“THE TURN OF THE TIDE.”

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17231, 24 December 1923, Page 10

“THE TURN OF THE TIDE.”

OUR SERIAL.

Ey FRED 11. WHITE. CHAPTER XXIV. FINDING THE PROOFS. Mr Gordon was not the man to let the grass grow under his feet where the making of money was concerned, especially at a moment when a matter of £SOO was something like financial stability to him ,and accordingly he got to work at once. If he could handle that money within the next week or so. he could see his way to multiply it tenfold at an early date. As yet, lie was operating in an underground fashion, much as a mole works; but when the hour came, he fully intended to blossom out as a bold and audacious speculator on lines that seemed to him to be sound. Ever since he had been in business, he had been picking up information. He knew all sorts of out-of-the-way secrets, little biographies of city people and so forth, and these he would know how to turn into account in due season. Above all, he specialised in the subterranean doings of various mining companies, therefore he had only to turn up certain documents and at once put his hand upon a few live facts in connection with Broken Points. At the end of the second day he had established the fact that the Broken Point business had been brought into the city by a genuine prospector, who had discovered that source of weah.l) for himself. He had met with the usual fate of such pioneers, and after being kicked from pillar to post for many months, had disposed of his concession lor a nominal sum to Mortimer Croot, after which he had gone back to America disgusted with his treatment- and resolving never to see the city again.

Apparently CToot had only half believed in the business himself. That was at a time when he was struggling to make his way, and at a period when his resources were strained to the uttermost to keep the firm of Verity and Co. above water. Then, seemingly, it had occurred to him that he might do something with his property through the medium of a gullible and trustful public. With that intention he had joined forces with a shady promotor who knew all the ropes and exactly how far to go without coming within the meshes of the law, and between the two of them they had put the Broken Point Company on the market with a flaming prospectus which asked for £IOO,OOO in the form of a thousand debentures of £IOO each, and half a million shares at a pound. This had not produced very much, but quite sufficient to remunerate the promotors for their enterprise. The scheme was launched just at a time when the public were inclined to speculate, therefore a certain number of debentures were taken, with a fair sprinkling of ordinary shares, so that when the schemers came to reckon up the spoil they found that they had a good many thousand pounds to divide. Then, in the ordinary course of events, their way towards the inevitable bankruptcy, and in a few weeks the whole thing was forgotten. It was the sort of thing that happens every day, and will gon happening so long as there remains a roof to St Paul’s.

But Croot had a little scheme of his own which he did not disclose to hi a partner. The money they had made more or less legitimately out of Broken Points was just sufficient to preserve his financial credit, but tCroot was going much farther than that. It seemed to him that he had a fine pigeon to pluck in Major Langley, and he pro ceeded to do it effectually. It was an easy matter to get a few more hundred debentures printed, and liow he palmed these worthless documents on his innocent victim lias already been told. This once done, and the major absolutely ruined. Croot forgot all about Broken Points, for a time at any rate. Then a scrap of information came his way, which taught him the full value of the original concession which in the early stages he had not believed in for a moment. Broken Points had only been a means to an end, but Croot became aware that it was an exceedingly valuable property. He purchased the assets for a song through some tool of his, and in due course Broken Points blossomed afresh as the Kamaloo Copper Trust with an entirely fresh board, behind which loomed Croot, with a name that was not his own.

All this Mr Montagu Gordon discov ered in the course of a few hours. It was the sort of thing that excited his admiration, as a smart piece of business which had nothing criminal about it. that is. it did not come within the purview of the law. But though .Rust bad not taken Gordon very deeply into his confidence, the latter knew by instinct that there was more here than met the eye. He saw Rust the next day, and told him all this. “ Yes. j'ou liave done very well,’* Rust said. “Far better than I expected in so short a time.” “ Are you going to prosecute?” Gordon asked. “Because I don't see that you have a- case. This is quite a common business in the city, you know.” “ T am quite aware of that,” Rust said dryly. “"When I Lit- our friend Croot it will be quite another direction. Still, all this is very valuable, and 1 shall know how to use it when the time comes. You sec, a friend of mine was a shareholders in Brken Points to a very large extent " “Do you mean Major Langley?” Gordon asked. “ Well, as a matter of fact T do.” Rust said. “ Though T should very much like to know how you found that “ Quite easy, my dear sir. quite easy,” Gordon said airily. You see. .1 have been poking about in the bank ruptcy court records relating to Broken Points, and the one shareholder who looms up largely is Ytajor Langley, of Ihe Moat House. Cray. He seems to have been u very heavy holder of debentures.” “Ah. that is the Aery point,” Rust said. •• Ho was, and between ourselves ! have the A'ery gravest doubts over those debentures. Major Langley was ruined over that business, and if T can show misrepresentation and fraud we ought to be in a po.siton to compel Croot to disgorge under threat of a prosecution. From what I gather, he is in a position to pay.” “There is not the slightest doubt about it,” Gordon said. “ You can rely upon the accuracy of my information when I tell you that Croot is quite a. rich man. Goodness knows how he did it. hut the. fact remains that the real stuff is there. Now, can I help you over the matter of those debentures?” (To be Continued.) j