"Why, a high person speakin' to a low. Did 'ee never hear how the Lord Admiral once upon a time spoke special to me?"
"Never in life, Maister," said Mail. "Spet out the story for the good of us all."
"Well, 'twas on Plymouth Hoe. Theer was I, takin' a spell ashore, and cruisin' about: ah! I had a good figurehead in them gay young days. Daze me if Lord Admiral Rodney didn' run athwart my course, convoying two spankin' fine craft in the shape of females. The sight took the wind out o' my sails, I assure 'ee, and I fell becalmed full in the fairway, as ye med say. 'Get out o' my way, you cross-eyed son of a sea-cook,' says the Lord Admiral, and the two handsome females laughed like waves dancin' in the sun. 'Twas a wonderful honour for a great man-o'-war like Lord Admiral Rodney to speak to a humble and lowly feller like me."
"'Twas a gashly scornful name to call 'ee, I b'lieve," said Pennycomequick, the village wet-blanket.
"Ah! but you should ha' heerd what he called the swabbers aboard," replied Penwarden, lighting another pipe.
The result of the assayer's tests was more satisfactory than the most sanguine had dared to anticipate. The ore was particularly rich in metal, and the lode appeared to extend through the lower part of the Beal seaward. A careful examination of the ground explained the reason why the discovery had not been made earlier. Between the old mine and the new lode extended several yards of granite, by what is known in geology as a "fault."
When the assayer declared that in all probability the tin-bearing stratum stretched for thousands of yards under the sea, the question to be debated was whether the Squire should sell the land, or attempt to work it himself. There was little doubt as to what his decision would be. His long-vanished ideas of restoring the fortunes of his family returned with double force, and it scarcely needed the persuasiveness of Mr. Carlyon and Dick to fix his determination. The ground having been thoroughly surveyed, his new lawyer in Truro had no difficulty in negotiating a loan which furnished him with enough capital to start working. Plant was soon on the spot, miners were engaged, and within a few months the yield was sufficient to pay the interest on the loan, a portion of the capital sum, and a contribution towards the increased expenditure at the Towers. Now that the tide had turned towards prosperity, the Squire put in hand the repairs long needed there, and Mrs. Trevanion decided to retain Cook and Maidy Susan in her employment.
The question of Dick's future came up. Mr. Carlyon urged that he should continue his studies and go to Oxford; but Dick's inclination was for a more strenuously active life. He worked for a time as a common miner in order to learn the details of the trade, visited other mines to widen his knowledge, and ultimately became his father's manager, in which capacity he showed a genius for organisation and the control of men.
Sam Pollex, basking in the continual sunshine of Maidy Susan's smile, became the Squire's gardener, and was very proud of the results of his handiwork. He grew a few inches, and by the time he was twenty stood a little higher than Susan's shoulder. Convinced that he would grow no more, he asked her to marry him, pointing out that though she was older in years, he was older in knowledge: that she looked younger than she was, and he older. They made a match of it, Susan's wedding dress being fashioned out of a blue silk recovered from the cave.
A month or two after the day of the great discovery, the Collector at Plymouth paid a visit to Polkerran, and decided that Penwarden was too old for his post. This gave deep offence to the old man. "Too old, be I?" said he; "we'll see about that." The Squire offered him the post of overseer at his new mine, which he accepted. His indignation at the slight put upon him in the King's name scarcely diminished with the lapse of time, and a village tradition asserts that, during the next ten years, the smuggler who caused the most trouble and annoyance to the revenue officers was Joe Penwarden, once exciseman. But no one who knew the old man's strong sense of duty, and had heard him speak of his service under Admiral Rodney, could ever believe that the actions of his later life so far belied his principles.