A BOLD SPECULATION After weighing for some weeks all he could learn about the wreck on the African coast, Cartwright went to London and was carried up one morning to the second floor of an imposing office block.

Black marble columns supported the molded roof of the long passage, the wide stairs were guarded by polished mahogany and shining brass, and a screen of artistic iron work enclosed the elevator shaft.

Cartwright's fur coat and gloves and varnished boots harmonized with the surroundings; he looked rich and important, but as he went along the corridor his face was stern.

He was going to make a plunge that would mend or break his fortune.

Unless he got straight in the next six months, he must retire from the Board and make the best bargain possible with his creditors.
He opened a door, and giving a clerk his card, was shown into a handsome private office.