He had not seen him since the time when the Aberfoyle colliery was abandoned, and did not know either what he was doing or where he was living, with his wife and his son.

All that he now knew was, that a rendezvous had been appointed him at the Yarrow shaft, and that Harry, Simon Ford's son, was to wait for him during the whole of the next day at the Callander station.
"I shall go, I shall go!" said Starr, his excitement increasing as the time drew near.
Our worthy engineer belonged to that class of men whose brain is always on the boil, like a kettle on a hot fire.

In some of these brain kettles the ideas bubble over, in others they just simmer quietly.

Now on this day, James Starr's ideas were boiling fast.
But suddenly an unexpected incident occurred.

This was the drop of cold water, which in a moment was to condense all the vapors of the brain.
About six in the evening, by the third post, Starr's servant brought him a second letter.