may find in owning such an
unremunerative piece of property you may enjoy without any fear
of molestation, for I, as my father's sole heir, shall never
lay claim to any share in it, and hereby authorize you to do
with it as you think best.

"We have been very happy since we left you so suddenly and
unexpectedly. The opportunity for departure came, and we
embraced it.

"I have but one more thing to say before closing this one-sided
correspondence forever--I humbly beg your pardon and crave your
forgiveness for the cruel injustice that I once did you in a
moment of agony.

"Trusting that you are happy (I knew of your engagement) and
prosperous,

"I remain, always under obligations, your friend,

"MARY DARRELL."

With this letter there was no date nor address, and its only post-mark
was the stamp of the railway postal-service on a distant Eastern
road.

CHAPTER XXIX

A ROYAL NAME FOR A ROYAL MINE

Peveril was greatly distressed at the unforeseen and mysterious
disappearance of the Darrells; for it made him feel as though he had
driven them from their home and usurped their rights. The place also
seemed very empty and forlorn without Mary Darrell's winning face and
all-pervading presence; for, though he had seen but little of her and
had reason to believe that she did not feel kindly towards him, he now
realized how much his happiness had depended on the knowledge that she
was always close at hand.

Then, too, the domestic establishment that ran on so smoothly under
the supervision of Aunty Nimmo was completely broken up. Nelly
Trefethen must, of course, return at once to Red Jacket, and this she
did that very day on Mary Darrell's pony, under escort of Mike
Connell, who was only too happy to make the journey on foot. The few
men employed by Mr. Darrell having been paid off and discharged, the
departure of his two remaining friends left the young proprietor
entirely alone, in a place as desolate as though it were beyond the
reach of human knowledge. The sky was overcast, making the day dark
and cheerless, so that, as Peveril wandered disconsolately about his
deserted property, the future looked to him as gloomy as the present.

"There can't be anything in it," he said to himself, as he gazed
moodily down the black mouth of the shaft. "Of course, the men who
sank a fortune in that hole would have found it out long ago if there