Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Nell's Wedding

The crowd dispersed, but before then it was agreed that the owners of the cottages should be more vigilant than ever.Old Sylfax's threat was surprisingly straightforward.It must be considered whether the former penitent had some terrible means of destroying all of Aberfoyle. A number of armed guards were therefore placed at various exits from the mine.He was ordered to monitor day and night.All foreigners on the mine had to be brought before James Starr so that he could check their identity.Don't worry about letting the residents of Coal City know that the threat comes from this alien hiding in the ground.Old Silfax has no internal support in the fortress, so there is no need to worry about any betrayal.Nell was told of all the safety measures that had just been taken, and that she could be somewhat reassured if she wasn't completely reassured.But Harry's decision to follow her wherever she went had, more than anything else, prompted her to promise not to run away again.

In the week leading up to Nell and Harry's wedding, New-Aberfoyle was not disturbed by any incident.Thus the miners, maintaining an organized vigilance, recovered from the panic that had spread almost throughout the field. However, James Starr continued the search for Old Sylfax.After the vindictive old man had declared that Nell must never marry Harry, it must be admitted that he would not back down under any circumstances in order to thwart the wedding.It is best to keep his body under control without hindering his life.The search for New-Aberfoyle has begun again in detail.A search of the alley led to a high level level with the ruins of Donald's Castle in Irwynn.It is not unreasonable to suppose that through this old castle Syphacus communicated with the outside world and stocked up, either bought or stolen, the necessities of life for his poor existence.As for the "Lady of the Lighthouse", James Starr believes that some draft of the gas produced in this part of the mine may have been ignited by Sylfax and caused the strange phenomenon.He was right.Searches, however, turned up nothing.

James Starr was the worst of the men who struggled every moment with an elusive man of this sort, without revealing anything.As the wedding day approached he became more and more uneasy, and he thought, as an exception, that he should tell his uneasiness to the old foreman, who soon became more uneasy than himself. That day has finally arrived. There was no sign of Silfax alive. Early in the morning, everyone in Coal City woke up.Work on New-Aberfoyle has been suspended.Chiefs and workers insisted on honoring the old foreman and his son.This just goes to show their gratitude to the two courageous and determined and persistent men who restored the mine to its former prosperity.

At 11 o'clock, in St. Giles Church, which stands on the shore of Lake Malcolm, the ceremony was about to take place. At the said moment Harry was seen on his mother's arm, and Simon Ford on Nell's arm, coming out of the cottage. Followed by James Starr, an engineer who looks calm and ready to deal with anything, and Jack Ryan, who wears a gorgeous bagpiper costume. Then came the other engineers in the mine, the notables of the Coaltown, friends, the old foreman's mates, all the members of that great family of miners who made up the special crowd of New-Aberfoyle. Outside, it was a scorching August day, especially in the north.The fierce wind blew down to the depths of the coal mine, where the temperature rose unusually.The atmosphere is charged with electricity there, passing through the ventilation shafts and Malcolm's great tunnel.

One could have observed--a rare and singular phenomenon--that the barometer fell in Coal City in an amount worthy of consideration.Indeed, one should wonder if a storm might break out beneath the vaults of slate that make up the sky of the endless dungeon. But virtually no one in the mine cared about the threat from the atmosphere outside. It goes without saying that everyone was dressed in the best attire befitting the occasion. Madge is dressed in an outfit reminiscent of the old days.She wears a "toy" headdress, like the housewife of yore, and flutters from her shoulders the "rocklet," a checkered hood worn quite elegantly by Scotch women.

Nell was determined not to show her inner restlessness.She suppressed her heartbeat to prevent her private panic from leaking out. The brave child had a calm and focused face in front of everyone. She dresses very simply, and she prefers simplicity to bright colors, and the simplicity of this dress adds charm to herself.On her head she wears only a "Cambodian hairnet", the colorful ribbons that Caledonian maidens usually adorn their hair. Simon Ford wears Walter Scott's swaggering Justice Nicholas.Clothes that Javi would also approve of. All these people walked towards the chapel of St. Giles, which was quite luxuriously furnished.

In the sky of Coal City, those electric panels, which are extraordinarily plentiful, shine brightly like as many suns.Bright and bright throughout New-Aberfoyle. The electric lights in the church cast an equally intense radiance, and the great stained-glass windows shone with ever-changing splendor. The Reverend William Hobson presided over the religious service.He stood at the door of St Giles and waited for the couple to arrive. The group approached after majestically rounding the shore of Lake Malcolm. At this moment, the organ sounded, and the two newcomers walked towards the altar of St. Giles behind the venerable priest Hobson.

First praying for God's blessing on all participants, then only Harry and Neil were left standing in front of the priest holding the holy book. "Harry," asked the Reverend Father Hobson, "will you marry Nell and swear to love her forever?" "I will," answered the young man loudly. "And you, Nell," went on the vicar, "will you take Harry Ford as your husband and--" Before the girl could answer, there was a loud noise outside. A hundred paces from the church, among the great overhanging rocks that form the platform that juts out to the shore of Malcolm Lake.One piece had cracked suddenly without an explosion just now, as if its avalanche had been prepared in advance.Below, the water rushes violently into a deep cavern whose existence no one knows.

Then, out of the crumbling rocks, a small boat appeared, and a violent thrust sent it straight to the surface of the lake. On this small boat stood an old man in a dark hooded, sleeveless monk's robe, with bristling hair and a long white beard hanging down to his chest. In his hand he held a lamp of David with a tongue of flame burning inside it, protected by a wire gauze over the lamp. At the same time, the old man cried loudly: "Gas! Gas! Woe to all! Woe!" At this time, a faint odor characteristic of primary hydrocarbons diffused in the air. The reason for this is that the collapse of the overhanging rock provided a passage for a large amount of explosive gas accumulated in a huge "gas jet" whose outlet was blocked by shale.Gas streams are blasted against the vaults of the domes at a pressure of five to six atmospheres.

The old man knew of these gas jets, and he unleashed them suddenly to make the atmosphere of the dungeon explosive. Meanwhile, James Starr and several others hurried out of the church and rushed to the shore of the lake. "Get out of the mines! Get out of the mines!" cried the engineer, who, having learned of the immeasurable danger, came to St. Giles's door to issue this cry of warning. "Gas! Gas!" the old man repeatedly yelled, driving the boat a little further on the lake. "Get out of the mine! Get out of the mine!" repeated James Starr. It's too late to escape!Old Sylfax was there, ready to carry out his final threat, ready to prevent Nell and Harry's wedding, to bury the entire crowd of Coaltown under the ruins of the coal mines.

Above his head was the great snowy owl; its snow-white plumage was speckled with black spots. Just then, however, a man jumped into the lake hastily and swam vigorously towards the boat. That's Jack Ryan.He did his best to catch up with the madman before he could do this act of destruction. Sylfax saw him coming.He broke the glass of the lamp, pulled out the burning wick, and moved it back and forth through the air. A deadly silence enveloped all those present who were petrified. James Starr succumbed, surprised that the inevitable explosion had not yet destroyed New-Aberfoyle. Silfax, with a wrinkled face, realized that the gas was too light to stay at the lower level, and was accumulating higher up towards the dome. But at that moment the snowy owl, following Silfax's gesture, as he had done before in the alley of the Dochart Coal Bunker, took hold of the burning wick in its paws, and began to fly towards the The old man gave it a high vault with his fingers. Seconds to go, New-Aberfoyle is done! ... At that moment, Nell broke free from Harry's arms. Calm and inspired, she ran to the shore of the lake, until she reached the water's edge. "Snowy Owl! Snowy Owl!" she cried in a crisp voice. "Come here! Come to me!" The faithful bird was taken aback and hesitated.But suddenly it recognized Nell's voice, and it dropped the burning wick into the lake, and then, flying in a wide circle, swooped down at the maiden's feet. The explosive upper layers of air mixed with gas were left untouched. At this moment a terrible cry sounded from the base of the dome, the last of old Sylfax's. At the moment when Jack Ryan put his hand on the side of the boat, the old man saw that his revenge had failed, and jumped into the lake in a hurry. "Help him! Save him!" Nell screamed. Harry heard it.He also jumped into the water for a swim, and he soon joined Jack Ryan for a couple of dives. But his efforts were fruitless. The waters of Lake Malcolm refuse to return to their prey.They left old Sylfax forever.