Mrs. Nairn glanced at him again with amusement in her eyes. "It's no unlikely. The reason may serve--for the want of a better." Then she changed her tone. "Ye'll away up to Alec; he told me to send ye." Vane went out of the room, but he left Jessie in a thoughtful mood. She had seen him start at the mention of Evelyn, and it struck her as significant, since she had heard that he had spent some time with the Chisholms; On the other hand there was the obvious fact that he had been astonished to hear that Evelyn was coming out, which implied that their acquaintance had not progressed far enough to warrant the girl's informing him. Besides, Evelyn would arrive for a month, and Jessie reflected that she would probably see a good deal of Vane in the meanwhile. She now felt glad that she had promised to look after Celia Hartley, which would, no doubt, necessitate her consulting with him every now and then. CHAPTER XIX VANE FORESEES TROUBLE. Nairn was sitting at a writing-table when Vane entered his room, and after a few questions about his journey, he handed the younger man one of the papers that lay in front of him. "It's a report from the mine," he said. Vane carefully studied the document. "It only brings us back to our last conversation on the subject," he remarked when his host glanced at him inquiringly. "We have the choice of going on as we are doing, or extending our operations by an increase of capital. In the latter case, our total earnings might be larger, but I hardly think there would be as good a return on the money actually sunk. Taking it all round, I don't know what to think; but if it appeared that there was a moral certainty of making a satisfactory profit on the new stock, I should consent." Nairn chuckled. "A moral certainty is no a very common thing in mining." "I believe Horsfield's in favour of the scheme. How far would you trust that man?" Vane inquired. "About as far as I could fling a bull by the tail. The same thing applies to both of them." "He has some influence. He'd find supporters." Nairn saw that the meaning of his last remark which implied that he had no more confidence in Jessie than he had in her brother, had not been grasped by his companion, but he did not consider it judicious to make it plainer. Instead, he gave Vane another piece of information: "Horsfield and Winter work into each other's hands." "But Winter has no interest in the Clermont." Nairn smiled sourly. "He holds no shares in the mine, but there's no much in the shape of mineral developments yon man has no an interest in. Since ye do not seem inclined to yield Horsfield a point or two, it might pay ye to watch the pair of them."