"How did you get to hear about it, Excellency?". asked Bones.
His att.i.tude was one of undisguised antagonism. He might have been a little resentful that the opportunity had come to Sanders through any other agency than his own.
"I had a letter from the solicitors asking me if the idea appealed to me, and recalling my services on the Coast," said Sanders. "Of course I know very little about the Mazeppa Trading Company, though I had heard of it years gone past as a very profitable concern. The solicitors were quite frank, and told me that business had fallen off, due to inexperienced management. They pointed out the opportunities which existed--the possibilities of opening new stations--and I must confess that it appealed to me. It will mean hard work, but the salary is good."
"Hold hard, Sir and Excellency," said Bones. "What did you have to put up in the way of shares?"
Sanders flushed. He was a shy man, and not given to talking about his money affairs.
"Oh, about five thousand pounds," he said awkwardly. "Of course, it"s a lot of money; but even if the business isn"t successful, I have a five-year contract with the company, and I get more than my investment back in salary."
That night Bones stayed on after Hamilton had left, and had for companion Miss Marguerite Whitland, a lady in whose judgment he had a most embarra.s.sing faith. He had given her plenty of work to do, and the rhythmical tap-tap of her typewriter came faintly through the door which separated the outer from the inner office.
Bones sat at his desk, his chin in his hand, a very thoughtful young man, and before him was a copy of the latest evening newspaper, opened at the Stock Exchange page. There had been certain significant movements in industrial shares--a movement so interesting to the commentator upon Stock Exchange doings that he had inserted a paragraph to the effect that:
"The feature of the industrial market was the firmness of Mazeppa Trading shares, for which there was a steady demand, the stock closing at 19_s_. 9_d_. Mazeppa shares have not been dealt in within the House for many years, and, in fact, it was generally believed that the Company was going into liquidation, and the shares could be had for the price of the paper on which they were printed. It is rumoured in the City that the Company is to be reconstructed, and that a considerable amount of new capital has been found, with the object of expanding its existing business."
Bones read the paragraph many times, and at the conclusion of each reading returned to his reverie. Presently he rose and strolled into the office of his secretary, and the girl looked up with a smile as Bones seated himself on the edge of her table.
"Young miss," he said soberly, "do you ever hear anybody talking about me in this jolly old City?"
"Why, yes," she said in surprise.
"Fearfully complimentarily, dear old miss?" asked Bones carelessly, and the girl"s colour deepened.
"I don"t think it matters what people say about one, do you?"
"It doesn"t matter to me," said Bones, "so long as one lovely old typewriter has a good word for poor old Bones." He laid his hand upon hers, and she suffered it to remain there without protest. "They think I"m a silly old a.s.s, don"t they?"
"Oh, no," she said quickly, "they don"t think that. They say you"re rather unconventional."
"Same thing," said Bones. "Anybody who"s unconventional in business is a silly old a.s.s."
He squeezed the hand under his, and again she did not protest or withdraw it from his somewhat clammy grip.
"Dear old darling----" began Bones, but she stopped him with a warning finger.
"Dear old typewriter," said Bones, unabashed, but obedient, "suppose something happened to the clever old Johnny who presides over this office--the brains of the department, if I may be allowed to say so?"
"Captain Hamilton?" said the girl in surprise.
"No, me," said Bones, annoyed. "Gracious Heavens, dear old key-tapper, didn"t I say me?"
"Something happen to you?" she said in alarm. "Why, what could happen to you?"
"Suppose I went broke?" said Bones, with the comfortable air of one who was very unlikely to go broke. "Suppose I had terrific and tremendous and cataclysmic and what"s-the-other-word losses?"
"But you"re not likely to have those, are you?" she asked.
"Not really," said Bones, "but suppose?"
She saw that, for once, when he was speaking to her, his mind was elsewhere, and withdrew her hand. It was a fact that Bones did not seem to notice the withdrawal.
"Poor old Bones, poor old mug!" said Bones softly. "I"m a funny old devil."
The girl laughed.
"I don"t know what you"re thinking about," she said, "but you never strike me as being particularly funny, or poor, or old, for the matter of that," she added demurely.
Bones stooped down from the table and laid his big hand on her head, rumpling her hair as he might have done to a child.
"You"re a dear old Marguerite," he said softly, "and I"m not such a ditherer as you think. Now, you watch old Bones." And, with that cryptic remark, he stalked back to his desk.
Two days after this he surprised Hamilton.
"I"m expecting a visitor to-day, old Ham," he said. "A Johnny named de Vinne."
"De Vinne?" frowned Hamilton. "I seem to know that name. Isn"t he the gentleman you had the trouble with over the boots?"
"That"s the jolly old robber," said Bones cheerfully. "I"ve telegraphed and asked him to come to see me."
"About what?" demanded Hamilton.
"About two o"clock," said Bones. "You can stay and see your old friend through, or you can let us have it out with the lad in camera."
"I"ll stay," said Hamilton. "But I don"t think he"ll come."
"I do," said Bones confidently, and he was justified in his confidence, for at two o"clock to the second Mr. de Vinne appeared.
He was bright and cheerful, even genial to Bones, and Bones was almost effusive in his welcome.
"Sit down there in the most comfortable chair, happy old financier," he said, "and open your young heart to old Bones about the Mazeppa Trading Company."
Mr. de Vinne did not expect so direct an attack, but recovered from his surprise without any apparent effort.
"Oh, so you know I was behind that, do you? How the d.i.c.kens did you find out?"
"Stock Exchange Year Book, dear old thing. Costs umpteen and sixpence, and you can find out everything you want to know about the directors of companies," said Bones.
"By Jove! That"s clever of you," said de Vinne, secretly amused, for it was from the Year Book that he expected Bones to make the discovery.
"Now, what"s the game, old financial gentleman?" asked Bones. "Why this fabulous salary to friend Sanders and selling this thousands of pounds worth of shares, eh?"
The other shrugged his shoulders.
"My dear chap, it"s a business transaction. And really, if I thought you were going to interrogate me on that, I shouldn"t have come. Is Mr. Sanders a friend of yours?" he asked innocently.
"Shurrup!" said Bones vulgarly. "You know jolly well he"s a friend of mine. Now, what is the idea, young company promoter?"