"You leave to the clerks," echoed Ned thoughtfully, "and some, no doubt, never come into the office at all."
Woods shrugged his high shoulders, "One can expect nothing else. It is impossible to gauge the extent to which dislike to what they call 'splitting' obtains amongst domestic servants. They will never tell on another. A great many of them, of course, refuse these monstrous suggestions for taking toll, but they would never dream of speaking to their employers about them, as they should." He sighed impatiently. "But what can you expect? Where are the fundamental principles of fair dealing taught in England? Nowhere!"
"Hullo, Woods!" remarked Ned with a laugh, "Don't throw over '_caveat emptor_.' It is the foundation stone of England's power." Then he frowned. "By the way, how are the men down at Biggie getting on--you gave them their wage every week for a month, I suppose?"
"I did," replied Woods gravely, "There is a lot of distress down there. You see it is not like a strike; you have definitely closed the works and paid forfeit on contracts. So the unions won't help. Some of these men have drifted away; but the trade is slack all over England. I won't say because of dumping; but the fact remains. It is slack."
Lord Blackborough looked at his secretary narrowly. "Woods!" he said, "what would you do?"
The keen face lit up. "Do," he echoed, "I know what I should dearly like to do--try an experiment. There are a lot of clever men in that factory, your lordship; I should lend them the capital to run the concern at one and a half per cent. interest, and--and await the result. Either way it would be an object-lesson."
"It would pay me," said Lord Blackborough, "if the state of affairs is to remain as bad as it has been. I'll--I'll see about it, Woods. Then I may take it that the hospital is really working on the lines I laid down?"
Woods coughed. "We are all very much on the lookout for fraud, your lordship," he said meekly, "but there must always be a percentage of error, so long as every one wishes to coin his neighbour into golden sovereigns."
"And that will be always, Woods," remarked Lord Blackborough with a laugh, "I believe it to be an entrancing occupation, and I mean to try it myself."