“‘There is a drive, then?’


“‘Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a

good seven miles from Eyford Station.’


“‘Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose

there would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop the

night.’


“‘Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.’


“‘That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more

convenient hour?’


“‘We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to

recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a young and

unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the very heads of your

profession. Still, of course, if you would like to draw out of the business,

there is plenty of time to do so.’


“I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they would be to

me. ‘Not at all,’ said I, ‘I shall be very happy to

accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to understand a

little more clearly what it is that you wish me to do.’


“‘Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy

which we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I have no

wish to commit you to anything without your having it all laid before you. I

suppose that we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers?’


“‘Entirely.’


“‘Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that

fuller’s-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found in one or

two places in England?’


“‘I have heard so.’


“‘Some little time ago I bought a small place—a very

small place—within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to

discover that there was a deposit of fuller’s-earth in one of my fields.

On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a comparatively small

one, and that it formed a link between two very much larger ones upon the right

and left—both of them, however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These

good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was