Deep Down, a Tale of the Cornish Mines

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

  INDICATES THAT "WE LITTLE KNOW WHAT GREAT THINGS FROM LITTLE THINGS MAYRISE."

  Soon after this accident to James Penrose, the current of events at themines was diverted from its course by several incidents, which, like theobstructing rocks in a rapid, created some eddies and whirlpools in thelives of those personages with whom this chronicle has to do.

  As the beginning of a mighty inundation is oft-times aninsignificant-looking leak, and as the cause of a series of great eventsis not unfrequently a trifling incident, so the noteworthy circumstanceswhich we have still to lay before our readers were brought about by avery small matter--by a baby--_the_ baby Maggot!

  One morning that cherubical creature opened its eyes at a much earlierhour than usual, and stared at the ceiling of its father's cottage. Thesun was rising, and sent its unobstructed rays through the window ofMaggot's cottage, where it danced on the ceiling as if its sole purposein rising had been to amuse the Maggot baby. If so, it waspre-eminently successful in its attempts, for the baby lay and smiledfor a long time in silent ecstasy.

  Of course, we do not mean to say that the sun itself, or its directrays, actually danced. No, it was too dignified a luminary for that,but its rays went straight at a small looking-glass which was suspendedon the wall opposite to the window, and this being hung so as to slopeforward, projected the rays obliquely into a tub of water which wasdestined for family washing purposes; and from its gently moving surfacethey were transmitted to the ceiling, where, as aforesaid, they danced,to the immense delight of Maggot junior.

  The door of the cottage had been carelessly closed the previous nightwhen the family retired to rest, and a chink of it was open, throughwhich a light draught of summer air came in. This will account for theripple on the water, which (as every observant reader will note) ought,according to the laws of gravitation, to have lain perfectly still.

  The inconstancy of baby Maggot's nature was presently exhibited in hisbecoming tired of the sun, and the restlessness of his dispositiondisplayed itself in his frantic efforts to get out of bed. Being boxedin with a board, this was not an easy matter, but the urchin's limbswere powerful, and he finally got over the obstruction, sufficiently farto lose his balance, and fall with a sounding flop on the floor.

  It is interesting to notice how soon deceit creeps into the hearts ofsome children! Of course the urchin fell sitting-wise--babies always doso, as surely as cats fall on their feet. In ordinary circumstances hewould have intimated the painful mishap with a dreadful yell; but onthis particular occasion young Maggot was bent on mischief. Of whatsort, he probably had no idea, but there must have been a latent feelingof an intention to be "bad" in some way or other, because, on reachingthe ground, he pursed his mouth, opened his eyes very wide, and lookedcautiously round to make sure that the noise had awakened no one.

  His father, he observed, with a feeling of relief, was absent fromhome--not a matter of uncommon occurrence, for that worthy man'savocations often called him out at untimeous hours. Mrs Maggot was inbed snoring, and wrinkling up her nose in consequence of a fly havingperched itself obstinately on the point thereof. Zackey, with the redearth of the mine still streaking his manly countenance, was rolled-uplike a ball in his own bed in a dark recess of the room, and littleGrace Maggot could be seen in the dim perspective of a closet, alsosound asleep, in her own neat little bed, with her hair streaming overthe pillow, and the "chet" reposing happily on her neck.

  But that easily satisfied chet had long ago had more than enough ofrest. Its repose was light, and the sound of baby Maggot falling out ofbed caused it to rise, yawn, arch its back and tail, and prepare itselffor the mingled joys and torments of the opening day. Observing thatthe urchin rose and staggered with a gleeful expression towards thedoor, the volatile chet made a dash at him sidewise, and gave him such afright that he fell over the door step into the road.

  Again was that tender babe's deceitfulness of character displayed, for,instead of howling, as he would have done on other occasions, heexercised severe self-restraint, made light of a bruised shin, and,gathering himself up, made off as fast as his fat legs could carry him.

  There was something deeply interesting--worthy of the study of aphilosopher--in the subsequent actions of that precocious urchin. Hispowers in the way of walking were not much greater than those of a verytipsy man, and he swayed his arms about a good deal to maintain hisbalance, especially at the outset of the journey, when he imagined thathe heard the maternal voice in anger and the maternal footsteps inpursuit in every puff of wind, grunt of pig, or bark of early-risingcur. His entire soul was engrossed in the one grand, vital, absorbingidea of escape! By degrees, as distance from the paternal roofincreased, his fluttering spirit grew calmer and his gait more steady,and the flush of victory gathered on his brow and sparkled in his eye,as the conviction was pressed home upon him that, for the first time inhis life, he was _free_! free as the wind of heaven to go where hepleased--to do what he liked--to be _as bad as possible_, without let orhindrance!

  Not that baby Maggot had any stronger desire to be absolutely wickedthan most other children of his years; but, having learnt fromexperience that the attempt to gratify any of his desires was usuallychecked and termed "bad," he naturally felt that a state of delight sointense as that to which he had at last attained, must necessarily bethe very quintessence of iniquity. Being resolved to go through with itat all hazards, he felt proportionately wild and reckless. Such a stateof commotion was there in his heaving bosom, owing to contradictory andconflicting elements, that he felt at one moment inclined to lie downand shout for joy, and the next, to sink into the earth with terror.

  Time, which proverbially works wonderful changes, at length subdued theurchin to a condition of calm goodness and felicity, that would haverejoiced his mother's heart, had it only been brought on in ordinarycircumstances at home.

  There is a piece of waste ground lying between St. Just and the sea--asort of common, covered with heath and furze--on which the ancientBritons have left their indelible mark, in the shape of pits and hollowsand trenches, with their relative mounds and hillocks. Here, in thedays of old, our worthy but illiterate forefathers had grubbed and dugand turned up every square foot of the soil, like a colony of giganticrabbits, in order to supply the precious metal of the country to thePhoenicians, Jews, and Greeks.

  The ground on this common is so riddled with holes of all sizes andshapes, utterly unguarded by any kind of fence, that it requires care onthe part of the pedestrian who traverses the place even in daylight.Hence the mothers of St. Just are naturally anxious that the youngermembers of their families should not go near the common, and the youngermembers are as naturally anxious that they should visit it.

  Thither, in the course of time--for it was not far distant--the babyMaggot naturally trended; proceeding on the principle of "short stagesand long rests." Never in his life--so he thought--had he seen suchbright and beautiful flowers, such green grass, and such lovely yellowsand, as that which appeared here and there at the mouths of the holesand old shafts, or such a delicious balmy and sweet-scented breeze asthat which came off the Atlantic and swept across the common. No wonderthat his eyes drank in the beautiful sights, for they had seen little ofearth hitherto, save the four walls of his father's cottage and the deadgarden wall in front of it; no wonder that his nostrils dilated toreceive the sweet odours, for they had up to that date lived upon airwhich had to cross a noisome and stagnant pool of filth before itentered his father's dwelling; and no wonder that his ears thrilled tohear the carol of the birds, for they had previously been accustomedchiefly to the voices of poultry and pigs, and to the caterwauling ofthe "chet."

  But as every joy has its alloy, so our youthful traveller's feelingsbegan to be modified by a gnawing sensation of hunger, as his usual hourfor breakfast approached. Still he wandered on manfully, looking intovarious dark and deep holes with much interest and a good deal of awe.Some of the old shafts were s
o deep that no bottom could be seen; otherswere partially filled up, and varied from five to twenty feet in depth.Some were nearly perpendicular, others were sloped and irregular inform; but all were more or less fringed with gorse bushes in full bloom.In a few cases the old pits were concealed by these bushes.

  It is almost unnecessary to say that baby Maggot's progress, on thateventful morn, was--unknown to himself--a series of narrow escapes frombeginning to end--no not exactly to the end, for his last adventurecould scarcely be deemed an escape. He was standing on the edge of ahole, which was partially concealed by bushes. Endeavouring to peerinto it he lost his balance and fell forward. His ready hands graspedthe gorse and received innumerable punctures, which drew forth a loudcry. Head foremost he went in, and head foremost he went down full tenfeet, when a small bush caught him, and lowered him gently to theground, but the spot on which he was landed was steep; it sloped towardsthe bottom of the hole, which turned inwards and became a sort ofcavern. Struggling to regain his footing, he slipped and rolledviolently to the bottom, where he lay for a few minutes either stunnedor too much astonished to move. Then he recovered a little and began towhimper. After which he felt so much better that he arose and attemptedto get out of the hole, but slipped and fell back again, whereupon heset up a hideous roar which continued without intermission for a quarterof an hour, when he fell sound asleep, and remained in happyunconsciousness for several hours.

  Meanwhile the Maggot family was, as may well be believed, thrown into astate of tremendous agitation. Mrs Maggot, on making the discoverythat baby had succeeded in scaling the barricade, huddled on hergarments and roused her progeny to assist in the search. At first shewas not alarmed, believing that she should certainly find theself-willed urchin near the house, perhaps in the cottage of thePenroses. But when the cottages in the immediate neighbourhood had beencalled at, and all the known places of danger round the house examined,without success, the poor woman became frantic with terror, and rousedthe whole neighbourhood. Every place of possible and impossibleconcealment was searched, and at last the unhappy mother allowed theterrible thought to enter her mind that baby had actually accomplishedthe unheard-of feat of reaching the dreaded common, and was perhaps atthat moment lying maimed or dead at the bottom of an ancient Britishshaft!

  Immediately a body of volunteers, consisting of men, women, andchildren, and headed by Mrs Maggot, hastened to the common to institutea thorough search; but they searched in vain, for the holes wereinnumerable, and the one in which the baby lay was well concealed bybushes. Besides, the search was somewhat wildly and hastily made, sothat some spots were over-searched, while others were almost overlooked.

  All that day did Mrs Maggot and her friends wander to and fro over thecommon, and never, since the days when Phoenician galleys were moored bySt. Michael's Mount, did the eyes of human beings pry so earnestly intothese pits and holes. Had tin been their object, they could not havebeen more eager. Evening came, night drew on apace, and at last theforlorn mother sat down in the centre of a furze bush, and began toweep. But her friends comforted her. They urged her to go home and"'ave a dish o' tay" to strengthen her for the renewal of the search bytorch-light. They assured her that the child could easily exist longerthan a day without food, and they reminded her that her baby was anexceptional baby, a peculiar baby--like its father, uncommonly strong,and, like its mother, unusually obstinate. The latter sentiment,however, was _thought_, not expressed.

  Under the influence of these assurances and persuasions, Mrs Maggotwent home, and, for a short time, the common was deserted.

  Now it chanced, curiously enough, that at this identical point of time,Maggot senior was enjoying a pipe and a glass of grog in a celebratedkiddle-e-wink, with his friend Joe Tonkin. This kiddle-e-wink, or lowpublic-house, was known as Un (or Aunt) Jilly's brandy-shop at Bosarne.It was a favourite resort of smugglers, and many a gallon of spirit,free of duty, had been consumed on the premises.

  Maggot and his friend were alone in the house at the time, and theirconversation had taken a dolorous turn, for many things had occurred oflate to disturb the equanimity of the friends. Several ventures in thesmuggling way had proved unsuccessful, and the mines did not offer atempting prospect just then. There had, no doubt, been one or twohopeful veins opened up, and some good "pitches" had been wrought, butthese were only small successes, and the luck had not fallen to eitherof themselves. The recent discovery of a good bunch by poor Penrose hadnot been fully appreciated, for the wounded man had as yet said nothingabout it, and little Zackey had either forgotten all about it in theexcitement of the accident, or was keeping his own counsel.

  Maggot talked gloomily about the advisability of emigration to America,as he sent clouds of tobacco smoke up Un Jilly's chimney, and Tonkinsaid he would try the mines for a short time, and if things didn'timprove he would go to sea. He did not, however, look at things inquite the same light with his friend. Perhaps he was of a more hopefuldisposition, perhaps had met with fewer disappointments. At all events,he so wrought on Maggot's mind that he half induced him to deny hissmuggling propensities for a time, and try legitimate work in the mines.Not that Joe Tonkin wanted to reform him by any means, but he washimself a little out of humour with his old profession, and sought toset his friend against it also.

  "Try your luck in Botallack," said Joe Tonkin, knocking the ashes out ofhis pipe, preparatory to quitting the place, "that's my advice to 'ee,booy."

  "I've half a mind to," replied Maggot, rising; "if that theere cargo Irun on Saturday do go the way the last did, I'll ha' done with it, so Iwill. Good-hevenin', Un Jilly."

  "Good-hevenin', an' don't 'ee go tumblin' down the owld shafts," saidthe worthy hostess, observing that her potent brandy had rendered thegait of the men unsteady.

  They laughed as they received the caution, and walked together towardsSt. Just.

  "Lev us go see if the toobs are all safe," said Maggot, on reaching thecommon.

  Tonkin agreed, and they turned aside into a narrow track, which ledacross the waste land, where the search for the baby had been sodiligently carried on all that day.

  Night had set in, as we have said, and the searchers had gone up to thetown to partake of much-needed refreshment, and obtain torches, so thatthe place was bleak and silent, as well as dark, when the friendscrossed it, but they knew every foot of the ground so thoroughly, thatthere was no fear of their stumbling into old holes. Maggot led theway, and he walked straight to the old shaft where his hopeful son lay.

  There were three noteworthy points of coincidence here to which we woulddraw attention. It was just because this old shaft was so wellconcealed that Maggot had chosen it as a place in which to hide his tubsof smuggled brandy; it was owing to the same reason that thetown's-people had failed to discover it while searching for the baby;and it was--at least we think it must have been--just because of thesame reason that baby Maggot had found it, for that amiable child had apeculiar talent, a sort of vocation, for ferreting out things and placeshidden and secret, especially if forbidden.

  Having succeeded in falling into the hole, the urchin naturallydiscovered his father's tubs. After crying himself to sleep as beforementioned, and again awakening, his curiosity in respect to these tubsafforded him amusement, and kept him quiet for a time; perhaps the factthat one of the tubs had leaked and filled the lower part of the oldshaft with spirituous fumes, may account for the baby continuing to keepquiet, and falling into a sleep which lasted the greater part of theday; at all events, it is certain that he did not howl, as might havebeen expected of him in the circumstances. Towards evening, however, hebegan to move about among the tubs, and to sigh and whimper in a subduedway, for his stomach, unused to such prolonged fasting, felt veryuncomfortable. When darkness came on baby Maggot became alarmed, but,just about the time of his father's approach, the moon shone out andcast a cheering ray down the shaft, which relieved his mind a little.

  "Joe," said Maggot in a whisper, and with a serious loo
k, "some one havebin here."

  "D'ee think so?" said Tonkin.

  "Iss I do; the bushes are broken a bit. Hush! what's that?"

  The two men paused and looked at each other with awe depicted on theirfaces, while they listened intently, but, in the words of the touchingold song, "the beating of their own hearts was all the sound theyheard."

  "It wor the wind," said Maggot.

  "Iss, that's what it wor," replied Tonkin; "come, lev us go down. Thewind can't do no harm to we."

  But although he proposed to advance he did not move, and Maggot did notseem inclined to lead the way, for just then something like a sigh camefrom below, and a dark cloud passed over the moon.

  It is no uncommon thing to find that men who are physically brave aslions become nervous as children when anything bordering on what theydeem supernatural meets them. Maggot was about the most reckless man inthe parish of St. Just, and Tonkin was not far behind him in the qualityof courage, yet these two stood there with palpitating hearts undecidedwhat to do.

  Ashamed of being thought afraid of anything, Maggot at last cleared histhroat, and, in a husky voice, said,--"Come, then, lev us go down."

  So saying he slid down the shaft, closely followed by Tonkin, who wasnearly as much afraid to be left alone on the bleak moor as he was toenter the old mine.

  Now, while the friends were consulting with palpitating hearts above,baby Maggot, wide-awake and trembling with terror, listened with batedbreath below, and when the two men came scrambling down the sides of theshaft his heart seemed to fill up his breast and throat, and his bloodbegan to creep in his veins. Maggot could see nothing in the gloomyinterior as he advanced, but baby could see his father's dark formclearly. Still, no sound escaped from him, for horror had bereft him ofpower. Just then the dark cloud passed off the moon, and a bright beamshone full on the upper half of the baby's face as he peeped over theedge of one of the tubs. Maggot saw two glaring eyeballs, and feltfrozen alive instantly. Tonkin, looking over his comrade's shoulder,also saw the eyes, and was petrified on the spot. Suddenly baby Maggotfound his voice and uttered a most awful yell. Maggot senior found hislimbs, and turned to fly. So did Tonkin, but he slipped and fell at thefirst step. Maggot fell over him. Both rose and dashed up the shaft,scraping elbows, shins, and knuckles as they went, and, followed by atorrent of hideous cries, that sounded in their ears like the screamingof fiends, they gained the surface, and, without exchanging a word, fledin different directions on the wings of terror!

  Maggot did not halt until he burst into his house, and flung himselfinto his own chair by the chimney corner, whence he gazed on what wascalculated to alarm as well as to perplex him. This was the spectacleof his own wife taking tea in floods of tears, and being encouraged inher difficult task by Mrs Penrose and a few sympathising friends.

  With some difficulty he got them to explain this mystery.

  "What! baby gone lost?" he exclaimed; "where away?"

  When it was told him what had occurred, Maggot's eyes gradually opened,and his lips gradually closed, until the latter produced a low whistle.

  "I think that I do knaw where the cheeld is," he said; "come along, an'I'll show un to 'ee."

  So saying, the wily smith, assuming an air of importance and profoundwisdom, arose and led his wife and her friends, with a large band of menwho had prepared torches, straight to the old shaft. Going down, butsternly forbidding any one to follow he speedily returned with the babyin his arms, to the surprise of all, and to the unutterable joy of thechild's mother.

  In one sense, however, the result was disastrous. Curious persons werethere who could not rest until they had investigated the matter further,and the tubs were not only discovered, but carried off by those who hadno title to them whatever! The misfortune created such a tumult ofindignation in the breast of Maggot, that he was heard in his wrath todeclare he "would have nothin' more to do with un, but would go into thebal the next settin' day."

  This was the commencement of that series of events which, as we havestated at the beginning of this chapter, were brought about by thatwonderful baby--the baby Maggot.