13 The Saint Intervenes (Boodle)

The exposition started off with a picture of some small particles of matter collected in a teacup; and it was explained that these were the seeds of pinus palustris, or the long-leaved pine. "Obviously," said the writer, "even a child must know that these can only be worth a matter of pennies." There followed an artistic photograph of some full-grown pines rearing towards the sky. "Just as obviously," said the writer, "everyone must see that these trees must have some value worth mentioning; probably a value that would run into pounds." The actual value, it was explained, did indeed run into pounds; in fact, the value of the trees illustrated would be £3 or more. Furthermore, declared the writer, whereas in Florida these trees took 45 years to reach maturity, in the exceptional climate of the Brazilian mountains they at­tained their full growth in about 10 years. The one great drain on timber profits hitherto had been the cost of trans­port; but this the Brazilian Timber Company had triumphant­ly eliminated by purchasing their ground along the banks of the Parana River (inset photograph of large river) which by the force of its current would convey all logs thrown into it to the coast at no cost at all.

Investors were accordingly implored, in their own inter­ests, to gather together at least £30 and purchase with it a Brazilian Timber Bond—which could be arranged, if neces­sary, by installments. On buying this bond, they would be­come the virtual owners of an acre of ground in this terri­tory, and the seeds of trees would be planted in it without further charge. It was asserted that twenty-five trees could easily grow on this acre, which when cut down at maturity would provide 100 cords of wood. Taking the price of wood at £3 a cord, it was therefore obvious that in about 10 years' time this acre would be worth £300—"truly," said the prospectus, "a golden return on such a modest investment." The theme was developed at great length with no little literary skill, even going so far as to suggest that on the figures quoted, the investor who bought one £30 bond every year for 10 years would in the 11th year commence to draw an annuity of £300 per annum for ever, since as soon as the trees had been felled in the first acre it could be planted out again.

"Well, have you bought your Brazilian Timber Bond?" asked Monty Hayward a day or two later.

Simon grinned and looked out of the window—he was down at the country house in Surrey which he had recently bought for a week-end retreat.

"I've got two acres here," he murmured. "We might look around for somebody to give us sixty quid to plant some more trees in it."

"The really brilliant part of it," said Monty, filling his pipe, "is that this bloke proposes to pay out all the profit in a lump in ten years' time; but until then he doesn't undertake to pay anything. So if he's been working this stunt for four years now, as it says in the book, he's still got another five years clear to go on selling his bonds before any of the bond­holders has a right to come round and say: 'Oi, what about my three hundred quid?' Unless some nosey parker makes a special trip into the middle of Brazil and comes back and says there aren't any pine trees growing in those parts, or he's seen the concession and it's just a large swamp with a few blades of grass and a lot of mosquitoes buzzing about, I don't see how he can help getting away with a fortune if he finds enough mugs."

The Saint lighted a cigarette.

"There's nothing to stop him taking it in," he remarked gently, "but he's still got to get away with it."

Mr. Sumner Journ would have seen nothing novel in the qualification. Since the first day when he began those prac­tical surveys of the sucker birth-rate, the problem of finally getting away with it, accompanied by his moustache and his plunder, had never been entirely absent from his thoughts, although he had taken considerable pains to steer a course which would keep him outside the reach of the Law. But the collapse of South American Mineralogical Investments, Ltd., had brought him within unpleasantly close range of danger, and about the ultimate fate of Brazilian Timber Bonds he had no illusions.