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By this time his attentions towards Laura McIntyre had become so marked
that they could hardly be mistaken. He visibly brightened in her
presence, and was never weary of devising a thousand methods of
surprising and pleasing her. Every morning ere the McIntyre family
were afoot a great bouquet of strange and beautiful flowers was brought
down by a footman from the Hall to brighten their breakfast-table.
Her slightest wish, however fantastic, was instantly satisfied, if human
money or ingenuity could do it. When the frost lasted a stream was
dammed and turned from its course that it might flood two meadows,
solely in order that she might have a place upon which to skate.
With the thaw there came a groom every afternoon with a sleek and
beautiful mare in case Miss McIntyre should care to ride. Everything
went to show that she had made a conquest of the recluse of the New
Hall.

And she on her side played her part admirably. With female adaptiveness
she fell in with his humour, and looked at the world through his eyes.
Her talk was of almshouses and free libraries, of charities and of
improvements. He had never a scheme to which she could not add some
detail making it more complete and more effective. To Haw it seemed
that at last he had met a mind which was in absolute affinity with his
own. Here was a help-mate, who could not only follow, but even lead him
in the path which he had chosen.

Neither Robert nor his father could fail to see what was going forward,
but to the latter nothing could possibly be more acceptable than a
family tie which should connect him, however indirectly, with a man of
vast fortune. The glamour of the gold bags had crept over Robert
also, and froze the remonstrance upon his lips. It was very pleasant to
have the handling of all this wealth, even as a mere agent. Why should
he do or say what might disturb their present happy relations? It was
his sister's business, not his; and as to Hector Spurling, he must take
his chance as other men did. It was obviously best not to move one way
or the other in the matter.

But to Robert himself, his work and his surroundings were becoming more
and more irksome. His joy in his art had become less keen since he had
known Raffles Haw. It seemed so hard to toll and slave to earn such a
trifling sum, when money could really be had for the asking. It was
true that he had asked for none, but large sums were for ever passing
through his hands for those who were needy, and if he were needy himself
his friend would surely not grudge it to him. So the Roman galleys
still remained faintly outlined upon the great canvas, while Robert's
days were spent either in the luxurious library at the Hall, or in
strolling about the country listening to tales of trouble, and returning
like a tweed-suited ministering angel to carry Raffles Haw's help to the
unfortunate. It was not an ambitious life, but it was one which was
very congenial to his weak and easy-going nature.

Robert had observed that fits of depression had frequently come upon the
millionaire, and it had sometimes struck him that the enormous sums
which he spent had possibly made a serious inroad into his capital, and
that his mind was troubled as to the future. His abstracted manner, his
clouded brow, and his bent head all spoke of a soul which was weighed
down with care, and it was only in Laura's presence that he could throw
off the load of his secret trouble. For five hours a day he buried
himself in the laboratory and amused himself with his hobby, but it was
one of his whims that no one, neither any of his servants, nor even
Laura or Robert, should ever cross the threshold of that outlying
building. Day after day he vanished into it, to reappear hours
afterwards pale and exhausted, while the whirr of machinery and the
smoke which streamed from his high chimney showed how considerable were
the operations which he undertook single-handed.

"Could I not assist you in any way?" suggested Robert, as they sat
together after luncheon in the smoking-room. "I am convinced that you
over-try your strength. I should be so glad to help you, and I know a
little of chemistry."

"Do you, indeed?" said Raffles Haw, raising his eyebrows. "I had no
idea of that; it is very seldom that the artistic and the scientific
faculties go together."

"I don't know that I have either particularly developed. But I have
taken classes, and I worked for two years in the laboratory at Sir
Josiah Mason's Institute."

"I am delighted to hear it," Haw replied with emphasis. "That may be of
great importance to us. It is very possible--indeed, almost certain--
that I shall avail myself of your offer of assistance, and teach you
something of my chemical methods, which I may say differ considerably
from those of the orthodox school. The time, however, is hardly ripe
for that. What is it, Jones?"

"A note, sir."

The butler handed it in upon a silver salver. Haw broke the seal and
ran his eye over it.

"Tut! tut! It is from Lady Morsley, asking me to the Lord-Lieutenant's
ball. I cannot possibly accept. It is very kind of them, but I do wish
they would leave me alone. Very well, Jones. I shall write. Do you
know, Robert, I am often very unhappy."

He frequently called the young artist by his Christian name, especially
in his more confidential moments.

"I have sometimes feared that you were," said the other sympathetically.
"But how strange it seems, you who are yet young, healthy, with every
faculty for enjoyment, and a millionaire."

"Ah, Robert," cried Haw, leaning back in his chair, and sending up thick
blue wreaths from his pipe. "You have put your finger upon my trouble.
If I were a millionaire I might be happy, but, alas, I am no
millionaire!"

"Good heavens!" gasped Robert.

Cold seemed to shoot to his inmost soul as it flashed upon him that this
was a prelude to a confession of impending bankruptcy, and that all this
glorious life, all the excitement and the colour and change, were about
to vanish into thin air.

"No millionaire!" he stammered.

"No, Robert; I am a billionaire--perhaps the only one in the world.
That is what is on my mind, and why I am unhappy sometimes. I feel that
I should spend this money--that I should put it in circulation--and yet
it is so hard to do it without failing to do good--without doing
positive harm. I feel my responsibility deeply. It weighs me down.
Am I justified in continuing to live this quiet life when there are so
many millions whom I might save and comfort if I could but reach them?"

Robert heaved a long sigh of relief. "Perhaps you take too grave a view
of your responsibilities," he said. "Everybody knows that the good
which you have done is immense. What more could you desire? If you
really wished to extend your benevolence further, there are organised
charities everywhere which would be very glad of your help."

"I have the names of two hundred and seventy of them," Haw answered.
"You must run your eye over them some time, and see if you can suggest
any others. I send my annual mite to each of them. I don't think there
is much room for expansion in that direction."

"Well, really you have done your share, and more than your share.
I would settle down to lead a happy life, and think no more of the
matter."

"I could not do that," Haw answered earnestly. "I have not been singled
out to wield this immense power simply in order that I might lead a
happy life. I can never believe that. Now, can you not use your
imagination, Robert, and devise methods by which a man who has command
of--well, let us say, for argument's sake, boundless wealth, could
benefit mankind by it, without taking away any one's independence or in
any way doing harm?"

"Well, really, now that I come to think of it, it is a very difficult
problem," said Robert.

"Now I will submit a few schemes to you, and you may give me your
opinion on them. Supposing that such a man were to buy ten square miles
of ground here in Staffordshire, and were to build upon it a neat city,
consisting entirely of clean, comfortable little four-roomed houses,
furnished in a simple style, with shops and so forth, but no
public-houses. Supposing, too, that he were to offer a house free to
all the homeless folk, all the tramps, and broken men, and
out-of-workers in Great Britain. Then, having collected them together,
let him employ them, under fitting superintendence, upon some colossal
piece of work which would last for many years, and perhaps be of
permanent value to humanity. Give them a good rate of pay, and let
their hours of labour be reasonable, and those of recreation be
pleasant. Might you not benefit them and benefit humanity at one
stroke?"

"But what form of work could you devise which would employ so vast a
number for so long a time, and yet not compete with any existing
industry? To do the latter would simply mean to shift the misery from
one class to another."

"Precisely so. I should compete with no one. What I thought of doing
was of sinking a shaft through the earth's crust, and of establishing
rapid communication with the Antipodes. When you had got a certain
distance down--how far is an interesting mathematical problem--the
centre of gravity would be beneath you, presuming that your boring was
not quite directed towards the centre, and you could then lay down rails
and tunnel as if you were on the level."

Then for the first time it flashed into Robert McIntyre's head that his
father's chance words were correct, and that he was in the presence of a
madman. His great wealth had clearly turned his brain, and made him a
monomaniac. He nodded indulgently, as when one humours a child.

"It would be very nice," he said. "I have heard, however, that the
interior of the earth is molten, and your workmen would need to be
Salamanders."

"The latest scientific data do not bear out the idea that the earth is
so hot," answered Raffles Haw. "It is certain that the increased
temperature in coal mines depends upon the barometric pressure.
There are gases in the earth which may be ignited, and there are
combustible materials as we see in the volcanoes; but if we came across
anything of the sort in our borings, we could turn a river or
two down the shaft, and get the better of it in that fashion."

"It would be rather awkward if the other end of your shaft came out
under the Pacific Ocean," said Robert, choking down his inclination to
laugh.

"I have had estimates and calculations from the first living engineers--
French, English, and American. The point of exit of the tunnel could be
calculated to the yard. That portfolio in the corner is full of
sections, plans, and diagrams. I have agents employed in buying up
land, and if all goes well, we may get to work in the autumn. That is
one device which may produce results. Another is canal-cutting."

"Ah, there you would compete with the railways."

"You don't quite understand. I intend to cut canals through every neck
of land where such a convenience would facilitate commerce. Such a
scheme, when unaccompanied by any toll upon vessels, would, I think, be
a very judicious way of helping the human race."

"And where, pray, would you cut the canals?" asked Robert.

"I have a map of the world here," Haw answered, rising, and taking one
down from the paper-rack. "You see the blue pencil marks. Those are
the points where I propose to establish communication. Of course, I
should begin by the obvious duty of finishing the Panama business."

"Naturally." The man's lunacy was becoming more and more obvious, and
yet there was such precision and coolness in his manner, that Robert
found himself against his own reason endorsing and speculating over his
plans.

"The Isthmus of Corinth also occurs to one. That, however, is a small
matter, from either a financial or an engineering point of view.
I propose, however, to make a junction here, through Kiel between the
German Ocean and the Baltic. It saves, you will observe, the
whole journey round the coast of Denmark, and would facilitate our trade
with Germany and Russia. Another very obvious improvement is to join
the Forth and the Clyde, so as to connect Leith with the Irish and
American routes. You see the blue line?"

"Quite so."

"And we will have a little cutting here. It will run from Uleaborg to
Kem, and will connect the White Sea with the Gulf of Bothnia. We must
not allow our sympathies to be insular, must we? Our little charities
should be cosmopolitan. We will try and give the good people of
Archangel a better outlet for their furs and their tallow."

"But it will freeze."

"For six months in the year. Still, it will be something. Then we must
do something for the East. It would never do to overlook the East."

"It would certainly be an oversight," said Robert, who was keenly alive
to the comical side of the question. Raffles Haw, however, in deadly
earnest, sat scratching away at his map with his blue pencil.

"Here is a point where we might be of some little use. If we cut
through from Batoum to the Kura River we might tap the trade of the
Caspian, and open up communication with all the rivers which run into
it. You notice that they include a considerable tract of country.
Then, again, I think that we might venture upon a little cutting between
Beirut, on the Mediterranean, and the upper waters of the Euphrates,
which would lead us into the Persian Gulf. Those are one or two of the
more obvious canals which might knit the human race into a closer
whole."

"Your plans are certainly stupendous," said Robert, uncertain whether to
laugh or to be awe-struck. "You will cease to be a man, and become one
of the great forces of Nature, altering, moulding, and improving."

"That is precisely the view which I take of myself. That is why I feel
my responsibility so acutely."

"But surely if you will do all this you may rest. It is a considerable
programme."

"Not at all. I am a patriotic Briton, and I should like to do something
to leave my name in the annals of my country. I should prefer, however,
to do it after my own death, as anything in the shape of publicity and
honour is very offensive to me. I have, therefore, put by eight hundred
million in a place which shall be duly mentioned in my will, which
I propose to devote to paying off the National Debt. I cannot see that
any harm could arise from its extinction."

Robert sat staring, struck dumb by the audacity of the strange man's
words.

"Then there is the heating of the soil. There is room for improvement
there. You have no doubt read of the immense yields which have resulted
in Jersey and elsewhere, from the running of hot-water pipes through the
soil. The crops are trebled and quadrupled. I would propose to try the
experiment upon a larger scale. We might possibly reserve the Isle of
Man to serve as a pumping and heating station. The main pipes would run
to England, Ireland, and Scotland, where they would subdivide rapidly
until they formed a network two feet deep under the whole country.
A pipe at distances of a yard would suffice for every purpose."

"I am afraid," suggested Robert, "that the water which left the Isle of
Man warm might lose a little of its virtue before it reached Caithness,
for example."

"There need not be any difficulty there. Every few miles a furnace
might be arranged to keep up the temperature. These are a few of my
plans for the future, Robert, and I shall want the co-operation
of disinterested men like yourself in all of them. But how brightly the
sun shines, and how sweet the countryside looks! The world is very
beautiful, and I should like to leave it happier than I found it.
Let us walk out together, Robert, and you will tell me of any fresh
cases where I may be of assistance."

CHAPTER IX.

A NEW DEPARTURE.

Whatever good Mr. Raffles Haw's wealth did to the world, there could be
no doubt that there were cases where it did harm. The very
contemplation and thought of it had upon many a disturbing and
mischievous effect. Especially was this the case with the old gunmaker.
From being merely a querulous and grasping man, he had now become
bitter, brooding, and dangerous. Week by week, as he saw the tide of
wealth flow as it were through his very house without being able to
divert the smallest rill to nourish his own fortunes, he became more
wolfish and more hungry-eyed. He spoke less of his own wrongs, but he
brooded more, and would stand for hours on Tamfield Hill looking down at
the great palace beneath, as a thirst-stricken man might gaze at the
desert mirage.

He had worked, and peeped, and pried, too, until there were points upon
which he knew more than either his son or his daughter.

"I suppose that you still don't know where your friend gets his money?"
he remarked to Robert one morning, as they walked together through the
village.

"No, father, I do not. I only know that he spends it very well."

"Well!" snarled the old man. "Yes, very well! He has helped every
tramp and slut and worthless vagabond over the countryside, but he will
not advance a pound, even on the best security, to help a respectable
business man to fight against misfortune."

"My dear father, I really cannot argue with you about it," said Robert.
"I have already told you more than once what I think. Mr. Haw's object
is to help those who are destitute. He looks upon us as his equals, and
would not presume to patronise us, or to act as if we could not help
ourselves. It would be a humiliation to us to take his money."

"Pshaw! Besides, it is only a question of an advance, and advances are
made every day among business men. How can you talk such nonsense,
Robert?"

Early as it was, his son could see from his excited, quarrelsome manner
that the old man had been drinking. The habit had grown upon him of
late, and it was seldom now that he was entirely sober.

"Mr. Raffles Haw is the best judge," said Robert coldly. "If he earns
the money, he has a right to spend it as he likes."

"And how does he earn it? You don't know, Robert. You don't know that
you aren't aiding and abetting a felony when you help him to fritter it
away. Was ever so much money earned in an honest fashion? I tell you
there never was. I tell you, also, that lumps of gold are no more to
that man than chunks of coal to the miners over yonder. He could
build his house of them and think nothing of it."

"I know that he is very rich, father. I think, however, that he has an
extravagant way of talking sometimes, and that his imagination carries
him away. I have heard him talk of plans which the richest man upon
earth could not possibly hope to carry through."

"Don't you make any mistake, my son. Your poor old father isn't quite a
fool, though he is only an honest broken merchant." He looked up
sideways at his son with a wink and a most unpleasant leer. "Where
there's money I can smell it. There's money there, and heaps of it.
It's my belief that he is the richest man in the world, though how he
came to be so I should not like to guarantee. I'm not quite blind yet,
Robert. Have you seen the weekly waggon?"

"The weekly waggon!"

"Yes, Robert. You see I can find some news for you yet. It is due this
morning. Every Saturday morning you will see the waggon come in. Why,
here it is now, as I am a living man, coming round the curve."

Robert glanced back and saw a great heavy waggon drawn by two strong
horses lumbering slowly along the road which led to the New Hall. From
the efforts of the animals and its slow pace the contents seemed to be
of great weight.

"Just you wait here," old McIntyre cried, plucking at his son's sleeve
with his thin bony hand. "Wait here and see it pass. Then we will
watch what becomes of it."

They stood by the side of the road until it came abreast of them. The
waggon was covered with tarpaulin sheetings in front and at the sides,
but behind some glimpse could be caught of the contents. They
consisted, as far as Robert could see, of a number of packets of the
same shape, each about two feet long and six inches high, arranged
symmetrically upon the top of each other. Each packet was surrounded by
a covering of coarse sacking.

"What do you think of that?" asked old McIntyre triumphantly as the load
creaked past.

"Why, father? What do you make of it?"

"I have watched it, Robert--I have watched it every Saturday, and I had
my chance of looking a little deeper into it. You remember the day when
the elm blew down, and the road was blocked until they could saw it in
two. That was on a Saturday, and the waggon came to a stand until they
could clear a way for it. I was there, Robert, and I saw my chance.
I strolled behind the waggon, and I placed my hands upon one of those
packets. They look small, do they not? It would take a strong man to
lift one. They are heavy, Robert, heavy, and hard with the hardness of
metal. I tell you, boy, that that waggon is loaded with gold."

"Gold!"

"With solid bars of gold, Robert. But come into the plantation and we
shall see what becomes of it."

They passed through the lodge gates, behind the waggon, and then
wandered off among the fir-trees until they gained a spot where they
could command a view. The load had halted, not in front of the house,
but at the door of the out-building with the chimney. A staff of
stablemen and footmen were in readiness, who proceeded to swiftly unload
and to carry the packages through the door. It was the first time that
Robert had ever seen any one save the master of the house enter the
laboratory. No sign was seen of him now, however, and in half an hour
the contents had all been safely stored and the waggon had driven
briskly away.

"I cannot understand it, father," said Robert thoughtfully, as they
resumed their walk. "Supposing that your supposition is correct, who
would send him such quantities of gold, and where could it come from?"

"Ha, you have to come to the old man after all!" chuckled his companion.
"I can see the little game. It is clear enough to me. There are two of
them in it, you understand. The other one gets the gold. Never mind
how, but we will hope that there is no harm. Let us suppose, for
example, that they have found a marvellous mine, where you can just
shovel it out like clay from a pit. Well, then, he sends it on to this
one, and he has his furnaces and his chemicals, and he refines and
purifies it and makes it fit to sell. That's my explanation of it,
Robert. Eh, has the old man put his finger on it?"

"But if that were true, father, the gold must go back again."

"So it does, Robert, but a little at a time. Ha, ha! I've had my eyes
open, you see. Every night it goes down in a small cart, and is sent on
to London by the 7.40. Not in bars this time, but done up in iron-bound
chests. I've seen them, boy, and I've had this hand upon them."

"Well," said the young man thoughtfully, "maybe you are right. It is
possible that you are right."

While father and son were prying into his secrets, Raffles Haw had found
his way to Elmdene, where Laura sat reading the _Queen_ by the fire.

"I am so sorry," she said, throwing down her paper and springing to her
feet. "They are all out except me. But I am sure that they won't be
long. I expect Robert every moment."

"I would rather speak with you alone," answered Raffles Haw quietly."
Pray sit down, for I wanted to have a little chat with you."

Laura resumed her seat with a flush upon her cheeks and a quickening of
the breath. She turned her face away and gazed into the fire; but there
was a sparkle in her eyes which was not caught from the leaping flames.

"Do you remember the first time that we met, Miss McIntyre?" he asked,
standing on the rug and looking down at her dark hair, and the
beautifully feminine curve of her ivory neck.

"As if it were yesterday," she answered in her sweet mellow tones.

"Then you must also remember the wild words that I said when we parted.
It was very foolish of me. I am sure that I am most sorry if I
frightened or disturbed you, but I have been a very solitary man for a
long time, and I have dropped into a bad habit of thinking aloud. Your
voice, your face, your manner, were all so like my ideal of a true
woman, loving, faithful, and sympathetic, that I could not help
wondering whether, if I were a poor man, I might ever hope to win the
affection of such a one."

"Your good opinion, Mr. Raffles Haw, is very dear to me," said Laura.
"I assure you that I was not frightened, and that there is no need to
apologise for what was really a compliment."

"Since then I have found," he continued, "that all that I had read upon
your face was true. That your mind is indeed that of the true woman,
full of the noblest and sweetest qualities which human nature can aspire
to. You know that I am a man of fortune, but I wish you to dismiss that
consideration from your mind. Do you think from what you know of my
character that you could be happy as my wife, Laura?"

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