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