ok from his pockets the nine small bags of nuggets that
remained to him.

"But this," said Yram, "being gold, is a large sum: can you indeed spare
it, and do you really wish George to have it all?"

"I shall be very unhappy if he does not, but he must know nothing about
it till I am out of Erewhon."

My father then explained to her that he was now very rich, and would have
brought ten times as much, if he had known of George's existence. "Then,"
said Yram, musing, "if you are rich, I accept and thank you heartily on
his behalf. I can see a reason for his not knowing what you are giving
him at present, but it is too long to tell."

The reason was, that if George knew of this gold before he saw the King,
he would be sure to tell him of it, and the King might claim it, for
George would never explain that it was a gift from father to son; whereas
if the King had once pardoned him, he would not be so squeamish as to
open up the whole thing again with a postscript to his confession. But
of this she said not a word.

My father then told her of the box of sovereigns that he had left in his
saddle-bags. "They are coined," he said, "and George will have to melt
them down, but he will find some way of doing this. They will be worth
rather more than these nine bags of nuggets."

"The difficulty will be to get him to go down and fetch them, for it is
against his oath to go far beyond the statues. If you could be taken
faint and say you wanted help, he would see you to your camping ground
without a word, but he would be angry if he found he had been tricked
into breaking his oath in order that money might be given him. It would
never do. Besides, there would not be time, for he must be back here on
Tuesday night. No; if he breaks his oath he must do it with his eyes
open--and he will do it later on--or I will go and fetch the money for
him myself. He is in love with a grand-daughter of Mrs. Humdrum's, and
this sum, together with what you are now leaving with me, will make him a
well-to-do man. I have always been unhappy about his having any of the
Mayor's money, and his salary was not quite enough for him to marry on.
What can I say to thank you?"

"Tell me, please, about Mrs. Humdrum's grand-daughter. You like her as a
wife for George?"

"Absolutely. She is just such another as her grandmother must have been.
She and George have been sworn lovers ever since he was ten, and she
eight. The only drawback is that