Mr. Wylie produced the cablegram, and Drummond scanned it sharply.  Evidently the identification was complete.

“Does any one besides your son and yourself know the contents of this message?”

“Not a soul.”

“You have not told any one of my coming?”

“No, sir!”

“Very well.”  Sir Thomas appeared to breathe easier; he deliberately tore the cablegram into small bits, then tossed the fragments into a wastepaper basket before waving his caller to a chair.  He still remained very cold, very forceful, although his stiff formality had vanished.

“Do you understand all about this bridge?” he inquired.

Wylie senior took the cue of brusqueness and nodded shortly.

“Can you build it in the time specified?”

“With ease.”

“Have you submitted your bid?”

“Not yet.  I—­”

“What is the amount of your proposal?”

The president of the Atlantic Bridge Company gasped.  This was the boldest, the coldest work he had ever experienced.  Many times he had witnessed public officials like Sir Thomas Drummond approach this delicate point, but never with such composure, such matter-of-fact certainty and lack of moral scruple.  Evidently, however, this Englishman had come to trade and wanted a direct answer.  There was no false pose, no romance here.  But Jackson Wylie, Sr., was too shrewd a business man to name a rock-bottom price to begin with.  The training of a lifetime would not permit him to deny himself a liberal leeway for hedging, therefore he replied, cautiously: 

“My figures will be approximately L1,400,000 sterling.”  It was his longest speech thus far.

For what seemed an hour to the bridge-builder Sir Thomas Drummond gazed at him with a cold, hard eye, then he folded his papers, rolled up his blue-prints, placed them in the big traveling-bag, and carefully locked it.  When he had finished he flung out this question suddenly: 

“Does that include the Commissioners?”

Up to this point Mr. Jackson Wylie had spoken mainly in monosyllables; now he quit talking altogether; it was no longer necessary.  He merely shook his head in negation.  He was smiling slightly.

“Then I shall ask you to add L200,000 sterling to your price,” his lordship calmly announced.  “Make your bid L1,600,000 sterling, and mail it in time for Wednesday’s boat.  I sail on the same ship.  Proposals will be opened on the twenty-fifth.  Arrange for an English indemnity bond for ten per cent. of your proposition.  Do not communicate in any manner whatsoever with your son, except to forward the sealed bid to him.  He is not to know of our arrangement.  You will meet me in London later; we will take care of that L200,000 out of the last forty per cent. of the contract price, which is payable thirty days after completion, inspection, and acceptance of the bridge.  You will not consult your associates upon leaving here.  Do I make myself clear?  Very well, sir.  The figures are easy to remember:  L1,600,000; L1,400,000 to you.  I am pleased with the facilities your plant offers for doing the work.  I am confident you can complete the bridge on time, and I beg leave to wish you a very pleasant good day.”