He hung back, but, "Come, Mr. Grounds, take a seat," said the banker. "You know Sir Charles and Mr. Acherley? Sir Charles, will you sit on my right, and Mr. Acherley here, if you please? Bourdillon, will you take a note? We are met, as you know, gentlemen, to consider the formation of a Joint Stock Company, to be called"--he consulted a paper--"the Valleys Steam Railroad Company, for the purpose of connecting the woollen business of the Valleys with the town, and of providing the public with a superior mode of transport. The Bill for the Manchester and Liverpool Railroad is on the point of passing, and that great enterprise is as good as carried through. The Bill for the London and Birmingham Railroad is before the House; a Bill for a line from Birmingham to Aldersbury is preparing. Those projects are, gentlemen, in stronger hands than ours, and it might seem to some to be too early to anticipate their success and to provide the continuation we propose. But nothing is more certain than that the spoils are to those who are first in the field. The Stockton and Darlington Railway is proving what can be done by steam in the transport of the heaviest goods. There a single engine draws a load of fifty tons at the rate of six miles an hour, and has been known to convey a load of passengers at fifteen miles. Higher speeds are thought to be possible----"
"I'll never believe it!" Wolley growled, anxious to assert himself.
"But not desirable," Ovington continued blandly. "At any rate, if we wait too long----"
"There's no talk of waiting!" Acherley exclaimed. Neither he nor Sir Charles was in the habit of meeting on an equal footing the men with whom they were sitting to-day; he found the position galling, and what was to be done he was anxious should be done quickly. He had heard the banker's exordium before.
"No, we are here to act," Ovington assented, with an eye on Grounds, for whose benefit he had been talking. "But on sober and well-considered lines. We are all agreed, I think, that such a railroad will be a benefit to the trade and district?"
Now, to this proposition not one of those present would have assented a year before. "Steam railroads?" they would have cried, "fantastic and impossible!" But the years 1823 and 1824 had been years not only of great prosperity but of abnormal progress. The seven lean years, the years of depression and repression, which had followed Waterloo had come to an end. The losses of war had been made good, and simultaneously a more liberal spirit had been infused into the Government. Men had breathed freely, had looked about them, had begun to hope and to venture, to talk of a new world. Demand had overtaken and outrun supply, large profits had been made, money had become cheap, and, fostered by credit, the growth of enterprise throughout the country had been marvellous. It was as if, after the frosts of winter, the south wind had blown and sleeping life had everywhere awakened. Men doubled their operations and still had money to spare. They put the money in the funds--the funds rose until they paid no more than three per cent. Dissatisfied, men sought other channels for their savings, nor sought in vain. Joint Stock Companies arose on every side. Projects, good and bad, sprang up like mushrooms in a night. Old lodes and new harbors, old canals and new fisheries, were taken in hand, and for all these there seemed to be capital. Shares rose to a premium before the companies were floated, and soon the bounds of our shores were found to be too narrow for British enterprise. At that moment the separation of the South American countries from Spain fell out, and these were at once seen to offer new outlets. The romantic were dazzled with legends of mines of gold and pockets of diamonds, while the gravest saw gain in pampas waving with wheat and prairies grazed by countless herds. It was felt, even by the most cautious, that a new era had set in. Trade, soaring on a continual rise in prices, was to know no bounds. If the golden age of commerce had not begun, something very like it had come to bless the British merchant.
Under such circumstances the Valleys Railroad seemed a practical thing even to Grounds, and Ovington's question was answered by a general assent.
"Very good, gentlemen," he resumed. "Then I may take that as agreed." He proceeded to enter upon the details of the scheme. The length of the line would be fourteen miles. The capital was to be £45,000, divided into 4500 shares of £10 each, £1 a share to be paid at once, the sum so raised to be used for the preliminary expenses; £1 10s. per share to be paid three months later, and the rest to be called up as required. The directors' qualification would be fifty shares. The number of directors would be seven--the five gentlemen now present and two to be named, as to whom he would have a word to say by-and-by. Mr. Bourdillon, of whose abilities he thought highly--here several at the table looked kindly at the young man--and who for other reasons was eminently fitted for the position, would be secretary.
"But will the forty-five thousand be enough, sir?" Grounds ventured timidly. He alone was not directly interested in the venture. Wolley was the tenant of a large mill. Sir Charles was the owner of two mills and the hamlets about them, Acherley of a third. Ovington had various interests.
"To complete the line, Mr. Grounds? We believe so. To provide the engine and coaches another fifteen thousand will be needed, but this may be more cheaply raised by a mortgage."
Sir Charles shied at the word. "I don't like a mortgage, Mr. Ovington," he said.
"No, d----n a mortgage!" Acherley chimed in. He had had much experience of them.
"The point is this," the banker explained. "The road once completed, we shall be able to raise the fifteen thousand at five per cent. If we issue shares they must partake, equally with ourselves, in the profits, which may be fifteen, twenty, perhaps twenty-five per cent."
A twinkle of greed passed from eye to eye. Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five per cent.! Ho, ho!
"The next question," Ovington continued, "is important. We cannot use the highway, the gradients and angles render that impossible. We must acquire a right of way; but, fortunately, the estates we run over are few, no more than thirteen in all, and for a full third of the distance they are represented at this table." He bowed gracefully to the two landowners. "Sir Charles will, of course, be President of the Road and Chairman of the Directors. We are fortunate in having at our head a country gentleman who has"--he bowed again--"the enlightenment to see that the landed interest is best served by making commerce contributory to its well-being."
"But what about the game?" Sir Charles asked anxiously. "You don't think----"
"On that point the greatest care will be taken. We shall see that no covert is closely approached."
"And the--you won't bring the line within sight of----"
"Of the Park? God forbid! The amenities of every estate must be carefully guarded. And, of course, a fair price for the right of way will be agreed. Seven of the smaller landowners I have sounded, and we shall have no trouble with them. The largest estate outstanding----"
"Is my landlord's, I'll bet!" Wolley exclaimed.
"Yes--is Garth. Mr. Griffin's."
Wolley laughed rudely. "Garth? Ay, you'll have your work cut out there!"
"Oh. I don't know!"
"I do. And you'll find I'm right."
"Well, I hope----"
"You may hope what you like!" Sir Charles shuddered at the man's brusqueness. "The Squire's a hard nut to crack, and so you'll find, banker. If you can get him to do a thing he don't wish to do, you'll be the first that ever has. He hates the name of trade as he hates the devil!"
The baronet sat up. "Trade?" he exclaimed. "Oh! but I am not aware, sir, that this is---- Surely a railroad is on another footing?" Alarm was written on his face.
"Quite!" Ovington struck in. "Entirely different!
