methods by which a man who has command
of--well, let us say, for argument's sake, boundless wealth, could
benefit mankind by it, without taking away any one's independence or in
any way doing harm?"

"Well, really, now that I come to think of it, it is a very difficult
problem," said Robert.

"Now I will submit a few schemes to you, and you may give me your
opinion on them. Supposing that such a man were to buy ten square miles
of ground here in Staffordshire, and were to build upon it a neat city,
consisting entirely of clean, comfortable little four-roomed
houses, furnished in a simple style, with shops and so forth, but no
public-houses. Supposing, too, that he were to offer a house free to all
the homeless folk, all the tramps, and broken men, and out-of-workers
in Great Britain. Then, having collected them together, let him employ
them, under fitting superintendence, upon some colossal piece of work
which would last for many years, and perhaps be of permanent value to
humanity. Give them a good rate of pay, and let their hours of labour be
reasonable, and those of recreation be pleasant. Might you not benefit
them and benefit humanity at one stroke?"

"But what form of work could you devise which would employ so vast
a number for so long a time, and yet not compete with any existing
industry? To do the latter would simply mean to shift the misery from
one class to another."

"Precisely so. I should compete with no one. What I thought of doing was
of sinking a shaft through the earth's crust, and of establishing rapid
communication with the Antipodes. When you had got a certain distance
down--how far is an interesting mathematical problem--the centre of
gravity would be beneath you, presuming that your boring was not quite
directed towards the centre, and you could then lay down rails and
tunnel as if you were on the level."

Then for the first time it flashed into Robert McIntyre's head that his
father's chance words were correct, and that he was in the presence of
a madman. His great wealth had clearly turned his brain, and made him a
monomaniac. He nodded indulgently, as when one humours a child.

"It would be very nice," he said. "I have heard, however, that the
interior of the earth is molten, and your workmen would need to be
Salamanders."

"The latest scientific data do not bear out the idea that the earth
is so hot," answered Raffles Haw. "It is certain that the increased
temperature in coal mines