"Now if my grandfather were here," she remarked, "he might be able to tell us whether or not Ormfell contains the treasure, without taking the trouble to break into the tumulus."
"Then your grandfather must have been a remarkably clever fellow."
"He was. By simply walking barefoot over the ground he was able to tell whether metals lay below, and not only that, but the depth even at which they lay. He has been known to point out and trace accurately the course of water, veins of metal, coal-measures, and the like."
"I have heard of similar feats performed by miners of the Hartz Mountains," said Idris, "but have always regarded such stories as apocryphal. Had your grandfather any theory to account for his marvellous power?"
"His idea was that the proximity of metals imparted a peculiar sensation to the soles of his feet, the intensity of the impression being a measure of their nearness to the surface. His belief was that metals cast off subtle exhalations capable of being detected by a highly magnetic organism, which his undoubtedly was."
"There may be something in that theory. There are persons who cannot enter the Mint without fainting."
"He always maintained," Beatrice went on, "that this valley of Ravensdale was the centre of a rich coalfield."
"Your grandfather's power of divining for metals has not descended to you and Godfrey, I presume?"
"I sometimes think it has—in a slight degree. We still keep his walking-stick cut from the witch-hazel. This stick would turn visibly in his hands at the proximity of metals; it has sometimes turned in Godfrey's hands, and more than once in mine."
"Strange! Well, if this stick is capable of being affected by metals let Godfrey by all means bring it with him to-night," said Idris, more in jest than in earnest. "The treasures of the Viking, supposing them to be still within the hillock, may lie concealed under the floor of the chamber, and we shall be at a loss to know at what point to dig for them."