THE BONA FIDE GOLD MINE
Fully two years had gone by since I bade farewell to Lord Ragnall and Miss Holmes， and when the curtain draws up again behold me seated on the stoep of my little house at Durban， plunged in reflection and very sad indeed. Why I was sad I will explain presently.
In that interval of time I had heard once or twice about Lord Ragnall.
Thus I received from Scroope a letter telling of his lordship's marriage with Miss Holmes， which， it appeared， had been a very fine affair indeed， quite one of the events of the London season. Two Royalties attended the ceremony， a duke was the best man， and the presents according to all accounts were superb and of great value， including a priceless pearl necklace given by the bridegroom to the bride. A cutting from a society paper which Scroope enclosed dwelt at length upon the splendid appearance of the bridegroom and the sweet loveliness of the bride. Also it described her dress in language which was Greek to me. One sentence， however， interested me intensely.
It ran： "The bride occasioned some comment by wearing only one ornament， although the Ragnall family diamonds， which have not seen the light for many years， are known to be some of the finest in the country. It was a necklace of what appeared to be large but rather roughly polished rubies， to which hung a small effigy of an Egyptian god also fashioned from a ruby. It must be added that although of an unusual nature on such an occasion this jewel suited her dark beauty well. Lady Ragnall's selection of it， however， from the many she possesses was the cause of much speculation. When asked by a friend why she had chosen it， she is reported to have said that it was to bring her good fortune."Now why did she wear the barbaric marriage gift of Har？t and Mar？t in preference to all the other gems at her disposal， I wondered. The thing was so strange as to be almost uncanny.
The second piece of information concerning this pair reached me through the medium of an old /Times/ newspaper which I received over a year later. It was to the effect that a son and heir had been born to Lord Ragnall and that both mother and child were doing well.
So there's the end to a very curious little story， thought I to myself.
Well， during those two years many things befell me. First of all， in company with my old friend Sir Stephen Somers， I made the expedition to Pongoland in search of the wonderful orchid which he desired to add to his collection. I have already written of that journey and our extraordinary adventures， and need therefore allude to it no more here， except to say that during the course of it I was sorely tempted to travel to the territory north of the lake in which the Pongos dwelt. Much did I desire to see whether Messrs. Har？t and Mar？t would in truth appear to conduct me to the land where the wonderful elephant which was supposed to be animated by an evil spirit was waiting to be killed by my rifle. However， I resisted the impulse， as indeed our circumstances obliged me to do. In the end we returned safely to Durban， and here I came to the conclusion that never again would Irisk my life on such mad expeditions.
Owing to circumstances which I have detailed elsewhere I was now in possession of a considerable sum of cash， and this I determined to lay out in such a fashion as to make me independent of hunting and trading in the wilder regions of Africa. As usual when money is forthcoming， an opportunity soon presented itself in the shape of a gold mine which had been discovered on the borders of Zululand， one of the first that was ever found in those districts. A Jew trader named Jacob brought it to my notice and offered me a half share if I would put up the capital necessary to work the mine. I made a journey of inspection and convinced myself that it was indeed a wonderful proposition. I need not enter into the particulars nor， to tell the truth， have I any desire to do so， for the subject is still painful to me， further than to say that this Jew and some friends of his panned out visible gold before my eyes and then revealed to me the magnificent quartz reef from which， as they demonstrated， it had been washed in the bygone ages of the world. The news of our discovery spread like wildfire， and as， whatever else I might be， everyone knew that I was honest， in the end a small company was formed with Allan Quatermain， Esq.， as the chairman of the Bona Fide Gold Mine， Limited.
Oh！ that company！ Often to this day I dream of it when I have indigestion.
Our capital was small， ā10，000， of which the Jew， who was well named Jacob， and his friends， took half (for nothing of course) as the purchase price of their rights. I thought the proportion large and said so， especially after I had ascertained that these rights had cost them exactly three dozen of square-face gin， a broken-down wagon， four cows past the bearing age and ā5 in cash. However， when it was pointed out to me that by their peculiar knowledge and genius they had located and provided the value of a property of enormous potential worth， moreover that this sum was to be paid to them in scrip which would only be realizable when success was assured and not in money， after a night of anxious consideration I gave way.
Personally， before I consented to accept the chairmanship， which carried with it a salary of ā100 a year (which I never got)， I bought and paid for in cash， shares to the value of ā1，000 sterling. Iremember that Jacob and his friends seemed surprised at this act of mine， as they had offered to give me five hundred of their shares for nothing "in consideration of the guarantee of my name." These Irefused， saying that I would not ask others to invest in a venture in which I had no actual money stake； whereon they accepted my decision， not without enthusiasm. In the end the balance of ā4，000 was subscribed and we got to work. Work is a good name for it so far as Iwas concerned， for never in all my days have I gone through so harrowing a time.
