"Oh, I've made one right enough, but it's inside my skull and out of public view."
"H'm," said Image. "Don't want any competitors, eh, Carter-me-lad?"
"Why should I?"
"Well, drink up, and let me fill your glass. Here, have another squirt of bitters."
"No, thanks, Cappie, no more. I drank enough champagne with the King of Okky to last me months. I've got a lot of big business ahead of me and I want a clear head. Now, if you take this consignment of tin ore home for me, and rob me as little as you can help over freight, what's next? Swansea and a smelter, I suppose?"
"They're a bit Welsh down in Swansea," said Captain Image, who came from Cardiff himself. "They'll do with a trifle of looking after. What you want's a smart agent."
"The thing I want first and soonest is cash. Now, look here, Cappie, you know Swansea, and you're fond, by the Coast account, of a bit of commission. Well, here's a nice lump of it on offer. If you'll get some smelter firm to buy this parcel of ore on assay, and pay cash for it, I'll give you five per cent. on what you raise."
"It's a deal. You couldn't have come to a better man, Carter-me-lad. I'll open you an account at the Bank of West Africa——"
"And get the whole balance cabled out here?"
"I was going to suggest that," said Captain Image, doubtfully, "if you hadn't rushed me so. But you won't want the lot. Now, with fifty pounds or so——"