ht opportunities ever since, and believed that she should have to
send for some man in authority when she was dying, and no one could
gainsay her, and commit them to him, little guessing that it was in her
own son's hands that she should place them.

As little did she reckon on what Harold chose to do. He said that for
him to conceal them, and take them away without her husband's
knowledge, would be mere robbery; but that he would show them to Smith,
and sign a receipt for them, "for Eustace Alison," in payment of the
sum of L200 due from James Smith to his father. Mr. Tracy and his
friend, the policeman, should be witnesses, and the nuggets themselves
should be placed in charge of the police, when their weight and value
would be ascertained, and any overplus returned to Smith. The poor
woman trembled exceedingly--Dermot heard the rustling as he stood
outside; and he also heard Harold's voice soothing her, and assuring
her that she should not be left to the revenge of young Dick Smith.
No, she feared not that; she was past the dread of Dick for herself,
but not for Harold. He laughed, and said that they durst not touch him.

For his mother's relief, and for Dermot's safety, he, however, waited
to say anything till the assistance of the gentleman of the police
force had been secured, so that there might be no delay to allow Dick
Smith to gather his fellows for revenge or recovery of the gold.

And with these precautions all went well. Harold, in the grave,
authoritative way that had grown on him, reminded Mr. Smith of a heavy
debt due to his uncle; and when the wretched man began half to deny and
half to entreat in the same breath, Harold said that he had received
from his mother a deposit in payment thereof, and that he had prepared
a receipt, which he requested Mr. Smith to see him sign in presence of
the two witnesses now waiting.

Smith's resentment and disappointment at the sight of the treasure his
wife had hidden from him were unspeakable. He was not an outwardly
passionate man, and he was in mortal fear, not only of the giant who
seemed to fill up all his little room, but also of anything that could
compromise him with the police. So he suppressed his passion, aware
that resistance would bring out stories that could not bear the light.
Harold signed, and the golden apples were carried away to the office,
where Mr. Smith was invited to come the next day and see them weighed.

That night Harold kept watc