Frank Trevelyan, almost petrified with horror at the dreadful
catastrophe, which there was just then sufficient light to enable him to
discern the nature of, remained for some moments riveted to the spot
from whence he had witnessed its occurrence; but soon partially
recovering his bewildered faculties, he fell upon his hands and knees,
and approaching the mouth of the shaft, called out, in a tone of
agonizing anxiety to his companion, but with scarcely a hope of being
responded to, when a faint voice, though from an awful depth, assured
him he was yet alive; but, it was to be feared, dreadfully injured; and,
in plain truth, he was in a situation of even greater danger than his
fellow-traveller was then aware of. Poor Vernon Wycherley had fallen
upwards of sixty feet perpendicularly, and had alighted on a projection
of the ground, occasioned by a drift that had been made in the workings,
which alone prevented him from being hurled to the bottom of the pit,
which was of vast depth, though partially filled with water. As it was,
his situation was so perilous, that it seemed only to add to the agony
of impending death, with a very remote prospect of deliverance. Every
thing depended upon his being able to secure himself upon the point of
ground where he then rested; and this being loosened by the force with
which he had fallen upon it, was gradually crumbling from beneath him,
every particle of which, as it gave way, splashing in the water at the
bottom of the shaft produced a deafening crash, which sound rendered him
fearfully conscious of the probability of the whole mass, upon which his
sole chance for safety depended, sinking under him, before the necessary
assistance could arrive. This it soon did to such a degree, that, in
spite of all his efforts, he gradually sank lower and lower, until,
unable longer to retain a footing, his legs were overhanging the awful
gulf, and he was rapidly sliding off, when, by a desperate effort, he
threw up his feet, so that they reached the opposite side of the shaft,
whilst his body still remained on the projecting drift, against which he
firmly planted his back, and with his feet on the opposite side, he was
thus enabled to gain a stationary position; yet, even then, the soil
continually crumbling away, rendered it doubtful how long he might be
able to retain it.
Frank Trevelyan was, however, as we before mentioned, unaware of the
full extent of his friend's peril, and only dreading the effects of what
had already occurred, he no sooner heard the welcome sound of his voice,
than, bidding him keep up a good heart, for that he plainly heard the
voices of a number of persons at no great distance, from some of whom he
should be able to procure all the aid he required. Having so said, he
started off at speed towards the spot from whence he could still hear
the humming noise of many voices, indicating an assemblage of a large
company of persons no great way off--and so towards this spot he ran at
a rapid pace, regardless of the risk he incurred in thus racing along,
as it were blindfold, in so dangerous a locality. But the fact is, a
thought of his own personal safety never once entered his head: Vernon's
accident, and its probable consequences, engrossed his every thought.
Another rocket served to show him he was taking the right direction; and
at so rapid a pace did he proceed, that the enlivening sounds of voices
became more and more distinct, when, topping the brow of the hill, a
blue light, most opportunely lighted up, disclosed to him at a very
short distance on the opposite side of the valley, a substantial
gentleman's house, in front of which a motley and mixed medley of some
couple of hundred people or more--some of them gentlemen, but the
majority consisting of miners and agricultural labourers--were
assembled, either as actors, assistants, or lookers-on, at a display of
various kinds of fire-works that was then going forward.
A sight so welcome to our little hero's hopes imparted fresh vigour to
his limbs; and he darted down the steep declivity at the imminent danger
of his neck, but happily reached the bottom in safety, just as the light
which had aided him in his descent expired, which then made every thing
appear even darker than before. Consequently, Frank, not espying the
brook that intervened betwixt himself and the object he was striving to
reach, tumbled over head and ears into one of its deepest pools; but
being a swimmer, and the stream but narrow though the pool was deep, he
soon attained the summit of the opposite bank; when a hedge, almost
close at hand, alone seemed to separate him from the people whose
assistance he was so anxious to secure. The hedge was easily clambered
over, though an impediment he had not anticipated awaited him on the
other side, in the form of a small fishpond, into which he bundled, and
so got a second ducking. But as this pond, or rather that portion of it
into which he had fallen, was not deep, he soon splashed across it, to
the amazement of the assembled party who witnessed the feat, which a
fresh blue-light, just then ignited, afforded them ample means of
doing--the heavy souse he had made in tumbling in, and the splutter he
made in floundering out again, having already attracted their attention
to the spot--which, as he seemed to have selected the very widest part
of the whole pool, was the very last of all others any one could have
suspected an entry to have been made on the premises.
Unconscious of the surprise he had thus excited, Frank Trevelyan rushed
forward into the midst of the assembled group, and seizing hold upon a
stout little old gentleman who seemed to be the leading man of the
party, endeavoured, as well as his exhausted state would permit, to
explain the fearful misadventure which had just occurred. The
intelligence excited an exclamation of horror from all who heard it.
"What a dreadful death!" exclaimed the old gentleman.
"Oh! don't say so, for heaven's sake," cried Frank--"He may be, and I
fear is, much hurt; but I trust he may yet be saved."
"Impossible!" said half a dozen voices. "Why, the shaft's hundreds of
feet deep."
"But my companion is yet far from the bottom of it," resumed
Frank--"Something or other has interposed to prevent his falling lower.
He spoke, and told me so--Oh! for mercy's sake make haste, and you may
yet preserve his life."
"What a horrible situation!" exclaimed the old gentleman; "but no time
must be lost in talking about it, or inquiring into the why or the
wherefore. So here you, Timothy, John Clarke, Harris, Tom Carpenter, run
for your lives, every man Jack of you to the farm, where you'll find
plenty rope;--and here, miners, my dear men--do you bestir
yourselves--succeed or not, I'll pay you well. Could any thing be more
fortunate?" continued the old gentleman, soliloquising to
himself--"could any thing be more fortunate than our show of fire-works
bringing all the miners of the parish about our ears; the very best
hands in the world, from woeful experience in like matters, to render
aid in an accident of this kind."
No one required to be told a second time; and almost ere the words were
out of the worthy squire's mouth, every body had dispersed here and
there to procure ropes, and whatever might be required; all of which
were collected with a celerity almost incredible; and then off started
plenty of able and willing hands, all in eager haste to accomplish the
charitable object they were bent upon.
And now we must return to poor Vernon Wycherley, whom we left pent up in
a narrow dungeon many feet beneath the surface, enveloped in darkness,
and with difficulty sustaining an irksome and even painful position, by
keeping his body jammed across, and, as it were, forming a kind of
bridge over this awful chasm; whilst the loose soil, upon whose unstable
foundation his only chance of safety depended, gradually crumbling away,
kept his attention unceasingly alive to the certain fate that awaited
him when unable longer to retain his hold; the horrors of which were
still further augmented by the deafening din that thundered forth as
each detached mass reached the water far, far below. Few men, indeed,
could have sustained a sufficient degree of self-possession to have held
on a minute under such trying circumstances; but our tall young hero was
possessed of that true kind of courage, which, though disinclined to
seek out danger for mere danger's sake, is never daunted by its
approach, however fearful or unexpected it may be; and thus he was
enabled to await his impending fate with calm resignation. Strange, too,
as it may appear, his thoughts, notwithstanding his appalling situation,
would now and then wander to common everyday matters. Even the events of
that very afternoon occurred to him, and the beauteous form he had been
so much struck with passed in fancy before his eyes. "Would she pity his
fate?" he asked himself--"alas! no--how was she to know any thing about
it? Poor Frank, too," he thought, "what can he say to my unexpected, and
probably fatal accident? I fear all his philosophy will, at least this
time, fail of convincing him;--it is _all for the best_, but better for
myself, perhaps, than him, as far as chances of being saved go; for with
his little legs, it must have been all over with him some time before
this. But, gracious Heaven! may not such a catastrophe have already
happened to him?"
The start this last thought excited had well nigh proved fatal--a large
quantity of earth became detached even by this slight movement, and at
the same time caused a change of position, which, though very slight,
was yet sufficient to produce a fresh action on the muscles, previously
cramped from the unusual strain upon then, and thereby causing so much
pain, that the sufferer was nearly relaxing his hold, the retention of
which became more arduous every moment; whilst the time thus occupied
seemed prolonged to almost tenfold the term of its ordinary duration.
Never, therefore, was sound more welcome to his ears, than the hoarse
and agitated tone with which his friend, Frank Trevelyan, shouted out to
him down the mouth of the shaft; whilst the cheers with which his reply
was hailed from several persons who had already reached the spot,
assured him that the much-wished-for relief was at hand. Nor was there,
indeed, a moment then to lose; for even during the short time it took in
adjusting the rope, and getting ready a light, with which an adventurous
miner, well skilled in such matters, was about to descend, poor Vernon's
strength was rapidly declining; and, conscious of his increasing
weakness, he called out earnestly to those above to make haste, as he
could hold on no longer, and that the ground was fast slipping away from
under him. Anxiously indeed throbbed every breast during the interval
occupied by the miner's descent, and breathless was the suspense with
which each awaited the signal to pull away again upon the rope, which
had scarcely been given, when a heavy rumbling sound, followed by a
whirring noise, and terminating in a tremendous booming crash, whose
fearful din and uproar it is impossible to describe, caused a thrill of
horror to pass through the frame of every bystander; whilst Frank,
uttering a loud cry, threw himself with his face upon the ground, and
grasped the turf in all the frenzied agony of grief, till the loud
cheers that made the welkin ring again, aroused him to a state of
consciousness, when all his grief was turned into joy by discovering the
friend whose loss he had just begun to deplore, again safely landed on
the earth's surface, and apparently but little the worse for his
extraordinary tumble.
The noise which had caused so much unnecessary alarm was produced by the
projecting mass, which, loosened by Vernon's violent descent upon it,
had given way the instant it lost the partial support caused by the
pressure of his body against it.
Fortunately for the sufferer, there was no lack of medical aid. The
village doctor, who had been present at the fire-works, had the humane,
or business-like consideration to betake himself as speedily as possible
from thence to the place where his services were so likely to be needed;
whilst the old gentleman, who had taken so active a part in the late
transaction, had himself also practised the healing art in the early
part of his life. To the gratification of all present, these two
gentlemen, after a cursory examination, reported that no bones were
broken, and that although the right wrist was sprained, and the left leg
much bruised, yet that the other injuries were of a very trifling
nature; so much so indeed, that being helped on the back of the pony
which had brought the old gentleman to the scene of action, the patient
rode without much difficulty to the mansion from whence the assistance
had been derived; and which, although then attained by a more circuitous
route than the one Frank had previously gone, was less than a mile
distant.
Nothing, indeed, could exceed the kind hospitality of the old gentleman,
who, as Frank had supposed, turned out to be the proprietor of the house
and grounds he had made his entry upon in so unusual and unexpected a
manner. Determined to act out the character of the good Samaritan to
the very letter, the squire, for so every body called him, would insist
upon taking the patient to his own house, as well as that Frank should
remain to assist in taking care of him; alleging that there was no other
place for miles around where they could be properly accommodated; and if
there was, they should not go there as long as he had a house to shelter
them. Vernon was too glad to find any kind of resting-place to refuse so
generous an offer, and it required very little pressing to induce Master
Frank Trevelyan to accept the invitation; for, somehow or other, he had
just at the very moment begun to fancy that the late occurrence was but
the commencement of a series of adventures, which a further acquaintance
with their new friend might lead to. But the reasons which induced him
to take such a fancy into his head, we must for the present forbear
mentioning.