He found that colossal hostelry, and was just inquiring of the clerk whether a Mr. Longworth was staying there, when that gentleman appeared at the desk, took some letters and his key. Kenyon tapped him on the shoulder. Young Longworth turned round with more alacrity than he usually displayed, and gave a long whistle of surprise when he saw who it was. 'In the name of all the gods,' he cried, 'what are _you_ doing here?' Then, before Kenyon could reply, he said: 'Come up to my room.' They went to the elevator, rose a few stories, and passed down an apparently endless hall, carpeted with some noiseless stuff that gave no echo of the footfall. Longworth put the key into his door and opened it. They entered a large and pleasant room. 'Well,' he said, 'this _is_ a surprise. What is the reason of your being here? Anything wrong in London?' 'Nothing wrong, so far as I am aware. We received no cablegram from you, and thought there might be some hitch in the business; therefore I came.' 'Ah, I see. I cabled over to your address, and said I was staying at the Windsor for a few days. I sent a cablegram almost as long as a letter, but it didn't appear to do any good.' 'No, I did not receive it.' 'And what did you expect was wrong over here?' 'That I did not know. I knew you had time to get to Ottawa and see the mine in twelve days from London. Not hearing from you in that time, and knowing the option was running out, both Wentworth and I became anxious, and so I came over.' 'Exactly. Well, I'm afraid you've had your trip for nothing.' 'What do you mean? Is not the mine all I said it was?' 'Oh, the mine is all right; all I meant was, there was really no necessity for your coming.' 'But, you know, the option ends in a very short time.' 'Well, the option, like the mine, is all right. I think you might quite safely have left it in my hands.' It must be admitted that John Kenyon began to feel he had acted with unreasonable rashness in taking his long voyage. 'Is Mr. Melville here with you?' 'Melville has returned home. He had not time to stay longer. All he wanted was to satisfy himself about the mine. He was satisfied, and he has gone home. If you were in London now, you would be able to see him.' 'Did you meet Mr. Von Brent?' 'Yes, he took us to the mine.' 'And did you say anything about the option to him?' 'Well, we had some conversation about it. There will be no trouble about the option. What Von Brent wants is to sell his mine, that is all.' There was a few moments' silence, then Longworth said: 'When are you going back?'