Bones in London

Mr. de Vinne had dined well and had enjoyed an evening's amusement. Hehad been to the Hippodrome, and his enjoyment had been made the morepiquant by the knowledge that Mr. Augustus Tibbetts had as good asplaced ten thousand pounds in his pocket. He was a surprised man, onreturning to Sloane Square, to discover, waiting in the hall, hisunwilling benefactor.

"Why, Mr. Tibbetts," he said, "this is a great surprise."

"Yes," said Bones, "I suppose it is, old Mr. de Vinne." And he coughedsolemnly, as one who was the guardian of a great secret.

"Come in," said Mr. de Vinne, more genial than ever. "This is mylittle den" – indicating a den which the most fastidious of lions wouldnot have despised. "Sit down and have a cigar, old man. Now, whatbrings you here to-night?"

"The shares," said Bones soberly. "I've been worrying about theshares."

"Ah, yes," said Mr. de Vinne carelessly. "Why worry about them, dearboy?"

"Well, I thought I might lose the opportunity of buying them. I think there's something to be made out of that property. In fact," said

Bones emphatically, "I'm pretty certain I could make a lot of money if

I had control."

"I agree with you," said the earnest Mr. de Vinne.

"Now the point is," said Bones, "I've been studying that list of yours, and it seems to me that the majority of the two hundred and fiftythousand shares issued are either held by you or by one of thePoles – jolly old Joe or jolly old Fred, I don't know which."

"Jolly old Fred," said Mr. de Vinne gravely.

"Now, if there's one person I don't want to meet to-night, orto-morrow, or any other day," said Bones, "it's Pole."

"There's no need for you to meet him," smiled de Vinne.

"In fact," said Bones, with sudden ferocity, "I absolutely refuse tobuy any shares from Fred. I'll buy yours, but I will not buy a singleone from Fred."

Mr. De Vinne thought rapidly.

"There's really no reason," he said carelessly. "As a matter of fact,I took over Fred's shares to-night, or the majority of them. I can letyou have – let me see" – he made a rapid calculation – "I can let you havea hundred and eighty thousand shares at nineteen and nine."

"Eighteen shillings," said Bones firmly, "and not a penny more."

They wrangled about the price for five minutes, and then, in anoutburst of generosity, Mr. de Vinne agreed.

"Eighteen shillings it shall be. You're a hard devil," he said. "Now, shall we settle this in the morning?"

"Settle it now," said Bones. "I've a contract note and a cheque book."

De Vinne thought a moment.

"Why, sure!" he said. "Let's have your note."

Bones took a note from his pocket, unfolded it, and laid it on thetable, then solemnly seated himself at Mr. de Vinne's desk and wroteout the cheque.

His good fortune was more than Mr. de Vinne could believe. He hadexpected Bones to be easy, but not so easy as this.

"Good-bye," said Bones. He was solemn, even funereal.

"And, my friend," thought Mr. de Vinne, "you'll be even more solemnbefore the month's out."

He saw Bones to the door, slapped him on the back, insisted on histaking another cigar, and stood outside on the pavement of CadoganSquare and watched the rear lights of Bones's car pass out of sight.Then he went back to his study telephone and gave a number. It was thenumber of Mr. Fred Pole's house, and Fred Pole himself answered thecall.

"Is that you, Pole?"

"That's me," said the other, and there was joy in his voice.

"I say, Pole," chuckled de Vinne, "I shall save you a lot of trouble."

"What do you mean?" asked the other.

"I've sold Bones my shares and yours too."

There was a deep silence.

"Did you hear me?" asked de Vinne.

"Yes, I heard you," said the voice, so strange that de Vinne scarcelyrecognised it. "How many did you sell?" asked Pole.

"A hundred and eighty thousand. I thought I could easily fix it withyou."

Another silence.

"What did Bones say to you?"

"He told me he wouldn't do any more business with you."

"Good Heavens!" groaned Pole, and added, "Gracious Heavens!"

"Why, what's the matter?" asked de Vinne quickly, scenting danger.

"That's what he said to me," moaned the other. "Just hang on. I'll beround in a quarter of an hour."

Mr. Fred Pole arrived under that time, and had a dreadful story tounfold. At nine o'clock that evening Bones had called upon him and hadoffered to buy his shares. But Bones had said he would not under anycircumstances —

"Buy my shares?" said de Vinne quickly.

"Well, he didn't exactly say that," said Fred. "But he gave me tounderstand that he'd rather buy the shares from me than from anybodyelse, and I thought it was such an excellent idea, and I could fix itup with you on the telephone, so I sold him – "

"How many?" wailed de Vinne.

"A hundred and fifty thousand," said Mr. Fred, and the two men staredat one another.

De Vinne licked his dry lips.

"It comes to this," he said. "Between us we've sold him three hundredand thirty thousand shares. There are only two hundred and fiftythousand shares issued, so we've got to deliver eighty thousand sharesthat are non-existent or be posted as defaulters."