“Galena?” said my father; and I stared at the glittering blackish ore like metallic coal.
“Yes, sir, galena-lead ore, and I shall be very much surprised if we do not find in it a large proportion of silver.”
“Silver!” cried my father excitedly. “Then it is a great find.”
“Great find, my boy? A very great find. Now get a hammer and let’s powder some of this up, and see whether we can melt it. Got a pair of bellows?”
“Oh yes, big ones.”
“Hah! That’s right,” said the doctor. “Now the way would be to take our powdered specimens to the blacksmith’s forge, and melt them there, but that would be like letting the whole country-side know about it, and we’ve no occasion to do that. I suppose no one knows as yet?”
“No—I’m not sure,” said my father; and he mentioned how Jonas Uggleston seemed to be watching him.
“That’s bad. But never mind; the place is yours. Have you got your deeds?”
“No,” said my father, “Lawyer Markley said they would be ready in a day or two. That was last week.”
“Take the pony and ride over to Barnstaple at once, and get them. Don’t come back without them, or, mark my words, there’ll be some quibble or hindrance thrown in the way. Make quite sure of the place at once I say.”