“Ah! this is delightful,” cried Reed, as he stopped to gaze at the glancing waters, where the sun made the ripples dazzling to the eye, and then turned to the deep shadows. “Eden may have been lovely, but this would be good enough for a poor commonplace nineteenth-century fellow like myself.”
“You like it?” said the Major, smiling.
“It’s glorious. Is there much of it like this?”
“About a mile. I call it my river here, and the mining men respect my rights generally—that is, unless the trout they catch sight of in some pool is a very fat one indeed.”
He said this with a peculiar smile, as he met Reed’s eye.
“Not bad fellows, the miners, but I don’t quite take to your guardian of the mine.”
“I suppose not,” said Reed. “He is rather a rough customer, but he was recommended to my father for his knowledge of underground work.—You have plenty of trout here, I suppose?”
“Oh yes, and I take toll of them all along this stretch of river. Possession is nine points of the law, but I really have only my right on one side as far as my bit of property extends.”
“Ah! you have an estate along here?”
“Yes, and I am glad to meet my neighbours, sir. My rough piece of mountain is bounded by the river along here from the corner we just passed, and on another side by the mine land of your Company—the old ‘White Virgin’ estate. A worthless stretch of barren rock and ravine; but I bought it for the sake of this piece of river fifteen years ago. A place to retire to, my dear sir, suitable for a man weary of the world, and one of whom the world had had enough.”