'It had them. But I thought that perhaps my old friend might think it
looked like want of confidence if I left them there, so I sent for them,
and took them to his office. They are now in the safe. I put them there
myself with my own hand; or he did with his own hand--I forget.
Sometimes--it is very odd--when I think of things done at that office, I
seem to have done it myself; and sometimes I think that he did it. Not
that it matters.'
'Not at all. The papers are actually in the safe again?'
'Certainly. I--that is--he--he or I--put them there.'
'Oh! my dear Master'--Elsie clapped her hands--'this is even more
important than the other. You do not know--you cannot guess--what
mischiefs you are able to stop. If I had only been able to talk to you
about these things before! The paper you have already written is for my
brother. Now sit down, my Master, and write another that will do for
me.'
'I will do anything you ask me--and everything. But as for this, why not
ask Dering? His memory never fails. His mind is like a box which holds
everything and can never be filled. Perhaps he would not like these
private affairs--as between solicitor and client--to be talked about.'
'We cannot go to Mr. Dering. There are certain reasons which would not
interest you. All we want is a clear, straightforward statement, an
exact statement of what happened. Sit down now and write me a full
account of each transaction.'
'Certainly; if it will be of the least use to you.'
'Early in the present year,' he began, 'I found that my plan of an
Industrial Village if it was to be carried into effect would want all
the money I could command. It occurred to me that it would be well to
transfer a certain sum from the hands of my agent, and to place it in my
own Bank ready to hand. I began then, in March, with a sum of six
thousand pounds, which Dering, by my instructions, handed over to my
Bank in the form of shares and stocks. I believe they were transfers of
certain stocks held by him in his own name, but forming part of my
fortune--my large private fortune. The Bank was instructed to receive
the dividends on that sum. A month or so later I obtained from Dering
other stock to the value of twelve thousand pounds, the papers of which
were also given to my Bank. And after that I took out papers
representing twenty thousand pounds; so that I had in my hands, ready to
be sold out and used at a moment's notice, no less than thirty-eight
thousand pounds. All this money I intended to devote to my Industrial
Village. The scheme is still one in which I put my whole confidence. But
it has not yet been carried into effect, in consequence of the
difficulty of finding working men equal to the situation. They
understand working for the man who has the money; they do not understand
working for the man who has none, that is for each other and for
themselves. For my own part I could only find working men of that stamp.
Perhaps I am too much in the study. I do not go about enough among
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