Chapter 17 - Page 2

known to Silfax the new vein of coal.
With the egotism of madness, he believed himself the owner
of a treasure he must conceal and defend. Living in the mine,
and wandering about day and night, he perceived that you had discovered
the secret, and had written in all haste to beg me to come.
Hence the letter contradicting yours; hence, after my arrival,
all the accidents that occurred, such as the block of stone
thrown at Harry, the broken ladder at the Yarrow shaft,
the obstruction of the openings into the wall of the new cutting;
hence, in short, our imprisonment, and then our deliverance,
brought about by the kind assistance of Nell, who acted of
course without the knowledge of this man Silfax, and contrary
to his intentions."

"You describe everything exactly as it must have happened, Mr. Starr,"
returned old Simon. "The old 'Monk' is mad enough now, at any rate!"

"All the better," quoth Madge.

"I don't know that," said Starr, shaking his head; "it is a terrible
sort of madness this."

"Ah! now I understand that the very thought of him must have terrified
poor little Nell, and also I see that she could not bear to denounce
her grandfather. What a miserable time she must have had of it
with the old man!"

"Miserable with a vengeance," replied Simon, "between that savage and
his owl, as savage as himself. Depend upon it, that bird isn't dead.
That was what put our lamp out, and also so nearly cut the rope
by which Harry and Nell were suspended."

"And then, you see," said Madge, "this news of the marriage of our son
with his granddaughter added to his rancor and ill-will."

"To be sure," said Simon. "To think that his Nell should marry
one of the robbers of his own coal mine would just drive
him wild altogether."

"He will have to make up his mind to it, however," cried Harry. "Mad as
he is, we shall manage to convince him that Nell is better off
with us here than ever she was in the caverns of the pit.
I am sure, Mr. Starr, if we could only catch him, we should be able
to make him listen to reason."

"My poor Harry! there is no reasoning with a madman,"
replied the engineer. "Of course it is better to know your
enemy than not; but you must not fancy all is right because we
have found out who he is. We must be on our guard, my friends;
and to begin with, Harry, you positively must question Nell.
She will perceive that her silence is no longer reasonable.
Even for her grandfather's own interest, she ought to speak now.
For his own sake, as well as for ours, these insane plots must
be put a stop to."

"I feel sure, Mr. Starr," answered Harry, "that Nell will
of herself propose to tell you what she knows. You see it
was from a sense