"You are going to form a company?" said Sir William, incredulously. "Yes," Anderson replied. "In a week we shall have the whole thing in shape, and I hope that when the mine and its possibilities are made public, we shan't have any difficulty in getting the shares taken up." "Well, I am sure I hope you won't," said Sir William. "I'll take some shares in it if you can show me a reasonable prospect of its coming to anything. But I should like to hear something more about it first." "You shall, of course," said Anderson, as he took up his map again. "But it was not about taking shares I came to ask you, Sir William." "What was it, then?" said Sir William. "You said," the boy replied, with an embarrassed little laugh, looking him straight in the face, "that you would be the chairman of the first company I floated." "By Jove, so I did!" said Sir William. "Upon my word, it was rather a rash promise to make." "I don't think it was, I assure you," the boy said earnestly; "this thing really is going to turn up trumps." "Well, let's hope it is, for all concerned," said Sir William. "And what are you going to call it?" "Oh, we are going to call it," said Fred, "simply 'The Equator, Limited.'" "The Equator! Upon my word! Why not the Universe?" said Sir William. "That will come next," said the boy, with a happy laugh of sheer jubilation. "Then, Sir William, will you--you will be our chairman?" "Oh yes," said Sir William. "A promise is a promise. But mind, I shall be a very inefficient one. I don't suppose you could find any one who knew less about that sort of thing than I do." "Oh, that will be all right, Sir William," the boy said quickly. "There will be lots of people concerned who know all about it. Now that the mine is going to be accessible, the right people will be more than ready to take it up. I just wanted to have you there as the nominal head to it, because you have always been so good to me, and you have brought me luck since the beginning." "Nonsense!" said Sir William. "You'll have only yourself to thank, my boy, when you get on." "Oh, I know better than that," said Anderson. Something very like tears came into his eyes as he took the hand Sir William held out to him, and then left the room as happy a youth of twenty-one as could be found in London that day. CHAPTER IV