That was how it ran when faithfully interpreted by Mr. Carlin.
"You see," observed Lord Semingham, "it's clearly a matter of money."
Tom nodded.
"Of course it is," said he; "it's not likely to be a question of anything else."
"Therefore the Germans have something worth paying for," continued Semingham.
"Well," amended Tom, "something Ruston thinks it worth his while to pay for, anyhow."
"That is to say they have treaties touching, or purporting to touch, Omofaga."
"And," added Harry Dennison, who did not lack a certain business shrewdness, "probably their Government behind them to some extent."
Tom flung himself into a chair.
"The thing's monstrous," he pronounced. "Semingham and you, Dennison, are, besides himself—and he's got nothing—the only people responsible up to now. And he asks you to give him an unlimited credit without giving you a word of information! It's the coolest thing I ever heard of in all my life."