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IT was agreed that the inhabitants of the cottage must keep more on
their guard than ever. The threats of old Silfax were too serious to be
disregarded. It was only too possible that he possessed some terrible means by
which the whole of Aberfoyle might be annihilated.
Armed sentinels were posted at the various entrances to the mine, with
orders to keep strict watch day and night. Any stranger entering the mine was
brought before James Starr, that he might give an account of himself. There
being no fear of treason among the inhabitants of Coal Town, the threatened
danger to the subterranean colony was made known to them. Nell was informed of
all the precautions taken, and became more tranquil, although she was not free
from uneasiness. Harry’s determination to follow her wherever she went
compelled her to promise not to escape from her friends.
During the week preceding the wedding, no accident whatever occurred in
Aberfoyle. The system of watching was carefully maintained, but the miners
began to recover from the panic, which had seriously interrupted the work of
excavation. James Starr continued to look out for Silfax. The old man having
vindictively declared that Nell should never marry Simon’s son, it was
natural to suppose that he would not hesitate to commit any violent deed which
would hinder their union.
The examination of the mine was carried on minutely. Every passage and
gallery was searched, up to those higher ranges which opened out among the
ruins of Dundonald Castle. It was rightly supposed that through this old
building Silfax passed out to obtain what was needful for the support of his
miserable existence (which he must have done, either by purchasing or
thieving).
As to the “fire-maidens,” James Starr began to think that
appearance must have been produced by some jet of fire-damp gas which, issuing
from that part of the pit, could be lighted by Silfax. He was not far wrong;
but all search for proof of this was fruitless, and the continued strain of
anxiety in this perpetual effort to detect a malignant and invisible being
rendered the engineer— outwardly calm—an unhappy man.
As the wedding-day approached, his dread of some catastrophe increased,
and he could not but speak of it to the old overman, whose uneasiness soon more
than equaled his own. At length the day came. Silfax had given no token of
existence.
By daybreak the entire population of Coal Town was astir. Work was
suspended; overseers and workmen alike desired to do honor to Simon Ford and
his son. They all felt they owed a large debt of gratitude to these bold and
persevering men, by whose means the mine had been restored to its former
prosperity. The ceremony was to take place at eleven o’clock, in St.
Giles’s chapel, which stood on the shores of Loch Malcolm.
At the appointed time, Harry left the cottage, supporting his mother on
his arm, while Simon led the bride. Following them came Starr, the engineer,
composed in manner, but in reality nerved to expect the worst, and Jack Ryan,
stepping superb in full Highland piper’s costume. Then came the other
mining engineers, the principal people of Coal Town, the friends and comrades
of the old overman— every member of this great family of miners forming
the population of New Aberfoyle.
In the outer world, the day was one of the hottest of the month of
August, peculiarly oppressive in northern countries. The sultry air penetrated
the depths of the coal mine, and elevated the temperature. The air which
entered through the ventilating shafts, and the great tunnel of Loch Malcolm,
was charged with electricity, and the barometer, it was afterwards remarked,
had fallen in a remarkable manner. There was, indeed, every indication that a
storm might burst forth beneath the rocky vault which formed the roof of the
enormous crypt of the very mine itself.
But the inhabitants were not at that moment troubling themselves about
the chances of atmospheric disturbance above ground. Everybody, as a matter of
course, had put on his best clothes for the occasion. Madge was dressed in the
fashion of days gone by, wearing the “toy” and the
“rokelay,” or Tartan plaid, of matrons of the olden time, old Simon
wore a coat of which Bailie Nicol Jarvie himself would have approved.
Nell had resolved to show nothing of her mental agitation; she forbade
her heart to beat, or her inward terrors to betray themselves, and the brave
girl appeared before all with a calm and collected aspect. She had declined
every ornament of dress, and the very simplicity of her attire added to the
charming elegance of her appearance. Her hair was bound with the
“snood,” the usual head-dress of Scottish maidens.
All proceeded towards St. Giles’s chapel, which had been
handsomely decorated for the occasion.
The electric discs of light which illuminated Coal Town blazed like so
many suns. A luminous atmosphere pervaded New Aberfoyle. In the chapel,
electric lamps shed a glow over the stained-glass windows, which shone like
fiery kaleidoscopes. At the porch of the chapel the minister awaited the
arrival of the wedding party.
It approached, after having passed in stately procession along the shore
of Loch Malcolm. Then the tones of the organ were heard, and, preceded by the
minister, the group advanced into the chapel. The Divine blessing was first
invoked on all present. Then Harry and Nell remained alone before the minister,
who, holding the sacred book in his hand, proceeded to say, “Harry, will
you take Nell to be your wife, and will you promise to love her always?”
“I promise,” answered the young man in a firm and steady
voice.
“And you, Nell,” continued the minister, “will you
take Harry to be your husband, and—”
Before he could finish the sentence, a prodigious noise resounded from
without. One of the enormous rocks, on which was formed the terrace overhanging
the banks of Loch Malcolm, had suddenly given way and opened without explosion,
disclosing a profound abyss, into which the waters were now wildly plunging.
In another instant, among the shattered rocks and rushing waves appeared
a canoe, which a vigorous arm propelled along the surface of the lake. In the
canoe was seen the figure of an old man standing upright. He was clothed in a
dark mantle, his hair was dishevelled, a long white beard fell over his breast,
and in his hand he bore a lighted Davy safety lamp, the flame being protected
by the metallic gauze of the apparatus.
In a loud voice this old man shouted, “The fire-damp is upon you! Woe—woe
betide ye all!”
At the same moment the slight smell peculiar to carburetted hydrogen was
perceptibly diffused through the atmosphere. And, in truth, the fall of the
rock had made a passage of escape for an enormous quantity of explosive gas,
accumulated in vast cavities, the openings to which had hitherto been blocked
up.
Jets and streams of the fire-damp now rose upward in the vaulted dome;
and well did that fierce old man know that the consequence of what he had done
would be to render explosive the whole atmosphere of the mine.
James Starr and several others, having hastily quitted the chapel, and
perceived the imminence of the danger, now rushed back, crying out in accents
of the utmost alarm, “Fly from the mine! Fly instantly from the
mine!”
“Now for the fire-damp! Here comes the fire-damp!” yelled
the old man, urging his canoe further along the lake.
Harry with his bride, his father and his mother, left the chapel in
haste and in terror.
“Fly! fly for your lives!” repeated James Starr. Alas! it
was too late to fly! Old Silfax stood there, prepared to fulfill his last
dreadful threat—prepared to stop the marriage of Nell and Harry by
overwhelming the entire population of the place beneath the ruins of the coal
mine.
As he stood ready to accomplish this act of vengeance, his enormous owl,
whose white plumage was marked with black spots, was seen hovering directly
above his head.
At that moment a man flung himself into the waters of the lake, and swam
vigorously towards the canoe.
It was Jack Ryan, fully determined to reach the madman before he could
do the dreadful deed of destruction.
Silfax saw him coming. Instantly he smashed the glass of his lamp, and,
snatching out the burning wick, waved it in the air.
Silence like death fell upon the astounded multitude. James Starr, in
the calmness of despair, marvelled that the inevitable explosion was even for a
moment delayed.
Silfax, gazing upwards with wild and contracted features, appeared to
become aware that the gas, lighter than the lower atmosphere, was accumulating
far up under the dome; and at a sign from him the owl, seizing in its claw the
lighted match, soared upwards to the vaulted roof, towards which the madman
pointed with outstretched arm.
Another second and New Aberfoyle would be no more.
Suddenly Nell sprang from Harry’s arms, and, with a bright look of
inspiration, she ran to the very brink of the waters of the lake. “Harfang!
Harfang!” cried she in a clear voice; “here! come to me!”
The faithful bird, surprised, appeared to hesitate in its flight. Presently,
recognizing Nell’s voice, it dropped the burning match into the water,
and, describing a wide circle, flew downwards, alighting at the maiden’s
feet.
Then a terrible cry echoed through the vaulted roofs. It was the last
sound uttered by old Silfax.
Just as Jack Ryan laid his hand on the edge of the canoe, the old man,
foiled in his purpose of revenge, cast himself headlong into the waters of the
lake.
“Save him! oh, save him!” shrieked Nell in a voice of agony.
Immediately Harry plunged into the water, and, swimming towards Jack Ryan, he
dived repeatedly.
But his efforts were useless. The waters of Loch Malcolm yielded not
their prey: they closed forever over Silfax.
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