{"product_id":"2940013375109","title":"THE COMING RACE","description":"Chapter I.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am a native of _____, in the United States of America. My ancestors\u003cbr\u003emigrated from England in the reign of Charles II.; and my grandfather\u003cbr\u003ewas not undistinguished in the War of Independence. My family,\u003cbr\u003etherefore, enjoyed a somewhat high social position in right of birth;\u003cbr\u003eand being also opulent, they were considered disqualified for the public\u003cbr\u003eservice. My father once ran for Congress, but was signally defeated by\u003cbr\u003ehis tailor. After that event he interfered little in politics, and lived\u003cbr\u003emuch in his library. I was the eldest of three sons, and sent at the age\u003cbr\u003eof sixteen to the old country, partly to complete my literary education,\u003cbr\u003epartly to commence my commercial training in a mercantile firm at\u003cbr\u003eLiverpool. My father died shortly after I was twenty-one; and being left\u003cbr\u003ewell off, and having a taste for travel and adventure, I resigned, for\u003cbr\u003ea time, all pursuit of the almighty dollar, and became a desultory\u003cbr\u003ewanderer over the face of the earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the year 18__, happening to be in _____, I was invited by a\u003cbr\u003eprofessional engineer, with whom I had made acquaintance, to visit the\u003cbr\u003erecesses of the ________ mine, upon which he was employed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe reader will understand, ere he close this narrative, my reason for\u003cbr\u003econcealing all clue to the district of which I write, and will perhaps\u003cbr\u003ethank me for refraining from any description that may tend to its\u003cbr\u003ediscovery.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLet me say, then, as briefly as possible, that I accompanied the\u003cbr\u003eengineer into the interior of the mine, and became so strangely\u003cbr\u003efascinated by its gloomy wonders, and so interested in my friend's\u003cbr\u003eexplorations, that I prolonged my stay in the neighbourhood, and\u003cbr\u003edescended daily, for some weeks, into the vaults and galleries hollowed\u003cbr\u003eby nature and art beneath the surface of the earth. The engineer was\u003cbr\u003epersuaded that far richer deposits of mineral wealth than had yet been\u003cbr\u003edetected, would be found in a new shaft that had been commenced under\u003cbr\u003ehis operations. In piercing this shaft we came one day upon a chasm\u003cbr\u003ejagged and seemingly charred at the sides, as if burst asunder at some\u003cbr\u003edistant period by volcanic fires. Down this chasm my friend caused\u003cbr\u003ehimself to be lowered in a 'cage,' having first tested the atmosphere\u003cbr\u003eby the safety-lamp. He remained nearly an hour in the abyss. When he\u003cbr\u003ereturned he was very pale, and with an anxious, thoughtful expression\u003cbr\u003eof face, very different from its ordinary character, which was open,\u003cbr\u003echeerful, and fearless.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47145630826736,"sku":"2940013375109","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013375109_p0.jpg?v=1763580528","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013375109","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}