friend!"

"And, sir, you shall be our viewer again. May the new working last
for many years, and pray Heaven I shall have the consolation of dying
without seeing the end of it!"

The old miner was overflowing with joy. James Starr fully entered into
it; but he let Ford rave for them both. Harry alone remained thoughtful.
To his memory recurred the succession of singular, inexplicable
circumstances attending the discovery of the new bed. It made him uneasy
about the future.

An hour afterwards, James Starr and his two companions were back in
the cottage. The engineer supped with good appetite, listening with
satisfaction to all the plans unfolded by the old overman; and had it
not been for his excitement about the next day's work, he would never
have slept better than in the perfect stillness of the cottage.

The following day, after a substantial breakfast, James Starr, Simon
Ford, Harry, and even Madge herself, took the road already traversed
the day before. All looked like regular miners. They carried different
tools, and some dynamite with which to blast the rock. Harry, besides a
large lantern, took a safety lamp, which would burn for twelve hours.
It was more than was necessary for the journey there and back, including
the time for the working--supposing a working was possible.

"To work! to work!" shouted Ford, when the party reached the further end
of the passage; and he grasped a heavy crowbar and brandished it.

"Stop one instant," said Starr. "Let us see if any change has taken
place, and if the fire-damp still escapes through the crevices."

"You are right, Mr. Starr," said Harry. "Whoever stopped it up yesterday
may have done it again to-day!"

Madge, seated on a rock, carefully observed the excavation, and the wall
which was to be blasted.

It was found that everything was just as they left it. The crevices
had undergone no alteration; the carburetted hydrogen still filtered
through, though in a small stream, which was no doubt because it had had
a free passage since the day before. As the quantity was so small, it
could not have formed an explosive mixture with the air inside. James
Starr and his companions could therefore proceed in security. Besides,
the air grew purer by rising to the heights of the Dochart pit; and the
fire-damp, spreading through the atmosphere, would not be strong enough
to make any explosion.

"To work, then!" repeated Ford; and soon the rock flew in splinters
under his