"Exactly!" Wingrave remarked. "I am proceeding on the assumption that
he told me the truth. I wish to buy, if possible, the whole of the
shares, and as many more as I can get brokers to sell. The price of
the shares today is two dollars!"
"I presume you will send out an expert to the mine first?" Aynesworth
said.
"I shall do nothing of the sort," Wingrave answered. "The fact that I
was buying upon information would send the shares up at once. I mean
to buy first, and then go out to the mine. If I have made a mistake, I
shall not be ruined. If Hardwell's story is true, there will be
millions in it."
Aynesworth said nothing, but his face expressed a good deal.
"Here are the names of seven respectable brokers," Wingrave continued,
passing a sheet of paper towards him. "I want you to buy five hundred
shares from each of them. The price may vary a few points. Whatever it
is, pay it. Here are seven signed checks. I shall buy myself as many
as I can without spoiling the market. You had better start out in
about a quarter of an hour and see to this. You have my private
ledger?"
"Yes."
"Open an account to Hardwell in it; a quarter of all the shares I buy
are to be in his name, and a quarter of all the profits I make in
dealing in the shares is to be credited to him."
"A fairly generous arrangement for Mr. Hardwell," Aynesworth remarked.
"There is nothing generous about it," Wingrave answered coldly.
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