"Is there?" said Gore uneasily; "that's bad."
"Yes, it is very bad," Pateley went on. "I suppose you have heard that there are ugly rumours about the 'Equator.'"
"I saw something," Sir William said, forcing himself to speak. "What is it exactly that they say?"
"Well, the last thing they say," Pateley replied with a harder ring in his voice, "is that it is not a gold mine at all."
"What?" said Sir William, grasping the arms of his chair.
"And that the whole thing, therefore, is going to pieces with every penny invested in it."
"Is it—is it as bad as that?" said the other, tremulously. "No, no, it can't be. Surely it can't be."
"Do you mean to say you don't know?" said Pateley.
"I know nothing," said Sir William. "I have heard nothing about it, up to this moment."
"One can't help wondering," said Pateley, "that a man in your responsible position towards it," the words struck Sir William like a blow, "should not have known, should not have inquired——"