“A few thousands.”
“What is that? The man that speaks to me must have twenty thousand to begin with.”
The whole conversation was doubtless a thoughtless jest on both sides, but one pair of ears at least did not take it so. Alec sealed the words in his memory. And the first question he asked Soft Sam when they met him next day was—
“How can I make twenty thousand pounds?”
CHAPTER XI
HOW TO START IN BUSINESS
“That’s a pretty tidy sum,” said the old man; “not that the amount makes much difference while you are about it. It is just as easy to make twenty thousand pounds as twenty thousand pence, if you are on the right track. Now, I have been turning you two young chaps over in my mind, and the question is, what are you fit for that has got money in it? I should judge you,” turning to Alec, “to have a good loud voice!”
Without a word Alec stood up and gave a coo-ee like a steam whistle, a screech that could have been heard across the water at North Shore, and woke up the Domain sleepers like the sound of the last trump.
“That will do,” said the old man. “What a pair of bellows you must have! Now, the first thing you must do is to start in business.”
“But that will require capital, whatever we choose,” observed Huey.
“That is where you make the mistake, my lad. When a man starts in business with capital, the chances are ten to one he loses it. If a chap’s smart enough for business, he’s smart enough to start without capital. Now, money is made to be lost by the mug and picked up by the man of talent.”