r. "It is only noxious when it is
boiling. That is why I keep the door locked."

"What is it?" asked John Minute, scowling down at the unoffending
liquor.

"It is many things," said the other ruefully. "In point of fact, it is
an experiment. The bowl contains one or two elements which will only mix
with the others at a certain temperature, and as an experiment it is
successful because I have kept the unmixable elements in suspension,
though the liquid has gone cold."

"I hope you will enjoy your dinner, even though it has gone cold,"
grumbled John Minute.

"I didn't hear the bell, sir," said Jasper Cole. "I'm awfully sorry if
I've kept you waiting."

They were the only two present in the big, black-looking dining room,
and dinner was as usual a fairly silent meal. John Minute read the
newspapers, particularly that portion of them which dealt with the
latest fluctuations in the stock market.

"Somebody has been buying Gwelo Deeps," he complained loudly.

Jasper looked up.

"Gwelo Deeps?" he said. "But they are the shares--"

"Yes, yes," said the other testily; "I know. They were quoted at a
shilling last week; they are up to two shillings and threepence. I've
got five hundred thousand of them; to be exact," he corrected himself,
"I've got a million of them, though half of them are not my property. I
am almost tempted to sell."

"Perhaps they have found gold," suggested Jasper.

John Minute snorted.

"If there is gold in the Gwelo Deeps there are diamonds on the downs,"
he said scornfully. "By the way, the other five hundred thousand shares
belong to May."

Jasper Cole raised his eyebrows as much in interrogation as in surprise.

John Minute leaned back in his chair and manipulated his gold toothpick.

"May Nuttall's father was the best friend I ever had," he said gruffly.
"He lured me into the Gwelo Deeps against my better judgment We sank a
bore three thousand feet and found everything except gold."

He gave one of his brief, rumbling chuckles.

"I wish that mine had been a success. Poor old Bill Nuttall! He helped
me in some tight places."

"And I think you have done your best for his daughter, sir."

"She's a nice girl," said John Minute, "a dear girl. I'm not taken with
girls." He made a wry face. "But May is as honest and as sweet as they
make them. She's the sort of girl who looks you in the eye when she
talks to you; there's no damned nonsense about May."

Jasper Cole concealed a smile.