“Well, what I wanted to see you about, Jack, is this:” here he settled his fat back into the chair. “All the ore in that section of the county,--so our experts say, dips to the east. They've located the vein and they think a horizontal shaft and gravity will get the stuff to tide water much cheaper than a vertical shaft and hoist. Now if the ore should peter out--and the devil himself can't tell always about that--we've got to get some ore somewhere round there to brace up and make good our prospectus, even if it does cost a little more, and that's where your Cumberland property might come in,--see? One of our lawyers looked over a record of your deed in the town hall of Mulford--” here he bent forward and consulted a paper on his desk--“No,--that's not it,--Morfordsburg,--yes, that's it,--Morfordsburg,--looked up the deed, I say, Jack, and from what he says I don't believe your property is more than a quarter of a mile, as the crow flies, from where they want MacFarlane to begin cutting. If the lawyer's right there may be a few dollars in it for you--not much, but something; and if there is,--of course, I don't want to commit myself, and I don't want to encourage you too much--but if he's right I should advise your bringing me what papers you've got and have our attorney look them over, and if everything's O.K. in the title, your property might be turned over to the new company and form part of the deal. You can understand, of course, that we don't want any other deposits in that section but our own.” Breen's meaning was clear now. So was the purpose of the letter. Jack leaned back in his chair, an expression first of triumph and then of disgust crossing his face. That his uncle should actually want him back in his business in any capacity was as complimentary as it was unexpected. That the basis of the copartnership--and it was this that brought the curl to his lip--was such that neither a quarter of a mile nor two miles would stand in the way of a connecting vein of ore on paper, was to be expected by any one at all familiar with his uncle's methods. “Thank you, Uncle Arthur,” he answered simply, “but there's nothing decided yet about the Morfordsburg work. I heard a bit of news coming down on the train this morning that may cause Mr. MacFarlane to look upon the proposed work more favorably, but that is for him to say. As to my own property, when I am there again, if I do go,--I will look over the ground myself and have Mr. MacFarlane go with me and then I can decide.” Breen knitted his brows. It was not the answer he had expected. In fact, he was very much astonished both at the reply and the way in which it was given. He began to be sorry he had raised the question at all. He would gladly have helped Jack in getting a good price for his property, provided it did not interfere with his own plans, but to educate him up to the position of an obstructionist, was quite another matter.