As Darrell took leave of Mr. Britton the following Monday morning the latter said,—
"By the way, John, whenever you are ready to enter upon that hermit life let me know; I'll provide the hermitage."
"Are you joking?" Darrell queried, unable to catch his meaning.
"Never more serious in my life," he replied, with such unusual gravity that Darrell forbore to question further.
The five or six weeks following Mr. Britton's visit passed so swiftly that Darrell was scarcely conscious of their flight. His work at the mill, which had been increased by valuable strikes recently made in the mines, in addition to considerable outside work in the way of attests and assays, had left him little time for study or experiment. For nearly three weeks he had not left the mining camp, the last two Saturdays having found him too weary with the preceding week's work to undertake the long ride to Ophir.
During this time Mr. Underwood had been a frequent visitor at the camp, led not only by his interest in the mining developments, but also by his curiosity regarding the progress made by the union in the construction of its boarding-house, and also to watch the effect on his own employees.
Entering the laboratory one day after one of his rounds of the camp, he stood for some time silently watching Darrell at his work.