Chapter 15 Chapter Fifteen Nell at the Cottage
Two hours later, Harry, who had not immediately regained consciousness, and the dying child arrived at the cottage with the help of Jack Ryan and his partners.
There, the incidents were told to the old foreman, while Madge took care of the poor creature her son had just rescued.
Harry had thought it was a child he'd brought out of the abyss... a young girl, fifteen or sixteen at the most.Her eyes were blurred and filled with fear.Her thin face, drawn out by misery, the color of her golden-haired face which never seemed to have been bathed in light, her thin and small figure, all this made the person strange and charming. .Not for nothing does Jack Ryan compare her to an elf with a slightly supernatural appearance.Because of the circumstances, the girl may have lived in an anomalous center until then, and she appeared to be only half human.Her facial expression is peculiar.Her eyes, tired from the light of the cottage, stared blankly, and everything seemed new to her.
To this strange being, who was then lying on Madge's bed, as if coming back to life from a long sleep, the old Scotch lady addressed her first.
"What's your name?" she asked her.
"," the girl replied.
"Nel," Madge continued, "are you unwell?"
"I'm hungry," Neil replied, "I haven't eaten since...from..."
From the few words she uttered, Nell was unaccustomed to speaking, and the language she used was that old Gay whisper, the language that Simon Ford and his family used to speak.
In response to the girl, Ma Deqi immediately brought her some food.Nell was starving to death.How long had she been down this well?No one can tell.
"How many days have you been there, girl?" Madge asked.
Nell didn't answer.She didn't seem to understand the question being asked of her.
"How many days?..." Ma Deqi asked again.
"My God?..." Nell replied, the word didn't seem to mean anything to her.
Then she shook her head like someone who doesn't understand the question.
Madge took Neil's hand and caressed it, expressing her complete trust in her.
"How old are you, girl?" she asked, looking at her kindly and reassuringly.
Nell gave the same negative signal.
"Yes, yes," Madge continued, "how many years?"
"Year?..." Neil replied.
This word, to a young girl, has no more meaning than the word "sky."
Simon Ford, Harry, Jack Ryan and his companions looked at her with pity and sympathy.The condition of the wretched fellow in his ragged coarse coat was almost that of a prisoner.
Harry, more than anyone else, felt irresistibly drawn to Nell's strangeness itself.
He now stepped forward.He picked up her hand that Ma Deqi had just put down.He looked closely at Nell face to face, and a smile began to form on her lips, and he said to her:
"Nell...over there...in the coal mine...are you alone?"
"Alone! Alone!" The girl stood up and shouted.
At this time, her facial expression showed terror.Her eyes, softened just now under the young man's gaze, became wild again.
"Alone! Alone!" she repeated, and she fell back on Madge's bed as if she had been exhausted.
"The poor child is too weak to answer us," said Madge, after re-laying the girl. "A few hours' rest and a good meal will restore her strength. Come, Simon! Come, Harry! Come here, friends, and let her sleep!"
Under Maangqi's arrangement, Nell was left alone, and it was certain that she would fall into a deep sleep before long.
The event was not without shock, not only in the coal mines, but in Stirlingshire, and, shortly afterwards, throughout the United Kingdom.Nell's strange reputation thus expanded.It is thought that a maiden shut up in shale, like an antediluvian man in Noah's day, was freed from the gangue of shale by a single pickaxe, so the matter has not been further improved. Much brilliance.
Unbeknownst to Nell, she has become very fashionable.In her the superstitious found a new subject for their legends.They like to imagine Nell as the elf of New-Aberfoyle, when Jack Ryan tells his friend Harry:
"Very well," answered the young man, "as a conclusion. Well, Jack! Still, it is a good spirit! It was he who saved us, and brought us bread and water, when we were imprisoned in the coal mines. It could only be him! As for that bad elf, if it's still in the mine, we shall find it someday!"
As you might expect, engineer James Starr was first informed of the incident.
The young girl, who had regained her strength the next day at the cottage, was questioned by him with great concern.He felt she didn't know most things in life.But she was very clever, and everyone soon found out.However, she lacks certain basic concepts: the concept of time is one of them.It was found that she was not used to dividing time into hours and days, the words themselves were foreign to her.Besides, her eyes, accustomed to the night, were not at ease with the light of the electric pan.In the dark, however, her vision has a remarkable acuity, and her pupils are dilated so that she can see in total darkness.It was also true that her brain never made impressions of the outside world, her field of vision was only the size of a coal mine, and for her the whole of humanity was contained in this dungeon.Poor girl, does she know that there is a sun and stars, cities and villages, and a universe in which all things gather?One has to wonder, then, whether she can pack a definite meaning into her head when she doesn't yet know certain words.
As for finding out whether Nell lived alone in the depths of New-Aberfoyle, James Starr had to give up answering that question.Indeed, every hint of the subject excites terror in this peculiar nature.Either Nell couldn't, or she didn't want to answer.But, sure, there was some secret there that she could reveal.
"Would you like to stay with us? Would you like to go back to where you were?" James Starr asked her.To the first of these two questions: "Ah, yes!" said the maiden.To the second question she answered with a horrified cry, but that was all.
James Starr, and with him Simon and Harry Ford, could not help feeling a certain apprehension in the face of this obstinate silence.They could not forget the inexplicable events that accompanied the discovery of the coal mines.However, despite the absence of any new incidents for three years, they had been waiting for some new attack from their invisible enemy.They also want to explore the mysterious well.They went, well armed, and with many men.But they found no suspicious traces.That well communicates with the lower levels of the dungeon dug out of the carbonite layer.
James Starr, Simon and Harry talked about it a lot.Is there one or more bad guys hiding in the coal mine, are they setting some kind of trap.Maybe Nell could say it, but she wouldn't.The slightest hint of a girl's past would cause panic, and it seemed better not to force it.Over time, her secrets will no doubt be revealed.
During Nell's arrival at the cottage for a fortnight she became old man Madge's most astute and most industrious helper.Evidently, never to leave the home that had so kindly received her seemed to her so natural that it probably did not even occur to her that she might live elsewhere in the future.The Fords were enough for her, not to mention, in the minds of these good people, she was their adopted child from the moment Nell entered the cottage.
Indeed, Nell is lovely.Her new life has made her beautiful.There was no doubt that for the first time in her life she was living a good life.Her heart was filled with gratitude to those who had done her a favor.Madge developed a thoroughly maternal sympathy for Nell, and the old foreman soon became infatuated with it.Besides, everyone loves her.Friend Jack Ryan only regrets one thing: that he didn't save her himself.He often comes to the cottage.He sang, and Nell, who had never heard it sang, thought it was beautiful.But it could be seen that the young girl preferred Harry's more serious talk to Jack Ryan's songs, and he taught her little by little things of the outside world she didn't yet know.
It should be said that since Nell appeared in his natural form, Jack Ryan found himself having to admit that his faith in goblins had somewhat waned.Moreover, two months later, his superstition was dealt a fresh blow.
It is true that around that time Harry made a rather unexpected discovery, but one that partly explains the appearance of the Lighthouse Lady on the ruins of Castle Donald in Irving.
One day, after a long exploration in the southern part of the coal mine - exploration that had lasted several days through the last passages of this vast underground structure - Harry climbed a narrow passage with difficulty, The entryway is hollowed out in the intervals of the slate.Suddenly, to his astonishment, he was out in the open.The alley, after climbing crookedly up to the ground, ended in the ruins of Castle Donald.Thus, there is a secret passage between New-Aberfoyle and the hill covered with old castles.It was impossible to see the exit above this passageway from the outside, because it was so tightly blocked by stones and thorns.Therefore, it is impossible for the judges to go inside during the investigation.
A few days later, James Starr, led by Harry, came to inspect this natural layout of the coal deposit for himself.
"This," said he, "will serve to convince the superstitious people in the mine. Good-bye, ghosts, goblins, and Lady Lighthouse!"
"I don't think, Mr Starr," replied Harry, "that we have reason to be thankful for that! Their successors will be no better and probably worse, for sure!"
"Indeed, Harry," continued the engineer, "but what is to be done in this matter? It is evident that whoever is hiding in the mine is connected to the surface by this drift. Doubtless it was they who, torches in hand, lured the Mortara to the shore that stormy night; Jack Ryan and his companions were not there at the time! Whatever the reason, everything is explained. The exit from the lair is there! As for the people who lived there, I don't know if they still live there now."
"Still there, because Nell trembles when she's told about it!" replied Harry confidently. "Yes, because Nell won't or dares to talk about it!"
Harry may be right.If the mysterious guest at the coal mine had left there, or died.What reason does a young girl have for keeping silent?
However, James Starr firmly insisted on getting to the bottom of the mystery.He had a hunch that future new digs might depend on this.The strictest precautions are therefore resumed.Notified the judge.Police secretly occupy the ruins of Donald's Castle.Harry himself lay in ambush for several nights among the brambles that densely covered that hill.Nothing was found.No one emerged through that exit.
It was quickly concluded that those rascals might have left New-Aberfoyle at last, and, as for Nell, they might have thought she had died down the well of the very well they had abandoned her in.Before mining, coal mines may have provided them with a reliable refuge from all searches.However, since then, the environment has never been the same.It becomes difficult to hide the nest.So there is reason to hope that the future will no longer be alarming.However, James Starr was not entirely reassured, and Harry, too, could not budge, so he often repeated:
"Nell was evidently involved in the whole mystery. If she had nothing to fear, why did she keep silent? There was no need to wonder if she was happy with us? She loved us all! She adored my mother! If There is something terrible about her silence about her past, about things that would make us no longer worry about the future! Her mind forbids her to reveal secrets that weigh on her heart! And maybe, more In our interest and not in hers, she thought it right to shut herself up in this inexplicable silence!"
After various considerations, it was agreed that it would be expedient to avoid all conversation which might recall the young girl's past.
One day, however, Harry had to teach Nell about James Starr, his father, his mother, and what he himself thought she should know.
It was a holiday.No more work underground than above ground in Stirlingshire.There are not many people walking.Under the acoustically well-functioning vaults of New-Aberfoyle, 20 places sang.
Harry and Nell left the cottage and walked slowly along the left bank of Lake Malcolm.There the electric light cast not very strong, and the beams broke into various shapes at the corners of the picturesque cliffs that supported the dome.This kind of half-darkness was better suited to Nell's eyes, which were terribly ill-adapted to light.
After walking for an hour, Harry and his companions stopped in front of the chapel of St. Giles, which was built on a natural platform overlooking the lake.
"Your eyes, Nell, aren't used to the sun," said Harry, "and sure, they can't stand the sun's rays."
"No, of course," replied the maiden, "if the sun is what you picture me, Harry."
"Nel," continued Harry, "when I tell you, I cannot give you an exact idea of the splendor and beauty of this universe that your eyes have never seen—but, tell me, from your Is it possible that you have never been on the ground since the day you were born deep in the coal mine?"
"Never, Harry," replied Nell, "and I don't think a father or a mother ever took me outside, even as a child. I'm sure I have a little memory of it!"
"I believe so," replied Harry, "and besides, in those days, Nell, there were a lot of other people who never left the mine like you. At your age you don't know everything on the ground that you don't! But now, in a few minutes, the railway in the big tunnel will take us to the ground in the county. I'm so anxious, Nell, listen to you Say to me: 'Come, Harry, my eyes can bear the sun, I would like to see the sun! - I would like to see the handiwork of God!'"
"I'll tell you, Harry," replied the girl, "not long, I hope. I'll go with you to admire the outside world, but..."
"What do you want to say, Nell?" Harry asked hastily, "are you a bit sorry to have left that dark abyss where you spent the first years of your about to die?"
"No, Harry," replied Nell, "I just think that darkness is beautiful too. If only you could learn to see everything in it with eyes accustomed to the darkest! There is a fleeting moment that everyone likes to follow." Their flying shadows! Sometimes, circles that intersect in front of one's eyes and make one never want to come out of them! Under the shaft of the coal mine, there are three black holes, filled with vague light. Besides, some voices can be heard Talking to you! See, Harry, you have to have lived there to understand what I feel, what I can't express to you!"
"Then aren't you afraid, Nell, when you're alone?"
"Harry," answered the young girl, "the time when I'm not afraid is when I'm alone."
Nell's voice changed a little as she said this, but Harry thought she should be pressed a little, so he said:
"But you'll get lost in these long alleys, Nell, aren't you afraid of getting lost there?"
"No, Harry. I've known all the turns in the new mine for a long time!"
"Do you not go out from there now and then?"
"Yes...Occasionally..." The girl replied hesitantly, "Occasionally, I always come to the old mine in Aberfoyle."
"Then you recognize the old cottage?"
"Cottages... yes... but only from afar, those who live in cottages!"
"That's my father and my mother," Harry replied, "that's me! We'll never give up our old home!"
"Maybe it's more beneficial to you there!..." the girl whispered.
"But why, Nell? Is it because our obstinate refusal to leave there has led us to discover new deposits? And this discovery has brought happiness to a whole group of people who have worked their way to prosperity here, to you As far as Nell is concerned, you have been given life. Found some hearts that are all your own!"
"To me!" Nell replied hastily, "... yes! Whatever happens! To others... who knows?..."
"What do you want to say?"
"Nothing . . . nothing! . . . but danger crept in. Back then, in the New Coal Mine! Yes! Great danger! Harry! One day some unwary men went into those abysses. They went far Yes, far, far! They lost their way..."
"Lost?" Harry asked, looking at Nell.
"Yes . . . lost . . . " replied Nell, his voice trembling. "Their lights are out! They can't find their way . . . "
"So there," cried Harry, "for eight long days in captivity, Nell, and they were on the brink of death! Had God not sent them a rescuer, perhaps an angel, who had quietly given them Bring a little food, and if it had not been for a mysterious guide, who, after this, led their rescuers to them, they would have come out of that grave forever!"
"But how did you know that?" asked the young girl.
"Because of those people, that's James Starr...that's my father...that's me, Nell!"
Nell raised her head and seized the young man's hand, and she looked at him so intently that the latter felt self-conscious from the bottom of his heart.
"You!" the girl said again.
"Yes!" answered Harry, and there was a moment's silence. "And it was you who saved our lives! Nell! It could only have been you!"
Nell buried her head in her hands.No answer.Harry had never seen her so moved before.
"Those who saved you, Nell," he added in an excited voice, "have been saved by you, and you think they might forget?"
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