Dr Bolter took off his sun-hat, and rubbed his bald head in a peculiarly vicious way, and then went on debating the question so as to work himself up to the carrying out of the project which he had in view. "Here's the case," he said. "My wife's out; there's nobody ill, for I've polished off all that needs doing this morning, so when could there be a better chance? I'll go, that I will." But there came up, as if to oppose him, the recollection of the morning after Mr Perowne's party, and he was obliged to ask himself how could he go now? "I don't care," he cried, angrily. "I have done all I could, and thought of all I could, and I can do no more. Here's my wife out nearly always now, so that she would not miss me, so I ought to go. I might discover that this is the real site of Solomon's gold mines, and if so-- Phew, what a paper to read at the Royal Geographical! "I'll go! My mind's made up. I'll go, that I will," he exclaimed; "and somehow I seem to fancy that this time I shall make my great discovery. Hah! yes; what a discovery! And that paper read before the Royal Society--a paper on the discovery of the Ancient Ophir, by Dr Bolter, F.R.S. Why, my name--our name I should say, for Mary's sake--would be handed down to posterity." Here the doctor gave his head another rub, as if to get rid of a tiresome fly. "I don't know about posterity," he muttered. "It wouldn't matter to me, as I've no youngsters. Still it would be a fine discovery to make. But--" Here he had another vicious rub. "Suppose in the meantime Helen Perowne and the rest of the party come back!" VOLUME TWO, CHAPTER NINETEEN. DR BOLTER TAKES A HOLIDAY. That question of the possibility of Helen Perowne coming back interfered a good deal with Doctor Bolter's project--one which he had been longing to put in force for months and months--a project which his journey to England and his marriage had set aside, though it was never forgotten. "Suppose Helen comes back?" he asked himself often. "Well, I ought to be here," he said; "but if she were to return in my absence she couldn't help being pleased, for I might have discovered the gold mines. But ought I to tell Mary where I am going?" "No," he said, decidedly; "she would object. She might agree to my going upon a collecting expedition; but she would say as she said before, that the Ophir question was a myth."