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Mr. Batterson sat down. And Mr. Westgate rose: He wanted–he said–to know more, much more, about this proposition, which to his mind was of a very dubious wisdom…. ‘Ah!’ thought the secretary, ‘I told the old boy he must tell them more’…. To whom, for instance, had the proposal first been made? To him!–the chairman said. Good! But why were Pillins selling, if freights were to go up, as they were told?

“Matter of opinion.”

“Quite so; and in my opinion they are going lower, and Pillins were right to sell. It follows that we are wrong to buy.” (“Hear, hear!” “No, no!”) “Pillins are shrewd people. What does the chairman say? Nerves! Does he mean to tell us that this sale was the result of nerves?”

The chairman nodded.

“That appears to me a somewhat fantastic theory; but I will leave that and confine myself to asking the grounds on which the chairman bases his confidence; in fact, what it is which is actuating the Board in pressing on us at such a time what I have no hesitation in stigmatising as a rash proposal. In a word, I want light as well as leading in this matter.”

Mr. Westgate sat down.

What would the chairman do now? The situation was distinctly awkward–seeing his helplessness and the lukewarmness of the Board behind him. And the secretary felt more strongly than ever the absurdity of his being an underling, he who in a few well-chosen words could so easily have twisted the meeting round his thumb. Suddenly he heard the long, rumbling sigh which preluded the chairman’s speeches.

“Has any other gentleman anything to say before I move the adoption of the report?”

Phew! That would put their backs up. Yes, sure enough it had brought that fellow, who had said he might as well go home, to his feet! Now for something nasty!

“Mr. Westgate requires answering. I don’t like this business. I don’t impute anything to anybody; but it looks to me as if there were something behind it which the shareholders ought to be told. Not only that; but, to speak frankly, I’m not satisfied to be ridden over roughshod in this fashion by one who, whatever he may have been in the past, is obviously not now in the prime of his faculties.”

With a gasp the secretary thought: ‘I knew that was a plain-spoken man!’

He heard again the rumbling beside him. The chairman had gone crimson, his mouth was pursed, his little eyes were very blue.

“Help me up,” he said.

The secretary helped him, and waited, rather breathless.

The chairman took a sip of water, and his voice, unexpectedly loud, broke an ominous hush:

“Never been so insulted in my life. My best services have been at your disposal for nineteen years; you know what measure of success this Company has attained. I am the oldest man here, and my experience of shipping is, I hope, a little greater than that of the two gentlemen who spoke last. I have done my best for you, ladies and gentlemen, and we shall see whether you are going to endorse an indictment of my judgment and of my honour, if I am to take the last speaker seriously. This purchase is for your good. ‘There is a tide in the affairs of men’–and I for one am not content, never have been, to stagnate. If that is what you want, however, by all means give your support to these gentlemen and have done with it. I tell you freights will go up before the end of the year; the purchase is a sound one, more than a sound one–I, at any rate, stand or fall by it. Refuse to ratify it, if you like; if you do, I shall resign.”

He sank back into his seat. The secretary, stealing a glance, thought with a sort of enthusiasm: ‘Bravo! Who’d have thought he could rally his voice like that? A good touch, too, that about his honour! I believe he’s knocked them.