'Nothing on the earth, Mrs. Woodward—it is to be all below the surface, forty fathom deep,' said Alaric.
'Take care that you ever come up again,' said she.
'They say the mine is exceedingly rich—perhaps I may be tempted to stay down there.'
'Then you'll be like the gloomy gnome, that lives in dark, cold mines,' said Katie.
'Isn't it very dangerous, going down into those places?' asked Linda.
'Men go down and come up again every day of their lives, and what other men can do, I can, I suppose.'
'That doesn't follow at all,' said Captain Cuttwater, 'What sort of a figure would you make on a yard-arm, reefing a sail in a gale of wind?'
'Pray do take care of yourself,' said Gertrude.
Norman's brow grew black. 'I thought that it was settled that Mr. Neverbend was to go down, and that you were to stay above ground,' said he.
'So Mr. Neverbend settled it; but that arrangement may, perhaps, be unsettled again,' said Alaric, with a certain feeling of confidence in his own strong will.