"
"We will talk about that presently," she interrupted. "In the
first place, tell me why you have left your place."
"Mr. Dowling discovered," he told her, in a matter-of-fact tone,
"that I had been doing some business on my own account. He was
quite right to disapprove. I have not been back to the office
since he found it out."
"What sort of business?" she asked.
"The business of the firm is to buy property in undeveloped
districts and sell it for building estate," he explained. "I
have been very successful hitherto in finding sites for their
operations. A short time ago, I discovered one so good that I
invested all my own savings in buying certain lots, and have an
option upon the whole. Mr. Dowling found it out and dismissed
me."
"But it seems most unfair," she declared.
"Not at all," he answered. "In Mr. Dowling's place I should have
done the same thing. Every one with his way in life to make must
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.
Pages:
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135