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Page 18:-
two hundred yards, they came upon a mine indeed, but a mine,
exhausted and abandoned; a dismal ruinous place, with
nothing but the wreck of its works and buildings left to
speak for it. Here, there were a few sheep feeding. The
landlord looked at them earnestly, thought he recognized the
marks on them - then thought he did not - finally gave up
the sheep in despair - and walked on just as ignorant of the
whereabouts of the party as ever.
The march in the dark, literally as well as metaphorically
in the dark, had now been continued for three-quarters of an
hour from the time when the crippled Apprentice had met with
his accident. Mr. Idle, with all the will to conquer the
pain in his ankle, and to hobble on, found the power rapidly
failing him, and felt that another ten minutes at most would
find him at the end of his last physical resources. He had
just made up his mind on this point, and was about to
communicate the dismal result of his reflections to his
companions, when the mist suddenly brightened, and begun to
lift straight ahead. In another minute, the landlord, who
was in advance, proclaimed that he saw a tree. Before long,
other trees appeared - then a cottage - then a house beyond
the cottage, and a familiar line of road rising behind it.
Last of all, Carrock itself loomed darkly into view, far
away to the right hand. The party had not only got down the
mountain without knowing how, but had wandered away from it
in the mist, without knowing why - away, far down on the
very moor by which they had approached the base of Carrock
that morning.
The happy lifting of the mist, and the still happier
discovery that the travellers had groped their way, though
by a very roundabout direction, to within a mile or so of
the part of the valley in which the farm-house was situated,
restored Mr. Idle's sinking spirits and reanimated his
failing strength. While the landlord ran to get the
dog-cart, Thomas was assisted by Goodchild to the cottage
which had been the first building seen when the darkness
brightened, and was propped up against the garden wall, like
an artist's lay figure waiting to be forwarded, until the
dog-cart should arrive from the farm-house below. In due
time - and a very long time it seemed to Mr. Idle - the
rattle of wheels was heard, and the crippled Apprentice was
lifted into the seat. As the dog-cart was driven back to the
inn,
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