few moments lost in such a
terrible void that his breath seemed to stop. He felt a strange
uneasiness mixed with fear, for in the absolute darkness he seemed
suspended alone and without the least support in the immensity of space,
and every moment about to fall.

But this lasted only a short time, and the darkness gradually became
less dense. First of all the blackness was diversified by spots of
light, then by blazing spirals of fire; these then changed into golden
circles, which in their turn disappeared in showers of sparks. Then the
spots of light assumed all the colours of the rainbow and the fiery
spirals shone with a dazzling light, revolving rapidly in the darkness,
which, however, was not dispersed by this lightning-like splendour. Then
they melted together and rose to giddy heights, appearing up there like
glittering mirages. Sometimes the spots of light assumed indistinct
shapes which seemed to have transparent wings, while white robes
fluttered behind them. Mysterious spirits who shunned the light of the
lamp escaped from the black rock bastion and gathered round the old man,
leaning over him and gazing intently into his wide-open eyes. At such
times he heard a vague rustling around him.

He seemed to feel the breath of the rocks reaching him through invisible
fissures. He heard the musical complaint of a spring imprisoned in the
rock, or it might be a distant song. His ear caught distinctly
harmonious sounds, which sometimes melted together and sometimes
followed each other, sporting like butterflies in the field, and he
eagerly listened to their ineffable melody. Thus he would pass hours and
even entire nights while, forgotten by his comrades, he remained alone
in the enormous mine, alone with his visions and the fantastic echoes of
a world unknown and invisible. But to-day these things hardly occupied
his mind at all.

The next day was a Saturday, and he had to break as much ore possible
and convey it, together with the piles already prepared, to the
principal gallery, where the overseer of the mine would take it over. In
the evening he would receive his pay, the whole of which he would take
to an old woman living in the village. She looked after him, prepared
his meagre repasts, mended his clothes, and bought his boots. People
said she was his sister, but he felt doubtful about it. He knew that he
had passed his childhood far away from her, for while he was always in
the mine with his mother, she was