CHAPTER XXVI
FIRST NEWS OF THE COPPER PRINCESS
When Peveril made his miraculous escape from the old mine, he left hisplace of exit open. In his impatience to get away from the scene ofhis sufferings, he had not even given another thought to the greatstone slab that he had raised with such difficulty and precariouslypropped into position by a few fragments of rock. So the narrowpassage leading down from the cavern into the ancient workings thathad been so carefully concealed for centuries was at length open tothe inspection of any who should happen that way. Thus it remainedduring the day of exciting incidents in the cavern, and through thestruggle that was ended by the smugglers bearing Peveril away captiveto their schooner.
Having thus disposed of the person whom of all in the world he mostdreaded, and placed him where it was apparently impossible for him tomake a claim on the Copper Princess before the expiration of the termof contract, Ralph Darrell rejoined his daughter.
She, noting his excitement and fearing to increase it, made no mentionof her own encounter with the other stranger, whose presence in thecavern seemed to have escaped her father's notice. So they onlytalked of Peveril; and the girl, picturing him as he had appeared onthe several occasions of their meeting, wondered if he could really betrying to rob them of their slender possessions, as her fatherclaimed.
The latter talked so incoherently of a conspiracy, a contract, and ofthe great wealth that would be theirs in one week from that time, thatshe was completely bewildered, and for the first time in her lifebegan to wonder if her papa knew exactly what he was saying.
Thus thinking, she soothed him as best she could, and finallysucceeded in getting him off to bed; but in the morning the subjectwas again uppermost in his mind, and he would talk of nothing else.Now he wondered how Peveril could have found his way into the cavern;and as Mary was also very curious on that point, she willinglyaccompanied him on a tour of investigation.
In this search it was not long before they discovered the upraisedstone slab at the rear end of the cavern, and peered curiously intothe black passage beneath it, which from the very first Ralph Darrellwas determined to explore.
"It is a part of our own mine," he said, "and so I must find out allabout it. There is no danger, for I can go very carefully, and returnwhen I please. I must go, though, for it is clearly my duty to do so.Who knows but what I may strike another vein down there, as valuableas the one we are already working. So, dear, do you wait here, and Iwill come back to you very shortly."
But brave Mary Darrell would not agree to any such proposition, anddeclared that if her father insisted on going into that horrid placeshe should follow him.
So the old man and the girl--the former filled with eager curiosityand the latter with a premonition of danger--crept under the greatslab and entered the sloping passage. They had but a single candlewith them, and of this Mary was glad, for she knew it would limittheir exploration and compel a speedy return.
Both of them being of much slighter frame than Peveril, they foundlittle difficulty in slipping through the passage and reaching theancient workings to which it led. Here Darrell began to find copper,and went into ecstasies over its richness.
Forgetful of everything else, he pushed eagerly forward from one pileof the valuable metal to another, and Mary, inspired by hisenthusiasm, almost forgot her dread of the gloomy place in which somuch wealth was stored. So absorbed were they that neither of thempaid any attention to a dull sound, as of some heavy body falling,that came from a distance.
Finally, their candle burning low warned them to hasten their return;but to their consternation, when they again reached the end of thepassage, they found its entrance closed. The great slab, insecurelysupported, had fallen into place, and the utmost exertion of theirfeeble strength was insufficient to move it.
As they realized the full extent of the disaster that had thusbefallen them, the girl was awed into a despairing silence; while theold man's impaired intellect gave way completely beneath the awfulstrain of the situation, and he broke into incoherent ravings. Atlength Mary Darrell knew that her beloved father had lost his mind,and that she must share her living tomb with a madman.
In his ravings he declared that the situation was exactly as he wantedit; for now no one, not even Richard Peveril himself, could sharetheir new-found wealth. With the next breath he expressed an intentionof getting back to the piles of copper as quickly as possible, that hemight defend them with his life against all claimants.
Terrible as it was to the girl to hear her father talk in this way,his mention of Peveril brought a faint ray of hope. If the young manhad indeed gained access to the cavern from this direction, then theold workings must possess some other exit. If they could only discoversuch a place, it was barely possible that they might still escape.Thus thinking, she humored her father's desire to return to the pilesof copper, and even hastened his steps in that direction, for theircandle was burning perilously low. So nearly had it expired that theyhad hardly regained the old workings before its feeble flame gave afinal flicker, and they were plunged into blackness.
Through this they still groped their way until the old man's strengthwas exhausted and he refused to go farther. Then, clinging to him inan agony of despair, the poor girl closed her eyes and prayed:
"Dear Christ, help me in this time of my bitter trouble, for I have nostrength save in Thee!"
Her cry was heard and her prayer was answered even as it was uttered;for with the opening of her eyes she caught a far-away gleam of light.A minute later, when Richard Peveril came to her, he seemed like onesent from heaven, and at that moment she could have worshipped him.
Peveril's heart leaped at the sound of her voice, and he received twoother distinct thrills of delight from her father's incoherent words.One was when he addressed the slight figure at his side as "Mary," andthe other was caused by his mention of the Copper Princess. By thefirst Peveril's recently aroused suspicion concerning the sex of thewearer of that golf costume was reduced to a certainty, while by theother he gained his first clue to the mine of which he was in search.
At the moment, however, these things merely flashed through his mind;for he realized that the present was neither the time nor the place todiscuss them. The two helpless ones, so wonderfully intrusted to hiscare, must be removed at once from the place in which they hadsuffered so keenly. Both he and the major agreed that it would be bestto take them out by way of the shaft, and though they were full ofcuriosity as to how the Darrells came into their distressing position,both manfully refrained from asking questions until they had escortedthem to the entrance. For this forbearance the major deserved evengreater credit than his young friend; for as yet he had no knowledgeof who the strangers were, nor how it happened that they seemed toknow Peveril.
RESCUED FROM THE SHAFT]
Arrived at the shaft, it was decided that the major should ascendfirst, to prepare those at the top for what was coming, as well as toreceive the old man, who would be sent up next. As he adjusted therope about his body, he whispered to Peveril, who was assisting him:
"Who are they?"
"Darrells," was the laconic answer.
"Not old man Darrell of the 'Folly'?"
"Yes."
"And his daughter?"
"I believe so," replied the young man, at the same time wondering howthe other had discovered so quickly the rightful sex of the apparentlad.
"But how on earth do they happen to know you?"
"They ought to, seeing that the old man has shot at me twice; whileMiss Darrell and I have met several times, and on one occasion, atleast, she saved my life."
"Whew! No wonder you greet each other like old friends," rejoined themajor, as he swung off over the black pool and began slowly to ascendthe ancient shaft.
When the rope was again lowered it brought some bits of stout cord forwhich Peveril had asked, and with these he fastened the old man sosecurely into the loop that there was no possibility of his fallingout. Although Ralph Darrell
was still highly excited and talkedconstantly, he readily agreed to every proposition made by hisdaughter, and offered no objection to going up the shaft.
As he swung out from the platform, and those above began to hoist onthe rope, his daughter bent anxiously forward to note his progress.Apparently unconscious of her own danger, she leaned out farther andfarther, until Peveril, fearful lest she should lose her balance andplunge into the pool, reached an arm about her waist and held her.
The girl was so intent upon watching her father that for a moment shepaid no attention to this. Then, suddenly becoming conscious of thestrong support against which she was leaning, she stepped quickly backto a position of safety.
"I didn't suppose you would think it necessary to take such care of aboy," she said, with an attempt at dignity.
"I shouldn't," laughed Peveril; "but why didn't you tell me yesterdaythat you were a young lady, and that your name was Mary?"
"I don't remember that you asked me."
"That's so. It was you who asked all the questions and I who answeredthem. So now it is my turn."
"I sha'n't promise to answer, though."
"Oh, but you must; for there are some things that I am extremelyanxious to know. For instance, why do you dress in boy's costume?"
"Because my father wished me to."
"An excellent reason. Now I want to know if 'Darrell's Folly' and theCopper Princess are one and the same mine?"
"I believe the Copper Princess has been called by that other name,which, however, I will thank you not to repeat in my presence."
"All right, I won't; but tell me--"
"Here is the rope, Mr. Peveril, and, thanking you over and over againfor your very great kindness, I will bid you _au revoir_," said thegirl, hurriedly adjusting the loop and preparing to ascend.
There was never a more amazed or abashed man in this world than wasMike Connell when the "young lady" whom he, full of curiosity, washelping to hoist from the old shaft made her appearance, and hediscovered her to be the "lad" whom he had treated with such freedomthe evening before. He was so staggered that he could not utter aword, but simply stared at her with an expression in whichmortification and admiration were equally blended.
The moment the girl gained a footing on the surface she made acomprehensive little bow to the men assembled about the shaft-mouth,and said:
"My father and I thank you, gentlemen, from overflowing hearts, foryour great kindness to us, and shall hope to see you at our home forsupper, after you have been rejoined by Mr. Peveril. Come, papa, letus go and make ready for company." With this she led the old man awayin the direction of his "Folly."
Half an hour later the four men from White Pine were received at thedoor of the Darrell house by a dignified young lady, simply butbecomingly dressed in the usual costume of her sex. Looking directlyat one of them, she said:
"I bid you welcome, Mr. Peveril, to your own Copper Princess."