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‘How do, Banneret? pleased to see you; your quarter’s pay has just come in. That’s all right as far as it goes—so you want five hundred pounds for a mining venture? Rather a speculation, of course. But we’re all in that line here, worse luck. I dropped a hundred over that rascally “Blue Lookout”—blue enough it turned out—and there’s “Flash in the Pan” that I nearly bought into, paying a whacking dividend, and getting better as it goes down. You’ll give security, of course? What is it?’

‘Every mortal thing I’ve got—cows and horses, buggy and harness, furniture, saddles and bridles. Everything but the wife and children. You may put the whole lot into a Bill of Sale, and sell me up if the thing goes wrong.’

‘Hum! ha! We’ll see about that. But of course the directors look at the security, and slang me if I give you an over-draft without it. I’ll have it ready to-morrow. The show’s extra good, I suppose?’

‘Out and out; never saw anything like it.’

‘Yes—of course, I know, and as safe as houses. They all are. Well, good-bye; I wish you luck. You won’t stay and dine with me?’