Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/268

 "Do you call that fair competition, Mackeller?"

"Why not?"

"You intend to build the fortunes of your financial house on the ruins of Selwyn's Bank?"

"Not necessarily on its ruins. Indeed, if Corbitt wakes up in time, my competition may be to the advantage of Selwyn's Bank, but he is such a conceited ass that he may not come to a realisation of the crisis until it is too late. His methods are antiquated. Nowadays a man must search for business and find it. The days have passed when the manager of a bank could sit in his room, and wait for the good things of life to fall into his lap."

A shade of perplexity troubled the face of the younger man. He bent his head, and remained silent for a few moments, deep in thought. It was evident that with all his researches through the inner workings of Selwyn's Bank, Mackeller had no suspicion it was really owned by Lord Stranleigh himself, who had heedlessly promised to aid an enterprise which now proved to be a raid upon his own property. Had any suggestion of this outcome occurred to him, he would have stopped Mackeller before he got so far in the unravelling of his plot. The young nobleman found himself in a quandary. Should he tell Mackeller at this stage