Hawtrey read the reports with evident interest. All were in the same pessimistic strain, and he could not know that the money-lender had carefully selected them with a view to the effect he hoped to produce. Edmonds, who saw the interest in Hawtrey’s eyes, leaned towards him confidentially when he spoke again.
“I don’t mind admitting that I’m taking a hand in a big bear operation,” he said. “It’s rather outside my usual business, but the thing looks almost certain.”
Hawtrey glanced at him with a gleam in his eyes. There was no doubt that the prospect of acquiring money by an easier method than toiling in the rain and wind appealed to him.
“If it’s good enough for you it should be safe,” he remarked. “The trouble is that I’ve nothing to put in.”
“Then you’re not empowered to lay out Wyllard’s money. If that was the case it shouldn’t be difficult to pile up a bigger margin than you’re likely to do by farming.”
Hawtrey started, for the idea had already crept into his mind.
“In a way, I am, but I’m not sure that I’m warranted in operating on the market with it.”
“Have you the arrangement you made with him in writing?”
Hawtrey opened a drawer, and Edmonds betrayed no sign of the satisfaction he felt when he was handed an informally worded document. He perused it carefully, and it seemed to him that it constituted Hawtrey a partner in the Range, which was satisfactory. He looked up thoughtfully.
“Now,” he said, “while I naturally can’t tell what Wyllard contemplated, this paper certainly gives you power to do anything you think advisable with his money. In any case, I understand that he can’t be back until well on in next year.”