But never beamed the face of Fred so radiantly as the countenance of the waiting Joe. He lay back in his chair, his cigar pointing to the ceiling. "Well, Fred?"--there was an anthem in his voice. "Very well, Joe." Fred hung up his unnecessary umbrella. "I've sold the _Fairies_!" Joe said it and Fred said it. They said it together. There was the same lilt of triumph in each voice, and both smiles vanished at the identical instant. "_You've_ sold the _Fairies_!" they said. They might have been rehearsing this scene for months, so perfect was the chorus. "Wait a bit, Joe," said Fred; "let's get the hang of this. I understand that you left the matter to me." "I did; but, Fred, I was so keen on the idea I had that I had to nip in before you. Of course, I didn't go to him as Pole & Pole----" "To him? What him?" asked Fred, breathing hard. "To What's-his-name--Bones." Fred took his blue silk handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed his face. "Go on, Joe," he said sadly "I got him just before he went out to lunch. I sent up the United Merchant Shippers' card--it's our company, anyway. Not a word about Pole & Pole." "Oh, no, of course not!" said Fred. "And, my boy,"--this was evidently Joe's greatest achievement, for he described the fact with gusto--"not a word about the names of the ships. I just sold him two steamers, so and so tonnage, so and so classification----" "For how much?" Fred was mildly curious. It was the curiosity which led a certain political prisoner to feel the edge of the axe before it beheaded him. "A hundred and twenty thousand!" cried Joe joyously. "He's starting a fleet, he says. He's calling it the Tibbetts Line, and bought a couple of ships only this morning." Fred examined the ceiling carefully before he spoke. "Joe," he said, "was it a firm deal? Did you put pen to paper?" "You-bet-your-dear-sweet-life," said Joe, scornful at the suggestion that he had omitted such an indispensable part of the negotiation. "So did I, Joe," said Fred. "Those two ships he bought were the two _Fairies_." There was a dead silence. "Well," said Joe uneasily, after a while, "we can get a couple of ships----" "Where, Joe? You admitted yesterday there weren't two boats in the world on the market." Another long silence. "I did it for the best, Fred." Fred nodded "Something must be done. We can't sell a man what we haven't got. Joe, couldn't you go and play golf this afternoon whilst I wangle this matter out?" Joe nodded and rose solemnly. He took down his umbrella from the peg and his shiny silk hat from another peg, and tiptoed from the room. From three o'clock to four Mr. Fred Pole sat immersed in thought, and at last, with a big, heavy sigh, he unlocked his safe, took out his cheque-book and pocketed it. Bones was on the point of departure, after a most satisfactory day's work, when Fred Pole was announced.