hey are working on
a higher level than the bed of the loch."

It was soon evident that the old man was in the right. The sudden influx
of water had rushed to the very lowest bed of the vast mine, and its
only ultimate effect was to raise the level of Loch Malcolm a few feet.
Coal Town was uninjured, and it was reasonable to hope that no one had
perished in the flood of water which had descended to the depths of the
mine never yet penetrated by the workmen.

Simon and his men could not decide whether this inundation was owing to
the overflow of a subterranean sheet of water penetrating fissures in
the solid rock, or to some underground torrent breaking through its worn
bed, and precipitating itself to the lowest level of the mine. But that
very same evening they knew what to think about it, for the local papers
published an account of the marvelous phenomenon which Loch Katrine had
exhibited.

The surprising news was soon after confirmed by the four travelers, who,
returning with all possible speed to the cottage, learned with extreme
satisfaction that no serious damage was done in New Aberfoyle.

The bed of Loch Katrine had fairly given way. The waters had suddenly
broken through by an enormous fissure into the mine beneath. Of Sir
Walter Scott's favorite loch there was not left enough to wet the pretty
foot of the Lady of the Lake; all that remained was a pond of a few
acres at the further extremity.

This singular event made a profound sensation in the country. It was a
thing unheard of that a lake should in the space of a few minutes empty
itself, and disappear into the bowels of the earth. There was nothing
for it but to erase Loch Katrine from the map of Scotland until (by
public subscription) it could be refilled, care being of course taken,
in the first place, to stop the rent up tight. This catastrophe would
have been the death of Sir Walter Scott, had he still been in the world.

The accident was explicable when it was ascertained that, between the
bed of the lake and the vast cavity beneath, the geological strata
had become reduced to a thin layer, incapable of longer sustaining the
weight of water.

Now, although to most people this event seemed plainly due to natural
causes, yet to James Starr and his friends, Simon and Harry Ford, the
question constantly recurred, was it not rather to be attributed to
malevolence? Uneasy suspicions continually harassed their minds. Was
their evil genius about to ren