"Besides what?"
"I don't think he will ever understand business."
"Why not?"
"From words he said to me. From words he has said to others."
"What words? Tell me plainly what you mean?"
"I had rather not."
"Now look here, Scales," said Masterman, "either you have said too much or not enough. In a few weeks Arthur will be my partner, and the sooner you begin to think of him in that way the better for our future relations."
"I don't think he will ever be your partner," said Scales quietly.
"Why not?"
"Because he is a wild, impracticable boy," said Scales, throwing away his caution. "Because he told me that business—your business and mine—was, in his opinion, organised theft. Because he has been going about saying that you are a scoundrel——"