ing?"

"Nothing but good news, father--that you approve my choice."

"Ah, John told you that!"

"Yes, sir."

"And did he tell you anything else?"

"No sir, only that some great misfortune is upon me, and that I have my
father's sympathy."

"You have," said the Colonel, "and would to God I had known the truth
before. She is not Bartley's daughter at all; she is Hope's daughter. Her
virtue shines in her face; she is noble, she is self-denying, she is
just, she is brave; and no doubt she can account for her being at the
Lake Hotel in company with some man or other. Whatever that lady says
will be the truth. That's not the trouble, Walter; all that has become
small by comparison. But shall we ever see her sweet face again or hear
her voice?"

"Father," said Walter, trembling, "you terrify me. This sudden change in
your voice that I never heard falter before; some great calamity must
have happened. Tell me the worst at once."

"Walter," said the old man, "stand firm; do not despair, for there is
hope."

"Thank God for that, father! now tell me all."

"Walter, there has been an explosion in the mine--a fearful explosion;
the shaft has fallen in; there is no getting access to the mine, and all
the poor souls confined there are in mortal peril. Those who are best
acquainted with the mine do not think that many of them have been
destroyed by the ruin, but they tell me these explosions let loose
poisonous gases, and so now those poor souls are all exposed to three
deadly perils--choke-damp, fire-damp, and starvation."

"It's pitiable," said Walter, "but surely this is a calamity to Bartley,
and to the poor miners, but not to any one that I love, and that you have
learnt to respect."

"My son," said the Colonel, solemnly, "the mine was fired by foul play."

"Is it possible?"

"It is believed that some rival owner, or else some personal enemy of
William Hope, bribed a villain to fire some part of the mine that Hope
was inspecting."

"Great heavens!" said Walter, "can such villains exist? Poor, poor Mr.
Hope: who would think he had an enemy in the world?"

"Alas!" said the Colonel, "that is not all. His daughter, it seems,
over-heard the villain bribing the ruffian to commit this foul and
terrible act, and she flew to the mine directly. She dispatched some
miners to seize that hellish villain, and she went down the mine to save
her father."

"Ah!" said Walter, trembling all over.

"She has never been seen si