is eyes. If he dozed for a moment, the miser, his father, and the gold
he had for years longed to obtain possession of, haunted him, and made
him start like a thief, as if taken in the act of stealing the coin now
by inheritance his own.

'Cursed gold!' he exclaimed at last, jumping from the bed, 'what shall I
do with it? Pay my debts, and turn a sober man? I will try. If 'Netta
will have me, perhaps I may; indeed I am sure I could. We will come here
and cut a dash first, however. I should like to humble some of our Welsh
aristocrats by showing them how the son of Griffey Jenkins can eclipse
their genealogies, by the magic power of the Golden God. I will stay
over the funeral, then off to town and get rid of my pressing debts;
then pay Levi and Moses, and all my debts of honour; then set myself up
in clothes and jewels, and come home and carry off Netta; and, finally,
have a year's pleasure at least. Take Netta to the continent, and teach
her to _parlez-vous_ a little more fluently than she does now, and to
assume more aristocratic manners; in short--in short--'

The soliloquy was interrupted by the sudden explosion of some substance
under his feet, upon which he accidentally trod as he was pacing up and
down the room. He swore an oath that emanated from his fear, and thought
that the lower regions had actually opened to receive the gold he was
meditating upon, since fire and smoke accompanied the noise, together
with a smell of gunpowder. He rushed out of the room, just as his
mother, alarmed by the sound, was running upstairs.

'They will carry him off before the funeral,' he cried, as his mother
asked what was the matter.

Ashamed of his cowardice, he made an effort to return to the room,
followed by his mother. There was such a strong smell of sulphur that
both recoiled.

'What fools we are!' exclaimed Howel, forcing himself to enter. He
stooped to examine the floor, and to his amusement and disgust, found
the remains of a cracker, which had burst beneath his foot-tread. There
were several others scattered about, that had been unnoticed, because
they looked simply like bits of paper. These had evidently been placed
by his father amongst the gold, in the hope of frightening any one who
might wish to finger it, and had rolled out with the treasure they were
intended to protect.

Mother and son again left the room, the latter locking the door as he
did so, and putting the key in his pocket. They descended to the