The Argosy — page 177: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

164 Charles Austen’s Love. never a fear of it until it was too late. Since October, Lucy had been whispering to herself that she must be too old and grave to love: she now found out her mistake. At Dr. Law’s step her face would crimson, the touch of his fingers on hers thrilled her for hours afterwards with a subtile sense of delight. She awoke to its meaning with a sort of helpless horror. She could not help herself; she dared not speak and avoid him, for her lightest word would reveal that she had given her heart unsought. So the farce went on. The Squire, greatly engaged with certain business at this time, and also in driving out his sister, from whom he had long been separated, was genial and happy. Lucy grew pale and wretched, Dr. Law was never at ease. ‘They mutually avoided one another as much as was possible without giving rise to observa- tion. One day early in April, when Mr. Austen had gone to his place on the magistrates’ bench, and Mrs. Law kept her room with a cold, Lucy, intensely wretched, wandered out, she cared not whither, and found herself near the mines, which lay two miles away on the Austen property. There, to her dismay, she encountered Dr. Law: she had thought him with his uncle. He had just-emerged from the shaft. Equally confused at seeing her, he began to talk of the darkness below. ‘‘T never have seen it,” she said, looking down the shaft. “I should so like to go.” ‘‘Nothing more easy, ma’am,” spoke up the foreman of the pit, who knew Miss Dennit. ‘‘ We let some ladies down only last week. You’ve just got to step into the basket, and you can be down and back again in a minute or two.” Taking him at his word, Lucy stepped in. Dr. Law followed her quickly. She had not intended this—but what objection could she make? The cord was rapidly unwound ; they descended swiftly. Touching the bottom and looking up, Lucy saw only the minute cir- cular hole filled with daylight. Dr. Law spoke. ‘‘ Will you get out and explore farther ?” ‘“No, no!” she said, with a shiver. ‘‘ Let us go back instantly. I feel frightened—half suffocated. I cannot think what impulse in- duced me to come down to this terrible place.” He saw that she was really nervous, and put up his hand to give the signal for return to those above, but it fell back powerless by his side. A pale blue flash of light illumined the blackness—there was a noise as if the solid universe were rent—a fearful sense of suffocation filled the air, and then afar off was heard the rush and gurgle ot water, ‘Good heavens!” murmured Edmund Law. “It must be fire- damp!” | Lucy clung to him; he clasped her blindly. In that moment of peril, their last moment it might be in this world, they forgot the very Eomichooks.¢co m