, for his interest in the doings of Surrey and
Yorkshire had waned to the point of complete indifference in competition
with Mrs. Windlebird's news.

Equally mechanically he unfolded it and glanced at front page; and, as
he did do, a flaring explosion of headlines smote his eye.

Out of the explosion emerged the word "WILD-CATS".

"Why!" he exclaimed. "There's columns about Wild-cats on the front page
here!"

"Yes?" Mrs. Windlebird's voice sounded strangely dull and toneless. Her
eyes were still closed.

Roland took in the headlines with starting eyes.

THE WILD-CAT REEF GOLD-MINE

ANOTHER KLONDIKE

FRENZIED SCENES ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE

BROKERS FIGHT FOR SHARES

RECORD BOOM

UNPRECEDENTED RISE IN PRICES

Shorn of all superfluous adjectives and general journalistic exuberance,
what the paper had to announce to its readers was this:

The "special commissioner" sent out by The _Financial Argus_ to
make an exhaustive examination of the Wild-cat Reef Mine--with
the amiable view, no doubt, of exploding Mr. Geoffrey Windlebird
once and for all with the confiding British public--has found,
to his unbounded astonishment, that there are vast quantities of
gold in the mine.

The discovery of the new reef, the largest and richest, it is
stated, since the famous Mount Morgan, occurred with dramatic
appropriateness on the very day of his arrival. We need scarcely
remind our readers that, until that moment, Wild-cat Reef shares
had reached a very low figure, and only a few optimists retained
their faith in the mine. As the largest holder, Mr. Windlebird
is to be heartily congratulated on this new addition to his
fortune.

The publication of the expert's report in The _Financial Argus_ has
resulted in a boom in Wild-cats, the like of which can seldom have
been seen on the Stock Exchange. From something like one shilling
and sixpence per bundle the one pound shares have gone up to nearly
ten pounds a share, and even at this latter figure people were
literally fighting to secure them.

The world swam about Roland. He was stupefied and even terrified. The
very atmosphere seemed foggy. So far as his reeling brain was capable
of thought, he figured that he was now worth about two hundred thousand
pounds.

"Oh, Mrs. Windlebird," he cried, "It's all right after all."

Mrs. Windlebird sat