aft of the Copper Princess.

During this week, as has been said, he saw very little of Mary
Darrell, and often wondered how she occupied her time.

Finally there came a day when Miss Darrell informed Mike Connell that,
as her father was now so much better, it would no longer be necessary
to watch with him at night. So the honest fellow, who had been working
hard with Peveril on his measurements, and was rejoiced at the
prospect of an unbroken night's rest, retired early to the quarters
that he and the young proprietor occupied together at some distance
from the Darrells' house.

Very early on the following morning the two men were awakened by a
loud knocking at their door, and the voice of Nelly Trefethen calling
as though in distress.

"Coming!" shouted Peveril, as they both sprang from bed and hurriedly
dressed. As they emerged from the house the girl exclaimed:

"They're gone, Mr. Peril! gone in the night, and I never heard a
sound. How they went, no one can tell, for all the outer doors were
left locked, with the keys on the inside. But they're gone, for I have
hunted high and low without finding a sign of them."

"Who have gone?" demanded Peveril.

"Miss Mary and her father and the old colored woman."

That these three had taken a mysterious departure was only too
apparent when the two men returned with Nelly to the house and
searched it from top to bottom.

Then, under Connell's guidance, they went through the secret passage
to the cavern. There they found a lighted lantern hung on the stunted
cedar just outside the entrance, the canvas curtain drawn aside, the
derrick swung out, and its tackle hanging down to within a foot of
the black ledge, but that was all.

Three months after that time Peveril received the following letter:

"DEAR MR. PEVERIL:

"I feel it a duty to tell you that my dear father has at length
passed peacefully away, and so will never trouble you again. At
the very last he spoke lovingly of Richard Peveril, and said he
was a splendid fellow; but I am inclined to think he referred
to your father rather than to yourself. He was also perfectly
rational on all subjects except that of the Princess, which he
persisted in declaring was one of the richest copper mines of
the world. I, of course, know better, for I realized long ago
how truly the name 'Darrell's Folly' described that unfortunate
venture.

"Whatever pleasure you