Railway was newly opened, and he was the first man who took ticket
direct from Calais to Calcutta--thirteen days in the train. Thirteen
days in the train are not good for the nerves; but he covered the world
and returned to Calais from America in twelve days over the two months,
and started afresh with four and twenty hours of precious time to his
credit. Three years passed, and John Hay religiously went round this
earth seeking for more time wherein to enjoy the remainder of his
sovereigns. He became known on many lines as the man who wanted to go
on; when people asked him what he was and what he did, he answered--

'I'm the person who intends to live, and I am trying to do it now.'

His days were divided between watching the white wake spinning behind
the stern of the swiftest steamers, or the brown earth flashing past the
windows of the fastest trains; and he noted in a pocket-book every
minute that he had railed or screwed out of remorseless eternity.

'This is better than praying for long life,' quoth John Hay as he turned
his face eastward for his twentieth trip. The years had done more for
him than he dared to hope.

By the extension of the Brahmaputra Valley line to meet the newly-
developed China Midland, the Calais railway ticket held good via Karachi
and Calcutta to Hongkong. The round trip could be managed in a fraction
over forty-seven days, and, filled with fatal exultation, John Hay told
the secret of his longevity to his only friend, the house-keeper of his
rooms in London. He spoke and passed; but the woman was one of resource,
and immediately took counsel with the lawyers who had first informed
John Hay of his golden legacy. Very many sovereigns still remained, and
another Hay longed to spend them on things more sensible than railway