I
was truly pleased, for I could see Amelia was boiling over with
curiosity by this time.
After dinner, in the billiard-room, however, the man with the big
eyebrows sidled up and began to talk to me. If he _was_ Colonel
Clay, it was evident he bore us no grudge at all for the five
thousand pounds he had done us out of. On the contrary, he seemed
quite prepared to do us out of five thousand more when opportunity
offered; for he introduced himself at once as Dr. Hector Macpherson,
the exclusive grantee of extensive concessions from the Brazilian
Government on the Upper Amazons. He dived into conversation with
me at once as to the splendid mineral resources of his Brazilian
estate--the silver, the platinum, the actual rubies, the possible
diamonds. I listened and smiled; I knew what was coming. All he
needed to develop this magnificent concession was a little more
capital. It was sad to see thousands of pounds' worth of platinum
and car-loads of rubies just crumbling in the soil or carried away
by the river, for want of a few hundreds to work them with properly.
If he knew of anybody, now, with money to invest, he could recommend
him--nay, offer him--a unique opportunity of earning, say, 40 per
cent on his capital, on unimpeachable security.
"I wouldn't do it for every man," Dr.
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