"I'm offering you thirty thousand pounds cash," said the colonel, and his bearer was stricken speechless.
"Thirty thousand pounds cash!" he said after awhile. "Why, man, that property is worth two hundred thousand pounds."
"I thought it was worth a little more," said the colonel carelessly.
"You're a fool or a madman," said the angry Yorkshireman. "It isn't my mill, it is a limited company."
"But you hold the majority of the shares—ninety-five per cent., I think," said the colonel. "Those are the shares which you will transfer to me at the price I suggest."
"I'll see you damned first," roared Crotin, bringing his hand down smash on the table.
"Sit down again for one moment." The colonel's voice was gentle but insistent. "Do you know Maggie Delman?"
Suddenly Crotin's face went white.
"She was one of your father's mill-girls when you were little more than a boy," the colonel proceeded, "and you were rather in love with her, and one Easter you went away together to Blackpool. Do you remember?"
Still Crotin did not speak.