At this moment there was a double knock at the door, and Mrs. Jones soon re-entered with a letter.
"From the Admiralty," said Micklewright, tearing open the envelope. "Listen to this, Teddy."
"'I am directed by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to say that they are prepared to pay you £20,000 for the formula of your new explosive, and a royalty, the amount of which will be subsequently arranged, on every ton manufactured. They lay down as a peremptory condition that the formula be kept absolutely secret, and that the explosive be supplied exclusively to the British navy. I shall be glad if you will intimate your general agreement with these terms.'"
"Congratulations, old boy!" cried Burton heartily, grasping his friend's hand. "It's magnificent!"
Congratulations
"I really think you are right, and as it's very clear that but for you I shouldn't have been able to accept any terms whatever, it's only fair to----"
"Nonsense!" Burton interrupted. "All I want is fifty francs, for illicit smoking--a cheap smoke, as it turns out."
"Can't do it, my boy. Wait till I get my Lords Commissioners' cheque."
A week or two later, Burton's firm received an order from Dr. Micklewright for a water-plane of the best type, with all the latest improvements in canoe floats, and the finest motor on the market. When the machine was ready for delivery, Micklewright paid a visit to the factory.