“Did you never leave it?”
“Yes, now and then,” answered the girl with a little hesitation; “sometimes I have been as far as the old mine of Aberfoyle.”
“So you knew our old cottage?”
“The cottage! oh, yes; but the people who lived there I only saw at a great distance.”
“They were my father and mother,” said Harry; “and I was there too; we have always lived there—we never would give up the old dwelling.”
“Perhaps it would have been better for you if you had,” murmured the maiden.
“Why so, Nell? Was it not just because we were obstinately resolved to remain that we ended by discovering the new vein of coal? And did not that discovery lead to the happy result of providing work for a large population, and restoring them to ease and comfort? and did it not enable us to find you, Nell, to save your life, and give you the love of all our hearts?”
“Ah, yes, for me indeed it is well, whatever may happen,” replied Nell earnestly; “for others—who can tell?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, nothing—nothing. But it used to be very dangerous at that time to go into the new cutting—yes, very dangerous indeed, Harry! Once some rash people made their way into these chasms. They got a long, long way; they were lost!”