le charities
should be cosmopolitan. We will try and give the good people of
Archangel a better outlet for their furs and their tallow."

"But it will freeze."

"For six months in the year. Still, it will be something. Then we must
do something for the East. It would never do to overlook the East."

"It would certainly be an oversight," said Robert, who was keenly alive
to the comical side of the question. Raffles Haw, however, in deadly
earnest, sat scratching away at his map with his blue pencil.

"Here is a point where we might be of some little use. If we cut through
from Batoum to the Kura River we might tap the trade of the Caspian, and
open up communication with all the rivers which run into it. You notice
that they include a considerable tract of country. Then, again, I think
that we might venture upon a little cutting between Beirut, on the
Mediterranean, and the upper waters of the Euphrates, which would lead
us into the Persian Gulf. Those are one or two of the more obvious
canals which might knit the human race into a closer whole."

"Your plans are certainly stupendous," said Robert, uncertain whether to
laugh or to be awe-struck. "You will cease to be a man, and become one
of the great forces of Nature, altering, moulding, and improving."

"That is precisely the view which I take of myself. That is why I feel
my responsibility so acutely."

"But surely if you will do all this you may rest. It is a considerable
programme."

"Not at all. I am a patriotic Briton, and I should like to do something
to leave my name in the annals of my country. I should prefer, however,
to do it after my own death, as anything in the shape of publicity and
honour is very offensive to me. I have, therefore, put by eight hundred
million in a place which shall be duly mentioned in my will, which I
propose to devote to paying off the National Debt. I cannot see that any
harm could arise from its extinction."

Robert sat staring, struck dumb by the audacity of the strange man's
words.

"Then there is the heating of the soil. There is room for improvement
there. You have no doubt read of the immense yields which have resulted
in Jersey and elsewhere, from the running of hot-water pipes through the
soil. The crops are trebled and quadrupled. I would propose to try the
experiment upon a larger scale. We might possibly reserve the Isle of
Man to serve as a pumping and heating station. The main pipes would run
to England, Irel