Nasmyth looked at him with a little confusion. “It is very kind, but, after all, I have no claim on you.”
“No,” agreed Acton, with a smile, “you haven’t in one way. This is, however, a kind of thing I’m more at home in than you seem to be, and there was a little promise I made your uncle. For another thing”––and he waved his hand––“I’m going to take a reasonable profit out of you.”
Nasmyth made no further objections, and they set out for Victoria that afternoon. Hames was, however, not readily traced; and when, on the following morning, they sat in Acton’s office waiting his appearance, Nasmyth was conscious of a painful uncertainty. Acton, with a smile on his face, leaned back in his chair until Hames was shown in. Hames was a big, bronze-faced man, plainly 303 dressed in city clothes, but there was, Nasmyth noticed, a trace of half-furtive uneasiness in his eyes. Acton looked up at him quietly, and let him stand for several moments. Then he waved his hand toward a chair.
“Won’t you sit down? We have got to have a talk,” said Acton. “I’ll come right to the point. You have have been buying land.”
Hames sat down. “I can’t quite figure how that concerns you,” he replied. “I’m not going to worry about it, any way.”
“I want that land––the block you bought from Waynefleet.”
“It’s not for sale,” asserted Hames. “If you have nothing else to put before me, I’ll get on. I’m busy this morning.”
Acton leaned forward in his chair. “When I’m in the city, I’m usually busy, too,” he said; “in fact, I’ve just three or four minutes to spare for you, and I expect to get through in that time. To begin with, you sent Mr. Hutton a note from your hotel when my clerk came for you. He never got it. You can have it back unopened. I can guess what’s in the thing.” He handed Hames an envelope. “Now,” he went on, “you can make a fuss about it, but I guess it wouldn’t be wise. Hutton doesn’t know quite as much about you as I do. I’ve had a finger in most of what has been done in this Province the last few years, and it’s not often I forget a man. Well, I guess I could mention one or two little affairs that were not altogether creditable which you had a share in.”
Hames laughed. “It’s quite likely.”
“Still, what you don’t know is that I’m on the inside track of what was done when the Hobson folks jumped the Black Crag claim. There was considerable trouble over the matter.”