The Underground City

Ten years after he left the exhausted Aberfoyle mine underneath Loch Katrine, the former manger - James Starr -receives an intriguing letter from the old overman - Simon Ford. It suggests that the mine isn’t actually barren after all. Despite also receiving an anonymous letter the same day contradicting this, James returns to Aberfoyle and discovers that there is indeed more coal left in the mine to be excavated. However, they are beset by strange events, hinting at a presence that does not wish to see them mine the cave further. Firstly, a stone is thrown at James, but there doesn’t seem to have been anyone there. Then, the leaking gas proving that the new mine exists is covered up, and finally James, Simon, and his family are trapped within the new mine as someone, or something, mysteriously blocks up the entrance which they had blown open.

Could it be a person out to sabotage their work? Someone with a grudge against them? Or could it be something supernatural, something they cannot see or understand?

This is a new translation of Jules Verne's novel set underneath Loch Katrine.