ked
himself whether it was not possible that this rapid initiation into the
things of the exterior world would change the maiden he had known and
loved hitherto into quite a different girl. As for Jack Ryan, he was as
joyous as a lark rising in the first beams of the sun. He only trusted
that his gayety would prove contagious, and enliven his traveling
companions, thus rewarding them for letting him join them. Nell was
pensive and silent.

James Starr had decided, very sensibly, to set off in the evening.
It would be very much better for the girl to pass gradually from the
darkness of night to the full light of day; and that would in this way
be managed, since between midnight and noon she would experience the
successive phases of shade and sunshine, to which her sight had to get
accustomed.

Just as they left the cottage, Nell took Harry's hand saying, "Harry, is
it really necessary for me to leave the mine at all, even for these few
days?"

"Yes, it is, Nell," replied the young man. "It is needful for both of
us."

"But, Harry," resumed Nell, "ever since you found me, I have been as
happy as I can possibly be. You have been teaching me. Why is that not
enough? What am I going up there for?"

Harry looked at her in silence. Nell was giving utterance to nearly his
own thoughts.

"My child," said James Starr, "I can well understand the hesitation you
feel; but it will be good for you to go with us. Those who love you are
taking you, and they will bring you back again. Afterwards you will be
free, if you wish it, to continue your life in the coal mine, like
old Simon, and Madge, and Harry. But at least you ought to be able
to compare what you give up with what you choose, then decide freely.
Come!"

"Come, dear Nell!" cried Harry.

"Harry, I am willing to follow you," replied the maiden. At nine
o'clock the last train through the tunnel started to convey Nell and
her companions to the surface of the earth. Twenty minutes later they
alighted on the platform where the branch line to New Aberfoyle joins
the railway from Dumbarton to Stirling.

The night was already dark. From the horizon to the zenith, light
vapory clouds hurried through the upper air, driven by a refreshing
northwesterly breeze. The day had been lovely; the night promised to be
so likewise.

On reaching Stirling, Nell and her friends, quitting the train, left the
station immediately. Just before them, between high trees, they could
see a roa