st look out for
himself. Strictly speaking, what I did was wrong. I wish, however, that
I had done it before. One must think of one's self first."

"And now?" she inquired. "What are you going to do now?"

"I am going to find a capitalist or float a company to buy the rest of
the site," he announced. "After that, we must see about building. There
is no hurry about that, though. The first thing is to secure the site."

"How much money does it require?"

"About twelve thousand pounds," he told her.

"It seems very little," she murmured.

"The need for money comes afterwards," he explained. "We want to drain
and plan and build without mortgages. As soon as we are sure of the
site, one can think of that. My option only extends for a week or so."

"Do you really think that it is a good speculation?" she asked.

"I do not think about such matters," he answered, drily. "I know."

She leaned back in her chair, watching him for several seconds--admiring
him, as a matter of fact. The profound conviction of his words was
almost inspiring. In her presence, and she knew that she was a very
beautiful woman, he appeared, notwithstanding his absence of any
knowledge of her sex and his lack of social status, unmoved, wholly
undisturbed. He sat there in perfect naturalness. It did not seem to him
even unaccountable that she should be interested in his concerns. He
was not conceited or aggressive in any way. His complete self-confidence
lacked any militant impulse. He was--himself, impervious to
surroundings, however unusual.

"Why should I not be your capitalist?" she inquired slowly.

"Have you as much as twelve thousand pounds that you want to invest?" he
asked, incredulously.

She rose to her feet and moved across to her desk. He sat quite still,
watching her without any apparent curiosity. She unlocked a drawer and
returned to him with a bankbook in her hand.

"Add that up," she directed, "and tell me how much I have."

He drew a lead pencil from his pocket and quickly added up the total.

"If you have not given any cheques since this was made up," he said
calmly, "you have a credit balance of thirteen thousand, one hundred and
eighteen pounds, nine shillings and fourpence. It is very foolish of
you to keep so much money on current account. You are absolutely losing
about eight pounds a week."

She smiled.

"It is foolish of me, I suppose," she admitted, "but I have no one to
advise me just now. My father knows no