SHADED lamp stood on the table of Acton's room, and, as Nasmyth entered, he saw Wisbech, whom he had not met since his arrival, sitting just inside the light of it in a lounge-chair. He strode forward and shook hands with his uncle.
"Until I got your letter I almost fancied you were in Japan," he said.
Wisbech smiled at him. "I shall probably start very shortly. In fact, I never expected to stay here half so long as I have done, but I found a good deal to interest me in this country, and it's twenty years since I have been away from business for more than a week or two. The works were mine until very recently, but there are times now when I'm not altogether sorry I'm merely a director of the company."
Acton laid a handful of cigars on the table, and drew out a chair for Nasmyth.
"Well," he replied reflectively, "there is a good deal in this country that would interest a sensible man, but I'm not sure that's exactly what has kept Mr. Wisbech so long in Victoria. I've a point or two to mention later, but I'll let him speak first. It's his affair."
Nasmyth sat down, and he did not immediately notice that while Acton had placed his chair where the light struck full upon his face, Wisbech sat a little farther back in the shadow cast by the shade of the lamp. After a moment Acton sought the dimmer part of the room. Wisbech turned to Nasmyth.
"I understand that you expect to marry Miss Hamilton by-and-by," he said. "No doubt you have thought over the question of what you're going to keep a wife on?"
"I admit that it's one that has caused me a good deal of anxiety;" and Nasmyth leaned forward, with his elbows on the table. "Still, it hasn't troubled me quite so much of late. If I succeed with the scheme I have in hand, it will bring me money enough to make a start with a larger venture of the kind, or to enable me to undertake ranching on a reasonably extensive scale. When the land is ready for cultivation, and you haven't to face the initial cost of getting rid of heavy timber, the business is a profitable one."
"It is possible that Miss Hamilton would not care to live at even a tolerably extensive ranch. She has been accustomed to comfort of every kind and cheerful society, and there can't be very much of either in the Bush; while, if you undertake any further work of the kind you suggest, it would be a few years before you made your mark. Now, I'm not sure it would be reasonable to expect a young woman like Miss Hamilton to wait indefinitely."
Nasmyth flushed a little. "I think," he replied, "that is a question which concerns Miss Hamilton and me alone."
Acton leaned forward in his chair. "Mrs. Acton seems to fancy it concerns her, too. In fact, that's one reason why I wrote to you. Well, I'm going to lay before you a business proposition. You have probably heard of the Hecla Mineral Exploitation concern? It's run by two friends of mine, who have made a great deal of money out of their claims. They're getting elderly, and are open to take in a younger man—a man of education, who has some acquaintance with the work that's done in the Bush. He must take hold now, and hold stock in the concern. Here's the last letter they wrote me."
He passed it across to Nasmyth, whose face grew eager, and then suddenly hardened again. The concern in question was, as he had heard, one of excellent repute, and supposed to be carrying on a profitable mining business.
"It's out of the question that I should raise the capital," he said.
"The money can be raised," Wisbech broke in quietly. "I'll buy that stock for you, and, if you insist on it, you can treat it as a loan."
Nasmyth sat very still for a moment or two, and slowly closed one hard hand. He had never expected such an offer from Wisbech, and he recognized that it would free him of all his difficulties if he accepted it. There was, however, an obstacle in the way.
"Well," asked Wisbech very dryly, "isn't the Hecla Minerals good enough for you?"
Nasmyth looked at Acton. "I must go there—now?"
"That is one of the conditions. They want to fix the thing before Kekewich, who hasn't been well lately, starts East on a trip to Montreal. I promised to wire if you were willing to go down and see them to-morrow."
Nasmyth turned to Wisbech, and his voice was strained.
"I am under many obligations to you already, sir, but I'm sorry I can't profit by your generosity in this case," he said.
"Why?" queried Wisbech sharply.