the opening, when a light appeared, dim at first, but gradually
growing brighter, and Harry's voice was heard shouting,

"Come, Mr. Starr! come, father! The road to New Aberfoyle is open!"
If, by some superhuman power, engineers could have raised in a block,

a thousand feet thick, all that portion of the terrestrial
crust which supports the lakes, rivers, gulfs, and territories

of the counties of Stirling, Dumbarton, and Renfrew, they would
have found, under that enormous lid, an immenseexcavation,

to which but one other in the world can be compared--
the celebrated Mammoth caves of Kentucky. This excavation was

composed of several hundred divisions of all sizes and shapes.
It might be called a hive with numberless ranges of cells,

capriciously arranged, but a hive on a vast scale, and which,
instead of bees, might have lodged all the ichthyosauri,

megatheriums, and ptero-dactyles of the geological epoch.
A labyrinth of galleries, some higher than the most lofty cathedrals,

others like cloisters, narrow and winding--these following a horizontal
line, those on an incline or running obliquely in all directions--

connected the caverns and allowed free communication between them.
The pillars sustaining the vaulted roofs, whose curves allowed

of every style, the massive walls between the passages, the naves
themselves in this layer of secondaryformation, were composed

of sandstone and schistous rocks. But tightly packed between these
useless strata ran valuable veins of coal, as if the black blood

of this strange mine had circulated through their tangled network.
These fields extended forty miles north and south, and stretched

even under the Caledonian Canal. The importance of this bed could
not be calculated until after soundings, but it would certainly

surpass those of Cardiff and Newcastle.
We may add that the working of this mine would be singularly

facilitated by the fantastic dispositions of the secondary earths;
for by an unaccountable retreat of the mineral matter

at the geological epoch, when the mass was solidifying,
nature had already multiplied the galleries and tunnels of New Aberfoyle.

Yes, nature alone! It might at first have been supposed that some works
abandoned for centuries had been discovered afresh. Nothing of the sort.

No one would have deserted such riches. Human termites had never gnawed
away this part of the Scottish subsoil; nature herself had done it all.

But, we repeat, it could be compared to nothing but the celebrated
Mammoth caves, which, in an extent of more than twenty miles,

contain two hundred and twenty-six avenues, eleven lakes, seven rivers,
eight cataracts, thirty-two unfathomable wells, and fifty-seven domes,

some of which are more than four hundred and fifty feet in height.
Like these caves, New Aberfoyle was not the work of men, but the work

of the Creator.
Such was this new domain, of matchlesswealth, the discovery

of which belonged entirely to the old overman. Ten years'
sojourn in the deserted mine, an uncommon pertinacity in research,

perfect faith, sustained by a marvelousmininginstinct--
all these qualities together led him to succeed where so many

others had failed. Why had the soundings made under the direction
of James Starr during the last years of the working stopped

just at that limit, on the very frontier of the new mine?
That was all chance, which takes great part in researches

of this kind.
However that might be, there was, under the Scottish subsoil,

what might be called a subterranean county, which, to be habitable,
needed only the rays of the sun, or, for want of that, the light

of a special planet.
Water had collected in various hollows, forming vast ponds,

or rather lakes larger than Loch Katrine, lying just above them.
Of course the waters of these lakes had no movement of currents or tides;

no old castle was reflected there; no birch or oak trees waved on
their banks. And yet these deep lakes, whose mirror-like surface

was never ruffled by a breeze, would not be without charm by the light
of some electric star, and, connected by a string of canals,

would well complete the geography of this strange domain.
Although unfit for any vegetable production, the place could be inhabited

by a whole population. And who knows but that in this steady temperature,
in the depths of the

mines of Aberfoyle, as well as in those of Newcastle, Alloa, or Cardiff--
when their contents shall have been exhausted--who knows but that

the poorer classes of Great Britain will some day find a refuge?
CHAPTER VIII EXPLORING

AT Harry's call, James Starr, Madge, and Simon Ford entered
through the narrow orifice which put the Dochart pit in

communication with the new mine. They found themselves at
the beginning of a tolerably wide gallery. One might well believe

that it had been pierced by the hand of man, that the pick
and mattock had emptied it in the working of a new vein.

The explorers question whether, by a strange chance, they had
not been transported into some ancient mine, of the existence

of which even the oldest miners in the county had ever known.
No! It was merely that the geological layers had left this

passage when the secondary earths were in course of formation.
Perhaps some torrent had formerly dashed through it; but now it

was as dry as if it had been cut some thousand feet lower,
through granite rocks. At the same time, the air circulated freely,

which showed that certain natural vents placed it in communication
with the exterioratmosphere.

This observation, made by the engineer, was correct, and it was
evident that the ventilation of the new mine would be easily managed.

As to the fire-damp which had lately filtered through the schist,
it seemed to have been contained in a pocket now empty, and it was

certain that the atmosphere of the gallery was quite free from it.
However, Harry prudently carried only the safety lamp, which would

insure light for twelve hours.
James Starr and his companions now felt perfectly happy.

All their wishes were satisfied. There was nothing but coal around them.
A sort of emotion kept them silent; even Simon Ford restrained himself.

His joy overflowed, not in long phrases, but in short ejaculations.
It was perhaps imprudent to venture so far into the crypt.

Pooh! they never thought of how they were to get back.
The gallery was practicable, not very winding. They met

with no noxious exhalations, nor did any chasm bar the path.
There was no reason for stopping for a whole hour;

James Starr, Madge, Harry, and Simon Ford walked on,
though there was nothing to show them what was the exact

direction of this unknown tunnel.
And they would no doubt have gone farther still, if they had not

suddenly come to the end of the wide road which they had followed
since their entrance into the mine.

The gallery ended in an enormouscavern, neither the height nor
depth of which could be calculated. At what altitude arched

the roof of this excavation--at what distance was its opposite wall--
the darkness totally concealed; but by the light of the lamp the explorers

could discover that its dome covered a vast extent of still water--
pond or lake--whose picturesque rocky banks were lost in obscurity.

"Halt!" exclaimed Ford, stopping suddenly. "Another step,
and perhaps we shall fall into some fathomless pit."

"Let us rest awhile, then, my friends," returned the engineer.
"Besides, we ought to be thinking of returning to the cottage."

"Our lamp will give light for another ten hours, sir," said Harry.
"Well, let us make a halt," replied Starr; "I confess my legs

have need of a rest. And you, Madge, don't you feel tired
after so long a walk?"

"Not over much, Mr. Starr," replied the sturdy Scotchwoman;
"we have been accustomed to explore the old Aberfoyle mine

for whole days together."
"Tired? nonsense!" interrupted Simon Ford; "Madge could go