“Have you another Springbok proposition on hand?”
“No; bar chaffing. You were the man who ferreted out the truth about that West Australian combination when everybody else had failed. And, now I think of it, you made me talk a lot the last time you were here. However, I am ready. Fire away! I will tell you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me—”
“Sh-s-sh! Do not perjure yourself for the sake of alliteration. Besides, it is I who have come to talk this time.”
“About Springboks?”
“Yes. The people I mentioned to you at my previous visit are prepared to underwrite the shares, provided that their agent’s report is as favorable in its entirety as a telegraphic summary leads them to believe.”
“Eh? That’s good news! When will they be in a position to complete?”
“As soon as they hear from South Africa by post. Say three weeks.”
“So long! But suppose I get an offer from some other quarter in the meantime? I cannot keep the proposal open indefinitely.”
“I have not asked you to do so, Mr. Dodge. Let me see—three shillings per share on, say, two hundred thousand shares is £30,000. It is a good deal of money. If any one likes to hand you a cheque for that amount without preliminary investigation, take it by all means.”
The notion tickled Dodge immensely.