The man himself sat humped over slightly, his head thrust a little forward as though on the point of launching a truculent challenge. He was lean, gray, with bushy, overhanging brows, eyes with glinting metallic surfaces, had long sinewy hands, and a carved granite and inscrutable face, His few words of greeting revealed his voice as harsh, grating and domineering.
Keith, reading his man, wasted no time in preliminaries.
"Mr. Neil," he said, "I have a scheme by which a great deal of money can be made."
Neil grunted. If it had not been for the fact that John Sherwood had introduced the maker of that speech, the interview would have here terminated. Malcolm Neil deeply distrusted men with schemes to make large sums of money. After a time, as Keith still waited, he growled;
"What is it?"
"That," said Keith, "I shall not disclose until my standing in the matter is assured."
"What do you want?" growled Neil.
"Fifty per cent of the profits, if you go in."
"What do you want of me?"
"The capital."