"Well," he said, "failure is hard to bear, and I've a strong suspicion that I've undertaken more than I'm able to carry out. So far, I've made a deplorable mess of things. We reached the neighborhood of the lode with no time to search the ground, and, for all the results we got, we might as well have stayed at home." "But it's something to have proved that the lode exists." "I'm not sure it's worth proving. The value of the ore is the most important point, because a mine could not be worked up there unless it was very rich. Then there's a risk of Graham's being lamed for life. Mappin has beaten us badly at the beginning of the fight." "It's only a small reverse. You would not use the means he employed. They were infamous!" "The trouble is that other opponents I shall have to meet may use similar methods, and unless I do the same, I'll be further handicapped. As it happens, I'm carrying weight enough already." Geraldine looked thoughtful. "In a way, you're right. I've learned something about the situation." "If we had proved the lode to be rich, I should have had something to fall back on; but I've failed. Now I must attack strong vested interests, with the whole influence of my conservative relatives against me. My chief antagonist enjoys a high prestige, and has made an excellent profit on the money handed him." Andrew laughed in a rueful manner. "And I'm the fool of the family, who has lately taken to upsetting a very satisfactory state of affairs. Can you imagine the surprise and disgust of everybody concerned?" "But your people are upright, aren't they?" "Oh, yes; there's no doubt of that. But, with one or two unimportant exceptions, they're conventional and prejudiced. They believe in what they see; the prosperity of Allinson's, the dividends coming in. They distrust anything that seems out of the usual course, and they couldn't bring themselves to think there should be anything wrong with the firm. I, whom they good-naturedly look down on, have to convince them to the contrary." "It will be hard; one can understand that. But the feeling of helplessness that troubles you now will pass. You must remember that you have borne enough to exhaust you." "My body's tired," Andrew admitted. "One can get over that. The real difficulty is that my mind feels sick." "Is there no connection between the two?" Geraldine smiled at him. "You make me think it's the first time you have had any serious difficulties." "That's true. It looks as if there were some benefit in being dull. You're saved a good deal of trouble if you don't notice things." "I didn't mean that," Geraldine objected. "You're not really dull, you know." "Then I'm something like it. But you don't think I've been foolish in starting on this campaign?"