 Chapter nine of Child of the Cavern. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. The Underground City by Jules Verne. Chapter nine, The Firemaidens. A week after the events just related had taken place, James Starr's friends had become very anxious. The engineer had disappeared, and no reason could be brought forward to explain his absence. They learned, by questioning his servant, that he had embarked at Granton Pier. But from that time there were no traces of James Starr. Simon Ford's letter had requested secrecy, and he had said nothing of his departure for the Aberfoil mines. Therefore in Edinburgh nothing was talked of but the unaccountable absence of the engineer. Sir W. Elfiston, the president of the Royal Institution, communicated to his colleagues a letter which James Starr had sent him, excusing himself from being present at the next meeting of the society. Two or three others produced similar letters. But though these documents proved that Starr had left Edinburgh, which was known before, they threw no light on what had become of him. Now on the part of such a man, this prolonged absence, so contrary to his usual habits, naturally first caused surprise and then anxiety. A notice was inserted in the principal newspapers of the United Kingdom relative to the engineer James Starr, giving a description of him and the date on which he left Edinburgh. Nothing more could be done but to wait. The time passed in great anxiety. The scientific world of England was inclined to believe that one of its most distinguished members had positively disappeared. At the same time, when so many people were thinking about James Starr, Harry Ford was the subject of no less anxiety. Only, instead of occupying public attention, the son of the old Overman was the cause of trouble alone to the generally cheerful mind of Jack Ryan. It may be remembered that, in their encounter in the Yaro Shaft, Jack Ryan had invited Harry to come a week afterwards to the festivities at Irvine. Harry had accepted and promised expressly to be there. Jack Ryan knew, having had it proved by many circumstances, that his friend was a man of his word. With him, a thing promised was a thing done. Now at the Irvine merrymaking, nothing was wanting, neither song nor dance, nor fun of any sort, nothing but Harry Ford. The notice relative to James Starr, published in the papers, had not yet been seen by Ryan. The honest fellow was therefore only worried by Harry's absence, telling himself that something serious could alone had prevented him from keeping his promise. So the day after the Irvine games, Jack Ryan intended to take the railway from Glasgow and go to the Dock Art Pit. And this he would have done had he not been detained by an accident which nearly cost him his life. Something which occurred on the night of the 12th of December was of a nature to support the opinions of all partisans of the supernatural, and there were many at Melrose Farm. Irvine, a small seaport of Renfrew, containing nearly 7,000 inhabitants, lies in a sharp bend made by the Scottish coast, near the mouth of the Firth of Clyde. The most ancient and the most famed ruins on this part of the coast were those of this castle of Robert Stewart, which bore the name of Dunn Donald Castle. At this period Dunn Donald Castle, a refuge for all the stray goblins of the country, was completely deserted. It stood on the top of a high rock, two miles from the town, and was seldom visited. Sometimes a few strangers took it into their heads to explore these old historical remains, but then they always went alone. The inhabitants of Irvine would not have taken them there at any price. Indeed, several legends were based on the story of certain firemaidens, who haunted the old castle. The most superstitious declared they had seen these fantastic creatures with their own eyes. Jack Ryan was naturally one of them. It was a fact that from time to time long flames appeared, sometimes on a broken piece of wall, sometimes on the summit of the tower which was the highest point of Dunn Donald Castle. Did these flames really assume a human shape, as was asserted? Did they merit the name firemaidens, given them by the people of the coast? It was evidently just an optical delusion, aided by a good deal of credulity, and science could easily have explained the phenomenon. However that might be, these firemaidens had the reputation of frequenting the ruins of the old castle, and their performing wild stratsbees, especially on dark nights. Jack Ryan, bold fellow though he was, would never have dared to accompany those dances with the music of his bagpipes. Old Nick is enough for them, he said. He doesn't need me to complete his infernal orchestra. We may well believe that these strange apparitions frequently furnish a text for the evening stories. Jack Ryan was ending the evening with one of these. His auditors, transported into the phantom world, were worked up into a state of mind which would believe anything. All at once shouts were heard outside. Jack Ryan stopped short in the middle of his story, and all rushed out of the barn. The night was pitchy dark, squalls of wind and rain swept along the beach. Two or three fishermen, their backs against a rock, the better to resist the wind, were shouting at the top of their voices. Jack Ryan and his companions ran up to them. The shouts were, however, not for the inhabitants of the farm, but to warn men who, without being aware of it, were going to destruction. A dark confused mass appeared some way out at sea. It was a vessel whose position could be seen by her lights, for she carried a white one on her four mast, a green on the starboard side, and a red on the outside. She was evidently running straight on the rocks. A ship in distress, said Ryan, I answered one of the fishermen, and now they want to tack, but it's too late. Do they want to run ashore, said another. It seems so, responded one of the fishermen, unless he has been misled by some. The man was interrupted by a yell from Jack. Could the crew have heard it? At any rate, it was too late for them to beat back from the line of breakers which gleamed white in the darkness. But it was not, as it might be supposed, a last effort of Ryan's to warn the doomship. He now had his back to the sea, his companions churned also, and gazed at a spot situated about half a mile inland. It was done, Donald Castle. A long flame twisted and bent under the gale, on the summit of the old tower. The firemaiden, cried the superstitious men in terror. Clearly, it needed a strong imagination to find any human likeness in that flame. Waving in the wind like a luminous flag, it seemed sometimes to fly around the tower, as if it were just going out, and a moment after it was seen again dancing on its blue point. The firemaiden, the firemaiden, cried the terrified fishermen and peasants. All was then explained. The ship, having lost her reckoning in the fog, had taken this flame on the top of Donald Castle for the Irvine Light. She thought herself at the entrance of the Firth, ten miles to the north, when she was really running on a shore which offered no refuge. What could be done to save her if there was still time? It was too late. A frightful crash was heard above the tumult of the elements. The vessel had struck. The white line of surf was broken for an instant. She healed over on her side and lay among the rocks. At the same time, by a strange coincidence, the long flame disappeared, as if it had been swept away by a violent gust. Earth, sea, and sky were plunged in complete darkness. The firemaiden shouted Ryan for the last time, as the apparition, which he and his companions believed supernatural, disappeared. The courage of these superstitious Scottishmen, which had failed before a fancy danger, returned in face of a real one, which they were ready to brave in order to save their fellow creatures. The tempest did not deter them. As heroic as they had before been credulous, fastening ropes round their waist, they rushed into the waves to the aid of those on the wreck. Happily, they succeeded in their endeavors, although some, and bold Jack Ryan was among the number, were severely wounded on the rocks. But the captain of the vessel and the eight sailors who composed his crew were hauled up, safe and sound, on the beach. The ship was the Norwegian brig Motala, laden with timber, and bound for Glasgow. Of the Motala herself, nothing remained but a few spars, washed up by the waves, and dashed among the rocks on the beach. Jack Ryan and three of his companions, wounded like himself, were carried into a room of Melrose Farm, where every care was lavished on them. Ryan was the most hurt, for when with the rope round his waist he had rushed into the sea, the waves had almost immediately dashed him back against the rocks. He was brought, indeed, very near lifeless on to the beach. The brave fellow was therefore confined to bed for several days, to his great disgust. However, as soon as he was given permission to sing as much as he liked, he bore his trouble patiently, and the farm echoed all day with his jovial voice. But from this adventure he imbibed a more lively sentiment of fear with regard to brownies and other goblins who amuse themselves by plaguing mankind, and he made them responsible for the catastrophe of the Motala. It would have been vain to try and convince him that the firemaidens did not exist, and that the flame, so suddenly appearing among the ruins, was but a natural phenomenon. No reasoning could make him believe it. His companions were, if possible, more obstinate than he in their credulity. According to them, one of the firemaidens had maliciously attracted the Motala to the coast. As to wishing to punish her, as will try to bring the tempest to justice. The magistrates might order what arrest they pleased, but a flame cannot be imprisoned. An impalpable being can't be handcuffed. It must be acknowledged that the researches which were ultimately made gave ground, at least in appearance, to this superstitious way of explaining the facts. The inquiry was made with great care. Officials came to Dundonal Castle, and they proceeded to conduct a most vigorous search. The magistrate wished first to ascertain if the ground bore any footprints, which could be attributed to other than Goblin's feet. It was impossible to find the least trace, whether old or new. Moreover, the earth, still damp from the rain of the day before, would have preserved the least vestige. The results of all this was that the magistrates only got for their trouble a new legend added to so many others. A legend which would be perpetuated by the remembrance of the catastrophe of the Motala. And indisputably confirmed the truth of the apparition of the firemaidens. A hearty fellow like Jack Ryan was so strong a constitution could not be long confined to his bed. A few sprains and bruises were not quite enough to keep him on his back longer than he liked. He had not time to be ill. Jack therefore soon got well. As soon as he was on his legs again, before resuming his work on the farm, he wished to go and visit his friend Harry, and learn why he had not come to the Irvine merry-making. He could not understand his absence, for Harry was not a man who would willingly promise and not perform. It is unlikely, too, that the son of the Old Overman had not heard of the wreck of the Motala, as it was in all the papers. He must know the part Jack had taken in it, and what had happened to him, and it was unlike Harry not to hasten to the farm and see how his old chum was going on. As Harry had not come, there must have been something to prevent him. Jack Ryan would as soon deny the existence of the firemaidens as believe in Harry's indifference. Two days after the catastrophe, Jack left the farm merrily, feeling nothing of his wounds. Singing in the fullness of his heart, he woke the echoes of the cliff as he walked to the station of the railway, which via Glasgow would take him to Stirling and Callender. As he was waiting for his train, his attention was attracted by a bill posted on the walls, containing the following notice. On the 4th of December, the engineer, James Starr, of Edinburgh, embarked from Granton Pier on board the Prince of Wales. He embarked the same day at Stirling. From that time, nothing further has been heard of him. Any information concerning him is requested to be sent to the President of the Royal Institution, Edinburgh. Jack Ryan, stopping before one of these advertisements, read it twice over with extreme surprise. Mr. Starr, he exclaimed, why, on the 4th of December, I met him with Harry on the ladder of the Dockhart Pit. That was ten days ago, and he has not been seen from that time. That explains why my chum didn't come to Irvine. And without taking time to inform the President of the Royal Institution by letter, what he knew relative to James Starr, Jack jumped into the train, determined to go first of all to the Yaro Shaft. There he would descend into the depths of the pit, if necessary, to find Harry, and with him was sure to be the engineer James Starr. They haven't turned up again, he said to himself. Why, has anything prevented them? Could any work of importance keep them still at the bottom of the mine? I must find out! And Ryan, hastening his steps, arrived in less than an hour at the Yaro Shaft. Externally nothing was changed, the same silence around. Not a living creature was moving in that desert region. Jack entered the ruined shed which covered the opening of the shaft. He gazed down into the dark abyss. Nothing was to be seen. He listened. Nothing was to be heard. And my lamp, he exclaimed. Suppose it isn't in its place. The lamp which Ryan used when he visited the pit was usually deposited in a corner, near the landing of the topmost ladder. It had disappeared. Here is a nuisance, said Jack, beginning to feel rather uneasy. Then, without hesitating, superstitious though he was, I will go, said he, though it's as dark down there as in the lowest depths of the infernal regions. He began to descend the long flight of ladders, which led down the gloomy shaft. Jack Ryan had not forgotten his old mining habits, and he was well acquainted with a do-cart pit, or he would scarcely have dared to venture thus. He went very carefully, however. His foot tried each round. As some of them were warm-eaten, a false step would entail a deadly fall, through this space of fifteen hundred feet. He counted each landing as he passed it, knowing that he could not reach the bottom of the shaft until he had left the thirtieth. Once there he would have no trouble, so he thought, in finding the cottage, built, as we have said, at the extremity of the principal passage. Ryan went on thus until he got to the twenty-sixth landing, and consequently had two hundred feet between him and the bottom. Here he put down his leg to feel for the first rung of the twenty-seventh ladder, but his foot, swinging in space, found nothing to rest on. He knelt down, felt about with his hand for the top of the ladder. It was in vain. Old Nick himself must have been down this way, said Jack, not without a slight feeling of terror. He stood considering for some time, with folded arms, and longing to be able to pierce the impenetrable darkness. Then it occurred to him that if he could not get down, neither could the inhabitants of the mine get up. There was now no communication between the depths of the pit and the upper regions. If the removal of the lower ladders of the Yaro Shaft had been effected since his last visit to the cottage, what had become of Simon Ford, his wife, his son, and the engineer? The prolonged absence of James Starr proved that he had not left the pit since the day Ryan met with him in the shaft. How had the cottage been provisioned since then? The food of these unfortunate people, imprisoned fifteen hundred feet below the surface of the ground, must have been exhausted by this time. All this passed through Jack's mind, as he saw that by himself he could do nothing to get to the cottage. He had no doubt, but that communication had been interrupted with a malevolent intent. At any rate, the authorities must be informed, and that as soon as possible. Jack Ryan bent forward from the landing. Harry! Harry! he shouted with his powerful voice. Harry's name echoed and re-echoed among the rocks, and finally died away in the depths of the shaft. Ryan rapidly ascended the upper ladders and returned to the light of day. Without losing a moment, he reached the calendar station, just caught the express to Edinburgh, and by three o'clock was before the Lord provost. There his declaration was received. His account was given so clearly that it could not be doubted. Sir William Elfiston, president of the Royal Institution, and not only a colleague, but a personal friend of Starr's, was also informed, and asked to direct the search which was to be made without delay in the mine. Several men were placed at his disposal, supplied with lamps, picks, long rope ladders, not forgetting provisions and cordials. Then guided by Jack Ryan, the party set out for the Aberfoil mines. The same evening the expedition arrived at the opening of the Yaro Shaft, and descended to the 27th landing, at which Jack Ryan had been stopped a few hours previously. The lamps, fastened to long ropes, were lowered down the shaft, and it was thus ascertained that the last four ladders were wanting. As soon as the lamps had been brought up, the men fixed to the landing a rope ladder, which unrolled itself down the shaft, and all descended one after the other. Jack Ryan's descent was the most difficult, for he went first down the swinging ladders, and fastened them for the others. The space at the bottom of the shaft was completely deserted, but Sir William was much surprised at hearing Jack Ryan exclaim, Here are bits of the ladders, and some of them half burnt. Burnt, repeated Sir William? Indeed, here sure enough are cinders which have evidently been cold a long time. Do you think, Sir? asked Ryan, that Mr. Starr could have had any reason for burning the ladders, and thus breaking of communication with the world? Certainly not, answered Sir William Elfiston, who had become very thoughtful. Come, my lad, lead us to the cottage. There we shall ascertain the truth. Jack shook his head, as if not at all convinced. Then, taking a lamp from the hands of one of the men, he proceeded with a rapid step along the principal passage of the Dockart pit. The others all followed him. In a quarter of an hour the party arrived at the excavation in which stood Simonford's cottage. There was no light in the window. Ryan darted to the door and threw it open. The house was empty. They examined all the rooms in the somber habitation. No trace of violence was to be found. All was in order, as if old Madge had been still here. There was an ample supply of provisions, enough to last the Ford family for several days. The absence of the tenants of the cottage was quite unaccountable. But was it not possible to find out the exact time they had quitted it? Yes, for in this region, where there was no difference of night or day, Madge was accustomed to mark with a cross each day in her almanac. The almanac was pinned up on the wall, and there the last cross had been made at the sixth of December. That is to say, a day after the arrival of James Starr, to which Ryan could positively swear. It was clear that on the sixth of December, ten days ago, Simonford, his wife, son, and guest had quitted the cottage. Could a fresh exploration of the mine, undertaken by the engineer, account for such a long absence? Certainly not. It was intensely dark all around. The lamps held by the men gave light only just where they were standing. Suddenly Jack Ryan uttered a cry. Look! There! There! His finger was pointing to a tolerably bright light which was moving about in the distance. After that light, my men exclaimed Sir William. It's a goblin light, said Ryan. So what's the use? We shall never catch it. The President and his men, little given to superstition, darted off in the direction of the moving light. Jack Ryan, bravely following their example, quickly overtook the headmost of the party. It was a long and fatiguing chase. The lantern seemed to be carried by a being of small size, but singular agility. Every now and then it disappeared behind some pillar, then was seen again at the end of a cross gallery. A sharp turn would place it out of sight, and it seemed to have completely disappeared, when all at once there would be the light as bright as ever. However, they gained very little on it, and Ryan's belief that they could never catch it seemed far from groundless. After an hour of this vain pursuit, Sir William Elphiston and his companions had gone a long way in the southwest direction of the pit, and began to think they really had to do with an impalpable being. Just then it seemed as if the distance between the goblin and those who were pursuing it was becoming less. Could it be fatigued, or did this invisible being wish to entice Sir William and his companions to the place where the inhabitants of the cottage had perhaps themselves been enticed? It was hard to say. The men, seeing that the distance lessened, redoubled their efforts. The light which had before burnt at a distance of more than 200 feet before them was now seen at less than 50. The space continued to diminish. The bearer of the lamp became partially visible. Sometimes when it turned its head, the distinct profile of a human face could be made out, and unless a sprite could assume bodily shape, Jack Ryan was obliged to confess that here was no supernatural being, then springing forward. Courage, comrades, he exclaimed. It is getting tired. We shall soon catch it up now, and if it can talk as well as it can run, we shall hear a fine story. But the pursuit had suddenly become more difficult. They were in unknown regions of the mine. Narrow passages crossed each other like the windings of a labyrinth. The bearer of the lamp might escape them as easily as possible, by just extinguishing the light and retreating into some dark refuge. And indeed, thought Sir William, if it wishes to avoid us, why does it not do so? Hitherto there had evidently been no intention to avoid them, but just as the thought crossed Sir William's mind, the light suddenly disappeared and the party, continuing the pursuit, found themselves before an extremely narrow natural opening in the skishtest rocks. To trim their lamps, spring forward and dart through the opening, was for Sir William and his party but the work of an instant. But before they had gone a hundred paces along this new gallery, much wider and loftier than the former, they all stopped short. There, near the wall, lay four bodies stretched on the ground, four corpses perhaps. James, star! exclaimed Sir William Elfiston. Harry, Harry! cried Ryan, throwing himself down beside his friend. It was indeed the engineer, Madge, Simon, and Harry Ford who were lying there motionless. But one of the bodies moved slightly and Madge's voice was heard faintly murmuring. See to the others, help them first. Sir William Jack and their companions endeavored to reanimate the engineer and his friends by getting them to swallow a few drops of brandy. They very soon succeeded. The unfortunate people, shut up in that dark cavern for ten days, were dying of starvation. They must have perished had they not on three occasions found a loaf of bread and a jug of water set near them. No doubt the charitable being to whom they owe their lives was unable to do more for them. Sir William wondered whether this might not have been the work of the strange sprite, who had allured them to the very spot where James star and his companions lay. However that might be, the engineer, Madge, Simon, and Harry Ford were saved. They were assisted to the cottage, passing through the narrow opening which the bearer of the strange light had apparently wished to point out to Sir William. This was a natural opening. The passage which James star and his companions had made for themselves with dynamite, had been completely blocked up with rocks laid one upon another. So then, whilst they had been exploring the vast cavern, the way back had been purposely closed against them by a hostile hand. End of chapter 9 CHAPTER X OF CHILD OF THE CAVERN This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Richard Kilmer The Underground City by Jules Verne CHAPTER X COLE TOWN Three years after the events which have just been related, the guidebooks recommended as a great attraction to the numerous tourists who roam over the county of Sterling, a visit of a few hours to the mines of new Aberfoil. No mine in any country, either in the old or new world, could present a more curious aspect. To begin with, the visitor was transported without danger or fatigue to a level with the workings at 1500 feet below the surface of the ground. Seven miles to the southwest of Calender opened a slanting tunnel, adorned with castellated entrants, turrets, and battlements. This lofty tunnel gently sloped straight to the stupendous crypt, hallowed out so strangely in the bowels of the earth. A double line of railway, the wagons being moved by hydraulic power, plied from hour to hour to and from the village, thus buried in the subsoil of the county, and which bore the rather ambitious title of coal-town. Arrived in coal-town, the visitor found himself in a place where electricity played a principal part as an agent of heat and light. Although the ventilation shafts were numerous, they were not sufficient to admit much daylight into new Aberfoil, yet it had abundance of light. This was shed from numerous electric discs, some suspended from the vaulted roofs, others hanging on the natural pillars, all whether suns or stars in size were fed by continuous currents produced from electromagnetic machines. When the hour of rest arrived, an artificial night was easily produced all over the mine by disconnecting the wires. Below the dome lay a lake of an extent to be compared to the Dead Sea of the Mammoth Caves, a deep lake whose transparent waters swarmed with eyeless fish, and to which the engineer gave the name of Lock Malcolm. There, in this immense natural excavation, Simon Ford built his new cottage, which he would not have exchanged for the finest house in Princes Street, Edinburgh. This dwelling was situated on the shores of the lock, and its five windows looked out on the dark waters, which extended further than the eye could see. Two months later a second habitation was erected in the neighborhood of Simon Ford's cottage. This was for James Starr. The engineer had given himself body and soul to new Aberfoil, and nothing but the most imperative necessity ever caused him to leave the pit. There then he lived in the midst of his mining world. On the discovery of the new field all the old colliers had hastened to leave the plough and harrow and resumed the pick and mattock. Attracted by the certainty that work would never fail, allured by the high wages which the prosperity of the mine enabled the company to offer for labour, they deserted the open air for an underground life, and took up their abode in the mines. The miners' houses built of brick soon grew up in a picturesque fashion, some on the banks of Loch Malcolm, others under the arches which seemed made to resist the weight that pressed upon them, like the piers of a bridge. So was found at Coaltown, situated under the eastern point of Loch Catherine, to the north of the county of Sterling. It was a regular settlement on the banks of Loch Malcolm. A chapel dedicated to St. Giles overlooked it from the top of a huge rock, whose foot was laved by the waters of the subterranean sea. When this underground town was lighted up by the bright rays thrown from the disks, hung from pillars and arches, its aspect was so strange, so fantastic, that it justified the praise of the guidebooks and visitors flocked to see it. It is needless to say that the inhabitants of Coaltown were proud of their place. They rarely left their labouring village. In that, imitating Simon Ford, who never wished to go out again. The old overman maintained that it always rained up there, and considering the climate of the United Kingdom, it must be acknowledged that he was not far wrong. All the families in New Aberfoil prospered well, having in three years obtained a certain competency, which they could never have hoped to attain on the surface of the county. Dozens of babies, who were born at the time when the works were resumed, had never yet breathed the outer air. This made Jack Ryan remark, it's eighteen months since they were weaned, and they have not yet seen daylight. It may be mentioned here that one of the first to run at the engineer's call was Jack Ryan. The merry fellow had thought at his duty to return to his old trade, but though Melrose Farm had lost Singer and Piper, it must not be thought that Jack Ryan sung no more. On the contrary, the sonorous echoes of New Aberfoil exerted their strong lungs to answer him. Jack Ryan took up as a bode in Simon Ford's new college. They offered him a room which he accepted without ceremony in his frank and hearty way. Old Madge loved him for his fine character and good nature. She in some degree shared his ideas on the subject of the fantastic beings who were supposed to haunt the mine, and the two went alone, told each other's stories wild enough to make one shudder, stories well worthy of enriching the hyperborean mythology. Jack thus became the life of the cottage. He was, besides being a jovial companion, a good workman. Six months after the works had begun, he was made head of a gang of hewers. "'That was good work done, Mr. Ford,' said he, a few days after his appointment. "'You discovered a new field, and though you narrowly escaped paying for the discovery with your life, well, it was not too dearly bought.' "'No, Jack, it was a good bargain we made that time,' answered the old overman. "'But neither Mr. Starr nor I have forgotten, that to you we owe our lives.' "'Not at all,' returned Jack. "'You owe them to your son, Harry, when he had the good sense to accept my invitation to Irving. "'And not to go, isn't that it?' interrupted Harry, grasping his comrade's hand. "'No, Jack, it is to you, scarcely healed of your wounds, to you who did not delay a day, no, nor an hour, that we owe our being found still alive in the mine.' "'Rubbish, no,' broke in the obstinate fellow. "'I won't have that said, when it's no such thing.' "'I hurried to find out what had become of you, Harry, that's all. "'But to give every one his due, I will add, that without that unapproachable goblin—' "'Ah, there we are,' cried Ford, a goblin. "'A goblin, a brownie, a fairy's child,' repeated Jack Ryan. "'A cousin of the firemaidens, a new risk, whatever you like. "'It's not the less certain that without it we should never have found our way into the gallery from which you could not get out.' "'No doubt, Jack,' answered Harry. "'It remains to be seen whether this being was as supernatural as you choose to believe.' "'Supernatural?' exclaimed Brian. "'But it was as supernatural as a will of the wisp, who may be seen skipping along with his lantern in his hand. "'You may try to catch him, but he escapes like a fairy and vanishes like a shadow. "'Don't be uneasy, Harry. "'We shall see it again, some day or other.' "'Well, Jack,' said Simon Ford, "'will of the wisp or not, we shall try to find it, and you must help us. "'You'll get into a scrap if you don't take care of Mr. Ford,' responded Jack Ryan. "'We'll see about that, Jack. "'We may easily imagine how soon this domain of new abrafoil "'became familiar to all the members of the Ford family, "'but more particularly to Harry. "'He learned to know all its most secret ins and outs. "'He could even say what point of the surface corresponded "'with what point of the mine. "'He knew that above this seam lay the Firth of Clyde. "'That there extended Loch Lomond and Loch Catron. "'Those columns supported the spur of the Gampian mountains. "'This vault served as a basement to Dumbarton. "'Above this large pond passed the Baloch Railway. "'Here ended the Scottish coast. "'There began the sea, "'the tumult of which could be distinctly heard "'during the equinoxial gales. "'Harry would have been a first-rate guide to these natural catacombs. "'And all that alpine guides do on their snowy peaks and daylight "'he could have done in the dark mine by the wonderful power of instinct. "'He loved new abrafoil. "'Many times with his lamp stuck in his hat "'did he penetrate its furthest depths. "'He explored its ponds in a skillfully managed canoe. "'He even went shooting, "'and numerous birds had been introduced into the crypt, "'pintails, snipes, ducks, "'who fed on the fish which swarmed in the deep waters. "'Harry's eyes seemed made for the dark, "'just as the sailors are made for distances. "'But all this while Harry felt irresistibly animated "'by the hope of finding the mysterious being, "'whose intervention, strictly speaking, "'had saved himself and his friends. "'Would he succeed? He certainly would, "'if pre-sentiments were to be trusted, "'but certainly not if he judged by the success "'which had as yet attended his researches. "'The attacks directed against the family of the Old Overmen, "'before the discovery of new abrafoil, "'had not been renewed.'" Chapter 11 of Child of the Cavern This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Anne Boulet. The Underground City by Jules Verne. Chapter 11. Hanging by a Thread Although in this way the Ford family led a happy and contented life, yet it was easy to see that Harry, naturally of a grave disposition, became more and more quiet and reserved. Even Jack Ryan, with all his good humor and usually infectious merriment, failed to rouse him to gaiety of manner. One Sunday it was in the month of June. The two friends were walking together on the shores of Loch Malcolm. Coal Town rested from labor. In the world above stormy weather prevailed. Violent rains fell, and dull sultry vapors brooded over the earth. The atmosphere was most oppressive. Down in Coal Town there was perfect calm. No wind, no rain. A soft and pleasant temperature existed instead of the strife of the elements, which raged without. What wonder, then, that excursionist from Stirling came in considerable numbers to enjoy the calm fresh air and the recesses of the mine. The electric discs shed a brilliancy of light which the British sun, oftener obscured by fogs then it ought to be, might well envy. Jack Ryan kept talking of these visitors, who passed them in noisy crowds, but Harry paid little attention to what he said. I say, do look, Harry, cried Jack. See what numbers of people come to visit us. Cheer up, old fellow. Do the honors of the place a little better. If you look so glum, you make all these outside folks think you envy their life above ground. Never mind me, Jack, answered Harry. You are jolly enough for two. I am sure that's enough. I'll be hanged if I don't feel your melancholy creeping over me, though, exclaimed Jack. I declare my eyes are getting quite dull. My lips are drawn together. My laugh sticks in my throat. I'm forgetting all my songs. Come, man, what's the matter with you? You know well enough, Jack. What? The old story? Yes, the same thoughts haunt me. Ah, poor fellow, said Jack, shrugging his shoulders. If you would only do like me and set all the queer things down to the account of the goblins of the mind, you would be easier in your mind. But Jack, you know very well that these goblins exist only in your imagination, and that, since the works here have been reopened, not a single one has been seen. That's true, Harry, but if no spirits have been seen, neither has anyone else to whom you could attribute the extraordinary doings we want to account for. I shall discover them. Ah, Harry, Harry, it's not so easy to catch the spirits of new abrafoil. I shall find out the spirits as you call them, said Harry, in a tone of firm conviction. Do you expect to be able to punish them? Both punish and reward. Remember, if one hand shut us up in that passage, another hand delivered us. I shall not soon forget that. But Harry, how can we be sure that these two hands do not belong to the same body? What can put such a notion in your head, Jack? asked Harry. Well, I don't know. Creatures that live in these holes. Harry, don't you see? They can't be made like us, eh? But they are like us, Jack. Oh, no, don't say that, Harry. Perhaps some madman managed to get in for a time. A madman? No madman would have formed such connected plans, or done such continued mischief as befell us after breaking the ladders. Well, but anyhow, he has done no harm for the last three years, either to you, Harry, or any of your people. No matter, Jack, replied Harry, I am persuaded that this malignant being, whoever he is, has by no means given up his evil intentions. I can hardly say on what I found my convictions, but at any rate, for the sake of the new works, I must and will know who he is and whence he comes. For the sake of the new works, did you say? asked Jack considerably surprised. I said so, Jack, returned Harry. I may be mistaken, but to me, all that has happened proves the existence of an interest in this mind in strong opposition to ours. Many a time have I considered the matter. I feel almost sure of it. Just consider the whole series of inexplicable circumstances, so singularly linked together. To begin with, the anonymous letter, contradictory to that of my father, at once proves that some man had become aware of our projects and wished to prevent their accomplishment. Mr. Starr comes to see us at the do-cart pit. No sooner does he enter it with me than an immense stone is cast upon us, and communication is interrupted by the breaking of the ladders in the yarrow shaft. We commence exploring an experiment by which the existence of a new vein would be proved is rendered impossible by stoppage of fissures. Notwithstanding this, the examination is carried out, the vein discovered. We return as we came. A prodigious gust of air meets us. Our lamp is broken. Utter darkness surrounds us. Nevertheless, we make our way along the gloomy passage until, on reaching the entrance, we find it blocked up. There we were, imprisoned. Now, Jack, don't you see in all these things a malicious intent? Ah, yes, believe me, some being hitherto invisible, but not supernatural, as you will persist in thinking was concealed in the mine. For some reason, known only to himself, he strove to keep us out of it. Was there, did I say? I feel an inward conviction that he is there still, and probably prepares some terrible disaster for us. Even at the risk of my life, Jack, I am resolved to discover him. Harry spoke with an earnestness which strongly impressed his companion. Well, Harry, said he, if I am forced to agree with you in certain points, won't you admit that some kind of fairy or brownie by bringing bread and water to you was the means of, Jack, my friend, interrupted Harry. It is my belief that the friendly person whom you will persist in calling a spirit exists in the mine as certainly as the criminal we speak of, and I mean to seek them both in the most distant recesses of the mine. But, inquired Jack, have you any possible clue to guide your search? Perhaps I have. Listen to me. Five miles west of New Aberfoil, under the solid rock which supports Ben Lohman, there exists a natural shaft which descends perpendicularly into the vein beneath. A week ago I went to ascertain the depth of this shaft, while sounding it and bending over the opening as my plumb line went down. It seemed to me that the air within was agitated as though beaten by huge wings. Some bird must have gotten lost among the lower galleries, replied Jack. But that is not all, Jack. This very morning I went back to the place and listening attentively. I thought I could detect a sound like a sort of groaning. Groaning, cried Jack. That must be nonsense. It was a current of air. Unless indeed some ghost. I shall know tomorrow what it is, said Harry. Looking at his friend. Yes. Tomorrow I am going down into the abyss. Harry, that will be attempting a providence. No, Jack. Providence will aid me in the attempt. Tomorrow you and some of our comrades will go with me to that shaft. I will fasten myself to a long rope, by which you can let me down and draw me up at a given signal. May I depend upon you, Jack? Well, Harry, said Jack, shaking his head. I will do as you wish me, but I tell you all the same. You are very wrong. Nothing venture, nothing win, said Harry in a tone of decision. Tomorrow morning, then, at six o'clock. Be silent and farewell. It must be admitted that Jack's fears were far from groundless. Harry would expose himself to very great danger. Supposing the enemy he sought for lay concealed at the bottom of the pit and was going to descend, it did not seem likely that such was the case, however. Why in the world, repeated Jack Ryan, should he take all this trouble into account for a set of facts so very easily and simply explained by the supernatural intervention of the spirits of the mine? But, notwithstanding his objections to the scheme, Jack Ryan and three miners of his gang arrived next morning with Harry left. Harry had not mentioned his intentions either to James Starr or to the old overmen. Jack had been discreet enough to say nothing. Harry had provided himself with a rope about two hundred feet long. It was not particularly thick, but very strong, sufficiently so to sustain his weight. His friends were to let him down into the gulf. His pulling the cord was to be the signal to withdraw him. The opening into this shaft well was twelve feet wide. A beam was thrown across like a bridge so that the cord passing over it should hang down the center of the opening and save Harry from striking against the sides in his descent. He was ready. Are you still determined to explore this abyss? whispered Jack Ryan. Yes, I am Jack. The cord was fastened round Harry's thighs and under his arms to keep him from rocking. Thus supported, he was free to use both his hands. A safety lamp hung on his belt also a large, strong knife in a leather sheath. Harry advanced to the middle of the beam around which the cord was passed. Then his friends began to let him down and he slowly sank into the pit. As the rope caused him to swing gently round and round the light of his lamp fell in turns on all points of the side walls so that he was able to examine them carefully. These walls consisted of pit coal and so smooth that it would be impossible to ascend them. Harry calculated that he was going down at the rate of about a foot per second so that he had time to look about him and be ready for any event. During two minutes that is to say to the depth of about 120 feet the descent continued without any incident. No lateral gallery opened from the side walls of the pit which was gradually narrowing in the shape of a funnel. But Harry began to feel a fresher air rising from beneath once he concluded that the bottom of the pit communicated with a gallery of some description in the lowest part of the mine. The cord continued to unwind. Darkness and silence were complete. If any living being whatever had sought refuge in the deep and mysterious abyss he had either left it or if there by no movement did he in the slightest way betray his presence. Harry becoming more suspicious the lower he got now drew his knife and held it in his right hand. At a depth of 180 feet his feet touched the lower point and the cord slackened and unwound no further. Harry breathed more freely for a moment. One of the fears he entertained had been that during his descent the cord might be cut above him but he had seen no projection from the walls behind which anyone had been concealed. The bottom of the abyss was quite dry. Harry, taking the lamp from his belt walked around the place and perceived he had been right in his conjectures. An extremely narrow passage led a side out of the pit. He had to stoop to look into it and only by creeping could it be followed but as he wanted to see in which direction it led and whether another abyss opened from it he lay down on the ground to enter it on hands and knees. An obstacle speedily arrested his progress. He fancied he could perceive by touching it that a human body lay across the passage. A sudden thrill of horror and surprise made him hastily draw back but he again advanced and felt more carefully. His senses had not deceived him. A body did indeed lie there and he soon ascertained that although icy cold at the extremities there was some vital heat remaining. In less time than it takes to tell it Harry had drawn the body from the recess to the bottom of the shaft and, seizing his lamp he cast its lights on what he had found exclaiming immediately. Why? It is a child. The child still breathed but so very feebly that Jack expected it to cease every instant. Not a moment was to be lost. He must carry this poor little creature out of the pit and take it home to his mother as quickly as he could. He eagerly fastened the cord around his waist, stuck on his lamp, clasped the child to his breast with his left arm and keeping his right hand free to hold the knife he gave the signal agreed on to have the rope pulled up. It tightened at once. He began the ascent. Harry looked around him with redoubled care for more than his own life was now in danger. For a few minutes all went well. No accident seemed to threaten him when suddenly he heard the sound of a great rush of air from beneath and looking down he could dimly perceive through the gloom a broad mass arising until it passed him striking him as it went by. It was an enormous bird of what sort he could not see. It flew upwards on mighty wings then paused, hovered and dash fiercely down upon Harry who could only wield his knife in one hand. He defended himself and the child as well as he could but the ferocious bird seemed to aim all its blows at him alone. Afraid of cutting the cord he could not strike it as he wished and the struggle was prolonged while Harry shouted with all his might in hopes of making his comrades here. He soon knew they did for they pulled the rope up faster a distance of about 80 feet remained to be got over. The bird seized its direct attack but increased the horror and danger of his situation by rushing at the cord clinging to it just out of his reach and endeavoring by pecking furiously to cut it. Harry felt overcome with terrible dread. One strand of the rope gave way and it made them sink a little. A shriek of despair escaped his lips. A second strand was divided and the double burden now hung suspended by only half the cord. Harry dropped his knife and by a superhuman effort succeeded at the moment the rope was giving way in catching hold of it with his right hand above the cut made by the beak of the bird but powerfully as he held it in his iron grasp he could feel it gradually slipping through his fingers. He might have caught it and held on with both hands by sacrificing the life of the child he supported in his left arm. The idea crossed him and he vanished in an instant although he believed himself quite unable to hold out until drawn to the surface. For a second he closed his eyes believing they were about to plunge back into the abyss. He looked up once more the huge bird had disappeared his hand was at the very extremity of the broken rope when, just as his convulsive grasp was failing, he was seized by the men and with the child was placed on the level ground. A full strain of anxiety removed a reaction took place and Harry fell fainting into the arms of his friends. End of Chapter 11 CHAPTER 12 OF THE UNDERGROUND CITY This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Richard Kilmer The Underground City by Jules Verne Chapter 12 Nell Adopted A couple of hours later Harry, still unconscious and the child in a very feeble state were brought to the cottage by Jack Ryan and his companions. The old overmen listened to the account of their adventures while Maj attended with the utmost care to the once of her son and of the poor creature whom he had rescued from the pit. Harry imagined her a mere child but she was a maiden of the age of fifteen or sixteen years. She gazed at them with vague and wandering eyes and the thin face drawn by suffering the pallid complexion which light could never have tinged and the fragile slender figure gave her an appearance at once singular and attractive. Jack Ryan declared that she seemed to him to be an uncommonly interesting kind of ghost. It must have been due to the strange and peculiar circumstances under which her life hitherto had been led that she scarcely seemed to belong to the human race. Her countenance was of a very uncommon cast and her eyes hardly able to bear the lamplight in the cottage glanced around in a confused and puzzled way as if all were new to them. As this singular being reclined on Maj's bed and awoke the consciousness as from a long sleep the old scotch woman began to question her a little. What do they call you, my dear? Nell replied the girl. Do you feel anything the matter with you, Nell? I am hungry. I have eaten nothing since. Since. Nell uttered these few words like one unused to speak much. They were in the Gaelic language which was often spoken by Simon and his family. Maj immediately brought her some food. She was evidently famished. It was impossible to say how long she might have been in that pit. How many days have you been down there, dearie? inquired Maj. Nell made no answer. She seemed not to understand the question. How many days do you think? Days? repeated Nell as though the word had no meaning for her and she shook her head to signify entire want of comprehension. Maj took her hand and stroked it caressingly. How old are you, my lassie? She asked, smiling kindly at her. Nell shook her head again. Yes, yes, continued Maj. How many years old? Years, replied Nell. She seemed to understand that word no better than days. Simon, Harry, Jack, and the rest looked on with an air of mingled compassion, wonder, and sympathy. The state of this poor thing clothed in a miserable garment of coarse woolen stuff seemed to impress them painfully. Harry, more than all the rest, seemed attracted by the very peculiarity of this poor stranger. He drew near, took Nell's hand from his mother and looked directly at her. While something like a smile curved her lip. Nell, he said, Nell, away down there in the mine. Alone? Alone, alone, cried the girl, raising herself hastily. Her features expressed terror. Her eyes, which had appeared so often as Harry looked at her, became quite wild again. Alone, repeated she alone, and she fell back on the bed as though deprived of all strength. The poor Baron is too weak to speak to us at Maj. when she had adjusted the pillows. After a good rest and a little more food she will be stronger. Come away Simon and Harry and all the rest of you and let her go to sleep. So Nell was left alone and in a very few minutes slept profoundly. This event caused a great sensation not only in the coal mines but in sterling shire and ultimately throughout the kingdom. The strangeness of the story was exaggerated. The affair could not have made more commotion had they found the girl enclosed in the solid rock like one of those anti-develian creatures who have occasionally been released by a stroke of the pickax from their stony prison. Nell became a fashionable wonder without knowing it. Superstitious folks made her story a new subject for legendary marvels and were inclined to think as Jack Ryan told Harry Nell was the spirit of the mines. Be it so Jack said the young man but at any rate she is the good spirit it can have been none but she who brought a spread in water when we were shut up down there and has to the bad spirit who must still be in the mine who will catch him some day. Of course James Starr had been at once informed of all this and came as soon as the young girl accidentally recovered her strength to see her and endeavor to question her carefully. She appeared ignorant of nearly everything relating to life and although evidently intelligent was wanting in many elementary ideas such as time for instance. She had never been used to its division and the words signifying hours days months and years were unknown to her. Her eyes accustomed to the night were pained by the glare of the electric discs but in the dark her sight was wonderfully keen. The pupil dilated in a remarkable manner and she could see where to others there appeared profound obscurity. It was certain that her brain had never received any impression of the outer world that her eyes had never looked beyond the mine and that the somber depths had been all the world to her. The poor girl probably knew not that there was a sun and stars towns and counties a mighty universe composed of myriads of worlds but until she comprehended the significance of words at present conveying no precise meaning to her it was impossible to ascertain what she knew. As to whether or not Nell had lived alone in the recesses of New Aberfoil James Starr was obliged to remain uncertain. Indeed, any allusion to the subject excited evident alarm in the mind of the strange girl. Either Nell could not or would not reply to questions but that some secret existed in connection with the place which she could have explained was manifest. Should you like to stay with us? Should you like to go back where we found you? asked James Starr. Oh yes, exclaimed the maiden in answer to his first question but a cry of terror was all she seemed able to say to the second. James Starr as well as Simon and Harry Ford could not help feeling a certain amount of uneasiness with regard to this persistent silence. They found it impossible to forget all that had appeared so inexplicable at the time they made the discovery of the coal mine and although that was three years ago and nothing knew it happened they always expected some fresh attack on the part of the invisible enemy. They resolved to explore the mysterious well and did so well armed and in considerable numbers but nothing suspicious was to be seen. The shaft communicated with the lower stages of the crypt hallowed out in the carboniferous bed. Many a time to James Starr, Simon and Harry talk over these things. If one or more benevolent beings were concealed in the coal pit and their concocted mischief Nell surely could have warned them of it yet she said nothing. The slightest illusion to her past life brought on such fits a violent emotion that it was judged best to avoid the subject for the present. Her secret would certainly escape her by and by. In the fortnight in the cottage she had become a most intelligent and zealous assistant to old Madge. It was clear that she instinctively felt she should remain in the dwelling where she had been so charitably received and perhaps never dreamt of quitting it. The family was all in all to her and to the good folks themselves Nell had seemed an adopted child from the moment when she first came beneath their roof. Nell was in truth a charming creature. Her new mode of existence added to her beauty for these were no doubt the first happy days of her life and her heart was full of gratitude toward those to whom she owed them. Madge felt towards her as a mother would. The old woman doted upon her. In short, she was beloved by everyone. Jack Ryan only regretted one thing which was that he had not saved her himself. Friend Jack often came to the cottage. He sang and Nell who had never heard singing before admired it greatly but anyone might see that she preferred to Jack's songs the graver conversation of Harry from whom by degrees she learnt truths concerning the outer world of which hitherto she had known nothing. It must be said that since Nell had appeared in her own person Jack Ryan had been obliged to admit that his belief in hobgoblins was in a measure weakened. A couple of months later his credulity experienced a further shock. About that time Harry unexpectedly made a discovery which in part at least accounted for the apparition of the fire maidens among the ruins of Donald Castle at Irving. During several days he watched in exploring the remote galleries of the prodigious excavations toward the south. At last he scrambled with difficulty of a narrow passage which branched off through the upper rock. To his great astonishment he suddenly found himself in the open air. The passage after ascending obliquely to the surface of the ground let out directly among the ruins of Donald Castle. There was therefore a communication between New Aberfoil and the hills crowned by this ancient castle. The upper entrance to this gallery being completely concealed by stones and brushwood was invisible from without. At the time of their search therefore the magistrates had been able to discover nothing. A few days afterwards James Starr, guided by Harry came himself to inspect this curious natural opening into the coal mine. Well said he, here is enough to convince the most superstitious among us. Farewell to all their brownies, goblins and firemaidens now. I hardly think, Mr. Starr, we ought to congratulate ourselves," replied Harry. Whatever it is we have instead of these things it can't be better and may be worse than they are. That's true, Harry said the engineer, but what's to be done? It's plain that, whatever the beings are who hide in the mine, they reach the surface of the earth by this passage. No doubt it was the light of the torches waved by them during that dark and stormy night which attracted the motala toward the rocky coast. And, like the records of former days, they would have plundered the unfortunate vessel, had it not been for Jack Ryan and his friends. Anyhow, so far it is evident and here is the mouth of the den. As to its occupants the question is are they here still? I say yes, because Nell trembles when we mention them. Yes, because Nell will not or dare not speak about them answered Harry in a tone of decision. Harry was surely in the right. Had these mysterious denzians of the pit abandon it or cease to visit the spot, what reason could the girl have been keeping silence? James Starr could not rest till he had penetrated this mystery. He foresaw the whole future of the new excavations must depend upon it. Renewed and strict precautions were therefore taken. The authorities were informed of the discovery of the entrance. Watchers were placed among the ruins of the castle. Harry himself lay hid several nights in the thickets of brushwood nothing was discovered. No human being emerged from the opening. So most people came to the conclusion that the villains had been finally dislodged from the mine and that as to Nell they must suppose her to be dead at the bottom of the shaft where they had left her. While it remained unworked the mine had been a safe enough place of refuge, secure from all search or pursuit it became difficult to conceal this lurking place and it might reasonably be hoped they were gone and that nothing for the future was to be dreaded from them. James Starr, however, could not feel sure about it. Neither could Harry be satisfied on the subject often repeating Nell has clearly been mixed up with all the secret business. If she had nothing more to fear why should she keep silence? It cannot be doubted that she is happy with us. She likes us all. She adores my mother. Her absolute silence as to her former life when by speaking out she might benefit us proves to me that some awful secret which she dares not reveal weighs on her mind. It may also be that she believes it better for us as well as for herself that she should remain mute in a way otherwise so unaccountable. In consequence of these opinions it was agreed by common consent to avoid all illusion to the maiden's former mode of life. One day, however, Harry was led to make known to Nell what James Starr, his father, mother, and himself believed they owed to her interference. It was a feat day. The miners made holiday on the surface of the county of Stirling as well as in its subterranean domains. Parties of holiday makers were moving about in all directions. Songs resounded in many places beneath the Sonoran's vaults of new Aberfoil. Harry and Nell left the cottage and slowly walked along the left bank of Loch Malcolm. Then the electric brilliance darted less vividly and the rays were interrupted with fantastic effect by the sharp angles of the picturesque rocks which supported the dome. This imperfect light suited Nell. To whose eyes a glare was very unpleasant. Nell said, Harry, your eyes are not fit for daylight yet and could not bear the brightness of the sun. Indeed they could not reply the girl, if the sun is such as you describe it to me, Harry. I cannot, by any words, Nell give you an idea either of a splendor or of the beauty of that universe which your eyes have never beheld. Is it really possible that since today when you were born in the depths of the coal mine you never once have been up to the surface of the earth? Never once, Harry, said she. I do not believe that even as an infant my father or mother ever carried me thither. I am sure I should have retained some impression of the open air if they had. I believe you would, answered Harry. Long ago, Nell, many children used to live in the coal mine. Communication was then difficult and I have met with more than one young person quite as ignorant as you are of things above ground. But now the railway through our great tunnel takes us in a few minutes to the upper regions of our country. I long now to hear you say, come, Harry, my eyes can bear daylight and I want to see the sun. I want to look upon the works of the Almighty. Why so, Harry, I hope, replied the girl, I shall soon go with you to the world above, and yet what are you going to say, Nell, hastily cried Harry? Can you possibly regret having quit it that glue me abyss in which you spent your early years and once we drew you half dead? No, Harry, answered Nell. I was only thinking that darkness is beautiful as well as light. If you but knew what eyes accustomed you can see. Shades flip by which one longs to follow. Circles mingle and intertwine and one could gaze on them forever. Black hollows full of indefinite gleams of radiance lie deep at the bottom of the mine. And then the voice-like sounds ah, Harry, one must have lived down there to understand what I feel, what I can never express. Nell, all alone there? It was just when I was alone that I was not afraid. Nell's voice altered slightly as she said these words. However, Harry thought he might press the subject a little further, so he said, but one might be easily lost in these great galleries. Nell, were you not afraid of losing your way? Oh, no, Harry. For a long time I had known every turn of the new mine. Did you never leave it? Harry then answered the girl with a little hesitation. Sometimes I have been as far as the old mine at Aberfoil. So you knew our old cottage. The cottage, oh, yes. But the people who live there I only saw it at a great distance. They were my father and mother, said Harry. And I was there, too. We have always lived there. We never would give up the old dwelling. Perhaps it would have been better if you had, murmured the maiden. Was it not just because we were obstinately resolved to remain that we ended by discovering the new vein of coal and did not that discovery lead to the happy result of providing work for a large population and restoring them to ease and comfort? And did it not enable us to find you, Nell, to save your life and to give you the love of all our hearts? Ah, yes, from indeed it is well. Whatever may happen, replied Nell, earnestly. For others? Who can tell? What do you mean? Oh, nothing, nothing. But it used to be very dangerous at that time to go into the new cutting. Yes, very dangerous indeed. Harry, once some rash people made their way into these chasms. They got a long, long way. They were lost. They were lost, said Harry, looking at her? Yes, lost, repeated Nell in a trembling voice. They could not find their way out. And their, cried Harry, they were imprisoned during eight long days. They were at the point of death, Nell. And? But for a kind and charitable being, an angel perhaps, sent by God to help them who secretly brought them a little food. But for a mysterious guide who afterwards led to them their deliverers they never would have escaped from that living tomb. And how do you know about that? demanded the girl. Because those men were James Starr, my father and myself, Nell. Nell looked up hastily, seized at the young man's hand and gazed so fixedly into his eyes that his feelings were stirred to their depths. You were there? At last she uttered. I was indeed, said Harry, after a pause. And she to whom we owe our lives can have been none other than yourself, Nell. Nell hit her face in her hands without speaking. Harry had never seen her so much affected. Those who saved your life, Nell, added he in a voice tremulous with emotion, already owed theirs to you. Do you think they will ever forget it? End of Chapter 12 Recording by Richard Kilmer Rio Medina, Texas This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org recording by Sean Michael Hogan. The Underground City by Jules Verne Chapter 13 On the Revolving Ladder The mining operations at New Aberfoil continued to be carried on very successfully. As a matter of course, the engineer James Starr, as well as Simon Ford, the discoverers of this rich carboniferous region, largely in the profits. In time Harry became a partner, but he never thought of quitting the cottage. He took his father's place as overman and diligently superintended the works of this colony of miners. Jack Ryan was proud and delighted at the good fortune which had befallen his comrade. He himself was getting on very well also. They frequently met either at the cottage or at the works in the pit. Jack did not fail to remark the sentiments entertained by Harry towards Nell. Harry would not confess to them, but Jack only laughed at him when he shook his head and tried to deny any special interest in her. It must be noted that Jack Ryan had the greatest possible wish to be of the party when Nell should pay her first visit to the upper surface of the county of Stirling. He wished to see her wonder and admiration on first beholding the yet unknown face of nature. He very much hoped that Harry would take him with them when the excursion was made. As yet, however, the latter had made no proposal of the kind to him which caused him to feel as easy as to his intentions. One morning Jack Ryan was descending through a shaft which led from the surface to the lower regions of the pit. He did so by means of one of those ladders which continually revolving by machinery enabled persons to ascend and descend without fatigue. This apparatus had lowered him about 150 feet, when at a narrow landing place he perceived Harry, who was coming up to his labors for the day. Well met, my friend, cried Jack, recognizing his comrade by the light lamps. Ah, Jack, replied Harry, I am glad to see you. I've got something to propose. I can listen to nothing till you tell me how Nell is, interrupted Jack Ryan. Nell is all right, Jack, so much so, in fact, that I hope in a month or six weeks to marry her Harry? Jack, you don't know what you were talking about. Ah, that's very likely, but I know quite well what I shall do. What will you do? Marry her myself if you don't, so look sharp, left Jack. Ice ain't mongo, I think an immense deal of Bonnie Nell. A fine young creature like that who has been brought up in the mine is just the very wife for a minor. She is an orphan, so am I, and if you don't care much for her, and if she will have me... Harry looked gravely at Jack, and let him talk on without trying to stop him. Don't you begin to feel jealous, Harry? Asked Jack in a more serious tone. Not at all, answered Harry quietly. But if you don't marry Nell yourself, you surely can't expect her to remain a spinster. I expect nothing, said Harry. A movement of the ladder machinery now gave the two friends the opportunity one to go up, the other down the shaft. However, they remained where they were. Harry, quotes Jack, do you think I spoke in earnest just now about Nell? No, that I don't, Jack. Well, but now I will. You speak in earnest? My good fellow, I can tell you I am quite capable of giving a friend a bit of advice. Let's hear then, Jack. Well, look here. You love Nell as hardly as she deserves. Old Simon, your father, and old Madge, your mother, both love her as if she were their daughter. Why don't you make her so in reality? Why don't you marry her?" Come, Jack, said Harry. You were running on as if you knew how Nell felt on the subject. Everybody knows that, replied Jack, and therefore it is impossible to make you jealous of any of us. But here goes the ladder again. I'm off. Stop a minute, Jack, cried Harry, finding his companion, who was stepping onto the moving staircase. I say you seem to mean me to take up my quarters here altogether. Do be serious and listen, Jack. I want to speak in earnest myself now. Well, I'll listen till the ladder moves again. Not a minute longer. Jack, resumed Harry, I need not pretend that I do not love Nell. I wish above all things to make her my wife. That's all right. But for the present I have scruples of conscience as to asking her to make me a promise to the people. What can you mean, Harry? I mean just this, that it being certain Nell has never been outside this coal mine in the very depths of which she was born, it stands to reason that she knows nothing and can comprehend nothing of what exists beyond it. Her eyes, yes, and perhaps also her heart, have everything yet to learn. Who can tell what her thoughts will be when perfectly new impressions shall be made upon her mind? I led her to decide in ignorance upon choosing to remain all her life in the coal mine. Do you understand me, Jack? Hem, yes, pretty well. What I understand best is that you are going to make me miss another turn of the ladder. Jack, replied Harry gravely, if this machinery were to stop altogether, if this landing-place were to fall beneath our feet, you must and shall hear what I have to say. Well done, Harry, that's how I like to be spoken to. Let's settle, then, that before you marry Nell in school in old Reiki. No indeed, Jack. I am perfectly able myself to educate the person who is to be my wife. Sure, that will be a great deal better, Harry. But, first of all, resumed Harry, I wish that Nell should gain a real knowledge of the upper world. To illustrate my meaning, Jack, suppose you were in love with a blind girl and someone said to you, in a month's time her sight will be restored. Would you not wait till after she was cured to marry her? Well, Jack, Nell is at present blind, and before she marries me I wish her to see what I am and what the life really is to which she would bind herself. In short, she must have daylight led in upon the subject. Well said Harry, very well said indeed, cried Jack. Now I see what you are driving at. And when may we expect the operation to come off? In a month, Jack, replied Harry, Nell is getting used to the light of our reflectors. That is some preparation. The hope has seen the earth in its wonders, the sky and its splendors. She will perceive that the limits of the universe are boundless. But while Harry was thus giving the reign to his imagination, Jack Ryan, quitting the platform, had leaped on the step of the moving machinery. Hello, Jack, where are you? Far beneath you, laughed the merry fellow, while you soared to the heights I plunge into the depths. Fare you well. Jack, returned Harry, himself laying hold of the rising ladder, that I have been telling you. Not a word shouted Jack, but I make one condition. What is that? That I may be one of the party when Nell's first excursion to the face of the earth comes off. So you shall, Jack, I promise you. A fresh throb of the machinery placed a yet more considerable distance between the friends. Their voices sounded faintly to each other. Harry, however, could still hear Jack shouting. I say, do you know what Nell will like better than either sun, moon or stars after she's seen the whole of them? No, Jack. Why, you yourself, old fellow, still you! Always you!" And Jack's voice died away in a prolonged hurrah! Harry, after this, supplied himself diligently during all his spare time to the work of Nell's education. He taught her to read and to write, and such rapid progress did she make it might have been said that she learned by instinct. Never did keen intelligence more quickly triumph over utter ignorance. It was the wonder of all beholders. Simon and Madge became every day more and more attached to their adopted child, whose former history continued to puzzle them a good deal. They plainly saw the nature of Harry's feelings towards her, and were far from displeased they're at. They recollected that Simon had said to the engineer on his first visit to the old cottage, How can our son ever think of marrying? Where could a wife possibly be found suitable for a lad whose whole life must be passed in the depths of a coal mine? Well, now it seemed as if the most desirable companion in the world had been led to him by Providence. Was not this like a blessing direct from heaven? So the old man made up his mind that if the wedding did take place, the miners of New Aberfoil should have a merry-making coal-town which they would never during their lives forget. Simon Ford little knew what he was saying. It must be remarked that another person wished for this union of Harry and Nell as much as Simon did, and that was James Starr, the engineer. Of course he was really interested in the happiness of the two young people, but another motive, connected with wider interests, influenced him to desire it. It has been said that James Starr continued to entertain a certain amount of apprehension, although for the present nothing appeared to justify it. Yet that which had been might again be this mystery about the new cutting. Nell was evidently the only person acquainted with it. Now, if fresh dangers were in store for the miners of Aberfoil, how were they possibly to be guarded against, and the cause of them? Nell has persisted in keeping silence, said James Starr very often, but what she has concealed from others she will not long hide from her husband. Any danger would be danger to Harry as well as to the rest of us. Therefore a marriage which brings happiness to the lovers, and safety to their friends will be a good marriage if ever there is such a thing here below. Thus, not illogically, reasoned James Starr. He communicated his ideas to old Simon who decidedly appreciated them. Nothing then appeared to stand in the way of the match. What in fact was there to prevent it? They loved each other. The parents deserved nothing better for their son. Harry's comrades envied his good fortune, but freely acknowledged that he deserved it. The maiden depended on no one else and had but to give the consent of her own heart. Why then, if there were none to place obstacles in the way of this union, why as night came on and the labours of the day being over, the electric lights in the mine extinguished, and all the inhabitants of Coal Town at rest within their dwellings? Why did a mysterious form always emerge from the gloomier recesses of new Aberfoil and silently glide through the darkness? What instinct guided this phantom with ease through passages so narrow as to appear to be impracticable? Why should the strange being, with eyes flashing through the deepest darkness, come cautiously creeping along the shores of Lake Malcolm? Why so directly make his way toward Simon's cottage, yet so carefully as hitherto to avoid notice? Why, bending towards the windows, did he strive to catch, by listening, some fragment of the conversation within the closed shutters? And on catching a few words, why did he shake his fist with a menacing gesture towards the calm abode, while from between his set teeth issued these words in muttered fury? She and he? Never, never! CHAPTER XIV A month after this, on the evening of the 20th of August, Simon Ford and Maj took leave with all manner of good wishes of four tourists who were setting forth from the cottage. James Starr, Harry and Jack Ryan were about to lead Nell's steps over yet enthroned paths, and to show her the glories of nature by a light to which she was as yet a stranger. The excursion was to last for two days. James Starr, as well as Harry, considered that during these eight and forty hours spent above ground, the maiden would be able to see everything of which she must have remained ignorant in the gloomy pit. All the varied aspects of the globe, towns, rivers, lakes, gulfs, and seas would pass, panorama-like, before her eyes. In that part of Scotland lying between Edinburgh and Glasgow, nature would seem to have collected and set forth specimens of every one of these terrestrial beauties. As to the heavens, they would be spread abroad as over the whole earth with their changeful clouds, serene or veiled moon, their radiant sun, and clustering stars. The expedition had been planned so as to combine them. Simon and Maj would have been glad to go with Nell, but they never left their cottage willingly and could not make up their minds to quit their subterranean home for a single day. James Starr went as an observer and philosopher, curious to note from a psychological point of view the novel impressions made upon Nell, perhaps also with some hope of detecting a clue to the mysterious events connected with her childhood. Harry, with a little trepidation, asked himself whether it was not an initiation into the things of the exterior world would change the maiden he had known and loved hitherto into quite a different girl. As for Jack Ryan he was as joyous as a lark rising in the first beams of the sun. He only trusted that his gayity would prove contagious and enliven his travelling companions, thus rewarding them for letting him join them. Nell was pensive and silent. James Starr had decided, very sensibly, to set off in the evening. He would be very much better for the girl gradually from the darkness of night to the full light of day, and that would in this way be managed, since between midnight and noon she would experience the successive phases of shade and sunshine to which her sight had to get accustomed. Just as they left the cottage, Nell took Harry's hand, saying Harry, is it really necessary for me to leave the mine at all, even for these few days? Yes, it is, Nell, replied the young man. It is needful for both of us. But Harry resumed Nell. Ever since you found me, I have been as happy as I can possibly be. You have been teaching me. Why is that not enough? What am I going up there for? Harry looked at her in silence. Nell was giving utterance to nearly his own thoughts. My child, said James Starr, I can well understand the hesitation you feel, but it will be good for you to go with us. Those who love you are taking you, and they will bring you back again. Afterwards you will be free, if you wish it, to continue your life in the cold madge and Harry. But at least you ought to be able to compare what you give up with what you choose, then decide freely. Come, dear Nell, cried Harry. Harry, I am willing to follow you, replied the maiden. At nine o'clock the last train through the tunnel started to convey Nell and her companions to the surface of the earth. Twenty minutes later they alighted on the platform where the branch line to New Aberfoil joins the railway from Dumbarton to Sterling. The night was already dark. From the horizon to the zenith light vapory clouds hurried through the upper air, driven by a refreshing northwesterly breeze. The day had been lovely, the night promised to be so likewise. On reaching Sterling, Nell and her friends, quitting the train, left the station immediately. Just before them, between high trees, they could see a road which led to the banks of the river forth. The first physical impression on the girl was the purity of the air inhaled eagerly by her lungs. Breathe it freely, Nell, said James the star. It is fragrant with all the sense of the open country. What is all that smoke passing over our heads, inquired Nell? Those are clouds, answered Harry, blown along by the westerly wind. Ah, said Nell, how I should like to feel myself carried along in that silent whirl. And what are those shining sparks which glance here and there between rents and the clouds? Those are the stars I have told you about, Nell. So many suns they are. So many centers of worlds reflect our own, most likely. The constellations became more clearly visible as the wind cleared the clouds from the deep blue of the firmament. Nell gazed upon the myriad stars which sparkled overhead. But how is it, she said at length, that if these are suns, my eyes can endure their brightness? My child, replied James star, they are indeed suns, but suns at an enormous distance. The nearest of these millions of stars, whose rays can reach us, is Vega, which you observe near the zenith. And that is fifty-thousand millions of leagues distant. Its brightness, therefore, cannot affect your vision. But our own sun, which will rise tomorrow, is only distant thirty-eight millions of leagues, and no human eye can gaze fixedly upon that, for it is brighter than the blaze of any furnace. But come, Nell, come. They pursued their way, James star leading the maiden, Harry walking by her side, while Jack Ryan roamed about like a young dog patient of the slow pace of his masters. The road was lonely. Nell kept looking at the great trees, whose branches waving in the wind made them seem to her like giants gesticulating wildly. The sound of the breeze in the treetops, the deep silence during a lull, the distant line of the horizon, which could be discerned when the road passed over open levels. All these things filled her with new sensations, and left lasting impressions on her mind. And her companions respected her silence, not wishing to influence by any words of theirs the girl's highly sensitive imagination, but preferring to allow ideas to arise spontaneously in her soul. At about half past eleven o'clock they gained the banks of the river forth. The air abode, chartered by James star, awaited them. In a few hours it would convey them all to Granton. Nell looked at the clear water which flowed up to her feet, as the waves broke gently on the beach, lifting the starlight. Is this a lake? said she. No, replied Harry. It is a great river flowing towards the sea, and soon opening so widely as to resemble a gulf. Taste a little of the water in the hollow of your hand, Nell, and you will perceive that it is not sweet like the waters of Lake Malcolm. The maiden bent towards the stream, and raising a little water to her lips. This is quite salt, said she. Yes, the tide is full. The sea water flows up the river quickly. Oh, Harry! Harry! exclaimed the maiden. What can that red glow on the horizon be? Is it a forest on fire? No, it is the rising moon, Nell. To be sure that's the moon, cried Jack Ryan, a fine big silver plate which the spirits of air hand round and round the sky to collect the stars in, like money. Why, Jack! said the engineer, laughing. I had no idea you could strike out such bold comparisons. Well, but Mr. Starred is a just comparison. Obviously the stars disappear as the moon passes on, so I suppose they drop into it. What you mean to say, Jack, is that the superior brilliancy of the moon eclipses that of stars of the sixth magnitude. Therefore they vanish as she approaches. How beautiful all this is, repeated Nell again and again, with her whole soul in her eyes. But I thought the moon was round. So she is, when full, said James Star. That means when she is just opposite to the sun. But tonight the moon is in the last quarter, shorn of her just proportions, and friend Jack's grand silver plate looks more like a barber's basin. Oh, Mr. Star, what a base comparison, he exclaimed. I was just going to begin a sonnet to the moon, which a barber's basin has destroyed all chance of an inspiration. Gradually the moon ascended the heavens, before her light to the lingering clouds fell away, while stars still sparkled in the west, beyond the influence of her radiance. Nell gazed in silence on the glorious spectacle. The soft silvery light was pleasant to her eyes, and her little trembling hand expressed to Harry who clasped it how deeply she was affected by the scene. Let us embark now, said James Star. We have to get to the top of Arthur's seat before sunrise. The boat was moored to a post on the bank. A boatman awaited them. Nell and her friends took their seats. The sail was spread. It quickly filled before the northwesterly breeze, and they sped on their way. What a new sensation was this for the maiden. She had been rowed on the waters of Lake Malcolm, but the oar, handled ever so lightly by Harry, always betrayed effort on the part of the oarsman. Now, for the first time, Nell felt herself born along with a gliding movement, like that of a balloon through the air. The water was smooth as a lake, and Nell reclined in the stern of the boat, enjoying its gentle rocking. Occasionally the effect of the moonlight on the waters was as though the boat sailed across a glittering silver field. Little wavelets rippled along the banks. It was enchanting. At length Nell was overcome with drowsiness. Her eyelids drooped, her head sank on Harry's shoulder. She slept. Harry, sorry that she would miss any of the beauties of this magnificent night, would have aroused her. Let her sleep, said the engineer. She will better enjoy the novelties of the day after a couple of hours' rest. At two o'clock in the morning the boat reached Granton Pier. Nell awoke. Have I been asleep? inquired she. No, my child, said James Starr. You've been dreaming that you slept, that's all. The night continued clear. The moon, riding in mid-heaven, diffused her rays on all sides. In the little port of Granton lay two or three fishing boats. They rocked gently on the waters of the Firth. The wind fell as the dawn approached. The atmosphere clear of mists promised one of those fine autumn days so delicious on the sea coast. A soft, transparent film of vapor lay along the horizon. The first sunbeam would dissipate it. To the maiden had exhibited that aspect of the sea which seems to blend it with the sky. Her view was now enlarged without producing the impression of the boundless infinity of ocean. Harry taking Nell's hand they followed James Starr and Jack Ryan as they traversed the deserted streets. To Nell, this suburb of the capital appeared on a collection of gloomy dark houses, just like Coal Town. Only that the roof was higher and gleamed with small lights. She stepped lightly forward and easily kept pace with Harry. Are you not tired, Nell? asked he after half an hour's walking. No, my feet seemed scarcely to touch the earth, returned she. The sky above us seemed so high up I feel as if I could take wing and fly. I say, keep hold of her! cried Jack Ryan. Our little Nell is too good to lose. I feel just as you described though myself when I have not left the pit for a long time. It is when we no longer experienced the oppressive effect of the vaulted rocky roof above Coal Town, said James Starr, that the spacious firmament appears to us like a profound abyss into which we have, as it were, a desire to plunge. Is that what you feel, Nell? Yes, Mr. Starr, it is exactly like that, said Nell. It makes me feel giddy. Ah, you will soon get over that, Nell, said Harry. You will get used to the outer world and most likely forget all about our dark coal pit. No, Harry, never, said Nell, and she put her hands over her eyes as though she would recall the remembrance of everything she had lately quitted. Between the silent dwellings of the city the party passed along Leith Walk and went round the Calton Hill where stood in the light of the Grey Dawn the buildings of the Observatory and Nelson's Monument. By Regent's Bridge and the North Bridge they had last reached the lower extremity the town still lay wrapped in slumber. Nell pointed to a large building in the centre of an open space asking, what great confused mass is that? That confused mass, Nell, is the palace of the ancient kings of Scotland. That is Holyrood, where many a sad scene has been enacted. The historian can here invoke many a royal shade from those of the early Scottish kings to that of the unhappy Mary Stuart and the French king Charles X. When day breaks, however, Nell, the palace will not look so very gloomy. Holyrood with its four embattled towers is not unlike some handsome country house. But let us pursue our way. There, just above the ancient abbey of Holyrood, are the superb cliffs called Salisbury Craigs. Arthur's Seat rises above them and that is where we are going. From the summit of Arthur's Seat, Nell, your eyes shall behold the sun appear above the horizon seaward. They entered the king's park. Then, gradually ascending, the Queen's Drive, a splendid carriageway encircling the hill, which we owe to a few lines in one of Sir Walter Scott's romances. Arthur's Seat is in truth only a hill, 750 feet high, which stands alone amid surrounding heights. In less than half an hour by an easy winding path, James Starr and his party reached the crest of the crouching lion, which, seen from the west, Arthur's Seat so much resembles. There, all four seated themselves with quotations from the great Scottish novelist, simply said, listen to what is written by Sir Walter Scott in the eighth chapter of the Heart of Midlothian. If I were to choose a spot from which the rising or setting sun could be seen to the greatest possible advantage, it would be from this neighbourhood. Now watch, Nell, the sun will soon appear and for the first time you will contemplate its splendour. The maiden turned to her eyes eastward. Harry, keeping close behind her, observed her with anxious interest. Would the first beams of day overpower her feelings? All remained quiet, even Jack Ryan. A faint streak of pale rose tinted the light vapours of the horizon. It was the first ray of light attacking the laggards of the night. Beneath the hill lay the silent city, masked confusedly in the twilight of dawn. Here and there lights twinkled among the houses of the old town. Westward rose many hilltops, soon to be illuminated by tips of fire. Now the distant horizon of the sea became more plainly visible. The scale of colours fell into the order of the solar. Every instant they increased in intensity. Rose colour became red. Red became fiery. Daylight dawned. Nell now glanced towards the city of which the outlines became more distinct. Lofty monuments, slender steeples emerged from the gloom. A kind of ashy light was spread abroad. At length one solitary ray struck on the maiden's sight. It was that ray of green which morning or evening is reflected upwards from the sea when the horizon is clear. An instant afterwards Nell turned and pointing towards a bright prominent point in the new town. Fire! cried she. No, Nell, that is no fire, said Harry. The sun has touched with gold the top of Sir Walter Scott's monument. And indeed the extreme point of the monument blazed like the light of a pharaoh's. It was day. The sun arose. The disk seemed to glitter as though he indeed emerged from the waters of the sea. Appearing at first very large from the effect of refraction he contracted as he rose and assumed the perfectly circular form. Soon no eye could endure the dazzling splendour. It was as though the mouth of a furnace was opened through the sky. Nell closed her eyes but her eyelids could not exclude the glare and she pressed her fingers over them. Harry advised her to turn in the opposite direction. Oh no, said she. Must get used to look at what yours can bear to see. Even through her hands Nell perceived a rosy light which became more white as the sun rose above the horizon. As her sight became accustomed to it her eyelids were raised and at length her eyes drank in the light of day. The good child knelt down exclaiming Oh Lord God, how beautiful is thy creation! Then she rose and looked around. At her feet extended the panorama of Edinburgh the clear distinct lines of streets in the new town and the irregular mass of houses with their confused network of streets and lanes which constitutes Aldriki, properly so-called. Two heights commanded the entire city. Edinburgh Castle crowning its huge basaltic rock and the Calton Hill bearing on its rounded summit among other monuments ruins built to represent those of the Parthenon at Athens. Fine roadways led in all directions from the capital. To the north the coast of the noble Firth of Forth was indented by a deep bay in which could be seen the seaport town of Leith between which and this modern Athens of the north ran a street straight as that leading to the Piraeus. Beyond the wide Firth could be seen the soft outlines of the county of Fife, while beneath the spectator stretched the yellow sands of Portobello and New Haven. Nell could not speak. Her lips murmured a word or two indistinctly. She trembled, became giddy, her strength failed her. Overcome by the purity of the air and the sublimity of the scene she sank fainting into Harry's arms who, watching her closely, was ready to support her. The youthful maiden, hitherto entombed in the massive depths of the earth had now obtained an idea of the universe of the works both of God and of man. She had looked upon town and country and beyond these into the immensity of the sea, the infinity of the heavens. End of Chapter 14 Recording by Sean Michael Hogan St. John's Newfoundland, Canada Chapter 15 of Child of the Cavern This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Sean Michael Hogan The Underground City by Jules Verne Chapter 15 Loch Normand and Loch Catrine Harry bore Nell carefully down the steeps of Arthur's Seat and accompanied by James Starr and Jack Ryan they reached Lambert's Hotel. The breakfast restored their strength and they began to make further plans for an excursion to the Highland Lakes. Nell was now refreshed and able to look boldly forth into the sunshine while her lungs with ease inhaled the free and healthful air. Her eyes learned gladly to know the harmonious varieties of color as they rested on the green trees, the azure skies and all the endless shades of lovely flowers and plants. The railway train which they entered at the Waverly Station conveyed their preference to Glasgow. There from the new bridge across the Clyde they watched the curious sea-like movement of the river. After a night's rest at Comrie's Royal Hotel they betook themselves to the terminus of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway from whence a train would rapidly carry them by way of Dumbarton and Baloch to the southern extremity of Loch Normand. Now for the land of Rob Roy and Fergus McIver, the scenery immortalized by the poetical descriptions of Walter Scott, exclaimed James Starr. You don't know this country, Jack? Only by its songs Mr. Starr replied, Jack, and judging by those it must be grand. So it is, so it is, cried the engineer, and our dear Nell shall see it to the best advantage. A steamboat, the Sinclair by name, awaited tourists about to make the excursion to the lakes. Nell and her companions went on board. The day had begun in brilliant sunshine, free from the British fogs which so often veil the skies. The passengers were determined to lose none of the beauties of nature to be displayed during the thirty miles voyage. Nell, seated between James Starr and Harry, drank in with every faculty the magnificent poetry with which lovely Scottish scenery is fraught. Numerous small aisles and islets soon appeared, as though thickly sewn on the bosom of the lake. The Sinclair steamed her way among them, while between them glimpses could be had of quiet valleys, or wild rocky gorges on the mainland. Nell, said James Starr, every island here has its legend, perhaps its song, as well as the mountains which overshadow the lake. One may, without much exaggeration, say that the history of this country is written in gigantic characters of mountains and islands. Nell listened, but these fighting stories made her sad. While that bloodshed on plains which to her seemed enormous, and where surely there must have been room for everybody. The shores of the lake form a little harbour at Lus. Nell could for a moment catch sight of the old tower of its ancient castle. Then, the Sinclair turning northward, the tourists gazed upon Ben Lomond, towering nearly three thousand feet above the level of the lake. Oh, what a noble mountain! cried Nell. What a view there must be from the top! Yes, Nell, answered James Starr, see how hotly its peak rises from amidst the thicket of oaks, birches, and heather which clothe the lower portion of the mountain. From Thence one may see two-thirds of Caledonia. This eastern side of the lake was the special abode of the clan McGregor. At no great distance, the struggles of the Jacobites and Hanoverians repeatedly died with blood these lonely glens. Over these scenes shines the pale moon, called in old ballads McFarland's Lantern. Among these rocks still echo the immortal names of Rob Roy and McGregor Campbell. As the Sinclair advanced along the base of the mountain, the country became more and more abrupt in character. The trees were only scattered here and there. Among them were the willows, slender wands of which were formerly used for hanging persons of low degree, to economize hemp, remarked James Starr. The lake narrowed very much as it stretched northwards. The steamer passed a few more islets, in Vrogles, Eilachwao, where stants and ruins of a stronghold of the clan McFarland. At length the head of the Loch was reached and the Sinclair stopped at Inversned. Leaving Loch Arklat on the left, a steep ascent led to the inn of Stronachlachar on the banks of Loch Khatrin. There, at the end of a light pier, floated a small steamboat, named as a matter of course, the Rob Roy. The travellers immediately went on board. It was about to start. Loch Khatrin is only ten miles in length. Its width never exceeds two miles. The hills nearest it are full of a character peculiar to themselves. Here we are on this famous lake, said James Starr. It has been compared to an eel on account of length and windings, and justly so. They say that it never freezes. I know nothing about that, but what we want to think of is that here are the scenes of the adventure and the Lady of the Lake. I believe if friend Jack looked about him carefully, he might see still gliding over the surface of the water, the shade of the slender form of sweet Ellen Douglas. To be sure, Mr. Starr replied Jack, why should I not? I may just as well see that pretty girl on the waters of Loch Khatrin as those ugly ghosts on Loch Malcolm Colpit. It was by this time three o'clock in the afternoon. The less hilly shores of Loch Khatrin westward extended like a picture framed between Ben Ann and Ben Venue. At the distance of half a mile was the entrance to the narrow bay where was the landing place for our tourists who meant to return to Stirling by calendar. Nell appeared completely worn out by the continued excitement of the day. A faint ejaculation was all she was able to utter in token of admiration as new objects of wonder or beauty met her gaze. She required some hours of rest. Were it but to impress lastingly the recollection of all she had seen. Her hand rested in Harry's and looking earnestly at her he said, Nell, dear Nell, we shall soon be home again in the gloomy region of the coal mine. Shall you not pine for what you have seen during these few hours spent in the glorious light of day? No, Harry, replied the girl. I shall like to think about it, but I am glad to go back with you to our dear old home. Nell, said Harry, vainly attempting to steady his voice. Are you willing to be bound to me by the most sacred tie? Could you marry me now? Yes, Harry, I could. If you are sure that I am able to make you happy, answered the maiden raising her innocent eyes to his. Scarcely had she pronounced these words when an unaccountable phenomenon took place. The rob-roy still half a mile from land experienced a violent shock. She suddenly grounded. No efforts of the engine could move her. The cause of this accident was simply that Loch Hathrin was all at once emptied, as though an enormous fissure had opened in its bed. In a few seconds it had the appearance of a sea-beach at low water. Nearly the whole of its contents had vanished into the bosom of the earth. My friends exclaimed James Starr as the cause of this marvel became suddenly clear to him. God help new Aberfoil! End of Section 15 Recording by Sean Michael Hogan St. John's Newfound Land, Canada