'
'Then, by God, you shall!' and with that Wentworth strode to the door and
turned the key, while the old man rose from his seat and faced him.
'Do you mean to threaten me, sir, in my own office?'
'I mean to say, Mr. Longworth, that I have made a statement which I am
going to prove to you. I mean that you shall listen to me, and listen to
me _now_!'
'And I say, if you have anything to charge against my nephew, come and
say it when he is here.'
'When he is here, Mr. Longworth, it will be too late to say it; at
present you can repair the injury he has done. When he returns to England
you cannot do so, no matter how much you might wish to make the attempt.'
The old man stood irresolute for a moment, then he sat down in his chair
again.
'Very well,' he said, with a sigh; 'I am not so combative as I once was.
Go on with your story.'
'My story is very short,' said Wentworth; 'it simply amounts to this:
You know your nephew formed a partnership with us in relation to the
Canadian mine?'
'I know nothing about it, I tell you,' answered Mr. Longworth.
'Very well, you know it now.'
'I know you say so.'
'Do you doubt my word?'
'I shall tell you more definitely when I hear what you have to say. Go
on.'
'Well, your nephew, pretending to aid us in forming this company, did
everything to retard our progress. He engaged offices that took a long
time to fit up, and which we had at last to take in hand ourselves.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303