In the meantime, that lady was leading a sufficiently comfortable life, as, when she ran short of money, she always drew on Dombrain, who did not dare to refuse it to her. Kaituna still lived with her, and, as some time had elapsed since the death of her father, she had recovered nearly all her former vivacity, and was looking anxiously forward to her marriage with Archie--a marriage which was soon to take place, owing to the good news from Australia about the Pole Star Silver Mine. Toby Clendon had duly arrived in the land of the Southern Cross, and had sent home brilliantly written letters of his travels, which satisfied the editor, and delighted the readers of _The Weekly Scorpion_, In addition to this excellent literary work, which, by the way, was giving him a name in journalistic circles, he had made inquiries about the Pole Star Mine, and although the information he obtained was disheartening enough at first, yet, after a time the Pole Star silver shares began to be inquired about, and in a few weeks were actually worth money. Archie, who had benefited by his mining experiences in the colony, and, moreover, had made friends with an enterprising share broker, who was, as they say "in the know," sent to Kaituna for the scrip lying in the hands of Dombrain. After some difficulty, Archie, who acted as her agent, obtained it from the unwilling Dombrain, and sent all the scrip, to the value of two thousand shares, out to Toby, with a power of attorney authorising him to deal with them as he judged best. Acting by the advice of his stockbroker, Toby judged it best to hold the scrip, as the shares were on the rise, and in a few days his confidence in the mine was justified. A lode was discovered in the Pole Star ground, which was said to rival the celebrated Comstock lode in California, which sent all 'Frisco mad in the old days, and the shares began to rise rapidly, so rapidly indeed, that Toby was justified in thinking that Kaituna would be a great heiress after all. They went from nothing up to twenty pounds a share; again by slow gradations they rose to fifty pounds each, and Toby wanted to sell, but his stockbroker still advised him to hold. In a month they were worth one hundred pounds each, and Toby still held on. The excitement in Melbourne was intense, and other silver mining companies began to spring round the famous Pole Star, in several of which Toby invested the salary he drew from _The Weekly Scorpion_. The surrounding mines were very fluctuating in the share market, but the Pole Star itself never faltered for a moment in its upward career, and at the end of three months, Toby wired to Maxwell that the shares were now worth the enormous value of two hundred pounds each.