The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1897-01-09
CHAPTER IIr.-coNrrSurp


Then think your profession must
be very important one"
"We think SO, Miss Brewster. Iwould
like TO be paid percentage on the
money saved because of my report"
"And won't your"
unfortunately no."
81 think that is too bad. suppose the
discrepancy must have been small, or
the American accountant would not
have overlooked it,"
IL didn't say that he had overlooked 1t.
Still. the size of the discrepancy does
not make the difference. A small error
is rs easily found as large one. This
one was large. / suppose there is no
harm In my saying that the books, talk
ing them together. showed n profit of
100000, when they should have shown
q loss OF nearly half :,at amount
hope nobody overhears me-"
"No; we are quite alone, and you may
be sure will not breathe word of what
Jon have been telling me-"
Don't breathe il TO Kenyon, at least.
He would think me insane IL he knew
what have said"
"Is Mr.. Kenyon an accountant, too?"
''Oh, no. He is a mineralogist. He can
60 into q mine and tell with a reason
able certainty whether it will pay the
working of il or not. or course, as he
says himself, any man can sec six feet
into the earth as well as he can. But II
n not every man that can gauge the
value of working minsso we'll as John
Kenyon"
"Then while you were delving among
the figures, your companion was delv-
ing among the minerals?"
Precisely"
"And did he make any such startling
discovery as you didP"
mo; rather the other way. He finds
che mines very good properties, and he
thinks that IL they are managed intelli-
gently they will be good-paying invest
ments--that Is. at proper price, you
know--not at what the owners ask for
them at present. But you can have no
possible interest in these dry details"
Indeed, you are mistaken. think
what you have told me intensely inter
csting."
For once in Der life Miss Jennie Brew
alter told the exact truth. The unfor-
tunate man at her side was flattered.
"For what have told you,' he said,
we were offered twice what the Lon
don people pay us for coming out here.
In fact, even more than that. We were
asked TO name our own price"
Really now. BY the owners of the
property, suppose, il you wouldn't tell
ON them?"
mo. BY one OF your famous New
York newspaper men. He even went 80
far as TO steal the papers that Kenyon
had In Ottawa. He was cleyerly caught
though, before he could make any use OF
what he had stolen. In fact, unless his
people In New York had the figures which
were originally placed before the Lon
don board doubt IL my statistics would
have been of much use TO him. even II
he had been allowed to keep them. The
full significance of my report will not
show until the figures have given are
compared with those already in the
hands OF the London people, which were
vouched for as correct by your clever
American accountant"
''You shouldn't run down an ac-
.countant just because he Is an Amer
Scan. Perhaps there will come day,
Mr.. Wentworth. when you will admit
that there are Americans who are more
clever than either that accountant o.
that newspaper man. don't think
your specimens are typical"
IL don't run down. Us you call Ii, the
men because they are Americans.
run down the accountant because he
was either ignorant or corrupt. run
down the newspaper man because he
was a thief"
Miss Brewster was silent for few
moments. She was impressing on her
memory what he had said to her and
was anxious to get away, so that she
could write out in her cabin exactly
what had been told her. The sound OF
the lunch gong gave her the excuse she
needed. SO. bidding her victim pleas
ant and friendly farewell. she hurried
from the deck to her statcroom.