Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/152

 enough about the subject. We must have authoritative advice. Write to the editor of the British Architect and he will name the best man for the job. Meanwhile, get in touch with Stillson Crane, of Manchester, and invite him to Lyme Regis. You and I will change places. I become the private secretary, you the capitalist. An interview with Crane will show us whether or not he is a practical man. The line in his letter about getting a manager without fads impresses me in his favour, and if personal contact supports that impression, you will make arrangements for him to be superintendent."

Blake noted down these particulars on the back of the Manchester man's letter, then he said:

"If Crane is the capable man you expect him to be, he will very soon learn that you are the capitalist, and not I."

"I don't think so. I shall prove a much more courteous, deferential private secretary than you are, but in any case you will see him first, and report to me. Perhaps it would not be advisable for me to meet him at all, for I will now confess something that may surprise you. I intend devoting next spring and summer to the role of human derelict.