his mission, or he must take the bull by the horns and break
with the firm. To do the latter meant not only a good deal of moral
courage, but practical ruin, whereas if he chose the former course,
probably within a fortnight he would find himself a rich man. Whatever
Jackson and a few others might say in its depreciation, he was certain
that the Sahara flotation would go through, for it was underwritten,
of course upon terms, by responsible people, moreover the unissued
preferred shares had already been dealt in at a heavy premium. Now to
say nothing of the allotment to which he was entitled upon his holding
in the parent Syndicate, the proportion of cash due to him as a partner,
would amount to quite a hundred thousand pounds. In other words, he, who
had so many reasons for desiring money, would be wealthy. After working
so hard and undergoing so much that he felt to be humiliating and even
degrading, why should he not take his reward and clear out afterwards?

This he remembered he could do, since probably by some oversight of
Aylward's, who left such matters to his lawyers, his deed of partnership
did not bind him to a fixed term. It could be broken at any moment.
To this argument there was only one possible answer, that of his
conscience. If once he were convinced that things were not right,
it would be dishonest to participate in their profits. And he was
convinced. Mr. Jackson's arguments and his damning document had thrown a
flood of light upon many matters which he had suspected but never quite
understood. He was the partner of, well, adventurers, and the money
which he received would in fact be filched from the pockets of
unsuspecting persons. He would vouch for that of which he was doubtful
and receive the price of sharp practice. In other words he, Alan Vernon,
who had never uttered a wilful untruth or taken a halfpenny that was not
his own, would before the tribunal of his own mind, stand convicted as
a liar and a thief. The thing was not to be borne. At whatever cost it
must be ended. If he were fated to be a beggar, at least he would be an
honest beggar.

With a firm step and a high head he walked straight into Sir Robert's
room, without even going through the formality of knocking, to find
Mr. Champers-Haswell seated at the ebony desk by his partner's
side examining some document through a reading-glass, which on his
appearance, was folded over and presently thrust away into a drawer.
It seemed, Alan not