'What on earth are you driving at ?' 'A million pounds, I said.

That is to say, five million dollars.

How soon could you realize as much as that ?' 'Oh!' he answered, 'in about a month, if I went about it neatly enough.
I could unload as much as that in a month without scaring Wall Street and other places.

But it would want some arrangement.' 'Useless!' she exclaimed.

'Couldn't you do it quicker, if you really had to ?' 'If I really had to, I could fix it in a week, but it would make things lively, and I should lose on the job.' 'Couldn't you,' she persisted, 'couldn't you go down this morning and raise a million, somehow, if it was a matter of life and death ?' He hesitated.