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.Simon glanced at it and handed it back with a smile of congratulation.Nobodycould esteem the value of an efficient-ly faked document higher than he. That s simply wonderful, he said whole-heartedly. Naturally, said the Professor, all I could think of was to get the moneyas quickly as possible and return here while we were still hot on the scent,as you might say, of those golden frogs. Naturally. Getting the money was only a matter of formality.Then I wired Alice, andtook the next plane back here after my lecture.Of course, by that time youhad already left on your ill-fated trip.No doubt you can imagine my feelingswhen she was forced to tell me the whole story.It would be impossible for meto forgive the bargain she made with you if I did not realize how altruisticalthough misguided her motives were.But both of us will always bear on oursouls the burden of the death of poor faithful Loro. He bowed his head; and a subdued Alice, becomingly garbed in black, meeklyfollowed suit. Don t blame yourselves too much, said the Saint. I ve already told her- The Professor raised his hand. Let us not discuss it, he said. All I ask, for my own satisfaction andpeace of mind, is that you should permit me to reimburse you for your loss.Call it conscience money, or blood money, as you will.And let us considerthat iniquitous compact ended, as if it had never been made. He took another piece of paper from his pocket and held it out to the Saint.Simon took the proffered paper, and saw that it was a cashier s check for tenthousand dollars which his practiced eye told him was certainly not forged. If you put it that way, Professor, he said, respectfully, I hardly see howI can refuse. I understand you will not be a loser, in any event.May I ask what you areproposing to do about your lucky find? I haven t had time to do anything much yet, said the Saint. In fact, forthe present I m keeping it right under my hat, and as you know I ve askedAlice to do the same.I don t want some local hotshots getting wind of it andmaybe pulling some fast legal shenanigans before everything s sewn up.I havegot an attorney busy forming a local corporation, which will have quite anominal capital, most of which I ll put up myself-about a hundred grand.Foroperating capital, I ll get a loan from some Texas oil men I know; in thatway, the value of the original stock will skyrocket much faster as soon as weget going, and I can take a nice capital gain instead of paying a ninety perPage 94 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlcent income tax. The Professor nodded. Alice tells me she had some misunderstanding with you about the legal andmoral rights to your mining claim.She was absolutely wrong, of course- I know it now, Alice said contritely. I was very stupid, and I apologize. But, said the Professor, we do have a friendly interest in your venture.Your opening up of the country should eventually make it possible for us toget back to our frogs again-if they are still there.And I do claim that wecontrib-uted something, however indirectly, to your good fortune.Here I am,Mr.Tombs, with what is left of this legacy, and very little knowledge offinancial matters.I would like to invest in something that would bring in agood return and enable me to continue my researches.Alice and I have been soclose to this, and we have the best reasons to believe in it.I would like toask you-not as a right, but as a favor-if you would consider letting us in onthe ground floor. How much would you want to invest? Simon asked in a businesslike manner.The Professor looked appealingly at Alice.She opened her purse, and then abillfold from it, and took out five cashier s checks, each made out simply toBearer.It was the most liquid and compact way she had been able to think ofto carry her retirement fund.She put one of them back, and handed Simon theother four.Each of them was made out for five thousand dollars. I told him we could speculate this much, she said.Simon looked at them judicially. I was only a little peeved because I thought Alice was jumping the gun, hesaid. When you put it this way, I couldn t be mean enough to refuse
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