“We’ll all go,” said Bethune with a grin. “I believe he knows us already, and he won’t get much out of Hank.”
“I’m sure not great at talking,” Moran agreed. “Now, if he tried to have us sandbagged, and you told me to get after him—”
“It hasn’t come to that yet,” Bethune laughed. “The fellow’s more refined in his methods, but they’re quite as dangerous.” He looked at the note. “However, it’s nearly time, and we may as well make a start.”
Clay looked up in surprise from his seat at a small table when the three walked in, and he felt half amused at Moran’s steady, defiant stare. This, he thought, was a strange companion for Bethune, whom he at once recognized as the business leader of the party. Jimmy he dismissed, after a searching glance, as less dangerous. He was the practical seaman, no doubt, but it was his partner’s intelligence that directed their affairs.
“Sit down,” Clay said, taking out his cigar-case. “I wrote to Mr. Farquhar, but I’m glad to see you all. Will you have anything to drink?”
“No, thanks,” Jimmy answered quickly; and added, “I’m afraid it’s rather an intrusion, but as we go together, I thought I might bring my friends.”
Clay understood his refusal as a declaration of hostility, but he smiled.
“As you prefer,” he said, lighting a cigar and quietly studying his callers.
The room was large and handsome, with an inlaid floor, massive pillars, and pictures of snow-clad mountains on the walls. It was then almost unoccupied, and that added to the effect of its size and loftiness, but two very smart and somewhat supercilious attendants hovered in the background. Farquhar and his friends were shabbily dressed, and Clay had hoped that they might feel themselves out of place and perhaps embarrassed by his silence, but there was no sign of this. Indeed, they seemed very much at ease. Bethune’s expression was slightly bored, while Moran glanced about with naïve curiosity. For all that, they looked worn, and there was something about them which suggested tension. They had felt the pressure he had skilfully brought to bear, but whether it had made them compliant or not remained to be seen.
“Well,” Clay began, “we must have a talk. You have undertaken some salvage operations at a wreck in the North?”