146 TRUE RICHES; OR,

 

hour that his duties began, Mr. Jasper, who was
walking restlessly the floor of his richly furnished
parlours, his mind busy with some large money-mak-
ing scheme, yet fretted by a recent disappointment,
found himself suddenly in the presence of, to him,
a well-known individual, whose ring at the door he
had not observed.

“ Martin!” he exclaimed, in no affected surprise.
“Ts it possible ?”’

“Ah, Jasper! How are you? Right glad to
get sight of your face again!” said the other fami-
liarly, as he grasped the merchant’s passive hand,
and squeezed it until the joints cracked.

‘When did you arrive in the city?” returned
Jasper, as he reached his visitor a chair. He did
not speak with much warmth; and yet there was
an effort to be at ease and cordial.

‘Some two hours ago,” said Martin, in whose
face was already beginning to gather a few lines:
in token of the sober thoughts that lay beneath his
assumed smiling exterior.

“From which direction did you come ?”

‘West. I’m from the Upper Mississippi.”

“Ah!”

“T went to Galena some five or six months ago;
and have since been actively engaged in lead-mining.
A great business that, Mr. Jasper.”

“Ah?” This “ah?” was particularly chilling.

“There are more rapid fortunes made at the lead-
mines in the neighbourhood of Galena, at present,
than in any part of the United States,” said Martin,
approaching, by rapid advances, the subject nearest
to his thoughts.