So far so good. The Bank's manner left nothing to be desired, and its
replies were certainly to the point. I began to think of Mr. C.O. Shine as
my personal friend and speculated as to whether his first name were Claude
or Clarence.
During the following week, whenever I became curious on any subject, I made
notes of fresh queries to propound. After accumulating a sufficient number
I again wrote to the Bank. I forget the exact points upon which I required
information; one of them, I fancy, was the conjectured geologic age of the
Reichardtite strata. Anyhow I got no answer to any of them.