Ballymoy, who do you think would get
the contract for the job?"

"I would, of course," said Doyle, "for there'd be no other man in the
town fit to take it."

"And how much do you suppose you'd make out of it?"

"What's the use of talking that way?" said Doyle. "Hasn't the Government
built us two piers already, and is it likely they'd build us another?"

"That's not the point. What I'm asking you is: Supposing they did build
another and you got the contract for it, how much do you suppose you'd
make?"

"Well," said Doyle, "if it was a good-sized pier and if the engineer
they sent down to inspect the work wasn't too smart altogether I might
clear L100."

"Now, suppose," said Dr. O'Grady, "that you were able to sell the stones
of that old mill of yours----"

"They're good stones, so they are."

"Exactly, and you'd expect a good price for them. Now suppose you
succeeded in selling them to the Government as raw material for the
pier----"

"They'd be nice and handy for the work," said Doyle. "Whoever was to
use those stones for building the pier would save a devil of a lot of
expense in carting."

"That, of course, would be considered in fixing the price of the
stones."

"It would," said Doyle. "It would have to be, for I wouldn't sell them
without it was."

"Under those circumstances," said Dr. O'Grady, "what do you suppose
you'd make?"

"I'd make a tidy penny," said Doyle.

"Very well. Add that tidy penny to the L100 profit on the pier contract
and it seems to me that it would pay you to lose a couple of pounds--and
I don't admit that you will lose a penny--over the statue business."

The mention of the statue brought Doyle back from a pleasant dream to
the region of hard fact.

"What's the good of talking?" he said. "The Government will build no
more piers here."

"I'm not so sure of that. If we were to get a hold of one of the real
big men, say the Lord-Lieutenant, if we were to bring him down here and
do him properly--flags, you know, Doyle, and the town band, and
somebody with a bouquet of flowers for his wife, and somebody else--all
respectable people, Doyle--with an illuminated address--and if we were all
to stand round with our hats in our hands and cheer--in fact if we were
to do all the things that those sort of fellows really like to see
done----"

"We could have flags," said Doyle, "and we could have the town band, and
we could have all the rest of what you say; but what good would they