Hanging By A Thread

: The Underground City

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 gayety 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 excursionists from Stirling came

in considerable numbers to enjoy the calm fresh air in the recesses of

the mine?



The electric discs shed a brilliancy of light which the British sun,

oftener obscured by fogs than it ought to be, might well envy. Jack Ryan

kept talking of these visitors, who passed them in noisy crowds, but

Harry paid very 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'll 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'm 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 mine, 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

Aberfoyle!"



"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 just 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 the breaking of 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 mine 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 Dochart 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 intention? 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 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 clew to guide your search?"



"Perhaps I have. Listen to me! Five miles west of New Aberfoyle, under

the solid rock which supports Ben Lomond, 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 got 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 to-morrow what it was," said Harry.



"To-morrow?" answered Jack, looking at his friend.



"Yes; to-morrow I am going down into that abyss."



"Harry! that will be a tempting of 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. I may 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.

"To-morrow morning, then, at six o'clock. Be silent, and farewell!"



It must be admitted that Jack Ryan'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 into which he

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

to 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 at the mouth of the

opening of the suspicious shaft. Harry had not mentioned his intentions

either to James Starr or to the old overman. Jack had been discreet

enough to say nothing.



Harry had provided himself with a rope about 200 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, and his pulling

the cord was to be the signal to withdraw him.



The opening into this shaft or 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 at 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 into the shape of a funnel. But Harry began to feel

a fresher air rising from beneath, whence 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 could have

been concealed.



The bottom of the abyss was quite dry. Harry, taking the lamp from his

belt, walked round the place, and perceived he had been right in his

conjectures.



An extremely narrow passage led aside 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 and began 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 Harry 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 round 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 dashed 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 hear.



He soon knew they did, for they pulled the rope up faster; a distance

of about eighty feet remained to be got over. The bird ceased 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,

but was banished 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.



The fearful strain of anxiety removed, a reaction took place, and Harry

fell fainting into the arms of his friends.



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