The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer, Lord Lytton
Chapter I.
I am a native of _____, in the United States of America. My
ancestors migrated from England in the reign of Charles II.;
and my grandfather was not undistinguished in the War of
Independence. My family, therefore, enjoyed a somewhat high
social position in right of birth; and being also opulent, they
were considered disqualified for the public service. My father
once ran for Congress, but was signally defeated by his tailor.
After that event he interfered little in politics, and lived
much in his library. I was the eldest of three sons, and sent
at the age of sixteen to the old country, partly to complete my
literary education, partly to commence my commercial training
in a mercantile firm at Liverpool. My father died shortly
after I was twenty-one; and being left well off, and having a
taste for travel and adventure, I resigned, for a time, all
pursuit of the almighty dollar, and became a desultory wanderer
over the face of the earth.
In the year 18__, happening to be in _____, I was invited by a
professional engineer, with whom I had made acquaintance, to
visit the recesses of the ________ mine, upon which he was
employed.
The reader will understand, ere he close this narrative, my
reason for concealing all clue to the district of which I
write, and will perhaps thank me for refraining from any
description that may tend to its discovery.
6Let me say, then, as briefly as possible, that I accompanied
the engineer into the interior of the mine, and became so
strangely fascinated by its gloomy wonders, and so interested
in my friend's explorations, that I prolonged my stay in the
neighbourhood, and descended daily, for some weeks, into the
vaults and galleries hollowed by nature and art beneath the
surface of the earth. The engineer was persuaded that far
richer deposits of mineral wealth than had yet been detected,
would be found in a new shaft that had been commenced under his
operations. In piercing this shaft we came one day upon a
chasm jagged and seemingly charred at the sides, as if burst
asunder at some distant period by volcanic fires. Down this
chasm my friend caused himself to be lowered in a 'cage,'
having first tested the atmosphere by the safety-lamp. He
remained nearly an hour in the abyss. When he returned he was
very pale, and with an anxious, thoughtful expression of face,
very different from its ordinary character, which was open,
cheerful, and fearless.
He said briefly that the descent appeared to him unsafe, and
leading to no result; and, suspending further operations in the
shaft, we returned to the more familiar parts of the mine.
All the rest of that day the engineer seemed preoccupied by
some absorbing thought. He was unusually taciturn, and there
was a scared, bewildered look in his eyes, as that of a man who
has seen a ghost. At night, as we two were sitting alone in
the lodging we shared together near the mouth of the mine, I
said to my friend,-
"Tell me frankly what you saw in that chasm: I am sure it was
something strange and terrible. Whatever it be, it has left
your mind in a state of doubt. In such a case two heads are
better than one. Confide in me."
The engineer long endeavoured to evade my inquiries; but as,
while he spoke, he helped himself unconsciously out of the
brandy-flask to a degree to which he was wholly unaccustomed,
7for he was a very temperate man, his reserve gradually melted
away. He who would keep himself to himself should imitate the
dumb animals, and drink water. At last he said, "I will tell
you all. When the cage stopped, I found myself on a ridge of
rock; and below me, the chasm, taking a slanting direction,
shot down to a considerable depth, the darkness of which my
lamp could not have penetrated. But through it, to my infinite
surprise, streamed upward a steady brilliant light. Could it
be any volcanic fire? In that case, surely I should have felt
the heat. Still, if on this there was doubt, it was of the
utmost importance to our common safety to clear it up. I
examined the sides of the descent, and found that I could
venture to trust myself to the irregular projection of ledges,
at least for some way. I left the cage and clambered down. As
I drew nearer and nearer to the light, the chasm became wider,
and at last I saw, to my unspeakable amaze, a broad level road
at the bottom of the abyss, illumined as far as the eye could
reach by what seemed artificial gas-lamps placed at regular
intervals, as in the thoroughfare of a great city; and I heard
confusedly at a distance a hum as of human voices. I know, of
course, that no rival miners are at work in this district.
Whose could be those voices? What human hands could have
levelled that road and marshalled those lamps?
"The superstitious belief, common to miners, that gnomes or
fiends dwell within the bowels of the earth, began to seize me.
I shuddered at the thought of descending further and braving
the inhabitants of this nether valley. Nor indeed could I have
done so without ropes, as from the spot I had reached to the
bottom of the chasm the sides of the rock sank down abrupt,
smooth, and sheer. I retraced my steps with some difficulty.
Now I have told you all."
"You will descend again?"
"I ought, yet I feel as if I durst not."
"A trusty companion halves the journey and doubles the courage.
8I will go with you. We will provide ourselves with ropes of
suitable length and strength- and- pardon me- you must not
drink more to-night. our hands and feet must be steady and
firm tomorrow."
