The mining experts verified Robert's most sanguine views after a very brief examination of the deposit. Hardly any preliminary work was needed. In twenty-four hours a small concentrating plant was erected, and a ditch made to drain off the carbonic anhydride in the valley. After dusk a party of coolies cleared the quarry of its former occupants. Towards the close of the following day, when the great steamer once more slowly turned her head to the north-west, Iris could hear the steady thud of an engine at work on the first consignment of ore.
Robert had been busy up to the last moment. There was so much to be done in a short space of time. The vessel carried a large number of passengers, and he did not wish to detain them too long, though they one and all expressed their willingness to suit his convenience in this respect.
Now his share of the necessary preparations was concluded. His wife, Sir Arthur and his uncle were gathered in a corner of the promenade deck when he approached and told them that his last instruction ashore was for a light to be fixed on Summit Rock as soon as the dynamo was in working order.
"When we all come back in the cold weather," he explained gleefully, "we will not imitate the _Sirdar_ by running on to the reef, should we arrive by night."
Iris answered not. Her blue eyes were fixed on the fast-receding cliffs.
"Sweetheart," said her husband, "why are you so silent?"
She turned to him. The light of the setting sun! illumined her face with its golden radiance.
"Because I am so happy," she said. "Oh, Robert, dear, so happy and thankful."
The latest news of Col. and Mrs. Anstruther is contained in a letter written by an elderly maiden lady, resident in the North Riding of Yorkshire, to a friend in London. It is dated some four years after the events already recorded.
Although its information is garbled and, to a certain extent, inaccurate, those who have followed the adventures of the young couple under discussion will be able to appreciate its opinions at their true value. When the writer states facts, of course, her veracity is unquestionable, but occasionally she flounders badly when she depends upon her own judgment.
"I have not seen or heard of you during so long a time that I am _simply dying_ to tell you all that is happening here. You will remember that some people named Anstruther bought the Fairlawn estate near our village some three years ago. They are, as you know, _enormously_ rich. The doctor tells me that when they are not squeezing money out of the wretched Chinese, they dig it in _barrow-loads_ out of some magic island in the Atlantic or the Pacific--I really forget which.