Then he reentered his hansom, and went along to the office of a
stockbroker, called Polglaze, who was a member of 'The Bachelors',
and in whose hands Vandeloup intended to place his business.
Polglaze was a short, stout man, scrupulously neatly dressed, with
iron grey hair standing straight up, and a habit of dropping out his
words one at a time, so that the listener had to construct quite a
little history between each, in order to arrive at their meaning,
and the connection they had with one another.
'Morning!' said Polglaze, letting the salutation fly out of his
mouth rapidly, and then closing it again in case any other word
might be waiting ready to pop out unknown to him.
Vandeloup sat down and stated his business briefly.
'I want you to buy me some Magpie Reef shares,' he said, leaning on
the table.
'Many?' dropped out of Polglaze's mouth, and then it shut again with
a snap. 'Depends on the price,' replied Vandeloup, with a shrug; 'I
see in the papers they are four shillings.'
Mr Polglaze took up his share book, and rapidly turned over the
leaves--found what he wanted, and nodded.
'Oh!' said Vandeloup, making a rapid mental calculation, 'then buy
me two thousand five hundred. That will be about five hundred
pounds' worth.'
Mr Polglaze nodded; then whistled.
'Your commission, I presume,' said Vandeloup, making another
calculation, 'will be threepence?'
'Sixpence,' interrupted the stockbroker.
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