Fortunate did it prove for us in after days that this matter was arranged.
That night before we went to bed I narrated to Lord Ragnall all the history of our search for the Holy Flower, which he seemed to find very entertaining.

Also I told him of my adventures, to me far more terrible, as chairman of the Bona Fide Gold Mine and of their melancholy end.
"The lesson of which is," he remarked when I had finished, "that because a man is master of one trade, it does not follow that he is master of another.

You are, I should judge, one of the finest shots in the world, you are also a great hunter and explorer.

But when it comes to companies, Quatermain----! Still," he went on, "I ought to be grateful to that Bona Fide Gold Mine, since I gather that had it not been for it and for your rascally friend, Mr.Jacob, I should not have found you here." "No," I answered, "it is probable that you would not, as by this time I might have been far in the interior where a man cannot be traced and letters do not reach him." Then he made a few pointed inquiries about the affairs of the mine, noting my answers down in his pocket-book.

I thought this odd but concluded that he wished to verify my statements before entering into a close companionship with me, since for aught he knew I might be the largest liar in the world and a swindler to boot.