It was decided to lay the matter before Mr. Duncan and Mr. Kenby that night, and the boys immediately arranged for a conference. Mr. Duncan had often wondered, he said, what Chot had done with the money asked for so mysteriously while at Winton, but had never sought to question him, knowing that Chot would tell him in good time.
The conference was held in Chot’s attic room, and the matter of the mine laid before Mr. Duncan and Mr. Kenby in detail. Chot told of Luther Pendleton’s visit to Stockdale, how he had sent for him and made the proposition, and how for Lucy’s sake, more than anything else, Chot had wired Mr. Duncan for the money.
“You and Tom, then, own a fifth share each?” Mr. Duncan asked.
“Yes, and another fifth is held by Lucy. Pendleton kept two-fifths as his share for working the proposition.”
“Well there’s nothing unfair about that, but if matters ever came to a crisis, it would depend on Lucy entirely as to which way the stock would go. Do you understand what I mean? If Lucy leaned toward her father he would have the controlling interest. If she leaned toward you, the advantage would be on your side.”
The boys nodded to signify that they understood.
“Pendleton is a shrewd fellow,” said Mr. Kenby, “and while we may not like him personally, I do not believe he would bother with a mining proposition at all if he did not see money in it.”
“That’s true,” said Mr. Duncan. “Like yourself I have some confidence in the actual value of the property. What I am afraid of is that Pendleton is seeking a way to eventually crowd the boys out of the proposition altogether. There is only one way to remedy such a thing—that is through a controlling interest in the mine, and that the boys have not got.”
“Then let me suggest that we induce Lucy to part with her share to Fleet,” said Mr. Kenby. “That will give the boys a three-fifths interest, and will overcome the difficulty you mention.”
“A good idea,” said Mr. Duncan. “Chot shall write to Lucy at once. She is in Stockdale with her aunt—or, at least, she said that was where she was going when she left here a few weeks since.”