"
"Of course," went on Jack, thoughtfully, after a pause, "if you, Mr.
Farnum, could interest all the capital you want, on your own fair
conditions, you wouldn't have to be afraid of this man Melville."
"No," admitted the boatbuilder, making a wry face. "But getting all
that capital together is the problem. You see, Jack, we know just how
good a boat we have, but others don't."
"Others don't?" repeated Captain Benson. "That gives me an idea."
"Another trouble," pursued the builder, "is that this submarine business
is just something of a speculation. Suppose investors come forward with
a lot of ready money to put into this enterprise? Our boat is good, but
how do the investors know that, within the next few months, some other
inventor won't come forward with a new type of submarine boat that will
leave ours hopelessly behind? Then the investors would stand to lose
every dollar that they put in with us. That's the thought that makes
investors shy."
"Yet Mr. Melville did not seem to be afraid of the chance of losing,"
remarked Jack Benson.
"He's a gambler all the way through, and he has some moneyed friends of
his sort," replied Mr. Farnum. "But it's hard to find such investors."
"Now, for that idea I mentioned," proposed Captain Jack. "You can see
what you think of it. Why not get people to talking about our boat?
Why not make them talk about it as the most wonderful thing possible in
a submarine boat? You know how I managed to leave the boat under water,
and to return to it.
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