so, you see, all's well that ends well, and here we are safe at the bottom, St Nicholas be praised!"

Ida, while she shuddered at the fearful tale which had thus doubled the horrors of her passage, could have blessed the miner for the bright omen held out by its happy termination.

She now rejoined the director, and passing partly through galleries supported by timber-work, and partly through vaults hollowed in the rock, arrived at a vast hall, whose extremities the feeble light of many torches failed to illumine. It was supported by pillars of ore, and surrounded by seats of the same material, on which they paused for a moment's repose. They then proceeded to still greater depths-now saluted by burning exha lations from the furnaces and forges used for preparing tools, whose heat scarce permitted the workmen to bear the scantiest clothing-now almost frozeneby subterranean currents of air, rushing with tempestuous violence through narrow cavities, till they arrived at the lowest gallery, eleven hundred feet under ground, where the pitchy darkness, the yet more dismal light from distant fires, the swarthy la bourers, black as the ores they worked, partially discovered by the sparks pro ceeding from their own hammers, the noise of all this labour, and of the hy draulic engines for drying and ventilating the mine, together with the horrible figures which from time to time rushed past her with torches in their hands, made Ida for a moment doubt whether she had not descended rather too near to Tartarus.

Emotions so new and strange were, however, soon absorbed in still stronger dread of not meeting Casimir, or of a premature discovery from his hasty recognition of her in circumstances so overpowering. Feeling, however, pretty confident that her disguise would shield her for the present from even a lover's eye, she made a strong effort, and endeavoured to summon to her own aid the courage requisite for sustaining the spectacle of her beloved Yaninsky's humiliating condition.

The director-in-chief, whom chance had alone brought this day to visit the mine of N-, and whose stay below was necessarily brief, consigned Ida, on leaving the mine, to the resident overseer (a person fortunately for her, of advanced years and VOL. XX.

mild deportment), with directions to employ Zekiel (the name Ida had -borrowed with her dress for the occasion) only in the light labour of gathering those minute fragments of ore, which were overlooked in removing the larger masses to the furnace. "You will of course, as a father yourself," added the worthy director, "see, that what good his vagrant education may have left in him suffers as little as possible from temporary intercourse with your reprobate crew, among whom you have probably some minor offender conscientious enough to look after a boy. When the danger of pursuit from his tribe has subsided, you may send him to me at Schemnitz, where I will enter him a student at the College of Mines; and who knows," added he, kindly patting on the head the trembling novice in dissimulation, "but he may have cause to bless through life his dark sojourn in the mine of N!" Another silent blessing from the heart of Ida hailed the cheering presage!

Evening was far advanced when she was left alone in the great hall with the good inspector, and, deriving cou rage from his parental behaviour, she timidly requested leave to accompany him in his rounds through the upper and less dismal galleries, where she was to commence her task on the mor row. They had traversed the greater part of the immense excavations with out her recognizing among the swarthy groups, who pursued their labours, the well-known form of Casimir, and Ida's fears began to predominate over her hopes, when the overseer, turning into a new gallery, bade her observe its direction, and certain marks on the roof and pillars of ore, by which it was distinguished. Here," said he, "I chiefly intend you to pursue your occupation. The young miner who superintends this gallery is, though a convict, of superior manners and regular conduct, and I know not any part of the mine where a boy of your age may be trusted with so little danger of evil communication."

So saying they advanced; and at the further end of the dimly-lighted vault, Ida, with almost irrepressible emotion, descried Casimir busily engaged in directing half-a-dozen men to remove a large mass of extraneous matter, which impeded the further progress of the shaft. Ida involun

I

tarily fell back, that the beating of her heart might not become audible to the inspector. He advanced towards Casimir, coolly approved of his proceedings, and then beckoning forward the trembling Ida, "Stephan," said he, (a name which Casimir had adopted as Ida's patronymic)" here is a boy whom the Berg-richter has picked up from among the gipsies. His orders are to work him lightly; and, above all, to keep him from mischief. You are a steady young fellow, and with you I think he will learn no harm. Take him to your mess this evening, and at roll-call I will come for him. He shall sleep with my little Adolf, who is afraid of spirits in the mine at night since his elder brother left us." Then turning to Ida, “Zekiel, I give you in that young man a friend and protector-if you quit his side it will be at your own peril, and you will repent it." "Heaven forbid!" thought Ida.

Who would be so superfluous as to describe Ida's feelings, while the hasty and incurious glance of Casimir rested on her metamorphosed form, and his cold, yet gentle voice, uttered words of soothing and encouragement to the gipsy boy? Who cannot fancy her feverish impatience while the awkward miners tardily obeyed the directions of Casimir, and its almost ungovernable height, as she watched their retiring steps along the dreary corri dor? Yaninsky fortunately lingered to see all safe for the night, yet she half feared he would follow before her parched lips could utter his name in an almost inaudible whisper.

Low as it was, it found an echo in the heart of Casimir. He looked up like one awakened from a dream; 'caught one glance of a radiant eye which sorrow could not quench nor art disguise, and swift as thought was in the arms of Ida! Who that had seen that wild and long embrace in which the swarthy miner held the gipsy boy, had dreamed that under those lowly weeds were shrouded the bravest heart and noblest blood in Hungary, and the loveliest of its highsouled, though low-born maidens?

After the first few moments of unmingled ecstasy, Casimir, for whose character some weeks of solitude and reflection had done much, had leisure to consider the singular and distressing situation in which love for him

Ida shrunk from the bare idea of appearing in the rude assembly; but Casimir (after allowing the miners who had been present when the director delivered her to his charge, to precede them by a few minutes, and thereby preclude embarrassing inquiries) conjured her, to take courage, and not betray by unnecessary fears a secret which love itself had nearly failed to penetrate. In efforts to overcome this natural repugnance, time had insensibly elapsed, when a shrill whistle echoing through the galleries, seemed to strike Yaninsky with a sudden agony of terror, wholly unaccountable to Ida, whom he hurried along with a breathless rapidity which rendered inquiry impossible. They had proceeded but a few paces, when a tremendous explosion burst on Ida's ear, like the crash of an absolutely impending thunderbolt, accompanied, too, with a sudden glare, which illumed the whole subterranean territory, but in an instant vanished, leaving them in total darkness, the concussion of the air having extinguished the torches. This darkness was interrupted only by the fitful flashes from succeeding discharges, of which the light lasted only for a moment, while the sound was long and terribly reverberated by a thousand echoes. The vaults cracked, the earth shook, the arched recess into which Casimir on the first alarm had instinctively dragged Ida, trembled on its rocky base.

To her, the noise of the bursting rocks, the sulphureous smoke in which she was enveloped, and the sense of suffocation it occasioned, suggested the idea of some awful natural convulsion; and though life had seldom been sweeter than during the few preceding moments, yet death with Casimir lost half its terrors; but to him, who knew the artificial cause of the mimic thunder, and its imminent danger to those

unprotected from its effects, who knew, also, that his own fond inadvertence had exposed his Ida to the peril of perishing by the actual workmanship of his own hands, the few minutes during which the awful scene lasted seemed an age of anxiety and terror. The mute devotion with which she clung to his side, and resigned herself to whatever might be the result of so terrific an adventure, enhanced the remorse he felt for having endangered a life so invaluable; and it was not till all fears had subsided, and silence again resumed her reign, that he found breath to explain to Ida, that the peculiarly impenetrable nature of the strata in this mine, rendered frequent blasting with gunpowder necessary; and that the period usually chosen for this hazardous operation, was during the meals of the workmen, when they were exempted from danger by being collected in one safe and central hall. Towards this they now proceeded, guided through the gloom by the rude mirth of the guests, who rallied Casimir on his supposed design of amusing himself with the terrors of his young protégé. The imperfect light favoured Ida's efforts to encounter, with tolerable calmness, such slight scrutiny as the fatigued and hungry group had leisure to bestow; but it was not till the motley group, assem bled around the rude board, were thoroughly engrossed by their repast, that she ventured to raise her downcast eyes, and as they wandered in pity or disgust over the ferocious or the abject amid his lawless associates, to rest, at length, with unmingled admiration on the noble form and dignified countenance of her lover. She thought she had never seen him to such advantage; not even when, gaily running his richly caparisoned steed, with a plumed brow and a glittering vest, he shone (in her eyes at least) the brightest star in the Emperor's proud train at the opening of the Diet! And it was love, love for Ida, that had robbed the brow of its plume, and the vest of its bravery; ay, and sadder still, the cheek of its bloom, and the eye of its radiance: but what are these to the mute eloquence of the pale cheek and languid ey, when they speak of reckless constancy, and faith unshaken by suffering?

It was with a strange mixture of reluctance to leave Casimir, and repug

nance to remain a moment longer in the Pandemonium he inhabited for her sake, that Ida tore herself from her lover to obey the summons of the inspector, a worthy old Swede from Sahla, who had been attracted from his own country by the mineralogical reputation of Schemnitz, and engaged for a short period to superintend some new workings in the mine of Nand introduce processes of his invention peculiarly applicable to the nature of the strata.

As they went along, the tender father could not forbear expatiating with parental delight on his child. "Adolf," said he, " is wild with joy at the idea of having a companion. Poor little fellow, I rashly, perhaps, promised his dying mother never to part from him, and foolish compliance with that promise has made me keep him with me even here; where, though we have been three weeks under ground, his health, thank God, has been excellent, though his spirits have threatened to fail latterly, especially at nights, from the foolish tales he hears from the miners of Cobolds and Bergmännchen. Do, Zekiel, try and get them out of his little head: But, hark ye, do not give him any of your Zingari notions of palmistry and divination in their stead, else the remedy will be worse than the disease!"

Ida could only shake her head, afraid to trust her voice with a reply, when a beautiful fair-haired boy of five years old came bounding to meet them, and threw himself into his father's arms, evidently startled by the dusky hue of the new friend he had so ardently longed to see. A second glance at Ida, and her sweet smile, however, conquered the first impression, and taking her by the hand, he hurried her playfully forward. A turn in the great gallery suddenly brought before them an object so new and unexpected to Ida, that she could scarce forbear exclaiming when she found herself at the door of the inspector's house, a log-hut, neatly and substantially constructed. Adolf, remarking her wonder, exclaimed, with all the conscious superiority of infant knowledge, "Ah! if you only saw Sahla! papa's house there is a palace to this, and there are streets, and houses, and a windmill ! Oh! this is a shabby mine, not to be compared to dear Sahla !"

As he spoke they entered the house,

which consisted of two apartments, one of which, filled with books and instruments of science, was occupied by the inspector, while the other, a sort of kitchen, was prepared for the use of the children. Adolf, after insisting on sharing with his new playmate (whose slight figure gave her, in male attire, an absolutely childish appearance) a supper, somewhat more inviting than the rye bread and black beer she had left behind, complained of being sleepy; and the inspector, pronouncing a grave blessing on his infant head, (in which the good man included his worse than orphan comrade,) retired to his own apartment.

No sooner was his father gone, than little Adolf, forgetting his drowsiness, began to tell a thousand stories about Cobolds and Mineknockers, and good people; all of whom, he said, he saw or heard every night, and from whose visits he hoped the society of a companion would release him. Ida, too heavy at heart to laugh at the childish list of supernatural acquaintance, had recourse to her rosary; and recommending to the little Lutheran (who had never before seen such a play thing) to say a prayer for every bead till he fell asleep, put him to bed, availing herself of his still unconquered dislike of her complexion, to spread her own mattress at a little distance on the floor.

Here, at length, sleep visited her wearied frame, and her slumbers (broken only occasionally by the infant voice of Adolf, muttering his childish but efficacious orisons) continued, till she herself was conscious they had been protracted, and, on opening her eyes, fully expected to be rebuked by the bright blaze of day.

It was a painful moment that recalled her, by the darkness around, to a sense of her situation; but impatient to meet Casimir, of whom she had as yet enjoyed but a transient glimpse, conquered her dejection; and, striking a light, she awoke her little companion, and giving him his break fast, (her share of which she reserved to partake it with Casimir,) she consigned him to his father, and awaited the arrival of her lover, who had promised to come and conduct her to the scene of their mutual labours. The sight of him in his coarse miner's dress, the paleness of confinement, increased by the rays of the lamp he held in his

hand, proved almost too much for her; but his unaltered smile cheered her; and there was a radiance in his bright black eye since yesterday, that spoke of hope and happiness!

Casimir was able to contrive that they should be uninterrupted during a great part of this day, and it was spent in discussing their prospects, and weighing the advantages held out by continued concealment or immediate discovery. The former, exposed to irksome confinement and inevitable delay; but the latter threatened possible destruction to their hopes, and was therefore more formidable. The inspector, though a worthy and humane man, must, as a parent, entertain high ideas of parental authority, and was not likely to sanction the union of an only child without the consent of her father; nay, would probably insist on delivering her up to him immediately. It was, therefore, advisable to endeavour to secure an interest in his breast, by continued kindness to his child; and they agreed, at all events, to defer discovery till the approaching festival should bring down to the mine a priest, to whom, in confession at least, if not otherwise, the secret might be confided.

During the intervening month, Casimir and Ida (whose tête-à-têtes were usually confined to a few short moments in proceeding to, or returning from their labours) indemnified themselves for the restraint imposed by the presence of their parties, by establishing, through the interesting child by whom they were almost constantly ac companied, a medium of intercourse as delightful as it was unsuspected, Tales of love and chivalry related by Casimir, (and which soon eclipsed in the mind of his young auditor the fairy and goblin legends of ruder narrators,) found a no less enthusiastic listener in Ida, who saw in her lover the hero of every romance, and read in the perils each experienced for his mistress, a faint reflection of the heroic daring of her own devoted Casimir; while Ida's encomiums on love and constancy, nay, sometimes even her heartfelt expressions of fond attachment to the child on whom they were sincerely lavished, were interpreted as more than half addressed to one, who might have found it difficult under other circumstances to extort them, In short, that mental sunshine, which is

altogether independent even of the smiles of nature, played so brightly across their darkling path, that each viewed with awe and anxiety the approach of a period which might restore them to light and liberty, at the possible expense of at least a temporary separation.

The festival which was to decide their fate (one of the most solemn of the Romish church), occurred during our visit to the Mining district, and we were advised on no account to quit N- without witnessing the brilliant spectacle of the illumination of the mine, and the performance of high mass in its lofty and spacious chapel, whose intrinsic magnificence might put to shame the richest shrines of our upper world.

We went down early in the morning, that the previous splendours of day might not rob the subterranean spectacle of any of its brilliancy; and high ly as my expectations had been raised, they were not disappointed. The blaze of the torches, reflected by the innumerable particles of silver ore that lined the roof and walls of the galleries, was absolutely dazzling; while the deep shadows beyond their immediate influence would have been studies for a Rembrandt.

The chapel, when we first looked into it, at that early hour, was crowded with miners waiting for admission to the confessional; among the last of whom, I remembered seeing a very dark but handsome boy leaning against a pillar, in evident agitation. I had followed the inspector into some distant workings, to see various effects of light and shadow and natural phenomena, rendered more apparent by the increased illumination, and did not return till a bell had given notice of the approaching commencement of

mass.

The crowd in the chapel was rather increased than diminished; but it had spontaneously divided, leaving at the altar only the venerable white-haired priest, before whom knelt a handsome young miner, and the same slender dusky boy, whose dark skin was now, however, mocked, and betrayed to be factitious, by a redundant profusion of the finest flaxen hair, which swept as he knelt on the dark rocky floor of the chapel.

Murmurs and whispers ran around the assembly; and on seeing the in

spector advance, the priest, in a dignified voice, inquired if any impediment prevented the administration of the sacrament of marriage to the pair now kneeling to receive it; long affianced in the sight of Heaven, and thus miraculously brought together to complete a violated contract? No one presumed to contravene or question the propriety of the ordinance, till the half-fainting bride, blushing through all her nut-brown dye, glanced at her strange habiliments, and with maiden modesty faltered, "No, not in these!"

The appeal was irresistible, and as soon as mass had been celebrated, a messenger was dispatched by the kind inspector, to the village above, for a female peasant's dress of the country, in which Ida looked absolutely enchanting.

It was not alone a bridal dress that this embassy procured. It brought friends to grace the nuptials, whom fate had strangely conspired to bring that day to N

Ida had conjured the gipsies to lighten as soon as possible her father's anxieties, by acquainting him with her safety, though not with her retreat; but the communication had been delayed, and it was only the appearance of the faithful Natalia, who had remained concealed for some time after her escape from the castle of Metzinska, that at length led him to a knowledge of his daughter's fate. With a heart softened by long anxiety and parental remorse, he was now arrived at the mouth of the mine, followed by the faithful nurse, and attended by the reconciled Yaninski, who had also at length gained tidings of their brother (whom they concluded in a foreign country with his bride), from one of the banditti who had escaped on the seizure of the others, and was glad to purchase indemnity on his return to his native country by such interesting intelligence.

The Yaninski were amply furnished with pardons and letters of rehabilitation. Stephanoff came loaded with wealth to reward his daughter's benefactors, and rich dresses to adorn her person-but it was in the peasant's dress of the mining district that she gave her hand to Casimir, and in that dress she has sworn to keep the anniversary of her

WEDDING UNDER GROUND!