“I’ll go back to London and raise the money,” he said. “We shall want a couple of millions eventually, but half a million will do to go on with. You had better be with me in the big scheme, Maxell. There is nothing to lose for you. You’ll be in on the ground floor. What is the good of your pottering about with your little Company—I mean the Parent Company?”
“I have faith in that,” said Maxell. “I know just the amount of my indebtedness.”
“You’re a fool,” said the other shortly. “The big scheme may mean millions to you, and I shall want your help and guidance.”
Maxell hesitated. The lure was dazzling, the prize was immense. But it meant risks which he was not prepared to take. He knew something of Cartwright’s financial methods; he had seen them in their working, and had done not a little on one occasion to save Cartwright from the consequences of his own cleverness. Yet, as he argued, Cartwright would have no difficulty in raising the money from the general public, and his presence on the board would certainly be a guarantee against his companion departing from the narrow path.
Although it was not generally known that he was associated in any of Cartwright’s enterprises, there had been a whisper of an inquiry in influential quarters, and it had been hinted to him that, on the whole, it would be better if he kept himself aloof from the gentleman who, admirable business man as he was, had a passion for enterprises which occasionally verged upon the illegal. But those influential quarters had not whispered anything in the shape of a definite promise that his welfare was entirely in their keeping and that his future would not be overlooked.
He was an ambitious man, but his ambitions ran in realisable directions. The services he had rendered to the Government were such as deserved a recognition, and the only question was what form that recognition would take? His knowledge of languages qualified him for an important appointment under the Foreign Office; but the Foreign Office was a close preserve and difficult to break into. There were too many permanent officials who regarded the service as a family affair, and were jealous of patronage outside their own charmed circle.
He went in to lunch that day to find Cartwright reading a telegram which he folded up and put into his pocket upon the other’s appearance.
“My little friend has arrived in Gibraltar,” said Cartwright.
Maxell looked at him curiously.
“What happens now?” he demanded.