"This is delightful!" he exclaimed; "but it is past my comprehension how
Mr. Underwood ever let you slip off alone!"
Mr. Britton looked amused. "I told him I was coming to see you, and I
think he intended coming with me till he heard me order my saddle-horse
for the trip. I think that settled the matter. I believe there can be no
perfect interchange of confidence except between two. The presence of a
third party--even though a mutual friend--breaks the magnetic circuit
and weakens the current of sympathy. Our interviews are necessarily
rare, and I want to make the most of them; therefore I would come to you
alone or not at all."
"Yes," Darrell replied; "your visits are so rare that every moment is
precious to me, and think of the hours I lost by my absence to-day!"
"Do you court Dame Nature so assiduously every day, subsisting on cold
lunches and tramping the mountains till nightfall?"
"Not every day, but as often as possible," Darrell replied, smiling.
"And I suppose if I were not here you would now be burrowing into that
pile over there?" Mr. Britton said, glancing significantly towards the
table covered to a considerable depth with books of reference,
note-books, writing-pads, and sheets of closely written manuscript.
"Let me show you what I am doing; it will take but a moment," said
Darrell, springing to his feet.
He drew forth several sets of extensive notes on researches and
experiments he was making along various lines of study, in which Mr.
Britton became at once deeply interested.
"You have a good thing here; stick to it!" he said at length, looking up
from the perusal of Darrell's geological notes, gathered from his
studies of the rock formations in that vicinity. "You have a fine field
in which to pursue this branch, and with the knowledge you already have
on this subject and the discoveries you are likely to make, you may be
able to make some very valuable contributions to the science one of
these days."
"That is just what I hope to do!" exclaimed Darrell eagerly; "just what
I am studying for day and night!"
"But you must use moderation," said Mr. Britton, smiling at the younger
man's enthusiasm; "you are young, you have years before you in which to
do this work, and this constant study, night and day, added to your
regular routine work, is too much for you. You are looking fagged
already."
"If I am, it is not the work that is fagging me," Darrell replied,
quickly, his tones becoming excited; "Mr. Britton, I must work; I must
accomplish all I can for two reasons. You say I have years before me in
which to do this work. God knows I hope I haven't got to work years like
this,--only half alive, you might say,--and when the change comes, if it
ever does, you know, of course, I cannot and would not remain here."