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,
