'
'I haven't the slightest.'
'Nevertheless, I will tell you who gave the money to Wentworth. It was
my dear friend Melville. I didn't tell you in New York, of course, that
Melville and I had a little quarrel about this matter, and he went home
decidedly huffy. I had no idea he would take this method of revenge; but
I see it quite clearly now. He knew I had secured the option of the
mine. There was a little trouble as to what our respective shares were
to be, and I thought, as I had secured the option, I had the right to
dictate terms. He thought differently. He was going to Von Brent to
explain the whole matter; but I pointed out that such a course would do
no good, the option being legally made out in my name, so that the
moment your claim expired mine began. When this dawned upon him, he took
the steamer and went to England. Now, I can see his hand in this
artistic finish to the affair. It was a pretty sharp trick of
Melville's, and I give him credit for it. He is a very much shrewder and
cleverer man than I thought he was.'
'It seems to me, Mr. Longworth, that your inordinate conceit makes you
always underestimate your friends, or your enemies either, for that
matter.'
'There is something in that, Kenyon; I think you are more than half right,
but I thought, perhaps, I could make it advantageous to you to do
me a favour in this matter. I thought you might have no objection to
writing a little document to the effect that the money did not come in
time, and consequently, I had secured the mine.
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