“I am no judge of these metals, doctor.  I am no assayest; but I believe you will find what I have to show you will far exceed your expectations on that head.”

“’Tis well:  proceed.”

They had now got to the first vault, in which stood the first door, and, with some difficulty, they opened the vault door.

“It has not been opened for some time,” said the philosopher.

“I dare say not, they seldom used to go here, from what I can learn, though it is kept a great secret.”

“And we can keep it so, likewise.”

“True.”

They now entered the vault, and came to the second door, which opened into a kind of flight of steps, cut out of the solid rock, and then along a passage cut out of the mountain, of some kind of stone, but not so hard as the rock itself.

“You see,” said the count, “what care has been taken to isolate the place, and detach it from the castle, so that it should not be dependent upon the possessor of the castle.  This is the last door but one, and now prepare yourself for a surprise, doctor, this will be an extraordinary one.”

So saying, the count opened the door, and stepped on one side, when the doctor approached the place, and was immediately thrust forward by the count and he rolled down some steps into the mine, and was immediately seized by some of the miners, who had been stationed there for that purpose, and carried to a distant part of the mine, there to work for the remainder of his life.

The count, seeing all secure, refastened the doors, and returned to the castle.  A few weeks after this the body of a youth, mangled and disfigured, was brought to the castle, which the countess said was her son’s body.

The count had immediately secured the real heir, and thrust him into the mines, there to pass a life of labour and hopeless misery.

* * * * *

There was a high feast held.  The castle gates were thrown open, and everybody who came were entertained without question.

This was on the occasion of the count’s and countess’s marriage.  It seemed many months after the death of her son, whom she affected to mourn for a long time.

However, the marriage took place, and in all magnificence and splendour.  The countess again appeared arrayed in splendour and beauty:  she was proud and haughty, and the count was imperious.

In the mean time, the young Count de Hugo de Verole was confined in the mines, and the doctor with him.

By a strange coincidence, the doctor and the young count became companions, and the former, meditating projects of revenge, educated the young count as well as he was able for several years in the mines, and cherished in the young man a spirit of revenge.  They finally escaped together, and proceeded to Leyden, where the doctor had friends, and where he placed his pupil at the university, and thus made him a most efficient means of revenge, because the education of the count gave him a means of appreciating the splendour and rank he had been deprived of.  He, therefore, determined to remain at Leyden until he was of age, and then apply to his father’s friends, and then to his sovereign, to dispossess and punish them both for their double crime.