g from it made an inferno of sound
from which, involuntarily, Dot shrank.

She looked at Hill appealingly as they drew near. He turned instantly to
Harley.

"Go ahead, will you, and tell them to stop work? We can't hear ourselves
speak in this."

"I'll come with you, Mr. Harley," said Adela, promptly. "I want to see
the machines going."

Harley paused for a moment. "You know your way, Mr. Hill?" he said.

Hill nodded with a hint of impatience. "Yes, yes. I was here only the
other day."

"Very good," said Harley. "But don't forget to turn to the right when you
get down the steps. The other way is too steep for ladies."

He was gone with the words and Adela with him, openly delighted to have
escaped from her solemn escort, and ready for any adventure that might
present itself.

Dot looked after her for a moment, and then back at Hill. "She'll be all
right, won't she?" she asked.

"Of course she will!" said Hill.

"Then shall we wait a minute till the noise stops?" she suggested.

Hill paused, though not very willingly. "There is nothing to be nervous
about," he said.

She glanced at the cavernous opening with a little shudder. "I think it
is a dreadful place," she said.

She saw him faintly smile. "I thought it didn't appeal much to you," he
said.

She shivered. "Do you like it? But of course you do. You are interested
in it. Isn't that grinding noise terrible? It makes me want to run away
and hide."

Hill drew her to a large flat rock on the edge of the path. "Sit down,"
he said.

She did so, and he took up his stand beside her, one foot lodged upon the
stone. In the silence that followed she was aware of his eyes upon her,
intently watching her face. She gripped her hands hard around her knees,
enduring his scrutiny with a fast-throbbing heart. She expected some
curt, soul-searching question at the end of it. But none came. Instead,
the noise that reverberated through the valley suddenly ceased, and there
fell an intense stillness.

That racked her beyond bearing. She looked up at him at last with a
desperate courage and met his eyes. "What is it?" she questioned. "Why
do you--why do you look at me--like that?"

He made a brief gesture, as if refusing a challenge, and stood up. "Shall
we go?" he said.

She got up also, but her knees were trembling, and in a moment his hand
came out and closed with that official grip upon her elbow. He led her
to the mine entrance guiding her over the rough gro