Nell's Wedding
: The Underground CityIT 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
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.
389
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.
More
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