Part 8 (1/2)
The oldwith joy James Starr fully entered into it; but he let Ford rave for thehtful
To his ular, inexplicable circu the discovery of the new bed It made him uneasy about the future
An hour afterwards, Jae The engineer supped with good appetite, listening with satisfaction to all the plans unfolded by the old overman; and had it not been for his excitement about the next day's work, he would never have slept better than in the perfect stillness of the cottage
The following day, after a substantial breakfast, Jae herself, took the road already traversed the day before All looked like regular miners They carried different tools, and some dynae lantern, took a safety lamp, which would burn for twelve hours
It was more than was necessary for the journey there and back, including the ti was possible
”To work! to work!” shouted Ford, when the party reached the further end of the passage; and he grasped a heavy crowbar and brandished it
”Stop one instant,” said Starr ”Let us see if any change has taken place, and if the fire-daht, Mr Starr,” said Harry ”Whoever stopped it up yesterday e, seated on a rock, carefully observed the excavation, and the hich was to be blasted
It was found that everything was just as they left it The crevices had undergone no alteration; the carburetted hydrogen still filtered through, though in a small streae since the day before As the quantity was so small, it could not have formed an explosive mixture with the air inside James Starr and his companions could therefore proceed in security Besides, the air grew purer by rising to the heights of the Dochart pit; and the fire-da enough to make any explosion
”To work, then!” repeated Ford; and soon the rock flew in splinters under his skillful blows The break was chiefly co-stone, interspersed with sandstone and schist, such as is most often met with between the coal veins James Starr picked up so to discover so chosen the place where the holes were to be drilled, they were rapidly bored by Harry Soes of dyna, tarred safety round James Starr and his companions then went off to some distance
”Oh! Mr Starr,” said Siitation, which he did not attempt to conceal, ”never, no, never has et at the vein!”
”Patience, Siineer ”You don't e all ready open behind that dyke?”
”Excuse me, sir,” answered the old overood luck in the way Harry and I discovered this place, why shouldn't the good luck go on?”
As he spoke, cah the labyrinth of subterranean galleries Starr, Madge, Harry, and Simon Ford hastened towards the spot
”Mr Starr! Mr Starr!” shouted the overman ”Look! the door is broken open!”
Ford's comparison was justified by the appearance of an excavation, the depth of which could not be calculated Harry was about to spring through the opening; but the engineer, though excessively surprised to find this cavity, held hiet pure,” said he
”Yes! beware of the foul air!” said Simon
A quarter of an hour was passed in anxious waiting The lantern was then fastened to the end of a stick, and introduced into the cave, where it continued to burn with unaltered brilliancy ”Now then, Harry, go,” said Starr, ”and ill follow you”
The opening e to allow a h Harry, laly, and disappeared in the darkness His father, mother, and James Starr waited in silence A er--passed Harry did not reappear, did not call Gazing into the opening, Jaht to have illuiven way under Harry's feet? Had the young er reach his companions?
The old overman, dead to their reht appeared, dihter, and Harry's voice was heard shouting, ”Come, Mr Starr! come, father! The road to New Aberfoyle is open!”
If, by soineers could have raised in a block, a thousand feet thick, all that portion of the terrestrial crust which supports the lakes, rivers, gulfs, and territories of the counties of Stirling, Dumbarton, and Renfrew, they would have found, under that enormous lid, an immense excavation, to which but one other in the world can be compared--the celebrated Mammoth caves of Kentucky This excavation was composed of several hundred divisions of all sizes and shapes It es of cells, capriciously arranged, but a hive on a vast scale, and which, instead of bees, atheriuical epoch
A labyrinth of galleries, soher than the most lofty cathedrals, others like cloisters, narrow and winding--these following a horizontal line, those on an incline or running obliquely in all directions--connected the caverns and allowed free co the vaulted roofs, whose curves allowed of every style, the es, the naves themselves in this layer of secondary formation, were cohtly packed between these useless strata ran valuable veins of coal, as if the black blood of this strange led network These fields extended forty miles north and south, and stretched even under the Caledonian Canal The importance of this bed could not be calculated until after soundings, but it would certainly surpass those of Cardiff and Newcastle