God-fearing woman, had strained every nerve to give
her boy an education. She died when Stephen was fourteen. He took to his
father's calling and had followed it with a certain success for ten
years, by which time he had attained the position of first mate.

Then the owner of the Botallack Mine, in Cornwall, having come across
him in the way of business, and been struck by his intelligence and
aptitude, induced him by a lucrative appointment to try his luck on
land.

The managers of the Sark Mines, seeking a special man for somewhat
special circumstances, had applied to Botallack for assistance, and
Stephen Gard came to Sark as the representative of many hopes which, so
far, had been somewhat lacking in results.

But, as old Tom Hamon had predicted, he very soon found that he had laid
his hand to no easy plough.

The Sark men were characteristically difficult, and made the difficulty
greater by not understanding him--or declining to understand, which came
to the same thing--when he laid down his ideas and endeavoured to bring
them to his ways.

Some, without doubt, had no English, and their patois was quite beyond
him. Others could understand him an they would, but deliberately chose
not to--partly from a conservative objection to any change whatever, and
partly from an idea that he had been imported for the purpose of driving
them, and driving is the last thing a Sark man will submit to.

Old Tom Hamon, and a few others who had a financial interest in the
mines, assisted him all they could, in hopes of thereby assisting
themselves, but they were few.

As for the Cornishmen and Welshmen, the success or failure of the Sark
Mines mattered little to them. There was always mining going on
somewhere and competent men were always in demand. They were paid so
much a week, small output or large, and without a doubt the small output
entailed less labour than the large. They naturally regarded with no
great favour the man whose present aim in life it was to ensure the
largest output possible.

And so Gard found himself confronted by many difficulties, and,
moreover, and greatly to the troubling of his mind, found himself looked
upon as a dictator and an interloper by the men whom he had hoped to
benefit.

Concerning the mines themselves he was not called upon for an opinion.
The managers had satisfied themselves as to the presence of silver. If
his opinion had been asked it would have confirmed them. But all he had
t