Son & Co. (Limited) are the only firm of the name dealing with financial matters--in the city."
By this time Bruce had assured himself that Mr. Dodge did not know Mr. Corbett's identity, and if Mrs. Hillmer's brother had changed his name to conceal himself from Dodge, it was likely to be successful.
"Anyhow, I am here, Mr. Dodge," he said cheerfully, "so I may as well enter into negotiations with you. Have you any good things in hand at this moment?"
"Some of the best. We are just waiting for the market to ease a bit, and we shall have at least five splendid properties to place before the public. By the way, do you smoke?"
Bruce did smoke; and Mr. Dodge produced a box of excellent cigars. Then he warmed to his work.
"Here is the prospectus of the Golden Halo Mine, capital £150,000, for which the vendors are asking £140,000 in cash, with a working capital of £10,000. The ore now in sight is estimated to produce two millions sterling, and the mine is not one-tenth developed. We are offering underwriters ten per cent in cash, and there is not the slightest risk, as the shares will stand at a high premium within a few days after the lists--"
"It sounds most promising," said Bruce; "but my principals are more interested in taking up concerns which have been already established, but in which, for want of sufficient capital, the vendors' shares have, by a process of reconstruction, come into the market. If you have anything of that kind--"
"The very thing," interrupted Dodge excitedly. "The Springbok Mine will just suit 'em. After all is said and done, Golden Halos are a bit in the air, between you and me. But the Springbok is a genuine article. It was capitalized for a quarter of a million, and the directors went to allotment on a subscription list of about £14,000. This money has been expended, but twice the amount is necessary to develop the property properly. A call was made on the shares, but no one paid up, and there is a talk of compulsory reconstruction. Believe me, money put into it now will yield two hundred per cent in dividends within twelve months."
"There is a whiff of scent on this trail," said Claude to himself. He added aloud: "That looks promising. Can you give me details?""By all means. Here is the original prospectus." Bruce glanced through
the document, which dealt with the Springbok claims on the Rand with
more candor than is usually exhibited in such compilations. Judging from
the reports of several mining engineers of repute it really looked as
if, this time, Mr. Dodge were speaking with some degree of accuracy.

"This reads well," said Bruce. "What proportion of share capital is
falling in on the reconstruction scheme?"

"I hold fifty 

 Prev. P 31/232 next