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110 us the slip and gone home. We suspect he knows all. But we have not divulged the secret to anybody.'

'Seymour,' my brother-in-law said impressively, 'there is no time to be lost. I must write this evening to Sir David—I mean to My Lord. Do you happen to know where he is stopping at present?'

'The Morning Post announced two or three days ago that he was at Glen-Ellachie,' I answered.

'Then I'll ask him to come over and thrash the matter out with me,' my brother-in-law went on. 'A very rich reef, they say. I must have my finger in it!'

We adjourned into the study, where Sir Charles drafted, I must admit, a most judicious letter to the rival capitalist. He pointed out that the mineral resources of the country were probably great, but as yet uncertain. That the expense of crushing and milling might be almost prohibitive. That access to fuel was costly, and its conveyance difficult. That water was scarce, and commanded by our section. That two rival companies, if they happened to hit upon ore, might cut one another's throats by erecting two sets of furnaces or pumping plants, and bringing two separate streams to the spot, where one would answer. In short—to employ the golden word—that amalgamation might prove better in the end than competition; and that he advised, at least, a conference on the subject.