CHAPTER IX. THE FIRE-MAIDENS
A WEEK after the events just related had taken place, James Starr'sfriends had become very anxious. The engineer had disappeared, and noreason could be brought forward to explain his absence. They learnt, byquestioning his servant, that he had embarked at Granton Pier. But fromthat time there were no traces of James Starr. Simon Ford's letter hadrequested secrecy, and he had said nothing of his departure for theAberfoyle mines.
Therefore in Edinburgh nothing was talked of but the unaccountableabsence of the engineer. Sir W. Elphiston, the President of the RoyalInstitution, communicated to his colleagues a letter which James Starrhad sent him, excusing himself from being present at the next meetingof the society. Two or three others produced similar letters. But thoughthese documents proved that Starr had left Edinburgh--which was knownbefore--they threw no light on what had become of him. Now, on the partof such a man, this prolonged absence, so contrary to his usual habits,naturally first caused surprise, and then anxiety.
A notice was inserted in the principal newspapers of the United Kingdomrelative to the engineer James Starr, giving a description of him andthe date on which he left Edinburgh; nothing more could be done but towait. The time passed in great anxiety. The scientific world of Englandwas inclined to believe that one of its most distinguished membershad positively disappeared. At the same time, when so many peoplewere thinking about James Starr, Harry Ford was the subject of no lessanxiety. Only, instead of occupying public attention, the son of the oldoverman was the cause of trouble alone to the generally cheerful mind ofJack Ryan.
It may be remembered that, in their encounter in the Yarrow shaft, JackRyan had invited Harry to come a week afterwards to the festivities atIrvine. Harry had accepted and promised expressly to be there. Jack Ryanknew, having had it proved by many circumstances, that his friend wasa man of his word. With him, a thing promised was a thing done. Now, atthe Irvine merry-making, nothing was wanting; neither song, nor dance,nor fun of any sort--nothing but Harry Ford.
The notice relative to James Starr, published in the papers, had notyet been seen by Ryan. The honest fellow was therefore only worried byHarry's absence, telling himself that something serious could alone haveprevented him from keeping his promise. So, the day after the Irvinegames, Jack Ryan intended to take the railway from Glasgow and go to theDochart pit; and this he would have done had he not been detained by anaccident which nearly cost him his life. Something which occurred on thenight of the 12th of December was of a nature to support the opinions ofall partisans of the supernatural, and there were many at Melrose Farm.
Irvine, a little seaport of Renfrew, containing nearly seven thousandinhabitants, lies in a sharp bend made by the Scottish coast, near themouth of the Firth of Clyde. The most ancient and the most famed ruinson this part of the coast were those of this castle of Robert Stuart,which bore the name of Dundonald Castle.
At this period Dundonald Castle, a refuge for all the stray goblinsof the country, was completely deserted. It stood on the top of a highrock, two miles from the town, and was seldom visited. Sometimes afew strangers took it into their heads to explore these old historicalremains, but then they always went alone. The inhabitants of Irvinewould not have taken them there at any price. Indeed, several legendswere based on the story of certain "fire-maidens," who haunted the oldcastle.
The most superstitious declared they had seen these fantastic creatureswith their own eyes. Jack Ryan was naturally one of them. It was a factthat from time to time long flames appeared, sometimes on a broken pieceof wall, sometimes on the summit of the tower which was the highestpoint of Dundonald Castle.
Did these flames really assume a human shape, as was asserted? Did theymerit the name of fire-maidens, given them by the people of the coast?It was evidently just an optical delusion, aided by a good deal ofcredulity, and science could easily have explained the phenomenon.
However that might be, these fire-maidens had the reputation offrequenting the ruins of the old castle and there performing wildstrathspeys, especially on dark nights. Jack Ryan, bold fellow though hewas, would never have dared to accompany those dances with the music ofhis bagpipes.
"Old Nick is enough for them!" said he. "He doesn't need me to completehis infernal orchestra."
We may well believe that these strange apparitions frequently furnisheda text for the evening stories. Jack Ryan was ending the evening withone of these. His auditors, transported into the phantom world, wereworked up into a state of mind which would believe anything.
All at once shouts were heard outside. Jack Ryan stopped short in themiddle of his story, and all rushed out of the barn. The night waspitchy dark. Squalls of wind and rain swept along the beach. Two orthree fishermen, their backs against a rock, the better to resist thewind, were shouting at the top of their voices.
Jack Ryan and his companions ran up to them. The shouts were, however,not for the inhabitants of the farm, but to warn men who, without beingaware of it, were going to destruction. A dark, confused mass appearedsome way out at sea. It was a vessel whose position could be seen byher lights, for she carried a white one on her foremast, a green onthe starboard side, and a red on the outside. She was evidently runningstraight on the rocks.
"A ship in distress?" said Ryan.
"Ay," answered one of the fishermen, "and now they want to tack, butit's too late!"
"Do they want to run ashore?" said another.
"It seems so," responded one of the fishermen, "unless he has beenmisled by some--"
The man was interrupted by a yell from Jack. Could the crew have heardit? At any rate, it was too late for them to beat back from the line ofbreakers which gleamed white in the darkness.
But it was not, as might be supposed, a last effort of Ryan's to warnthe doomed ship. He now had his back to the sea. His companions turnedalso, and gazed at a spot situated about half a mile inland. It wasDundonald Castle. A long flame twisted and bent under the gale, on thesummit of the old tower.
"The Fire-Maiden!" cried the superstitious men in terror.
Clearly, it needed a good strong imagination to find any human likenessin that flame. Waving in the wind like a luminous flag, it seemedsometimes to fly round the tower, as if it was just going out, and amoment after it was seen again dancing on its blue point.
"The Fire-Maiden! the Fire-Maiden!" cried the terrified fishermen andpeasants.
All was then explained. The ship, having lost her reckoning in thefog, had taken this flame on the top of Dundonald Castle for the Irvinelight. She thought herself at the entrance of the Firth, ten milesto the north, when she was really running on a shore which offered norefuge.
What could be done to save her, if there was still time? It was toolate. A frightful crash was heard above the tumult of the elements. Thevessel had struck. The white line of surf was broken for an instant; sheheeled over on her side and lay among the rocks.
At the same time, by a strange coincidence, the long flame disappeared,as if it had been swept away by a violent gust. Earth, sea, and sky wereplunged in complete darkness.
"The Fire-Maiden!" shouted Ryan, for the last time, as the apparition,which he and his companions believed supernatural, disappeared. But thenthe courage of these superstitious Scotchmen, which had failed before afancied danger, returned in face of a real one, which they were ready tobrave in order to save their fellow-creatures. The tempest did not deterthem. As heroic as they had before been credulous, fastening ropes roundtheir waists, they rushed into the waves to the aid of those on thewreck.
Happily, they succeeded in their endeavors, although some--and bold JackRyan was among the number--were severely wounded on the rocks. But thecaptain of the vessel and the eight sailors who composed his crew werehauled up, safe and sound, on the beach.
The ship was the Norwegian brig MOTALA, laden with timber, and bound forGlasgow. Of the MOTALA herself nothing remained but a few spars, washedup by the waves, and dashed among the rocks on the beach.
J
ack Ryan and three of his companions, wounded like himself, werecarried into a room of Melrose Farm, where every care was lavished onthem. Ryan was the most hurt, for when with the rope round his waisthe had rushed into the sea, the waves had almost immediately dashed himback against the rocks. He was brought, indeed, very nearly lifeless onto the beach.
The brave fellow was therefore confined to bed for several days, to hisgreat disgust. However, as soon as he was given permission to sing asmuch as he liked, he bore his trouble patiently, and the farm echoedall day with his jovial voice. But from this adventure he imbibed a morelively sentiment of fear with regard to brownies and other goblins whoamuse themselves by plaguing mankind, and he made them responsiblefor the catastrophe of the Motala. It would have been vain to try andconvince him that the Fire-Maidens did not exist, and that the flame,so suddenly appearing among the ruins, was but a natural phenomenon. Noreasoning could make him believe it. His companions were, if possible,more obstinate than he in their credulity. According to them, one of theFire-Maidens had maliciously attracted the MOTALA to the coast. As towishing to punish her, as well try to bring the tempest to justice! Themagistrates might order what arrests they pleased, but a flame cannotbe imprisoned, an impalpable being can't be handcuffed. It must beacknowledged that the researches which were ultimately made gave ground,at least in appearance, to this superstitious way of explaining thefacts.
The inquiry was made with great care. Officials came to DundonaldCastle, and they proceeded to conduct a most vigorous search. Themagistrate wished first to ascertain if the ground bore any footprints,which could be attributed to other than goblins' feet. It was impossibleto find the least trace, whether old or new. Moreover, the earth, stilldamp from the rain of the day before, would have preserved the leastvestige.
The result of all this was, that the magistrates only got for theirtrouble a new legend added to so many others--a legend which would beperpetuated by the remembrance of the catastrophe of the MOTALA, andindisputably confirm the truth of the apparition of the Fire-Maidens.
A hearty fellow like Jack Ryan, with so strong a constitution, could notbe long confined to his bed. A few sprains and bruises were not quiteenough to keep him on his back longer than he liked. He had not time tobe ill.
Jack, therefore, soon got well. As soon as he was on his legs again,before resuming his work on the farm, he wished to go and visit hisfriend Harry, and learn why he had not come to the Irvine merry-making.He could not understand his absence, for Harry was not a man who wouldwillingly promise and not perform. It was unlikely, too, that the son ofthe old overman had not heard of the wreck of the MOTALA, as it was inall the papers. He must know the part Jack had taken in it, and what hadhappened to him, and it was unlike Harry not to hasten to the farm andsee how his old chum was going on.
As Harry had not come, there must have been something to prevent him.Jack Ryan would as soon deny the existence of the Fire-Maidens asbelieve in Harry's indifference.
Two days after the catastrophe Jack left the farm merily, feelingnothing of his wounds. Singing in the fullness of his heart, he awokethe echoes of the cliff, as he walked to the station of the railway,which VIA Glasgow would take him to Stirling and Callander.
As he was waiting for his train, his attention was attracted by a billposted up on the walls, containing the following notice:
"On the 4th of December, the engineer, James Starr, of Edinburgh,embarked from Granton Pier, on board the Prince of Wales. He disembarkedthe same day at Stirling. From that time nothing further has been heardof him.
"Any information concerning him is requested to be sent to the Presidentof the Royal Institution, Edinburgh."
Jack Ryan, stopping before one of these advertisements, read it twiceover, with extreme surprise.
"Mr. Starr!" he exclaimed. "Why, on the 4th of December I met him withHarry on the ladder of the Dochart pit! That was ten days ago! And hehas not been seen from that time! That explains why my chum didn't cometo Irvine."
And without taking time to inform the President of the Royal Institutionby letter, what he knew relative to James Starr, Jack jumped into thetrain, determining to go first of all to the Yarrow shaft. There hewould descend to the depths of the pit, if necessary, to find Harry, andwith him was sure to be the engineer James Starr.
"They haven't turned up again," said he to himself. "Why? Has anythingprevented them? Could any work of importance keep them still at thebottom of the mine? I must find out!" and Ryan, hastening his steps,arrived in less than an hour at the Yarrow shaft.
Externally nothing was changed. The same silence around. Not a livingcreature was moving in that desert region. Jack entered the ruined shedwhich covered the opening of the shaft. He gazed down into the darkabyss--nothing was to be seen. He listened--nothing was to be heard.
"And my lamp!" he exclaimed; "suppose it isn't in its place!" The lampwhich Ryan used when he visited the pit was usually deposited in acorner, near the landing of the topmost ladder. It had disappeared.
"Here is a nuisance!" said Jack, beginning to feel rather uneasy. Then,without hesitating, superstitious though he was, "I will go," said he,"though it's as dark down there as in the lowest depths of the infernalregions!"
And he began to descend the long flight of ladders, which led down thegloomy shaft. Jack Ryan had not forgotten his old mining habits, andhe was well acquainted with the Dochart pit, or he would scarcely havedared to venture thus. He went very carefully, however. His foot triedeach round, as some of them were worm-eaten. A false step would entail adeadly fall, through this space of fifteen hundred feet. He counted eachlanding as he passed it, knowing that he could not reach the bottom ofthe shaft until he had left the thirtieth. Once there, he would have notrouble, so he thought, in finding the cottage, built, as we have said,at the extremity of the principal passage.
Jack Ryan went on thus until he got to the twenty-sixth landing, andconsequently had two hundred feet between him and the bottom.
Here he put down his leg to feel for the first rung of thetwenty-seventh ladder. But his foot swinging in space found nothing torest on. He knelt down and felt about with his hand for the top of theladder. It was in vain.
"Old Nick himself must have been down this way!" said Jack, not withouta slight feeling of terror.
He stood considering for some time, with folded arms, and longing to beable to pierce the impenetrable darkness. Then it occurred to him thatif he could not get down, neither could the inhabitants of the mine getup. There was now no communication between the depths of the pit and theupper regions. If the removal of the lower ladders of the Yarrow shafthad been effected since his last visit to the cottage, what had becomeof Simon Ford, his wife, his son, and the engineer?
The prolonged absence of James Starr proved that he had not left the pitsince the day Ryan met with him in the shaft. How had the cottage beenprovisioned since then? The food of these unfortunate people, imprisonedfifteen hundred feet below the surface of the ground, must have beenexhausted by this time.
All this passed through Jack's mind, as he saw that by himself he coulddo nothing to get to the cottage. He had no doubt but that communicationhad been interrupted with a malevolent intention. At any rate, theauthorities must be informed, and that as soon as possible. Jack Ryanbent forward from the landing.
"Harry! Harry!" he shouted with his powerful voice.
Harry's name echoed and re-echoed among the rocks, and finally died awayin the depths of the shaft.
Ryan rapidly ascended the upper ladders and returned to the light ofday. Without losing a moment he reached the Callander station, justcaught the express to Edinburgh, and by three o'clock was before theLord Provost.
There his declaration was received. His account was given so clearlythat it could not be doubted. Sir William Elphiston, President of theRoyal Institution, and not only colleague, but a personal friend ofStarr's, was also informed, and asked to direct the search which wasto be made without delay in the mine. Several men were placed at
hisdisposal, supplied with lamps, picks, long rope ladders, not forgettingprovisions and cordials. Then guided by Jack Ryan, the party set out forthe Aberfoyle mines.
The same evening the expedition arrived at the opening of the Yarrowshaft, and descended to the twenty-seventh landing, at which Jack Ryanhad been stopped a few hours previously. The lamps, fastened to longropes, were lowered down the shaft, and it was thus ascertained that thefour last ladders were wanting.
As soon as the lamps had been brought up, the men fixed to the landing arope ladder, which unrolled itself down the shaft, and all descended oneafter the other. Jack Ryan's descent was the most difficult, for he wentfirst down the swinging ladders, and fastened them for the others.
The space at the bottom of the shaft was completely deserted; but SirWilliam was much surprised at hearing Jack Ryan exclaim, "Here are bitsof the ladders, and some of them half burnt!"
"Burnt?" repeated Sir William. "Indeed, here sure enough are cinderswhich have evidently been cold a long time!"
"Do you think, sir," asked Ryan, "that Mr. Starr could have had anyreason for burning the ladders, and thus breaking of communication withthe world?"
"Certainly not," answered Sir William Elphiston, who had become verythoughtful. "Come, my lad, lead us to the cottage. There we shallascertain the truth."
Jack Ryan shook his head, as if not at all convinced. Then, taking alamp from the hands of one of the men, he proceeded with a rapid stepalong the principal passage of the Dochart pit. The others all followedhim.
In a quarter of an hour the party arrived at the excavation in whichstood Simon Ford's cottage. There was no light in the window. Ryandarted to the door, and threw it open. The house was empty.
They examined all the rooms in the somber habitation. No trace ofviolence was to be found. All was in order, as if old Madge had beenstill there. There was even an ample supply of provisions, enough tolast the Ford family for several days.
The absence of the tenants of the cottage was quite unaccountable. Butwas it not possible to find out the exact time they had quitted it? Yes,for in this region, where there was no difference of day or night, Madgewas accustomed to mark with a cross each day in her almanac.
The almanac was pinned up on the wall, and there the last cross had beenmade at the 6th of December; that is to say, a day after the arrival ofJames Starr, to which Ryan could positively swear. It was clear that onthe 6th of December, ten days ago, Simon Ford, his wife, son, andguest, had quitted the cottage. Could a fresh exploration of the mine,undertaken by the engineer, account for such a long absence? Certainlynot.
It was intensely dark all round. The lamps held by the men gave lightonly just where they were standing. Suddenly Jack Ryan uttered a cry."Look there, there!"
His finger was pointing to a tolerably bright light, which was movingabout in the distance. "After that light, my men!" exclaimed SirWilliam.
"It's a goblin light!" said Ryan. "So what's the use? We shall nevercatch it."
The president and his men, little given to superstition, darted off inthe direction of the moving light. Jack Ryan, bravely following theirexample, quickly overtook the head-most of the party.
It was a long and fatiguing chase. The lantern seemed to be carried by abeing of small size, but singular agility.
Every now and then it disappeared behind some pillar, then was seenagain at the end of a cross gallery. A sharp turn would place it out ofsight, and it seemed to have completely disappeared, when all at oncethere would be the light as bright as ever. However, they gained verylittle on it, and Ryan's belief that they could never catch it seemedfar from groundless.
After an hour of this vain pursuit Sir William Elphiston and hiscompanions had gone a long way in the southwest direction of the pit,and began to think they really had to do with an impalpable being. Justthen it seemed as if the distance between the goblin and those whowere pursuing it was becoming less. Could it be fatigued, or did thisinvisible being wish to entice Sir William and his companions to theplace where the inhabitants of the cottage had perhaps themselves beenenticed. It was hard to say.
The men, seeing that the distance lessened, redoubled their efforts. Thelight which had before burnt at a distance of more than two hundredfeet before them was now seen at less than fifty. The space continuedto diminish. The bearer of the lamp became partially visible. Sometimes,when it turned its head, the indistinct profile of a human face could bemade out, and unless a sprite could assume bodily shape, Jack Ryan wasobliged to confess that here was no supernatural being. Then, springingforward,--
"Courage, comrades!" he exclaimed; "it is getting tired! We shall sooncatch it up now, and if it can talk as well as it can run we shall heara fine story."
But the pursuit had suddenly become more difficult. They were inunknown regions of the mine; narrow passages crossed each other likethe windings of a labyrinth. The bearer of the lamp might escape them aseasily as possible, by just extinguishing the light and retreating intosome dark refuge.
"And indeed," thought Sir William, "if it wishes to avoid us, why doesit not do so?"
Hitherto there had evidently been no intention to avoid them, butjust as the thought crossed Sir William's mind the light suddenlydisappeared, and the party, continuing the pursuit, found themselvesbefore an extremely narrow natural opening in the schistous rocks.
To trim their lamps, spring forward, and dart through the opening, wasfor Sir William and his party but the work of an instant. But beforethey had gone a hundred paces along this new gallery, much wider andloftier than the former, they all stopped short. There, near the wall,lay four bodies, stretched on the ground--four corpses, perhaps!
"James Starr!" exclaimed Sir William Elphiston.
"Harry! Harry!" cried Ryan, throwing himself down beside his friend.
It was indeed the engineer, Madge, Simon, and Harry Ford who were lyingthere motionless. But one of the bodies moved slightly, and Madge'svoice was heard faintly murmuring, "See to the others! help them first!"
Sir William, Jack, and their companions endeavored to reanimate theengineer and his friends by getting them to swallow a few drops ofbrandy. They very soon succeeded. The unfortunate people, shut up inthat dark cavern for ten days, were dying of starvation. They must haveperished had they not on three occasions found a loaf of bread and a jugof water set near them. No doubt the charitable being to whom they owedtheir lives was unable to do more for them.
Sir William wondered whether this might not have been the work of thestrange sprite who had allured them to the very spot where James Starrand his companions lay.
However that might be, the engineer, Madge, Simon, and Harry Ford weresaved. They were assisted to the cottage, passing through the narrowopening which the bearer of the strange light had apparently wished topoint out to Sir William. This was a natural opening. The passage whichJames Starr and his companions had made for themselves with dynamite hadbeen completely blocked up with rocks laid one upon another.
So, then, whilst they had been exploring the vast cavern, the way backhad been purposely closed against them by a hostile hand.