"Or they may be. They don't appear to have the ghost of a claim, but they may keep the thing hanging on for ever and ever."
"There can be no harm in making the attempt," Rufus said.
"Then I will see their solicitors at once."
Rufus hung about Reboth two months longer, hoping, expecting, sometimes despairing. But in the end all the parties agreed that a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. So terms were accepted and ratified by the court.
"Now," said Mr. Mason, "you can begin to develop your property."
"You think it is valuable?"
"No doubt about that. If it had been worthless the whole thing would have been settled a generation ago."
"But how should I begin?"
"Form a syndicate. Let me take the matter in hand for you."
Rufus was eager to go in search of Madeline. But he found himself, suddenly, one of the busiest men, so he believed, in the United States. Moreover, he refused to be rushed. A good many American methods he did not like, and would not have. There was any number of capitalists ready to stake large sums in the new venture. Any number of Stock Exchange men who flickered around like flies. Any number of sharpers who tried the confidence trick, but tried it in vain.