There was a long silence while the two men studied the report still further. Gretry took a pamphlet of statistics from a pigeonhole of his desk, and compared certain figures with those mentioned in the report.

Outside the rain swept against the windows with the subdued rustle of silk. A newsboy raised a Gregorian chant as he went down the street.

“By George, Sam,” Jadwin said again, “do you know that a whole pile of that wheat has got to go to Europe before July? How have the shipments been?”

“About five millions a week.”

“Why, think of that, twenty millions a month, and it’s⁠—let’s see, April, May, June, July⁠—four months before a new crop. Eighty million bushels will go out of the country in the next four months⁠—eighty million out of less than a hundred millions.”

“Looks that way,” answered Gretry.