'But you are looking for Ophir in Devon, not in Cornwall.'
'Devon was included in Cornwall till the time of Athelstan, who drove the Britons back over the Tamar, and restricted them to Cornwall. Tamar'—Mr. Flamank paused and rubbed his hands—'there again, the river called after the daughter of David and twin sister of Absalom. Having arrived at this remarkable discovery by an exhaustive process and irrefragable evidence, in which every step is capable of being demonstrated with mathematical certainty to Christian believers, I begged Mr. Trampleasure, who has wide experience in mines——'
'Polpluggan,' groaned Mr. Battishill.
'As in Polpluggan, as you rightly observe, to examine the line between Meshaw and that mountain in the east, Sheepstor. Mr. Trampleasure is not as sanguine in this matter as I am. He is hard to be convinced even now; I am not sure that his faith is firm. Whilst we were discussing the nature of the land between Meshaw and Sheepstor—he resolutely refused to explore the red sandstone and clay land, maintaining that gold is never found except in the proximity of granite—he told me of a farm of yours called Ophir.'
'Ophir!' exclaimed the old gentleman; 'I have no such farm.'
'Excuse me,' said Mr. Flamank: 'you have, and I have been over it myself, exploring the ground for gold.'
'I believe you call the place Upaver,' said Tramplara, with a twinkle in his eye, which watched the Squire intently.
'Upaver! You have not been hunting up my silver lead mine, have you?'
'Silver lead, no!' answered the pastor; 'we have been hunting for gold.'
'But this is stark nonsense,' exclaimed Mr. Battishill; 'the place never was called Ophir. It is, and always has been, Upaver.'