s be frank."

Trevethick was silent for a little; he felt a lump rise in his throat,
as though nature itself forbade him to disclose the secret he had kept
so long and so jealously guarded. "I have known it for these fifty
years," he began, in a half-choking voice. "I found it out as a mere
lad, when I went down into the old mine one day for sport, with some
schoolmates. The vein lies in the lowest part of the old workings, at a
depth that we think nothing of nowadays, though it was too deep for the
old masters of the pit. I remember, as though it was yesterday, how my
heart leaped within me when my torch shone upon it, and how I fled away,
lest my school-fellows should see it also. I came back the next day
alone, to certify my great discovery. It is a good vein, if ever there
was one. The copper there may be worth tens of thousands, hundreds of
thousands, millions!" Never had the numeration table been invested with
such significance. Trevethick's giant frame shook with emotion; his eyes
literally glared with greed.

"You have been there since?" observed Richard, interrogatively.

"Often, often," answered the other, hoarsely; "I could not keep away.
But nobody else has been there. The place is dark and perilous; there
are rats, and bats, and eerie creatures all about it. And folks are
afraid, because of the Dead Hand and the Flame."

"Your hand and torch?"

"Yes. I did my best to keep the place my own; my thoughts were never
absent from it for a day. And when I had earned a little money I put it
by, and more to that, and more to that again, till I had got enough to
make a bid for the lease of the old mine. But Carew was under age; so
that fell through. I bided my time, and bid again; not much--not enough,
as I fondly thought, to excite suspicion--but still what would seem a
good price for a disused pit. Then I bid more and more; but Carew will
neither sell nor let; and my money grows and grows in vain. I tell you I
have laid by a fortune only to pour into his hand. It is ready for him
to-night; there would be no haggling, no asking for time--it would be
paid him in hard cash. How long, thought I, will this madman balk me
with his whim? He will die some day in his cups, or break his neck in
hunting, and I shall surely come in with my offer to his heir, and have
my way at last, and win my prize. But now, after all my patience and my
pains, I am overmatched by a Parson and a Boy." He spoke with uncommon
heat and passi