"Well?"
"You know our hope has been to work the lode ourselves; to increase our plant, as we have made a little money; to employ only St. Goram men, and give each one a share in the concern. It was a benevolent idea, but it is clear we are not to be allowed to carry it out."
"Well?"
"Two courses are still open to us. The first is to fill in the prospecting pits and let the lode lie undeveloped. The second is to let the financiers come in and form a company that shall be strong enough to meet Lord St. Goram and his class on their own ground."
Ralph was silent.
"I know you do not like either alternative," William went on, "but we are pushed up into a corner."
"The first alternative will fail for the reason I mentioned just now," Ralph interposed. "St. Goram will dispute the right of way."
"And he knows we cannot afford to go to law with him."
"Exactly."
"Then we are thrown back on the second alternative, and our little dream of a benevolent autocracy is at an end. Strangers must come in. People who have no interest in St. Goram will find the money. A board of directors will manage the concern, and you and I will be lost in the crowd."