e average man really cared about, so he failed, by moving
against the dead wall of Stranleigh's indifference towards money,
whereas he might have succeeded had he approached the sentimental side
of the young man. Indeed, Mr. Wentworth Parkes seemed to catch a
glimmering of this idea as his fairy visions of the future fell flat, so
he reversed his automobile talk, and backed slowly out.

Conversation lagging, his lordship asked a few casual questions about
the Duke of Rattleborough and other persons he knew in London, but
if any of these queries were intended to embarrass his visitor,
Stranleigh's failure was equal to that of Parkes himself. The latter
answered all enquiries so promptly and correctly that Stranleigh
inwardly chided himself for his latent distrust of the man who now,
quick to see how the land lay, got his motor car in position once
more, but took another direction. He mopped his forehead with his
handkerchief, and drew a slight sigh.

"You see," he said, in a discouraged tone, "a person brought up as I
have been, to do nothing in particular that is of any use to the world,
finds himself at a great disadvantage in a hustling land like the United
States, where the fellows are all so clever, and have been trained from
their very boyhood to be alert business men. I have a good thing in this
option, and if once I got upon my feet, I could soon build up a great
and profitable business. My chief trouble is to convince any capitalist
of this, and if he asks me whether or not the scheme will produce a
fortune within six months or a year, I am forced to admit there is
little chance of it. An American wishes to turn over his money quickly;
a long look into futurity is not for him. He wishes to buy one railway
on Monday, another on Tuesday, amalgamate them on Wednesday, and sell
out the stock to the public at several millions profit on Thursday, then
rake in the boodle on Friday, which proves an unlucky day for the
investors. When I truthfully confess it will be a year before I get
fairly under way, I am immediately at a discount. Capitalists won't
listen any further."

Parkes saw that for the first time during the interview Lord Stranleigh
began to show interest, reserved though it was.

"Do you know anything about cars?" asked his lordship.

"I can take apart any motor in the market, and put it together again,
always leaving it a little better than when I found it."

"And this machine--invented by the Detroit