‘ “I say a night’s work, but an hour’s would be nearer the mark. I simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as that?”

‘ “The work appears to be light, and the pay munificent.”

‘ “Precisely so. We shall want you to come tonight by the last train.”

‘ “Where to?”

‘ “To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a train from Paddington which would bring you in there at about 11.15.”

‘ “Very good.”

‘ “I shall come down in a carriage to meet you.”

‘ “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 shakedown.”

‘ “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 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 the left—both of them, however, in the grounds of my neighbours. These good people were absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was quite as valuable as a gold mine. Naturally, it was to my interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value; but, unfortunately, I had no capital by which I could do this. I took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little deposit,