the difficult operation of passing off to others the mines out of which he
had already extracted most of the gold, an occupation which, in the early
Johannesburg days, had been a favourite one with many of the inhabitants
of this wonderful town. One must not forget that as soon as the fame of
the gold fields of the Transvaal began to spread adventurers hastened
there, together with a few honest pioneers, desirous of making a fortune
out of the riches of a soil which, especially in prospectuses lavishly
distributed on the London and Paris Stock Exchanges, was described as a
modern Golconda. Concessions were bought and sold, companies were formed
with a rapidity which savoured of the fabulous. Men made not only a
living, but also large profits, by reselling plots of ground which they
had bought but a few hours before, and one heard nothing but loud praises
of this or that mine that could be had for a song, "owing to family
circumstances" or other reasons which obliged their owner to part with it.

The individual who had boasted of the intelligent manner with which he had
transformed his twenty-five pounds into two solid millions had, early in
his career, invested some of his capital in one of these mines. Its only
merit was its high-sounding name. He tried for some time without success
to dispose of it. At last he happened to meet a Frenchman, newly arrived
in Johannesburg, who wanted to acquire some mining property there with the
view of forming a company. Our hero immediately offered his own. The
Frenchman responded to the appeal, but expressed the desire to go down
himself into the shaft to examine the property and get some ore in order
to test it before the purchase was completed. The condition was agreed to
with eagerness, and a few days later the victim and his executioner
proceeded together to the mine. The Frenchman went down whilst Mr. X----
remained above. He walked about with his hands in his pockets, smoking
cigarettes, the ashes of which he let fall with an apparent negligence
into the baskets of ore which were being sent up by the Frenchman. When