He saw his brother's success, and contemplated the grandeurs of the gothic villa in a cynical rather than an envious spirit.

How long would it all last?
How long would the stockbroker float triumphantly onward upon that wonderful tide which is constituted by the rise and fall of the money-market?
"That sort of thing is all very well while a man keeps his head cool and clear," thought George; "but somehow or other men always seem to lose their heads on the Stock Exchange before they have done with it, and I daresay my wise brother will drop into a nice mess sooner or later.

Setting aside all other considerations, I think I would rather have my chances than his; for I speculate very little more than my time and trouble, and I stand in to win a bigger sum than he will ever get in his line, let stocks rise and fall as they may." During that summer in which Miss Halliday bade farewell to Hyde Lodge and her school-days, George Sheldon was occupied with the early steps in a search which he hoped would end in the discovery of a prize rich enough to reward him for all his wasted time and labour.
Very early in the previous year there had appeared the following brief notice in the _Observer_:-- "The Rev.John Haygarth, late vicar of Tilford Haven, Kent, died lately, without a will, or relation to claim his property, 100,000 pounds.

The Crown therefore claimed it.

And last court-day the Prerogative Court of Canterbury decreed letters of Administration to Mr.Paul, the nominee of the Crown." Some months after this an advertisement had been inserted in the _Times_ newspaper to the following effect:-- "NEXT OF KIN .-- If the relatives or next of kin of the Rev.John Haygarth, late vicar of Tilford Haven, in the county of Kent, clerk, deceased, who has left property of the value of one hundred thousand pounds, will apply, either personally or by letter, to Stephen Paul, Esq., solicitor for the affairs of Her Majesty's Treasury, at the Treasury Chambers, Whitehall, London, they may hear of something to their advantage.