Page:Barr--Stranleighs millions.djvu/53

Rh "Oh, perfectly."

"And you think you can overcome it?"

Absolutely sure of it, if I am assisted by the right men."

"Very well, your offer is accepted. What next?"

"To-morrow you will take steps to form this into a limited liability company, capital five thousand pounds in one pound shares. I will give you a note of introduction to the solicitor who attends to this class of business for me. Two thousand four hundred of these shares will belong to you."

"Oh, this is absurd. Lord Stranleigh. I can't both have my cake and eat it. As I've sold you this business for more than five times what it is worth, it would be absurd that I should receive nearly half of it back again."

"Nothing is so deceptive as these old adages, my dear Bendale. Thousands of men possess their cake and eat it too. There is our friend Brassard, for instance. He has built up a tremendous cake by gaining possession of the small cakes that belonged to other people and welding them together, as one might say. He not only has his cake, but the more he eats of it, the bigger it seems to grow. No; that cake adage is faulty, which is also the case with my cake simile, for one can't make a big cake out of a number of smaller cakes unless you acquire them in the form of dough. Brassard's conduct belongs to the 'dog eat dog' category.