hing: the first obstacle a company would
have to contend against would be the price of labor, and the second
difficulty would be to secure the services of a really capable
overseer; one who would understand the _technique_ of the business."

"We could easily get one from abroad."

"That might be; but I, as a private individual, could get one easily
if I had sufficient money to pay him, for I could choose the best for
my purpose, and could give him what I chose, as far as his merits
deserved."

Felix laughed at Ivan's description. "That is it exactly, as if you
read it out of a book; and just on this account I intend to give the
complete direction of the business to a man who understands it to a T,
and this man is you."

"That is a complete mistake. I do understand the working of my own
small business, but I am quite ignorant of the ways of a great
concern. Like many another small man, I should be a child in the hands
of big speculators, and I should probably wreck the whole concern."

"You are too modest. On the contrary, I think you would outwit the big
speculators."

"Well, suppose all went according to your wishes, or, rather, as it
presents itself to your imagination. The great business is in full
swing, delivers goods at moderate prices, and in sufficient quantity.
Now comes the real objection--the topographical impediment. The Bonda
coal-mine is twenty miles from the nearest railway, and twenty-five
miles from the nearest river. On your way here you must have noticed
the state of the roads. During four months of the year we can send no
freight to a distance, and at any time the cost of transporting our
coal and iron adds so much to the price that it is impossible for us
to compete with either Prussia or England."

"I know all that," said Felix, stroking his beard with the coral head
of his stick; "but a light railway would soon settle all this. We
could run it from Bonda Valley to the principal emporium." He spoke as
if running light railways were a mere trifle.

"A railway through the Bonda Valley!" returned Ivan, in a tone of
surprise. "And do you really believe that with a capital of four
millions you could construct a railway twenty miles long?"

"Certainly not. That would be quite a separate affair."

"And do you think you would find people ready to advance money for
such an uncertain return as mere luggage traffic would insure to the
shareholders in such a railway?"

Felix moved his stick from