Produced by Fred Ihde and David Widger
THE COMING RACE
by Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton
Chapter I.
I am a native of _____, in the United States of America. My ancestorsmigrated from England in the reign of Charles II.; and my grandfatherwas not undistinguished in the War of Independence. My family,therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth;and being also opulent, they were considered disqualified for the publicservice. My father once ran for Congress, but was signally defeated byhis tailor. After that event he interfered little in politics, and livedmuch in his library. I was the eldest of three sons, and sent at the ageof sixteen to the old country, partly to complete my literary education,partly to commence my commercial training in a mercantile firm atLiverpool. My father died shortly after I was twenty-one; and being leftwell off, and having a taste for travel and adventure, I resigned, fora time, all pursuit of the almighty dollar, and became a desultorywanderer over the face of the earth.
In the year 18__, happening to be in _____, I was invited by aprofessional engineer, with whom I had made acquaintance, to visit therecesses of the ________ mine, upon which he was employed.
The reader will understand, ere he close this narrative, my reason forconcealing all clue to the district of which I write, and will perhapsthank me for refraining from any description that may tend to itsdiscovery.
Let me say, then, as briefly as possible, that I accompanied theengineer into the interior of the mine, and became so strangelyfascinated by its gloomy wonders, and so interested in my friend'sexplorations, that I prolonged my stay in the neighbourhood, anddescended daily, for some weeks, into the vaults and galleries hollowedby nature and art beneath the surface of the earth. The engineer waspersuaded that far richer deposits of mineral wealth than had yet beendetected, would be found in a new shaft that had been commenced underhis operations. In piercing this shaft we came one day upon a chasmjagged and seemingly charred at the sides, as if burst asunder at somedistant period by volcanic fires. Down this chasm my friend causedhimself to be lowered in a 'cage,' having first tested the atmosphereby the safety-lamp. He remained nearly an hour in the abyss. When hereturned he was very pale, and with an anxious, thoughtful expressionof face, very different from its ordinary character, which was open,cheerful, and fearless.
He said briefly that the descent appeared to him unsafe, and leading tono result; and, suspending further operations in the shaft, we returnedto the more familiar parts of the mine.
All the rest of that day the engineer seemed preoccupied by someabsorbing thought. He was unusually taciturn, and there was a scared,bewildered look in his eyes, as that of a man who has seen a ghost. Atnight, as we two were sitting alone in the lodging we shared togethernear the mouth of the mine, I said to my friend,--
"Tell me frankly what you saw in that chasm: I am sure it was somethingstrange and terrible. Whatever it be, it has left your mind in a stateof doubt. In such a case two heads are better than one. Confide in me."
The engineer long endeavoured to evade my inquiries; but as, while hespoke, he helped himself unconsciously out of the brandy-flask to adegree to which he was wholly unaccustomed, for he was a very temperateman, his reserve gradually melted away. He who would keep himself tohimself should imitate the dumb animals, and drink water. At last hesaid, "I will tell you all. When the cage stopped, I found myself ona ridge of rock; and below me, the chasm, taking a slanting direction,shot down to a considerable depth, the darkness of which my lamp couldnot have penetrated. But through it, to my infinite surprise, streamedupward a steady brilliant light. Could it be any volcanic fire? In thatcase, surely I should have felt the heat. Still, if on this there wasdoubt, it was of the utmost importance to our common safety to clear itup. I examined the sides of the descent, and found that I could ventureto trust myself to the irregular projection of ledges, at least for someway. I left the cage and clambered down. As I drew nearer and nearer tothe light, the chasm became wider, and at last I saw, to my unspeakableamaze, a broad level road at the bottom of the abyss, illumined as faras the eye could reach by what seemed artificial gas-lamps placed atregular intervals, as in the thoroughfare of a great city; and I heardconfusedly at a distance a hum as of human voices. I know, of course,that no rival miners are at work in this district. Whose could be thosevoices? What human hands could have levelled that road and marshalledthose lamps?
"The superstitious belief, common to miners, that gnomes or fiends dwellwithin the bowels of the earth, began to seize me. I shuddered at thethought of descending further and braving the inhabitants of this nethervalley. Nor indeed could I have done so without ropes, as from the spotI had reached to the bottom of the chasm the sides of the rock sank downabrupt, smooth, and sheer. I retraced my steps with some difficulty. NowI have told you all."
"You will descend again?"
"I ought, yet I feel as if I durst not."
"A trusty companion halves the journey and doubles the courage. I willgo with you. We will provide ourselves with ropes of suitable length andstrength--and--pardon me--you must not drink more to-night, our handsand feet must be steady and firm tomorrow."