Les indes-noirs. English

by Jules Verne

  CHAPTER VIII. EXPLORING

  AT Harry's call, James Starr, Madge, and Simon Ford entered through thenarrow orifice which put the Dochart pit in communication with thenew mine. They found themselves at the beginning of a tolerably widegallery. One might well believe that it had been pierced by the hand ofman, that the pick and mattock had emptied it in the working of a newvein. The explorers question whether, by a strange chance, they had notbeen transported into some ancient mine, of the existence of which eventhe oldest miners in the county had ever known.

  No! It was merely that the geological layers had left this passage whenthe secondary earths were in course of formation. Perhaps some torrenthad formerly dashed through it; but now it was as dry as if it had beencut some thousand feet lower, through granite rocks. At the same time,the air circulated freely, which showed that certain natural ventsplaced it in communication with the exterior atmosphere.

  This observation, made by the engineer, was correct, and it was evidentthat the ventilation of the new mine would be easily managed. As to thefire-damp which had lately filtered through the schist, it seemed tohave been contained in a pocket now empty, and it was certain thatthe atmosphere of the gallery was quite free from it. However, Harryprudently carried only the safety lamp, which would insure light fortwelve hours.

  James Starr and his companions now felt perfectly happy. All theirwishes were satisfied. There was nothing but coal around them. A sortof emotion kept them silent; even Simon Ford restrained himself. His joyoverflowed, not in long phrases, but in short ejaculations.

  It was perhaps imprudent to venture so far into the crypt. Pooh! theynever thought of how they were to get back.

  The gallery was practicable, not very winding. They met with no noxiousexhalations, nor did any chasm bar the path. There was no reason forstopping for a whole hour; James Starr, Madge, Harry, and Simon Fordwalked on, though there was nothing to show them what was the exactdirection of this unknown tunnel.

  And they would no doubt have gone farther still, if they had notsuddenly come to the end of the wide road which they had followed sincetheir entrance into the mine.

  The gallery ended in an enormous cavern, neither the height nor depthof which could be calculated. At what altitude arched the roof of thisexcavation--at what distance was its opposite wall--the darkness totallyconcealed; but by the light of the lamp the explorers could discoverthat its dome covered a vast extent of still water--pond or lake--whosepicturesque rocky banks were lost in obscurity.

  "Halt!" exclaimed Ford, stopping suddenly. "Another step, and perhaps weshall fall into some fathomless pit."

  "Let us rest awhile, then, my friends," returned the engineer. "Besides,we ought to be thinking of returning to the cottage."

  "Our lamp will give light for another ten hours, sir," said Harry.

  "Well, let us make a halt," replied Starr; "I confess my legs have needof a rest. And you, Madge, don't you feel tired after so long a walk?"

  "Not over much, Mr. Starr," replied the sturdy Scotchwoman; "we havebeen accustomed to explore the old Aberfoyle mine for whole daystogether."

  "Tired? nonsense!" interrupted Simon Ford; "Madge could go ten timesas far, if necessary. But once more, Mr. Starr, wasn't my communicationworth your trouble in coming to hear it? Just dare to say no, Mr. Starr,dare to say no!"

  "Well, my old friend, I haven't felt so happy for a long while!" repliedthe engineer; "the small part of this marvelous mine that we haveexplored seems to show that its extent is very considerable, at least inlength."

  "In width and in depth, too, Mr. Starr!" returned Simon Ford.

  "That we shall know later."

  "And I can answer for it! Trust to the instinct of an old miner! It hasnever deceived me!"

  "I wish to believe you, Simon," replied the engineer, smiling. "As faras I can judge from this short exploration, we possess the elements of aworking which will last for centuries!"

  "Centuries!" exclaimed Simon Ford; "I believe you, sir! A thousand yearsand more will pass before the last bit of coal is taken out of our newmine!"

  "Heaven grant it!" returned Starr. "As to the quality of the coal whichcrops out of these walls?"

  "Superb! Mr. Starr, superb!" answered Ford; "just look at it yourself!"

  And so saying, with his pick he struck off a fragment of the black rock.

  "Look! look!" he repeated, holding it close to his lamp; "the surface ofthis piece of coal is shining! We have here fat coal, rich in bituminousmatter; and see how it comes in pieces, almost without dust! Ah, Mr.Starr! twenty years ago this seam would have entered into a strongcompetition with Swansea and Cardiff! Well, stokers will quarrel for itstill, and if it costs little to extract it from the mine, it will notsell at a less price outside."

  "Indeed," said Madge, who had taken the fragment of coal and wasexamining it with the air of a connoisseur; "that's good quality ofcoal. Carry it home, Simon, carry it back to the cottage! I want thisfirst piece of coal to burn under our kettle."

  "Well said, wife!" answered the old overman, "and you shall see that Iam not mistaken."

  "Mr. Starr," asked Harry, "have you any idea of the probable directionof this long passage which we have been following since our entranceinto the new mine?"

  "No, my lad," replied the engineer; "with a compass I could perhaps findout its general bearing; but without a compass I am here like a sailorin open sea, in the midst of fogs, when there is no sun by which tocalculate his position."

  "No doubt, Mr. Starr," replied Ford; "but pray don't compare ourposition with that of the sailor, who has everywhere and always an abyssunder his feet! We are on firm ground here, and need never be afraid offoundering."

  "I won't tease you, then, old Simon," answered James Starr. "Far be itfrom me even in jest to depreciate the New Aberfoyle mine by an unjustcomparison! I only meant to say one thing, and that is that we don'tknow where we are."

  "We are in the subsoil of the county of Stirling, Mr. Starr," repliedSimon Ford; "and that I assert as if--"

  "Listen!" said Harry, interrupting the old man. All listened, as theyoung miner was doing. His ears, which were very sharp, had caughta dull sound, like a distant murmur. His companions were not long inhearing it themselves. It was above their heads, a sort of rollingsound, in which though it was so feeble, the successive CRESCENDO andDIMINUENDO could be distinctly heard.

  All four stood for some minutes, their ears on the stretch, withoututtering a word. All at once Simon Ford exclaimed, "Well, I declare! Aretrucks already running on the rails of New Aberfoyle?"

  "Father," replied Harry, "it sounds to me just like the noise made bywaves rolling on the sea shore."

  "We can't be under the sea though!" cried the old overman.

  "No," said the engineer, "but it is not impossible that we should beunder Loch Katrine."

  "The roof cannot have much thickness just here, if the noise of thewater is perceptible."

  "Very little indeed," answered James Starr, "and that is the reason thiscavern is so huge."

  "You must be right, Mr. Starr," said Harry.

  "Besides, the weather is so bad outside," resumed Starr, "that thewaters of the loch must be as rough as those of the Firth of Forth."

  "Well! what does it matter after all?" returned Simon Ford; "the seamwon't be any the worse because it is under a loch. It would not bethe first time that coal has been looked for under the very bed of theocean! When we have to work under the bottom of the Caledonian Canal,where will be the harm?"

  "Well said, Simon," cried the engineer, who could not restrain a smileat the overman's enthusiasm; "let us cut our trenches under the watersof the sea! Let us bore the bed of the Atlantic like a strainer; letus with our picks join our brethren of the United States throughthe subsoil of the ocean! let us dig into the center of the globe ifnecessary, to tear out the last scrap of coal."

  "Are you joking, Mr. Starr?" asked Ford, with a pleased but slightlysuspicious look.

  "I joking, old man? no! but
you are so enthusiastic that you carryme away into the regions of impossibility! Come, let us return to thereality, which is sufficiently beautiful; leave our picks here, where wemay find them another day, and let's take the road back to the cottage."

  Nothing more could be done for the time. Later, the engineer,accompanied by a brigade of miners, supplied with lamps and allnecessary tools, would resume the exploration of New Aberfoyle. It wasnow time to return to the Dochart pit. The road was easy, the galleryrunning nearly straight through the rock up to the orifice opened by thedynamite, so there was no fear of their losing themselves.

  But as James Starr was proceeding towards the gallery Simon Ford stoppedhim.

  "Mr. Starr," said he, "you see this immense cavern, this subterraneanlake, whose waters bathe this strand at our feet? Well! it is to thisplace I mean to change my dwelling, here I will build a new cottage,and if some brave fellows will follow my example, before a year is overthere will be one town more inside old England."

  James Starr, smiling approval of Ford's plans, pressed his hand, and allthree, preceding Madge, re-entered the gallery, on their way back tothe Dochart pit. For the first mile no incident occurred. Harry walkedfirst, holding his lamp above his head. He carefully followed theprincipal gallery, without ever turning aside into the narrow tunnelswhich radiated to the right and left. It seemed as if the returning wasto be accomplished as easily as the going, when an unexpected accidentoccurred which rendered the situation of the explorers very serious.

  Just at a moment when Harry was raising his lamp there came a rush ofair, as if caused by the flapping of invisible wings. The lamp escapedfrom his hands, fell on the rocky ground, and was broken to pieces.

  James Starr and his companions were suddenly plunged in absolutedarkness. All the oil of the lamp was spilt, and it was of no furtheruse. "Well, Harry," cried his father, "do you want us all to break ournecks on the way back to the cottage?"

  Harry did not answer. He wondered if he ought to suspect the hand of amysterious being in this last accident? Could there possibly existin these depths an enemy whose unaccountable antagonism would one daycreate serious difficulties? Had someone an interest in defending thenew coal field against any attempt at working it? In truth that seemedabsurd, yet the facts spoke for themselves, and they accumulated in sucha way as to change simple presumptions into certainties.

  In the meantime the explorers' situation was bad enough. They had now,in the midst of black darkness, to follow the passage leading to theDochart pit for nearly five miles. There they would still have an hour'swalk before reaching the cottage.

  "Come along," said Simon Ford. "We have no time to lose. We must gropeour way along, like blind men. There's no fear of losing our way. Thetunnels which open off our road are only just like those in a molehill,and by following the chief gallery we shall of course reach the openingwe got in at. After that, it is the old mine. We know that, and it won'tbe the first time that Harry and I have found ourselves there in thedark. Besides, there we shall find the lamps that we left. Forward then!Harry, go first. Mr. Starr, follow him. Madge, you go next, and I willbring up the rear. Above everything, don't let us get separated."

  All complied with the old overman's instructions. As he said, by gropingcarefully, they could not mistake the way. It was only necessary to makethe hands take the place of the eyes, and to trust to their instinct,which had with Simon Ford and his son become a second nature.

  James Starr and his companions walked on in the order agreed. They didnot speak, but it was not for want of thinking. It became evident thatthey had an adversary. But what was he, and how were they to defendthemselves against these mysteriously-prepared attacks? Thesedisquieting ideas crowded into their brains. However, this was not themoment to get discouraged.

  Harry, his arms extended, advanced with a firm step, touching first oneand then the other side of the passage.

  If a cleft or side opening presented itself, he felt with his handthat it was not the main way; either the cleft was too shallow, or theopening too narrow, and he thus kept in the right road.

  In darkness through which the eye could not in the slightest degreepierce, this difficult return lasted two hours. By reckoning the timesince they started, taking into consideration that the walking had notbeen rapid, Starr calculated that he and his companions were near theopening. In fact, almost immediately, Harry stopped.

  "Have we got to the end of the gallery?" asked Simon Ford.

  "Yes," answered the young miner.

  "Well! have you not found the hole which connects New Aberfoyle with theDochart pit?"

  "No," replied Harry, whose impatient hands met with nothing but a solidwall.

  The old overman stepped forward, and himself felt the schistous rock. Acry escaped him.

  Either the explorers had strayed from the right path on their return,or the narrow orifice, broken in the rock by the dynamite, had beenrecently stopped up. James Starr and his companions were prisoners inNew Aberfoyle.