"Do. Pray come. I shall be delighted. But, my dear sir, what a change you have made here in a month. It is wonderful. You have turned a desert into a beehive." "Well, we are progressing," said Clive, with a smile of pride, as he let his eyes follow the Major's over engine and boiler houses, furnace, and smelting sheds; tramway and lifting machinery finished and in progress. "We shall begin raising ore very shortly." "And making money for your shareholders, I hope." "Oh, yes, I hope so," said Clive, with a confident smile. "I see you are sanguine," said the Major. "Oh, yes, fairly so, my dear sir." "I sincerely hope that you will not be disappointed, Mr Reed; but you, as an experienced mining engineer, know what mines are. Don't burn your fingers." "Oh, no, sir, I'll take care. Have you any money to invest? Would you like a few shares?" "I! No, no, Mr Reed. I have my little income, and I will be content. Too old to speculate, sir." "There is no speculation in it, Major. The matter is a certainty, and you might double your income easily," said Clive. "No, sir, I have enough," said the Major shortly. "Pray forgive me," cried Clive hastily. "I thought perhaps for Miss Gurdon's sake--" "Ah! there you touch me to the quick," cried the Major. "But no, no! Avaunt, tempter: I will run no risks." "I will not tempt you," said Clive, smiling. "That's right. But, my dear sir, you must not deprive yourself of all rest. This struggle to grow rich is one of the evils of the day." "But I am not struggling to grow rich," said Clive quietly, "only to make others who have trusted me wealthy." "Then I beg your pardon; but really I think you are over-doing it." "Don't be afraid for me. I am better and happier with my mind fully occupied. But would you like to look round?" "Very much indeed," said the Major. "And go down?" "Of course. You will take care of me, I know." "Oh, yes; you shall come `back to grass,' as we say, safe and sound. Not much grass, though, by the way." He touched a gong, and upon a boy answering it, sent a message for Mr Sturgess to come to the office. In a few minutes the foreman presented himself, and receiving the manager's orders, he led the way to the entrance to the mouth, newly fitted with a strong engine-house and wire rope, with a cage which ran down the nearly perpendicular slope into the depths of the mine, where a trolly bore them along with their lights for half a mile. Then followed a walk, made easy now by the levelling which had gone on through the passages that ran maze-like through the mine. Finally, when the Major was growing weary, Clive led him into the natural cavernous part, and along over the falling water, to stop at length at the bottom of a slope, newly cut, with a platform in front of the discovery made on the day when the lanthorn fell.