+'I knew it was. Now I know also what you have come for. Mr. Wentworth
+has told you what the trouble is. He has told you that he has given me
+all the particulars about the mines, hasn't he?'
+
+'He has.'
+
+'And he has gone off to his state-room to think over the matter, and has
+left the affair in your hands, and you imagine you can come here to me
+and, perhaps, talk me out of sending that despatch to the _Argus_. Isn't
+that your motive?'
+
+'That is about what I hope to be able to do,' said Kenyon, mopping his
+brow.
+
+'Well, I thought I might just as well put you out of your misery at once.
+You take things very seriously, Mr. Kenyon--I can see that. Now, don't
+you?'
+
+'I am afraid I do.'
+
+'Why, of course you do. The publication of this, as I told Mr. Wentworth,
+will really not matter at all. It will not be any reflection on either of
+you, because your friends will be sure that, if you had known to whom you
+were talking, you would never have said anything about the mines.'
+
+Kenyon smiled grimly at this piece of comfort.
+
+'Now, I have been thinking about something since Mr. Wentworth went away.
+I am really very sorry for him. I am more sorry than I can tell.'
+
+'Then,' said Kenyon eagerly, 'won't you----'
+
+'No, I won't, so we needn't recur to that phase of the subject. That is
+what I am here for, and, no matter what you say, the despatch is going to
+be sent. Now, it is better to understand that at the first, and then it
+will create no trouble afterwards. Don't you think that is the best?'
+
+'Probably,' answered the wretched man.
+
+'Well, then, let us start there. I will say in the cablegram that the
+information comes from neither Mr. Kenyon nor Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'Yes, but that wouldn't be true.'
+
+'Why, of course it wouldn't be true; but that doesn't matter, does it?'
+
+'Well, on our side of the water,' said Kenyon, 'we think the truth
+does matter.'
+
+Miss Brewster laughed heartily.
+
+'Dear me!' she said, 'what little tact you have! How does it concern you
+whether it is true or not? If there is any falsehood, it is not you who
+tell it, so you are free from all blame. Indeed, you are free from all
+blame anyhow, in this affair; it is all your friend Wentworth's fault;
+but still, if it hadn't been Wentworth, it would have been you.'
+
+Kenyon looked up at her incredulously.
+
+'Oh yes, it would,' she said, nodding confidently at him. 'You must not
+flatter yourself, because Mr. Wentworth told me everything about it, that
+you wouldn't have done just the same, if I had had to find it out from
+you. All men are pretty much alike where women are concerned.'
+
+'Can I say nothing to you, Miss Brewster, which will keep you from
+sending the message to America?'
+
+'You cannot, Mr. Kenyon. I thought we had settled that at the beginning.
+I see there is no use talking to you. I will return to my book, which is
+very interesting. Good-morning, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+Kenyon felt the hopelessness of his project quite as much as Wentworth
+had done, and, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, he wandered
+disconsolately up and down the deck.
+
+As he went to the other side of the deck, he met Miss Longworth walking
+alone. She smiled a cordial welcome to him, so he turned and changed his
+step to suit hers.
+
+'May I walk with you a few minutes?' he said.
+
+'Of course you may,' was the reply, 'What is the matter? You are looking
+very unhappy.'
+
+'My comrade and myself are in great trouble, and I thought I should like
+to talk with you about it.'
+
+'I am sure if there is anything I can do to help you, I shall be most
+glad to do it.'
+
+'Perhaps you may suggest something. You see, two men dealing with one
+woman are perfectly helpless.'
+
+'Ah, who is the one woman--not I, is it?'
+
+'No, not you, Miss Longworth. I wish it were, then we would have no
+trouble.'
+
+'Oh, thank you!'
+
+'You see, it is like this: When we were in Quebec--I think I told you
+about that--the _New York Argus_ sent a man to find out what we had
+reported, or were going to report, to the London Syndicate.'
+
+'Yes, you told me that.'
+
+'Rivers was his name. Well, this same paper, finding that Rivers had
+failed after having stolen the documents, has tried a much more subtle
+scheme, which promises to be successful. They have put on board this ship
+a young woman who has gained a reputation for learning secrets not
+intended for the public. This young woman is Miss Brewster, who sits next
+Wentworth at the table. Fate seems to have played right into her hand
+and placed her beside him. They became acquainted, and, unfortunately, my
+friend has told her a great deal about the mines, which she professed an
+interest in. Or, rather, she pretended to have an interest in him, and so
+he spoke, being, of course, off his guard. There is no more careful
+fellow in the world than George Wentworth, but a man does not expect that
+a private conversation with a lady will ever appear in a newspaper.'
+
+'Naturally not.'
+
+'Very well, that is the state of things. In some manner Wentworth came to
+know that this young woman was the special correspondent of the _New York
+Argus_. He spoke to her about it, and she is perfectly frank in saying
+she is here solely for the purpose of finding out what the reports will
+be, and that the moment she gets to Queenstown she will cable what she
+has discovered to New York.'
+
+'Dear me! that is very perplexing. What have you done?'
+
+'We have done nothing so far, or rather, I should say, we have tried
+everything we could think of, and have accomplished nothing. Wentworth
+has appealed to her, and I made a clumsy attempt at an appeal also, but
+it was of no use. I feel my own helplessness in this matter, and
+Wentworth is completely broken down over it.'
+
+'Poor fellow! I am sure of that. Let me think a moment.'
+
+They walked up and down the deck in silence for a few minutes. Then Miss
+Longworth looked up at Kenyon, and said;
+
+'Will you place this matter in my hands?'
+
+'Certainly, if you will be so kind as to take any interest in it.'
+
+'I take a great deal of interest. Of course, you know my father is deeply
+concerned in it also, so I am acting in a measure for him.'
+
+'Have you any plan?'
+
+'Yes; my plan is simply this: The young woman is working for money; now,
+if we can offer her more than her paper gives, she will very quickly
+accept, or I am much mistaken in the kind of woman she is.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Kenyon; 'but we haven't the money, you see.'
+
+'Never mind; the money will be quickly forthcoming. Don't trouble any
+more about it. I am sure that can be arranged.'
+
+Kenyon thanked her, looking his gratitude rather than speaking it, for
+he was an unready man, and she bade him good-bye until she could think
+over her plan.
+
+That evening there was a tap at the state-room door of Miss Jennie
+Brewster.
+
+'Come in,' cried the occupant.
+
+Miss Longworth entered, and the occupant of the room looked up, with a
+frown, from her writing.
+
+'May I have a few moments' conversation with you?' asked the visitor
+gravely.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+
+Miss Jennie Brewster was very much annoyed at being interrupted, and she
+took no pains to conceal her feelings. She was writing an article
+entitled 'How People kill Time on Shipboard,' and she did not wish to be
+disturbed; besides, as she often said of herself, she was not 'a woman's
+woman,' and she neither liked, nor was liked by, her own sex.
+
+'I desire a few moments' conversation with you, if I have your
+permission,' said Edith Longworth, as she closed the door behind her.
+
+'Certainly,' answered Jennie Brewster. 'Will you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you,' replied the other, as she took a seat on the sofa. 'I do not
+know just how to begin what I wish to say. Perhaps it will be better to
+commence by telling you that I know why you are on board this steamer.'
+
+'Yes; and why am I on board the steamer, may I ask?'
+
+'You are here, I understand, to get certain information from Mr.
+Wentworth. You have obtained it, and it is in reference to this that I
+have come to see you.'
+
+'Indeed! and are you so friendly with Mr. Wentworth that you----'
+
+'I scarcely know Mr. Wentworth at all.'
+
+'Then, why do you come on a mission from him?'
+
+'It is not a mission from him. It is not a mission from anyone. I was
+speaking to Mr. Kenyon, or, rather, Mr. Kenyon was speaking to me, about
+a subject which troubled him greatly. It is a subject in which my father
+is interested. My father is a member of the London Syndicate, and he
+naturally would not desire to have your intended cable message sent to
+New York.'
+
+'Really; are you quite sure that you are not speaking less for your
+father than for your friend Kenyon?'
+
+Anger burned in Miss Longworth's face, and flashed from her eyes as
+she answered:
+
+'You must not speak to me in that way.'
+
+'Excuse me, I shall speak to you in just the way I please. I did not ask
+for this conference; you did, and as you have taken it upon yourself to
+come into this room uninvited, you will have to put up with what you
+hear. Those who interfere with other people's business, as a general
+thing, do not have a nice time.'
+
+'I quite appreciated all the possible disagreeableness of coming here,
+when I came.'
+
+'I am glad of that, because if you hear anything you do not like, you
+will not be disappointed, and will have only yourself to thank for it.'
+
+'I would like to talk about this matter in a spirit of friendliness if I
+can. I think nothing is to be attained by speaking in any other way.'
+
+'Very well, then. What excuse have you to give me for coming into my
+state-room to talk about business which does not concern you?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, it _does_ concern me--it concerns my father, and that
+concerns me. I am, in a measure, my father's private secretary, and am
+intimately acquainted with all the business he has in hand. This
+particular business is his affair, and therefore mine. That is the reason
+I am here.'
+
+'Are you sure?'
+
+'Am I sure of what?'
+
+'Are you sure that what you say is true?'
+
+'I am not in the habit of speaking anything but the truth.'
+
+'Perhaps you flatter yourself that is the case, but it does not deceive
+me. You merely come here because Mr. Kenyon is in a muddle about what I
+am going to do. Isn't that the reason?'
+
+Miss Longworth saw that her task was going to be even harder than she
+had expected.
+
+'Suppose we let all question of motive rest? I have come here--I have
+asked your permission to speak on this subject, and you have given me the
+permission. Having done so, it seems to me you should hear me out. You
+say that I should not be offended----'
+
+'I didn't say so. I do not care a rap whether you are offended or not.'
+
+'You at least said I might hear something that would not be pleasant.
+What I wanted to say is this: I have taken the risk of that, and, as you
+remark, whether I am offended or not does not matter. Now we will come to
+the point----'
+
+'Just before you come to the point, please let me know if Mr. Kenyon told
+you he had spoken to me on this subject already.'
+
+'Yes, he told me so.'
+
+'Did he tell you that his friend Wentworth had also had a conversation
+with me about it?'
+
+'Yes, he told me that also.'
+
+'Very well, then, if those two men can do nothing to shake my purpose,
+how do you expect to do it?'
+
+'That is what I am about to tell you. This is a commercial world, and I
+am a commercial man's daughter. I recognise the fact that you are going
+to cable this information for the money it brings. Is that not the case?'
+
+'It is partly the case.'
+
+'For what other consideration do you work, then?'
+
+'For the consideration of being known as one of the best newspaper women
+in the city of New York. That is the other consideration.'
+
+'I understood you were already known as the most noted newspaper woman in
+New York.'
+
+This remark was much more diplomatic than Miss Longworth herself
+suspected.
+
+Jennie Brewster looked rather pleased, then she said:
+
+'Oh, I don't know about that; but I intend it shall be so before a
+year is past.'
+
+'Very well, you have plenty of time to accomplish your object without
+using the information you have obtained on board this ship. Now, as I was
+saying, the _New York Argus_ pays you a certain amount for doing this
+work. If you will promise not to send the report over to that paper, I
+will give you a cheque for double the sum the _Argus_ will pay you,
+besides refunding all your expenses twice over.'
+
+'In other words, you ask me to be bribed and refuse to perform my duty to
+the paper.'
+
+'It isn't bribery. I merely pay you, or will pay you, double what you
+will receive from that paper. I presume your connection with it is purely
+commercial. You work for it because you receive a certain amount of
+money; if the editor found someone who would do the same work cheaper, he
+would at once employ that person, and your services would be no longer
+required. Is that not true?'
+
+'Yes, it is true.'
+
+'Very well, then, the question of duty hardly enters into such a compact.
+They have sent you on what would be to most people a very difficult
+mission. You have succeeded. You have, therefore, in your possession
+something to sell. The New York paper will pay you a certain sum in cash
+for it. I offer you, for the same article, double the price the _New York
+Argus_ will pay you. Is not that a fair offer?'
+
+Jennie Brewster had arisen. She clasped and unclasped her hands
+nervously. For a small space of time nothing was said, and Edith
+Longworth imagined she had gained her point. The woman standing looked
+down at the woman sitting.
+
+'Do you know all the particulars about the attempt to get this
+information?' asked Miss Brewster.
+
+'I know some of them. What particulars do you mean?'
+
+'Do you know that a man from the _Argus_ tried to get this information
+from Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in Canada?'
+
+'Yes; I know about that.'
+
+'Do you know that he stole the reports, and that they were taken from him
+before he could use them?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you know he offered Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth double the price the
+London Syndicate would have paid them, on condition they gave him a
+synopsis of the reports?'
+
+'Yes, I know that also.'
+
+'Do you know that, in doing what he asked, they would not have been
+keeping back for a single day the real report from the people who engaged
+them? You know all that, do you?'
+
+'Yes; I know all that.'
+
+'Very well, then. Now you ask me to do very much more than Rivers asked
+them, because you ask me to keep my paper completely in the dark about
+the information I have got. Isn't that so?'
+
+'Yes, you can keep them in the dark until after the report has been given
+to the directors; then, of course, you can do what you please with the
+information.'
+
+'Ah, but by that time it will be of no value. By that time it will have
+been published in the London financial papers. At that time anybody can
+get it. Isn't that the case?'
+
+'I suppose so.'
+
+'Now, I want to ask you one other question, Miss--Miss--I don't think you
+told me your name.'
+
+'My name is Edith Longworth.'
+
+'Very well, Miss Longworth. I want to ask you one more question. What do
+you think of the conduct of Mr. Kenyon and Mr. Wentworth in refusing to
+take double what they had been promised for making the report?'
+
+'What do I think of them?' repeated the girl.
+
+'Yes; what do you think of them? You hesitate. You realize that you are
+in a corner. You think Mr. Wentworth and Mr. Kenyon did very nobly in
+refusing Rivers' offer?'
+
+'Of course I do.'
+
+'So do I. I think they acted rightly, and did as honourable men should
+do. Now, when you think that, Miss Longworth, how dare you come and offer
+me double, or three times, or four times, the amount my paper gives to me
+for getting this information? Do you think that I am any less honourable
+than Kenyon or Wentworth? Your offer is an insult to me; nobody but a
+woman, and a woman of your class, would have made it. Kenyon wouldn't
+have made it. Wentworth wouldn't have made it. You come here to bribe
+me. You come here to do exactly what J. K. Rivers tried to do for the
+_Argus_ in Canada. You think money will purchase anything--that is the
+thought of all your class. Now, I want you to understand that I am a
+woman of the people. I was born and brought up in poverty in New York.
+You were born and brought up amid luxury in London. I have suffered
+privation and hardships that you know nothing of, and, even if you read
+about them, you wouldn't understand. You, with the impudence of your
+class, think you can come to me and bribe me to betray my employer. I am
+here to do a certain thing, and I am going to do that certain thing in
+spite of all the money that all the Longworths ever possessed, or ever
+will possess. Do I make myself sufficiently plain?'
+
+'Yes, Miss Brewster. I don't think anyone could misunderstand you.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that, because one can never tell how thickheaded some
+people may be.'
+
+'Do you think there is any parallel between your case and Mr.
+Wentworth's?'
+
+'Of course I do. We were each sent to do a certain piece of work. We
+each did our work. We have both been offered a bribe to cheat our
+employers of the fruits of our labour; only in my case it is very much
+worse than in Wentworth's, because his employers would not have suffered,
+while mine will.'
+
+'This is all very plausible, Miss Brewster, but now allow me to tell you
+that what you have done is a most dishonourable thing, and that you are a
+disgrace to our common womanhood. You have managed, during a very short
+acquaintance, to win the confidence of a man--there is a kind of woman
+who knows how to do that: I thank Heaven I am not of that class; I prefer
+to belong to the class you have just now been reviling. Some men have an
+inherent respect for all women; Mr. Wentworth is apparently one of those,
+and, while he was on his guard with a man, he was not on his guard with a
+woman. You took advantage of that and you managed to secure certain
+information which you knew he would never have given you if he had
+thought it was to be published. You stole that information just as
+disreputably as that man stole the documents from Mr. Kenyon's pocket.
+_You_ talk of your honour and your truth when you did such a contemptible
+thing! _You_ prate of unbribeableness, when the only method possible is
+adopted of making you do what is right and just and honest! Your conduct
+makes me ashamed of being a woman. A thoroughly bad woman I can
+understand, but not a woman like you, who trade on the fact that you
+_are_ a woman, and that you are pretty, and that you have a pleasing
+manner. You use those qualities as a thief or a counterfeiter would use
+the peculiar talents God had given him. How dare you pretend for a moment
+that your case is similar to Mr. Wentworth's? Mr. Wentworth is an
+honourable man, engaged in an honourable business; as for you and your
+business, I have no words to express my contempt for both. Picking
+pockets is reputable compared with such work.'
+
+Edith Longworth was now standing up, her face flushed and her hands
+clenched. She spoke with a vehemence which she very much regretted when
+she thought of the circumstance afterwards; but her chagrin and
+disappointment at failure, where she had a moment before been sure of
+success, overcame her. Her opponent stood before her, angry and pale. At
+first Edith Longworth thought she was going to strike her, but if any
+such idea passed through the brain of the journalist, she thought better
+of it. For a few moments neither spoke, then Jennie Brewster said, in a
+voice of unnatural calmness:
+
+'You are quite welcome to your opinion of me, Miss Longworth, and I
+presume I am entitled to my opinion of Kenyon and Wentworth. They are
+two fools, and you are a third in thinking you can control the actions of
+a woman where two young men have failed. Do you think for a moment I
+would grant to you, a woman of a class I hate, what I would not grant to
+a man like Wentworth? They say there is no fool like an old fool, but it
+should be said that there is no fool like a young woman who has had
+everything her own way in this world. You are----'
+
+'I shall not stay and listen to your abuse. I wish to have nothing more
+to do with you.'
+
+'Oh, yes! you will stay,' cried the other, placing her back against the
+door. '_You_ came here at your own pleasure; you will leave at mine. I
+will tell you more truth in five minutes than you ever heard in your life
+before. I will tell you, in the first place, that my business is quite as
+honourable as Kenyon's or Wentworth's. What does Kenyon do but try to get
+information about mines which other people are vitally interested in
+keeping from him? What does Wentworth do but ferret about among accounts
+like a detective trying to find out what other people are endeavouring to
+conceal? What is the whole mining business but one vast swindle, whose
+worst enemy is the press? No wonder anyone connected with mining fears
+publicity. If your father has made a million out of mines, he has made it
+simply by swindling unfortunate victims. I do my business my way, and
+your two friends do theirs in their way. Of the two, I consider my
+vocation much the more upright. Now that you have heard what I have to
+say, you may go, and let me tell you that I never wish to see you or
+speak with you again.'
+
+'Thank you for your permission to go. I am sure I cordially echo your
+wish that we may never meet again. I may say, however, that I am sorry I
+spoke to you in the way I did. It is, of course, impossible for you to
+look on the matter from my point of view, just as it is impossible for me
+to look upon it from yours. Nevertheless, I wish you would forget what I
+said, and think over the matter a little more, and if you see your way to
+accepting my offer it will be always open to you. Should you forego the
+sending of that cablegram, I will willingly pay you three times what the
+_New York Argus_ will give you for it. I do not offer that as a bribe; I
+merely offer it so that you will not suffer from doing what I believe to
+be a just action. It seems to me a great pity that two young men should
+have to endure a serious check to their own business advancement because
+one of them was foolish enough to confide in a woman in whom he
+believed.'
+
+Edith Longworth was young, and therefore scarcely likely to be a mistress
+of diplomacy, but she might have known the last sentence she uttered
+spoiled the effect of all that had gone before.
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth, I had some little admiration for you when you
+blazed out at me in the way you did; but now, when you coolly repeat
+your offer of a bribe, adding one-third to it, all my respect for you
+vanishes. You may go and tell those who sent you that nothing under
+heaven can prevent that cablegram being sent.'
+
+In saying this, however, Miss Brewster somewhat exceeded her knowledge.
+Few of us can foretell what may or may not happen under heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+
+Edith Longworth went to her state-room and there had what women call 'a
+good cry' over her failure. Jennie Brewster continued her writing, every
+now and then pausing as she thought, with regret, of some sharp thing she
+might have said, which did not occur to her at the time of the interview.
+Kenyon spent his time in pacing up and down the deck, hoping for the
+reappearance of Miss Longworth--an expectation which, for a time at
+least, was the hope deferred which maketh the heart sick. Fleming, the
+New York politician, kept the smoking-room merry, listening to the
+stories he told. He varied the proceedings by frequently asking everybody
+to drink with him, an invitation that met with no general refusal. Old
+Mr. Longworth dozed most of his time in his steamer chair. Wentworth, who
+still bitterly accused himself of having been a fool, talked with no one,
+not even his friend Kenyon. All the time, the great steamship kept
+forging along through the reasonably calm water just as if nothing had
+happened or was going to happen. There had been one day of rain, and one
+night and part of a day of storm. Saturday morning broke, and it was
+expected that some time in the night Queenstown would be reached. Early
+on Saturday morning the clouds looked lowering, as they have a right to
+look near Ireland.
+
+Wentworth, the cause of all the worry, gave Kenyon very little assistance
+in the matter that troubled his mind. He was in the habit, when the
+subject was referred to, of thrusting his hands into his hair, or
+plunging them down into his pockets, and breaking out into language which
+was as deplorable as it was expressive. The more Kenyon advised him to be
+calm, the less Wentworth followed that advice. As a general thing, he
+spent most of his time alone in a very gloomy state of mind. On one
+occasion when the genial Fleming slapped him on the shoulder, Wentworth,
+to his great astonishment, turned fiercely round and cried:
+
+'If you do that again, sir, I'll knock you down.'
+
+Fleming said afterwards that he was 'completely flabbergasted' by
+this--whatever that may mean--and he added that the English in general
+were a queer race. It is true that he gathered himself together at the
+time and, having laughed a little over the remark, said to Wentworth:
+
+'Come and have a drink; then you'll feel better.'
+
+This invitation Wentworth did not even take the trouble to decline, but
+thrust his hands in his pockets once more, and turned his back on the
+popular New York politician.
+
+Wentworth summed up the situation to John Kenyon when he said:
+
+'There is no use in our talking or thinking any more about it. We can
+simply do nothing. I shall take the whole blame on my shoulders. I am
+resolved that you shall not suffer from my indiscretion. Now, don't talk
+to me any more about it. I want to forget the wretched business, if
+possible.'
+
+So thus it came about quite naturally that John Kenyon, who was a good
+deal troubled about the matter, took as his confidante Edith
+Longworth, who also betrayed the greatest interest in the problem.
+Miss Longworth was left all the more alone because her cousin had
+taken permanently to the smoking-room. Someone had introduced him to
+the fascinating game of poker, and in the practice of this particular
+amusement Mr. William Longworth was now spending a good deal of his
+surplus cash, as well as his time.
+
+Jennie Brewster was seldom seen on deck. She applied herself assiduously
+to the writing of those brilliant articles which appeared later in the
+Sunday edition of the _New York Argus_ under the general title of 'Life
+at Sea,' and which have more recently been issued in book form. As
+everybody is already aware, her sketches of the genial New York
+politician, and also of the taciturn, glum Englishman, are considered the
+finest things in the little volume. They have been largely copied as
+typical examples of American humour.
+
+When Jennie Brewster did appear on deck, she walked alone up and down the
+promenade, with a sort of half-defiant look in her eyes as she passed
+Kenyon and Edith Longworth, and she generally encountered them together.
+
+On this particularly eventful Saturday morning, Kenyon and Edith had the
+deck to themselves. The conversation naturally turned to the subject
+which for the last few days had occupied the minds of both.
+
+'Do you know,' said the girl, 'I have been thinking all along that she
+will come to me at the last for the money.'
+
+'I am not at all sure about that,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'I thought she would probably keep us on the tenterhooks just as long
+as possible, and then at the last moment come and say she would accept
+the offer.'
+
+'If she does,' said Kenyon, 'I would not trust her. I would give her to
+understand that a cheque would be handed to her when we were certain the
+article had not been used.'
+
+'Do you think that would be a safe way to act if she came and said she
+would take the money for not sending the cablegram? Don't you think it
+would be better to pay her and trust to her honour?'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'I do not think I would trust much to her honour.'
+
+'Now, do you know, I have a different opinion of her. I feel sure that if
+she said she would do a thing, she _would_ do it.'
+
+'I have no such faith,' answered Kenyon. 'I think, on the contrary, that
+she is quite capable of asking you for the money and still sending her
+telegram.'
+
+'Well, I doubt if she would do so. I think the girl really believes she
+is acting rightly, and imagines she has done a creditable action in a
+very smart way. If she were not what she calls "honest," she would not
+have shown so much temper as she did. Not but that I gave a deplorable
+exhibition of temper myself, for which there was really no excuse.'
+
+'I am sure,' said Kenyon warmly, 'you did nothing of the kind. At all
+events, I am certain everything you did was perfectly right; and I know
+you were completely justified in anything you said.'
+
+'I wish I could think so.'
+
+'I want to ask you one question,' said Kenyon.
+
+But what that question was will never be known. It was never asked; and
+when Edith Longworth inquired about it some time later, the question had
+entirely gone from Kenyon's mind. The steamship, which was ploughing
+along through the waters, suddenly gave a shiver, as if it were shaken by
+an earthquake; there were three tremendous bumps, such as a sledge might
+make by going suddenly over logs concealed in the snow. Both Kenyon and
+Miss Longworth sprang to their feet. There was a low roar of steam, and
+they saw a cloud rise amidships, apparently pouring out of every aperture
+through which it could escape. Then there was silence. The engines had
+stopped, and the vessel heeled distinctly over to the port side. When
+Edith Longworth began to realize the situation, she found herself very
+close to Kenyon, clasping his arm with both hands.
+
+'What--what is it?' she cried in alarm.
+
+'Something is wrong,' said Kenyon. 'Nothing serious, I hope. Will you
+wait here a moment while I go and see?'
+
+'It is stupid of me,' she answered, releasing his arm; 'but I feel
+dreadfully frightened.'
+
+'Perhaps you would rather not be left alone.'
+
+'Oh no, it is all over now; but when the first of those terrible shocks
+came it seemed to me we had struck a rock.'
+
+'There are no rocks here,' said Kenyon. 'The day is perfectly clear, and
+we are evidently not out of our course. Something has gone wrong with the
+machinery, I imagine. Just wait a moment, and I will find out.'
+
+As Kenyon rushed towards the companion-way, he met a sailor hurrying in
+the other direction.
+
+'What is the matter?' cried Kenyon.
+
+The sailor gave no answer.
+
+On entering the companion-way door, Kenyon found the place full of steam,
+and he ran against an officer.
+
+'What is wrong? Is anything the matter?'
+
+'How should I know?' was the answer, very curtly given. 'Please do not
+ask any questions. Everything will be attended to.'
+
+This was scant encouragement. People began crowding up the companion-way,
+coughing and wheezing in the steam; and soon the deck, that but a moment
+before had been almost without an occupant, was crowded with excited
+human beings in all states of dress and undress.
+
+'What is wrong?' was the question on every lip, to which, as yet, there
+was no answer. The officers who hurried to and fro were mute, or gave
+short and unsatisfactory replies to the inquiries which poured in upon
+them. People did not pause to reflect that even an officer could hardly
+be expected to know off-hand what the cause of the sudden stoppage of the
+engine might be. By-and-by the captain appeared, smiling and bland. He
+told them there was no danger. Something had gone amiss with the
+machinery, exactly what he could not, at the moment, tell; but
+there was no necessity for being panic-stricken, everything would
+be all right in a short time if they merely remained calm. These,
+and a lot of other nautical lies, which are always told on such
+occasions, served to calm the fears of the crowd; and by-and-by one
+after another went down to their state-rooms on finding the vessel was
+not going to sink immediately. They all appeared some time afterward in
+more suitable apparel. The steam which had filled the saloon soon
+disappeared, leaving the furniture dripping with warm moisture. Finally,
+the loud clang of the breakfast-gong sounded as if nothing had happened,
+and that did more, perhaps, than anything else to allay the fears of the
+passengers. If breakfast was about to be served, then, of course, things
+were not serious. Nevertheless, a great many people that morning had a
+very poor appetite for the breakfast served to them. The one blessing, as
+everybody said, was that the weather kept so fine and the sea so calm. To
+those few who knew anything about disasters at sea, the list of the ship
+to the port side was a most serious sign. The majority of the passengers,
+however, did not notice it. After breakfast people came up on deck. There
+was a wonderful avoidance of hurry, alike by officers and sailors. Orders
+were given calmly and quietly, and as calmly and quietly obeyed. Officers
+were still up on the bridge, although there were no commands to give to
+the man at the wheel and no screw turning. The helmsman stood at the
+wheel as if he expected at any time the order to turn it port or
+starboard. All this absence of rush had a very soothing effect on the
+passengers, many of whom wanted only a slight excuse to become
+hysterical. As the day wore on, however, a general feeling of security
+seemed to have come upon all on board. They one and all congratulated
+themselves on the fact that they had behaved in a most exemplary manner
+considering the somewhat alarming circumstances. Nevertheless, those who
+watched the captain saw that he swept the long line of the horizon
+through his glass every now and then with a good deal of anxiety, and
+they noticed on looking at the long level line where sea and sky met
+that not a sail was visible around the complete circle. Up from the
+engine-room came the clank of hammers, and the opinion was general that,
+whatever was amiss with the engine, it was capable of being repaired. One
+thing had become certain, there was nothing wrong with the shafts. The
+damage, whatever it was, had been to the engine alone. All of the
+passengers found themselves more or less affected by the peculiar
+sensation of the steamer being at rest--the awe-inspiring and helpless
+consciousness of complete silence--after the steady throb they had become
+so accustomed to all the way across. That night at dinner the captain
+took his place at the head of the table, urbane and courteous, as if
+nothing unusual had happened; and the people, who, notwithstanding their
+outward calmness, were in a state of anxious tension, noticed this with
+gratified feelings.
+
+'What is the matter?' asked a passenger of the captain; 'and what is the
+extent of the accident?'
+
+The captain looked down the long table.
+
+'I am afraid,' said he, 'that if I went into technical details you would
+not understand them. There was a flaw in one of the rods connected with
+the engine. That rod broke, and in breaking it damaged other parts of
+the machinery. Doubtless you heard the three thuds which it gave before
+the engine was stopped. At present it is impossible to tell how long it
+will take to repair the damage. However, even if the accident were
+serious, we are right in the track of vessels, and there is no danger.'
+
+This was reassuring; but those who lay awake that night heard the
+ominous sound of the pumps, and the swishing of water splashing down
+into the ocean.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+
+Most of the passengers awoke next morning with a bewildering feeling of
+vague apprehension. The absence of all motion in the ship, the unusual
+and intense silence, had a depressing effect. The engines had not yet
+started; that at least was evident. Kenyon was one of the first on deck.
+He noticed that the pumps were still working at their full speed, and
+that the steamer had still the unexplained list to port. Happily, the
+weather continued good, so far as the quietness of the sea was concerned.
+A slight drizzle of rain had set in, and the horizon was not many miles
+from the ship. There would not be much chance of sighting another liner
+while such weather continued.
+
+Before Kenyon had been many minutes on deck, Edith Longworth came up the
+companion-way. She approached him with a smile on her face.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'you, at least, do not seem to be suffering any anxiety
+because of our situation.'
+
+'Really,' she replied, 'I was not thinking of that at all, but about
+something else. Can you not guess what it is?'
+
+'No,' he answered hesitatingly. 'What is it?'
+
+'Have you forgotten that this is Sunday morning?'
+
+'Is it? Of course it is. So far as I am concerned, time seemed to stop
+when the engines broke down. But I do not understand why Sunday morning
+means anything in particular.'
+
+'Don't you? Well, for a person who has been thinking for the last two or
+three days very earnestly on one particular subject, I am astonished at
+you. Sunday morning and no land in sight! Reflect for a moment.'
+
+Kenyon's face brightened.
+
+'Ah,' he cried, 'I see what you mean now! Miss Brewster's cable message
+will not appear in this morning's _New York Argus_.'
+
+'Of course it will not; and don't you see, also, that when we do arrive
+you will have an equal chance in the race. If we get in before next
+Sunday, your telegram to the London people will go as quickly as her
+cable despatch to New York; thus you will be saved the humiliation of
+seeing the substance of your report in the London papers before the
+directors see the report itself. It is not much, to be sure, but, still,
+it puts you on equal terms; while if we had got into Queenstown last
+night that would have been impossible.'
+
+Kenyon laughed.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'for such a result the cause is rather tremendous, isn't
+it? It is something like burning down the house to roast the pig!'
+
+Shortly after ten o'clock the atmosphere cleared, and showed in the
+distance a steamer, westward bound. The vessel evidently belonged to one
+of the great ocean lines. The moment it was sighted there fluttered up to
+the masthead a number of signal-flags, and people crowded to the side of
+the ship to watch the effect on the outgoing vessel. Minute after minute
+passed, but there was no response from the other liner. People watched
+her with breathless anxiety, as though their fate depended on her
+noticing their signals. Of course, everybody thought she must see them,
+but still she steamed westward. A cloud of black smoke came out of her
+funnel, and then a long dark trail, like the tail of a comet, floated out
+behind; but no notice was taken of the fluttering flags at the masthead.
+For more than an hour the steamer was in sight. Then she gradually faded
+away into the west, and finally disappeared.
+
+This incident had a depressing effect on the passengers of the disabled
+ship. Although every officer had maintained there was no danger, yet the
+floating away of that steamer seemed somehow to leave them alone; and
+people, after gazing toward the west until not a vestige of her remained
+in the horizon, went back to their deck-chairs, feeling more despondent
+than ever.
+
+Fleming, however, maintained that if people had to drown, it was just as
+well to drown jolly as mournful, and so he invited everybody to take a
+drink at his expense--a generous offer, taken instant advantage of by all
+the smoking-room frequenters.
+
+'My idea is this,' said Fleming, as he sipped the cocktail which was
+brought to him, 'if anything happens, let it happen; if nothing happens,
+why, then let nothing happen. There is no use worrying about anything,
+especially something we cannot help. Here we are on the ocean in a
+disabled vessel--very good; we cannot do anything about it, and so long
+as the bar remains open, gentlemen, here's to you!'
+
+And with this cheerful philosophy the New York politician swallowed the
+liquor he had paid for.
+
+Still the swish of water from the pumps could be heard, but the metallic
+clanking of steel on steel no longer came up from the engine-room. This
+in itself was ominous to those who knew. It showed that the engineer had
+given up all hope of repairing the damage, whatever it was, and the real
+cause of the disaster was as much a mystery as ever. Shortly before lunch
+it became evident to people on board the ship that something was about to
+be done. The sailors undid the fastenings of one of the large boats, and
+swung it out on the davits until it hung over the sea.
+
+Gradually rumour took form, and it became known that one of the officers
+and certain of the crew were about to make an attempt to reach the coast
+of Ireland and telegraph to Queenstown for tugs to bring the steamer in.
+The captain still asserted that there was no danger whatever, and it was
+only to prevent delay that this expedient was about to be tried.
+
+'Do you know what they are going to do?' cried Edith Longworth, in a
+state of great excitement, to John Kenyon.
+
+Kenyon had been walking the deck with Wentworth, who now had gone below.
+
+'I have heard,' said Kenyon, 'that they intend trying to reach the
+coast.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, why should you not send a telegram to your people in
+London, and have the reports forwarded at once? The chances are that
+Miss Brewster will never think of sending her cablegram with the officer
+who is going to make the trip; then you will be a clear day or two ahead
+of her, and everything will be all right. In fact, when she understands
+what has been done, she probably will not send her own message at all.'
+
+'By George!' cried Kenyon, 'that is a good idea. I will see the mate at
+once, and find out whether he will take a telegram.'
+
+He went accordingly, and spoke to the mate about sending a message with
+him. The officer said that any passenger who wished to send a telegraphic
+message would be at liberty to do so. He would take charge of the
+telegrams very gladly. Kenyon went down to his state-room and told
+Wentworth what was going to be done. For the first time in several days
+George Wentworth exhibited something like energy. He went to the steward
+and bought the stamps to put on the telegram, while John Kenyon wrote it.
+
+The message was given to the officer, who put it into his inside pocket,
+and then Kenyon thought all was safe. But Edith Longworth was not so sure
+of that. Jennie Brewster sat in her deck-chair calmly reading her usual
+paper-covered novel. She apparently knew nothing of what was going on,
+and Edith Longworth, nervous with suppressed excitement, sat near her,
+watching her narrowly, while preparations for launching the boat were
+being completed. Suddenly, to Edith's horror, the deck-steward appeared,
+and in a loud voice cried:
+
+'Ladies and gentlemen, anyone wishing to send telegrams to friends has a
+few minutes now to write them. The mate will take them ashore with him,
+and will send them from the first office that he reaches. No letters can
+be taken, only telegrams.'
+
+Miss Brewster looked up languidly from her book during the first part of
+this recital. Then she sprang suddenly to her feet, and threw the book
+on the deck.
+
+'Who is it will take the telegrams?' she asked the steward.
+
+'The mate, miss. There he is standing yonder, miss.'
+
+She made her way quickly to that official.
+
+'Will you take a cable despatch to be sent to New York?'
+
+'Yes, miss. Is it a very long one?' he asked.
+
+'Yes, it is a very long one.'
+
+'Well, miss,' was the answer, 'you haven't much time to write it. We
+leave now in a very few minutes.'
+
+'It is all written out; I have only to add a few words to it.'
+
+Miss Brewster at once flew to her state-room. The telegram about the mine
+was soon before her with the words counted, and the silver and gold that
+were to pay for it piled on the table. She resolved to run no risk of
+delay by having the message sent 'to collect.' Then she dashed off, as
+quickly as she could, a brief and very graphic account of the disaster
+which had overtaken the _Caloric_. If this account was slightly
+exaggerated, Miss Brewster had no time to tone it down. Picturesque and
+dramatic description was what she aimed at. Her pen flew over the paper
+with great rapidity, and she looked up every now and then, through her
+state-room window, to see dangling from the ropes the boat that was to
+make the attempt to reach the Irish coast. As she could thus see how the
+preparations for the departure were going forward, she lingered longer
+than she might otherwise have done, and added line after line to the
+despatch which told of the disaster. At last she saw the men take their
+places in the longboat. She hurriedly counted the words in the new
+despatch she had written, and quickly from her purse piled the gold that
+was necessary to pay for their transmission. Then she sealed the two
+despatches in an envelope, put the two piles of gold into one after
+rapidly counting them again, cast a quick look up at the still motionless
+boat, grasped the gold in one hand, the envelope in the other, and sprang
+to her feet; but, as she did so, she gave a shriek and took a step
+backwards.
+
+Standing with her back to the door was Edith Longworth. When she had
+entered the state-room, Miss Brewster did not know, but her heart beat
+wildly as she saw the girl standing silently there, as if she had risen
+up through the floor.
+
+'What are you doing here?' she demanded.
+
+'I am here,' said Miss Longworth, 'because I wish to talk with you.'
+
+'Stand aside; I have no time to talk to you just now. I told you I didn't
+want to see you again. Stand aside, I tell you.'
+
+'I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean that I shall not stand aside.'
+
+'Then I will ring the bell and have you thrust out of here for your
+impudence.'
+
+'You shall not ring the bell,' said Edith calmly, putting her hand over
+the white china plaque that held in its centre the black electric button.
+
+'Do you mean to tell me that you intend to keep me from leaving my own
+state-room?'
+
+'I mean to tell you exactly that.'
+
+'Do you know that you can be imprisoned for attempting such a thing?'
+
+'I don't care.'
+
+'Stand aside, you vixen, or I will strike you!'
+
+'Do it.'
+
+For a moment the two girls stood there, the one flushed and excited, the
+other apparently calm, with her back against the door and her hand over
+the electric button. A glance through the window showed Miss Brewster
+that the mate had got into the boat, and that they were steadily
+lowering away.
+
+'Let me pass, you--you wretch!'
+
+'All in good time,' replied Edith Longworth, whose gaze was also upon the
+boat swinging in mid-air.
+
+Jennie Brewster saw at once that, if it came to a hand-to-hand encounter,
+she would have no chance whatever against the English girl, who was in
+every way her physical superior. She had her envelope in one hand and the
+gold in the other. She thrust both of them into her pocket, which, after
+some fumbling, she found. Then she raised her voice in one of the
+shrillest screams which Edith Longworth had ever heard. As if in answer
+to that ear-piercing sound, there rose from the steamer a loud and
+ringing cheer. Both glanced up to see where the boat was, but it was not
+in sight. Several ropes were dangling down past the porthole. Miss
+Brewster sprang up on the sofa, and with her small hands turned round
+the screw which held the window closed.
+
+Edith Longworth looked at her without making any attempt to prevent the
+unfastening of the window.
+
+Jennie Brewster flung open the heavy brass circle which held the thick
+green glass, and again she screamed at the top of her voice, crying
+'Help!' and 'Murder!'
+
+The other did not move from her position. In the silence that followed,
+the steady splash of oars could be heard, and again a rousing cheer rang
+out from those who were left upon the motionless steamer. Edith Longworth
+raised herself on tiptoe and looked out of the open window. On the crest
+of a wave, five hundred yards away from the vessel, she saw the boat for
+a moment appear, showing the white glitter of her six dripping oars; then
+it vanished down the other side of the wave into the trough of the sea.
+
+'Now, Miss Brewster', she said, 'you are at liberty to go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+
+After Edith Longworth left her, Jennie Brewster indulged in a brief spasm
+of hysterics. Her common-sense, however, speedily came to her rescue;
+and, as she became more calm, she began to wonder why she had not
+assaulted the girl who had dared to imprison her. She dimly remembered
+that she thought of a fierce onslaught at the time, and she also
+recollected that her fear of the boat leaving during the struggle had
+stayed her hand. But now that the boat had left she bitterly regretted
+her inaction, and grieved unavailingly over the fact that she had
+stopped to write the account of the disaster which befell the _Caloric_.
+Had she not done so, all might have been well, but her great ambition to
+be counted the best-newspaper woman in New York, and to show the editor
+that she was equal to any emergency that might arise, had undone her.
+While it would have been possible for her to send away one telegram, her
+desire to write the second had resulted in her sending none at all.
+Although she impugned her own conduct in language that one would not have
+expected to have heard from the lips of a millionaire's daughter, her
+anger against Edith Longworth became more intense, and a fierce desire
+for revenge took possession of the fair correspondent. She resolved that
+she would go up on deck and shame this woman before everybody. She would
+attract public attention to the affair by tearing Edith Longworth from
+her deck-chair, and in her present state of mind she had no doubt of her
+strength to do it. With the yearning for vengeance fierce and strong upon
+her, the newspaper woman put on her hat and departed for the deck. She
+passed up one side and down the other, but her intended victim was not
+visible. The rage of Miss Brewster increased when she did not find her
+prey where she expected. She had a fear that, when she calmed down, a
+different disposition would assert itself, and her revenge would be lost.
+In going to and fro along the deck she met Kenyon and Fleming walking
+together. Fleming had just that moment come up to Kenyon, who was quietly
+pacing the deck alone, and, slapping him on the shoulder, asked him to
+have a drink.
+
+'It seems to me,' he said, 'that I never have had the pleasure of
+offering you a drink since we came on board this ship. I want to drink
+with everybody here, and especially now, when something has happened to
+make it worth while.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said John Kenyon coldly, 'but I never
+drink with anybody.'
+
+'What, never touch it at all? Not even beer?'
+
+'Not even beer.'
+
+'Well, I am astonished to hear that. I thought every Englishman drank
+beer.'
+
+'There is at least one Englishman who does not.'
+
+'All right, then; no harm done, and no offence given, I hope. I may say,
+however, that you miss a lot of fun in this world.'
+
+'I suppose I miss a few headaches also.'
+
+'Oh, not necessarily. I have one great recipe for not having a headache.
+You see, this is the philosophy of headaches.' And then, much to John's
+chagrin, he linked arms with him and changed his step to suit Kenyon's,
+talking all the time as if they were the most intimate friends in the
+world. 'I have a sure plan for avoiding a headache. You see, when you
+look into the matter, it is this way: The headache only comes when you
+are sober. Very well, then. It is as simple as A B C. Never get sober;
+that's my plan. I simply keep on, and never get sober, so I have no
+headaches. If people who drink would avoid the disagreeable necessity of
+ever getting sober, they would be all right. Don't you see what I mean?'
+
+'And how about their brains in the meantime?'
+
+'Oh, their brains are all right. Good liquor sharpens a man's brains
+wonderfully. Now, you try it some time. Let me have them mix a cocktail
+for you? I tell you, John, a cocktail is one of the finest drinks that
+ever was made, and this man at the bar--when I came on board, he thought
+he could make a cocktail, but he didn't know even the rudiments--I have
+taught him how to do it; and I tell you that secret will be worth a
+fortune to him, because if there is anything Americans like, it is to
+have their cocktails mixed correctly. There's no one man in all England
+can do it, and very few men on the Atlantic service. But I'm gradually
+educating them. Been across six times. They pretend to give you American
+drinks over in England, but you must know how disappointing they are.'
+
+'I'm sure I don't see how I should know, for I never taste any of them.'
+
+'Ah, true; I had forgotten that. Well, I took this bar-keeper here in
+hand, and he knows now how to make a reasonably good cocktail; and, as I
+say, that secret will be worth money to him from American passengers.'
+
+John Kenyon was revolving in his mind the problem of how to get rid of
+this loquacious and generous individual, when he saw, bearing down upon
+them, the natty figure of Miss Jennie Brewster; and he wondered why such
+a look of bitter indignation was flashing from her eyes. He thought that
+she intended to address the American politician, but he was mistaken. She
+came directly at him, and said in an excited tone, with a ring of anger
+in it:
+
+'Well, John Kenyon, what do you think of your work?'
+
+'What work?' asked the bewildered man.
+
+'You know very well what work I mean. A fine specimen of a man you are!
+Without the courage yourself to prevent my sending that telegram, you
+induced your dupe to come down to my state-room and brazenly keep me from
+sending it.'
+
+The blank look of utter astonishment upon the face of honest John Kenyon
+would have convinced any woman in her senses that he knew nothing at all
+of what she was speaking. A dim impression of this, indeed, flashed
+across the young woman's heated brain. But before she could speak,
+Fleming said:
+
+'Tut, tut, my dear girl! you are talking too loud altogether. Do you want
+to attract the attention of everybody on the deck? You mustn't make a
+scandal in this way on board ship.'
+
+'Scandal!' she cried. 'We will soon see whether there will be a scandal
+or not. Attract the attention of those on deck! That is exactly what I am
+going to do, until I show up the villainy of this man you are talking to.
+He was the concocter of it, and he knows it. She never had brains enough
+to think of it. He was too much of a coward to carry it through himself,
+and so he set her to do his dastardly piece of work.'
+
+'Well, well,' said Fleming, 'even if he has done all that, whatever it
+is, it will do no good to attract attention to it here on deck. See how
+everybody is listening to what you are saying. My dear girl, you are too
+angry to talk just now; the best thing you can do is to go down to your
+state-room.'
+
+'Who asked you to interfere?' she cried, turning furiously upon him.
+'I'll thank you to mind your own business, and let me attend to mine. I
+should have thought that you would have found out before this that I am
+capable of attending to my own affairs.'
+
+'Certainly, certainly, my dear child,' answered the politician
+soothingly; 'I'm sorry I can't get you all to come and have a drink with
+me, and talk this matter over quietly. That's the correct way to do
+things, not to stand here scolding on the deck, with everybody listening.
+Now, if you will quietly discuss the matter with John here, I'm sure
+everything will be all right.'
+
+'You don't know what you are talking about,' replied the young lady. 'Do
+you know that I had an important despatch to send to the _Argus_, and
+that this man's friend, doubtless at his instigation, came into my room
+and practically held me prisoner there until the boat had left, so that I
+could not send the despatch? Think of the cheek and villainy of that, and
+then speak to me of talking wildly!'
+
+An expression of amazement upon Kenyon's face convinced the newspaper
+woman, more than all his protestations would have done, that he knew
+nothing whatever of the escapade.
+
+'And who kept you from coming out?' asked Fleming.
+
+'It is none of your business,' she replied tartly.
+
+'If you will believe me,' said Kenyon at last, 'I had absolutely no
+knowledge of all this; so, you see, there is no use speaking to me about
+it. I won't pretend I am sorry, because I am not.'
+
+This added fuel to the flames, and she was about to blaze out again, when
+Kenyon, turning on his heel, left her and Fleming standing facing each
+other. Then the young woman herself turned and quickly departed, leaving
+the bewildered politician entirely alone, so that there was nothing for
+him to do but to go into the smoking-room and ask somebody else to drink
+with him, which he promptly did.
+
+Miss Brewster made her way to the captain's room and rapped at the door.
+On being told to enter, she found that officer seated at his table with
+some charts before him, and a haggard look upon his face, which might
+have warned her that this was not the proper time to air any personal
+grievances.
+
+'Well?' he said briefly as she entered.
+
+'I came to see you, captain,' she began, 'because an outrageous thing has
+been done on board this ship, and I desire reparation. What is more, I
+will have it!
+
+'What is the "outrageous thing"?' asked the captain.
+
+'I had some despatches to send to New York, to the _New York Argus_, on
+whose staff I am.'
+
+'Yes,' said the captain with interest; 'despatches relating to what has
+happened to the ship?'
+
+'One of them did, the other did not.'
+
+'Well, I hope,' said the captain, 'you have not given an exaggerated
+account of the condition we are in.'
+
+'I have given no account at all, simply because I was prevented from
+sending the cablegrams.'
+
+'Ah, indeed,' said the captain, a look of relief coming over his face, in
+spite of his efforts to conceal it; 'and pray what prevented you from
+sending your cablegrams? The mate would have taken any messages that were
+given to him.'
+
+'I know that,' cried the young woman; 'but when I was in my room writing
+the last of the despatches, a person who is on board as a passenger
+here--Miss Longworth--came into my room and held me prisoner there until
+the boat had left the ship.'
+
+The captain arched his eyebrows in surprise.
+
+'My dear madam,' he said, 'you make a very serious charge. Miss Longworth
+has crossed several times with me, and I am bound to say that a
+better-behaved young lady I never had on board my ship.'
+
+'Extremely well behaved she is!' cried the correspondent angrily, 'she
+stood against my door and prevented me from going out. I screamed for
+help, but my screams were drowned in the cheers of the passengers when
+the boat left.'
+
+'Why did you not ring your bell?'
+
+'I couldn't ring my bell because she prevented me. Besides, if I had
+reached the bell, it is not likely anybody would have answered it;
+everybody seemed to be bawling after the boat that was leaving.'
+
+'You can hardly blame them for that. A great deal depends on the safety
+of that boat. In fact, if you come to think about it, you will see that
+whatever grievance you may have, it is, after all, a very trivial one
+compared with the burden that weighs on me just now, and I should much
+prefer not to have anything to do with disputes between the passengers
+until we are out of our present predicament.'
+
+'The predicament has nothing whatever to do with it. I tell you a fact.
+I tell you that one of your passengers came and imprisoned me in my
+state-room. I come to you for redress. Now, there must be some law on
+shipboard that takes the place of ordinary law on land. I make this
+demand officially to you. If you decline to hear me, and refuse to
+redress my wrong, then I have public opinion, to which I can appeal
+through my paper, and perhaps there will also be a chance of obtaining
+justice through the law of the land to which I am going.'
+
+'My dear madam,' said the captain calmly, 'you must not use threats to
+me. I am not accustomed to be addressed in the tone you have taken upon
+yourself to use. Now tell me what it is you wish me to do?'
+
+'It is for you to say what you will do. I am a passenger on board this
+ship, and am supposed to be under the protection of its captain. I
+therefore tell you I have been forcibly detained in my state-room, and I
+demand that the person who did this shall be punished.'
+
+'You say that Miss Longworth is the person who did this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+'Now, do you know you make a serious charge against that young lady--a
+charge that I find it remarkably difficult to believe? May I ask you what
+reason she had for doing what you say she has done?'
+
+'That is a long story. I am quite prepared to show that she tried to
+bribe me not to send a despatch, and, finding herself unsuccessful, she
+forcibly detained me in my room until too late to send the telegram.'
+
+The captain pondered over what had been said to him.
+
+'Have you any proof of this charge?'
+
+'Proof! What do you mean? Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I mean exactly what I say. Have you anybody to prove the exceedingly
+serious charge you bring?'
+
+'Certainly not. I have no proof. If there had been a witness there, the
+thing would not have happened. If I could have summoned help, it would
+not have happened. How could I have any proof of such an outrage?'
+
+'Well, do you not see that it is impossible for me to take action on your
+unsupported word? Do you not see that, if you take further steps in this
+extraordinary affair, Miss Longworth will ask you for proof of what you
+state? If she denies acting as you say she did, and you fail to prove
+your allegation, it seems to me that you will be in rather a difficult
+position. You would be liable to a suit for slander. Just think the
+matter over calmly for the rest of the day before you take any further
+action upon it, and I would strongly advise you not to mention this to
+anyone on board. Then to-morrow, if you are still in the same frame of
+mind, come to me.'
+
+Thus dismissed, the young woman left the captain's room, and met Fleming
+just outside, who said:
+
+'Look here, Miss Brewster, I want to have a word with you. You were very
+curt with me just now.'
+
+'Mr. Fleming, I do not wish to speak to you.'
+
+'Oh, that's all right--that's all right; but let me tell you this: you're
+a pretty smart young woman, and you have done me one or two very evil
+turns in your life. I have found out all about this affair, and it's one
+of the funniest things I ever heard of.'
+
+'Very funny, isn't it?' snapped the young woman.
+
+'Of course it's very funny; but when it appears in full in the opposition
+papers to the _Argus_, perhaps you won't see the humour of it--though
+everybody else in New York will, that's one consolation.'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I mean to say, Jennie Brewster, that unless you are a fool, you will
+drop this thing. Don't, for Heaven's sake, let anybody know you were
+treated by an English girl in the way you were. Take my advice: say no
+more about it.'
+
+'And what business is it of yours?'
+
+'It isn't mine at all; that is why I am meddling with it. Aren't you well
+enough acquainted with me to know that nothing in the world pleases me so
+much as to interfere in other people's business? I have found out all
+about the girl who kept you in, and a mighty plucky action it was too. I
+have seen that girl on the deck, and I like the cut of her jib. I like
+the way she walks. Her independence suits me. She is a girl who wouldn't
+give a man any trouble, now, I tell you, if he were lucky enough to win
+her. And I am not going to see that girl put to any trouble by you,
+understand that!'
+
+'And how are you going to prevent it, may I ask?'
+
+'May you ask? Why, of course you may. I will tell you how I am going
+to prevent it. Simply by restraining you from doing another thing in
+the matter.'
+
+'If you think you can do that, you are very much mistaken. I am going to
+have that girl put in prison, if there is a law in the land.'
+
+'Well, in the first place, we are not on land; and, in the second place,
+you are going to do nothing of the kind, because, if you do, I shall go
+to the London correspondents of the other New York papers and give the
+whole blessed snap away. I'll tell them how the smart and cute Miss Dolly
+Dimple, who has bamboozled so many persons in her life, was once caught
+in her own trap; and I shall inform them how it took place. And they'll
+be glad to get it, you bet! It will make quite interesting reading in the
+New York opposition papers some fine Sunday morning--about a column and a
+half, say. Won't there be some swearing in the _Argus_ when that appears!
+It won't be your losing the despatch you were going to send, but it will
+be your utter idiocy in making the thing public, and letting the other
+papers on to it. Why, the best thing in the world for you to do, and the
+_only_ thing, is to keep as quiet as possible about it. I am astonished
+at a girl of your sense, Dolly, making a public fuss like this, when you
+should be the very one trying to keep it secret.'
+
+The newspaper correspondent pondered on these words.
+
+'And if I keep quiet about it, will you do the same?'
+
+'Certainly; but you must remember that if ever you attempt any of your
+tricks of interviewing on me again, out comes this whole thing. Don't
+forget that.'
+
+'I won't,' said Miss Jennie Brewster.
+
+And next morning, when the captain was anxiously awaiting her arrival in
+his room, she did not appear.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+After all, it must be admitted that George Wentworth was a man of
+somewhat changeable character. For the last two or three days he had been
+moping like one who meditated suicide; now when everyone else was
+anxiously wondering what was going to happen to the ship, he suddenly
+became the brightest individual on board. For a man to be moody and
+distraught while danger was impending was not at all surprising; but for
+a man, right in the midst of gloom, to blossom suddenly out into a
+general hilarity of manner, was something extraordinary. People thought
+it must be a case of brain trouble. They watched the young man with
+interest as he walked with a springy step up and down the deck. Every now
+and again a bright smile illuminated his face, and then he seemed to be
+ashamed that people should notice he was feeling so happy. When he was
+alone he had a habit of smiting his thigh and bursting out into a laugh
+that was long and low, rather than loud and boisterous. No one was more
+astonished at this change than Fleming, the politician. George met him on
+deck, and, to the great surprise of that worthy gentleman, smote him on
+the back and said:
+
+'My dear sir, I am afraid the other day, when you spoke to me, I answered
+a little gruffly. I beg to apologize. Come and have a drink with me.'
+
+'Oh, don't mention it,' said Fleming joyously; 'we all of us have our
+little down-turns now and then. Why, I have them myself, when liquor is
+bad or scarce! You mightn't believe it, but some days I feel away down in
+the mouth. It is true I have a recipe for getting up again, which I
+always use. And that reminds me: do you remember what the Governor of
+North Carolina said to the Governor of South Carolina?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know,' said Wentworth; 'you see, I'm not very well
+versed in United States politics.'
+
+'Well, there wasn't much politics about his remark. He merely said,
+"It's a long time between drinks;" come in and have something with me.
+It seems to me you haven't tasted anything in my company since the
+voyage began.'
+
+'I believe,' said Wentworth, 'that is a true statement. Let us amend it
+as soon as possible, only in this case let me pay for the drinks. I
+invited you to drink with me.'
+
+'Not at all, not at all!' cried Fleming; 'not while I'm here. This is my
+treat, and it is funny to think that a man should spend a week with
+another man without knowing him. Really, you see, I haven't known you
+till now.'
+
+And so the two worthy gentlemen disappeared into the smoking-room and
+rang the electric bell.
+
+But it was in his own state-room that George Wentworth's jocularity came
+out at its best. He would grasp John Kenyon by the shoulder and shake
+that solemn man, over whose face a grim smile generally appeared when he
+noticed the exuberant jollity of his comrade.
+
+'John,' Wentworth cried, 'why don't you laugh?'
+
+'Well, it seems to me,' replied his comrade, 'that you are doing laughing
+enough for us both. It is necessary to have one member of the firm solid
+and substantial. I'm trying to keep the average about right. When you
+were in the dumps I had to be cheerful for two. Now that you feel so
+lively, I take a refuge in melancholy, to rest me after my hard efforts
+at cheerfulness.'
+
+'Well, John, it seems to me too good to be true. What a plucky girl she
+was to do such a thing! How did she know but that the little vixen had a
+revolver with her, and might have shot her?'
+
+'I suppose she didn't think about it at all.'
+
+'Have you seen her since that dramatic incident?'
+
+'Seen whom? Miss Brewster?'
+
+'No, no; I mean Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, she hasn't appeared yet. I suppose she fears there will be a scene,
+and she is anxious to avoid it.'
+
+'Very likely that is the case,' said Wentworth. 'Well, if you do see her,
+you can tell her there is no danger. Our genial friend, Fleming, has had
+a talk with that newspaper woman, so he tells me, and the way he
+describes it is exceedingly picturesque. He has threatened her with
+giving away the "snap," as he calls it, to the other New York papers, and
+it seems that the only thing on earth Miss Brewster is afraid of is the
+opposition press. So she has promised to say nothing more whatever about
+the incident.'
+
+'Then, you have been talking with Fleming?'
+
+'Certainly I have; a jovial good fellow he is, too. I have been doing
+something more than talking with him; I have been drinking with him.'
+
+'And yet a day or two ago, I understand, you threatened to strike him.'
+
+'A day or two ago, John! It was ages and ages ago. A day or two isn't in
+it. That was years and centuries since, as it appears to me. I was an old
+man then; now I have become young again, and all on account of the plucky
+action of that angel of a girl of yours.'
+
+'Not of mine,' said Kenyon seriously; 'I wish she were.'
+
+'Well, cheer up. Everything will come out right; you see, it always does.
+Nothing looked blacker than this matter about the telegram a few days
+ago, and see how beautifully it has turned out.'
+
+Kenyon said nothing. He did not desire to discuss the matter even with
+his best friend. The two went up on deck together, and took a few turns
+along the promenade, during which promenade the eyes of Kenyon were
+directed to the occupants of the deckchairs, but he did not see the
+person whom he sought. Telling Wentworth he was going below for a moment,
+he left him to continue his walk alone, and on reaching the saloon Kenyon
+spoke to a stewardess.
+
+'Do you know if Miss Longworth is in her stateroom?'
+
+'Yes, sir, I think she is,' was the answer.
+
+'Will you take this note to her?'
+
+John sat down to wait for an answer. The answer did not come by the hand
+of the stewardess. Edith herself timorously glanced into the saloon, and,
+seeing Kenyon alone, ventured in. He sprang up to meet her.
+
+'I was afraid,' he said, 'that you had been ill.'
+
+'No, not quite, but almost,' she answered. 'Oh, Mr. Kenyon, I have done
+the most terrible thing! You could not imagine that I was so bold and
+wicked;' and tears gathered in the eyes of the girl.
+
+Kenyon stretched out his hand to her, and she took it.
+
+'I am afraid to stay here with you,' she said, 'for fear----'
+
+'Oh, I know all about it,' said Kenyon.
+
+'You cannot know about it; you surely do not know what I have done?'
+
+'Yes, I know exactly what you've done; and we all very much admire your
+pluck.'
+
+'It hasn't, surely, been the talk of the ship?'
+
+'No, it has not; but Miss Brewster charged me with being an accomplice.'
+
+'And you told her you were not, of course?'
+
+'I couldn't tell her anything, for the simple reason that I hadn't the
+faintest idea what she was talking about; but that's how I came to know
+what had happened, and I am here to thank you, Miss Longworth, for your
+action. I really believe you have saved the sanity of my friend
+Wentworth. He is a different man since the incident we are speaking of
+occurred.'
+
+'And have you seen Miss Brewster since?'
+
+'Oh yes; as I was telling you, she met me on the deck. Dear me! how
+thoughtless of me! I had forgotten you were standing. Won't you sit
+down?'
+
+'No, no; I have been in my room so long that I am glad to stand
+anywhere.'
+
+'Then, won't you come up on deck with me?'
+
+'Oh, I'm afraid,' she said. 'I am afraid of a public scene; and I am
+sure, by the last look I caught in that girl's eyes, she will stop at no
+scandal to have her revenge. I am sorry to say that I am too much of a
+coward to meet her. Of course, from her point of view I have done her
+eternal wrong. Perhaps it was wrong from anybody's point of view.'
+
+'Miss Longworth,' said John Kenyon cordially, 'you need have no fear
+whatever of meeting her. She will say nothing.'
+
+'How do you know that?'
+
+'Oh, it is a long story. She went to the captain with her complaint, and
+received very little comfort there. I will tell you all about it on deck.
+Get a wrap and come with me.'
+
+As Kenyon gave this peremptory order, he realized that he was taking a
+liberty he had no right to take, and his face flushed as he wondered if
+Edith would resent the familiarity of his tones; but she merely looked up
+at him with a bright smile, and said:
+
+'I will do, sir, as you command.'
+
+'No, no,' said Kenyon; 'it was not a command, although it sounded like
+one. It was a very humble request; at least, I intended it to be such.'
+
+'Well, I will get my wrap.'
+
+As she left for her state-room, a rousing cheer was heard from on deck.
+She stopped, and looked at Kenyon.
+
+'What does that mean?' she asked.
+
+'I do not know,' was the answer. 'Please get your things on and we will
+go up and see.'
+
+When they reached the deck they saw everybody at the forward part of the
+ship. Just becoming visible in the eastern horizon were three trails of
+black smoke, apparently coming towards them.
+
+The word was whispered from one to the other: 'It is the tug-boats. It
+is relief.'
+
+Few people on board the steamer knew that their very existence depended
+entirely on the good weather. The incessant pumping showed everybody, who
+gave a thought to the matter, that the leak had been serious; but as the
+subsidence of the vessel was imperceptible to all save experts, no one
+but the officers really knew the grave danger they were in. Glad as the
+passengers were to see those three boats approach, the one who most
+rejoiced was the one who knew everything respecting the disaster and its
+effects--the captain.
+
+Edith Longworth and John Kenyon paced the deck together, and did not form
+two of the crowd who could not tear themselves away from the front of
+the ship, watching the gradually approaching tug boats. Purposely, John
+Kenyon brought the girl who was with him past Miss Jennie Brewster, and
+although that person glared with a good deal of anger at Edith, who
+blushed to her temples with fear and confusion, yet nothing was said; and
+Kenyon knew that afterwards his companion would feel easier in her mind
+about meeting the woman with whom she had had such a stormy five minutes.
+The tug boats speedily took the big steamer in tow, and slowly the four
+of them made progress towards Queenstown, it having been resolved to land
+all the passengers there, and to tow the disabled vessel to Liverpool, if
+an examination of the hull showed such a course to be a safe one. The
+passengers bade each other good-bye after they left the tender, and many
+that were on board that ship never saw each other again. One at least,
+had few regrets and no good-byes to make, but a surprise was in store for
+her. Jennie Brewster found a cablegram from New York waiting for her. It
+said 'Cable nothing respecting mines. Letter follows.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+London again! Muddy, drizzly, foggy London, London, with its well filled
+omnibuses tearing along the streets, more dangerous than the chariots of
+Rome, London, with its bustling thoroughfares, with its traffic blocked
+at the corners by the raised white gloved hand of the policeman, London,
+with the four wheeled growler piled high with luggage, and the dashing
+hansom whirling along, missing the wheels of other vehicles by half an
+inch, while its occupant sits serenely smoking, or motioning his
+directions to his cabman with an umbrella; London, with its constantly
+moving procession of every sort of wheeled carriage, from the four-horsed
+coach to the coster barrow. London, London, London, London! the name
+seemed to ring in John Kenyon's ears as he walked briskly along the
+crowded pavement towards the City. The roar of its busy streets was the
+sweetest music in the world to him, as it is to every man who has once
+acquired the taste for London. Drink of the fountain of Trevi, and you
+will return to Rome. Drink of the roar and the bustle of London, and no
+other metropolis in the world, can ever satisfy the city-hunger in you
+again. London is London, and John Kenyon loved its very disadvantages as
+he strode along the streets.
+
+He called at the office of George Wentworth, took that young man with
+him, and together they went to the place where the adjourned meeting of
+the London Syndicate was to be held. There were questions to be asked of
+the two young men, and the directors couldn't quite see why the reports
+had been so suddenly precipitated upon them, before the arrival of the
+experts they had sent out. So they had merely read the documents at the
+former meeting and adjourned until such time as the two young men could
+appear in person. Most of the directors were there, but, though Kenyon
+looked anxiously among them, he did not see the face of old Mr.
+Longworth. Questions were asked Kenyon about the position of the mines,
+about their output, and such other particulars as the directors wished
+to know. Then Wentworth underwent a similar examination. He pointed out
+the discrepancies which he had found in the accounts. He showed that
+there was an evident desire on the part of the owners of the different
+mines to make it appear that the properties paid better than they
+actually did, and he answered in a clear and satisfactory way all the
+questions asked him. The chairman thanked the young men for the evident
+care with which they had done their work, and the meeting then went into
+a private session to consider what action should be taken respecting the
+mines. When the two friends got out of the building, Kenyon said:
+
+'Well, thank goodness that is over and done with. Now, George, what have
+you to suggest with reference to the mica-mine?'
+
+'I think,' said Wentworth, 'we had better adjourn to my office and have a
+talk over the matter quietly there. Let us go into private session as the
+directors have done. I feel rich after having got my cheque, and the vote
+of thanks from the chairman; so I will spend a shilling on a hansom and
+get there with speed and comfort. Actually, since I have got back to
+London, I am spending all my surplus cash on hansoms. They are certainly
+the best and cheapest vehicles in the world. Think of what that pirate
+charged us for a ride from the hotel to the steamer in New York.'
+
+'I don't like to think of it,' said Kenyon; 'it makes me shudder!'
+
+'Do you know, John, I should not be inconsolable if I never saw the great
+city of New York again. London is good enough for me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't know! New York is all right. I confess there are one or two
+of her citizens that I do not care much about.'
+
+'Ah,' said Wentworth; then, after a few moments' reflection, he remarked
+suddenly, apropos of nothing: 'Do you know, John, I was very nearly in
+love with that girl?'
+
+'I thought you were drifting in that direction.'
+
+'Drifting! It wasn't drifting. It was a mad plunge down the rapids, and
+it is only lately I have begun to think what a close shave I had of it.
+The horror of those days, when I thought that despatch was going to New
+York, completely obliterated any other feeling in regard to her. If I had
+found she was a hopeless flirt, or something of that kind, who was
+trifling with me, I should have been very much shocked, of course, but I
+should have thought about my own feelings. Now, the curious thing is that
+I never began to think about them till I got to London.'
+
+'Very well, Wentworth; I wouldn't think about them now, if I were you.'
+
+'No, I don't intend to, particularly. The fact that I talk over them with
+you shows that the impression was not very deep.'
+
+Wentworth drew a long breath that might have been mistaken for a sigh, if
+he had not just before explained how completely free he was from the
+thraldom in which Miss Brewster at one time held him.
+
+'Still, she was a very pretty girl, John. You can't deny that.'
+
+'I have no wish to deny it. I simply don't want to think about her at
+all.'
+
+'No, and we don't need to, thank goodness. But she _was_ very bright and
+clever. Of course you didn't know her as I did. I never before met
+anyone who--Well, that's all past and done with. I told her all about our
+mica-mine, and she gave me much sage advice.'
+
+Kenyon smiled, but held his peace.
+
+'Oh yes, I know what you are thinking of. I spoke of other mines as well;
+still, that was my folly, and not her fault exactly. She imagined she was
+doing right, and after all, you know, I think we sometimes don't make
+enough allowance for another's point of view.'
+
+Kenyon laughed outright.
+
+'It seems to me you are actually defending her. My remembrance is that
+you didn't make much allowance for her point of view when your own point
+was that coil of rope in the front of the ship--those days when you
+wouldn't speak even to me.'
+
+'I admit it, John. No, I'm not defending her. I have succeeded in
+putting her entirely out of my mind--with an effort. How about your own
+case, John?'
+
+'My own case! What do you mean?'
+
+'You know very well what I mean.'
+
+'I suppose I do forgive the little bit of affectation, will you? but a
+man gets somewhat nervous when such a question is sprung upon him. My own
+case is just where we left it at Queenstown.'
+
+'Haven't you seen her since?'
+
+'No.'
+
+'Aren't you going to?'
+
+'I really do not know what I am going to do.'
+
+'John, that young woman has a decided personal interest in you.'
+
+'I wish I were sure of that, or, rather, I wish I were sure of it and
+in a position to--But what is the use of talking? I haven't a penny
+to my name.'
+
+'No; but if our mine goes through, you soon will have.'
+
+'Yes, but what will it amount to? I never can forget the lofty disdain
+with which a certain person spoke of fifty thousand pounds. It sends a
+cold chill over me whenever I think of it. Fifty thousand pounds to her
+seemed so trivial; to me it was something that might be obtained after
+the struggle of a lifetime.'
+
+'Well, I wouldn't let that discourage me too much if I were you; besides,
+you see--Oh! here we are. We'll talk about this some other time.'
+
+Having paid the cabman, the two young men went upstairs into Wentworth's
+room, where they closed the door, and John drew up a seat by the side of
+his friend.
+
+'Now, then,' said Wentworth, 'what have you done about the mine?'
+
+'I have done absolutely nothing. I have been waiting for this conference
+with you.'
+
+'Well, my boy, time is the great factor in anything of this sort.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose it is.'
+
+'You see, our option is running along; every day we lose is so much taken
+off our chances of success. Have you anything to propose?'
+
+'I'll tell you what I thought of doing. You know young Longworth spoke to
+me a good deal about the mine at one time. His cousin introduced me to
+him, and she seemed to think he might take some interest in forming the
+company. I was to have a talk with you, because Longworth gave it as his
+opinion that the amount should be put at two hundred thousand pounds
+rather than at fifty thousand pounds.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle.
+
+'Yes, it seems a very large amount; but he claims that if it would pay
+ten per cent. on that sum--if we could show that there was a reasonable
+chance of its paying so much--we could put it at two hundred thousand.'
+
+'Well, that looks reasonable. What else did he say?'
+
+'He did not say very much more about it, because I told him I should have
+to consult you.'
+
+'And why didn't you? On board ship there was one of the best
+opportunities we could have had of having a talk with him. In fact, the
+whole matter might perhaps have been arranged there.'
+
+'Oh, well, you know, I couldn't talk to you about it, because a certain
+circumstance arose, and you spent your time very much in the forward
+part of the steamer, sitting on a coil of rope and cursing the universe
+generally and yourself in particular'.
+
+'Ah, yes, I remember, of course--yes. Very well, then, you have not seen
+young Longworth since, have you?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Wouldn't the old gentleman go in for it?'
+
+'His daughter seemed to think he would not, because the amount was
+too small.'
+
+'Why couldn't he be got to go into it entirely by himself? If we put the
+price up to one hundred thousand pounds or two hundred thousand pounds,
+that ought to be large enough for him, if he were playing a lone hand.'
+
+'Well, you see, I don't suppose they thought of going in for it at that,
+except as a matter of speculation. Of course, if they intended to buy
+some shares, it is not likely they would propose to raise the price from
+fifty thousand pounds to two hundred thousand pounds. Young Longworth
+spoke of dividing the profit. He claimed that whatever we made on fifty
+thousand pounds would be too small to be divided into three. I told him,
+of course, that you were my partner in this, and that is why he proposed
+the price should be made two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I suppose he seemed indifferent on the question whether it should pay a
+dividend on that amount of money or not?'
+
+'He didn't mention that particularly--at least, he did not dwell upon it.
+He asked if it would pay a dividend on two hundred thousand, and I told
+him I thought it would pay ten per cent. if rightly managed; then he said
+of course that was its price, and we should be great fools to float it at
+fifty thousand pounds when it was really worth two hundred thousand.'
+
+Wentworth pondered for a few minutes on this, tapping his pencil on the
+desk and knitting his brow.
+
+'It seems an awful jump, from fifty thousand pounds to two hundred
+thousand pounds, doesn't it, John?'
+
+'Yes, it does; it has a certain look of swindling about it. But what a
+glorious thing it would be if it could be done, and if it would pay the
+right percentage when we got the scheme working!'
+
+'Of course I wouldn't be connected, nor you either, with anything that
+was bogus.'
+
+'Certainly not. I wouldn't think for a moment of inflating it if I were
+not positive the property would stand it. I have been making, and have
+here in my pocket, an elaborate array of figures which will show
+approximately what the mine will yield, and I am quite convinced that it
+will pay at least ten per cent., and possible twelve or fifteen.'
+
+'Well, nobody wants a better percentage on their money. Have you the
+figures with you?'
+
+'Yes, here they are.'
+
+'Very well, you had better leave them with me, and I will go over them as
+critically as if they were the figures of somebody I was deeply
+suspicious of, I hope they will hold water; but if they do not, I will
+point out to you where the discrepancies are.'
+
+'But, you see, George, it is more a question of facts than of figures. I
+believe the whole mountain is made of the mineral which is so valuable,
+but I take only about an eighth of it as being possible to get out, which
+seems to me a very moderate estimate.'
+
+'Yes, but how much demand is there for it? That is the real question. The
+thing may be valuable enough, but if there is only a limited demand--that
+is to say, if we have ten times the material that the world needs--the
+other nine parts are comparatively valueless.'
+
+'That is true.'
+
+'Do you know how many establishments there are in the world that use
+this mineral?'
+
+'There are a great many in England, and also in the United States.'
+
+'And how about the duty on it in the United States?'
+
+'Ah, that I do not know.'
+
+'Well, we must find that out. Just write down here what it is used for;
+then I shall try to get some information about the factories that require
+it, and also what quantities they need in a year. We shall have to get
+all these facts and figures to lay before the people who are going to
+invest, because, as I understand it, the great point we make is not on
+the mica, but on the other mineral.'
+
+'Exactly.'
+
+'Very well, then, you leave me what you know already about it, and I will
+try to supplement your information. In fact, we shall have to supplement
+it, before we can go before anybody with it. Now, I advise you to see the
+Longworths--both old and young Longworth--and you may find that talking
+with them in the City of London is very different from talking with them
+on the _Caloric_. By the way, I wonder why Longworth was not at the
+directors' meeting to-day.'
+
+'I do not know. I noticed he was absent.'
+
+'He very likely intends to have nothing more to do with the other mines,
+and so there may be a possibility of his investing in ours. Do you know
+his address?'
+
+'Yes, I have it with me.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would jump into a hansom and go there at once.
+Meanwhile, I will try to get your figures into shipshape order, and
+supplement them as far as it is possible to do so. This is going to be no
+easy matter, John. There are a great many properties now being offered
+to the public--the papers are full of them--and each of them appears to
+be the most money-making scheme in existence; so if we are going to float
+this mine without knowing any particular capitalist, we have our work cut
+out for us.'
+
+'Then, you would be willing to put the price up to two hundred thousand
+pounds?'
+
+'Yes, if you say the mine will stand it. That we can tell better after
+we have gone over the figures together. We ought to be sure of our
+facts first.'
+
+'Very well. Good-bye; I will go and see Mr. Longworth.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+John Kenyon did not take a cab. He walked so that he might have time to
+think. He wanted to arrange in his mind just what he would say to Mr.
+Longworth, so he pondered over the coming interview as he walked through
+the busy streets of the City.
+
+He had not yet settled things satisfactorily to himself when he came to
+the door leading to Mr. Longworth's offices.
+
+'After all,' he said to himself, as he paused there, 'Mr. Longworth has
+never said anything to me about the mica-mine; and, from what his
+daughter thought, it is not likely that he will care to interest himself
+in it. It was the young man who spoke about it.'
+
+He felt that it was really the young man on whom he should call, but he
+was rather afraid of meeting him. The little he had seen of William
+Longworth on board the _Caloric_ had not given him a very high opinion of
+that gentleman, and he wondered if it would not have been better to have
+told Wentworth that nothing was to be expected from the Longworths.
+However, he resolved not to shirk the interview, so passed up the steps
+and into the outer office. He found the establishment much larger than he
+had expected. At numerous desks there were numerous clerks writing away
+for dear life. He approached the inquiry counter, and a man came forward
+to hear what he had to say.
+
+'Is Mr. Longworth in?'
+
+'Yes, sir. Which Mr. Longworth do you want--the young gentleman or Mr.
+John Longworth?'
+
+'I wish to see the senior member of the firm.'
+
+'Ah! have you an appointment with him?'
+
+'No, I have not; but perhaps if you will take this card to him, and if he
+is not busy, he may see me.'
+
+'He is always very busy, sir.'
+
+'Well, take the card to him; and if he doesn't happen to remember the
+name, tell him I met him on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'Very good, sir.' And with that the clerk disappeared, leaving Kenyon to
+ponder over in his mind the still unsettled question of what he should
+say to Mr. Longworth if he were ushered into his presence. As he stood
+there waiting, with the host of men busily and silently working around
+him, amid the general air of important affairs pervading the place, he
+made up his mind that Mr. Longworth would not see him, and so was rather
+surprised when the clerk came back without the card, and said, 'Will you
+please step this way, sir?'
+
+Passing through a pair of swinging doors, his conductor tapped lightly at
+a closed one, and then opened it.
+
+'Mr. Kenyon, sir,' he said respectfully, and then closed the door behind
+him, leaving John Kenyon standing in a large room somewhat handsomely
+furnished, with two desks near the window. From an inner room came the
+muffled click, click, click of a type-writer. Seated at one of the desks
+was young Longworth, who did not look round as Kenyon was announced. The
+elder gentleman, however, arose, and cordially held out his hand.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' he said. 'I am very pleased to meet you again.
+The terror of our situation on board that ship does not seem to have left
+an indelible mark upon you. You are looking well.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'I am very glad to be back in London again.'
+
+'Ah, I imagine we all like to get back. By the way, it was a much more
+serious affair than we thought at the time on board the _Caloric_.'
+
+'So I see by the papers.'
+
+'How is your friend? He seemed to take it very badly.'
+
+'Take what badly?' asked John in astonishment.
+
+'Well, he appeared to me, at the time of the accident, to feel very
+despondent about our situation.'
+
+'Oh yes, I remember now. Yes, he did feel a little depressed at the time;
+but it was not on account of the accident. It was another matter
+altogether, which, happily, turned out all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, have you made your report to the
+directors yet?'
+
+'Yes; we were at a meeting of the directors to-day.'
+
+'Ah, I could not manage to be there. To tell the truth, I have made up my
+mind to do nothing with those Ottawa mines. You do not know what action
+the Board took in the matter, do you?'
+
+'No, they merely received our report; in fact, they had had the report
+before, but there were some questions they desired to ask us, which we
+answered apparently to their satisfaction.'
+
+'Who were there? Sir Ropes McKenna was in the chair, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, sir, he was there.'
+
+'Ah, so I thought. Well, my opinion of him is that he is merely a
+guinea-pig--you know what that is? I have made up my mind to have nothing
+more to do with the venture, at any rate. And so they were pleased with
+your report, were they?'
+
+'They appeared to be. They passed us a vote of thanks, and one or two
+of the gentlemen spoke in rather a complimentary manner of what we had
+done.'
+
+'I am glad of that. By the way, William, you know Mr. Kenyon, do you
+not?'
+
+The young man looked round with an abstracted air, and gazed past, rather
+than at, John Kenyon.
+
+'Kenyon, Kenyon,' he said to himself, as if trying to recollect a name
+that he had once heard somewhere. 'I really don't----'
+
+'Tut, tut!' said the old man, 'you remember Mr. Kenyon on board the
+_Caloric_?'
+
+'Oh, ah, yes; certainly--oh, certainly. How do you do, Mr. Kenyon? I had
+forgotten for the moment. I thought I had met you in the City somewhere.
+Feeling first-rate after your trip, I hope.' And young Mr. Longworth
+fixed his one eyeglass in its place and flashed its glitter on Kenyon.
+
+'I am very well, thanks.'
+
+'That's right. Let me see, your business with the London Syndicate is
+concluded now, is it not?'
+
+'Yes, it is done with.'
+
+'Ah, and what are you doing? Have you anything else on hand?'
+
+'Well, that is what I wish to see you about.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes; I--you remember, perhaps, we had some talk about a mica-mine near
+the Ottawa River?'
+
+'On my soul, I don't. You see, the voyage rather--that was on board ship,
+I suppose?'
+
+'Yes,' said John, crossing over to the young man's desk and taking a
+chair beside him. The old gentleman now turned to his own papers, and
+left the two young men to talk together.
+
+'Do you mean to say you don't remember a talk we had on deck once about a
+mica-mine?'
+
+Young Longworth looked at him with a puzzled expression, as if he could
+not quite make out what he was talking about.
+
+'I remember,' he said, 'your telling me that you had been sent over by
+the London Syndicate to see after certain mines there; but I don't
+remember anything being said in reference to them.'
+
+'It was not in reference to them at all; it was in reference to another
+mine, of which I have secured the option. You will, perhaps, recollect
+that your cousin introduced me to you. You seemed to think at the time
+that the price at which we were going to offer the mine was too low.'
+
+'By Jove, yes! now I do recollect something about it, when you mention
+that. Let me see, how much was it? A million, was it not?'
+
+'No, no' said Kenyon, mopping his brow. He did not at all like the turn
+the conversation had taken. 'Not a million, nor anything like that
+amount.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. You see, my uncle and myself rarely touch
+anything that is not worth while; and anything under a million would be
+hardly worth bothering with, don't you know.'
+
+'I don't think so; it seems to me that something below a million would be
+worth spending a little time on; at least, it would be worth _my_ while.'
+
+'That may be very true; but, you see, my uncle takes large interests only
+in large businesses.'
+
+'If you remember, Mr. Longworth, your uncle was not mentioned in
+connection with this at all. Your cousin seemed to think you might take
+some interest in it yourself. You told me, when I said the price at which
+we wished to offer the mine was fifty thousand pounds, that the sum was
+altogether too small; at least, it left too little margin to divide
+amongst three.'
+
+'Well, I think I was perfectly correct in that.'
+
+'And you further said that, if we increased the capital to two hundred
+thousand pounds, you would take a share in it with us.'
+
+'Did I say that?'
+
+'Yes. It rested with my partner then. I said I would speak to him about
+it, and, if he were willing, I should be. Circumstances occurred which
+made it impossible for me to go into details with him on board the ship;
+but I have spoken to him to-day at his own office, and he is quite
+willing to offer the mine at two hundred thousand pounds, provided the
+figures which I have given him show that it will pay a handsome dividend
+on that sum.'
+
+'Well, it seems to me that, if the mine is really worth two hundred
+thousand pounds, it is a pity to offer it at fifty thousand pounds.
+Doesn't it strike you that way?'
+
+'Yes, it does; so I called to see you with reference to it. I wanted to
+say that Wentworth will go carefully over the figures I have given him,
+and see if there is any mistake about them. If there is not, and if we
+find that the mine will bear inflation to two hundred thousand pounds, we
+shall be very glad of your aid in the matter, and will divide everything
+equally with you. That is to say, each of us will take a third.'
+
+'If I remember rightly, I asked you a question which you did not answer.
+I asked you how much you paid for the mine.'
+
+Kenyon was astonished at this peculiar kind of memory, that could forget
+a whole conversation, and yet remember accurately one detail of it.
+However, he replied:
+
+'Of course, at that time you had not said you would join us. I recognise
+that, if you are to be a partner, it is your right to know exactly what
+we pay for the mine. I may say that we have not paid for it, but have
+merely got an option on it at a certain price, and of course, if we can
+sell it for two hundred thousand pounds, we shall have a large amount to
+divide. Now, if you think you will go in with us, and do your best to
+make this project a success, I will tell you what our option is on the
+mica-mine.'
+
+'Well, you see, I can hardly say that I will join you. It is really a
+very small matter. There ought not to be any difficulty in floating that
+mine on the London market, except that it is hardly worth one's while to
+take it up. Still, I should have to know exactly what you are to pay for
+the property before I went any further in the matter.'
+
+'Very well, then, I tell you in confidence, and only because I expect
+you to become a partner with us, that the amount the mine is offered to
+us for is twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+Young Longworth arched his eyeglass.
+
+'It cannot be worth very much if that is all they ask for it.'
+
+'The price they ask for it has really nothing at all to do with the value
+of the mine. They do not know the value of it. They are not working it,
+even now, so as to bring out all there is in it. They are mining for
+mica, and, as I told you, the mineral which they are throwing away is
+very much more valuable than all the mica they can get out of the mine.
+If it were worked rightly, the mica would pay all expenses, as well as a
+good dividend on fifty thousand pounds, while the other mineral would pay
+a large dividend on one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or even two
+hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'I see. And you feel positive that there is enough of this mineral to
+hold out for some time?'
+
+'Oh, I am positive of that. There is a whole mountain of it.'
+
+'And do you get the mountain as well as the mine?'
+
+'We get three hundred acres of it, and I think there would be no
+difficulty in buying the rest.'
+
+'Well, that would seem to be a good speculation, and I am sure I hope you
+will succeed in forming your company. How much money are you prepared to
+spend in floating the mine?'
+
+'I have practically nothing at all. My asset, as it were, is the option I
+have on the mine.'
+
+'Then, how are you going to pay the preliminary fees, the advertising in
+the newspapers, the cost of counsel, and all that? These expenses will
+amount to something very heavy in the formation of a company. Of course
+you know that.'
+
+'Well, you see, I think that perhaps we can get two or three men to go
+into this and form our company quietly, without having any of those heavy
+expenses which are necessary in the forming of some companies.'
+
+'My dear sir, when you have been in this business a little longer, you
+will be very much wiser. That cannot be done--at least, I do not believe
+it can be done. I do not know of its having been done, and if you can do
+it, you are a very much cleverer man than I am. Companies are not formed
+for nothing in the City of London. You seem to have the vaguest possible
+notion about how this sort of thing is managed. I may tell you frankly I
+do not think I can go in with you; I have too much else on hand.'
+
+Although Kenyon expected this, he nevertheless felt a grim sense of
+defeat as the young man calmly said these words. Then he blurted out:
+
+'If you had no idea of going in with us, why have you asked me certain
+questions about the property which I would not have answered if I had not
+thought you were going to take an interest in it?'
+
+'My dear sir,' said the other blandly, 'you were at perfect liberty to
+answer those questions or not, as you chose. You chose to answer them,
+and you have no one to blame but yourself if you are sorry you have
+answered them. It really doesn't matter at all to me, as I shall forget
+all you have said in a day or two at furthest.'
+
+'Very well; I have nothing more to say except that what I have told you
+has been said in confidence.'
+
+'Oh, of course. I shall mention it to nobody.'
+
+'Then I wish you good-day.'
+
+Turning to the elder gentleman, he said:
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+The old man raised his eyes rather abstractedly from the paper he was
+reading, and then cordially shook hands with Kenyon.
+
+'If I can do anything,' he said, 'to help you in any matter you have on
+hand, I shall be very pleased to do it. I hope to see you succeed.
+Good-day, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Longworth.'
+
+And with that the young man found himself again in the outer office, and
+shortly afterwards in the busy street, with a keen sense of frustration
+upon him. His first move in the direction of forming a company had been a
+disastrous failure; and thinking of this, he walked past the Mansion
+House and down Cheapside.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+John Kenyon walked along Cheapside feeling very much downhearted over his
+rebuff with Longworth. The pretended forgetfulness of the young man, of
+course, he took at its proper value. He, nevertheless, felt very sorry
+the interview had been so futile, and, instead of going back to Wentworth
+and telling him his experience, he thought it best to walk off a little
+of his disappointment first. He was somewhat startled when a man
+accosted him; and, glancing up, he saw standing there a tall footman,
+arrayed in a drab coat that came down to his heels.
+
+'I beg your pardon, sir,' said the footman, 'but Miss Longworth would
+like to speak to you.'
+
+'Miss Longworth!' cried Kenyon, in surprise; 'where is she?'
+
+'She is here in her carriage, sir.'
+
+The carriage had drawn up beside the pavement, and John Kenyon looked
+round in confusion to see that Miss Longworth was regarding him and the
+footman with an amused air. An elderly woman sat in the carriage opposite
+her, while a grave and dignified coachman, attired somewhat similarly to
+the footman, kept his place like a seated statue in front. John Kenyon
+took off his hat as he approached the young woman, whom he had not seen
+since the last day on the steamer.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Kenyon?' said Edith Longworth brightly, holding out her
+hand to the young man by her carriage. 'Will you not step in? I want to
+talk with you, and I am afraid the police will not allow us to block such
+a crowded thoroughfare as Cheapside.'
+
+As she said this, the nimble footman threw open the door of the carriage,
+while John, not knowing what to say, stepped inside and took his seat.
+
+'Holborn,' said the young woman to the coachman; then, turning to Kenyon,
+she continued: 'Will you not tell me where you are going, so that I may
+know where to set you down?'
+
+'To tell the truth,' said John, 'I do not think I was going anywhere.
+I am afraid I have not yet got over the delight of being back in
+London again, so I sometimes walk along the streets in rather a
+purposeless manner.'
+
+'Well, you did not seem delighted when I first caught sight of you. I
+thought you looked very dejected, and that gave me courage enough to ask
+you to come and talk with me. I said to myself, "There is something wrong
+with the mica-mine," and, with a woman's I curiosity, I wanted to know
+all about it. Now tell me.'
+
+'There is really very little to tell. We have hardly begun yet.
+Wentworth is to-day looking over the figures I gave him, and I have been
+making a beginning by seeing some people who I thought might be
+interested in the mine.'
+
+'And were they?'
+
+'No; they were not.'
+
+'Then, that was the reason you were looking so distressed.'
+
+'I suppose it was.'
+
+'Well, now, Mr. Kenyon, if you get discouraged after an interview with
+the first person you think will be interested in the mine, what will you
+do when a dozen or more people refuse to have anything to do with it?'
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. I am afraid I am not the right person to float
+a mine on the London market. I am really a student, you see, and flatter
+myself I am a man of science. I know what I am about when I am in a
+mine, miles away from civilization; but when I get among men, I feel
+somehow at a loss. I do not understand them. When a man tells me one
+thing to-day, and to-morrow calmly forgets all about it, I confess
+it--well, confuses me.'
+
+'Then the man you have seen to-day has forgotten what he told you
+yesterday. Is that the case?'
+
+'Yes; that is partly the case.'
+
+'But, Mr. Kenyon, the success of your project is not going to depend upon
+what one man says, or two, or three, is it?'
+
+'No; I don't suppose it is.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would not feel discouraged because one man has
+forgotten. I wish I were acquainted with your one man, and I would make
+him ashamed of himself, I think.'
+
+Kenyon flushed as she said this, but made no reply.
+
+The coachman looked round as he came to Holborn, and Miss Longworth
+nodded to him; so he went on without stopping into Oxford Street.
+
+'Now, I take a great interest in your mine, Mr. Kenyon, and hope to see
+you succeed with it. I wish I could help you, or, rather, I wish you
+would be frank with me, and tell me how I can help you. I know a good
+deal about City men and their ways, and I think I may be able to give you
+some good advice--at least, if you would have the condescension to
+consult me.'
+
+Kenyon smiled.
+
+'You are making game of me now, Miss Longworth. Of course, as you said on
+board ship, it is but a very small matter.'
+
+'I never said any such thing. When did I say that?'
+
+'You said that fifty thousand pounds was a small matter.'
+
+'Did I? Well, I am like your man who has forgotten; I have forgotten
+that. I remember saying something about its being too small an amount
+for my father to deal with. Was not that what I said?'
+
+'Yes, I think that was it. It conveyed the idea to my mind that you
+thought fifty thousand pounds a trifling sum indeed.'
+
+Edith Longworth laughed.
+
+'What a terrible memory you have! I do not wonder at your City man
+forgetting. Are you sure what you told him did not happen longer ago than
+yesterday?'
+
+'Yes, it happened some time before.'
+
+'Ah, I thought so; I am afraid it is your own terrible memory, and not
+his forgetfulness, that is to blame.'
+
+'Oh, I am not blaming him at all. A man has every right to change his
+mind, if he wants to do so.'
+
+'I thought only a woman had that privilege.'
+
+'No; for my part I freely accord it to everybody, only sometimes it is a
+little depressing.'
+
+'I can imagine that; in fact, I think no one could be a more undesirable
+acquaintance than a man who forgets to-day what he promised yesterday,
+especially if anything particular depends upon it. Now, why cannot you
+come to our house some evening and have a talk about the mine with my
+cousin or my father? My father could give you much valuable advice with
+reference to it, and I am anxious that my cousin should help to carry
+this project on to success. It is better to talk with them there than at
+their office, because they are both so busy during the day that I am
+afraid they might not be able to give the time necessary to its I
+discussion.'
+
+John Kenyon shook his head.
+
+'I am afraid,' he said, 'that would do no good. I do not think your
+cousin cares to have anything to do with the mine.'
+
+'How can you say that? Did he not discuss the matter with you on
+board ship?'
+
+'Yes; we had some conversation about it there, but I imagine that--I
+really do not think he would care to go any farther with it.'
+
+'Ah, I see,' said Edith Longworth. 'My cousin is the man who "forgot
+to-day what he said yesterday."'
+
+'What am I to say, Miss Longworth? I do not want to say "Yes," and I
+cannot truthfully say "No."'
+
+'You need say nothing. I know exactly how it has been. So he does not
+want to have anything to do with it. What reason did he give?'
+
+'You will not say anything to him about the matter? I should be very
+sorry if he thought that I talked to anyone else of my conference
+with him.'
+
+'Oh, certainly not; I will say nothing to him at all.'
+
+'He gave no particular reason; he simply seemed to have changed his mind.
+But I must say this: he did not appear to be very enthusiastic when I
+discussed it with him on board ship.'
+
+'Well, you see, Mr. Kenyon, it rests with me now to maintain the honour
+of the Longworth family. Do you want to make all the profit there is to
+be made in the mica-mine--that is, yourself and your friend Mr.
+Wentworth?'
+
+'How do you mean--"all the profit"?'
+
+'Well, I mean--would you share the profit with anyone?'
+
+'Certainly, if that person could help us to form the company.'
+
+'Very well; it was on that basis you were going to take in my cousin as a
+partner, was it not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then I should like to share in the profits of the mine if he does not
+take an interest in it. If you will let me pay the preliminary expenses
+of forming this company, and if you will then give me a share of what you
+make, I shall be glad to furnish the money you need at the outset.'
+
+John Kenyon looked at Miss Longworth with a smile.
+
+'You are very ingenious, Miss Longworth, but I can see, in spite of your
+way of putting it, that what you propose is merely a form of charity.
+Suppose we did not succeed in forming our company, how could we repay you
+the money?'
+
+'You would not need to repay the money. I would take that risk. It is a
+sort of speculation. If you form the company, then I shall expect a very
+large reward for furnishing the funds. It is purely selfishness on my
+part. I believe I have a head for business. Women in this country do not
+get such chances of developing their business talents as they seem to
+have in America. In that country there are women who have made fortunes
+for themselves. I believe in your mine, and I am convinced you will
+succeed in forming your company. If you or Mr. Wentworth were
+capitalists, of course there would be no need of my assistance. If I were
+alone, I could not form a company. You and Mr. Wentworth can do what I
+cannot do. You can appear before the public and attend to all
+preliminaries. On the other hand, I believe I can do what neither of you
+can do; that is, I can supply a certain amount of money from time to time
+to pay the expenses of forming the company--because a company is not
+formed in London for nothing, I assure you. Perhaps you think you have
+simply to go and see a sufficient number of people and get your company
+formed. I fancy you will find it not so easy as all that. Besides this
+business interest I have in it, I have a very friendly interest in Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+As she said this, she bent over towards John Kenyon, and spoke in a lower
+tone of voice:
+
+'Please do not tell him so, because I think that he is a young man who
+has possibilities of being conceited.'
+
+'I shall say nothing about it,' said Kenyon dolefully.
+
+'Please do not. By the way, I wish you would give me Mr. Wentworth's
+address, so that I may communicate with him if a good idea occurs to me,
+or if I find out something of value in forming our company.'
+
+Kenyon took out a card, wrote the address of Wentworth upon it, and
+handed it to her.
+
+'Thank you,' she said 'You see, I deeply sympathized with Mr. Wentworth
+for what he had to pass through on the steamer.'
+
+'He is very grateful for all you did for him on that occasion,' replied
+Kenyon.
+
+'I am glad of that. People, as a general thing, are not grateful for what
+their friends do for them. I am glad, therefore, that Mr. Wentworth is an
+exception. Well, suppose you talk with him about what I have said, before
+you make up your own mind. I shall be quite content with whatever share
+of the profits you allow me.'
+
+'Ah, that is not business, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'No, it is not; but I am dealing with you--that is, with Mr.
+Wentworth--and I am sure both of you will do what is right. Perhaps it
+would be better not to tell him who is to furnish the money. Just say you
+have met a friend to-day who offers, for a reasonable share of the
+profits, to supply all the money necessary for the preliminary expenses.
+You will consult with him about it, will you not?'
+
+'Yes, if it is your wish.'
+
+'Certainly it is my wish; and I also wish you to do it so diplomatically
+that you will conceal my name from him more successfully than you
+concealed my cousin's name from me this afternoon.'
+
+'I am afraid I am very awkward,' said John, blushing.
+
+'No; you are very honest, that's all. You are not accomplished in the art
+of telling what is not true. Now, this is where we live; will you come
+in?'
+
+'Thank you, no; I'm afraid not,' said John. 'I must really be going now.'
+
+'Let the coachman take you to your station.'
+
+'No, no, it is not worth the trouble; it is only a step from here.'
+
+'It is no trouble. Which is your station--South Kensington?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well. Drive to South Kensington Station, Parker,' she said to the
+coachman; and then, running up the steps, she waved her hand in good-bye,
+as the carriage turned.
+
+And so John Kenyon, feeling abashed at his own poverty, was driven in
+this gorgeous equipage to the Underground Railway station, where he took
+the train for the City.
+
+As he stepped from the carriage at South Kensington, young Mr. Longworth
+came out of the station on his way home, and was simply dumfounded to see
+Kenyon in the Longworths' carriage.
+
+John passed him without noticing who he was, and just as the coachman was
+going to start again, Longworth said to him:
+
+'Parker, have you been picking up fares in the street?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' replied the respectable Parker; 'the young gentleman as
+just left us came from the City with Miss Longworth.'
+
+'Did he, indeed? Where did you pick him up, Parker?'
+
+'We picked him up in Cheapside, sir.'
+
+'Ah, indeed;' and with that, muttering some imprecations on the cheek of
+Kenyon, he stepped into the carriage and drove home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+George Wentworth was a very much better man than John Kenyon to undertake
+the commercial task they hoped to accomplish. Wentworth had mixed with
+men, and was not afraid of them. Although he had suffered keenly from the
+little episode on the steamer, and although at that trying time he
+appeared to but poor advantage so far as an exhibition of courage was
+concerned, the reason was largely because the blow had been dealt him by
+a woman, and not by a man. If one of Wentworth's fellow-men so far forgot
+himself as to make an insulting or cutting remark to him, Wentworth
+merely shrugged his shoulders and thought no more about it. On the other
+hand, notwithstanding his somewhat cold and calm exterior, John Kenyon
+was as sensitive as a child, and a rebuff such as he received from the
+Longworths was enough to depress him for a week. He had been a student
+all his life, and had not yet learnt the valuable lesson of knowing how
+to look at men's actions with an eye to proportion. Wentworth said to
+himself that nobody's opinion amounted to very much, but Kenyon knew too
+little of his fellows to have arrived at this comforting conclusion.
+
+George Wentworth closed his door when he was alone, drew the mass of
+papers, which Kenyon had left, towards him on his desk, and proceeded
+systematically to find a flaw in them if possible. He said to himself: 'I
+must attack this thing without enthusiasm, and treat Kenyon as if he were
+a thief. I must find an error in the reasoning or something shaky about
+the facts.' He perused the papers earnestly, making pencil-marks on the
+margin here and there. At first he said to himself: 'It is quite evident
+that the mining of the mica will pay for the working of the mine. We can
+look upon the demand for mica as being in a certain sense settled. It has
+paid for the working of the mine so far, also a small dividend, and there
+is no reason to think it should not go on doing so. Now, the uncertain
+quantity is this other stuff, and the uncertain thing about this
+uncertain quantity is the demand for it in the markets of the world, also
+how much the carriage of it is going to cost.' Wentworth had a theory
+that all things were possible if you only knew a man who knew _the_ man.
+There is always _the_ man in everything--the man who is the authority on
+iron; the man who is the authority on mines; the man who is the authority
+on the currency, and the man who knows all about the printing trade. If
+you want any information on any particular subject, it was not necessary
+to know _the_ man, but it was very essential to know a man who can put
+his finger on _the_ man. Get a note of introduction from a man who knows
+_the_ man, and there you are!
+
+Wentworth touched his bell, and a boy answered his summons.
+
+'Ask Mr. Close to step in here for a moment, will you, please?'
+
+The boy disappeared, and shortly after an oldish man with a very
+deferential look, who was perpetually engaged in smoothing one hand
+over the other, came in, and, in a timid manner, closed the door softly
+behind him.
+
+'Close,' said Wentworth, 'who is it that knows everything about the
+china trade?'
+
+'About the china trade, sir?'
+
+'Yes, about the china trade.'
+
+'Wholesale or retail, sir?'
+
+'I want to get at somebody who knows all about the manufacture of china.'
+
+'Ah, the manufacture, sir,' said Close, in a tone that indicated this was
+another matter altogether; 'the manufacture, sir; yes, sir, I really do
+not know who could tell everything about the manufacture of china, sir,
+but I know of a man who could put you on the right track.'
+
+'Very well; that is quite as good.'
+
+'I would see Mr. Melville, if I were you, sir--Mr. Melville, of the great
+Scranton China Company.'
+
+'And what is his address?'
+
+'His address is----' And here the old man stooped over and wrote it on a
+card. 'That will find him, sir. If you can drop a note to Mr. Melville,
+sir, and say you want to learn who knows all about the production of
+china, he will be able to tell you just the man, sir. He is in the
+wholesale china trade himself, sir.'
+
+'Would he be in at this hour, do you think?'
+
+'Oh yes, sir, he is sure to be in his office now.'
+
+'Very well, then; I think I will just run over and see him.'
+
+'Very good, sir; anything more, sir?'
+
+'Nothing more, Close, thank you.'
+
+When the valuable Close had departed as softly and apologetically as he
+had entered, Wentworth picked up one of the specimens of spar which
+Kenyon had taken from the mine, and put it into his pocket. In two
+minutes more he was in a cab, dashing through the crowded streets towards
+Melville's office. By the side of the door of the china company's
+warehouse, inside the hall, were two parallel rows of names--one under
+the general heading of 'Out,' the other under the heading of 'In.' It
+appeared that Mr. Smith was out and Mr. Jones was in, but, what was more
+to the purpose, the name of Richard Melville happened to be in the column
+of those who were inside. After a few moments' delay, Wentworth was
+ushered into the office of this gentleman.
+
+'Mr. Melville,' he said, 'I have been recommended to come to you for
+information regarding the china trade. The information I want, you will,
+perhaps, not be able to give me, but I believe you can tell me to whom I
+should apply for it.' Saying this, he took out of his pocket the specimen
+of mineral which he had brought with him. 'What I want to know is, how
+much of this material you use each year in the manufacture of china; what
+price you pay for it; and I should like to get at an estimate, if
+possible, of the quantity used in England every year.'
+
+Melville picked up the specimen and turned it round and round, looking at
+it attentively.
+
+'Well,' he said at last, 'I could tell you anything you wished about the
+wholesale china trade, but about the manufacture of it I am not so well
+informed. Where did you get this?'
+
+'That,' said Wentworth, 'is from a mine in which I am interested.'
+
+'Ah, where is the mine situated, may I ask?'
+
+'It is in America,' said Wentworth vaguely.
+
+'I see. Have you considered the question of carriage in proposing to put
+it on the English market? That, as you know, is an important question.
+The cost of taking a heavy article a long distance is a great factor in
+the question of its commercial value.'
+
+'I recognise that,' said Wentworth; 'and it is to enable me to form some
+estimate of the value of this material that I ask for particulars of its
+price here.'
+
+'I understand, but I am not able to answer your questions. If you have
+time to wait and see Mr. Brand, our manager of the works, who is also one
+of the owners, he could easily tell you everything about this
+mineral--whether used at all or not. He comes up to London once every
+fortnight, and to-day is his day. I am expecting him here at any time.
+You might wait, if you liked, and see him.'
+
+'I do not think that will be necessary. I will write, if you will allow
+me, just what I want to know, and in two or three minutes he could jot
+down the information I require. Then I will call again to-morrow, if you
+don't mind.'
+
+'Not in the least. I will submit the matter to him. You can leave me this
+piece of mineral, I suppose?'
+
+'Certainly,' said Wentworth, writing on a sheet of paper the questions:
+'First, What quantity of this mineral is used in your works in a year?
+second, What price per ton do you pay for it? third, Will you give me, if
+possible, an estimate of how much of this is used in England?'
+
+'There,' he said, 'if you will give him this slip of paper, and show him
+the specimen of mineral, I shall be very much obliged.'
+
+'By the way,' said Melville, 'is this mine in operation?'
+
+'Yes, it is.'
+
+'Is there anyone else beside yourself interested in it in this country?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, with some hesitation; 'John Kenyon, a mining
+expert, is interested in it, and Mr. Longworth--young Mr. Longworth of
+the City.'
+
+'Any relation to John Longworth?'
+
+'His nephew.'
+
+'Ah, well, anything that Longworth has an interest in is reasonably sure
+of being successful.'
+
+'I am perhaps going too far in saying he has an interest in the mine, but
+in coming from America he seemed desirous of going in with us. My
+partner. John Kenyon, of whom I spoke just now, is with him at the
+present moment, I believe.'
+
+'Very well. I will submit this specimen to Mr. Brand as you desire, and
+will let you know to-morrow what he says.'
+
+With that Wentworth took his leave, and in going out through the hall he
+met the manager of the china works, although he didn't know at the time
+who he was. He was a very shrewd-faced individual, who walked with a
+brisk business step which showed he believed that time was money.
+
+'Well, Melville,' he said when he entered, 'I am a little late to-day,
+am I not?'
+
+'You are a little behind the usual time, but not much.'
+
+'By the way----' began the manager, and then his eye wandered to the
+specimen on the desk before Melville. 'Hello!' he cried, 'where did you
+get this?'
+
+'That was left here a moment ago by a gentleman whom I wanted to wait
+until you came, but he seemed to be in a hurry. He is going to call again
+to-morrow.'
+
+'What is his name?'
+
+'Wentworth. Here's his card.'
+
+'Ah, of a firm of accountants, eh? How did he come to have this?'
+
+'He wanted to get some information about it, and I told him I would show
+it to you. Here is the note he left.'
+
+The manager turned the crystal over and over in his hand, put on his
+eyeglasses and peered into it, then picked up the piece of paper and
+looked at what Kenyon had written.
+
+'Did he say where he had got this?'
+
+'Yes; he says there is a mine of it in America.'
+
+'In America, eh? Did he say how much of this stuff there was?
+
+'No; he didn't tell me that. The mine is working, however.'
+
+'It is very curious! I never heard of it.'
+
+'I gathered from him,' said Mr. Melville, 'that he wishes to do something
+with the mine over here. He did not say much, but he told me his
+partner--I forget his name--was talking at the present moment with young
+Longworth about it.'
+
+'Longworth--who's he?'
+
+'He's a man who goes in for mines or other investments; that is, his
+uncle does--a very shrewd old fellow, too. He is always on the right side
+of the market, no matter how it turns.'
+
+'Then, he would be a man certain to know the value of the property if he
+had it, wouldn't he?'
+
+'I don't know anybody who knows the value of what he has better than
+Longworth.'
+
+'Ah, that's a pity,' mused the manager.
+
+'Why? Is it a mineral of any worth?'
+
+'Worth! A quarry of this would be better for us than a gold-mine!'
+
+'Well, it struck me, in talking with Mr. Wentworth, that he had no
+particular idea of its utility. He seemed to know nothing about it, and
+that's why he came here for information.'
+
+Again the manager looked at the paper before him.
+
+'I'm not so sure about that,' he said. 'He wants to know the quantity
+used in a year, how much of it is consumed in England, and the price we
+pay for it per ton. I should judge, from that, he has an inkling of its
+value, and wants merely to corroborate it. Yes, I feel certain that is
+his move. I fear nothing very much can be done with Mr. Wentworth.'
+
+'What were you thinking of doing?'
+
+'My dear Melville, if we could get hold of such a mine, supposing it has
+an unlimited quantity of this mineral in it, we could control the china
+markets of the world.'
+
+'You don't mean it!'
+
+'It's a fact, because of the purity of the mineral. The stuff that we use
+is heavily impregnated with iron; we have to get the iron out of it, and
+that costs money. Not that the stuff itself is uncommon at all, it is one
+of the most common substances in Nature; but anything so pure as this I
+have never seen. I wonder if it is a fair specimen of what they can get
+out of the mine? If it is, I would rather own that property than any
+gold-mine I know of.'
+
+'Well, I will see Mr. Wentworth, if you like. He is going to call here
+about this time to-morrow, and I will find out if some arrangement cannot
+be made with him.'
+
+'No, I wouldn't do that,' replied the manager, who preferred never to do
+things in a direct way. 'I think your best plan is to see Longworth. The
+chances are that a City man like him does not know the value of the
+property; and, if you don't mind, I will write a letter to Mr. Wentworth
+and give him my opinion on this mineral.'
+
+'What shall I say to Longworth?'
+
+'Say anything you like; you understand that kind of business better than
+I. Here are the facts of the case. If we can get a controlling interest
+in this mine, always supposing that it turns out mineral up to sample--I
+suspect that this is a picked specimen; of course we should have to send
+a man to America and see--if we could get hold of this property, it would
+be the greatest feat in business we have ever done, provided, of course,
+we get it at a cheap enough price.'
+
+'What do you call a cheap enough price?'
+
+'You find out what Longworth will sell the mine for.'
+
+'But supposing Wentworth owns the mine, or as much of it as
+Longworth does?'
+
+'I think, somehow, that if you know Longworth you can perhaps make better
+terms with him. Meanwhile I will send a letter to Wentworth. You have his
+address there?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well.'
+
+Taking his pen, he dashed off the following letter:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'I regret to say that the mineral you left at our office yesterday is of
+no value to us. We do not use mineral of this nature, and, so far as I
+know, it is not used anywhere in England.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'ADAM BRAND.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+The chances are that, no matter under what circumstances young Longworth
+and Kenyon had first met, the former would have disliked the latter.
+Although strong friendships are formed between men who are dissimilar,
+it must not be forgotten that equally strong hatreds have arisen between
+people merely because they were of opposite natures. No two young men
+could have been more unlike each other; and as Longworth recalled the
+different meetings he had had with Kenyon, he admitted to himself that he
+had an extreme antipathy to the engineer. The evident friendship which
+his cousin felt for Kenyon added a bitterness to this dislike which was
+rapidly turning it into hate. However, he calmed down sufficiently, on
+going home in the carriage, to become convinced that it was better to say
+nothing about her meeting with Kenyon unless she introduced the subject.
+After all, the carriage was hers, not his, and he recognised that fact.
+He wondered how much Kenyon had told her of the interview at his uncle's
+office. He flattered himself, however, that he knew enough of women to be
+sure that she would very speedily refer to the subject, and then he hoped
+to learn just how much had been said. To his surprise, his cousin said
+nothing at all about the matter, neither that evening nor the next
+morning, and, consequently, he went to his office in a somewhat
+bewildered state of mind.
+
+On arriving at his room in the City, he found Melville waiting for him.
+
+Melville shook hands with young Longworth, and, taking a mineral specimen
+from his pocket, placed it on the young man's desk, saying;
+
+'I suppose you know where that comes from?'
+
+Longworth looked at it with an air of indecision which made Melville
+suspect he knew very little about it.
+
+'I haven't the slightest idea, really.'
+
+'No? I was told you were interested in the mine from which this was
+taken. Mr. Wentworth called on me yesterday, and gave your name as one of
+those who were concerned with the mine.'
+
+'Ah, yes, I see; yes, yes, I have--some interest in the mine.'
+
+'Well, it is about that I came to talk with you. Where is the mine
+situated?'
+
+'It is near the Ottawa River, I believe, some distance above Montreal. I
+am not certain about its exact position, but it is somewhere in that
+neighbourhood.'
+
+'I thought by the way Wentworth talked it was in the United States. He
+mentioned another person as being his partner in the affair; I forget
+his name.'
+
+'John Kenyon, probably.'
+
+'Kenyon! Yes, I think that was the name. Yes, I am sure it was. Now, may
+I ask what is your connection with that mine? Are you a partner of
+Wentworth's and Kenyon's? Are you the chief owner of the mine, or is the
+mine owned by them?'
+
+'In the first place, Mr. Melville, I should like to know why you ask me
+these questions?'
+
+Melville laughed.
+
+'Well, I will tell you. We should like to know what chance there is of
+our getting a controlling interest in the mine. That is very frankly put,
+isn't it?'
+
+'Yes, it is. But whom do you mean by "we"? Who else besides yourself?'
+
+'By "we" I mean the china company to which I belong. This mineral is
+useful in making china. That I suppose you know.'
+
+'Yes, I was aware of that,' answered Longworth, although he heard it now
+for the first time.
+
+'Very well, then; I should like to know who is the owner of the mine.'
+
+'The owner of the mine at present is some foreigner whose name and
+address I do not know. The two young men you speak of have an option on
+that mine for a certain length of time--how long I don't know. They have
+been urging me to go in with them to form a company for the floating of
+that mine for two hundred thousand pounds on the London market.'
+
+'Two hundred thousand pounds!' said Melville. 'That seems to me rather a
+large amount.'
+
+'Do you think so? Well, the objection I had to it was that it was too
+small.'
+
+'Those two men must have an exaggerated idea of the value of this mineral
+if they think it will pay dividends on two hundred thousand pounds.'
+
+'This mineral is not all there is in the mine. In fact, it is already
+paying a dividend on fifty thousand pounds or thereabouts, because of the
+mica in it. It is being mined for mica alone. To tell the truth, I did
+not know much about the other mineral.'
+
+'And do you think the mine is worth two hundred thousand pounds?'
+
+'Frankly, I do not.'
+
+'Then why are you connected with it?'
+
+'I am not connected with it--at least, not definitely connected with it.
+I have the matter under consideration. Of course, if there is anything
+approaching a swindle in it, I shall have nothing to do with it. It will
+depend largely on the figures that the two men show me whether I have
+anything to do with it or not.'
+
+'I see; I understand your position.' Then, lowering his voice, Melville
+leaned over towards Longworth, and said: 'You are a man of business. Now,
+I want to ask you what would be the chance of our getting the mine at
+something like the original option priced which is, of course, very much
+less than two hundred thousand pounds? We do not want to have too many in
+it. In fact, if you could get it for us at a reasonable rate, and did not
+care to be troubled with the property yourself, we would take the whole
+ourselves.'
+
+Young Longworth pondered a moment, and then said to Melville:
+
+'Do you mean to freeze out the other two fellows, as they say in
+America?'
+
+'I do not know about freezing out; but, of course, with the other two
+there is so much less profit to be divided. We should like to deal with
+just as few as if possible.'
+
+'Exactly. I see what you mean. I think it can be done. Are you in any
+great hurry to secure the mine?'
+
+'Not particularly. Why?'
+
+'Well, if things are worked rightly, I don't know but what we could get
+it for the original option. That would mean, of course, to wait until
+this first option had run out.'
+
+'Wouldn't there be a little danger in that? They may form their company
+in the meantime, and then we should lose everything. Our interest in the
+matter is as much to prevent anyone else getting hold of the mine as to
+get it ourselves.'
+
+'I see. I will think it over. I believe it can be done without great
+risk; but, of course, we shall have to be reasonably quiet about the
+matter.'
+
+'I see the necessity of that.'
+
+'Very good. I will see you again after I have thought over the affair,
+and we can come to some arrangement.'
+
+'I may say that our manager has written a note to Wentworth, saying that
+this mineral is of no particular use to us.'
+
+'Exactly,' said young Longworth, with a look of intelligence.
+
+'So, of course, in speaking with Wentworth about the mine, it is just as
+well not to mention us in any way.'
+
+'I shall not.'
+
+'Very well. I will leave the matter in your hands for the present.'
+
+'Yes, do so. I will think over it this afternoon, and probably see
+Wentworth and Kenyon to-morrow. There is no immediate hurry, for I happen
+to know they have not done anything yet.'
+
+With that Mr. Melville took his leave, and young Longworth paced up and
+down the room, evolving a plan that would at once bring him money and
+give him the satisfaction of making it lively for John Kenyon.
+
+When he reached home, Longworth waited for his cousin to say something
+about Kenyon; but he soon saw that she did not intend to speak of him at
+all. So he said to her:
+
+'Edith, do you remember Kenyon and Wentworth--who were on board our
+steamer?'
+
+'I remember them very well.'
+
+'Did you know they had a mining property for sale?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'I have been thinking about it--in fact, Kenyon called at my office a day
+or two ago, and at that time, not having given the subject much thought,
+I could not give him any encouragement; but I have been pondering over it
+since, and have almost decided to help them. What do you think about it?'
+
+'Oh, I think it would be an excellent plan. I am sure the property is a
+good one, or Mr. Kenyon would have nothing to do with it. I shall write a
+note to them, if you think it advisable, inviting them here to talk with
+you about it.'
+
+'That will not be necessary at all. I do not want people to come here to
+talk business. My office is the proper place.'
+
+'Still, we met them in a friendly way on board the steamer, and I think
+it would be nice if they came here some evening and talked over the
+matter with you.'
+
+'I don't believe in introducing business into a man's home. This would be
+a purely business conversation, and it may as well take place at my
+office, or at Wentworth's, if he has one, as I suppose he has.'
+
+'Oh, certainly; his address is----'
+
+'Oh, you know it, do you?'
+
+Edith blushed as she realized what she had said; then she remarked:
+
+'Is there any harm in my knowing the business address of Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'Oh, not at all--not at all. I merely wondered how you happened to know
+his address, when I didn't.'
+
+'Well, it doesn't matter how I know it. I am glad you are going to join
+him, and I am sure you will be successful. Will you see them to-morrow?'
+
+'I think so. I shall call on Wentworth and have a talk with him about it.
+Of course we may not be able to come to a workable arrangement. If not,
+it really does not matter very much. But if I can make satisfactory terms
+with them, I will help them to form their company.'
+
+When Edith went to her own room she wrote a note. It was addressed to
+George Wentworth in the City, but above that address was the name John
+Kenyon. She said:
+
+'DEAR MR. KENYON,
+
+'I was certain at the time you spoke that my cousin was not so much at
+fault in forgetting his conversation as you thought. We had a talk to
+night about the mine, and when he calls upon you tomorrow, as he intends
+to do, I want you to know that I said nothing whatever to him of what you
+told me. He mentioned the subject first. I wanted you to know this
+because you might feel embarrassed when you met him by thinking I had
+sent him to you. That is not at all the case. He goes to you of his own
+accord, and I am sure you will find his assistance in forming a company
+very valuable. I am glad to think you will be partners.
+
+'Yours very truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.'
+
+She gave this letter to her maid to post, and young Longworth met the
+maid in the hall with the letter in her hand. He somehow suspected, after
+the foregoing conversation, to whom the letter was addressed.
+
+'Where are you going with that?'
+
+'To the post, sir.'
+
+'I am going out; to save you the trouble I will take it.'
+
+After passing the corner, he looked at the address on the envelope; then
+he swore to himself a little. If he had been a villain in a play he would
+have opened the letter; but he did not. He merely dropped it into the
+first pillar-box he came to, and in due time it reached John Kenyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+Although Jennie Brewster arrived in London angry with the world in
+general, and with several of its inhabitants in particular, she soon
+began to revel in the delights of the great city. It was so old that it
+was new to her, and she visited Westminster Abbey and other of its
+ancient landmarks in rapid succession. The cheapness of the hansoms
+delighted her, and she spent most of her time dashing about in cabs. She
+put up at one of the big hotels, and ordered many new dresses at a place
+in Regent Street. She bought most of the newspapers, morning and evening,
+and declared she could not find an interesting article in any of them.
+From her point of view they were stupid and unenterprising, and she
+resolved to run down the editor of one of the big dailies when she got
+time, interview him, and discover how he reconciled it with his
+conscience to publish so dull a sheet every day.
+
+She wrote to her editor in New York that London, though a slow town, was
+full of good material, and that nobody had touched it in the writing line
+since Dickens' time; therefore she proposed to write a series of
+articles on the Metropolis that would wake them up a bit. The editor
+cabled to her to go ahead, and she went.
+
+Jennie engaged a chaperon, and took great satisfaction in this unwonted
+luxury. It had been intimated to her that Lady Willow was a sort of
+society St. Peter, who held keys that would open the gates of the social
+heaven, if she were sufficiently recompensed. Of all the ancient
+landmarks of England, none attracted Jennie so much as the aristocracy,
+and although she had written to New York for letters of introduction that
+would be useful in London, she was too impatient to await their arrival.
+Thus she came to secure the services of Lady Willow, the widow of Sir
+Debenham Willow, who had died abroad, insolvent, some years before,
+mourned by the creditors he left behind him.
+
+Jennie was suspicious about the title, and demanded convincing proofs of
+its genuineness before she engaged Lady Willow. She was amazed that any
+real lady would, as it were, sell her social influence at so much a week;
+but, as Lady Willow was equally astonished that an American girl earned
+her livelihood by writing for the papers, the surprise of the one found
+its counterpart in the wonder of the other.
+
+Lady Willow thought all American girls were born daughters of
+millionaires, in accordance with some unexplained Western by-law of
+nature, and imagined that their sole object in desiring to enter London
+society was to purchase for themselves a more or less expensive scion of
+the aristocracy; she was therefore inclined to resent meeting a shrewd
+young woman apparently determined on getting the value for her money.
+
+'It is not my custom to chaffer about terms,' said Lady Willow with
+much dignity.
+
+'It is mine,' replied Jennie complacently; 'I always like to know what I
+am buying, and the price I am to pay for it.'
+
+'You are dealing with me,' said the lady, rising indignantly, 'as if you
+were engaging a cook. I am sure we would not suit each other at all.'
+
+'Please sit down, Lady Willow, and don't be offended. Let us talk it over
+in an amicable manner, even if we come to no arrangement. I think a cook
+an exceedingly important person, and I assure you I would treat one in
+the most deferential manner; while with you, on the other hand, I talk in
+an open and frank way, as between friend and friend. I take it that you
+and I are somewhat similarly situated. We are neither of us rich, and so
+we have each of us to earn the money we need in our own way. It would be
+dishonest if I pretended to you that I was wealthy, and then couldn't pay
+what you expected after you had done all you could for me--now, wouldn't
+it? Very well, if you have anyone else to chaperon who can afford to pay
+more than I can, you shouldn't bother about me at all, but secure a
+richer client.'
+
+Lady Willow remembered that this was not the season when rich clients
+abounded; so she smothered her resentment, and sat down again.
+
+'That's right,' said Jennie; 'we'll have a nice quiet talk, whatever
+comes of it. Now, if you like, I could write a lovely article about you
+in the _Sunday Argus_, and then all rich girls who come over here would
+go direct to you.'
+
+'Oh dear! oh dear!' cried Lady Willow, evidently inexpressibly shocked
+at the idea, 'you would surely never do so cruel a thing as that? If my
+friends knew I chaperoned young ladies and took money for it, I would
+never be allowed to enter their doors again.'
+
+'Ah, I didn't think of that. Of course it wouldn't do. What a curious
+thing it is that those who want to be written up in the papers generally
+never see their names in print; while those who don't want to have
+anything said about them are the people the reporters are always after.'
+
+'Do you write for the papers, then?'
+
+'For one of them.'
+
+'How dreadful!' said Lady Willow, rising again, with an air of finality
+about her movement. It was evident that any dealings with this American
+girl were out of the question.
+
+'Do sit down again, Lady Willow. We will take it that I am hopelessly
+ineligible, and so say no more about it; but I do want to have a talk
+with you.'
+
+'But you will write something----'
+
+'I shall not write a word about you or about anything you tell me. You
+see, your profession is as strange to me as mine is to you.'
+
+'My profession? I have none.'
+
+'Well, whatever you call it. I mean the way in which you make your
+money.'
+
+Lady Willow sighed, and the tears came into her eyes.
+
+'You little know, my child, to what straits one may come who is left
+unprovided for, and who has to do the best to keep up appearances.'
+
+Jennie sprang up instantly and took the unresisting hand of the elder
+woman, smoothing it with her own caressingly.
+
+'Why, of course I know,' she cried, with a little quaver in her voice;
+'and there is nothing more terrible on earth than lack of money. If there
+was a single really civilized country in existence, it would make
+provision for its women. Every woman should be assured enough to live on,
+merely because she is a woman. If England had put aside as much for its
+women as it has spent in the last hundred years on foolish wars, or if
+America had made a fund of what its politicians have been allowed to
+steal, the women of both barbarous countries might have been provided
+with incomes that would at least keep them from the fear of want.'
+
+Lady Willow seemed more alarmed than comforted by the vehemence of Miss
+Brewster. She said hesitatingly:
+
+'I'm afraid you have some very strange ideas, my dear.'
+
+'Perhaps; but I have one idea that isn't strange: it is that you are
+going to take charge of a lonesome, friendless girl for a few weeks at
+least--until the rich pork-packer's daughter from Chicago comes along,
+and she won't be here for a month or two yet. We won't say a word about
+terms; I'll pay you all that's left over from my hansom fares.'
+
+'I shall be very happy to do what I can for you, my dear.'
+
+Lady Willow had softened towards her fair client, and had now adopted a
+somewhat motherly tone with her, which Jennie evidently liked.
+
+'I will try and be very little trouble to you, although I shall probably
+ask you ever so many questions. All I really want is merely to see the
+Zoo, hear the animals roar, and watch them being fed. I have no ambition
+to steal any of them.'
+
+'Oh, that will be easily done,' said Lady Willow in surprise. 'We can get
+tickets from one of the Fellows of the Zoological Society which will
+admit us on Sunday, when there are but few people there.'
+
+Jennie laughed merrily.
+
+'I mean the social Zoo, Lady Willow; I have visited the other already.
+Please do not look so shocked at me, and don't be afraid; I really
+talk very nicely when I am in society, and I am sure you will not be
+in the least ashamed of me. You see, I haven't had a soul to speak with
+since I came to London, so I think I ought to be allowed a little
+latitude at first.'
+
+Lady Willow so far relaxed her dignity as to smile, although a little
+dubiously; and Jennie joyfully proclaimed that their compact was sealed
+and that she was sure they would be great friends.
+
+'Now you must tell me what I am to do,' she continued. 'I suppose dresses
+are the most important preliminaries when one is meditating a siege on
+society. Well, I've ordered ever so many, so that's all right. What's the
+next thing?'
+
+'Yes, dress is important; but I think the first thing to do is to choose
+pleasant rooms somewhere. You can't stay at this hotel, you know;
+besides, it must be very expensive.'
+
+'Yes, it is rather; but it is so handy and central.'
+
+'It is not central for society.'
+
+'Oh, isn't it? I was thinking of Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square,
+and that sort of thing. Besides, there's _always_ a nice hansom right at
+the door whenever one wants to go out.'
+
+'Oh, but you mustn't ride in hansoms, you know!'
+
+'Why? I thought the aristocracy--the very highest--rode in hansoms.'
+
+'Some of them have private hansoms; but that's a very different thing.'
+
+'And I heard somewhere that most of the hansoms in London are owned by
+the aristocracy. I am sure I rode in one belonging to the Marquis of
+Something--I forget his name. I don't suppose the Marquis himself drove
+it. Perhaps it was driven by his hired man; but the driver was such a
+nice young fellow, and he gave me a lot of information. He told me that
+the Marquis owned the hansom; for I asked him whose it was. I thought
+perhaps it belonged to the driver. I'll give up the hotel willingly, but
+I don't know about hansoms. I'm afraid to promise; for I feel sure I'll
+hail a hansom automatically the moment I go out alone. So we will
+postpone the hansom question until later. Now, where would you recommend
+me to stay while in London?'
+
+'You could stop with me if you liked. I have not a large house; but there
+is room for one or two friends, and it is in a very good locality.'
+
+'Oh, that will be delightful. I suppose the correct address on one's
+notepaper is everything, almost as good as a coat-of-arms--if they use
+coats-of-arms as letter-heads; and there is a difference between Drury
+and Park when they precede the word "Lane."'
+
+The two ladies speedily came to an understanding that was satisfactory to
+each of them, and Lady Willow found, to the no small comforting of her
+dignity, that, although she came to the hotel in the attitude of one who,
+if it may be so expressed, sought a favour, the impetuous eagerness of
+the younger woman had so changed the situation that the elder lady now
+left with the gratifying self complacency of a generous person who has
+conferred a boon. Nor was her condescension without its reward, both
+material and intellectual, for not only did Jennie pay her way with some
+lavishness, but her immediate social success was flattering to Lady
+Willow as the introducer of a Transatlantic cousin so bright and
+vivacious.
+
+So great an impression did Jennie make upon the more susceptible portion
+of the young men she met under Lady Willow's chaperonage, that even the
+rumour which got abroad, that she had no money, did not damp the devotion
+of all of them. Lord Frederick Bingham was quite as assiduous in his
+attentions as if she were the greatest heiress that ever crossed the
+ocean to exchange dubiously won gold for a title founded by some thief in
+the Middle Ages, thus bringing ancient and modern villainy into
+juxtaposition.
+
+Lady Willow saw Lord Frederick's preference with pleasurable surprise.
+Although she did not altogether approve of the damsel in her care, she
+had become very fond of her; but she failed to see why Jennie was so much
+sought after, when other girls, almost as pretty and much more eligible,
+were neglected. She hinted delicately to the young woman one day that
+perhaps her visit to England would not be, after all, so futile.
+
+'I don't think I understand you,' said Jennie.
+
+'Well, my dear, with a little tact on your part, I'm not at all sure but
+Lord Frederick Bingham might propose.'
+
+Jennie, who was putting on her gloves, paused and looked at Lady Willow,
+with a merry twinkle in her eyes, and a demure smile hovering about the
+corners of her mouth.
+
+'Do you imagine, then, that I have come over here to ensnare some poor
+unprotected nobleman--with a display of tact? Oh dear me! As if tact had
+anything to do with it! Never, never, never, Lady Willow! I wouldn't
+marry an Englishman if he were the last man left on earth.'
+
+'Many Englishmen are very nice, my dear,' protested Lady Willow gently,
+with a deep sigh, for she thought of her own husband, who, having been
+all his life an irreclaimable reprobate, had commanded her utmost
+affection while he lived, and was the object of her tenderest regret now
+that he had taken his departure from a world that had never appreciated
+his talents; although its influence was, in the estimation of the widow,
+entirely to blame for those shortcomings which Sir Debenham had been
+unable to conceal.
+
+'And yet,' continued Jennie inconsequently, as she buttoned her glove,
+'I do adore a title; I wonder why that is? I suppose no woman is ever at
+heart a republican, and if the United States is to be wrecked, it is the
+women who will do the wrecking, and start a monarchy. I have no doubt
+the men would let us proclaim an empire now if they imagined it would
+please us.'
+
+'I thought you were all sovereigns over there already,' said Lady Willow.
+
+'Oh, we are, but that's just the trouble. There is too much competition
+in the queen business; there are too many of us, and so we exchange our
+sovereignty for the lesser titles of duchesses and countesses and all
+that.
+
+  '"It is no trivial thing, I ween,
+  To be a regular Royal Queen.
+  No half and half affair, I mean,
+  But a right down regular, regular regular regular Royal Queen."
+
+I don't know that the words are right, but the sentiment is there. Oh
+dear me! I'm afraid I'm becoming quite English, you know.'
+
+'I don't see many signs of it,' said Lady Willow, smiling in spite of
+herself as her voluble companion sang and danced about the room.
+
+'Come, Lady Willow,' cried Jennie, 'get on your things; I am going to a
+City bank to cash a cheque, and I warn you that I will take a hansom.
+Lord Freddie agrees with me that a hansom is the jolliest kind of
+vehicle: please don't frown at me, Lady Willow--"jolliest" is Lord
+Freddie's word, not mine.'
+
+'What I didn't like,' said Lady Willow, with as near an approach to
+severity as the kindly woman could assume, 'was your calling him
+Lord Freddie.'
+
+'Oh, that's his phrase, too! He says everybody calls him Lord Freddie.
+But come along, and I'll call him Lord--Frederick--Bingham,' with a voice
+of awe and appropriate pauses between the words. 'He always seems so
+trivial compared with his name; he reminds me of a salesman at a remnant
+counter, and I don't wonder everybody calls him Lord Freddie. I'm afraid
+I'm a disappointed woman, Lady Willow. I suppose the men have retrograded
+since armour went out of fashion; they had to be big and strong then to
+carry so much hardware. Of course it makes a difference to a man whether
+his tailor cuts him a suit out of broadcloth or out of sheet iron. Yes,
+I begin to suspect that I've come to England several centuries too late.'
+
+Lady Willow was too much shocked at these frivolous remarks to make any
+reply, so, attempting none, she went to her room to prepare for her trip
+to the City.
+
+Leaving Lady Willow in the hansom, Jennie entered the bank and got the
+white notes, generally alluded to in fiction as 'crisp,' stuffing them
+with greater carelessness than their value warranted into her purse. She
+took from this receptacle of her wealth a bit of paper on which was
+written an address, and this she looked at for some moments before
+leaving the bank. On reaching the hansom, she handed up the slip of paper
+to the driver.
+
+'Do you know where that is?' she asked.
+
+'Yes, miss; it is just round the corner.'
+
+'Well, drive to the opposite side of the street, and stop where I can see
+the door of No. 23.'
+
+'Very good, miss.'
+
+Arriving nearly opposite No. 23, the driver pulled up. Jennie looked
+across at the doorway where many hurrying men were entering and leaving.
+It was a large building evidently filled with offices; the girl drew a
+deep breath, but made no motion to leave the hansom.
+
+'Have you business here, too?' asked Lady Willow, to whom the City was an
+unknown land, the rush and noise of which were unpleasantly bewildering.
+
+'No,' said Jennie, with a doleful note in her voice, 'this is not
+business; it is pleasure. I want to sit here for a few minutes and
+think.'
+
+'But, my dear child,' expostulated Lady Willow, 'you can't think in this
+babel; besides, the police will not allow the hansom to stand here unless
+one of us is shopping, or has business in an office.'
+
+'Then, dear Lady Willow, do go shopping for ten minutes; I saw some
+lovely shops just down the street. Here are five pounds, and if you see
+anything that I ought to have, buy it for me. One must think now and
+then, you know. Our thoughts are like the letters we receive; we need to
+sort them out periodically, and discard those that we don't wish to keep.
+I want to rummage over my thoughts and see whether some of them are to be
+abandoned or not.'
+
+When Lady Willow left her, Jennie sat with her chin in her hands and her
+elbows on her knees gazing across at No. 23. The faces of none who went
+in or came out were familiar to her. Frequently glances were cast at her
+by passers-by, but she paid no heed to the crowd, nor to the fleeting
+admiration her pretty face aroused in many a flinty stockbroking breast,
+if, indeed, she was conscious of the attention she received. She awoke
+from her reverie when Lady Willow stepped into the hansom.
+
+'What, back already?' she cried.
+
+'I have been away for a quarter of an hour,' said the elder woman
+reproachfully. 'Besides, the money is all spent, and here are the
+parcels.'
+
+'Money doesn't go far in the City, does it?' said Jennie.
+
+'Why, what's the matter with you, my dear?' asked the elder woman; 'your
+voice sounds as if you had been crying.'
+
+'Nonsense! What an idea! This street reminds me so of Broadway that I
+have become quite homesick, that's all. I think I'll go back to New
+York.'
+
+'Have you met somebody from over there?'
+
+'No, no. I've seen no one I knew.'
+
+'Did you expect to?'
+
+'Perhaps.'
+
+'I didn't know you had any friends in the City.'
+
+'I haven't. He's an enemy.'
+
+'Really? An enemy who was once a friend?'
+
+'Yes. Why do you ask so many questions?'
+
+Lady Willow took the girl's hand, and said soothingly:
+
+'I am sorry there was a misunderstanding.'
+
+'So am I,' agreed Jennie.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered the office of his friend next morning, Wentworth
+said to him:
+
+'Well, what luck with the Longworths?'
+
+'No luck at all,' was the answer; 'the young man seemed to have forgotten
+all about our conversation on board the steamer, and the old gentleman
+takes no interest in the matter.'
+
+Wentworth hemmed and tapped on the desk with the end of his lead pencil.
+
+'I never counted much on that young fellow,' he said at last. 'What
+appeared to be his reason?'
+
+'I don't know exactly. He didn't give any reason. He merely said that he
+would have nothing to do with it, after having got me to tell him what
+our option on the mine was.'
+
+'Why did you tell him that?'
+
+'Well, it seemed, after I had talked to him a little, that there was some
+hope of his going in with us. I told him point-blank that I didn't care
+to say at what figure we had the option unless he was going in with us.
+He said of course he couldn't consider the matter at all unless he knew
+to what he was committed; and so I told him.'
+
+'And what excuse did he make for not joining us?'
+
+'Oh, he merely said he thought he would have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'Now, what do you imagine his object was in pumping you if he had no
+intention of taking an interest in the mine?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. I do not understand that sort of man at all. In
+fact, I feel rather relieved he is going to have nothing to do with it. I
+distrust him.'
+
+'That's all very well, John, you are prejudiced against him; but you know
+the name of Longworth would have a very great effect upon the minds of
+other City men. If we can get the Longworths into this, even for a small
+amount, I am certain that we shall have very little trouble in floating
+the company.'
+
+'Well, all I can say is, my mission to the Longworths was a failure. Have
+you looked over the papers?'
+
+'Oh yes, and that reminds me. The point on which the whole scheme turns
+is the availability of the mineral for the making of china, isn't it?'
+
+'That is so.'
+
+'Well, look at this letter; it came this morning.'
+
+He tossed the letter over to Kenyon, who read it, and then asked:
+
+'Who's Adam Brand? He doesn't know what he is talking about.'
+
+'Ah, but the trouble is that he does. No man in England better, I should
+imagine. He is the manager and part owner of the big Scranton china
+works. I went to see Melville of that company yesterday. He could tell
+me nothing about the mineral, but kept the specimen I gave him, and told
+me he would show it to the manager when he came in. Brand is the manager
+of the works, and if anybody knows the value of the mineral, he ought to
+be the man.'
+
+'Nevertheless,' said Kenyon, 'he is mistaken.'
+
+'That is just the point of the whole matter--is he? The mineral is either
+valueless, as he says, or he is telling a deliberate lie for some
+particular purpose; and I can't see, for the life of me, why a stranger
+should not only tell a falsehood, but write it on paper. Now, John, what
+do you know about china manufacture?'
+
+'I know very little indeed about it.'
+
+'Very well, then, how can you put your knowledge against this man's, who
+is a practical manufacturer?'
+
+Kenyon looked at Wentworth, who was evidently not feeling in the best
+of humours.
+
+'Do you mean to say, George, that I do not know what I am talking about
+when I tell you that this mineral is valuable for a certain purpose?'
+
+'Well, you have just admitted that you know nothing about the china
+trade.'
+
+'Not "nothing," George--I know something about it; but what I do
+understand is the value of minerals. The reason I know anything at all
+about china manufacture is simply because I learned that this mineral is
+one of the most important components of china.'
+
+'Then why did that man write such a letter?'
+
+'I'm sure I don't know. As you saw the man, you can judge better than I
+whether he would tell a deliberate falsehood, or whether he was merely
+ignorant.'
+
+'I didn't see Brand at all; I saw Melville. Melville was to submit this
+mineral to Brand, and let me know what he thought about it. Of course,
+everything depends upon the value of it in the china trade.'
+
+'Of course.'
+
+'Very well then, I took the only way that was open to me to find out what
+practical men say about it. If they say they will have nothing to do with
+it, then we might as well give up our mining scheme and send back our
+option to Mr. Von Brent.'
+
+Kenyon read the letter again, and pondered deeply over it.
+
+'You see, of course,' said George once more, 'everything hinges on that,
+don't you?'
+
+'I certainly see that.'
+
+'Then, what have you to say?'
+
+'I have to say this--that I shall have to take a trip among the china
+works of Great Britain. I think it would be a good plan if you were to
+write to the different manufacturers in the United States and find out
+how much they use of it. There is no necessity for sending the mineral.
+They have to use that, and nothing else will do. Find out from them, if
+you can, how much of it they need, what price they will pay for pure
+material, and what they pay for the impure material they use now.'
+
+'How do you know, John, that there are not a dozen mines with that
+material in them?'
+
+'How do I know? Well, if you want to impugn my knowledge of mineralogy, I
+wish you would do so straight out. I either know my business or I do not.
+If you think I do not, then leave this matter entirely alone. I tell you
+that what I say about this mineral is true. What I say about its scarcity
+is true. There are no other mines with mineral so pure as this.'
+
+'I am perfectly satisfied when you say that, but you must remember those
+who are going to put their money in this company will not be satisfied.
+They must have the facts and figures down before them, and they are not
+going to take either your word or mine as to the value of the mineral.
+Your proposal about seeing the different manufactories is good. I would
+act upon it at once, if I were you. We must have the opinions of
+practical men set forth clearly before we can make a move in the matter.
+Now, how much of this mineral have you got?'
+
+'Only the few lumps I took with me in my portmanteau. The barrel full of
+it which we got at Burntpine has not arrived yet. I suppose it came by
+slow steamer and is probably on the ocean still.'
+
+'Very good. Take what specimens you have, go to the North, and see those
+manufacturers. Get, in some way or another, whether from the principals
+or from the subordinates, the price they pay for it, and the cost of
+removing the adulteration from the stuff they employ now; because that is
+really the material we come into competition with. It is not with their
+first raw material, but with their material as cleared from the
+deleterious foreign substances, that we have to deal. Find out exactly
+what it costs to do this purifying, and then, when you get your facts and
+figures, I will arrange them for you in the best order. Meanwhile, as you
+suggest, I will learn what manufactories there are in the States. Nothing
+can be done except that until you come back, and, if I were you, I should
+leave at once.'
+
+'I am quite ready. I don't want to lose any further time.'
+
+So John Kenyon departed, and was soon on his way to the North, with a
+list of china manufactories in his note-book.
+
+That afternoon Wentworth got the letters off by the American mail, and he
+felt that they were doing business as rapidly as could be expected. Next
+morning there was a letter for John Kenyon addressed to the care of
+Wentworth, and by a later mail there came a letter to Wentworth himself
+from John, who had reached his first district and had had an interview
+already with the manager of the works. He found the mineral was all he
+had expected, and they would be glad to take a certain quantity each year
+at a specified rate. This letter Wentworth filed away with a smile of
+satisfaction, and then he began again to wonder why Adam Brand,
+representing such a well-known manufactory, should have written a
+deliberate falsehood. Before he had time to fathom this mystery, the
+office-boy announced that a gentleman wished to see him, and handed
+Wentworth a card which bore the name of William Longworth. Wentworth
+arched his eyebrows as he looked at it.
+
+'Ask the gentleman to step in, please,' he said; and the gentleman
+stepped in.
+
+'How are you, Mr. Wentworth? I suppose you remember me, although I did
+not see much of you on board the steamer.'
+
+'I remember you perfectly,' replied Wentworth. 'Won't you sit down?'
+
+'Thank you. I did not know where to find Mr. Kenyon, and so, being aware
+that both of you were interested in this mica-mine, I called to see you
+with reference to it.'
+
+'Indeed! I understood Mr. Kenyon to say that he had called upon you, and
+that you had decided to have nothing to do with it.'
+
+'I hardly think he was justified in saying anything quite so definite. I
+got from him such particulars as he cared to give. He is not a very
+communicative man at the best, but he told me something about it, and I
+have been thinking over his proposal. I have now concluded to help you in
+this matter, if you care to have my aid. Perhaps, however, things have
+got to such a stage that you do not wish any assistance?'
+
+'On the contrary, we have done very little. Mr. Kenyon is just now among
+the china manufactories in the North, finding out what demand there will
+be in England for this mineral.'
+
+'Ah, I see. Have you had reports from him yet?'
+
+'Nothing further than a letter this morning, which is very satisfactory.'
+
+'There is no question, then, about the mineral being useful in the china
+trade?'
+
+'No question whatever.'
+
+'Well, I am glad of that. Now, Mr. Kenyon spoke to me on the steamer of
+going in share and share alike; that is, you taking a third, he taking a
+third, and I taking a third. We did not go very minutely into
+particulars, but I suppose we each share the expense in the same way--the
+preliminary expenses, I mean?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'that would be the arrangement, I imagine.'
+
+'Well, have you the authority to deal with me in the matter, or would it
+be better for me to wait until Kenyon comes back?'
+
+'We can settle everything here and now.'
+
+'Very good. Would you have any objection to my seeing the papers that
+relate to the mine? I should like to get the figures of the output as
+nearly as possible, and any other particulars you may have that would
+enable me to estimate the value of the property. Also I should like to
+see a copy of the option, or the original document by which you hold
+the mine.'
+
+'Certainly; I shall be very pleased to give you all the information in
+my power.' Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote for a few moments,
+then blotted the paper he had been writing, and handed it to Longworth.
+'You have no objection, before this is done, to signing this document,
+have you?'
+
+Longworth adjusted his one eyeglass and looked at the paper, which read:
+'I hereby agree to do my best to form a limited liability company for the
+purpose of taking over the Ottawa Mica-mine. I agree to pay my share of
+the expenses, and to accept one-third of the profits.'
+
+'No, I don't object to sign this, though I think it should be a little
+more definite. I think it should state that the liability I incur is
+to be one-third of the whole preliminary expenses, the other
+two-thirds to be paid by Kenyon and yourself; and that, in return, I
+am to get one-third of the profits, the other two-thirds going to
+yourself and Kenyon. I think it should also state the amount of the
+capital of the new company; two hundred thousand pounds was suggested,
+if I remember rightly.'
+
+'Very well,' answered Wentworth; 'I will rewrite that in accordance with
+your wishes.'
+
+This he did, and Longworth, again adjusting his eyeglass, read it.
+
+'Now,' he said, 'as we are so formal about the matter, perhaps it would
+be as well for you to give me a note which I can keep, setting forth
+these same particulars.'
+
+'Undoubtedly,' said Wentworth, 'I shall do that. Probably it would be
+better for you to write the document to suit your own views, and I
+will sign it.'
+
+'Oh no, not at all. Write whatever is embodied there, so that you will
+have one paper and I the other.'
+
+This was done.
+
+'Now then,' said Longworth, 'when does your option run out?'
+
+Wentworth named the date.
+
+'Who is the owner of the mine?'
+
+'It is owned by the Austrian Mining Company, headquarters at Vienna, and
+the option is signed by a Mr. Von Brent, of Ottawa, who is manager of the
+mine and one of the owners.'
+
+'You are perfectly certain that he has every right to sell the mine?'
+
+'Yes; Mr. Kenyon's lawyer saw to that while he was in Ottawa.'
+
+'And you are sure, also, that your option is a thoroughly legal
+instrument?'
+
+'We are sure of that.'
+
+'Has it been examined by a London solicitor?'
+
+'It has been submitted to a Canadian lawyer. The bargain was made in
+Canada, and it will have to be carried out in Canada, under the laws
+of Canada.'
+
+'Still, don't you think it would be just as well to get the opinion of an
+English lawyer on it?'
+
+'I think that would be an unnecessary expense. However, if you wish to
+have that done, we will do it.'
+
+'Yes; I think we shall need to have the opinion of a good lawyer upon it
+before we submit it to the stockholders.'
+
+'Very well, I will have it done. Is there anyone whom you wish to give an
+opinion on it?'
+
+'Oh, it is a matter of indifference to me; your own solicitor would do as
+well as anyone else. Perhaps, however, it will be better to have a legal
+adviser for the Mica Mining Company, Limited--we shall have to have one
+as we go on--and it might be as well to submit the document to whomever
+we are going to place in that position. It will not increase the legal
+expenses at all, or at least by only a very trifling amount. Have you
+anyone to suggest?'
+
+'I have not thought about the matter,' said Wentworth.
+
+'Suppose you let me look up a firm who will answer our purpose? My uncle
+is sure to know the right men, and that will be something towards my
+share of forming the company.'
+
+'Very good,' said Wentworth; 'that will be satisfactory to me.'
+
+'Now, there is a good deal to be done in the forming of a company, and it
+is going to take three men a good deal of time, besides some expense.
+What do you say to letting me look up offices?'
+
+'Do you think it is necessary to have offices?'
+
+'Oh, certainly. A great deal depends, in this sort of thing, on
+appearances. We shall need to get offices in a good locality.'
+
+'To tell the truth, Mr. Longworth, Kenyon and I have not very much money,
+and we do not want to enter into any expense that is needless.'
+
+'My dear sir, it is not needless. This business is one of those things
+into which, if you go boldly, you win; while if you go gingerly, on the
+economical plan, you lose everything. Of course, if there is to be a
+scarcity of cash, I shall have nothing to do with the scheme, because I
+know how these half-economically worked affairs turn out. I have seen too
+much of them. We are making a strike for sixty thousand pounds each. That
+is a sum worth risking something for, and, if you will believe me, you
+will not get it unless you venture something for it.'
+
+'I suppose that is true.'
+
+'Yes, it is very true. Of course I've had more experience in matters of
+this kind than either of you, and I know we shall have to get good
+offices, with a certain prosperous look about them. People are very much
+influenced by appearances. Now, if you like, I will see to getting the
+offices and to engaging a solicitor. Every step must be taken under legal
+advice, otherwise we may get into a very bad tangle and spend a great
+deal more money in the end.'
+
+'Very well,' said Wentworth. 'Is there anything else you can suggest?'
+
+'Not just at present; nothing need be done until Kenyon comes back, and
+then we can have a meeting to see what is the best way to proceed.'
+
+Longworth then looked over the papers, took a note of some things
+mentioned in the option, and finally said:
+
+'I wish you would get these papers copied for me, I suppose you have
+someone in the office who can do it?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Then just have duplicates made of each of them. Good-morning, Mr.
+Wentworth.'
+
+Wentworth mused for a few moments over the unexpected turn affairs had
+taken. He was very glad to get the assistance of Longworth; the name
+itself was a tower of strength in the City. Then, Kenyon's letter from
+the North was encouraging. Thinking of the letter brought the writer of
+it to his mind, so he took a telegraph-form from his desk, and wrote a
+message to the address given on the letter.
+
+'Everything right. Longworth has joined us, and signed papers to assist
+in forming company.'
+
+'There,' he said, as he sent the boy out with the message, 'that will
+cheer up old John when he gets it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+When John Kenyon returned from the North and entered the office of his
+friend Wentworth, he found that gentleman and young Longworth talking in
+the outer room.
+
+'There's a letter for you on my desk,' said Wentworth, after shaking
+hands with him. 'I'll be there in a minute.'
+
+Kenyon entered the room and found the letter. Then he did a very
+unbusinesslike thing. He pressed the writing to his lips and placed the
+letter in his pocket-book. This act deserves mention because it is an
+unusual thing in the City. As a general rule, City men do not press
+business communications to their lips, and the letter John had received
+was entirely a business communication, relating only to the mine, and to
+William Longworth's proposed connection with it. He wondered whether he
+should write an answer to it or not.
+
+He sat down at Wentworth's desk, and came upon an obstacle at the very
+beginning. He did not know how to address the young woman. Whether to say
+'My dear Miss Longworth,' or 'My dear madam,' or whether to use the
+adjective 'dear' at all, was a puzzle to him; and over this he was
+meditating when Wentworth came bustling in.
+
+'Well,' said the latter, as John tore into small pieces a sheet of
+notepaper and threw the bits into the waste-basket, 'how have you got on?
+Your letters were very short indeed, but rather to the point. You seem to
+have succeeded.'
+
+'Yes, I have succeeded very well. I have got all the figures and prices
+and everything else that it is necessary to have. I succeeded with
+everybody except Brand, who wrote that letter to you. I cannot make him
+out at all. He would give me no information, and he managed to prevent
+everyone else in his works from giving me any. He pooh-poohed the
+scheme--in fact, wouldn't listen to it. He said it was not usual for men
+to give away information regarding their business, and in that, of
+course, he was perfectly justified; but when I tried to argue with him as
+to whether this mineral was used in his manufactory or not, he would not
+listen. I asked him what he used in place of it, but he would not tell.
+All in all, he is a most extraordinary man, and I confess I do not
+understand him.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't matter about him in the least. I was speaking with
+Longworth just now about that curious letter of his, and he agrees with
+me that it makes no difference. He says, what is quite true, that in
+every business you find some man with whom it is difficult to deal.'
+
+'Yes, that is so; but, still, he either uses this substance or he does
+not. I can understand a man who says, "We have no need for that,
+because we use another material." But that is one of the things Brand
+does not say.'
+
+'Well, it is not worth while talking about him. By the way, you have all
+your figures and notes with you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes, I have everything.'
+
+'Very well. Leave them with me, and I will get them into some sort of
+shape. Longworth says we shall have to have everything printed relating
+to this--your statements and all.'
+
+'That will cost a great deal of money, will it not?'
+
+'Oh, not very much. It is necessary, it seems. We must have printed
+matter to give to those who make application for information. It would be
+impossible to explain personally to everybody who inquires, and to show
+them these documents.'
+
+'Yes, I suppose so.'
+
+'Longworth was just now speaking to me about offices he has seen, and he
+is anxious to secure them at once. He is attending to that matter.'
+
+'Do you think we need an office? Why could not the business be transacted
+here; or perhaps a room might be had on this floor that would do
+perfectly well; then we should be close together, and able to communicate
+when necessary.'
+
+'Longworth seems to think differently. He says you must impress the
+public, and so he is going in for fine offices.'
+
+'Yes, but who is to pay for them?'
+
+'Why, we must, of course--you and Longworth and myself.'
+
+'Have you the money?'
+
+'I have a certain amount. I think we shall have enough to see it through,
+and if not, we can easily get it, and settle up when we finish the
+business.'
+
+'Well, you know I have no money to spare.'
+
+'Oh, I know that well enough. Perhaps Longworth will see us through,
+for, as he says, this sort of thing can be spoilt by niggardliness. He
+has known, and so have I, many a business go to pieces because of
+false economy.'
+
+'But it seems to me all this is needless expense. We only want to get a
+few moneyed men interested in our project, and if they are sensible men,
+they will look to the probability of getting a good dividend, not at
+fine offices.'
+
+'Very well, John; you get the men, and I shall be satisfied. I am sure I
+am as anxious to do this cheaply as you are. If you think you can go out
+and interest a dozen or twenty-four men in the City, and persuade them
+to go in for our mine, I will cry "Halt!" on our part until you do it.
+Will you try that?'
+
+Kenyon pondered for a few minutes, and then said: 'I suppose that would
+be rather a difficult thing to do.'
+
+'Yes, that is the way it strikes me. I do not know to whom I could go.
+Longworth is a good man, and we have gone to him. Now it seems to me,
+having got his assistance, the least we can do, unless we are prepared to
+produce the men ourselves forthwith, is to act as he wishes.'
+
+'Yes, I quite appreciate that, and I also grasp the fact that too close
+economy is not the best thing; but, on the other hand, George, how are we
+to perform our part with Longworth? His ideas of economy and yours may be
+vastly different. What is a mere trifle to him would bankrupt us!'
+
+'I know that. Well, he is coming here this afternoon at three. Suppose
+you manage to be in then, and talk with him. Meanwhile, I will go over
+the papers and get them into tabulated form.'
+
+'Very well; I shall be here at three o'clock.'
+
+It will hardly be credited that a business man like John Kenyon spent
+most of the time between that hour and three o'clock trying to compose a
+business letter in answer to the business communication he had received
+that morning. Yet such was the astonishing fact, and it showed, perhaps
+more than anything else, how utterly unfit Mr. John Kenyon was to join in
+a commercial undertaking in a city of hard-headed people. At last,
+however, the letter was posted, and Kenyon hurried away to be in time for
+his three-o'clock appointment. He found Wentworth and young Mr. Longworth
+together, the latter looking more like a young man from the West End
+than a typical City business man. His monocle was in his eye, and it
+shone on Kenyon as he entered. It was evident something was troubling
+Wentworth, and it was equally evident that the something, whatever it
+was, was not troubling young Longworth.
+
+'You are late, John,' was Wentworth's greeting.
+
+'A little,' he answered. 'I was detained.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments, and Wentworth appeared to be waiting
+for Longworth to speak. At last Longworth said:
+
+'I have succeeded in getting very nice offices indeed, and I was telling
+Mr. Wentworth about them. You see, it is not very easy to engage offices
+in a good part of the City by the week. They do not care to let them in
+that way, because, while a weekly tenant is occupying them, somebody
+else, who wants them for a longer time, might have to be sent away.'
+
+'Yes,' said Kenyon in a non-committal manner.
+
+'Well, I have got just the offices we need, and have now set the men at
+putting gilt lettering on the windows. I have taken the offices in the
+name of "The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited," which I shall have
+on the plate-glass windows in a very short time. Now, Mr. Wentworth here
+seems to think the offices rather expensive. I have told him before what
+my ideas are in the matter of expense. Perhaps, before anything more is
+said on the subject, we ought to go and look at the rooms.'
+
+'How much are they a week?' asked Kenyon.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth did not answer, because at that moment his monocle
+fell out of its place and had to be adjusted again; but Wentworth jerked
+out the two words, 'Thirty pounds.'
+
+'A _week_?' cried John.
+
+'Yes,' said Longworth, after having succeeded in replacing the round bit
+of glass--'yes; Mr. Wentworth seems to think that is rather high, but I
+defy him to get as fine offices in the City for anything less in price.
+It is merely ten pounds a week for each of us. However, before you can
+judge of their dearness or cheapness, you must see them. If you ask me, I
+think they are a bargain.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon. 'Have you the time, George?'
+
+Wentworth, without answering, shoved the papers into his desk and closed
+it. The three young men went out together, and after a short walk came to
+large plate-glass windows, where a man on a ladder was chalking the words
+'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited,' in a semicircle.
+
+'You see,' said Longworth, 'this is one of the very best situations in
+the City. As I said before, I doubt if you could get anything like it for
+the price.'
+
+They could not deny the excellence of the position, or that the
+plate-glass looked very imposing and the gilt letters exceedingly fine;
+but the cost of this running on perhaps for two or three months seemed to
+appal them.
+
+'Come inside,' said young Longworth suavely; 'I am sure you will be
+pleased with the rooms we have. You see,' he said, entering and nodding
+to the carpenters who were at work there, 'this will be the front
+office, where the public is received. Here you have room for an
+accountant or two and your secretary. The back-room, which you see is
+also well lighted, is just the spot for our people to meet. We will get
+in a large long table here, and a number of chairs, and there we
+are--capital directors' room.'
+
+'Does the thirty pounds a week include the furnishing of the place?'
+asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! You surely couldn't expect that? We shall have to put
+in the furniture, of course.'
+
+'And do you intend to put in desks and counter and everything of that
+sort here?'
+
+'Of course. Beside that, we will get in a large safe. There is nothing
+like a ponderous safe, with the name of the company in gilt letters on
+it, for impressing the general public.'
+
+'And how much is the furnishing of this place to cost?'
+
+'Really, I don't know that. The men I have engaged will do it very
+reasonably. They have done work for me before. You don't get it done any
+cheaper by haggling about the price beforehand--I've found that out.'
+
+'I do not see how we are to pay our share of all this,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Nothing easier, my boy; I've arranged all that. I will pay them my third
+in cash when it is finished, and, they have agreed to wait three months
+for the remainder. By that time you will have sixty thousand pounds each,
+and a little bill like this will be nothing to you.'
+
+Kenyon looked grave.
+
+'It's a little like counting your chickens,' he said.
+
+'Ah, they'll hatch all right,' laughed Longworth. And then his eyeglass
+dropped out.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+It is never wise to despise an enemy, no matter how humble he may be.
+The mouse liberated the enmeshed lion. Jennie Brewster should have been
+thankful that circumstances, working in her favour, had rendered her
+account of the discoveries she made about the mines unnecessary. She was
+saved the bitterness of acknowledged defeat by the cable despatch that
+awaited her at Queenstown, telling her not to forward her information.
+The letter she received from the editor of the _Argus_ later explained
+the cable message. The _Argus_ had obtained from a different source what
+purported to be an account of the reports on the mines, and this had
+been published. If Jennie's contribution corroborated this article, it
+was unnecessary; if it contradicted what had been already published,
+then, of course, it was equally unavailable, for the _Argus_ was a paper
+that never stultified itself by acknowledging an error. So the editor
+sent his correspondent a short cable message to save the expense of a
+long and costly despatch that would have been useless when it reached
+the _Argus_ office.
+
+Instead, however, of being grateful to the stars that fought so well for
+her, Jennie became bitterly resentful against Fleming, and hardly less so
+against Miss Longworth. If it had not been for the meddling politician's
+interference, Wentworth would never have discovered who she was, and the
+whole train of humiliating events that followed would not have taken
+place. She would have parted with Wentworth on a friendly basis, at
+least. She was forced, reluctantly, to admit to herself that she liked
+Wentworth better than any young man she had ever before met; and now that
+there was little chance of seeing him again, her regret had become more
+and more poignant as time went on. He had told her all his hopes about
+the mica-mine before their unfortunate disaster, and had taken her into
+his confidence in a way, she felt sure, he had never done with any other
+woman. She saw the earnest look in his honest eyes whenever she closed
+her own, and this look haunted her day and night, alternating with the
+remembrance of that gaze of incredulous reproach with which he regarded
+her when he discovered her mission, which was even harder to bear than
+the recollection of his confidence and esteem.
+
+And the sting of the situation lay in the fact that it had all been so
+useless and unnecessary. She had wounded her friend and humiliated
+herself all for nothing! The rapid changes that had taken place in the
+newspaper office since she left, had rendered her sacrifices futile, and
+while she had buoyed herself up on shipboard by holding that she was
+merely doing her duty to her employers, even that consolation had been
+made naught by the editor's letter.
+
+Thus it ever is in that kaleidoscopic, gigantic and fascinating lottery,
+the modern press. The sensation for which an editor to-day would sell his
+soul, is to-morrow worthless. The greatest fool in the office will
+sometimes stumble stupidly upon the most important news of the day, while
+the cleverest reporter may be baffled in his constant fight against time,
+for the paper goes to press at a certain hour, and after that, effort is
+useless. The conductor of a great paper is like the driver of a Roman
+chariot; he needs a cool head and a strong arm, with a clear eye that
+peers into the future, and that pays little heed to the victims of the
+whirling scythe-blades at the hub. He may overturn a Government or be
+himself thrown, by an unexpected jolt, under the wheels. The fiery steeds
+never stop, and when one drops the reins, another grasps them, to be in
+turn lost and forgotten in the mad race, wherein never a glance is cast
+to the rear. The best brains in the country are called into requisition,
+squeezed, and flung aside. With a lavish but indiscriminating hand are
+thrown broadcast fame and dishonour, riches and disaster. Unbribable in
+the ordinary sense of the word, the press will, for the accumulation of
+the smallest coins of the realm, exaggerate a cholera scare and paralyze
+the business of a nation; then it will turn on a corrupt Government and
+rend it, although millions might be made by taking another course. It is
+the terror of scoundrels and the despair of honest men.
+
+Jennie Brewster, in the midst of her unavailing regrets, clenched her
+little fist when she thought of Fleming. It is both customary and
+consoling to place the blame on other shoulders than our own. Human
+nature is such an erring quantity, that usually we can find a scapegoat
+among our fellow-beings, who can be made responsible for any misdeeds or
+failings which are so much a part of ourselves that they escape
+recognition. If Fleming had only attended his own business, as a man
+should, Wentworth would never have known that Jennie wrote for the
+_Argus_, and Jennie might have had a friend in London who would have
+added that spice of interest to her visit which usually accompanies the
+friendship of an agreeable young man for a girl so pretty and
+fascinating.
+
+Fleming put up at the hotel that Jennie had at first selected, and now
+and then she met him in the extensive halls of the great building; but
+she invariably passed him with the dignity of an offended queen, although
+the unfortunate man always took off his hat, and once or twice paused as
+if about to speak with her.
+
+On the last day of her stay at the hotel, she met Fleming oftener than
+ever before; but it did not occur to her that the unhappy politician was
+lying in wait for her, never being able to muster up enough courage to
+address her when his opportunity came. At last a note was brought up to
+the room she occupied, from Fleming, in which he said that he would like
+to have a few moments' conversation with her, and would wait for a reply.
+
+'Tell him there is no reply,' said the girl to the messenger.
+
+It is sometimes well to know the point of view, even of an enemy, but
+Jenny was too angry with him to think of that. However, a politician, to
+be successful, must not be easily rebuffed, and as a rule he is not.
+
+Fleming, when he got the curt reply to his note, threw away his cigar,
+put on his hat, took the lift, passed through the long corridor, and
+knocked at Jennie's door.
+
+The girl's amazement at seeing her enemy there was so great that the
+obvious act of shutting the door in his face did not occur to her until
+it was too late, and Fleming had carelessly placed his large foot in the
+way of its closing.
+
+'How dare you come here, when I refused to see you?' she cried, with her
+eyes ablaze.
+
+'Oh, I understood the messenger to say I might come,' replied the
+untruthful politician. 'You see, it's not a personal matter, but the very
+biggest sensation that ever went under the ocean on a cable, and I
+thought--Well, you know, I felt I had done you--quite unintentionally--a
+mean trick on board the _Caloric_ and this was kind of to make up for it,
+don't you know.
+
+'You can never repair what you have done.'
+
+'Oh yes, I can, Jennie.'
+
+'I shall be obliged to you if you remember that my name is Miss
+Brewster,' said the girl, drawing herself up; but Fleming noticed, with
+relief, that since he had mentioned the sensation she had made no motion
+to close the door, while the eagerness of the newspaper woman was
+gradually replacing the anger with which she had at first regarded him.
+
+'All right, Miss Brewster. I meant no disrespect, you know; and,
+honestly, I would rather give you a big item than anybody else.'
+
+'Oh, you're very honest--I know that.'
+
+'Well, I am, you know, Jen--I mean Miss Brewster; although I tell you
+it don't pay in politics any more than in the newspaper business.'
+
+'If you only came to speak like that of the newspapers, I don't care to
+listen to you.'
+
+'Wait a minute. I don't blame you for being angry----'
+
+'Thank you.'
+
+'But, all the same, if you let this item get away, you'll be sorry. I'm
+giving you the straight tip. I could get more gold than you ever saw for
+giving this snap away, yet here you're treating me as if I were----'
+
+'A New York politician. Why do you come to me with this valuable piece
+of information? Just because you have a great regard for me, I suppose?'
+
+'That's right. That's it exactly.'
+
+'I thought so. Very well. There is a parlour on this floor where we can
+talk without being interrupted. Come with me.'
+
+Jennie closed the door and walked down the passage, followed by Fleming,
+who smiled with satisfaction at his own tact and shrewdness, as, indeed,
+he had every right to do.
+
+In the deserted sitting-room was a writing-table, and Jennie sat down
+beside it, motioning Fleming to a chair opposite her.
+
+'Now,' she said, drawing some paper towards her, and taking up a pen,
+'what is this important bit of news?'
+
+'Well, before we begin,' replied Fleming, 'I would like to tell you why I
+interfered on shipboard and let that Englishman know who you were.'
+
+'Never mind that. Better let it rest.' There was a flash of anger in the
+girl's eye, but, in spite of it, Fleming continued. He was a persistent
+man.
+
+'But it has some bearing on what I'm going to tell you. When I saw you on
+board the _Caloric_, my heart went down into my boots. I thought the game
+was up, and that you were after me. I was bound to find out whether the
+_Argus_ knew anything of my trip or not, and whether it had put you on my
+track. Only five men in New York knew of my journey across, and as a good
+deal depended on secrecy, I had to find out in some way whether you were
+there for the purpose of--well, you know. So I spoke to the Englishman,
+and raised a hornets' nest about my ears; but I soon saw you had no
+suspicion of what I was engaged in, otherwise I would have had to
+telegraph to certain persons then in London, and scatter them.'
+
+'Dear me! And what villainy were you concocting? Counterfeiting?'
+
+'No; politics. Just as bad, I suppose you think. Now, do you know where
+Crupper is?'
+
+'The Boss of New York? I heard before I left that he was at Carlsbad for
+his health.'
+
+'He was there,' said Fleming mysteriously; 'but now----'
+
+The politician solemnly pointed downwards with his forefinger.
+
+'What! Dead?' cried Jennie, the ominous motion of Fleming's finger
+naturally suggesting what all good people believed to be the arch-thief's
+ultimate destination.
+
+'No,' said Fleming, laughing; 'he's in this hotel.'
+
+'Oh!'
+
+'Yes, and Senator Smollet, leader of the Conscientious Party, is here
+too, although you don't meet them in the halls as often as you do me.
+These good men supposed to be political opponents, are lying low and
+saying nothing.'
+
+'I see. And they've had a conference.'
+
+'Exactly. Now, it's like this.' Fleming pulled a sheet of paper towards
+him, and drew on it an oval. 'That's New York. We'll call it a
+pumpkin-pie, if you like, the material of which it is composed being
+typical of the heads of its conscientious citizens. Or a pigeon-pie,
+perhaps, for the New Yorker is made to be plucked. Well, look here.'
+Fleming drew from a point in the centre several radiating lines. 'That's
+what Crupper and Smollet are doing in London. They're dividing the pie
+between the two parties.'
+
+'That's very interesting, but how are they going to deliver the pieces?'
+
+'Simple as shelling peas. You see, our great pull is the conscientious
+citizen--the voter who wants to vote right, and for a good man. If it
+weren't for the good men as candidates and the good men as voters, New
+York politics would be a pretty uncertain game. You see, the so-called
+respectable element in both parties is our only hope. Each believes in
+his party, thinks his crowd is better than the other fellow's, so all you
+have to do is to nominate an honest man to represent each party, and then
+that divides what they call the reputable vote, and we real politicians
+get our man in between the two. That's all there is in New York politics.
+Well, Senator Smollet threatened not to put up a good man on the
+conscientious ticket, and that would have turned the whole unbribable
+vote of both parties against us, so we had to make a deal with him, and
+throw in the next Presidential election. Crupper's no hog; he knows when
+he's had plenty, and New York's good enough for him. He don't care who
+gets the Presidency.'
+
+'And this conference has been held?'
+
+'That's right. It took place in this hotel.'
+
+'The bargain was made, I suppose?'
+
+'It was. The pie was divided.'
+
+'And you didn't get a slice?'
+
+'Oh, I beg your pardon, I did!'
+
+'Then, why do you come to me and tell me all this--if it's true?'
+
+Honest indignation shone in Fleming's face.
+
+'_If_ it's true? Of course it's true. Why do I come to you? Because I
+want to be friendly with you, that's why.'
+
+Jennie, nibbling the end of her pen, looked thoughtfully across at him
+for a few moments, then slowly shook her head.
+
+'If you get me to believe that, Mr. Fleming, I'll not cable a word. No, I
+must have an adequate motive, for I won't cable anything I don't believe
+to be absolutely true.'
+
+'I assure you, Jennie----'
+
+'Wait a moment. You say you are promised your share in the new deal, but
+it is not as big a slice as what you have now. It stands to reason that,
+if Crupper is to divide with Smollet's rascals, each of Crupper's rascals
+must content himself with a smaller piece. The greater the number of
+thieves, the smaller each portion of booty. You didn't see that when you
+left New York, and therefore you were afraid of publicity. You see it
+now, and you want a sensational article published, so that Senator
+Smollet will be forced to deny it, or further arouse the suspicions of
+the honest men in his party. In either case publicity will nullify the
+results of the deal, and you will hold the share you have. As you didn't
+know any of the regular London representatives of the New York papers,
+you couldn't trust them not to tell on you, and so you came to me. Now
+that I see a good substantial selfish motive for your action, I am ready
+to believe you.'
+
+An expression of dismay at first overspread the countenance of the
+politician, but this gave way to a look of undisguised admiration as the
+girl went on.
+
+'By Jove, Jennie!' he cried, bringing his fist down on the table when she
+had finished; 'you're wasted in the newspaper business; you ought to be a
+politician! Say, girl, if you marry me, I'll be President of the United
+States yet.'
+
+'Oh no, you wouldn't,' said Jennie, quite unabashed by his handsome, if
+excited, proposal. 'No corrupt New York politician will ever be President
+of the United States. You have the great honest bulk of the people to
+deal with there, and I'm Democrat enough to believe in them when it comes
+to big issues, however much you may befog them in small; you can't fool
+all people for all time, Mr. Fleming, as a man who was not in little
+politics once said. Every now and then the awakened people will get up
+and smash you.'
+
+Fleming laughed boisterously.
+
+'That's just it,' he said. 'It's every now and then. If they did it every
+year I would have to quit politics. But will you send the particulars of
+this meeting to the _Argus_ without giving me away?'
+
+'Yes, I recognise its importance. Now, I want you to give me every
+detail--the number of the room they met in, the exact hour, and all that.
+What I like to get in a report of a secret meeting is absolute accuracy
+in small matters, so that those who were there will know it is not
+guesswork. That always takes the backbone out of future denials. I'll
+mention your name----'
+
+'Bless my soul, don't do that!'
+
+'I must say you were present.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Why? Dear me! you can't be so stupid as not to see that, if your name
+is left out, suspicion will at once point to you as the divulger?'
+
+'Yes I suppose that is so.'
+
+'And this man is a ruler in one of the greatest cities in the world! Go
+on, Mr. Fleming; who else was there besides Crupper, Smollet, and
+yourself?'
+
+The account--two columns and a half--was a bombshell in political New
+York the morning it appeared in the _Argus_. Senator Smollet cabled from
+Paris that there wasn't a word of truth in it, that he wasn't in London
+on the date mentioned, and had never seen Crupper there or elsewhere.
+Crupper cabled from Carlsbad that he was ill, and had not been out of
+bed for a month. He would sue the _Argus_ for libel, which, by the way,
+he never did. The reporters flocked to meet Fleming when his steamer
+came in, but of course _he_ knew nothing about it; he had been across
+the ocean solely on private business that had no connection with
+politics. He knew nothing of Crupper's whereabouts, but he knew _one_
+thing, which was that Crupper was too honest and honourable a man to
+traffic with the enemy.
+
+Notwithstanding all these denials, the report bore the marks of truth on
+its face, and everybody believed it, although many pretended not to. The
+division of the spoils aroused the greatest consternation and indignation
+among Crupper's own following, and a deputation went over to see the old
+man.
+
+Meanwhile, the _Argus_, with much dignity of diction, explained that it
+stood for the best interests of the people, and in the people's cause was
+fearless. It defied all and sundry to bring libel suits if they wanted
+to; it was prepared to battle for the people's rights. And its
+circulation went up and up, its many web presses being taxed to their
+utmost in supplying the demand. Thus are the truly good rewarded.
+
+A great newspaper is as lavishly generous as a despotic monarch, to those
+who serve it well, and the cheque which Jennie cashed when Lady Willow
+accompanied her to the City lined her purse with banknotes to a fulness
+that receptacle had never known before.
+
+After a few weeks with Lady Willow, Jennie seemed to tire of the
+frivolities of society, and even of the sedate company of the good lady
+with whom she lived. She announced that she was going to Paris for a week
+or two, but, owing to uncertainty of address, her letters were not to be
+forwarded. She merely took a hand-bag, leaving the rest of her luggage
+with Lady Willow, who was thus sustained by the hope that her paying
+guest would soon return.
+
+Jennie took a hansom to Charing Cross, but instead of departing on the
+Paris express, she hailed a four-wheeler, and, giving a West End address
+to the driver, entered the closed vehicle.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+On the big plate-glass windows of the new rooms there soon appeared, in
+gilt letters with black edges, the words, 'Canadian Mica Mining Company,
+Limited: London Offices.' But the workmen who were finishing the
+interior were not so quick as the painters and gilders. The new offices
+took a long time to prepare, and both Kenyon and Wentworth chafed at the
+delay, because Longworth said nothing could be done until the rooms
+were occupied.
+
+'It is like this, Longworth,' said Wentworth to him: 'every moment is of
+value. Time is running on, and we have not for ever in which to form
+this company.'
+
+'And you must remember,' replied young Mr. Longworth, gazing
+reproachfully at him through his glittering monocle, 'that I am equally
+interested in this project with you. It is just as much to my interest to
+save time as it is to yours. You must not worry about the matter, Mr.
+Wentworth; everything is all right. The men are doing a good job for us,
+and it will not be long before their work is completed. As I have told
+you time and again, a great deal depends on the appearance we present to
+the public. We have nearly the best offices in the City. The workmen have
+certainly taken longer than I expected they would, but, you see, they
+have a great deal of work on hand. When we get this started it will not
+take long. I, in the meanwhile, have not been idle. At least half a dozen
+moneyed men are ready to go in with us on this project. The moment the
+offices are finished we will have a meeting of the proposed shareholders.
+If they subscribe sufficiently large amounts--and I think they will--all
+the rest is a mere matter of detail which our solicitors will attend to.
+But if you imagine that you and Mr. Kenyon can manage everything better
+than I am doing, you are perfectly at liberty to go ahead. I am sure I
+have no desire to monopolize all the work. What have _you_ done, for
+instance? What has Mr. Kenyon done?'
+
+'Kenyon, as I think you know, has got all the facts in reference to the
+demand for the mineral, and I have arranged them. We have had everything
+printed as you suggested, and the papers are ready. They were delivered
+at my office to-day.'
+
+'Very well,' answered young Longworth; 'we are getting on. That is so
+much done which will not have to be done over again. Perhaps it will be
+as well to send me some of the printed matter, so that I can give it to
+the men I was speaking of. Meanwhile, don't worry about the offices; they
+will be ready in good time.'
+
+Wentworth and Kenyon visited the new offices time and again, but still
+the work seemed to drag. At last Wentworth said very sharply to the
+foreman:
+
+'Unless this is finished by next Monday, we will have nothing to do with
+it.'
+
+The foreman seemed astonished.
+
+'I understood from Mr. Longworth,' he said, 'from whom we take our
+instructions, that there was no particular hurry about this job.'
+
+'Well, there is a particular hurry. We must be in here by the first of
+next week, and if you have not finished by that time, we shall have to
+come in with it unfinished.'
+
+'In that case,' said the foreman, 'I will do the best I can. I think we
+can finish it this week.'
+
+And finished it was accordingly.
+
+When Kenyon entered his new offices, he found them rather oppressive for
+so modest a man as himself. Wentworth laughed at his doleful expression
+as he viewed the general grandeur of his surroundings.
+
+'What bothers me,' said John, 'is knowing that all this has to be paid
+for.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' answered Wentworth; 'but by the time the debts become due I
+hope we shall have plenty of money.'
+
+'I must confess I do not understand Longworth in this matter. He seems to
+be doing nothing; at least, he has nothing to show for what he has done,
+and he does not appear to realize that time is an object with us; in
+fact, that our company-forming has really become a race against time.'
+
+'Well, we shall see very shortly what he is going to do. I have sent a
+messenger for him to meet us here--he ought to be here now--and we must
+certainly push things. There is no time to lose.'
+
+'Has he said anything to you--he talks more freely with you than he does
+to me--about what the next move is to be?'
+
+'No; he has said nothing.'
+
+'Well, don't you see the situation in which we stand? We are practically
+doing nothing--leaving everything in his hands. Now, if he should tell us
+some fine day that he can have nothing more to do with our project (and I
+believe he is quite capable of it), here we are with our time nearly
+spent, deeply in debt, and nothing done.'
+
+'My dear John, what a brain you have for conjuring up awful
+possibilities! Trust me, Longworth won't act in the way you suggest. It
+would be dishonourable, and he is, so far as I know, an honourable man of
+business. I think you take a certain prejudice against a person, and then
+can see nothing good in anything he does. Longworth told me the other day
+that he had five or six people who are ready to go into this business
+with us, and if such is the case he has certainly done his share.'
+
+'Yes, I admit that. Did he give you their names?'
+
+'No, he did not.'
+
+'The thing that troubles me is our own helplessness. We seem, in some way
+or other, to have been shoved into the background.'
+
+'So far from that being the case,' said Wentworth, 'Longworth told me
+that, if anything suggested itself to us, we were to go ahead with it. He
+asked what you had done and what I had done, and I told him. He seemed
+quite anxious that we should do everything we could, as he is doing.'
+
+'Well, but, don't you see, the situation is this: if we make a move at
+all, we may do something of which he does not approve. Haven't you
+noticed that whenever I suggest anything, or whenever you suggest
+anything, for that matter, he always has something counter to it? And I
+don't like the solicitors he has engaged for this business. They are what
+is known as "shady"; you know that as well as I do.'
+
+'Bless me, John! then suggest something yourself if you have such dark
+suspicions of Longworth. I'm sure I'm willing to do anything you want
+done. Suggest something.'
+
+Before John could make the required suggestion, the messenger Wentworth
+had sent to young Longworth returned.
+
+'His uncle says, sir,' began the messenger, 'that Master William has gone
+to the North, and will not be back for a week.'
+
+'A week!' cried both the young men together.
+
+'Yes, sir, a week was what he said. He left a note to be given to either
+of you if you called. Here is the note, sir.'
+
+Wentworth took the envelope handed to him and tore it open. The contents
+ran thus:
+
+'I have been suddenly called away to the North, and may be gone for a
+week or ten days. I am sorry to be away at this particular juncture, but
+as it is not likely that the men will have the offices finished before I
+come back, no great harm will be done. Meanwhile I shall see several
+gentlemen I have in my mind's eye, men that seldom come to London, who
+will be of great service to us. If you think of anything to forward the
+mica-mine, pray go on with it. You can send any letters for me to my
+uncle, and I shall get them. As there is no hurry in the matter of time,
+however, I should strongly advise that nothing be done until my return,
+when we can all go at the business with a will.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'WILLIAM LONGWORTH.'
+
+When Wentworth had finished reading this letter, the two young men looked
+at each other.
+
+'What do you make of that?' said Kenyon.
+
+'I'm sure I do not know. In the first place, he is gone for a week.'
+
+'Yes; that one thing is certain.'
+
+'Well now, John, one of two things has to be done. We have either to
+trust this Longworth, or we have to go on alone without him. Which is
+it to be?'
+
+'I am sure I don't know,' answered Kenyon.
+
+'But, my dear fellow, we have come to a point when we must decide. You
+are, evidently, suspicious of Longworth. What you say really amounts to
+this: that he, for some reason of his own, which I confess I cannot see
+or understand, desires to delay forming this company until it is too
+late.'
+
+'I didn't say that.'
+
+'You say what practically amounts to that. Either he is honest or he is
+not. Now, we have to decide to-day, and here, whether we are going to
+ignore him and go on with the forming of the company, or work with him.
+Unless you can give some good reason for doing otherwise, I propose to
+work with him. I think it will be very much worse if he leaves us now
+than if he had never gone into it. People will ask why he left.'
+
+'Probably he wouldn't leave, even if you wanted him to do so. He has your
+signature to an agreement, and you have his.'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+'I do not see how we can help ourselves.'
+
+'Then I think these suspicions should be dropped, because you cannot work
+with a man whom you suspect of being a rascal.'
+
+'I quite admit of the justice of that, so I shall say nothing more.
+Meanwhile, do you propose to wait until he comes back?'
+
+'I shall write him to-night and ask him what he intends to do. I shall
+tell him, as I have told him before, that time is pressing, and we want
+to know what is being done.'
+
+'Very well,' said John; 'I will wait till you get the answer to your
+letter. In the meantime, I do not see that there is anything to do but
+occupy this gorgeous office as well as I can, and wait to see what
+turns up.'
+
+'That is my own idea. I think, myself, it is rather unfair to suspect
+a man of being a villain when he has really done nothing to show that
+he is one.'
+
+To this John made no answer.
+
+The next day Kenyon occupied the new offices, and set himself to the
+task of getting accustomed to them. The first day a few people dropped
+in, made inquiries about the mine, took some printed matter, and
+generally managed to ask several questions to which Kenyon was unable to
+reply. On the second day a number of newspaper men called--advertising
+canvassers, most of them, who left cards or circulars with Kenyon,
+showing that unless a commercial venture was advertised in their
+particular papers it was certain not to be a success. One very swell
+individual, with a cast of countenance that betokened a frugal,
+money-making, and shrewd race, asked Kenyon for a private interview. He
+said he belonged to the _Financial Field_, the great newspaper of London,
+which was read by every investor both in the City and in the country. All
+he wanted was some particulars of the mine.
+
+Had the company been formed yet?
+
+No, it had not.
+
+When did they intend to go to the public?
+
+That Kenyon could not say.
+
+What was the peculiarity about the mine which constituted its
+recommendation to investors?
+
+Kenyon said the full particulars would be found in the printed sheet he
+handed him, and with profuse thanks the newspaper man put it in his
+pocket.
+
+How had the mine paid in previous years?
+
+It had paid a small dividend.
+
+On what amount?
+
+That Kenyon was not prepared to answer.
+
+How long had it been in operation?
+
+For several years.
+
+Had it ever been placed on the London market before?
+
+Not so far as Kenyon was aware.
+
+Who was at present interested in the mine?
+
+That Mr. Kenyon did not care to answer, and he further stated, so far as
+giving out advertisements was concerned, he was not yet prepared to do
+any advertising. The visitor, who had taken down these notes, said his
+object was not to get an advertisement, but to obtain information about
+the mine. People could advertise in his paper or not, as they chose. The
+journal was such a well-known medium for reaching investors that everyone
+who knew his business advertised in it as a matter of course, and so they
+kept no canvassers, and made no applications for advertisements.
+
+'The chances are,' said the newspaper man, as he took his leave, 'that
+our editor will write an editorial on this mine, and, in order that there
+may be no inaccuracy, I shall bring it to you to read, and shall be very
+much obliged if you will correct any mistakes.'
+
+'I shall be glad to do so,' returned Kenyon, as the representative of the
+_Financial Field_ took his leave.
+
+The newspaper men were rather hard to please, and to get rid of; but John
+had a visitor on the afternoon of the second day who almost caused his
+wits to desert him. He looked up from his desk as the door opened, and
+was astonished to see the smiling face of Edith Longworth, while behind
+her came the old lady who had been an occupant of the carriage when John
+had taken his drive to the west.
+
+'You did not expect to see me here among the investors who have been
+calling upon you, Mr. Kenyon, did you?'
+
+Kenyon held out his hand, and said:
+
+'I am very pleased indeed to see you, whether you come as an investor or
+not.'
+
+'And so this is your new office?' she cried, looking round. 'How you have
+blossomed out, haven't you? These offices are as fine as any in the
+City.'
+
+'Yes,' said John; 'they are too fine to suit me.'
+
+'Oh, I don't see why you should not have handsome offices as well as
+anyone else. You have been in my father's place of business, of course.
+But it is not so grand as these rooms.'
+
+'I think that helps to show the absurdity of ours. Your father's house is
+an old-standing one, and this gives us an air of new riches which, I must
+confess, I don't like, especially as we have not the riches.'
+
+'Then, why did you agree to have such offices? I suppose you had
+something to say about them?'
+
+'Very little, I must own. They were engaged while I was in the North, and
+after they had been engaged, of course I did not like to say anything
+against them.'
+
+'Well, and how is the mine getting on? You have not applied to me yet to
+fulfil my offer, which I think was a very fair one.'
+
+'I have not needed to do so,' said Kenyon.
+
+'Ah, then, subscriptions are coming in, are they? Where is the list?'
+
+'We have no list yet. We are waiting for your cousin, who is in the
+North.'
+
+'In the North!' said Edith, with her eyes open wide. 'He is not in the
+North; he is in Paris, and we expect him home to-night.'
+
+'Oh, indeed!' said John, who made no further comment.
+
+'Now, where's your subscription-list? Oh, you told me you have none yet.
+Very well; this sheet of paper will do.' And the young woman drew some
+lines across the paper, heading it, 'The Canadian Mica-mine.' Then
+underneath she wrote the name Edith Longworth, and after it--'For ten
+thousand pounds.' 'There! I am the first subscriber to the new company;
+if you get the others as easily, you will be very fortunate.'
+
+And, before John could thank her, she laughingly turned to her companion,
+and said:
+
+'We must go.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+
+When Wentworth dropped in to see if anything had happened, Kenyon told
+him that young Longworth was not in the North at all, but in Paris.
+Wentworth pondered over this piece of information for a moment, and said:
+
+'I have written him, but have received no answer. I have just been to
+see the solicitors, and have told them that time was pressing; that we
+must do something. They quite agreed it was desirable some action should
+be taken at once, but, of course, as they said, they merely waited our
+instructions. They are willing to do anything we ask them to do. However,
+they advised waiting until Longworth got back, and then they proposed we
+should have a meeting at the offices here. They said, moreover, that, if
+Longworth had five or six men who would go at work with a will, the whole
+affair would be finished in a week at most. They did not appear to be at
+all alarmed at the shortening time, but said everything depended upon the
+men Longworth was going to bring with him. If they were the right men,
+there would be no trouble. So, all in all, they advised me not to worry
+about it, but to communicate with Longworth, if I could, and get him to
+come as soon as possible. I had to admit myself that this was the only
+thing to do, so I called round to see if you had heard anything from
+him.'
+
+'I have heard nothing about him,' said Kenyon, 'except that he has lied,
+and has gone to Paris instead of going North.'
+
+'Well,' mused Wentworth, 'I don't know that that is a very important
+point. He may have business in Paris, and he may have thought it was no
+affair of ours where he went, in which he was partly right and partly
+wrong. He thought, no doubt, that if he said he was going North, to see
+some men who could not be seen without his going there, it would relieve
+our minds, and make us imagine we were going on all right.'
+
+'That is just what I object to, Wentworth. His whole demeanour seems to
+show that he wants us to think things are all right when they are not
+all right.'
+
+'Well, John, as I said before, you've got to do one thing or the other.
+You have to trust Longworth or to go on without him. Now, for Heaven's
+sake make up your mind which it is to be, and don't grumble.'
+
+'I am not grumbling. A man that is really honest will not say what is
+false, even about a small thing.'
+
+'Oh, you are too particular. Wait till you have been in the City ten
+years longer, and you won't mind a little thing like that.'
+
+'Little things like that, as you call them, are indicative of general
+character.'
+
+'Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. You mustn't take things too seriously.
+I do not see that anything can be done until Longworth chooses to exhibit
+himself. If you can suggest anything better, as I said before, tell me
+what it is, and I am ready to do my part.'
+
+'I confess I don't see what we can do. We might wait a day or two longer
+yet, and then, if we hear nothing more from Longworth, dismiss those
+solicitors he has chosen, and take the gentlemen who act for you.'
+
+'The people Longworth has engaged do not bear a very good reputation;
+still, I must admit they talk in a very straightforward manner. As you
+say, it is perhaps better to let matters rest for a day or two.'
+
+And so the days passed. Wentworth wrote again to Longworth at his office,
+and said they would wait for two days, and if he did not put in an
+appearance, before that time, they would go on forming the company as if
+he did not exist.
+
+To this no answer came, and Kenyon and Wentworth again held consultation
+in the sumptuous offices which had been chosen for them.
+
+'No news yet, I suppose?' said Kenyon.
+
+'None whatever,' was the answer.
+
+'Very well; I have made up my mind what to do----'
+
+But before John Kenyon could say what he had resolved to do, the door
+opened, and there entered unto them Mr. William Longworth, with his silk
+hat as glossy as a mirror, a general trim and prosperous appearance about
+him, a flower in his buttonhole and his eyeglass in its place.
+
+'Good-morning, gentlemen,' he said. 'I thought I should find you here,
+and so I did not call at your office, Wentworth. Ah,' he cried, looking
+round, 'this is the proper caper! These offices look even better than I
+thought they would. I just got back this morning,' he added, turning to
+his partners.
+
+'Indeed,' said Wentworth, 'we are very glad to see you. How did you enjoy
+your trip to Paris?'
+
+The young man did not appear in the least abashed by this remark. He
+merely elevated his eyebrows, shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'Ah, well, as both of you are doubtless aware, Paris is not what it used
+to be. Still, I had a very good time there.'
+
+'I'm glad of that,' said Wentworth; 'and did you see the gentlemen you
+expected to meet?'
+
+'I must confess I did not. I did not think it was necessary. I have five
+or six men interested already, practically pledged to furnish all the
+capital.' And, saying this, he walked round the desk at which they stood,
+and sat down, throwing the right leg across the left and clasping his
+knee in his hands.
+
+'Well, what has been done during my absence? The mine floated yet?'
+
+'No,' said Wentworth; 'the mine is not yet floated. Now, Mr. Longworth,
+the time has come for plain speaking. You have gone off to Paris without
+a word of warning to us at a very critical time, and you have not
+answered any of the letters I sent to you.'
+
+'Well, my dear boy, the reason was that I expected every day to get back
+here, and each day was detained a little longer.'
+
+'Very good; the point I want to impress upon you is this--time is
+getting short. If we are going to form this company, we have to set about
+it at once.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' said Longworth, in an expostulating tone of voice,
+'that is exactly what I told myself. The time _is_ getting short, as you
+say. Of course, as I said when I joined you, I cannot give my whole time
+to this. We are equal partners, and the fact that I had to leave for a
+few days should not interrupt the business we have on hand. What did you
+expect to do if I had not been a partner at all?'
+
+'If you were not a partner,' replied Wentworth with some heat, 'we should
+have gone on and formed our company, or failed; but the very fact that
+you _are_ a partner is just what now retards us. We do not feel justified
+in doing anything until it has your approval, or until we know that it
+does not run counter with something you have already done.'
+
+'Well, gentlemen, if you feel like that about it, I am quite willing to
+withdraw. I am ready to give up the paper I hold from you, and receive
+back the paper you hold from me. Of course we cannot work together if
+there are to be any recriminations. I have done my best; I have done
+everything that I promised to do--even more than that; but if you think
+for a moment you can get on better without me, I am ready at any time
+to retire.'
+
+'It is easy to say that, Mr. Longworth, now that the time of the option
+has only a month further to run. You must remember that a great deal of
+time has been lost, and not through our fault.'
+
+'Ah! do you mean it has been lost through my fault?'
+
+'I mean that if we had been alone something would have been done,
+whereas we are now in the same position as when we started. We are in a
+worse position than we were at the beginning, because we have not only
+spent our money, but are deeply in debt into the bargain.'
+
+'Well, Mr. Wentworth, I did not propose to withdraw until you, as a
+matter of fact, almost suggested it. I am quite willing and anxious
+to help, but if I do stay with you it must be understood that we
+have no such recriminations as these. You must do your best, and I
+must do my best.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Wentworth; 'your leaving us at this time is
+entirely out of the question. Now, will you give me the names of those
+gentlemen who have offered to go in with us?'
+
+'Certainly.'
+
+And Longworth pulled out a note-book from his inside pocket, while
+Wentworth took up a pen from the desk and pulled a sheet of paper
+towards him.
+
+'First, Mr. Melville.'
+
+'Is that the Melville I saw in relation to this mineral?'
+
+'I am sure I do not know. He is at the head of the Scranton China
+Company.'
+
+'Has _he_ spoken of going in with us?'
+
+'Yes, he seems to think the scheme is a good one. Why do you ask?'
+
+'Well, merely because I took a specimen of the mineral to him and his
+manager wrote to me that it was of no value. It seems rather remarkable
+that he should go in for the mine if his manager believes it to be
+worthless.'
+
+'Oh, he goes in entirely in his own private capacity. He is not at all
+affected by what the manager says. The manager has nothing to do with
+Melville's private affairs.'
+
+'Still, it seems very strange, because, when Kenyon saw the manager in
+the North, he claimed they did not use this material, and said it would
+be of no benefit whatever to him.'
+
+'That is very singular,' mused Longworth. 'Well, all I can say is,
+Melville has intimated that he should like to have a share in this mine,
+so, I take it, he and the manager do not agree as to the value of the
+mineral. You can set down Mr. Melville's name with perfect confidence. I
+know him very well, and I know that he's a thorough man of business.
+Besides, it will be a great advantage to have a man connected with the
+china trade in with us.'
+
+There was no denying this point, so Wentworth said nothing more.
+Longworth named five other persons, none of whom Wentworth knew. Then he
+closed his note-book and put it in his pocket.
+
+'The question now is: Have these gentlemen stated how much they will
+subscribe?' asked Wentworth.
+
+'No, they have not. Of course, everything will depend on how they are
+impressed with what we can tell them. The great thing is to get men who
+are willing even to listen to you. The rest depends on the inducements
+you offer.'
+
+'Do you expect to get any more men interested?'
+
+'I don't think any more are needed. The best thing to do now is to get
+those we have together and summon our solicitors here. Then our friend
+Kenyon, who is a fluent speaker, can lay the case before them.'
+
+Kenyon, who had not spoken at all during the interview, did not even
+look up, and apparently did not hear the satirical allusion to his
+eloquence.
+
+'Very well; when would be a good time to call this meeting?'
+
+'As soon as possible, I think,' said Longworth. 'What do you say to
+Monday, at three o'clock? Men come from lunch about that hour, and are in
+a good humour. If you send out a letter saying a meeting will be held
+here in the directors' room at three o'clock, prompt, on Monday, I will
+see the men and get them to come. Of course they are generally busy, and
+may have other appointments; still, we must do something, and nothing can
+be done until we get them together.'
+
+'Right; the invitations to the meeting shall be sent out at once.'
+
+Longworth rose, went to the desk and picked up a paper.
+
+'What is this?' he said.
+
+Kenyon looked up suddenly.
+
+'That,' he said, flushing slightly, 'is our first subscription.'
+
+'Who wrote the name of Miss Edith Longworth here?'
+
+'The young lady herself.'
+
+'Has she been here?'
+
+'She called, and desired to be the first subscriber.'
+
+'Nonsense!' cried Longworth, with a frown; 'we don't want any women in
+this business;' and, saying that, he tore the paper in two.
+
+Kenyon clenched his fist and was about to say something, when Wentworth's
+hand came down on his shoulder.
+
+'I don't think I would refuse ten thousands pounds,' said Wentworth,
+'from anybody who offered it, woman or man. Perhaps we had better see
+whether your men will subscribe as much before we throw away a
+subscription already received.'
+
+'But she hasn't the ten thousand pounds.'
+
+'I fancy,' said Wentworth, 'that whatever Miss Longworth puts her name
+to, she is ready to stand by;' and with that he placed the two pieces of
+paper in a drawer. 'Now, I think that is all,' he added; 'we will call
+the meeting for Monday, and see what comes of it.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+
+William Longworth had an eye for beauty. One of his eyes was generally
+covered by a round disc of glass, save when the disc fell out of its
+place and dangled in front of his waistcoat. Whether the monocle assisted
+his sight or not, it is certain that William knew a pretty girl when he
+saw her. One of the housemaids in the Longworth household left suddenly,
+without just cause or provocation, as the advertisements say, and in her
+place a girl was engaged who was so pretty that, when William Longworth
+caught sight of her, his monocle dropped from its usual position, and he
+stared at her with his two natural eyes, unassisted by science. He tried
+to speak to her on one or two occasions when he met her alone; but he
+could get no answer from the girl, who was very shy and demure, and knew
+her place, as people say. All this only enhanced her value in young
+Longworth's estimation, and he thought highly of his cousin's taste in
+choosing this young person to dust the furniture.
+
+William had a room in the house which was partly sitting-room and partly
+study, and there he kept many of his papers. He was supposed to ponder
+over matters of business in this room, and it gave him a good excuse for
+arriving late at the office in the morning. He had been sitting up into
+the small hours, he would tell his uncle; although he would sometimes
+vary the excuse by saying that it was quieter at home than in the City,
+and that he had spent the early part of the morning in reading documents.
+
+The first time William got an answer from the new housemaid was when he
+expressed his anxiety about the care of this room. He said that servants
+generally were very careless, and he hoped she would attend to things,
+and see that his papers were kept nicely in order. This, without glancing
+up at him, the girl promised to do, and William thereafter found his
+apartment kept with a scrupulous neatness which would have delighted the
+most particular of men.
+
+One morning when he was sitting by his table, enjoying an after-breakfast
+cigarette, the door opened softly, and the new housemaid entered. Seeing
+him there, she seemed confused, and was about to retire, when William,
+throwing his cigarette away, sprang to his feet.
+
+'No, don't go,' he said; 'I was just about to ring.'
+
+The girl paused with her hand on the door.
+
+'Yes,' he continued, 'I was just going to ring, but you have saved me
+the trouble; but, by the way, what is your name?'
+
+'Susy, if you please, sir,' replied the girl modestly.
+
+'Ah well, Susy, just shut the door for a moment.'
+
+The girl did so, but evidently with some reluctance.
+
+'Well, Susy,' said William jauntily, 'I suppose that I'm not the first
+one who has told you that you are very pretty.'
+
+'Oh, sir!' said Susy, blushing and looking down on the carpet.
+
+'Yes, Susy, and you take such good care of this room that I want to thank
+you for it,' continued William.
+
+Here he fumbled in his pocket for a moment, and drew out half a
+sovereign.
+
+'Here, my girl, is something for your trouble. Keep this for yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I couldn't think of taking money, sir,' said the girl, drawing back.
+'I couldn't indeed, sir!'
+
+'Nonsense!' said William; 'isn't it enough?'
+
+'Oh, it's more than enough. Miss Longworth pays me well for what I do,
+sir, and it's only my duty to keep things tidy.'
+
+'Yes, Susy, that is very true; but very few of us do our duty, you know,
+in this world.'
+
+'But we ought to, sir,' said the girl, in a tone of quiet reproof that
+made the young man smile.
+
+'Perhaps,' said he; 'but then, you see, we are not all pretty and good,
+like you. I'm sorry you won't take the money. I hope you are not offended
+at me for offering it;' and William adjusted his eye-glass, looking his
+sweetest at the young person standing before him.
+
+'Oh no, sir,' she said, 'I'm not at all offended, and I thank you very
+much, very much indeed, sir, and I would like to ask you a question, if
+you wouldn't think me too bold.'
+
+'Bold?' cried William. 'Why, I think you are the shyest little woman I
+have ever seen. I'll be very pleased to answer any question you may ask
+me. What is it?'
+
+'You see, sir, I've got a little money of my own.'
+
+'Well, I declare, Susy, this is very interesting. I'd no idea you were
+an heiress.'
+
+'Oh, not an heiress, sir--far from it. It's only a little matter of four
+or five hundred pounds, sir,' said Susy, dropping him an awkward little
+curtsy, which he thought most charming. 'The money is in the bank, and
+earns no interest, and I thought I would like to invest it where it would
+bring in something.'
+
+'Certainly, Susy, and a most laudable desire on your part. Was it about
+that you wished to question me?'
+
+'Yes, if you please, sir. I saw this paper on your desk, and I thought I
+would ask you if it would be safe for me to put my money in these mines,
+sir. Seeing the paper here, I supposed you had something to do with it.'
+
+William whistled a long incredulous note, and said:
+
+'So you have been reading my papers, have you, miss?'
+
+'Oh no, sir,' said the girl, looking up at him with startled eyes. 'I
+only saw the name Canadian Mica-mine on this, and the paper said it would
+pay ten per cent., and I thought if you had anything to do with it that
+my money would be quite safe.'
+
+'Oh, that goes without saying,' said William; 'but if I were you, my
+dear, I should not put my money in the mica-mine.'
+
+'Oh, then, you haven't anything to do with the mine, sir?'
+
+'Yes, Susy, I have. You know, fools build houses, and wise men live in
+them.'
+
+'So I have heard,' said Susy thoughtfully.
+
+'Well, two fools are building the house that we will call the Canadian
+Mica-mine, and I am the wise man, don't you see, Susy?' said the young
+man, with a sweet smile.
+
+'I'm afraid I don't quite understand, sir.'
+
+'I don't suppose, Susy,' replied the young man, with a laugh, 'that
+there are many who do; but I think in a month's time I shall own this
+mica-mine, and then, my dear, if you still want to own a share or two,
+I shall be very pleased to give you a few without your spending any
+money at all.'
+
+'Oh, would you, sir?' cried Susy in glad surprise; 'and who owns the
+mine now?'
+
+'Oh, two fellows; you wouldn't know their names if I told them to you.'
+
+'And are they going to sell it to you, sir?'
+
+William laughed heartily, and said:
+
+'Oh no! they themselves will be sold.'
+
+'But how can that be if they don't own the mine? You see, I'm only a very
+stupid girl, and don't understand business. That's why I asked you about
+my money.'
+
+'I don't suppose you know what an option is, do you, Susy?'
+
+'No, sir, I don't; I never heard of it before.'
+
+'Well, these two young men have what is called an option on the mine,
+which is to say that they are to pay a certain sum of money at a certain
+time and the mine is theirs; but if they don't pay the certain sum at the
+certain time, the mine isn't theirs.'
+
+'And won't they pay the money, sir?'
+
+'No, Susy, they will not, because, don't you know, they haven't got it.
+Then these two fools will be sold, for they think they are going to get
+the money, and they are not.'
+
+'And you have the money to buy the mine when the option runs out, sir.'
+
+'By Jove!' said William in surprise, 'you have a prodigious head for
+business, Susy; I never saw anyone pick it up so fast. You will have to
+take lessons from me, and go on the market and speculate yourself.'
+
+'Oh, I should like to do that, sir--I should indeed.'
+
+'Well,' said William kindly, 'whenever you have time, come to me, and I
+will give you lessons.'
+
+The young man approached her, holding out his hand, but the girl slipped
+away from him and opened the door.
+
+'I think,' he said in a whisper, 'that you might give me a kiss after all
+this valuable information.'
+
+'Oh, Mr. William!' cried Susy, horrified.
+
+He stepped forward and tried to catch her, but the girl was too nimble
+for him, and sprang out into the passage.
+
+'Surely,' protested William, 'this is getting information under false
+pretences; I expected my fee, you know.'
+
+'And you shall have it,' said the girl, laughing softly, 'when I get ten
+per cent. on my money.'
+
+'Egad!' said William to himself as he entered his room again, 'I will see
+that you get it. She's as clever an outside broker.'
+
+When young Longworth had left for his office, Susy swept and dusted out
+his room again, and then went downstairs.
+
+'Where's the mistress?' she asked a fellow-servant.
+
+'In the library,' was the answer, and to the library Susy went, entering
+the room without knocking, much to the amazement of Edith Longworth, who
+sat near the window with a book in her lap. But further surprise was in
+store for the lady of the house. The housemaid closed the door, and then,
+selecting a comfortable chair, threw herself down into it, exclaiming:
+
+'Oh dear me! I'm so tired.'
+
+'Susy,' said Miss Longworth, 'what is the meaning of this?'
+
+'It means, mum,' said Susy, 'that I'm going to chuck it.'
+
+'Going to _what_?' asked Miss Longworth, amazed.
+
+'Going to chuck it. Didn't you understand? Going to give up my situation.
+I'm tired of it.'
+
+'Very well,' said the young woman, rising, 'you may give notice in the
+proper way. You have no right to come into this room in this impudent
+manner. Be so good as to go to your own room.'
+
+'My!' said Susy, 'you can do the dignified! I must practise and see if I
+can accomplish an attitude like that. If you were a little prettier, Miss
+Longworth, I should call that striking;' and the girl threw back her head
+and laughed.
+
+Something in the laugh aroused Miss Longworth's recollection, and a chill
+of fear came over her; but, looking at the girl again, she saw she was
+mistaken. Susy jumped up, still laughing, and drew a pin from the little
+cap she wore, flinging it on the chair; then she pulled off her wig, and
+stood before Edith Longworth her natural self.
+
+'Miss Brewster!' gasped the astonished Edith. 'What are you doing in my
+house in that disguise?'
+
+'Oh,' said Jennie, 'I'm an amateur housemaid. How do you think I have
+acted the part? Now sit down, Miss Dignity, and I will tell you something
+about your own family. I thought you were a set of rogues, and now I can
+prove it.'
+
+'Will you leave my house this instant?' cried Edith, in anger. 'I shall
+not listen to you.'
+
+'Oh yes, you will,' said Jennie, 'for I shall follow your own example,
+and not let you out until you do hear what I have to tell you.'
+
+Saying which the amateur housemaid skipped nimbly to the door, and placed
+her back against it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+
+Jennie Brewster stood with her back to the door, a sweet smile on her
+face.
+
+'This is my day for acting, Miss Longworth. I think I did the _rôle_ of
+housemaid so well that it deceived several members of this family. I am
+now giving an imitation of yourself in your thrilling drama, "All at
+Sea." Don't you think I do it most admirably?'
+
+'Yes,' said Edith, sitting down again. 'I wonder you did not adopt the
+stage as a profession.'
+
+'I have often thought of doing so, but journalism is more exciting.'
+
+'Perhaps. Still, it has its disappointments. When I gave my thrilling
+drama, as you call it, on shipboard, I had my stage accessories arranged
+to better advantage than you have now.'
+
+'Do you mean the putting off of the boat?'
+
+'No; I mean that the electric button was under my hand--it was impossible
+for you to ring for help. Now, while you hold the door, you cannot stop
+me from ringing, for the bell-rope is here beside me.'
+
+'Yes, that is a disadvantage, I admit. Do you intend to ring, then, and
+have me turned out?'
+
+'I don't think that will be necessary. I imagine you will go quietly.'
+
+'You are a pretty clever girl, Miss Longworth. I wish I liked you, but I
+don't, so we won't waste valuable time deploring that fact. Have you no
+curiosity to hear what I was going to tell you?'
+
+'Not the slightest; but there is one thing I should like to know.'
+
+'Oh, is there? Well, that's human, at any rate. What do you wish to
+know?'
+
+'You came here well recommended. How did you know I wanted a housemaid,
+and were your testimonials----'
+
+Edith paused for a word, which Jennie promptly supplied.
+
+'Forged? Oh dear no! There is no necessity for doing anything criminal in
+this country, if you have the money. I didn't forge them--I bought them.
+Didn't you write to any of the good ladies who stood sponsor for me?'
+
+'Yes, and received most flattering accounts of you.'
+
+'Certainly. That was part of the contract. Oh, you can do anything with
+money in London; it is a most delightful town. Then, as for knowing
+there was a vacancy, that also was money. I bribed the other housemaid
+to leave.'
+
+'I see. And what object had you in all this?'
+
+Jennie Brewster laughed--the same silvery laugh that had charmed William
+Longworth an hour or two before, a laugh that sometimes haunted
+Wentworth's memory in the City. She left her sentinel-like position at
+the door and threw herself into a chair.
+
+'Miss Longworth,' she said, 'you are not consistent. You first pretend
+that you have no curiosity to hear what I have to say, then you ask me
+exactly what I was going to tell you. Of course, you are dying to know
+why I am here; you wouldn't be a woman if you weren't. Now, I've changed
+my mind, and I don't intend to tell you. I will say, though, that my
+object in coming here was, first, to find out for myself how servants are
+treated in this country. You see, my sympathies are all with the women
+who work, and not with women--well, like yourself, for instance.'
+
+'Yes, I think you said that once before. And how do we treat our
+servants?'
+
+'So far as my experience goes, very well indeed.'
+
+'It is most gratifying to hear you say this. I was afraid we might not
+have met with your approval. And now, where shall I send your month's
+money, Miss Brewster?'
+
+Jennie Brewster leaned back in her chair, her eyes all but closed; an
+angry light shooting from them reminded Edith of her glance of hatred on
+board the steamship. A rich warm colour overspread her fair face, and her
+lips closed tightly. There was a moment's silence, and then Jennie's
+indignation passed away as quickly as it came. She laughed, with just a
+touch of restraint in her tone.
+
+'You can say an insulting thing more calmly and sweetly than anyone I
+ever met before; I envy you that. When I say anything low down and mean,
+I say it in anger, and my voice has a certain amount of acridity in it. I
+can't purr like a cat and scratch at the same time--I wish I could.'
+
+'Is it an insult to offer you the money you have earned?'
+
+'Yes, it is, and you knew it was when you spoke. You don't understand me
+a little bit.'
+
+'Is it necessary that I should?'
+
+'I don't suppose you think it is,' said Jennie meditatively, resting her
+elbow on her knee and her chin on her palm. 'That is where our point of
+view differs. I like to know everything. It interests me to learn what
+people think and talk about, and somehow it doesn't seem to matter to me
+who the people are, for I was even more interested in your butler's
+political opinions than I was in Lord Frederick Bingham's. They are both
+Conservatives, but Lord Freddie seems shaky in his views, for you can
+argue him down in five minutes, but the butler is as steadfast as a rock.
+I do admire that butler. I hope you will break the news of my departure
+gently to him, for he proposed to me, and he has not yet had his answer.'
+
+'There is still time,' said Edith, smiling in spite of herself. 'Shall I
+ring for him?'
+
+'Please do not. I want to avoid a painful scene, because he is so sure of
+himself, and never dreams of a refusal. It is such a pity, too, for the
+butler is my ideal of what a member of the aristocracy should be. His
+dignity is positively awe-inspiring; while Lord Freddie is such a simple,
+good-natured, everyday young fellow, that if I imported him to the States
+I am sure no one would believe he was a real lord. With the butler it
+would be _so_ different,' added Jennie, with a deep sigh.
+
+'It is too bad that you cannot exchange the declaration of the butler for
+one from Lord Frederick.'
+
+'Too bad!' cried Jennie, looking with wide-open eyes at the girl before
+her; 'why, bless you! I had a proposal from Lord Freddie two weeks before
+I ever saw the butler. I see you don't believe a word I say. Well, you
+ask Lord Freddie. I'll introduce you, and tell him you don't believe he
+asked me to be Lady Freddie, if that's the title. He'll look sheepish,
+but he won't deny it. You see, when I found I was going to stay in
+England for a time, I wrote to the editor of the _Argus_ to get me a
+bunch of letters of introduction and send them over, as I wanted
+particularly to study the aristocracy. So he sent them, and, I assure
+you, I found it much more difficult to get into your servants' hall than
+I did into the halls of the nobility--besides, it costs less to mix with
+the Upper Ten.'
+
+Edith sat in silence, looking with amazed interest at the girl, who
+talked so rapidly that there was sometimes difficulty in following
+what she said.
+
+'No, Lord Freddie is not half so condescending as the butler, neither is
+his language so well chosen; but then, I suppose, the butler's had more
+practice, for Freddie is very young. I am exceedingly disappointed with
+the aristocracy. They are not nearly so haughty as I had imagined them
+to be. But what astonishes me in this country is the way you women
+spoil the men. You are much too good to them. You pet them and fawn on
+them, and naturally they get conceited. It is such a pity, too; for
+they are nice fellows, most of them. It is the same everywhere I've
+been--servants' hall included. Why, when you meet a young couple, of what
+you are pleased to call the "lower classes," walking in the Park, the man
+hangs down his head as he slouches along, but the girl looks defiantly at
+you, as much as to say, "I've got him. Bless him! What have you to say
+about it?" while the man seems to be ashamed of himself, and evidently
+feels that he's been had. Now, a man should be made to understand that
+you're doing him a great favour when you give him a civil word. That's
+the proper state of mind to keep a man in, and then you can do what you
+like with him. I generally make him propose, so as to get it over before
+any real harm's done, and to give an artistic finish to the episode.
+After that we can be excellent friends, and have a jolly time. That's the
+way I did with Lord Freddie. Now, here am I, chattering away as if I were
+paid for talking instead of writing. Why do you look at me so? Don't you
+believe what I tell you?'
+
+'Yes, I believe all you say. What I can't understand is, why a bright
+girl like you should enter a house and,--well, do what you have done
+here, for instance.'
+
+'Why shouldn't I? I am after accurate information. I get it in my own
+way. Your writers here tell how the poor live, and that sort of thing.
+They enter the houses of the poor quite unblushingly, and print their
+impressions of the poverty-stricken homes. Now, why should the rich man
+be exempt from a similar investigation?'
+
+'In either case it is the work of a spy.'
+
+'Yes; but a spy is not a dishonourable person--at least, he need not be.
+I saw a monument in Westminster Abbey to a man who was hanged as a spy. A
+spy must be brave; he must have nerve, caution, and resource. He
+sometimes does more for his country than a whole regiment. Oh, there are
+worse persons than spies in this world.'
+
+'I suppose there are, still----'
+
+'Yes, I know. It is easy for persons with plenty of money to moralize on
+the shortcomings of others. I'll tell you a secret. I'm writing a book,
+and if it's a success, then good-bye to journalism. I don't like the spy
+business myself any too well; I'm afraid England is contaminating me, and
+if I stayed here a few years I might degenerate so far as to think your
+newspapers interesting. By the way, have you seen Mr. Wentworth lately?'
+
+Edith hesitated a moment, and at last answered:
+
+'Yes, I saw him a day or two ago.'
+
+'Was he looking well? I think I ought to write him a note of apology for
+all the anxiety I caused him on board ship. You may not believe it, but I
+have actually had some twinges of conscience over that episode. I suppose
+that's why I partially forgave you for stopping the cablegram.'
+
+Edith Longworth was astonished at herself for giving the young woman
+information about Wentworth, but she gave it, and the amateur housemaid
+departed in peace, saying, by way of farewell:
+
+'I'm not going to write up your household, after all.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+
+One day when Kenyon entered the office, the clerk said to him:
+
+'That young gentleman has been here twice to see you. He said it was very
+important, sir.'
+
+'What young gentleman?'
+
+'The gentleman--here is his card--who belongs to the _Financial Field_,
+sir.'
+
+'Did he leave any message?'
+
+'Yes, sir; he said he would call again at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very good,' said Kenyon; and he began composing his address to the
+proposed subscribers.
+
+At three o'clock the smooth, oily person from the _Financial Field_ put
+in an appearance.
+
+'Ah, Mr. Kenyon,' he said, 'I am glad to meet you. I called in twice,
+but had not the good fortune to find you in. Can I see you in private
+for a moment?'
+
+'Yes,' answered Kenyon. 'Come into the directors' room;' and into the
+directors room they went, Kenyon closing the door behind them.
+
+'Now,' said the representative of the _Financial Field_, 'I have brought
+you a proof of the editorial we propose using, which I am desired by the
+proprietor to show you, so that it may be free, if possible, from any
+error. We are very anxious to have things correct in the _Financial
+Field_;' and with this he handed to John a long slip of paper with a
+column of printed matter upon it.
+
+The article was headed, 'The Canadian Mica Mining Company, Limited.' It
+went on to show what the mine had been, what it had done, and what
+chances there were for investors getting a good return for their money by
+buying the shares. John read it through carefully.
+
+'That is a very handsome article,' he said; 'and it is without an error,
+so far as I can see.'
+
+'I am glad you think so,' replied the young gentleman, folding up the
+proof and putting it in his inside pocket. 'Now, as I said before,
+although I am not the advertising canvasser of the _Financial Field_,
+I thought I would see you with reference to an advertisement for the
+paper.'
+
+'Well, you know, we have not had a meeting of the proposed stockholders
+yet, and therefore are not in a position to give any advertisements
+regarding the mine. I have no doubt advertisements will be given, and, of
+course, your paper will be remembered among the rest.'
+
+'Ah,' said the young man, 'that is hardly satisfactory to us. We have a
+vacant half-page for Monday, the very best position in the paper, which
+the proprietor thought you would like to secure.'
+
+'As I said a moment ago, we are not in a position to secure it. It is
+premature to talk of advertising at the present state of affairs.'
+
+'I think, you know, it will be to your interest to take the half-page.
+The price is three hundred pounds, and besides that amount we should like
+to have some shares in the company.'
+
+'Do you mean three hundred pounds for one insertion of the
+advertisement?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Doesn't that strike you as being a trifle exorbitant? Your paper has a
+comparatively limited circulation, and they do not ask us such a price
+even in the large dailies.'
+
+'Ah, my dear sir, the large dailies are quite different. They have a
+tremendous circulation, it is true, but it is not the kind of circulation
+we have. No other paper circulates so largely among investors as the
+_Financial Field._ It is read by exactly the class of people you desire
+to reach, and I may say that, except through the _Financial Field_, you
+cannot get at some of the best men in the City.'
+
+'Well, admitting all that, as I have said once or twice, we are not yet
+in a position to give an advertisement.'
+
+'Then, I am very sorry to say that we cannot, on Monday, publish the
+article I have shown you.'
+
+'Very well; I cannot help it. You are not compelled to print it unless
+you wish. I am not sure, either, that publishing the article on Monday
+would do us any good. It would be premature, as I say. We are not yet
+ready to court publicity until we have had our first meeting of proposed
+stockholders.'
+
+'When is your first meeting of stockholders?'
+
+'On Monday, at three o'clock.'
+
+'Very well, we could put that announcement in another column, and I am
+sure you would find the attendance at your meeting would be very largely
+and substantially increased.'
+
+'Possibly; but I decline to do anything till after the meeting.'
+
+'I think you would find it pay you extremely well to take that
+half-page.'
+
+'I am not questioning the fact at all. I am merely saying what I have
+said to everyone else, that we are not ready to consider advertising.'
+
+'I am sorry we cannot come to an arrangement, Mr. Kenyon--very sorry
+indeed;' and, saying this, he took another proof-sheet out of his pocket,
+which he handed to Kenyon. 'If we cannot come to an understanding, the
+manager has determined to print this, instead of the article I showed
+you. Would you kindly glance over it, because we should like to have it
+as correct as possible.'
+
+Kenyon opened his eyes, and unfolded the paper. The heading was the same,
+but he had read only a sentence or two when he found that the mica-mine
+was one of the greatest swindles ever attempted on poor old innocent
+financial London!
+
+'Do you mean to say,' cried John, looking up at him, with his anger
+kindling, 'that if I do not bribe you to the extent of three hundred
+pounds, besides giving you an unknown quantity of stock, you will publish
+this libel?'
+
+'I do not say it is a libel,' said the young man smoothly; 'that would be
+a matter for the courts to decide. You might sue us for libel, if you
+thought we had treated you badly. I may say that has been tried several
+times, but with indifferent success.'
+
+'But do you mean to tell me that you intend to publish this article if I
+do not pay you the three hundred pounds?'
+
+'Yes; putting it crudely, that is exactly what I do mean.'
+
+Kenyon rose in his wrath and flung open the door.
+
+'I must ask you to leave this place, and leave it at once. If you ever
+put in an appearance here again while I am in the office, I will call a
+policeman and have you turned out!'
+
+'My dear sir,' expostulated the other suavely, 'it is merely a matter of
+business. If you find it impossible to deal with us, there is no harm
+done. If our paper has no influence, we cannot possibly injure you. That,
+of course, is entirely for you to judge. If, any time between now and
+Sunday night, you conclude to act otherwise, a wire to our office will
+hold things over until we have had an opportunity of coming to an
+arrangement with you. If not, this article will be published on Monday
+morning. I wish you a very good afternoon, sir.'
+
+John said nothing, but watched his visitor out on the pavement, and then
+returned to the making of his report.
+
+On Monday morning, as he came in by train, his eye caught a flaming
+poster on one of the bill-boards at the station. It was headed _Financial
+Field_, and the next line, in heavy black letters, was, 'The Mica Mining
+Swindle,' Kenyon called a newsboy to him and bought a copy of the paper.
+There, in leaded type, was the article before him. It seemed, somehow,
+much more important on the printed page than it had looked in the proof.
+
+As he read it, he noticed an air of truthful sincerity about the
+editorial that had escaped him during the brief glance he had given it on
+Friday. It went on to say that the Austrian Mining Company had sunk a
+good deal of money in the mine, and that it had never paid a penny of
+dividends; that they merely kept on at a constant loss to themselves in
+the hope of being able to swindle some confiding investors--but that even
+their designs were as nothing compared to the barefaced rascality
+contemplated by John Kenyon. He caught his breath as he saw his own name
+in print. It was a shock for which he was not prepared, as he had not
+noticed it in the proof. Then he read on. It seemed that this man,
+Kenyon, had secured the mine at something like ten thousand pounds, and
+was trying to palm it off on the unfortunate British public at the
+enormous increase of two hundred thousand pounds; but this nefarious
+attempt would doubtless be frustrated so long as there were papers of the
+integrity of the _Financial Field_, to take the risk and expense of
+making such an exposure as was here set forth.
+
+The article possessed a singular fascination for Kenyon. He read and
+re-read it in a dazed way, as if the statement referred to some other
+person, and he could not help feeling sorry for that person.
+
+He still had the paper in his hand as he walked up the street, and he
+felt numbed and dazed as if someone had struck him a blow. He was nearly
+run over in crossing one of the thoroughfares, and heard an outburst of
+profanity directed at him from a cab-driver and a man on a bus; but he
+heeded them not, walking through the crowd as if under a spell.
+
+He passed the door of his own gorgeous office, and walked some distance
+up the street before he realized what he had done. Then he turned back
+again, and, just at the doorstep, paused with a pang at his heart.
+
+'I wonder if Edith Longworth will read that article,' he said to himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+
+When John Kenyon entered his office, he thought the clerk looked at him
+askance. He imagined that innocent employee had been reading the article
+in the _Financial Field_; but the truth is, John was hardly in a frame of
+mind to form a correct opinion on what other people were doing. Everybody
+he met in the street, it seemed to him, was discussing the article in the
+_Financial Field_.
+
+He asked if anybody had been in that morning, and was told there had been
+no callers. Then he passed into the directors' room, closed the door
+behind him, sat down on a chair, and leaned his head on his hands with
+his elbows on the table. In this position Wentworth found him some time
+later, and when John looked up his face was haggard and aged.
+
+'Ah, I see you have read it.'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Do you think Longworth is at the bottom of that article?'
+
+John shook his head.
+
+'Oh no,' he said; 'he had nothing whatever to do with it.'
+
+'How do you know?'
+
+Kenyon related exactly what had passed between the oily young man of the
+_Financial Field_ and himself in that very room. While this recital was
+going on, Wentworth walked up and down, expressing his opinion now and
+then, in remarks that were short and pithy, but hardly fit for
+publication. When the story was told he turned to Kenyon.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'there is nothing for it but to sue the paper for
+libel.'
+
+'What good will that do?'
+
+'What good will it do? Do you mean to say that you intend to sit here
+under such an imputation as they have cast upon you, and do nothing? What
+_good_ will it do? It will do all the good in the world.'
+
+'We cannot form our company and sue the paper at the same time. All our
+energies will have to be directed towards the matter we have in hand.'
+
+'But, my dear John, don't you see the effect of that article? How can we
+form our company if such a lie remains unchallenged? Nobody will look at
+our proposals. Everyone will say, "What have you done about the article
+that appeared in the _Financial Field_?" If we say we have done nothing,
+then, of course, the natural inference is that we are a pair of
+swindlers, and that our scheme is a fraud.'
+
+'I have always thought,' said John, 'that the capitalization is too
+high.'
+
+'Really, I believe you think that article is not so unfair, after all.
+John, I'm astonished at you!'
+
+'But if we do commence a libel suit, it cannot be finished before our
+option has expired. If we tell people that we have begun a suit against
+the _Financial Field_ for libel, they will merely say they prefer to wait
+and hear what the result of the case is. By that time our chances of
+forming a company will be gone.'
+
+'There is a certain amount of truth in that; nevertheless, I do not see
+how we are to go on with our company unless suit for libel is at least
+begun.'
+
+Before John could reply there was a knock at the door, and the clerk
+entered with a letter in his hand which had just come in. Kenyon tore it
+open, read it, and then tossed it across the table to Wentworth.
+Wentworth saw the name of their firm of solicitors at the top of the
+letter-paper. Then he read:
+
+'DEAR SIR,
+
+'You have doubtless seen the article in the _Financial Field_ of this
+morning, referring to the Canadian Mica Mining Company. We should be
+pleased to know what action you intend to take in the matter. We may
+say that, in justice to our reputation, we can no longer represent
+your company unless a suit is brought against the paper which contains
+the article.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'W. HAWK.'
+
+Wentworth laughed with a certain bitterness.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'if it has come to such a pass that Hawk fears for his
+reputation, the sooner we begin a libel suit against the paper the
+better!'
+
+'Perhaps,' said John, with a look of agony on his face, 'you will tell me
+where the money is to come from. The moment we get into the Law Courts
+money will simply flow like water, and doubtless the _Financial Field_
+has plenty of it. It will add to their reputation, and they will make a
+boast that they are fighting the battle of the investor in London.
+Everything is grist that comes to their mill. Meanwhile, we shall be
+paying out money, or we shall be at a tremendous disadvantage, and the
+result of it all will probably be a disagreement of the jury and
+practical ruin for us. You see, I have no witnesses.'
+
+'Yes, but what about the mine? How can we go on without vindicating
+ourselves?'
+
+Before anything further could be said, young Mr. Longworth came in,
+looking as cool, calm, and unruffled as if there were no such things in
+the world as financial newspapers.
+
+'Discussing it, I see,' were his first words.
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth; 'I am very glad you have come. We have a little
+difference of opinion in the matter of that article. Kenyon here is
+averse to suing that paper for libel; I am in favour of prosecuting it.
+Now, what do _you_ say?'
+
+'My dear fellow,' replied Longworth, 'I am delighted to be able to agree
+with Mr. Kenyon for once. Sue them! Why, of course not. That is just what
+they want.'
+
+'But,' said Wentworth, 'if we do not, who is going to look at our mine?'
+
+'Exactly the same number of people as would look at it before the article
+appeared.'
+
+'Don't you think it will have any effect?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'But look at this letter from your own lawyers on the subject.' Wentworth
+handed Longworth the letter from Hawk. Longworth adjusted his glass and
+read it carefully through.
+
+'By Jove!' he said with a laugh, 'I call that good; I call that
+distinctly good. I had no idea old Hawk was such a humorist! His
+reputation indeed; well, that beats me! All that Hawk wants is another
+suit on his hands. I wish you would let me keep this letter. I will have
+some fun with my friend Hawk over it.'
+
+'You are welcome to the letter, so far as I am concerned,' said
+Wentworth; 'but do you mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that we have to sit
+here calmly under this imputation and do nothing?'
+
+'I mean to say nothing of the kind; but I don't propose to play into
+their hands by suing them--at least, I should not if it were my case
+instead of Kenyon's.'
+
+'What would you do?'
+
+'I would let them sue me if they wanted to. Of course, their canvasser
+called to see you, didn't he, Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, he did.'
+
+'He told you that he had a certain amount of space to sell for a certain
+sum in cash?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'And, if you did not buy that space, this certain article would appear;
+whereas, if you did, an article of quite a different complexion would
+be printed?'
+
+'You seem to know all about it,' said Kenyon suspiciously.
+
+'Of course I do, my dear boy! Everybody knows all about it. That's the
+way those papers make their money. I think myself, as a general rule, it
+is cheaper to buy them off. I believe my uncle always does that when he
+has anything special on hand, and doesn't want to be bothered with
+outside issues. But we haven't done so in this instance, and this is the
+result. It can be easily remedied yet, mind you, if you like. All that
+you have to do is to pay his price, and there will be an equally lengthy
+article saying that, from outside information received with regard to the
+Canadian Mining Company, he regrets very much that the former article was
+an entire mistake, and that there is no more secure investment in England
+than this particular mine. But now, when he has come out with his
+editorial, I think it isn't worth while to have any further dealings
+with him. Anything he can say now will not matter. He has done all the
+harm he can. But I would at once put the boot on the other foot. I would
+write down all the circumstances just as they happened--give the name of
+the young man who called upon you, tell exactly the price he demanded for
+his silence, and I will have that printed in an opposition paper
+to-morrow. Then it will be our friend the _Financial Field's_ turn to
+squirm! He will say it is all a lie, of course, but nobody will believe
+him, and we can tell him, from the opposition paper, that if it is a lie
+he is perfectly at liberty to sue us for libel. Let him begin the suit if
+he wants to do so. Let him defend his reputation. Sue him for libel! I
+know a game worth two of that. Could you get out the statement before the
+meeting this afternoon?'
+
+Kenyon, who had been looking, for the first time in his life, gratefully
+at Longworth, said he could.
+
+'Very well; just set it down in your own words as plainly as possible,
+and give date, hour, and full particulars. Sign your name to it, and I
+will take it when I come to the meeting this afternoon. It would not be
+a bad plan to read it to those who are here. There is nothing like
+fighting the devil with fire. Fight a paper with another paper. Nothing
+new, I suppose?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'nothing new except what we are discussing.'
+
+'Well, don't let that trouble you. Do as I say, and we will begin an
+interesting controversy. People like a fight, and it will attract
+attention to the mine. Good-bye. I shall see you this afternoon.'
+
+He left both Kenyon and Wentworth in a much happier frame of mind than
+that in which he had found them.
+
+'I say, Kenyon,' said Wentworth, 'that fellow is a trump. His advice has
+cleared the air wonderfully. I believe his plan is the best, after all,
+and, as you say, we have no money for an expensive lawsuit. I shall leave
+you now to get on with your work, and will return at three o'clock.'
+
+At that hour John had his statement finished. The first man to arrive was
+Longworth, who read the article with approval, merely suggesting a change
+here and there, which was duly made. Then he put the communication into
+an envelope, and sent it to the editor of the opposition paper. Wentworth
+came in next, then Melville, then Mr. King. After this they all adjourned
+to the directors' room, and in a few minutes the others were present.
+
+'Now,' said Longworth, 'as we are all here, I do not see any necessity
+for delay. You have probably read the article that appeared in this
+morning's _Financial Field_. Mr. Kenyon has written a statement in
+relation to that, which gives the full particulars of the inside of a
+very disreputable piece of business. It was merely an attempt at
+blackmailing which failed. I intended to have had the statement read to
+you, but we thought it best to get it off as quickly as possible, and it
+will appear to-morrow in the _Financial Eagle_, where, I hope, you will
+all read it. Now, Mr. Kenyon, perhaps you will tell us something about
+the mine.'
+
+Kenyon, like many men of worth and not of words, was a very poor speaker.
+He seemed confused, and was often a little obscure in his remarks, but he
+was listened to with great attention by those present. He was helped
+here and there by a judicious question from young Longworth, and when he
+sat down the impression was not so bad as might have been expected. After
+a moment's silence, it was Mr. King who spoke.
+
+'As I take it,' he said, 'all we wish to know is this: Is the mine what
+it is represented to be? Is the mineral the best for the use Mr. Kenyon
+has indicated? Is there a sufficient quantity of that mineral in the
+mountain he speaks of to make it worth while to organize this company? It
+seems to me that this can only be answered by some practical man going
+out there and seeing the mine for himself. Mr. Melville is, I understand,
+a practical man. If he has the time to spare, I would propose that he
+should go to America, see this mine, and report.'
+
+Another person asked when the option on the mine ran out. This was
+answered by Longworth, who said that the person who went over and
+reported on the mine could cable the word 'Right' or 'Wrong'; then there
+would be time to act in London in getting up the list of subscribers.
+
+'I suppose,' said another, 'that in case of delay there would be no
+trouble in renewing the option for a month or two?'
+
+To this Kenyon replied that he did not know. The owners might put a
+higher price on the property, or the mine might be producing more mica
+than it had been heretofore, and they perhaps might not be inclined to
+sell. He thought that things should be arranged so that there would be
+no necessity of asking for an extension of the option, and to this they
+all agreed.
+
+Melville then said he had no objection to taking a trip to Canada. It
+was merely a question of the amount of the mineral in sight, and he
+thought he could determine that as well as anybody else. And so the
+matter was about to be settled, when Longworth rose, and said that he was
+perfectly willing to go to Canada himself, in company with Mr. Melville;
+that he would pay all his own expenses, and give them the benefit of his
+opinion as well. This was received with applause, and the meeting
+terminated. Longworth shook hands with Kenyon and Wentworth.
+
+'We will sail by the first steamer,' he said, 'and, as I may not see you
+again, you might write me a letter of introduction to Mr. Von Brent, and
+tell him that I am acting for you in this affair. That will make matters
+smooth in getting an extension of the option, if it should be necessary.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+
+Kenyon was on his way to lunch next day, when he met Wentworth at the
+door.
+
+'Going to feed?' asked the latter.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Very well; I'll go with you. I couldn't stay last night to have a talk
+with you over the meeting; but what did you think of it?'
+
+'Well, considering the article which appeared in the morning, and
+considering also the exhibition I made of myself in attempting to explain
+the merits of the mine, I think things went off rather smoothly.'
+
+'So do I. It doesn't strike you that they went off a little _too_
+smoothly, does it?'
+
+'What do you mean?'
+
+'I don't know exactly what I mean. I merely wanted to get your own
+opinion about it. You see, I have attended a great many gatherings of
+this sort, and it struck me there was a certain cut-and-driedness about
+the meeting. I can't say whether it impressed me favourably or
+unfavourably, but I noticed it.'
+
+'I still don't understand what you mean.'
+
+'Well, as a general thing in such meetings, when a man gets up and
+proposes a certain action there is some opposition, or somebody has a
+suggestion to make, or something better to propose--or thinks he has--and
+so there is a good deal of talk. Now, when King got up and proposed
+calmly that Melville should go to America, it appeared to me rather an
+extraordinary thing to do, unless he had consulted Melville beforehand.'
+
+'Perhaps he had done so.'
+
+'Yes, perhaps. What do you think of it all?'
+
+Kenyon mused for a moment before he replied:
+
+'As I said before, I thought things went off very smoothly. Whom do you
+suspect--young Longworth?'
+
+'I do not know whom I suspect. I am merely getting anxious about the
+shortness of the time. I think, myself, you ought to go to America. There
+is nothing to be done here. You should go, see Von Brent, and get a
+renewal of the option. Don't you see that when they get over there,
+allowing them a few days in New York, and a day or two to get out to the
+mine, we shall have little more than a week, after the cable despatch
+comes, in which to do anything, should they happen to report
+unfavourably.'
+
+'Yes, I see that. Still, it is only a question of facts on which they
+have to report, and you know, as well as I do, that no truthful men can
+report unfavourably on what we have certified. We have understated the
+case in every instance.'
+
+'I know that. I am perfectly well aware of that. Everything is all right
+if--if--Longworth is dealing honestly with us. If he is not, then
+everything is all wrong, and I should feel a great deal easier if we had
+in our possession another three months' option of the mine. We are now at
+the fag-end of this option, and, it seems to me, as protection to
+ourselves, we ought either to write to Von Brent--By the way, have you
+ever written to him?'
+
+'I wrote one letter telling him how we were getting on, but have received
+no answer; perhaps he is not in Ottawa at present.'
+
+'Well, I think you ought to go to the mine with Longworth and Melville.
+It is the conjunction of those two men that makes me suspicious. I can't
+tell what I distrust. I can give nothing definite; but I have a vague
+uneasiness when I think that the man who tried to mislead us regarding
+the value of the mineral is going with the man who has led us into all
+this expense. Longworth refused to go into the scheme in the first place,
+pretended he had forgotten all about it in the second place, and then
+suddenly developed an interest.'
+
+John knitted his brows and said nothing.
+
+'I don't want to worry you about it, but I am anxious to have your candid
+opinion. What had we better do?'
+
+'It seems to me,' said John, after a pause, 'that we can do nothing. It
+is a very perplexing situation. I think, however, we should turn it over
+in our minds for a few days, and then I can get to America in plenty of
+time, if necessary.'
+
+'Very well, suppose we give them ten days to get to the mine and reply.
+If no reply comes by the eleventh day then you will still have eighteen
+or nineteen days before the option expires. Put it at twelve days. I
+propose, if you hear nothing by then, you go over.'
+
+'Right,' said John; 'we may take that as settled.'
+
+'By the way, you got an invitation to-day, did you not?'
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you going?'
+
+'I do not know. I should like to go and yet, you know, I am entirely
+unused to fashionable assemblages. I should not know what to say or do
+while I was there.'
+
+'As I understand, it is not to be a fashionable party, but merely a
+little friendly gathering which Miss Longworth gives because her cousin
+is about to sail for Canada. I don't want to flatter you, John, at all,
+but I imagine Miss Longworth would be rather disappointed if you did not
+put in an appearance. Besides, as we are partners with Longworth in this,
+and as he is going away on account of the mine. I think it would be a
+little ungracious of us not to go.'
+
+'Very well, I will go. Shall I call for you, or will you come for me?'
+
+'I will call for you and we will go there together in a cab. Be ready
+about eight o'clock.'
+
+The mansion of the Longworths was brilliantly lighted, and John felt
+rather faint-hearted as he stood on the steps before going in. The
+chances are he would not have had the courage to allow himself to be
+announced if his friend Wentworth had not been with him. George,
+however, had no such qualms, being more experienced in this kind of
+thing than his comrade. So they entered together, and were warmly
+greeted by the young hostess.
+
+'It is so kind of you to come,' she said, 'on such short notice. I was
+afraid you might have had some prior engagement, and would have found it
+impossible to be with us.'
+
+'You must not think that of me,' said Wentworth. 'I was certain to come;
+but I must confess my friend Kenyon here was rather difficult to manage.
+He seems to frown on social festivities, and actually had the coolness to
+propose that we should both plead more important business.'
+
+Edith looked reproachfully at Kenyon, who flushed to the temples, as was
+his custom, and said:
+
+'Now, Wentworth, that is unfair. You must not mind what he says, Miss
+Longworth; he likes to bring confusion on me, and he knows how to do it.
+I certainly said nothing about a prior engagement.'
+
+'Well, now you are here, I hope you will enjoy yourselves. It is quite an
+informal little gathering, with nothing to abash even Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+They found young Longworth there in company with Melville, who was to be
+his companion on the voyage. He shook hands, but without exhibiting the
+pleasure at meeting them which his cousin had shown.
+
+'My cousin,' said the young man, 'seems resolved to make the going of the
+prodigal nephew an occasion for killing the fatted calf. I'm sure I don't
+know why, unless it is that she is glad to be rid of me for a month.'
+
+Edith laughed at this, and left the men together. Wentworth speedily
+contrived to make himself agreeable to the young ladies who were present;
+but John, it must be admitted, felt awkward and out of place. He was not
+enjoying himself. He caught himself now and then following Edith
+Longworth with his eyes, and when he realized he was doing this, would
+abruptly look at the floor. In her handsome evening dress she appeared
+supremely lovely, and this John Kenyon admitted to himself with a sigh,
+for her very loveliness seemed to place her further and further away from
+him. Somebody played something on the piano, and this was, in a way, a
+respite for John. He felt that nobody was looking at him. Then a young
+man gave a recitation, which was very well received, and Kenyon began to
+forget his uneasiness. A German gentleman with long hair sat down at the
+piano with a good deal of importance in his demeanour. There was much
+arranging of music, and finally, when the leaves were settled to his
+satisfaction, there was a tremendous crash of chords, the beginning of
+what was evidently going to be a troublesome time for the piano. In the
+midst of this hurricane of sound John Kenyon became aware that Edith
+Longworth had sat down beside him.
+
+'I have got everyone comfortably settled with everyone else,' she said
+in a whisper to him, 'and you seem to be the only one who is, as it
+were, out in the cold, so, you see, I have done you the honour to come
+and talk to you.'
+
+'It is indeed an honour,' said John earnestly.
+
+'Oh, really,' said the young woman, laughing very softly, 'you must not
+take things so seriously. I didn't mean quite what I said, you
+know--that was only, as the children say, "pretended"; but you take one's
+light remarks as if they were most weighty sentences. Now, you must look
+as if you were entertaining me charmingly, whereas I have sat down beside
+you to have a very few minutes' talk on business; I know it's very bad
+form to talk business at an evening party, but, you see, I have no other
+chance to speak with you. I understand you have had a meeting of
+shareholders, and yet you never sent me an invitation. I told you that I
+wished to help you in forming a company; but that is the way you business
+men always treat a woman.'
+
+'Really, Miss Longworth,' began Kenyon; but she speedily interrupted him.
+
+'I am not going to let you make any explanation. I have come over here to
+enjoy scolding you, and I am not to be cheated out of my pleasure.'
+
+'I think,' said John, 'if you knew how much I have suffered during this
+last day or two, you would be very lenient with me. Did you read that
+article upon me in the _Financial Field_?'
+
+'No, I did not, but I read your reply to it this morning, and I think it
+was excellent.'
+
+'Ah, that was hardly fair. A person should read both sides of the
+question before passing judgment.'
+
+'It is a woman's idea of fairness,' said Edith, 'to read what pertains to
+her friend, and to form her judgment without hearing the other side. But
+you must not think I am going to forego scolding you because of my
+sympathy with you. Don't you remember you promised to let me know how
+your company was progressing from time to time, and here I have never
+had a word from you; now tell me how you have been getting on.'
+
+'I hardly know, but I think we are doing very well indeed. You know, of
+course, that your cousin is going to America to report upon the mine. As
+I have stated nothing but what is perfectly true about the property,
+there can be no question as to what that report will be, so it seems to
+me everything is going on nicely.'
+
+'Why do not you go to America?'
+
+'Ah, well, I am an interested party, and those who are thinking of going
+in with us have my report already. It is necessary to corroborate that.
+When it is corroborated, I expect we shall have no trouble in forming
+the company.'
+
+'And was William chosen by those men to go to Canada?'
+
+'He was not exactly chosen; he volunteered. Mr. Melville here was the one
+who was chosen.'
+
+'And why Mr. Melville more than you, for instance?'
+
+'Well, as I said, I am out of the question because I am an interested
+party. Melville is a man connected with china works, and as such, in a
+measure, an expert.'
+
+'Is Mr. Melville a friend of yours?'
+
+'No, he is not. I never saw him until he came to the meeting.'
+
+'Do you know,' she said, lowering her voice and bending towards him,
+'that I do not like Mr. Melville's face?' Kenyon glanced at Melville, who
+was at the other side of the room, and Edith went on: 'You must not look
+at people when I mention them in that way, or they will know we are
+talking about them. I do not like his face. He is too handsome a man, and
+I don't like handsome men.'
+
+'Don't you, really,' said John; 'then, you ought to----'
+
+Edith laughed softly, a low, musical laugh that was not heard above the
+piano din, and was intended for John alone, and to his ears it was the
+sweetest music he had ever heard.
+
+'I know what you were going to say,' she said; 'you were going to say
+that in that case I ought to like _you_. Well, I do; that is why I am
+taking such an interest in your mine, and in your friend Mr. Wentworth.
+And so my cousin volunteered to go to Canada. Now, I think you ought to
+go yourself.'
+
+'Why?' said Kenyon, startled that she should have touched the point that
+had been discussed between Wentworth and himself.
+
+'I can only give you a woman's reason--"because I do." It seems to me you
+ought to be there to know what they report at the time they _do_ report.
+Perhaps they won't understand the mine without your explanation, and then
+you see an adverse report might come back in perfect good faith. I think
+you ought to go to America, Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+'That is just what George Wentworth says.'
+
+'Does he? I always thought he was a very sensible young man, and now I am
+sure of it. Well, I must not stay here gossiping with you on business. I
+see the professor is going to finish, and so I shall have to look after
+my other guests. If I don't see you again this evening, or have no
+opportunity of speaking with you, think over what I have said.'
+
+And then, with the most charming hypocrisy, the young woman thanked the
+professor for the music to which she had not listened in the least.
+
+'Well, how did you enjoy yourself?' said Wentworth when they had got
+outside again.
+
+It was a clear, starlight night, and they had resolved to walk home
+together.
+
+'I enjoyed myself very well indeed,' answered Kenyon; 'much better than I
+expected. It was a little awkward at first, but I got over that.'
+
+'I noticed you did--with help.'
+
+'Yes, "with help."'
+
+'If you are inclined to rave, John, now that we are under the stars,
+remember I am a close confidant, and a sympathetic listener. I should like
+to hear you rave, just to learn how an exasperatingly sensible man acts
+under the circumstances.'
+
+'I shall not rave about anything, George, but I will tell you something.
+I am going to Canada.'
+
+'Ah, did she speak about that?'
+
+'She did.'
+
+'And of course her advice at once decides the matter, after my most
+cogent arguments have failed?'
+
+'Don't be offended, George, but--_it does_.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+
+'What name, please?'
+
+'Tell Mr. Wentworth a lady wishes to see him.'
+
+The boy departed rather dubiously, for he knew this message was decidedly
+irregular in a business office. People should give their names.
+
+'A lady to see you, sir,' he said to Wentworth; and, then, just as the
+boy had expected, his employer wanted to know the lady's name.
+
+Ladies are not frequent visitors at the office of an accountant in the
+City, so Wentworth touched his collar and tie to make sure they were in
+their correct position, and, wondering who the lady was, asked the boy to
+show her in.
+
+'How do you do, Mr. Wentworth?' she said brightly, advancing towards his
+table and holding out her hand.
+
+Wentworth caught his breath, and took her extended hand somewhat limply,
+then he pulled himself together; saying:
+
+'This is an unexpected pleasure, Miss Brewster.'
+
+Jennie blushed very prettily, and laughed a laugh that Wentworth thought
+was like a little ripple of music from a mellow flute.
+
+'It may be unexpected,' she said, 'but you don't look a bit like a
+man suffering from an overdose of pure joy. You didn't expect to see
+me, did you?'
+
+'I did not; but now that you are here, may I ask in what way I can
+serve you?'
+
+'Well, in the first place, you may ask me to take a chair, and in the
+second place you may sit down yourself; for I've come to have a long talk
+with you.'
+
+The prospect did not seem to be so alluring to Wentworth as one might
+have expected, when the announcement was made by a girl so pretty, and
+dressed in such exquisite taste; but the young man promptly offered her a
+chair, and then sat down, with the table between them. She placed her
+parasol and a few things she had been carrying on the table, arranging
+them with some care; then, having given him time to recover from his
+surprise, she flashed a look at him that sent a thrill to the finger-tips
+of the young man. Yet a danger understood is a danger half overcome; and
+Wentworth, unconsciously drawing a deep breath, nerved himself against
+any recurrence of a feeling he had been trying with but indifferent
+success to forget, saying grimly, but only half convincingly, to himself:
+
+'You are not going to fool me a second time, my girl, lovely as you are.'
+
+A glimmer of a smile hovered about the red lips of the girl, a smile
+hardly perceptible, but giving an effect to her clear complexion as if a
+sunbeam had crept into the room, and its reflection had lit up her face.
+
+'I have come to apologize, Mr. Wentworth,' she said at last. 'I find it a
+very difficult thing to do, and, as I don't quite know how to begin, I
+plunge right into it.'
+
+'You don't need to apologize to me for anything, Miss Brewster,' replied
+Wentworth, rather stiffly.
+
+'Oh yes, I do. Don't make it harder than it is by being too frigidly
+polite about it, but say you accept the apology, and that you're
+sorry--no, I don't mean that--I should say that you're sure I'm sorry,
+and that you know I won't do it again.'
+
+Wentworth laughed, and Miss Brewster joined him.
+
+'There,' she said, 'that's ever so much better. I suppose you've been
+thinking hard things of me ever since we last met.'
+
+'I've tried to,' replied Wentworth.
+
+'Now, that's what I call honest; besides, I like the implied compliment.
+I think it's very neat indeed. I'm really very, very sorry that I--that
+things happened as they did. I wouldn't have blamed you if you had used
+exceedingly strong language about it at the time.'
+
+'I must confess that I did.'
+
+'Ah!' said Jennie, with a sigh, 'you men have so many comforts denied to
+us women. But I came here for another purpose; if I had merely wanted to
+apologize, I think I would have written. I want some information which
+you can give me, if you like.'
+
+The young woman rested her elbows on the table, with her chin in her
+hands, gazing across at him earnestly and innocently. Poor George felt
+that it would be almost impossible to refuse anything to those large
+beseeching eyes.
+
+'I want you to tell me about your mine.'
+
+All the geniality that had gradually come into Wentworth's face and
+manner vanished instantly.
+
+'So this is the old business over again,' he said.
+
+'How can you say that!' cried Jennie reproachfully. 'I am asking for my
+own satisfaction entirely, and not for my paper. Besides, I tell you
+frankly what I want to know, and don't try to get it by indirect
+means--by false pretences, as you once said.'
+
+'How can you expect me to give you information that does not belong to me
+alone? I have no right to speak of a business which concerns others
+without their permission.'
+
+'Ah, then, there are at least two more concerned in the mine,' said
+Jennie gleefully. 'Kenyon is one, I know; who is the other?'
+
+'Miss Brewster, I will tell you nothing.'
+
+'But you have told me something already. Please go on and talk, Mr.
+Wentworth--about anything you like--and I shall soon find out all I want
+to know about the mine.'
+
+She paused, but Wentworth remained silent, which, indeed, the bewildered
+young man realized was the only safe thing to do.
+
+'They speak of the talkativeness of women,' Miss Brewster went on, as if
+soliloquizing, 'but it is nothing to that of the men. Once set a man
+talking, and you learn everything he knows--besides ever so much more
+that he doesn't.'
+
+Miss Brewster had abandoned her very taking attitude, with its suggestion
+of confidential relations, and had removed her elbows from the table,
+sitting now back in her chair, gazing dreamily at the dingy window which
+let the light in from the dingy court. She seemed to have forgotten that
+Wentworth was there, and said, more to herself than to him:
+
+'I wonder if Kenyon would tell me about the mine.'
+
+'You might ask him.'
+
+'No; it wouldn't do any good,' she continued, gently shaking her head.
+'He's one of your silent men, and there are so few of them in this
+world. Perhaps I had better go to William Longworth himself; he's not
+suspicious of me.'
+
+As she said this, she threw a quick glance at Wentworth, and the
+unfortunate young man's face at once told her that she had hit the mark.
+She bent her head over the table, and laughed with such evident enjoyment
+that Wentworth, in spite of his helpless anger, smiled grimly.
+
+Jennie raised her head, but the sight of his perplexed countenance was
+too much for her, and it was some time before her merriment allowed her
+to speak. At last she said:
+
+'Wouldn't you like to take me by the shoulders and put me out of the
+room, Mr. Wentworth?'
+
+'I'd like to take you by the shoulders and shake you.'
+
+'Ah! that would be taking a liberty, and could not be permitted. We must
+leave punishment to the law, you know, although I do think a man should
+be allowed to turn an objectionable visitor into the street.'
+
+'Miss Brewster,' cried the young man earnestly, leaning over the table
+towards her, 'why don't you abandon your horrible inquisitorial
+profession, and put your undoubted talents to some other use?'
+
+'What, for instance?'
+
+'Oh, anything.'
+
+Jennie rested her fair cheek against her open palm again, and looked at
+the dingy window. There was a long silence between them--Wentworth
+absorbed in watching her clear-cut profile and her white throat, his
+breath quickening as he feasted his eyes on her beauty.
+
+'I have always got angry,' she said at last, in a low voice with the quiver
+of a suppressed sigh in it, 'when other people have said that to me--I wonder
+why it is I merely feel hurt and sad when you say it? It is so easy to
+say, "Oh, anything"--so easy, so easy. You are a man, with the strength
+and determination of a man, yet you have met with disappointments and
+obstacles that have required all your courage to overcome. Every man has,
+and with most men it is a fight until the head is gray, and the brain
+weary with the ceaseless struggle. The world is utterly merciless; it
+will trample you down relentlessly if it can, and if your vigilance
+relaxes for a moment, it will steal your crust and leave you to starve.
+Every time I think of this incessant sullen contest, with no quarter
+given or taken, I shudder, and pray that I may die before I am at the
+mercy of the pitiless world. When I came to London, I saw, for the first
+time in my life, that hopeless, melancholy promenade of the sandwich-men;
+human wreckage drifting along the edge of the street, as if cast there by
+the rushing tide sweeping past them. They--they seemed to me like a
+tottering procession of the dead; and on their backs was the announcement
+of a play that was making all London roar with laughter. The awful comedy
+and tragedy of it! Well, I simply couldn't stand it. I had to run up a
+side-street and cry like the little fool I was, right in broad daylight.'
+
+Jennie paused and tried to laugh, but the effort ended in a sound
+suspiciously like a sob. She dashed her hand with quick impatience across
+her eyes, from which Wentworth had never taken his own, seeing them
+become dim, as if the light from the window proved too strong for them,
+and finally fill as she ceased to speak. Searching ineffectually about
+her dress for a handkerchief, which lay on the table beside her parasol
+unnoticed by either, Jennie went on with some difficulty:
+
+'Well, these poor forlorn creatures were once men--men who have gone
+down--and if the world is so hard on a man with all his strength and
+resourcefulness, think--think what it is for a woman thrown into this
+inhuman turmoil--a woman without friends--without money--flung among
+these relentless wolves--to live if she can--or--to die--if she can.'
+
+The girl's voice broke, and she buried her face in her arms, which rested
+on the table.
+
+Wentworth sprang to his feet and came round to where she sat.
+
+'Jennie,' he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. The girl, without
+looking up, shook off the hand that touched her.
+
+'Go back to your place,' she cried, in a smothered voice. 'Leave me
+alone.'
+
+'Jennie,' persisted Wentworth.
+
+The young woman rose from her chair and faced him, stepping back a pace.
+
+'Don't you hear what I say? Go back and sit down. I came here to talk
+business, not to make a fool of myself. It's all your fault, and I hate
+you for it--you and your silly questions.'
+
+But the young man stood where he was, in spite of the dangerous sparkle
+that shone in his visitor's wet eyes. A frown gathered on his brow.
+
+'Jennie,' he said slowly, 'are you playing with me again?'
+
+The swift anger that blazed up in her face, reddening her cheeks, dried
+the tears.
+
+'How _dare_ you say such a thing to me!' she cried hotly. 'Do you flatter
+yourself that, because I came here to talk business, I have also some
+personal interest in you? Surely even _your_ self-conceit doesn't run so
+far as that!'
+
+Wentworth stood silent, and Miss Brewster picked up her parasol,
+scattering, in her haste, the other articles on the floor. If she
+expected Wentworth to put them on the table again, she was disappointed,
+for, although his eyes were upon her, his thoughts were far away upon the
+Atlantic Ocean.
+
+'I shall not stay here to be insulted,' she cried resentfully, bringing
+Wentworth's thoughts back with a rush to London again. 'It is intolerable
+that you should use such an expression to me. Playing with you indeed!'
+
+'I had no intention of insulting you, Miss Brewster.'
+
+'What is it but an insult to use such a phrase? It implies that I either
+care for you, or----'
+
+'And do you?'
+
+'Do I what?'
+
+'Do you care for me?'
+
+Jennie shook out the lace fringes of her parasol; and smoothed them with
+some precision. Her eyes were bent on what she was doing; consequently,
+they did not meet those of her questioner.
+
+'I care for you as a friend, of course,' she said at last, still giving
+much attention to the parasol. 'If I had not looked on you as a friend, I
+would not have come here to consult with you, would I?'
+
+'No, I suppose not. Well, I am sorry I used the words that displeased
+you, and now, if you will permit it, we will go on with the
+consultation.'
+
+'It wasn't a pretty thing to say.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm not good at saying pretty things.'
+
+'You used to be.'
+
+The parasol being arranged to her liking, she glanced up at him.
+
+'Still, you said you were sorry, and that's all a man can say--or a
+woman either, for that's what I said myself when I came in. Now, if you
+will pick up those things from the floor--thanks--we will talk about
+the mine.'
+
+Wentworth seated himself again, and said;
+
+'Well, what is it you wish to know about the mine?'
+
+'Nothing at all.'
+
+'But you said you wanted information.'
+
+'What a funny reason to give! And how a man misses all the fine points of
+a conversation! No; just because I asked for information, you might have
+known that was not what I really wanted.'
+
+'I'm afraid I'm very stupid. I hate to ask boldly what you did want, but
+I would like to know.'
+
+'I wanted a vote of confidence. I told you I was sorry because of a
+certain episode. I wished to see if you trusted me, and I found you
+didn't. There!'
+
+'I think that was hardly a fair test. You see, the facts did not belong
+to me alone.'
+
+Miss Brewster sighed, and slowly shook her head.
+
+'That wouldn't have made the least difference if you had really trusted
+me.'
+
+'Oh, I say! You couldn't expect a man to----'
+
+'Yes I could.'
+
+'What, merely a friend?'
+
+Miss Brewster nodded.
+
+'Well, all I can say,' remarked Wentworth, with a laugh, 'is that
+friendship has made greater strides in the States than it has in
+this country.'
+
+Before Jennie could reply, the useful boy knocked at the door and brought
+in a tea-tray, which he placed before his master; then silently departed,
+closing the door noiselessly.
+
+'May I offer you a cup of tea?'
+
+'Please. What a curious custom this drinking of tea is in business
+offices! I think I shall write an article on "A Nation of Tea-tipplers."
+If I were an enemy of England, instead of being its greatest friend, I
+would descend with my army on this country between the hours of four and
+five in the afternoon, and so take the population unawares while it was
+drinking tea. What would you do if the enemy came down on you during such
+a sacred national ceremony?'
+
+'I would offer her a cup of tea,' replied Wentworth, suiting the action
+to the phrase.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' said the girl archly, 'you're improving. That remark was
+distinctly good. Still, you must remember that I come as a friend, not as
+an enemy. Did you ever read the "Babes in the Wood"? It is a most
+instructive, but pathetic, work of fiction. You remember the wicked
+uncle, surely? Well, you and Mr. Kenyon remind me of the "Babes," poor
+innocent little things! and London--this part of it--is the dark and
+pathless forest. I am the bird hovering about you, waiting to cover you
+with leaves. The leaves, to do any good, ought to be cheques fluttering
+down on you, but, alas! I haven't any. If negotiable cheques only grew on
+trees, life would not be so difficult.'
+
+Miss Brewster sipped her tea pensively, and Wentworth listened
+contentedly to the musical murmur of her voice. Such an entrancing effect
+had it on him that he paid less heed to what she said than a man ought
+when a lady is speaking. The tea-drinking had added a touch of
+domesticity to the _tête-a-tête_ which rather went to the head of the
+young man. He clinched and unclinched his hand out of sight under the
+table, and felt the moisture on his palm. He hoped he would be able to
+retain control over himself, but the difficulty of his task almost
+overcame him when she now and then appealed to him with glance or
+gesture, and he felt as if he must cry out, 'My girl, my girl, don't do
+that, if you expect me to stay where I am.'
+
+'I see you are not paying the slightest attention to what I am saying,'
+she said, pushing the cup from her. She rested her arms on the table,
+leaning slightly forward, and turning her face full upon him: 'I can tell
+by your eyes that you are thinking of something else.'
+
+'I assure you,' said George, drawing a deep breath, 'I am listening with
+intense interest.'
+
+'Well, that's right, for what I am going to say is important. Now, to
+wake you up, I will first tell you all about your mine; you will
+understand thereafter that I did not need to ask anyone for information
+regarding it.'
+
+Here, to Wentworth's astonishment, she gave a rapid and accurate sketch
+of the negotiations and arrangements between the three partners, and the
+present position of affairs.
+
+'How do you know all this?' he asked.
+
+'Never mind that; and you mustn't ask how I know what I am now going to
+tell you, but you must believe it implicitly, and act upon it promptly.
+Longworth is fooling both you and Kenyon. He is marking time, so that
+your option will run out; then he will pay cash for the mine at the
+original price, and you and Kenyon will be left to pay two-thirds of the
+debt incurred. Where is Kenyon?'
+
+'He has gone to America.'
+
+'That's good. Cable him to get the option renewed. You can then try to
+form the company yourselves in London. If he can't obtain a renewal, you
+have very little time to get the cash together, and if you are not able
+to do that, then you lose everything. This is what I came to tell you,
+although I have been a long time about it. Now I must go.'
+
+She rose, gathered her belongings from the table, and stood with the
+parasol pressed against her. Wentworth came around to where she was
+standing, his face paler than usual, probably because of the news he had
+heard. One hand was grasped tightly around one wrist in front of him. He
+felt that he should thank her for what she had done, but his lips were
+dry, and, somehow, the proper words were not at his command.
+
+She, holding her fragile lace-fringed parasol against her with one arm,
+was adjusting her long neatly fitting glove, which she had removed before
+tea. A button, one of many, was difficult to fasten, and as she
+endeavoured to put it in its place, her sleeve fell away, showing a round
+white arm above the glove.
+
+'You see,' she said, a little breathlessly, her eyes upon her glove, 'it
+is a very serious situation, and time is of immense importance.'
+
+'I realize that.'
+
+'It would be such a pity to lose everything now, when you have had so
+much trouble and worry.'
+
+'It would.'
+
+'And I think that whatever is done should be done quickly. You should act
+at once and with energy.'
+
+'I am convinced that is so.'
+
+'Of course it is. You are of too trusting a nature; you should be more
+suspicious, then you wouldn't be tricked as you have been.'
+
+'No. The trouble is I have been too sceptical, but that is past. I won't
+be again.'
+
+'What are you talking about?' she said, looking quickly up at him. 'Don't
+you know you'll lose the mine if----'
+
+'Hang the mine!' he cried, flinging his wrist free, and clasping her to
+him before she could step back or move from her place. 'There is
+something more important than mines or money.'
+
+The parasol broke with a sharp snap, and the girl murmured 'Oh!' but the
+murmur was faint.
+
+'Never mind the parasol,' he said, pulling it from between them and
+tossing it aside; 'I'll get you another.'
+
+'Reckless man!' she gasped; 'you little know how much it cost, and I
+think, you know, I ought to have been consulted--in an--in an--affair of
+this kind--George.'
+
+'There was no time. I acted upon your own advice--promptly. You are not
+angry, Jennie, my dear girl, are you?'
+
+'I suppose I'm not, though I think I ought to be; especially as I know
+only too well that I held my heart in my hand the whole time, almost
+offering it to you. I hope you won't treat it as you have treated the
+sunshade.'
+
+He kissed her for answer.
+
+'You see,' she said, putting his necktie straight, 'I liked you from the
+very first, far more than I knew at the time. If you--I'm not trying to
+justify myself, you know--but if you had, well, just coaxed me a little
+yourself, I would never have sent that cable message. You seemed to give
+up everything, and you sent Kenyon to me, and that made me angry. I
+expected you to come back to me, but you never came.'
+
+'I was a stupid fool. I always am when I get a fair chance.'
+
+'Oh no, you're not, but you do need someone to take care of you.'
+
+She suddenly held him at arm's length from her.
+
+'You don't imagine for a moment, George Wentworth, that I came here
+to-day for--for this.'
+
+'Certainly not!' cried the honest young man, with much indignant fervour,
+drawing her again towards him.
+
+'Then it's all right. I couldn't bear to have you think such a thing,
+especially--well, I'll tell you why some day. But I do wish you had a
+title. Do they ever ennoble accountants in this country, George?'
+
+'No; they knight only rich fools.'
+
+'Oh, I'm so glad of that; for you'll get rich on the mine, and I'll be
+Lady Wentworth yet.'
+
+Then she drew his head down until her laughing lips touched his.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+
+Although the steamship that took Kenyon to America was one of the
+speediest in the Atlantic service, yet the voyage was inexpressibly
+dreary to him. He spent most of his time walking up and down the deck,
+thinking about the other voyage of a few weeks before. The one
+consolation of his present trip was its quickness.
+
+When he arrived at his hotel in New York, he asked if there was any
+message there for him, and the clerk handed him an envelope, which he
+tore open. It was a cable despatch from Wentworth, with the words:
+
+'Longworth at Windsor. Proceed to Ottawa immediately. Get option renewed.
+Longworth duping us.'
+
+John knitted his brows and wondered where Windsor was. The clerk, seeing
+his perplexity, asked if he could be of any assistance.
+
+'I have received this cablegram, but don't quite understand it. Where
+is Windsor?'
+
+'Oh, that means the Windsor Hotel. Just up the street.'
+
+Kenyon registered, told the clerk to assign him a room, and send his
+baggage up to it when it came. Then he walked out from the hotel and
+sought the Windsor.
+
+He found that colossal hostelry, and was just inquiring of the clerk
+whether a Mr. Longworth was staying there, when that gentleman appeared
+at the desk, took some letters and his key.
+
+Kenyon tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+Young Longworth turned round with more alacrity than he usually
+displayed, and gave a long whistle of surprise when he saw who it was.
+
+'In the name of all the gods,' he cried, 'what are _you_ doing here?'
+Then, before Kenyon could reply, he said: 'Come up to my room.'
+
+They went to the elevator, rose a few stories, and passed down an
+apparently endless hall, carpeted with some noiseless stuff that gave no
+echo of the footfall. Longworth put the key into his door and opened it.
+They entered a large and pleasant room.
+
+'Well,' he said, 'this _is_ a surprise. What is the reason of your being
+here? Anything wrong in London?'
+
+'Nothing wrong, so far as I am aware. We received no cablegram from you,
+and thought there might be some hitch in the business; therefore I came.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I cabled over to your address, and said I was staying at the
+Windsor for a few days. I sent a cablegram almost as long as a letter,
+but it didn't appear to do any good.'
+
+'No, I did not receive it.'
+
+'And what did you expect was wrong over here?'
+
+'That I did not know. I knew you had time to get to Ottawa and see the
+mine in twelve days from London. Not hearing from you in that time, and
+knowing the option was running out, both Wentworth and I became anxious,
+and so I came over.'
+
+'Exactly. Well, I'm afraid you've had your trip for nothing.'
+
+'What do you mean? Is not the mine all I said it was?'
+
+'Oh, the mine is all right; all I meant was, there was really no
+necessity for your coming.'
+
+'But, you know, the option ends in a very short time.'
+
+'Well, the option, like the mine, is all right. I think you might quite
+safely have left it in my hands.'
+
+It must be admitted that John Kenyon began to feel he had acted with
+unreasonable rashness in taking his long voyage.
+
+'Is Mr. Melville here with you?'
+
+'Melville has returned home. He had not time to stay longer. All he
+wanted was to satisfy himself about the mine. He was satisfied, and he
+has gone home. If you were in London now, you would be able to see him.'
+
+'Did you meet Mr. Von Brent?'
+
+'Yes, he took us to the mine.'
+
+'And did you say anything about the option to him?'
+
+'Well, we had some conversation about it. There will be no trouble about
+the option. What Von Brent wants is to sell his mine, that is all.'
+There was a few moments' silence, then Longworth said: 'When are you
+going back?'
+
+'I do not know. I think I ought to see Von Brent. I am not at all easy
+about leaving matters as they are. I think I ought to get a renewal of
+the option. It is not wise to risk things as we are doing. Von Brent
+might at any time get an offer for his mine, just as we are forming our
+company, and, of course, if the option had not been renewed, he would
+sell to the first man who put down the money. As you say, all he wants is
+to sell his mine.'
+
+Longworth was busy opening his letters, and apparently paying very little
+attention to what Kenyon said. At last, however, he spoke:
+
+'If I were you--if you care to take my advice--I would go straight back
+to England. You will do no good here. I merely say this to save you any
+further trouble, time, and expense.'
+
+'Don't you think it would be as well to get a renewal of the option?'
+
+'Oh, certainly; but, as I told you before, it was not at all necessary
+for you to come over. I may say, furthermore, that Von Brent will not
+renew the option without a handsome sum down, to be forfeited if the
+company is not formed. Have you the money to pay him?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Very well, then, why waste time and money going to Ottawa?' Young Mr.
+Longworth arched his eye-brows and gazed at John through his eyeglass. 'I
+will let you have my third of the money, if that will do any good.'
+
+'How much money does Von Brent want?'
+
+'How should I know? To tell you the truth, Mr. Kenyon--and truth never
+hurts, or oughtn't to--I don't at all like this visit to America. You and
+Mr. Wentworth have been good enough to be suspicious about me from the
+very first. You have not taken any pains to conceal it, either of you.
+Your appearance in America at this particular juncture is nothing more
+nor less than an insult to me. I intend to receive it as such.'
+
+'I have no intention of insulting you,' said Kenyon, 'if you are dealing
+fairly with me.'
+
+'There it is again. That remark is an insult. Everything you say is a
+reflection upon me. I wish to have nothing more to say to you. I give you
+my advice that it is better for you, and cheaper, to go back to London.
+You need not act on it unless you like. I have nothing further to say to
+you and so this interview may be considered closed.'
+
+'And how about the mine?'
+
+'I imagine the mine will take care of itself.'
+
+'Do you think this is courteous treatment of a business partner?'
+
+'My dear sir, I do not take my lessons in courtesy from you. Whether you
+are pleased or displeased with my treatment of you is a matter of supreme
+indifference to me. I am tired of living in an atmosphere of suspicion,
+and I have done with it--that is all. You think some game is being played
+on you--both you and Mr. Wentworth think that--and yet you haven't the
+"cuteness," as they call it here, or sharpness, to find it out. Now, a
+man who has suspicions he cannot prove to be well founded should keep
+those suspicions to himself until he can prove them. That is my advice
+to you. I wish you a good-day.'
+
+John Kenyon walked back to his hotel with more misgivings than ever. He
+wrote a letter to Wentworth detailing the conversation, telling him
+Melville had sailed for home, and advising him to see that gentleman when
+he arrived. He stayed in New York that night, and took the morning train
+to Montreal. In due time he arrived at Ottawa, and called on Von Brent.
+He found that gentleman in his chambers, looking as if he had never left
+the room since the option was signed. Von Brent at first did not
+recognise his visitor, but after gazing a moment at him he sprang from
+his chair and held out his hand.
+
+'I really did not know you,' he said; 'you have changed a great deal
+since I saw you last. You look haggard, and not at all well. What is the
+matter with you?'
+
+'I do not think anything is the matter. I am in very good health, thank
+you; I have had a few business worries, that is all.'
+
+'Ah, yes,' said Von Brent; 'I am very sorry indeed you failed to form
+your company.'
+
+'Failed!' echoed Kenyon.
+
+'Yes; you haven't succeeded, have you?'
+
+'Well, I don't know about that; we are in a fair way to succeed. You met
+Longworth and Melville, who came out to see the mine? I saw Longworth in
+New York, and he told me you had taken them out there.'
+
+'Are they interested with you in the mine?'
+
+'Certainly; they are helping me to form the company.'
+
+Von Brent seemed amazed.
+
+'I did not understand that at all. In fact, I understood the exact
+opposite. I thought you had attempted to form a company, and failed. They
+showed me an attack in one of the financial papers upon you, and said
+that killed your chances of forming a company in London. They were here,
+apparently, on their own business.'
+
+'And what was their business?'
+
+'To buy the mine.'
+
+'Have they bought it?'
+
+'Practically, yes. Of course, while your option holds good I cannot sell
+it, but that, as you know, expires in a very few days.'
+
+Kenyon, finding his worst suspicions confirmed, seemed speechless with
+amazement, and in his agony mopped from his brow the drops collected
+there.
+
+'You appear to be astonished at this,' said Von Brent.
+
+'I am very much astonished.'
+
+'Well, you cannot blame me. I have acted perfectly square in the matter.
+I had no idea Longworth, and the gentleman who was with him, had any
+connection with you whatever. Their attention had been drawn to the mine,
+they said, by that article. They had investigated it and appeared to be
+satisfied there was something in it--in the mine, I mean, not in the
+article. They said they had attended a meeting which you had called, but
+it was quite evident you were not going to be able to form the company.
+So they came here and made me a cash offer for the mine. They have
+deposited twenty thousand pounds at the bank here, and on the day your
+option closes they will give me a cheque for the amount.'
+
+'It serves me right,' said Kenyon. 'I have been cheated and duped. I had
+grave suspicions of it all along, but I did not act upon them. I have
+been too timorous and cowardly. This man Longworth has made a pretence of
+helping me to form a company. Everything he has done has been to delay
+me. He came out here, apparently, in the interests of the company I was
+forming, and now he has got the option for himself.'
+
+'Yes, he has,' said Von Brent. 'I may say I am very sorry indeed for the
+turn affairs have taken. Of course, as I have told you, I had no idea how
+the land lay. You see, you had placed no deposit with me, and I had to
+look after my own interests. However, the option is open for a few days
+more, and I will not turn the mine over to them till the last minute of
+the time has expired. Isn't there any chance of your getting the money
+before then?'
+
+'Not the slightest.'
+
+'Well, you see, in that case I cannot help myself. I am bound by a legal
+document to turn the mine over to them on receipt of the twenty thousand
+pounds the moment your option is ended. Everything is done legally, and I
+am perfectly helpless in the matter.'
+
+'Yes, I see that,' said John. 'Good-bye.'
+
+He went to the telegraph-office and sent a cablegram.
+
+Wentworth received the message in London the next morning. It read:
+
+'We are cheated. Longworth has the option on the mine in his own name.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+
+When George Wentworth received this message, he read it several times
+over before its full meaning dawned upon him. Then he paced up and down
+his room, and gave way to his feelings. His best friends, who had been
+privileged to hear George's vocabulary when he was rather angry, admitted
+that the young man had a fluency of expression which was very more terse
+than proper. When the real significance of the despatch became apparent
+to him, George outdid himself in this particular line. Then he realized
+that, however consolatory such language is to a very angry man, it does
+little good in any practical way. He paced silently up and down the room,
+wondering what he could do, and the more he wondered the less light he
+saw through the fog. He put on his hat and went into the other room.
+
+'Henry,' he said to his partner, 'do you know anybody who would lend me
+twenty thousand pounds?'
+
+Henry laughed. The idea of anybody lending that sum of money, except on
+the very best security, was in itself extremely comic.
+
+'Do you want it to-day?' he said.
+
+'Yes, I want it to-day.'
+
+'Well, I don't know any better plan than to go out into the street and
+ask every man you meet if he has that sum about him. You are certain to
+encounter men who have very much more than twenty thousand pounds, and
+perhaps one of them, struck by your very sane appearance at the moment,
+might hand over the sum to you. I think, however, George, that you would
+be more successful if you met the capitalist in a secluded lane some
+dark night, and had a good reliable club in your hand.'
+
+'You are right,' said George. 'Of course, there is just as much
+possibility of my reaching the moon as getting that sum of money on
+short notice.'
+
+'Yes, or on long notice either, I imagine. I know plenty of men who have
+the money, but I wouldn't undertake to ask them for it, and I don't
+believe you would. Still there is nothing like trying. He who tries may
+succeed, but no one can succeed who doesn't try. Why not go to old
+Longworth? He could let you have the money in a moment if he wanted to do
+so. He knows you. What's your security? What are you going to do with
+it--that eternal mine of yours?'
+
+'Yes, that "eternal mine"; I want it to _be_ mine. That is why I need the
+twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Well, George, I don't see much hope for you. You never spoke to old
+Longworth about it, did you? He wasn't one of the men you intended to get
+into this company?'
+
+'No, he was not. I wish he had been. He would have treated us better than
+his rascally nephew has done.'
+
+'Ah, that immaculate young man has been playing you tricks, has he?'
+
+'He has played me one trick, which is enough.'
+
+'Well, why don't you go and see the old man, and lay the case before him?
+He treats that nephew as if he were his son. Now, a man will do a great
+deal for his son, and perhaps old Longworth might do something for
+his nephew.'
+
+'Yes; but I should have to explain to him that his nephew is a
+scoundrel.'
+
+'Very well; that is just the kind of explanation to bring the twenty
+thousand pounds. If his nephew really is a scoundrel, and you can prove
+it, you could not want a better lever than that on the old man's
+money-bags.'
+
+'By Jove!' said Wentworth, 'I believe I shall try it. I want to let him
+know, anyhow, what sort of man his nephew is. I'll go and see him.'
+
+'I would,' said the other, turning to his work.
+
+And so George Wentworth, putting the cablegram in his pocket, went to see
+old Mr. Longworth in a frame of mind in which no man should see his
+fellow-man. He did not wait to be announced, but walked, to the
+astonishment of the clerk, straight through into Mr. Longworth's room. He
+found the old man seated at his desk.
+
+'Good-day, Mr. Wentworth,' said the financier cordially.
+
+'Good-day,' replied George curtly. 'I have come to read a cable despatch
+to you, or to let you read it.'
+
+He threw the paper down before the old gentleman, who adjusted his
+spectacles and read it. Then he looked up inquiringly at Wentworth.
+
+'You don't understand it, do you?' said the latter.
+
+'I confess I do not. The Longworth in this telegram does not refer to
+me, does it?'
+
+'No, it does not refer to you, but it refers to one of your house. Your
+nephew, William Longworth, is a scoundrel!'
+
+'Ah!' said the old man, placing the despatch on the desk again, and
+removing his glasses, 'have you come to tell me that?'
+
+'Yes, I have. Did you know it before?'
+
+'No, I did not,' answered the old gentleman, his colour rising; 'and I
+do not know it now. I know you say so, and I think very likely you will
+be glad to take back what you have said. I will at least give you the
+opportunity.'
+
+'So far from taking it back, Mr. Longworth, I shall prove it. Your nephew
+formed a partnership with my friend Kenyon and myself to float on the
+London market a certain Canadian mine.'
+
+'My dear sir,' broke in the old gentleman, 'I have no desire to hear of
+my nephew's private speculations; I have nothing to do with them. I have
+nothing to do with your mine. The matter is of no interest whatever to
+me, and I must decline to hear anything about it. You are, also, if you
+will excuse my saying so, not in a fit state of temper to talk to any
+gentleman. If you like to come back here when you are calmer, I shall be
+very pleased to listen to what you have to say.'
+
+'I shall never be calmer on this subject. I have told you that your
+nephew is a scoundrel. You are pleased to deny the accusation.'
+
+'I do not deny it; I merely said I did not know it was the case, and I do
+not believe it, that is all.'
+
+'Very well; the moment I begin to show you proof that things are as
+I say----'
+
+'My dear sir,' cried the elder man, with some heat, 'you are not showing
+proof. You are merely making assertions, and assertions about a man who
+is absent--who is not here to defend himself. If you have anything to say
+against William Longworth, come and say it when he is here, and he shall
+answer for himself. It is cowardly of you, and ungenerous to me, to make
+a number of accusations which I am in no wise able to refute.'
+
+'Will you listen to what I have to say?'
+
+'No; I will not.'
+
+'Then, by God, you shall!' and with that Wentworth strode to the door and
+turned the key, while the old man rose from his seat and faced him.
+
+'Do you mean to threaten me, sir, in my own office?'
+
+'I mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that I have made a statement which I am
+going to prove to you. I mean that you shall listen to me, and listen to
+me _now_!'
+
+'And I say, if you have anything to charge against my nephew, come and
+say it when he is here.'
+
+'When he is here, Mr. Longworth, it will be too late to say it; at
+present you can repair the injury he has done. When he returns to England
+you cannot do so, no matter how much you might wish to make the attempt.'
+
+The old man stood irresolute for a moment, then he sat down in his chair
+again.
+
+'Very well,' he said, with a sigh; 'I am not so combative as I once was.
+Go on with your story.'
+
+'My story is very short,' said Wentworth; 'it simply amounts to this:
+You know your nephew formed a partnership with us in relation to the
+Canadian mine?'
+
+'I know nothing about it, I tell you,' answered Mr. Longworth.
+
+'Very well, you know it now.'
+
+'I know you say so.'
+
+'Do you doubt my word?'
+
+'I shall tell you more definitely when I hear what you have to say. Go
+on.'
+
+'Well, your nephew, pretending to aid us in forming this company, did
+everything to retard our progress. He engaged offices that took a long
+time to fit up, and which we had at last to take in hand ourselves. Then
+he left for a week, leaving us no address, and refusing to answer the
+letters I sent to his office for him. On one pretext or another, the
+forming of the company was delayed; until at length, when the option by
+which Mr. Kenyon held the mine had less than a month to run, your nephew
+went to America in company with Mr. Melville, ostensibly to see and
+report upon the property. After waiting a certain length of time and
+hearing nothing from him (he had promised to cable us), Kenyon went to
+America to get a renewal of the option. This cablegram explains his
+success. He finds, on going there, that your nephew has secured the
+option of the mine in his own name, and, as Kenyon says, we are cheated.
+Now have you any doubt whether your nephew is a scoundrel or not?'
+
+Mr. Longworth mused for a few moments on what the young man had told him.
+
+'If what you say is exactly true, there is no doubt William has been
+guilty of a piece of very sharp practice.'
+
+'Sharp practice!' cried the other. 'You might as well call robbery sharp
+practice!'
+
+'My dear sir, I have listened to you; now I ask you to listen to me. If,
+as I say, what you have stated is true, my nephew has done something
+which I think an honourable man would not do; but as to that I cannot
+judge until I hear his side of the story. It may put a different
+complexion on the matter, and I have no doubt it will; but even granting
+your version is true in every particular, what have I to do with it? I
+am not responsible for my nephew's actions. He has entered into a
+business connection, it seems, with two young men, and has outwitted
+them. That is probably what the world would say about it. Perhaps, as
+you say, he has been guilty of something worse, and has cheated his
+partners. But even admitting everything to be true, I do not see how I
+am responsible in any way.'
+
+'Legally, you are not; morally, I think you are.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'If he were your son----'
+
+'But he is not my son; he is my nephew.'
+
+'If your son had committed a theft, would you not do everything in your
+power to counteract the evil he had done?'
+
+'I might, and I might not. Some fathers pay their sons' debts, others do
+not. I cannot say what action I should take in a purely imaginary case.'
+
+'Very well; all I have to say is, our option runs out in two or three
+days. Twenty thousand pounds will secure the mine for us. I want that
+twenty thousand pounds before the option ceases.'
+
+'And do you expect me to pay you twenty thousand pounds for this?'
+
+'Yes, I do.'
+
+Old Mr. Longworth leaned back in his office chair, and looked at the
+young man in amazement.
+
+'To think that you, a man of the City, should come to me, another man of
+the City, with such an absurd idea in your head, is simply grotesque.'
+
+'Then the name of the Longworths is nothing to you--the good name, I
+mean?'
+
+'The good name of the Longworths, my dear sir, is everything to me; but
+I fancy it will be able to take care of itself without any assistance
+from you.'
+
+There was silence for a few moments. Then Wentworth said, in a voice of
+suppressed anguish:
+
+'I thought, Mr. Longworth, one of your family was a scoundrel; I now wish
+to say I believe the epithet covers uncle as well as nephew. You have had
+a chance to repair the mischief a member of your family has done. You
+have answered me with contempt. You have not shown the slightest
+indication of wishing to make amends.'
+
+He unlocked the door.
+
+'Come, now,' said old Mr. Longworth, rising, 'that will do, that will do,
+Mr. Wentworth.' Then he pressed an electric bell, and, when the clerk
+appeared, he said: 'Show this gentleman the door, please, and if ever he
+calls here again, do not admit him.'
+
+And so George Wentworth, clenching his hands with rage, was shown to the
+door. He had the rest of the day to ponder on the fact that an angry man
+seldom accomplishes his purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+
+The stormy interview with Wentworth disturbed the usual serenity of Mr.
+Longworth's temper. He went home earlier than was customary with him
+that night, and the more he thought over the attack, the more
+unjustifiable it seemed. He wondered what his nephew had really done,
+and tried to remember what Wentworth had charged against him. He could
+not recollect, the angrier portions of the interview having, as it were,
+blotted the charges from his mind. There remained, however, a very
+bitter resentment against Wentworth. Mr. Longworth searched his
+conscience to see if he could be in the least to blame, but he found
+nothing in the recollections of his dealings with the young men to
+justify him in feeling at all responsible for the disaster that had
+overtaken them. He read his favourite evening paper with less than his
+usual interest, for every now and then the episode in his office would
+occur to him. Finally he said sharply:
+
+'Edith!'
+
+'Yes, father,' answered his daughter.
+
+'You remember a person named Wentworth, whom you had here the evening
+William went away?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+'Very well. Never invite him to this house again.'
+
+'What has he been doing?' asked the young woman in rather a tremulous
+voice.
+
+'I desire you also never to ask anyone connected with him--that man
+Kenyon, for instance,' continued her father, ignoring her question.
+
+'I thought,' she answered, 'that Mr. Kenyon was not in this country at
+present.'
+
+'He is not, but he will be back again, I suppose. At any rate, I wish to
+have nothing more to do with those people. You understand that?'
+
+'Yes, father.'
+
+Mr. Longworth went on with his reading. Edith saw her father was greatly
+disturbed, and eagerly desired to know the reason, but knew enough of
+human nature to understand that in a short time he would relieve her
+anxiety. He again appeared to be trying to fix his attention on the
+paper. At length he threw it down, and turned towards her.
+
+'That man, Wentworth,' he said bitterly, 'behaved to-day in a most
+unjustifiable manner to me in my own office. It seems that William and he
+and Kenyon embarked in some mine project. I knew nothing of their doings,
+and was not even consulted with regard to them. Now it appears William
+has gone to America and done something Wentworth considers wrong.
+Wentworth came to me and demanded twenty thousand pounds--the most
+preposterous thing ever heard of--said I owed it to clear the good name
+of Longworth. As if the good name were dependent on him, or anyone like
+him! I turned him out of the office.'
+
+Edith did not answer for a few moments, while her father gave
+expression to his indignation by various ejaculations that need not be
+here recorded.
+
+'Did he say,' she spoke at length, 'in what way William had done wrong?'
+
+'I do not remember now just what he said. I know I told him to come again
+when my nephew was present, and then make his charges against him if he
+wanted to do so. Not that I admitted I had anything to do with the matter
+at all, but I simply refused to listen to charges against an absent man.
+I paid no attention to them.'
+
+'That certainly was reasonable,' replied Edith. 'What did he say to it?'
+
+'Oh, he abused me, and abused William, and went on at a dreadful rate,
+until I was obliged to order him out of the office.'
+
+'But what did he say about meeting William when he returned, and making
+the charges against him then?'
+
+'What did he say? I don't remember. Oh yes! he said it would be too late
+then; that they had only a few days to do what business they have to do,
+and that is why he made the demand for twenty thousand pounds. It was to
+repair the harm, whatever the harm was, William had done. I look on it
+simply as some blackmailing scheme of his, and I am astonished that a man
+belonging to so good a house as he does should try that game with me. I
+shall speak to the elder partner about it to-morrow, and if he does not
+make the young man apologize in the most abject manner he will be the
+loser by it, I can tell him that.'
+
+'I would think no more about it, father, if I were you. Do not let it
+trouble you in the least.'
+
+'Oh, it doesn't trouble me, but young men nowadays seem to think they can
+say anything to their elders.'
+
+'I mean,' she continued, 'that I would not go to his partner for a day or
+two. Wait and see what happens. I have no doubt, when he considers the
+matter, he will be thoroughly ashamed of himself.'
+
+'Well, I hope so.'
+
+'Then give him the chance of being ashamed of himself, and take no
+further steps in the meantime.'
+
+Edith shortly afterwards went to her own room; there, clasping her hands
+behind her, she walked up and down thinking, with a very troubled heart,
+of what she had heard. Her view of the occurrence was very different from
+that taken by her father. She felt certain something dishonourable had
+been done by her cousin. For a long time she had mistrusted his supposed
+friendship for the two young men, and now she pictured to herself John
+Kenyon in the wilds of Canada, helpless and despondent because of the
+great wrong that had been done him. It was far into the night when she
+retired, and it was early next morning when she arose. Her father was
+bright and cheerful at breakfast, and had evidently forgotten all about
+the unpleasant incident of the day before. A good night's sleep had
+erased it from his memory. Edith was glad of this, and she did not
+mention the subject. After he had gone to the City, his daughter prepared
+to follow him. She did not take her carriage, but hailed a hansom, and
+gave the driver the number of Wentworth's offices. That young man was
+evidently somewhat surprised to see her. He had been trying to write to
+Kenyon an account of his interview with old Mr. Longworth; but after he
+had finished, he thought John Kenyon would not approve of his zeal, so
+had just torn the letter up.
+
+'Take this chair,' he said, wheeling an armchair into position. 'It is
+the only comfortable one we have in the room.'
+
+'Comfort does not matter,' said Miss Longworth. 'I came to see you about
+the mica-mine. What has my cousin done?'
+
+'How do you know he has done anything?'
+
+'That does not matter. I know. Tell me as quickly as you can what he
+has done.'
+
+'It is not a very pleasant story to tell,' he said, 'to a young lady
+about one of her relatives.'
+
+'Never mind that. Tell me.'
+
+'Very well, he has done this: He has pretended he was our friend, and
+professed to aid us in forming this company. He has delayed us by every
+means in his power until the option has nearly expired. Then he has gone
+to Canada and secured for himself, and a man named Melville, the option
+of the mine when John Kenyon's time is up--that is to say, at twelve
+o'clock to-morrow, when Kenyon's option expires, your cousin will pay the
+money and own the mine; after which, of course, Kenyon and myself will be
+out of it. I don't mind the loss at all--I would gladly give Kenyon my
+share--but for John it is a terrible blow. He had counted on the money to
+pay debts which he considers he owes to his father for his education. He
+calls them debts of honour, though they are not debts of honour in the
+ordinary sense of the words. Therefore, it seemed to me a terrible thing
+that--' Here he paused and did not go on. He saw there were tears in the
+eyes of the girl to whom he was talking. 'It is brutal,' he said, 'to
+tell you all this. You are not to blame for it and neither is your
+father, although I spoke to him in a heated manner yesterday.'
+
+'When did you say the option expires?'
+
+'At twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'How much money is required to buy the mine?'
+
+'Twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Can money be sent to Canada by cable?'
+
+'Yes, I think so.'
+
+'Aren't you quite sure?'
+
+'No, I am not. It can be sent by telegraph in this country, and in
+America.'
+
+'How long will it take you to find out?'
+
+'Only a few moments.'
+
+'Very well. Where is Mr. Kenyon now?'
+
+'Kenyon is in Ottawa. I had a cablegram from him yesterday.'
+
+'Then, will you write a cablegram that can be sent away at once, asking
+him to wait at the telegraph-office until he receives a further message
+from you?'
+
+'Yes, I can do that; but what good will it do?'
+
+'Never mind that; perhaps it will do no good. I am going to try to make
+it worth doing. Meanwhile remember, if I succeed, John Kenyon must never
+know the particulars of this transaction.'
+
+'He never will--if you say so.'
+
+'I say so. Now, there is six hours' difference of time between this
+country and Canada, is there not?'
+
+'About that, I think.'
+
+'Very well; lose no time in getting the cable-message sent to him, and
+tell him to answer, so that we shall be sure he is at the other end of
+the wire. Then find out about the cabling of the money. I shall be back
+here, I think, as soon as you are.'
+
+With that she left the office, and, getting into her cab, was driven to
+her father's place of business.
+
+'Well, my girl,' said the old man, pushing his spectacles up on his brow,
+and gazing at her, 'what is it now--some new extravagance?'
+
+'Yes, father, some new extravagance.'
+
+His daughter was evidently excited, and her breath came quickly. She
+closed the door, and took a chair opposite her father.
+
+'Father,' she said, 'I have been your business man, as you call me, for a
+long time.'
+
+'Yes, you have. Are you going to strike for an increase of salary?'
+
+'Father,' she said earnestly, not heeding the jocularity of his tone,
+'this is very serious. I want you to give me some money for myself--to
+speculate with.'
+
+'I will do that very gladly. How much do you want?'
+
+The old man turned his chair round and pulled out his cheque-book.
+
+'I want thirty thousand pounds,' she answered.
+
+Mr. Longworth wheeled quickly round in his chair and looked at her in
+astonishment.
+
+'Thirty thousand what?'
+
+'Thirty thousand pounds, father; and I want it now.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he expostulated, 'have you any idea how much thirty
+thousand pounds is? Do you know that thirty thousand pounds is a
+fortune?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Do you know that there is not one in twenty of the richest merchants in
+London who could at a moment's notice produce thirty thousand pounds in
+ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose that is true. Have you not the ready money?'
+
+'Yes, I have the money. I can draw a cheque for that amount, and it will
+be honoured at once; but I cannot give you so much money without knowing
+what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'And suppose, father, you do not approve of what I am going to do with
+it?'
+
+'All the more reason, my dear, that I should know.'
+
+'Then, father, I suppose you mean that whatever services I have rendered
+you, whatever comfort I have given you, what I have been to you all my
+life, is not worth thirty thousand pounds?'
+
+'You shouldn't talk like that, my daughter. Everything I have is
+yours, or will be, when I die. It is for you I work; it is for you I
+accumulate money. You will have everything I own the moment I have to
+lay down my work.'
+
+'Father!' cried the girl, standing up before him, 'I do not want your
+money when you die. I do not want you to die, as you know; but I do want
+thirty thousand pounds to-day, and now. I want it more than I ever
+wanted anything else before in my life, or ever shall again. Will you
+give it to me?'
+
+'No, I will not, unless you tell me what you are going to do with it.'
+
+'Then, father, you can leave your money to your nephew when you die; I
+shall never touch a penny of it. I now bid you good-bye. I will go out
+from this room and earn my own living.'
+
+With that the young woman turned to go, but her father, with a
+sprightliness one would not have expected from his years, sprang to the
+door and looked at her with alarm.
+
+'Edith, my child, you never talked to me like this before in your life.
+What is wrong with you?'
+
+'Nothing, father, except that I want a cheque for thirty thousand pounds,
+and want it now.'
+
+'And do you mean to say that you will leave me if I do not give it to
+you?'
+
+'Have you ever broken your word, father?'
+
+'Never, my child, that I know of.'
+
+'Then remember I am your daughter. I have said, if I do not get that
+money now, I shall never enter our house again.'
+
+'But thirty thousand pounds is a tremendous amount. Remember, I have
+given _my_ word, too, that I would not give you the money unless you told
+me what it was for.'
+
+'Very well, father, I will tell what it is for when you ask me. I would
+advise you, though, not to ask me; and I would advise you to give me the
+money. It will all be returned to you if you want it.
+
+'Oh, I don't care about the money at all, Edith. I merely, of course,
+don't want to see it wasted.'
+
+'And, father, have you no trust in my judgment?'
+
+'Well, you know I haven't much faith in any woman's wisdom, in the matter
+of investing money.'
+
+'Trust me this time, father. I shall never ask you for any more.'
+
+The old man went slowly to his desk, wrote out a cheque, and handed it to
+his daughter. It was for thirty thousand pounds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+
+Edith Longworth, with that precious bit of paper in her pocket, once more
+got into her hansom and drove to Wentworth's office. Again she took the
+only easy-chair in the room. Her face was very serious, and Wentworth,
+the moment he saw it, said to himself. 'She has failed.'
+
+'Have you telegraphed to Mr. Kenyon?' she asked.
+
+'Yes.'
+
+'Are you sure you made it clear to him what was wanted? Cablegrams are
+apt to be rather brief.'
+
+'I told him to keep in communication with us. Here is a copy of the
+cablegram.'
+
+Miss Longworth read it approvingly, but said:
+
+'You have not put in the word "answer."'
+
+'No; but I put it in the despatch I sent. I remember that now.'
+
+'Have you had a reply yet?'
+
+'Oh no; you see, it takes a long time to get there, because there are so
+many changes from the end of the cable to the office where Kenyon is. And
+then, again, you see, they may have to look for him. He may not be
+expecting a message; in fact, he is sure not to be expecting any. From
+his own cablegram to me, it is quite evident he has given up all hope.'
+
+'Show me that cablegram, please.'
+
+Wentworth hesitated.
+
+'It is hardly couched in language you will enjoy reading,' he said.
+
+'That doesn't matter. Show it to me. I must see all the documents in
+the case.'
+
+He handed her the paper, which she read in silence, and gave it back to
+him without a word.
+
+'I knew you wouldn't like it,' he said.
+
+'I have not said I do not like it. It is not a bit too strong under the
+circumstances. In fact, I do not see how he could have put it in other
+words. It is very concise and to the point.'
+
+'Yes; there is no doubt about that, especially the first three words, "We
+are cheated!" Those are the words that make me think Kenyon has given up
+all hope; so there may be some trouble in finding him.'
+
+'Did you learn whether money could be sent by cable or not?'
+
+'Oh yes; there is no difficulty about that. The money is deposited in a
+bank here, and will be credited to Kenyon in the bank at Ottawa.'
+
+'Very well, then,' said Miss Longworth, handing him the piece of paper,
+'there is the money.'
+
+Wentworth gave a long whistle as he looked at it. 'Excuse my rudeness,'
+he said; 'I don't see a bit of paper like this every day. You mean, then,
+to buy the mine?'
+
+'Yes, I mean to buy the mine.'
+
+'Very well; but there is ten thousand pounds more here than is
+necessary.'
+
+'Yes. I mean not only to buy the mine, but to work it; and so some
+working capital will be necessary. How much do you suppose.'
+
+'About that I have no idea,' said Wentworth. 'I should think five
+thousand pounds would be ample.'
+
+'Then, we shall leave five thousand pounds in the bank here for
+contingencies, and cable twenty-five thousand pounds to Mr. Kenyon. I
+shall expect him to get me a good man to manage the mine. I am sure he
+will be glad to do that.'
+
+'Most certainly he will. John Kenyon, now that the mine has not fallen
+into the hands of those who tried to cheat him, will be glad to do
+anything for the new owner of it. He won't mind, in the least, losing his
+money if he knows that you have the mine.'
+
+'Ah, but that is the one thing he must not know. As to losing the money,
+neither you nor Mr. Kenyon are to lose a penny. If the mine is all you
+think it is, then it will be an exceedingly profitable investment; and I
+intend that we shall each take our third, just as if you had contributed
+one-third of the money, and Mr. Kenyon another.'
+
+'But, my dear Miss Longworth, that is absurd. We could never accept any
+such terms.'
+
+'Oh yes, you can. I spoke to John Kenyon himself about being a partner
+in this mine. I am afraid he thought very little of the offer at the
+time. I don't intend him to know anything at all about my ownership now.
+He has discovered the mine--you and he together. If it is valueless,
+then you and he will be two of the sufferers; if it is all you think it
+is, then you will be the gainers. The labourer is worthy of his hire,
+and I am sure both you and Mr. Kenyon have laboured hard enough in this
+venture. Should he guess I bought it, the chances are that he will be
+stupidly and stubbornly conscientious, and decline to share the fruits
+of his labours.'
+
+'And do you think, Miss Longworth, I am not conscientious enough
+to refuse?'
+
+'Oh, yes; you are conscientious, but you are sensible. Mr. Kenyon isn't.'
+
+'I think you are mistaken about that. He is one of the most sensible men
+in the world--morbidly sensible, perhaps.'
+
+'Well, I think, if Mr. Kenyon knew I owned the mine, he would not take a
+penny as his share. So I trust you will never let him know I am the
+person who gave the money to buy the mine.'
+
+'But is he never to know it, Miss Longworth?'
+
+'Perhaps not. If he is to learn, I am the person to tell him.'
+
+'I quite agree with you there, and I shall respect your confidence.'
+
+'Now, what time,' said the young woman, looking at her watch, 'ought we
+to get an answer from Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Ah, that, as I said before, no one can tell.'
+
+'I suppose, then, the best plan is to send the money at once, or put it
+in the way of being sent, to some bank in Ottawa.'
+
+'Yes, that is the best thing to do; although, of course, if John Kenyon
+is not there----'
+
+'If he is not there what shall we do?'
+
+'I do not exactly know. I could cable to Mr. Von Brent. Von Brent is the
+owner of the mine, and the man who gave John the option. I do not know
+how far he is committed to the others. If he is as honest as I take him
+to be, he will accept the money, providing it is sent in before twelve
+o'clock, and then we shall have the mine. Of that I know nothing
+whatever, because I have no particulars except John's cable-message.'
+
+'Then, I can do no more just now?'
+
+'Yes, you can. You will have to write a cheque for the twenty-five
+thousand pounds. You see, this cheque is crossed, and will go into
+your banking account. An other cheque will have to be drawn to get the
+money out.'
+
+'Ah, I see. I have not my cheque-book here, but perhaps you can send this
+cheque to the bank, and I will return. There will be time enough, I
+suppose, before the closing hour of the bank?'
+
+'Yes, there will be plenty of time. Of course, the sooner we get the
+money away the better.'
+
+'I shall return shortly after lunch. Perhaps you will then have heard
+from Mr. Kenyon. If anything comes sooner, will you send me a telegram?
+Here is my address.'
+
+'I will do that,' said Wentworth, as he bade her good-bye.
+
+As soon as lunch was over, Miss Longworth, with her cheque-book, again
+visited Wentworth's office. When she entered he shook his head.
+
+'No news yet,' he said.
+
+'This is terrible,' she answered; 'suppose he has left Ottawa and started
+for home?'
+
+'I do not think he would do that. Still, I imagine he would think there
+was no reason for staying in Ottawa. Nevertheless, I know Kenyon well
+enough to believe that he will wait there till the last minute of the
+option has expired, in the hope that something may happen. He knows, of
+course, that I shall be doing everything I can in London, and he may have
+a faint expectation that I shall be able to accomplish something.'
+
+'It would be useless to cable again?'
+
+'Quite. If that message does not reach him, none will.'
+
+As he was speaking, a boy entered the room with a telegram in his hand.
+Its contents were short and to the point:
+
+'Cablegram received.
+
+'KENYON.'
+
+'Well, that's all right,' said Wentworth; 'now I shall cable that we have
+the money, and advise him to identify himself at the bank, so that there
+can be no formalities about the drawing of it, to detain him.'
+
+Saying this, Wentworth pulled the telegraph-forms towards him, and, after
+considerable labour, managed to concoct a satisfactory despatch.
+
+'Don't spare money on it,' urged his visitor; 'be sure and make it
+plain to him.'
+
+'I think that will do, don't you?'
+
+'Yes,' she answered, after reading the despatch; 'that will do.'
+
+'Now,' she said, 'here is the cheque. Shall I wait here while you do all
+that is necessary to cable the money, or had I better go, and return
+again to see if everything is all right?'
+
+'If you don't mind, just sit where you are. You may lock this door, if
+you like, and you will not be disturbed.'
+
+It was an hour before Wentworth returned, but his face was radiant.
+
+'We have done everything we can,' he said, 'the money is at his order
+there, if the cablegram gets over before twelve o'clock to-morrow, as of
+course it will.'
+
+'Very well, then, good-bye,' said the girl with a smile, holding out her
+hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+
+If any man more miserable and dejected than John Kenyon existed in the
+broad dominion of Canada, he was indeed a person to be pitied. After
+having sent his cablegram to Wentworth, he returned to his very cheerless
+hotel. Next morning when he awoke he knew that Wentworth would have
+received the message, but that the chances were ten thousand to one that
+he could not get the money in time, even if he could get it at all.
+Still, he resolved to stay in Ottawa, much as he detested the place,
+until the hour the option expired. Then, he thought, he would look round
+among the mines, and see if he could not get something to do in the
+management of one of them. This would enable him to make some money,
+wherewith to pay the debts which he and Wentworth would have incurred as
+a result of their disastrous speculation. He felt so depressed that he
+did what most other Englishmen would have done in his place--took a long
+walk. He stood on the bridge over the Ottawa River and gazed for a while
+at the Chaudière Falls, watching the mist rising from the chasm into
+which the waters plunged. Then he walked along the other side of the
+river, among big saw-mills and huge interminable piles of lumber, with
+their grateful piny smell. By-and-by he found himself in the country, and
+then the forest closed in upon the bad road on which he walked.
+Nevertheless, he kept on and on, without heeding where he was going. Here
+and there he saw clearings in the woods, and a log shanty, or perhaps a
+barn. The result of all this was that, being a healthy man, he soon
+developed an enormous appetite, which forced itself upon his attention in
+spite of his depression. He noticed the evening was closing around him,
+and so was glad to come to a farmhouse that looked better than the
+ordinary shanties he had left behind. Here he asked for food, and soon
+sat down to a plentiful meal, the coarseness of which was more than
+compensated for by the excellence of his appetite. After dinner he began
+to realize how tired he was, and felt astonished to hear from his host
+how far he was from Ottawa.
+
+'You can't get there to-night,' said the farmer; 'it is no use your
+trying. You stay with us, and I'll take you in to-morrow. I'm going there
+in the afternoon.'
+
+And so Kenyon remained all night, and slept the dreamless sleep of health
+and exhaustion.
+
+It was somewhat late in the afternoon when he reached the city of
+Ottawa. Going towards his hotel, he was astonished to hear his name
+shouted after him. Turning round, he saw a man, whom he did not
+recognise, running after him.
+
+'Your name is Kenyon, isn't it?' asked the man, somewhat out of breath.
+
+'Yes, that is my name.'
+
+'I guess you don't remember me. I am the telegraph operator. We have had
+a despatch waiting for you for some time, a cablegram from London. We
+have searched all over the town for you, but couldn't find you.'
+
+'Ah,' said Kenyon, 'is it important?'
+
+'Well, that I don't know. You had better come with me to the office and
+get it. Of course, they don't generally cable unimportant things. I
+remember it said something about you keeping yourself in readiness for
+something.'
+
+They walked together to the telegraph-office. The boy was still searching
+for Kenyon with the original despatch, but the operator turned up the
+file and read the copy to him.
+
+'You see, it wants an answer,' he said; 'that's why I thought it was
+important to get you. You will have plenty of time for an answer
+to-night.'
+
+John took a lead pencil and wrote the cable despatch which Wentworth
+received. He paid his money, and said:
+
+'I will go to my hotel; it is the ---- House. I will wait there, and if
+anything comes for me, send it over as soon as possible.'
+
+'All right,' said the operator, 'that is the best plan; then we will
+know exactly where to find you. Of course, there is no use in your
+waiting here, because we can get you in five minutes. Perhaps I had
+better telephone to the hotel for you if anything comes.'
+
+'Very well,' said Kenyon; 'I will leave it all in your hands.'
+
+Whether it was the effect of having been in the country or not, John
+felt that the cablegram he had received was a good omen. He meditated
+over the tremendous ill-fortune he had suffered in the whole business
+from beginning to end, and thought of old Mr. Longworth's favourite
+phrase, 'There's no such thing as luck.'
+
+Then came a rap at his door, and the bell-boy said:
+
+'There is a gentleman here wishes to speak to you.'
+
+'Ask him to come up,' was the answer; and two minutes later Von Brent
+entered.
+
+'Any news?' he asked.
+
+John, who was in a state of mind which made him suspicious of everything
+and everybody, answered:
+
+'No, nothing new.'
+
+'Ah, I am sorry for that. I had some hopes that perhaps you might be able
+to raise the money before twelve o'clock to-morrow. Of course you know
+the option ends at noon to-morrow?'
+
+'Yes, I know that.'
+
+'Did you know that Longworth was in Ottawa?'
+
+'No,' said Kenyon; 'I have been out of town myself.'
+
+'Yes, he came last night. He has the money in the bank, as I told you.
+Now, I will not accept it until the very latest moment. Of course,
+legally, I cannot accept it before that time, and, just as legally, I
+cannot refuse his money when he tenders it. I am very sorry all this has
+happened--more sorry than I can tell you. I hope you will not think that
+I am to blame in the matter?'
+
+'No, you are not in the slightest to blame. There is nobody in fault
+except myself. I feel that I have been culpably negligent, and altogether
+too trustful.'
+
+'I wish to goodness I knew where you could get the money; but, of
+course, if I knew that, I would have had it myself long ago.'
+
+'I am very much obliged to you,' said Kenyon; 'but the only thing you can
+do for me is to see that your clock is not ahead of time to-morrow. I
+may, perhaps, be up at the office before twelve o'clock--that is where I
+shall find you, I suppose?'
+
+'Yes; I shall be there all the forenoon. I shall not leave until twelve.'
+
+'Very good; I am much obliged to you, Mr. Von Brent, for your sympathy. I
+assure you, I haven't many friends, and it--well, I'm obliged to you,
+that's all. An Englishman, you know, is not very profuse in the matter of
+thanks, but I mean it.'
+
+'I'm sure you do,' said Von Brent, 'and I'm only sorry that my assistance
+cannot be something substantial. Well, good-bye, hoping to see you
+to-morrow.'
+
+After he had departed, Kenyon's impatience increased as the hours went
+on. He left the hotel, and went direct to the telegraph-office; but
+nothing had come for him.
+
+'I'm afraid,' said the operator, 'that there won't be anything more
+to-night. If it should come late, shall I send it to your hotel?'
+
+'Certainly; no matter at what hour it comes, I wish you would let me
+have it as soon as possible. It is very important.'
+
+Leaving the office, he went up the street and, passing the principal
+hotel in the place, saw young Longworth standing under the portico of the
+hotel as dapper and correct in costume as ever, his single eyeglass the
+admiration of all Ottawa, for there was not another like it in the city.
+
+'How do you do, Kenyon?' said that young man.
+
+'My dear sir,' replied Kenyon, 'the last time you spoke to me you said
+you desired to have nothing more to say to me. I cordially reciprocated
+that sentiment, and I want to have nothing to say to you.'
+
+'My dear fellow,' cried Longworth jauntily, 'there is no harm done. Of
+course, in New York I was a little out of sorts. Everybody is in New
+York--beastly hole! I don't think it is worse than Ottawa, but the air is
+purer here. By the way, perhaps you and I can make a little arrangement.
+I am going to buy that mine to-morrow, as doubtless you know. Now, I
+should like to see it in the hands of a good and competent man. If a
+couple of hundred pounds a year would be any temptation to you, I think
+we can afford to let you develop the mine.'
+
+'Thank you!' said Kenyon.
+
+'I knew you would be grateful; just think over the matter, will you? and
+don't come to any rash decision. We can probably give a little more than
+that; but until we see how the mine is turning out, it is not likely we
+shall spend a great deal of money on it.'
+
+'Of course,' said John, 'the proper answer to your remark would be to
+knock you down; but, besides being a law-abiding citizen, I have no
+desire to get into gaol to-night for doing it, because there is one
+chance in a thousand, Mr. Longworth, that I may have some business to do
+with that mine myself before twelve o'clock to-morrow.'
+
+'Ah, it is my turn to be grateful now!' said Longworth. 'In a
+rough-and-tumble fight I am afraid you would master me easier than you
+would do in a contest of diplomacy.'
+
+'Do you call it diplomacy? You refer, I suppose, to your action in
+relation to the mine. I call it robbery.'
+
+'Oh, do you? Well, that is the kind of conversation which leads to
+breaches of the peace; and as I also am a law-abiding subject, I will
+not continue the discussion any further. I bid you a very good evening,
+Mr. Kenyon.'
+
+The young man turned on his heel and went into the hotel. John walked to
+his own much more modest inn, and retired for the night. He did not sleep
+well. All night long, phantom telegraph-messengers were rapping at the
+door, and he started up every now and then to receive cablegrams which
+faded away as he awoke. Shortly after breakfast he went to the
+telegraph-office, but found that nothing had arrived for him.
+
+'I am afraid,' said the operator, 'that nothing will come on before
+noon.'
+
+'Before noon!' echoed John. 'Why?'
+
+'The wires are down in some places in the East, and messages are delayed
+a good deal. Perhaps you noticed the lack of Eastern news in the morning
+papers? Very little news came from the East last night.' Seeing John's
+look of anxious interest, the operator continued: 'Does the despatch you
+expect pertain to money matters?'
+
+'Yes, it does.'
+
+'Do they know you at the bank?'
+
+'No, I don't think they do.'
+
+'Then, if I were you, I would go up to the bank and be identified, so
+that, if it is a matter of minutes, no unnecessary time may be lost. You
+had better tell them you expect a money-order by cable, and, although
+such orders are paid without any identification at the bank, yet they
+take every precaution to see that it does not get into the hands of the
+wrong man.'
+
+'Thank you,' said Kenyon. 'I am much obliged to you for your suggestion.
+I will act upon it.'
+
+And as soon as the bank opened, John Kenyon presented himself to the
+cashier.
+
+'I am expecting a large amount of money from England to-day. It is very
+important that, when it arrives, there shall be no delay in having it
+placed at my disposal. I want to know if there are any formalities to be
+gone through.'
+
+'Where is the money coming from?' said the clerk.
+
+'It is coming from England.'
+
+'Is there anyone in Ottawa who can identify you?'
+
+'Yes; I know the telegraph operator here.'
+
+'Ah!' said the cashier somewhat doubtfully. 'Anybody else?'
+
+'Mr. Von Brent knows me very well.'
+
+'That will do. Suppose you get Mr. Von Brent to come here and identify
+you as the man who bears the name of Kenyon. Then the moment your
+cablegram comes the money will be at your disposal.'
+
+Kenyon hurried to Von Brent's rooms and found him alone.
+
+'Will you come down to the bank and identify me as Kenyon?'
+
+'Certainly. Has the money arrived?'
+
+'No, it has not; but I expect it, and want to provide for every
+contingency. I do not wish to have any delay in my identification when it
+does come.'
+
+'If it comes by cable,' said Von Brent, 'there will be no need of
+identification. The bank is not responsible, you know. They take the
+money entirely at the sender's risk. They might pay it to the telegraph
+operator who receives the message! I believe they would not be held
+liable. However, it is better to see that nothing is left undone.'
+
+Going over to the bank, Von Brent said to the cashier: 'This is John
+Kenyon.'
+
+'Very good,' replied the cashier. 'Have you been at the telegraph-office
+lately, Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'No, I have not--at least, not for half an hour or so.'
+
+'Well, I would go there as soon as possible, if I were you.'
+
+'That means,' said Von Brent, as soon as they had reached the door, 'that
+they have had their notice about the money. I believe it is already in
+the bank for you. I will go back to my rooms and not leave them till you
+come.'
+
+John hurried to the telegraph-office.
+
+'Anything for me yet?' he said.
+
+'Nothing as yet, Mr. Kenyon; I think, however,' he added with a smile,
+'that it will be all right. I hope so.'
+
+The moments ticked along with their usual rapidity, yet it seemed to
+Kenyon the clock was going fearfully fast. Eleven o'clock came and found
+him still pacing up and down the office of the telegraph. The operator
+offered him the hospitality of the private room, but this he declined.
+Every time the machine clicked, John's ears were on the alert, trying to
+catch a meaning from the instrument.
+
+Ten minutes after eleven!
+
+Twenty minutes after eleven, and still no despatch! The cold perspiration
+stood on John's brow, and he groaned aloud.
+
+'I suppose it's very important,' said the operator.
+
+'_Very_ important.'
+
+'Well, now, I shouldn't say so, but I know the money is in the bank for
+you. Perhaps if you went up there and demanded it, they would give it to
+you.'
+
+It was twenty-five minutes past the hour when John hurried towards the
+bank.
+
+'I have every belief,' he said to the cashier, 'that the money is here
+for me now. Is it possible for me to get it?'
+
+'Have you your cablegram?'
+
+'No, I have not.'
+
+'Well, you know, we cannot pay the money until we see your cablegram. If
+time is of importance, you should not leave the telegraph-office, and the
+moment you get your message, come here; then there will be no delay
+whatever. Do you wish to draw all the money at once?'
+
+'I don't know how much there is, but I must have twenty thousand pounds.'
+
+'Very well, to save time you had better make out a cheque for twenty
+thousand pounds; that will be----'
+
+And here he gave the number of dollars at the rate of the day on the
+pound. 'Just make out a cheque for that amount, and I will certify it. A
+certified cheque is as good as gold. The moment you get your message I
+will hand you the certified cheque.'
+
+John wrote out the order and gave it to the cashier, glancing at the
+clock as he did so. It was now twenty-five minutes to twelve. He rushed
+to the telegraph-office with all the speed of which he was capable, but
+met only a blank look again from the chief operator.
+
+'It has not come yet,' he said, shaking his head.
+
+Gradually despair began to descend on the waiting man. It was worse to
+miss everything now, than never to have had the hope of success. It was
+like hanging a man who had once been reprieved. He resumed his nervous
+pace up and down that chamber of torture. A quarter to twelve. He heard
+chimes ring somewhere. If the message did not come before they rang
+again, it would be for ever too late.
+
+Fourteen minutes--thirteen minutes--twelve minutes--eleven minutes--ten
+minutes to twelve, and yet, no--
+
+'Here you are!' shouted the operator in great glee, 'she's a-coming--it's
+all right--"John Kenyon, Ottawa."' Then he wrote as rapidly as the
+machine ticked out the message. 'There it is; now rush!'
+
+John needed no telling to rush. People had begun to notice him as
+the man who was doing nothing but running between the bank and the
+telegraph-office.
+
+It was seven minutes to twelve when he got to the bank.
+
+'Is that despatch right?' he said, shoving it through the arched
+aperture.
+
+The clerk looked at it with provoking composure, and then compared it
+with some papers.
+
+'For God's sake, hurry!' pleaded John.
+
+'You have plenty of time,' said the cashier coolly, looking up at the
+clock and going on with his examination. 'Yes,' he added, 'that is right.
+Here is your certified cheque.'
+
+John clasped it, and bolted out of the bank as a burglar might have done.
+It was five minutes to twelve when he got to the steps that led to the
+rooms of Mr. Von Brent. Now all his excitement seemed to have deserted
+him. He was as cool and calm as if he had five days, instead of so many
+minutes, in which to make the payment. He mounted the steps quietly,
+walked along the passage, and knocked at the door of Von Brent's room.
+
+'Come in!' was the shout that greeted him.
+
+He opened the door, glancing at the clock behind Von Brent's head as
+he did so.
+
+It stood at three minutes to twelve.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth was sitting there, with just a touch of pallor on his
+countenance, and there seemed to be an ominous glitter in his eyeglass.
+He said nothing, and John Kenyon completely ignored his presence.
+
+'There is still some life left in my option, I believe?' he said to Von
+Brent, after nodding good-day to him.
+
+'Very little, but perhaps it will serve. You have two minutes and a
+half,' said Von Brent.
+
+'Are the papers ready?' inquired John.
+
+'All ready, everything except putting in the names.'
+
+'Very well, here is the money.'
+
+Von Brent looked at the certified cheque. 'That is perfectly right,' he
+said, 'the mine is yours.'
+
+Then he rose and stretched his hand across the table to Kenyon, who
+grasped it cordially.
+
+Young Mr. Longworth also rose, and said languidly 'As this seems to be
+a meeting of long-lost brothers, I shall not intrude. Good-day, Mr.
+Von Brent.'
+
+Then, adjusting his eyeglass in a leisurely manner, he walked out
+of the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+
+When Edith Longworth entered the office of George Wentworth, that young
+gentleman somewhat surprised her. He sprang from his chair the moment she
+entered the room, rushed out of the door, and shouted at the top of his
+voice to the boy, who answered him, whereupon Wentworth returned to the
+room, apparently in his right mind.
+
+'I beg your pardon, Miss Longworth,' he said, laughing; 'the fact was, I
+had just sent my boy with a telegram for you, and now, you see, I have
+saved sixpence.'
+
+'Then you have heard from Canada?' said the young lady.
+
+'Yes; a short message, but to the point.' He handed her the cablegram,
+and she read:
+
+'Mine purchased; shall take charge temporarily.'
+
+'Then, the money got there in time,' she said, handing him back the
+telegraphic message.
+
+'Oh yes,' said George, with the easy confidence of a man who doesn't at
+all know what he is talking about. 'We had plenty of time; I knew it
+would get there all right.'
+
+'I am glad of that; I was afraid perhaps we might have sent it too late.
+One can never tell what delays or formalities there may be.'
+
+'Evidently there was no trouble. And now, Miss Longworth, what are your
+commands? Am I to be your agent here, in Great Britain?'
+
+'Have you written to Mr. Kenyon?'
+
+'Yes, I wrote to him just after I sent the cable message.'
+
+'Of course you didn't----'
+
+'No, I didn't say a word that would lead him to suspect who was the
+mistress of the mine. In my zeal I even went so far as to give you a
+name. You are hereafter to be known in the correspondence as Mr. Smith,
+the owner of the mine.'
+
+Miss Longworth laughed.
+
+'And--oh, by the way,' cried Wentworth, 'here is a barrel belonging to
+you.'
+
+'A barrel!' she said, and, looking in the direction to which he pointed,
+she saw in the corner of the room a barrel with the head taken away. 'If
+it is my property,' continued the young woman, 'who has taken the liberty
+of opening it?'
+
+'Oh, I did that as your agent. That barrel contains the mineral from the
+mine, which we hope will prove so valuable. It started from Canada over
+three months ago, and only arrived here the other day. It seems that the
+idiot who sent it addressed it by way of New York, and it was held by
+some Jack-in-office belonging to the United States Customs. We have had
+more diplomatic correspondence and trouble about that barrel than you
+can imagine, and now it comes a day behind the fair, when it is really of
+no use to anyone.'
+
+Miss Longworth rose and went to the barrel. She picked out some of the
+beautiful white specimens that were in it.
+
+'Is this the mineral?' she asked.
+
+Wentworth laughed.
+
+'Imagine a person buying a mine at an exorbitant price, and not knowing
+what it produces. Yes, that is the mineral.'
+
+'This is not mica, of course?'
+
+'No, it is not mica. That is the stuff used for the making of china.'
+
+'It looks as if it would take a good polish. Will it, do you know?'
+
+'I do not know. I could easily find out for you.'
+
+'I wish you would, and get a piece of it polished, which I will use as a
+paper-weight.'
+
+'What are your orders for the rest of the barrel?'
+
+'What did you intend doing with it?' said the young woman.
+
+'Well, I was thinking the best plan would be to send some of it to each
+of the pottery works in this country, and get their orders for more of
+the stuff, if they want to use it.'
+
+'I think that an extremely good idea. I understand from the cablegram
+that Mr. Kenyon says he will take charge of the mine temporarily.'
+
+'Yes; I imagine he left Ottawa at once, as soon as he had concluded his
+bargain. Of course, we shall not know for certain until he writes.'
+
+'Very well, then, it appears to me the best thing you could do over here
+would be to secure what orders can be obtained in England for the
+mineral. Then, I suppose, you could write to Mr. Kenyon, and ask him to
+engage a proper person to work the mine.'
+
+'Yes, I will do that.'
+
+'When he comes over here, you and he can have a consultation as to the
+best thing to do next. I expect nothing very definite can be arranged
+until he comes. You may make whatever excuse you can for the absence of
+the mythical Mr. Smith, and say that you act for him. Then you may tell
+Mr. Kenyon, in whatever manner you choose, that Mr. Smith intends both
+you and Mr. Kenyon to share conjointly with him. I think you will have no
+trouble in making John--that is, in making Mr. Kenyon--believe there is
+such a person as Mr. Smith, if you put it strongly enough to him. Make
+him understand that Mr. Smith would never have heard of the mine unless
+Mr. Kenyon and you had discovered it, and that he is very glad indeed to
+have such a good opportunity of investing his money; so that, naturally,
+he wishes those who have been instrumental in helping him to this
+investment to share in its profits. I imagine you can make all this clear
+enough, so that your friend will suspect nothing. Don't you think so?'
+
+'Well, with any other man than John Kenyon I should have my doubts,
+because, as a fabricator, I don't think I have a very high reputation;
+but with John I have no fears whatever. He will believe everything I
+say. It is almost a pity to delude so trustful a man, but it's so very
+much to his own advantage that I shall have no hesitation in doing it.'
+
+'Then, you will write to him about getting a fit and proper person to
+manage the mine?'
+
+'Yes. I don't think there will be any necessity for doing so, but I will
+make sure. I imagine John will not leave there until he sees everything
+to his satisfaction. He will be very anxious indeed for the mine to prove
+the great success he has always believed it to be, even though, at
+present, he does not know he is to have any pecuniary interest in its
+prosperity.'
+
+'Very well then, I shall bid you good-bye. I may not be here again, but
+whenever you hear from Mr. Kenyon, I shall be very glad if you will let
+me know.'
+
+'Certainly; I will send you all the documents in the case, as you once
+remarked. You always like to see the original papers, don't you?'
+
+'Yes, I suppose I do.' Miss Longworth lingered a moment at the door,
+then, looking straight at Wentworth, she said to him, 'You remember you
+spoke rather bitterly to my father the other day?'
+
+'Yes,' said Wentworth, colouring; 'I remember it.'
+
+'You are a young man; he is old. Besides that, I think you were entirely
+in the wrong. He had nothing whatever to do with his nephew's action.'
+
+'Oh, I know that,' said Wentworth. 'I would have apologized to him long
+ago, only--well, you know, he told me I shouldn't be allowed in the
+office again, and I don't suppose I should.'
+
+'A letter from you would be allowed in the office,' replied the young
+lady, looking at the floor.
+
+'Of course it would,' said George; 'I will write to him instantly and
+apologize.'
+
+'It is very good of you,' said, Edith, holding out her hand to him; the
+next moment she was gone.
+
+George Wentworth turned to his desk and wrote a letter of apology. Then
+he mused to himself upon the strange and incomprehensible nature of
+women. 'She makes me apologize to him, and quite right too; but if it
+hadn't been for the row with her father, she never would have heard about
+the transaction, and therefore couldn't have bought the mine, which she
+was anxious to do for Kenyon's sake--lucky beggar John is, after all!'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+
+When the business of transferring the mine to its new owner was
+completed, John Kenyon went to the telegraph-office, and sent a short
+cable-message to Wentworth. Then he turned his steps to the hotel, an
+utterly exhausted man. The excitement and tension of the day had been too
+much for him, and he felt that, if he did not get out of the city of
+Ottawa and into the country, where there were fewer people and more air,
+he was going to be ill. He resolved to leave for the mine as soon as
+possible. There he would get affairs in as good order as might be, and
+keep things going until he heard from the owner. When he reached his
+hotel, he wrote a letter to Wentworth, detailing briefly the
+circumstances under which he had secured the mine, and dealing with other
+more personal matters. Having posted this, he began to pack his
+portmanteau, preparatory to leaving early next morning. While thus
+occupied, the bell-boy came into his room, and said:
+
+'There is a gentleman wants to see you.'
+
+He imagined at once that it was Von Brent, who wished to see him with
+regard to some formality relating to the transfer, and he was, therefore,
+very much astonished--in fact, for the moment speechless--when Mr.
+William Longworth entered and calmly gazed round the rather shabby room
+with his critical eyeglass.
+
+'Ah,' he said, 'these are your diggings, are they? This is what they call
+a dollar hotel, I suppose, over here. Well, some people may like it, but,
+I confess, I don't care much about it, myself. Their three or four
+dollars a day hotels are bad enough for me. By the way, you look rather
+surprised to see me; being strangers together in a strange country, I
+expected a warmer greeting. You said last night, in front of the Russell
+House, that it would please you very much to give me a warm greeting;
+perhaps you would like to do so to-night.'
+
+'Have you come up here to provoke a quarrel with me?' asked Kenyon.
+
+'Oh, bless you, no! Quarrel! Nothing of the sort. What should I want to
+quarrel about?'
+
+'Perhaps you will be good enough to tell me why you come here, then?'
+
+'A very reasonable request. Very reasonable indeed, and perfectly
+natural, but still quite unnecessary. It is not likely that a man would
+climb up here into your rooms, and then not be prepared to tell you why
+he came. I came, in the first place, to congratulate you on the beautiful
+and dramatic way in which you secured the mine at the last moment, or
+apparently at the last moment. I suppose you had the money all the time?'
+
+'No, I had not.'
+
+'Then you came in to Von Brent just as soon as you received it?'
+
+'Well, now, I don't see that it is the business of anyone else but
+myself. Still, if you want to know, I may say that I came to Mr. Von
+Brent's room at the moment I received the money.'
+
+'Really! Then it was sent over by cable, I presume?'
+
+'Your presumption is entirely correct.'
+
+'My dear Kenyon,' said the young man, seating himself without being
+asked, and gazing at John in a benevolent kind of way, 'you really show
+some temper over this little affair of yours. Now, here is the whole
+thing in a nutshell----'
+
+'My dear sir, I don't wish to hear the whole thing, in a nutshell. I know
+all about it--all I wish to know.'
+
+'Ah, precisely; of course you do; certainly; but, nevertheless, let me
+have my say. Here is the whole thing. I tried to--well, to cheat you.
+I thought I could make a little money by doing so, and my scheme
+failed. Now, if anybody should be in a bad temper, it is I, not you.
+Don't you see that? You are not acting your part well at all. I'm
+astonished at you!'
+
+'Mr. Longworth, I wish to have nothing whatever to say to you. If you
+have anything to ask, I wish you would ask it as quickly as possible, and
+then leave me alone.'
+
+'The chief fault I find with you, Kenyon,' said Longworth, throwing one
+leg over the other, and clasping his hands round his knee--'the chief
+fault I have to find is your painful lack of a sense of humour. Now,
+you remember last night I offered you the managership of the mine. I
+thought, certainly, that by this time to-day I should be owner of it,
+or, at least, one of the owners. Now, you don't appear to appreciate the
+funniness of the situation. Here you are the owner of the mine, and I am
+out in the cold--"left," as they say here in America. I am the man who
+is left----'
+
+'If that is all you have to talk about,' said Kenyon gravely, 'I must ask
+you to allow me to go on with my packing. I am going to the mine
+to-morrow.'
+
+'Certainly, my dear fellow; go at once and never mind me. Can I be of any
+assistance to you? It requires a special genius, you know, to pack a
+portmanteau properly. But what I wanted to say was this: Why didn't you
+turn round, when you had got the mine, and offer _me_ the managership of
+it? Then you would have had your revenge. The more I think of that
+episode in Von Brent's office, the more I think you utterly failed to
+realize the dramatic possibilities of the situation.'
+
+Kenyon was silent.
+
+'Now, all this time you are wondering why I came here. Doubtless you wish
+to know what I want.'
+
+'I have not the slightest interest in the matter,' said Kenyon.
+
+'That is ungracious, but, nevertheless, I will continue. It is better, I
+see, to be honest with you, if a man wants to get anything from you. Now,
+I want to get a bit of information from you. I want to know where you got
+the money with which you bought the mine?'
+
+'I got it from the bank.'
+
+'Ah, yes, but I want to know who sent it over to you?'
+
+'It was sent to me by George Wentworth.'
+
+'Quite so; but _now_ I want to know who gave Wentworth the money?'
+
+'You will have a chance of finding that out when you go to England, by
+asking him.'
+
+'Then you won't tell me?'
+
+'I can't tell you.'
+
+'You mean by that, of course, that you won't.'
+
+'I always mean, Mr. Longworth, exactly what I say. I mean that I can't
+tell you. I don't know myself.'
+
+'Really?'
+
+'Yes, really. You seem to have some difficulty in believing that anybody
+can speak the truth.'
+
+'Well, it isn't a common vice, speaking the truth. You must forgive a
+little surprise.' He nursed his knee for a moment, and looked
+meditatively up at the ceiling. 'Now, would you like to know who
+furnished that money?'
+
+'I have no curiosity in the matter whatever.'
+
+'Have you not? You are a singular man. It seems to me that a person into
+whose lap twenty thousand pounds drops from the skies would have some
+little curiosity to know from whom the money came.'
+
+'I haven't the slightest.'
+
+'Nevertheless, I will tell you who gave the money to Wentworth. It was
+my dear friend Melville. I didn't tell you in New York, of course, that
+Melville and I had a little quarrel about this matter, and he went home
+decidedly huffy. I had no idea he would take this method of revenge; but
+I see it quite clearly now. He knew I had secured the option of the
+mine. There was a little trouble as to what our respective shares were
+to be, and I thought, as I had secured the option, I had the right to
+dictate terms. He thought differently. He was going to Von Brent to
+explain the whole matter; but I pointed out that such a course would do
+no good, the option being legally made out in my name, so that the
+moment your claim expired mine began. When this dawned upon him, he took
+the steamer and went to England. Now, I can see his hand in this
+artistic finish to the affair. It was a pretty sharp trick of
+Melville's, and I give him credit for it. He is a very much shrewder and
+cleverer man than I thought he was.'
+
+'It seems to me, Mr. Longworth, that your inordinate conceit makes you
+always underestimate your friends, or your enemies either, for that
+matter.'
+
+'There is something in that, Kenyon; I think you are more than half right,
+but I thought, perhaps, I could make it advantageous to you to do
+me a favour in this matter. I thought you might have no objection to
+writing a little document to the effect that the money did not come in
+time, and consequently, I had secured the mine. Then, if you would sign
+that, I would take it over to Melville and make terms with him. Of
+course, if he knows that he has the mine there will not be much chance of
+coming to any arrangement with him.'
+
+'You can make no arrangements with me, Mr. Longworth, that involve
+sacrifice of the truth.'
+
+'Ah, well, I suspected as much; but I thought it was worth trying.
+However, my dear sir, I may make terms with Melville yet, and then, I
+imagine, you won't have much to do with the mine.'
+
+'I shall not have anything to do with it if you and Melville have a share
+in it; and if, as you suspect, Melville has the mine, I consider you are
+in a bad way. My opinion is that, when one rascal gets advantage over
+another rascal, the other rascal will be, as you say, "left."'
+
+Longworth mused over this for a moment, and said:
+
+'Yes, I fear you are right--in fact, I am certain of it. Well, that is
+all I wanted to know. I will bid you good-bye. I shan't see you again in
+Ottawa, as I shall sail very shortly for England. Have you any messages
+you would like given to your friends over there?'
+
+'None, thank you.'
+
+'Well, ta-ta!' And John was left to his packing. That necessary operation
+concluded, Kenyon sat down and thought over what young Longworth had told
+him. His triumph, after all, had been short-lived. The choice between the
+two scoundrels was so small that he felt he didn't care which of them
+owned the mine. Meditating on this disagreeable subject, he suddenly
+remembered a request he had asked Wentworth to place before the new owner
+of the mine. He wanted no favour from Melville, so he wrote a second
+letter, contradicting the request made in the first, and, after posting
+it, returned to his hotel, and went to bed, probably the most tired man
+in the city of Ottawa.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+
+This chapter consists largely of letters. As a general rule, letters are
+of little concern to anyone except the writers and the receivers, but
+they are inserted here in the hope that the reader is already well
+enough acquainted with the correspondents to feel some interest in what
+they have written.
+
+It was nearly a fortnight after the receipt of the cablegram from Kenyon
+that George Wentworth found, one morning, on his desk two letters, each
+bearing a Canadian postage-stamp. One was somewhat bulky and one was
+thin, but they were both from the same writer. He tore open the thin one
+first, without looking at the date stamped upon it. He was a little
+bewildered by its contents, which ran as follows:
+
+'MY DEAR GEORGE,
+
+'I have just heard that Melville is the man who has bought the mine. The
+circumstances of the case leave no doubt in my mind that such is the
+fact; therefore, please disregard the request I made as to employment in
+the letter I posted to you a short time ago. I feel a certain sense of
+disappointment in the fact that Melville is the owner of the mine. It
+seems I have only kept one rascal from buying it in order to put it in
+the hands of another rascal.
+
+'Your friend,
+
+'JOHN KENYON.'
+
+'Melville the owner!' cried Wentworth to himself. 'What could have put
+that into John's head? This letter is evidently the one posted a few
+hours before, so it will contain whatever request he has to make;' and,
+without delay, George Wentworth tore open the envelope of the second
+letter, which was obviously the one written first.
+
+It contained a number of documents relating to the transfer of the mine.
+The letter from John himself went on to give particulars of the buying of
+the property. Then it continued:
+
+'I wish you would do me a favour, George. Will you kindly ask the owner
+of the mine if he will give me charge of it? I am, of course, anxious to
+make it turn out as well as possible, and I believe I can more than earn
+my salary, whatever it is. You know I am not grasping in the matter of
+money, but get me as large a salary as you think I deserve. I desire to
+make money for reasons that are not entirely selfish, as you know. To
+tell you the truth, George, I am tired of cities and of people. I want to
+live here in the woods, where there is not so much deceit and treachery
+as there seems to be in the big towns. When I reached London last time, I
+felt like a boy getting home. My feelings have undergone a complete
+change, and I think, if it were not for you and a certain young lady, I
+should never care to see the big city again. What is the use of my
+affecting mystery, and writing the words "a certain young lady"? Of
+course, you know whom I mean--Miss Edith Longworth. You know, also, that
+I am, and have long been, in love with her. If I had succeeded in making
+the money I thought I should by selling the mine, I might have had some
+hopes of making more, and of ultimately being in a position to ask her to
+be my wife; but that and very many other hopes have disappeared with my
+recent London experiences. I want to get into the forest and recover some
+of my lost tone, and my lost faith in human nature. If you can arrange
+matters with the owner of the mine, so that I may stay here for a year
+or two, you will do me a great favour.'
+
+George Wentworth read over the latter part of this letter two or three
+times. Then he rose, paced the floor, and pondered.
+
+'It isn't a thing upon which I can ask anyone's advice,' he muttered to
+himself. 'The trouble with Kenyon is, he is entirely too modest; a little
+useful self-esteem would be just the thing for him.' At last he stopped
+suddenly in his walk. 'By Jove!' he said to himself, slapping his thigh,
+'I shall do it, let the consequences be what they may.'
+
+Then he sat down at his desk and wrote a letter.
+
+'DEAR Miss LONGWORTH' (it began),
+
+'You told me when you were here last that you wanted all the documents
+pertaining to the mine, in every instance. A document has come this
+morning that is rather important. John Kenyon, as you will learn by
+reading the letter, desires the managership of the mine. I need not say
+that I think he is the best man in the world for the position, and that
+everything will be safe in his hands. I therefore enclose you his letter.
+I had some thought of cutting out a part of it, but knowing your desire
+to have all the documents in the case, I take the liberty of sending this
+one exactly as it reached me, and if anyone is to blame, I am the person.
+
+'I remain, your agent,
+
+'GEORGE WENTWORTH.'
+
+He sent this letter out at once, so that he would not have a chance to
+change his mind.
+
+'It will reach her this afternoon, and doubtless she will call and see
+me.'
+
+It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say she did _not_ call, and she did
+not see him for many days afterwards; but next morning, when he came to
+his office, he found a letter from her. It ran:
+
+'DEAR MR. WENTWORTH,
+
+'The sending of Mr. Kenyon's letter to me is a somewhat dangerous
+precedent, which you must on no account follow by sending any letters you
+may receive from any other person to Mr. Kenyon. However, as you were
+probably aware when you sent the letter, no blame will rest on your
+shoulders, or on those of anyone else, in this instance. Still, be very
+careful in future, because letter-sending, unabridged, is sometimes a
+risky thing to do. You are to remember that I always want all the
+documents in the case, and I want them with nothing eliminated. I am very
+much obliged to you for forwarding the letter.
+
+'As to the managership of the mine, of course I thought Mr. Kenyon would
+desire to come back to London. If he is content to stay abroad, and
+really wants to stay there, I wish you would tell him that Mr. Smith is
+exceedingly pleased to know he is willing to take charge of the mine. It
+would not look businesslike on the part of Mr. Smith to say that Mr.
+Kenyon is to name his own salary, but, unfortunately, Mr. Smith is very
+ignorant as to what a proper salary should be, so will you kindly settle
+that question? You know the usual salary for such an occupation. Please
+write down that figure, and add two hundred a year to it. Tell Mr.
+Kenyon the amount named is the salary Mr. Smith assigns to him.
+
+'Pray be very careful in the wording of the letters, so that Mr. Kenyon
+will not have any idea who Mr. Smith is.
+
+'Yours truly,
+
+'EDITH LONGWORTH.
+
+When Wentworth received this letter, being a man, he did not know whether
+Miss Longworth was pleased or not. However, he speedily wrote to John,
+telling him that he was appointed manager of the mine, and that Mr. Smith
+was very much pleased to have him in that capacity. He named the salary,
+but said if it was not enough, no doubt Mr. Smith was so anxious for his
+services that the amount would be increased.
+
+John, when he got the letter, was more than satisfied.
+
+At the time Wentworth was reading his letters, John had received those
+which had been sent when the mine was bought. He was relieved to find
+that Melville was not, after all, the owner; and he went to work with a
+will, intending to put in two or three years of his life, with hard
+labour, in developing the resources of the property. The first fortnight,
+before he received any letters, he did nothing but make himself
+acquainted with the way work was being carried on there. He found many
+things to improve. The machinery had been allowed to run down, and the
+men worked in the listless way men do when they are under no particular
+supervision. The manager of the mine was very anxious about his position.
+John told him the property had changed hands but, until he had further
+news from England, he could not tell just what would be done. When the
+letters came, John took hold with a will, and there was soon a decided
+improvement in the way affairs were going. He allowed the old manager to
+remain as a sort of sub-manager; but that individual soon found that the
+easy times of the Austrian Mining Company were for ever gone.
+
+Kenyon had to take one or two long trips in Canada and the United
+States, to arrange for the disposal of the products of the mine; but,
+as a general rule, his time was spent entirely in the log village near
+the river.
+
+When a year had passed, he was able to write a very jubilant letter to
+Wentworth.
+
+'You see,' he said, 'after all, the mine was worth the two hundred
+thousand pounds we asked for it. It pays, even the first year, ten per
+cent. on that amount. This will give back all the mine has cost, and I
+think, George, the honest thing for us to do would be to let the whole
+proceeds go to Mr. Smith this year, who advanced the money at a critical
+time. This will recoup him for his outlay, because the working capital
+has not been touched. The mica has more than paid the working of the
+mine, and all the rest is clear profit. Therefore, if you are willing, we
+will let our third go this year, and then we can take our large dividend
+next year with a clear conscience. I enclose the balance-sheet.'
+
+To this letter there came an answer in due time from Wentworth, who said
+that he had placed John's proposal before Mr. Smith; but it seemed the
+gentleman was so pleased with the profitable investment he had made that
+he would hear of no other division of the profits but that of share and
+share alike. He appeared to be very much touched by the offer John had
+made, and respected him for making it, but the proposed rescinding on
+his part and Wentworth's was a thing not to be thought of. This being
+the case, John sent a letter and a very large cheque to his father. The
+moment of posting that letter was, doubtless, one of the happiest of his
+life, and this ends the formidable array of letters which appears in
+this chapter.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+
+Wentworth had written to Kenyon that Mr. Smith absolutely refused to take
+more than one-third of the profits of the mine. It was true that the
+offer had been declined, but Wentworth never knew how much tempted the
+Mistress of the Mine had been when he made it. Her one great desire was
+to pay back the thirty thousand pounds to her father, and she wanted to
+do it as speedily as possible. At the end of the second year her profits
+from the mine, including the return of the five thousand pounds which had
+been sent to Ottawa as working capital, was still about five thousand
+pounds under the thirty thousand pounds. She looked forward eagerly to
+the time when she would be able to pay the thirty thousand pounds to her
+father. Old Mr. Longworth had never spoken a word to his daughter about
+the money. She had expected he would ask her what she had done with it,
+but he had never mentioned the subject. Her conscience troubled her very
+frequently about the method she had taken to obtain that large amount.
+She saw that her father had changed in his manner towards her since that
+day. He had given her the money, but he had given it, as one might say,
+almost under compulsion, and there was no doubt that, generous as he
+was, he did not like being coerced into parting with his money. Edith
+Longworth had paid more for the mine than the amount of cash she had
+deposited in Ottawa. She had paid for it by being cut off from her
+father's confidence. Now he never asked her advice about any of his
+business ventures, and, for the first time in many years, he had taken a
+long sea-voyage without inviting her to accompany him. All this made the
+girl more and more anxious to obtain the money to pay back her
+indebtedness, and, if Wentworth had made the same offer at the end of the
+second year which he had made at the close of the first, she would have
+accepted it. The offer, however, was not made, and Miss Longworth said
+nothing, but took her share of the profits and put them into the bank.
+
+The plan of placing all one's eggs into the same basket is a good
+one--until something happens to the basket! It is said that lightning
+never strikes twice in the same place, and, as the small boy remarked,
+'it never needed to.' In Mr. Longworth's affairs lightning struck in
+three places, and in each of those strokes it hit a large basket. A new
+law had been passed in one part of the world that vitally affected great
+interests he held there. In another part of the world, at the same time,
+there occurred a revolution, and every business in that country stopped
+for the time being. In still another part of the world there had been a
+commercial crisis; and, in sympathy with all these financial disasters,
+the money market in London was exceedingly stringent.
+
+Everybody wanted to sell, and nobody wished to buy. This unfortunate
+combination of circumstances hit old Mr. Longworth hard. It was not that
+he did not believe all his investments were secure, could he only
+weather the gale, but there was an immediate need of ready money which it
+seemed absolutely impossible to obtain. Day by day his daughter saw him
+ageing perceptibly. She knew worry was the cause of this, and she knew
+the events that were happening in different parts of the world must
+seriously embarrass her father. She longed to speak to him about his
+business, but one attempt she made in this direction had been very rudely
+rebuffed, and she was not a woman to tempt a second repulse of that kind.
+So she kept silent, and saw with grief the havoc business troubles were
+making with her father's health.
+
+'The old man,' said young Longworth, 'seems to be in a corner.'
+
+'I do not want you ever again to allude to my father as "the old
+man"--remember that!' cried the girl indignantly.
+
+Young Longworth shrugged his shoulders, and said:
+
+'I don't think you can insist on my calling him a young man much longer.
+If he isn't an old man, I should like to know who is?'
+
+'That doesn't matter,' said Edith. 'You must not use such a phrase again
+in my hearing. What do you mean by saying he is in a corner?'
+
+'Well,' returned the young man, 'I don't know much about his business. He
+does not take me into his confidence at all. In fact, the older he grows,
+the closer he gets, and the chances are he will make some very bad
+speculation before long, if he has not done so already. That is the way
+with old men, begging your pardon for using the phrase. It is not
+levelled against your father in this instance, but at old men as a class,
+especially men who have been successful. They seem to resent anybody
+giving them advice.'
+
+One day Edith received a telegram, asking her to come to the office in
+the City without delay. She was panic-stricken when she read the message,
+feeling sure her father had been stricken down in his office, and was
+probably dying--perhaps dead. She had feared some such result for a long
+time, because of the intense anxiety to which he had been subjected, and
+he was not a man who could be counselled to take care of himself on the
+plea that he was getting old. He resented any intimation that he was not
+as good a business man as he had ever been, and so it was extremely
+difficult to get him to listen to reason, if anyone had the courage to
+talk reason to him.
+
+Edith, without a moment's delay, sprang lightly into a hansom, and went
+to the District Railway without waiting for her carriage. From the
+Mansion House Station another cab took her quickly to her father's
+office.
+
+She was immensely relieved, as she passed through, to see the clerks
+working as if nothing particular had happened. On entering her father's
+room, she found him pacing up and down the apartment, while her cousin
+sat, apparently absorbed in his own affairs, at his desk. Her father was
+evidently greatly excited.
+
+'Edith,' he cried the moment she entered, 'where is that money I gave you
+two years ago?'
+
+'It is invested,' she answered, turning slightly pale.
+
+Her father laughed--a hoarse, dry laugh.
+
+'Just as I thought,' he sneered--'put in such shape that a person
+cannot touch a penny of it, I suppose. In what is it invested? I must
+have that money.'
+
+'How soon do you need it, father?
+
+'I want it just now, at this moment; if I don't have that money I am a
+ruined man.'
+
+'This moment. I suppose, means any time to-day, before the bank closes?'
+
+Her father looked at her for a moment, then said:
+
+'Yes that is what it means.
+
+'I will try and get you the money before that time.'
+
+'My dear girl,' he said bitterly, 'you don't know what you are talking
+about. If you have that money invested, even if your investment is worth
+three times now what it was then, you could not get a penny on it. Don't
+you know the state of the London money market? Don't you know how close
+money is? I thought perhaps you might have some portion of it yet, not
+sunk in your silly investment, whatever it is. I have never asked you
+what it was. You told me you would tell me, but you never have done so. I
+looked on that money as lost. I look on it still as lost. If you can get
+me a remnant of it, it will help me now more than the whole amount, or
+double the amount, would have done at the time I gave it to you. What
+have you done with the money? What is it invested in?'
+
+'It is invested in a mine.'
+
+'A mine. Of all things in the world in which to sink money, a mine is the
+worst. Just what a woman or a fool would do! How do you expect to raise
+money on a mine in the present state of the market? What, in the name of
+wonder, made you put it into a mine? Whose mine did you buy?'
+
+'I do not know whose it was, father, but I was willing to tell you all I
+knew at the time you asked me and if you ask me now what mine I bought, I
+will tell you.'
+
+'Certainly I ask you. What mine did you buy?'
+
+'I bought the mine for which John Kenyon was agent.'
+
+The moment these words were said, her cousin sprang to his feet and
+glared at her like a man demented.
+
+'You bought that mine--you? Then Wentworth lied to me. He said a Mr.
+Smith had given him the money.'
+
+'I am the Mr. Smith, William.'
+
+'You are the Mr. Smith! You are the one who has cheated me out of that
+mine!'
+
+'My dear cousin, the less we say about cheating, the better. I am talking
+to my father just now, and I do not wish to be interrupted. Will you be
+so kind as to leave the room until my interview with him is over?'
+
+'So you bought the mica-mine, did you! Pretending to be friendly with me,
+and knowing all the time that you were doing your best to cheat----'
+
+'Come, come!' interrupted the old gentleman; 'William, none of this. If
+anyone is to talk roughly to Edith, it will be me, not you. Come, sir,
+leave the room, as she has asked you to do. Now, my daughter,' he
+continued, in a much milder tone of voice, after young Longworth had left
+the office, 'have you any ready money? It is no use saying the mine is
+worth a hundred thousand pounds, or a million, just now, if you haven't
+the ready money. Edith, my child,' he cried, 'sit down with me a moment,
+and I will explain the whole situation to you. It seems to me that ever
+since I stopped consulting you things have gone wrong. Perhaps, even if
+you have the money, it is better not to risk it just now; but one pound
+will do what two pounds will not do a year hence, or perhaps six months
+from now, when this panic is over.'
+
+Edith sat down beside her father and heard from him exactly how things
+stood. Then she said:
+
+'All you really need is about fifteen thousand pounds?'
+
+'Yes, that would do; I'm sure that would carry me over. Can you get it
+for me, my child?'
+
+'Yes, and more. I will try to get you the whole amount. Wait for me here
+twenty minutes or half an hour.'
+
+George Wentworth was very much surprised when he saw Edith Longworth
+enter his office. It had been many months since she was there before, and
+he cordially held out his hand to the girl.
+
+'Mr. Wentworth,' she began at once, 'have you any of the money the mica
+mine has brought you?'
+
+'Yes. I invested the first year's proceeds, but, since I got the last
+amount, things have been so shaky in the City that it is still at the
+bank.'
+
+'Will you lend me--_can_ you lend me five thousand pounds of it?'
+
+'Of, course I can, and will; and very glad I am to get the chance of
+doing so.'
+
+'Then, please write me out a cheque for it at once, and whatever papers
+you want as security, make them out, and I will see that you are
+secured.'
+
+'Look here, Miss Longworth,' said the young man, placing his hands on his
+hips and gazing at her, 'do you mean to insult me? Do you not know that
+the reason I am able to write out a cheque for five thousand pounds, that
+will be honoured, is entirely because you trusted your money to me and
+Kenyon without security? Do you think I want security? Take back the
+word, Miss Longworth.'
+
+'I will--I will,' she said; 'but I am in a great hurry. Please write me
+out the cheque, for I must have it before the bank closes.'
+
+The cheque was promptly written out and handed to her.
+
+'I am afraid,' she said, 'I am not very polite to-day, and rather abrupt;
+but I will make up for it some other time.'
+
+And so, bidding the young man good-bye, she drove to the bank, deposited
+the cheque, drew her own for thirty thousand pounds, and carried it to
+her father.
+
+'There,' she said, 'is thirty thousand pounds, and I still own the mine,
+or, at least, part of it. All the money is made from the cheque you gave
+me, or, rather, two-thirds of it, because one-third was never touched.
+Now, it seems to me, father, that, if I am a good enough business woman
+to more than double my money in two years, I am a good enough business
+woman to be consulted by my father whenever he needs a confidant. My dear
+father, I want to take some of the burden off your shoulders.'
+
+There were tears in her father's eyes as he put his arm round her waist
+and whispered to her:
+
+'There is no one in all London like you, my dear--no one, no one. I'll
+have no more secrets from you, my own brave girl.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+
+Kenyon's luck, as he said to himself, had turned. The second year was
+even more prosperous than the first, and the third as successful as the
+second. He had a steady market for his mineral, and, besides, he had the
+great advantage of knowing the rogues to avoid. Some new swindles he had
+encountered during his first year's experience had taught him lessons
+that he profited by in the second and third. He liked his home in the
+wilderness, and he liked the rough people amongst whom he found himself.
+
+Notwithstanding his renunciation of London, however, there would now and
+then come upon him a yearning for the big city, and he promised himself a
+trip there at the end of the third year. Wentworth had been threatening
+month after month to come out and see him, but something had always
+interfered.
+
+Taking it all in all, John liked it better in the winter than in the
+summer, in spite of the extreme cold. The cold was steady and could be
+depended upon; moreover, it was healthful and invigorating. In summer,
+John never quite became accustomed to the ravages of the black fly, the
+mosquito, and other insect pests of that region. His first interview with
+the black fly left his face in such a condition that he was glad he lived
+in a wilderness.
+
+At the beginning of the second winter John treated himself to a luxury.
+He bought a natty little French Canadian horse that was very quick and
+accustomed to the ice of the river, which formed the highway by which he
+reached Burntpine from the mine in the cold season. To supplement the
+horse, he also got a comfortable little cutter, and with this turn-out
+he made his frequent journeys between the mine and Burntpine with comfort
+and speed, wrapped snugly in buffalo robes.
+
+If London often reverted to his mind, there was another subject that
+obtruded itself even more frequently. His increased prosperity had
+something to do with this. He saw that, if he was to have a third of the
+receipts of the mine, he was not to remain a poor man for very long, and
+this fact gave him a certain courage which had been lacking before. He
+wondered if she remembered him. Wentworth had said very little about her
+when he wrote, for his letters were largely devoted to enthusiastic
+eulogies of Jennie Brewster, and Kenyon, in spite of the confession he
+had made when his case seemed hopeless, was loath to write and ask his
+friend anything about Edith.
+
+One day, on a clear sharp frosty winter morning, Kenyon had his little
+pony harnessed for his weekly journey to Burntpine. After the rougher
+part of the road between the mine and the river had been left behind, and
+the pony got down to her work on the ice, with the two white banks of
+snow on either side of the smooth track, John gave himself up to thinking
+about the subject which now so often engrossed his mind. Wrapped closely
+in his furs, with the cutter skimming along the ice, these thoughts found
+a pleasant accompaniment in the silvery tinkle of the bells which jingled
+around his horse's neck. As a general thing, he met no one on the icy
+road from the mine to the village. Sometimes there was a procession of
+sleighs bearing supplies for his own mine and those beyond, and when this
+procession was seen, Kenyon had to look out for some place by the side of
+the track where he could pull up his horse and cutter and allow the
+teams to pass. The snow on each side of the cutting was so deep that
+these bays were shovelled out here and there to permit teams to get past
+each other. He had gone halfway to the village, when he saw ahead of him
+a pair of horses which he at once recognised as those belonging to the
+hotel-keeper. He drew up in the first bay and awaited the approach of the
+sleigh. He saw that it contained visitors for himself, because the
+driver, on recognising him, had turned round and spoken to the occupants
+of the vehicle. As it came along, the man drew up and nodded to Kenyon,
+who, although ordinarily the most polite of men, did not return the
+salutation. He was stricken dumb with astonishment on seeing who was in
+the sleigh. One woman was so bundled up that not even her nose appeared
+out in the cold, but the smiling rosy face of the other needed no
+introduction to John Kenyon.
+
+'Well, Mr. Kenyon,' cried a laughing voice, 'you did not expect to see me
+this morning, did you?'
+
+'I confess I did not,' said John, 'and yet--.' Here he paused; he was
+going to say, 'and yet I was thinking of you,' but he checked himself.
+
+Miss Longworth, who had a talent for reading the unspoken thoughts of
+John Kenyon, probably did not need to be told the end of the sentence.
+
+'Are you going to the village?' she asked.
+
+'I _was_ going. I am not going now.'
+
+'That's right. I was just about to invite you to turn round with us. You
+see, we are on our way to look at the mine, and, I suppose, we shall have
+to obtain the consent of the manager before we can do so.'
+
+Miss Longworth's companion had emerged for a moment from her wraps and
+looked at John, but instantly retired among the furs again with a
+shiver. She was not so young as her companion, and she considered this
+the most frightful climate she had ever encountered.
+
+'Now,' said John, 'although your sleigh is very comfortable, I think this
+cutter of mine is even more so. It is intended for two; won't you step
+out of the sleigh into the cutter? Then, if the driver will move on, I
+can turn, and we will follow the sleigh.'
+
+'I shall be delighted to do so,' said the young woman, shaking herself
+free from the buffalo robe, and stepping lightly from the sleigh into the
+cutter, pausing, however, for a moment, before she did so, to put her own
+wraps over her companion. John tucked her in beside himself, and, as the
+sleigh jingled on, he slowly turned his pony round into the road again.
+
+'I have got a pretty fast pony,' he said, 'but I think we will let
+them drive on ahead. It irritates this little horse to see anything in
+front of it.'
+
+'Then we can make up speed,' said Edith, 'and catch them before they get
+to the mine. Is it far from here?'
+
+'No, not very far; at least, it doesn't take long to get there with a
+smart horse.'
+
+'I have enjoyed this experience ever so much,' she said; 'you see, my
+father had to come to Montreal on business, so I came with him, as usual,
+and, being there, I thought I would run up here and see the mine. I
+wanted,' she continued, looking at the other side of the cutter and
+trailing her well-gloved fingers in the snow--'I wanted to know
+personally whether my manager was conducting my property in the way it
+ought to be conducted, notwithstanding the very satisfactory
+balance-sheets he sends.'
+
+'_Your_ property!' exclaimed John, in amazement.
+
+'Certainly. You didn't know that, did you?' she replied, looking for a
+moment at him, and then away from him. 'I call myself the Mistress of
+the Mine.'
+
+'Then you are--you are----'
+
+'Mr. Smith,' said the girl coming to his rescue.
+
+There was a moment's pause, and the next words John said were not at all
+what she expected.
+
+'Take your hand out of the snow,' he commanded, 'and put it in under the
+buffalo robe; you have no idea how cold it is here, and your hand will be
+frozen in a moment.'
+
+'Really,' said the girl, 'an employee must not talk to his employer in
+that tone! My hand is my own, is it not?'
+
+'I hope it is,' said John, 'because I want to ask you for it.'
+
+For answer Miss Edith Longworth placed her hand in his.
+
+Actions speak louder than words. The sleigh was far in advance, and there
+were no witnesses on the white topped hills.
+
+'Were you astonished?' she said, 'when I told you that I owned the mine?'
+
+'Very much so indeed. Were _you_ astonished when I told you I wished to
+own the owner of the mine?'
+
+'Not in the slightest.'
+
+'Why?'
+
+'Because your treacherous friend Wentworth sent me your letter applying
+for a situation. You got the situation, didn't you, John?'
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Woman Intervenes, by Robert Barr
+
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