Chapter 1 Two Contradictory Letters edinburgh Cannon Gate No. 30 Engineer J. R．Mr Starr James.Tomorrow Starr will come to the Yale Shaft at the Dochart Colliery in the Aberfoyle Coal Mine as he wishes, and he will learn a piece of information about Nature that interests him. Former foreman Simon.Ford's son Harry.Ford would be waiting for James at Callander Station all day long.Mr Starr. Please keep this invitation confidential. The above is the first post on December 3, 18 for James.The envelope that Stahl brought was postmarked by the Aberfoyle post office in Stirlingshire, Scotland.

The engineer's curiosity was piqued.He didn't even consider whether there was some deception lurking in the letter.He knows Simon.Ford for many years, he was one of the former foremen of the Aberfoyle mine, and he, James.Starr, who had been the mine's supervisor for two decades, is known in British coal mines as a spectator. James.Starr was a solidly built man who looked forty at fifty-five.He was born of an old family in Edinburgh and was one of the most distinguished members of that family.His deeds do honor to the venerable guild of engineers who are nibbling away at the carbon subsurface of the United Kingdom, not only in the Scottish Lowland counties but also in Cardiff and Newcastle.It is, however, that what makes Stahl's name especially universally venerated is the underground of the mysterious coal mines of Aberfoyle, which adjoin the Alloah mines and occupy part of Stirlingshire.In addition, James.Starr is also a member of the Scottish Association of Archaeologists and chairs the association.He was also one of the most active members of the Royal Society, and the Edinburgh Magazine frequently published prominent articles signed by him.In the public mind, this was a practical scholar on whom Britain's prosperity depended.He ranks high in the ancient capital of Scotland, not only materially but intellectually the Athena of the North.

The English are known to have a meaningful general name for their vast coal fields.The Black Indias, as they very accurately call them, have probably done more to increase the incredible wealth of the United Kingdom than the Indias of the East.There, indeed, a whole army of miners worked day and night, extracting from the subsurface of Britain coal, that precious combustible element indispensable to industrial life. At that time, the time limit for coal mine exhaustion determined by those professionals was still very far away, so there was no need to be alarmed by short-term coal shortages.The carbon layers of both the old and new continents are sufficient to be mined on a large scale.The various uses of factories, the use of locomotives, mobile internal combustion engines, steamships, gas, etc., did not lead to a shortage of this combustible ore anytime soon.Only in recent years, due to the rapid increase in consumption, certain deposits have been mined to only barren veins.These now defunct mines, with their abandoned shafts and deserted drifts, left useless pits and ditches in the ground.

This is indeed the case at the coal mines at Aberfoyle. Ten years ago, the last grab removed the last ton of coal from this seam.Underground [Note] equipment, those machines that are pulled by machinery on the track of the level road, underground trains composed of mining cars, underground trams, stairwells leading to mining wells, pipes for compressed air to drive rock drilling machines All in all, all coal mining equipment was brought out of the depths of the coal bunker and discarded on the surface.The hollowed out coal mine is like the corpse of a huge behemoth. People have taken all kinds of life organs from the body, leaving only the skeleton.

[Note] Mining is divided into underground engineering and open-pit engineering: some people work inside, while others work outside. After the completion of the project, only the long bamboo ladder that passed through the Yale well and now the only access to the lower level of the Dochart coal bunker remained among those equipment. On the outside, the buildings that formerly sheltered the open-pit works, which still mark the excavation of the above-mentioned coal bunkers, are now the same as any other coal bunkers had ever been before, all of which constitute the Aberfoyle Coal Mine. the whole picture.

It is a bleak day when miners leave for the last time the mines they have lived in for so many years. Engineer James.Starr called together thousands of workers, a group of hard-working and courageous coal miners.Coal miners, mine cart pushers, drivers, earth fillers, installers of mine tunnel supports, road maintenance workers, conductors, unloaders, blacksmiths, carpenters, all people, women, children, old people, underground workers and The open-pit workers, who were gathered in the huge courtyard of the former Dochart coal bunker, were filled with coal. These brave people who are about to lose their livelihoods have lived for generations in Aberfoyle for many years and waited to say goodbye to the engineer before they left here for good.The company distributed them this year's bonus in the name of extra compensation.Only a little, because the proceeds from the lode actually only slightly exceed the cost of mining, and the money must be maintained until they are recruited, either to the neighboring coal mines, or to the farm or county factory.

James.Starr stood at the doorway of the wide lean-to roof under which the powerful steam engines of the extraction shaft had been running for so long. Dorchard coal bunker foreman Simon.Ford, then fifty-five, surrounded him with several other directors of the project. James.Starr appeared.The miners took off their hats and remained deeply silent. This farewell scene has a touching color without losing its solemnity. Friends, said the engineer, the time has come for us to say goodbye.The coal mines at Aberfoyle, where we labored together for so many years, are now exhausted.We have failed to find new veins, and the last piece of coal has just been dug from the Dochart coal bunker!

In order to confirm his words, James.Starr pointed out to the miners a pile of coal left at the bottom of a grapple. This coal, friends, James.Like the last blood cell in the veins of a coal mine, said Starr!We shall preserve it as we preserve the first coals which were dug from the deposits of Aberfoyle a hundred and fifty years ago.Between these two lumps of coal, many generations of workers have passed in our bunkers.Now, this is over!The last words your engineer has to say to you are words of farewell.You once lived off the mine, and it has been hollowed out under your hands.The work has been difficult, but not without reward for you.Our big family is about to break up.The separated members will never be able to reunite in the future.But please don't forget that we lived together for a long time, and that among the miners in Aberfoyle it was a duty to help each other.Your former leaders will not forget this either.People who have worked together do not see each other as strangers.We will care about you, and wherever you go as decent people, our recommendations will follow you.Farewell, friends, and may God bless you.

After speaking, James.Starr hugged the oldest worker in the mine, tears welling up his eyes.Then the foremen of the various bunkers came up to shake hands with the engineer, while the miners waved their hats and shouted: Goodbye, James.Starr, our head and friend! This farewell will leave indelible memories in these brave hearts.However, the group had to gradually leave the huge courtyard sadly.James.Starr felt empty around him.The black earth of the lanes leading to Dochart's bunkers rattled for the last time under the miners' feet, and silence succeeded the joyful din that had until then filled the Aberfoyle mines.

Only one person remained in James.Starr's side. That's Simon the Foreman.ford.Beside him stood a lad of fifteen, his son Harry, who had been employed underground for several years. James.Starr and Simon.Ford knew each other, and because they knew each other, they valued each other. Farewell, Simon, said the engineer. Farewell, Mr. James, said the foreman, or rather, let me add: Good-bye! Yes, goodbye, Simon!James.Starr went on, You know, I will always be happy to be reunited with you and to talk to you about our old Aberfoyle past! I know, Mr. James. My home in Edinburgh is open to you!

Too far, Edinburgh!The foreman shook his head and replied, yes, too far from Dochart's coal bunker! Far, Simon, where are you going to live? Here it is, Mr. James!We won't drop mine, our aged feeder, because its milk is dry!My wife, my son and I, we will remain true to it! Farewell then, Simon, replied the engineer, with uncontrollable excitement in his voice. No, I say it to you again: Goodbye, Mr. James!The foreman replied, instead of goodbye!Simon.Ford promises, Aberfoyle will see you again! The engineer is unwilling to take away the last fantasy of the foreman.He hugged young Harry, who was looking at him with his big excited eyes.He shook Simon for the last time.Ford's hand left the coal mine forever. This happened ten years ago, however, despite the foreman's expressed desire to come and see him at some point, James.Starr never heard from him again. This is after ten years of separation, Simon.Ford sent him this letter, inviting him to return at once to the former Aberfoyle mines. One piece of intelligence about nature that interested him, what would it be?Dochart Coal Bunker, Yale Mine!What memories of the past these names called in his mind!Yes, it was a good time, a working time, a fighting time, the best time of his engineering career! James.Starr reread the letter.He scrutinized the letter from various angles, indeed, he was Simon.Ford regrets not adding more.He complained that he could be so terse. Had the old foreman discovered some new vein of mineable minerals?Will not! James.Starr remembered how finely the coal mines at Aberfoyle had been explored before the project was finally completed.He made the last survey himself, but found no new deposits in the land that had been destroyed by overexploitation.People even tried to see if there were coal deposits under the formations, such as the Devonian red sandstone, which usually lie under coal seams, but nothing was found.James.Starr was therefore absolutely sure of abandoning the mine, which no longer contained a single piece of combustible material. No, he kept saying to himself, no!How could it have escaped my search but was caught by Simon.Did Ford find it?But, as the old foreman should know very well, there is only one thing in the world that interests me, and this invitation, which I must keep secret, is to the Dochart Coal Bunker! James.Starr always thinks back to this. On the other hand, the Simon that the engineer knew.Ford was an able miner, especially with professional instincts.He hadn't seen him since abandoning Aberfoyle.He didn't even know what the old foreman had become now.He doesn't know what he's doing.All he knew was that he asked him to go to Yale Mine, and SimonFord's son will be waiting for him at Callander Station all day tomorrow.Apparently this involved a tour of the Dochart coal bunker. I'm going, I'm going!James.Starr said he became more and more overwhelmed as the days went by. The venerable engineer was one of those passionate men whose minds are always agitated like a kettle set on a sizzling fire.He was one of those kettles in which thoughts boil, in other kettles thoughts simmer peacefully.And that day, James.Starr's thoughts boiled on fire. But at that moment, something extremely unpredictable happened.Here is a drop of cold water that will temporarily condense all the steam in this brain. It turned out that near six o'clock in the evening, James.Stahl's servant brought the second letter from the third post. The envelope was enclosed in a large envelope, and the address on the envelope was written with a quill by a hand with little training. James.Starr tore open the envelope.There was only a piece of paper yellowed with time, which seemed to be torn from an exercise book that was no longer in use. There is only one sentence on the paper, which reads as follows: Engineer James.It was meaningless for Starr to drop what he was doing because Simon.Ford's letter is now undirected. Not signed.