was abandoned, years and years ago. I suppose that modern processes may enable us to extract more copper out of the ore than our fathers found possible. Anyhow, my idea is to get the blast furnace in working order once more, and by the time we return to England, we shall probably know whether there is any brass, in another sense of the word, in the mine. Do you think you comprehend that task as well as the buying of the---- “But why trouble with copper, Lord Stranleigh, when you have on your hands the most prolific gold mine, as I believe it to be, in the world?” “You said it was in the other fellow’s hands, Mackeller.” “Don’t you intend to stop that crew in some way from lifting the ore?” “Oh, no, I shall not interfere with them in the least.” “Then what are you going to West Africa for?” “For the voyage. For the scenery. For the chance of big game in the back country. To drink some of that champagne I have ordered, and to smoke a few of those cigarettes which I sent aboard. I shall read all the latest books that I haven’t had time to peruse here in London. By the way, is the neighborhood of our mine a healthy locality?” “I should say it was rather feverish along the coast, but up toward the hills I think it as healthy as Hampstead.” “I shall induce a doctor friend of mine to come with us. I’m glad I thought of that. If you indulge in your predilection for coercion, giving free rein to your passion for fighting, a surgeon will be necessary for amputations, the dressing of wounds, and generally useful in attending to those exciting incidents that follow in the train of a conqueror like yourself, who believes in brute force rather than in alert brains.” “Then I am to set this copper mine of yours in operation down in Cornwall?” “Exactly. And leave a competent manager to engage the men, renew the machinery, and all that.” “Is there to be any limit in the expenditure?” “Limit? Of course there is to be a limit. Aren’t we always limiting expenditure? Isn’t my life spent in putting a check on the outgoings? Yes, you will instruct the new manager that this is merely a tentative experiment of mine, and that he is not to purchase machinery wholesale, nor engage many miners, but merely to test the capabilities of the copper vein, and smelt as much of the ore as he can until you return.” “Of course it’s no business of mine, my lord, but it strikes me that this is an unnecessary and losing venture. The copper industry of Cornwall has been steadily decreasing in value, and I doubt if there are half as many copper mines in operation as there were ten years ago.”