Sir Alfred rose from the chair in front of his desk and threw himself into the easy-chair which his guest had been occupying.

A ray of city sunshine found its way through the tangle of tall buildings on the other side of the street, lay in a zigzag path across his carpet, and touched the firm lines of his thoughtful face.

He sat there, slowly tapping the sides of the chair with his pudgy fingers.
So a great soldier might have sat, following out the progress of his armies in different countries, listening to the roar of their guns, watching their advance, their faltering, their success and their failures.

Sir Alfred's vision was in a sense more sordid in many ways more complicated, yet it too, had its dramatic side.

He looked at the money-markets of the world, he saw exchanges rise and fall.