Page:Barr--Stranleighs millions.djvu/339

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A TOWN IN PAWN
327

mine. I'm not going to draw anything from the banks."

Then how do you expect to obtain the money?"

"I've some gold in a safe deposit vault. I'm going to draw on that."

"Gold? How much?"

"Oh, botheration, Montague! I must decline to brag, as you did about your pyjamas. How much do you want?"

"How much have you, Lord Stranleigh?"

"Anywhere from ten to fifteen millions."

"In gold?"

"Yes."

"Locked up in a safe deposit vault, and all London and all America clamouring for it? Great heavens!"

"Well, I did think of sending some of it across to New York in the Mauritania, but I changed my mind. Investment begins at home, and I don't understand American finance well enough to meddle with it. Don't understand English finance either for that matter, but would fifteen millions be enough for what I want?"

"Enough? Enough? Why, Lord Stranleigh, you could buy the earth for fifteen millions to-morrow, let alone the Great Southern Railway. Enough! I should say it was, with the stock down at eleven and everybody eager to sell."

"Oh, that cheers me up, Montague. You