"Naturally, we'd prefer to have it alone." Wannop looked at Stirling, who smiled and answered the man.
"I'm afraid you'll have to put up with my presence," he said.

"In fact, this is a pleasure that I've been expecting for the last few days." "What standing has Mr.Stirling in this matter ?" the stranger asked.
"I hold most of the Grenfell stock that's likely to be salable," said Stirling, dryly.

"You can't pick up much on the market, which is presumably why you have come to Wannop.

Seems to me you have been selling rather heavily." "If we'd known you were in it, we might have let the thing alone," one of the men admitted.
"You're going to realize that it's quite a pity you didn't." The men looked at each other, and one of them turned to Stirling.
"I'll get to the point," he said.

"We have certainly been selling, and now that settling day is almost on us we find that we can't buy in.
Now, of course, if you hold most of the available stock you have the whip hand of us.