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 ,. ,By 
 
 ' ' KDBERT ' * Bl}CftA]SrAN 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'GOD AND THE MAN'' 'THE SHADOW OF THE SWORD' ETC. 
 
 'The visions of the earth were gone and fled — 
 He saw the giant Sea above his head' 
 
 Keats' Eiifivmion 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON 
 RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET 
 
 iJublisbns in (i)rbin;un lo i)tr ||laJEstn tbc 6?urrn 
 
 1885 
 
 Ml riyhts reserved
 
 
 
 J a • • I
 
 
 \ 
 
 -K 
 
 
 i 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 r^ OF 
 
 ,x THE FIEST VOLUME. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ^ I. A PROLOGUE, AND THE FIRST SCENE , 1 
 
 II. NEMESIS INTERVENES . . . .16 
 
 III. AFTER TEN YEARS, I BEGIN LIFE IN 
 
 EARNEST . . , . . . 30 
 
 IV. JOHN RUDD, POET AND CARRIER . . 43 
 
 V. ANNIE 65 
 
 VL FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE MINE. — UNDER 
 
 THE SEA ...... 86 
 
 VII. A VISIT OF INSPECTION . , . . 98 
 
 VIII. I PLAY THE SPY 118 
 
 20631 

 
 VI 
 
 CONTEXTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME 
 
 IX.- ANMES CONFESSION 
 
 X. THE LETTER 
 
 XI. THE GREAT STORM 
 
 XU. THE SURVIVORS OF THE WRECK 
 
 XIII. MADELINE GRAHAM 
 
 XIV. A SUNBEAM IN THE COTTAGE 
 
 XV. UNDER THE SPELL 
 
 XVI. BY THE SEA 
 
 X\ll. A WALK ACROSS THE MOOR 
 
 XVIII. I RECEIVE MY CONGE 
 
 XIX. THE NEW OVERSEER 
 
 XX. IN LONDON 
 
 I'AGK 
 
 . 133 
 
 144 
 
 loa 
 
 . 173 
 
 186 
 
 . 201 
 
 . 214 
 
 . 224 
 
 . 241 
 
 . 254 
 
 . 269 
 
 . 282
 
 f 
 
 THE 
 
 MASTEE OF THE MINE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A PROLOGUE, AND THE FIRST SCENE. 
 
 In a large wooden building, not far from the 
 seashore, a building attached as schoolhouse 
 to ' Munster's Boarding Academy for Young 
 Gentlemen,' I, Hugh Trelawney, then scarcely 
 ten years old, was moping alone. I had only 
 arrived two days before from London, where I 
 had parted from my father, a travelling lecturer 
 in the cause of what was then known as the 
 New Moral World. My mother had long been 
 dead, and I had led a somewhat neglected 
 life, sometimes accompanying my father on his 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 wanderings, more often being left to the care, 
 or carelessness, of strangers. At last I had 
 been sent to Southampton to complete a very 
 perfunctory education. 
 
 It was afternoon, and a half-holiday ; my 
 new schoolfellows were playing close by. 
 For myself, I was too used to loneliness to be 
 very miserable. I merely felt an outcast for 
 the time being, and took no interest whatever 
 in my new associations. 
 
 As I sat thus, I must have fallen into a 
 brown study, from which a slight sound startled 
 me. 
 
 Looking up, I met the flash of two dark 
 eyes which were intently regarding me. 
 
 ' Are you the new boy ? ' said a clear voice. 
 
 I nodded, and stared at my interrogator, a 
 girl of about my own age, whose black eye- 
 brows were knitted in a way very curious in so 
 ycung a child as she seemed.
 
 A PROLOGUE, AND THE FIRST SCENE 3 
 
 Her arms and neck were bare, and sbe was 
 fondling a kitten, whose bright eyes and hs- 
 som movements seemed to have somethinsj in 
 common with her own beauty. I noticed, too, 
 that she wore earrings, and that they were very 
 bright and gUstening. 
 
 ' What is your name ? ' she continued, in 
 the same clear questioning tone, altogether 
 with the manner of a superior who was not to 
 be trifled with. 
 
 ' Hugh.' 
 
 ' Hugh what ? ' 
 
 ' Hugh Trelawney.' 
 
 felt somewhat overawed by the tone of 
 the little lady, who, to my boyish eyes, seemed 
 much more my senior than she was in reality. 
 
 She continued to regard me with the same 
 keen scrutiny, and then said, looking at my 
 attire : 
 
 'Who is dead?' 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I still wore black for my mother, and, 
 with a somewhat faltering voice, I told her 
 so. 
 
 She did not seem surprised, and expressed 
 no sympathy ; but, walking to the schoolroom 
 window, looked out, saying, 'Why don't you 
 go out and play with the other boys ? ' 
 
 * I don't care about play. I am tired.' 
 
 ' Tired with what ? ' she questioned quickly. 
 
 I made no reply, for I was not prepared for 
 the question. I had meant to imply that I was 
 low-spirited and dull, but had not cared to 
 confess so much in so many words. 
 
 She understood me, however, and, although 
 she seemed indifferent to my condition, troub- 
 led me with no more questions. 
 
 Glad to direct her attention from myself, 
 for her bright eyes troubled me and made me 
 feel ashamed, I stooped down and stroked the 
 kitten, which she had placed upon the floor.
 
 A PKOLOGUE, AXD THE FIRST SCENE 5 
 
 Even as I did so, I could feel her eyes still 
 fixed upon me ; but when I looked up again 
 with an annoyed expression, she turned her 
 eyes away, and laughed. 
 
 This emboldened me, and I beo:an to 
 question in my turn. 
 
 'Are you the schoolmaster's daughter.^' 
 
 At this she laughed the more — so brightly 
 and pleasantly, w^ith such a good-humoured 
 sympathy with my blunder, that my first 
 impression of her began to improve, and I saw 
 that, besides being a rather imperious, she was 
 a very pretty young lady. 
 
 ' Why do you laugh ? ' I remarked. 
 
 ' At you,' she replied ; ' because you take 
 me for IMr. Munster's child. I am a stranger 
 here, like yourself. My people live far away 
 in South America, and are very rich. My 
 mother is dead, and I don't remember her. 
 My father has sent me here to be taught ; but
 
 b THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I shall soon go back to him. Have you a 
 father ? ' she added, quickly. 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 * Is he kind to you, and was it he that sent 
 you to school ? ' she asked. 
 
 But without waiting for my reply to her 
 questions, she continued : ' My father cried 
 when I left him, though he is a great man, and 
 when he gave me these earrings, he told me 
 my mother had worn them before me, and he 
 kissed them. We live far away from here, in 
 a brighter place. Don't you hate England ? ' 
 
 This was rather a startling query, but being 
 in a state of mind bordering on disgust for 
 life in general, I readily assented. Her eyes 
 gleamed. 
 
 ' It is a dreary place,' she cried — ' dull and 
 miserable, and it rains nearly every day. But 
 it is different where I come from. It is always 
 bright there, and there are flowers everywhere,
 
 A PKOLOGUE, AND THE FIKST SCENE / 
 
 and the trees are full of fruit ; aud there are 
 bright insects, and beautiful snakes without 
 stings, that can be taught to twine round your 
 neck, and feed out of your hand.' 
 
 As she spake thus, indeed, it seemed that 
 I was transported to the land of which she 
 spoke : her eyes were so sparkling, her face so 
 bright and sunny, her form so foreign in its 
 slender beauty, — and her earrings glistened, 
 and her beautiful ivory teeth gleamed, — and I 
 saw her walking in that land, a wonder among 
 all wonders there, with fruits and flowers over 
 her head, and brilliant insects floating round 
 her, and luminous snakes gleaming harmless in 
 her path, and dusky slaves waiting upon her 
 and doing her courtesies. For it must be 
 borne in mind that I had been a studious boy, 
 fond of reading wild books of travel and 
 adventure, and of picturing in my mind the 
 wonders of foreicn lands. Much that I had
 
 8 THE MASTER OP THE MINE 
 
 fancied of dwellers in distant regions was 
 realised in the face I now beheld for the first 
 time. 
 
 At what age is a beautiful human creature 
 — and more particularly one belonging to the 
 f^entler sex — insensible to admiration ? I am 
 certain that my new friend perceived mine, and 
 that it did not displease her. It was, at any 
 rate, genuine homage, quietly expressed, almost 
 against my will, in the pleased yet timid glances 
 of my eyes. 
 
 When she next spoke, her clear impetuous 
 tone Avas greatly changed and softened, and a 
 kinder light dwelt on her face. 
 
 ' If you will come with me,' she said, ' I will 
 show you the place. There is not much to see 
 but the garden, and that I like well enough. 
 Will you come ? ' 
 
 I rose awkwardly, as if at a word of com- 
 mand ; and, taking my cap from the peg where
 
 A PKOLOGUE, AXD THE FIRST SCENE 9 
 
 it liiing, swung it in my liand as I followed her 
 to the door. 
 
 Ashamed, yet pleased, to be chaperoned by 
 a girl, I wondered what my schoolfellows would 
 think of it. 
 
 Close to the schoolroom was the play- 
 ground, or rather the capacious piece of lawn, 
 dignified by that name. 
 
 My schoolfellows were playing cricket 
 thereon. They paid no attention to me as I 
 passed, but looked at my companion with a 
 curious and not too friendly expression. She, 
 for her part, passed along imperiously, without 
 deigning to cast a single look in their direction ; 
 and I noticed that her look had changed again, 
 and that her dark brows w^ere knitted with the 
 former unpleasant expression. She said nothing, 
 however, for some minutes. 
 
 Our first visit was to the top of a high knoll 
 behind the house, whence we could see the sur-
 
 10 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 rounding country, and, some miles to the south- 
 ward, the distant sea, with a white frost of 
 billows on the edge of liver-coloured sands. 
 
 It was a quiet, sunless day ; but far away 
 there were gleams of watery light on the white 
 sails of ships passing by under full canvas. 
 
 The girl looked seaward at the passing sails 
 with much the same pecuhar expression she 
 had worn on our first encounter. 
 
 How could I fathom her thoughts ? I 
 guessed she was thinking of her home, but I 
 was wrong. 
 
 ' Are you clever ? ' she asked, suddenly. 
 
 This was a question which I, as a modest 
 boy, felt totally unprepared to answer. I 
 looked at the ground, peeped at her, and 
 laughed. Her expression did not change. 
 
 ' I mean, do you know much,' she continued, 
 in explanation. ' Have you learnt much 
 before ? '
 
 A PROLOGUE, AND THE FIRST SCENE 11 
 
 I explained to her, as well as possible, that 
 my acquirements were very slender indeed, 
 and merely consisted of the stray crumbs of 
 knowledge which I had been enabled to pick 
 up at day schools in the various towns where 
 my father had resided during my childhood. 
 In point of fact, I was a thoroughly uncultivated 
 httle boy, and had never been crammed with 
 the solid pabulum so much in vogue at our 
 public schools. I could read and write, of 
 course, and knew arithmetic as far as the rule 
 of three, and had got through the first four 
 declensions in the Latin grammar ; but all was 
 a chaos, and I had no accomplishments. 
 
 I did not explain all this to my interrogator ; 
 for I was too proud. 
 
 ' If you are not clever, and know so little,' 
 observed the girl, thoughtfully, 'take care of 
 the other boys. Why don't you make friends 
 with them ? Why do you like to sit alone, and
 
 12 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 be sullen ? If there were girls here, I should 
 make friends, I know. But boys are different ; 
 they have cruel ways, and they hate each 
 other.' 
 
 All this was said in a tone rather of re- 
 flection than of conversation ; and she still kept 
 her eyes on the distant ships, as if from some 
 secret source far away the current of her 
 thoughts was flowing. 
 
 ' The boys hate me,' she pursued, ' because 
 they think me proud. I am not proud, but I 
 am quicker and cleverer than they are, and I 
 come from a better place. I beat them in the 
 class and at all things, except figures ; and I 
 have helped the biggest of them sometimes, 
 when they were too stupid to understand.' 
 
 All this was a revelation to me. Until that 
 moment I had never supposed that my com- 
 panion's place was among the common scholars. 
 During my first two days in school she had
 
 A PKOLOGUE, AND THE FIRST SCENE 13 
 
 been absent — a circumstance whicli she soon 
 explained to me without any questioning. 
 
 'I have been away on a visit, and only 
 returned this morninsf. I do not come to 
 school ever}^ day, because I have headaches, 
 and my father will only have me learn when I 
 please. Now let us go down and look at the 
 garden. There are fruit-bushes there, and 
 some of the fruit is ripe.' 
 
 Still respectful and submissive, I followed, 
 and we were soon wandering side by side in 
 the quiet garden in the neighbourhood of the 
 schoolhouse. Ever and anon, as we walked, I 
 heard the shouts and cries of my playmates ; 
 but they were wafted to me as from some for- 
 saken life. 
 
 A spell had been passed upon me, and I 
 was in a dream. As I write, the dream sur- 
 rounds me still. Years ebb backward, clouds 
 part, the old horizons come nearer and nearer,
 
 14 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 and I am again wandering in the quiet shade of 
 trees with the shining young face at my side. 
 I can no longer recall looks and words. All 
 becomes a tremor. I see the one face only, 
 but the voice becomes inarticulate. 
 
 What I remember last is a sudden sound 
 dissolving a spell. A bell rung loudly from 
 the house, and my companion uttered an 
 exclamation — 
 
 'That is the bell for tea,' she exclaimed. 
 ' You had better go.' 
 
 And she ran before me up the path. She 
 was nearly out of sight among the garden 
 bushes when, urged by curiosity, I took courage, 
 and called after her. 
 
 ' What is your name ? ' I cried. 
 
 She nodded back with a smile. 
 
 ' Madeline,' she replied. ' Madeline Graham.' 
 With that she was gone. For a moment I stood 
 bewildered, and then, with quite a new light in
 
 A PROLOGUE, AND THE FIRST SCENE 15 
 
 my eyes, I made tlie best of my way into the 
 house, and joined the boys at the tea-table. 
 
 Although Mrs. Munster presided at the 
 board, my new friend did not appear, and as I 
 munched my bread-and-butter, I thought of 
 her face with a kind of dreamy pleasure, 
 delicious to recall even now.
 
 IG THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 KEMESIS INTERVENES. 
 
 In my hasty sketch of school, I have made httle 
 or no mention of the schoohnaster and his wife. 
 Indeed, so far as my present retrospection is 
 concerned, they are nonentities ; and they form 
 part of my story only in so mucli as they 
 affected my relations with the leading actress 
 in the life drama to which these chapters are 
 the prelude. 
 
 Mimster was a feeble-looking but talented 
 little man, with a very high forehead, which he 
 was constantly mopping with cold water, to 
 subdue inordinate headaches ; and Mrs. Munster 
 was a kind creature, with an enormous respect
 
 NEMESIS IXTERYEXES 17 
 
 for her lord, and quite a motherly interest in us 
 boys, she having no children of her own. 
 
 The manner of these good people was kind 
 towards all ; but their treatment of Madeline 
 Graham was blended with a sense of restraint 
 almost bordering on fear. It Avas obvious that 
 they had been instructed to treat her with more 
 than ordinary solicitude, and it was equally 
 obvious that they were liberally paid for so 
 doing. 
 
 When she broke from all restraint, as was 
 the case occasionally, their concern for her per- 
 sonal welfare was not unmixed with a fear lest 
 open rupture might rob them of the instalments 
 derived from theii* wealthiest pupil. Madeline, 
 on her side, was perfectly conscious of this ; but, 
 in justice it must be said, that she seldom took 
 undue advantage of her position. 
 
 The more I saw of Madeline Graham, the 
 more I observed her manners and general 
 VOL. I. C
 
 18 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 bearing, the more the thouglit of her possessed 
 me, and blended with my quietest dreams. 
 
 After that first interview she held somewhat 
 aloof for many days, but her eyes were con- 
 stantly watching me in school and at meals, 
 though without any approach to further 
 familiarity. She seemed desirous of keeping 
 me at a distance, for reasons which I could not 
 possibly penetrate. 
 
 Gradually, however, we came together 
 again. 
 
 Madeline had not exaggerated when she 
 boasted of excelling: the other scholars in 
 brightness and intelligence. Her memory was 
 extraordinary, and tasks which taxed all the 
 energies of boyhood were easily mastered by 
 her auick and restless brain. 
 
 She was taught with the rest of us in the 
 open school, and was generally at the head of 
 her class.
 
 NEMESIS INTERVENES 19 
 
 It SO happened that I myself, although in 
 many things dull and indifferent, was also gifted 
 with a memory of uncommon tenacity. In all 
 tasks which demanded the exercise of this func- 
 tion I took a foremost place. Madeline was 
 my most formidable rival, and we began, quietly 
 at first, but afterwards with energy, to fight for 
 the mastery. 
 
 The competition, instead of severing, brought 
 us closer to each other. 
 
 Madeline respected the spirit which some- 
 times subdued her, and I, for my part, loved 
 her the better for the humanising touches of 
 passion which my victory frequently awakened. 
 
 We had been friends six months, the quiet 
 round of school life had become familiar and 
 pleasant to me, when, one day, at breakfast, I 
 noticed that Munster wore a very troubled ex- 
 pression, as he broke open the largest of a 
 number of letters lying before him. The enve- 
 
 c 2
 
 20 THE MASTER OF TUE MINE 
 
 lope was of peculiar yellow paper, and the post- 
 mark looked foreign. 
 
 Madeline, who sat close by, turned white 
 and eager, and her great eyes fixed themselves 
 on the strange missive. 
 
 Within the letter to Munster, was a smaller 
 one, which he handed to Madeline silently. 
 
 With impetuous eagerness, she opened and 
 read it. It was very short. As she glanced 
 over it, her bosom rose and fell, her eyes 
 brightened and filled with tears. 
 
 To hide her trouble, she rose and left the 
 room. 
 
 Meanwhile, Munster evinced similar sur- 
 prise and consternation. He bit his lips as he 
 read his letter, and passed his hand nervously 
 through his hair. Then, with a significant 
 look, he passed the letter to his wife, who, 
 reading it, in her turn became similarly 
 troubled.
 
 XEMESIS INTERVENES 21 
 
 As he passed tlie letter to her, something 
 dropped rustling to the floor, and Munster, 
 looking rather red, stooped and picked it up. 
 It was a curiously printed paper, and looked 
 like the note of some foreim bank. 
 
 Breakfast was finished — school began — but 
 Madeline did not appear. Munster still looked 
 fidgety and annoyed. 
 
 As for myself, I was torn by sensations to 
 which my little heart had been hitherto a 
 stranger. I felt on the brink of a precipice, 
 down which all that I held dear was disap- 
 pearing. I could not eat, I could not say my 
 tasks, I could not think. What was going to 
 happen? I asked myself wildly again and 
 again. 
 
 At two o'clock, when we were summoned 
 to dinner, no sight of Madeline. But by this 
 time some hint of the truth was forcing itself 
 upon me.
 
 22 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 A whisper liad passed round the school — 
 ' Madehne Graham is going away ! ' 
 
 Going away? Whither? To that far- 
 distant, that mysterious land whence she had 
 come, and whither I might never follow her ? 
 Going away for ever ! Passing westward, and 
 taking with her all that made my young life 
 beautiful and happy. Could this be ? 
 
 I shall never forget the agony of that day. 
 I have had blows since, but none harder. I 
 have felt desolation since, but none deeper. 
 
 After scliool, I hung round the house, 
 haunted every spot where she might be ex- 
 pected to appear. I yearned to hear the truth 
 from her own lips, I paced to and fro like a 
 criminal awaiting his sentence. I could not 
 bear the sight of the other boys, but kept to 
 the secret places, moody and distracted. 
 
 Quite late in the evening, I wandered into 
 the garden — a favourite resort of ours. The
 
 NEMESIS INTERVENES 23 
 
 sun had sunk, but his slowly fading hght was 
 still tinting the quiet place, and the shadows of 
 trees and bushes were still distinct upon the 
 ground. 
 
 I had not been here long when I heard the 
 foot I knew, and, turning, I beheld my little 
 friend hastening towards me. 
 
 She was pale, but otherwise composed, and 
 said at once : 
 
 ' Have you heard that I am going away ? ' 
 
 I stammered something, I know not what ; 
 it must have been inaudible. I had a sharp, 
 choking sensation, and drooped my looks from 
 hers. 
 
 ' I have just got a letter from my father. I 
 am to go back home immediately. See ! ' 
 
 So saying, she placed in my hand the small 
 enclosure which she had received from Munster 
 in the morning. Seeing my puzzled look, she 
 exclaimed :
 
 24 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' You may read it.' 
 
 I did read it, in one quick, painful glance. 
 I remember every word of it now. It was 
 written in a large, bold hand, and ran as 
 follows : — 
 
 'My own darling little Madeline, — You 
 will hear from the good people witli whom you 
 are living that a great change has taken place, 
 and that you must come home at once. Wish 
 a kind good-bye to all your friends in England ; 
 perhaps you may never see them again. Come 
 without delay to your loving father, 
 
 ' EoDERicK Graham.' 
 
 Prepared as I had been for the blow, it did 
 not fall so heavily as it might have done. I 
 struggled with my feelings, and choked down a 
 violent tendency to cry. 
 
 She perceived my consternation, and was 
 herself moved. But there was a quick, strange
 
 NEMESIS INTERVENES 25 
 
 light in her eyes, as if she were contemplating 
 something far away. 
 
 ' I have prayed many a night that my 
 father would send for me,' she said, thought- 
 fully ; ' and now he has done so, I scarcely feel 
 glad. I am afraid there is sonetlnng wrong at 
 home. Shall you be sorry, Hugh, when I 
 
 go?' 
 
 At this open question I broke down utterly, 
 and burst into a violent sob. 
 
 She put her hands in mine, and looked 
 earnestly into my face. 
 
 ' I thought you would be sorry. None of 
 them will miss me so much as you. We have 
 been great friends ; I never thought I could be 
 such friends with a boy. I shall tell my father 
 of you, and he will like you, too. "Will you 
 kiss me, Hugh, and say good-bye ? ' 
 
 I could not answer for tears ; but I put my 
 arms roiuid her neck, and I did kiss her — a
 
 26 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 pure, true, loving boy's kiss, worth a million 
 of the kisses men buy or steal in the broad 
 world. 
 
 My tears moistened her cheek as I did so, 
 but she did not cry herself. 
 
 She was altogether calm and superior, 
 bowing down to my boyhood, compassionating 
 and cherishing me ; but in all possibility 
 sharing little of my intense personal passion. 
 She was nearer womanhood than I to manhood 
 (girls always are more mature than boys) ; and 
 she took my worship in gentle state. A queen, 
 kissed by a loyal subject, could not offer her 
 cheek more royally than little Madeline offered 
 her cheek to me. 
 
 Yet her manner was full of strong affection, 
 too. She would miss me, I felt sure. 
 
 In the midst of my agony, I found words to 
 inquire how soon our dreaded parting was to 
 take place. What was my astonishment to
 
 NEMESIS INTERVENES 27 
 
 hear that she was going to leave Minister's at 
 ouce. 
 
 ^ ' There is a ship to sail in two days, and I 
 must go away to Liverpool to-morrow, early in 
 the morning. My poor father! There is 
 something very wrong indeed, and it will be 
 many a week before we meet, though the ship 
 should sail ever so fast.' 
 
 As I write, recollection darkens, the sun 
 sinks behind the little garden ; the little shape 
 fades away, and it is dark night. I seem to 
 remember no more. 
 
 But what is this that gleams up before me ? 
 
 It is the faint grey light of dawn. I have 
 been in a very disturbed sleep, and am 
 awakened by a harsh sound in the distance. 
 It is the sound of carriage-wheels. 
 
 I start up ; it is daylight. 
 
 I hear a hum of voices in tlie house below.
 
 28 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 Witlioiit awakening any of my companions 
 in the room, I creep to the window, and look 
 out. • 
 
 How cliilly looks the cold damp world 
 outside ! How pitiless and cold lie the dews 
 on the leaves all around ! I shiver, and my 
 heart aches. 
 
 A travelling-carriage stands at tlie door, and 
 a sleepy-eyed coachman yawns on the box. 
 
 Hush ! yonder from the house-porch comes 
 Mi's. Munster, and by her side the little figure 
 that I love. 
 
 The proud spirit is broken this morning, 
 and the little eyes look soft and wet. Madehne 
 clings to her protectress, and nods adieu to 
 the servants, who flock around to bid her fare- 
 v/ell. 
 
 She does not look this way. Does she 
 think at all of the poor friendless boy whose 
 heart she has filled with her beauty, and whose
 
 NEMESIS INTERVENES 29 
 
 eyes are watching her so wildly from the cur- 
 tained bedroom window up above ? 
 
 The coachman cracks his whip, the horses 
 break into a trot, the little one leans out, and 
 waves her handkerchief until the carriage 
 rounds the corner, and is hid from view. 
 
 Madehne ! Little Madeline ! 
 
 I have fallen upon my knees by my bed- 
 side, and am passionately kissing the lock of 
 hair I begged from her last night. My heart 
 seems l3reaking. All the world has grown 
 dark for me in a moment. 
 
 To what new trouble is this that I am about 
 to waken, now that the one star of my life's 
 dawn has faded away ?
 
 30 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AFTER TEN YEARS, I BEGIN LIFE IN EARNEST. 
 
 The prologue over, tlie drama of my life 
 begins. There is always a prologue of some 
 sort, in which the keynote of life is generally 
 struck for good or evil, pleasure or pain. 
 Mine is the episode of Little Madeline. Much 
 of the spirit of what has been told will sur- 
 vive in the events which I am now about to 
 narrate. 
 
 Madeline Graham faded at once and for 
 ever out of my boyish existence. I neither 
 saw nor heard from her directly; but some 
 months after her arrival in her distant home.
 
 I BEGIN" LIFE IN EARNEST 31 
 
 there arrived a wonderful parcel, full of dried 
 fruits, nuts, and other foreign edibles, addressed, 
 in the hand I knew, to ' Master Hugh Trelaw- 
 ney,' at Munster's. My schoolmates laughed 
 wildly on its arrival. I tore it open, expecting 
 to find some message in writing, showing me 
 that I was not forgotten. There was not a line. 
 With a somewhat heavy heart, I distributed 
 the more perishable fruits among my school- 
 mates, reserving a very little for myself — for I 
 had no heart to eat. I stored up many of the 
 nuts in my trunk, till they were quite mouldy 
 and rotten. When I was obliged to throw 
 them away, I seemed to cast away at the same 
 moment all my hope of seeing my dear little 
 love again. 
 
 No other message — no other gift — ever 
 came ; though I wrote, in my round, boyish 
 hand, a little letter of thanks and kind wishes. 
 Ail crew silent. Little Madeline mipjlit be
 
 32 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 lying in her grave, far over the lonely waters, 
 for aught I knew to the contrary. 
 
 I remained at Minister's until I was four- 
 teen. In all these years I never forgot Made- 
 line, never ceased to mention her name every 
 night when I prayed by my bedside, never 
 relinquished the thought of some day sailing 
 across the ocean, and looking on the dear 
 bright face again. 
 
 This intense and solitary passion became, if 
 I may so express it, the secret strength of my 
 life. It brightened the coarse and indigent ex- 
 perience of school-life, filled it with tender and 
 mysterious meanings and associations ; it made 
 me inquiring and tender, instead of hard and 
 mean ; it determined my tastes in favour of 
 beauty, and made me reverence true woman- 
 hood wherever I saw it. In a word, it gave 
 my too commonplace experience just the colour- 
 ing of romance it needed, and made the dry
 
 I BEGIX LIFE IX EARNEST 33 
 
 reality of life blossom with simple poetry,, in a 
 dim religious light from far away. 
 
 What wonder, then, if, at fourteen, I found 
 myself reading imaginative books and w^'iting 
 verses — of which early compositions, be certain, 
 Madeline ^vas the chief and never-wearying 
 theme. 
 
 I had taken tolerable advantage of Munster's 
 tuition, and was sufficiently well grounded in 
 the details of an ordinary English education. I 
 had, moreover, a smattering of Latin, which, in 
 my after struggle for subsistence, turned out 
 very useful. 1 should have progressed still 
 further under the care of my schoolmaster, but 
 at this period my father died, and I found 
 myself cast upon the world. 
 
 It is not my purpose — it is unnecessary — to 
 enlarge on my own private history, and I shall 
 touch upon it merely in so far as it affects the 
 strange incidents in which I afterwards became 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 an actor. Things were at this point when I one 
 mornin2^ received the starthn^^ intelh<T;ence that 
 my fother was dead, and tliat I Avas left alone 
 in all the world. The first feeling which the 
 news produced in me was one of very con- 
 fused and dubious sorrow. Of late years I had 
 seen very little of my father. Since I had 
 come to Munster's I had been left there, never 
 even going home for my holidays as other boys 
 did. Munster's was my home, and to all 
 intents and purposes Mr. and Mrs. Munster 
 were a flither and mother to me. Still, for all 
 that, the knowledge that I had a, father in some 
 remote quarter of the globe, who paid for my 
 maintenance, and came to Munster's about once 
 in six or eight months to spend an hour with 
 me, had been a source of some satisfaction, and 
 caused me now, for a short time at least, to 
 deplore his loss. 
 
 Then came other and more complicated
 
 I BEGIX LIFE IX EARNEST 35 
 
 tliOLiglits. If I had no longer a father to pay 
 for my maintenance, what was to become of 
 me ; for, as far as I knew, I had no other 
 relation in the world? Puzzled by these 
 thoughts, and seeing no solution to them, I 
 could do nothinGj but wait in eagerness and 
 dread for what was to follow. 
 
 The next morning, when I Avas dressing, 
 Mrs. Munster came into my bedroom and 
 handed me a jacket with a crape band on the 
 left arm ; she also pointed to a cap which she 
 had brought in with her, and said, 
 
 ' You must wear this one now, Huo;h.' 
 
 Then she turned, bent her kindly eyes 
 upon me, and kissed my forehead and mur- 
 mured, ' My poor boy ! ' 
 
 I ventured to inquire whether I was to see 
 my poor father in his coffin or to follow him to 
 the grave. The tears came into the woman's 
 eyes, and she took my hand. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' You will never see liim again,' she said; 
 ' never. lie died in America, and was buried 
 before we received the news. But you are a 
 brave boy,' she added, ' and must not grieve. 
 It is sad for you, my dear ; but trouble is sure 
 to come sooner or later. If it comes when one 
 is young, so much the better, for one is better 
 able to bear it.' 
 
 ' Mrs. Munster,' I said piteously, ' what is to 
 become of me ? ' 
 
 The good lady shook her liead. 
 
 ' I don't know, my dear,' she replied ; 
 ' your poor father has not left you a sixpence 
 . . . . Hugh,' she added, suddenly, 'have you 
 any relations ? ' 
 
 ' No,' I replied, ' not one.' 
 
 * Are you sure?' she continued. 'Think, 
 my dear.' 
 
 I did think, but it was of no use. My brain
 
 I BEGIN LIFE IX E/TINEST 37 
 
 would not conjure up one being to whom I 
 could posiibly lay any claim. 
 
 ' No uncles, or aunts, or cousins ? ' persisted 
 'Mis. Munster ; wlien suddenly I exclaimed — 
 
 ' Yes, Mrs. Munster ; now I remember, I've 
 got an aunt. At least, I had an aunt ; but she 
 may be dead, like father.' 
 
 'Let us hope not,' said Mrs. Munster. 
 * Well, my dear, tell me what she is like, and 
 where she is to be found.' 
 
 ' I don't know what she is like,' I replied. 
 ' I never saw her.' 
 
 ' Never saw her ? ' 
 
 ' No ; she never came near us : but I've 
 heard father speak about her. She was my 
 mother's sister, and her name is Martha Pen- 
 dragon, and she lives at Cornwall.' 
 
 'Martha Pendragon,' repeated Mrs. Mun- 
 ster. ' Is she married ? ' 
 
 I reflected for a moment, then I remem-
 
 38 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 bered having seen letters addressed to ' Mrs. 
 Pendrao'on,' and I said as nuicli. 
 
 ' And where does she Uve ? ' 
 
 ' St. Gurlott's, Cornwalh' 
 
 Mrs. Minister Avrote it down. 
 
 '"Mrs. Martha Peudragon, St. Gurlott's, 
 Cornwall." It looks promising, as I dare say 
 St. Gurlott's is a very small place. Make 
 yourself as contented as you can for a few days, 
 my dear. I will write to the lady and ask her 
 what she means to do.' 
 
 I could do nothing else but wait, and I 
 accordingly did so ; though I foimd it utterly 
 impossible to take Mrs. Munster's advice, and 
 preserve a contented frame of mind. 
 
 My exceedingly hazy recollections of my 
 aunt's communications were by no means such 
 as to inspire confidence. I began to ask myself, 
 for the first time, why it was she had never 
 been permitted to visit my mother in her home;
 
 I BEGIN LIFE IN EAKNEST 39 
 
 why my mother, who was evidently fond of 
 her sister, had never made a journey into 
 Cornwall to see her; and, above all, why my 
 aimt had never come to visit my own mother 
 when she was dying ? Thus I speculated for 
 four days, at the end of that time I saw Mrs. 
 Munster receive a letter, open it, read it, and 
 glance strangely at me. 
 
 ' It is from your aunt, my dear,' she said ; 
 then, looking at the letter again, she added : 
 ' She is your aunt, I suppose ? ' 
 
 ' From Mrs. Pendraoon ? ' I asked. 
 
 * Yes,' she replied, with a strange smile. 
 ' From your Aunt Martha.' 
 
 I wanted to hear more, but no more came. 
 Mrs. Munster again turned lier attention to the 
 letter, and began studying it as intently as if 
 she were carefully working out some abstruse 
 mathematical problem. Presently, her husband 
 came into the room, and she handed him the
 
 40 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 letter. My curiosity received a fresh stimulus 
 when I saw him start at siglit of it, read it 
 twice, and then glance, as I thouglit, half 
 pityingly at me. 
 
 ' I suppose it's all right,' he said, turning to 
 his wife ; ' the boy must go.' 
 
 She nodded her head thoughtfully. 
 
 'It seems a pity, doesn't it, after the 
 education he has had ? ' she said to her hus- 
 band ; then turning to me, she added, ' Let me 
 see, Ilugh, how old are you now ? ' 
 
 I replied that I was fourteen. 
 
 ' And are you sure you have no other 
 relations except this — this Aunt Martha as she 
 calls herself.? ' 
 
 I replied that during the last few days I 
 had been racking my brain incessantly on that 
 subject, but without avail. 
 
 ' Well,' she said, ' I suppose your Aunt 
 Martha is better than nobody, my dear — she
 
 I BEGIN LIFE IN EARNEST 41 
 
 seems a good-natured sort of person, and is 
 quite willing to give you a home ; but it seems 
 a pity to take you from school before your 
 education is complete, and if we could find 
 another relation who would let you stay here 
 it would be so much better for you. I will 
 write again to your aunt, she may know of 
 someone though you do not — your father's 
 relations for instance ; but if she does not — 
 why, the only thing you can do is to go to 
 Cornwall' 
 
 I accordingly had to wait a few more days, 
 at the end of which time another letter was 
 received from my mysterious relative. Tliis 
 time it failed to brin<]f with it diso;ust or amaze- 
 ment, and conveyed only disappointment. 
 
 ' Your aunt tells me she is your only rela- 
 live on your mother's side,' said Mrs. Munster, 
 ' and your father's family she knows nothing 
 about. She has fixed Thursday as the day
 
 42 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 on which you are to go to her ; therefore, my 
 dear child, I see no hel23 for it : you must leave 
 us!' 
 
 Thus it was settled. On the Thursday 
 morning I, accompanied by my small stock of 
 luggage, started on my travels, and saw the last 
 of Munster's.
 
 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JOHN RUDD, POET AND CARRIER. 
 
 Munster's was situated in tlie suburbs of Soutli- 
 ampton. It was arranged, therefore, that I 
 should journey by a small steamer as far as 
 Falmouth, and thence by road to St. Gurlott's- 
 on-Sea. I was conducted to the boat by Mr. 
 Munster. On arriving at Falmouth, after an 
 uneventful passage, I was met on board by a 
 rough-looking person, who informed me that 
 he had been deputed by ' Missus Pendragon ' 
 to convey me and my belongings to St. 
 Gurlott's. 
 
 What manner of man he was I could 
 scarcely tell, beyond realising the fact that he
 
 44 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 was of tremendous height, that he wore a white 
 beaver hat, and that liis figure was wrapped in 
 an enormous frieze coat which reached to his 
 ankles. He gave a glance at me, and then said 
 in a peculiar pipy voice — 
 
 ' Come, lad, gie's the tip about your boxes, 
 and well move on : the mare's got a journey 
 afore 'un, and we'm best nawt be late ! ' 
 
 I moved aft, and pointed out to him my 
 little trunk. He looked at it in much the same 
 way as a giant might look at a pebble, put it 
 quietly under his arm, and moved off again, 
 inviting me to follow. We crossed the gang- 
 way, and came on to the quay. Here we found 
 a large van, and a fat sleepy-looking roan 
 horse. The wasisfon was roofed with black tar- 
 paulin, and on the side was painted, in large 
 white letters, 
 
 * JOHX TvUDD, CARRIER, ST. GURLOTT's.'
 
 JOIIX RUDD, rOET AND CAKRIER, 45 
 
 On coming up to the vehicle, my conductor 
 paused and disposed of my trunk, then, turning 
 to me with a ' Come, young master, jump in,' 
 he gave me a hft which summarily placed me 
 inside and on the top of my box ; then, before 
 I had time to recover myself, I felt that the 
 waggon was jolting along. 
 
 What the day was like, and what sort of a 
 prospect we were passing through, I had not 
 the remotest idea ; the tarpaulin and the 
 enormous figure of the driver completely 
 shuttino- me in from the world. I waited for 
 a while, thinking, perhaps, my companion 
 mi""ht turn communicative and make some 
 suggestion as to my better disposal ; but none 
 came. He sat like a log, and, beyond a few 
 disjointed exclamations to the horse, uttered 
 not a sound. 
 
 As he evidently had no intention whatever 
 of taking the slii:^litest further notice of me, I
 
 46 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 tliouglit it best to approacli liim. I accord- 
 ingly shouted ' Hi ! ' several times and gave 
 liim a few vigorous pokes in the back ; but 
 neither of these attempts producing the shghtest 
 clTect, I conchided he must bo asleep. I ac- 
 cordingly swung olT the van behind, and, 
 running beside the horse, hullo VI to him from 
 the road. 
 
 This trick told better. Mr. Eudd, who 
 seemed, indeed, to have become oblivious of 
 the world, gradually turned his face towards me 
 and erazed at me for a time with a vacuous 
 stare. Then he pulled up the horse with a 
 jerk. 
 
 ' The Lord preserve 'ee ! ' he said, ' what's 
 the lad doin' thar ? ' 
 
 I explained that I had swung out of the 
 waggon, because it was not pleasant inside, and 
 added : 
 
 ' Have you got room up there for two, Mr. 
 Eudd ? '
 
 JOHN RUDD, POET AXD CARRIER 4T 
 
 Instead of replying to my question, he gave 
 a chuckle, and said : 
 
 * You'm a smart 'un : Mr. Eudd, eh ? Now, 
 haw did you come to knaw that thar', young 
 master, eh ? ' 
 
 I explained that I had concluded from his 
 appearance that he must be the master of the 
 van, upon which ' Jolni Eudd ' Avas painted ; 
 but he only chuckled again and piped : 
 
 ' You'm a little 'un to be such a scholard ! ' 
 
 As I saw he was about to become fossilised 
 again, I hastened to repeat my former question. 
 Mr. Eudd gazed abstractedly at the seat and 
 then at me. 
 
 ' Mayn't I come up,' I said, ' it's so close 
 inside the van, and I would rather ride beside 
 you, Mr. Eudd ? ' Then, without giving him 
 time for a refusal, I leapt up and nestled beside 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Eudd made no protest — he simply said,
 
 48 THE MASTER OF THE MINE. 
 
 ' Move on, mare,' and tlie mare moved on 
 forthwith. 
 
 We had left Falmouth belnnd us, and were 
 moving cumbrously along the high road. 
 Looking to the right and to tlie left I could see 
 nothing but undulating sweeps of land, bleak 
 and barren, with the stony highway stretching 
 before us, and w^inding about, serpent fashion, 
 until it was lost to view. We were travellinsf 
 westward, evidently, and, as far as prospect 
 went, we might be going forward into the 
 Desert, There was not a cart or horse or 
 human being to be seen anywhere; and the 
 only sound was the rattle of the waggon, as it 
 passed along over the rough road. 
 
 It was past mid-day, and the sun was as 
 hot as it had been any day that summer. As 
 I felt it scorching my face and head, I looked 
 at my companion, and marvelled again. His 
 huge ulster-coat was buttoned up to his chin,
 
 JOHX RUDD, POET AXD CAKRIER 49 
 
 and his great round face was shaded by liis 
 liroad felt hat. He was by no means a bad- 
 looking man, and he was still young — only 
 five-anct- thirty, or thereabouts. His skin was 
 tanned and weather-beaten, and his eyes were 
 fixed upon the mare with his habitual dreamy 
 stare. 
 
 Finding it was useless to expect him to talk, 
 I sat for a time quietly by his side, watching, 
 with some amount of interest, the roudi and 
 stony track we were following ; then, when we 
 had covered a mile or so, the mare went along 
 at a walk, and I leapt lightly into the road and 
 kept pace beside her. 
 
 My change of position once more aroused 
 my companion from his trance ; he turned his 
 eye slowly upon me, and said : 
 
 ' I reckon you knaw a deal ? ' 
 I replied, modestly, that I knew a thing 
 or two. 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 THE MASTER OF THE ]\[INE 
 
 ' I wonder naw,' he said, ' whether you can 
 write ? ' 
 
 I answered with some decision tliat I • 
 certainly could, at Avhich I thought his face 
 fell. 
 
 ' Poetry, naw ? ' he inquired. ' Warses 
 like ? ' 
 
 I replied that though I was able to write 
 a capital hand, I had only once or twice aspired 
 to original composition ; at which he chuckled 
 delightedly, then, fixing his eyes with a 
 fascinated glare upon my face, he repeated 
 in a hidi shrill voice the foUowinc^ lines : — 
 
 To Missus Pendragon, who's always so pleasant, 
 John Ptudd, of St. Gurlott's, brings tliis little present. 
 May her life he as sweet as best sugar can he, 
 And the only hot water he mixed wi' her tea ! 
 
 'What do you think o' that?' he asked 
 anxiously. 
 
 'Very good,' I rephed. 'Where did you 
 read it ? In a book ? '
 
 JOHN RUDD, POET AXD CARRIER 51 
 
 ' I didn't read 'im, master, I icrote 'un," he 
 replied. ' Leastways, I should ha' wrote 'un if 
 I could write. Naw, you'm a smart chap, 
 pr'aps yon could take them lines dawn ? ' 
 
 ' Of course I could,' I replied. Whereupon 
 I produced a pencil from my waistcoat pocket, 
 and, asking Mr. Eudd to repeat the verse 
 again, I transcribed it on the back of an old 
 letter. 
 
 When I handed up the paper to Mr. Eudd, 
 his face became positively gleeful. 
 
 ' You're a smart chap,' he repeated, ' nawt 
 much doubt o' that.' 
 
 ' Do you make muck poetry ? ' I asked. 
 
 He nodded his head slowly. 
 
 ' A goodish bit,' he replied : ' leastways, I 
 should if I'd alius a smart 'un like you at hand 
 to take 'un down. But I'm naw hand at set- 
 ting dawn at it, and it dawn't alius keep in my 
 head. 'Tis a e;ift,' he continued. ' It all began 
 
 E2
 
 52 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ■vvheu I were a lad, a-driving up and dawn 
 Falmoutli way wi' father. Then I used to hear 
 the old wa<mon £^o " turn to turn " alawno- the 
 road, and tlie warses they came and kept time. 
 Lord ! to think o' the thousands of bootiful 
 pomes I ha' made : they'd make a wallum ; and 
 I've got 'em all here in my head, thick as bees 
 in a beehive, all a-buzzing together, one atop a' 
 t'other.' 
 
 ' Do you live at St. Gurlott's, Mr. Eudd ? ' 
 
 ' Iss, young master ; I drives this here 
 van three times a week to Falmouth and 
 back.' 
 
 'Then perhaps I'll be able to take down 
 some of your poems for you. I am going to 
 live there, too, you know ! ' 
 
 This idea pleased the drowsy giant im- 
 mensely. He was about to expatiate upon it, 
 when a heavy rain-drop falling on his hand 
 brought him back from the clouds.
 
 JOHN KUDD, rOET AXD CAKEIER 53 
 
 * Lawd love the lad ! ' lie exclaimed, ' how 
 we be a-loitering. Here, jump up, young 
 master, we'm got a good twelve miles afore 
 us yet, aud a black night prawmising to come.' 
 
 I took the hand which he extended to me, 
 and which looked like a giant's paw, and sprang 
 up to my seat beside him. 
 
 'Hurry up, Martha,' he said, 'get on, old 
 garl,' and the mare's slow walk broke into a 
 trot, which caused the waixo-on to rattle and 
 shake, and my teeth to clatter in my head. 
 
 The prospect still continued bleak, but it 
 was now not quite so desolate. To the right 
 and left of us still stretched the bleak moorland, 
 but now it was broken up by green hillocks 
 and belts of woodland. Here and there on the 
 meadows were cattle grazing, while at intervals 
 were white-washed cottages with little gardens 
 running down to the roadside. From time to 
 time we rounded some quiet bay, and caught a
 
 54 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 glimpse of the sea. Presently, far ahead of us, 
 I saw clustering houses, from the midst of 
 which arose a church spire. 
 
 ' What is that ? ' I asked. 
 
 He seemed to know by instinct what I 
 meant, for he replied w^ithout taking his eyes 
 off the horse. 
 
 'That, young master, be Craigruddock. 
 We'll stawp there for a bit of summat to eat 
 and drink, and to gie the mare a rest.' 
 
 When we entered the villa£!;e of Crain;rud- 
 dock our appearance caused no little stir. 
 John Eudd was evidently well known — for as 
 the lumbering waggon went rattling down the 
 little street, shock-headed children came peep- 
 ing out of the doorways, and here and there a 
 peasant woman made her appearance, and 
 nodded cheerfully to us as we went by. For 
 each and all John Eudd had a good-humoured 
 grin, which I thought broadened a httle as the
 
 JOHX KUDD, POET AND CARRIER 55 
 
 waggon was pulled up witli a jerk before the 
 door of the inn. Here, after some little trouble, 
 we got something to eat, a few boiled eggs, 
 and some home-baked bread. When the 
 horse had been rested, we started again on our 
 journey. 
 
 The warm day was succeeded by a cold 
 evening, and with the darkness had come rain. 
 I was glad to follow John Eudd's example, to 
 wrap myself well up in my overcoat, before I 
 again took my seat behind the mare. We 
 jolted on again, covering what seemed to me 
 an interminable space. The darkness rapidly 
 increased, the rain continued to fall, and, worn 
 out with fatigue, I fell into a fitful doze. 
 
 I was dimly conscious of the waggon roll- 
 ing on, of John Eudd makincj; occasional dis- 
 jointed remarks, rhythmical in character, to 
 which he evidently expected no reply, and of 
 certain stoppages, when John mysteriously
 
 56 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 disappeared, and returned refreshed and 
 strengthened for liis work. 
 
 At lengtli, however, John Eudd's voice 
 aroused me indeed. 
 
 ' Wawk lip, young master,' said he ; ' we'm 
 gettin' pratty nigh your place.' 
 
 I roused myself and looked about me, but 
 tjiere was nothing to be seen. Darkness en- 
 compassed us on every hand ; the wind was 
 sighing softly, making a sound like the distant 
 murmur of the sea. Presently the waggon 
 stopped. Tlie carrier jumped down, and waited 
 for me to do the same ; then he gave a peculiar 
 whistle as he went round to the back of the 
 waggon to haul out my trunk. 
 
 The whistle had its effect. The darkness 
 was suddenly penetrated by a light, which 
 seemed quite close to us, and a man's voice 
 called out in a broad country dialect ; 
 
 ' Be that you, John Eudd ? '
 
 JOHN EUDD, rOET AND CAKEIER 57 
 
 ' Iss, mate,' returned Eudd. ' Yon katch 
 hold o' the young gentleman. I ha' gawt the 
 bawx.' 
 
 ' Be this the lad ? ' asked the voice, as I felt 
 a heavy hand laid upon my shoulder. 
 
 ' Iss.' 
 
 ' Waal, my lad, you be welcome to St. 
 Gurlott's ! ' 
 
 The hand kept hold of my shoulder and led 
 me along. The next thing I became conscious 
 of was standing upon the threshold of an open 
 door, and of the voice of my guide saying, 
 heartily : 
 
 ' Yar lie be, Martha ! ' 
 
 Then another voice, that of a woman, 
 answered : 
 
 ' Lawd love the lad ; let's look at 'un ! ' and 
 then there was silence. 
 
 I found myself standing in the middle of a 
 quaint Cornish kitchen, gazing upon my newly
 
 58 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 found friends. The individual who had led 
 me into the kitchen, and who turned out to be 
 my uncle, was a tall broadly built man, dressed 
 in a red-stained suit of coarse flannel, said suit 
 consisting merely of a shirt and a pair of 
 trousers. His hands were big and broad and 
 very red, his head was thickly covered with 
 coarse black hair, and he spoke the broadest of 
 Cornish dialect in a voice of thunder. Having 
 finished my inspection of mmiber one, I glanced 
 at number tivo — namely, my aunt. She was a 
 comely-looking woman of forty, very stout and 
 motherly in appearance. She wore a cotton 
 dress, a large coarse apron, and a curious cap, 
 not unlike the coifs so popular in Brittany. 
 
 My amazement at the sight of these two 
 individuals was so strong that I could scarcely 
 force my lips to utter a word : but if my sur- 
 prise was great, theirs seemed greater. After 
 the first glance at me, they looked uneasily at
 
 JOHN EUDD, POET AND CARRIER 59 
 
 one another, tlie genial smiles faded from their 
 faces, and the words of welcome died upon 
 their lips. 
 
 A pleasant interruption to all this was John 
 Eudd, who at this moment came in with my 
 trunk upon his shoulder and placed it down on 
 the kitchen floor, then wiped his brow and 
 opened his overcoat. 
 
 ' It's martal bad weather you'm brought 
 alang wi' ye, Mr. Eudd,' said my aunt ; ' yar, 
 ha' summat to keep off the rain.' 
 
 She handed him a crlass of ale, which he 
 drank. 
 
 ' Thank ye, missus,' said he, drawing the 
 back of his hand across his mouth. Then he 
 made a dive into the voluminous folds of his 
 coat and produced a packet. 
 
 ' That be for you, missus,' said he ; 'a 
 httle present, wi' John Eudd's respects ; tea
 
 60 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 and sugar, wi' a suitable inscription o' my 
 awn making.' 
 
 ' Thank you, Mr. Eudd,' returned my aunt, 
 taking the packet. ' You'm vary kind.' 
 
 ' Eead the warses, missus ; read the 
 warses ! ' said Mr. Eudd, whereupon she 
 proceeded to do so. 
 
 It was a proud moment for John Eudd ; 
 he seemed to expand with pleasure. And 
 though to all intents and purposes he was 
 gazing upon Mrs. Pendragon, he rolled one 
 eye round my way, as if to watch the effect 
 upon me. When the reading was done he 
 smiled affably, while my uncle brought down 
 his open hand heavily upon his knee. 
 
 ' Waal done, John, waal done ! ' cried my 
 imcle, heartily ; while another voice, one 
 which I then heard for the first time, said : 
 
 ' Oh, Mr. Eudd, what beautiful poetry you 
 do write ! '
 
 JOHN EUDD, FOET AND CARRIER 61 
 
 At the sound of the voice all eyes, mine 
 amongst the rest, were turned upon the 
 speaker, whom I discovered to be a little girl 
 somewhat about my own age, or perhaps a 
 trifle younger, so pretty, and so quaintly 
 dressed, she looked like a little Dresden china 
 shepherdess. 
 
 ' Wha, Annie ! ' said my aunt. 
 
 ' I declare I'd forgot all about 'ee ! ' my 
 uncle added. ' Come yar, ray lass, and say 
 how do ye do to yer cousin ! ' 
 
 At this, the little girl came forward, and, 
 gazing earnestly at me, timidly offered me her 
 hand. 
 
 Suddenly, John Eudd, who had been 
 fumbling about his coat again, produced 
 another packet, which he this time handed to 
 my cousin. She opened it, and found it 
 contained a brightly coloured shawl and a 
 sheet of foolscap, on which some lines were
 
 62 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 penned. Knowing Mr. Eudd's weakness, 
 Annie proceeded to read the lines : 
 
 To Annie Pendragon, tvIio charms all bolioldors, 
 .Tolin Rudd, of St. Gurlott's, sends this for her shoulders ; 
 That she'll always be happy, in sunshine and in flood, 
 'Tis the wish of her friend and admirer, J. Rudd. 
 
 Having read the verses, Annie fell to 
 volubly admiring them and the shawl ; but 
 Mr. Eudd, feeling the praise too much for him, 
 gleefully took his departure. He paused at 
 the door, however, to give me a last look, and 
 to express a wish that we should become better 
 acquainted. 
 
 The moment he was gone, attention was 
 again concentrated upon me. My aunt took a 
 good look at me, trying to fmd traces of my 
 mother and father in my face. My uncle 
 discovered I Avas both wet and cold ; while 
 Annie said : 
 
 ' Why don't you give him his supper,
 
 JOIIX EUDD, POET AND CARRIER 63 
 
 mother ; I'm sure lie must be hmigry after that 
 lono- ride wi' Mr. Eiidd.' 
 
 Annie's suggestion was adopted, and we all 
 sat down to supper. While I ate, I had 
 leisure to look about me. The kitchen was 
 large and homely in the extreme, with a clean 
 stone-paved floor beneath and great black 
 rafters above, from which hung flitches of 
 bacon, bundles of tallow candles, and divers 
 articles of attire. The ingle was great and 
 broad, with seats within it, formed of polished 
 black oak, and the fire burned on the open 
 hearth. In one corner was a recess, with 
 curtains, containing a bed, which I afterwards 
 discovered was to be mine for the night. 
 
 Very little was said or done that evening. 
 If I was astonished at the sight of my relatives, 
 they were equally so at the sight of me. A 
 sort of constraint came upon us all. I was not 
 sorry to find that they were very early people,
 
 C4 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 and that at ten o'clock tliey retired, and left 
 nie to make myself as comfortable as I could in 
 the press bed in the kitchen. My head was 
 aching, partly from fatigue and partly from 
 excitement, and no sooner did I lay it upon 
 tha pillow than I fell into a sound sleep.
 
 G5 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 ANNIE. 
 
 I WAS awakened next morning by the sound of 
 voices in the chamber, and, looking forth from 
 my sleephig-phice, I saw my uncle, seated in 
 his stained flannel clothes, devouring a sub- 
 stantial breakfast of tea and home-baked cakes 
 of my aunt's making, waited on by little Annie, 
 who, seen in the bright morning light, looked 
 even cleaner and neater than she had looked 
 tlie night before. 
 
 ' Lawd love 'ee, little woman,' my uncle 
 
 was saying, ' who put that sart o' nawnsense 
 
 into your head ! I warrant Tawm Penruddock, 
 
 or some other gomeril, ha' been up here clack- 
 
 vo:.. I. F
 
 66 , THE MASTER OP THE MINE 
 
 ing to mother. Dawn't go dawn the mine nav/ 
 more ? Why, the mine's bread and butter, 
 vittles and drink, to you and me ! ' 
 
 ' Tom Penruddock says 'taint safe, father,' 
 returned Annie ; ' and Tom ought to know, for 
 he's worked there ever since he w^as born.' 
 
 'He knaws no more than this chunk o' 
 bread, httle woman. He's the idlest chap o' the 
 gang, Tawm is. There, dawn't you worrit. 
 The Lawd's under the earth as well as above it, 
 and "11 take care of father, never fear ! ' 
 
 Unseen in my corner, I slipton my clothes ; 
 but, by the time I had done so, my uncle had 
 left the cottage. Annie was still there, and she 
 took me to a little bedroom upstairs where I 
 washed, and brushed my hair. Descending 
 again to the quaint old kitchen, I found my 
 aunt, just come in from feeding the poultry. 
 She gave me a kindly nod ; then sitting down 
 at the table, drew me gently to her, and push-
 
 AXXIE 07 
 
 ing the hair olT my forehead, looked thought- 
 fully into my face. 
 
 ' Let me look at 'ee by daylight, lad ! Ay, 
 I was right — you be as like your poor father as 
 one pea is like another. Lawd forbid you 
 should e'er be half as clever ! ' 
 
 ' Why not, mother ? ' asked Annie, who was 
 looking on with a smile. 
 
 ' Because he were too clever to sattle down. 
 He rambled up and dawn like a moor pony, 
 till the Lawd took 'un, and ne'er made himself a 
 home ; and when he died there was none of his 
 kith and kin near him to close his eyes. Thar, 
 lad, sit dawn and take your brakfast. We'll try 
 to mak a man of 'ee, for my poor sister's 
 sake.' 
 
 This sudden allusion to my dead parents, 
 coupled with the strangeness of my surroundings, 
 brought before me more forcibly than ever the 
 utter forlornness of my position ; and sent the 
 
 r 2
 
 6S THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 tears starting to my eyes. I fancy Annie no- 
 ticed this, for she quickly changed the subject, 
 asked her mother for some more hot scones, 
 and put a chair for me at the table. 
 
 This diversion gave me ample thne to 
 recover myself. Feeling heartily ashamed of 
 my exhibition of weakness, I swallowed the 
 lump in my throat, dashed the back of my 
 hand across my eyes, and determined from that 
 hour forth to remember that tears did not 
 become ' a man.' 
 
 The breakfast was appetising — perhaps from 
 the very strangeness of it. Never before in my 
 life had I had placed before me, at eight o'clock 
 in the morning, a meal of hot scones, boiled 
 potatoes, and milk ; yet I mightily pleased my 
 aunt by disposing of enough to keep me going 
 for the rest of the day. 
 
 ' Ah ! lad,' she exclaimed, as her bright 
 eye kindled with pleasure, 'you's gaAvt some
 
 ANXIE 69 
 
 Cornisli blood in 'ee after all, aud can eat your 
 vittles "with a relish. You'm got no proud 
 stomach, my lad, and will be a man like your 
 uncle before lawng.' 
 
 The breakfast being over, my aunt and 
 Annie busied themselves with ' setting things to 
 rights ' ; and, feeling somewhat in the way, I 
 took my cap and strolled out, to find out if I 
 could what sort of a country I had been landed 
 in. 
 
 The kitclien door opened directly into the 
 ' back-yard,' as they called it, and here I found 
 the poultry leisurely picking up the grain which 
 my aunt liad given them before breakfast. 
 Here I found, too, a mongrel puppy, a sort of 
 cross between a collie and a greyhound, it 
 seemed to me, which, the moment I made my 
 appearance, came wriggling, serpent fashion, 
 about my feet. 
 
 I pas.sed througli the yard, i^ound to the
 
 70 THE [MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 front of the house, the puppy following close 
 at my heels. The front of the cottage was very 
 trim and neat; and there was a very small 
 garden, here, which was tolerably well culti- 
 vated : I afterwards learned it belonged to 
 Annie, and owed its pretty appearance entirely 
 to her hands. It was a curious illustration of 
 the minn-linsj in her of the useful and orna- 
 mental. She was passionately fond of flow^ers, 
 and two-thirds of her little garden was devoted 
 to them, Avhile in the other third were beds of 
 mustard and cress, radishes, and celery, with 
 which she regularly supplied ' relishes ' for the 
 table. 
 
 Having made a rapid survey of the little 
 garden, I turned my eyes on the prospect before 
 and beside me. The cottage, which stood alone 
 on a slight eminence, was faced immediately by 
 the high road which swept past and curved on 
 to the village, which lay some quarter of a mile
 
 AXME 71 
 
 to tlie left. Immediately before me was what 
 seemed to me a dark expanse of morass, bleak 
 and barren enouo'li, and dotted here and there 
 with clumps of stunted trees. Beyond was the 
 sea — calm, cold, and glimmering hke steel. 
 
 I strolled carelessly along the road, amusing 
 myself from time to time by throwing a stick 
 and trying to teach the puppy to retrieve. A 
 couple of hundred yards from the cottage, I 
 came to an iron gate, surrounded by a planta- 
 tion of fir-trees, and with a long avenue leading 
 I knew not whither. Here I paused, and, 
 without thinking, threw the stick as far as I 
 could up the avenue. ■ But the puppy crouched 
 at my feet, and declined to stir. So I opened 
 the gate and went in. 
 
 I had not gone many yards when a sharp 
 voice arrested me. 
 
 ' Here, I say, you ! ' it cried. ' What are 
 you doing here ? '
 
 72 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I looked lip, and saw a boy of about my 
 own age, dressed like a young gentleman. lie 
 had black hair, black eyebrows, that came 
 close together, and a hanging lip. I saw at 
 once, by his dress and manner, that he was no 
 miner's son. 
 
 ' Look here, you're trespassing, you know,' 
 he continued ; then suddenly, ' Why, you don't 
 belong to St. Gurlott's. What's your name ? ' 
 
 I told my name, and added that I was a 
 stranger, having come to the village only last 
 night to live with my Uncle and Aunt 
 Pendragon. In a moment his face changed ; a 
 contemptuous sneer curled his lip as he said : 
 
 ' Old Pendragon's boy, eh? ' then. ' What 
 do you mean by wearing those clothes? I 
 thought you were a gentleman ! ' 
 
 His tone, more than his words, roused all 
 the latent pride of my nature. Flushing to the 
 temples, I turned on him.
 
 ANNIE 73 
 
 ' I am as much a gentleman as you,' I said. 
 
 ' What ? ' 
 
 ' Oil, I'm not afraid of you ! Do you 
 know what they'd do with you where I come 
 from ? They'd thrash you, and send you to 
 bed, to learn better manners,' 
 
 He clenched his fist, and advanced threaten- 
 ingly towards me. Then, looking at me from 
 head to foot, and finding that at all events I 
 was liis superior in point of physical strength, 
 he changed his mind. I whistled up the 
 puppy, and walked away. 
 
 When I reached the cottage again, I came 
 face to face with Annie. 
 
 ' Where have you been? ' she asked. 
 
 I told her I liad been rambhug idly about. 
 She nodded brightly. 
 
 ' I've got no work to do to-day,' she said ; 
 'leastways not much. If you like, I'll ask 
 mother to let me come out and go for a walk.'
 
 74 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' Do,' I said ; and off she flew. 
 She was a long time gone — so long that I 
 began to fear tlie permission liad been denied. 
 She came at length, however, when I saw the 
 cause of her dcla3^ Her print frock had been 
 exchanged for a stout gown. She wore a pair 
 of silk gloves, and a hat which was evidently 
 intended for Sundays only. As my eye 
 wandered over these things, she blushed and 
 tried to appear unconscious. 
 
 ' Which way shall we go ? ' she said. 
 
 I Avas so perfectly unacquainted with the 
 district that the question seemed to me absurd. 
 I left the choice to her. 
 
 ' Which way do you like best ? ' I said. 
 
 She pointed with her hand, 
 
 ' I hke to go tliere,' she said, ' to walk on the 
 shore.' 
 
 ' On the shore ? ' 
 
 ' Yes ; don't you see that glittering over
 
 AX.NIE 75 
 
 there ? That's the sea, though it looks hke a 
 bit of the common, now it's so still, I like to 
 go there and walk on the shore, and see the 
 ships pass along, and listen to the washing of 
 the waves on the stones.' 
 
 We accordingly started off across the moor- 
 land towards the sea, and after a mile's Avalk 
 reached the cliffs. 
 
 Wild and desolate, they overhung the 
 ocean, which was at higli tide. A narrow path 
 through the rocks led down to the water's edge. 
 Descending it, with the sea-gulls hovering over 
 us, we reached the shore, and found there a 
 sandy creek, and a solitary wooden house. We 
 looked up : the crags rose above our heads 
 right up into the blue heaven. Then we 
 turned our faces towards the sea. 
 
 ' It isn't like the sea, is it ? ' I asked, as we 
 stood side by side ; ' it looks like a big broad , 
 river.
 
 7G THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' Now ' she assented : ' but it isn't always 
 like this. The waves are sometimes as high as 
 houses, and they roar hke wild beasts. Then 
 there's been ships, big ships that go to India, 
 broken up here on the rocks, and drowned men 
 and women have been cast ashore.' 
 
 ' Have you seen them ? ' 
 
 ' No ; I've only heard tell of them. When 
 the winds are blowing like that, and the wrecks 
 come, mother and me stop in the house to pray 
 for father ! ' 
 
 ' My uncle ? Why, he's a miner.' 
 
 ' Yes ; but he's one o' the hfe-boat men, 
 too, 'cause he's so strong. Look at that wooden 
 house ; that's where they keep the life-boat.' 
 
 In following the direction indicated by her 
 pointing finger, my eye fell upon something 
 else besides the house which contained the life- 
 boat ; a rude coble lay floating in the water a 
 few yards from where we stood. It was
 
 ANXIE 77 
 
 attached to an iron rincj driven into the 
 rocks, 
 
 ' Whose boat is that ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Oh, that belongs to John Endd, the carrier ; 
 him that brought yon to onr house.' 
 
 ' Why, what does he do with a boat ? ' 
 
 ' Nothing ; only he found it drifting in from 
 the sea. Then the master took it away from 
 him, saying it was his, and offered it for sale ; 
 as nobody wanted it, he got it back again by 
 paying a little to the master.' 
 
 ' And what does he do w^itli it now ? ' 
 
 ' He goes out fishing sometimes, when he's 
 got the time. Sometimes he gives us a treat. 
 He took me out in it once.' 
 
 ' Did you like it ? ' 
 
 ' Oh, yes ! ' 
 
 ' Would you like to go again ? ' 
 
 ' What— now P ' 
 
 ' Yes, now. Suppose we take the boat and
 
 78 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 pull out for a bit ; it would be good fun — ■ 
 better than staj'iug here.' 
 
 She hesitated. There was evidently such a 
 difTerence in the size of John Eudd and me. 
 
 'Do come,' I urged; 'the oa.rs are here 
 ready, and I can pnll as well as John Paidd.' 
 
 Still she liesitated, but yielded finally. 
 We pushed out the boat together, and I pulled 
 away out on to the dead calm sea. How [)lcasant 
 it was there, with the sun pouring its golden 
 beams upon us, and the water smiling around 
 and gently lapping the boat's side ! Annie 
 took off her gloves, and trailed her fingers in 
 the water ; then she leaned over and looked 
 down into the emerald depths below, while my 
 eyes again swept the prospect inland. 
 
 Everything was distinguishable from the sea, 
 the low-lvino- flats stretchiuo- black and desolate 
 beneath the warm summer sky — the village, 
 which, from my present point of vantage,
 
 ANNIE 79 
 
 seemed but a handful of houses thrown in a 
 hollow, just beyond the cottage where destiny 
 had placed me. I also perceived now that 
 there were numerous other cottages scattered 
 about the morass, and finally, that there was 
 one large turreted mansion rising up from a 
 belt of greenwood. 
 
 ' What house is that ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' That? Oh, that is the master's house.' 
 
 ' The master ? ' 
 
 ' Yes ; Mr. Eedruth, the master of the mine. 
 Besides that,' she added, ' he's tlie master o' the 
 whole place.' 
 
 ' Does he live there ? ' 
 
 ' Yes ; a good part of the year.' 
 
 ' Anybody else ? ' 
 
 ' The mistress.' 
 
 ' That's all ? ' 
 
 ' Yes ; except at holiday times, when the
 
 80 THE MASTER OF THE ^IIXE 
 
 young master comes liome from school. He's 
 ]iome now.'' 
 
 Having a suspicion in my mind, I asked lier 
 ■what tlio young master was hke, and she gave 
 me an accurate description of the boy I had 
 encountered a few hours before. I said 
 nothing just then of my adventure ; and, after 
 this, we fell to dreaming again. Annie looked 
 down into the sea, while I watched the shore, 
 past which we were lazily drifting. Suddenly 
 my eye was attracted to a huge black mass, 
 which rose like an ominous sliadow between 
 me and the horizon. I asked Annie what it 
 was ; and she replied : 
 
 ' The mine ! ' 
 
 To her the word liad a world of meaning ; 
 to me it had none. It simply awakened in me 
 a keen desire for knowledge, whicli I immedi- 
 atel}^ wanted to gratify. 
 
 ' Tlie mine ! ' I said. ' I never thouHit
 
 ANNIE 81 
 
 about tlie mine before, or we miglit have gone 
 to see it. We'll pull in and go now ; shall 
 we ? ' 
 
 To my amazement, she half rose from her 
 seat, and put out her hands, 'as 'if to stop 
 me. 
 
 ' No, no ! ' she cried, ' we won't go there — 
 not to the mine ! ' 
 
 Her face was white, and she was trembling, 
 though she was wrapt in the sun's rays as in a 
 warm mantle of gold. 
 
 ' What's the matter, Annie ? ' I asked. 
 ' Are you afraid ? ' 
 
 ' Yes,' she said, ' I am afraid of it, because 
 I know it is cruel. It is like a great black 
 mouth ; it seems to ask you to come down, 
 and then it crushes you and you die. I have 
 seen strong men hke my father go down into it 
 happy and laughing, and then afterwards I 
 have seen them brought up dead, all so black 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 nnd chauiifed and dreadful. Oh, don't talk 
 about it ; I can't bear it ! ' 
 
 She shivered again, and covered her eyes 
 ■with her tremblintJ hand, as if to shut out the 
 sight. 
 
 During this conversation, I had been 
 pulling steadily onward, so that the boat was 
 now opposite the cliff surmounted by the mine. 
 I turned the boat's bow shoreward ; then, after 
 a stroke or two, I rested on my oars and 
 looked up. 
 
 AVe were now right below the cliff, and the 
 view from our point of vantage was strange 
 indeed. 
 
 On the very summit of the crags I saw the 
 mining apparatus overhanging the sea. First, 
 a chimney, smoking loftily at the top ; then 
 another, smoking less loftily half-way down ; 
 then, lower down, almost close" to the sea in
 
 AXNIE 83 
 
 fact, a third smoking chimney, connected with 
 what appeared to me to be a small mining 
 office. On one side of the cliff, tall ladders 
 were placed, to enable the miners to ascend 
 from, and to descend to, the shore ; and he 
 must have a sure foot and a strong head who 
 could comfortably tread those ladders, round 
 by round, the sea roaring under him and 
 almost flinging its spray after him as he went 
 higher and hiirher. Takin": in the whole ex- 
 
 <D <_v »^ 
 
 ternal apparatus in one view, chains and 
 pulleys, chimneys and cottages, posts and 
 winding machines, seemed to be scattered over 
 the whole face of the cliff, like the spreading 
 lines of an immense spider's web, while in some 
 parts mules and their riders were trotting 
 up and down a rocky track where the 
 pedestrian visitor would scarcely have dared 
 to tread. 
 
 o 2
 
 84' THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I turned giddy, even at the sight of it. I 
 rubbed my eyes and looked again at my cousin. 
 Her trembhng agitation liad passed olT, and 
 she was lookim^ at me. 
 
 ' It was silly of me to talk like tliat,' she 
 said ; ' but I can't help it. Sometimes, when I 
 think o' them poor men that have been brought 
 up, and remember that father is there, it a'most 
 makes me scream ! ' 
 
 ' But tlicre's no danger,' I said, ' now ! ' 
 ' There's always danger ! ' she returned. 
 ' Tom Penruddock said so, and I told father, 
 but he only laughed. Ah, l)ut I've seen others 
 laugh too — them as is lying now in the church- 
 yard ! ' 
 
 This conversation, sad as it was, had its 
 fascination for me. It made me want to know 
 more about the mystery of the mine. What I 
 saw, indeed, was not the mine itself, but only
 
 ANNIE . 85 
 
 Its outer machinery. The mahi shaft, Annie 
 told me, opened down into the sohd earth, 
 from the body of the chfT, and was covered by 
 a trap-door, from which dizzy ladders led 
 down into the subterranean darkness.
 
 80. THE MASTER OF THE M1^'E 
 
 CPIArTER VI. 
 
 FIRST GLIMrSE OF THE MINE. UNDER THE SEA. 
 
 It must not be supposed that my uncle and 
 aunt, although they had adopted me, could afford 
 to allow me to eat for very long the bread of 
 idleness. Had it been necessary, they would 
 willingly have shared with me their slender 
 means ; but it was not necessary. I was fourteen 
 years of age, I had received a good education, 
 and I was in every way fitted to earn my bread. 
 But what could I do ? My inclination was for 
 the sea. I longed to become a sailor ; not 
 because I had any particular love of ships, but 
 because I had some wild idea that it midit
 
 FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE MINE 87 
 
 ultimately be the means of bringing me to 
 Madeline. Besides, I must own that I was not 
 exactly proud of my newly-found relations and a 
 home which was so different to Munster's. Some- 
 times at night, when I sat furtively watching my 
 uncle smoking his pipe in the ingle, and my 
 aunt darning the stockings, I fell to wondering 
 what the boys would s ay if they saw them, and 
 my cheeks burned with shame. It was on one 
 of these evenings that I ventured to express 
 my wish to go to sea. My aunt threw up her 
 hands in horror. 
 
 ' Lawd love the lad ! ' she cried ; ' if he 
 be'ant like his father a'ready ! You'd like to 
 gaw to say, would ye ? to wander over the face 
 of the earth and die, like your father did, with- 
 out a roof to cawver your head? A sailor j 
 Lawd love 'ee, and why would you be a 
 sailor ? ' 
 
 I stammered somethiuGf about ^vishin(]r to
 
 88 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 work for my living, when my uncle cut my 
 explanation short by patting me on the head 
 and saying : 
 
 ' You'm a good lad, I'm glad to hear 'ee 
 talk saw ; but there's no cause for 'ee to gaw to 
 say. You'm a comin' to wark wi' me, Hugh ! ' 
 
 ' In the mine ! ' I exclaimed in delight, for 
 my strong desire to go down the shaft was 
 growing ; but my uncle shook his head. 
 
 ' Naw, naw, lad ; the mine be only for big 
 coarse men like me ; a slip of a lad like you 
 will be better whar you'm gawing — inta the 
 awfice.' 
 
 ' The office ! ' I repeated, my ardour being 
 considerably damped. 
 
 ' Have 'ee fixed it all, Tawm ? ' asked my 
 aunt. 
 
 ' Iss, mother, I fixed it wi' the master this 
 fawrenoon. Hugli can gaw on Monday and 
 begin.'
 
 FIRST GLDIPSE OF THE MIXE 89 
 
 Thus it will be seen that my destiny was 
 mapped out for me. On the Monday I began 
 my duties as uuder-clerk, with but little satis- 
 faction to myself beyond the fact that I contri- 
 buted six shilliuo;s a week towards tlie house- 
 hold expenditure. Thus my new life began, a 
 life which promised to be uneventful enough. 
 At first I chafed somewhat; but Time, that 
 healer of all things, brought solace to me. As 
 months rolled on, the memory of Munster's 
 began to grow dim ; and when I thouglit of 
 Madeline it was of some lovely vision seen in a 
 dream. 
 
 Monotonous as my days promised to be, I 
 soon managed to infuse a little pleasure into 
 them, principally with the aid of my friend and 
 ally, honest John Eudd ; for we soon became 
 close chums. He conceived a great respect for 
 me, partly on account of my superior educa- 
 tion, and ])artly because I rendered him such
 
 90 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 valuable assistance in tlie transcription of liis 
 poems. He placed his boat entirely at my dis- 
 posal, also lent me his gun, a rusty old Joe 
 Manton, which I kept in secret, and with which 
 I used to amuse myself in tlie evenings when 
 my work was done. 
 
 But the one great fascination for me w^as 
 the mine. It was becoming a sort of ' Frank- 
 enstein,' haunting me by night and by day ; I 
 saw it before me as I sat writing in the office, 
 and when I was asleep at night I saw it in my 
 dreams, opening its huge black jaws and pre- 
 paring to crush away some hapless life. The 
 more I heard of it, the stronger grew my wish 
 to explore for myself those dark bowels of tlie 
 earth. 
 
 Ao-ain and a<>-ain I had beu'iired my uncle to 
 take me down, but he refused. At last, how- 
 ever, one Sunday morning, he came to me and 
 to my intense delight said :
 
 FIRST GLIMPSE OP THE MIXE 91 
 
 ' You can gaw dawn the mine t-day, Hugh. 
 I be gawn' dawn. I'll tak' 'ee wi' me.' 
 
 Excitement is welcome to all boys, and it was 
 especially welcome to me ; but there was one 
 cloud on my sunshine, when I looked up and 
 saw that my cousin Annie was as white as a 
 sheet and trembling violently. 
 
 ' Don't father, don't ! ' she said, piteously. 
 
 My uncle laughed. 
 
 ' Lor a mussey, Annie, what a frawhtened 
 httle woman you'm gettin' ! ' he said. ' Wha, 
 you arn't like a miner's lass, Annie. We must 
 mak' the lad a man, nawt a milksop. Naw 
 then Hugh, hurry up and get ready, we'm nawt 
 got much time to lose ! ' 
 
 The first thing to be done was to attire 
 myself in one of my uncle's mining suits oi 
 flannel, and possess myself of one of his broad 
 felt hats. This was soon done. I was now a 
 man in all l)ut years, and I managed to cut a
 
 92 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 tolerable ligure in my uncle's clothes : indeed, 
 when I made my reappearance in tlie kitchen, 
 he declared, witli a nod of approval, that I 
 looked every inch a miner. It was a proud 
 moment for me : now, for the first tune, I felt 
 my manhood upon me, and I laughed with 
 my uncle at Annie's pale cheeks and my aunt's 
 sad eyes. 
 
 My uncle handed me half a dozen candles, 
 which he told me to put into my pocket ; tlien, 
 with a merry nod to the women-folk, we 
 started. 
 
 It was no easy matter to get to the entrance 
 of the mine, not beinci; able to go straif^ht to the 
 shafts as in the case of mines on level ground. 
 First of all we had to make our way to the 
 counting-house, in wliich I sat at my daily toil. 
 The way was long and difficult to travel, on 
 account of the accumulation of mining gear we 
 had to pass ; long chains stretched out over
 
 FIRST GLBirSE OF THE MIXE 93 
 
 bell cranks, wooden platforms looking like 
 battered remnants of wrecks, yet supporting 
 large beams of timber and heavy coils of rope. 
 Here there was a little creaking shed, there a 
 broken-down post or two, and there again we 
 had to wind round by the rocky path amidst 
 chains and cables and ascending loads. 
 
 I, having to travel this road every day of 
 my life, was well accustomed to it, and I 
 accordingly followed on my uncle's footsteps 
 without much feeling of curiosity or joy ; but 
 when we had passed the counting-house, 
 ascended the cliff, and gained the trap-door 
 entrance to the mine, my heart began to beat 
 with anticipation. 
 
 Here w^e both paused. 
 ' You'll keep a strawng head,' said my uncle, 
 lookino; at me. ' 'Twill be a bad business if 
 you begin to tramble like our Annie. Are you 
 sure you arn't afraid, lad? '
 
 94 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' Not a bit,' I returned ; then, looking at 
 the ladder -wliicli was set at the entrance of the 
 mine, I asked, ' Shall I go first ? ' 
 
 ' Bide a bit, bide a bit, lad ! ' he returned. 
 ' Gi 's one o' tham candles.' 
 
 I did 80, whereupon he lit it and stuck it 
 into my hat, then he lit another for himself; 
 after this he began to descend the first ladder, 
 and I followed him. 
 
 The first object I was conscious of was the 
 huge beam of a steam-engine, which worked 
 on my right, alternately bowing and risinir, 
 and heavily straining at the deluge of water 
 which it lifted. On the other side, through 
 boards the chinks of which admitted just light 
 enough at the foot of one of the ladders to show 
 the passage, I saw the loaded tubble, or bucket, 
 rushing past its descending companion. 
 
 We were now between two shafts, descend- 
 ing from stage to- stage ; the daylight was com-
 
 FIKST GLIMPSE OF THE MINE 95 
 
 pletely gone, and we depended solely on om" 
 candles, which threw but a faint light into the 
 gloomy abj^ss below. 
 
 After descending two or three ladders, which 
 were almost perpendicular, we came to a plat- 
 form, and made a halt. 
 
 " Waal, lad ? ' said my uncle, holding his 
 flickering candle above his head, and looking 
 into my face. , 
 
 I lauo;lied, and hastened to assure him it 
 was all right, though, in reality, I began to 
 feel some of my cousin's misgiving. We rested 
 a second or two, the halt indeed being made 
 more for me than for my guide ; then my 
 uncle took another lighted candle, and stuck it 
 into my hat. 
 
 ' Xaw, lad,' said he, ' come on wi' a will ; 
 lay howld o' the sides o' the ladder, and ha' a 
 care. 
 
 I promised to obey him, and we recommenced
 
 9G THE MASTIJR OF THE MINE 
 
 our descent, he going first and I following. Wc 
 went down first one ladder and then another, 
 till again Ave came to a i)latform and rested. 
 
 ' What's below ? ' I asked of my imcle, who 
 was again regarding me curiously, trying to 
 detect if possible any sign of fear or shrinking 
 in my face. 
 
 'What's belaw, lad?' he said. 'Wha, the 
 water drained from all the mine, the pumps at 
 wark pumping it awt, and p'raps a cartload o' 
 rattinc^ human bawns.' 
 
 We descended a couple more ladders and 
 landed again, this time to traverse one of those 
 side galleries in wdiich the pit abounded. It 
 was about seven feet hifrh, but so narrow that 
 two persons, if thin, could just squeeze past one 
 another. The only light now was that afibrded 
 by our candles, Avhich flickered in the hot, 
 sickly, damp vapour which floated about us. 
 
 The fetid air of the place was beginning to
 
 FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE MINE 97 
 
 tell upon me, my breath became laboured, the 
 perspiration streamed down my face, while 
 mud aud tallow and iron drippings were visible 
 on my clothes. My uncle, who was similarly 
 bespattered to myself, but who was breathing 
 more freely, recommended a rest. I sat down 
 on the floor while he set himself to replenish 
 the candles, which had nearly flickered out. 
 
 Sitting thus in the stillness, I became con- 
 scious of a strang-e moanino; and souohino- sound. 
 After listening intently, I asked my uncle what 
 it was. 
 
 ' It's the sae,' he returned ; 'it be rolling 
 up thar above our heads.' 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A VISIT OF mSPECTIOX. 
 
 Thus began my knowledge of the mine ; from 
 
 that day forth my interest in it deepened, and 
 
 it haunted me like a passion. Its darkness 
 
 and perils had a fascination for me, and I was 
 
 not content till I had explored every cranny 
 
 and familiarised myself with the mining art 
 
 or science. Eager for information, I read 
 
 every book on the subject that I could buy or 
 
 borrow^ and in a short time I could have 
 
 passed a pretty stiff examination as an 
 
 engineer. 
 
 I nuist now pass over, at one swift bound,
 
 A VISIT OF INSrECTIOX 99 
 
 a lapse of eight years. During that time, I 
 had exchanged the duties of clerk for that of 
 assistant overseer, and then, on the death of 
 Mr. Eedruth, for those of overseer-in- chief. 
 
 Behold me, then, at twenty-two years of 
 age, the mainstay of the Pendragon household ; 
 chano'ed somewhat, for — 
 
 Nature cloth subdue itself 
 To what it works on, like the dyer's hand ; 
 
 roudi, robust, full of strength, and its rude 
 pride. In my twenty-second year occurred an 
 event which was destined to exercise no little 
 influence over my whole future life. As I 
 approach the chronicling of this event, my 
 heart beats and my hand trembles, and the 
 fitful passion of those far-off days awakens 
 troublously again. 
 
 I was standing one day on the cliffs, close 
 to the mouth of the mine, when I saw two 
 figures coming from the direction of the village. 
 
 n 2
 
 100 THE MASTER OF Tin; MIXE 
 
 One was my cousin Annie, now a comely- 
 young woman ; tlie other was young George 
 Ecdruth, whom I liad scarcely set eyes upon 
 since the time of his father's tleatli. 
 
 They Avere talking earnestly, and did not 
 seem at first to notice me ; but presently I saw 
 Annie give a startled look in my direction, and 
 afterwards they approaclied together. Now, I 
 don't know how it happened — it was instinct, I 
 suppose, or something of that sort — but never, 
 from the moment of our first meeting as boys, 
 had I been able to reo;ard George Eedruth 
 with any feeling but one of excessive irritation 
 and dishke. His flippant, patronising manner 
 had something to do with it ; so, perhaps, had 
 his good looks, for his worst enemy could not 
 have denied that he was superbly handsome. 
 As I glanced at Ijis pale, beautifully formed 
 face, at his shght graceful figure, at his elegant 
 dress, I was painfully conscious of my own
 
 A VISIT OF IXSPECTION 101 
 
 physical inferiority. Tlioiigli I was strongly 
 built and not ill-favoured, wind and weather 
 had worked their will on me, and I was rough, 
 I knew, as my daily occupation. 
 
 He strolled up carelessly, swinging his 
 cane, and smoking a cigar. 
 
 ' Ah, TrelaAvney,' he said, with a nod, 
 ' your cousin Annie has been telling me that 
 there are complaints, again, about the outlying 
 shafts of the mine. So I'm going down to 
 have a look round.' 
 
 ' Very well, sir,' I replied, wondering in 
 my mind why Annie had chosen to make 
 herself the mouthpiece of the men. 
 
 ' I suppose it's safe enough ? ' he said, 
 after a moment. 'You know, though I am 
 a mine-owner, I don't know much about 
 the business ; I used to leave all that to the 
 governor.' 
 
 ' It is only right,' was my reply, ' that you
 
 102 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 should judge its safety for yourself. If any- 
 thing Iiappened, you would be res])Onsible.' 
 
 ' I don't know about tliat,' he said sharply : 
 ' I pay you for superintending the work, and 
 if there's danger ' 
 
 ' There is ! ' I interposed. 
 
 ' Well, then, I pay yoiL for facing it and 
 reporting upon it. One can't be both employer 
 and servant too ! ' 
 
 I was about to retort somewhat angrily, 
 for the manner of his speech was even more 
 insufferable than its matter, when I met Annie's 
 entreating eyes, and refrained. 
 
 ' Mr. George,' she said quickly, ' is anxious 
 that nothing should go wrong.' 
 
 ' Of course I am,' cried the young man, 
 with a curious lavish. 'I know what iloodino; 
 the mine means — any amount of expense, 
 perhaps ruin ; for if the sea once got fairly in 
 — whew ! it would be a bad job for me.'
 
 A VISIT OF INSPECTIOX 103 
 
 ' And for the men,' I said, frowning. 
 
 ' And for the men, of course ; but it's their 
 living, and no doubt they know how to look 
 after themselves. Be c^ood enouQ-h to make 
 all ready, Trelawney, for I'm going down at 
 once. I suppose there is a dress hand}' ? ' 
 
 I answered in the affirmative, and walked 
 off tow^ards the office. Looking back over my 
 shoulder, I saw him glance after me, and then, 
 with a contemptuous laugh, say something to 
 Annie. My blood boiled angrily, and my 
 cheeks ^orew crimson. I could have turned 
 back and struck him in the face. 
 
 Close to the office, I found my uncle, who 
 had just come up from underground, and who 
 was covered with the rust of tlie copperas 
 earth. I told him the young master was 
 going down, and he was delighted. 
 
 'He's a brave lad, Master Jarge,' he 
 cried, ' a fine brave lad ! I'll gaw wi' 'un,
 
 104 THE iA[ ASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 and shaw 'iin where tlie wall be brcakinir 
 down.' 
 
 Presently, Eedrutli came along, and followed 
 me into tlie office, where several woollen cos- 
 tumes were hanging. He laughed gaily, as he 
 transformed himself into a miner. When the 
 transformation w^as complete, he still looked 
 the gentleman ; and, in spite of myself, I felt 
 the irritating sense of my own inferiority. 
 
 My uncle led the way down the trap, show- 
 ing infinite care and tenderness for the young 
 master, who followed him, while I came last. 
 The earth soon swallowed us, and the only light 
 we had was the light of the candles stuck upon 
 our persons and in our hats. 
 
 From ladder to ladder w^e went, till w^e 
 reached the central platform, where we 
 paused to take breath. Then down we crept 
 again, till we reached the lowest galleries, 
 and became conscious of the gnome-like
 
 A VISIT OF INSrECTIOX 105 
 
 fio-iires at work in the submariue darkness. 
 My uncle still led the way, stopping from time 
 to time to pilot Eedruth over awkward stones 
 and dangerous trap-holes. Our progress was 
 now very slow. Walking, stooping, crawling, 
 climbing, descending, we proceeded ; now 
 crossing black abysses, thinly covered with 
 quaking planks ; past wild figures kneehng 
 or lying, and labouring with short pickaxes at 
 the ore ; and as we went, the roar which had 
 been in our ears from the beginning deepened, 
 while the solid rocks above us seemed quaking 
 in the act to fall. 
 
 At last my uncle paused and wiped his 
 brow. We were all three now completely dis- 
 figured, — with earth, mud, tallow, rust, and 
 iron drippings. 
 
 ' Where the deuce are we now ? ' asked the 
 }Oung master. 
 
 ' Whar, Master Jarge ? ' repeated my uncle,
 
 106 THE PIASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 Avitli a friendly grin. ' Eight dawn under tlie 
 sac' 
 
 Eedrutli glanced at me. 
 
 ' How far down, Trelawney ? ' 
 
 ' Twenty fathoms under the sea level, sir, 
 and three hundred feet, or more, out beyond 
 low-water mark.' 
 
 ' Well, where's the damage ? It all seems 
 snug enouo;h.' 
 
 He was certainly very cool, though lie had 
 not been undero-round more than once or twdce 
 in his life ; and I wondered to niyself wiietlier 
 his insouciance came from bravado or sheer 
 stupidity. 
 
 ' Come this way. Master Jarge,' said my 
 uncle, crawling forward, until we reached a 
 narrow^ space with just room for two of us to 
 stand abreast. Suddenly, we found ourselves 
 ankle deep in water, and at the same time thick
 
 A VISIT OF INSPECTION 107 
 
 drops ]ike heavy rain fell from the rocks above 
 us. 
 
 My uncle reached up with his hands, 
 and touched tlie roof, which was partially 
 fortified with wood and cement. 
 
 ' I plugg'd this yar last night. Master Jarge,' 
 he explained : ' the salt water were streaming 
 in like a fall.' 
 
 As he spoke, the roar deepened to a crash, 
 and we could distinctly hear the sea grinding 
 on the pebbles, right above our heads. It 
 seemed momently as if the whole fabric of the 
 rock would break in, under the flux and reflux of 
 the rolling waves. 
 
 I saw Eedruth start back, and glance to- 
 wards the gallery dov/n which we had come. 
 But he recovered his sang-froid in a moment. 
 
 ' The deuce ! ' he muttered. ' How thick is 
 the ceiling here, Trelawney ? ' 
 
 ' Six feet at the thickest, sir ; at the thinnest.
 
 108 TIIH .MASTER OF THE :^rI^E 
 
 where you see the wooden phig, not more thrai 
 three.' 
 
 Young Kcdruth looked up again, and tak- 
 ing a candle from his person, examined the 
 rock. It was actually })ercolated with sea- 
 water oozing through the solid granitic mass, 
 
 and covered with green and glistening ooze ; 
 but through all the dampness and sliminess the 
 stripes of pure copper ran in rich bars, forming 
 part of the fmest and most precious lode in the 
 whole mine. 
 
 ' Why, it's almost solid ore,' he said. 
 
 'Iss, Master Jarge,' returned my uncle, 
 ' but us can't go no further thisways without 
 flooding the shaft. It would be warth thou- 
 sands o' pounds to gaw on, and 'twill cost a 
 heap to keep tight and safe as it be.' 
 
 ' Is that so, Trelawney ? ' 
 
 'Yes, sir. We must build up this part of 
 the gallery and have it closed. I can't keep
 
 A VISIT OF IXSPECTIOX 109 
 
 the men from using their picks wliere the ore 
 runs thickest, even when every inch of stuff they 
 loosen is bringing them nearer to their death.' 
 
 The young master made no further remark 
 just then, but continued liis examination of the 
 other parts of the mine. In several other places 
 the roof was dangerous. My uncle pointed 
 out the various unsafe portions, and led the 
 way from gallery to gallery, until tlie tour of 
 inspection was complete. 
 
 At last we re-ascended to the sunshine. 
 How bright and dazzling all seemed after 
 til at subaqueous darkness ! Eedruth seemed 
 in a brown study. Not until he had 
 washed himself and reassumed his ordinary 
 attire, did he find his tongue. By this 
 time, my uncle had returned to his labours 
 down below, and we two were left 
 alone. 
 
 ' Is there anything else you wish to report P^'
 
 110 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 asked Redruth, sharply, as we stood together 
 at the office door. 
 
 ' Notlung more than I have ah^eady 
 reported in writing.' 
 
 ' Well, what was that ? ' 
 
 ' The whole mine wants repair. Putting- 
 aside the ontl)4ng galleries, where the sea 
 may enter at any minute, the engines and 
 machinery need replacing, the ladders are 
 rotten ; in fact, everything is in the last 
 stage of decay ; and no wonder, seeing that 
 scarcely a penny has been spent on it within 
 my memory.' 
 
 He frowned, and bit his lips ; then he 
 looked me contemptuously from head to foot. 
 
 'You are a pretty fellow, a very pretty 
 fellow. You want to ruin me, eh ? ' 
 
 ' No, sir ; but I want to ensure the safety 
 of the men.' 
 
 ' Pshaw ! You are a croaker, and know
 
 A VISIT OP INSPECTION 111 
 
 little or nothing of the matter,' he said, turning 
 on his heel. 
 
 ' At any rate, sir,' I returned, following him, 
 ' you will have the outer galleries filled up, at 
 once? If you don't, I'll not answer for the 
 consequences.' 
 
 ' Who the devil asked you ? ' he cried. 
 ' Your place is to report, not to advise. As to 
 ceasing to work the outer galleries, I suppose 
 you know that the richest lode of ore runs 
 there, and that the inner portion of the mine 
 is almost barren ? ' 
 
 ' I know that ; but ' 
 
 ' But you prefer mutiny and disaffection to 
 study of your employer's interests ? I tell you 
 flatly, I don't intend to listen to such nonsense. 
 Thanks to you, the mine at present yields 
 little or no profit, and I am in a fair way to 
 become a beggar.'
 
 112 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 He saw me smile incredulously, as I cried : 
 ' Tlion YOU will do notliiuo"? ' 
 
 ' I will do nothing under your advice, for I 
 don't trust you. A gentleman in whom I have 
 tlie utmost confidence will be here to-morrow 
 morning. You will accompany him down the 
 mine, and you will show him Avhat you have 
 shown me. I sliall tlien be guided by his 
 advice, not by yours.' 
 
 Witli these words he w\alked away. 
 
 Soon after sunrise the next morning, as I 
 sat in tlie office at the mine-head, I was visited 
 l)y the })erson to whom young Eedruth had 
 alluded. He was a thin, spare, sandy-haired 
 young man of about thirty, with a mean type 
 of countenance, and an accent which was a 
 curious compound of Cockneyisms and Ameri- 
 canisms. He had, indeed, been born within 
 the sound of Boav Bells ; but liaving spent a 
 portion of his manhood in the United States,
 
 A VISIT OP INSPECTIOX 113 
 
 he affected the free and easy manners of a 
 Yankee citizen. 
 
 He gave me his card, on which was printed 
 the words — 
 
 EPHRAIM S. JOHNSON, 
 
 Civil Engineer, 
 Bethesda, 
 
 Slate of New Yorh. 
 
 I glanced at the name, and then took a 
 good look at the owner. He wore a showy 
 tweed suit, a glaring red necktie witli a horse- 
 shoe pin, and a light billycock hat. Altogether, 
 his appearance was not prepossessing. 
 
 He informed me, in a high shrill voice, that 
 he had been instructed by Mr. George Eedruth 
 to go down the mine, and report on its prospects 
 and condition. 
 
 ' You'll find its condition bad enough,' I said 
 quickly. 
 
 ' Maybe I shall, and maybe I shan't,' he 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 answered. ' I don't want you to prejudice my 
 mind, young man ; not that j^ou could do it if 
 you tried. Guess I haven't been three years on 
 the Shoshone territory for nothing.' 
 
 He pronounced it ' nothinlc,' but that is 
 neither here nor there. I saw at once from his 
 manner that he had come with a preconceived 
 opinion, and tliat nothing he miglit see would 
 be liivcly to make him side Avith the men 
 against their master. However, I treated him 
 as civilly as possible, and, when he had assumed 
 the necessary dress, we made the tour of inspec- 
 tion together. When we came to the outlying 
 gallery, above which the sea was thundering, 
 he trembled a 2;ood deal and o;ave other sims 
 of agitation, and he did not recover himself 
 until he had regained the open air, which he 
 did after a very perfunctory visit indeed. Once 
 or twice on the way, as we ascended the ladders 
 oonnnunicating with the abyss, he grew giddy,
 
 A VISIT OF IXSPECTIOX 115 
 
 and I had to watch, him carefully, fearing he 
 might fall. All this, it may be guessed, did 
 not increase my respect for Mr. Ephraim S. 
 Johnson. 
 
 He did not altogether recover his equanimity 
 until he had sloughed his miner's dress and put 
 on Ills own radiant apparel. Then, curious to 
 know what he would say to his employer, I 
 questioned him ; 
 
 ' Well, Mr. Johnson ? Did I exaggerate 
 when I said that the mine was unsafe ? ' 
 
 He answered me sharply and impudently, 
 but averting his small keen eyes from mine : 
 
 ' Excuse me, young man, I shall report my 
 opinion to Mr. George Redruth, not to you.. I 
 don't mind saying, however, that I guess you 
 did exaggerate, on the whole.' 
 
 Angry at his manner, I could not forbear 
 
 retorting 
 
 I 2
 
 116 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' You didn't seem to express that opinion 
 wlicn you were down below ! ' 
 
 * What do 3'oa mean ? ' he cried, turning 
 crimson. 
 
 ' I mean that you seemed rather in a hurry 
 to get back to the terra Jirma, up here ! ' 
 
 He did not reply, but gave me a look full 
 of malignity and dislike. Then he walked 
 out of the office, but the next minute he put 
 his head in again in the door. 
 
 ' You think yourself smart,' he said ; ' but 
 you'll have to get up early before you're as 
 smart as me. I mean to do my duty, young 
 man, and so you'll find afore very long.' 
 
 He left me with this curious valediction. I 
 saw neither Kedruth nor Johnson for some days. 
 Then I heard casually that the latter had gone 
 back to London. About a week after his 
 departure, I saw it publicly announced that 
 arrangements had been made with George
 
 A VISIT OF INSrECTIOX. 117 
 
 Eedrutb, Esq., the proprietor, to turn the 
 St. Gurlott's copper-mine into a joint-stock 
 company, the said George Eedruth, Esq., re- 
 ceiving half the purchase -money and retaining 
 the other half in fully paid-up shares. Nothing 
 was said about the precise amount of commission 
 money which went into the pocket of Mr. E. S. 
 Johnson, but the name of that worthy was 
 down on the prospectus as surveyor and in- 
 specting engineer, and I had no doubt whatever 
 in my own mind tliat he had made a very 
 excellent bargain.
 
 118 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 I PLAY THE SPY. 
 
 A LITTLE after the establishment of the London 
 company, Johnson came down to St. Gurlott's 
 and took lodgings in a farmhouse in the neigh- 
 bourhood. After what had occurred, I ex- 
 pected to receive my conge at once, but although 
 the stranger was formally installed as resident 
 inspector and supervisor, no attempt was made 
 as yet to remove me from my former position. 
 The fact was, I believe, that Johnson had too 
 little confidence in his own practical knowledge, 
 to say nothing of his own courage, to undertake 
 willingly the perilous duties of overseer.
 
 I PLAY THE SPY 119 
 
 So greatly did I resent his presence, how- 
 ever, that I at first resolved to resign ; but 
 yielding to the entreaties of my uncle and the 
 prayers of Annie, I remained. I soon saw 
 that Johnson was completely in young Eed- 
 ruth's confidence — was, in fact, his servant, 
 spy, and general familiar. Under his advice, 
 nothin"- wdiatever was done to amend the 
 condition of afiairs in the mine, the fittings and 
 machinery of which remained as dilapidated as 
 ever. On my own responsibilit}-, however, I 
 closed up the dangerous outer galleries, and 
 forbade the men, on pain of dismissal, from 
 workino- the ore in that direction. Althouoli 
 Johnson heard of this, and doubtless reported 
 it to liis superior, neither of them made any 
 communication to me on the subject — just 
 then. 
 
 I must now turn from the affairs of the 
 mine to my own quiet life at home in my
 
 120 TIIK :\fASTRR OF THE [MINE 
 
 uncle's lioiise — wliicli ^vill lead me, rapidly 
 enou<4li. ]);ick to yoiino; Georn;e liedrutli. 
 
 I had noticed for several weeks that sonic 
 important secret communion was going on 
 between my uncle and aunt. What it was all 
 about I couldn't guess, but it was evidently 
 connected in some way with myself. I often 
 caught them looking at me, and, when de- 
 tected, exchanging glances of infinite meaning. 
 I was begirming to think of asking for an 
 explanation, when accident made me ac- 
 quainted with the whole mystery. 
 
 I had returned home one evening too late 
 for the ordinaiy tea, and was sitting taking 
 mine alone, waited on by Annie, as I had to 
 return to the office ai>'ain that ni";ht, and mijTht 
 probably have to go down the mine. I still 
 w^ore my miner's dress, but my uncle had 
 changed his, and was sitting contentedly 
 smoking on one side of the fire, while just
 
 I PLAY THE SPY 121 
 
 opposite to him was my aunt, busily darning 
 stockiniTS. 
 
 The meal over, I got up, lit my pipe, and 
 wished them all good night. 
 
 ' Don't sit up for me ! ' I said, ' I shall be 
 late to-night.' 
 
 ' Where are you 2'oiuo- to, Huoh ? ' asked 
 Annie, carelessly. 
 
 ' Back to the office. I've got to go down 
 the mine a^'ain, too.' 
 
 ' Shall you go to the office first ? ' she 
 asked, ' or down the mine? ' 
 
 I laughed at what I then thought her 
 unmeaning curiosity. 
 
 ' Which do you think I ought to do first, 
 Miss Curiosity ? ' I said. 
 
 ' Go down the mine,' she answered, 
 promptly ; ' then you could change those 
 things, and do your accounts comfortable-, 
 hke.'
 
 122 THE MASTER OF THE JUNE 
 
 ' Upon my \vord, Annie,' I said, ' there's a 
 world of wisdom in tliat pretty little head of 
 yours.' 
 
 I put my arm round her shoulders — gave 
 her a kiss — at which my aunt and imcle laughed 
 dehghtedly. 
 
 ' Good night all ! ' I said again. ' Annie, I 
 shall take your advice, and go straight down 
 the mine ! ' And I was off. 
 
 I had gone only a little way, when I sud- 
 denly remembered that certain account-books 
 which I should need that night were in my 
 room at the cottage. I hesitated a moment — 
 then I turned back to get them. It was grow- 
 ing rather dark ; but that was of little conse- 
 quence to me, since I could have walked every 
 step of the way blindfolded, and for the descent 
 into the mine, daylight was of little use. 
 
 So I strolled slowly back, enjoying my 
 pipe and the freshness of the evening air, and
 
 I FLAT THE SPY 123 
 
 when I readied the cottage it was quite dark. 
 I paused before the kitchen window, which 
 was open, for the night was suUry, and looked 
 in. 
 
 My aunt and uncle still sat in much the 
 same position they had occupied when I left 
 them, but Annie was gone. I was about to 
 put my head in at the window, and acquaint 
 them with my return, when I heard the men- 
 tion of my own name. 
 
 ' Yes,' said my aunt, nodding her head, ' I 
 ha' watched 'em, and I know Annie favours 
 Hugh, if ever any lass favoured a lad.' 
 
 ' Well, I do hope you'm right, Martha, old 
 gal,' my uncle returned. ' He be a good lad, 
 and I shall be glad to call him my son.' 
 
 I heard no more — I felt like a man who 
 had received a knock-down blow, and I stas- 
 gered under it a bit. Annie love me ? — the 
 old people planning our marriage ? It was all
 
 124 TIIH MASTER OF THE MIKE 
 
 SO new it t<iok mc a time to recover. But was 
 it true ? Were tliey right ? Did ray cousin 
 really care for me ? I glanced back on all the 
 years we had been together, and I concluded 
 that after all it might be possible. Certainly, 
 Annie had given no very marked evidence of 
 her love ; but then she was not a demonstrative 
 girl. A quiet lowering of the eyelids, a little 
 pink blush, were more in her line. 
 
 And then of late she had sorely changed. 
 I had noticed that, and wondered a bit ; now 
 the meaning of it seemed clear. Annie, my 
 little cousin Annie, whom I had ever regarded 
 as a sister and a child, had developed into a 
 woman, and was capable of feeling a woman's 
 love. 
 
 My thoughts turned from Annie to myself: 
 I began to analyse my own feelings, and to 
 pronounce upon them. Did I love Annie ? 
 Yes, in one sense ; no, in another. Yet my
 
 I TLAY THE SPY 125 
 
 affection for lier was of that strong, deep nature 
 that I might have mistaken it for love, if that 
 one all-absorbing episode of my school days 
 had never been. Even then, after a lapse of 
 years, the thought of Madeline made my blood 
 tingle in my veins, and my heart beat painfully. 
 Of all this the old people knew nothing ; they 
 had evidently made up their minds that Annie 
 and I were exactly suited to one another, 
 and ought to be man and wife. Whether or 
 not I was glad or sorry at this discovery I 
 could not tell, my feelings were a strange 
 mixture which I could not analyse. 
 
 Before I had time to think very deeply on 
 the subject, the kitchen door opened, and Annie 
 herself appeared on the threshold. Though it 
 was dark out of doors, the hght in the kitchen 
 showed her to me distinctly. She wore a long 
 black cloak, which she folded tightly aroimd 
 her shoulders ; its hood covered her head.
 
 126 TIIC .AI ASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' I am o-uinr^ down to the villao-c, I shan't 
 be long,' I heard her say, in answer to her 
 mother's question. Then she came out, closing 
 the kitchen door after her. 
 
 She paused a moment outside ; then she 
 hurried away — I, rather aimlessly, following 
 her. She crossed the high road which led to 
 the village, and took instead a narrow footpath 
 which led by a short cut to the mine. Won- 
 dering what could be taking her that way, I 
 continued to follow her. 
 
 She quickened her pace now, almost to a 
 run. When she had got about half-way to 
 the mine, she turned off again, and hastened 
 along with increased speed towards Greystock 
 Tower. 
 
 Greystock Tower was a ruin, consisting 
 of three dilapidated ivy-covered walls and a 
 buttress ; it stood on an eminence a few 
 hundred yards from the seashore, and by the
 
 I PLAY THE SPY 127 
 
 superstitious inhabitants of tlie village was 
 supposed to be haunted. Even Annie, I had 
 suspected till that night, shared in the popular 
 belief. I was the more astonished, therefore, 
 to see her going towards it, alone, on a dark 
 night, and as if her very life depended upon 
 her speed. 
 
 Having reached the ruin, she paused, and 
 stood as if listening. There was a dead silence 
 all round, broken only by the Avashing of the 
 sea. I crept up in the shadow of the ruin. 
 
 Presently, I heard a peculiar whistle. 
 Annie said softly : 
 
 ' Yes — I am here.' Then a figure, that of 
 a man, emerged from the darkness and joined 
 her. 
 
 My astonishment at all this was so great 
 that for a time I was utterly unable to move ; 
 but, from my shadowy hiding-place I Avatched 
 the pair. Who the man was I could not tell,
 
 128 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 the darkness completely concealing his features ; 
 but I saw that he was taller than Annie, and 
 that he was smoking a cigar. 
 
 They stood close together, talking earnestly ; 
 but I could not catch a word of what they said. 
 Presently, they began to move away, and I 
 deemed it time to interfere. 
 
 In two strides I was between them — 
 Annie uttered a scream, the man an oath. 
 But he stood his ground, and looked into my 
 face. 
 
 It was now my turn to utter an exclama- 
 tion. The man was young Eedruth, the 
 master of the mine. 
 
 The contretemps was so complete that for 
 a moment neither of us spoke. Eedruth, being 
 the coolest, was the first to speak. 
 
 ' What are you doing here, Trelawney ? ' 
 he asked curtly.
 
 I PLAY THE SPY 129 
 
 * I am here to take my cousin home, sir,' I 
 rephed. 
 
 ' Indeed,' he sneered ; ' I should have 
 thought you were here to play the spy ! ' 
 
 ' Even that would be better than playing 
 the villain,' I returned. 
 
 Here Annie, seeing a storm brewing, 
 interfered. 
 
 ' Hugh, dear Hugh ! ' she said, plucking at 
 my sleeve. 
 
 But young Eedruth now stepped forward. 
 
 'Don't agitate yourself, Annie,' said he, 
 coolly, while I was ready to knock him down. 
 'And you, sir,' he added, addressing me, 
 ' stand out of the way ; I have business with 
 this young lady, and I request you to leave 
 us.' 
 
 ' And if I refuse ? ' 
 
 He raised a small cane which he carried 
 and struck me across the shoulders. In a 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 moment I had wrenched it from his liand, and 
 with one well-planted blow I would have made 
 him measure his length upon the ground, but, 
 with another scream, Annie rushed forward and 
 stood between us. 
 
 ' You shall pay for this, you scoundrel ! ' 
 said my master ; and, without another word, 
 he disappeared into the darkness. 
 
 Annie, still frightened and trembling, 
 rushed forward to follow him, but m a moment 
 I was beside her. 
 
 ' You'll come with me, Annie,' I said, taking 
 her hand firmly in mine. 
 
 By this time she was crying bitterly. ' Oh, 
 Hugh,' she sobbed, ' what have you done ! 
 You will ruin us all — yourself, father, and all 
 of us!' 
 
 But I took no heed of her, I kept my hold 
 upon her, and led her back across the meadows 
 to the cottaoe.
 
 I PLAY THE SPY 131 
 
 During the walk no word passed between 
 us. I was silent, expecting she would give 
 some exjDlanation of the scene I had witnessed ; 
 but as she volunteered none, I said nothing. 
 When we reached the cottage gate, she paused, 
 and spoke. 
 
 ' Hugh,' she said, ' you won't tell mother or 
 father ' 
 
 ' No, no,' I interrupted her. ' Don't fear 
 for me, but I mean to look after you in the 
 future, Annie.' 
 
 ' Don't be hard on me, Hugh,' she said, 
 piteously. ' I meant no harm. But it will be 
 better for you and father if I speak to the young 
 master sometimes.' 
 
 ' You'd best let us manage our own affairs, 
 Annie, and keep yourself to the house ; always 
 remember that.' 
 
 She dried her eyes and composed herself a 
 bit, and we went in too^ether. 
 
 K 3
 
 132 THE MASTER OF THE MLNE 
 
 The old couple were astonished, but not ill- 
 pleased at seeing us in company. They noticed 
 Annie's pallor, too, and exchanged looks, the 
 meaning of which I now knew full well. I 
 dreaded to be questioned ; so when Annie 
 had gone to her room, which she did pretty 
 quickly, I explained that I had returned for 
 certain little account-books, and having met 
 Annie by the way, had brought her in. Then 
 I possessed myself of the books, and hurried 
 back to the office to finish my night's work. 
 
 J
 
 133 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Annie's confession. 
 
 They were all in bed when I got back that 
 night ; but as I passed the door of Annie's 
 room I fancied I heard the sound of sobbing. 
 I knocked softly, but she made no answer ; so 
 I concluded that I must have been mistaken 
 and that she w^as asleep. 
 
 The next morning she attended at breakfast 
 as usual. She looked a little pale, and now and 
 again glanced uneasily and rather questioniugly 
 at me. When I rose to go, she put on her 
 bonnet, saying : 
 
 ' I am going a bit of the way with Hugh,
 
 134 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 motlicr ; ' and then, somewhat to my surprise, 
 she came along with me into the road. When 
 we w^ere fau-ly away from the houses, and 
 passing across the moor, slie put her hand on 
 my arm, and said softl}'' : 
 
 ' Hugh, dear Hugh, I have been out before 
 this morning. I have seen the young master.' 
 
 I suppose my face darkened ominously, for 
 she hurriedly continued : 
 
 'Hugh, you must not get angry — indeed, 
 you must not. I did it for the best. I was 
 afraid, after what happened last night, that he 
 would dismiss you ; and he would have done, 
 but I have interceded, and now all will be as 
 it was before.' 
 
 ' You have interceded for me ! ' I said. 
 ' Then you w^ere wrong, Annie ; if he wishes to 
 dismiss me, let him. I have other means of 
 earning my bread.' 
 
 For answer to this Annie employed a
 
 Annie's confession 135 
 
 stronger medium than words — she cried. Now, 
 tears always disarm me ; all I could do was 
 what I did : soothe my cousin, kiss her pretty 
 cheek, call myself a brute, and avow that she 
 was the dearest, sweetest little woman in the 
 world. Under this process, Annie came round, 
 and smiled sadly up at me through her tears. 
 
 ' You promise,' she said, ' to go on just the 
 same as usual, and to take no notice of what 
 occiu-red last night ? ' 
 
 ' I will promise,' I said, ' if you can show 
 me the good of it.' 
 
 ' The good of it will depend upon whether 
 or not you care anything about me ! ' she re- 
 plied. ' Just think, Hugh, if you two quarrel 
 again, and you are dismissed, everybody will 
 know why it all came about — and my mother 
 and father too. Ah, Hugh, dear Hugh, for my 
 sake ! ' 
 
 She folded her little hands over my arm,
 
 136 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 and looked up into my face like a supplicating 
 cliild. 
 
 As I looked down into her bright eyes, now 
 fast fillin<]r again with tears, the thoug-ht came 
 into my mind to do what her mother and father 
 wished me to do. ' Annie,' I thought of saying, 
 ' give me a right to protect you. Let me call 
 you wife, and I will agree to all you say.' But 
 something held me, and the golden moment 
 passed, 
 
 ' All right, Annie,' I said ; ' don't worry 
 yourself, little woman. I won't do a thing 
 that will injure you! 
 
 For a couple of days or so the master kept 
 away, and things went on at the works pretty 
 much the same as usual ; but on the foiurth 
 day he strolled down. He talked a good deal 
 to Johnson, but never addressed one word to 
 me. He looked at me, however, and the look 
 he gave made me wonder what strange influence
 
 Annie's coxfessiox 137 
 
 Annie possessed when she could induce him to 
 keep in his employment one whom he so cor- 
 dially hated. I, however, took no notice, since 
 I had given my promise to Annie, and an 
 onlooker would never have guessed that any- 
 thing sinister was going on. 
 
 How long this state of things might have 
 lasted it is impossible to say, but it was most 
 unexpectedly and suddenly changed. 
 
 One day my aunt, having a little shopping 
 to do, and eager perhaps for a day's outing, 
 determined to go to Falmouth. She started off 
 in the morning in John Eudd's waggon, and 
 left my cousin to keep house. 
 
 Now, it had seemed to me that Annie had 
 looked particularly dull that morning ; so, 
 towards afternoon, I determined to take an 
 hour, and to hurry back to the cottage to see 
 how she was getting on. 
 
 As I drew near to the cottage door, I was
 
 138 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 astonished to liear voices — the one loud and 
 angry, the other soft and })leading. When I 
 entered tlie kitchen, my amazement increased 
 tenfold. 
 
 An elderly lady — none other, indeed, than 
 old Mrs. Eedruth, George Eedruth's widowed 
 mother — was standing in the middle of the 
 room, while my cousin Annie, crying bitterly, 
 was actually on her knees before her ! 
 
 Mrs. Eedruth had two characteristics, her 
 confirmed ill-health and her iron will. Her 
 power in the village was great ; but she was 
 feared, rather than beloved. Indeed, it was 
 averred by many that every hard deed com- 
 mitted by either her husband or her son might 
 have been traced to her influence. For the 
 rest, she was a tall thin woman, with powerful 
 aquihne features and a face of ghastly pallor. 
 
 Amazed at her presence there, I entered 
 unceremoniously; but both were so intent
 
 Annie's confession 139 
 
 upon themselves that they were actually un- 
 aware of my approach. 
 
 The old woman was speaking. 
 
 'Your tears don't deceive me,' she said. 
 'I am not a man and a fool. I am a mother, 
 and I know when danger threatens my child, 
 and I say that you are doing your best to 
 entangle my son. But take care. George 
 Eedruth shall not be sacrificed ; sooner than 
 that, I will ruin you — do you hear ? — ruin 
 you ! ' 
 
 * Oh, my lady ! ' sobbed Annie, ' will you 
 listen ! ' 
 
 ' No,' she returned, ' I will not ! Listen to 
 you — when every word you utter must be a lie ! 
 I have seen you with my son. Cease to follow 
 him, or I will expose you before every soul in 
 the village ! ' 
 
 She turned to leave the cottage, and came 
 face-to-face with me. She paused abruptly,
 
 140 Tllli; MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 opened her lips, as if about to speak ; then she 
 changed lier mind, and without uttermg a word 
 passed out. 
 
 As for myself, I had been too much stupefied 
 to say a word, and I stood now, like a great 
 bear, looking at my cousin, who, sobbing 
 piteously, had sunk into a chair. Then 
 suddenly, while gazing at her thus, it seemed 
 to me that the time had come for me to speak. 
 I went up to her, raised her from the chair, and 
 folded her in my arms. 
 
 ' Annie,' I said, ' Annie, my dear, let there 
 be an end to this. Give me the right to 
 protect you from all this trouble that has come 
 upon you lately. Become my wife.' 
 
 She started, and stared at me like a 
 frightened child. 
 
 ' Your wife, Hugh ! ' she said. ' Your 
 wife ! 
 
 ' Yes, Annie,' I answered. ' My wdfe —
 
 ANNIE'S CONFESSION 141 
 
 that is, if 3'ou care for me eiiougli, my 
 dear ! ' 
 
 At this she fell to crying afresh, and clung 
 to me tenderly. 
 
 ' Ah, Hugh, dear Hugh ! ' she sobbed. 
 ' You are the kindest and best man in all the 
 world, and it is your kindness which makes 
 you ask me this now, for you don't love me, 
 Hugh.' 
 
 Her words cut me to the heart, for I felt 
 their truth. 
 
 ' Perhaps,' I said. ' I don't romance as 
 some young fellows might, but I shall make as 
 good a husband. I have always been fond of 
 you, Annie, ever since that night, years ago, 
 when I first came here and you gave me a 
 welcome. We have ever been excellent 
 friends, haven't we ? — and now tell me if we 
 shall be more than friends ? ' 
 
 She shook her head.
 
 142 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' No, Hugh ; be wliat you have always 
 been — my own dear brotlier,' 
 
 ' Is it because you think I don't care for 
 you, Annie ? ' 
 
 * Ah, no ! ' she rephed. ' Don't think it 
 is that. So much the better for you, dear, 
 that you don't love me : for even if it were 
 otherwise, we two could never be man and 
 wife.' 
 
 I looked into her eyes, and I thought I 
 read their meaning. Annie did not care for 
 me ; her heart was with another man, and that 
 man far above her. 
 
 I think I see those who read these lines 
 smiling at my ignorance or my folly, and 
 asking, was it possible that all I had seen or 
 heard awakened in my mind no suspicion of 
 any darker wTong lurking in my little cousin's 
 path ? Yes ; it was quite possible. Grown 
 man as I was, I had no experience whatever of
 
 Annie's confession 143 
 
 the world. I would have trusted Annie in any 
 company, or in any place, and I never dreamed 
 for a moment that there could be any danger 
 to one so good. 
 
 As my thought travels back to that time, I 
 reproach myself again and again for my own 
 blindness. What worlds of sorrow it would 
 have saved if I had been less unsuspicious — if 
 I had only loved poor Annie more !
 
 144 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE LETTER. 
 
 But after this I watched Annie a good deal, 
 and I soon discovered she had a great and 
 OTowing trouble on her mind. She was rest- 
 less and ill at ease, and once or twice, while I 
 observed her quietly, I saw tears suddenly start 
 to her eyes. 
 
 Her mother and father noticed this, too ; 
 but they attributed the change to quite another 
 cause. They were good, honest folk, who 
 could only consider one project at a time ; and 
 as for several months past their minds had been 
 occupied solely with the idea of a marriage
 
 THE LETTER 145 
 
 between Annie and myself, they naturally 
 assumed disagreements between us two to be 
 the cause of their daughter's depression. 
 
 I had not the heart to undeceive them. I 
 determined, however, to speak to Annie again, 
 and ask for some further explanation of this 
 mystery. 
 
 One afternoon, about three days after our 
 former interview, I was standing at the mouth 
 of the mine, thinking things, when I was 
 startled by the sudden appearance of my aunt. 
 She looked pale ; rather alarmed ; but ready to 
 become very angry. 
 
 ' Hugh ! ' she said, before I had time to 
 open my lips, ' where be Awnie ? ' 
 
 Had I been able at that moment to produce 
 my cousin, she would certainly have been rated 
 very soundly ; whereas, I shook my head and 
 said, ' I don't know ! ' the rising anger entirely 
 disappeared, and her face grew paler. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 'But yoii'm seen her to-day?' she con- 
 tinned. 
 
 ' Xo. When I left this morning you were 
 all a-bed.' 
 
 At this my aunt fairly broke down, and 
 moaned between her sobs, ' Oh, Hugh ! she's 
 gone, gone ! ' 
 
 I was fairly stunned, and all I could do just 
 then was to comfort my aunt, who was weeping 
 bitterly, AVhen she was more composed, I 
 asked for an explanation of what had taken 
 place, and she gave it. The facts were simple 
 enougli. After ray micle and I had left for the 
 mine, my aunt rose, expecting to find the 
 kitchen fire alight as usual, and Annie busy 
 making things neat for the day. To her 
 astonishment, the kitchen was empty, the ashes 
 in the grate were grey, and all was in disorder 
 as it had been on the night before. She called 
 Annie, but got no answer ; she searched the
 
 THE LETTER 147 
 
 cottage, but failed to find her ; then, conchiding 
 that she had gone to the village on some errand, 
 she set iibout doing the work herself. Several 
 hours passed away ; and, as tliere was still no 
 sign of the missing girl, my aunt began to grow 
 extremely alarmed. She had searched through 
 and around the house with no effect. She now 
 went down to the village and made several 
 inquiries, but with no result. Annie had not 
 been seen by anyone that day. 
 
 Seriously alarmed by this time, she returned 
 to the house, and looked again in Annie's room. 
 Suddenly, her attention was attracted to the 
 bed ; she looked at it, and found that, although 
 it was in disorder, it had not been slept in that 
 night. 
 
 Having told her tale, my aunt looked at 
 me, hoping that I might be able to say her 
 fears for her child were unfounded. I could 
 not ; the utmost I could do was to counsel 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 silence, and to try to bnoy her up with hope. 
 This I did. 
 
 ' It may be all right, aunt,' I said ; ' there- 
 fore it will be much better to keep our fears to 
 ourselves. Don't say anything to my uncle ; 
 there will be time enough to do that when our 
 last hope is gone.' 
 
 After some little difficulty, she consented to 
 follow my advice, and I persuaded her to return 
 home. But the day was finished for me. 
 After my aunt was gone, I could do nothing 
 but think of Annie ; the worst fears struggled 
 to take possession of me, but I diligently thrust 
 them away. I would not believe ill of my 
 cousin. 
 
 About five o'clock, my uncle came up from 
 the mine, and I proposed that we should knock 
 off work for the day, and stroll home together. 
 My uncle was in singularly go od spirits, and 
 during our walk home he frequently checked
 
 THE LETTER 149 
 
 liis mirth, avowing 'twas unnatural, and that 
 something ill would come of it. As we drew 
 near to the cottage, my heart beat painfully, and 
 when we w^ent in I looked anxiously about me. 
 
 My aunt was moving about preparing tea, 
 and she was alone. 
 
 ' Whar be the little woman ? ' asked my 
 iincle, as we sat down to our meal. 
 
 I saw my aunt's face grow very pale, but 
 she turned her head away and answered as 
 carelessly as possible : 
 
 * She be gawn out ! ' 
 
 ' Beant she coming in to tae ? ' 
 
 ' Naw ! ' 
 
 The answer was conclusive, and the meal 
 w^ent on ; my uncle eating heartily, while I was 
 scarcely able to sip my cup of tea. When the 
 meal was over, my uncle, according to his 
 usual custom, went to his seat beside the fire, 
 and lit his pipe.
 
 150 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 He had been smoking for an hour or more, 
 when a scene occuiTcd Avhich I cannot recall 
 without pain even now. All signs of the meal 
 had been cleared away, and my aunt, with 
 trembling hand, was about to lift down her 
 work-basket from its shelf, when a knock came 
 to the kitchen door ; then the door was opened, 
 and in came John Eudd. 
 
 He had a parcel for my aunt, which he 
 delivered ; he chatted for a few minutes, then 
 he prepared to go. 
 
 His hand was on the latch of the door, 
 when he paused and looked back : 
 
 ' Say, missus,' said he, ' whar be Miss 
 Awnie gawn to ? ' 
 
 My uncle looked up curiously ; my aunt's 
 cheeks grew as white as new-fallen snow. 
 
 ' Whar be she gawn to ? ' she repeated, 
 helplessly. 
 
 ' Iss ! ' continued Eudd, ' I seen her this
 
 THE LETTER 151 
 
 marning i' Falmouth, but she were in a mighty 
 hurry and didn't see me. She were dawn on 
 the jatty, and she went aboard the steamer for 
 Partsmouth.' 
 
 Mr. Eudd paused, thunderstruck at the 
 effect of his words. 
 
 My aunt, thoroughly exhausted by the 
 strain that had been put upon her that day, 
 sank, sobbing and moaning, into a chair ; my 
 uncle, who had risen from his seat, stood 
 glaring from one to another. 
 
 Presently he spoke. 
 
 ' What be all this about my Awnie ? ' he 
 cried. ' Speak, some 'un.' 
 
 My aunt continued to sob, John Paidd 
 stared in a mystified manner at one and all. 
 
 ' There's nothing to alarm anybody,' I said ; 
 ' it's all right.' 
 
 But my imcle, who was growing terribly 
 excited, hardly seemed to hear me.
 
 152 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' If thar be aught Avrong wi' my little 
 woman,' he cried, ' tell me ; I aint a child to 
 be petted, nor a fool to be kept i' the dark. 
 Speak, tell me what 'tis all about ! ' 
 
 So we told him all we knew, and, putting 
 this and that together, he gathered at least 
 one idea — that his child had, for some reason 
 or other, voluntarily left her home. He 
 stood like a man stupefied, scarcely gathering 
 the sense of the situation, and dimly wondering 
 why his wife received the news so violently. 
 In his simplicity, he did not guess, as yet, that 
 Annie's flight mi";ht have its ori<]i;in in secret 
 guilt and shame. 
 
 But when John Eudd was gone, and we 
 were left to ourselves, I looked at my uncle 
 and aunt, both so changed Avithin the last few 
 hours, and told them my suspicions of George 
 Eedruth. To my surprise they were received 
 with blank amazement, then with indication.
 
 THE LETTER 153 
 
 My uncle averred that I had always dishked 
 the young master, and it was but natural I 
 should credit him with a dastardly deed ; but 
 he himself refused to believe for one moment 
 in the young man's guilt. I felt convinced of 
 it, how^ever, in my ow-n mind ; and in order 
 to make sure, I determined to go up to the 
 master's house and ascertain if he were from 
 home. 
 
 The moment my uncle heard of my deter- 
 mination he resolved to accompany me. On 
 asking for the master, we were shown into the 
 library ; five minutes later the young man 
 himself walked into the room. 
 
 The sight of him deprived me utterly of the 
 power of speech ; my uncle looked at me 
 reproachfully, and was silent too. 
 
 George Eedruth, who had just been dining, 
 wore evening dress, and had never looked
 
 154 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 handsomer, or more tlioroiiglily at his ease, in 
 his hfe. 
 
 ' Well ! ' he said, glancing at us pleasantly 
 — he was evidently in an after-dinner mood — 
 ' is there anything I can do for either of you ? ' 
 
 ' Master Jarge,' said my uncle, earnestly, 
 ' we'm hi trouble, sir ; in sore trouble.' 
 
 ' Indeed ! I'm sorry to hear it.' 
 
 ' I knawed you'd be sarry, sir,' continued 
 my uncle, ' though 'taint no affair o' yourn, 
 God knaws ; but my daughter, sir, my little 
 Annie, she be run'd away ! ' 
 
 ' What ! ' he exclaimed. ' Run away from 
 home, do you mean ? But why come to me ? 
 What can J do ? ' 
 
 ' Naught, you can't do naught at all,' said 
 my uncle, ' that's just it.' 
 
 It was an awkward situation for us all, and 
 we all felt it. My uncle nervously turned his 
 hat round and round ; while the young master
 
 THE LETTER 155 
 
 grew more and more uncomfortable as every 
 minute went by. I felt tliat some explanation 
 was demanded, and I gave it. 
 
 'The fact is, sir,' I said, 'there is some 
 villain at the bottom of it, and we want to find 
 out who that villain is.' 
 
 ' And so you come to me ! Eeally, I don't 
 see the force of all this, and I have more 
 important matters to detain me ! ' 
 
 He opened the door, and we, seeing that 
 further conversation would be useless, left the 
 room and the house. 
 
 During the walk home, my uncle never 
 spoke. When we reached the cottage, he sank 
 down into a chair, and hid his face in his 
 hands. 
 
 I^othing more could be done that night, so 
 we all went to bed ; but not to sleep. During 
 the night I frequently heard my uncle walking 
 witli measured step up and down his room, and
 
 15 G THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 in the grey of the morning lie came out to the 
 kitchen to kindle n fire. 
 
 I looked at him, and scarcely knew him ; 
 his face was white and lined like that of 
 an old man. He was quite calm ; but there 
 was a sad look in his eyes which spoke of deep- 
 set pain. 
 
 I spoke to him of Annie, and told of a plan 
 I had made to follow her and bring her back ; 
 but he sadly shook his head. 
 
 ' Naw, lad,' said he, ' 'tis best left alawn ; 
 she went o' her awn free will, and maybe 
 some day she'll come back ; and till she does, 
 we'll wait, we'll wait ! ' 
 
 I felt he was ridit ; it was better to wait. 
 Even if we had been rich folk, which we were 
 not, it would have been difficult to find her ; 
 as it was, the matter was hopeless. So we 
 went on as usual with the old life. And yet 
 it was not the old life, for the house was
 
 THE LETTER 157 
 
 chaiiGred indeed — and there was ever one 
 vacant cliair. 
 
 Several days after that sad night, a letter 
 came from Annie ; it bore the London post- 
 mark, and ran as follows : — 
 
 ' My dear Parents, — Do not grieve about 
 me, for I am quite well and in want of nothing. 
 Do not attempt to find me, it would be useless ; 
 but I shall soon come back, with God's blessing, 
 and then you will learn why I left without a 
 word. I am sorry, so sorry, for any trouble 
 I have given you, and hope you wdll forgive 
 me, for the sake of the happy days that are 
 gone away. Your loving daughter, 
 
 ' Annie.' 
 
 My aunt read the letter aloud ; then my 
 uncle took it from her, looked at it for a long 
 time, and finally, without a word, placed it on
 
 158 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 tlio fire — watcliiug it till it was consumed. 
 After that, for a long time to come, he never 
 spoke of Annie again ; but he drooped daily, 
 like a man imder the weight of some mortal 
 pain.
 
 159 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 THE GREAT STORM. 
 
 It was now late in the year, and the winter 
 storms were beo;innino;. There were intervals 
 of calm, cool weather, when the wind came 
 from the east or south-east, and still frosty 
 days, when a breath as cold as steel crept 
 from the red sunrise of the north ; but ever 
 and again the trumpet of the tempest sounded 
 westAvard and southward, and the ocean rose 
 up before it in mountains of furious storm. 
 
 To stand on the seashore, or on the 
 weather-worn cliffs, at such moments, was au 
 experience not to be forgotten. With a sound 
 of crashing- thunder, with sheet-like flashes
 
 IGO THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 of flying foam, tlic mighty billows came 
 rolling in ; while far away, in the eye of the 
 wind, the clouds gathered and baleful rays 
 came and Avent, as if from the under world. 
 Again and again, during these storms, the 
 men forsook their work in the mine and 
 clustered on the wind-swept crags ; for the 
 sound beneath was too terrible, and at each 
 crash of the waters overhead the solid roofs 
 of rock seemed about to topple in. 
 
 A new lifeboat had come round from 
 Falmouth during the summer ; it was manned 
 chiefly by workers in the mine, and I was 
 their captain. We had tried the boat again 
 and again in light weather, and were proud 
 of her as life-boatsmen could be ; so that, 
 when need came, we were ready to do all 
 that human hands could do for the succour 
 of shipwrecked souls. Fortunately, few vessels 
 came that way, to need our aid in time
 
 THK GREAT STORM 161 
 
 of peril, for the great ships gave that lonely 
 shore a wide berth, knowing its many perils. 
 Sometimes, however, a coasting-vessel, heavily 
 laden, came ashore on the outlying reefs, but, 
 thanks to our sturdy boat, without much loss of 
 life. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 22nd day of 
 November, 18 — , there occurred such a phe- 
 nomenon as I have seen only once in my 
 life, and scarcely expect to see again. The 
 ocean was dead calm and black as ink ; the 
 sooty clouds, with sheets of windless vapour 
 trailing right down to the earth and water, 
 kept stationary in a sort of sinister twilight ; 
 and the air Avas full of an extraordinary 
 stillness, in which the concussion of the 
 slightest sound — a cock crowing, a goat 
 bleating, a human voice crying — was heard 
 for miles away. 
 
 I had just been down the mine, where 
 VOL. I. M
 
 1G2 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I found tlie men luid ceased working, and had 
 gathered in knots, whispering together. For 
 all through the dark galleries and passages 
 there came, from time to time, a curious 
 tremor, like the shock of earthquake — sullen, 
 sinister, terrible, making the heart, for some 
 unknown reason, stand still with fear. Nor 
 was this sound to be accounted for by the 
 dashing of waves above that subaqueous dark- 
 ness, since there was not a breath of wind, 
 and the sea lay in sullen, moveless folds, 
 scarcely vibrating. 
 
 ' What is it, my lads ? ' I had asked, 
 accosting the first group of men, who were 
 clustering on the central platform. 
 
 As I spoke, the tremor came again, so that 
 the walls seemed tumbling over, the hard 
 groimd rocking under me, with a vibration 
 which seemed to send a nameless terror into 
 my very blood.
 
 THE GREAT STORM 163 
 
 My uncle, wlio was there witli the others, 
 shook his head ominously. 
 
 ' We dawn't rightly knaw,' he said ; ' but 
 we ha' hard 'un again and again, sounding 
 hke that. Seems threatenincy like, and I 
 ha' bidden the gang knock off wark for 
 to-day.' 
 
 I knew that it was useless to remonstrate, 
 for the men were evidently full of superstitious 
 dread, which, if the truth must be told, I 
 could not help sharing. They threw down 
 their pickaxes and shovels, and followed me up 
 the shaft. 
 
 We found Johnson there, who seemed 
 astonished at our appearance, and, when I 
 told him what had taken place, looked 
 savage. 
 
 ' You're spoiling the men, Trelawney,' he 
 said. ' Guess such nervous fancies are only 
 fit for an old woman. Why, the sea 's like 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 a mill-pond, and tliere aint a breath of 
 wind.' 
 
 ' If you think it's only fonry,' I replied, 
 ' come down with me and try. I'll give you a 
 five-pound note if you stop down there half an 
 hour.' 
 
 He shrank back and shook his head angrily, 
 while the men clustering round us, greeted my 
 speech with a laugh. 
 
 ' I shall report this,' he cried, viciously. ' A 
 pack of cow^ards ! ' 
 
 And he walked off, amid an angry 
 murmur from the men, who detested him 
 cordially. 
 
 As the afternoon passed, and the dull 
 leaden twilight increased, we saw, looking 
 seaward, the phenomenon to which I have 
 alluded : two suns, one round and purple, 
 the other pink and ghostly, floating in the 
 vapours to the west. Both were quite rayless,
 
 THE GREAT STORM 165 
 
 and ihey liimg as it were some fifty yards from 
 each otlier. Both seemed so near to us that 
 one would liave thought it possible to reach 
 them with a bullet from a gun. 
 
 I cannot express in words tlie strangely 
 depressing and vaguely alarming effect of this 
 phenomenon on myself and all who witnessed 
 it. Nor Avas the effect lessened when the 
 dimmer of the two suns suddenly disappeared, 
 and the other changed in a moment from 
 purple to jet black. A jet black ball in the 
 midst of a waste of leaden grey. 
 
 ' Lawd save us ! ' cried Martin Treruddock, 
 an old fisherman, and one of our lifeboat's 
 crew. ' Lawd save us ! It looks like judgment, 
 mates — like the Last Day ! ' 
 
 This, indeed, was the thought which was 
 passing through all our minds. We stood 
 looking in suspense till the black sun dis- 
 appeared, and total darkness came ; and then.
 
 166 THE M\STER OF THE MINE 
 
 witli no little forebodiiiir, we scattered to our 
 homes. 
 
 But in the night, as we lay sleeping in our 
 beds, we learned that what we had witnessed 
 betokened, not any supernatural disturbance, 
 but the gathering of such a tempest as has 
 ocldom been seen, before or since, on those 
 shores. It came Avitli fearful lightnincf and 
 close-following thunder, followed by drops of 
 black and hideous hail ; and then, with a crash 
 and a scream and cry, the wind rushed from 
 the sea. I lay in my bed in the cottage, 
 thinking every moment that the house would 
 come down, shaking as it did to its foun- 
 dations, or the roof be blown away ; and every 
 minute the blasts grew more terrific, not 
 coming in broken gusts as during ordinary 
 storms, but in concussions of solid air, which 
 struck the walls with blows as of a battering 
 
 o
 
 TUE GREAT STORM 167 
 
 ram, and made every stone in the structure 
 clatter like a loose tooth. 
 
 Presently, I saw my uncle, partially dressed 
 and holding a light, enter my chamber. 
 
 ' Hugh, my lad, be you asleep ? ' 
 
 ' As if anyone could sleep on such a night ! 
 I thought yesterday's portent meant something. 
 The storm has come ! ' 
 
 'Mother be frighted badly,' he returned. 
 ' She be praying, lad, dawn i' the kitchen. 
 Lawd save us ; hark to that ! ' he added, as a 
 flash of iiery hghtning filled the room, and 
 wind and thunder mingled together in awful 
 reverberation. 
 
 There was no resting in bed, so I slipped on 
 my clothes and went down with my uncle to 
 the kitchen, where I found my aunt full of 
 superstitious terror. She had got out the old 
 Bible, and, having opened at random, was 
 readin"; in a low voice from one of the Psalms. 
 
 o
 
 1G8 TUE MASTER OF THE MLXE 
 
 I did my best to allay her fears, but succeeded 
 very badly. 
 
 For the greater part of the night we re- 
 mained sitting up. The thunder and lightning 
 lasted well on till morning, and when they 
 ceased, it became possible for the first time to 
 realise the frightful violence of the gale. It 
 was, as I afterwards learned, a well-defined 
 cyclone. 
 
 With the first peep of daylight, I seized my 
 hat and moved to the door. 
 
 ' Whar be'st gawing, lad ? ' cried my aunt. 
 
 ' Down to the shore. It's a high spring- tide, 
 and I want to see if the life-boat's snug.' 
 
 ' Na, na,' she cried, ' stawp yar ! ' 
 
 But I only smiled at her fears, and hastened 
 away. No sooner had I left the cottage than 
 the wind caught me, and almost dashed me 
 from my feet ; but I stooped my head, and 
 plunged right on in the teeth of the gale. The
 
 THE GREAT STORM 160 
 
 day was now breaking, with lurid sullen rays, 
 behind my back. Short as the distance was to 
 the seashore, I thought I should never reach it, 
 so terrible was the fury of the blast ! More 
 than once I had actually to lie down on the 
 groimd, and let it trample over me ! And with 
 the blast came hail and heavy rain, blinding 
 me, smiting my cheek like whipcord, and draw- 
 ing blood, so that I could scarcely see a yard 
 before my face. 
 
 At last I gained the cliff, and here I had 
 much ado to prevent myself from being lifted 
 up bodily and blown away. But I threw 
 myself on my face, and looked seaward. 
 Nothing was visible, only driving mists and 
 vapours ; but right below there was a blinding 
 whiteness of the line of breakers, and thence 
 there rose up to me, together with the wild 
 wisps of solid wind-swept water, the deafen-
 
 170 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 iiig tliundcr-roar of the tumultuously surging 
 sea. 
 
 Gaining courage presently, as the liglit in 
 the east grew clearer, I crawled down the path 
 leading to the shore. As I went, I was some- 
 times flattened like a rag against the rocks, by 
 the sheer force of the wind ; but I persevered, 
 and at last, with God's help, reached the 
 bottom. 
 
 It was high tide ; the roaring billows were 
 thundering up close to tlie clill', and the shallow 
 creek surrounding the boat-house was as white 
 as milk with the churnini^ of the waters. I 
 then perceived, to my consternation, that the 
 gale had struck tlie boat-house with such force 
 as to swieep the wooden roof away and dash it 
 into fragments against the clilTs. I crept on to 
 the door, which was on the lee and sheltered 
 side, drew forth from my pocket the key of the 
 padlock, opened it, and went in. The great
 
 THE GREAT STORM 171 
 
 boat lay there uuliarmecl, but was half full of 
 water, fresh from the dark rain-clouds, salt 
 from the angry sea. One of the oars had been 
 hfted out and snapped like a rotten twig, but 
 that was all. 
 
 Suddenly, as I stood here sheltering from 
 the gale, I heard a sound from seaward, like 
 the sound of a gun. I started, listening. In 
 a minute the sound was repeated. Yes ; it was 
 a gun at sea, and the sound could have only 
 one signification — a vessel in distress ! 
 
 Quitting the boat-house, I stood on the 
 shore, and strained my eyes against the drifting 
 vapours and blinding wind ; but I could distin- 
 guish nothing — indeed, so great was the rainy 
 darkness, that my vision could not penetrate 
 beyond twenty or thirty yards from the storm- 
 swept shore. But if I needed any fresh assur- 
 ance that a ship of some sort was struggling 
 with the elements not far away, it came to me
 
 172 THE MASTER OF T^IE MINE 
 
 in another foint report of a gun, and finally, in 
 the red light of a rocket, which shot up 
 through the black vapours like a shooting star, 
 and disappeared.
 
 173 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE SURVIVORS OF THE WRECK. 
 
 Quitting the storm-swept shore, I cHmbecl half- 
 way up the crags, and endeavoured, with strain- 
 ino- eyes, to penetrate the darkness seaward ; 
 but although it was now broad day, the clouds 
 of wind-blown vapour still covered the troubled 
 
 sea. 
 
 Greatly agitated, I made my way up the 
 cliff, and reached the summit, where I found 
 that an excited group, composed of fishermen 
 and miners, had already gathered. Among 
 them was my uncle, who addressed me eagerly 
 the moment I appeared. 
 
 'Did you say the lights, lad? Sure as
 
 17-i THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 tlcatli, lliere be a sliip on the rocks out 
 
 thar.' 
 
 ' On the South Stack,' said an okl fisherman) 
 
 naming an ugly reef wliich Lay riglit across the 
 
 mouth of the bay, three-quarters of a mile from 
 
 shore. 
 
 'Are you sure she's there?' I asked, 
 
 eagerly. 
 
 'Sure enough,' was the reply. 'When the 
 last light went oop, I saw 'un — leastways, 
 summat black amang the mist and foam.' 
 
 There was nothing for it but to wait and 
 watch ; for to go to the rescue in the teeth of 
 such a storm was out of the question, even if 
 we had been able to launch the lifeboat through 
 the billows madly breaking on the shore. The 
 wind still blew with extraordinary fury, though 
 signs were not wanting that its strength was par- 
 tially broken ; and still, with thimderous roar, 
 the waves came rolling in, sending up a cloud
 
 THE SURVIVORS OF THE WRECK 175 
 
 of wliite foam that reached to tlie very summit 
 of the chff where we were crouching ; and still, 
 trailing as it were on the waves and belching 
 hither and thither, like thick smoke from a 
 furnace, the mist came driving shoreward, blot- 
 tinoj the sea from sidit. 
 
 From time to time the gun sounded again ; 
 then it ceased altogether ; and no more rockets 
 rose, to indicate the whereabouts of the hidden 
 vessel. Was all over? Had the cruel seas 
 devoured her, with the helpless souls on board ? 
 Sick w^ith suspense, we waited and watched 
 almost certain that the last appeal had been 
 made, and that all was over. 
 
 Suddenly, the storm-smoke blew upward 
 here and there, leaving visible wild patches of 
 tossing water. Simultaneously, the wind less- 
 ened, coming not in solid phalanx, but in gusts, 
 fitful though terrible — very cannon blasts of 
 air.
 
 17G THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 A ^vild ciy rose, and all liaiids were sud- 
 denly pointed seaward. 
 
 Tlien, straining my eyes tlirough the blind- 
 in jx rain, I saw something like a white wall 
 of vapour rising right out to sea in the 
 direction of the South Stack, and ri^lit in its 
 centre the black outline of a large vessel, 
 wedged lirmly on the jagged rocks. For a 
 moment she was visible, then the vapours 
 blotted her once more from sis!;ht. A minute 
 afterwards, she was again visible, this time 
 more distinctly, so that I could clearly discern 
 a black funnel and two masts, a mainmast 
 intact, a foremast broken off just above the 
 decks. She was a large screw-steamer, with 
 her back broken right across, and only saved 
 from sinking by the very rocks which had 
 destroyed her. 
 
 How she had got into that fatal position it 
 was difficult to tell. Possibly her propeller
 
 THE SURYIVOKS OF THE WKECK 177 
 
 liad snapped, as is not uncommon with such 
 vessels, or the water had swamped her engines 
 and put them out ; in either of whicli cases, 
 seeino; how Httle sail she would be able to 
 carry at the best, it had been a vain task to 
 attempt to beat off a lee shore in the face of 
 such a gale. 
 
 She was so far away, and the mists were 
 still so troublesome, that it was difficult to tell 
 if there were any souls still left on board. 
 More than once I fancied that I discerned 
 shapes like human forms clinging to or lashed 
 to the rigging of the mainmast, but it was 
 impossible to distinguish them with any cer- 
 tainty. 
 
 However, my mind was now made up. The 
 lifeboat must be launched and manned without 
 delay. I turned to the men and said as much, 
 but tliey shrank back in unconcealed terror at 
 the mere proposition. And, indeed, it seemed 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 a liopelcys affair ! Althoiigli tlie Aviiid had 
 certainly fiillen a little, its Mling seemed to 
 augment, ratlier than to lessen, the fury of the 
 sea. The waters between us and the vessel 
 were terrible even to look upon ; and it seemed 
 impossible that even a hfeboat could live 
 among them. Even if she lived, how could 
 the strength of men propel her right in the 
 teeth of the tempest ? 
 
 While the men stood hesitating, the mists 
 rose all round the ship, and we saw, to our 
 amazement, that a stir was taking place upon 
 her decks. Yes ; there could be no doubt of 
 the fact ; a boat was preparing to leave her 
 sides, and, freighted with human beings, push 
 away for the shore. 
 
 Never shall I forget that sight ! Just in 
 the lee of the crippled vessel, under the cloud 
 ■of white smoke which rose for a moment high 
 above her remaining mast, there was a heaving
 
 THE SURVIVORS OF THE WRECK 179 
 
 patcli where the boat could float in safety ; 
 but beyond it, and nearer to us the waves rose 
 ag;ain in awful crested billows whirling^ and 
 swirlino; towards the shore. Seen from our 
 point of vantage, the boat seemed a mere 
 cockle-shell ; but we saw the tiny specks 
 crowding^ into it, while the broken water 
 streamed hke milk over the vessel's decks 
 and down her shoreward sides. 
 
 ' God help them ! ' I cried aloud, and more 
 than one voice echoed my prayer. 
 
 The boat pushed off. The under-swell 
 caught her and rushed her along at lightning 
 speed, and in a few moments she reached the 
 broken water. There the wind seemed to 
 smite her sidelong, and she was buried instan- 
 taneously in the trough of the sea. But she 
 reappeared, half smothered in surf and flying 
 foam. Then we saw, rapidly approaching hei', 
 a mountainous and awful wave ! 
 
 N 2
 
 180 Tin: PIASTER of the :mine 
 
 Tlie little boat, as if it were a living 
 tliiniz, seemed to see it too, and to stru^'ule to 
 escape ! Sick with horror, I covered my eyes ; 
 I could not look. Then I heard a deep 
 groan from the men around me, and looked 
 again. 
 
 The boat had gone, never to reappear. 
 The mighty wave had broken and was roaring 
 shoreward, and amid its foam I saw, or seemed 
 to see, shapes that struggled, sank, and died. 
 
 ' Man the lifeboat ! ' I cried. ' Quick, 
 lads ! Follow me ! ' 
 
 My uncle gripped me by the arm. 
 
 ' Too late, lad ! There's ne'er a sawl 
 aboard ! ' 
 
 ' Look yonder ! ' I answered, pointing sea- 
 ward. ' There are livinn; men on the deck 
 
 D 
 
 still, and in the risofino". Come ! ' 
 
 The lads, who were English born and had 
 their hearts in the right places, responded with
 
 THE SURVIYOKS OF THE WRECK 181 
 
 a cheer, and down the path we rushed till we 
 reached the shore. Entering the boat-house, 
 we soon had the boat baled and ready for 
 launching, wdien I first realised, to my dismay, 
 that w^e were short-handed, several of my best 
 men being aw^ay. But tw^o strong lads from 
 the mine volunteered, and my uncle made a 
 third; and so we formed a crew. To every 
 man I gave a cork life-belt, and tied on one 
 myself. Then, sjoringing to my place in the 
 stern, I urged on my men, as with shouts and 
 yells, scarcely heard amid the roar of water, 
 they ran the boat into the creek. 
 
 Each man knew his place. They urged 
 the boat, bow forward, into the surge, and 
 waded with it, those the furthest from shore 
 w^ading breast-deep in the weaves. Thrice we 
 were beaten back, and I thought the boat 
 would have been crushed to pieces on the 
 beach, but at last she floated — the men leaped
 
 182 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ill and took tlicir i)lace.s — tlie oars smote the 
 boiling snrgc, and out we crept to sea. 
 
 Once fairly afloat, we realised for the first 
 time the strength and fury of the storm. 
 Clouds of flying foam covered us, the strong 
 seas caucfht the oars and almost tore them 
 from the grasp, and for a time we scarcely 
 seemed to gain a foot of way. But the lads 
 put out their strength, and sheer muscle and 
 bold heroic will conquering at last, the life- 
 boat left the shore. 
 
 And now I alone, standing in the stern- 
 sheets, with the steering oar in my hand, 
 could see what mountainous seas we had to 
 pass before we could reach the doomed vessel, 
 which was now scarcely discernible through 
 the sheet of lov/-flying spray. As some great 
 wave came near, curling high above us, I 
 cheered on the men, and we met it with a 
 shock like thunder and a rattle of every plank
 
 THE SURVIYOKS OF THE AYRECK 18 
 
 o 
 
 of which the boat was made. More than once 
 the seas made a clean breach over us, but the 
 air-tight compartments and cushions of cork 
 kept us from actually foundering. On we 
 w^ent, with the light of the kindling east 
 turning from red to reddish-gold behind us, 
 and the mists, struck by the new radiance, 
 thinnino- to seaward ; and so, after a fierce 
 tussle with wind and water, we came in full 
 sisjht of the doomed vessel. 
 
 Stuck fast on the cruel reef, her back 
 broken, she was struggling like a crippled 
 bird — lying over, with her decks and funnel 
 inchned towards the shore, and quivermg 
 through and through with every blow of the 
 strong metallic waves. A pillar of smoky 
 foam, ever vanishing, ever renewed, hung over 
 her in the air, and from time to time the 
 v/aters foamed over her weather side, and 
 streamed over the splitting decks.
 
 184 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 At first I could discern no sign of life, but 
 as we drew nearer and nearer, I saw one or 
 twoJm'ures clin<»-in^ in tlie rifrii-innr from which 
 many of their comrades had doubtless been 
 washed away. They saw us coming, for one 
 of them waved something white. 
 
 ' Pull for your lives ! ' I cried. ' There are 
 men aboard ! ' 
 
 The lads answered me with a cheer, and 
 the boat shot forward to the steady sweep of 
 
 their united oars till we were within a hun- 
 dred yards of the steamer. 
 
 Then I saw a sight which filled all my soul 
 with fear and pity. Lashed to, or clinging to, 
 the mainmast, was the solitary figure of a 
 woman. I knew her sex by the wild hair 
 fallino: over her shoulders, and the curious 
 feminine grace of her form, visible through 
 a dark cloak that had been thrown hastily 
 upon her shoulders ; but lier head was droop-
 
 THE SURVIVORS OF THE TVRECK 185 
 
 ins and her face liidden, and she did not seem 
 
 'O 
 
 conscious of what wns tnking place. 
 
 I told the men that a woman was there, 
 and though they needed no new incentive to 
 give tliem strengtli, their faces grew more 
 animated, and I knew they w^onkl have faced 
 fire as well as water in such a cause. In a 
 few minutes more we were close at hand, 
 rising and falling on the white surge in the 
 vessel's lee. 
 
 Then the woman raised her head, and 
 looked in our direction. The men saw her, 
 and gave another cheer ; but I — I could have 
 swooned away in consternation. My head 
 went round. I looked a^ain and aQ;ain. 
 
 Either I was mad, or dreaming, or the face 
 I gazed upon was that of the love of my boy- 
 hood — Madeline Graham !
 
 186 THE MASTEIl OF THE MIXE 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 MADELINE GRAHAM. 
 
 Yes ; I knew her in a moment. 
 
 Tlie lurid light of the tempestuous morn- 
 ing shone full upon her face, and on the 
 clinging dress and cloak, wliich more expressed 
 than hid her lovely form. Her eyes were 
 wildly fixed, her face pale as death ; but in 
 her features there was a splendid self-posses- 
 sion far removed fromx common fear. 
 
 Though so many years had passed since 
 we had last met, she was still the same ; only 
 taller and more womanly, and even more 
 strangely beautiful than when she had first 
 shed love and rapture on my boyish heart.
 
 MADELINE GEAHAM 187 
 
 She was fastened to the mast by a rope. 
 Her feet were bare, and I saw, to my horror, 
 that all she wore save the great fur cloak was 
 a ni2:ht-dress of white cotton, reaching" to her 
 feet. Her hair fell over her shoulders in loose 
 and dripping folds, descending almost to her 
 wiiist. Peering more closely, I perceived that 
 her lips were blue, and her form shivering 
 with cold ; indeed, it was a miracle that she 
 had not perished in the chill of that cruel 
 nio'ht. 
 
 From that moment I saw nothing but that 
 one figure ; all others were blurred and practi- 
 cally unseen. In my wild amazement and 
 eagerness to reach her, I could have sprung 
 into the tossing waves. 
 
 The vessel lay sidelong, her decks turned 
 towards the shore ; and the fierce billows, 
 striking her seaward sides, broke with a thun- 
 derous roar and a cloud of spray, and then
 
 188 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 came surging down the slippery decks in a thin 
 sheet of foam, boiUng round tlie naked feet of 
 the soHtary maiden. 
 
 We liung off for a mhuite, to let one great 
 sea go by ; then we swept alongside. What 
 followed was more like a dream than waking 
 reality. But with an eager cry I leapt upon 
 the deck, and staggered up towards Madehne 
 Graham 
 
 Twice I slipped to my knees, and was 
 driven back and bruised against the buhvarks ; 
 but the third time I succeeded, and, reaching 
 her side, clung to the mast, and gazed into her 
 face. 
 
 ' Madeline ! ' I cried. 
 
 Her eyes met mine, but she gave no sign of 
 recognition. It was clear that what I remem- 
 bered so vividly she had utterly forgotten. 
 
 Drawing my clasp-knife, I cut her free, and
 
 MADELINE GRAHAM 189 
 
 put my arms around lier to bear lier back to 
 the boat. The decks rocked and spht beneath 
 us ; she chmg to me, as if in terror. Then I 
 watched my chance, and, raising her bodily in 
 my arms, carried her to the vessel's side, and 
 handed her to the men. 
 
 I was about to follow her, when I was at- 
 tracted by a wild scream, and, turning, I perceived 
 the fi<]jure of another woman crawlini? on the 
 deck, close to the companion. She was dark- 
 complexioned, like a mulatto, and almost naked. 
 Without a moment's hesitation, I ran to her, 
 and half lifted, half dragged her, to the vessel's 
 side. 
 
 I now perceived that we had saved, in addi- 
 tion to the two w^omen, two white seamen and 
 a black man, who afterwards turned out to be 
 the ship's cook. I clung to the bulwarks, and 
 looked round, searching for any other signs of 
 life.
 
 190 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 ' Come, 1ml, come ! ' cried my uncle. 
 ' Quick ! the ship's breaking up ! ' 
 
 I looked at the strange sailors, avIio sat 
 shivering in the bottom of the lifeboat. 
 
 ' Are there no more souls aboard ? ' I 
 cried. 
 
 ' JS^ot one,' they answered. All the rest had 
 perished in the long-boat, in the fatal attempt 
 to reach the shore. 
 
 There was not a moment to be lost. The 
 vessel was evidently doomed, and every shock 
 of the sea threatened to complete the work of 
 destruction. The black funnel, almost wrenched 
 out of the bursting decks, was leaning over 
 terribly, and threatening every moment to crash 
 down bodity and destroy the lifeboat. 
 
 I leapt in, and scrambled to my place in the 
 stern. On the seat close by me was Madeline, 
 her eyes half closed, her neck resting on the
 
 MADELINE GRAHAM 191 
 
 CiinDel : and at her feet was the coloured 
 woman, moanino- and cryino-. 
 
 It was but the work of a moment to strip 
 off my pilot-coat and wrap it round Madeline's 
 half-naked limbs ; but while I did so the men 
 cried impatiently, and pushed off. 
 
 ' Give way, lads ! ' I cried. ' Now ! Pull 
 for your lives ! ' 
 
 Away we went through the surging sea. 
 Not a moment too soon did we leave the vessel; 
 for ere we were thirty yards away the decks 
 were rent asunder, and tlie huge ftuinel toppled 
 over and fell like a battering ram upon the 
 bulwarks, wdiich broke like tinder beneath the 
 blow. 
 
 With wind and sea to urge us on, we flew 
 shoreward, and the strength of the oarsmen 
 was needed rather to break than to increase 
 our lightning speed. Again and again the 
 sjreat seas rose behind and threatened to eno-ulf
 
 192 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 US ; while gripping the steering oar I watclied 
 tliem, and guided the brave boat. 
 
 At last we approached the shore, and saw 
 a great crowd waiting upon the shingle and 
 swarming ii})on the cliff. Tossing like a cork 
 upon the waters, we waited our chance, and 
 then, after one huge wave had spent itself, and 
 there was a momentary surcease of the water's 
 power, I headed the boat's bow for the creek, 
 and we rowed in. 
 
 As the keel struck the sands, a dozen men 
 rushed in waist-deep to seize the boat ; our 
 men joined them, and then, with a long pull, 
 a strong pull, and a great ringing cheer, the 
 boat was hauled high and dry, and we were 
 safe. 
 
 My first thought was of Madeline. I lifted 
 her out in my strong arms, and carried her into 
 the shelter of the boat-house. Her face and 
 hands were cold as ice, and she was still swoon-
 
 MADELINE GRAHAM 193 
 
 ing. I called out for brandy ; and thank God ! 
 a man handed me a full flask. Supporting her 
 head upon my shoulder, I moistened her lips 
 with the raw spirit, and once moi'e, in my wild 
 anxiety, I breathed her name. 
 
 Once more she opened her eyes and looked 
 upon me ; still there was no sign whatever of 
 recognition. 
 
 She looked wildly round her, saw the rough 
 but kindly faces on every side, and murmured : 
 
 ' Where am I ? Who calls me ? ' 
 
 ' You are quite safe,' I cried ; ' safe, and 
 amono- friends.' 
 
 Again she looked up into my face, as if 
 stupefied. I held the flask to her hps, and she 
 seemed to swallow a little ; then a shudder ran 
 through her frame, and she released herself 
 from my hold. 
 
 I placed her on one of the wooden seats, 
 and bent over, tenderly watching her. Grad- 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 194 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 iially I saw the colour come back to her cheeks, 
 but very fiiiutly. 
 
 ' Anita ! ' she murmured, and k)oked round 
 as if seekinG; someone. «" 
 
 The rough fellows, clustering in the boat- 
 house, murmured sympathisingly ; whispered 
 encomiums on her beauty passed from mouth 
 to mouth. And indeed she looked strangely 
 lovely, even in her desolation — her eyes bright- 
 ening, her colour coming and going, her hair 
 streamincy over lier shoulders, her neck and 
 arms and feet as white as driven snow ! 
 
 As her strength and consciousness returned, 
 a new awe fell upon me, and I stood timidly 
 watchincj her. 
 
 She gazed at me again. 
 
 ' Now I understand,' she said, ' Tell me of 
 the others ; are they saved ? ' 
 
 1 told her the truth, and again she shud- 
 dered, half closing her eyes, as if to shut out
 
 :\rADELIXE GRAHAM 105 
 
 tlie picture of the horrors of the wreck. At 
 tliat moment some of the hfeboat's men ap- 
 peared, leadmg with them tlie coloured woman, 
 wdio, the instant she saw Madeline, sprang 
 towards her and knelt b}^ her side, hysterically 
 sobbing, and kissing her hands. 
 
 Madeline bent over her and addressed her 
 in some foreicrn tongjue — Portn2;iiese, I after 
 wards discovered. She answered volubly in 
 the same speech. I suspected the truth, that 
 this black ^irl was an attendant or waiting;- 
 maid of some sort, and that Madeline was her 
 mistress. 
 
 Turning to one of the rescued sailors, who 
 had now approached and was phlegmatically 
 chewing a quid as if he had just been comfort- 
 ably landed from a passing boat, I questioned 
 him concerning the lost vessel. She was a 
 large trading steamer, he said, bound from 
 Demerara to the port of London ; her name, 
 
 O '2
 
 19G THE MASTER OP THE MINE 
 
 the ' Valparaiso ; ' lier captain, one John Stetson, 
 a good sailor, who had been killed by the falling 
 of the foremast, and swept overboard. Her 
 passage across the Atlantic had been smooth 
 and pleasant ; but the night before she had 
 experienced all the strength of the great gale, 
 and while contendin£? with it had broken her 
 propeller. After that, she had tried to lie-to 
 imder sail, and had she found sea-room would 
 doubtless have been able to weather the storm ; 
 but as ill-luck would have it, the rocks of 
 Cornwall were right under her lee, and the 
 wind and sea swept her down upon them. 
 
 I questioned him concerning that episode 
 of the boat. He explained that two of the 
 boats had been smashed into fragments when 
 the ship lirst struck. The long-boat remained, 
 and at daybreak, after the captain perished, the 
 first officer, fancying that the ship was doomed, 
 determined to make for shore. All the crew
 
 MADELINE GRAHAM 197 
 
 fullowed liim but my iufonnaiit and two others, 
 who preferred sticking by the steamer to facing 
 certain death. The men, in fact, were mad with 
 friglit and drink combined, and for this reason, 
 perhaps, altogether forgot to wait for Madehne. 
 who had gone below. 
 
 So the last boat left the ship. It had not 
 gone far when Madeline reappeared. She 
 would have been swept away but for the assist- 
 ance of the sailors, who strapped her to the 
 mast as the only chance of safety ; and as she 
 stood there terror-stricken, she saw the boat 
 en2:ulfed with all its crew — the same sad siG:ht 
 which we had seen from land. 
 
 It turned out, on further questioning, that 
 Miss Graham was the only passenger, and 
 occupied, with her coloured maid, the captain's 
 own cabin. Her father, a rich Demerara 
 planter, had died some months before she took 
 passage, leaving her a great inheritance. I had
 
 198 THE IMASTER OF HIE ]\1L\E 
 
 no time to answer for myself tlie many questions 
 wliicli crowded upon my mind — Why Madeline 
 had come to Enuland ? Whether she had re- 
 lations surviving in the old country ? Whether 
 any living person, lover or friend, had the 
 right to protect her? But I looked at her 
 again, and thought how different she was from 
 all the other women I had known, in her 
 queenly grace and warmth of beauty. Beside 
 her, even my cousin Annie would have looked 
 coarse and common. 
 
 But there was no time to be lost, if slie 
 was to escape the consequences of that night's 
 exposure. She was still dripping wet, and the 
 morning air was bitterly cold. 
 
 ' You must not stay here,' I said, approaching 
 her, ' or you will catch your death. Do you 
 tliink you can ascend the cliffs? My aunt's 
 cottage is close by, and I should like to take 
 you there at once.'
 
 MADELINE GRAHAM 199 
 
 She rose at once, shivering, and took my 
 arm. Half leading, half supporting lier, I 
 guided her out of the boat-house and up the 
 steep ascent leading to the summit of the crag, 
 my uncle helping her upon the other side. 
 Some of the others followed, leading the 
 coloured mrl. 
 
 It was a steep climb ; and before we had 
 gone far we found that her strength w^as failing 
 her, so that we w^ere compelled to raise her 
 bodily in our arms ; but she was light and 
 fragile enough, and, for my own part, I could 
 have carried her like a child. 
 
 Once on the summit, we rested again, while 
 some of the men w^ent in chase of a moor pony, 
 one of several grazing on the moor hard by. 
 When it was secured, and bridled and bitted 
 with a stout rope, I lifted her upon it, and 
 placed the black girl by her side ; and thus, 
 still holding her and walking by her side, wdiile
 
 200 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 the men followed behind like a procession, I 
 conducted her to our cottnge, and handed her 
 over to the care of my hind aunt. 
 
 Thus God, in a mysterious fashion, had 
 restored to me the being who had been to me 
 for so many j^ars a sweet memory and a 
 delightful vision. I felt strangely happy, yet 
 troubled ; unable vet to realise what had taken 
 place. When my aunt had led Madeline to a 
 chamber upstairs, where she tended her with 
 motherly sympathy and tenderness, I sat in the 
 kitchen, Avaiting and wondering, like one in a 
 dream.
 
 201 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 A SUXBEAM IX THE COTTAGE. 
 
 It seemed as if the days of my boyhood had 
 come back to me. Never since then had I 
 experienced such feehngs as now filled my 
 heart, for with her fading they had faded, and 
 during the years of our separation I had passed 
 my time with tolerable tranquillity ; but now 
 that she had been so miraculously restored to 
 me, the old fire was rekindled in my soul, and 
 I became another man. 
 
 Her very presence in the house that night 
 drove away all thoughts of sleep. I paced my 
 room with restless footsteps, and when the dawn 
 broke I hurried off to the shore.
 
 202 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 What a chanire had come ! The wind had 
 died, tlie sea was Hke glass, and the only 
 record le(t of the storm was the wreckage 
 wdiich was being cast upon the sands. Early 
 as I was, there were others before me, gazing 
 eagerly seaward, and searching along the cliffs 
 for a prize. 
 
 I took a walk round by the mine, and, 
 having made a hasty inspection, I hurried back 
 to the cottage, eagerly hoping, yet half dreading, 
 to see Madeline. But I was disappointed. My 
 uncle had gone to his work. My aunt was 
 busy, but alone. I looked round the kitchen, 
 and my heart qave a o-reat throb. After all, 
 the events of the past night were real. There, 
 han<i-ini:f beside the fire, was the cloak — a rich 
 mantle of silk and fur— which had been clinging 
 round Madeline's form Avhen I took her from 
 
 the wreck. 
 
 I incLuired eagerly for Madeline. 'Have
 
 A SUNBEAM IX THE COTTAGE 203 
 
 you seen her, aunt ? ' I asked. ' Is slie well ? 
 How does she look ? ' 
 
 I suppose there was something peculiar in 
 my manner, for my aunt gazed at me curiously, 
 and said : 
 
 ' Who be she, Hugh ? Dost knaw who she 
 be?' 
 
 ' Yes,' I replied ; ' she is Miss Madeline 
 Graham. She was at school with me lon'^ a";o. 
 Just before m}^ father died she left, and I have 
 never seen her since.' 
 
 At that moment the door opened, and the 
 figure of the black woman appeared. In the 
 light of day she looked foreign indeed — a slight, 
 delicate girl, shivering with the cold of our raw 
 climate. I asked her how her mistress did. 
 She made no ans^ver, but stared vacantly at 
 me ; and I then discovered that she knew no 
 language but the one in which she had spoken 
 to Madeline. I looked at my aunt, and she
 
 204 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 understood — she went herself into the bedroom 
 to see how licr Lruest was ""ettiuii; on. 
 
 O Co 
 
 She was away only a few minutes, yet it 
 seemed to me an hour. When she came hack, 
 she smiled at my anxious look. 
 
 ' It be all right, lad, it be all right,' she 
 said. ' Tlie lady be awn the warse o' her 
 w^atting ; but she be tired, and will stawp in bed 
 to-day. Slie be a pratty creature, Hugh, and 
 rich, I darsay ; for her fingers be covered 
 wd' dawmond rings.' 
 
 All that day, overcome by the fatigue 
 through which she had j)assed, Madeline re- 
 mained in her chamber ; while I, utterly unable 
 to work, hung like a restless spirit about the 
 house. The next morning she awoke refreshed; 
 and when we three sat at breakfast, she as- 
 tonished us all by appearing amongst us, fully 
 dressed, and looking bright and well. 
 
 Her advent caused a cjeneral exclamation ;
 
 A SUXBEAM IX THE COTTAGE 205 
 
 my aunt ran forward to lier assistance ; my 
 uncle placed om- most comfortable chair beside 
 the fire ; while I, dmnl^ and powerless, stood 
 in the backojround doing^ nothiao-. Madeline ! 
 Could this be Madelme ? — the little girl I had 
 dreamed of all these years, whose hands had 
 been covered with my passionate kisses and 
 marked with my tears, and who had even wept 
 a little herself at parting with me ; could this be 
 the same ? — this glorious creature, with dreamy 
 black eyes, warm brown skin, and glorious 
 black hair ! Her form was tall and straiafht as 
 a willow ; she moved like a queen ! 
 
 As all her own clothes had been lost in the 
 wreck she wore a dress of my aunt's ; over it 
 she had thrown the cloak which she had worn 
 on the wreck, and which was now thoroughly 
 dried. She came forward languidly, leaning on 
 the shoulder of her black attendant, and sank 
 down into the chair which my uncle had placed
 
 20G THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 for lier, ^vllile the native bci::jini cryino- and 
 ki:5.'?iiig her hands. They spoke together in tlie 
 foreign tongne ; then Madeline raised her eyes 
 and looked qnietly around. iVll this while I 
 had been standing in the background, longing, 
 yet dreading to speak to lier ; for I saw clearly 
 enough that to her all the past was forgotten ; 
 but now, as her eyes swept the room and 
 finally rested witli a look of recognition on 
 my face, I felt the liot blood mount to my 
 temples. 
 
 ' Am I mistaken ? ' she asked, softly ; ' did 
 you take me from the wreck ? ' 
 
 I bowed my head. Tn a moment all her 
 languor disappeared, the old fire darted from 
 her eyes, the old flush suffused her cheeks — she 
 was the Madeline of my childhood once more. 
 She looked at her hands, with one quick move- 
 ment pulled off the most valuable of her rings, 
 and held it towards me
 
 A SUXBEAM IX THE COTTAGE 207 
 
 ' Will you not take it ? ' she said, with 
 a bright smile. ' You saved my life.' 
 
 Her whole manner w^as that of a lady 
 speaking to an inferior. Under my excitement 
 I hardly noticed it. Scarcely knowing what I 
 did, I sprang forward and took the ring ; then, 
 eagerly kissing her hand, I placed it again upon 
 her fin O'er. 
 
 ' Madeline,' I said, ' don't you know me ? 
 Madeline — IMiss Graham ! ' 
 
 She looked at me more critically, and shook 
 her head. 
 
 ' Have you forgotten Munster's ? ' I said, 
 ' and Hugh Trelawney ? ' 
 
 If I expected a wild outburst of pleasure at 
 the mention of my own name, I was quickly 
 disappointed. She only smiled ; and, with her 
 eyes fixed upon vacancy as if she was reviewing 
 the past, said : 
 
 ' Munster's? Hugh Trelawney ? Oh yes ;
 
 208 THE MASTER OF THE MLN'E 
 
 of course I remember now ! Hugh Trelawney 
 was tlic nicest of those Munster boys, and we 
 were friends ; but,' she added, fixing her eyes 
 anxiously upon me, ' surely you are not that 
 boy ? ' 
 
 ' Yes,' I replied, ' I am Hugh Trelawney ! 
 Her eyes opened wider, she glanced from 
 me to my uncle and aunt, then round the 
 kitchen, then she was silent. 
 
 I felt that some explanation was due to 
 her, and I gave it. I told her of my father s 
 death — of the kindness of my uncle and aunt, 
 and of my subsequent life at St, Gurlott's. 
 
 ' St. Gurlott's ! ' she said. ' Is this St. 
 Gurlott's in Cornwall ? ' 
 
 I answered in the affirmative. 
 ' Then I have an aunt living in a place of 
 that name,' she continued. ' Perhaps you may 
 know her : her name is Mrs. Eedruth.'
 
 A SUNBEAM IN THE COTTAGE 209 
 
 ' Lawd a mussey ! wha, that be our master's 
 mother ! ' broke in my amit. Bat I added : 
 
 ' Are you sure it's the same, Miss Graham ? 
 This Mrs. Eedruth has a son who owns the 
 mine.' 
 
 'Yes, I know — my cousin George!' she 
 answered ; while my heart misgave me at the 
 familiar manner in which she mentioned the 
 name. 'Oh, it must be the same,' she con- 
 tinued, enthusiastically ; ' and to think I should 
 be shipwrecked here, of all places in the world ! 
 Mr. Trelawney, are they far away? Would 
 it be possible to let them know that I am 
 here ? ' 
 
 ' It will be quite possible. Shall I take a 
 messac^e ? ' 
 
 ' Will you be so kind ? Perhaps if you tell 
 her the story and show her this,' she continued, 
 drawing a quaint signet-ring from her finger, 
 ' my aunt will come to me. This was my dear 
 
 VOL. I. P
 
 210 THE :\r.\STEU of the ]\il\e 
 
 fatlior's rinrr, and slie kncAv it well, for he 
 always wore it, — and he had it on even when 
 lie died ! ' 
 
 I took the ring from her hand and started 
 off on my mission. 
 
 The events of the last few hours had made 
 me a changed being. I began to wonder if it 
 was all real; whether I had really seen 
 Madeline, and whether the one real romance of 
 my life had been ruthlessly swept away. It 
 was clear to me now that she thought little 
 of the past, and cared for it even less. While 
 I had been living npon the memory of those 
 dear days, she had let other events obliterate it 
 entirely from her mind. Well, it was clear I 
 must do the same. I must deliver her up to 
 the custody of her relations as coldly as if she 
 were a stranger who had casually been cast in 
 ray path for a day. 
 
 Having made my decision, I became calmer.
 
 A SUNBEAM IN THE COTTAGE 211 
 
 and walked with a steady step up to Eedmth 
 House. I inquired for the young master ; 
 learned that he had left for London two days 
 before. I asked for the mistress, and she saw 
 me. She listened to my story quietly enough ; 
 when I showed her the ring, her white face 
 flushed, her hand trembled, and her eyes filled 
 with tears. 
 
 ' It is my brother's, my poor brother's,' she 
 said, more to herself than to me ; then she 
 added, ' My niece is at your cotage, you 
 say ? ' 
 
 ' Yes, madame.' 
 
 ' Tell her, I will come to her at once.' 
 
 I left the house and, instead of returnimi to 
 the cottage, walked straight down to the mine. 
 Where was the use of my returning to 
 Madeline : to stand by and see tliat grim and 
 stony-hearted woman bring to her queenly eyes 
 the light of happiness, to her lips the cry of joy, 
 
 P 2
 
 212 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 which the sight of my face had failed to do ? 
 No ; such a sight miglit have roused all that 
 was bad in my nature. I was better away. 
 
 All day I worked with a fierce persistence 
 which alarmed me. I looked at myself in my 
 mining suit, then recalled Madeline as I had 
 seen her that morning — with her soft hands 
 sparkling with gems, and the black servant 
 crouching at her feet — and realised more than 
 ever the distance that divided us from one 
 another. 
 
 She was the mistress, born to command ; I 
 the servant, whose business it was to obey. 
 
 I returned home in the evening, and found 
 the cottage much the same as it had always 
 been. Madeline was gone. 
 
 ' She be up at Eedruth House, Hugh,' said 
 my aunt. ' The awld missus came and took 
 her away, and right glad she was to go, poor 
 lass ! '
 
 A SU.NBEAM IN THE COTTAGE 213 
 
 Slie showed me a five-pound note which 
 Madehne had given Iier, borrowing it from her 
 aunt to do so. She put the note into an old 
 work-box where most of lier treasures were 
 kept, and set about getting the tea, imagining 
 that the romance of last niolit's wreck had 
 ended.
 
 214 THE MASTER OE THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 UNDER THE SPELL. 
 
 For some days after that I saw nothing what- 
 ever of MadeUne ; indeed, so close was she 
 kept in the great house that she might never 
 have existed at all. I began to think that she 
 had taken her departure from Cornwall, but I 
 was wrong. One day, the seventh from that 
 on which the lifeboat had brought Madeline to 
 shore, I made a minute inspection of the mine, 
 which every day grew more dangerous, and 
 came up from ni}^ work covered with filth from 
 head to foot. I had passed the last ladder, and 
 stood on terra jirma^ at the mouth of the mine, 
 dazzled by the quick transformation from pitch
 
 UNDER THE SPELL 215 
 
 darkness to broad daylight, wlien my ears were 
 struck by the sound of a voice which passed 
 like sudden music through my frame. I 
 rubbed my eyes and looked about me, and 
 there, not far from where I stood, was my old 
 sweetheart. She was dressed now in an elegant 
 costume of grey, which fitted her to perfection ; 
 a little hat with long plumes was on her head, 
 and her face, looking lovelier than ever, glowed 
 and sparkled in the light : with her rich brown 
 skin and sparkhng black eyes, her erect carriage, 
 graceful tread, she looked hke some Eastern 
 princess ! She was walking towards the spot 
 where I stood ; George Eedruth was beside her ; 
 while behind followed the black girl, Anita, 
 her dark eyes fixed upon her mistress. This 
 sudden encounter had so unnerved me that, for 
 a moment, it deprived me of the power both of 
 speech and motion. Quickly recovering myself, 
 however, I was about to move away, and so
 
 21G THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 avoid embarrassment, when the master's voice 
 arrested me. 
 
 ' Trelawney,' he said ; ' one moment.' I 
 paused. 
 
 ' Yes, sir.' 
 
 ' Miss Graham wishes to go down the mine. 
 I tell her it is im})ossible. What do you say ? 
 Is it fit for a lady ? ' 
 
 I was about to reply when Madeline inter- 
 posed. 
 
 ' Don't worry about it, George,' she said, 
 ' I've abandoned the idea.' Then, stepping up 
 to me, she held forth her little gloved hand. I 
 bowed over it, but did not take it, giving as an 
 excuse that I was not fit to approach her. 
 
 ' I dare say you were in quite as forlorn a 
 condition the other morning when you snatched 
 me from the wreck,' she said ; 'yet you did not 
 hesitate then, when your own life was in peril. 
 Mr. Trelawney, take my hand.'
 
 UNDER THE SPELL 217 
 
 I did as she requested, I clasped the httle 
 hand in both of mine and raised it respectfully 
 to my lips. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of 
 George Eedi'uth's face: it was black as the pit's 
 mouth. 
 
 'Now, my dear Madeline,' he said, im- 
 patiently, ' shall we go back? ' 
 
 But Madehne was not ready, or perhaps 
 she was too imperious to be so ordered by 
 her cousin. She had abandoned all intention 
 of descending the mine ; but she was, neverthe- 
 less, anxious to inspect the outside of it. 
 
 ' But you can go,' she said. ' Mr. Trelaw- 
 ney will escort me.' 
 
 'Nonsense!' returned her cousin. ' Tre- 
 lawney has got his work to attend to. I will 
 stay.' 
 
 And he did stay, for fully two hours ; at the 
 end of which time she allowed him to take her 
 away.
 
 218 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 Three otlier days passed without a sign from 
 her ; tlien I encoimtered her again. It was in 
 the evening, wlien I was walking home. Tliis 
 time she was alone ; except for the servant, who 
 walked at a respectful distance behind her. 
 She came up to me unreservedly, and again 
 held forth her hand. Having shaken hands 
 with her, I paused, not very well knowing wdiat 
 to do ; when she helped me. 
 
 ' I came to walk back with you,' she said. 
 ' Do you mind ? ' 
 
 '/ mind?'' 1 repeated, in amazement. 
 ' You forget. Miss Graham, it is an honour for 
 me to walk beside you.' 
 
 She gave a little impatient toss of her head, 
 and we walked on together. For some time 
 not a word was spoken, but I felt that she was 
 watching me keenly. Presently she said : 
 
 ' Do you know what I have been doing, 
 Mr. Trelawuey?'
 
 UNDER THE SPELL 219 
 
 ' No.' 
 
 ' I have been trying to find in you one 
 trace of the boy I knew, years ago, at Muuster's 
 — and I have failed.' 
 
 ' I don't understand.' 
 
 'Xo? Well, I will explain. The boy 1 
 knew was kind to me ; frank, open-hearted, 
 generous. You are somewhat unfriendly ; 
 reserved, harsh, and, if I may say so, churlish. 
 Why are you so changed ? ' 
 
 ' I am not changed, Lliss Graham ; or, if I 
 am, it is but with the tide of fortune, which 
 has ebbed and not flowed with me since we 
 met before. Wlien we were at Munster's I 
 believed we were equals, but now ' 
 
 ' Yes ; now ' 
 
 ' You are liiss Madeline Graham ; I am the 
 overseer of your cousin's mine.' 
 
 ' Then you wish us to remain strangers ? ' 
 
 ' I think it would be better. '
 
 220 THE mastI':r of the mine 
 
 'All! you are criiellor tlinu I thoiiirht ; if 
 you will not accept my friendship for the sake 
 of tlie old da3's when we were boy and girl 
 together, you will, at least, have some pity upon 
 me. I am lonely and amongst strangers here. 
 You seem like an old friend. If you will 
 suffer me to talk to you sometimes it will make 
 my stay here more pleasant.' 
 
 Her pleading won the day, and we became 
 friends. I never went to lledruth House, and 
 she never came to the cottaj:^e. I never souQ-ht 
 her, but quite innocently and frankly she sought 
 me. We often went on the moor when, after 
 my long day's work, I was making my way 
 home, and I could not regard these meetings as 
 purely accidental on her part. She was always 
 accompanied by the black girl, until one even- 
 ing, when she appeared alone. 
 
 ' You are looking for Anita ! ' said Madeline, 
 noting my glance. ' She has gone to London
 
 UNDER THE SPELL 221 
 
 with my aunt's maid, and will not return till 
 close on midnight. My cousin counselled my 
 staying at home to-night, or allowing him to 
 accompany me. I knew I should not want for 
 company, so refused to submit. I may not 
 enjoy these walks much longer.' 
 
 ' What ! are you going away ? ' I asked, in 
 some alarm. 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders. ' Perhaps ! I 
 don't know ; certainly I shall have to go sooner 
 or later, but I trust it may not be sooner. 
 When I was shipwrecked here I was on my 
 way to London, to take up my abode with some 
 other relations. They are troubling me with 
 questions, so I have sent up Anita to satisfy 
 them as to my safety. Yet I suppose I shall 
 some day have to go.' 
 
 She tried to speak carelessly, yet I fancied 
 I detected a ring of regret in her voice, and I
 
 222 THE MASTHR OF THE iAri>s'E 
 
 qiKiilecl before tlie feeling of desolation wliich 
 her words brought to my jieart. 
 
 In that one sentence she had unwittingly 
 shown to me myself — revealed to me the ter- 
 lible secret which I liad been vainly trying 
 to cru.sh from my heart. Even as she had 
 inlluenced my boyhood, she influenced my 
 manhood. 
 
 I loved her with the same unthinking love 
 which had filled my soul as a boy — loved her 
 even while I felt that such a love might be the 
 means of blighting my life. I knew that no 
 good could come of it, for was she not as far 
 removed from me as the moon was removed 
 from the sea ; and yet I felt at that moment 
 that to love her so, be it only for one hour, was 
 worth whole centuries of pain. 
 
 She walked with me as far as the cottacfe, 
 and, pausing at the little wicket gate, gave me 
 her hand.
 
 UNDER THE SPELL 223 
 
 ' Good iiiglit, ]\ir. Trelawney,' she said, 
 softly ; ' it is not good-bye yet ! ' 
 
 Again I raised her hand, and pressed it to 
 my hps ; then I dimly remember entering the 
 cottag;e : bnt all seemed unreal — save the one 
 overmastering fact that, fool that I was, I was 
 the slave of Madeline Graham !
 
 224 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BY THE SEA. 
 
 The next day was Sunda}^ I rose early and 
 put on my idling clothes, a dark snit of tweed. 
 That I took more than usnal pains with myself 
 may be assumed from the fact that my aunt, as 
 I strolled in to breakfast, started, and looked at 
 me from head to foot in no little surprise. 
 Then she sighed deeply, and glanced at my 
 uncle, who, also dressed for the day, in a suit of 
 solemn black, was sitting moodily by the fire. 
 
 For many days past there had been notice- 
 able a curious change in my uncle's manner. 
 I scarcely observed it at the time, for my heart 
 was too full of other and pleasanter impres-
 
 BY THE SEA 225 
 
 sions ; but afterwards, when 1 came to think it 
 over, I remembered vividly what had previously 
 passed without remark. To begin with, he 
 looked at least ten years older. His old cheery 
 laugh was gone ; and his eyes had a hard, far- 
 away look, very different to their former happy 
 brightness. Sometimes, as we sat together, he 
 would rise abruptly and pass out of the house, 
 leaving the meal on the table untouched. My 
 aunt seemed to forget her own trouble in watch- 
 ing his ; and nothing could surpass the silent 
 tenderness with which she waited upon him, 
 never breathing a word of her solicitude, but 
 showing in a hundred gentle ways her wifely 
 sympathy and devotion. 
 
 On the present occasion we breakfasted very 
 late ; and as we sat, there came to us, faintly 
 wafted over the distant moorland, the sound of 
 the church bells. My uncle started, listened, and 
 drew back his chair. Then, before we could 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 say a word, lie seized liis hat, and left the 
 house. 
 
 ' Gaw after him, Hugh ! ' cried my aunt — 
 adding quickly, ' Na, stay ! Maybe 'tis better 
 to let 'un be. Oh, Hugh, Hugh, he's never 
 been the same man since our Annie went fra 
 hame ! ' 
 
 And the tears streamed down her worn 
 cheeks as she spoke, and her voice was 
 broken, 
 
 ' Don't fret, aunt,' I said, gently. ' I'm 
 sure Annie is all right — indeed, you know 
 from her own letter that no harm has come to 
 her.' 
 
 ' I'm nawt fretting for Annie, it's for 
 father ! ' was the reply. ' I dawn't knaw what 
 there be upon his mind, but he's tarrible 
 changed ; and what be warst, he won't speak 
 o't even to me ; but keeps it like a canker- 
 warm, a-crnawinf^ and eating- out his life. I
 
 BY THE SEA 227 
 
 were watching liim just naw, and I knaw'd well 
 what were passing through un's mind.' 
 
 ' What ? ' 
 
 ' First he saw thee dressed and smart, and 
 he thought haw his Annie, too, would be sitting, 
 ready for church o' Sundays ; and then the 
 bells sounded, and all the happy time cam' back 
 upon poor father's heart. Oh, Hugh ! if you 
 and Annie had been different to one another, 
 father would ha' been happy still ; but I dawn't 
 blame 'ee, lad — it were no fault o' yourn ! ' 
 
 But though she acquitted me in w^ords, 
 there was in a manner a certain affectionate 
 reproach. 
 
 ' Aunt,' I said, ' I would cut off my hand to 
 put things right ; but Annie never cared for 
 me, and I ' 
 
 I paused awkwardly, knowing well that 1 
 had never loved my cousin. 
 
 ' The Lawd will punish her ! ' cried my 
 
 Q2
 
 228 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 aunt, bitterly. ' I'll ne'er forgie her ! If she 
 had stayed at hame like a decent lass, it would 
 all ha' come ridit i' the end. But she went wi' 
 scarce a ward, and wherever she be, the Lawd 
 will punish her ! ' 
 
 ' Nay, nay,' I said, rismg and putting my 
 hand on my aunt's shoulder, ' don't be hard on 
 poor Annie ! She'll soon come back, and then 
 all will be explained.' 
 
 My aunt's manner changed again, and the 
 tears streamed from her eyes anew. 
 
 ' Oh, Hugh, my lad, think you our lassie 
 will ever coom back ? ' 
 
 ' Of course. 'Twas but a lass's whim for 
 change ; she'll soon tire and return. I'm sure 
 no harm has happened to her, and she was 
 always kind and loving.' 
 
 ' Saw she were, Hugh, saw she were ! Hugh, 
 will 'ee speak to father, and try to cheer 'un ? ' 
 
 I nodded, then stooping, I kissed m.y aunt
 
 BY THE SEA 229 
 
 on tlie cheek. The Sabbatli bells still range 
 from the distance, clearly and sweetly. The 
 snn looked in throngh the window, and a 
 sunbeam trembled on the paven floor. 
 
 ' Shall you gaw to church, lad ? ' asked my 
 aunt, as I moved to the door. 
 
 ' Not to-day,' I replied. ' I'm going for a 
 walk on the moor.' 
 
 She looked at me keenly, and I saw that 
 she guessed my secret ; for the truth was, I was 
 hoping and praying to meet with Madeline. 
 With a heavy sigh, she turned away, and began 
 removing the breakfast things. 
 
 Once outside, I breathed again. It was a 
 calm, beautiful, sunny day, with just a touch of 
 frost in the clear sparkling air. Far away the 
 sea shone like silver. 
 
 I hesitated a moment, then walked down 
 the road towards the lodge gate — towards the 
 very spot, where, years before, I had first met
 
 230 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 George Eedrutli. No one was about; a 
 Sabbatli stillness lay everywhere ; and the faint 
 sound of the far-off bells only rendered it 
 deeper. 
 
 I paused at the gate, and looked up the 
 avenue. There was no sign of anyone. I 
 longed to walk right up to the great house and 
 inquire for her I sought; but I lacked the 
 courage. What was I, a common overseer of 
 the mine, to go following the footsteps of a 
 j)roud lady ? If I could meet her by accident, 
 good and 'well : but I did not wish even her to 
 suspect that I was so anxious for the meeting. 
 
 Perhaps she had gone on to church. If so, 
 doubtless George Eedruth was in her company. 
 I fretted at the thought, and turned away. At 
 last, weary with waiting, I determined to seek 
 forgetfulness in a long walk across the moor, 
 such as I had told my aunt I had intended to 
 take.
 
 BY THE SEA 231 
 
 Quitting the road, I followed a path which 
 led right over the open moorland in the 
 direction of the sea. The air was full of light- 
 ness and sweetness ; but my spirits by this time 
 had sunk to freezing-point. As to forgetting 
 the one object of my thought, that was simply 
 impossible. My soul was full of one image, 
 which went with me at every step I took. 
 
 I had wandered about a mile when I 
 perceived, by the side of a lonely moorland tarn 
 — one of those dark, turf-stained pools which 
 cast back the light like polished ebony, and 
 are often mysteriously deep — the figure of a 
 man. He was sitting on a fragment of rock, 
 and looking at the water. 
 
 Coming up quickly, I recognised my 
 uncle. 
 
 Our eyes met, but he did not speak. 
 Turning his head away, he looked down at the 
 tarn.
 
 23i2 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' Wliy, uncle,' I cried, ' I thought you were 
 at cluircli ! ' 
 
 ' Naw, lad,' he answered, still with his head 
 averted : ' naw, lad, I were in naw mood for to 
 kneel and pray. I came out yar on the waste 
 land, and I sat down yar, a-thinking.' 
 
 I put my hand upon his shoulder. 
 
 ' Uncle, you're not angry ? With «?<?, I 
 mean ? ' 
 
 ' Naw, lad,' he replied, in the same low, 
 listless tones. ' I ha' no call to be angry, least 
 of all wi' thee. Don't 'ee mind me — gang your 
 gait, and lea' me liere alawn.' 
 
 But I remembered my promise to my aunt, 
 and was determined not to leave him so. So I 
 sat down by his side, saying : 
 
 ' You've no reason to take it so much to 
 heart ; it's making trouble, I think, before it 
 comes. I know well why you're fretting 
 yourself so much. It's about Annie ; but, take
 
 BY THE SEA 233 
 
 my word for it, Annie's all right, and will soon 
 come back home.' 
 
 He tm^ned his face towards mine. How 
 strangely wild and weary it seemed, set in its 
 iron-grey hair. 
 
 ' Sometimes I think, lad, as she'll never 
 cooni back ; and if she do, will she e'er again 
 be the same little Annie I used to knaw ? But 
 it's nawt that, my lad, it's nawt that as is on 
 my mind.' 
 
 ' Then what is it ? Annie, I am sure, is well 
 and happy : so what can it be ? ' 
 
 He looked at me long and steadfastly before 
 he rephed. 
 
 ' If my lass went away, it mun ha' been 
 because o' trouble ; and if 'twere trouble, 'twere 
 a kind that she were feared to tell even to her 
 awn father. That letter my Annie writ came 
 from a sore heart — maybe a heart some villain 
 had broken ; and what I think, lad, other folk
 
 234 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 think too — I ha' seen them wliispering it to 
 one anawther, and looking at me ! ' 
 
 Of course I understood liini well enouHi : 
 for the same tliouglit had often enough been in 
 my own mind. 
 
 ' Whatever has happened,' I said, ' be sure 
 of one thing, — Annie is not to blame ! Uncle, 
 do you know what I have often suspected ? 
 My cousin left us only for a little while, because 
 she wished to be out of George Eed ruth's way.' 
 
 ' What d'ye mean ? ' he cried, starting, and 
 trembling violently. 
 
 ' There was something between them. He 
 had won her heart, perhaps. Then, distrusting 
 him, and knowing the great distance between 
 their stations, she said to herself, "I will go 
 away for a time till I am cured, or till he 
 has left the place." ' 
 
 My uncle frowned thoughtfully, and shook 
 his head.
 
 BY THE SEA 235 
 
 ' Kaw, Hugh — there be more ia't than that ; 
 but, whate'er it be, I'm sure the young master 
 had no hand in't. I know you never hked 'un, 
 Hugh ; but Master Jarge has a kind heart, and 
 would never do a dirty deed. Wliy, I ha' 
 knawed him and sarved him ever sin' he were 
 a boy, and I'd trust 'un wi' my own hfe.' 
 
 In pity for his trouble, I forbore to tell him 
 all I knew. Even had I done so, I believe his 
 simple faith in the ' master ' would have 
 remained firm. 
 
 ' It's of summat else I'm thinking, lad.' he 
 said, after a pause ; ' summat that were tawld 
 me t'other day by John Eudd. Three or four 
 days arter Annie went away, John Eudd he 
 saw her in Falmouth, alawng wi' that Yankee 
 chap, Johnson, the overseer.' 
 
 He noticed my start of surprise, and 
 continued : 
 
 ' They were standing talking together on the
 
 23G THE MASTER OP THE MI^'E 
 
 qua}^ and Annie were crying. Maybe there's 
 sumnuit in it, and maybe nawt ; but sin' the niglit 
 she went, .overseer cliap lias been away — folk 
 say, in London. Putting this and that tagether, 
 Hugh, my lad, what do it all mean ? ' 
 
 I was as puzzled as himself; but I hastened 
 to assure him of one thing — the utter impossi- 
 bility of there being any intimate relationship 
 between my cousin and the pseudo- American. 
 He looked somewhat incredulous, for in his 
 simple eyes Johnson was a stylish and import- 
 ant person, very likely to find favour in the 
 eyes of a young woman. 
 
 He rose wearily, and held out his hand, 
 ' Lea' me to think it out, lad. My mind be 
 Hxed that summat's wrang, and I shan't sleep 
 till I knaw the truth, the whole Gospel truth. 
 I ha' been praying and praying that things be 
 nawt as I ha' feared, for if any Hving man had 
 played the villain wi' my Annie, Lawd help
 
 BY THE SEA 237 
 
 ]iim ! Lawd keep -him from the reach o' my 
 hands ! ' 
 
 As I looked into his face, I coukl not help 
 echoing the praj'cr. I felt certain, at the same 
 time, that his fears and suspicions had shot 
 greatly in excess of the truth. I knew that 
 scandal was busy with poor Annie's name, and 
 that much of the scandal must have reached his 
 ears ; but I could not yet bring myself to 
 believe that Annie's flight betokened any- 
 thing seriously wrong. Of one thing I felt, 
 nevertheless, certain — that if wrong had been 
 done, George Eedruth was in some way 
 responsible. 
 
 I stood and watched my uncle, as he 
 wandered away in the direction of our home ; 
 then I turned my face again towards the sea, 
 and wandered on. As I went, the moor grew 
 opener and wilder, strewn with great stones 
 and boulders like fragments of the wreck of
 
 238 THE Jr ASTER OP THE MINE 
 
 some past world ; some huge as menhirs trans- 
 lated thitlicr in some prehistoric period of 
 wondrous floods — when the arid waste on 
 which I trod was the oozy bottom of a troubled 
 sea. 
 
 Here and there fed wild cattle, black and 
 horned, hke those that haunted .the woods of 
 Ancient Britain. In solitary places the 
 buzzard hovered, and by the brink of lonely 
 tarns the heron waded, rising up as I ap- 
 proached, with sleepy waft of wing. 
 
 At last, after a ramble of several miles, I 
 ap23roached the sea margin. My patli was now 
 on the stony edge of low-lying cliffs, at the 
 base of wliich the waters thundered for ever. 
 Here I found a lonely promontory of black 
 granite, stretching out into the sea, and 
 whitened at its limits by the chalky droppino-s 
 of innumerable sea-birds. On a rocky island a 
 few yards from the extreme point of the pro-
 
 BY THE SEA 239 
 
 montory, sat a flock of cormorants ; as I ap- 
 proached, they turned their snake-hke necks, 
 but did not rise. 
 
 The sun was warm and bright, the sea cahn 
 and shimmering hke steel. I threw myself 
 down on the rocks, and, with face upturned to 
 the clear skies, closed my eyes. A large black- 
 winged gull wheeled screaming, over me, and 
 then sailed slowly aAvay. All I heard was the 
 low murmur of the billows breaking sadly on 
 the rocks beneath me — that sound which 
 ' deepens silence,' and has such solemn mean- 
 ings for the troubled human soul. 
 
 Suddenly anotlier sound broke upon my 
 ear. I started, and listened. The sound 
 seemed to come from the sea itself, and was 
 like a mermaid singing. I rose quickly, and, 
 crossing the rocks, walked in the direction 
 from which the voice came. 
 
 ApproachiDg the edge of the crags, I
 
 240 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 looked down, and saw beneath me, in the very 
 shadow of the promontory, a quiet creek. 
 The rocks fell asunder, leaving a space of sandy 
 beach, some twenty yards broad, and closed 
 by the still waters of the sea, which broke in a 
 thin fringe of white foam on a sunny slope of 
 white pebble and golden sand. 
 
 It was a nook just such as the fabled mer- 
 womcn or sirens might have chosen when the 
 world w^as haunted, and such fair creations 
 brightened the sunshine. But what am I 
 saying? It was haunted still, and by one far 
 sweeter and more winsome than any mere 
 creation of a poet's fancy ! 
 
 Lying like a basking seal on the loose 
 shingle just under the rocks, and looking up at 
 me witli sparkling eyes, was the coloured girl 
 from Demerara ; and standing on the water's 
 edge, with her face looking seaward, was 
 Madeline Graham.
 
 241 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 A WALK ACROSS TEE MOOR. 
 
 Full of delight at tlie unexpected vision, I ran 
 down the rocks, and soon leapt down upon the 
 beach, close to the spot where Anita was lying. 
 She uttered a merry cry in Spanish, wJiich 
 caused her mistress to look in my direction. 
 Madeline exhibited no surprise, but after a 
 momentary glance, continued her occupation, 
 that of writing or drawing something on the 
 sand with the point of her parasol. 
 
 I walked towards her, and greeted her by 
 name. She smiled and nodded, but still con- 
 tinued intent upon the sand beneath her. I 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 242 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 followed the direction of her eyes, and to my 
 astonishment read my own name, thus : 
 
 Hugh Trelawney, St. Gurlott's. 
 
 The hot blood rushed to my cheek ; but 
 fled again almost immediately, as I read close 
 by the Avords : 
 
 George Eedrutii, Esq. 
 
 Both the master's name and my own were 
 
 printed large and bold. Close by them, 
 
 smaller in size and in running writing, were the 
 
 incomplete letters on which she was then 
 
 busy — 
 
 Madeline Gr 
 
 But no sooner had she reached the 'r' than 
 she glanced up at me, laughed merrily, and 
 obliterated it all with her little daintily booted 
 foot, 
 
 ' What brought you here, Mr. Trelawney ? '
 
 A WALK ACROSS THE MOOR 243 
 
 she said. ' I thoiiglit tliat you would have been 
 at church.' 
 
 ' I thought the same of you,' I rephed, 
 smihng, 
 
 ' Then you did not follow us ? ' 
 
 ' Certainly not ; though had I known, I 
 might very possibly have done so. But who 
 could have dreamed of finding you in this 
 solitary place, so far away from home ? ' 
 
 'My true home is far away indeed,' she 
 answered ; and raising her hand, she pointed 
 right out to sea. ' Yonder ! Sometimes I wish 
 that, as the Scripture says, I had wings like a 
 bird that I might fly back ! ' 
 
 And I saw that her beautiful eyes were dim 
 with tears. 
 
 ' Have you relations there ? ' I asked. ' Or 
 friends whom you love ? ' 
 
 ' Neither friends nor relations. When my 
 dear father died I was left quite sohtary. But 
 
 E 2
 
 244 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I lived so long tliere, and was so happy ! And 
 South America is so beautiful, so diflfercut from 
 this dreary land ! ' 
 
 I watched her nervously. 
 
 ' Some day, perhaps, you will return ? ' 
 
 ' Perhaps — I cannot tell,' she replied, sadly, 
 and turning on her heel, she walked slowly 
 towards the spot where Anita was lying. The 
 girl looked up and showed her white teeth, 
 smiling ; the smile broadened as her mistress 
 spoke to her rapidly in Portuguese. 
 
 ' Anita is of my opinion,' said Madeline ; 
 ' she thinks this English climate detestable, and 
 she longs for the palms and temples of the West. 
 I suppose I shall have to send her back. The 
 people think her a wild savage, because she 
 does not understand their barbarous dialect, and 
 she will never settle in England.' 
 
 I had my own suspicion that Madeline was 
 laughing at me^ and that Anita's smile had
 
 A WALK ACROSS THE MOOR 245 
 
 a quite different meaning ; but I was too happy 
 in tlie mere presence of my darling to trouble 
 myself on that head. Merely to stand by her 
 side, and look into her face, and hear her 
 musical voice, was joy sufficient ; for never had 
 she seemed more bright and beautiful. She 
 w^ore a rich sealskin cloak, tightly fitting, and 
 descending to her knees ; a pretty sealskin hat 
 to match ; and the parasol she carried was more 
 for use as a walking-stick than for a safeguard 
 ao'ainst the sun. The sea breeze had brouc^ht 
 the colour to her delicate cheek, and her dark 
 eyes were unusually light and happy. 
 
 For the time being I forgot the social gulf 
 between us, between her wealth and my poverty, 
 and talked freely and unrestrainedly of many 
 things. The old constraint left me, I suppose 
 to the improvement of my manners, for Made- 
 line seemed to look at me and listen to me with 
 unusual interest.
 
 246 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 'And you^' slie said, presently. 'Shall 
 you remain in this lonely Cornwall all your 
 life ? ' 
 
 The question took me by surprise, and Avas 
 difficult to answer. 
 
 ' Who can tell ? ' I said. ' I have often 
 thought of trying my fortune across the ocean, 
 but habit has kept me chained to a dull place 
 and a cheerless occupation. Sometimes, do you 
 know. Miss Graham, I think it is all fatality. 
 It seems so strange, for example, that I should 
 have been brought here at all, and that, even in 
 so unlikely a place, we two should have been 
 once more thrown together.' 
 
 ' It is fortunate for me, at any rate, that you 
 became a Cornishman.' 
 
 ' How so .P ' 
 
 ' Because, otherwise, I might not have sur- 
 vived — to thank you for my life ! ' 
 
 Was it gratitude, or an even tenderer senti-
 
 A WALK ACROSS THE MOOR 247 
 
 ment, that filled her eyes with such tender 
 meaning, and after one long look, made her 
 blush and turn her head away? I cannot 
 tell ; but the look made my heart leap, while 
 a new thrill of rapturous hope trembled through 
 my veins. I glanced at Anita ; she was bask- 
 ing again, with closed eyes. Carried beyond 
 myself by the inspiration of the moment, I took 
 my darling's hand. 
 
 ' Miss Graham,' I said ; ' Madeline — may 
 I call you again by that dear name? — ever 
 since we parted, years ago, you have been the 
 one memory of my life ; and when we met 
 again ' 
 
 I would have continued impetuously ; but 
 gently disengaging her hand, she cried, 
 
 ' Anita ! come, it is time to go home.' 
 
 The girl seemed to understand, for she 
 sprang to her feet and pointed eagerly up the 
 rocks. For myself, I stood stupefied and
 
 248 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ashamed ; l)ut turning again to me with a hglit 
 smile, MadeUne continued : 
 
 ' Are you returning to tlie village, Mr. Tre- 
 lawney ? If so, let us walk together.' 
 
 Something in her manner convinced me 
 that I had better encroach no further, but 
 make the best of my immediate chance of 
 happiness. So I answered eagerly that I was 
 at her service, and the next minute I was 
 piloting her up the rocks. The way was 
 troublesome, and she often needed and accepted 
 the help of my hand, thrilling me through and 
 through with her warm touch. 
 
 At last we left the rock -sown promontory 
 behind us, and stepped out on the open heath. 
 We two led the way, while Anita followed 
 behind, so slowly that we were soon left prac- 
 tically alone. 
 
 'How came you to walk so far?' I inquired.
 
 A WALK ACROSS THE MOOR 249 
 
 ' We are three or four miles, as the crow flies, 
 from St. Gurlott's.' 
 
 'Oh, I came out early, and the sunshine 
 tempted me on. I did not think that we had 
 wandered such a distance. Poor Anita will be 
 tired out.' 
 
 ' And you ? 
 
 ' Oh, / love a long walk ! ' she replied, 
 gaily. 'Even in Demerara I used to wander 
 for hours and hours in the woods ; and once I 
 was nearly lost. Night came down suddenly, 
 and I had to creep into the bole of a great 
 tree ; and I wasn't frightened, though I could 
 hear the tiger-cats crying all round me ; for 
 the fire-flies made it almost as light as day. 
 But poor papa nearly went out of his mind, 
 and, after that Avould never let me enter the 
 woods alone. 
 
 ' How did they find you ? ' 
 
 ' By beating the woods. There were about
 
 250 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 a hundred coolies carrying torclies, and making 
 noise enough to wake tlie dead. At last, as 
 they were passing, I joopped out of my hiding- 
 place, and cried, quite coolly, "Here I am, 
 papa ! " lie was terribly angry, but I was soon 
 forgiven.' 
 
 ' It would be a hard heart,' I murmured, 
 tenderly, ' that would not forgive you any- 
 thin o' ! ' 
 
 She looked at me merrily, and shook her 
 head. 
 
 ' Ah, you don't know me ! Poor papa, if 
 he were alive, could tell you a different tale. 
 I was always a spoiled child, Mr. Trelawney.' 
 
 Thus lightly talking, and playing with the 
 merest threads of conversation, to avoid touch- 
 ing themes of more dangerous interest, we 
 walked across the moor. Though it was 
 winter-tide, the air was very close and warm 
 with sunlight, and Anita lagged more and more
 
 A WALK ACKOSS THE MOOR 251 
 
 behind. At last we came in sight of the village, 
 and paused by the side of the moorland tarn 
 where I had parted with my uncle. My eyes 
 were fixed earnestly on Madeline. Suddenly I 
 saw her start and chano'e colour. 
 
 Following the glance of her eyes, I caught 
 sight of a well-known figure approaching. It 
 was George Redruth, elegantly dressed, and 
 carrying a walking-cane. 
 
 He came up rapidly, and I saw by the 
 expression of his face that he was ill-pleased. 
 He glanced at me angrily and contemptuously, 
 and then addressed his cousin. 
 
 ' Where have you been ? ' he cried. ' I 
 have been looking for you everywhere. Do 
 you know that it is three o'clock ? ' 
 
 'I did not know it was so late,' rephed 
 Madeline, quietly. ' Anita and I went wander- 
 ing across the moor and down to the seaside, 
 where we found Mr. Trelawney.'
 
 252 THE MASTER OF THE MLN'E 
 
 He looked at me again, and I saw his brow 
 blacken more and more. 
 
 ' Luncli was served at half-past one,' he 
 muttered, ' and my mother has driven over to 
 afternoon service. I won't trouble Trelawney 
 any further. Take my arm, and let me see 
 you nome.' 
 
 He spoke with the air of authority habitual 
 with him. I was not surprised to see Madeline 
 flush angrily, and decline the proffered arm. 
 
 ' There is plenty of time for that,' she 
 exclaimed. ' See ! poor Anita is almost ex- 
 hausted — it would be a charity to assist Jier ; 
 it is none to assist me ! ' 
 
 Indeed, Anita seemed dead beat. She was 
 seated on a stone, about a hundred yards 
 behind us, resting her elbows on her knees, 
 her chin in her hands. Eedruth glanced 
 towards her and shruijo-ed his shoulders. 
 
 CO 
 
 ' I never go near niggers,' he retorted ;
 
 A WALK ACROSS THE MOOR 253 
 
 ' can't stand them. Perliaps Trelawney is not 
 so particular,' he added, with an insufferable 
 sneer. 
 
 Our eyes met, and a sharp retort was on 
 my tongue, when Madeline broke in, with a 
 touch of his own cutting manner : 
 
 ' Anita is not what you so politely call her ; 
 and as for Mr. Trelawney, he is at least a 
 gentleman, incapable of making coarse remarks, 
 even at the expense of a social inferior.' 
 
 This eulogium of myself seemed to afford 
 George Eedruth intense amusement. Possibly 
 he thouo-ht the w^ord ' £i;entleman ' had an odd 
 sound applied to a person of my position. I 
 flushed to the temples, but did not trust myself 
 to make any observation. Without even look- 
 ing at Eedruth, I raised my hat to Madeline, 
 and walked rapidly away.
 
 254 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 
 I RECEIVE MY CONGE. 
 
 Absorbed as I was in my newly-awakened 
 love for Madeline, I foiled to notice for some 
 time the changes which were going on about 
 us ; but I was soon brought from dreamland 
 by the attitude which the young master chose 
 to take. 
 
 It soon became clear to me that his resent- 
 ment, from whatever source it sprang, was 
 levelled against me ; and in a short time I 
 discovered that the innocent cause of all these 
 eruptions was Madeline herself. 
 
 George Eedruth had made up his mind to 
 woo Madeline Graham, and he honoured me
 
 I RECEIVE Mr CONGE 255 
 
 SO far as to fear that my presence in St. 
 Gurlott's might be the means of preventing 
 him winning his cousin's hand. A marriage 
 with Madeline would be advantageous to 
 him, principally because his own position was 
 becoming very insecure, he having gambled 
 and bet away most of his fortune, and so being 
 in danger of losing the position which her 
 money would restore to him. Thus it was 
 that he watched the growing friendship be- 
 tween myself and his cousin with ever-increas- 
 ing anger ; and finding he could not openly 
 control her, he determined, I afterwards 
 learned, to gain his ends by treachery. 
 
 It was not to these things, however, which 
 I was able at this time to give my entire 
 thoughts ; other and more painful matters 
 occurred which for a time drove the young 
 master from my mind. 
 
 . At home things were going very badly
 
 25G THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 with us. My uncle remained in tlic same de- 
 sponding state, while every day fresh wrinkles 
 appeared in my aunt's face — the tears were 
 often wet upon her cheek. It seemed a sin 
 for me to be happy while so much grief 
 remained at home ; and I sometimes felt 
 inclined to go right away and not return till 
 I could bring our lost one along with me. 
 
 I began to wonder, too, if my uncle could 
 be right when he said that the new overseer 
 had a hand in poor Annie's downfall. It was 
 strange, but since the night of Annie's dis- 
 appearance Johnson's foce had not been seen 
 in St. Gurlott's. I was pondering over a 
 solution of all these mysteries when one day 
 an event happened which threatened to bring 
 matters to a climax indeed. 
 
 I had come up from the mine after a pro- 
 longed inspection of it, and stood at the 
 entrance, blinded with tallow and droppings,
 
 I KECEIYE MY COXGE 257 
 
 when suddenly I heard a wild sound of voices, 
 and turning round I saw two men flicing each 
 other, and looking as if they were about to 
 close in a deadly grip. One of the men was 
 my uncle, the other was Johnson, the overseer. 
 
 At sio'ht of the man whom he believed to 
 be his bitterest foe, all my uncle's feebleness 
 seemed to fall miraculously from him. He 
 towered above the other, and raised his 
 clenched fist as if to strike. 
 
 ' You villain ! ' he cried. ' You cowardly, 
 treacherous villain ! Tell me, whar is my lass ? 
 Tell me, or, by the Lawd, I strike 'ee dead 
 before mc ! ' 
 
 In another moment the arm would have 
 descended, for Johnson was paralysed with 
 fear ; but I sprang forward and caught it with 
 a cry. My uncle tried to wrench himself free. 
 
 ' Let gaw, Hugh ! ' he cried, fiercely. ' I 
 told 'ee what I'd do if I met the villain, and 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 I'll do't. Look at 'iiii, the white-faced cur ; he 
 brought trouble to uiy lass ! And naw, while 
 she's wanderin' about the earth in misery 
 maybe, he cooms yar to laugh at what he's 
 dawn ! ' 
 
 I still held him firmly ; and Johnson, cur 
 that he was, seeing that the danger was passed, 
 recovered his presence of mind. 
 
 'Perhaps, now you're a little calmer,' he 
 said, 'you'll tell me what you're ravmg about?' 
 
 ' I will answer for him,' I replied. ' Where 
 is Annie Pendragon ? ' 
 
 He shrugged his shoulders, and raised his 
 brows. 
 
 ' It seems to me you are all raving lunatics 
 together. Why do you ask me these things? 
 What do I know of the g-irl ? ' 
 
 'You are supposed to have enticed her 
 from her home. You were seen with her in 
 Palmouth, and you must know where she is.'
 
 I RECEIVE MY COXGE 259 
 
 'I don't know where she is. I met her 
 in Falmouth, it's true, and spoke to her ; but 
 her being away from home was no concern 
 o' mine.' 
 
 ' It's a he ! ' cried my uncle, fiercely ; and 
 again he tried to free himself from my grasp, 
 but I held him firmly. 
 
 ' It's no use,' I said ; ' we shan t mend 
 matters with him. We must find out by some 
 other means whether or not he is speaking the 
 truth.' 
 
 The result of all this was a serious illness, 
 which laid my uncle low, and for some weeks 
 threatened his life. Durino- this time Madeline 
 came frequently to the cottage, accompanied by 
 Anita, who carried little tempting things for 
 the poor old man to eat. At last the terrible 
 time passed, and he rose from his bed — the 
 feeble worn-out wreck of his old self. 
 
 From that day forth his intellect seemed 
 
 S 2
 
 260 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 shaken, but he clung with strange persistence 
 to the one idea, that Jolmson was in some way- 
 responsible for all that had taken place. I had 
 my own reasons for refusing to share this 
 belief; nevertheless, I saw the overseer again, 
 and after the interview with him, I became 
 more firmly convinced than ever that my uncle 
 was wrong in his surmises. If Johnson had a 
 hand in Annie's flight, he was not the real 
 wrong-doer. I still suspected George Eedruth, 
 though as yet I had been unable to obtain 
 absolute proof of his guilt. 
 
 Meantime, having seen my uncle on the 
 high road to recovery, I was compelled once 
 more to turn my attention to the mine, which 
 grew every day more dangerous. I had spoken 
 to the master of these dangers again and again, 
 and he had taken no heed. So long as he was 
 safe above ground it was nothing to him that 
 the lives of the men who worked below were
 
 I KECEIVE MY CONGE 261 
 
 in daily jeopardy. Nevertheless, I knew tliat 
 something must be done ; I resolved to make 
 one last appeal to him, and if that failed in its 
 effect to communicate with the members of the 
 company, who, conjointly with himself, owned 
 the property. I had fully made up my mind 
 to see him at home, when I was spared the 
 pains. He strolled down to the counting-house 
 one morning in company with Johnson. 
 
 ' Mr. Eedruth,' I said, approaching him, ' I 
 should like to speak a few words to you, sir.' 
 
 He looked at me from head to foot with a 
 cold supercilious sneer which sent my blood up 
 to boiling heat, as he replied : 
 
 'Well, you can speak then — I am all 
 attention.' 
 
 I glanced at Johnson, but as that worthy 
 made no attempt to go I proceeded. 
 
 'It's about the mine,' I began, when he 
 interrupted me.
 
 262 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' Oh, the mine ! ' he said, impatiently ; ' I 
 think I have heard a good deal on this subject 
 from you before ? ' 
 
 'You have, sir; and you have taken no 
 heed; but the time has passed for all that — 
 each day the danger grows, and now at any 
 moment the sea may break in and every soul 
 be killed ! ' 
 
 While I had been speaking he had been 
 engaged in lighting a cigar ; when I had finished 
 he removed the cigar from his moutli, puffed 
 out a volume of smoke, which he watched 
 ascend, and asked quietly : 
 
 'Do the men know of the danger which 
 you say is threatening them ? ' 
 
 ' Most assuredly they do ! ' 
 
 ' And do they refuse to work ? ' 
 
 'I^o; where would be the use? If they 
 left the mine they would be thrown out of 
 employment, and then their families would
 
 I RECEIVE MY COXGE 263 
 
 starve. Better for them to hold their own lives 
 in their hands than to expose their wives and 
 children to such a fate ! ' 
 
 ' Very good ; then since by your own 
 showing you are the only discontented spkit, 
 it's time for you to go ! ' 
 
 The cool way in which he uttered these 
 words fairly took aAvay my breath. 
 
 ' What do you mean ? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Just what I say,' he returned : ' that from 
 to-day you may consider yourself dismissed 
 from the mine, and had better seek elsewhere 
 for employment. If you are dissatisfied, other 
 people are not. Mr. Johnson is quite contented 
 with the state of affairs, and is willing to take 
 your place.' 
 
 Seeing that resistance would be useless, I 
 accepted my conge Avith as good a grace as 
 possible, but I was determined not to resign 
 without freely speaking my mind, so 1 faced
 
 1^04 THE MASTER OF THE WINE 
 
 George lledrutli firmly and said, ])laciiig my 
 hand upon his arm just as he was turning away : 
 
 ' I have been expecting this for a long time, 
 and it has come. Well, so much the better. I 
 warn you, however, that I shall do my duty, 
 and let the company know the exact state of 
 affairs.' 
 
 He turned to Johnson, and I saw the two 
 exchange a significant smile ; then his face 
 hardened as he replied, contemptuously : 
 
 ' You will, of course, do as you })lease ; 
 only obhge me by getting out of my employ- 
 ment as quickly as possible.' 
 
 ' It will be a good riddance ! ' muttered 
 Johnson, breaking in for the first time. ' Tre- 
 lawney has always been a croaker.' 
 
 The fellow's insolent leer provoked me far 
 more than his master's sang-froid. 
 
 'I'll croak to some tune,' I cried, facing 
 him, ' if you presume to talk to me ! '
 
 I RECEIVE MY CONGE 2G5 
 
 ' Presume, indeed ! ' lie repeated, turning 
 white with fear or mahce. ' 'Taint much pre- 
 sumption, I guess, to take down a young cock- 
 o'-the-walk who puts on airs as if he was a 
 gentleman. If Mr. George had listened to my 
 advice, he'd have got rid of you long ago ! ' 
 
 ' Come along, Johnson,' said Eedruth ; ' he's 
 not worth talking to.' 
 
 But I clenched my fists and blocked tlie 
 way, I suppose there was something in my 
 face which looked ugly, for the two men 
 recoiled before me. Several of the miners, 
 attracted by our high words, had now gathered, 
 and were looking on in astonishment. 
 
 ' I know well an honest man is not wanted 
 here,' I said. 'I've known that for many a 
 long day. Like master, like man. You, sir, 
 want a scoundrel to do your dirty work ; and 
 here he is, ready made, to your hand — as mean 
 and cowardly a scoundrel as ever drew breath.'
 
 266 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' Out of the way, joii ruffian ! ' cried 
 Eedrutli, lifting his cane. 
 
 But he knew better than to strike me ; he 
 knew that, if he had done so, I would have 
 thrashed him witliiu an inch of his life ; and he 
 knew too that not one man there would have 
 raised a finger to protect him, though he was 
 the master of the mine. 
 
 But the presence of the onlookers, I suppose, 
 made his companion foolhardy ; for stepping 
 forward, livid with passion, he shook liis fist in 
 my face. 
 
 ' Who are you calling a scoundrel ? ' he 
 cried, ' Do you know who I am ? I'm over- 
 seer of this here mine, and you, you're a 
 beggar, that's what you are ! Why, darn you ! 
 I could eat you up and spit you out, and 
 twenty more hke you ! ' 
 
 He had proceeded thus far, garnishing his 
 address with innumerable expletives, which
 
 I EECEIVE MY COXGE 267 
 
 will uot bear transcription, when, without more 
 parley, unable to resist the provocation of his 
 close proximity, I quietly knocked him down. 
 
 As he fell, George Eedruth sprang towards 
 me, and struck at me with his cane ; but I tore 
 the cane from his hand, broke it into pieces, 
 and flung it away. 
 
 ' Take care, sir ! ' I said, ' I may hurt you 
 too, if you go too far.' 
 
 He drew back trembling. 
 
 ' You shall smart for this, Trelawney ! 
 Before the day is out you shall lie in jail ! ' 
 
 ' You know where to find me,' I answered ; 
 and then, without another word, I walked 
 away. 
 
 It Avas not for hours afterwards that I 
 reahsed what I had done ; and even then I 
 am afraid I did not regret my hasty conduct. 
 Youno; and rash, I did not fear to face the 
 world, though the mine was my bread, and I
 
 2G8 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 had no other means of maintenance. As for 
 Eedruth's threat of invoking the law against 
 me, nothing came of it. Doubtless, as his own 
 sacred person had not suffered, he tliought it 
 best to hold his tongue.
 
 269 
 
 ' CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE NEW OVERSEER. 
 
 The news of my dismissal from tlie mine was 
 received by my anut with infinite wailing. 
 The poor sonl, knowing that for some time 
 past I had been the mainstay of the house, saw 
 nothing before her but misery and starvation ; 
 indeed, she w^as for going straight to Eedruth 
 House and appeahng to the master, but I 
 cliecked her. 
 
 ' Don't grieve, aunt,' I said. ' It will all 
 be right, by-and-by. Say I am dismissed from 
 the mine — what then? The mine isn't all the 
 world. I shall get something, never fear.' 
 
 But my aunt shook her liead.
 
 270 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 'It be like young folk to make light o' 
 tilings. When yoii'm a bit awlder, Hugh, 
 you'll see things as I do — trouble ahead. 'Tis 
 vary easy to talk, but what is there in the 
 villao-e but the mine ? ' 
 
 ' But I'm going up to London, aunt.' 
 
 'To Lunnon! Lawd save the lad! — and 
 what for should 'un o-aw to Lunnon ? ' 
 
 ' I am going up to see the company, and 
 tell them what's going on at the mine. Keep 
 your mind easy till I come back, aunt. 'Twill, 
 maybe, all be right then.' 
 
 But my aunt continued to cry quietly, and 
 grieved as bitterly as if she knew of the dark 
 clouds which were gathering above. 
 
 As for my uncle, he sat and listened, and 
 made no remark whatever. I concluded he 
 did not understand, so I made no attempt to 
 trouble him at all. 
 
 There was no time to be lost, and as soon.
 
 THE NEW OYERSEER 271 
 
 therefore, as I had finished my task of comfort- 
 ing my aunt, I began to turn over in my mind 
 what it would be best for me to do. I was as 
 fully conscious of the gravity of the situation 
 as my aunt herself, though I had thought fit 
 to make hght of it in order to lessen her pain. 
 To be turned from the mine meant facino: star- 
 vation — unless I could find a similar situation 
 to the one I had lost ; the only way to facili- 
 tate this being to see the company, Avho might 
 consent to place me over some other mine. 
 Besides, it was necessary that I should see them 
 and plead the cause of the wretched creatures 
 who daily faced death at George Eedruth's 
 coinmand. 
 
 Having fully made up my mind that the 
 journey must be taken, I resolved to start on 
 the following morning, and began making my 
 preparations accordingly. 
 
 During the years that I had been overseer
 
 272 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 of the mine my salary had not been large, but I 
 had been able to put by a small sum weekly. 
 My first care was to break into this, to put into 
 my pocket-book sufficient for my journey, and 
 give a sum to my aunt. 
 
 ' Don't be afraid to use it,' I said ; ' there is 
 more yet ; and before it's all gone I'll have 
 work, please God ! ' 
 
 My hopefulness, somehow, soon infected 
 my aunt, and she set about putting my things 
 together with a bric^hter face. She dried her 
 tears, and talked quite cheerfully of my going. 
 
 ' They do say,' she said, ' that averything's 
 for the best, and maybe 'tis saw naw, though 
 us can't just see it. Mayhap you'll meet our 
 Annie in London and bring her back to us, 
 Hugh.' 
 
 ' It's more than likely,' I returned. ' Our 
 black cloud won't last for ever, the silver lining 
 must be comiu" round.'
 
 THE NEW OVERSEER 273 
 
 When all was ready, I stepped down to the 
 village to tell John Eudd to call for me on 
 the morrow, when he was to start before day- 
 break. Havmg done my errand, I ht my pipe 
 and strolled slowly back to the cottage. 
 
 It was a splendid night. All the earth, 
 hardened by the keen touch of frost, was 
 flooded by the brilliant moon-rays ; and the sky 
 was thick with stars. All was so quiet and 
 peaceful, I could hear the click-clack of my 
 footsteps on the frosty road. 
 
 My mind was sorely troubled ; I walked up 
 and down the road until my pipe was finished, 
 then I knocked out the burnt ashes upon the 
 ground and turned to re-enter the cottage, 
 when I started back with a half-suppressed cry. 
 There, not very far from me, standing in the 
 shadow of one of the laurel-bushes in Annie's 
 garden, was the tall figure of a woman. She 
 
 VOL.1. • T
 
 274 THE JSIASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 came quickly towards me, and laid lier hand 
 upon my arm. 
 
 ' Madeline ! ' I murmured, for it was indeed 
 she, dressed in her evening dress, with her 
 mantle thrown lightly over her head and 
 shoulders, and her dear face raised wistfully 
 to mine. 
 
 ' Mr. Trelawney,' she said, quietly, ' is it 
 true that you have been dismissed from the 
 mine ? ' 
 
 ' Yes ; it is quite true, Miss Graham.' 
 
 ' Oh, why will you not be as you were just 
 now, and call me Madeline,' she cried, pas- 
 sionately. ' Why have all those years come 
 and gone since we were children, and left us 
 so far apart, Mr. Trelawney? Hugh, let us be 
 children again! I was your help and solace 
 once, let me be so to-night ! ' 
 
 She had spoken truly — why should a few 
 years separate us ? Once before she had
 
 THE NEW OVERSEER 275 
 
 offered me lier friendship and I had accepted it : 
 why not accept it now ? I took her hand and 
 kissed it. 
 
 ' You shall be the same to me now as you 
 were then ! ' I answered, ' you shall be my 
 friend ! ' 
 
 I think she understood me. She made no 
 reply, but for a moment she turned her head 
 aside ; when she looked at me again, she was 
 as calm as the moon-rays which lay all about 
 her. 
 
 * Tell me what has happened,' she said, 
 ' and what you are going to do.' 
 
 ' Very little has happened,' I replied. ' I 
 have got the dismissal which I have all along 
 expected, and I am going away.' 
 
 ' Mr. Trelawney, it was more than sympathy 
 which broudit me here to-ni2:ht. I want to 
 ask you a question.' 
 
 ' Yes ? ' 
 
 T 2
 
 27 G THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 ' If my cousin ofTers you the post again, will 
 you take it ? ' 
 
 I saw in a moment wliat slie meant : that 
 she would intercede for me; that the fact of 
 my being reinstated w^ould give that villain 
 George Eedruth a stronger hold over her ; so I 
 answered, firmly : 
 
 ' No ; the situation will not be offered to 
 me, and if it w\as, I should refuse it.' 
 
 ' Your uncle and aunt are dependent upon 
 you, are they not ? ' 
 
 ' Not entirely. My uncle is sufficiently re- 
 covered now to resume his w^ork. For the last 
 week he has been employed at the mouth of 
 the mine. If my sins are not visited upon his 
 head, and he is allowed to remain, they will do 
 very well. As for myself, I am young and 
 strong ; there is no fear for me.' 
 
 She made no answer ; and I, looking at
 
 THE XEW OVERSEER 277 
 
 lier, noticed, for the first time, liow tliiiily slie 
 was clad. 
 
 'Madeline,' I said, 'you will get your 
 death ; let me take you back.' 
 
 I drew the shawl closer about her shoulders, 
 put her hand upon my arm, and led her away, 
 
 ' Hugh,' she said, presently, ' you have not 
 told me the cause of all this trouble. Why 
 have you and my cousin disagreed so terribly ? ' 
 
 The very flxct that he was her cousin sealed 
 my lips. 
 
 ' There is nothing,' I said, ' but what had 
 best be kept between man and man.' 
 
 ' Then you absolutely refuse to make any 
 concession ? ' 
 
 ' I refuse to receive any favour from George 
 Eedruth.' 
 
 ' Or from me ? ' 
 
 ' From you, Madeline ? ' 
 
 ' Yes. I am rich, you know — very rich,
 
 278 THE MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 and now that you are in trouble I miglit help 
 you.' 
 
 'No,' I answered, quickly; 'don't think of 
 it. It is impossible.' 
 
 ' Impossible ? ' she replied ; ' the word friend- 
 ship to you means nothing.' 
 
 ' It means that you may give me your sym- 
 pathy. I am grateful for that, but I cannot 
 accept money from you.' 
 
 I walked with her as far as the entrance to 
 the grounds surrounding Eedruth House, then I 
 left her. 
 
 Her eyes w^ere full of tears, as she said 
 good-bye, and her little hand clung to mine 
 with a persistence which well-nigh unmanned 
 me. I was too much beside myself to return 
 to the cottage, so for about half a mile I 
 followed the road wliich led to the mine. It 
 was late, there was not a living soul abroad it 
 seemed to -me ; yet, as I turned to retrace my
 
 THE NEW OVERSEER 279 
 
 steps, I came face to face with a man who had 
 evidently been following close upon my heels. 
 It was Johnson. 
 
 Madeline's softening influence was still upon 
 me. Yet at sight of this evil face it seemed to 
 fade, and there arose within me all that was 
 worst in my soul. He paused, blocking my 
 way, and sneeringly addressed me : 
 
 ' I guess, young man,' he said, ' you'll get 
 into worse trouble before you're done. Jest 
 you let the governor see you as I saw you with 
 Miss Graham to-night ! ' 
 
 The mention of her name by his foul lips 
 roused me to frenzy. 
 
 ' You scoundrel ! ' I cried, ' mention that 
 lady's name again and by Heaven I'll strike 
 you dead where you stand ! ' 
 
 ' Oh,' he sneered, ' killing's your game, is 
 it ? Eepeat that to-morrow before witnesses, 
 young man, and your doom's sealed.'
 
 280 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 He passed me by, and walked on towards 
 the mine, wliile I, glad at heart to be safely 
 away from him, walked with some speed 
 tovwirds home. 
 
 I found my aunt alone; I asked for my 
 uncle. 
 
 ' He be gone back to tlie mine, Hugh,' she 
 returned. ' But dawn't 'ee sit up for 'un, lad. 
 I daresay Jim Elvers '11 bring 'un hame.' 
 
 As I knew I should have to be ready to 
 join John Eudd at five o'clock in the morning, 
 I took my aunt's advice and went to bed ; and 
 so soundly did I sleep, that I heard nothing 
 whatever of my uncle's return. 
 
 When I awoke it was still pitch dark. I 
 struck a light, and found that it was four o'clock. 
 I therefore got up and began to prepare for my 
 journey. 
 
 I went about my work as quietly as pos- 
 sible, hoping to disturb no one ; but shortly
 
 THE NEW OVEKSEER 281 
 
 after I entered the kitchen, my uncle appeared 
 fidly dressed for the day. He looked so white 
 and strange that, for a moment, I was startled 
 into the belief that something was the matter. 
 As nothing seemed to have transpired, however, 
 I concluded it was sorrow at parting with me. 
 
 My God, how the memory of that white 
 wan face came back to me in after days ! It 
 was the memory of it, and of the patient, pitiful 
 eyes, which sealed my lips when one word 
 might have proved my salvation. 
 
 When John Eudd made his appearance, 
 and my aunt came out of the bedroom, and 
 began crying on my shoulder, I saw the wan, 
 sad eyes of my uncle still fixed upon me. As 
 I left the cottage, I looked back and found them 
 gazing after me still.
 
 282 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 IN LONDON. 
 
 On reaching London, I secured a room in a 
 small coffee-lioiise in Soho ; and, having 
 deposited my luggage, I started off at once to 
 the offices of the mining company. It was 
 three o'clock, and I counted I might just arrive 
 before they closed. 
 
 I was astonished, on arriving at my destina- 
 tion, to find that the ' ofiices ' consisted only of 
 a couple of grimy rooms in a side street off 
 Chancery Lane. I was received by a dilapidated 
 and somewhat dirty old clerk, who was crouched 
 upon a high stool and scribbhng away at a desk. 
 He informed me that the head of the firm was
 
 IX LONDON 283 
 
 at tliat moment in his room, I was taken to 
 Mm, and made haste to state my case. 
 
 I soon found that my presence there was 
 comparatively useless. Like master, like man, 
 they say, and certainly George Eedruth, in 
 forming a company to conduct the mine, had 
 been careful to select men whose views accorded 
 with his own ; besides, my character had pre- 
 ceded me ; they had been forewarned of my 
 visit, and to all my complaints they had noth- 
 ing to say. 
 
 Sick at heart I left the place, and walked 
 slowly back towards Charing Cross. What my 
 next move would be I did not know. It 
 was certain I could do nothing for the Cornish 
 miners ; and since they could not starve, they 
 must be left to trudge on with that grim 
 skeleton Death for ever by their side ! 
 
 Pondering thus, I made my way slowly 
 along the crowded sreets, gazing abstractedly
 
 284: Tllli: MASTER OF THE MIXE 
 
 at the sea of faces surroimding me. It was 
 Saturday afternoon, and the Strand was 
 thronged. The lium of the busy crowd dis- 
 tracted me. I turned, intending to pass down 
 one of the side streets and gain the Embank- 
 ment, when suddenly I stepped face to face 
 with a woman who was coming towards me, 
 and uttered a cry. 
 
 It was my cousin Annie ! 
 
 But so changed was she that I scarcely 
 knew her. She was dressed as a lady, and 
 looked like one ; but her face was pale, her 
 eyes looked troubled and sad. She must have 
 been walking quickly, for as I turned to face 
 her she almost fell into my arms. 
 
 The cry I gave attracted her ; she looked 
 into my face, and knew me. 
 
 She paused, uncertain what to do. My 
 sudden appearance there, of all places on the 
 earth, was so unexpected, that it completely
 
 IX LONDON 285 
 
 unnerved her. For a moment slie seemed 
 about to fJy ; then, conquering herself, she 
 stood lier ground. 
 
 ' Hugh ! ' she exclaimed. ' You here ! ' 
 
 ' Yes ! ' I answered, sternly enough. ' I 
 am here ! ' 
 
 I felt no joy in meeting her. Had she 
 come to me poor, des])ised, with the taint of sin 
 upon her, I should have taken her in my arms, 
 and said, ' You poor repentant child, come 
 home ; ' but when she stood before me in 
 her fine raiment, my heart hardened ; for 1 
 thought of the heart-broken old people whom 
 she had left. 
 
 My appearance must have been strange, for 
 I beiran to attract some attention, when Annie 
 took me by the arm and led me down the side- 
 street I had intended to take. We passed on, 
 never uttering a word, until we came to the
 
 286 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 Embankment. Then she let go my arm and 
 spoke. 
 
 ' Hugh ! ' she said, ' did you come to 
 London to look for me ? ' 
 
 'No. I came on other business, but 1 
 promised to seek you and take you back.' 
 
 She was still white as death and tremblincr 
 violently. As I uttered these words, she 
 shook her head, and her eyes filled with 
 tears. 
 
 ' I cannot go home, Hugh ; not yet,' she 
 said, sadly. 
 
 ' Not yet ? ' I repeated. ' Will it ever be 
 better for you than it is now ? ' 
 
 ' Yes, Hugh ; and soon, I hope, I shall be 
 able to sfo and cause them no trouble.' 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders and half turned 
 away, when she laid her hand upon my arm 
 again and said : 
 
 ' Hugh, dear Hugh ! you have never once
 
 IN LONDON 287 
 
 taken my hand ; you have not looked at me as 
 you would have done some months ago. You 
 think I have brought shame upon you all ; 
 but, indeed, it is not so bad as that — I am a 
 laAvful wife.' 
 
 ' A lawful wife ? Whose wife ? ' 
 
 ' Ah ! do not ask me that. I cannot tell 
 you. But I am a wife ; and some day, very 
 soon, I shall be acknowledged. Hugh, will 
 you not take my hand, and say that you forgive 
 me?' 
 
 ' I have nothing to forgive,' I replied. 
 ' You did me no wrong ; but you ruined the 
 happiness of your home, and you have broken 
 your father's heart.' 
 
 ' Hugh ! ' 
 
 ' It is as well for you to hear it, Annie,' I 
 continued. ' When yoin- flight was discovered, 
 your father bore it bravely, we thought ; but 
 it seems he hid the worst of his trouble from
 
 288 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 US, and pined in secret. It has been like a 
 cankerworni gnawing at liis heart ; and now he 
 is weak and feeble, like a weary, worn old man ! ' 
 
 I ceased, for Annie had turned away and 
 was crying piteoiisly. I went to her, and took 
 her hand. 
 
 ' Annie,' I said, ' tell me the name of the 
 man who has been the author of all this trouble, 
 and I will ask no more.' 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 ' I cannot tell you, Hugh. Why should you 
 wish to know ? I tell you I am his wife.' 
 
 ' If you arc his wife, where is the need of 
 all this secrecy ? ' 
 
 ' There are reasons why he cannot acknow- 
 ledge me just now ; therefore, I have made a 
 solemn vow never to tell his name until he 
 gives me permission. Is it not enough for you 
 to know that I have not disgraced you, and 
 that I am happy ? '
 
 IN LONDON 289 
 
 She certainly did not look happy. Her 
 pale, pained face, which was turned to mine, 
 seemed to give the lie to every word she 
 spoke. 
 
 ' Will you tell them at home,' she said, 
 ' that you found me well, and that they must 
 not grieve ; because some day soon I shall 
 come back to them ? ' 
 
 ' Where are you living now? ' I asked. 
 
 ' Close by here,' she replied, quickly. ' I 
 was on my way home when I met you. Will 
 you come with me, Hugh ? I will show you 
 the rooms.' 
 
 I assented ; and she led the way back to- 
 wards the Strand. She walked quickly, and 
 paused before a house in Craven Street. Enter- 
 ing with a latch-key which she carried, she 
 passed up a flight of stairs, and entered a 
 room. 
 
 ' This is where I live, Hugh,' she said. 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 THE MASTER OF THE MINE 
 
 It was a change indeed from the Cornisli 
 kitchen in which she liad lived all her life. 
 The room was one which I could imagine 
 Madeline occupying, but which was singularly 
 out of place when coupled with Annie ! 
 
 Having looked about me, I prepared to 
 leave. 
 
 ' Where are you going, Hugh ? ' she asked. 
 ' Home ? ' 
 
 ' I don't know,' I answered. 
 
 ' Shall I see you again ? ' 
 
 ' That I don't know. Since you say you 
 are well cared for and happy, where is the use 
 of troubling you ? Some day, perhaps, when 
 your sun begins to set, you'll find your way 
 back to those who loved you long before this 
 villain crossed your path ! ' 
 
 I opened the door, stepped across the 
 threshold, and faced two strange men.
 
 IN LONDON 291 
 
 A lianci was laid upon my shoulder, and a 
 Yoice said : 
 
 ' Stop, young man ! We want you for 
 Murder ! ' 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 S, & H, 
 
 PRINTED BV 
 
 SPOTTISWOODE AXD CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE 
 
 LONDON
 
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