As soon as Roger could slip off without attracting notice from the folks, he made his way up the village street. Pausing before a pretty vine-covered cottage, he looked back to see that Adrian was not in sight, and then entered the gate.
"Is Professor Bailey in?" he asked, when Mrs. Bailey opened the door.
"He is," she answered.
"Tell him, please, that Adrian Kimball's cousin, Roger, would like to see him."
"Come right in," invited Mrs. Bailey. "You'll find him in the front room."
And there, surrounded by heaps of books, Roger found the professor, Guy Bailey, principal of the Cardiff school. The boy knew him from having occasionally gone to the institution with Adrian.
"Well, Roger," began the professor, "I'm glad to see you. Come in and sit down. Can I do anything for you?"
"I think so," answered the boy. "I've come for a little information." Then he plunged at once into the object of his visit.
"Professor," he asked, "do you think anybody would dig for gold in the hills around Cardiff?"
"Bless my soul, no! What do you mean? This is not a gold country, like California or the Klondike. What put that idea into your head?"