CHAPTER IX.
HOW MINERS ARE CAUGHT.
Browning and Sedgwick had been in England two weeks. The question of themarriage of Browning and Rose Jenvie had been discussed and decided upon.Neither Hamlin nor Jenvie had interposed any objection to the marriageexcept on the point of time. They asked, at first, that it be postponedfor six months, as Jenvie insisted that he wanted to be certain that Rosehad not been carried away by a mere impulse on seeing once more an oldfriend who had long been absent. Hamlin agreed with him that the youngpeople must be sure not to make any mistake. Jack was impetuous, andRose, while making no pronounced opposition, quietly said that no testswere necessary; that she and Jack had been separated for a long time andknew their own minds. Sedgwick, when called in, refused to express anopinion, it being a matter too sacred to permit of any outsideinterference.
Finally a compromise was made, the time reduced one-half, and the datefixed for the first of September, it being then nearly the first of June.Jack had only agreed to the postponement on the condition that Sedgwickshould not desert him, but wait for the wedding. He consented, sayingcarelessly that two or three months would not much matter to him, but thetruth was that the delay urged by the old men strengthened his suspicionthat all was not just right. "Those old chaps are too sweet by half," hesaid to himself. "There is some game on hand to get the best of generous,simple-hearted, unsuspecting Jack, sure, and while I cannot fathom it Iwill keep watch."
Then, there was the enchantment that Grace Meredith had woven around hislife. Every morning she greeted him with a smile, a welcome word and ahand clasp that set his blood tingling. Her breath was in the air that hebreathed, and when at night the hand-clasp and the smile were repeated,and the good-nights spoken, it all fell upon him like a benediction; and,going to his apartment, he would ask himself what his life would be werethe smile, the word, and the hand-clasp to be his no more.
After a few days there came a change in Grace. She was as cordial asever, as gently considerate as ever, but she seemed to lose vivacity. Shewas often lost in revery; a sadder smile seemed to give expression to herface; she did not laugh with the old ringing laugh; there seemed to comein her look when she suddenly encountered Sedgwick, something which wasthe opposite of a blush--as opposite as the white rose is to the blushrose.
In those days the steady conscience of Sedgwick was undergoing manyself-questionings. Should he offer his love and be rejected, what then?Should the impossible happen and he should be accepted, what then? Shouldhe carry the petted London girl to his home and friends in the MiamiValley, would there not be reproaches felt even if not spoken? Thus hevexed himself day after day; night after night he tossed restlessly, andsaw no way to break the entanglement that had entwined his life. But hekept watch of Jack and the old men.
Meanwhile, Jack had read over and over the prospectus of the "Wedge ofGold" Mining Company. It was the lamp and he was the moth that wascircling around it with constantly lessening circles. His father, to whomhe had applied for information, told him that he believed the shares weregoing at one pound, but that they threatened to be higher within a week,and Jenvie, taking up the conversation, explained that, with a millbuilt, the mine would easily pay sixty per cent on the investmentannually, which would throw the shares up to at least twenty pounds.At the same time both the old men referred Jack to Stetson for fullparticulars, as they had no direct interest in the property.
After a few days more, the mail from South Africa brought a glowingaccount of further developments in "The Wedge of Gold," which accountfound its way into the papers, and one was put where Jack would read it.He had not consulted with Sedgwick. His idea was to make an investment,and when the profits began to come in, to divide with him.
So one morning he went to the office of Stetson and said to the youngman: "I have concluded to take the working capital stock of the 'Wedge ofGold;'" and sitting down he gave his check for L50,000. The stock for himwould be ready, he was informed, the next day, so soon as it could beproperly transferred.
He went out. The real owner of the property was sent for; the propertywas bought for L2,000; the deed, which had been put in escrow, and whichon its face called for L150,000, was taken up, releasing the stock, andthen the old men and the young man rubbed their hands and said to eachother that it had been a good day's work.
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