though Mr. Y---- had a good collection of fossils, I was at a loss, for
want of materials, to represent properly the different strata and veins;
or, as we call it, _the country_.

"My temper, naturally enthusiastic, was not on this occasion to be
daunted by any difficulties. I was roused by the notion that I should
be able to complete something that would be _really useful_ to my kind
benefactor's family; and I anticipated with rapture, the moment when I
should produce my model complete, and justify Mr. Y----'s opinion of my
diligence and capacity. I thought of nothing else from the moment these
ideas came into my head. The measures, plans, and specimens of earths
and ore which were wanting, I knew could only be obtained from the
mine; and such was my ardour to accomplish my little project, that I
determined at all hazards to return into Cornwall, and to ask my good
master's permission to revisit the mine in the night time.

"Accordingly, without a moment's delay, I set out upon this expedition.
Part of the journey I performed on foot; but wherever I could, I got
a set down, because I was impatient to get near the _Land's End_.
I concluded that the wonder excited by my sudden disappearance had
subsided by this time; that I was too insignificant to make it worth
while to continue a search after me for more than a few days; and that,
in all likelihood, my master had dismissed from his work the gang who
had been concerned in the plot, and who were the only persons whose
revenge I had reason to fear.

"However, as I drew near the mine, I had the prudence not to expose
myself unnecessarily; and I watched my opportunity so well, that I
contrived to meet my master, in his walk homeward, when no one was with
him. I hastily gave him a letter from Mr. Y----, as a certificate of