“I had a friend of mine, who is a very clever mining engineer, staying with me for a little while some time ago. But my friend is not only an engineer—he is a practical geologist as well. When out for a constitutional one day, we found ourselves at Knockley Holt. My friend was struck with its appearance—so different from that of the country around. ‘Unless I am much mistaken, there is coal under here,’ he said, ‘and at no great distance from the surface either. The owner ought to think himself a lucky man—that is, if he knows the value of it.’ Well, sir, not content with what my friend said, I paid a heavy fee and had one of the most eminent geologists of the day down from London to examine and report upon it. His report coincided exactly with my friend’s opinion. You know the rest, sir. I came to you with a view of getting a lease of the ground, and found you desirous of selling it. I was only too glad to have the chance of buying it. I set a lot of men and a steam engine to work without a day’s delay, and that lump of coal, sir, is the happy result.” The Squire rubbed his spectacles for a moment or two without speaking. “Bristow, that’s an old head of yours on those young shoulders,” he said at last. “With all my heart congratulate you on your good fortune. I know no man who deserves it more than you do. Yes, Bristow, I congratulate you, though I can’t help saying that I wish that I had had a friend to have told me what was told you before I let you have the ground. For want of such a friend I have lost a fortune.” “That is just what I have come to see you about, sir,” said Tom, as he rose and pushed back his chair. The Squire looked up at him in surprise. “Although I bought Knockley Holt from you as a speculation, I had a pretty good idea when I bought it as to what I should find below the surface. If I had not found what I expected, my bargain would have been a dear one; but having found what I expected, it is just the opposite. In fact, sir, you have lost a fortune, and I have found one.” “I know it—I know it,” groaned the Squire. “But you needn’t twit me with it.”