Again the girl laughed.
“Dear me,” she said. “I thought you were here to buy my stock. I couldn’t think of taking advantage of a proposal that had been literally shaken out of a man. I’m afraid your mind is wandering a bit.”
“My mind was never clearer in its life. What is your answer, Dorothy?”
She sat down beside him, still laughing a little. The rivulet was at their feet, the railway embankment behind them, the highway, shrouded by trees, in front.
“Suppose we talk business first, and indulge in sentiment after,” said the girl, with a roguish twinkle in her eye. “I have been offered ten thousand dollars for my shares. Are you prepared to pay as much?”
“Yes.”
“Cash down?”
“Yes.”
“I imagine Mr. Blair would never have come all the way from Warmington to see me if he were not ready to pay a larger sum. I have therefore two further provisos to make. Proviso number one is that you will give me ten per cent, on the profits you make in this transaction. Of course, in spite of Mr. Hazlett’s caution, I know there is something very large going on, and naturally I wish to profit by it.”
“You are quite right, Miss Slocum, and I agree to the ten per cent, suggestion; in fact, I offered you a hundred per cent, in the beginning, and myself into the bargain, which proposal you have ignored. What is the second proviso?”