"And you, Nell," continued the minister, "will you take Harry to be your
husband, and--"

Before he could finish the sentence, a prodigious noise resounded from
without. One of the enormous rocks, on which was formed the terrace
overhanging the banks of Loch Malcolm, had suddenly given way and opened
without explosion, disclosing a profound abyss, into which the waters
were now wildly plunging.

In another instant, among the shattered rocks and rushing waves appeared
a canoe, which a vigorous arm propelled along the surface of the lake.
In the canoe was seen the figure of an old man standing upright. He was
clothed in a dark mantle, his hair was dishevelled, a long white beard
fell over his breast, and in his hand he bore a lighted Davy safety
lamp, the flame being protected by the metallic gauze of the apparatus.

In a loud voice this old man shouted, "The fire-damp is upon you!
Woe--woe betide ye all!"

At the same moment the slight smell peculiar to carburetted hydrogen was
perceptibly diffused through the atmosphere. And, in truth, the fall
of the rock had made a passage of escape for an enormous quantity of
explosive gas, accumulated in vast cavities, the openings to which had
hitherto been blocked up.

Jets and streams of the fire-damp now rose upward in the vaulted dome;
and well did that fierce old man know that the consequence of what he
had done would be to render explosive the whole atmosphere of the mine.

James Starr and several others, having hastily quitted the chapel, and
perceived the imminence of the danger, now rushed back, crying out in
accents of the utmost alarm, "Fly from the mine! Fly instantly from the
mine!"

"Now for the fire-damp! Here comes the fire-damp!" yelled the old man,
urging his canoe further along the lake.

Harry with his bride, his father and his mother, left the chapel in
haste and in terror.

"Fly! fly for your lives!" repeated James Starr. Alas! it was too late
to fly! Old Silfax stood there, prepared to fulfill his last dreadful
threat--prepared to stop the marriage of Nell and Harry by overwhelming
the entire population of the place beneath the ruins of the coal mine.

As he stood ready to accomplish this act of vengeance, his enormous
owl, whose white plumage was marked with black spots, was seen hovering
directly above his head.

At that moment a man flung himself into the waters of the lake, and swam
vigorously towards the canoe.

It was Jack Ryan, ful