and spent it in another. That was the time he stayed
away a whole year among the lamp-posts, "forgot" to get married, and
came back without a bean. He declared there were plenty more forty
thousands to be got out of the Leopard, and perhaps there were, but,
unfortunately, during his absence the reef had been lost. As he was
the only man who believed it would ever be found again, he had
encountered some difficulty in getting together sufficient capital to
restart the mine, for, of course, it had been shut down on the loss of
the reef. But, on the strength of his personality, he had succeeded
where most men would have failed. After many months, operations were
in full swing. It was said that the mine was panning three ounces over
a width of four-six, and a strike of a thousand feet proved, with the
reef at the bottom of the shaft, richer and stronger than ever. But
Druro himself gave away little information on the subject, beyond
admitting sometimes in the bitters-time before dinner at the club, that
the mine was looking all right. Rumour did the rest.

For a few days after Mrs. Hading's arrival, Lundi Druro disappeared
from every-day life in Wankelo. It was a way he had of doing, and
everyone who sought him at such times would find him at the Leopard in
pants embroidered with great holes burned into them by cyanide and
acids, a disreputable shirt without any buttons or collar, and face and
hands blackened beyond recognition with the machine-oil and grime
inseparable from a large mining plant. He always did his own assaying,
taking both time and trouble over it. It must certainly be admitted
that, if he knew how to play when he played, he also worked some when
he worked.

During this time, Mrs. Hading was busy in many ways, but chiefly in
winding her lovely manners about people whom she decided would be
useful to her, and prosecuting a further acquaintance with Beryl
Hallett and Gay Liscannon. It was quite unavoidable that she and Gay
should meet, however averse they might be to one another, and each
accepted the fact with an outward calm that gave no indication of
inward fires. Mrs. Hading was charming to Gay, as was her invariable
practice while searching for chinks in the opponent's armour. Her
hands blessed, even while her fingers were busy feeling for the soft
spots in the victim's skull. Gay, on her side, was pleasant, polite,
and interested, while guarding her heart behind a barrier as fine as a
s