The Monk

: The Underground City

THIS name revealed everything to the old overman. It was that of the

last "monk" of the Dochart pit.



In former days, before the invention of the safety-lamp, Simon had known

this fierce man, whose business it was to go daily, at the risk of his

life, to produce partial explosions of fire-damp in the passages. He

used to see this strange solitary being, prowling about the mine, always

accompanied by a mons rous owl, which he called Harfang, who assisted

him in his perilous occupation, by soaring with a lighted match to

places Silfax was unable to reach.



One day this old man disappeared, and at the same time also, a little

orphan girl born in the mine, who had no relation but himself, her

great-grandfather. It was perfectly evident now that this child was

Nell. During the fifteen years, up to the time when she was saved by

Harry, they must have lived in some secret abyss of the mine.



The old overman, full of mingled compassion and anger, made known to the

engineer and Harry all that the name of Silfax had revealed to him. It

explained the whole mystery. Silfax was the mysterious being so long

vainly sought for in the depths of New Aberfoyle.



"So you knew him, Simon?" demanded Mr. Starr.



"Yes, that I did," replied the overman. "The Harfang man, we used to

call him. Why, he was old then! He must be fifteen or twenty years older

than I am. A wild, savage sort of fellow, who held aloof from everyone

and was known to fear nothing--neither fire nor water. It was his own

fancy to follow the trade of 'monk,' which few would have liked.

The constant danger of the business had unsettled his brain. He was

prodigiously strong, and he knew the mine as no one else--at any rate,

as well as I did. He lived on a small allowance. In faith, I believed

him dead years ago."



"But," resumed James Starr, "what does he mean by those words, 'You have

robbed me of the last vein of our old mine'?"



"Ah! there it is," replied Simon; "for a long time it had been a fancy

of his--I told you his mind was deranged--that he had a right to the

mine of Aberfoyle; so he became more and more savage in temper the

deeper the Dochart pit--his pit!--was worked out. It just seemed as if

it was his own body that suffered from every blow of the pickax. You

must remember that, Madge?"



"Ay, that I do, Simon," replied she.



"I can recollect all this," resumed Simon, "since I have seen the name

of Silfax on the door. But I tell you, I thought the man was dead, and

never imagined that the spiteful being we have so long sought for could

be the old fireman of the Dochart pit."



"Well, now, then," said Starr, "it is all quite plain. Chance made known

to Silfax the new vein of coal. With the egotism of madness, he believed

himself the owner of a treasure he must conceal and defend. Living in

the mine, and wandering about day and night, he perceived that you had

discovered the secret, and had written in all haste to beg me to come.

Hence the letter contradicting yours; hence, after my arrival, all the

accidents that occurred, such as the block of stone thrown at Harry, the

broken ladder at the Yarrow shaft, the obstruction of the openings into

the wall of the new cutting; hence, in short, our imprisonment, and then

our deliverance, brought about by the kind assistance of Nell, who acted

of course without the knowledge of this man Silfax, and contrary to his

intentions."



"You describe everything exactly as it must have happened, Mr. Starr,"

returned old Simon. "The old 'Monk' is mad enough now, at any rate!"



"All the better," quoth Madge.





"I don't know that," said Starr, shaking his head; "it is a terrible

sort of madness this."



"Ah! now I understand that the very thought of him must have terrified

poor little Nell, and also I see that she could not bear to denounce her

grandfather. What a miserable time she must have had of it with the old

man!"



"Miserable with a vengeance," replied Simon, "between that savage and

his owl, as savage as himself. Depend upon it, that bird isn't dead.

That was what put our lamp out, and also so nearly cut the rope by which

Harry and Nell were suspended."



"And then, you see," said Madge, "this news of the marriage of our son

with his granddaughter added to his rancor and ill-will."



"To be sure," said Simon. "To think that his Nell should marry one of

the robbers of his own coal mine would just drive him wild altogether."



"He will have to make up his mind to it, however," cried Harry. "Mad as

he is, we shall manage to convince him that Nell is better off with us

here than ever she was in the caverns of the pit. I am sure, Mr. Starr,

if we could only catch him, we should be able to make him listen to

reason."



"My poor Harry! there is no reasoning with a madman," replied the

engineer. "Of course it is better to know your enemy than not; but you

must not fancy all is right because we have found out who he is. We must

be on our guard, my friends; and to begin with, Harry, you positively

must question Nell. She will perceive that her silence is no longer

reasonable. Even for her grandfather's own interest, she ought to speak

now. For his own sake, as well as for ours, these insane plots must be

put a stop to."



"I feel sure, Mr. Starr," answered Harry, "that Nell will of herself

propose to tell you what she knows. You see it was from a sense of duty

that she has been silent hitherto. My mother was very right to take her

to her room just now. She much needed time to recover her spirits; but

now I will go for her."



"You need not do so, Harry," said the maiden in a clear and firm voice,

as she entered at that moment the room in which they were. Nell was very

pale; traces of tears were in her eyes; but her whole manner showed that

she had nerved herself to act as her loyal heart dictated as her duty.





"Nell!" cried Harry, springing towards her.



The girl arrested her lover by a gesture, and continued, "Your father

and mother, and you, Harry, must now know all. And you too, Mr. Starr,

must remain ignorant of nothing that concerns the child you have

received, and whom Harry--unfortunately for him, alas!--drew from the

abyss."



"Oh, Nell! what are you saying?" cried Harry.



"Allow her to speak," said James Starr in a decided tone.



"I am the granddaughter of old Silfax," resumed Nell. "I never knew a

mother till the day I came here," added she, looking at Madge.



"Blessed be that day, my daughter!" said the old woman.



"I knew no father till I saw Simon Ford," continued Nell; "nor friend

till the day when Harry's hand touched mine. Alone with my grandfather

I have lived during fifteen years in the remote and most solitary depths

of the mine. I say WITH my grandfather, but I can scarcely use

the expression, for I seldom saw him. When he disappeared from Old

Aberfoyle, he concealed himself in caverns known only to himself. In his

way he was kind to me, dreadful as he was; he fed me with whatever he

could procure from outside the mine; but I can dimly recollect that in

my earliest years I was the nursling of a goat, the death of which was

a bitter grief to me. My grandfather, seeing my distress, brought me

another animal--a dog he said it was. But, unluckily, this dog was

lively, and barked. Grandfather did not like anything cheerful. He had

a horror of noise, and had taught me to be silent; the dog he could

not teach to be quiet, so the poor animal very soon disappeared. My

grandfather's companion was a ferocious bird, Harfang, of which, at

first, I had a perfect horror; but this creature, in spite of my dislike

to it, took such a strong affection for me, that I could not help

returning it. It even obeyed me better than its master, which used to

make me quite uneasy, for my grandfather was jealous. Harfang and I

did not dare to let him see us much together; we both knew it would be

dangerous. But I am talking too much about myself: the great thing is

about you."



"No, my child," said James Starr, "tell us everything that comes to your

mind."





"My grandfather," continued Nell, "always regarded your abode in the

mine with a very evil eye--not that there was any lack of space. His

chosen refuge was far--very far from you. But he could not bear to feel

that you were there. If I asked any questions about the people up above

us, his face grew dark, he gave no answer, and continued quite silent

for a long time afterwards. But when he perceived that, not content with

the old domain, you seemed to think of encroaching upon his, then indeed

his anger burst forth. He swore that, were you to succeed in reaching

the new mine, you should assuredly perish. Notwithstanding his great

age, his strength is astonishing, and his threats used to make me

tremble."



"Go on, Nell, my child," said Simon to the girl, who paused as though to

collect her thoughts.



"On the occasion of your first attempt," resumed Nell, "as soon as my

grandfather saw that you were fairly inside the gallery leading to New

Aberfoyle, he stopped up the opening, and turned it into a prison for

you. I only knew you as shadows dimly seen in the gloom of the pit, but

I could not endure the idea that you would die of hunger in these horrid

places; and so, at the risk of being detected, I succeeded in obtaining

bread and water for you during some days. I should have liked to help

you to escape, but it was so difficult to avoid the vigilance of my

grandfather. You were about to die. Then arrived Jack Ryan and the

others. By the providence of God I met with them, and instantly guided

them to where you were. When my grandfather discovered what I had done,

his rage against me was terrible. I expected death at his hands. After

that my life became insupportable to me. My grandfather completely lost

his senses. He proclaimed himself King of Darkness and Flame; and when

he heard your tools at work on coal-beds which he considered entirely

his own, he became furious and beat me cruelly. I would have fled from

him, but it was impossible, so narrowly did he watch me. At last, in

a fit of ungovernable fury, he threw me down into the abyss where you

found me, and disappeared, vainly calling on Harfang, which faithfully

stayed by me, to follow him. I know not how long I remained there, but I

felt I was at the point of death when you, my Harry, came and saved me.

But now you all see that the grandchild of old Silfax can never be the

wife of Harry Ford, because it would be certain death to you all!"



"Nell!" cried Harry.



"No," continued the maiden, "my resolution is taken. By one means only

can your ruin be averted; I must return to my grandfather. He threatens

to destroy the whole of New Aberfoyle. His is a soul incapable of mercy

or forgiveness, and no mortal can say to what horrid deed the spirit of

revenge will lead him. My duty is clear; I should be the most despicable

creature on earth did I hesitate to perform it. Farewell! I thank you

all heartily. You only have taught me what happiness is. Whatever may

befall, believe that my whole heart remains with you."



At these words, Simon, Madge, and Harry started up in an agony of grief,

exclaiming in tones of despair, "What, Nell! is it possible you would

leave us?"



James Starr put them all aside with an air of authority, and, going

straight up to Nell, he took both her hands in his, saying quietly,

"Very right, my child; you have said exactly what you ought to say;

and now listen to what we have to say in reply. We shall not let you go

away; if necessary, we shall keep you by force. Do you think we could be

so base as to accept of your generous proposal? These threats of Silfax

are formidable--no doubt about it! But, after all, a man is but a man,

and we can take precautions. You will tell us, will you not, even for

his own sake, all you can about his habits and his lurking-places? All

we want to do is to put it out of his power to do harm, and perhaps

bring him to reason."



"You want to do what is quite impossible," said Nell. "My grandfather

is everywhere and nowhere. I have never seen his retreats. I have never

seen him sleep. If he meant to conceal himself, he used to leave me

alone, and vanish. When I took my resolution, Mr. Starr, I was aware of

everything you could say against it. Believe me, there is but one way to

render Silfax powerless, and that will be by my return to him. Invisible

himself, he sees everything that goes on. Just think whether it is

likely he could discover your very thoughts and intentions, from

that time when the letter was written to Mr. Starr, up to now that

my marriage with Harry has been arranged, if he did not possess the

extraordinary faculty of knowing everything. As far as I am able to

judge, my grandfather, in his very insanity, is a man of most powerful

mind. He formerly used to talk to me on very lofty subjects. He taught

me the existence of God, and never deceived me but on one point, which

was--that he made me believe that all men were base and perfidious,

because he wished to inspire me with his own hatred of all the human

race. When Harry brought me to the cottage, you thought I was simply

ignorant of mankind, but, far beyond that, I was in mortal fear of you

all. Ah, forgive me! I assure you, for many days I believed myself in

the power of wicked wretches, and I longed to escape. You, Madge, first

led me to perceive the truth, not by anything you said, but by the

sight of your daily life, for I saw that your husband and son loved and

respected you! Then all these good and happy workmen, who so revere and

trust Mr. Starr, I used to think they were slaves; and when, for the

first time, I saw the whole population of Aberfoyle come to church and

kneel down to pray to God, and praise Him for His infinite goodness, I

said to myself, 'My grandfather has deceived me.' But now, enlightened

by all you have taught me, I am inclined to think he himself is

deceived. I mean to return to the secret passages I formerly frequented

with him. He is certain to be on the watch. I will call to him; he will

hear me, and who knows but that, by returning to him, I may be able to

bring him to the knowledge of the truth?"



The maiden spoke without interruption, for all felt that it was good for

her to open her whole heart to her friends.



But when, exhausted by emotion, and with eyes full of tears, she ceased

speaking, Harry turned to old Madge and said, "Mother, what should you

think of the man who could forsake the noble girl whose words you have

been listening to?"



"I should think he was a base coward," said Madge, "and, were he my son,

I should renounce and curse him."



"Nell, do you hear what our mother says?" resumed Harry. "Wherever you

go I will follow you. If you persist in leaving us, we will go away

together."



"Harry! Harry!" cried Nell.



Overcome by her feelings, the girl's lips blanched, and she sank into

the arms of Madge, who begged she might be left alone with her.