'No; he didn't tell me that. The mine is working, however.'
'It is very curious! I never heard of it.'
'I gathered from him,' said Mr. Melville, 'that he wishes to do something with the mine over here. He did not say much, but he told me his partner—I forget his name—was talking at the present moment with young Longworth about it.'
'Longworth—who's he?'
'He's a man who goes in for mines or other investments; that is, his uncle does—a very shrewd old fellow, too. He is always on the right side of the market, no matter how it turns.'
'Then, he would be a man certain to know the value of the property if he had it, wouldn't he?'
'I don't know anybody who knows the value of what he has better than Longworth.'
'Ah, that's a pity,' mused the manager.
'Why? Is it a mineral of any worth?'
'Worth! A quarry of this would be better for us than a gold-mine!'