nd
longing to be above ground again. He led me through small passages, to a
hollow place near the descending shaft, where I saw a most extraordinary
monster fitted up. In form it was like a great coffee-mill, such as
I had seen in London, only a thousand times larger, and with heavy
windlass to work it.

"Put in a barrow-load of the smoulder," said Uncle Ben to Carfax, "and
let them work the crank, for John to understand a thing or two."

"At this time of day!" cried Simon Carfax; "and the watching as has been
o' late!"

However, he did it without more remonstrance; pouring into the scuttle
at the top of the machine about a basketful of broken rock; and then a
dozen men went to the wheel, and forced it round, as sailors do. Upon
that such a hideous noise arose, as I never should have believed any
creature capable of making, and I ran to the well of the mine for air,
and to ease my ears, if possible.

"Enough, enough!" shouted Uncle Ben by the time I was nearly deafened;
"we will digest our goodly boulder after the devil is come abroad for
his evening work. Now, John, not a word about what you have learned; but
henceforth you will not be frightened by the noise we make at dusk."

I could not deny but what this was very clever management. If they could
not keep the echoes of the upper air from moving, the wisest plan was to
open their valves during the discouragement of the falling evening;
when folk would rather be driven away, than drawn into the wilds and
quagmires, by a sound so deep and awful, coming through the darkness.

[Illustration: 546.jpg Illustrated Capital]

CHAPTER LIX

LORNA GONE AWAY

[Illustration: 547.jpg Wizard]

Although there are very ancient tales of gold being found upon Exmoor,
in lumps and solid hummocks, and of men who slew one another for it,
this deep digging and great labour seemed to me a dangerous and unholy
enterprise. And Master Huckaback confessed that up to the present time
his two partners and himself (for they proved to be three adventurers)
had put into the earth more gold than they had taken out of it.
Nevertheless he felt quite sure that it must in a very short time
succeed, and pay them back an hundredfold; and he pressed me with great
earnestness to join them, and work there as much as I could, without
moving my mother's suspicions. I asked him how they had managed so long
to carry on without discovery; and he said that this was partly through
the wildness of t