'It cannot be worth very much if that is all they ask for it.'
'The price they ask for it has really nothing at all to do with the value of the mine. They do not know the value of it. They are not working it, even now, so as to bring out all there is in it. They are mining for mica, and, as I told you, the mineral which they are throwing away is very much more valuable than all the mica they can get out of the mine. If it were worked rightly, the mica would pay all expenses, as well as a good dividend on fifty thousand pounds, while the other mineral would pay a large dividend on one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or even two hundred thousand pounds.'
'I see. And you feel positive that there is enough of this mineral to hold out for some time?'
'Oh, I am positive of that. There is a whole mountain of it.'
'And do you get the mountain as well as the mine?'
'We get three hundred acres of it, and I think there would be no difficulty in buying the rest.'
'Well, that would seem to be a good speculation, and I am sure I hope you will succeed in forming your company. How much money are you prepared to spend in floating the mine?'
'I have practically nothing at all. My asset, as it were, is the option I have on the mine.'
'Then, how are you going to pay the preliminary fees, the advertising in the newspapers, the cost of counsel, and all that? These expenses will amount to something very heavy in the formation of a company. Of course you know that.'
'Well, you see, I think that perhaps we can get two or three men to go into this and form our company quietly, without having any of those heavy expenses which are necessary in the forming of some companies.'