Philip was prepared for this lukewarm support; he had not expected Wrentham to enter upon the plan with enthusiasm, and was aware that men of business would regard it as a mere fancy, in which a good deal of money would be thrown away. But he was confident that the result would justify his sanguine calculations.
‘I am sorry you cannot take a more cheerful view of my project, Wrentham; but I hope some day to hear you own that you were mistaken. We shall begin by buying this land—here is the plan. Then if we get it at a fair price, we shall proceed to erect two blocks of good healthy tenements for working-people. We shall be our own contractors, and so begin our experiment with the men at once. Take the plans home with you, and look them over; and to-morrow you can open negotiations for the purchase of the land.’
Wrentham’s eyes brightened.
‘Ah, that’s better—that’s something I can do.’
‘You will find that there are many things you can do in carrying out the work,’ said Philip, smiling.
The general manager was restored to equanimity by the prospect of a speculation in land. The young enthusiast went his way, contented with the thought that he had taken the first step towards a social reform of vast importance.
The same afternoon the agents for the land in question received a communication from a solicitor inquiring the terms on which it was to be sold.
THE HOMING PIGEON.
BY GORDON STABLES, M.D., R.N.
‘Let it off at Leicester, sir.’