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twg_000012580400 | "Nothin' whatsomever." "Well, then, I fear that--" "Come now, sur," said Maggot boldly; "'spose you gives John and me ten pounds apaice an' kape 'em to yourself to make what 'ee can of 'em?" Mr Donnithorne shook his head and hesitated. Often before had he defrauded the revenue by knowingly purchasing smuggled brandy an... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580401 | to enable others to smuggle them; but then the morality of that day in regard to smuggling was very lax, and there were men who, although in all other matters truly honest and upright, could not be convinced of the sinfulness of smuggling, and smiled when they were charged with the practice, but who, nevertheless, woul... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580402 | or tell a downright lie. This, however, was a very different matter from smuggling. The old gentleman shrank from it at first, and could not meet the gaze of the smuggler with his usual bold frank look. But the temptation was great. The jewels he suspected were of immense value, and his heart readily replied to the obj... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580403 | his conscience, that after all there was no one left to claim them, and he had a much better right to them, in equity if not in law, than Government; and as to the fellows who found them--why, the sum they asked would be a great and rich windfall to them, besides freeing them from all further trouble, as well | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580404 | as transferring any risk that might accrue from their shoulders to his own. While the old gentleman was reasoning thus with himself, Maggot stood anxiously watching his countenance and twisting the cloth that had enclosed the jewellery into a tight rope, as he shifted his position uneasily. At length old Mr Donnithorne... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580405 | again in an hour from this time. You shall then have my answer." Maggot and his friend consented to this delay, and left the room. No sooner were they gone than the old gentleman called his wife, who naturally exclaimed in great surprise on beholding the table covered with such costly trinkets-- "Where _ever_ did you g... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580406 | Donnithorne explained, and then asked what she thought of Maggot's proposal. "Refuse it," said she firmly. "But, my dear--" "Don't `but' about it, Tom. Whenever a man begins to `but' with sin, it is sure to butt him over on his back. Have nothing to do with it, _I_ say." "But, my dear, it is not dishonest--" "I don't k... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580407 | that," interrupted Mrs Donnithorne vigorously; "you think that smuggling is not dishonest, but I do, and so does the minister." "What care _I_ for the minister?" cried the old gentleman, losing his temper; "who made _him a_ judge of my doings?" "He is an expounder of God's Word," said Mrs Donnithorne firmly, "and holds... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580408 | one of the Ten Commandments." "Well, well, he and I don't agree, that's all; besides, has he never expounded to you that obedience to your husband is a virtue? a commandment, I may say, which you are--" "Mr Donnithorne," said the lady with dignity, "I am here at your request, and am now complying with your wishes in gi... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580409 | opinion." "There, there, Molly," said the subdued husband, giving his better half a kiss, "don't be so sharp. You ought to have been a lawyer with your powerful reasoning capacity. However, let me tell you that you don't understand these matters--" "Then why ask my advice, Tom?" "Why, woman, because an inexplicable fat... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580410 | know well enough what the upshot will be. But I'm resolved to close with Maggot." "I knew you would," said Mrs Donnithorne quietly. The last remark was the turning-point. Had the good lady condescended to be _earnest_ in her entreaties that the bargain should not be concluded, it is highly probable her husband would ha... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580411 | observation nettled him so much that he immediately hoisted a flag of defiance, nailed it to the mast, and went out in great indignation to search for Maggot. That individual was not far off. The bargain was completed, the jewels were locked up in one of the old gentleman's secret repositories, and the fishermen, with ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580412 | pockets, returned home. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note . It may be well here to inform the reader that the finding of the jewels as here described, and the consequences which followed, are founded on fact. CHAPTER SIX. TREATS OF THE MINER'S COTTAGE, WORK, AND COSTUME. Magg... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580413 | boy, had been seized with convulsions, and his wife and little daughter Grace, and son Zackey, and brother-in-law David Trevarrow, besides his next neighbour Mrs Penrose, with her sixteen children, were all in the room, doing their best by means of useless or hurtful applications, equally useless advice, and intolerabl... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580414 | baby. Maggot's cottage was a poor one, his furniture was mean, and there was not much of it; nevertheless its inmates were proud of it, for they lived in comparative comfort there. Mrs Maggot was a kind-hearted, active woman, and her husband--despite his smuggling propensities--was an affectionate father. Usually the c... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580415 | the present occasion it was, as we have said, in a state of great confusion. "Fetch me a bit of rag, Grace," cried Mrs Maggot, just as her husband entered. "Here's a bit, old 'ooman," said Maggot, handing her the linen cloth in which the jewels had been wrapped up, and which he had unconsciously retained in his hands o... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580416 | quitting Mr Donnithorne--"Run, my dear man," he added, turning to John Cock, "an' fetch the noo doctor." John darted away, and in a quarter of an hour returned with Oliver Trembath, who found that the baby had weathered the storm by the force of its own constitution, despite the adverse influences that were around it. ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580417 | clearing the place of intruders, and prescribing some simple medicine. "Are you going to work?" inquired Oliver of David Trevarrow, observing that the man was about to quit the cottage. "Iss, sur--to Botallack." "Then I will accompany you. Captain Dan is going to show me over part of the mine to-day. Good-morning, Mrs ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580418 | should happen to the little fellow again." Leaving the cottage the two proceeded through the town to the north end of it, accompanied by Maggot, who said he was going to the forge to do a bit of work, and who parted from them at the outskirts of the town. "Times are bad with you at the mines just now, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580419 | I find," said Oliver as they walked along. "Iss sur, they are," replied Trevarrow, in the quiet tone that was peculiar to him; "but, thank God, we do manage to live, though there are some of us with a lot o' child'n as finds it hard work. The Bal [The mine] ain't so good as she once was." "I suppose | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580420 | that you have frequent changes of fortune?" said Oliver. The miner admitted that this was the case, for that sometimes a man worked underground for several weeks without getting enough to keep his family, while at other times he might come on a bunch of copper or tin which would enable him to clear pounds or more in a ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580421 | "If report says truly," observed Oliver, "you have hit upon a `keenly lode,' as you call it, not many days ago." "A do look very well now, sur," replied the miner, "but wan can never tell. I did work for weeks in the level under the say without success, so I guv it up an went to Wheal Hazard, and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580422 | on the back o' the fifty-fathom level I did strike 'pon a small lode of tin 'bout so thick as my finger. It may get better, or it may take the bit in its teeth and disappear; we cannot tell." "Well, I wish you good luck," said Oliver; "and here comes Captain Dan, so I'll bid you good-morning." "Good-morning, sur," | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580423 | said the stout-limbed and stout-hearted man, with a smile and a nod, as he turned off towards the moor-house to put on his mining garments. Towards this house a number of men had been converging while Oliver and his companion approached it, and the former observed, that whatever colour the men might be on entering it, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580424 | light red, like lobsters emerging from a boiling pot. In Botallack mine a large quantity of iron is mingled with the tin ore. This colours everything in and around the mine, including men's clothes, hands, and faces, with a light rusty-red. The streams, of course, are also coloured with it, and the various pits and pon... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580425 | mud of tin ore seem as if filled with that nauseous compound known by the name of "Gregory's Mixture." In the moor-house there were rows of pegs with red garments hung thereon to dry, and there were numerous broad-shouldered men dressing and undressing--in every stage of the process; while in a corner two or three were... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580426 | a tank of water. These last were men who had been at work all night, and were cleansing themselves before putting on what we may term their home-going clothes. The mining dress is a very simple, and often a very ragged affair. It consists of a flannel shirt, a pair of linen trousers, a short coat of the same, and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580427 | a hat in the form of a stiff wide-awake, but made so thick as to serve the purpose of a helmet to guard the head from the rocks, etcetera. Clumsy ankle-boots complete the costume. As each man issued from the house, he went to a group of wooden chests which lay scattered about outside, and, opening his own, took from | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580428 | it a bag of powder, some blasting fuse, several iron tools, which he tied to a rope so as to be slung over his shoulder, a small wooden canteen of water, and a bunch of tallow candles. These last he fastened to a button on his breast, having previously affixed one of them to the front of his hat. Thus | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580429 | accoutred, they proceeded to a small platform close at hand, with a square hole in it, out of which protruded the head of a ladder. This was the "ladder road." Through the hole these red men descended one by one, chatting and laughing as they went, and disappeared, leaving the moor-house and all around it a place of so... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580430 | Dan now prepared to descend this ladder road with Oliver Trembath. CHAPTER SEVEN. TELLS OF THE GREAT MINE AND OF A ROYAL DIVE UNDER THE SEA. Botallack, to the dark depths of which we are now about to descend, is the most celebrated mine in the great mining county of Cornwall. It stands on the sea coast, a little more | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580431 | than a mile to the north of St. Just. The region around it is somewhat bleak and almost destitute of trees. In approaching it, the eyes of the traveller are presented with a view of engine-houses, and piles of stones and rubbish, in the midst of which stand a number of uncouth yet picturesque objects, composed of board... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580432 | wheels, ropes, pulleys, chains, and suchlike gear. These last are the winding erections of the shafts which lead to the various mines, for the whole region is undermined, and Botallack is only one of several in St. Just parish. Wherever the eye turns, there, in the midst of green fields, where rocks and rocky fences ab... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580433 | prominently, the labouring arms, or "bobs," of the pump and skip engines, and the other machinery required in mining operations; while the ear is assailed by the perpetual clatter of the "stamps," or ore-crushing machines, which never cease their din, day or night, except on Sundays. Botallack, like all the other mines... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580434 | below, such as Boscawen Shaft, Wheal Button, Wheal Hazard, Chicornish Shaft, Davis Shaft, Wheal Cock, etcetera, the most interesting of which are situated among the steep rugged cliffs that front and bid defiance to the utmost fury of the Atlantic Ocean. From whatever point viewed, the aspect of Botallack mine is grand... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580435 | stretches out into the sea, engines with all their fantastic machinery and buildings have been erected. On the very summit of the cliff is seen a complication of timbers, wheels, and chains sharply defined against the sky, with apparently scarce any hold of the cliff, while down below, on rocky ledges and in black chas... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580436 | and rods and wheels and chains, fastened and perched in fantastic forms in dangerous-looking places. Here, amid the most savage gorges of the sea and riven rocks--half clinging to the land, half suspended over the water--is perched the machinery of, and entrance to, the most singular shaft of the mine, named the "Bosca... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580437 | sea at a steep incline. It is traversed, on rails, by an iron carriage called the "gig," which is lowered and drawn up by steam power. Starting as it does from an elevated position in the rocks that are close to the edge of the sea, and slanting down through the cape, _outward_ or seaward, this vehicle descends only a | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580438 | few fathoms when it is _under the ocean's bed_, and then its further course is far out and deep down--about two-thirds of a mile out, and full fathoms down! The gig conveys the men to and from their work--the ore being drawn up by another iron carriage. There is (or rather there was, before the self-acting brake was ad... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580439 | attending the descent of this shaft, for the rope, although good and strong, is not immaculate, as was proved terribly in the year --when it broke, and the gig flew down to the bottom like lightning, dashing itself to pieces, and instantly killing the nine unfortunate men who were descending at the time. Nevertheless, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580440 | did not shrink from descending this deep burrow under the sea in the year . It was a great day for St. Just and Botallack that 24th of July on which the royal visit was paid. Great were the expectation and preparation on all hands to give a hearty welcome to the royal pair. The ladies arrayed themselves in their | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580441 | best to do fitting honour to the Princess; the balmaidens donned their holiday-attire, and Johnny Fortnight [see note ] took care, by supplying the poor mine-girls with the latest fashions, that their appearance should be, if we may be allowed the word, _splendiferous_! The volunteers, too, turned out in force, and no ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580442 | have believed them to be the same miners who were wont to emerge each evening through a hole in the earth, red as lobsters, wet, ragged, and befouled--in a word, surrounded by a halo of dishevelment, indicative of their rugged toils in the regions below. Everywhere the people turned out to line the roads, and worthily ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580443 | and great was the cheering when they arrived, accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, Lady de Grey, Lord and Lady Vivian, General Knollys, and others, but louder still was the cheer when the Princess rode down the steep descent to the cliffs in a donkey-carriage. The Botallack cl... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580444 | point, not only of the interest, but of the grandeur of the scene, for here were presented such a view and combination as are not often witnessed--nature in one of her wildest aspects, combined with innumerable multitudes of human beings swayed by one feeling of enthusiastic loyalty. Above, on every attainable point, p... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580445 | gay flies on the giant cliffs, leaving immense gaps here and there, where no foot might venture save that of a bird. Midway, on the face of the precipice, clung the great beams and supports of the Boscawen Diagonal Shaft, with the little gig perched on them and the royal party seated therein, facing the entrance to the... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580446 | Princess arrayed in a white flannel cloak trimmed with blue, and a straw hat with a blue ribbon round it, and the Prince clad in miner's costume. Underneath, a dizzy depth to gaze down, lay the rugged boulders of the shore, with the spray of the Atlantic springing over them. Deafening was the cheer when the gig at last... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580447 | the shaft and disappeared, and intense the anxiety of the vast multitude as they watched the descent--in imagination, of course, for nothing could be seen but the tight wire-rope uncoiling its endless length, and disappearing like a thin snake down the jaws of some awful sea-monster that had climbed so far up the cliff... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580448 | they are at the shore; now passing under the sea; fairly under it by this time; a few minutes more and they have reached the spot where yonder seagull is now wheeling above the waves, wondering what new species of bird has taken possession of its native cliffs. Five minutes are passed--yet still descending rapidly! The... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580449 | mile out from the land now--half of a mile out on the first part of a submarine tunnel to America! "Old England is on the lee," but they are very much the reverse of afloat; solid rock is above, on either side and below--so close to them that the elbows must not be allowed to protrude over the edge of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580450 | their car, nor the head be held too high. Here even royalty must stoop--not that we would be understood to imply that royalty cannot stoop elsewhere. Those who dwell in Highland cottages could contradict us if we did! Presently the rope "slows"--the lower depths are reached, and now for some time there is patient waiti... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580451 | they are examining the "levels," where the stout men of Cornwall tear out the solid rock in quest of copper and tin. After a time the thin snake begins to ascend; they are coming up now, but not so fast as they went down. It is about ten minutes before the gig emerges from that black hole and bears the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580452 | Prince and Princess once more into the light of day. Yes, it was a great day for Botallack, and it will dwell long in the memories of those who witnessed it--especially of that fortunate captain of the mine who had the honour of conducting the Princess on the occasion, and of whose enthusiasm in recalling the event, an... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580453 | on her intelligence and condescension, we can speak from personal observation. But, reader, you will say, What has all this to do with our story? Nothing--we admit it frankly--nothing whatever in a direct way; nevertheless, indirectly, the narrative may possibly arouse in you greater interest in the mine down which we ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580454 | as that taken by the Prince and Princess (for the Boscawen Shaft did not exist at the period of our tale), but by one much more difficult and dangerous, as you shall see. Before we go, however, permit us to add to the offence of digression, by wandering still further out of our direct road. There are a few facts | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580455 | regarding Botallack and mining operations, without a knowledge of which you will be apt at times to misunderstand your position. Let us suppose that a mine has been already opened; that a "lode"--that is, a vein of quartz with metal in it--has been discovered cropping out of the earth, and that it has been dug down upo... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580456 | dug in upon from the sea-cliffs. A shaft has been sunk--in other words, a hole excavated--let us say, two or three hundred yards inland, to a depth of some forty or fifty fathoms,--near the sea-level. This shaft is perhaps nine feet by six wide. The lode, being a layer of quartz, sometimes slopes one way, sometimes ano... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580457 | perpendicular. It also varies in its run or direction a little here and there, like a wildish horse, being sometimes met by other lodes, which, like bad companions, divert it from the straight course. Unlike bad companions, however, they increase its value at the point of meeting by thickening it. Whatever course the l... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580458 | His shaft slopes much, little, or not at all, according to the "lie of the lode." It is an ancient truism that water must find its level. Owing to this law, much water accumulates in the shaft, obliging the miner to erect an engine-house and provide a powerful pumping-engine with all its gear, at immense cost, to keep ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580459 | dry as he proceeds. He then goes to the shore, and there, in the face of the perpendicular cliff, a little above the sea-level, he cuts a horizontal tunnel about six feet high by three broad, and continues to chisel and blast away the solid rock until he "drives" his tunnel a quarter of a mile inland, which he will | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580460 | do at a rate varying from two to six feet per week, according to the hardness of the rock, until he reaches the shaft and thus provides an easy and inexpensive passage for the water without pumping. This tunnel or level he calls the "Adit level." But his pumping-engine is by no means rendered useless, for it has much t... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580461 | do in hauling ore to the surface, etcetera. In process of time, the miner works away all the lode down to the sea-level, and must sink the shaft deeper--perhaps ten or twenty fathoms--where new levels are driven horizontally "on the lode," and water accumulates which must be pumped up to the Adit level, whence it escap... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580462 | down, down, he goes, sinking his shaft and driving his levels on-- that is, always following the lode _ad infinitum_. Of course he must stop before reaching the other side of the world! At the present time Botallack has progressed in that direction to a depth of fathoms. To those who find a difficulty in realising what... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580463 | is, we would observe that it is equal to more than three and a half times the height of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, nearly four times the height of St. Rollox chimney in Glasgow, and considerably more than twice the height, from the plain, of Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh. When the levels have been driven a conside... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580464 | the shaft, the air naturally becomes bad from want of circulation. To remedy this evil, holes, or short shafts, called "winzes," are sunk at intervals from the upper to the lower levels. These winzes are dangerous traps for the unwary or careless, extending frequently to a depth of ten or fifteen fathoms, and being bri... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580465 | loose planks. Ladders are fixed in many of them to facilitate progress through the mine. When a miner drives the end of his level so far that the air will not circulate, a new winze is usually sunk down to him from the level above. The circulation is thus extended, and the levels progress further and further right and ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580466 | until they occupy miles of ground. The levels and shafts of Botallack, if put together, would extend to not less than forty miles, and the superficial space of ground, on and beneath which the mine lies, is above acres. When the lode is rich, and extends upwards or downwards, it is cut away from between levels, in a re... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580467 | manner, strong beams being placed to support temporary platforms, on which the miners may stand and work as they ascend. When they have cut all the lode away up to the level above them, a false timber bottom is made to replace the rocky bottom of the level which is being removed. Thus, in traversing the old workings of... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580468 | mine one suddenly comes to great caverns, very narrow, but of such immense height above and depth below that the rays of your candle cannot penetrate the darkness. In such places the thick short beams that were used by the old miners are seen extending from side to side of the empty space, disappearing in dim perspecti... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580469 | man who stumbles off his narrow plank, or sets his foot on an insecure beam in such places! Where such workings are in progress, the positions of the miners appear singularly wild and insecure. The men stand in the narrow chasm between the granite walls above each others' heads, slight temporary platforms alone preserv... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580470 | candles of those highest above you twinkling like stars in a black sky. In these underground regions of Botallack, above three hundred men and boys are employed, some of whom work occasionally by night as well as by day. On the surface about two hundred men, women, and boys are employed "dressing" the ore, etcetera. Ot... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580471 | the great mining centres of Cornwall--Redruth, St. Just, St. Austell, and Helston, which are well worthy of note--some of them a little deeper, and some richer than Botallack. But we profess not to treat of all the Cornish mines; our object is to describe one as a type of many, if not all, and as this one runs farthest... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580472 | beneath the sea, is deeper than most of the others, and richer than many, besides having interesting associations, and being of venerable antiquity, we hold it to be the one most worthy of selection. With a few briefly stated facts we shall take final leave of statistics. As we have said, the Boscawen shaft measures fa... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580473 | the men ascend and descend daily extends to fathoms. It takes a man half an hour to reach the bottom, and fully an hour to climb to the surface. There are three pumping and seven winding engines at work--the largest being of horse-power. The tin raised is from to tons a month. The price of tin has varied from pounds | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580474 | to pounds per ton. In time past, when Botallack was more of a copper than a tin-mine, a fathom has been known to yield pounds worth of ore, and a miner has sometimes broken out as much as pounds worth in one month. The mine has been worked from time immemorial. It is known to have been wrought a hundred | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580475 | years before it was taken by the present company, who have had it between thirty and forty years, and, under the able direction of the present manager and purser, Mr Stephen Harvey James, it has paid the shareholders more than , pounds. The profit in the year was , pounds. At the termination of one period of working it... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580476 | a profit of , pounds. It has experienced many vicissitudes of fortune. Formerly it was worked for tin, and at one period () was doing so badly that it was about to be abandoned, when an unlooked for discovery of copper was made, and a period of great prosperity again set in, during which many shareholders and miners ma... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580477 | fortunes out of Botallack. Thus much, with a humble apology, we present to the reader, and now resume the thread of our narrative. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Note . The packmen are so styled because of their visits being paid fortnightly. CHAPTER EIGHT. DOWN, DOWN, DOWN. Be... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580478 | put on miner's clothing. "I'll need a biggish suit," observed Oliver. "True," said Captain Dan; "we are obliged usually to give visitors our smallest suits. You are an exception to the rule. Indeed, I'm not sure that I have a pair of trousers big enough for--ah yes, by the way, here is a pair belonging to one of our ca... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580479 | who is unusually stout and tall; I dare say you'll be able to squeeze into 'em." "All right," said Oliver, laughing, as he pulled on the red garments; "they are wide enough round the waist, at all events. Now for a hat." "There," said the captain, handing him a white cotton skull-cap, "put that on." "Why, what's this f... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580480 | Oliver. "To keep _that_ from dirtying your head," replied the other, as he handed his companion a thick felt hat, which was extremely dirty, on the front especially, where the candle was wont to be fixed with wet clay. "Now, then, attach these two candles to that button in your breast, and you are complete.--Not a bad ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580481 | at," said Captain Dan with a smile of approval. The captain was already equipped in underground costume, and the dirty disreputable appearance he presented was, thought Oliver, a wonderful contrast to his sober and gentlemanly aspect on the evening of their first meeting at his uncle's table. "I'll strike a light after... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580482 | Captain Dan, leaving the office and leading the way. On reaching the entrance to the shaft, Oliver Trembath looked down and observed a small speck of bright light in the black depths. "A man coming up--wait a bit," said the captain in explanation. Presently a faint sound of slow footsteps was heard; they grew gradually... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580483 | the head and shoulders of a man emerged from the hole. Perspiration was trickling down his face, and painting him, streakily, with iron rust and mud. All his garments were soaking. He sighed heavily on reaching the surface, and appeared to inhale the fresh air with great satisfaction. "Any more coming?" "No, Captain Da... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580484 | curiosity at the tall stranger. "Now, sir, we shall descend," said the captain, entering the shaft. Oliver followed, and at once plunged out of bright sunshine into subdued light. A descent of a few fathoms brought them to the bottom of the first ladder. It was a short one; most of the others, the captain told him, wer... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580485 | The width of the shaft was about six feet by nine. It was nearly perpendicular, and the slope of the ladders corresponded with its width--the head of each resting against one side of it, and the foot against the other, thus forming a zigzag of ladders all the way down. At the foot of the first ladder the light was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580486 | that of deep twilight. Here was a wooden platform, and a hole cut through it, out of which protruded the head of the second ladder. The Captain struck a light, and, applying it to one of the candles, affixed the same to the front of Oliver's hat. Arranging his own hat in a similar way, he continued the descent, and, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580487 | in a few minutes, both were beyond the region of daylight. When they had got a short way down, probably the distance of an ordinary church-steeple's height below the surface, Oliver looked up and saw the little opening far above him, shining brightly like a star. A few steps more and it vanished from view; he felt that... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580488 | for the first time in his life reached the regions of eternal night. The shaft varied in width here and there; in most places it was very narrow--about six feet wide--but, what with cross-beams to support the sides, and prevent soft parts from falling in, and other obstructions, the space available for descent was ofte... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580489 | permit of a man squeezing past. A damp smell pervaded the air, and there was a strange sense of contraction and confinement, so to speak, which had at first an unpleasant effect on Oliver. The silence, when both men paused at a ladder-foot to trim candles or to rest a minute, was most profound, and there came over the ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580490 | doctor a sensation of being buried alive, and of having bid a final farewell to the upper earth, the free air, and the sunshine, as they went down, down, down to the depths below. At last they reached a "level" or gallery, by which the ladder-shaft communicated with the pump-shaft. Here Captain Dan paused and trimmed O... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580491 | had thrust inadvertently against a beam, and broken in two. "You have to mind your head here, sir," said the captain, with a quiet smile; "'tis a good place to learn humility." Oliver could scarce help laughing aloud as he gazed at his guide, for, standing as he did with the candle close to his face, his cheeks, nose, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580492 | forehead, and part of the brim of his hat and shoulders were brought into brilliant light, while the rest of him was lost in the profound darkness of the level behind, and the flame of his candle rested above his head like the diadem of some aristocratic gnome. "How far down have we come?" inquired Oliver. "About eight... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580493 | the captain; "we shall now go along this level and get into the pump-shaft, by which we can descend to the bottom. Take care of your feet and head as you go, for you'll be apt to run against the rocks that hang down, and the winzes are dangerous." "And pray what are winzes?" asked Oliver as he stumbled along | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580494 | in the footsteps of his guide, over uneven ground covered with debris.--"Ah! hallo! stop!" "What's wrong?" said the captain, looking back, and holding up his candle to Oliver's face. "Candle gone again, captain; I've run my head on that rock. Lucky for me that your mining hats are so thick and hard, for I gave it a but... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580495 | have done credit to an ox." "I told you to mind your head," said Captain Dan, relighting the candle; "you had better carry it in your hand in the levels, it will light your path better. Look out now--here is a winze." The captain pointed to a black yawning hole, about six or seven feet in diameter, which was bridged | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580496 | across by a single plank. "How deep does it go?" asked the youth, holding up his candle and peering in; "I can't see the bottom." "I dare say not," said the captain, "for the bottom is ten fathoms down, at the next level." "And are all the winzes bridged with a single plank in this way?" "Why, no, some of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580497 | 'em have two or three planks, but they're quite safe if you go steady." "And, pray, how many such winzes are there in the mine?" asked Oliver. "Couldn't say exactly, without thinkin' a bit," replied the captain; "but there are a great number of 'em--little short of a hundred, I should say--for we have a good many miles... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580498 | in Botallack, which possesses an underground geography as carefully measured and mapped out as that of the surface." "And what would happen," asked Oliver, with an expression of half-simulated anxiety, "if you were to fall down a winze and break your neck, and my candle were to get knocked or blown out, leaving me to f... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012580499 | a labyrinth of levels pierced with holes sixty feet deep?" "Well, it's hard to say," replied Captain Dan with much simplicity. "Go on," said Oliver, pursing his lips with a grim smile, as he followed his leader across the narrow bridge. Captain Dan continued his progress until he reached the pump-shaft, the proximity o... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
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