Fifty yards down, opened a lane of green that curved beside and between two cellars, each deeper than the last. He knew instantly that he could not survive these, and, with every ounce of his strength, drove across the broken river to the head of the chute. Making it in the nick of time, he plunged in, with the water sucking at his thighs, and the sinews in his arms burning like fire. There followed a swift descent through cellars of dwindling depth, till he floated into the long, spume-flecked swells at the foot of the decline, where the canoe drifted sluggishly, full nearly to the gunwale. And here Belding leaned forward with his hands on her curved thwart, and pumped great gulps of air into his empty lungs. Presently he stared around. He was below the works of which he had seen nothing, and just opposite Clark's big house, whose roof lifted on the hill side a mile away. He had dared the rapids and come through safely, but Clark, he reflected, was engulfed. Luncheon that day at the big house had been a silent affair, after which the three men went out on the terrace and examined the panorama that spread to the south. It was suggestive and inspiring. They had been voiceless for some time, when Clark moved restlessly. "Shall we talk here, or go back to the office?" "This is good enough for me," said Ardswell; "are you ready for business?" "Certainly." "And may I ask two questions first,--one is a trifle personal?" "Please ask them, if you wish; I have no personal secrets." "That's very decent of you. What I'd like to know is, first, what you found here when you arrived seven years ago, and, second, what your resources were at the time? You will not, of course, answer the last unless you wish." Clark laughed almost boyishly. "Why I found only the rapids, and--I had no resources,--that is, except myself." "I thought so, and"--here the speaker glanced at Weatherby--"we would like to congratulate you, I had an idea that this was the case. Now as to the present business, we have decided to make a proposal to your board." "I am glad of that," said Clark briefly. He knew that the moment had come. "We hope it will meet with your support," Ardswell hesitated perceptibly and went on, pitching his voice a little higher, "and you will not misunderstand my putting it rather baldly. The matter depends on two things: the reduction of the Consolidated capital from twenty-seven million to something about ten million and the wiping out of all common stock, and," here he paused again while the blood crept slowly to his temples--"the other is a change in the executive. These being satisfactorily arranged, we will go ahead. That's about it, eh?" "Yes," put in the other, "but of course we could not go ahead, under any circumstances, without Mr. Clark's temporary assistance. I think in fairness to him we should make the case a little clearer." "It's fairly clear as it is," said Clark without a trace of emotion.