the forgotten
mine, and to him it had seemed like the entrance to a matter-of-fact,
everyday-life Aladdin's cave, where, after a little search, he was going
to hit upon a vein of copper and become an independent man. And now
that he was making his first bold venture into the region where the
precious metal was to be found, all was darkness, nothing but stone
walls, now wet and slimy, now cold, and hard, and grey.

"Here, now you are coming up," shouted Josh; and the descent was once
more checked.

"No, no. Just a few more fathoms, Josh," shouted back Will. "The
candle's nearly done."

There was a grumbling response, and the descent continued once more,
till, as he swung to and fro, the lad gave his feet a thrust against the
wall, turned right round, and then uttered an eager ejaculation:

"Stop, Josh!" he said, and then, "Hold fast!"

"Right!" came from above; and as Will found himself opposite to an
opening in the wall he swung himself backwards and forwards two or three
times, till, gaining sufficient impetus, he could have landed right in a
low arch, evidently the mouth of a gallery following a lode.

"Half a fathom lower, Josh," shouted Will; and the rope ran down a
trifle here, and then, swinging himself to and fro again, he finally
gave himself a good urge through the air and his feet rested on the
rough floor.

He turned cold, and the wet dew of horror stood upon his face as he
grasped at the rough wall, sending the candle flying forwards to lie
burning sidewise upon the stones, for the rebound of the rope as it
struck the crown of the arch nearly dragged him back just as he had
released his hold.

It was a narrow escape, but forgotten directly in the excitement of his
discovery; and freeing himself from the rope he picked up the candle
carefully, to find that he had only about an inch left, and perhaps a
mile of galleries to explore.

"There must be abundance of metal here," he said aloud, as he held the
candle above his head and gazed before him. "I shall be the discoverer
and--"

"Here, hoy! Will Marion! ahoy!" shouted Josh, who was kneeling down at
the edge of the shaft, his face drawn with horror and strangely mottled,
as he stared down into the pit. For, without warning, Will had freed
himself from the rope, the tension upon which was gone; and as Josh drew
a few feet up, and let the line run down again, his eyes seemed starting
from his head, and he listened for the awful splash he expec