oughtn't to amuse themselves Parker slowly elaborated occasionally?" Parker was what he considered to be a evidently a trifle anxious. "You know," said Parker after a pause, "it's rather pleasant to fool away money occasionally-on a woman, for instance." "You're finding that out, are you? You had better go back to Australia, Joe. How much did you give for that fan, by the way?" "Did she tell you about it?" the backwoodsman asked sheepishly. "Didn't think The telephone bell rang. Wendern turned to it feverishly. "Katherine is staying at Brighton till to-morrow," he said when he had replaced the receiver. "I should like to motor down and fetch her, but for some reason the mother doesn't want me to go, and for the life of me I can't think that Katherine does." "Then I wouldn't. Besides, I should say it's a good thing not to let a woman see you're eager." "But I am.' under his breath. hanging on her." It was said "My life is joke. "I don't hold with any sort of hanging," he said, "but I'm beginning to see that if one takes to thinking about a woman at all, a good many things have a way of hanging themselves on her." Dawson entered. Carneford, sir." "Sir John Parker held out his hand. "You'll see me again soon," there was meaning in his voice, "and I shouldn't wonder if I'm going to give you a surprise," with which lucid remark he departed. Sir John Carneford was 8 fussy gentleman of fifty, going grey, and stout, but still a good figure of a man. "The matter is this," he said when they had exchanged greetings. "I've come up on purpose to see you. Cyril Graham, our vicar, you met him when you came over to luncheon at Carneford last year, — is very anxious about your Syndicate "He was here just now." "Oh! I knew he was upset, but I didn't know he was in London. He had a couple of thousand to invest; he asked my advice, and I told him to trust it to Lant. I put in a thousand myself, and to tell you the truth, I can no more afford to lose the money than he can. "A little more, I should would be most You see, he had heard that Lant-who was very kind to his childrenwas a millionaire, and I knew you. Naturally, I thought tured" nothing could be better." "If the thing went wrong, I suppose you wouldn't let the parson lose his money?" "I don't want to lose mine," Sir John answered testily. "Still, when a poor man or any one else asks your advice about investments you should send him to a banker or a family lawyer, who would tell him that the Directors of a Syndicate for exploiting Australian estates-no matter how honest they may be-are not the right people to invest money with." Sir John was raising his voice; he felt as if he were sitting on the bench at the petty sessions in his own post town. Wendern put his hand on Carneford's arm and smiled; he was almost amused. "It is strange to have to regret that I won your good opinion,' he said. "You are very cool." "It's no good getting hot. Take my advice, and wait till Lant comes over." Against his will the other man was propitiated. He had always liked Wendern. "The "You don't mean that the fellow has such a charming thing isn't safe?" "It's more than a trifle to me. However, Lant will be in England directly, and a meeting will be called-that's all I can tell you." Wendern rose to put an end to the interview. "I don't want to be unpleasant, but if it turns out badly I shall expose-I mean to say I shall call for an investigation. Lant was most agreeable and vigorous, as colonists often are; but I don't think the fact that a man has stayed at your house should prevent you from taking measures that are right in the interests of justice. And, Mr Wendern, it was because we all liked you that I ven voice," he told his wife that evening. "'Pon my life, I couldn't believe that he was an impostor, or would do anything at all, in fact, that wasn't straightforward and above - board. There's something about him that makes it impossible. I really don't know how to explain what I mean." "I know," his wife said. "I daresay you do. I should think a good many women did." This was why he held out his hand. "All right," he said, "I'll wait till Lant comes over. By the way, I met a charming girl on Sunday at Brighton-Miss Fiffer. A great friend of yours, isn't she? "I should like to think so." As Wendern spoke another telegram was handed to him. He took it quickly, his hand closed over it, but he made no attempt to open it. "Well, I feel sure you may." Sir John felt that he was expected to say something more. "A great heiress, isn't she?" "I suppose so," Wendern answered coldly. Why did a middle-aged man's thoughts turn as naturally to money as a young man's to love? The door opened and Derbyshire appeared. Sir John, about to depart, pulled up. "Ah, how do you do, Derbyshire? You're in this Syndicate too-Director, eh?" "That's it. I'm in." got a thousand pounds in it, you know." "You didn't pay the thousand?" "Oh no, of course not, I never pay anything-not so extravagant as that. Lant wanted the use of my name on the prospectus, and I wanted a thousand pounds-always do. I didn't get it, but he said I should, and a good deal more as well-out of shares allotted, you know." "Ah! You met Lant before "Have you come to look you knew me, at Grantham Abbey?" after it?" "Of course. dern?" How do, Wen "Well, perhaps you can tell me something about it?" Sir John said. "Can't tell you anything about it wouldn't do-business is business. But it's all right," Derbyshire answered. He gave the elder man a nod of dismissal; it was taken and the door shut. Wendern had read his telegram, and was scrunching it in his hand; he had hardly heard the brief conversation of a moment ago. He looked up. Derbyshire was waiting. "Well, what is it?" he asked impatiently. "Look here, I've got some money in this show of yours." "Of yours too-you are a Director.' "Of course, but I don't know anything about it." "You didn't make any inquiries before you went on the Board?" "Not a bit. Lant said it was all right, so I didn't see why I should worry. But I've "That's it. Well, I'm rather hard up just now, you can keep my name on or off as you like, but I've been wondering whether you'd let me have the thousand pounds out, and I'll let you have the good deal more as well.' "Your generosity is overwhelming.' "Don't know about that, but I call it a fair offer, and you know all about Lant-it was Lant put me on to you. Thought you'd you'd be rather pleased, especially after the telegram I had from him this morning." "Telegram you had? A telegram from Lant?" Derbyshire nodded. "Says he'll be in London this week. Staying at the Grosvenor Hotel, and and the Syndicate's doing brilliantly. That's why I thought you'd let me have the thousand, don't you know." "You must wait till he comes." "Oh." Derbyshire was evidently disappointed. "Well, he eyes the other night, it made his brain whirl, and he wanted to keep it clear for business matters that still demanded attention. Katherine! every day and night that passed wove her closer and deeper into his life. Twenty-eight hours and a half till she came, sixty minutes to every hourcould be calm enough outwardly and not show a sign, but it seemed impossible to live through them. He drew in his breath and for a moment held the wooden arm of the chair on which he sat before his table. "If she and I were only a few thousand miles away in some part of the world which is as God left it, with the chance of coming back to this country she is so fond of when we'd thought out a sane scheme of life" he said to himself. But his eye caught a heap of letters and papers as yet untouched. He shunted her to a siding in his thoughts while he resolutely turned to the business of the Syndicate. There were dozens of letters brought down by the circular, grum.blings, complaints, threatenings; each writer intent on himself and his bit of money without a thought of the possible difficulties to be encountered by a large concern and the development that was frankly, from the outset, a speculative one. "It's the old story," he thought; "they are hampered by the whisperings of the devil, and the difficulties of living with any satisfaction to themselves in the midst of what is called a great civilisation." He touched the bell. "Dawson," he said, "did you make out that list of shareholders?" "Yes, sir." "I want to go through it." For the next hour he was hard at work. It dismayed him to find, from a receipt among some papers, that it was through him that Digby had come into the Syndicate. Wendern had never seen him till the day he presented himself at the office, knew nothing about him. But it seemed that he was a surveyor and landvaluer. A couple of summers ago, when the Bangor scheme was first before the public, Wendern had taken a little place in the country for a few weeks: there had been no garage to it, and one had been rented through Digby, who had thus heard of the Syndicate and associated it with his tenant. The number of small investors, mostly brought in by Lant, was considerable, and the sum involved came to more than it had seemed at a rough guess. "It doesn't matter," Wendern said, "they shall get their money back or both of us shall pay the piper. Luckily, if Lant proves to be a scoundrel, he is a good-natured one; that has always been to his credit." |