down in the wood by the water’s edge the herons rose from their nests in the tall trees, and with heavy flapping wings flew slowly down the creek.
He turned up from the drive, and stood on the bank of smooth grass before the castle, looking with pride and affection at the strong grey walls of his house, the tower at the end, the mass of trees climbing the hill behind, and thought how he would build on additions to the house, making it stronger still, with bigger windows, other towers, not for his own sake, but for Henry’s, and for Henry’s children, and in days to come this castle of Clonmere would be a landmark far and wide, and people travelling the road from Mundy to Doonhaven would stop below Hungry Hill and point westward across the water, saying, “There is Clonmere, the home of the Brodricks.” And beside it would be the tall chimneys of the mines.
Henry and John arrived from London at the end of the week. Meanwhile, there had been no further incident at the mine, and Captain Nicholson gave it as his opinion that the return of the Director of the Company had frightened the pilferers, and possibly brought them to some sense of honesty.
This opinion was short-lived, however, for on the day following the young men’s arrival, one of the trolleys, which had been fully loaded at the close of the preceding day’s work, and which was stationed in the customary track outside the cleansing-shed, where the copper was washed and separated, was found in the morning, when wheeled to the dressing-station, filled not with copper but with iron residue. The men who had been in charge of this particular trolley were summoned at once by Captain Nicholson and closely questioned, but both appeared stupefied at what had happened. Captain Nicholson went down the mine, and, crawling along the narrow gallery, came to the load that had been worked the day before. Gunpowder had been used frequently during the week, and the bitter, pungent smell still clung about the rock-face of the mine, and the rubble had not all been cleared away. The men who were working the seam and had filled the buckets were Doonhaven men, not Captain Nicholson’s own Cornish-men, but, like the surface men, they professed themselves ignorant as to how the iron residue came to fill the trolley, and in proof of their innocence reminded the Captain how he himself had been present the evening before when their shift came off duty, and had supervised the now customary nightly search, and not a trace of any mineral had been found on their persons.
“Do you think we swallow the stuff?” asked one of them, in high indignation. “And will you be cutting open our stomachs to look for it?”
“It’s my belief,” said his companion solemnly, “that the spirits in the old hill make away with it, and put a charm on us in the doing of it, so that we cannot see them crouching beside us with their little barrows.”
“The only spirits that come into this mine you bring yourself in a bottle from Murphy’s shop in Doonhaven,” said Captain Nicholson. “Go on, get to work, and remember to hold yourselves in readiness for further questions from Mr. Brodrick when he arrives. It’s my belief he will have every one of you arrested by the police and taken into Mundy.”
The new setback meant a great loss of face for Captain Nicholson, who had been congratulating himself that the trouble was over, and it was with extreme reluctance that he sent a lad over to Clonmere with a note to the Director, explaining what had occurred.
Copper John came within the hour, in company with his two sons, and listened to Nicholson’s story in silence, his face hard and expressionless.
“Well, Henry,” he said at the conclusion, “your brains are young, and you arrive here fresh to the business. What do you make of it?”
Henry looked thoughtful. He did not reply immediately. Although he was now twenty-five, and his brother a year younger, they were so used to deferring to their
He turned up from the drive, and stood on the bank of smooth grass before the castle, looking with pride and affection at the strong grey walls of his house, the tower at the end, the mass of trees climbing the hill behind, and thought how he would build on additions to the house, making it stronger still, with bigger windows, other towers, not for his own sake, but for Henry’s, and for Henry’s children, and in days to come this castle of Clonmere would be a landmark far and wide, and people travelling the road from Mundy to Doonhaven would stop below Hungry Hill and point westward across the water, saying, “There is Clonmere, the home of the Brodricks.” And beside it would be the tall chimneys of the mines.
Henry and John arrived from London at the end of the week. Meanwhile, there had been no further incident at the mine, and Captain Nicholson gave it as his opinion that the return of the Director of the Company had frightened the pilferers, and possibly brought them to some sense of honesty.
This opinion was short-lived, however, for on the day following the young men’s arrival, one of the trolleys, which had been fully loaded at the close of the preceding day’s work, and which was stationed in the customary track outside the cleansing-shed, where the copper was washed and separated, was found in the morning, when wheeled to the dressing-station, filled not with copper but with iron residue. The men who had been in charge of this particular trolley were summoned at once by Captain Nicholson and closely questioned, but both appeared stupefied at what had happened. Captain Nicholson went down the mine, and, crawling along the narrow gallery, came to the load that had been worked the day before. Gunpowder had been used frequently during the week, and the bitter, pungent smell still clung about the rock-face of the mine, and the rubble had not all been cleared away. The men who were working the seam and had filled the buckets were Doonhaven men, not Captain Nicholson’s own Cornish-men, but, like the surface men, they professed themselves ignorant as to how the iron residue came to fill the trolley, and in proof of their innocence reminded the Captain how he himself had been present the evening before when their shift came off duty, and had supervised the now customary nightly search, and not a trace of any mineral had been found on their persons.
“Do you think we swallow the stuff?” asked one of them, in high indignation. “And will you be cutting open our stomachs to look for it?”
“It’s my belief,” said his companion solemnly, “that the spirits in the old hill make away with it, and put a charm on us in the doing of it, so that we cannot see them crouching beside us with their little barrows.”
“The only spirits that come into this mine you bring yourself in a bottle from Murphy’s shop in Doonhaven,” said Captain Nicholson. “Go on, get to work, and remember to hold yourselves in readiness for further questions from Mr. Brodrick when he arrives. It’s my belief he will have every one of you arrested by the police and taken into Mundy.”
The new setback meant a great loss of face for Captain Nicholson, who had been congratulating himself that the trouble was over, and it was with extreme reluctance that he sent a lad over to Clonmere with a note to the Director, explaining what had occurred.
Copper John came within the hour, in company with his two sons, and listened to Nicholson’s story in silence, his face hard and expressionless.
“Well, Henry,” he said at the conclusion, “your brains are young, and you arrive here fresh to the business. What do you make of it?”
Henry looked thoughtful. He did not reply immediately. Although he was now twenty-five, and his brother a year younger, they were so used to deferring to their
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