"Gold!"
"Oh!" The color flew to her cheeks and her eyes became very bright.
"Where did it come from and who found it?"
"About sixty miles from here, and Fisette found it—he's one of my prospectors."
"He's the man who discovered iron for you?"
"Yes."
"How very extraordinary," she said under her breath.
"Why should it be?"
"The last time we talked you had just found iron, and now it's gold.
This is even more wonderful, isn't it?"
He shook his head. "It's pretty—but not nearly so important." Something in the girl's manner attracted him strangely and he went on talking as he seldom talked. Her eyes never left his face.
"Yes," she said presently, "I'm glad to understand. But the strange thing to me is that all these people," here she pointed towards the works, "are doing things they would not have done if you hadn't come. Why is that?"