Chapter 5 Chapter 5 The Fords
After 10 minutes, James Starr and Harry finally walked out of the main lane.
The young miner and his companion reached the bottom of a clearing--if that word can be used for a wide, dark cave.But the cave is not completely dark.A few rays of light pass through the head of an abandoned well and come here through the strata above.The air circulation of the Dochart coal bunker is through this duct.The hot air inside is sucked into Yale Mine due to its low density.
So a little air and light now and then pass through the thick vaults of schist to the glade.
It was there that Simon Ford and his family lived for ten years, in an underground dwelling dug out of the schist rock where the powerful machines used to operate the traction equipment of the Dochart coal bunker.
The old foreman's—"the cottage," as he liked to call it—was such a dwelling.Because of his many years of work, Simon Ford lives quite comfortably. He could have lived in any city in the kingdom between the trees under the sun, but his family and him had the same ideas and interests, and preferred to stay in the city where they lived. Very happy coal mine.yes!This cottage, tucked away 1,500 feet below the ground in Scotland, delights them.Among other benefits, there is no need to worry about the civil servants of the tax authorities, the "loud voices" team responsible for tax collection will not come here to tangle with the homeowners here!
Simon Ford, the former foreman of the Dochart coal bunker, was 65 years old and a strong man.He had been regarded as one of the preeminent in the country for his height, strength, and proportion, which had supplied so many handsome men to the Highland regiments.
Simon Ford came from an old line of miners, whose genealogy can be traced back to when the carbon-bearing veins in Scotland were first mined.
We do not study the use of coal by the Greeks and Romans archaeologically, whether the Chinese used coal mines far earlier than the Christian era, and do not discuss whether the name of this combustible ore really comes from the horseshoe blacksmith who lived in Belgium in the 12th century. From this, it is certain that the coalfields of Great Britain are first and regularly exploited. In the 11th century, Guillum the Conqueror shared among his comrades the products of the Newcastle coalfields. In the 13th century, Henry III granted a license to mine "sea coal".Finally, toward the end of the century, he mentions the coal beds of Scotland and Wales.
It was around this time that Simon Ford's ancestors entered the underground of Caledonia, and their ancestors stayed there for generations.They are just ordinary workers.They worked like convicts, extracting precious fuel.People even thought that the coal miners, like the salt workers of that era, were veritable slaves at that time.Indeed, the idea was so strong in eighteenth-century Scotland that during the wars of the claimants it was feared that the twenty thousand miners in Newcastle would rise up for freedom - because they believed there was no freedom.
Regardless, Simon Ford is proud to belong to the great family of Scottish coal miners.He worked with his hands in the same places his ancestors wielded pickaxes, crowbars, slotting picks, and pickaxes. At the age of 30, he was foreman at the Dochart Coal Bunker, the most important coal mine in Aberfoyle.He is passionate about his profession.Over the long years he has diligently performed his duties.His only pain was seeing the time when the coal seams were becoming barren and feeling that the veins would be exhausted was not far off.
That's when he plunged into the coal bunkers of Aberfoyle in search of new veins that were connected beneath the ground.He was lucky enough to find several veins in the final stages of mining.His miner's instincts helped him a lot, and engineer James Starr held him in high esteem.It might even be said that he probed for veins in the depths of a coal mine, as a groundwater prospector probes for sources of water beneath the surface.
But the moment has come when there is no longer any combustible material in the so-called coal mine.Probing again brought no results.The carbonaceous veins have apparently been exhausted.Mining stopped.The miners backed out.
What do people think?What most people feel is a kind of despair.This will not surprise anyone who understands that people like to suffer in the well.There is no doubt that Simon Ford was the hardest hit.He is an outstanding example of a miner whose life has been inseparably linked with that of the mine.He had lived there since he was born, and he wanted to live there after the project was abandoned.So he stayed.His son Harry, who has not been above ground 10 times in 10 years, takes care of the subterranean abode.
"Go up there! What's the good?" he repeated, not leaving his dark domain.
Besides, in this very healthy place, the old foreman, accustomed to the ever-moderate temperature, knew neither the heat of summer nor the cold of winter.His family is in good health.What else did he ask for?
Under the well, he was indeed very sad.He regretted the exuberance, the activity, the old life in the coal bunkers so industriously mined.However, he was sustained by a belief.
"No! No! The mine is not exhausted!" he repeated.
Doubt that old Aberfoyle could one day be resurrected in the dead mine pains Simon Ford.Therefore, he never gave up hope of discovering some new deposit and restoring the mine to its former glory.Yes, he would have been willing to take up the miner's pick again if necessary, and his old, still-strong arm would have struck the rock with might.So he walked through those dark alleys, sometimes alone, sometimes with his son, observing and searching, until he returned to the cottage every day exhausted, but never desperate.
Madge was Simon Ford's venerable companion, a tall, athletic, "good wife," "good wife," as the Scots say.Madge, like her husband, was reluctant to leave the Dochart coal bunker.She shares all his hopes and regrets at this point.She encouraged him, pushed him forward, she spoke to him with a certain gravity that warmed the old overman's heart again.
"Aberfoyle is only asleep, Simon," she said to him, "and you are right, it is only a rest, it is not death!"
Ma Deqi is also good at giving up the outside world and concentrating the happiness of the family of three in this dim cottage.
That's where James Starr came.
I've been waiting for an engineer for a long time.Simon Ford stood at the door of the house, a little further away, Harry's lamp announcing to him the arrival of his old "spectator," and he went to meet him.
"Welcome, Mr. James!" he called to him, his voice echoing under the vaults of schist. "Welcome to the old foreman's cottage! Although hidden 1,500 feet underground, the hospitality of the Ford family will not be here. Weaken!"
"How are you, good Simon?" asked James Starr, shaking the hand offered to him by his master.
"Excellent, Mr. Starr. What's the point of being sheltered from all kinds of bad weather here? The ladies of your family might as well spend a few days in the coal mines at Aberfoyle going to Newport or resting in the summer." months! They'll never catch a bad cold like they did in those damp streets of the old capital."
"I don't mean to contradict you, Simon," replied James Starr, pleased to find that the foreman was just as he had been! "Really, I'm wondering why I don't trade my house at Cannon Gate for some cottage near yours!"
"At your service, Mr. Starr. I know that among your former miners there is one who will be especially glad to be separated from you by only a dividing wall."
"How is Madge?..." asked the engineer.
"The old woman is in better health than I am, if possible!" replied Simon Ford. "She will be delighted to see you at her table. I think she will go above and beyond to entertain you."
"Just wait and see, Simon, just wait and see!" said the engineer, and the announcement of a good lunch could not have left him indifferent after a long journey.
"Are you hungry, Mr. Starr?"
"Definitely hungry. The travel has opened up my appetite. I'm here in the wind and rain!"
"Ah! it's raining!" replied Simon Ford, with a look of very obvious pity.
"Yes, Simon, the waters of the Worth are as rough as the sea today!"
"Well, here, Mr. James, it never rains. But I don't need to describe to you those advantages that you know as well as I do!" You're at the cottage now, and that's the main thing, I repeat to you, "Welcome!"
Simon Ford, with Harry following him, invited James Starr into the residence, and he came to the center of a spacious hall lit with several lamps, one of which hung from painted beams in the ceiling superior.
The dining table, spread with a brightly colored tablecloth, awaited the arrival of the guests, and four chairs stuffed with old leather had been placed there.
"Hello, Madge," said the engineer.
"Good day, Mr. James," replied the good Scotchwoman, rising to greet her visitor.
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Ma Deqi."
"You are right, Mr. James, for it is a pleasure to see again a man who has always been kind."
"The soup is ready, ma'am," said Simon Ford at this moment, "shouldn't let the soup, and Mr. James wait, he's as hungry as a miner, and he'll see our children make us nothing at the cottage No!—by the way, Harry," added the old foreman, turning to his son, "Jack Ryan has come to see you."
"I know, Father! We met him at Yale Mine."
"A good and merry fellow," said Simon Ford, "but he seems to like it! That's because there's no real miner's blood in his veins—please sit down, Mr. James, and let us have a hearty meal, for Supper might be late."
As the engineer and his hosts prepare to sit down:
"Wait a minute, Simon," said James Starr. "Would you like me to eat with gusto?"
"We could never be more honored, Mr. James," replied Simon Ford.
"Then, in order to do this, there should be no suspense—and I have two questions for you."
"Please, Mr. James."
"In your letter you mentioned to me a piece of information which might interest me instinctively?"
"Indeed, it's very interesting."
"To you?..."
"To you and to me, Mr. James, but I hope to report to you at the scene after dinner, and you may not believe me if I am not at the scene."
"Simon," continued the engineer, "look at me...here...look into my eyes. Interesting information?...yes...that's right!...I won't ask you any more," he said. Added, as if he read the answer he wished for in the old foreman's gaze.
"What about the second question?" the latter asked him.
"Do you know, Simon, who might have written me this letter?" replied the engineer, showing the anonymous letter he had received.
Simon Ford took the letter and read it very carefully.
Then he showed the letter to his son.
"Do you recognize the handwriting?" he asked.
"No, Father," Harry replied.
"Is this letter stamped at the post office in Aberfoyle?" Simon Ford asked the engineer.
"Yes, the same as yours," replied James Starr.
"What do you think of it, Harry?" said Simon Ford, his brow clouded for a moment.
"I think, father," replied Harry, "that there are interests, of whatever sort, to prevent Mr. James Starr from coming to your appointment."
"But who could it be?" cried the old miner, "who could have penetrated so deeply into the secrets of my mind? . . . "
Simon Ford was deep in thought and fell into some kind of meditation, and Madge's voice quickly pulled him out of the meditation.
"Let's sit down, Mr. Starr," she said. "The soup is getting cold. Don't think about that letter just now!"
At the invitation of the old lady, each of them sat in his own seat—James Starr sat facing Madaki in order to show respect—the father sat opposite his son.
This is a delicious Scottish meal.At first, a kind of "chowder" was eaten, the meat in the soup was soaked in a kind of boiling water. According to old Simon, his wife had no match for the skill of making chowder.
And so was the "chicken with leeks," a chowder cooked impeccably with leeks.
All dishes were poured with a good pale ale from the best brewing vats in the Edinburgh factory.
But the main course was a "dish", an ethnic pudding made with meat and barley flour.The famous dish that inspired the poet Burns to write one of his best little odes has the good fortune of being preserved as a good thing in the world: it goes down like a dream.
Ma Deqi received sincere compliments from the guests.
Lunch ended with a cheese course and "cake," an elaborate oatmeal cake, with shots of "saffron whiskey," a 25-year-old cereal-based Made good brandy - that was Harry's age.
The meal lasted for an hour.James Starr and Simon Ford not only ate with gusto, but also talked with gusto—mainly about the past of the old coal mines at Aberfoyle.
Harry remained more silent.Twice, he left the dinner table and even the house.He had evidently felt some uneasiness since the incident with the stones, and he wanted to scout the surroundings of the cottage.The anonymous letter also disturbed him.
At one point when he was out, the engineer said to Simon Ford and Madge:
"You have a righteous child, my friend!"
"Yes, Mr. James, a good and loyal man," replied the old foreman excitedly.
"Is he happy with you, in this cottage?"
"He didn't want to leave us."
"But have you ever thought about marrying him?"
"Marry Harry!" cried Simon Ford. "Who? A girl from above who likes festivals and dancing and her clan more than our coal mines! Harry won't want it!"
"Simon," Madky replied, "but you can't ask our Harry never to marry a wife..."
"I don't ask for anything," replied the old miner, "but there's no hurry! Who knows if we can't find him at all..."
Harry came back now, and Simon Ford fell silent.
When Ma Deqi left the dining table, everyone also left the dining table and sat at the door of the cottage for a while.
"Well, Simon," said the engineer, "I hear you."
"Mr. James," replied Simon Ford, "I don't need your ears, but your legs—are you rested?"
"Rested and well recovered, Simon. I am ready to go with you wherever you wish."
"Harry," said Simon Ford, turning to his son, "turn on our security lights."
"You bring your safety lights!" exclaimed James Starr, a little surprised, for in a coal bunker that had been absolutely emptied of coal, there was no need to worry about gas explosions.
"Yes, Mr. James, out of an abundance of caution."
"My good Simon, do you still suggest that I wear a miner's uniform again?"
"Not yet, Mr. James, not yet!" answered the old foreman, his eyes shining strangely in their sunken sockets.
Harry went back into the cottage, and came out almost immediately, bringing three safelights with him.
Harry gave one to the engineer, another to his father, and he kept a third for himself, hanging from his left hand, while his right held a long stick for defense.
"On the road!" said Simon Ford.Pick up a sturdy pickaxe placed by the cottage door.
"On the road!" replied the engineer—"Goodbye, Madge!"
"God bless you!" replied the Scotchwoman.
"Prepare a good supper, wife, hear me," cried Simon Ford, "we'll be hungry when we come back, and we'll salute the supper!"
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