"Pardon me, M. Norcier," he remarked as he sat down, "but I had an interview with our friend the Baron D'Ormontagne yesterday, and he gave me an account of his new gold mine in Mexico. So I thought you would not mind if I asked you for a few details concerning it." "With pleasure, M. Payot, as a matter of fact I have greatly undervalued its richness; to be candid, in my report I have cut down everything to half so as to be well on the safe side. Do you not approve?" "Most certainly, Monsieur Norcier, most certainly I do. Do you consider it a really safe speculation?" "My dear sir, I would not recommend it to you at all but for three reasons. Firstly, your name is one to play with, it represents such honour and integrity that it will give our syndicate great weight, and for that reason we intend, should you care to have a stake in it, to give you the most favourable terms possible. Secondly, I myself am putting in every available penny, and lastly M. Armand and the Baron D'Ormontagne, two of the most honourable men in all Paris, take each an equal share. By the way, have you met M. Armand?" "No, I confess I have not seen him for a long time." "Oh, then you will find him a most charming man, and one who combines great business talent with extreme caution." In fact the testimonials of these two gentlemen were so high that Payot felt it would be almost an insult to call on Armand at all. Precisely at eight o'clock in the evening the baron, true to his word, and looking even more florid than usual, called again. "Voila, mon ami, we can now arrange everything. We have taken such a fancy to you, mon brave, that we feel our consciences will not be satisfied until we offer you two hundred shares in our syndicate at the absurdly low figure of 1,000 francs each." "Two hundred thousand francs (£8,000)," said Payot meditatively, "that is a great deal of money in these days--a great deal of money." "But consider, mon ami, what you are going to get for it--a large share in the richest mine in the world. Why, in three months when the first dividend is declared, each of your two hundred shares will be worth 50,000 francs, and the first dividend alone will repay you for all you have spent, five times over. Such a chance as this only happens once in a lifetime." "But if they are so enormously valuable, why do you sell them at all?" "For a very simple reason, my dear Payot, we are not selling them to you for your money, but for your name. You must remember your name is a thing to conjure with. You are held in such esteem that when the public sees the prospectus with your name on the list of subscribers, there will be an active market at once, and the shares will go to ten or twenty times the present price."