Renton--as being British-born, though
naturalised--made no objection and only one condition, that the
syndicate should be a small one. If I could get half the capital
raised quietly in England by one or two persons, why, so much the
better. He could raise the other half without calling on Wall Street
or starting so much as an echo. . . . Now, I don't mind telling you,
Sir Roderick, that I had you in mind all the while. That island is a
gold mine: the copra alone there represents whole fortunes running to
waste: and even if old Buck Vliet still sails the waters--which I
doubt, for the _Two Brothers_ hasn't been spoken or sighted within
these four years, and he wasn't provisioned for whaling--still, the
concession papers are made out in Hales's name and mine, and the
duplicate documents stored. . . . All I can say is, that I'm ready to
put my own little pile upon it, to the last guinea. And I thought of
you from the first; you having done me a good turn more than once, or
tried to. Yes, sir: but the best of all would be your going out and
making sure for yourself.
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