And he was quite right too. He did sleep as he expected. Next
morning he woke in a very good humour, and proceeded at once to
Guy Waring's rooms the moment after breakfast.
He found Guy, as he expected, in a tumult of excitement, having
only just that moment received by post the final call for the Rio
Negro capital.
When other men are excited the wise man takes care to be perfectly
calm. Montague Nevitt was calm under this crushing blow. He pointed
out blandly that everything would yet go well. All was not lost.
They had other irons in the fire. And even the Rio Negros themselves
were not an absolute failure. The diamonds, the diamonds themselves,
he insisted, were still there, and the sapphires also. They studded
the soil, they were to be had for the picking. Every bit of their
money would come back to them in the end. It was a question of
meeting an immediate emergency only.
"But I haven't three thousand pounds in the world to meet it
with," Guy exclaimed in despair. "I shall be ruined, of course. I
don't mind about that; but I never shall be able to make good my
liabilities!"
Nevitt lighted a cigarette with a philosophical smile. The hotter
Guy waxed, the faster did he cool down.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190