note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) cave regions of the ozarks and black hills by luella agnes owen. membre titulaire de la société de spéléologie, and fellow of the american geographical society. [illustration: entrance to marble cave. page .] cincinnati. the editor publishing co. . the illustrations for this volume are from photographs by the following artists: the views of marble cave, by stone & de groff, warrensburg, missouri. the tower of babel, the chimes, the knife blade, the needle, the bridal veil, by meddaugh, of leadville, so. dakota. top of glacier, by l.w. marble, wind cave, so. dakota. white onyx masses, fairies' palace, by j.w. pike, hot springs, so. dakota. the wilderness pinery, by d. benton miller, alton, missouri. approaching deadwood, by h.r. locke & co., deadwood, so. dakota. copyrighted the editor publishing company. . to my mother this book is affectionately dedicated. contents. chapter. page. i a general view ii marble cave iii marble cave continued iv fairy cave and powell cave v other stone county caves vi oregon county caves vii the grand gulf viii the black hills and bad lands ix wind cave x wind cave continued xi " " " xii " " concluded xiii the onyx caves xiv crystal cave xv " " concluded xvi conclusion cave regions of the ozarks and black hills. chapter i. a general view. "o'er mountains bright with snow and light, we crystal hunters speed along, while grots, and caves, and icy waves, each instant echo to our song; and when we meet with stores of gems we grudge not kings their diadems." --_thomas moore._ the southern half of the state of missouri, and the black hills of south dakota, offer exceptionally delightful regions for the study of caves, or speleology as it has been named, and the sister sciences of geology and geography at the same time. in fact it is impossible to study either without giving attention to the other two, and therefore, instead of being separate sciences, they are the three branches of a great scientific trinity. the regions here referred to enjoy the advantage, and at the same time suffer the disadvantage, of being comparatively little known to the ever restless tide of tourists who naturally hail with pleasure the announcement that some easily accessible, and thoroughly charming spot, has escaped their attention altogether, with a marvelous store of attractions which are both extremely old and wholly new. each of these regions has a peculiar geological history not repeated in any other portions of the earth's surface: each is blessed with its own peculiar style of beautiful scenery: and each vies with the other and all the world besides for the supremacy of its truly wonderful caves. yet it should be well understood that the claims are not based on an unworthy spirit of rivalry, nor any desire to deny the greatness and beauty of already famous members of the cave family. it is simply an announcement that the family is much larger than has been generally supposed, and the more recently presented members worthy of the full measure of distinguished honors. the geological authorities of both states have for many years mentioned the beauty and importance of these regions, and urged their claims to public attention, but have been prevented, by the pressure of other duties, from giving to the caves such careful study and full reports as they deserve, as it would have been a pleasure to give, and as has been possible in states of less extent where the general work of the department is more advanced, and the volume of tourist travel created an early demand for scientific explanation. without any great difficulty we can understand the process of cave excavation by the action of percolating acidulated water on the limestone, and its subsequent removal as the volume of surface drainage diverted to the new channel gradually increased. but it is not so easy to offer a reason for the varied forms with which the caves are afterwards decorated. why is it the charmed waters do not leave the evidence of their slow passage only in plain surfaces of varying widths, and the stalactites and stalagmites whose formation we can readily account for? and why do not the deposits take the same forms in all caves with only such variations as would naturally result from differences in topography? the law is written, but in unfamiliar characters that render our reading slow and uncertain. yet it is conspicuously noticeable that those caves showing the most delicately fragile and wonderfully varied forms of decoration are those traversed by the most sweeping and changeable, or even reversible, currents of air; which might lead to the conclusion that the moisture is sprayed or converted into a light, misty vapor, and then deposited in exactly the same manner as the beautiful frost-work at niagara: the direction and force of the current determining the location of the frail deposits. since the largest and most important caves occur in limestone, a little special attention to the cause of their occurrence there may serve to show that although speleology has only recently received its name and been elevated to the rank of a separate and independent science, it is one of the earth's ancient institutions. our geologists, who have unearthed many secrets not dreamed of even in humboldt's "good phylosopy," have settled the question of how the different kinds of caves were formed, according to the character of rocks they are in, or their location and depth, and the natural agencies to whose action they show signs of having been subjected. dr. h.c. hovey, in his "celebrated american caverns," says: "in visiting caves of large extent, one is at first inclined to regard the long halls, huge rifts, deep pits and lofty domes, as evidences of great convulsions of nature, whereby the earth has been violently rent asunder. but, while mechanical forces have had their share in the work, as has been shown, the main agent in every case has been the comparatively gentle, invisible gas known as carbonic acid. this is generated by the decay of animal and vegetable substances, and is to a considerable degree soluble in water. under ordinary circumstances one measure of water will absorb one measure of carbonic acid; and the eye will detect no difference in its appearance. under pressure the power of absorption is rapidly increased, until the water thus surcharged has an acid taste, and effervesces on flowing from the earth, as in saratoga water. "rain-water, falling amid leaves and grass, and sinking into the soil, absorbs large quantities of carbonic acid. on reaching the underlying limestone, the latter is instantly attacked by the acidulated water in which it is dissolved and carried away. "it is agreed among geologists, amazing as the statement may seem, that the immense caverns of virginia, kentucky and indiana, including mammoth cave itself (the largest of all), were eaten out of the solid mass of limestone by the slow, patient, but irresistible action of acidulated water." professor n.s. shaler says: "the existence of deep caverns is a sign that the region has long been above the sea." through the kindness of professor c.j. norwood, chief inspector and curator of the geological department of kentucky, it is possible to quote the first official report made on the caves of that state and published in , in volume i., kentucky geological survey reports. dr. norwood says: "referring to the 'subcarboniferous limestone' (now known as the st. louis group of the mississippian series), dr. owen says: 'the southern belt of this formation is wonderfully cavernous, especially in its upper beds, which being more argillaceous, and impregnated with earths and alkalies, are disposed to produce salts, which oozing through the pores of the stone effloresce on its surface, and thus tend to disintegrate and scale off, independent of the solvent effects of the carbonated water. beneath overhanging ledges of limestone, quantities of fine earthy rubbish can be seen, weathered off from such causes. in these i have detected sulphate of lime, sulphate of magnesia, nitrate of lime, and occasionally sulphate of soda. the tendency which some calcareous rocks have to produce nitrate of lime is, probably, one of the greatest causes of disintegration.'" "most extensive subterranean areas thus have been excavated or undermined in edmonson, hart, grayson, butler, logan, todd, christian and trig. in the vicinity of green river, in the first of these counties, the known avenues of the mammoth cave amount to two hundred and twenty-three, the united length of the whole being estimated, by those best acquainted with the cave, at one hundred and fifty miles; say that the average width and height of these passages amount to seven yards each way, which is perhaps near the truth; this would give upwards of twelve million cubic yards of cavernous space which has been excavated through the agency of calcareous waters and atmospheric vicissitudes." page : "on the south side of green river the platform of limestone forming the descent into mammoth cave is two hundred and thirty-two feet above green river." "the entrance to the cave, being thirty-eight feet lower than this bed of limestone, is one hundred and ninety-four feet above green river. in the above two hundred and thirty-two feet there are several heavy masses of sandstone, viz.: at one hundred and twenty-five, one hundred and forty-five, one hundred and fifty, one hundred and sixty and two hundred and fifteen feet, but it is probable that most of these have tumbled from higher positions in the hill, as no alterations of sandstone have been observed at these levels in the cave. from an elevation of from two hundred and forty to two hundred and fifty feet, the prevalent rock is sandstone without pebbles, which can be seen extending up to three hundred and twelve feet to the foundation of the cave hotel. the united thickness of the limestone beds on this part of green river, is about two hundred and thirty feet, capped with eighty feet of sandstone. about midway of the section on this part of green river, are limestones of an obscure oolitic structure, but no true oolite was observed. many of these limestones are of such composition as to be acted on freely by the elements of the atmosphere, which, in the form of nitric acid, combine with the earthy and alkaline bases of calcareous rock, and give rise to the formation of nitrates with the liberation of carbonic acid; hence the disintegrated rubbish of the caves yields nitrate of potash after being treated with the ley of ashes and subsequent evaporation of the saline lixivium. the wonderfully cavernous character of the subcarboniferous limestones of the green river valley, and, indeed, of these particular members of the subcarboniferous group throughout a great part of its range in kentucky and indiana, is due in a great measure to this cause, together with the solvent and eroding effects of water charged with carbonic acid. the 'rock-houses' frequently encountered both in this formation and in the limestones of silurian date, are produced by similar causes; the more easily disintegrated beds gradually crumbling away, while the more durable remain in overhanging ledges. by the oxidation of other elements, sulphates of oxide of iron and alkalies result, which, by double decomposition, with carbonate of lime, give rise to the formation of gypsums which appears in the form of rosettes, festoons and various other imitative forms on the walls and ceilings of the caves. crystallizations of sulphate of soda and sulphate of magnesia are not uncommon, both in some of the caves and in sheltered situations under shelving rocks." the explanations thus given of the excavation and subsequent refilling and decoration of the limestone caves of kentucky and indiana apply equally well to those of other states; but it is to be remembered that at the time of dr. owen's report, onyx, the most beautiful and valuable of dripstones, had not yet been discovered in the united states; while now especially fine deposits are known in california, utah, missouri, south dakota and arkansas; the missouri supply being exceptionally valuable on account of the marvelous delicacy and beauty of its coloring; nor can it soon be exhausted, as deposits have been found in eight counties and further exploration will no doubt discover more. concerning the subcarboniferous, or mississippian series in part i., vol. iv., missouri geological survey, dr. c.r. keyes says: "in the great interior basin of the mississippi the basal series is exposed more or less continuously over broad areas, extending from northern iowa to alabama, and from ohio to mexico." while this broadly extended series of limestone is honey-combed in many places and all directions by wonderful caverns, those of the ozark regions in missouri, although comparatively little known, are well worth knowing, and are possibly the most ancient limestone caves in the world. of the region in which they occur, dr. keyes, in the volume last quoted, says: "the chief typographical feature of the state has long been known in the ozark uplift, a broad plateau with gentle quaquaversal slopes rising to a height of more than one thousand five hundred feet above mean tide, and extending almost entirely across the southern part of the district. on all sides the borders of this highland area are deeply grooved by numberless streams flowing in narrow gorges. against its nucleus of very ancient granites and porphyries the ozark series of magnesian limestone was laid down. then the area occupied by these rocks was elevated, and around its margins were deposited successively the other members of the paleozoic. the ozark region was thus the first land to appear within the borders of the present state of missouri." he further says: "although it has long been known that the magnesian limestones are older than the trenton, and that they lie immediately upon and against the archæan crystallines unconformably, their exact geological age has always remained unsettled. there seems to be but little doubt, however, that part of the series is equivalent to the calciferous of other regions. it is also pretty well determined that certain of the lower beds, all below the 'saccharoidal' sandstone perhaps, are representatives of the upper cambrian or potsdam. these conclusions appear well grounded both upon stratigraphical and faunal evidence. the rocks of the ozark region have not as yet received the necessary detailed study to enable the several lines of demarkation to be drawn with certainty. this investigation is now being carried on as rapidly as possible, and promises very satisfactory and interesting results in the near future." "the early geological reports represent the magnesian limestone series as made up of seven members. following swallow, these may be briefly described in the present connection. beginning at the top, they are: first magnesian limestone. first, or saccharoidal sandstone. second magnesian limestone. second sandstone. third magnesian limestone. third sandstone. fourth limestone." "the fourth" magnesian limestone, or lowest number of the ozark series recognized, has its typical exposures along the niangua and osage rivers in morgan and camden counties. professor swallow, in his missouri geological survey reports i. and ii., and , says: "caves, natural bridges and subterranean streams occur in the valley of the osage and its tributaries." the same authority of forty years ago also mentions that "some of the grandest scenery in the state is produced by the high castellated and mural bluffs of this (third magnesian limestone) formation, on the niangua and the osage." another reference to the scenery on these rivers describes it as "wild and grand, beautiful and unique;" with "gaudy-colored bluffs." in the section on building materials he remarks: "one of the most desirable of the missouri marbles is in the third magnesian limestone on the niangua. it is fine-grained, crystalline, silico-magnesian limestone of a light drab, slightly tinged with peach-blossom, and beautifully clouded with the same hue or flesh color. it is twenty feet thick and crops out in the bluffs. this marble is rarely surpassed in the qualities which fit it for ornamental architecture." the ozarks in the extreme southern portion of the state are even less known to the world, but the scenery is grand, the climate delightful, and the caves worthy of a visit for themselves alone. the state of missouri being one third larger than england, and of equal size to switzerland, holland, belgium and denmark combined, it is not surprising that interesting discoveries are still to be expected. the climate is so varied on account of the range in latitude and altitude, and the natural resources are so great, the claim has been made that if the state were surrounded by an impassable wall, its citizens need not be deprived of any article necessary to a refined and luxurious mode of living: and according to mr. henry gannett in "the building of a nation," the population in was . per cent. native whites of native parents, the colored a little less than per cent., and nearly two-thirds of the balance, native born of parents, one or both of whom were foreign. although the ozark region has not yet received sufficient attention to dull its charm for the explorer, the fact has been established that its earliest sedimentary rocks are of the cambrian age and still occupy mainly the position in which they were originally deposited. therefore we need not be surprised to discover that some, at least, of the excavations are proportionately ancient; and that the natural bridges are the last remaining positive evidence of their former existence and final collapse. that the natural bridges of missouri mark the destruction of more ancient caves than the one preserved to geological history by virginia's grand attraction, seems quite evident. the greater age of the rocks indicates the possibility of earlier excavation while their undisturbed position suggests that destruction resulted, not from violent earth movement, but from the slow action of agencies requiring long periods of time. before proceeding to a discussion of the caves visited personally for the gratification of private interest, it is desirable to know what attention has been given to the subject, incidentally, in the course of regular official duty on the missouri geological survey. caves described in the state reports. although many unknown caves must yet be discovered in the imperfectly explored portions of the vast ozark forests, these finds are already so numerous as to seldom attract attention according to their just desserts. one of the comparatively recent of these discoveries is crystal cave, at joplin, described on page , vol. vii., missouri geological survey report .[ ] it was opened in the lower workings of a shaft of the empire zinc company, and "the entire surface of the cave, top, sides and bottom, is lined with calcite crystals, so closely packed together as to form a continuous sheet and most of them of great size, and well formed faces. scalenohedra as much as two feet long are sometimes seen, and others a foot or more in length are common. planes or crystal ghosts, sometimes with pyrite crystals, marking stages of growth in the calcite crystals, are often distinguishable. the entire absence of anything like stalactites is noticeable, and together with the presence of the crystals, show that the cave was completely filled with water during their growth." in the same volume, all those counties in the extreme southwest corner of the state, whose geological age has not heretofore been considered positively determined, are mapped as lower carboniferous, and lower silurian, with the coal measures covering portions of barton and jasper and appearing in a few small, scattered spots in dade, polk, green and christian counties, and some scanty lines of devonian fringing the edges of the silurian in barton and mcdonald. other state reports make mention of many caves and fine springs, and also several natural bridges worthy of special notice. in mr. g.c. broadhead's report for - , he gives a short but interesting chapter on caves and water supplies, in which he says that "caves occur in the third magnesian limestone, saccharoidal sandstone, trenton, lithographic, encrinital and st. louis limestone." "in eastern and northeast missouri there have not been found many large caves in the encrinital limestone, but the lower beds of this formation in southwest missouri often enclose very large caverns; among the latter may be included the caves of green county with some in christian and mcdonald. those in mcdonald i have not seen, but they are reported to be very extensive and probably are situated in the encrinital limestone." under the head of "special descriptions" he says: "on sac river, in the north part of green county, we find a cave with two entrances, one at the foot of a hill, opening toward sac river, forty-five feet high and eighty feet wide. the other entrance is from the hill-top, one hundred and fifty feet back from the face of the bluff. these two passages unite. the exact dimensions of the cave are not known, but there are several beautiful and large rooms lined with stalactites and stalagmites which often assume both beautiful and grotesque life-like forms. the cave has been explored for several hundred yards, showing the formations to be thick silicious beds of the lower carboniferous formations." "knox cave, in green county, is said to be of large dimensions. i have not seen it, but some of its stalactites are quite handsome." "wilson's creek sinks beneath the limestone and appears again below." "there are several caves near ozark, christian county, which issue from the same formation as those in green county. on a branch of finly creek a stream disappears in a sink, appearing again three-quarters of a mile southeast through an opening sixty feet high by ninety-eight feet wide. up stream the cave continues this size for a hundred yards and then decreases in size, and for the next quarter of a mile further it is generally ten by fourteen feet wide. a very clear, cool stream passes out, in which by careful search crawfish without eyes can be found." "there is another cave a few miles south of ozark, and another ten miles southeast occurs in the magnesian limestone." "in boone county there are several caves in the encrinital limestone. conner's, the largest, is said to have been explored for a distance of eight miles." "in pike and lincoln there are several small caves occurring in the upper beds of trenton limestone, which are often very cavernous. on sulphur fork of cuivre, there is a cave and natural bridge, to which parties for pleasure often resort. the bridge is tubular with twenty feet between the walls, and is one hundred feet long." "at j.p. fisher's on spencer creek, ralls county, there is a cave having an entrance of ninety feet wide by twenty feet high. the lower trenton beds occupy the floor, with the upper cavernous beds above. on the bluff, at a distance of one hundred and fifty yards back, there is a sink-hole which communicates with the cave. within the cave is a cool, clear spring of water, and mr. f. said he could keep meat fresh there for six weeks during midsummer." "the third magnesian limestone which occupies such a large portion of southwest missouri, often contains very large caves. one of them, known as friede's cave, is six or eight miles northwest of rolla, on cave spring creek." "it is said to have been explored for several miles, but i only passed in a few hundred yards. the stalactites here are very beautiful, assuming the structure of satin spar. a very clear stream of water issues out. west of the gasconade, on clifty creek, is a remarkable natural bridge which i have elsewhere described in geological survey of missouri, - , page ." "mr. meek speaks of a large and interesting cave on tavern creek, in miller county. dr. shumard estimates a cave on bryant's fork, in ozark county, to be a mile and a half long." this description of dr. shumard's is in the geological survey of missouri, - , page , where he says: "the entrance is thirty-five feet wide and thirty feet high, and is situated at the foot of a perpendicular cliff, and far above the water-level of bryant. just within the entrance it expands to sixty or seventy feet, with a height of about fifty feet; and this part of the cave has been used by the citizens of the county as a place for holding camp-meeting. i estimated its length at not far short of one mile and a half. the main passage is in general quite spacious, the roof elevated, and the floor tolerably level, but often wet and miry. for some distance beyond the entrance there is not much to attract attention; but as we proceed, at the far extremity the chambers are quite as picturesque as the most noted of the well-known mammoth cave. the ceilings, sides and floor are adorned with a multitude of stalactites and stalagmites arranged in fanciful combinations, and assuming a variety of fantastic and beautiful forms." many of these caves contain niter, which occurs as a mineral and not as evidence of former animal occupation, it being found in the form of effervescenses on the walls. dr. shumard mentions several of this character in pulaski county, the most noted being niter cave, in the third magnesian limestone, with a wide entrance thirty feet above the level of the gasconade. on page , he also gives a charming description of one of the immense springs that are numerous in this region and that i have never seen elsewhere. he says: "ozark county is bountifully supplied with springs of the finest water, and some of them of remarkably large size. the largest one is situated near the north fork, in t. , r. w., sec. , and is known under the name of the double spring. it issues from near the base of a bluff of sandstone and magnesian limestone, a few feet above the level of the north fork. this spring discharges an immense volume of water, which is divided by a huge mass of sandstone into two streams, with swift currents flowing in opposite directions to join the north fork about one hundred and fifty yards distant from the spring. i estimated the width of these streams at not less than fifty yards. they are separated from the north fork by a pretty wooded island one hundred yards long. the upper stream affords a good mill-site. i am informed that the quantity of water discharged by this magnificent spring is not materially diminished during the dryest seasons of the year. the temperature of the water measured at the edge of the spring, was found to be °; the temperature of the air at the same time, °. other springs of considerable magnitude occur in various portions of the county, giving rise to beautiful and limpid streams." the descriptions of the natural bridge and friede's cave, near rolla, previously referred to as being on page of the same volume, are as follows: "on clifty creek found the chert bed of sec. - occurring about sixty feet from the top of the third magnesian limestone, with a road passing over its upper surface, presenting it very favorably for observation. it seemed here to be broken by vertical cracks into large rhomboidal blocks. further up this creek in a wild and secluded spot, observed a natural bridge with six feet of this chert bed at its base, and silicious magnesian limestone above. the span of this bridge is about thirty feet, an elevation of opening about fifteen feet above the water, the thickness of the rock above is about twelve feet, and width on top about fifteen feet. two small streams come together, one from the west and another from the south-west. a point of the bluff on the south-west fork spans the northern fork, and terminates about sixty feet beyond in a sharp point; a few large masses of rock lie near the termination of the promontory, and fifty feet beyond, the bluffs of the opposite hills rise abruptly from the bottoms. the bluffs, both above and below, are very precipitous, the middle and lower beds of the third magnesian limestone forming perpendicular escarpments, frequently studded with cedar, some occurring on top of the bridge. a perfectly clear stream of water courses through this valley. the bottoms near are overspread with a dense growth of trees and vines, among which latter i noticed the muscadine grape. the valley at this part being shut in by its perpendicular cliffs with not a path to guide the traveler through the dense thickets, is wildly picturesque and romantic in its loneliness." of the cave he says: "this cave is a quarter of a mile east of cave spring creek, and has a wide and elevated entrance; passing into it a hundred yards or more, the passage narrows, and in order to go further a stream of water has frequently to be waded through; this passage has been followed by some persons several miles without finding any object of interest; but a few hundred yards from the entrance, by diverging to the right, we enter a large chamber, studded with stalactites and stalagmites, many uniting and forming solid columns of support. many of these are very beautiful, and often as white as alabaster. there are other large rooms, but they possess no peculiar interest. found large deposits of earth on the floor having a saline taste." of the extensive pine forests in ozark county, he says: "the size and quality of the timber will compare favorably with that of the celebrated pineries of wisconsin and minnesota." in several other counties the pine is equally good, and other valuable timber everywhere abundant, although in a school geography published in , the following descriptions of this region occur: "the lowlands of the mississippi are bounded by the region of the ozark mountains. with the exception of the alluvial tracts on the borders of the streams, it is extremely hilly and broken. the mountains rise from eight hundred to eighteen hundred feet above the streams, with rounded summits and often perpendicular cliffs, and have a rocky surface, which admits only a scanty growth of timber." * * "missouri is generally a region of prairies and table lands, much of which, as already described, is almost destitute of timber and water. it is crossed by the ozark mountains, which form a rugged tract of considerable extent. earthquakes are not infrequent in some parts of this state. the soil is not generally productive." a comparison of these curious views with the latest official reports is highly amusing, as well as suggestive that early impressions are liable to require modification. in addition to the wonderful springs of pure water, there are numerous fine mineral springs, among which are a number of epsom salt springs. at jacksonville, in randolph county, there is a large mineral spring from which it is said an over-heated horse may drink all he will without injury. epsom-salts, or epsomite, frequently occurs, as does the niter, in a crystalline form of the pure mineral, as an efflorescence on rocks in many of the caves and in other sheltered positions. [illustration: the surveyed portions of marble cave stone county missouri surveyed and plotted by fred prince. scale of feet] footnotes: [ ] lead and zinc. prof. c.r. keyes. chapter ii. marble cave. marble cave, which is the finest yet explored in missouri, is southeast of the center of stone county, a short distance north of the picturesque white river. the nearest station is marionville on the st. louis and san francisco railroad, and the drive of forty miles is delightful, but can be divided, into two of twenty each by a stop at galena. the road, for the most part, is naturally macadamized and is through a most charming country whose roughness and beauty increase together as the journey advances. at first it winds along fertile valleys between wooded hills, crossing many times a shallow stream of water so clear as to afford no concealment for an occasional water-moccasin, whose bite is said to be not poisonous if inflicted under water, and which must be true because the horses showed not the least uneasiness. the second week in may found the vegetation in its summer beauty; strawberries were ripe, and the weather without a fault. galena is pleasantly situated on the hills overlooking the james river, and is entirely invisible from the road by which it is approached until a slight curve in the line of ascent ends the first half of the journey with surprising suddenness. in the immediate vicinity there are several small caves which are worthy of attention and will be described later on. to properly picture the twenty miles of changing and charming views between galena and marble cave would require the light and skillful touch of a special artist gifted with a tangible perception of atmospheric values. gradually the road forsakes the pretty valleys with their fields and streams, to take the summit of the hills and then be known as the "ridge road," which affords a wide range of vision not previously enjoyed, presenting scenes not to be found reproduced elsewhere with any degree of exactness. looking into the depth of the forest as it slopes away on either side, the impression is of a magnificent park, undefaced by what are called improvements. this effect is produced by the scarcity, or entire absence of underbrush, and a beautiful surface covering of grasses or flowering plants of all kinds and colors, varied here and there with masses of ferns of unusual size and delicate beauty. the most unexpected and lavish feature of the rich display is the many miles of fragrant honeysuckle that grows only eighteen inches high in the forest shade, but if transplanted to a sunny spot develops into the familiar vine. the most beautiful portion of all this is called the wilderness, and seems designed for a national park. such a park reserve, even if very small, could not fail to be a lasting pleasure, since it would be more accessible to large centers of population than other reserves, and its most delightful seasons are spring and autumn when the yellowstone is under snow. [illustration: a mill-site near marble cave.] the distant view obtained through open spaces is an undulating forest in all directions, being apparently both trackless and endless. the great variety of greens observed in the foliage blends in the distance into one dark shade, then changes to dark blue, which gradually fades out to a hazy uncertainty where it is lost at the sky-line. as long ago as , the variety and abundance of the natural growth of fruits throughout the ozarks was observed by professor swallow, who then advised the planting of vines. beyond the wilderness is the marble cave property and the entrance to the cave is through a large sink-hole in the top of roark mountain. this hole is said to be about two hundred feet long, one hundred feet wide and thirty-five feet deep. it is shaped like a great oblong bowl with sloping sides, divided irregularly near the middle, and having the bottom broken out in a jagged way that is very handsome and gives an ample support to the growth of ferns, wild roses, and other vegetation with which it is abundantly decorated. about half of the descent into the basin is accomplished by scrambling down the roughly broken rocks, and the balance by a broad wooden stairway ending at a narrow platform that supports the locked gate. for kind and valuable assistance rendered to insure the success and pleasure of the visit to the wonderful cave, which they regard with affection and pride, very cordial thanks are due to capt. t.s. powell, former manager, his son, mr. will powell, the first guide, and mr. fred prince, who has made the only official survey and map. it may be stated here that the survey and map are far from complete, and many known passages have never yet been entered. being the first visiting party of the season, certain disadvantages were encountered in a great accumulation of wet clay and rubbish, washed in by the rains since the previous summer; but the gate was opened with considerable effort, and slowly and cautiously we descended the slippery, clay-banked stairs to the immense mound of debris forty-five feet below the gate, to behold, at last, the grandeur of the auditorium. the magnificence of that one chamber should give to marble cave a world-wide fame even if there were nothing more beyond. the blue-gray limestone walls have a greater charm than those of an open cañon, owing to the fact that they sweep away from any given point in long, true curves to form an elliptical chamber three hundred and fifty feet long by one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, with the vault above showing absolute perfection of arch, and measuring, by the survey, from its lowest to its highest point, one hundred and ninety-five feet. these measurements are said to be indisputably correct, and if so, the auditorium of marble cave is the largest unsupported, perfect arch in the world; it being one hundred feet longer than the famous mormon tabernacle at salt lake city. in addition to the artistic superiority of architectural form, its acoustic properties having been tested, it is found to be truly an auditorium. the curving walls and pure atmosphere combine to aid the voice, and carry its softest tones with marvelous distinctness to every portion of the immense inclosed space. as a concert hall its capacity has been tested by musicians who are said to have been enthusiastic over the success of their experiments. several years ago a piano was lowered into the cave for use on a special occasion, and still occupies a position on the dancing platform, where it will probably remain indefinitely under the scant protection of a small canvas tent. the chief ornament of the auditorium is the white throne, a stalagmitic mass that when viewed from the stairway appears to rest solidly against the most distant wall, and looks so small an object in that vast space as to render a realization of its actual measurement impossible. the height of the throne is sixty-five feet and the girth two hundred. it is a mass of dripstone resting on a limestone base reserved from the ancient excavation to receive it, and on careful inspection the perpendicular lines, observed on the front, are found to be a set of rather large organ pipes. a fresh fracture shows the throne to be a most beautiful white and gold onyx. the outer surface has now received a thin coating of yellow clay which was, of course, regretted, but later observations on onyx building reveals the pleasing fact that if the crystal-bearing waters continue to drip, the yellow clay will supply the coloring matter for a golden band of crystal. the throne is hollow and has a natural opening in one side by which it may be entered, but the space within is too limited to invite a lengthy stay. that portion of the outside which is nearest the wall is formed with sufficient irregularity of outline to admit of an ascent to the top, and the view obtained is well worth the difficult scramble up and the apprehensive slide down. being raised so high above all objects that divide attention or in some degree obstruct the view, permits a freedom of outlook that sensibly increases the appreciation of the vastness of the enclosed chamber and its enclosing walls. efforts to establish the age of the deposit by observations on the yearly growth, would afford little satisfaction, for the obvious reason that conditions governing the growth are dependent, in a measure, on each season's vegetation. deposit began, of course, after the erosion of the chamber ceased, and therefore represents only a fraction of the age of the cave itself. about thirty feet west of the white throne and against the wall, stands the next onyx attraction in the form of a beautiful fluted column nearly twenty feet high, tapering up from a base three feet in diameter, and known as the spring room sentinel, because the spring of youth is just behind it although not directly connected with the auditorium; it being the first chamber on the left in total depravity passage, a wet and dangerous way of which next to nothing is known, but the entrance to which is a fine arch a few feet west of the sentinel. the spring of youth is reached by climbing through a window-like opening, and is very small, very wet, very cold, and very beautiful. it is not more than ten feet high nor six in its greatest length and breadth, but every inch of its irregular surface is composed of dripstone of a bright yellowish-red and colorless crystal; and down the glittering walls trickles clear and almost ice-cold water, to the onyx floor where it is caught and held in a marvelous fluted bowl of its own manufacture. this is said to be the gem of the whole cave and seems to have been placed where it is for the consolation of those who are unable to enjoy the peculiar grandeur of the auditorium, and leave it as some actually are said to do, with a sense of disappointment, because it is not the gleaming white hall of marble which some writers for reputable journals have allowed their imaginations to create. in winter the spring of youth room takes on a complete coating of ice, with icicles of all sizes hanging from the ceiling and projections. the effect is described as being wonderfully beautiful. further down total depravity passage we were not urged to go, because at that season of the year it is wet and difficult, without any sufficient promise of a brilliant compensation for the achievement of such a journey. but the spring of youth room, or as it is generally called, the spring room, is more than ample justification for the existence of the passage, and would still be if that passage were several miles in length and the attraction located at the most distant limit. [illustration: wall in spring room. page .] the various passages in marble cave are by no means alike or even similar; some having been opened by the action of water assisted only by acid carried in solution; while others are the unmistakable crevices of earthquake origin, afterwards enlarged, or perhaps only remodeled, as we might say, by the water's untiring energy in changing the position of rock masses without obliterating evidences of original design. a glance at the map shows the sudden breaking off of the various passages represented; the end, however, is not of the passages themselves, but only of the exploration or the survey of them, and there is a possibility that future developments will lead to the discovery of more caves than are yet known. however that may be, the glimpses already had into the beyond are said to be alluring. to the north of the auditorium, which was until recently called the grand amphitheater, there opens out a kind of alcove extension known as the mother hubbard room, and spreading out from this is the corridor, a room about one hundred and twenty-five feet long and seventy-five feet in width, with a low, narrow passage, or crawl, leading from the northeast into the grotto, a dome-shaped room formerly called the battery, on account of the great number of bats that used to congregate in it. it is about forty feet in diameter and fifty feet in height. on one side of this room is a narrow "squeeze" opening into a passage several feet lower than the floor level of the grotto and leading to the spanish room, which when discovered bore indications of having been occupied by a human being who had tried to escape by tunneling, or by reaching a hole in the roof; which is said to be impossible for him to have done without outside assistance. as no bones have been found we may hope the assistance arrived in time. when the discovery of the room was made, a quantity of loose rock was piled before the entrance, so if he ever escaped it was not by that way. after crawling back to the corridor, through the same small, but dry passage of seventy feet length, we saw a narrow ledge of fine crystals, a deposit of epsom salts, and a few bats that in the dim light looked white but are a light tan color with brown wings. a good specimen hanging on a projecting ledge of the wall remained undisturbed by us and our lights, giving an opportunity for careful inspection so that we presently discovered it to be a mummy; which naturally suggests that this portion of the cave, being dry and opening out of the great temple-like auditorium as an alcove, could be converted into an imposing crypt. making our way across the room to its southwest extremity over a varied assortment of bowlders and down a drop of eight or ten feet, we crawled into another tight-fitting dry passage lined with beautiful glittering onyx like clear ice banded with narrow lines of red, of which broken fragments covered the narrow floor and made a dazzling, but distressingly painful rug to crawl over. this is the west passage and leads to the grand crevice, of which only a small portion has been surveyed; midway of the passage are the epsom rooms, two in number, and well supplied with epsomite or native epsom salts; this is sometimes called the windy passage, on account of a rushing current of air met suddenly at the first bend and, no doubt, due to the meeting here of fresh air coming in from the outside with that chemically changed in the epsom rooms. the cave contains a great many dangerous places, as we correctly surmised on the morning of our introduction; when mr. powell's blessing on the breakfast was lost in so fervent a prayer for the safe and successful accomplishment of our undertaking, it seemed inconsiderate not to present the reassuring appearance of inexhaustible endurance. in the corridor can be seen one of the three old spanish ladders found in the cave when it was rediscovered; but when and for what purpose the spaniards used the cave there seems to be no means of finding out. it should be remembered that this part of the united states was occupied first by the spaniards and then by the french, and is a portion of the louisiana purchase, a tract of , square miles, or , square miles more than the original thirteen states. the price asked and paid was $ , , and the assumption of claims which citizens of this country had against the french government for about $ , , more. the french offered to make the sale on account of being thoroughly discouraged with constant troubles arising with the indians, whom they had decided it would be impossible to persuade or compel to recognize any laws other than those established by each tribe for itself, or accepted by friendly treaty with the council and disregarded by individuals on both sides:--and the united states accepted the offer, not for any expected value in the land, but for the unrestricted navigation of the mississippi river. therefore missouri was never under british rule and never changed hands by force of arms. but to return to the spanish ladder, it is a tall pine tree notched on the sides for steps, and the stump of a branch left or a peg inserted at considerable intervals, for hand supports to assist in raising the weight of the body. returning to the auditorium, we entered a passage behind the great white throne and started on what might well be called the water route, for no dry spot is touched on the round trip; but if one goes prepared for such a journey it is well worth the effort and the mud. if the visitor is a man, the suit worn should be one he is ready to part with, or overalls; ladies receive the same advice even to the overalls, as some of the most beautiful portions of the cave, which we failed to see, can be visited only in that objectionable costume. to visit any cave comfortably a short dress is necessary and if any thing like a thorough knowledge of the ramifications is desired, the unavoidable climbing will soon prove the superior claims of a divided skirt; but if it is properly made, only the wearer need be conscious of the divide. rubber boots and water-proof protection for the head and shoulders complete a costume that is not exactly an artistic creation, unless our ideas of art have been gathered in the school of socrates, but it is suited to the requirements of the occasion and makes the explorations far more easy and profitable than they otherwise could be. the passage back of the white throne is called the serpentine passage, and most of it is sufficiently high for traveling in an erect position; yet there are several places that require crawling. the first stopping point is the gulf of doom room, or as it is also known, the register room, because here visitors usually write their names in the peculiar dark red clay, which is moist but firm and cuts with a polish. this room is twenty-five feet high and fifty feet wide, and looks off into the gulf of doom, which seems rightly named when a rock is thrown into it and you note the lapse of time before any sound returns; and when the awful gulf is made visible by lights thrown in, one involuntarily seeks a firmer footing and clings to a projecting rock. the height of the gulf is ninety-five feet and the distant sound of falling water is not reassuring. the walls are not smoothly worn away, but have the rough and weird appearance of having been torn by a torrent in a narrow mountain gorge, and are stained with the dark clay. retracing our steps a short distance, if that style of locomotion could be called steps, we turned into doré's gallery, and surely that artist was in his usual working mood when he conceived this awful method of connecting the upper regions with the lower. great bowlders have fallen down without helping to fill the black holes that received them, and into this real inferno we proceeded to descend by narrow, ladder-like stairs provided with a light hand rail, and trembling slightly with the responsibility they assumed. if any one's courage trembled too, no notice was taken of it, and a record of exploring experiences does not necessarily include a confession of any doubts. on all the ladders in this gallery was a fine white fungus growth in the form of a thick, heavy mold, that the lightest touch destroyed. in caves where some care is taken to protect this mold, it attains a growth of six or more feet and assumes the forms of sea-weed. once down the first and longest flight of stairs, without any signs of a doré dragon raising its huge body by heavy claws to a resting place among the rocks, awe divides more evenly with admiration; and being already well besmeared with mud, we climbed over the clay-covered bowlders and crawled through narrow holes with perfect satisfaction, enjoying each novel scene to the utmost. off from the doré gallery is a small chamber containing the fountain of youth, that must be seen, but the way, like that of the transgressor, is hard. arrived at the entrance we hesitated a moment, for although getting in looked possible, the way out again seemed not so simple; but finally trusting to providence, through the direct agency of our careful guardians, of course, we sat down on the edge of the large slippery bowlder on which we stood, and reaching out caught a projection of the wall on one side and a bowlder crag on the other, swung off and dropped into the soft mud below. this chamber proved to be a little gem; small but high, and beautifully adorned with calcite crystal. down a wall of red onyx on one side clear water flows into a basin in the irregular, rocky floor, just behind the bowlder we had used for a hand-rest at the entrance; the perfectly transparent water in the basin appears to be only a few inches deep, but measures three feet, and is several degrees colder than the air, which in this portion of the cave is warm. the other wall of this room is an almost perpendicular bank of the soft dark red clay, in which small selenite crystals are sprouting like plants in a garden. suddenly we heard a heavy, rolling noise like distant thunder, and asking if it were possible to hear a thunder storm so far below the surface, were told it was the protest of angry bats against a further advance on the quarters to which they have retreated from the main body of the cave, and their orders were obeyed: so of what may be in that direction, we gained no positive knowledge besides bats, and the fact that, small as they are, their great numbers make them dangerous when angry. returning to the gallery and continuing the journey down over slippery rock and slender ladders we came at length to the bottom of the gulf of doom, into which we had looked from the room now high above us; and we needed no stimulating help to the imagination to pronounce it a fit termination to an artist's troubled dream. [illustration: the waterfall. page .] then climbing over an assortment of bowlders of all sizes, going up a little, and swinging or sliding down, we came to a point in the narrow passage where the floor is a flat slab, like a large paving stone, tilted up at a steep angle against one wall and not reaching the other by about fifteen inches, with darkness of unknown depth below: about three feet above this opening the wall projects in a narrow, shelving ledge, and everything is covered with a thin coating of slippery wet clay. the only way to cross that uninviting bridge is to brace the feet against the slab, and leaning on the ledge, slowly work across. a little more rough work and the descent of the two short ladders, brought us, at last, under the beautiful waterfall, where we stood as in a heavy shower of rain at the lowest point yet reached in the cave, which according to the survey of mr. prince is four hundred feet below the surface. the falling water has ornamented the walls, which in this portion of the cave expose over two hundred feet of magnesian limestone, with unique forms of dripstone; and the steeply sloping floor has received the over-charge of calcium carbonate until it has become a shining mass of onyx, retaining pools of cold, transparent water in the depressions. in the lowest corner there is only mud, and above it rises, to a height of at least fifteen feet a bank of miry, yellow clay, at the top of which a hole in the wall is the only known entrance to blondy's throne. [illustration: longitudinal and cross-sections of passages in marble cave, stone co., missouri. plotted by fred prince, .] chapter iii. marble cave continued. on account of the long "crawl" through mud and cold water, it was at first suggested and then strongly advised, that we should not undertake to make the trip to blondy's throne: and yearning to see what is considered the cave's chief beauty was not easy to overcome, but after careful attention to the deep mire of the approach the advice seemed good, especially as mr. powell kindly promised to write a description of its trials and treasures; which he promptly did, thereby making it possible for us to continue the journey now without a disappointing interruption, so we will proceed to wade that mud bank with him in his own way. he says: "as mecca is to the mohammedan, so is blondy's throne room to the pilgrim who invades the chaos and penetrates the mysteries of marble cave. when the subject is mentioned to the guide, he shrugs his shoulders and assumes an imploring look, and begins at once to mention the difficulties of getting there. but if you insist upon it he will go. the passage by which this room has to be reached, if passage it may be called, must be entered from the waterfall room, and a steep ascent must be made until an elevation of fifty feet is reached above the bottom of that room. this ascent has been called hughse's slide, as a man of that name once lost his footing at the top and slid on the wet and very slippery clay all the way to the bottom, leaving a very sleek trail. the ascent is difficult, as the soft clay is deep and wet and the sides are reeking and covered also with soft yielding clay. when the top of the slide is once reached, a low passage six feet wide and two feet high is discovered, and stooping low, or actually lying flat down, you enter. the top of the passage is of smooth rock and the bottom is of wet clay with an occasional variation of sharp gravel. the air is good, and as a lizard, you start forward. in places the passage widens to ten or twelve feet and again narrows to six feet. "in about one hundred feet you encounter a small pond of water filling the whole width of the passage and extending twenty to thirty feet, but the guide tells you it is only one foot deep, and calls attention to the fact that the water does not come within a foot of the roof of the passage and you can easily keep your chin above it, and with this assurance through you go. "within the next one hundred feet you encounter and pass in the same manner three more ponds of varying sizes. the guide calls your attention to the fact that you are not alone, and looking about you by the dim light of your candle you see numbers of small eyeless salamanders, from four inches to one foot long. they are peaceable and harmless, appear to have no teeth and are easily caught, if you so desire. "another hundred feet and the rest room, or egyptian temple is reached, and rising to your feet you may rest. the room is small, but contains beautifully fluted walls, resembling basaltic columns; and natural marks of erosion that resemble hieroglyphic inscriptions. from the other side of this room the passage goes on with the same characteristics, but as you enter to go forward a sound strikes the ear, and you pause to listen. it is a confusion of sounds, a babel of voices; and sounds like a distant conversation carried on by a large number of people. so striking is this resemblance that you instantly ask the guide if there are people in the room ahead, and hardly believe him when he says, 'no.' "you hear voices of men, voices of boys, babies, girls and ladies, and occasionally loud laughter; but forward is the word and on you go, encouraged by the assurance of the guide that you are now over half way through the passage and that the sounds came from blondy's throne room. suddenly the passage divides into two much alike, and taking the right hand one, you make your slow advance until at last, with clothes soaked and covered with clay mud, and your strength about gone, you begin to feel desperate and tell the guide that you will go no further, when you see him rise to his feet, and he says: 'here we are.' you step over a steep bank of clay and emerge into a large room. it is almost square in shape; about eighty feet long and sixty feet wide, and about fifty feet high, with white, smooth walls and a pure white ceiling, and sloping gradually downward on the left ends in a small, clear lake of water. this lake has a beautiful beach of white pebbles, and though shallow on the edge seems quite deep at the center; in fact it is believed to have there a concealed opening that gives exit to its waters. on the opposite side from you, a stream of clear water pours into the lake, and in doing so it gives off the sounds that in the passage you mistook for human voices; and this noble stream has been named mystic river. it enters the lake from under a beautiful natural arch, about thirty feet across at the bottom, and six feet above the water at the center. the bed of the stream is eroded from strata of sandstone that is extremely hard, containing corundum, and so perfect is its continuity that it conveys sound distinctly for a distance far beyond the reach of the human voice, when tapped upon with a hammer. the top of the arch is studded with lovely stalactites, clear as glass, that extend to the outer edge of the arch and form massive and beautiful groups there. above the arch is a large opening. in truth the side of the room is out, and a great dark space appears like a curtain of black. a natural path leads up over one side of the arch, and following the lead of the guide you go up above and learn that a room on the higher level extends off in that direction and gets larger and higher. the walls are stalagmitic columns in cream color and decked in places with blood-red spots or blotches of titanic size. the ceiling you cannot see. it is too high for the lights you have to reach. on the left you are suddenly confronted by a stalagmitic formation so large and so grand that all others are dwarfed into insignificance. you think of the dome of the capitol at washington. you are standing at the sloping base but cannot see the top. just here the guide announces in an awestruck voice 'blondy's throne.' and who is blondy? only a fair-haired, blue-eyed, intrepid and daring fifteen-year-old boy, named charles smallwood, who assisted the writer in exploring the cave in the early days of , and going on in advance, reported back that he had found another and a greater throne than the great white throne in the auditorium. [illustration: blondy's throne. page .] "well, here we are at blondy's throne at last, and surveying the base, we find that it is actually only half in the room we are in; the other half forms the side of another room. in a word, the great throne divides the room into two parts and makes two rooms of it instead of one. yet the one half of the base has a measurement, by tape line, of one hundred and fifty feet. the guide now makes preparations to ascend the throne. a chain has been fastened up towards the top, and by taking hold of this the climb can be made up the sloping sides of the throne. we pass on and up over the clearest and most ice-like formation, resembling the great icebergs seen at sea. reaching an elevation of sixty feet an opening into the dome is found, and stooping, you enter. it is a room about twenty feet across, with a white ice-like floor, a roof or ceiling ten feet above, and from it hang thousands of brilliant stalactites and from the floor stalagmites rise up to meet them. they are in all sizes, from an inch to two feet across. the sides are of the same material joined and cemented lightly together. strike any of them and clear musical notes are given off; a musician has found two full octaves. water is dripping in many places, and in the center of the floor is a tank full of clear water. it is four feet wide, twelve feet long and of unknown depth. "on the opposite side of the room from which you enter there is a hole or opening in the wall. it is large enough to go through but it goes into the great dark room on the other side of the throne. an abyss confronts you, a sheer precipice which descends for many feet, perhaps hundreds. no man knows. this outer room of blondy's throne has been named the chamber of the fairies. leaving it and continuing the ascent, the top of the throne is soon reached and is about twenty feet across; and from several points still higher, rise stalagmitic spires. "the actual height of blondy's throne is not known, but is probably about one hundred feet. again look upwards for the ceiling from the dizzy height on top of the throne; you cannot see it. burn magnesium ribbon and look up, and you see a white ceiling spangled with groups of stalactites. it is surely one hundred feet away. then look off into the unknown room which is called the great beyond. no human being has ever explored or even entered it, but fire balls thrown in reveal the fact that it is of great extent; and part of the bottom water and part land. no way of getting into it has ever yet been found, so its mysteries, lessons and revelations are still safe from human intrusion. how far it goes, where it stops, and what it leads to, are facts for some future explorer to discover. bats and white salamanders are found in blondy's throne room, and some larger animals have been heard to jump into the water and escape on the approach of man, but their species is not known. "the arched passage of mystic river has been followed up for a journey of an hour, but further than that its extent is unknown. it was hoped that a way would be thus found into the great beyond, but it did not prove successful. a well equipped party could find there a chance for some grand discoveries, and it would be one of the notable pleasures of the life of the writer to be one of such a party. "the exit from blondy's throne room is always made with deep regret that the waning lights and meager supplies will not allow a longer stay. the long crawl, the mud and the water are all forgotten, and notwithstanding the terror of the trip one feels well repaid." we thank mr. powell for a charming journey without its discomfort and danger, and resume our travels at the waterfall. from the foot of the waterfall we returned again to the auditorium, in time to enjoy a sight such as we supposed could exist only in a brilliant imagination; and the return at that hour was not a lucky accident of fate, but the result of careful attention to a prearranged design that we should not fail to witness a marvelous display never surpassed by lavish nature. the day outside was one of cloudless summer sunshine. [illustration: blondy's throne room. page .] [illustration: foot of waterfall. page .] our eyes having grown accustomed to the dim light of candles in passages where absolute darkness, unrelieved by the stars of midnight, always reigns, the great auditorium appeared before us softly flooded with daylight diffused from a broad white beam slanting down in long straight lines from the entrance as from a rift in heavy clouds; only this rift displayed around its edges a brilliant border of vegetation that the rough rocks cherish with tender care. as we stood lost in almost speechless admiration, and without the slightest warning of treasure yet in store, the white beam was stabbed by a narrow, gleaming shaft of yellow sunlight. the glorious, radiant beauty of the picture presented is utterly indescribable, but it was of short duration, and in a few seconds the golden blade was withdrawn as suddenly as it had appeared. if the genius of elkins had been granted the privilege we enjoyed, the artist-world of europe that graciously yielded the highest honor to his "sunbeam on mount shasta," would have knelt in rapturous humility. speaking of his great work, as we stood before it only a few months before his death, mr. elkins said quietly: "it is no great achievement; i simply painted it exactly as it looked. anyone could do the same." but no one ever has. the white beam was more enduring and by its aid we were able to view the expanse of the great auditorium far better than could have been done in the momentary glare of any brilliant artificial light. every part of the cloud-gray walls shows a stratification as regularly horizontal as if the laying of each course had been done with the assistance of line and level; while in every direction are now seen hundreds of stalactites that had not been noticed before, and although they look small, the average length, taken with the surveying instruments, is fourteen feet. the hill beneath the entrance is an accumulation of debris, drifted in from the outside, and rising to a height of more than one hundred and twenty-five feet; while the great circumference of its supporting base, revealed by the banishment of shadows, suggests the possibility of tragic history of which the only evidence lies buried there and may or may not ever be discovered; but let us step lightly, since our feet may press the covering that shields a final sleep; and also let a grieving sister in her old age take comfort in the knowledge that here, as in few other spots, nature provides a certain and gentle burial for the unfortunate, and for a few seconds each day lights the dim chamber with a heavenly glory--perhaps in appeal to the sons of one country to harbor no such feelings as deprived abel of life and for all time and eternity tarnished the honor of cain. [illustration: entrance to cave--interior view. page .] the chilliness presently recalled us from further indulgence in that great scene, to ordinary affairs; and consulting the reliable thermometer, it was found to register °, while in some of the lower passages the temperature is °; but the variation is not in accordance with the accepted theory of one degree to the one hundred feet descent. a return to the beautiful spring of youth room was now a necessity, but we were careful to allow no drop of water falling from clay-stained hands to reach the purity of that lovely bowl, and then being happy and hungry, we retired to the piano's protecting tent for refreshment. the atmosphere in marble cave has the peculiar bracing and invigorating quality common to the majority of caves, that seems almost to defy fatigue and encourage exertion that under ordinary conditions would be impossible. after the exertion necessary in the warmer portions of the cave, the temperature of ° proved rather low for comfort and finally was admitted to be a sufficient reason for either leaving the cave or sending out for the wraps. slowly and reluctantly the party walked up the long winding path to the summit of the hill where the stairway finds support, stopping many times to admire again the perfect curves and fine color-tones of that wonderful high arch--within a mountain yet softly radiant with the light of day. still lingering regretfully among the fern-decked rocks before quite finishing the ascent to the actual outside world, the mercury lost little time in registering eighty degrees. since no official, or even approximately correct map of marble cave has yet been published, and the desirability of maps is particularly urged by monsieur e.a. martel, a special effort was made to secure one, which was accompanied by the following remarks from mr. prince in regard to its incompleteness: "there are several passages and rooms which do not appear on the map, though some of them are well known, but have not been surveyed and platted. "much further exploration is possible in this great cavern. lost river cañon ends abruptly in a bank of red clay, the volume of water being undiminished. the water from the great fall flows by a small serpentine into a passage which has never been followed up; its entrance being several hundred feet higher than the nearest water level." unfortunately the quantity of water in the cave at the time of the visit just described was so unusually great as to render the lost river cañon trip impossible. during the previous season the cave and its surroundings were visited by a prominent naturalist who appears to have been delightfully liberal in the diffusion of scientific knowledge and the explanations of methods of pursuing investigations. his practical instruction in snake catching is particularly interesting as it was never before introduced into this state, where the copperhead and rattler are known to have survived among the fittest. seeing a snake hole and desiring information as to the family record of the proprietor, he inserted a finger, and while waiting for results explained that there is no better way to secure a specimen, as the enraged reptile will fasten its fangs into the intruding member and then can be easily withdrawn. it is a pleasure to state that even snakes recognize the claims of friendship, and no injury was experienced.[ ] in the vicinity of marble cave there are several choice varieties of onyx and marble, among them a rare and beautiful onyx in black and yellow. the coloring, tinting and banding of onyx seem generally to be regarded as one of the unexplainable mysteries of nature, but is in reality an extremely simple process that can be easily studied in any active cave. when the percolating acidulated water passes slowly through a pure limestone it is filtered of impurities and deposits a crystal, either pure white or transparent; if it comes in contact with metallic bodies of any kind, it carries away more or less in solution to act as coloring matter; the beautiful pale green onyx in several missouri counties taking its tint from the copper; in south dakota, manganese in various combinations produces black and many shades of brown; in both states an excessive flow of water often carries a quantity of red or yellow clay which temporarily destroys the beauty of exposed surfaces, but in after years becomes a fine band of brilliant color. small wind caves are numerous in the ozarks and being cold are frequently utilized for the preservation of domestic supplies. the entrance to one in the neighborhood of marble cave is high up on the hill-side south of mr. powell's house and being visible from the porch was too tempting to be ignored, and the walk up to it for a better view was rewarded with a most charming bit of scenery as well. all the quiet valley, divided by a rushing little stream, lay before us in the shadow of early evening, while to the north and east the hills were brilliant in summer sunshine, with one small open glade gleaming vividly among the darker shades of forest green. the cave was a very small room at the bottom of a steep, rocky, sloping passage, and contained no standing water, although there had been a heavy rainfall the night before and the opening is so situated as to especially favor the inflow, which naturally indicates a greater cave beneath a hidden passage. here, as in most of the caves of the region, is found a small lizard: it is totally blind but its ancestors evidently were not, as is shown by conspicuous protuberances where the eyes should be, but over which the skin is drawn without a wrinkle or seam to indicate a former opening. these harmless creatures are not scaly, but are clothed in a soft, shining, well-fitted skin, and the largest seen were little more than six inches long. those who love perfect nature in a most smiling mood should hasten to visit marble cave while yet no railroad quite touches the county. footnotes: [ ] the naturalist referred to is the late prof. e.d. cope. chapter iv. fairy cave and powell cave. fairy cave enjoys the reputation of being the most beautiful yet discovered in that cavernous region, and consequently a visit to it was contemplated with considerable eagerness, although the mode of entrance had been described with sufficient accuracy to prevent any misconception of the difficulties to be overcome or the personal risk involved. to go from our temporary abiding place it was necessary to pass marble cave, and when we had gone that far mr. powell left us to follow the road, while he, on his mule, took a short cut across the hills and valleys, to try to find men not too much occupied with their own affairs on a fine monday morning, in corn plowing time, to join our expedition. as neither our small companion, merle, nor ourselves, had any knowledge of the locality of our destination, we were carefully instructed to follow the main road to the wilderness ridge, and keeping to that, pass the indian creek road and all others that are plain, but turn down the second dim road and follow it until stopped by a new fence where we would be met and conducted. so long as points to be passed held out, these directions gave us no trouble whatever, even the first dim road offering no obstacle to the pleasure of our progress; but the second dim road proved so elusive we traveled many miles in search of it, finally bringing up against a place merle was familiar with and knew to be a long way off the track of our intentions. as there was nothing to be done but return we naturally accepted the situation and did that; presently finding mr. powell and the messrs. irwin, on whose land the cave is, patiently waiting for us in what was really not a road at all, but rather, in this region of fossils, the badly preserved impression of one long since extinct. the new fence was opened at two places that we might drive through and be saved the exertion of walking a considerable distance, then the horses were left in the shade while we scrambled down the steep hill-side covered with sharp-edged, broken rock, about mid-way down which is the mouth of the cave, yawning like a narrow, open well. above this a stout windlass has been arranged on two forked logs. a few feet below the surface the cave spreads out jug-shaped, so that in descending nothing is touched until the floor is reached, one hundred feet beneath the surface; consequently the only danger to be apprehended is a fall. each of the three men present kindly offered to go down and make the exploration with me, but that would have left only two at the windlass, and for a man's weight, safety requires four. should an accident occur, assistance would be necessary, and some time lost in finding it; so, to the undisguised satisfaction of one and equally evident relief of the others, it was reluctantly decided that the trip must be given up, and therefore we are indebted to the kindness of captain powell[ ] for the following description of fairy cave: "the cave referred to is situated in section , township , range , in stone county, missouri, and is on the homestead of one of three brothers named irwin. "it was accidentally discovered in the year and up to the time of this writing (june ) only six persons have ever entered it. it is in a point or spur of the ozark mountains which runs to the east from the great wilderness ridge, and is three miles distant from the marble cave. having been one of the first to enter the cave, being called by the owner as a sort of cave expert, i will attempt to describe both the adventure and the cave just as they were. the measurements are simply estimated, though by long practice i have become expert in that line also, but the longest measurement here was correctly taken by the rope used. "having been invited by the irwin brothers to come and examine and explore a new cave they had found but had only entered and not explored, accompanied by my eldest son, w.t. powell, i reached the place one warm saturday morning. we found about twelve or fourteen men waiting for our coming; some discussing the matter of whether we would enter when we did come, and others who had volunteered to work the windlass, which had been erected over the opening, by means of which, with a one hundred foot rope, entrance was to be made. the opening was like a small well, and situated under the edge of an overhanging cliff of marble, and on the southeast slope of the mountain, about one hundred and fifty feet above the bottom of a narrow valley, and about the same distance below the top of the mountain, which here is three hundred feet high. in order to rig a windlass the edge of the cliff had to be broken away. the well-like opening descended for about ten feet through strata of flat-laying rocks that formed a roof; then all appeared to be vacancy and a stone cast in gave back a distant sound. "having first tested the air and proved it good by dropping in blazing excelsior saturated with turpentine, a stout oak stick was attached to the end of the rope, my son sprang astride and was lowered to the bottom, just one hundred feet. he reported back 'all right.' on the return of the rope i took my position on the stick and was soon dangling in mid air. the sensation was strange and exhilarating. looking up i could only see the small opening i came through, and a straggling stream of light poured down that, but on all sides profound darkness reigned supreme. a spark-like light my son lit, reminded me of the lost pleiad. about twenty-five or thirty feet from the top i caught sight of a scene that made me call on the men at the windlass to stop. "this caused them to think something was going wrong and one called out to know what was the matter: i heard him say 'he is weakening.' i assured them everything was right only i wanted to take a view; so they stopped. off at a distance of perhaps twenty-five feet was an opening about ten feet or more wide and twelve feet high. the light from the opening struck it fairly, owing to the position of the sun at the time. through this opening i saw into another room, large and magnificent. it brought to mind the white city. it was snowy white, and thickly studded with stalactites and stalagmites of immense size and in great numbers; some looking like spires of numerous churches, and many connected as with a lattice-work about the bottom. for a short time i gazed on that lovely scene, and examined the chances to reach it, but a great gulf intervened that we had no means of spanning, and i called to the men to lower me down. approaching the bottom one of the walls trended in towards me and i stepped upon solid ground close to the wall, which half way up seemed fifty feet away. the opening above now looked like a small pale moon, and the next man who came dangling down to join us looked no bigger than a toy soldier. gradually our eyes became accustomed to the twilight, and by the time our party was increased to six men, i could see quite distinctly. "the room runs directly into the mountain and is about ninety feet high, and where we landed it proved to be twenty feet wide. it extended in both directions, but much the farthest towards the right hand. the outer room is encrusted in fine white water formations. it forms a gothic ceiling from which hang pendant at all places brilliant and sparkling stalactites; some being of immense size and length, from ten to twenty-five feet. others are not so large but are brilliant. we created a flood of artificial light with dozens of candles and lamps; and then and not until then, could we see the slope and contour of the roof. a few bats were flitting about, disturbed for the first time. to the left, a vast white pillar extended from floor to roof. it was pure white and about five feet in diameter all the way up. it was fluted, fretted, draped and spangled. i never in my life saw anything more chaste and lovely. i thought of the countless ages it must have taken to form that monument: of the streams of clear water that had fallen and left their calcite deposits, while it grew year after year, age after age, century after century, in this profound darkness, disturbed by no noises save the rhythmic sound of the falling drops and the dull flitting of the bats, who alone were the living witnesses of its construction. to the rear of this great pillar the room is divided into three galleries, one above another. with great difficulty and much danger we climbed into each of these. the floors were all like the pillar of pure white onyx, and extended back a distance of thirty or more feet. the floor of one formed the roof of another. they were brilliant with hanging pendants and the side walls were all veneered with the same white and crystalline formation. to entirely describe them is impossible. a day in each would still leave the observer short of words in which to tell of the wonders. "turning towards the right hand from the entrance we advance two hundred feet up an incline of dry clay, the room widening gradually until its width is forty feet, when we reach the top of an elevation thirty feet above the starting point, where a sudden steep descent brings us to a halt. a stone cast down strikes water and the sound of a splash comes back to us. with caution we seek our way down the hill and stand on the edge of a small lake or pond. suddenly my son, who is in the lead, rushes back saying: 'look out! i put my hand on a snake.' some of us, being armed with hickory canes that had been thrown down, concentrated our lights and advanced. sure enough, there is a snake a yard long coiled up on a section of rotten wood. it proves to be a copperhead, the most quarrelsome and vicious snake in this country; but his nature is changed so that he makes no effort to fight and is killed with a blow, and is sent to be hoisted up that we may examine him in daylight. no others were found, and probably he had fallen in at the opening, and spent a long, weary time in expiation of his upper-earth crimes. "examining the lake we find it to be about forty feet wide and the same long, and it fills the room from wall to wall. we cannot pass it so must either stop or wade through. we decide to wade, and on measuring the water find it only two or three feet deep, with a soft clay bottom, and in many places islands of stalagmite rise above the surface. "on the sides of the lake there are formations in the shape of sofas and lounges, and they appear to be cushioned, but the cushions are found to be hard, solid rock. as the lights advance across the lake new wonders are revealed. curtains and draperies hanging from the top almost touch the water and entirely cut off the view beyond. passing under a curtain at one of the highest places, we emerge from the lake, and once more on dry land, advance up a slope. here the water formations have taken human shapes of all sizes and several colors now appear and help to present a chaos of beauty. "two hundred feet more and the chamber ends in a vast waterfall, but the water has turned to stone. above the waterfall is an opening, but it is twenty-five feet up a smooth wall and we have no ladder. the journey was at an end. tired, wet and muddy, we started on our return trip; recrossed the dark lake, and retraced our steps to the place under the opening without realizing that we had spent six hours under ground. while the other members of the party, and the specimens, were being raised to the surface, the writer sought to learn the flora and fauna of this new region. the flora is blank. even the white mold so common in many caves is absent; and no fungus grows on the poles, bark and rotten wood that have at some past time been cast in. "in animal life the range is greater. i have mentioned the ever-present bats, and dozens of them were seen. there were also small, white eyeless salamanders, small, yellow, speckled salamanders, with signs of eyes but no sight; also a jet black salamander, which like the rest, was blind. the bats were of two species--the common brown bat and the larger light grey or yellow species. but this was not the time of the year to see many bats in caves. in the summer season most of them go out and remain until cool weather, and then return to the caves with their young; so i was rather surprised to see as many as we did. "down comes the rope for the last time, and taking my place, i soon feel myself spinning around and slowly rising. as i again pass the magic city i saw going down, a stronger wish than ever takes possession of me to go there, and i look for any chance to solve the problem of how such a journey can be made. 'thou art so near and yet so far.' "suddenly i find myself emerging from the ground into a very hot world, with the evening sun blazing so that the air feels like the scorching heat of an oven; and my late companions are scattered about under the trees, no doubt wishing themselves back in the cool regions below the hot cliffs. "my final conclusions in regard to fairy cave were that it was about six hundred feet long by from fifteen to forty feet wide and from eighty to ninety feet high: that in the upper story there are rooms that i could not reach, that will amply pay the scientist and explorer to investigate in the future: that probably we reached all the accessible parts in the level we traveled: that the temperature was fifty-six or very near that degree: that small as it is, it contains the finest formations and grandest scenery i have ever seen in a cave: and i have examined over one hundred of various sizes. i believe that for interior beauty its equal is not to be found in america, and i sincerely believe that the verdict of future exploration will establish the truth of the assertion, but as equally good judges differ on such matters, time will be required for a true and just decision. there are yet many promising caves to be explored in this region, and if my strength holds out a few years i hope to see them all. "t. s. powell." powell cave. as a measure of consolation for the disappointment of not seeing the beauty of fairy cave, mr. irwin suggested that only a quarter of a mile further on was another, recently discovered and worthy of a visit, although small. in that region of steep hills and sharp-edged rocks, a great amount of travel can be added to the experience of a tender-foot in a short distance. the quarter of a mile seemed to stretch out in some mysterious way as we worked on it, but the variety and abundance of attractions are more than ample compensation. the view was fine, including as it did the deep ravine and grassy, wooded slopes rising three hundred feet above, with here and there a handsome ledge of marble exposed like the nearly buried ruin of a forgotten temple of some past age. scattered about in great profusion among the broken rock on the surface of these hill-sides we observed a water deposit of iron ore. it is a brown hematite and in some cases shows the structure of the bits of wood it has replaced. since this region has from the earliest time produced a generous growth of vegetation, the decay of which has yielded a never-failing supply of acids to assist in carving the caves and then in their decoration, the presence of the ore is not difficult to account for. the whole ozark uplift being rich in iron, the acidulated drainage waters coming into contact dissolved and took it in solution, to re-deposit where and when conditions should be favorable. these conditions were found in the basin among the hills and along its outlet. in the popular science monthly of january , a short article by j.t. donald, entitled "a curious canadian iron mine," describes the same thing going on at the present time in lac a la tortue, a small body of water in the center of a tract of swamp land, which produces the vegetation necessary to supply the acid required for a base of operation. of the manner of deposition he says: "the solution of iron in vegetable acid (in which the iron is in what the chemist calls the form of a protosalt) is oxidized by the action of the air on the surface of the lake into a persalt, which is insoluble, and appears on the surface in patches that display the peculiar iridescence characteristic of petroleum floating on water. indeed, not infrequently these films of peroxide of iron are incorrectly attributed to petroleum. these films become heavy by addition of new particles; they sink through the water, and in this manner, in time, a large amount of iron ore is deposited on the lake bottom. it must not be supposed that the ore is deposited as a fine mud or sediment. on the contrary, in this lake ore, as it is called, we have an excellent illustration of what is called concretionary action--that is, the tendency of matter when in a fine state of division to aggregate its particles into masses about some central nucleus, which may be a fragment of sunken wood, a grain of sand, or indeed a pre-formed small mass of itself." it is claimed for this water ore, which is gathered like oysters, that mixed with bog ore and magnetic iron, and smelted with charcoal, the result as obtained is strong, durable and high priced. the curiously elastic quarter of a mile finally yielded to persistent toil, and the cave was reached. the entrance is sufficiently broad to give a good first impression, and is under a heavy ledge of limestone which breaks the slope of the hill and is artistically decorated with a choice collection of foliage, among which is a coral honeysuckle; the fragrant variety grows everywhere. under the ledge is a narrow vestibule, out of the north end of which is a passage about twenty-four inches in width, between perpendicular walls, and as steeply inclined as the average dwelling-house stairway but without any assisting depressions to serve as steps. mr. irwin cut a grape vine, and making one end secure at the entrance, provided a hand rail, by the aid of which i was able to easily descend the stepless way and afterwards remount. the first chamber entered is the principal portion of the cave, and by actual measurement is forty-nine feet in length by forty-eight in greatest width and the height estimated at fifty feet. on account of irregularities it appears smaller but higher. on opposite sides of the chamber, at elevation about midway between the floor and ceiling are two open galleries. the floor is extremely irregular with its accumulation of fallen masses of rock, and the action of water has given to portions of the walls the appearance of pillars supporting the arches of the roof. the whole aspect is that of a small gothic chapel. off to the northwest is another room measuring thirty feet in each direction, and out of this are several openings, too small to squeeze through, which indicate the possible existence of other chambers beyond, but they may be only drain pipes. the cave contains no drip formations, notwithstanding which it is one of the most charming, and when invited to name it i called it powell cave, in honor of the most ardent admirer of caves in that county, and to whom i am much indebted for valued assistance. footnotes: [ ] editor of the county news-paper. chapter v. other stone county caves. gentry cave. the cave nearest to galena, and the first visited by us, is gentry cave, situated a mile and a half from town. we started in the mail coach, but that vehicle met with a misfortune by no means unusual in that region, the total wreck of a wheel. having only that morning arrived from the rich agricultural portion of the state where no surface rock can be found, we were pleased enough with the prospect of a walk in such charming spring weather, and set out with a cheerful certainty that the rough place in the road would soon be passed. but the school of experience is always open for the reception of new-comers and we were admitted to full duty without question. the topography was nearly as broken, in its way, as the natural "piking" spread over it, and very beautiful with the dense forests lighted by the slanting yellow rays of the afternoon sun. the way leads up to the "ridge road" which is at length abandoned for no road at all, and descending through the forest, more than half the distance down to the james river flowing at the base of the hill, we come suddenly in view of the cave entrance, which is probably one of the most magnificent pieces of natural architecture ever seen. rounding a corner by a narrow path, we step onto a covered portico ninety-seven feet long, with an average width of ten feet. the floor is smooth and level, as also is the ceiling, which is nine feet above, supported by handsomely carved pillars and rising in a gray cliff projecting from the slope of the hill above, out to the brink of the more abrupt descent to the water's edge ninety feet below. between the pillars are three large door-ways into the cave. the comparison suggested is an egyptian temple, and the idea is continued within, where there are no chambers as in other caves; but instead, the entire interior is a labyrinth of passages winding about in every direction among an uncounted number of low massive pillars, some supporting a low ceiling and others connected by high arches, the highest point being estimated at sixty feet, but appearing to be more, because the enclosed space rising to a dome is so narrow that the point of view is necessarily directly underneath. all exposed surfaces of pillars and walls inside the cave are of clay or a soft porous rock having the same appearance, and are covered with curious little raised markings like the indescribable designs of mixed nothing generally known as "persian patterns." this is, of course, easily explained; the clay being the residuum from disintegrated limestone, the markings described are the harder portions of the rock remaining after particles of clay had been carried out by flowing water while the disintegrating process was yet incomplete. the drinking fountain is considered the great attraction of the cave, and appears to have been fashioned to suggest a model for the handsome soda fountains belonging to a later period. the water bowl is a large depression worn in the top of a rock which seems to have been built into the wall. in front it is five feet high and nine feet across, with artistic corners approximately alike, and at the back ornamental carving extends upward towards the ceiling with an opening through the wall at the center. this opening is divided by a short column down which water trickles to supply the bowl. the ceiling here is about thirty-five feet high and most of the exposed surface is a blue-gray limestone. only one portion of gentry cave has received a deposit of dripstone and even that is of limited extent, and located at the end of a narrow slippery passage between high, slippery walls. the fine entrance is of grey limestone in undisturbed horizontal strata, and this is so plainly marked in the roof-supporting pillars as to give them the appearance of having been prepared by skillful hands, in several blocks, and afterwards arranged in place without the aid of mortar. unfortunately, all efforts to photograph this wonderful portico have failed to give satisfaction--its position above the river being such as to afford no point for the proper placing of the camera; but a second visit made for the purpose of trying was far from being a loss, and part of the reward consisted of finding among the sheltered rocks, scarcely three feet above the floor, two humming birds' nests with their treasure of small eggs, and our little companion who discovered them was pleased to leave them untouched. sugar tree hollow cave. the name of this cave is due to the fact that the approach is through a "hollow" well wooded with sugar maple trees. it is two miles from galena and the drive a beautiful one, as much of the way is through the forest without a road, but with a charming little rushing, crooked stream of clear, cold water: and in places the green slopes give way to mural bluffs of grey limestone in undisturbed strata. the entrance to the cave is through a hole about two feet high by three in width, into which we went feet first and wiggled slowly down an incline covered with broken rock, for a distance of fifteen feet, where a standing depth is reached. a flat, straight, level ceiling extends over the whole cave without any perceptible variation, and this is bordered around its entire length and breadth with a heavy cornice of dripstone, made very ornamental by the forms it assumes, and the multitude of depending stalactites that fall as a fringe around the walls. the line of contact between the cornice and ceiling is as clear and strong as if both had been finished separately before the cornice was put in place by skillful hands. dripstone covers the walls, which vary in height from one foot to twenty feet, according to the irregularities of the floor, just as the width of this one-room cave varies with the curves of the walls, which are sweeping and graceful, the average being twenty-nine feet, but is much greater at the entrance where the entire slope extends out beyond the body of the cave. the length, from north to south, measures two hundred and thirty-three feet exclusive of an inaccessible extension. the south end of the cave rises by a steep slope to within a foot of the ceiling with which it is connected by short but heavy columns of dripstone, and another line of pillars of graduated height meets this at right angles near the middle and ends in an immense stalagmite that stands at the foot of the slope like a grand newel post. there is no standing water in the cave, but everything is wet with drip, and consequently the formation of onyx is actively progressing and the south slope already mentioned shows a curious succession of changes in cave affairs. by the slow action of acidulated waters, the grey limestone deteriorated into a yellowish clay-bank, and now its particles are being re-united into solid rock by the deposit of calcium carbonate from the drip. a careful test of the temperature of the atmosphere showed it to be fifty-eight degrees. pine run cave. this also is a small cave easily visited from galena, being less than two miles distant on the marionville road. the entrance faces the road and is on the same level, consequently it is one of the easiest to visit. just within is seen an opening in the ceiling, which we are told is one of the two ways to an upper chamber whose chief attraction is a dripstone piano, and the means of ascending is at hand in the form of a spanish ladder; but an attempt of that sort might even cause the new woman to hesitate, and who hesitates is lost. the ascent was not made. we advanced on a level with the road for a distance of perhaps twenty feet, when the direction of the cave changed with a right angular turn and we were in a straight gallery about two hundred and fifty feet long and fifteen feet in width, the height gradually decreasing to about three feet towards the upper end, where it widened out into a low but broad chamber. the floor of this chamber is most beautiful. it is composed of a series of connected calcite bowls whose beautifully fluted rims are of regular and uniform height, and all are equally filled with clear, still water. a great number of these basins are said to have been destroyed by an ax in the hands of a poor witless creature for the gratification of a burst of temper, and a magnificent stalagmitic column, too heavy for one man to lift, lay detached and broken, in proof that his body did not share the feebleness of his mind. beyond these basins is a low passage through which is found the second entrance to the upper chamber, but the basins must be crossed in order to reach it, and this is not an easy undertaking even when their water supply is low, but in the early summer they are almost full. there are said to be more than one hundred caves in stone county, one of which is supposed to be fully as large as marble cave, if not larger, and is located in the southern part of the county but has not been explored. mill cave is in the northeast of the county, and at the entrance is a saw mill which receives its working power from the cave stream. inside the cave there is a lake. hermit's cave is a few miles from galena, and is so named on account of having been used as a dwelling by its former owner, who kept a coffin in which he intended to place himself before the final summons, but was overtaken by death in the forest and it was never used. he wrote sermons on the rocks in his cave and one of these was afterwards removed. wolf's den is also near galena, and has been utilized as a sheep fold. wild man's cave is near galena, and on account of the stories with which people have been frightened, can only be visited by permission and with a guard stationed at the entrance. reynard's cave is four miles west of galena on the farm of dr. fox, but is so nearly filled up with dripstone that only crawling room remains. the doctor's place is a fine locality for the collection of fossils. at a distance of twelve miles from galena there is said to be a fine natural bridge, well worth a visit and sufficiently near mill cave for both to be seen on the same trip. in bread tray mountain there is supposed to be a cave through which a torrent rushes at times, that being the only way in which to explain the strange thundering, roaring noise always heard after a storm, and never at other times. besides being a wonderful cave region, and rich in the great abundance and variety of native fruits and fine timber, stone county has a vast amount of mineral wealth, the heaviest deposits being zinc, lead and iron, with some indications of silver, gold and copper, which have been found but not in paying quantity. already since the summer of several exceptionally pure bodies of zinc have been discovered, the white ore of one recently opened deposit giving highly gratifying indications as to extent. prospecting may be said to have only commenced in this very far from over-crowded region. chapter vi. oregon county caves. greer spring. oregon county is also at the extreme southern limit of the state of missouri and was visited, not because its caves are supposed to be either finer or more numerous than those of all the other ozark counties, but on account of remarkable attractions associated with them that are not known to be equaled, or even subject to rivalry, by any similar works of nature in any portion of the world. the most convenient railway point is thayer; the station hotel affords comfortable accommodations for headquarters, and the last days of september proved a charming time. the foliage was in full summer glory, refreshed by a gentle and copious rain, and the insinuating tick had already retired from active business until the following season. the carriage having been ordered on condition of its being a clear day, we left thayer at eight o'clock on a perfect morning to visit greer spring, and were soon in the depth of the beautiful ozark forest, from which we did not once emerge until alton, the county seat, was reached, the distance traveled being sixteen miles. here we stopped for dinner at the small hotel kept by one of the old-time early settlers who came to the region before the war. the dinner was a surprise, and received the highest commendation possible to a dinner, the hearty appreciation of a boy. a young nephew, arthur j. owen, having been invited to act as escort on the trip, found all the varied experience in cave hunting fully equal to the pictured joys of anticipation. after a large bell suspended somewhere outside had notified the business public that dinner was ready to be served, we were invited to the dining-room, where on a long table was the abundance of vegetables afforded by the season and soil of an almost tropical state, and cooked as the white-capped chef of the great hotel, where the warm weeks were spent, had not learned the secret of; and the delicately fried chicken was not of that curious variety, commonly encountered by travelers, in which the development of legs robs the centiped of his only claim to distinction. as the dishes cooled they were removed and fresh supplies brought in. our driver received directions about the road and we started on another drive of seven miles. these directions were "to follow the main road to the forks, and then keep to the van buren road and any one could tell us where captain greer lives." the road was, as before, through the park-like forest, and as before, lay chiefly along the ridge, so that where clearings had been made for farms there were fine views over the distant country, which everywhere was forest-covered hills, of a rich green near at hand but changing with the growth of distance, first to dark, and then to lighter blue. in these forests were fine young cattle and horses, and uncounted numbers of "razorbacks," or as they are otherwise called, "wind-splitters." for the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the names, it might be well to explain that they are the natural heirs of the native wild hog of missouri and arkansas. the nephew was greatly amused at seeing many of them with wooden yokes on their long necks, to prevent an easy entrance into fields and gardens by squeezing through the spaces between fence rails. these animals are such swift runners it is said they can safely cross the railroad between trucks of the fast express. their snouts are so long and thin, it is also claimed that two can drink from a jug at the same time; never having seen it done, however, this is not vouched for, but merely repeated as hearsay. [illustration: wilderness pinery, oregon co. page .] after a time we stopped to inquire the way of an old man dipping water from a pond by the roadside. he told us he was dipping water to wash the wheat he was sowing in the field just over the fence, and that we reach the forks, then to keep the van buren road, pass two houses on the left, a white one on the right, another on the left and then inquire the way--anyone could tell us, and captain greer would show us to the spring, "for he is a mighty accommodating man." on we went to the forks where in the point of the y stood a large tree with a van buren sign-board on one side, and in the direction it pointed, we turned, although rather reluctantly, for it looked little used and rocky, while the other was in good condition; but we followed the sign-board and had no misgivings until it began to be realized that a great deal of time was being passed but no houses. the morning had been very chilly, but now the atmosphere was just at that balmy point between warm and cool that makes mere living an unqualified luxury; and added to this we soon found ourselves in a deep cañon no less beautiful than the justly celebrated north cheyenne cañon near colorado springs. there was now no doubt that we were on the wrong road, but such magnificence was unexpected and not to be turned from with indifference. for some distance the road makes a gradual and rather perilous looking descent along the steep and broken slope on the shady side of the ancient river's great retaining-wall, while that opposite is glorified by the brilliant glow of the afternoon sun, which adds an equal charm to the rich, luxuriant foliage below and the tall stately pines that adorn, without concealing, the grey rock they proudly cling to, or that rises in a protecting rampart three hundred feet higher than the cañon bed, with banners of the long-needled pine waving above to proclaim the perfection of nature's undisturbed freedom. the road descending crosses the thread of water still flowing among the great rounded bowlders left by the former torrent, and our view is changed to one of dense, but by no means melancholy, shadows, with a crown of golden sunlight; and presently the course of the cañon turns to the east, and it is all filled with the yellow rays and we notice the bright red hawthorn berries, and masses of hydrangea still showing remnants of their late profusion of bloom. we missourians have a great love of fine scenery and generally take long journeys into other states in order to gratify the taste, while quite unconscious of the wonderful beauty and grandeur of the ozarks. where the cañon begins to broaden into a small sheltered valley as it approaches eleven points river, we turned and retraced our way to the forks, and a short distance beyond to a house where we might again inquire. a woman came to the open door as we stopped and in answer to a question said: "you ought to have asked me when you passed here a while ago." apologies for the seeming neglect were offered and accepted, then she explained that both roads went to van buren but not to greer spring, where in due time we at length arrived. the house being in one corner of a "forty" and the spring in that diagonally opposite, there was a walk of nearly that distance before coming to an old road inclining steeply down into what looked to be a narrow cañon. about midway of this sloping road, the space confined between perpendicular walls, rising to heights above on one side and descending to the stream on the other, widens suddenly and a picturesque old mill comes into view, it having been wholly screened from the approach by the rich growth of shrubs and trees. chief in abundance among this luxury of leaf was the hydrangea,--a favorite shrub largely imported into this country from japan before it was discovered as a native. the mill site seems to have been selected for its beauty although we were told that at this point the stream is seventy-two feet wide, and two and one half feet deep, but could be raised thirty feet with perfect safety by a dam, for which the rock is already on the ground and much of it broken ready for use. the flow is said to be two hundred and eighty yards per minute, with no appreciable variation, and never freezes. the high walls of the greer spring gorge will, of course, far more than double the value it would otherwise possess, when it becomes desirable to control and turn to practical account the power now going so cheerily to waste, but the artistic loss will be proportionately severe. the old mill was the scene of great activity in former times, but was closed on account of an unfortunate accident and for years has had no other duty than simply to serve as a portion of the landscape. just beyond, the cañon makes a curving bend, the road dwindles to a narrow path and we behold the most beautiful scene imaginable. the cañon has come to an end and is shut in by a graceful curve of the high, perpendicular grey walls that are crowned with trees and shrubs, and decked below with a thick carpet of bright green moss. in this basin, which is nearly one hundred feet across, greer spring plunges up from beneath through an opening nine feet in diameter, in the midst of a pool of water six feet deep, and having an unvarying temperature of forty-nine degrees throughout the year. this water is so perfectly clear that not the least pebble is obscured from view, and the color scheme is most marvelous. [illustration: greer spring. page .] where the great spring forces its way to the surface, the water is a deep, brilliant blue with white caps, and its falling weight keeps clear of moss a large spot of fine, pure, white sandstone, while all the balance appears a vivid green from the moss that thrives beneath the moving water; and surrounding these are the handsome, foliage-decked grey walls. the edges of the basin are thickly strewn with fallen rocks deeply covered with moss, in which small ferns are growing, and on these gay stepping stones we crossed to the head-wall of the cañon to find ourselves at the open mouth of a cave from which flows a clear, shallow stream to join the waters of the spring in that wonderful basin. the entrance to the cave is an arch about fifteen feet wide and twelve feet high, with the clear, shallow stream spreading over the clean rock floor from side to side. here now was presented a difficulty. truly the cave was _not_ quite dry. the water was about ten inches deep, and my boots in thayer. contrary to advice, however, my nephew had brought his, and with a boy's kindness loaned them while he made the trip with bare feet and rolled up trousers. a short distance within, the cave widens and the floor of the extension being somewhat higher, is dry, but the roof drops so low over it that the water-course is an easier route of travel; and this soon widens into a lake above which the ceiling rises in a broad dome less than twenty feet in height, and hung with heavy masses of dripstone draperies of varying length, from five to seven feet; and all the ceilings are fringed at various heights with stalactites of every size and age, some being a clear, colorless onyx, while others proclaim their great age in the fact that they have so deteriorated that the onyx texture is either partly or completely lost, and what was once a pure drip crystal has returned to a common, porous, dull-colored limestone so soft that portions can be rubbed to powder in the hand. picking the way carefully as the depth of the lovely lake increased, we followed the sound of falling water and peered into the dark distance in a vain effort to see it, yet expecting to reach that special object of interest by keeping to the shallower parts of the lake. these expectations were shattered suddenly when the boots filled with water, and that called to mind the fact that twenty-three miles and a chilly night lay between us and dry clothing; so we returned to the outside world and rested on the rocks where captain greer and our young driver waited for us. the cave has never been fully explored, and probably we penetrated farther than others have ever done, as the owner knew nothing of the falling water we so distinctly heard and were surely very near. the view from the rocks is wonderfully beautiful and includes both the entrance to the cave, with its flowing stream, and the receiving basin with its bounding stream. but it was growing late in the afternoon, and there was another cave whose entrance was in the perpendicular wall above the end of the path by which we had come. this entrance could be reached by a dilapidated ladder; assisted by a forked pole and supplied with candles and matches, my nephew and i achieved the ascent with not much trouble. here we found what is, no doubt, one of the oldest caves known. the original cavity is nearly filled up with masses of onyx--colorless crystal and white striped with pale shades of grey. the cave is perfectly dry and freshly broken surfaces in some places show signs of deterioration, so how can we venture even a guess as to the time it has required to first excavate the cave and then fill it with masses of rock deposited by the slow drip process, and later, for that crystalline rock in a now dry atmosphere to present a perceptible weakening? we went as far as passages could be crawled into, which was no great distance, and at once started on our uncertain descent of the ladder; but this was not a matter of so much concern as the upward trip, for the success of which some doubts were entertained; for going down is always naturally a less certain matter, as one can fall if more desirable means are unsuccessful, and i have unexpectedly reached many coveted points in this simple manner. taking a last look at greer spring with its cave river, grey walls, gay with foliage, and all the harmony of color and form combined in the narrow cañon that was once the main body of a great cave, i recalled views on the hudson river and in the mountains of maryland, virginia and pennsylvania, and others out in the rocky mountains in colorado and the wausatch in utah, but amid all their wonderful grandeur and famous beauty, could remember no spot superior to this masterpiece of the ozarks. the proprietor of the spring and a thousand acres of land adjacent, took personal possession on the day of lincoln's first election, to establish a home. the sun having failed to consider our wishes was now about to disappear in a gleaming flood of gold, so the return to thayer that night was out of the question. our host and his wife observed that fact and cordially invited us to remain for the night and as much longer as we would like to, but being unwilling to impose on kindness to such an extent, we returned to the hotel in alton, and now urgently advise that those who ever have an opportunity to enjoy a moonlight drive through the ozark forests should not let it pass unimproved. other caves near by. about twelve miles from alton there are three other caves worthy of attention. two of these are known only as the saltpetre caves, and the third as the bat cave. not many persons care to visit the bat cave, for although its inhabitants are small, they have evidently decided to profit by the experience of the red man and take no risks through hospitality. their warnings can be heard like distant thunder for some distance outside the cave, and any unheeding intruder is set upon in fury by such vast numbers of the little creatures that his only safety is in hasty retreat. during the war the two saltpetre caves were worked to a considerable extent, and also served as safe retreats for the residents of the region, as well as the visiting "jonny," when the vicinity became oppressively "blue." both of these caves are especially notable on account of the fine stalactites with which they are abundantly supplied; most of them being snow white and from fourteen to twenty feet in length. unfortunately, most of the caves in this region have been deprived of great quantities of their beautiful adornments by visitors who are allowed to choose the best and remove it in such quantities as may suit their convenience and pleasure. those who own the caves, and those who visit them, would do well to remember that if all the natural adornment should be allowed to remain in its original position, it would continue to afford pleasure to many persons for an indefinite time; but if broken, removed, and scattered the pleasure to a few will be comparatively little and that short-lived. the gift of beauty should always be honored and protected for the public good. we were not so fortunate as to discover fossils of any kind in this locality, although the search was by no means thorough; but even if it had been the result might have been the same, since that county and others adjoining have been mapped as cambrian. the greater part of the exposed rock is a fine sandstone almost as white as gypsum on a fresh fracture, and much of it is ripple-marked so as to show a beautifully fluted surface of remarkable regularity. these ripple flutings are sometimes more than an inch in width, and often less, but the variations never appear on the same level, the smallest being seen on the hill-tops and the larger outcropping on the downward slopes. chapter vii. the grand gulf. oregon county, missouri, is also fortunate in having within its limits the grand gulf, which has been declared by competent judges to be one of the wonders of the world; and it offers a combination of attractions that certainly entitles it to an important place among a limited few of america's choicest scenes. the gulf is nearly nine miles northwest of thayer, missouri, and about equally distant from mammoth spring in arkansas, just a little south of the missouri state line. the drive is a pleasant one, as the road winds among the forest-clad hills and passes occasional fields of cotton and corn; but having been macadamized in very ancient times by the original and all-powerful general government of that early period is somewhat rough, yet threatens no danger greater than the destruction of wheels. the only approach to the gulf is over the hill-tops; and the entrance in past times, while it was still a cave, must have been a sink-hole in the roof of the largest chamber. this chamber is now the upper end of the grand gulf, and into it we descended by a rugged path, sufficiently difficult to maintain expectations of grandeur that are not doomed to disappointment. the precipitous walls, two hundred feet in height, bear a faithful record of the energy of circling floods; but instead of frowning, as some good people persistently accuse all noble heights of doing, they seem to look with conscious pride towards the windings of the great rough chasm, where every available spot has been seized on as a homestead for some form of vegetation. all the great, dark rock masses that interfere with easy progress along the lowest depth, were surrounded by a feathery setting of blooming white agaratum; and each turn in the winding course reveals new charms of rock and verdure with their varying lights and shadows until the crowning glory is reached at the natural bridge, about twelve hundred feet from the upper end of the cañon. this bridge is magnificent. it was impossible to secure photographs because the abrupt curve by which it is approached gave no point of view for a small camera; and it was equally impossible to reach desirable points for taking measurements, but the open arch is not less than twenty feet wide and considerably more than that in height. from the floor or bed of the gulf to the road that crosses the bridge is more than two hundred feet. the passage under the bridge makes a curve, the shortest side of which measures exactly two hundred and nineteen feet, and as the width varies from twenty to forty feet, the other side is longer. most of the floor is flat and level as also is the ceiling, the greatest irregularities being along the wall of greater length which shows at what points the rushing water has spent its force. no water flows through here now except in times of heavy rainfall. the other end of the bridge has a somewhat smaller span but is very handsome, and the outward views from both are exceedingly fine. after traversing about four hundred feet more of the beautiful, high-walled gulf, we stood before the grand entrance to the cave, which is strikingly similar to the first arch of the bridge. the only picture i was able to get was taken from the slope of the bridge-crown, one hundred feet below the road, and merely gives a suggestion of the magnificence waiting peacefully for the crowds of eager and enthusiastic sight-seers who will in the near future rush to this charming region in the "land of the big red apple." my companions were the same as mentioned in the preceding chapter, a nephew, james arther owen, and an obliging, tall young man of twenty, who acted as guide and driver. relieving ourselves of all superfluous burdens just within the cave entrance, we lighted candles and sat down to wait for our eyes to adjust themselves to the changed condition, from brilliant sunlight to absolute darkness, broken only by the feeble strength of three candles. it was noticeable that in the moist atmosphere of the missouri caves, three candles were not more than equal to one in the dry caves of south dakota. very soon we were able to continue the inspection of our surroundings, and the large passage we were in would more properly be called a long chamber, of irregular width but averaging about thirty feet. this ends abruptly nearly five hundred feet from the entrance, but a small passage scarcely more than six feet high runs off at right angles, and into this we turn. it is not quite so nearly dry as the outer chamber, and at a distance of less than one hundred feet we suddenly come to the end of dry land at an elbow of the silently flowing river whose channel we had almost stepped into. the ceiling dipped so we were not able to stand straight, and the guide said he had never gone farther; but to his surprise here was a light boat which i am ready to admit he displayed no eagerness to appropriate to his own use, and swimming about it, close to shore, were numerous small, eyeless fish, pure white and perfectly fearless; the first i had ever seen, and little beauties. by burning magnesium ribbon we saw that the passage before us was a low arch and occupied from wall to wall by water, the direction of the flow being into another of somewhat greater size at right angles to that by which we had come, and at the mouth of this lay the boat. the distance we could see in either direction was of tantalizing shortness, and the boat was provided with no means of guidance or control, save an abundance of slender twine which secured it to a log of drift from the outside; so i decided to leave my companions in charge of the main coil of twine while i went on an excursion alone, there being not much evident cause for apprehension as no living cow could ever have made the trip to this favored spot. although the water looked perfectly placid, the boat drifted with surprising speed, so that the two scared faces peering after me were soon lost sight of. the channel was nowhere more than six feet wide, consequently as the boat inclined to drive against either wall i was able with care to keep it off the rocks with my hands, and in the same way guide it around the sharp turns in safety. after several of these turns there appeared the mouth of a passage so much smaller that the roof was only twelve inches above the sides of the boat and i could touch both walls at the same time. by running the boat across this it was held in place by the current, and i could sit at ease and enjoy the position, which even the least imaginative person can readily conceive to have been a novel one. the small eyeless fish had been noticeable in the water everywhere but now came swimming about the boat in an astonishing multitude, and as unconscious of any possible danger as bees in a flower garden. having no eyes, they were naturally undisturbed by the light, so the candle could be held close to the water for a satisfactory examination of the happy creatures. they bore a striking resemblance to minnows, although a few were larger, and it is claimed that four or five inches are sizes not unusual, but they happened not to be on exhibition. even dipping a hand into the water in their midst occasioned no alarm, and they might have been caught by dozens. the guide now loudly called that he had fears of the twine being cut on the sharp edges of rock, and that cutting off all possibility of the boat's return, which being sufficiently reasonable, explorations were indefinitely suspended, and a landing soon made. the camera and flash-light were then prepared for taking a view, and a point of light being needed to work by the nephew was asked to sit in the boat with his candle, to which he readily consented; but judging from the developed picture it may be doubted if his pleasure at the time was extremely keen. on leaving the cave the guide said it would not be necessary to return to the upper end of the gulf in order to reach the surface, as the ascent could be made in another place; and leading the way to the left of the entrance he started up the nearly perpendicular wall, more than two hundred feet high, by a sort of "blind trail" that would have caused a mountain sheep to sigh for wings, but it was very beautiful. we walked over to the wagon road on the high ridge above the middle of the bridge and going down the forest-clad slopes to the perpendicular wall in which is the smaller of the great arches, admired from this fair point of view the marvelous grandeur of one of the greatest natural wonders. the weather being perfect after a rain the day before, there was no need of haste to get indoors, so we lingered into the afternoon and then drove to the mammoth spring, in arkansas, a short distance south of the missouri state line, where the cave river, just visited, comes to the surface in a bounding spring of great force. the distance being little less than nine miles. the basin filled by the spring might be called a lake, as its size of two hundred by three hundred feet gives it that appearance, and the color is a remarkable deep blue. the volume of water is so nearly uniform that the height seldom varies more than two or three inches, but three years ago a storm of unusual violence carried out most of the native fish, and in restocking from government supplies, the clear, cold water suggested an experiment with mountain trout which are found to be doing well. where mammoth spring flows out its power is utilized by a flour mill on one bank and a cotton mill on the other, and the water flowing on forms spring river, well known for the charm of its beautiful scenery. this spring is described by dr. david dale owen in his first report of a geological reconnoissance of the northern counties of arkansas, and , pp. - . chapter viii. the black hills and bad lands. in order to thoroughly appreciate and enjoy the wonderful caves of south dakota, which are found within the limits of the black hills, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the geological character and history of that peculiar region. prof. j.e. todd, state geologist, in his "preliminary report on the geology of south dakota," gives an interesting "historical sketch of explorations" in his state, beginning with the expedition of captains lewis and clark to the upper missouri regions in - to explore that portion of the recent louisiana purchase for the government and notify the indians of the transfer; and including all other important expeditions since that time down to his own official tour of the black hills and bad lands in . his own descriptions are so concise and graphic as to invite quotation. of the hills he says: "the black hills have an area of five-thousand square miles of a rudely elliptical form with its major axis, approximately, north-northwest. most of this area lies within our state. the true limit of the hills is quite distinctly marked by a sharp ridge of sandstone, three hundred to six hundred feet in relative height, which becomes broader and more plateau-like towards the north and south ends. this ridge is separated from the higher mass of hills within by a valley one to three miles in breadth, which is known as the red valley, from its brick-red soil, or the 'race course,' which name was given it by the indians because of its open and smooth character, affording easy and rapid passage around the hills. the junction of the outer base of the hills with the surrounding table lands has an altitude of three thousand, five hundred to four thousand feet. within this red valley one gradually ascends the outer slope of the hills and soon enters, at an altitude of four thousand five hundred or five thousand feet, the woody portion of the region. this outer slope varies greatly in width and is underlaid by older sedimentary rocks, cut in almost every direction by narrow deep cañons. this feature covers nearly the whole of the western half of the hills proper, where erosion has been less active on account of its distance from the main channels of drainage. usually, from the broken interior edge of this slope or sedimentary plateau one descends a bluff or escarpment, and enters the central area of slates, granite, and quartzites, which is carved into high ridges and sharp peaks cut by many narrow and deep valleys and ravines and generally thickly timbered with the common pine of the rocky mountains. toward the south, about harney peak, the surface is peculiarly rugged and difficult to traverse. toward the north, also, about terry and custer peaks, a smaller rugged surface appears; but in the central area between and extending west of the harney range is a region which is characterized by open and level parks much lower than the surrounding peaks and ridges." the archæan rocks which form the core of the hills mark the center of the various uplifts which have attended their formation and controlled their history. the coarse granite of harney peak indicating that, as the central point of the earliest upheaval, and the three porphyries known as rhyolite, trachyte, and phonolite, showing the uplifts of later periods to have had their centers a little more to the north, but the entire area is said to be only about sixty miles long and twenty-five miles in width. it is exceptionally rough and mountainous, and consequently has great charms for the lover of fine scenery. erosion has only partially denuded the peaks of the sedimentary rocks through which they were thrust up, or by which they were overlaid during the earlier part of several subsequent periods of submersion. the hills, in these remote times, led but a doubtful and precarious existence, being now an isolated island rising out of a shallow sea, and then, owing to a general subsidence, submerged in the ocean to so great a depth that even harney peak is supposed to have almost, if not entirely, disappeared. this up and down motion continued at intervals until the fox hills epoch of the cretaceous age, at the close of which the sea retired forever from that portion of the country. in the next epoch fresh water work began and extensive marshes were formed, with an abundant growth of vegetation and reptiles. there was also much volcanic violence which resulted in the fine scenery in the north end of the black hills, and probably opened the fissures to form wind cave, the onyx caves in the southern hills and crystal cave near the eastern edge toward the north. this was near the close of the cretaceous age. but here is a point on which the best authorities who have studied the porphyry peaks, have failed to agree; prof. n.h. winchell believing that the intrusion occurred, probably, during the jura trias, but as cretaceous beds, of more recent date, are found to have been distorted by the outflow, it seems that professors todd, newton and carpenter hold the stronger position and that the later time is correct. no record of the next geological stage, which was the eocene, or earlier part of the tertiary age, has been found in the hills, because they were at that time dry land with gently flowing, shallow streams, and consequently no strata were laid down; but they are supposed, through later evidences, to have had a tropical climate and vegetation, enjoyed by large animals of strange new forms. the volume of fresh water afterwards became so great that immense lakes spread over large portions of the west, one of which occupied most of the region around the black hills at the beginning of the miocene, and animal life was more abundant than ever before and of higher orders, many species being the same as are now in existence. the weather became more and more inclement and as the storms increased the erosion of the hills also increased, and the rivers changed to torrents with deep channels. earthquakes are supposed to have occurred and also volcanic eruptions. the black hills were now rising steadily, and as the slope of the streams increased, the channels cut deeper, and the fissures now known as caves had long been filled with water. the most important of the numerous animals of the tertiary age yet discovered in the hills and surrounding region, are the titanotherium or brontotherium, similar to our hippopotamus, the oreodon, and a small horse having three toes on each foot. a little later in the same age the horses were similar to those of the present time and of equal size, which proves that the wild horses of the west were not descended from the few lost by the spanish invaders. at this time the first lions, camels, mastodons, and mammoths also appeared. the remains of these animals are so abundant in places as to indicate that they perished in herds that were overwhelmed suddenly by great floods, and many, no doubt, huddled together and perished with cold; for with the beginning of the present age the hills had reached their highest elevation, the inclement weather increased, and the tropical climate suddenly changed to one extremely cold. it was the beginning of the glacial period or ice age, when a large portion of the united states is supposed to have been covered by a sheet of ice. the ice is believed to have entered south dakota from the northeast and its drift across the state limited by a line so closely following the present course of the missouri river that many of us would be inclined to consider it the western bluff. beyond this line the ice failed to push its way, but the hills were subject to heavy rain storms that filled the streams and carried large quantities of bowlders and other eroded material, both coarse and fine, down into the valleys and over the lower hills, where much of the moderately coarse can now be seen exposed on the surface, and fine specimens collected without the use of a hammer. the brilliantly colored, striped and mottled agates, and the bright, delicate tints of the quartz crystal, are particularly attractive to the majority of visitors. the beauty of these gaily colored rocks is quite extensively utilized by the inhabitants of the southern and southeastern hills to supply the place of growing plants which are generally denied by the inconvenience of the water supply. the quartzite of the hills is well crystallized and heavy. i have one beautiful specimen of the dark indian red variety through which passes a narrow line of pale blue, and the yellow quartzite or jasper sometimes shows dendrite markings. very great quantities of agates and jasper, mostly in small pieces, but unlimited variety, are to be seen in portions of the bad lands, south of the fork of the cheyenne river, with an almost equal abundance of baculites and numerous other fossils. the wide expanse of deep ravines and sharp, barren ridges in the bad lands is a unique departure from the usual phases of natural scenery that inspire interest and wonder, but no great admiration, until one soon learns that the law of compensation has been strictly observed. the beauty of vegetation denied those desolate buttes and ridges is atoned for by a marvelous abundance of most wonderful crystals of aragonite, calcite, barite and satin spar; each to itself, or two or more combined in beautiful geodes or else arranged in great flat slabs crystallized on both sides of a thin sheet of lime. these slabs are composed of crystals of uniform size and of a pale green tint. but the geodes show some striking combinations of both crystals and colors with an exterior formed like box work, composed of a very heavy dark material said to be a mixture of barium, calcium and iron. the interior may be a bright green or lemon yellow, or perhaps the two in combination, while others yet may be either of these varieties with the addition of flat crystals of almost transparent satin spar. these crystals also occur in masses of the same box-like formation rising just so much above the surface of the barren ridge they occupy as to give it the appearance of a prairie dog town. one hill-top over which an abundance of detached crystals, of the palest water-green tint, has been spread, gave the impression of being covered with crushed ice. this transformation from a richly tropical to a marvelously barren region, was accomplished during the time when storms reigned over the hills and ice ruled the country to the north and east. the long slender barite crystals of a bright golden brown color are especially beautiful but are generally seen in the specimen stores, as the deposit is confined to limited areas and the few persons familiar with the locations are not over anxious to introduce the general public. the fossil remains previously referred to are of course only a few of the most important, but it is remarked as a curious and notable fact that among the fossils of the lower orders of life in the bad lands, the heads have not been preserved. on account of scarcity of water it is necessary for parties to carry a supply even when they expect to be in the vicinity of the cheyenne river and probably ford the south fork, as these waters carry in solution a quantity of alkali that renders them unfit for drinking, although the effects would not be fatal but simply the extreme reverse of pleasant. no caves have been discovered in the bad lands, unless that name be applied to some of the geodes which are really grottoes, they being of sufficient size for a man to stand in. the black hills, however, contain some of the most remarkable caves ever yet discovered, of which those of greatest importance are wind cave and the three onyx caves near hot springs, in the southeastern part of the hills, and crystal cave near piedmont, in the northeast. all of these occur in the carboniferous limestone which forms an outer belt around the central mass or core of the hills and no doubt, as previously suggested, owes its fissures to earthquakes which preceded or accompanied the porphyry intrusions by which in some localities its strata have been thrown into a vertical position. chapter ix. wind cave. wind cave was discovered in by a hunter named thomas bingham, who being weary of a fruitless chase sat down to rest, and was soon startled by the sound of rushing wind on a calm day; and at the same time by a singular hair-raising sensation, as his hat was lifted from his head and thrown high in the air. he is said to have afterwards declared that although frightened nearly out of his wits, he determined to find the cause of his alarm, and on turning slightly discovered a hole about eight by twelve inches in size through which a roaring wind was issuing from the earth. as his hair maintained the aggressive attitude taken, the recovered hat could not be returned to its usual place, so an hour was spent in laying it across the opening and watching its instant projection into upper space; after which he set out to tell of the wonderful discovery. the announcement, however, was not received seriously and he was assured of the impossibility of the wind blowing through a hill of solid rock, and his brother explained to him that he had been too self-indulgent and consequently imagined the whole affair. a protest of total abstinence failed to inspire confidence, but the brother promised to go the next day to see for himself, and did. the hat was again placed over the opening as before, but instead of taking the expected lofty flight, it was drawn in and has never since been seen: the current had reversed. soon after this the hole was enlarged to eighteen by thirty inches and the cave entered by quite a number of venturesome persons assisted by a long rope and ample personal courage. no other improvements were made, and only a short distance was explored, until mr. j.d. mcdonald settled on the property in ; since which time he and his sons have explored ninety-seven miles of passage and done such extensive work in opening up small passages and placing ladders, that it is now possible for visitors to travel long distances with surprising ease and comfort. the measure of distances in the cave is not by the usual guess-work method which has established the short-measure reputation for cave miles, but is done with a fair degree of accuracy by means of the twine used to mark the trail in exploring new passages. a careful measurement of the twine has shown it to run nine balls to the mile with a close average of regularity, so it is the custom to add another mile to the cave record as often as a ninth ball becomes exhausted. wind cave is twelve miles north of hot springs by a good road which offers somewhat meager attractions to the artist, but is more liberal towards the geologist, and especially so in fine exposures of the gypsum bearing red beds of the triassic. limited patches of it are also exposed in each of the caves, generally carrying small quantities of selenite, which is crystallized gypsum, or in other words, crystallized sulphate of lime. this brilliant red color is so prominent in portions of the hills, and attracts so much wondering attention in other well known regions of the west, that it would seem an unpardonable neglect of opportunity should we fail to again quote prof. todd for an explanation of the cause of the vivid coloring. commencing he says: "newton remarks concerning this:[ ] 'a large percentage of peroxide of iron in the red beds, to which they owe their bright red color, bears an interesting relation to the absence of fossils. the material of which sediments are formed is derived, by the various processes of denudation, from the rocks of older land surfaces. whatever iron they contain is dissolved from the land and transported in a condition of protoxide and some proto salt, such as the carbonate, and the process is facilitated by the presence of carbonic acid in the water. now iron occurs in these older rocks as protoxide and peroxide, the former of which is soluble and the latter insoluble in water. the peroxide, however, by the action of organic matter, such as is held in solution in boggy waters, may be deprived of a portion of its oxygen and converted into protoxide and thus be rendered soluble. if the iron-bearing water is confined first in a shallow basin and exposed long to the action of the atmosphere the protoxide of iron absorbs the oxygen and is precipitated as an insoluble red peroxide of iron. if, however, plant or animal life be present in sufficient quantities, this oxidation is prevented. in case but little foreign material, clay or sand, has been brought by the waters, the deposit will be an iron ore. in case large quantities of foreign material are deposited from the waters at the same time, there will be produced, in the absence of life, a brown or red clay or sandstone, and in its presence a white or light colored formation containing the iron as a carbonate. we reason therefore from the condition in which the iron is found in the red beds, that there could have been little or no life, animal or vegetable, in the water from which it was deposited. the conclusion is strengthened by the fact of the large quantities of gypsum which are usually derived from the evaporation of saline waters. the degree of saline concentration which the precipitation of gypsum indicates, would be highly inimical to life. the presence of gypsum helps to account for the absence of life, and the absence of life accounts for the brilliant color. the three prominent characteristics of the formation (that is the red beds) are therefore quite in harmony with each other.'" (geol. blk. hills, p. .) continuing the subject, professor todd says: "accepting this explanation of the striking red color, the question remains as to how these circumstances, favorable for its formation, were produced. "this red color is quite common in the whole rocky mountain region, not only on the eastern slope of the mountains, but to the various detached members of the system. we must, therefore, look for some extensive condition. if we seek some case in the present, parallel to the one already indicated, we perhaps can find none better than one on the eastern shore of the caspian sea, where, because of dry climate and the shallow waters, the deposition of gypsum and salt is now going on. in the gulf known as the kara boghaz, which is separated from the caspian by a narrow strait, the evaporation is so rapid as to produce an almost constant flow from the sea into it. this strait and this gulf give the impression to an unlearned observer that there must be a mysterious subterranean outlet. the water flows in, carrying with it the salt and other soluble minerals. it then evaporates, leaving the salt and minerals behind." this explanation is calculated to afford particular pleasure to the many visitors to the garden of the gods, in colorado, who seldom receive satisfactory answers to their questions as to the reasons "why." in that much visited spot, however, the great mass of the deposit has been removed by erosion and the curiously shaped remnants are only such portions as were exceptionally hard and consequently withstood the action of the submerging waters. having made a considerable stop on the way to wind cave, we will now hurry on, but with good horses and a fine day the drive is one of great pleasure. the road gradually rises to higher ground and soon reaches a point six hundred feet more elevated than hot springs, with a charming view of hill and valley distances, and the way then continues over the hill-tops. at one point by the roadside a circle of tent-stones still marks the spot occupied by sitting bull for a week or more after the custer massacre, while he camped here and in the security of his commanding position watched the movements of the government troops who were in search of him. hot springs and buffalo gap are both included in the wide-spread view. beside the road and scattered about in all directions are fine specimens of agates and quartz crystal which seem most beautiful and most abundant on the hills in the immediate vicinity of the cave, the crystals being either rose pink, pale green, yellow, white or colorless. arriving at the cave, the entrance is not visible, but between the ravine in which it is located and the road, there is the cave office and small hotel, on the ravine side of which an outer stairway leads down to the cave entrance, over which has been built a log cabin. on account of the precautions taken for the protection of visitors, accidents are so rare that it might almost be said that none occur. every person is required to register before entering the cave and all returning parties are carefully counted, although they are usually unaware of the fact. they are always accompanied by two guides and others are added if the party is large. no one is, on any account, permitted to wander in advance of the head guide or linger behind the one in the rear. within the cabin the immediate entrance to the cave is securely closed, and in order that the door may not be forced from its fastenings by the roaring wind which shakes it threateningly, it opens in, instead of out. this wind suggested the name wind cave, and will probably be utilized, at no very distant time, to generate electricity for lighting the cavern. the wind is strongest at the surface, and a guide goes down first to place lights in sheltered nooks where the force has begun to diminish, about fifty feet below the entrance; and here we light our candles which, if guarded somewhat, are not extinguished unless the current is unusually severe. the balance of the descent of one hundred and fifty-five feet from the surface to the first chamber is easily accomplished. this would be the least interesting room in the cave if it were not the bride's chamber, on account of having once been the scene of a marriage ceremony. but no others are in need of assistance of such romantic nature, as all are curiously and handsomely decorated, with such a charming variety of deposits, artistically massed, combined or contrasted, that every step brings fresh pleasure, and monotony is nowhere. passing from this room by a long, narrow passage, in the walls of which are observed many beautiful little pockets of crystals, attention is presently called to lincoln's fireplace, a perfectly natural specimen of the old-fashioned design broadly open in the chimney; doubtless just such an one as mr. lincoln's good mother hung the crane in and set the dutch oven before. a little beyond and on the opposite side of the crevice is prairie-dog town, not a very extensive town, to be sure, but so true a copy that one unfamiliar with the small animal and his style of architecture would afterwards easily recognize both. at one time his dogship was carried away by a too eager collector, but a letter to the suspected visitor brought him home by the next freight. the dutch clock occupies a position on a shelf near by, and all southern visitors greet the alligator as a familiar friend, as all of us joyfully meet any acquaintance from home. a long narrow passage, formerly a "tight crawl," but later opened up by heavy blasting, must be traversed before we come to the snow ball room, beautiful with round spots of untinted carbonate of lime, as if fresh soft snow had been thrown by the handful over walls and ceilings, with the additional ornamentation of calcite crystals. in the crevice beyond rises the church steeple, diminishing regularly, though roughly, in size, to a height of sixty feet, but not degraded with the little squirming stairway usually seen in church spires. the next room is the post office, in which we are for the first time introduced to the greatest peculiarity and most abundant formation known to the cave. being a newly discovered addition to geology it has no scientific name and therefore is simply called box work, because it resembles boxes of many shapes and sizes. the formation of the box work is generally regarded as an unexplained and unexplainable mystery, but a careful study of various portions of the cave shows it in all stages of development and suggests a reasonable theory as to the cause of its origin and variety of development. the volcanic disturbances which have already been discussed as having been responsible for the various uplifts and depressions of the black hills region, and also for opening the fissures which gave the cave a beginning, must have supplied the conditions that were necessary to the formation of box work. and these preliminary conditions were merely cracks in the rock. by the violence of earth movement the limestone has been crushed, probably when the land was undergoing depression, prior to the upheaval which opened the great parallel fissures. the varying hardness of the rock, as well as proximity to the surface, would readily account for the difference in size of the fractures, which is from one-half inch to twelve inches; the largest being the most distant from the surface. that this crushing was done before the salt waters retired from the region, which was towards the close of the cretaceous age, is sufficiently evident in the fact that portions of the red beds show similar fractures with the cracks filled with gypsum, and gypsum, as we have already seen, is a salt water deposit. after the crushing was done the cracks in the carboniferous limestone were filled with water heavily charged with calcium carbonate, taken in solution from the rock, first from pulverized particles, and afterwards by percolation and contact with exposed surfaces. this calcium carbonate was slowly deposited in crystalline form, so that in time the cracks were filled and the crushed rock firmly cemented with calcite seams. but in the meantime the removal of the calcium carbonate had started disintegration of the more exposed portions of the rock, which steadily continuing, finally reduced the porous body between the crystal seams to a soft clay which was gradually dissolved and carried out through small imperfections in the thin crystal sheets, leaving the empty box work as we find it. but where blasting has exposed fresh surfaces, much of the solid limestone carries the box-like sheets of crystal. the thinnest box work is seen in the upper levels, from which the waters retired soonest, and the heaviest and most beautiful is in the blue grotto, on the eighth level where the water remained longest and its diminished volume became most heavily charged. in many places, however, there is another heavy variety known as pop-corn box work, which seems to be an impure lime carbonate not so finely crystallized as the other, but at the time of my visit no explanation had been given of the manner of its deposit; and my own theory that it was not formed under water had nothing to sustain it until, a few weeks later, while visiting crystal cave, the work was found in active progress on surfaces occupying every position, and the agent was dripping water. in all cases the original box work has been in thin sheets of calcite, and the heavy varieties are due to later deposits of calcite and aragonite crystals or, pop corn. the colors are white, yellow, blue and chocolate brown; the last named predominating to a great extent in that portion of the cave most easily traveled by visitors, and forming the ceiling and a part of one wall in the post office, where, as has been said before, it first appears. the effect is not dreary as might be imagined, and parties are generally photographed here because one side of the room is white and greatly assists the flash. this is a smooth, perpendicular wall marking the line of the fissure and showing the strata of the rock in horizontal position whitened with a thin coating of carbonate of lime. all visitors are cordially invited to please themselves in leaving cards, letters or papers in this chamber, which is reserved for that purpose, and to refrain from leaving them in other portions of the cave or defacing the walls with names. roe's misery is a long, narrow passage into which, during the early times before its size had been increased by blasting, a large man named roe crawled to his sorrow. being larger than the hole he stuck fast, and neither his own efforts nor those of the guides could relieve the situation until a rope was sent for, and having been brought, was securely fastened to his feet, when a long pull and a strong one finally opened the passage. it is told that he claimed to have reviewed all the objectionable acts of his life, by which his friends understood that he occupied the motionless position not less than three weeks. red hall is very nearly described by its name and is quite a showy room, with the bright red walls contrasting sharply with their limited ornamentation of pure white carbonate of lime and pearly crystals of calcite. off to one side of red hall is a beautiful little chamber called old maids' grotto, probably on account of its trim appearance and ideal location. it is so entirely concealed from the view of those passing on the public highway, that its existence is not even suspected, until special attention is called to its cosiness, and then it is necessary to mount an accumulation of great water-rounded rocks in order to obtain convincing evidence of its actual reality. it is a long, narrow room, shut in by a straight wall sufficiently high for rigid seclusion, or protection, without preventing a glimpse of passing events. a break in the description is made here for the purpose of inserting a description, written at the author's request, by mr. e.l. mcdonald. he was generally our special guide. he has chosen to describe the route taken by the majority of visitors and therefore the balance of my observations within those limits are omitted. all who are familiar with those passages and chambers will observe while reading the next chapter that no imaginary attractions are added to the existing facts, but many interesting minor points are missing. only such changes are made as were agreed to as the condition on which he would attempt a piece of work so at variance with his usual occupations. footnotes: [ ] u.s. geological survey. geology of the black hills. henry newton, p. . chapter x. wind cave continued. the fair grounds route. "at : in the morning the train bringing health-seekers and tourists arrives at hot springs, a beautiful little city nestled in the southernmost foot-hills of the world-reputed black hills of south dakota. the choice of a hotel is soon made, and when located, the new-comers observe the other guests and acquaint themselves with the attractions of the resort. probably during the day they are approached by the solicitor of the wonderful wind cave, who explains that the best way to reach the cave is by means of the coach and four seen at the hotel in the morning, and arrangements are made for the following day. the next morning, seated in the tally-ho coach with strangers who are soon acquaintances, you start on a beautiful twelve-mile drive to one of nature's most interesting sights. "immediately after leaving town you begin to admire the scenery and enjoy the cool, refreshing breezes, wafted from the mountains to the north, down the slopes to the arid plains. "after climbing a gently sloping 'hog-back' for about eight miles, you are at the top of the divide and one thousand feet higher than hot springs, which may be seen on the left. looking ahead you can see harney peak, the highest mountain in the black hills district; and on the right you see buffalo gap, through which the creek runs that heads at min-ne-pa-juta springs. the indians used to drive buffalo through this gap, hence its name. a small but thriving little town to the eastward takes its name from this buffalo gap. from here you begin to go down a gentle and winding incline to the cave, which is reached all too soon. "at the office you register and procure tickets, and then have from one-half to three-quarters of an hour in which to eat lunch or dine at the hotel. then all congregate in the office, from whence the start is made, after every one has put on a cave cap, _not a suit, as such is entirely unnecessary_. the guide leads the way to the entrance of the cave which is separated from the office by some little distance, and is located in the bed of a long since dry run, which in former times has bared the carboniferous strata, and within this kind of rock the cave is found. "as the author has asked me for an article descriptive of the cave, i will only attempt to say something of our medium length route to the fair grounds, or in other words, the fair grounds' route. a collective description of the whole cave would take months--even years--to complete. besides, the above route is the one most used by visitors at the present time. "on entering the cave house (a log structure) you will in all probability ask from whence comes the murmur of a waterfall. the guide answers that it is the rushing current of air at the mouth of the cave, sometimes in and sometimes out. prof. j.e. todd, in bulletin no. , s. dakota geological survey, p. , says: 'this phenomenon is found to correspond with the varying pressure of the barometer, and with its single opening and capacious chambers is easily accounted for.' "the rushing air is sometimes strong enough to require a man's weight to open the entrance door. five days and nights is the longest time the wind has been known to move in one direction without ceasing. this is one of nature's greatest atmospherical phenomena. "some one says, 'tickets, please!' and into the hole we go, single file down a lighted passageway to where we can light our candles. after descending about one hundred and fifty-five feet we come into the bridal chamber (named by some of the earlier explorers before the present management took hold of the property), which is eight or ten feet in length by twenty feet in breadth. passing along some distance, the snow-ball room is entered. it carries this name on account of little rosettes of carbonate of lime sticking to the irregular ceiling. this room is pretty narrow and some fifty feet in length. "the post office is next and soon reached. the ceiling is covered with the box work formation somewhat resembling post office boxes. you will no doubt wonder why it carries such a common name. "just because after searching in what books on geology and other sciences we could get, we could not find it described nor any formation resembling it; hence its common name, as we have named the pop-corn work, frost work etc., from their appearance. "the dimensions of the post office are some eighty feet in length by twenty feet in width, with an average ceiling height of probably twelve feet. red hall is the room next in order, and has on either side a red bank of sandy, micaceous clay. "just to the left is a very pretty little grotto of box work. this room is very odd in make-up. the floor is very rough and dips about fifteen feet in its length of sixty feet, and includes a short flight of stairs. the lowest end of the room is prettily decorated, and some pleasing blends of color attract the eye. to the left is the old maids' grotto, a pretty little nook that would please any maid old or young. "after passing through the white room we turn to the left along the crevice, and after traveling some little distance reach the grand opera, a very narrow room but some forty feet in length. chopin's nocturne is a small grotto in the right hand wall named by the famous violinist, edouard remenji. "the devil's lookout is reached by a few steps. it is a crevice about ten feet wide at the base and sixty-five feet in height. this place is remarkable for its columns of rock just over head. the pathway leads to milton's study, some fifty feet distant. turning into the crevice again, some twenty feet are traveled when attention is called to seal rocks. sampson's palace is the next room in order: here we see some stalagmitic water formation on the left wall and the ceiling is one of the most beautiful yet seen on the trip. "we pass along to swiss scenery, a very prettily decorated room fifty feet in length by fifteen in height. the box work is very pretty, shading from yellow to dark brown. the general appearance of the room would suggest its name, it being rougher than any other in the immediate vicinity. passing under an arch we enter the queen's drawing-room. here the box work has been developed beyond any on our pathway thus far. from the ceiling it hangs like draperies and on the left wall is about twenty-four inches in depth. on the whole this room is elegant enough for the most exacting queen. we step from this room into the m.e. church. rev. mr. hancher, president of the black hills methodist college, was i believe the first to hold song and prayer service in this room; the pulpit is on the left as you pass through. the guides always ask if any wish to sing or worship, as any one has a perfect right in a dedicated chapel. "the giant's causeway is only a few steps beyond. this bit of scenery has some resemblance to the famed basalt attraction on the coast of ireland. we 'duck' our heads under the arch of politeness and rise to a standing position in lena's arbor, a very irregular shaped room admired by a great many of our visitors. "we enter capitol hall at the side, about midway between the ends. it is the largest room yet visited, being some two hundred feet from end to end, with a very high ceiling. here we notice the walls and ceiling are bare of box work and other formation, and are clean and white. the decorative appearance exceeds any room yet visited. after getting into line again we go down a flight of stairs to odd fellows' hall, a chamber that on examination suggests its name. in the ceiling is situated the 'all seeing eye,' one of the emblems of that august body, and at a little distance the 'three links;' also in the ceiling, and just under the latter is situated a rock very much resembling a goat. attention is called to the first appearance of pop-corn work, a very peculiar formation resembling pop-corn after it has broken open, and in this part of the cave it is quite plentiful. "we now descend another flight of stairs into turtle pass, where a large turtle rests beside the path, and just beyond is the confederate cross-roads, where the fissure is crossed by another forming a cross with perfect right angles. the right hand passage is used for specimens only; straight ahead leads to the garden of eden, the end of our shortest route; we take the left hand path and journey through summer avenue, some seventy feet in length, and reach the scenes of wiclow, a large and high room, beautifully decorated with box work and pop-corn. the ceiling and the left wall from floor to ceiling are fine box work. on the right you see dark space, as a very large portion of this room is unused, but we pass the piper's pig. list! the guide is pounding on the salvation army drum, a large projecting rock that on being struck with the closed hand gives a sound very much like a bass drum. "after walking across a short plank we enter kimball's music hall, a very beautiful room settled between two crevices and lined with box work. viewing the ceiling from the fissure on the right it is seen to be smooth and fringed with pop-corn. in some places the boxes are closed, resembling finished honey-comb. over head box work can be seen as high as the light penetrates. on the whole, i think this is the finest crevice in the explored cave. "looking straight ahead you wonder how the party can travel over such a road as presents itself to view, but the guide turns into an arch in the right hand wall and enters whitney avenue. after walking across the bridge over shadowy depths, our pathway lies for some fifty feet in one of the most interesting ovens in the cave, at the end of which we enter monte cristo's palace by going down a flight of stairs. this room has the greatest depth beneath the surface of any of the fair grounds' route, which is four hundred and fifty feet. in this room is noticed a decided change in the box work, which is much heavier than any seen, or that will be seen on this route, and the color is light blue. "i guess i will give the party a talk while we rest under monte cristo's diamonds, a very sparkling cluster, about six inches in diameter, of silica crystals. "after studying the cave, it appears that it did not form in the same manner as most others; on account of the absence of sink holes, the regular arrangement of the chambers, the regular dip of the rock to the south-east from five to ten degrees, and the regularity of the long vertical fissures running north-west south-east. in fact, the whole cave is made up of these fissures and it seems that the water has entered narrow crevices opened by some eruptive force. "you see small holes eaten in the ceilings and walls in every direction, which indicates that the water came from a higher level, and being under great pressure, wanted passage out. it seems the cave was a reservoir for a long time, then after the water stopped flowing in it slowly receded, and in settling the overcharged waters covered the rocks and specimens with a calcareous coating, very thin in the upper portions of the cave and getting thicker the deeper you go, giving evidence as you see, of slowly settling. had the waters rushed out they would in all probability have left the rocks uncoated as in all other caves, with one exception, the crystal cave, some seventy-five miles to the north of wind cave. "as we have some more caves to see we must journey on. "taking one last look at monte cristo's diamonds we pass into milliner's avenue, a very pretty avenue indeed with nearly as many colors as a milliner's show-window would present. about mid-way of this avenue we cross the bridge over castle garden, a room in the eighth tier beneath the surface. from this avenue we step into the assembly room. here the formations are covered with a gypsum crystal that sparkles with wonderful brilliancy. on the right is a passage leading to the masonic temple, a room that any body of masons would be proud of could they hold lodge meetings in it. the passage on the left is the terminus of the pearly gates' route, the longest developed route in the cave. after moving along some distance we see the bad lands, and then come into the tennis court. this room has the net in the ceiling and i suppose the party can furnish the raquet (racket). on the right hand side of this room there is tier upon tier of box work; looking to the left, you shudder at the almost bottomless pit just beside the pathway. here we take a rest preparatory to climbing up to the marble quarry, a task of two flights of stairs. this is a very large room and has the most uneven floor, ceiling and walls of any that our visitors see, and is barren of specimens excepting in the first part over the stairs where there is some box work of very pretty structure and color. some distance up the path we see on one side the ghost of 'she,' and on the other the devil's punch bowl, a large rock with a basin-shaped hole about thirty-six inches across and sixteen inches deep, but lo! the bottom has been broken out: which is very appropriate as south dakota is at present a prohibition state. a winding path is followed until attention is called to the sheep's head above an arch over the passage, and the ceiling here is of flint, the ledge of which is four inches thick. "passing under the arch we enter johnstone's camp ground, so named because paul alexander johnstone camped in this room while accomplishing the third of his greatest mind-reading feats, during which he remained in the cave seventy-two hours. he was locked in his room at the evans hotel while a committee secreted the head of a gold pin in the cave. on their return, after being blindfolded, he led them to the livery stable, and securing a team drove to the cave and found the pin in the standing rock chamber, beyond the pearly gates, and then drove back to the city still blindfolded. "down one short flight of stairs and we are in the waiting room, so called on account of persons waiting here while the rest of their party finished the trip by climbing up the alpine way. this difficult climb was made until the route was developed via the marble quarry. a steep pathway and one flight of stairs now bring us to the ticket office, and another short stairway leads into the room above, which is the fair grounds. we enter the right wing, which measures two hundred and six links in length and forty-nine in width at the narrowest place. we are now in the third level and no box work is seen, but the ceiling (which is low) shows many interesting fossils. the central dome is some fifty feet in height, and passing to the right the guide seats the party in such a position that the frost work on the wall can be seen to advantage. this is the largest part of the fair grounds and measures six hundred and forty-five links long, exclusive of the right wing, and has a width of fifty-three links, which with a number of wings added, makes it one of the largest under-ground rooms within american caverns. "a great many visitors look at their cuff-buttons when told we have twenty-five hundred rooms included in ninety-seven miles of passageways. of course they do not understand how we get the mileage. in going to the fair grounds we travel about three miles. in each fissure there are eight levels, which makes twenty-four miles of cave from the entrance to the fair grounds. "of the formations in the cave, the different kinds are on different levels, the stalactites and stalagmites nearest the surface on the second, the frost work on the third. this formation is in most instances as colorless as snow. the mode of its formation is not thoroughly understood, but is found in such positions as suggest its being formed by vapors overcharged as spoken of about the water. it is almost always on an over-hanging rock, over or near some fissure leading to a deeper portion of the cave. box work in this level is scattering and fragile: in the fourth it is the prevailing formation: in the fifth it is heavier and a little darker; in the sixth it varies in style and color, and pop-corn appears, a queer formation resembling pop-corn ready to eat. it is not so purely white here as in the lower levels, seventh and eighth. in the seventh the box work is heavier than any seen on the fair grounds' route and the color is nearly blue, having a faded appearance. in this tier is also found a good deal of mineral wool, which must not be mistaken for asbestos. it sometimes attains a length of eighteen inches and at one place where it seems to come out of a hole two inches in diameter, and drops down like a grey beard, we have named it noah's beard. "in the eighth tier we find very beautiful formations of carbonate of lime, and the box work is decidedly blue, the boxes larger, and their partitions one half inch thick. "we have been deeper than the eighth tier but in narrow crevices barely admitting a man of average stature. in these the calcareous coating is much thicker than in any higher portions of the cave, but very little sign of box work is seen. "sometimes we make a comparison between the cave and a sponge. take for instance a sponge as large as an apple barrel and there would be holes in it as big as a man's thumb and closed hand. now take a sponge, four miles square and five hundred feet deep with holes in proportion to the little sponge, and you have an illustration of the wonderful wind cave, of custer county, south dakota." chapter xi. wind cave continued. pearly gates and blue grotto route. a very much longer, more beautiful, and also more difficult journey than the one just described may be taken by those in whom the desire to see is greater than the fear of fatigue, or possibly, some little danger. with this object in view the fair grounds' route is followed through monte cristo's palace and into milliner's avenue. here we leave it by dropping off the bridge into a rough hole, which proves to be a passage descending into castle garden directly beneath the avenue, and a room of considerable size, plentifully supplied with bowlders. although interesting to visit, it has no points of such special merit as would seem to require a detailed account, the main importance attaching to it being the fact that it is the first portion of the eighth level visited. a little beyond, however, is something quite new. the floor is covered with a light yellow crust of calcite crystal, sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a limited number of guests without much fracture. it generally gives a hollow sound when struck, which is easily accounted for as there are small holes noticed by which steam evidently made its escape, and through these cavities can be seen but they are shallow. one place shows the crust broken up and with the edges of the pieces overlapped, like ice broken by a sudden rise of back-water, and in this position they have been firmly cemented. this is where the slowly receding waters of the cave lingered in shallow pools above the small crevices long after the main portions had become dry. that the crust was formed on top of the water, instead of beneath its surface, has been proved by the only body of water now standing in the cave. this is called silent lake, and being situated on another route will be described in its proper place, but when discovered no water was visible nor its presence even suspected until the crust gave way under the weight of an explorer. the thin sheet of yellow calcite crystal thus broken was the same as that seen in great abundance in the now perfectly dry eighth level. the gradually decreasing volume of water has left a smooth yellow coat on portions of the walls where irregularities or slopes were favorable, and at least one such place is vividly remembered if once seen. a steep incline of about fifteen feet leads to a small oval hole through the wall; towards this we crawled with no great ease; but getting to the hole was far easier than going through it into a tiny cubby not high enough to sit comfortably upright in, and too small to permit an average sized human being to turn around. close on the left it is shut in by another wall pierced by two holes similar to that just passed, and each revealing a miniature chamber scarcely more than three feet in either direction and eighteen inches high. being directed to examine the ceiling of the first, it was done with some difficulty and much satisfaction, for there in the center was a most exquisite bit of art work, a circular disk of "drusy" quartz about twelve inches in diameter and having the appearance of a flat rosette of fine black lace, in open pattern with small diamonds thickly strung on every thread; a brilliant, sparkling mass of gems. after mr. mcdonald had carefully removed a geode from the other little chamber, he slid down into a fourth, the last of the diminutive suite, having sufficient height to allow a sitting posture with raised head, and opened the small jewel case, while i examined the place it came from. here all was calcite crystal heavily massed in various forms, and a harmony of blue and brown, with half a dozen round, unbroken, perfect geodes hanging from the ceiling like oriole nests. the geode taken proved on opening to be especially fine, being filled with pearly white calcite crystals of both the dog-tooth and nail-head forms, and was kindly presented to be added to the collection of cave specimens already purchased in town, to which were also added handsome pieces of "drusy" quartz, cave coral, and tufa and mineral wool. following the guide i now slipped down into the larger nook just vacated, and saw with considerable chagrin that the next step was down a perpendicular wall more than ten feet in height, facing a high, narrow fissure, the floor of which was merely two shelves sloping to an open space along the middle, almost two feet wide, with the darkness of continuing crevice below. further progress seemed absolutely impossible. all things are, however, possible to those who will, and it had been willed to pay a visit to the grandest portion of wind cave. in order to do so the descent must be made and was. then some little distance must be traveled along the crevice, but the angle of elevation taken by both sides of the bisected floor served as a sort of prohibitory tax together with the calcite paving, since to maintain an upright position on such a surface would require long training of a certain professional character. that difficulty, too, was overcome by placing a foot on either side of the open crevice; the first consideration, of course, being safety and not grace. we now came to the enjoyment of the reward of merit. flooded with the brilliant white light of magnesium ribbon, the crevice walls could be seen drawing together at a height of sixty-five feet, and both composed entirely of larger box work than any seen before and very heavily covered with calcite crystal, colored a bright electric blue and glowing with a pearly lustre. this is the centennial gallery, and leaving it with reluctance we passed on into the blue grotto to find it finer still. it is somewhat wider and higher, while even the extremely rough, uneven floor shows no spot bare of heavy box work of a yet deeper blue. the wonderful beauty of this blue grotto necessarily stands beyond comparison because in all the known world there is nothing like it. the forms of crystal are chiefly aragonite. from here we pass to the "chamber de norcutt," which would be considered a very handsome room if it had no superiors: and the same can be said of union college, in which, however, is the fan rock to claim special notice; an immense piece of fallen box work shaped like a lady's fan half opened. an imposing vestibule leads into the extensive but rather dreary catacombs, from which we crawled through a little hole into the m.w.a. hall, emerging at the top of a steep but not high slope covered with the smooth yellow crust of calcite encountered at other places, and in trying to make a dexterous turn so as to go down feet first, the descent was accomplished with uncalculated suddenness and an unsought but liberal collection of bruises. this, however, was not a happening of the unexpected and could have no attention amid scenes of wonder and beauty, and we were close to the geysers. from a scientific point of view this is the most important portion of the cave, for here is an indisputable proof that the water in the cave was hot and that it was subject to geyser action. the surrounding region is covered with the crust already described, and at the top of a gentle elevation is thrown up in the unmistakable form of geyser cones; there being two near together on the surface described, with a third visible through one of these on a slightly lower level, this one being a new discovery, as it had escaped observation until we called attention to it. these small cones show that after the degree of heat and the volume of water had become reduced to the merest fraction of their former greatness, they continued their accustomed work here in the depth of the earth long after the once grand old geyser had ceased to show an outward sign of life. when the water finally became so reduced even here that the steam could no longer force it through, or to these latest vents, the last rising vapors fringed their edges with a beautiful snow-white border of crystallized carbonate of lime as fine and soft as a band of swan's down, which it resembles. in the pure, still atmosphere of the eighth level, almost five hundred feet beneath the entrance, this silent proof of ancient action will endure for the admiration and instruction of many generations yet to come. few mortals will ever be honored with memorials so lasting or so convincing of vanished power. proceeding on the journey the next chamber is the a.o.u.w. hall, a large, irregular room, by the rise of which a return to the seventh level is accomplished; and the next entered is the tabernacle, not at all resembling the last, although a similar description would be correct. now is reached what many consider the cave's greatest charm, the pearly gates. and marvelously beautiful it certainly is. approaching by a slightly lower level, we see a gateway opening between large rocks that light up with the soft lustre and varied tints of mammoth pearls. a wonderful effect is produced by the white calcite crystal spread in unequal thickness over the dark surface of the encrusted rocks. just without the gate is a short but not golden stairway leading to it, and immediately within is the saint's rest, a chamber of moderate size beautified by another great rock on which are combined the warm, pearly glow of calcite and the cold glitter of frost by the later addition of lime carbonate vapor-crystals to the calcium carbonate aragonite. next beyond is the chamber containing the standing rock behind which mr. johnstone made his famous discovery of the concealed pin-head. it is an immense great fallen rock on whose dark surface are scattered transparent flake-like crystals of satin spar, resembling the congealed drops of a summer shower. the mind-reader entered the chamber by the way we shall leave it. returning to the spot from which the pearly gates were first viewed, we stand facing the most beautiful of this imposing group of brilliant scenes, the mermaid's resort. this is a small cove with wave marks in the white beach sand, above which rises a projecting, sheltering cliff as purely white as freshly fallen snow, with a fine deposit of frost work in thick moss-like patterns two and three inches deep. this crystalline mass, so white and fragile, has to perfection the appearance of hoar-frost about a steam-vent in extremely cold weather, and was, no doubt, formed in a somewhat similar manner. it is crystallized carbonate of lime, and could have been deposited in such extremely delicate forms only by the heavily charged vapors rising from hot water. no one needs to be told that hot water will take and hold in solution a much larger quantity of solid matter than is possible to cold water, with all other conditions the same; nor is it news that a portion of the solid substance is carried off in the rising steam. now the geyser cones, so recently visited on the next lower level, prove both the heat of the water and its heavy charge of solids, which gave it a far more intense heat than pure water could have equaled, and this in turn drove the steam to greater distances than otherwise it would have reached. when cooled to such a point as to be reduced to a light vapor, its movement was checked by various walls, projections, and ceiling as were in its upward path, and these received the minute particles of burden, while the somewhat brisk motion of the atmosphere, occasioned at these points by the mixing of that of higher temperature from below with the lower from above, is responsible for the dainty and varied forms assumed by the fragile structure. once more resuming the journey, we admire the rugged charms of university heights, a somewhat larger and higher room than the next, st. dominic's chamber, but perhaps not more interesting than the council chamber, which besides other attractions is to some extent also a statuary hall. from the council chamber the alpine way leads up into the fair grounds directly above. this alpine way is a sort of cork-screw twisting through the rocks, not unlike a badly walled well, assisted at the lowest portion by a short and nearly perpendicular ladder. next is the assembly room, or crown chamber, as it is also called on account of a handsome crown conspicuously placed. this room also contains a moose so perfectly carved that the skeptic who searches diligently for imperfections finally clamors for the whole company to celebrate his discovery of the artist's noble skill. leaving this room we re-enter milliner's avenue and soon cross the bridge from which, a few hours ago, we descended into the eighth level by way of castle garden; and now the return to the surface is by the route followed before, and we arrive there at last terribly weary, but more than well pleased. chapter xii. wind cave concluded. garden of eden, the glacier, and ice palace. there is yet another long and charming line of travel open to those who have sufficiently steady heads and light feet to suffer no loss of confidence or depression of spirit when mounting the steep stairway whose limit seems lost in the dark distance above. there being but the single entrance, a repetition of the worn and ancient statement that all roads lead to rome, means that many journeys may be taken in wind cave, but all must have the same beginning. in the tourist season the guides have not time during the day to bring out specimens to supply the demand, so on this account night trips are of frequent occurrence; and on these occasions the number of persons in all that vast space seldom exceeds half a dozen, but their voices and laughter, and the blows of their hammers, can be heard at greater distances than would seem possible, and give an agreeable sense of companionship; yet the voice does not travel by any means so far as in other caves. the evening we were to make the long trip just mentioned, our guide being ready before any others had gone in, we started the advance on the ninety-seven miles of enclosed, unoccupied space and had almost reached the level of the bridal chamber when he remembered a forgotten and necessary roll of magnesium ribbon, for which it was needful to return to the office in the upper building. i sat down on the lowest step of the great stairway to wait, and for a very short time was entirely alone in the largest cavern in the world, excepting the mammoth cave of kentucky. the unexpected experience seemed suddenly to become one of the great events of a lifetime, and was unmarred by the disturbing apprehensions of any possible danger. the entire absence of sound was indescribably awe-inspiring as "strata overleaping strata from the center to the crust, rose, alp-high, in molten silence, as the dead rise from the dust;" but the feeling of complete isolation from the living world would not require an unlimited time to merit the one word--horrible. even some peril with ample companionship would be more agreeable, while it is a curious fact that the combination of companionship with silence is charming. on the occasion of one visit to the cave it was painful to observe the actual suffering of a lover of quiet, from the good-natured, but heedless, chatter of two of the party. presently steps on the stairs broke the stillness, a glimmer of light pierced the intense darkness that surrounded the circle of one candle, and the upper world seemed not so far away. the interrupted journey was resumed, the route being that already described as far as the confederate cross roads, where, this time, we go straight on in the main fissure instead of turning into the cross-crevice, as was done before. we were overtaken by the specimen party and recognized the three laughing young girls only by their voices, as in full suits of overalls and white duck caps, they looked like boys. those who reside near the large caves have overcome their objection to this costume, as it gives much greater freedom and ease of movement, besides being a decided economy. feminine garments are so easily destroyed, but for artistic effect the substitute cannot conscientiously be recommended. beyond the cross roads the first chamber is breckinridge gallery, a long, rambling hall in which are combined the attractions already passed and those yet to come, but having no striking feature predominating to give special character other than the grandeur of extreme roughness, which is also the quality most observed on passing into the stone quarry, where great accumulations of blocks seem waiting preparation for shipment. the next "open country" is protected from public trespass by the garden wall, which appears to have been well built in the long ago by masons properly trained in their craft, and extends, at a uniform height, to the fallen flats, where the floor is covered with slabs of enormous size that have fallen from the ceiling since water occupation ceased, as is clearly shown by the sharp edges and surfaces entirely unworn. the journey now becomes more interesting as the cliff-climbers' delight is reached, and we go steadily up the long nights of stairs until visions of st. peter begin to rise and we wonder which way the key will turn. near the top is a handsome growth of snow-white mold hanging in long draperies behind the ladder or spread like on asparagus fern flattened against the rock. arrived at the top limits of the stairs the ascent is by no means finished, but continues through three large chambers known as five points, the omaha bee office--named by one of the staff of that well known journal--and the w.c.t.u. hall, dedicated to the service of the organization by one of its workers. [illustration: top of glacier. page .] at last the upward journey is ended at the silent lake in the first, or highest, level. this, as has already been observed, is the only body of water now standing in the cave, and is not more than ten feet long by six in width and twelve inches deep. the scanty volume is maintained by the very limited inflow of acidulated percolating water which reaches the small receiving basin charged with calcium carbonate; and being cold, the charge is being precipitated on the bottom instead of forming a crust over the surface as in former times when the controlling influence was a degree of heat sufficient to sustain solid matter without disturbing motion. rising above the silent lake is the glacier, its moist surface suggesting that the lake is fed by a slight thaw, while the perpendicular front at the water's edge gives the impression of a berg having recently broken off and floated away. the glacier flows between two high walls of dark rock, and the steep incline of perhaps seventy feet, covered with a smooth deposit of calcite and shining with moisture, has the appearance of ice and is as uninviting for a climb. the top is connected with the roof above by a group of short, and for this region, heavy columns of dripstone, the oldest formation of that character in the cave. an occasional overflow of the lake passes out to one side, then turns and goes under the glacier where its first few feet of descent are called the pearl beds, where a variety of water-polished pebbles are being coated over and cemented together with calcite crystal. from the glacier down to the lowest level of the cave by another route than that taken for the ascent, there is abundant evidence that at one time this portion of the cave was subject to excessively violent activity, and if studied with a view to the penetration of the principle of geyser action, offers many interesting and valuable suggestions that can be added to and expanded into definite theories in connection with the balance of the cave; all important requirements are clearly shown. at a short distance from the glacier is a small circular dome, called the picture gallery, which evidently was shaped by water forced up from below. the descent from here takes us into the st. louis tunnel, a long rough passage leading down into the great cathedral, by the still descending irregularities of which we finally reach the garden of eden, the objective point of a favorite tourist route, but usually approached from the opposite direction. it is a large chamber of very irregular shape, with an extremely uneven ceiling, dipping nearly to the floor and rising suddenly to distant heights, while every portion of all the varied surfaces glitters with a mass of frost work in every form it is known to have assumed; the banks of orange buds in different stages of expansion being exceptionally handsome. a portion of this wonderful room especially admired is cupid's alcove, where the frost is tinged with a pinkish flush from the brilliant paint clay captured in minute particles by the vapors. the whole room is a marvel of loveliness, but unfortunately visitors have wrought such noticeable damage that wire screening must be placed before the general admittance of large parties can be resumed. passing out and down to a lower level, by way of jacob's well, we find the source of that magnificent abundance of frost work to be in the chamber of forbidden fruit, where a yellow calcite floor-crust indicates the surface level of water diminishing in volume by evaporation long after the upward flow had forever ceased, and from which the rising vapor ascended to decorate the garden of eden, just described. but since this water completely disappeared, leaving in evidence only the record-bearing crust, a percolating drip has prepared indisputable proof of the remote distance of that time by depositing on the crust great clusters of luscious fruits, chiefly cherries, which appear to have been carelessly tossed down in heaps, but are firmly fixed in place. the onward journey continues up and down through beacon heights, a large chamber which imitates rocky mountain scenery and terminates at the corkscrew path which, as the name indicates, is a spiral path winding down like a great stairway against the wall of an approximately circular chamber which is perhaps the highest in the cave, and shows the most violent water-action. the plunging torrent rushed on from here to tear out the heavy rock and form the next chamber, known as dante's inferno, whence, its force being divided, it went more gently in various directions. and by one of these passages we now re-enter the main route of travel once more, and finally return to the face of the earth, wondering if it will be possible to so describe those wonderful scenes as to represent with even a limited degree of fairness or justice the awe-inspiring grandeur of the entire trip, or the perfection of fragile loveliness formed and preserved as by special miracles in the garden of eden. one peculiarity of this great journey was that the box work, so abundant in other portions of the cave, was here conspicuously absent. the crystal palace. another route in wind cave is that to the crystal palace which, although the shortest, is the one most seldom taken by visitors, because of a certain amount of difficulty and discomfort being unavoidable. only a portion of the great stairway below the entrance is descended, when we abandon it and climb into a hole in the side-wall of the narrow passage, from which point to the end of the trip our feet prove to be merely encumbrances. the space crawled into and through widens sufficiently in several places to form chambers of good size, but the height of the ceiling is nowhere more than three feet and most of it only two or even less. the rough rock floor is partly carpeted with patches of loose moist clay, which is the means of our becoming as grimy as tramps, and its source is readily accounted for by an examination of the ceiling. this is easily made while resting one skinned elbow at the expense of the other. the word "abraded" is inadequate where anything approaching real cave study is attempted. the box work of the ceiling has almost entirely lost its crystallization, and is as ready to crumble as the enclosed clay, which is still retained because it had not yet reached the necessary point of deterioration to be carried out before the great volume of water, required for that service, retired from this high level of the cave. when finally reached, the crystal palace proved worthy of the effort, its decoration being entirely of dripstone and very beautiful, although on too small a scale to be compared with similar work in many caves: it is merely an attractive "extra" in wind cave, and not one of the important attractions that give the cave the rank that may have a few equals but no superiors. the first room is scarcely more than twelve feet in either direction and not quite six feet high. the glassy ceiling is thickly studded with small stalactites from two to eighteen inches in length, and mostly of the hollow "pipe stem" variety, from which the surplus drip rests in white masses on the clean floor around a central bowl of good clear water. down the middle of the wall directly opposite the entrance a rushing little white cascade has congealed, and on either side just under the ceiling is a hollowed-out nook closely set with short stalactites and small columns, all pure white. near by but not connected is another room too well filled to permit an entrance, but a portion of the wall having been carried out a satisfactory view is not denied. here the floor rises to within three feet of the ceiling, and the deposit is much heavier, so that many fine columns rise from bases that spread and meet or overlap. if the cave had no greater claim to notice than these small drip rooms, it would still be worthy of a visit. the effort to secure flash-light pictures could only be considered successful because there are none better to be had. the atmosphere of wind cave is marvelously fresh and pure, and possesses in a high degree the invigorating quality which in most caves renders unusual exertion not only possible, but agreeable as well. in all the chambers and passages there is little change in the quality of the air, and thorough tests with a standard thermometer showed the variations on the different levels, from the highest to the lowest, to be about °; but on different days the range was from ° to °. this curious state of affairs some one else will have to explain. the only forms of life ever found in wind cave are a small fly and the mountain rat. while visiting the cave, every one connected with it was most kind and obliging, especially in showing those beautiful and difficult portions that few visitors are so fortunate as to see. while this is very far from being a complete description even of the parts visited, it will serve to show what a truly grand cavern is located at the south end of the black hills. the elevation at hot springs is three thousand, four hundred feet, and that of the entrance to the cave is four thousand and forty feet. a source of disappointment in connection with wind cave is that its fine scenery cannot be effectively pictured. chapter xiii. the onyx caves. northwest of hot springs there is a group of three onyx caves, the distance to them being estimated at from seven to ten miles, if the party does not get lost, which is the usual fate of those who dispense with the service of a driver familiar with the country. in going, the longer way, over the hill-tops, claims a preference on account of distant views with a favorable light. when the onyx cave ranch is reached its scenery is found to be charming, with an ideal log house overlooking the cañon, and itself overlooked by the rising slope of the wooded hill. the entrance to the cave is in the opposite wall of the cañon, and is covered by a small cabin, at the door of which the view demands a pause for admiration; then the party disappears down a narrow, rough, sloping passage of sufficient height for comfort to none but know the value of comparative degrees. it soon appeared, however, that personal comfort would travel only a short distance. the mud increased with every step, and in its midst was a small hole through which it was necessary to pass to the next lower level. this hole being so small and its walls slanting, the only way to accomplish the first half of the descent was to sit down in the mud and slide, stopping half way to examine a fine ledge of beautiful striped onyx, white and a brownish pink, the first outcrop in the cave, but in the next level it is seen in rich abundance and variety; the colors being red, black and white, brown in several shades and pure white. all are handsome and of commercial quality and hardness; and just above them is a ledge of fine blue marble. the next chamber is called the bad lands, on account of a certain resemblance to that desolate region. the way into it is through the devil's corkscrew, a most uninviting passage because it stands on end and is about twelve feet deep with circular, perpendicular walls discouragingly free of prominent irregularities; but careful study reveals a few available crags and rough edges, by which the descent is made. fortunately the party decreased in size just within the entrance. climbing up into a hole in the wall of this room, with no little difficulty, the aerial lake is the reward of a breathless upward struggle, and a satisfying one. the lake is very small, but under its clear surface can be seen numerous growing deposits of calcite, while the roof of onyx gleams with a mass of small white stalactites. returning again to the main route and traveling to the end of a short passage we beheld the entrance to red hall, a piece of rope ladder dangling half way down a perpendicular wall, the other half having no help whatever. the way was clear so far as the length of the ladder, and with trust in the future soon learned in cave work that distance was at once passed, and sitting on the very narrow ledge to cogitate on the possibility of further progress, mr. sidey solved the problem by suggesting, rather doubtfully, that the easiest way would be to drop off and allow him to interrupt the fall. this method had twice proved the only means of advance in wind cave and can be termed rapid transit. the walls of red hall are of stratified limestone variegated with patches of red rock, and clay of the same gay hue. it is the highest chamber in the cave and probably the largest. a hole in the wall at the floor level, near the entrance to the passage beyond, gives a glimpse of the cave river flowing on a slightly lower level, not over two feet below the floor we stand on. the water is said to have a depth of fifteen feet, and a rock thrown in gave back the sound of a splash into water not shallow. entering the passage already referred to, its dimensions decreased to a crawl and then to a squeeze, so that most of its length was taken in a very humble position, which permitted no regard to be paid to the ample mud or little pools of water that must be serenely dragged through as if carrying them away were an agreeable privilege. even a muddy passage ends in time, and at last we gained a standing point and after a short climb were in fairies' palace, a marvel of dainty beauty, and worthy of the distasteful trip just taken. we stood in a narrow passage that divided the small chamber like the central aisle of a cathedral, above which the white roof formed a gothic arch from which depended countless little stalactites and draperies, while on either side, six feet above the passage, was a floor of onyx supporting exquisite columns of which the highest are not more than three feet. only a short distance from the fairies' palace is the almost equally beautiful ethereal hall, and connecting the two i had the pleasure to discover a small arched passage more beautiful than either. [illustration: fairies' palace. page .] although much of the cave was still not visited, the long drive to town demanded a return to the surface, but several stops were made on the way to admire masses of onyx and groups of curious forms in deposits of that fine stone. one high, crooked chimney above the corkscrew is especially fine and correspondingly difficult for a grown person weighted down with garments dripping mud and water; but kimball stone, our boy friend, scampered up like a squirrel. two of the onyx caves had not been seen at all and mr. sidey expressed special regret on account of the latest discovery as no woman had ever yet entered it; but the sun was low in the west and the road had some dangerous points that must be passed before dark, so the reeking skirt was removed and without waiting to dry by the great fire kindled for the purpose we hurried off, promising to return if possible, and carrying treasures in specimens, besides an ancient lemon, which may not be called a fossil, since soft substances are said not to fossilize; but however that may be, this is a perfect lemon whose particles have been replaced with the lasting rock in the same way as the numerous cycad trunks in the same region have been preserved to prove to us conclusively that formerly the region flourished under tropical conditions, and supported an abundant animal life of tropical nature and habits. soon after leaving the ranch, we descended by a sort of goat-trail-road into a grandly beautiful cañon, along the bed of which the road continues until it flows out as the water did in ages gone. by this time it had become quite dark, and the chill of the northwest night formed a combination with saturated clothing that cannot be highly recommended as a pleasure; but the natural chivalry which prompted our young escort to insist on lending his own coat, and his evident disappointment that the sacrifice was not allowed, afforded a pleasure that will continue. the white onyx cave. a few days later it was convenient to return to the onyx cave ranch with the special object of entering the newest cave, which could be done with the assistance of seventy feet of rope. while necessary preparations were pending, a walk up the cañon was proposed. at a distance of perhaps a quarter of a mile above onyx cave evidence was seen of a very remarkable form of ancient life. it is not the usual few bones but is a cast in the rock of the cañon bed of an animal clothed in its flesh. the appearance of the head, neck, body and wings is preserved, but the tail and four limbs have been carried away by eroding waters which even now have not quite forsaken the cañon. the containing stratum is not seen in the cañon wall, and near the lower end of the cañon a fine white sandstone crops out beneath. we ask: "was the cañon cut to its full depth while yet a cretaceous sea was depositing beach-sand, and did the earliest horse, with wings, appear at the close of that period? or, did an animal with fore limbs developed, retain its wings into miocene time and leave record of its life in an arm of the tertiary lake?" the body is that of a horse with wings attached to the shoulders. the head is unlike that of a modern horse, being much shorter and more rounded, but the parted lips give a glimpse of the teeth of a young horse. if only the feet could be found, i feel assured they would prove that the three-toed horse of ancient time, so abundantly in evidence throughout this region, was possessed of wings and in some way furnished the idea of pegasus. a few feet further down the cañon are a pair of twisted wings that show the animal to have perished in company with its mate, while trying to escape from a sudden flood that rushed down the cañon like a moving wall. after some uneasy discussion about the means of entering the new cave, it was finally decided that the available rope was too short and not of sufficient strength. this was, of course, a disappointment but not a surprise, as a very peculiar quality in the rope used to enter caves of this kind had come to notice before. the peculiarity is, that a rope entirely above suspicion for the safety of a two hundred pound man, at once weakens and must be condemned when threatened with one hundred pounds of woman's weight, yet there is an implied compliment hidden somewhere about this protective system that tends to reduce the sting of disappointment. so it was agreed to spend the afternoon in the white onyx cave, which is generally spoken of simply as the upper cave because it occupies a higher level than the onyx cave already described, and is supposed to be an extension of the same although no connecting passage has been discovered. the accompanying friend had not been costumed for caving, but was persuaded to accept a full suit of overalls, which needed the addition of a pick and pipe to make the picture perfect. unfortunately a snap shot failed. the entrance is in a perpendicular portion of the cañon wall, but a narrow path that starts some distance away and appears in eminent danger of falling off, makes most of the ascent comparatively easy; and the balance is completed by a short ladder whose rounds dip toward the cañon bed in a rather alarming manner, but this only proves the folly of giving too much heed to appearances, for it is strong and firmly fastened to the rocks. just within the entrance there is height sufficient for standing, but the roof descends suddenly and the walls come near together, reducing the passage to a crawl, and showing that in past times water poured in at this opening and not out as might be supposed. the first chamber entered is the crystal gallery, but it is so nearly filled with great masses of pure white onyx no standing room remains. drops of water on portions of the onyx ceiling here are the only moisture remaining in this cave. when mac's[ ] head came in contact with the roof he called to the guide: "see here, little boy, you ought to sing out 'low bridge' at that sort o' places, 'cause when i'm busy hunting a spot to set my foot in, i can't see what my head's coming to, and i like to mined a lot o' this rock with it." slowly, and with no danger and less comfort, we creep over, under and between great massive beds of the fine white crystalline rock until at length we enter the ghost chamber where no onyx has been deposited, but where numerous mountain rats have evidently been at home for many years, if we may judge from the enormous quantity of pine needles with which they have carpeted the floor. the walls show small box work crumbling to dust, and ray climbed high into the chimney-like opening above our heads, but reported that it ended suddenly and had no attractions to offer. coming out, the way was somewhat varied, but more difficult, as the passages through the onyx beds were more irregular and more nearly closed; onyx hall being only a fair specimen of the marvelous results achieved here by the persistent regularity of an uninterrupted but slow drip, continued through hundreds of years. [illustration: white onyx masses. page .] [illustration: looking out of white onyx cave. page .] it is surprising that in all these heavy beds there is no line or tint, or slightest trace of color anywhere, while the other onyx cave, so near as to suggest connection, has a gorgeous variety of rich coloring. the view looking out from the entrance of white onyx cave is wonderfully fine, and equally so whether the rain falls or the sun shines, a timely shower giving us an opportunity to enjoy both. before leaving the ranch, a promise was made by mr. sidey to write a short description of the other cave, which he kindly did, and it is here given. he says: "in trailing a deer i came across a hole on top of a long divide. on throwing a rock down the opening, i could hear it rattling against the walls until the sounds gradually died away, but there seemed to be no bottom to the hole, and i resolved to come again prepared and make explorations. after the snow had gone my twelve-year-old son, ray, and i, mounted on our trusty horses, bonnie and dee, equipped with ropes, candles, hammers and a pocketful of matches, set out to explore the new cave. it was a beautiful, bright spring morning, and after an hour's hard climbing over fallen timber and rocks, we reached the summit of the mountain. a search of half an hour revealed the opening which was barely large enough to allow me to pass through. "fastening our ropes securely to a stout log rolled across the chasm, we began to pay it out, and although we did not feel it touch bottom, i started down to explore, the length of the rope at least. as i descended i found the opening gradually widened out to eight or ten feet, a sort of inverted funnel-shaped hole with irregular wall but smooth and affording little footing. as i neared the bottom i saw the end of the rope was within four feet of it, so i landed on terra firma and called to ray, 'all right, come down!' "lighting our candles we found ourselves standing on a mound of pure onyx, and on looking around could see we were in an immense cavern, whose walls sparkled and glittered as if studded with diamonds. going down twenty feet we found a smooth-floored room that measured three hundred feet in length, twenty five feet in width, and thirty feet in height. the walls were solid white onyx lined or banded with pink and golden stripes. the ceiling was arched, and draped in fantastic shapes, and hung with stalactites innumerable. the room was so large and the drapery and festooning so delicate and beautiful, that we were filled with awe and could not speak for a time. "at last we started to further explore this wonderland. on going to the farther end of the room we found a passage leading on. this we followed for a hundred feet and found the whole cavern lined with onyx and crystals clear as glass. after loading up with specimens we retraced our steps and on reaching the large room we had first entered we heard a roaring, rumbling noise. an awful noise truly, which filled us with an unknown dread. "on approaching the entrance we saw a stream of water pouring down, completely filling the hole. "for a moment we felt like rats caught in a trap, our only way of egress occupied by a stream of water falling straight down seventy feet, and then we wondered how long it would take to fill up the room. "suddenly the thought that there might be an outlet for the water gave us new hope, so we went to see and sure enough we found a natural water-course down through an opening we had overlooked. we gathered up courage once more, and thought the best thing would be something to occupy our time. so we set to work getting out more specimens and in a couple of hours the water stopped running and we were ourselves once more. "ray grasped the rope, which was soaking wet, and went up the seventy feet, hand over hand, like a cat. i, being heavier, found it quite different from going down. the rope played whip-cracker with me for some time and before reaching the top i was covered with bruises. but daylight never appeared so beautiful before. "here we found the cause of so much water. a cloud-burst had occurred on the divide and a large portion of it had poured down the passage way to the cave. "we found our horses patiently waiting for us and night closing in. mounting we rode rapidly home, resolved never to venture into this cave again without leaving some one at the entrance to give warning in case of danger. "john f. sidey." the first specimen taken out was given to us on our first visit to the ranch, and is pure white with a stripe of brilliant golden yellow. having been invited to give a name to this new find it seems quite proper after reading the description of the deluge and seeing the bright bands of color, and considering the hopeful promise of future possibilities, to call it the rainbow cave. footnotes: [ ] colored driver. chapter xiv. crystal cave. south dakota can boast of yet another cave in the black hills that was formed by volcanic disturbance of the rocks and afterwards decorated in a manner peculiar to itself. this is crystal cave. it is nine miles from piedmont in the eastern edge of the hills, and easily visited from that point by way of the narrow-gauge road, which winds along the natural curves of the beautiful elk creek cañon, whose walls are said to expose a depth of almost a mile of geological strata, although the exposure at any one point does not exceed three hundred feet. the disappointment of not having seen this cave during the summer visit to the hills grew as the weeks passed, and a request that the owner should send a description was answered with an assurance that it was impossible. therefore, on friday, november th, , with a small nephew, herbert a. owen, jr., for company, the trip was undertaken a second time to complete the unfinished mission. the first glimpse of the hills is at edgemont in the early morning, but the train makes its way to the north through the heart of the uplift, twisting about the curves of the hills and clinging to the sides of a beautiful cañon whose high walls give way here and there to fine slopes densely covered with forests of pine and spruce. these look black in the distance and suggested the name of black hills to the indians, who always have a reason for the names they give even to their children. there are great tracts where fire has killed part or all of the timber but left much of it standing, while in other places nature has defied the power of fire and the hills are re-clothed with young trees. a recent storm had further beautified the region with a few inches of snow, but as the day advanced a chinook began to blow so that when deadwood was reached, soon after noon, only the northern exposures retained an appearance of winter. deadwood is a most peculiar little city and very attractive in its peculiarity, being crowded snugly into a depression between a number of steep pine-wooded hills, which gives an appearance suggestive of a bird's nest securely located among the forks of a branching tree, and as is the case in a nest, business is chiefly transacted at the lowest depth of the enclosure. as the busy center of a great gold-mining region, the metropolis of the hills, and the outgrowth of an exciting historical past, it claims and receives interesting attention. and while the whole black hills region is still distinctly a man's country, it is called woman's paradise, and surely nowhere else are the daughters of eve received with a more gracious courtesy or surrounded by an equally unobtrusive protecting care. [illustration: approaching deadwood. page .] the streets leading up to the residences lack very little of standing on end, and the houses appear to have been hung in place by means of hooks and wire cord like pictures on a wall. the smelter has no reception day but admits visitors as if their pleasure were a guarantee of profit. the finest scenery in the hills is said to be that of the spearfish cañon, north of deadwood, and the finest of that at the falls, but this may be doubtful as other points are very beautiful, especially where the burlington & missouri road requires a distance of seven miles to climb the cañon wall. piedmont being the nearest town to crystal cave, we took the early evening train on the elk horn road and soon were located, and shocked to learn that the proprietor of the cave had started several days before to drive to wind cave for specimens. the cave was closed and no one there. the trip had been taken for the one purpose of exploring crystal cave, and a letter sent in advance to announce our coming, but the train carrying it was an hour late so he drove off without the mail. there seemed at first nothing to be done but take the next returning train, which, under the circumstances, was objectionable. a night's rest and a telegram that had to be sent twelve miles by special messenger, improved the situation. the proprietor was unavoidably detained at wind cave, but secured a reliable guide, expressed me the cave keys, and has since married the "specimen" he had gone in quest of. may great happiness dwell at the cave many years! the morning of the third day after our arrival found arrangements all complete, and soon after the train left piedmont it entered elk creek cañon, which is always beautiful, but on that morning was exceptionally so on account of a sudden change in the weather having covered every visible portion of the passing landscape with heavy frost. the trees on distant hills that ordinarily are black, were, for once, all softly white, and when the tall pines in the cañon were shaken by a breeze, they cast a shower of flakes like snow. here the cañon walls are in carboniferous limestone with a pleasing variety of color in the strata, and the erosion-carving not overdone, the most notable piece being the knife-blade. this, at first view, appears to be a high, round tower, but the train following the curve, reveals the fact that it is not a tower, but a thin, curved knife-blade. the sun just for one instant shone through a rift in the clouds, and added special charm to the scene. [illustration: the knife-blade. page .] a short distance beyond is crystal cave station, where the guide was waiting to take us in charge. he is an intelligent young man who has served an enlistment term in the army, is recently married, very obliging, and proud of being trustworthy. the scenery here is most beautiful as well as grand. the cañon makes a sharp turn toward the south, and on the north opens out into another cañon of even greater beauty and higher walls, the perpendicular being three hundred feet in places. crystal cave is in the hill embraced by the junction curve. the natural entrance is more than two hundred feet above the cañon bed and was naturally approached from above. a short walk up the north cañon, whose name has unfortunately slipped away, was over ice and snow the chinook had failed to reach, and brought us to a long stairway against the wall, which affords a more direct approach than nature gave and is a fair test of physical perfection. finally a resting place is reached where the grandeur of the view can be enjoyed; and then a shorter stairway completes the ascent of the wall, but not of the hill, so there is still a considerable upward walk through the forest of tall pines all carpeted with brilliant mats of kinnikinic with its shining leaves, glowing in shades of green and red, trying to rival the bright scarlet berries. the kinnikinic here resembles the wintergreen of the east, while in the mountains in colorado it grows in the form of a shrub two to three feet in height, but with no variation in the leaf or berry. at last perserverance is rewarded with a view of the cave buildings and the summit of the hill rising yet higher beyond, and tall, straight pines swaying in the rising wind over all. one of the two houses was entered and preparations quickly made for entering the cave, the artificial tunnel entrance being only a little distance further on. the door was unlocked, candle-sticks taken from a shelf within, candles from the guide's supply lighted, and we went forward at last, into crystal cave. at the end of the new tunnel, a second door was passed through, which is locked on the inside during the visiting season by the last guide to enter, in order that no chance late arrival may enter alone and be lost. the first room is a small one at the junction of the natural and artificial entrances, from which we go upstairs to the resting room, in the highest level of the cave, and perfectly dry but otherwise of no special interest. after a short rest here we went down stairs at the side opposite that on which we entered, into a passage leading to the cave's first beauty, the red room. as the name indicates, the walls are vividly colored and represent the uncertain line which separates the carboniferous strata from the triassic rocks. the color is handsomely brought out here in contrast with masses of calcite crystal, so as to present by the combination a charmingly beautiful room, from which we retired, feet first, down a "squeeze" to the bridal chamber, where we found ourselves perched on an irregular narrow ledge, high up on the wall, and cherishing a private conviction that exploration had met a checkmate; but the guide reached the floor and my nephew, herbert, scrambled down with as much ease as the chipmunk he had chased to the house top a while before; so a little application settled the difficulty and re-united the party. the room is an artistic study in red, and the only reason for its being called the bridal chamber is that the way out is decidedly more rough and difficult than that by which the entrance is effected; this, however, is an observation not based on official information. off to one side of this room is lost man's paradise, also in red and crystal, named in honor of the timely rescue of one who had faced the possibility of becoming a lost soul. another fat man's misery, on a lower level, leads from the bridal chamber to the big dome, a large room with a fine dome-shaped ceiling from which heavy masses of crystals have fallen to the floor; and down a steep incline from here is reef rock, an immense fallen rock with box work on the under side, which at one time served to ornament the ceiling; and now this rock marks the beginning of poverty flat, a broad, low passage of great extent, that has been robbed of all its wonderful treasure of crystal and ends in a steep, rough declivity named bunker hill by the guides who dreaded to mount it when going out loaded with specimens. at the foot of the hill is a bowlder of enormous size and with a pointed top, known as pyramid rock and giving the same name to the large room in which it stands. every portion of crystal cave has at one time been heavily crusted with calcite crystals, mainly of the dog-tooth variety, and any barren places are so either because the surface has been removed for specimens, or thrown down by the violence of an earthquake. but where the latter has been the cause of removal, the crystals have in most cases been renewed, which is amply evidenced by the fallen masses being crystallized on all sides; and these as well as most of the walls, are not covered thinly with one crust, but layer has been added to layer until the thickness is four to ten inches and often more. the ceilings that have been denuded by nature's forces during the same early period when water filled the cave were also renewed. from the pyramid room a narrow fissure forms a passage to the cactus chamber, where there is a marvelous floor on which the crystals are in bunches like cacti, and the beautiful ceiling is the finest and most irregular unbroken mass of crystal yet seen. passing through a round hole known as the needle's eye, we enter statuary hall, where the latest inrush of water has eroded the sharp points from the crystals, leaving only smooth surfaces, and at the same time done much curious carving, the most conspicuous pieces of this work being a bear and the heads of an indian and his baby. out from the hall are two important routes, one down the steep incline of beaver's slide to the catacombs, and another, which we followed first, is through rocky run, a rough and rocky pass, to a large and handsomely crystallized chamber called the i.x.l. room, on account of those three letters, over twelve inches in height, being distinctly and conspicuously worked in crystal on a magnificent piece of box work that would weigh nearly half a ton, for which an offer of five hundred dollars is said to have been refused. the next chamber beyond is tilotson hall, very large and extremely rough, and named in honor of a teacher from the normal school, who delivered an address here that gave much pleasure to both visitors and guides. the way to farther advance is now more difficult and through a jagged crevice of threatening appearance, but the trip is made in safety and with comparative ease, and brings us into notre dame, one of the largest chambers in the cave and perhaps the finest, although where so much is fine that may be uncertain. the display of box work and crystal is sufficiently gorgeous to do honor to the famous old cathedral of france, the ceiling especially being a masterpiece of the builder's and decorator's arts; but the grandest portion, which a visitor recently returned from foreign travel called the russian castle, on account of the magnificence of the large box work and pearly crystal masses, should rather be known as the great cathedral's crowning glory, the altar. another large room, the handsome council chamber, is entered just as that altar of pearl is lost to view; and from there an up-hill trip is taken through a narrow crevice to whale flat, which is the natural history room, with a large whale as the show specimen. going out from here we enter another crevice which serves as a steep stairway descending to a lower level, and measures from top to bottom one hundred and eighteen feet. this is called rip van winkle's stairway, and although merely a high and crooked crack in the rock, is very beautiful because heavily coated with crystal, the effect being especially striking at the top where the crystal is partly worn away and leaves exposed patches of red rock. at the foot of the stairway is the first room containing water, and is called the gypsy camp. it is the most charming chamber yet visited, with not the smallest spot of plain or common rock visible. the ceiling, walls, floor, and groups of fallen rocks, are all unbroken masses of pearly calcite in crystals of varied sizes, with here and there a patch coated over with pure white carbonate of lime, or supporting a bunch of fragile egg-shell, which is a thin, hollow crust of lime carbonate, almost invariably having the pointed form of the dog-tooth spar. and there are also beautiful mats and banks of dainty white carbonate flowers. while waiting here for the guide to go in quest of the lunch we had carelessly left behind, the time was utilized in measuring the room, which is a small one. the size of the cave and our limited time for seeing it, prevented much-desired measurements from being taken in all parts of the cave. this room was found to be forty-eight feet long, the irregular width varied from fourteen to thirty feet and the height from four and one-half to ten feet. the crystal water basin is especially beautiful and the water so clear that we stood looking into it with disappointment, being thirsty and thinking it dry, until the guide laughingly dipped and offered a cupful. the basin is the segment of a circle rounding beneath a massive, overhanging crystal ledge of wonderful beauty, and is nine feet long by two in width. this room and the stairway into it are alone worthy of a visit, but there is much that is finer still. out of gypsy camp by way of gunny sack crawl, so named by the workmen who spread gunny sacks to relieve the torture of crawling over the beautiful floor of sharp crystals, we enter the first chamber, where active operation is still maintained and certain branches of the great decorative industry of the cave may be carefully studied. this operative chamber, which is unnamed, would no doubt be called a factory in the east, but in its own locality would more likely be referred to as the works. the next chamber entered is crystal flat, whose floor is completely covered with immense crystal blocks, and the wonderful crystal ceiling is exceedingly fine. but time being limited we must pass on into the lake room, where is crystal lake, the largest body of water in the cave. it is about thirty feet long by fifteen wide and its greatest depth is said to be ten feet. the water is cold and clear, and the gold fish introduced as an experiment three years ago are said to have grown rapidly but not yet turned white, and are not known to have become blind. [illustration: the bridal veil. page .] at some little distance from crystal lake, and not within the same range of vision, although in the same room, is dry lake, which to the surprise of the guide we found to be not dry, but full of limpid water through which we could distinctly see the delicate clusters of crystals it is depositing. they are of a pale honey yellow and are called gum-drops on account of the resemblance to that variety of confection. the name dry lake was given because in blasting out a passage a misdirected shot went through the bottom of the lake, which in consequence was soon drained; but the heavily charged water has sealed up the unfortunate break, and resumed its interrupted work. the ceiling drops to a height of little more than three feet directly above the lake margin, and is a beautiful crystal mass, which at a little distance down the sloping floor appears as the background for a fine piece of cave statuary called the bridal veil, and formed of cream-tinted dripstone. not a great deal of imagination is required to see a slender girlish figure completely enveloped in the flowing folds of a wedding veil that falls lightly about her feet. the figure itself is three feet ten inches in height and stands on an almost flat circular base of the same material, that measures nine inches in depth and two feet eight inches in diameter. at times the water rises sufficiently to cover the base, in proof of which it left a fringe-like border of small sharp crystals, such as could be formed only beneath the water's surface. most of this border has, unfortunately, been chiseled off for specimens, but will be renewed in time if left undisturbed; and that condition can easily be secured with a few feet of wire netting. to one side of this room is a most daintily beautiful alcove so profusely decorated with fragile forms of dripstone that a passage through it without causing damage is extremely difficult. this alcove is about twenty-five feet in either direction, with a sloping floor almost covered with stalagmitic growths above the earlier deposit of sharp crystals, and many of these rise in slender columns to the glass-like ceiling, which varies in height from three to six feet and is thickly studded with small stalactites of both varieties--the pointed, solid form, and those of uniform size, which are always hollow like a pipe stem. the central ornament is the chimes, a musical group of stalactites which is scarcely more beautiful than cleopatra's needle, at a distance of a few feet to one side, a transparent column four feet in height and having an average circumference of seventeen inches. [illustration: the chimes. page .] [illustration: the needle. page .] [illustration: tower of babel. page .] the abode of the fairies is a similar, though smaller room, with the tower of babel for a handsome show-piece. while this portion of the cave is extremely attractive, the measurements given show that in comparison with caves of other states the drip deposit here is too small to be reckoned an important feature in itself, but in conjunction with the miles of calc-spar that give the cave a character distinctly its own, it well repays all attention. leaving lake room we enter a newly opened, long, dry passage to slab room, where a comparatively recent earthquake has shaken down the ornamental ceiling and spread it in great slabs over the floor; and having since remained perfectly dry it has the appearance of being the work of yesterday. this room is remembered as the one in which a party of workers were lost, and one of their number gave a severe nervous shock to the junior proprietor by suggesting that as he was acting as guide and unable to lead them out, it was only right that he should be the first victim to satisfy their hunger. a rescuing party with extinguished candles was listening behind a rock to the blood-curdling speech, and came forward to restore cheerfulness. a long, irregular, frosty looking crevice called jack frost streak, conducts us from slab room and ends at mold ladder, on which we pause to admire a wonderful growth of snow-white cave vegetation, before ascending into santa claus' pass, the longest passage in the cave. it is a rough crevice named from the fact of being discovered on christmas eve, and ends at the government room on the main tourist route where a u.s. pack saddle and apparently portable bath tub are conspicuous. next beyond is a very large room named new zealand, on account or its icy appearance and the undisputed possession of a seal. this room in turn opens into mold chamber, where an old board platform, formerly used for the display of specimens, has fostered the most marvelously beautiful growth of mold: it hangs in ropes five and six feet long, with tasseled ends, and in broad, looped draperies; but is most beautiful where it has taken possession of the rocks and spreads out on the flat surface like large open fans, with deep, soft feather borders. having been in the cave eight hours, we now followed the outward passage from mold chamber and soon reached an open trap door where the guide suggested to herbert that he would be afraid to go down alone and allow him to close the door; but the child surprised him by quietly stepping down and then asking why he wished it, only to be told "because we are coming too." which we did and found ourselves in the main entrance passage, and in due time returned to the outer world where a terrific wind was roaring through the tall pines and the early winter evening had already closed in dark. the guide locked the cave, walked with us to the house where he lighted a lamp and left us to prepare for the return to town; but the lamp, belonging to a bachelor, was empty, so we made our preparations in imitation of the blind. on the guide's return he lighted a candle, but suggested that twenty minutes were generally allowed for reaching the station. the house was accordingly closed and as we walked down the long, curving slope to the stairway, he told of a new and unknown bob-tailed wolf that has recently made its first appearance among the hills in considerable numbers and to the terror of stock. it attacks and bites horses or cattle, and after waiting for the fatal poison inflicted to take effect, falls to and eats the victim. the uncovered platform which serves as a station being reached a few minutes before the train arrived, i expressed an unwillingness to detain our guide longer on account of his having a walk of four and a half miles to his home; but he declined to consider the subject; saying he had been directed not to leave us until we were taken safely on the train, which came sweeping round the curve on time and stopped for us. chapter xv. crystal cave concluded. according to agreement the guide again met us at the station on the following morning, for another day in the cave, which we entered with no unnecessary loss of time, and hurrying through the main entrance passage, government room and statuary hall, went down beaver slide, which, on the previous day, we had passed to enter rocky run. our descent into the crevice took us past those portions known as suspension bridge and rebecca's well, and over some very "rough country" to the most wonderful parts of the cave. numerous passages open out in various directions; one to rooms of frost work of great beauty; another to the ribbon room where the drip deposits on the walls are in ribbon-like stripes of red, yellow, and white, while others yet are ways to the catacombs. and it is the catacombs we particularly wish to see, as they most perfectly represent the individual character of the cave and have, as yet, received no injury from either time or man; but is a region as difficult to travel as the way of the transgressor, and many miles can be traversed with no prospect of coming to the end. but where locomotion is so slow and painful, the owner of a pedometer would find that instrument a discouraging companion and soon learn better than to consult its record publicly. the catacombs are a series of connected fissures and small crevices in which every inch of exposed surface is covered with clear, translucent, almost transparent, calcite crystals, neither coated with lime nor stained with clay; nor even is the pearly lustre dimmed with the slightest trace of dust. the crystals are very sharp and of all sizes, ranging from half an inch to three and a half inches in length, the larger sizes being conspicuously abundant. the entire region is an enormously large, perfectly formed, and undamaged geode. in reality, the whole cave is a great cluster of connected geodes, and a similar work probably does not exist, but if it does, has never been discovered. the fissures from which it is formed were opened by volcanic violence and then enlarged, and afterwards decorated by the varied power of water, in action or repose. when the storms toward the close of the tertiary period suddenly overwhelmed with floods the dense growth of tropical vegetation and multitudinous animal life in the northwest, the waters necessarily became heavily charged with the naturally resulting carbonic acid gas, and this, acting on the limestone rocks, would decompose them, leaving a residual clay and taking the chief portions of the mineral components in solution, to be afterwards deposited according to circumstances and conditions; and these are indicated by the various results found in wind cave, crystal cave, the onyx caves and the bad lands. the latter being previous to that time by no means "bad," but richly luxuriant in tropical vegetation, which gave shelter from the heat to great numbers of curious animals. some approximate idea of the extreme age of these caves may be gained from the fact that bones of a three-toed horse have been discovered in a chamber of crystal cave that must be practically unchanged since the remains were carried in from the outside, as otherwise they would have been buried beneath the fallen masses of crystal covered rock with which the entire floor is cumbered. and yet this room is so remote from any present connection with the outer world that it is impossible for their introduction to have taken place in recent times. in the beautiful catacombs progress is as slow as in a cactus thicket or a blackberry patch. the crevices lack none of the usual crevice irregularities; high places must be mounted or descended, chasms crossed and narrow passages crawled through, while extra caution must be exercised to avoid striking the head or making a misstep that might result in a fall. the hands are in constant use and soon become so sensitive that holding a soft handkerchief gives infinite relief; but the worst experience is the "crawls" where only the soles of the feet, being temporarily turned up, seem safe from the savage treatment of the sharp calcite dog-teeth. the worst crawl encountered was a small one having a downward slope with a jump-off at the end which necessitated its being taken feet first. fortunately it was short. but in no place do the difficulties outweigh the pleasure of beholding scenes of such beauty, or suggest regret for the time, torn garments, and personal exertion required for its enjoyment. in many portions of the cave the surface layer of crystals has had the points worn away by the action of water, later than that in which they were formed; but in the catacombs and other extensive regions as well, the finished work of crystallization is preserved in an absolutely perfect condition. and everywhere the largest crystals are on the under side of a projection or the roof of a cavity. as the day was passing far too rapidly and many points of special interest yet remained unseen, we turned with reluctance from the beauty and relief from the hardships of exploration in the catacombs, and made our way over a crevice into santa claus' pass, which was traversed for a considerable distance and then abandoned for a low crawl terminating at the senate chamber. this is a large room extending to poverty flat, and is brilliantly red and purely white, most of the crystal presenting a smooth surface. under the senate chamber there is said to be some fine box work which we had no time to visit. the name of this chamber was given by a visiting party composed of members of both houses of congress. a smaller room, which is really an extension of the senate chamber, has handsome walls of white and red box work on account of which the same distinguished party called it the senate post-office. from here a difficult crawl, through red rock, well-worn by the action of water, leads to the starr chamber, another large room in white and red, and named by senator starr of south dakota. opening out from the last room is a curious, dangerous looking, narrow, crevice-chamber known as suicide room on account of the threatening appearance of over-hanging rocks, some of which have at times fallen in great masses of various sizes to form an irregular floor; and a descent of this is necessary in order to reach a short and extremely rough crawl, beautifully and painfully decorated with sharp crystals above and below and on the sides. from this we emerge into rainy chamber, an elliptical room not less than two hundred feet long by one hundred feet wide, with a tent-like ceiling rising high in the center and sloping down to meet the floor, which also slopes irregularly toward a deep central depression, giving the room a greater height than any other visited. the high points are generally seen in the narrow crevices, while the rooms of generous length and breadth are usually low, many of the largest having an average of five feet or even less. although there is frequent intersection of crevices, and each chamber has passages leading out on every side, the general direction of the cave is said to be northwest-southeast. rainy chamber is named from the fact that during the early months of summer water falls constantly in the form of a light shower; but it drips at all times, and in consequence there is an opportunity to study the active process of formation of one of the deposits which is very abundant in wind cave and considered the most perplexing. this is the pop-corn, and the theories of its origin have been steadily rejected at wind cave because of a doubt being entertained as to whether it has been deposited under water or by drippings. here in rainy chamber it is fully explained. near the center of the room the fallen masses are heavily crystallized, much of the groundwork being fine box work and the crystals in perfect condition. on these crystals the pop-corn is being formed, and specimens can be seen in all stages of development, from the beginning to an approximate degree of finish; and whatever the position it occupies on the receiving surface, either on top, underneath, or on a side exposure, it always maintains the same relative position as growing plants on the mundane sphere. the water falling on the upper surface in scattering drops forms myriads of minute stalagmites; on side positions the falling drop first strikes the point exposed to its line of descent and then spreads. the scant moisture slowly makes its way down sloping sides and shelving edges, leaving on each small irregularity a tiny portion of its volume, to deposit an infinitely small charge of solid substance, and the balance finally hangs in moisture less than drops on the growing grains of the under surface. pop-corn, therefore, is the globular aragonite of the stalagmitic variety. a small specimen from rainy chamber, placed beside one of the same color from wind cave, shows them to be absolutely alike. rainy chamber is the room in which the bones of the three-toed horse, already referred to, were found, but their presence has not yet been explained; therefore the case is open to conjecture and several theories may be advanced and their values considered. the first question when such a discovery is made, is whether the living animal was possibly a cave-dweller; which, as the horse was not, is quickly disposed of and attention turned to the next, the possibility of a carniverous animal having carried his prey into the dark recesses of the cave in order that the enjoyment of his dinner might be undisturbed. this theory is equally unavailable by reason of the topographical features presented. if the present natural entrance to the cave were the only way into this room from the outside, the distance was too great and beset with many difficulties; besides which the final passage is too small to admit an animal of sufficient size to carry any considerable portion of even a very small horse. but if at that period the room had direct communication with the outside through an opening since closed, the shape of the walls indicate that it must have been a pot-hole in the roof, and through this an animal could have entered by falling, which the horse and others may have done. but it seems most probable that the remains were carried in by the water through such a hole before it was closed at the beginning of the quaternary period, when the erosion of the hills was most active. rainy chamber also contains a large and beautiful assortment of the small polished and coated pebbles called cave pearls. the guide being anxious that we should not fail to see the niagara room, we now turned toward a low, broad opening in the wall, a short distance to the right of the entrance, where the rising floor and descending ceiling, failing to meet, had overlapped; so we made our way up a steep, smooth bank, and then down on the other side over a broken, rocky surface for a distance of about twenty feet, when the roof at last joined the floor and two small water-worn holes at the point of junction revealed an untempting passage within. the broader of these holes was three feet, but too low to be considered an entrance; the other was round but certainly not so large as our guide, who was preparing to enter it with doubts of his ability to make the trip, on account of having increased in size since his one entrance there, on which occasion two smaller guides pulled him through the tightest places. carefully comparing his size with that of the hole he sat beside, there was no possibility of doubt that if the attempt were made he would stick fast, and that would place our little party in dire straits. consequently i insisted that it should not be, but he was unwilling that niagara should be missed when so near. finally i positively refused to go unless he would consent to give us instructions and remain where he was while we went without him, to which he at last yielded with extreme unwillingness. he had frequently shown us the guide's marks, and now earnestly cautioned me to advance only as they point, and turn back if they should fail. the small nephew went on a reconnoitering expedition to the end of the passage, and reported that the jump-off there was higher than himself but he could get down. i now crawled through the hole and found the passage to be a "crawl" or rather a "sprawl," from fifteen to eighteen inches high, but having an ample width varying from three to six feet. the smooth, straight floor has a steep downward inclination and is thickly covered with dust. having reached the widest portion, which is near the end, herbert directed me to turn, so as to come down the jump-off feet first, where there was a little difficulty in landing, as the perpendicular wall, which proved to be almost five feet high, offered only one projecting help, and that within a few inches of the base; but in obedience to his advice to "reach one foot a little farther down and then drop," i advanced the right one, to be told not that, but the other, and was soon down where it was possible to observe with interest that the right foot had been swinging above an open fissure. we stood in a wide crevice running at right angles to the obnoxious passage we had just quit, and immediately found a guide's mark on a large rock, and others followed at intervals of a few feet over extremely "rough country" as the guides say. everywhere the work of water was apparent, not in the crystal deposits of still water as in other portions of the cave, but the erosion due to its rushing through. carefully following the marks, they led into a cross-crevice that took us under rainy chamber, and ends there by widening into a circular chamber of about fifty feet width in either direction, and rising to a height of nearly fifty feet in a fine dome. down the wall from near the top of the dome there appears to flow a beautiful waterfall showing a variety of colors in the straight lines, as if from refraction. the fall is, of course, dripstone, and i knew we had found niagara, although we had gone beyond the reach of the guide's voice almost at the start. a huge rock directly under the dome has received the falling drip until it represents a mountain cataract. these deposits testify to the great age of the chamber they adorn, as they were necessarily not commenced until all heavy flow ceased, and in crystal cave the accumulation of dripstone is so slow that it is said six years' observation can detect no increase whatever. several small passages at the floor level gave exit to the great volume of water that evidently at one time entered this crevice, from rainy chamber, by the route we followed, and being checked in its course the lower end of the crevice became filled, under pressure; and the low position of the outlets gave this water a whirling motion that in time excavated the dome-shaped room. no part of crystal cave has ever been occupied by a river, but its fissures, opened by the violence of earth movements accompanying nearby volcanic disturbances, have been filled more than once by the inrush of waters which repeatedly submerged the whole black hills region. following again the marks which guided us into niagara room, we soon came within hailing distance of a voice expressive of profound relief; and as we crawled up the sloping passage, over-heated and breathless with the exertion, the guide assured us he was most truly thankful to see us again, as he had never in his life experienced so severe a scare as since it had occurred to him that we had gone beyond the limits of communication without a single match. he also said i had been where no lady had ever gone before, and took satisfaction in the fact that many men have refused to make the venture with a guide. leaving this portion of the cave, by returning as we came, through suicide room, starr chamber, and senate chamber, we crawled along the rocks overhanging a narrow fissure, to reach a ladder at the end, by which we descended to another part of the catacombs. here, after traveling a long distance over uneven floors covered with sharp crystals, as were all surfaces, through large, low rooms, and narrow, crooked passages, constantly assisting the difficult advance with our hands, like monkeys, we finally came to the grotto, which is probably the most remarkable room in this very remarkable cave. it is a large room, with much of the irregular ceiling so low that even the small nephew struck his head severely while turning to warn me, as he often did, of threatening inequalities in the floor and light them with his own candle. the crystals here are exceptionally fine, being very sharp and of unusual size, besides many of them being double--that is, pointed at both ends. through this beautiful ceiling there is a percolating drip adding stalactites to the crystal-points and piling stalagmites on the crystal masses below, varying this with imitation cascades, mats of small flowers, and masses of pop-corn. off to one side in a kind of recess there is a depression in the crystal floor filled with clear, cold water. a glance at the time now showed us to be in danger of failure to meet the train to town, and consequently, tired as we were after nine hours of rough travel and much climbing, it was necessary to make our way out with more speed than comfort, and we found the weather turning very cold. the cave was carefully locked, preparations for the train hurriedly made, the house closed, and as we left it the train could be heard coming down the cañon, but we arrived at the station first, though breathless, and a few minutes later were in piedmont, too tired to properly enjoy a hot venison supper. as to the size of crystal cave, it is impossible to make any positive statement; for as mr. mcbride, the proprietor, says, no survey has yet been made. other persons said that thirty-six miles is the greatest claim made for the combined length of all passages, and sixteen miles the least, so it may be wise to accept the lesser number until a survey proves it wrong. the box work in crystal cave is not of such great abundance as to demand special attention, but is very beautiful, and one variety deserves particular mention. these boxes have been formed in dark red sandstone, and after being emptied of their original contents, have been completely filled with colorless calcite crystals, and over this is spread an outer surface of the same crystals tinted a brilliant flame color by red paint-clay having been taken in solution by the crystal forming waters. a specimen of this was a temptation too great to be resisted even in the owner's absence. some of the box work is of such size that a single box may have a capacity equal to that of a bushel measure, but it is less beautiful than the smaller forms. on the following morning we left piedmont, and having a desire for greater personal knowledge of the hills, took the same train which had taken us to the cave, and traveled to its western terminus, lead city. the interesting scenery makes this a desirable trip for any one visiting the hills, but its beauty is chiefly massed at the ends, the middle distance being over gradually rising ground, which is without a counterpart of the rocky cañon left behind or more than a suggestion of the high hills yet to come. the special charm of this portion was the magnificent pine forest which covered it until three years ago, when it was swept by a terrible fire, from which the settlers escaped with only their lives; and even that would have been impossible if the railroad company had not kept refuge trains waiting for them just ahead of the flames. the prominent geological feature here is the porphyry dikes, which are becoming more numerous and more prominent, and in many places resemble a conspicuous group near harney peak, called the needles. these dykes are of special interest in connection with a study of the caves, since they are probably of simultaneous origin. the same volcanic movements that caused the violent upheaval of the whole region, and thrust up molten masses through the strata to form a central core to the hills, must also have rent the nearby regions with fissures through which probably much gas escaped, and having been further opened and then adorned, now demand our attention as caves of unique and curious beauty. the approach to lead is over the hill-tops with a magnificent distant view, and the first glimpses of that young city famous for having as a center the homestake mine, the largest gold mine in the world, are charming. it is situated far down in a valley among the high hills and spreads some distance up the surrounding slopes. the works of the great mine are wonderful, and visitors welcome to examine whatever they find interesting; any questions they wish to ask are graciously answered, although every one is busy. this is not a special favor to the exceptional few, but the courtesy shown to all. visitors are also welcome to descend into the mine, but as an attendant is necessary on account of dangers to be avoided, a permit must be obtained at the office. several other caves have been discovered in the black hills, the largest of which is the davenport cave at sturgis. very little exploration has yet been done in it, but indications are said to be that it will take rank among the large ones. at galena, a new mining town of golden promise, there is reported to be an ice cave, where ice forms at all seasons, and during the warm weather is a source of comfort and pleasure to the miners. in the evening, as train time for continuing the homeward journey approached, the snow storm which began gently early in the afternoon, grew steadily more severe. a carriage to the depot was not to be had, as every vehicle in town had gone to the funeral of an old-timer in the hills and the return delayed by the storm. the situation could not be regarded as a special pleasure, but cave hunters learn to accept whatever is and be thankful for the general average. at the last moment, however, a team was driven up and permission given us to make use of it. it proved to be the private conveyance of the hotel proprietor, and the young boy who accompanied us, his son. our train was on time, and the ride through the hills to their southern limit, in the falling snow, was wonderfully beautiful; but the storm continued for many days and was one of the most severe on record. those persons who have been so unfortunate as to permit themselves to accept a ready made opinion of dangers and roughness to be met with in the more newly settled regions, might find a tour of the hills doubly interesting by making a supplementary study of "the living age," which cannot be so correctly viewed from a distance as is sometimes supposed, since the specimens exhibited are not always a true average of the strata they are supposed to represent. chapter xvi. conclusion. after a visit to the marvelous caverns of the black hills, much may be added to the pleasure already enjoyed, through the explanatory activity of the yellowstone national park, where even the wonderful combinations of beauty and grandeur are by no means the full measure of attraction and charm. here is found evidence to verify theories concerning the caves, and those theories in turn contribute in no small degree to a satisfactory understanding of the mysteries of geyser action. for scientific study the two regions should be taken together, since the natural conditions are practically the same, and the chief difference lies in the stages of development; the present of the park explaining the recent past of the hills, while the present of the hills foretells the future of the park. it seems that nature, with a full appreciation of the limits and restrictions binding our powers to penetrate certain secrets of an intermittent force, has in this great western country carefully prepared what might quite properly be termed a progressive course of study, wherein each locality makes plain a special point that somewhere else appears obscure. as has been said in the preceding chapters, the two great caves in the black hills of south dakota cannot be accounted for by the same methods as are recognized as being responsible for the slow excavation of the best known caves of the united states. although there is every indication that both these caves have been subject to the action of enormous volumes of water, there is equally positive evidence that neither was ever the scene of a flowing cave-river. the lowest levels in both show the narrowest fissures and the heaviest deposits of crystal, by which we infer that the water was held in confinement here, while all the higher passages or channels bear witness to the water's flow. but many of these channels in crystal cave, or indeed we might say, most of them, present an unmistakable record of the gauge of the water stage at different periods. during the earlier time, when the volume of water and consequent pressure were greatest, frictional motion must have been limited to the main channel connecting with the vent, and the high gauge of water maintained a fairly uniform degree of heat near its surface. in consequence of these conditions geyser action, probably, was constant, and chemical activity was such that great chambers were formed and then decorated, as already described, with wonderful masses of crystal. as the water gauge receded to lower levels the higher chambers became storage basins for water and steam forced up by the pressure from below, and the time required for these to fill and accumulate sufficient pressure to continue the ejectment, formed the periods between eruptions after the geyser became intermittent. it was during this stage that the sharp crystals in many of the channels, now called passages, were worn down to smooth surfaces; and later, when water occupied only the lowest level, and the great geyser had become reduced to merely a steam vent, the channels immediately connecting with that level were in their turn subjected to the same smoothing process, and then all action ceased. as no two of the glorious geysers of the yellowstone park are alike, neither do the two great caves of the hills indicate that they should be so. the vent-tubing of each is quite unlike that of the other in all the essential governing points of length, size, shape, angle of inclination and power-conserving bends. and the differences extend in an almost equally marked degree throughout the vast and complicated succession of storage chambers and their connecting channels. the small vent of wind cave shows that the ejected jet was far from being equal to that of the crystal cave in volume; but the nearly perpendicular long arm of its tube shows also that its jet attained a much greater height, even supposing that it should be necessary to make some allowance for a short elbow at the top. dr. hayden's geological party gave much attention to the yellowstone park while its wonders were new to the world, and observations were made at various times during the period included between the years and . the special study, and full report of the geysers became the duty of dr. a.c. peal, whose descriptions and conclusions were published in u.s. geological survey report, , part ii. in the final pages of his report he quotes the leading authorities on geyser action, and applies the principles of their theories, according to his own judgment, to the geysers of the park. since copies of this report are not now easily obtained, nor even always accessible to the increasing number of personages who visit the park, it may be well to quote from him some of the theories he discussed and the opinions he expressed. on page , beginning the chapter with the derivation of the word geyser from the icelandic word _geysa_--to gush, he continues: "we now come to the definition of a geyser. it may be defined to be a periodically eruptive or intermittent _hot_ spring, from which the water is projected into the air in a fountain-like column. the analogy between geysers and volcanoes has frequently been noticed and the former have often been described as volcanoes which erupt heated water instead of melted lava. we have italicized the word hot in the definition just given, because springs containing a large amount of gas may simulate geysers. "the difference between geysers and ordinary hot springs is not readily explained, nor even always recognized. the difference between a quiet thermal spring and a geyser in active eruption is very marked, but between the two there is every grade of action. some geysers appear as quiet springs, as for instance the grand geyser during its period of quiescence. others might easily be mistaken for constantly boiling springs, as in the case of the giant geyser, in which the water is constantly in active ebullition. this is true also of the strockr of iceland. many of the springs, therefore, that in the yellowstone park have been classed as constantly boiling springs may be unsuspected geysers. the excelsior geyser was not discovered to be a geyser until eight years after the setting aside of the park. almost all constantly boiling springs have periods of increased activity, and those which spurt a few feet into the air have been classed as pseudo-geysers. "it has been noticed that geysers occur where the intensity of volcanic action is decreasing. in the neighborhood of active volcanoes, such as vesuvius, the temperature appears to be too high, and the vapor escapes as steam from what are called stufas. when the rocks at the surface are more cooled the water comes forth in liquid form. "we will now pass to the various geyser theories that have been proposed by different writers." dr. peal then proceeds to give the theories of sir j. herschell and sir george mckenzie, but as they are accepted and extended by others, we may pass on to bischof's, of which dr. peal says: "very similar to mckenzie's theory is the one adopted by bischof in his researches on the internal heat of the globe (pages , ). it is really the theory of krug von nidda, who examined the geyser in . bischof says: "'he (krug von nidda) takes it for granted that these hot springs derive their temperature from the aqueous vapors rising from below. when these vapors are able to rise freely in a continued column the water at the different depths must have a constant temperature equal to that at which water would boil under the pressure existing at the respective depths; hence the constant ebullition of the permanent springs and their boiling heat. if, on the other hand, the vapors be prevented by the complicated windings of its channels from rising to the surface; if, for example, they be arrested in caverns, the temperature in the upper layers of water must necessarily become reduced, because a large quantity of it is lost by evaporation at the surface, which cannot be replaced from below. and any circulation of the layers of water at different temperatures, by reason of their unequal specific gravities, seems to be very much interrupted by the narrowness and sinuousity of the passage. the intermitting springs of iceland are probably caused by the existence of caverns, in which the vapor is retained by the pressure of the column of water in the channel which leads to the surface. here this vapor collects, and presses the water in the cavern downward until its elastic force becomes sufficiently great to effect a passage through the column of water which confines it. the violent escape of the vapor causes the thunder-like subterranean sound and the trembling of the earth which precedes each eruption. the vapors do not appear at the surface until they have heated the water to their own temperature. "'when so much vapor has escaped that the expansive force of that which remains has become less than the pressure of the confining column of water, tranquility is restored, and this lasts until such a quantity of vapor is again collected as to produce a fresh eruption. the spouting of the spring is therefore repeated at intervals, depending on the capacity of the cavern, the height of the column of water, and the heat generated below.'" dr. peal continues: "bishof says that the eruptions of the geyser and strockr agree exactly with this explanation and he accounts for the two distinct classes of eruption observed in the geyser as follows: "'the two distinct classes of eruption in the geyser which we have already mentioned seem to be attributable to two different cavities. a small cavity fills quicker, and, therefore, empties itself more frequently; a larger one fills slower, empties itself seldomer, but with greater violence.'" bunsen's theory is the next considered and is somewhat similar to bischof's but with notable differences. after taking temperatures at different points in the geyser tube his first conclusions are that: ( ) the temperature in the geyser tube increases as we descend. ( ) at no point does the water in the tube attain the temperature of ebullition which it should have under the pressure to which it is subjected, but the temperature depends on the time that has elapsed since the last eruption. as a great eruption comes near it approaches the boiling point. ( ) at the depth of about forty-five feet the difference between the temperature of the water and the calculated boiling point for that pressure is the least. the main point of his theory appears to be that an eruption takes place when the water in the tube reaches the boiling point, and to account for it, "he supposes that the column in the central tube communicates by a long and sinuous channel with some space, be it what it may, which is subjected to the action of the direct source of subterranean heat. the temperature gets raised above the boiling point, due to the pressure, and a sudden generation of steam is the result. this steam rises in the column of water, which, being cooler, causes it to condense. gradually the heat of the water is raised until the water of the channel must boil, and the steam therefore cannot condense, but must accumulate and acquire a gradually increasing tension. the condensation of the bubbles possesses a periodic character, and to this is due the uplifting of the water in what bunsen calls conical water hills, which are accompanied by the subterranean explosions." prof. comstock is quoted as thinking "bunsen's theory has not yet been proved adequate to explain the more prominent features of geyser eruptions. nor does it, in his opinion, account for all the differences between geysers and hot springs, and he proposes a structural hypothesis which combines bischof's and bunsen's theories." this hypothesis is illustrated by a figure in which a reservoir partly filled with water is connected with the surface by a tube having a double curve, and he explains that the water collecting in the depressed curve should confine the steam, rising from the reservoir in the other curve until the pressure is sufficient to cause an eruption. his theory of action being that the water in the reservoir remains in equilibrium at a certain level, and the constant heat fills the space above with vapor, which heats the water held in the downward bend of the tube, and that also evolves vapor which fills the balance of the tube to the vent. when the combined pressure of this vapor and water are overcome by the expansion of vapor accumulated above the reservoir, they are forced out, and followed by a portion of the water of the reservoir. this theory is in the report of captain jones on northwestern wyoming. the last theory cited by dr. peal is that of s. baring-gould, "who visited the iceland geysers in , and thinks that a bent tube is sufficient to explain the action of the great geyser. he took an iron tube and bent it in an angle of °, keeping one arm half the length of the other. he filled the tube with water and placed the short arm in the fire. for a moment the surface of the liquid remained quiet, and then the pipe began to quiver; a slight overflow took place, without any sign of ebullition, and then suddenly, with a throb, the whole column was forced high into the air. with a tube, the long arm of which measured two feet and the bore of which was three-eighths of an inch, he sent a jet to the height of eighteen feet. steam is generated in the short arm and presses down the water, causing an overflow until the steam bubble turns the angle, when it forces out the column in the long arm with incredible violence." dr. peal now goes on to say: "of the theories that we have just enumerated, perhaps no one is adequate to explain all the phenomena of geyser action. bunsen's theory comes nearest to it, and in the simplest kinds of geysers is a sufficient explanation. the variations and modifications in the geyser tubes and subterranean water passages must undoubtedly be important factors entering into any complete explanation of geyser action. now, of course, we can see what the conditions are at the surface, but in our experiments we can penetrate to a very inconsiderable distance. we have, therefore, no data to present on these points, and investigations of this branch of the subject will have to be carried on in an artificial manner; that is artificial geysers will have to be constructed, and various modifications made in the tubes until results are reached analogous to those seen in natural geysers. if water in a glass tube be heated with rapidity from the bottom, it will be expelled from the tube violently, and if boiled in a kettle which has a lid and a spout, either the lid will be blown off or the water will be forced out through the spout. the first case is an illustration, in part at least, of bunsen's theory, and the second exemplifies the theories which presuppose the existence of subterranean cavities with tubes at or near the surface. according to the former we must suppose that the layer of rock, extending seventy-five to seventy-seven feet below the surface, contains sufficient heat to account for geyseric phenomena; or else that the geyser tube has some opening, either at the bottom or on the sides, by which steam and superheated water have access to it from a considerably greater depth where the temperature is very high. at these depths caverns probably exist." * * * * "that such cavities exist is more than probable. on page i have indicated my belief, that all geysers are originally due to a violent outburst of steam and water, and under such conditions, irregular cavities and passages are more likely to be formed than regular tubes." * * "in view of what we have just written, bunsen's conclusion (no. ) would have to be modified somewhat. his conclusion was that at no point in the tube did the water attain the temperature of ebullition which it should have under the pressure to which it is subjected. as far as this relates to the straight tube in which his temperatures were taken, it may be so; but if he could have taken temperatures in the side conduit, i have little doubt he would soon have reached a point where the temperature would not only be at the boiling point for that depth but even exceed it. in the yellowstone park we obtained a number of surface temperatures which were above the boiling point. in the great geyser of iceland, the mass of water in the tube prevents this condition at the surface, and when it takes place opposite the aperture an eruption is caused. in the main, however, i am inclined to accept bunsen's theory, especially as it seems to me to require subterranean cavities in which the water must be heated. whether these are caverns, enlargements of tubes, or sinus channels, appears to me to be of no consequence, except as the interval or period of the geyser might be affected by the form of the reservoir holding the water." dr. peal has reached conclusions which present an imaginary picture of the interior structure of the great geysers of the park, that bears a striking resemblance to what the two caves of the black hills prove to be the true conditions; although it is evident he had in mind caverns of no such vast extent, nor of so complicated a system of cavities and tubes. he overlooked an important feature, however, in not accepting professor comstock's idea of the tube having a double curve. the double curve is, or was, conspicuous in both the caves. unfortunately, its perfection in wind cave was necessarily partially sacrificed to make the passage traversable for visitors; but in describing the enormous labor of opening up the cave, mr. mcdonald showed how an arching "crawl" had been worked down by blasting, and the depression beyond filled to raise it to the desired level for securing the present easy passage at the bottom of the main tube, which is the entrance passage. this double curve in the tube is simply the rough original of the s trap of sanitary plumbing. in both caves it is somewhat irregular and deformed, but the familiar "trap" is easily recognized. the destruction of one of the yellowstone geysers was, no doubt, due to the breaking of the s. one of the many reasons for establishing military control over the park is said to have been the disastrous results following the introduction of a large quantity of soap into the geyser to cause a premature eruption. the impatience of the party was rewarded by an eruption accompanied by explosions that shook the earth for a great distance, and the geyser has not been seen in action since. dr. peal finds the theories advanced for the generation of steam unsatisfactory and insufficient, especially in the class of geysers having a long steam period. he says: (page ) "the castle geyser differs from old faithful and the bee hive mainly in the fact that it has a long steam period, during which the steam pours out or is pushed from the geyser throat with great violence and a terrific noise. there appear to be only two possible explanations of this difference, viz., either an accumulation of immense volumes of steam in the castle, or an instantaneous formation of steam throughout the length of the geyser tube. the former, to our mind, is untenable, because it seems impossible that the water, which is exhausted in fifteen minutes, should exert enough power to keep down the immense amount of steam that escapes for more than an hour. according to bunsen's theory, it can be readily explained. the relief afforded by the first part of the eruptions allows the superheated water to rise rapidly, and before it can reach the top or orifice of the tube it is all converted into steam from the top downward with inconceivable rapidity, and must be forced out with the terrific violence which is noted in the case of the castle. on page we have expressed the opinion that it is the oldest geyser in the region, and it seems to us that a greater length in the tube, with a consequent greater supply of water, will account for the difference between the castle and old faithful, the latter of which we consider one of the youngest geysers in the upper geyser basin." a study of the caves in connection with the active geysers indicates that the theory he suggests and then rejects, is probably the true explanation of the difference between the two kinds of geysers. it seems that the length of the tube must necessarily have more effect on the height of the jet than on the generation of steam; as after an eruption the tube is hotter than at any other time and therefore the generation of steam in it should be less than usual, unless the fresh inflow of water was cold. then if the storage cavities are broad but low, the steam cannot accumulate above the water; but when the pressure becomes sufficient to force a passage through the tube, the water and steam are expelled together until the pressure is exhausted. but if the storage chambers are vertical fissures, as wind cave illustrates, vast quantities of steam must accumulate above the water level in the main reservoirs before the pressure can become sufficient to expel the water in the tube, after which steam alone continues to rush out until the pressure is so relieved that it can no longer force a passage through the water remaining in the trap, when quiet is restored. by the constant addition of fresh water from the surface, by percolation or other usual ways of sinking, the necessary conditions for the generation of steam are maintained with surprising regularity. the differences in the shape and general arrangement of the cavities and tubes of the two caves, indicate that their action as geysers was very unlike. wind cave evidently sent a rather slender column to a great height, nearly perpendicular, and the water eruption was followed by a long steam period. crystal cave ejected a much larger jet more frequently, at a low angle of inclination, the eruption was sooner over, and was not followed by a steam period of any consequence. thus it can be seen that the caves of the black hills prove the theories in regard to geyser action in yellowstone park, and those theories, in turn, prove the past history of the caves. the study of geyser action also shows that the conical or dome shape of some of the cave chambers is not due to the whirl of incoming floods, as in other regions, but to jets of water forced up from lower levels. perhaps the finest geyser basin, and possible cave, ever in existence was destroyed when the grand cañon of the yellowstone became a cañon. evidences of the former conditions in control of this gorgeously brilliant scene are neither wanting nor doubtful. steam constantly issues from numerous small vents in the cañon walls, and a field glass reveals miniature geysers in action down in the depth of the cañon, nearly half a mile below the top of the wall; while the entire cañon shows, in both the color and character of its rocks, that chemical agencies have wrought changes here that have not been effected in other exposures of similar nature. it seems not improbable that the relation of yellowstone river to the grand cañon was the same as, at the present time, is that of the firehole to the upper, middle, and lower geyser basins: and that an explosion of great force was followed by a general collapse instead of the usual eruption of one of the grandest geysers; one result being the sudden precipitation of the river into a new, beautiful, and totally unexpected channel. after its great leap of two hundred and ninety-seven[ ] feet at the lower fall, the river flows in a brilliant, narrow line of emerald green, broken by the white foam of frequent cascades, between magnificent walls of yellow, white, pink, and red of most vivid hues. footnotes: [ ] measurement by the hayden party. the hot swamp, by r.m. ballantyne. chapter one. a romance of old albion. opens with leave-taking. nearly two thousand seven hundred years ago--or somewhere about eight hundred years búcú--there dwelt a phoenician sea-captain in one of the eastern sea-ports of greece--known at that period, or soon after, as hellas. this captain was solid, square, bronzed, bluff, and resolute, as all sea-captains are--or ought to be--whether ancient or modern. he owned, as well as commanded, one of those curious vessels with one mast and a mighty square-sail, fifty oars or so, double-banked, a dragon's tail in the stern and a horse's head at the prow, in which the phoenicians of old and other mariners were wont to drive an extensive and lucrative trade in the mediterranean; sometimes pushing their adventurous keels beyond the pillars of hercules, visiting the distant cassiterides or tin isles, and albion, and even penetrating northward into the baltic, in search of tin, amber, gold, and what not. one morning this captain, whose name was arkal, sauntered up from the harbour to his hut, which stood on a conspicuous eminence overlooking the bay. his hands were not thrust into his pockets, because he had no pockets to put them into--the simple tunic of the period being destitute of such appendages. indeed, the coarse linen tunic referred to constituted the chief part of his costume, the only other portions being a pair of rude shoes on his feet, a red fez or tarbouche on his bushy brown locks, and yards of something wound round his lower limbs to protect them from thorns on shore, as well as from the rasping of cordage and cargo at sea. at the door of his hut stood his pretty little greek wife, with a solid, square, bluff, and resolute, but not yet bronzed, baby in her arms. "well, penelope, i'm off," said the captain. at least he used words to that effect, as he enveloped wife and baby in a huge embrace. of course he spoke in a dialect of ancient greek, of which we render a free translation. the leave-taking was of the briefest, for just then a loud halloo from his mate, or second in command, apprised the captain that all was ready to set sail. but neither penelope nor her husband were anxious souls or addicted to the melting mood. the square baby was rather more given to such conditions. in emulation of the mate it set up a sudden howl which sent its father away laughing to the harbour. "no sign of the young men," remarked the mate, as his superior came within hail. "it is ever the way with these half-fledged boys who think themselves men while their faces are yet hairless," growled the captain, casting a glance at his unfailing chronometer, the rising sun. "they have no more regard for the movements of that ball of fire than if it was set in the sky merely to shine and keep them warm, and had no reference whatever to time. if this youth from albion does not appear soon, i shall set sail without him, prince though he be, and leave him to try his hand at swimming to the cassiterides. his comrade and friend, dromas, assured me they would not keep us waiting; but he is no better than the rest of them--a shouting, singing, smooth-faced, six-foot set they are, who think they inherit the combined wisdom of all their grandfathers but none of their weaknesses; reckless fear-nothings, fit only for war and the olympic games!" "nevertheless, we could not do well without them," returned the mate, glancing significantly at the ship's crew, a large proportion of which was composed of these same stalwart fear-nothings of whom his leader spoke so contemptuously; "at least they would make a fine show at these games, and our ventures at sea would not prosper so well if we had not such to help us." "true, true, and i would not speak slightingly of them, but they do try one's patience; here is the wind failing, and we all ready to hoist sail," returned the captain with another growl, a glance at the sky, and a frown at his vessel, everything about which betokened readiness for instant departure. the crew--partly composed of slaves--were seated at the oars; the fighting men and seamen were all on board arranging their shields round the vessel's sides, and the great sail was cast loose ready to hoist as soon as the mouth of the harbour should be cleared. just then a band of young men issued from the town, and the captain's good humour was restored as they hurried towards him. they seemed to be much excited, and talked in loud tones as they advanced, their manners and costumes indicating that they belonged to the upper ranks of society. one of the band, a fair youth, towered, like saul, head and shoulders above his fellows. another, of dark complexion, handsome features, and elegant, active frame, hurried forward to salute the captain. "i fear we have kept you waiting," he said with a pleasant expression that disarmed reproof. "i will not deny that, dromas," answered the captain, "but you have not detained me long. nevertheless, i was on the point of sailing without your friend, for the winds and waves respect no one." "but you are neither a wind nor a wave," remarked the youth. "true, but i am the humble friend of both," retorted the captain, "and am bound to accommodate myself to them. i suppose this is the prince you spoke of," he added, turning to the towering youth already referred to, with the air of a man who had as little--or as much--regard for a prince as a peasant. "yes, captain arkal, this is prince bladud. let me present him to you." as the prince and the seaman joined hands the latter looked up from an altitude of five feet six and squared his broad shoulders with the air of a man ready to defy all creation, and anxious rather than otherwise to do so. the prince, on the other hand, looked down from an eminence of six feet seven, and bent his head with a modest grace and a genial smile that indicated a desire to be on good terms, if possible, with the world at large. although almost equal as to physical strength, the inequality of the two men in height rendered their experience in those rude warlike times very dissimilar, for, whereas the sailor was often compelled to give proof of his strength to tall unbelievers, the prince very seldom had occasion to do so. hence, partly, their difference in manner, the one being somewhat pugnacious and the other conciliatory, while both were in reality good-natured, peace-loving men. no two men, however, could have been more unlike in outward aspect. the prince was, if we may say so, built on the gothic model--fair, blue-eyed, bulky of limb, huge, muscular, massive, with a soft beard and moustache--for he had not yet seen twenty-four summers--and hair that fell like rippling gold on his shoulders. captain arkal, on the contrary, was dark, with a thick reddish beard, luxuriant brown hair, piercing black eyes, and limbs that were hardened as well as darkened by thirty years of constant exposure to elemental and other warfare. "i hope that i may be of some use to you," said the prince, "though i profess not to know more of seamanship than i acquired during my voyage hither, and as that voyage occurred six years ago, it may be that i have lost the little i had learned. but if pirates should assail us, perhaps i may do you some service." "little fear i have of that," returned the captain with an approving nod. "now, bid your comrades farewell and get on board, for the wind is failing fast, and it behoves us to get well forward on our voyage before night." it was evident that the leave-taking which ensued was not merely formal, for the youths from whom bladud was parting had been his companions in study for six years, as well as his competitors in all the manly games of the period, and as he excelled them all in most things--especially in athletics--some looked up to the young prince from albion as a sort of demi-god, while others to whom he had been helpful in many ways regarded him with the warmest affection. "come here aside with me; i must have a few last words with you alone," said bladud, taking young dromas by the arm and leading him aside. the prince's other friends made no objection to this evidence of preference, for dromas had shared the same apartment with him while in athens, and engaged in similar studies with bladud for several years; had travelled with him in the east, and sailed over the sea in his company, even as far as egypt, besides having been second to him in most of the games practised by the young men. indeed, at the high jump he equalled, and at the short race had even excelled him. "dromas," said the prince impressively--"come, now, my old friend and comrade," interrupted the greek youth lightly, "don't put on such a long face. i foresee that you are about to give me a lecture, and i don't want the tone of remonstrance to be the last that i shall hear. i know that i'm a wild, good-for-nothing fellow, and can guess all you would say to me. let us rather talk of your speedy return to hellas, for, to tell you the truth, i feel as if the loss of you would leave me like a poor man who has been crippled in the wars. i shall be a mere shadow till you return." there was a slight tremor in the voice, which showed that much of the gaiety of the young man was forced. "nay, i have no mind to give you a lecture," returned bladud, "i only ask you to grant me two requests." "granted, before mentioned, for you have ever been a reasonable creature, bladud, and i trust you to retain your character on the present occasion." "well, then, my first request is that you will often remember the many talks that you and i have had about the gods, and the future life, and the perplexing conditions in which we now live." "remember them," exclaimed dromas with animation, "my difficulty would be to forget them! the questions which you have propounded and attempted to answer--for i do not admit that you have been quite successful in the attempt--have started up and rung in my ears at all kinds of unseasonable times. they haunt me often in my dreams--though, to say truth, i dream but little, save when good fellowship has led me to run supper into breakfast--they worry me during my studies, which, you know, are frequent though not prolonged; they come between me and the worthy rhapsodist when he is in the middle of the most interesting-- or least wearisome--passage of the poem, and they even intrude on me at the games. the very last race i ran was lost, only by a few inches, because our recent talk on the future of cats caused a touch of internal laughter which checked my pace at the most critical moment. you may rest assured that i cannot avoid granting your first request. what is your second?" "that you promise to visit me in my home in albion. you know that it will be impossible for me ever again to re-visit these shores, where i have been so happy. my father, if he forgives my running away from him, will expect me to help him in the management of his affairs. but you have nothing particular to detain you here--" "you forget--the old woman," interrupted dromas gravely. "what old woman?" asked bladud in surprise. "my mother!" returned his friend. the prince looked a little confused and hastened to apologise. dromas' mother was one of those unfortunate people who existed in the olden time as well as in modern days, though perhaps not so numerously. she was a confirmed invalid, who rarely quitted her house, and was seldom seen by any one save her most intimate friends, so that she was apt to be forgotten--out of sight out of mind, then as now. "forgive me, dromas--," began bladud, but his friend interrupted him. "i cannot forgive when i have nothing to forgive! say no more about that. but, now i come to consider of it, i grant your second request conditionally. if my mother agrees to accompany me to albion, you may expect to see me some day or other--perhaps a year or two hence. you see, since my father and brother were slain in the last fight with our neighbours, i am the only one left to comfort her, so i cannot forsake her." "then this will be our final parting," returned bladud, sadly, "for your mother will never consent to leave home." "i don't know that," returned dromas with a laugh. "the dear old soul is intensely adventurous, like myself, and i do believe would venture on a voyage to the cassiterides, if the fancy were strong upon her. you have no idea how powerfully i can work upon her feelings. i won't say that i can make much impression on her intellect. indeed, i have reason to know that she does not believe in intellect except as an unavoidable doorway leading into the feelings. the fact is, i tried her the other day with the future of cats, and do you know, instead of treating that subject with the gravity it merits, she laughed in my face and called me names--not exactly bad names, such as the gods might object to--but names that were not creditable to the intelligence of her first-born. now," continued dromas with increasing gravity, "when i paint to her the beauty of your native land; the splendour of your father's court; the kindliness of your mother, and the exceeding beauty of your sister--fair like yourself, blue-eyed, tall--you said she was tall, i think?" "yes--rather tall." "of course not _quite_ so tall as yourself, say six feet or so, with a slight, feminine beard--no? you shake your head; well, smooth-faced and rosy, immense breadth of shoulders--ah! i have often pictured to myself that sister of yours--" "hilloa!" shouted captain arkal in a nautical tone that might almost have been styled modern british in its character. it was an opportune interruption, for dromas had been running on with his jesting remarks for the sole purpose of crushing down the feelings that almost unmanned him. with few but fervently uttered words the final farewells were at last spoken. the oars were dipped; the vessel shot from the land, swept out upon the blue waves of the aegean, the sail was hoisted, and thus began the long voyage to the almost unknown islands of the far north-west. chapter two. temporary delay through elements and pirates. but it is not our purpose to inflict the entire log of that voyage on our reader, adventurous though the voyage was. matter of much greater importance claims our regard. still it would be unjust to our voyagers to pass it over in absolute silence. at the very commencement of it, there occurred one of those incidents to which all voyagers are more or less subject. a gale arose the very evening of the day on which they left port, which all but swamped the little vessel, and the violence of the wind was so great that their huge sail was split from top to bottom. in spite of the darkness and the confusion that ensued, captain arkal, by his prompt action and skilful management, saved the vessel from immediate destruction. fortunately the gale did not last long, and, during the calm that followed, the rent was repaired and the sail re-set. then occurred another incident that threatened to cut short the voyage even more disastrously than by swamping. the sea over which they steered swarmed with pirates at the time we write of, as it continued to swarm during many centuries after. merchantmen, fully aware of the fact, were in those days also men of war. they went forth on their voyages fully armed with sword, javelin, and shield, as well as with the simple artillery of the period--bows and arrows, slings and stones. on the afternoon of the day that followed the gale, the vessel--which her captain and owner had named the _penelope_ in honour of his wife-- was running before a light breeze, along the coast of one of the islands with which that sea is studded. bladud and some of the crew were listening at the time to an account given by a small seaman named maikar, of a recent adventure on the sea, when a galley about as large as their own was seen to shoot suddenly from the mouth of a cavern in the cliffs in which it had lain concealed. it was double-banked and full of armed men, and was rowed in such a way as to cut in advance of the _penelope_. the vigour with which the oars were plied, and the rapidity with which the sail was run up, left no doubt as to the nature of the craft or the intentions of those who manned it. "the rascals!" growled arkal with a dark frown, "i more than half expected to find them here." "pirates, i suppose?" said bladud. "ay--and not much chance of escaping them. give another haul on the sail-rope, mate, and pull, men, pull, if you would save your liberty-- for these brutes have no mercy." the sail was tightened up a few inches, and the vessel was put more directly before the wind. the way in which the slaves bent to the oars showed that the poor fellows fully understood the situation. for a few minutes captain arkal watched the result in stern silence. then, with an unwonted look and tone of bitterness, he said in a low voice-- "no--i thought as much. she sails faster than we do. now, friend bladud, you shall presently have a chance of proving whether your royal blood is better than that of other men." to this remark the prince made no other reply than by a good-natured smile as he took up the bronze helmet which lay beside his sword on the thwart and placed it on his head. captain arkal regarded him with a sort of grim satisfaction as he followed up the action by buckling on his sword. the sword in question was noteworthy. it was a single-handed weapon of iron, made in egypt, to suit the size and strength of its owner, and was large enough to have served as a two-handed sword for most men. "you can throw a javelin, no doubt?" asked the captain, as he watched the young man's leisurely preparations for the expected combat. "yes, i have practised throwing the spear a good deal--both in peace and war." "good. i have got one here that will suit you. it belonged to my grandfather, who was a stout man, and made powerful play with it during a neighbouring tribe's raid--when i was a baby--to the discomfort, i have been told, and surprise of his foes. i always keep it by me for luck, and have myself used it on occasion, though i prefer a lighter one for ordinary use. here it is--a pretty weapon," he continued, drawing a javelin of gigantic proportions from under the gunwale and handing it to bladud. "but we must proceed with caution in this matter. take off your helmet at present, and try to look frightened if you can." "i fear me that will be difficult, captain." "not in the least. look here, nothing is easier when you get used to it." as he spoke arkal caused his stern visage to relax into a look of such amiable sheepishness that bladud could not repress a sudden laugh which recalled and intensified the captain's fierce expression instantly. "learn to subdue yourself, young man," he muttered sternly. "if these pirates hear laughter, do you think they can be made to believe we are afraid of them?" "forgive me, captain; if you had seen your own face, you would have joined in the laugh. i will be more careful. but how do you mean to proceed, and what do you wish me to do?" captain arkal, who was restored to good-humour by this compliment to his power of expression, as well as by the modesty with which the prince received his rebuke, explained his intentions--in low, earnest tones, however, for they were by that time drawing near to the piratical craft. having got well ahead of the _penelope_, it had backed its sail and lay still, awaiting her coming up. "creep to the bow, bladud, with your helmet off, and show as little of your bulk as may be. show only your head above the bulwarks, and look as miserable as i did just now--more so if you can. take your sword, javelin, and shield with you. i need say no more to a man of war. use them when you see your opportunity." bladud received his orders in silence, and obeyed them with that unquestioning and unhesitating promptitude which is one of the surest evidences of fitness to command. meanwhile the mate, who was accustomed to his captain's habits, and needed no instructions, had caused the sailors to lay their shields and swords out of sight at their feet, so that they might approach the pirates in the character of simple traders who were completely cowed by the appearance of the foe. to increase this aspect of fear, the sail was lowered as they drew near, and the oars were used to complete the distance that yet intervened between the two vessels. this humble and submissive approach did not, however, throw the pirates quite off their guard. they stood to their arms and prepared to spring on board their victim when close enough. as the pirate vessel lay motionless on the water she presented her broadside to the trader. the captain took care to steer so that this relative position should be maintained. the pirate chief, a huge man in rude armour, with a breast-plate of thick bull-hide and a shield of the same on his left arm, gave orders to pull the oars on one side of his vessel so that the two might be brought alongside. they were about fifty yards apart at the moment. before the order could be carried into effect, however, arkal uttered a low hiss. instantly the double banks of oars bent almost to the breaking point, and the _penelope_ leaped forward like a sentient creature. each man seized sword and shield and sprang up, and bladud, forgetting both helmet and shield in the hurry of the moment, poised the mighty javelin which had so astonished its owner's enemies in days gone by, and in another moment hurled it shrieking through the air. it flew straight as a thunderbolt at the pirate chief; pierced through shield and breastplate, and came out at his back, sending him headlong into the arms of his horrified crew. the whole incident was so sudden that the pirates had scarcely time to recover from their surprise when the bow of the _penelope_ crashed into the side of their vessel and stove it in, for the trader, like some of the war-vessels of the period, was provided with a ram for this very purpose. as the _penelope_ recoiled from the shock, a yell of rage burst from the pirates, and a volley of javelins and stones followed, but, owing to the confusion resulting from the shock, these were ill-directed, and such of them as found their mark were caught on the shields. before another discharge could be made, the pirate vessel heeled over and sank, leaving her crew of miscreants struggling in the sea. some of them--being, strange to say, unable to swim--were drowned. others were killed in the water, while a few, taking their swords in their teeth, swam to the trader and made desperate attempts to climb on board. of course they failed, and in a few minutes nothing remained of the pirate vessel to tell of the tragedy that had been enacted, except an oar or two and a few spars left floating on the sea. "would that all the sea-robbers in these parts could be as easily and thoroughly disposed of," remarked the captain, as he gave orders to re-hoist the sail. "ho! bladud, my worthy prince, come aft here. what detains you?" but bladud did not answer to the call. a stone from the enemy had fallen on his defenceless head and knocked him down insensible. four of the men now raised him up. as they did so, one of the men--the small seaman, maikar--was found underneath him in a state of semi-consciousness. while they carried bladud aft, the little sailor began to gasp and sneeze. "not killed, i see," remarked the mate, looking into his face with some anxiety. "no, not quite," sighed maikar, drawing a long breath, and raising himself on one elbow, with a slightly dazed look, "but i never was so nearly burst in all my life. if an ox had fallen on me he could not have squeezed me flatter. do, two of you, squeeze me the other way, to open me out a little; there's no room in me left to breathe--scarcely room to think." "oh! your battles are not yet over, i see," said the mate, going off to the stern of the vessel, where he found bladud just recovering consciousness and smiling at the remarks of the captain, who busied himself in stanching the wound, just over his frontal bone, from which blood was flowing freely. "h'm! this comes of sheer recklessness. i told you to take off your helmet, but i did not tell you to keep it off. man, you launched that javelin well!--better than i could have done it myself. indeed, i doubt if my old grandfather could have done it with such telling effect-- straight through and through. i saw full a hand-breadth come out at the villain's back. what say you, mate? little maikar wounded?" "no, not wounded, but nearly burst, as he says himself; and no wonder, for bladud fell upon him." "didn't i tell you, mate," said the captain, looking up with a grin, "that nothing will kill little maikar? go to, man, you pretend to be a judge of men; yet you grumbled at me for engaging him as one of our crew. do you feel better now, prince?" "ay, greatly better, thank you," replied bladud, putting his hand gently on the bandages with which the captain had skilfully bound his head. "that is well. i think, now, that food will do you service. what say you?" "nay, with your leave, i prefer sleep," said the prince, stretching himself out on the deck. "a little rest will suffice, for my head is noted for its thickness, and my brain for its solidity--at least so my good father was wont to say; and i've always had great respect for his opinion." "ah, save when it ran counter to your own," suggested arkal; "and especially that time when you ran away from home and came out here in the long ship of my trading friend." "i have regretted that many a time since then, and i am now returning home to offer submission." "d'you think that he'll forgive you?" "i am sure he will, for he is a kind man; and i know he loves me, though he has never said so." "i should like to know that father of yours. i like your description of him--so stern of face, yet so kind of heart, and with such an unchangeable will when he sees what is right. but what _is_ right, and what is wrong?" "ay--what is--who can tell? some people believe that the gods make their will known to man through the delphic oracle." "boh!" exclaimed the captain with a look of supreme contempt. the turn of thought silenced both speakers for a time; and when captain arkal turned to resume the conversation, he found that his friend was sound asleep. chapter three. on the voyage. weather has always been, and, we suppose, always will be, capricious. its uncertainty of character--in the levant, as in the atlantic, in days of old as now, was always the same--smiling to-day; frowning to-morrow; playful as a lamb one day; raging like a lion the next. after the rough handling experienced by the _penelope_ at the beginning of her voyage, rude boreas kindly retired, and spicy breezes from africa rippled the sea with just sufficient force to intensify its heavenly blue, and fill out the great square-sail so that there was no occasion to ply the oars. one dark, starlight but moonless night, a time of quiet talk prevailed from stem to stern of the vessel as the grizzled mariners spun long yarns of their prowess and experiences on the deep, for the benefit of awe-stricken and youthful shipmates whose careers were only commencing. "you've heard, no doubt, of the great sea-serpent?" observed little maikar, who had speedily recovered from the flattening to which bladud had subjected him, and was busy enlivening a knot of young fellows in the bow of the ship. "of course we have!" cried one; "father used to tell me about it when i was but a small boy. he never saw it himself, though he had been to the tin isles and albion more than once; but he said he had met with men who had spoken with shipmates who had heard of it from men who had seen it only a few days before, and who described it exactly." "ah!" remarked another, "but i have met a man who had seen it himself on his first voyage, when he was quite a youth; and he said it had a bull's head and horns, with a dreadful long body all over scales, and something like an ass's tail at the end." "pooh!--nonsense!" exclaimed little maikar, twirling his thumbs, for smoking had not been introduced into the world at that period--and thumb-twirling would seem to have served the ancient world for leisurely pastime quite as well, if not better--at least we are led to infer so from the fact that herodotus makes no mention of anything like a vague, mysterious sensation of unsatisfied desire to fill the mouth with smoke in those early ages, which he would certainly have done had the taste for smoke been a natural craving, and thumb-twirling an unsatisfactory occupation. this absolute silence of the "father of history," we think, almost proves our point. "nonsense!" repeated little maikar. "the youth of the man who told you about the serpent accounts for his wild description, for youth is prone to strange imaginings and--" "it seems to me," interrupted a grave man, who twirled his thumbs in that slow, deliberate way in which a contemplative man smokes--"it seems to me that there's no more truth about the great sea-serpent than there is about the golden fleece. i don't believe in either of them." "don't you? well, all i can say is," returned the little man, gazing fixedly in the grave comrade's face, "that i saw the great sea-serpent with my own eyes!" "no! did you?" exclaimed the group, drawing their heads closer together with looks of expectancy. "ay, that did i, mates; but you mustn't expect wild descriptions about monsters with bulls' horns and asses' tails from me. i like truth, and the truth is, that the brute was so far away at the time we saw it, that not a man of us could tell exactly what it was like, and when we tried the description, we were all so different, that we gave it up; but we were all agreed on this point, that it certainly _was_ the serpent." the listeners seemed rather disappointed at this meagre account and sudden conclusion of what had bidden fair to become a stirring tale of the sea; but maikar re-aroused their expectations by stating his firm belief that it was all nonsense about there being only one sea-serpent. "why, how could there be only one?" he demanded, ceasing to twirl, in order that he might clench his fist and smite his knee with emphasis. "haven't you got a grandfather?" he asked, turning suddenly to the grave man. "certainly, i've got two of them if you come to that," he answered, taken rather aback by the brusque and apparently irrelevant nature of the question. "just so--two of them," repeated the little man, "and don't you think it likely that the sea serpent must have had two grandfathers also?" "undoubtedly--and two grandmothers as well. perhaps he's got them yet," replied the grave man with a contemplative look over the side, where the rippling sea gleamed with phosphoric brilliancy. "exactly so," continued maikar in an eager tone, "and of course these also must have had two grandfathers besides a mother each, and it is more than likely that the great sea-serpent himself is the father of a large family." "which implies a wife," suggested one of the seamen. "not necessarily," objected an elderly seaman, who had once been to the lands lying far to the north of albion, and had acquired something of that tendency to object to everything at all times which is said to characterise the people of the far north. "not necessarily," he repeated, "for the serpent may be a bachelor with no family at all." there was a short laugh at this, and an illogical man of the group made some irrelevant observation which led the conversation into a totally different channel, and relegated the great sea-serpent, for the time being, to oblivion! while the men were thus engaged philosophising in the bow, bladud and the captain were chatting in subdued voices in the stern. "it is impossible," said the latter, in reply to a remark made by the former, "it is impossible for me to visit your father's court this year, though it would please me much to do so, but my cargo is intended for the south-western cassiterides. to get round to the river on the banks of which your home stands would oblige me to run far towards the cold regions, into waters which i have not yet visited--though i know them pretty well by hearsay. on another voyage i may accomplish it, but not on this one." "i am sorry for that, arkal, because things that are put off to another time are often put off altogether. but the men of the tin isles often visit my father's town in their boats with copper and tin, and there are tracks through the forest which horses can traverse. could you not visit us overland? it would not be a journey of many weeks, and your trusty mate might look after the ship in your absence. besides, the diggers may not have enough of the metal ready to fill your ship, so you may be idle a long time. what say you?" captain arkal frowned, as was his wont when considering a knotty question, and shook his head. "i doubt if i should be wise to venture so much," he said; "moreover, we are not yet at the end of our voyage. it is of little use troubling one's-self about the end of anything while we are only at the beginning." "nevertheless," rejoined bladud, "to consider the possible end while yet at the beginning, seems not unreasonable, though, undoubtedly, we may never reach the end. many a fair ship sets sail and never returns." "ay, that is true, as i know to my cost," returned the captain, "for this is not my first venture. a long time ago i loaded a ship about the size of this one, and sent her under command of one of my best friends to the euxine sea for gold. i now think that that old story about jason and his ship _argo_ sailing in search of the golden fleece was running too strong in my youthful brain. besides that, of course i had heard the report that there is much gold in that direction, and my hopes were strong, for you know all the world runs after gold. anyhow, my ship sailed and i never saw her or my friend again. since then i have contented myself with copper and tin." a slight increase in the wind at that moment caused the captain to dismiss his golden and other memories, and look inquiringly to windward. "a squall, methinks?" said bladud. "no, only a puff," replied his friend, ordering the steersman to alter the course a little. the squall or puff was only strong enough to cause the _penelope_ to make a graceful bow to the controlling element and cleave the sparkling water with her prow so swiftly that she left a gleaming wake as of lambent fire astern. it was short-lived, however, and was followed by a calm which obliged little maikar and his comrades to cease their story-telling and ply their fifty oars. thus the pace was kept going, though not quite so swiftly as if they were running before a stiff breeze. "the gods are propitious," said the captain; "we are going to have a prosperous voyage." "how many gods are propitious?" asked bladud. "that is a question much too deep for me to answer." "but not too deep to think of--is it?" "of what use would be my thinking?" returned the captain, lightly. "i leave such matters to the learned." "now, mate," he added, turning to his subordinate, "i'm going to rest a while. see that you keep an open eye for squalls and pirates. both are apt to come down on you when you least expect them." but neither squalls nor pirates were destined to interfere with the _penelope_ during the greater part of that voyage. day after day the skies were clear, the sea comparatively smooth, and the winds favourable. sometimes they put ashore, when the weather became stormy and circumstances were favourable. on such occasions they lighted camp-fires under the trees, the ruddy light of which glowed with a grand effect on the picturesque sailors as they sat, stood, or reclined around them. at other times they were obliged to keep more in the open sea, and occasionally met with traders like themselves returning home, with whom, of course, they were glad to fraternise for a time and exchange views. once only did they meet with anything like a piratical vessel, but as that happened to be late in the evening, they managed, by plying the oars vigorously, and under the shade of night, to escape a second encounter with those robbers of the sea. thus, in course of time, the length of the great inland sea was traversed, the southern coast of what is now known as france was reached, and the captain's prophecy with regard to a prosperous voyage was thus far fulfilled. chapter four. the storm and wreck. it was near daybreak on the morning of a night of unclouded splendour when the mate of the _penelope_ aroused his chief with the information that appearances to windward betokened a change of some sort in the weather. "if there is a change at all it must be for the worse," said arkal, raising himself on one elbow, rubbing his eyes, yawning, and then casting a glance over the side where the rippling foam told that the wind was increasing. raising his eyes to the windward horizon, he threw aside the sheepskin blanket that covered him and rose up quickly. "there is indeed a change coming. rouse the men and reduce the sail, mate. bestir you! the squalls are sudden here." the orders were obeyed with promptitude. in a few minutes the sail was reduced to its smallest size, and all loose articles about the vessel were made fast. "you expect a gale, captain?" asked bladud, who was aroused by the noise of the preparations. "ay--or something like one. when a cloud like that rises up on the horizon there is usually something more than a puff coming. you had better keep well under the lee of the bulwarks when it strikes us." bladud's nautical experience had already taught him what to expect and how to act in the circumstance that threatened. standing close to the side of the ship, he laid hold of a stanchion and looked out to windward, as most of the crew were by that time doing. captain arkal himself took the helm. the increasing daylight showed them that the bank of cloud was spreading quickly over the sky towards the zenith, while a soft hissing sound told of the approaching wind. soon the blackness on the sea intensified, and white gleams as of flashing light showed where the waves were torn into foam by the rushing wind. with a warning to "hold on fast!" the captain turned the vessel's head so as to meet the blast. so fierce was it that it cut off the crests of the wavelets, blowing the sea almost flat for a time, and producing what is known as a white squall. the sail was kept fluttering until the fury of the onset was over, then the wind was allowed to fill it; the _penelope_ bent down until the sea began to bubble over the lee bulwarks, and in a few moments more she was springing over the fast rising waves like a nautical racehorse. every moment the gale increased, obliging the mariners to show but a corner of the sail. even this had at last to be taken in, and, during the whole of that dismal day and of the black night which followed, the _penelope_ drove helplessly before the wind under a bare pole. fortunately the gale was favourable, so that they were enabled to lay their course, but it required all the skill and seamanship of captain arkal to prevent their being pooped and swamped by the waves that rolled hissing after them as if hungering mightily to swallow them up. to have the right man in the right place at such times of imminent danger is all-important, not only to the safety of the craft, but to the peace of mind of those whose lives are in jeopardy. all on board the little vessel during that hurricane felt much comforted by the knowledge that their captain was in the right place. although a "square man," he had by no means been fitted into a round hole! knowing this, prince bladud felt no anxiety as to the management of the craft, and gave himself up to contemplate the grandeur of the storm, for the howling blast, creaking spars, and bursts of rattling thunder, rendered conversation out of the question. during a slight lull, however, bladud asked the question whether the captain knew on what part of the coast they were running. "not exactly," he replied, "we have been running so long in darkness that i can only guess. if it holds on much longer like this i shall have to put her head to wind and wait for more light. it may be that we have been driven too far to the left, and there are islands hereabouts that we must keep well clear of. i would that we had put into some bay for shelter before this befell us. ho! mate." "ay, captain." "see that you put our sharpest pair of eyes in the bow, and let a second pair watch the first, lest the owner of them should go to sleep." "little maikar is there, sir," shouted the mate, "and i am watching him myself." "we shall do well with maikar in the bow, for he sees like a weasel, and is trustworthy," muttered the captain as he glanced uneasily over the stern, where the hungry waves were still hissing tumultuously after them, as if rendered furious by the delayed meal. at daybreak on the second day the gale moderated a little, and they were enabled once more to show a corner of their sail, and to encourage the hope that the worst was over. but a fresh outburst, of greater fury than before, soon dashed these hopes, and obliged the captain to throw overboard all the spare spars and some of the heaviest part of the cargo. still the gale increased, and the impatient waves began to lip over the poop occasionally as if unable to refrain from tasting! "more cargo must go," muttered the captain, with a gloomy frown. being resolute, he gave orders to that effect. presently the order was given to take soundings. when this was done it was found that they were in twenty fathoms water. on taking another cast, the depth reported was fifteen fathoms. there were no charts covered with soundings to guide the mariner in those days, but it did not require much experience to convince a seaman that land was probably too near, with such a sudden change from twenty to fifteen fathoms. arkal was, however, not unprepared for it, and quickly gave orders to stand by to let go the anchors. at that moment the voice of little maikar was heard shouting, in stentorian tones, "land ahead!" the captain replied with a sharp "let go!" and four anchors were promptly dropped from the stern. at the same moment he placed the helm fair amidships, and made it fast with rudder-bands. as the stern of the _penelope_ was formed like the bow, a sharp cut-water was by this means instantly presented to the sea, thus avoiding the necessity and danger incurred by modern ships, in similar circumstances, of anchoring by the head and swinging round. the hungry waves hissed tumultuously on, but were cleft and passed under the ship disappointed, for there was still enough of water beneath to permit of her tossing to and fro and rising to them like a duck, as she strained and tugged at the anchors. just as these operations had been performed, the mists of darkness seemed to lift a little and revealed a wild rocky line of coast, against which the waves were breaking madly. "now all hope is over; pray to your gods, men," said the mate, whose courage was not quite equal to his position. "there are no gods!" growled the captain bitterly, for he saw that he was now a ruined man, even though he should escape with life. "there is _one_ god," said bladud quietly, "and he does all things well." as he spoke, the captain, whose eyes had not ceased to look searchingly along the coast, observed something like a bay a short way to the left of the place where they lay. "it looks like a sandy bay," he said. "it _is_ a sandy bay," exclaimed the anxious mate; "let us up anchors and run into it." "have an easy mind and keep your advice till asked for," returned the captain with a look of scorn. "if we are destined to escape, we _shall_ escape without making haste. if we are doomed to die, nothing can save us, and it is more manly to die in a leisurely way than in a hurry. when we can see clearly we shall know better how to act." although this manner of submitting to the inevitable did not quite suit the mate, he felt constrained to repress his impatience, while the coolness of the captain had a quieting effect on some of the men who were inclined to give way to panic. the sight of bladud--as he sat there leaning on the hilt of his sword with an expression of what appeared to be serene contentment--had also a quieting effect on the men. when the increasing light showed that the sandy bay was a spot that might possibly be reached in safety, orders were given to cut the cables, loose the rudder-bands and hoist the sail. for a few minutes the vessel ran swiftly towards the bay, but before reaching the shore she struck with violence. the fore part of the _penelope_ stuck fast immovably, and then, at last, the ravenous waves attained their longed-for meal. they burst over the stern, swept the decks, tore up the fastenings, revelled among the tackling and began tumultuously to break up the ship. "launch the skiff," shouted the captain, hastening to lend a hand in the operation. the men were not slow to obey, and when it touched the water they swarmed into it, so that, being overloaded, it upset and left its occupants struggling in the water. a number of the men who could swim, immediately jumped overboard and tried to right the skiff, but they failed, and, in the effort to do so, broke the rope that held it. some clung to it. others turned and swam for the shore. a good many of the men, however, still remained in the wreck, which was fast breaking up. to these the captain turned. "now, men," he said, "those of you who can swim would do well to take to the water at once, for it is clear that we shall not have a plank left to stand on soon. come, mate, show them an example." the man, though not very courageous, as his pale face betrayed, happened to be a good swimmer, and at once leaped into the sea. he was followed by all who could swim. those who could not, were encouraged to make the attempt with planks and oars to aid them. as for bladud, he busied himself like the captain in giving heart to the non-swimmers and showing them how best to use their floats. the last of the men to leave was little maikar. he stood at the bow with his arms crossed on his chest and a look of melancholy interest on his countenance. "what! not gone yet?" exclaimed the captain, turning to him. "i cannot swim," said the man. "but neither can these," returned the captain, pointing to the men who had left last. "my father used to say," rejoined maikar, as if murmuring to himself, "that i was born to be drowned, and i'm inclined to think he was right." "surely you are not afraid," said arkal. "afraid!" exclaimed maikar, with a sarcastic laugh. "no, captain, but i'm sorry to part with you, because you've been a good captain to me." "an' i bear no ill-will to you, bladud, though you _did_ squeeze most of the life out of me once. farewell, both." as he spoke the little man seized an oar, leaped overboard, and, after some trouble in steadying himself and pointing the oar in the right direction, struck out for the shore. it was a long way off, and often, while this scene was being enacted, was heard the bubbling cry of men whose powers were failing them. some were carried by currents against a point to the westward and, apparently, dashed against the rocks. others sank before half the distance had been traversed. bladud and the captain looked at each other when maikar had left them. "can you swim?" asked the captain. "like a duck," returned the prince, "and i can help you if required." "i swim like a fish," returned the captain, "but it is hard to part from my _penelope_! she has never failed me till now, and as this venture contains all my goods, i am a ruined man." "but your life still remains," said the prince. "be of good cheer, captain. a stout man can make his fortune more than once. come, let us go." a loud cry from maikar at that moment hastened their deliberations. "are you going to cumber yourself with your weapons?" asked arkal, as they were about to spring from the side, observing that his friend took up his sword and shield. "ay--that am i. it is not a small matter that will part my good sword and me." both men sprang overboard at the same moment, and made for the spot where little maikar was still giving vent to bubbling yells and struggling with his oar. bladud was soon alongside of him, and, seizing his hair, raised him out of the water. "got the cramp," he shouted. "keep still, then, and do what i tell ye," said the prince, in a tone of stern command. he caught the poor man under the armpits with both hands, turned on his back and drew him on to his chest. swimming thus on his back, with captain arkal leading so as to keep them in the right direction, the three were ultimately cast, in a rather exhausted condition, on the shore of the little bay. chapter five. after the wreck. it was on the southern shore of what is now known as france that our hero and his comrades in misfortune were cast. at the time we write of, we need hardly say, the land was nameless. even her old roman name of gaul had not yet been given to her, for rome itself had not been founded. the fair land was a vast wilderness, known only--and but slightly--to the adventurous mariners of the east, who, with the spirit of columbus, had pushed their discoveries and trade far beyond the pillars of hercules. of course the land was a vast solitude, inhabited, sparsely, by a few of those wandering tribes which had been driven westward--by conquest or by that desire for adventure which has characterised the human race, we suppose, ever since adam and eve began to explore the regions beyond eden. like the great wilderness lying to the north of canada at the present time, it was also the home of innumerable wild animals which afforded to its uncivilised inhabitants both food and clothing. captain arkal was the only one of the three survivors of the wreck who had seen that coast before or knew anything about it, for, when bladud had entered the mediterranean many years before, he had passed too far to the southward to see the northern land. as they staggered up the beach to a place where the thundering waves sent only their spray, bladud looked round with some anxiety. "surely," he said, "some of the crew must have escaped. it can hardly be that we three are the only survivors out of so many." the party halted and looked back at the seething waves from which they had just escaped. "it would be foul shame to us," said the captain, "if we did not try to lend a helping hand to our comrades; but we shall find none of them here. i observed when they started that, in spite of my warning, they made straight for the land, instead of keeping well to windward to avoid being swept round that point of rock to the west. i led you in the right direction, and that is why we alone are here. if any of the others have been saved, they must be on the other side of that point." while he was speaking, the captain had hurried into the woods, intending to cross the neck of land which separated them from the bay beyond the point referred to. their strength returned as they ran, for their intense desire to render aid to those of their late comrades who might stand in need of it seemed to serve them in the stead of rest. "come, quick!" cried little maikar, whose catlike activity and strength enabled him to outrun his more bulky companions. "we may be too late; and some of them can't swim--i know." they reached the crest of a ridge a few minutes later, and, halting, looked at each other in dismay, for the bay beyond the point was full of great rocks and boulders, among which the waves rushed with such fury that they spouted in jets into the air, and covered the sea with foam. "no living soul can have landed there," said the captain, in a tone that showed clearly he had given up all hope. "but some may have been swept round the next point," suggested maikar eagerly, commencing to run forward as he spoke. bladud followed at once, and so did the captain, but it was evident that he regarded any further effort as useless. it proved a longer and more toilsome march than they had expected to pass beyond the second point, and when at last it was reached, there was not a speck at all resembling a human being to be seen on the coast, in all its length of many miles. "no hope," murmured bladud. "none," returned the captain. little maikar did not speak, but the expression of his countenance showed that he was of the same opinion. "now," resumed the captain, after a brief silence, "if we would not starve we must go straight back, and see whether any provisions have been washed ashore." they did not, however, return to the spot where they had landed, for they knew that the same current which had carried their hapless comrades to the westward must have borne the remains of the wreck in the same direction. descending, therefore, to the foam-covered bay before referred to, they searched its margin carefully, but for some time found nothing--not even a scrap of wreck. at last, just as they were about to give up in despair, and turn to some other method of obtaining food, they observed a portion of the wreck that had been driven high up on the beach into a cleft of rock. running eagerly towards it, they found that it was only a plank. bladud and the captain looked at it for a moment or two in silence, and maikar gave vent to a groan of disappointment. "never mind," said the prince, lifting the plank and laying it on his shoulder, in the quiet thoughtful way that was peculiar to him, "it will serve to make a fire and keep us warm." "but we need not to be kept warm, for the weather is fine and hot," said maikar, with a rueful expression. "moreover, we need food, and we cannot eat a plank!" the prince did not reply, but led the way towards a neighbouring cliff. "don't you think we had better make our fire in the woods, bladud?" asked the captain. "that would oblige one of us to watch in case natives or wolves should attack us, and none of us are in a fit state to watch. we must sleep." "but i can't sleep without first eating," said maikar in a remonstrative tone. "should we not go to the woods first and try to catch something?" "can you on foot run down the hare, the deer, the bear, the wild-boar, or even the rabbit?" "not i. my legs are swift enough, though short, but they are not equal to that." "well, then, as we have neither bow nor shaft, and my good sword would be of little use against such game, why waste our time and strength in the woods?" "but we might find honey," suggested maikar. "and if we did not find honey, what then?" "berries," answered the little man. "berries are not nearly ripe yet." "true, i forgot that." "say you did not know it, man," interposed the captain with a laugh; "never be ashamed of confessing ignorance in regard to things that you're not bound to know. lead on, bladud, we will follow. you know more of woodcraft than either of us. if it were the sea we had to do battle with i would claim to lead. on land, being only a babe, i freely resign the helm to one who knows how to steer." agreeing to this arrangement, bladud led his companions up the steep face of a cliff until a projecting ledge was reached, which was just wide enough to form a camping-ground with a perpendicular cliff at the back, and with its other sides so precipitous as to render the approach of enemies--whether two or four-legged--exceedingly difficult. by piling a few stones at the head of the path by which it was reached, they rendered it impossible for any one to approach without awakening the sleepers. bladud then, using his sword as a hatchet, chipped off some pieces of the plank, and directed his companions to cut away the wet parts of these and reduce the dry parts to shavings. they obeyed this order in silence, and wonderingly, for a fire seemed useless, their encampment being well sheltered from the wind, and, as we have said, the weather was warm. by means of a cord, a rude bow, and a drill made of a piece of dry wood, their leader soon procured fire, and, in a few minutes, a bright flame illumined their persons and the cliff behind them. as the shades of evening were falling by that time, the aspect of things was much improved by the change. "now, comrades," said the prince, undoing the breast of his tunic, and drawing from either side a flat mass of dark substance that resembled old dried cow-hide, "we shall have supper, and then--to rest." "dried meat!" exclaimed little maikar, his eyes--and indeed his whole visage--blazing with delighted surprise. "right. maikar. i knew that you would be hungry when we got ashore, so i caught up two pieces of meat and stuffed them into my breast just as we were leaving--one for arkal and me; the other for you. it may not be quite enough, perhaps, but will do, i hope, to keep you quiet till morning." "nay, i shall content me with my fair share, it i may claim a share at all of what i had no hand in procuring. it was wise of you to do this. how came you to think of it?" "to say truth, i can lay claim to neither wisdom nor forethought," answered the prince, dividing the food into equal portions. "the meat chanced to be lying close to my hand as i was about to leap into the sea. had i seen it sooner, i would have advised all to take some in the same way. there, now, set to and cook it. for myself, i feel so sleepy that i'm half inclined to eat it raw." the jerked or dried meat which had been thus opportunely brought away, may be said to have been half cooked in the drying process, and indeed, was sometimes eaten in its dried condition, when it was inconvenient to cook it. in a few minutes, therefore, the supper was ready, and, in a few minutes more, it was disposed of--for strong jaws, sound teeth and good appetite make short work of victuals. by that time the night had set in; the gale was moderating; the stars had come out, and there seemed every prospect of a speedy and favourable change in the weather. with darkness came the wolves and other creatures of the night, both furred and feathered. against the former the party was protected by the steep ascent and the barricade, but the latter kept swooping down out of darkness, ever and anon, glaring at them for a moment with round inquiring eyes and sweeping off, as if affrighted, in unearthly silence. little heed was paid to these sights and sounds, however, by our adventurers, who were filled with sadness at the loss of their ship and comrades. they spoke but little during the meal, and, after partially drying themselves, lay down with their feet towards the fire, and almost instantly fell asleep. being trained to a hardy life, they did not feel the want of couch or covering, and healthy exhaustion prevented dreams from disturbing their repose. gradually the fire died down; the howling of the wolves ceased; the night-birds betook them to their haunts, and no sound was heard in or around the camp except the soft breathing of the sleepers and the booming of the distant waves. chapter six. first anxieties and troubles. the day that followed the wreck was well advanced before the sleepers awakened. their first thoughts were those of thankfulness for having escaped with life. then arose feelings of loneliness and sorrow at the sad fate of the crew of the _penelope_, for though it was just possible that some of their comrades had reached the shore on the beach that extended to the westward, such an event was not very probable. still the bare hope of this induced them to rise in haste. after a hurried breakfast on the remnants of the previous night's supper, they proceeded along the coast for several miles, carefully searching the shores of every bay. about noon they halted. a few scraps of the dried meat still remained, and on these they dined, sitting on a grassy slope, while they consulted as to their future proceedings. "what is now to be done?" asked the captain of bladud, after they had been seated in silence for some minutes. "i would rather hear your opinion first," returned his friend. "you must still continue to act as captain, for it is fitting that age should sit at the helm, while i will act the part of guide and forester, seeing that i am somewhat accustomed to woodcraft." "and the remainder of our band," said little maikar, wiping his mouth after finishing the last morsel, "will sit in judgment on your deliberations." "be it so," returned bladud. "wisdom, it is said, lies in small compass, so we should find it in you." captain arkal, whose knitted brows and downcast eyes showed that his thoughts were busy, looked up suddenly. "it is not likely," he said, "that any ships will come near this coast, for the gale has driven us far out of the usual track of trading ships, and there are no towns here, large or small, that i know of. it would be useless, therefore, to remain where we are in the hope of being picked up by a passing vessel. to walk back to our home in the east is next to impossible, for it is not only far distant, but there lie between us and hellas far-reaching gulfs and bays, besides great mountain ranges, which have never yet been crossed, for their tops are in the clouds and covered, summer and winter, with eternal snow." "then no hope remains to us," said maikar, with a sigh, "except to join ourselves to the wild people of the land--if there be any people at all in it--and live and die like savages." "patience, maikar, i have not yet finished." "besides," interpolated bladud, "a wise judge never delivers an opinion until he has heard both sides of a question." "now, from my knowledge of the lie of coast-lands, i feel sure that the isles of the cassiterides must lie there," continued the captain, pointing westward, "and if we travel diligently, it is not unlikely that we shall come down upon the coast of this land almost opposite to them. there we may find, or perhaps make, a boat in which we could cross over--for the sea at that part is narrow, and the white cliffs of the land will be easily distinguished. once there, i have no doubt that we shall find a ship belonging to one of my countrymen which will take maikar and me back to our homes, while you, prince, will doubtless be able to return to your father's court on foot." it will be seen from this speech that the phoenician captain included the southern shore of england in his idea of the cassiterides. his notion of the direction in which the islands lay, however, was somewhat incorrect, being founded partly on experience, but partly also on a misconception prevalent at the time that the islands referred to lay only a little way to the north of spain. "your plan seems to me a good one," said bladud, after some thought, "but i cannot help thinking that you are not quite right in your notion as to the direction of the tin islands. when i left albion, i kept a careful note of our daily runs--being somewhat curious on such points-- and it is my opinion that they lie _there_." he pointed almost due north. the captain smiled and shook his head. bladud looked at maikar, who also smiled and shook his head. "if you want my opinion," said the little man, gravely, "it is that when two great, good and wise men differ so widely, it is more than likely the truth lies somewhere between them. in _my_ judgment, therefore, the cassiterides lie yonder." he pointed with an air of confidence in a north-west direction. "it does seem to me," said bladud, "that maikar is right, for as you and i seem to be equally confident in our views, captain, a middle course may be the safest. however, if you decide otherwise, i of course submit." "nay," returned the captain, "i will not abuse the power you have given me. let us decide the matter by lot." "ay, let us draw lots," echoed maikar, "and so shove the matter off our shoulders on to the shoulders of chance." "there is, there can be, no such thing as chance," said bladud in a soliloquising tone. "however, let it be as you wish. i recognise the justice of two voices overriding one." lots were drawn accordingly, and the longest fell to the little seaman. without further discussion, therefore, the course suggested by him was adopted. "and now, comrades," said the prince, rising and drawing his knife-- which, like his sword, had been procured in egypt, and was of white metal--"we must set to work to make bows and arrows, for animals are not wont to walk up to man and request to be killed and cooked, and it won't be long before maikar is shouting for food." "sorry am i that the good javelin of my grandfather went down in the carcase of the pirate chief," remarked the captain, also rising, "for it seems to me by the way you handled it, bladud, that you could have killed deer with it as well as men." "i have killed deer with such before now, truly, but the arrow is handier and surer." "ay, in a sure hand, with a good eye to direct it," returned arkal, "but i make no pretence to either. a ship, indeed, i can manage to hit--when i am cool, which is not often the case in a fight--and if there are men in it, my shafts are not quite thrown away, but as to deer, boars, and birds, i can make nothing of them. if i mistake not, maikar is not much better than myself with the bow." "i am worse," observed the little man quietly. "well then," said bladud, with a laugh, "you must make me hunter to the party." while conversing thus they had entered the forest, and soon found trees suitable to their purpose, from which they cut boughs,--using their swords as hatchets. we have already shown that the prince had brought his sword, shield, and knife on shore with him. captain arkal and maikar had also saved their swords and knives, these having been attached to their girdles at the time they leaped from the wreck. they were somewhat inferior weapons to those worn by bladud, being made of bronze. the swords of the seamen, unlike that of the prince, were short and double-edged, shaped somewhat like those used long afterwards by the romans, and they made up in weight for what they lacked in sharpness. it did not take many hours for the party, under the direction of the prince, to form three strong and serviceable bows, with several arrows, the latter being feathered with dropped plumes, and shod with flint, according to the fashion of the times. bowstrings had to be made at first out of the tough fibrous roots of a tree, split into threads and plaited together. "of course they are not so good as deer-sinews for the purpose," remarked bladud, stringing one of the bows and fitting an arrow to it, "but we must be content until we kill a deer or some other animal. perhaps we shall have an opportunity soon." the remark seemed to have been prophetic, for, as the last word passed his lips, a fawn trotted out of a glade right in front of the party and stood as if paralysed with surprise. the captain and maikar were reduced to much the same condition, for they made no attempt to use their bows. "ho!--" exclaimed the former, but he got no further, for at the moment bladud's bow twanged, and an arrow quivered in the breast of the fawn, which fell dead without a struggle. "well done!" exclaimed the captain heartily. "if such luck always attends you, prince, we shall fare well on our journey." "it was not altogether luck," returned the other. "see you that spot on the bark of yonder tree--about the size of maikar's mouth as it now gapes in astonishment?" "i see it, clear enough--just over the--" he stopped abruptly, for while he was yet speaking an arrow quivered in the centre of the spot referred to. after that the captain talked no more about "luck," and maikar, shutting his mouth with a snap, as if he felt that no words could do justice to his feelings, sprang up and hastened to commence the operation of flaying and cutting up the fawn. having thus provided themselves with food, they spent the rest of the day in preparing it for the journey by drying it in the sun; in making tough and serviceable bowstrings out of the sinews of the fawn, fitting on arrow-heads and feathers, and otherwise arranging for a prolonged march through a country which was entirely unknown to them, both as to its character and its inhabitants. "it comes into my head," said the captain, "that maikar and i must provide ourselves with shields and spears of some sort, for if the people of the land are warlike, we may have to defend ourselves." "that is as you say," returned the prince, rising as he spoke and going towards a long straight bough of a neighbouring tree, on which he had fixed a critical gaze. with one sweep of his heavy sword he severed it from the stem and returned to his companions. "have you taken an ill-will at that tree, or were you only testing the strength of your arm?" asked maikar. "neither, my friend; but i must have a javelin to make my equipment complete, and i would advise you and the captain to provide yourselves with like weapons, for we may meet with four-footed as well as two-legged foes in these parts. i will show you how to point the things with flint." "that is well said," returned the seaman, rising and going into the woods in search of a suitable branch, followed by the captain. it was late that night before the weapons were shaped and pointed with flint and all ready for a start on the following morning--the only thing wanting to complete their armament being a couple of shields. "we are sure to meet with a wild boar or a bull before long, or it may be a bear," said maikar, "and the hides of any of these will serve our purpose well." "that is, if we use them well," remarked the captain. "no one said otherwise," retorted maikar. "some people are so full of wise thoughts that they blurt them out, without reason, apparently to get rid of them." "just so, maikar, therefore blurt out no more, but hold thy tongue and go to sleep. good-night." chapter seven. converse and adventures by the way. day was just beginning to break in the east when the prince raised his head from the bundle of leaves that had formed his pillow, and looked sleepily around him. his companions lay still, sound asleep and sprawling, in all the _abandon_ characteristic of the heroes of antiquity. some of these characteristics were wonderfully similar to those of modern heroes. for instance, the captain lay flat on his back with his mouth wide open, and a musical solo proceeding from his nose; while maikar lay on his side with his knees doubled up, his arms extended at full length in front of him, and his hands tightly clasped as if, while pleading with some one for mercy, he was suddenly petrified and had fallen over on his side. rising softly, bladud took up his bow and quiver, and, buckling on his sword, left the encampment without disturbing the sleepers. he had not proceeded more than a mile when he startled several wild turkeys or birds of that species from their rest. one of these he instantly brought down. following them up he soon shot another, and returned to camp, where he found his comrades as he had left them--the musical nose being if anything more emphatic than before. although naturally a grave man, bladud was by no means destitute of a sense of humour, or disinclined on occasion to perpetrate a practical joke. after contemplating the sleepers for a moment he retired a few paces and concealed himself in the long grass, from which position he pitched one of the huge birds into the air, so that it fell on the captain's upturned visage. the snore changed at once into a yell of alarm, as the mariner sprang up and grasped his sword, which, of course, lay handy beside him. electrified by the yell, maikar also leaped to his feet, sword in hand. "what d'ye mean by that?" cried the captain, turning on him fiercely. "what mean _you_ by it?" replied maikar with equal ferocity. he had barely uttered the words, when the second turkey hit him full in the face and tumbled him over the ashes of the fortunately extinguished fire. "come, come!" interposed the prince, stepping forward with a deprecating smile; "there should be no quarrelling among friends, especially at the beginning of a long journey. see, i have fetched your breakfast for you. instead of tumbling on the fire and putting it out, maikar, i think it would be wiser to see if there is a spark left and blow it into a flame. quick! i am hungry." it need hardly be said that these orders were received with a laugh and a prompt obedience on the part of the little man. "yes--there is fire," he said, blowing with tremendous energy until flame was produced. "and, do you know, there is something within me that has a loud voice, but only utters one word--`food! food! food!' there, now, you may get the birds ready, for the fire will be ready for them in two winks." there was no occasion, however, to give this advice to his friends, for already the birds had been plucked, split open at the breast, laid flat, and their interiors scraped out in a summary manner. the plucking was not, indeed, all that could be wished, but what fingers failed to do a singe in the flames accomplished to the perfect satisfaction of men who were in no way particular. sharp-pointed sticks were then thrust through the expanded carcases, and they were stuck up in front of the blaze to roast. underdone meat is an abomination to some, a luxury to others--reminding one of that very ancient proverb, "tastes differ." we cannot say whether on this occasion the uniformity of action in our heroes was the result of taste or haste, but certain it is that before the fowls were only half-roasted on one side, they were turned over so as to let the fire get at the other, and breakfast was begun while the meat was yet frightfully underdone. thereafter the three men arose, like giants refreshed--if we may say so, for maikar was indeed mentally, though not physically, a giant--buckled on their swords, slung bows and quivers on their backs, along with the turkey remains, and took up shields and javelins. having laid their course by the stars the night before, they set out on their journey through the unknown wilderness. the part of the country through which they passed at the beginning of the march was broken and diversified by hill and dale; in some places clothed with forests, in others covered with grass, on which many wild animals were seen browsing. these, however, were remarkably timid, and fled at the first sign of the approaching travellers, so that it was impossible to get within bow-shot of them. "from this i judge that they are much hunted," said bladud, halting on a ridge to note the wild flight, of a herd of deer which had just caught eight of them. "if so, we are likely to fall in with the hunters before long, i fear," remarked the captain. "why do you fear?" asked maikar. "because they may be numerous and savage, and may take a fancy to make slaves of us, and as we number only three we could not resist their fancy without losing our lives." "that would be a pity," returned maikar, "for we have only one life to lose." "no; we have three lives to lose amongst us," objected the captain. "which makes one each, does it not?" retorted the seaman. "true, maikar, and we must lose them all, and more if we had them, rather than become slaves." "you are right, captain. we never, _never_ shall be slaves," said bladud. they say that history repeats itself. perhaps sentiment does the same. at all events, the british prince gave utterance that day to a well-known sentiment, which has been embalmed in modern song and shouted by many a briton with tremendous enthusiasm--though not absolute truth. "captain arkal," said the little seaman, as they jogged quietly down the sunny slope of a hill, at the bottom of which was a marsh full of rushes, "how do you manage to find your way through such a tangled country as this?" "by observing the stars," answered the captain. "but i have observed the stars since i was a little boy," objected maikar, "and i see nothing but a wild confusion of shining points. how can these guide you? besides, there are no stars in the daytime." "true, maikar; but we have the sun during the day." maikar shook his head perplexedly. "listen," said the captain, "and i will try to enlighten your dark mind; but don't object else you'll never understand. all stars are not alike--d'ye understand that?" "any fool could understand that!" "well, then, of course _you_ can understand it. now, you have noticed, no doubt, that some stars are in groups, which groups may alter their position with regard to other groups, but which never change with regard to each other." "each other," repeated maikar, checking off each statement with a nod and a wave of his javelin. "well," continued the captain, "there's one group of stars--about six-- plainly to be seen on most fine nights, two stars of which are always pretty much in a line with a little star a short way in front of them-- d'ye see?" "yes." "well, that star shows exactly where the cold regions lie--over _there_ (extending his arm and pointing), and of course if you know that the cold regions lie _there_, you know that the hot regions must lie at your back--there, and it follows that the pillars of hercules lie _there_ (pointing west), and home lies somewhere about _there_ (pointing eastward)." "stop!" cried maikar in great perplexity--for although a seaman he was densely ignorant. "hot regions, _there_, cold, _there_, home and the pillars, _there_, and _there_, and _there_ (thrusting his arms out in all directions). i've no more idea of where you've got me to now than-- than--" "oh, never mind," interrupted the captain, "it doesn't matter, as you are not our guide. but, ho! look! look! down in the hollow there--among the rushes. what's that?" "a boar!" said bladud, in a low whisper, as he unslung his bow. "come, now, it will take all our united force to slay that brute, for, if i have not lost my power of judging such game, i'm pretty sure that he's a very big old boar with formidable tusks." while the prince was speaking, his comrades had also prepared their weapons, and looked to their guide for directions. these were hastily but clearly given. as the boar was evidently asleep in his lair, it was arranged that the three friends should stalk him, as the broken ground was specially favourable for such a mode of attack. "we will advance together," said bladud, "with our bows ready. i will lead; you follow close. when we get within range you will do as you see me do, and be sure that you aim at the brute's side--not at his head. send your arrows with all the force you can. then drop the bows and get your javelins ready." with eager looks the captain and little sailor nodded assent. they were much excited, having often heard tales of boar-hunting, though neither of them had ever taken part in that work. a few minutes' walk brought them to the edge of the rushes, where they had a fair view of the monstrous animal as it lay fully extended on its side, and not more than thirty yards distant. "take him just behind the fore-leg," whispered bladud, as he drew his bow. his companions followed his example. two of the bows twanged simultaneously, but the third--that of maikar--was pulled with such vigour that it broke with a crash that would have awakened the sleepiest of wild boars, had there been nothing else to arouse him. as it was, other things helped to quicken his sensibilities. bladud's unfailing arrow went indeed straight for the heart, but a strong rib caught and checked its progress. the captain's shaft, probably by good luck, entered deep into the creature's flank not far from the tail. to say that the forest was instantly filled with ear-splitting shrieks is to express the result but feebly. we might put it as a sort of indefinite question in the rule of three, thus--if an ordinary civilised pig with injured feelings can yell as we all know how, what must have been the explosion of a wild-boar of the eighth century búcú, in circumstances such as we have described? railway whistles of the nineteenth century, intermittently explosive, is the only possible answer to the question, and that is but an approximation to the truth. for one instant the infuriated creature paused to look for its assailants. catching sight of them as they were fitting arrows to their bows, it gave vent to a prolonged locomotive-express yell, and charged. bladud's arrow hit it fair between the eyes, but stuck in the impenetrable skull. the shaft of the captain missed, and the javelin of maikar went wildly wide of the mark. by order of bladud the three had separated a few yards from each other. even in its rage the monster was perplexed by this, for it evidently perceived the impossibility of attacking three foes at the same moment. which to go for was the question. like an experienced warrior it went for the "little one." maikar had drawn his last weapon--the short sword of bronze--and, like a brave man as he was, "prepared to receive boarelry." another instant and the enemy was upon him. more than that, it was over him, for, trusting to his agility--for which he was famed--he tried to leap to one side, intending to make a vigorous thrust at the same moment. in doing so his foot slipped; he fell flat on his side, and the boar, tripping over him, just missed ripping him with its fearful tusks. it fell, with a bursting squeak, beyond. to leap up and turn was the work of an instant for the boar, and would have been the same for the man if he had not been partially stunned by the fall. as it was, the captain, who was nearest, proved equal to the emergency, for, using his javelin as a spear, he plunged it into the boar's side. but that side was tougher than he had expected. the spear was broken by a sharp twist as the animal turned on its new foe, who now stood disarmed and at its mercy. bladud's ponderous sword, however, flashed in the air at that moment, and fell on the creature's neck with a force that would have made hercules envious if he had been there. deep into the brawn it cut, through muscle, fat, and spine, almost slicing the head from the trunk, and putting a sudden stop to the last yell when it reached the windpipe. the boar rolled head over heels like a shot hare, almost overturning bladud as it wrenched the sword from his hand, and swept the captain off his legs, carrying him along with it in a confusion of blood and bristles. it was truly a terrific encounter, and as the prince stood observing the effect of his blow, he would probably have burst into a fit of laughter, had he not been somewhat solemnised by captain arkal's fearful appearance, as he arose ensanguined, but uninjured, from the ground. chapter eight. discovery and flight. being now provided with material for making shields, they resolved to spend a day in camp. this was all the more necessary, that the shoes or sandals which they had worn at sea were not well suited for the rough travelling which they had now to undertake. accordingly they selected a spot on the brow of a hill from which the surrounding country could be seen in nearly all directions. but they were careful also to see that several bushes shielded themselves from view, for it was a matter of uncertainty whether or where natives might make their appearance. here, bathed in glorious sunshine, with a lovely prospect of land and water, tangled wood and flowery plains, to gladden their eyes, and the savoury smell of pork chops and turkey to tickle their nostrils, they spent two days in manufacturing the various necessary articles. captain arkal provided himself with a new javelin. maikar made another bow, and both fabricated tough round shields with double plies of the boar's hide. out of the same substance bladud made a pair of shoes for each of them. "the sandals you wear at home," he said, "are not so good as those used by us in albion. they don't cover the feet sufficiently, and they expose the toes too much. yet our sandals are easily and quickly made. look here--i will show you." his companions paused in their labour and looked on, while the prince took up an oblong piece of boar-hide, over a foot in length and six inches broad, which had been soaking in water till it had become quite soft and limp. placing one of his feet on this he drew the pattern of it on the skin with a pointed stick. around this pattern, and about a couple of inches from it, he bored a row of holes an inch or so apart. through these holes he rove a thong of hide, and then rounded away the corners of the piece. "there," said he, placing his foot in the centre of it and drawing the thong, "my sandal is ready." the tightening of the thong drew up the edges of the shoe until they overlapped and entirely encased his foot. "good," said the captain, "but that kind of sandal is not new to me. i've seen it before, not only in your country, but in other lands." "indeed? well, after all, it is so simple, and so likely to hit the minds of thoughtful men, that i doubt not it is used wherever travelling is bad or weather cold. we shall need such sandals in this land, for there is, no doubt, great variety of country, also of weather, and many thorns." while our travellers were thus labouring and commenting on their work, unseen eyes were gazing at them with profound interest and curiosity. a boy, or youth just emerging from the state of boyhood, lay low in a neighbouring thicket with his head just elevated sufficiently above the grass to enable his black eyes to peer over it. he was what we of the nineteenth century term a savage. that is to say, he was unkempt, unwashed, and almost naked--but not uneducated, though books had nothing to do with his training. the prince chanced to look round, and saw the black eyes instantly, but being, as we have said, an adept in woodcraft--including savage warfare--he did not permit the slightest evidence of recognition to escape him. he continued his gaze in the same direction, allowing his eyes slowly to ascend, as if he were looking through the tree-tops at the sky. then turning his head quietly round he resumed his work and whistled--for whistling had been invented even before that time. "comrades," he said, after a few minutes, "don't look up from your work, but listen. we are watched. you go on with your occupations as if all was right, and leave me to deal with the watcher." his comrades took the hint at once and went quietly on with their labours, while the prince arose, stretched himself, as if weary of his work. after a few minutes of looking about him, as though undecided what to do next, he sauntered into the bush at the side of their encampment opposite to that where the watcher lay. the moment he got out of range of the boy's eyes, however, his careless air vanished, and he sped through the underwood with the quietness and something of the gait of a panther--stooping low and avoiding to tread on dead twigs. making a wide circle, he came round behind the spot where the watcher was hid. but, trained though he had been in the art of savage warfare, the boy was equal to him. from the first he had observed in bladud's acting the absence of that "touch of nature which makes the whole world kin," and kept a bright look-out to his rear as well as in his front, so that when bladud, despite his care, trod on a dry stick the boy heard it. next moment he was off, and a moment after that he was seen bounding down the hill like a wild-cat. the prince, knowing the danger of letting the boy escape and carry information to his friends, dashed after him at full speed--and the rate of his running may be estimated when it is remembered that many a time he had defeated men who had been victors at the olympic games. but the young savage was nearly his match. feeling, however, that he was being slowly yet surely overtaken, the boy doubled like a hare and made for a ridge that lay on his left. by that time the chase was in full view of the two men in camp, who rose and craned their necks in some excitement to watch it. "he's after something," said the captain. "a boy!" said maikar. "ay, and running him down, hand over hand." "there seems to be no one else in sight, so we don't need to go to his help." "if he needs our help he'll come for it," returned the captain with a laugh, "and it will puzzle the swiftest runner in the land to beat his long legs. see, he's close on the lad now." "true," responded the other, with a sigh of disappointment, "but we shan't see the end of it, for the boy will be over the ridge and out of sight before he is caught." maikar was right. even while he spoke the youthful savage gained the summit, where his slim, agile figure was clearly depicted against the sky. bladud was running at full speed, not a hundred yards behind him, yet, to the amazement of the spectators, the boy suddenly stopped, turned round, and waved his hand with a shout of defiance. next moment he was over the ridge and gone. a few seconds later the prince was seen to halt at the same point, but instead of continuing the pursuit, he remained immovable for a few minutes gazing in front of him. then he returned toward the encampment with a somewhat dejected air. "no wonder you look surprised," he said, on arriving. "the other side of that ridge is a sheer precipice, down which i might have gone if i had possessed wings. there was no track visible anywhere, but of course there must have been a well-concealed one somewhere, for soon after i reached the top i saw the young wild-cat running over the plain far below. on coming to the edge of a long stretch of forest, he stopped and capered about like a monkey. i could see, even at that distance, that he was making faces at me by way of saying farewell. then he entered the woods, and that was the end of him." "i wish it was the end of him," observed the captain, with something like a growl--for his voice was very deep, and he had a tendency to mutter when disturbed in temper. "the monkey will be sure to run home and tell what he's seen, and so bring all his tribe about our ears." "ay, not only his tribe," remarked maikar, "but his uncles, brothers, fathers, nephews, and all his kin to the latest walkable generation." "are your weapons ready?" asked bladud, taking up his sword and putting on his helmet. "all ready," answered the captain, beginning to collect things--"i have just finished two head-pieces out of the boar-hide for myself and maikar, which will turn an arrow or a sword-cut, unless delivered by a strong arm. don't you think them handsome?" "they are suitable, at any rate," said maikar, "for they are as ugly as our faces." "come, then, we must make haste, for wild men are not slow to act," rejoined bladud. "by good fortune our way does not lie in the direction the boy took. we shall get as far away from them as possible, and travel during the night." in a few minutes the little party--by that time fully equipped for the chase or war--were hurrying down the hillside in the direction of the setting sun. it was growing late in the evening, and as they reached the bottom, they had to cross a meadow which was rather swampy, so that their feet sank in some parts over the ankles. "i say, guide," observed maikar, who, like his nautical commander, had small respect for rank, and addressed the prince by what he deemed an appropriate title, "it has just come into my head that we are leaving a tremendous trail behind us. we seafaring men are not used to trouble our heads on that score, for our ships leave no track on the waves, but it is not so on the land. won't these naked fellows follow us up and kill us, mayhap, when we're asleep?" "doubtless they will try," answered bladud, "but we land-faring men are in the habit of troubling our heads on that score, and guarding against it. do you see yonder stream, or, rather, the line of bushes that mark its course?" "ay, plainly." "well, when we reach that, you shall see and understand without explanation." on reaching the stream referred to, they found that it was a small, shallow one, with a sluggish current, for the plain through which it flowed was almost flat. "you see," said bladud, pausing on the brink, "that it flows towards the sea in the direction we have come from. now step into the water and follow me down stream." "down?" exclaimed the captain in surprise, and with some hesitation. "we don't want to return to the sea whence we have just come, do we?" "captain arkal," returned bladud, sternly, "when you give orders on board ship, do you expect to have them questioned, or obeyed?" "lead on, guide," returned the captain, stepping promptly into the water. for about a quarter of a mile the prince led his followers in silence and with much care, for it was growing very dark. presently they came to a place where the banks were swampy and the stream deep. here their guide landed and continued to walk a short distance down the bank, ordering his followers to conceal their track as much as possible, by closing the long grass over each footprint. the result, even to the unpractised eyes of the seamen, did not seem satisfactory, but their leader made no comment. after proceeding about fifty yards further, he re-entered the stream and continued the descent for about a mile. then he stopped abruptly, and, turning round, said, "now, comrades, we will land for a moment, then re-enter the stream and ascend." the astonishment of captain arkal was so great, that he was again on the point of asking an explanation, for it seemed to him that wandering down the bed of a stream for the mere purpose of turning and wandering up it, when haste was urgent, could only be accounted for on the supposition that the prince had gone mad. remembering his previous rebuff, however, he kept silence. on reaching the swampy part of the bank their leader did not land, but held straight on, though the water reached nearly to their armpits. they were somewhat cooled, but not disagreeably so, for the night was warm. in course of time they reached the spot where they had first entered the stream. passing it, without landing, they held on their course for a considerable distance, until they came to a place where the stream was not more than ankle-deep. here bladud paused a few moments and turned to his companions. "now, captain," he said, with a smile that may be said to have been almost audible though not visible, "do you understand my proceedings?" "not quite, though, to say truth, i begin to think you are not just so mad as you seemed at first." "don't you see," continued the prince, "that when we first came to the stream, i entered it so that our footprints on the bank would show clearly that we had gone downwards. this will show our pursuers, when they arrive here, that, though we are wise enough to take to the water because it leaves no footprints, we are not experienced enough to be careful as to concealing the direction we have taken. when they reach the swampy bank and deep water, they will be led to think we did not like getting wet, and the effort made to cover our footprints, will make them think that we are very ignorant woodsmen. then, with much confidence, they will continue to follow down stream, looking on the banks now and then for our footprints, until they begin to wonder whether we intend to make a highroad of the river all the way to the sea. after that they will become perplexed, astonished, suspicious as to our stupidity, and will scurry round in all directions, or hold a council, and, finally they will try up stream; but it will be too late, for by that time we shall be far away on our road towards the setting sun." "good!" ejaculated maikar, when this explanation was finished. "good!" echoed the captain, with an approving nod. "you understand your business, i see. shove out your oars. we follow." without further remark bladud continued his progress up stream. it was necessarily slow at first, but as night advanced the moon rose, in her first quarter, and shed a feeble but sufficient light on their watery path. at last they came to a place where the leader's sharp eye observed signs of the presence of man. stopping short and listening intently, they heard subdued voices not far from the spot where they stood. "stay where you are," whispered bladud. "don't move. i'll return immediately." he entered the bushes cautiously and disappeared. standing there without moving, and in profound silence, under the dark shadow of an overhanging bush, it is no wonder that the captain and his comrade began to think the time very long, yet it was only a few minutes after he had left them that their guide returned. "only a single family," he whispered--"three men, two women, and four children. we have nothing to fear, but we must pass on in silence." the discovery of those natives obliged them to continue the march up the bed of the stream much longer than they had intended, and the night was far advanced before they thought it prudent to leave the water and pursue the journey on dry land. fortunately the country was open and comparatively free from underwood, so that they made progress much more rapidly; nevertheless, it was not thought safe to take rest until they had placed many a mile between them and the natives, who, it was thought probable, would be started in pursuit of them by the youth to whom bladud had given chase. much wearied, and almost falling asleep while they advanced, the travellers halted at last in a dense thicket, and there, lying down without food or fire, they were soon buried in profound repose. chapter nine. homecoming. it is beyond the scope of this tale to describe minutely all that befell our adventurers on their long, fatiguing, and dangerous march through ancient gaul, which land at that time had neither name nor history. suffice it to say that, after numerous adventures with savage beasts, and scarcely less savage men, and many hair-breadth escapes and thrilling incidents by flood and field, they at last found themselves on the shores of that narrow channel which separated the northern coast of gaul from the white cliffs of old albion. they were guided thereto, as we have said, by the pole-star, which shone in our sky in those days with its wonted brilliancy, though, probably, astronomers had not yet given to it a local habitation in their systems or a distinctive name. of course their passage through the land had been attended with great variety of fortune, good and bad. in some parts they met with natives who received them hospitably and sent them on their way rejoicing. elsewhere they found banditti, fortunately in small bands, with whom they had to fight, and once they were seized and imprisoned by a tribe of inhospitable savages, from whom they escaped, as it were, by the skin of their teeth. in all these vicissitudes the gigantic frame and the mild, kindly looks of bladud went far to conciliate the uncertain, attract the friendly, and alarm the savage, for it is a curious fact, explain it how we may, that the union of immense physical power with childlike sweetness of countenance, has a wonderful influence in cowing angry spirits. it may be that strong, angry, blustering men are capable only of understanding each other. when they meet with strong men with womanlike tenderness they are puzzled, and puzzlement, we think, goes a long way to shake the nerves even of the brave. at all events it is well known that a sudden burst of wrath from one whose state of temper is usually serene, exerts a surprising and powerful effect on average mankind. whatever be the truth as to these things, it is certain that nearly every one who looked up at the face of bladud liked him, and more than once when his ponderous sword sprang from its sheath, and his blue eyes flashed, and his fair face flushed, and his magnificent teeth went together with a snap, he has been known to cause a dozen men to turn and flee rather than encounter the shock of his onset. little maikar, who was himself as brave as a lion, nearly lost his life on one occasion, because he was so taken up and charmed with the sight of one of bladud's rushes, that he utterly forgot what he was about, and would have been crushed by the smite of a savage club, if the captain had not promptly turned aside the blow and struck the club-man down. "at last!" exclaimed the prince, with a gaze of enthusiasm at the opposite cliffs, "my native land! well do i love it and well do i know it, for i have stood on this shore and seen it from this very spot when i was quite a boy." "indeed! how was that?" asked arkal. "i used to be fond of the sea, and was wont to travel far from my father's home to reach it. i made friends with the fishermen, and used to go off with them in their little skiffs. one day a storm arose suddenly, blew us off shore, and, when we were yet a long distance from this coast, overturned our skiff. what became of my companions i know not. probably they were drowned, for i never more saw them; but i swam ashore, where i think i should have died of exhaustion if i had not been picked up by an old fisherman of this land, who carried me to his hut and took care of me. with the old man i remained several months, for the fishermen on the two sides of the channel had been quarrelling at the time, and the old man did not dare to venture across. i did not care much, for i enjoyed playing with his grandson, and soon learned their language. after a time the quarrelling ceased, and the old man landed me on my own side." "that is interesting. i only wish the old fisherman was here now with his skiff, for there is no village in sight and no skiff to be seen, so how we are to get over i cannot tell,--swimming being impossible and wings out of the question." "ay, except in the case of fish and birds," observed maikar. "true, and as we are neither fish nor birds," rejoined the captain, "what is to be done?" "we must find a skiff," said the prince. "good, but where?" "on the other side of yon bluff cape," replied bladud. "it was there that my friend the old fisherman lived. mayhap he may live there still." pushing on along shore they passed the bold cape referred to, and there, sure enough, they found the old man's hut, and the old man himself was seated on a boulder outside enjoying the sunshine. great was his surprise on seeing the three strangers approach, but greater was his joy on learning that the biggest of the three was the boy whom he had succoured many years before. after the first greetings were over, bladud asked if he and his friends could be taken across in a skiff. the old man shook his head. "all that i possess," he said, "you are welcome to, but my skiff is not here, and if it was i am too old to manage it now. my son, your old companion, has had it away these two days, and i don't expect him home till to-morrow. but you can rest in my poor hut till he comes." as there seemed nothing better to be done, the travellers agreed to this. next day the son arrived, but was so changed in appearance, that bladud would not have recognised his old playmate had not his father called him by name. the skiff, although primitive and rude in its construction, was comparatively large, and a considerable advance on the dug-outs, or wooden canoes, and the skin coracles of the period. it had a square or lug-sail, and was steered by a rudder. "my son is a strange man," remarked the old fisherman, as the party sauntered down to the shore, up which the skiff had been dragged. "he invented that skiff as well as made it, and the curious little thing behind that steers it." "able and strange men seem to work their minds in the same way," returned bladud; "for the thing is not altogether new. i have seen something very like it in the east; and, to my mind, it is a great improvement on the long oar when the boat is driven through the water, but it is of no use at all when there is no motion." "no; neither is it of use when one wishes to sweep round in a hurry," observed the captain, when this was translated to him. "if it had not been for my steering-oar bringing you sharp round when we were attacking the pirate, you would hardly have managed to spit the chief as you did, strong though you be." it was found that the new style of skiff was a good sailer, for, although the wind was light, her lug-sail carried her over to the coast of albion in about four hours. "there has been some bad feeling of late between the men from the islands and the men of our side--there often is," said the young fisherman, who steered. "i am not sure that it will be safe to land here." "if that be so, hold on close along the shore in the direction of the setting sun," returned bladud, "and land us after nightfall. i know the whole country well, and can easily guide my comrades through the woods to my father's town on the great river." the young fisherman did not reply for a few seconds. he seemed in doubt as to this proposal. "there has been war lately," he said, "between your father and the southern tribes, and it may be dangerous for so small a party to traverse the lands of the enemy. i would gladly go and help you, but what could one arm more do to aid you against a host? besides, my father is dependent on me now for food. i may not forsake the old one who has fed and guarded me since i was a little boy." "concern yourself not about that, friend," replied the prince. "we need no help. during many days we have travelled safely enough through the great woods of the interior, and have held our own against all foes." "without doubt we are well able to take care of ourselves," remarked the captain, "though it is but fair to admit that we have had some trouble in doing so." "ay, and some starvation, too," added maikar; "but having come safe over the mainland, we are not afraid to face the dangers of the isles, young man." "i said not that you were afraid," rejoined the fisherman, with something of dignified reproof in his manner; "but it is not disgraceful for brave men to act with caution." "well said, my old comrade!" exclaimed bladud; "and so we shall be pleased if you will land us here. but your speech leads me to understand that you have had news of my father's doings lately. is the old man well?" "ay, king hudibras is well, and as fond of fighting as ever, besides being well able for it. i am not sure that he would be pleased if he heard you call him the `old man.'" "indeed? yet nearly fifty winters have passed over his head, and that is somewhat old for a warrior. and my mother and sister--have you heard of them?" "excellently well, i believe. at least, so i have been told by the hebrew merchant who came over sea with one of the phoenician ships, and wanders over the whole land with his pack of golden ornaments--which so take the fancy of the women, indeed of the men also. how the fellow escapes being robbed on his journeys is more than i can tell. it is said that he travels by night and sleeps in caves during the day. some people even think that he is in league with evil spirits. i doubt that; but he told me the other day, when i met him on our side of the channel, that your sister is about to be married to a neighbouring chief--i forget his name--gunrig, i think--with whom your father wishes to be on friendly terms." "married!" exclaimed bladud, with a troubled look. "ay, and it is said she does not like the match." "does my mother approve of it?" "i think not, though the hebrew did not seem to feel quite sure on that point. but your father seems resolved on it, and you know he is not easily turned from his purpose when determined to have his way. he is more difficult to move than a woman in that matter." "come, friend," said bladud gravely, "don't be too free in your remarks on my father." "and don't be too hard on the women-folk," added the captain, with a grim smile, "they are not all alike. at least there is one that i know of in the east, whose spirit is like that of the lamb, and her voice like the notes of the songbird." maikar looked as if he were on the point of adding something to the conversation, but his thoughts seemed too deep for utterance, for he only sighed. "land us in yon creek," said bladud promptly. "it seems that i have not returned home a moment too soon. there, under the cliff--so." the skiff ran alongside of a ledge of rock as he spoke, and next moment the prince leaped upon the shores of his native land. with a brief farewell to his old playmate, he turned, led his companions up the neighbouring cliff, and, plunging into the forest, set off at a pace which betrayed the urgency of his desire to reach home. although they travelled almost night and day, it took them the better part of two weeks to reach the river, on the banks of which king hudibras' chief town was built. they arrived at the eastern bank without mishap, and found that people were crowding over from the western side to attend some display or fete which was obviously going on there. mingling with the crowd they went to the river's edge, where numerous wooden canoes and coracles were busily engaged in ferrying the people over. approaching a man, whose apparel betokened him one of the poorer class, bladud addressed him-- "can you tell me, friend, what is going on here to-day?" "truly you must be a stranger if you know not, for every one--far and near--has heard of the wedding of our king's pretty daughter." "is she, then, married?" asked the prince, scarcely able to conceal his anxiety. "not yet, but she is to be married to-morrow--if no champion comes to claim her." "how? what mean you?" "i mean what i say. gunrig, the great chief whom she is to wed, is a proud and a stout man. many chiefs have been courting the fair princess, and, in his pride of heart and strength, gunrig has challenged any one to fight him in single combat, promising that the bride shall be given to the conqueror." "and does my--does the king agree to such a base proposal?" "well, he objected to it at first, but gunrig is such a dangerous enemy, and his tribe so powerful, that the king has given in at last. besides, he knows that the chief is so strong and big, and so well able to use his weapons, that none of the other chiefs are likely to venture a trial with him, or, if they do, they are sure to get the worst of it." "you don't seem to like this gunrig, i think." "no. i hate him. everybody hates him; he is such a proud brute, but what can _we_ do? when the king commands, all must obey. if i was as big and stout as you are," added the man with a steady gaze at the prince, "i'd go at this fellow and win the fair princess myself." "perchance i may have a try," returned bladud with a light laugh. "does the princess hate him? and the queen?" "ay, worse than poison." "come, let us go and see the sport," said the prince to his companions, as he hurried away from the river. "you know our language well enough, i think, captain, to understand what has been said?" "ay, the most of it; and there is no doubt you are much wanted at this feast." in a few minutes our travellers arrived at the suburbs of the little town, which was embosomed among trees and green fields. as hundreds of people had come in from all the country round, and some of them were phoenician mariners from ships then in port, our three adventurers might not have attracted much attention, had it not been for the towering height, stalwart frame, and noble bearing of bladud. as it was, people commented on them, bestowing looks of admiration particularly on the prince, but they did not address or molest them in any way--supposing, of course, that they had come from a distance to see the show; though many wondered that such a strapping fellow as the tall one could have come to the land without having been heard of. "perhaps he has only just arrived in one of the ships," was the sagacious remark of one. "but the ships have been here a long time, and we have seen all their crews," was the comment of another. on arriving at the scene of festivities, they found that an immense assemblage encircled the arena, in which a number of young men were competing in athletic sports. the captain and maikar gently elbowed their way to the front, where they could see what was going on. "i will remain in the back row where i can see well enough," said bladud. "keep a look-out for me when you feel lost. i don't mean to make myself known just yet." chapter ten. the sports. at the further end of the ground enclosed for the sports, a slightly raised platform had been prepared for the king and his household. the royal party ascended it soon after the travellers arrived, but the distance was too great to permit of faces being distinguished. bladud could easily perceive, however, the tall form of his father, and the graceful figure of his mother, as they took their places, closely followed by the chief warriors. these, however, did not bring their women--that privilege being reserved for the household of the king only. close behind the king and queen walked the young princess hafrydda. she was not only graceful, but beautiful, being very fair like her mother, with light-blue eyes like those of her brother bladud; she had peach-bloom cheeks, and a brow of snow, save where her cap failed to protect it from the sun. after the princess, and shrinking behind her as if to escape the gaze of the courtiers, or rather warriors, who crowded the platform, came a girl of about nineteen summers, the companion of hafrydda. branwen was a complete contrast to her friend in complexion. she was the daughter of a famous northern chief, and was quite as beautiful as the princess, while her jet-black eyes and curly brown hair gave more of force and character to features which were delicately moulded. there was reason for poor branwen's desire to escape observation, for the proud gunrig was paying her attentions which were far too pointed and familiar in one who was about to marry the king's daughter. indeed, it was whispered that he had changed his mind since he had seen branwen, and would have even resigned the princess in her favour, if he had dared to offer such an affront to the king. hudibras himself was the last to ascend the platform. he was a fine-looking, portly man, with a great shock of black hair, a long beard, and limbs so well proportioned that he did not seem taller than other men until he stood beside them. he was a worthy sire of such a son as bladud, though three inches shorter. there was a sort of barbaric splendour in the costumes of both men and women, combined with some degree of graceful simplicity. the king was clothed in a softly-dressed deer-skin jacket, over which he wore a wolf-skin with the hair outside. a tunic of purple cotton, brought by phoenician ships from the far east, covered him as far down as the knees, which were bare, while his lower limbs were swathed in strips of scarlet cloth. leather sandals, resembling those made by bladud while in gaul, protected his feet. no crown or other token of royalty rested on his brow, but over his dark and grizzled locks he wore a species of leather skull-cap which, being exceeding tough, served the purpose of a helmet. on his breast was a profusion of ornaments in the form of beads and bosses of gold and tin, the former of which had been brought from the east, the latter from the mines of his native land. a bronze sword with an ivory sheath, inlaid with gold, hung at his left side, and a knife of the same material at his right. altogether king hudibras, being broad and strong in proportion to his height, presented a very regal appearance indeed, and bore himself with becoming dignity. he had married the daughter of a norse jarl; and his two children, bladud and hafrydda, had taken after their gentle mother in complexion and disposition, though they were not altogether destitute of a sub-current of their father's passionate nature. the nobles, or rather warriors--for ability to fight constituted nobility in those days--were clothed in garments which, with sundry modifications, resembled those of the king. as for the women of the court, their costumes were what may be styled flowing, and therefore graceful, though difficult to describe. like their lords, they were profusely ornamented with precious metals and bands and loops of coloured cloth. hafrydda and her companion branwen allowed their hair to fall, after the manner of the times, in unrestrained freedom over their shoulders--that of the former resembling a cataract of rippling gold, while that of the latter was a wavy mass of auburn. both girls wore wild flowers among their tresses. of course the queen had rolled up her slightly grey hair in the simple knot at the back of the head, which is more becoming to age, and she wore no ornament of any kind on her head. public games are pretty much the same in all lands, and have probably been similar in all times. we shall not weary the reader by describing minutely all that went on. there was racing, of course, and jumping both with and without a run, as well as over a willow-wand held high. there was also throwing the heavy stone, but the method pursued in this feat was not in accordance with modern practice, inasmuch as the competitor turned his back to the direction in which the stone was to be thrown, heeled instead of toed the line, seized the stone with both hands and hurled it backwards over his head. as the games proceeded it was evident that the concourse became much excited and deeply interested in the efforts of the various competitors--the king and his court not less so than the people. after the conclusion of one of the races, captain arkal left the front row, and pushing his way towards bladud, whispered-- "it seems to me that you could easily beat the winner of that race, smart though he be. what say you? will you try?" "i fear being discovered by my father if i go so prominently before him, and i wish to announce myself in private." "pooh! discovery is impossible! have you not told me that you were a smooth-chinned boy, and not grown to near your present height when you left home? how can they ever recognise one who returns a sunburnt giant, with a beard that covers half his face?" "perhaps you are right," returned the prince, looking as if uncertain how to act; but the advice of little maikar corresponding with that of the captain decided him. in those primitive times the rules and ceremonies connected with games were few and simple. "entries" were not arranged beforehand; men came and went, and competed or refrained, as they pleased, though, of course, there were a few well-known greyhound-like men and athletes who competed more or less in all games of the various districts around, and whose superlative powers prevented other ambitious men from becoming too numerous. these were, we may say, the "professionals" of the time. no special costumes were worn. each man, as he stepped to the front, divested himself of wolf-skin, deer-skin, boar-skin, or cat-skin mantle, and, perchance, also of his upper coat, and stood forth in attire sufficiently light and simple to leave his limbs unhampered. a long race--ten times round the course--was about to come off, and the men were being placed by the judges, when bladud pushed through the crowd and made his way to the starting-point. there was a murmur of admiration as his tall and graceful figure was seen to join the group of competitors in front of the royal stand. he gave the greek letter omicron as his name, and no further questions were asked him. divesting himself of the rug or mantle, which he wore thrown over one shoulder after the manner of a plaid, he stood forth in the thin loose tunic which formed his only garment, and tightened his belt as he toed the line. it was with a feeling of satisfaction that he observed several of the king's warriors among the runners, and one of these was gunrig. being an agile as well as a stout man, he did not consider it beneath his dignity to join in the sports. the king himself gave the signal to start. he descended from his stand for the purpose, and bladud was greatly pleased to find that though he looked at him he evidently failed to recognise him. at the signal, about twenty powerful fellows--mostly young, though some were in the prime of life--started out at full speed for a short distance, as if to test each other; then they began to slow, so as not to break their wind by over-exertion at the beginning. bladud felt at once that he was more than a match for the best of them, unless any one should turn out to have been concealing his powers. he therefore placed himself alongside of gunrig, and kept at his elbow about half a foot behind him the first two rounds of the course. at first gunrig took no notice of this, but when he perceived that the tall stranger continued to keep the same position, he held back a little, intending to reverse the position for a time. but bladud also held back and frustrated his intention. exasperated by this, gunrig put on what we in these times call a "spurt," and went ahead at a pace which, in a few seconds, left most of the runners a good way behind. this was received by the spectators with a cheer, in which surprise was fully as prominent as satisfaction, for although they knew that the chief was celebrated for his speed of foot, few of them had actually seen him run before that day, and it at once became evident that if his endurance was equal to his speed, it would go hard with his competitors. bladud was left behind a few yards, but, without making a spurt, he lengthened his stride a little, and in a moment or two had resumed his former position at his rival's elbow. a wild cheer of delight ensued, for now it was recognised that in all probability the race would lie between these two. as, however, all this occurred in the third round of the course, and all the other runners seemed to be doing their work with steady resolution, there was still the possibility of one or more of them proving themselves, by endurance perhaps, more than a match for the swift-footed. the excitement, therefore, became intense, and, as round after round of the course was completed the relative position of the various men changed considerably. at the seventh round some, who had been husbanding their strength, let out, and, passing others with great ease, came close upon the heels of gunrig and bladud. this was, of course, a signal for enthusiastic cheering. others of the runners, feeling that their chance of taking a respectable place was hopeless, dropped out of the race altogether and were cheered vociferously as they retired. at last, in the eighth round, it became practically, as had been anticipated, a race between the leading two, for they were far ahead of all the others by that time, but occupied exactly the same relative position as before. gunrig became so exasperated at this, that on commencing the ninth round, he made a sudden effort which carried him five or six yards ahead of his rival. the spectators could not avoid cheering him at this, but the cheer was feeble. "the tall man is losing wind," cried one in a disappointed tone. "i feared his legs were too long," observed another. most of the people, however, looked on in anxious silence. "i did not think he would give in so easily," murmured little maikar regretfully. "he has not given in yet," returned the captain, with a satisfied nod. "see--he pulls up!" this was true. to the unbounded surprise of the spectators, bladud had actually stopped a moment to tighten his belt at the beginning of the tenth round. then, to their still greater amazement, he put on what we may call an olympic spurt, so that he overtook his rival in less than a quarter of a minute; passed him easily, ran over the rest of the course at a rate which had not been equalled since old albion was created, and passed the winning-post full five hundred yards in advance of gunrig, amid yells of delight and roars of laughter, which continued for some time--bursting forth again and again as the novelty and surprise of the thing became more and more forced home to the spectators' minds. "you have met more than your match to-day, gunrig," remarked the king, with a laugh, as the defeated man strode angrily up to the platform. "i have met foul play," replied the chief angrily. "he pretended that he could not run, else would i have put on more force. but it matters not. i will have another opportunity of trying him. meanwhile, there is yet the heavy stone to throw. how now, wench?" he added, turning fiercely on branwen, who had nearly hidden her face in her shawl, "do you try to hide that you are laughing at me?" poor branwen was in anything but a laughing mood. she was too much afraid of the fiery chief for that, and had merely covered her face, as a modern beauty might drop her veil, to avoid his gaze. the fair-haired hafrydda, however, was not so timid, her smile was evidently one of amusement at his defeat, which angered him all the more. "gunrig," said the king, drawing himself up, and speaking impressively, "remember that you are my guest, and that it ill becomes you to insult my women before my face." "pardon me," replied the chief, with an effort to recover himself. "you must remember that i am not accustomed to defeat." "true," returned the king blandly, "so now you had better take to the heavy stone and come off the victor." gunrig at once went down into the arena and sent a challenge to bladud. the latter had returned to his place among the spectators, but his height rendered him easy to find. he accepted the challenge at once, and, as no other competitor for the heavy stone offered, the two had it all to themselves. this was no matter of wonder, for the heaviest stone among those laid out for trial was of a weight that many of the young men or warriors could barely lift, while the stoutest of them could not have thrown it more than a few feet. boiling over as he was with indignation, gunrig felt as if he was endued with more than usual strength. he lifted the stone with ease, faced the platform, heeled the line, and hurled the stone violently over his head, so that it fell with a heavy thud far behind him. then bladud took it up. "oh! what a stout man he is!" whispered branwen to hafrydda, "and what a handsome face!" "that is true; and i hope he will win," replied the princess. "hush! child, the king will be displeased if he hears you," said her mother earnestly. "what ever you think, keep silence." the queen spoke with such unwonted energy that hafrydda was surprised, but her thoughts were instantly diverted to bladud, who made a magnificent cast and sent the stone a yard further than his opponent. but gunrig seized it again and hurled it a foot beyond that. "well done," said the king. "go on. it is the best in three heaves that wins." bladud grasped the stone and hurled it back over his head with all his force. up and up it went as if it had resolved to become an aerolite and visit the moon! then down it came with a mighty thud ten yards beyond gunrig's mark. once more the air rang with the enthusiastic plaudits of the multitude, while the king ordered the victor to approach the stand. bladud did so with some trepidation, for now he knew that he would have to speak, and feared that though his appearance had not betrayed him, his voice would probably do so. chapter eleven. a notable duel followed by changes and plots. every eye was riveted with admiration and curiosity on the young stranger as he approached. "you have acquitted yourself well, young man," said the king, "and it becomes us to invite you to our palace and to ask if we can serve you in any way." bladud had a deep voice, and, by way of increasing his chances of concealing his identity, he pitched it a note or two lower than usual as he replied. "i thank you, sir, for your hospitality and gladly accept it. as to your offer to serve me, i would count it a favour if you will permit me to enter into combat with one of your friends." "indeed!" exclaimed the king, in great surprise, "that is a strange request, but i may not deny you. which of my warriors may it be?" "it is none of your warriors, sir," answered bladud, "but one of your guests who has, i am told, challenged whoever will to fight him for the hand of your fair daughter. i am here now to accept that challenge and to fight with gunrig if he will." "assuredly, young man, your ambition or presumption seems equal to your prowess," returned the king with an offended look; "know ye not that this challenge was delivered to chiefs of this country, not to unknown strangers, and although i admit that your tongue seems well accustomed to our language, it has a foreign smack about it which does not belong to those who are home-bred." "i am a chief," answered bladud, proudly, "and this is my native land." "what is your name, then, and where come ye from?" demanded the king. "that i may not answer just now, but i am here, in your power, if what i say be not found true, you may do what you will with me. meanwhile i ask permission to accept the challenge." at this point gunrig, unable to restrain himself longer, sprang forward. "grant him permission, king," he cried. "if i were not ready to abide by my word i were not worth my salt. nay, indeed, whether you grant him permission or not i will fight him, for he has twice beaten me this day, and now insults me, therefore there is a deadly feud between us." "you were always a hot-head, gunrig," replied the king, with a grim smile. "but have your way. only it does not follow that if you lose the day i will give my child to the conqueror." "be that as you choose," said gunrig, "i am now ready." as he spoke the fiery chief grasped his shield, leaped down into the arena and drew his sword. bladud was not slow to follow. in those days action usually followed close on the heels of purpose, and as the laws of chivalry had not yet been formulated there was no braying of trumpets or tedious ceremonial to delay the combat. "oh! i do hope he will conquer," whispered the princess hafrydda to her dark-eyed companion, "and save me from that horrid man." "i hope so too," returned branwen, in a subdued voice, "but--" she stopped abruptly, and a blush deepened the rich colour of her cheek, which she sought to conceal by drawing her shawl still closer over it. this was needless, for the clash of swords at the moment, as the combatants met in deadly conflict, claimed the exclusive attention of the damsels, and caused the entire concourse to press close around the barricades with eager interest. "a strange way to mark his home-coming," muttered captain arkal, thrusting himself as near to the scene of action as possible, closely followed by maikar, who, being little, kept easily in his wake. "he knows well what he's about," returned the little man, whose admiration for bladud was great, and his belief in him unbounded. maikar was one of those men--of whom there are no doubt thousands--who powerfully appreciate, almost venerate, and always recognise, the spirit of justice when displayed by their fellows, although they may not always be aware of the fact that they do recognise it--hence his belief in the prince. "a good day for the land if that long-legged fellow slays him," remarked one of the crowd. "that's true," said another. indeed, this seemed to be the opinion of most of the spectators; there was also a general expression of confidence that the stranger was sure to be victorious, but some objectors--of whom there are, and necessarily must be a considerable number in the world--held that gunrig was a stout man to tackle, and it was not always length of limb that gained the day. such comments, however, were not numerous, for the concourse soon became too deeply absorbed to indulge in speech. the fight that now ensued gave some weight to the objectors' views. at first the combatants rushed at each other with the ferocity of men who mean to settle a dispute by instant and mutual destruction, and there was a sort of gasp of excited surprise among the people as the two swords fell at the same moment with something like a thunderclap on the respective shields. feeling that neither could overcome the other by the might of a resistless blow, each, after one or two rapid cuts, thrusts, and guards, ascertained that his adversary was so nearly his match as to render great care needful. they retired a few paces, and then advancing, settled down to their work, point to point and foot to foot. gunrig, although inferior in stature to the prince, was about equal to him in strength and weight, and, being a trained warrior in the prime of life, was possessed of a sturdy endurance which, to some extent, made up for the other's superior agility. in other respects they seemed well matched, for each was highly trained and expert in the use of his weapons. after a second onset, somewhat similar to the first, and with much the same result, the two went at each other with cut and thrust so rapidly that it was almost impossible to distinguish their swords as they flashed like gleaming flames in the sunshine. suddenly gunrig drew back, and, springing at the prince with uplifted weapon, as if to cut him down, changed the attack into a quick thrust which, passing under the youth's uplifted shield, went straight to his breast. but the quick eye of bladud detected the intention in time. leaping lightly backward, he caused the thrust to come short; at the same time he returned with a quick thrust at the chief's right shoulder which took effect slightly. giving him no time to recover, he made a sweeping cut at gunrig's neck, which, had it fallen, would have shorn his head from his shoulders, but the chief, instead of guarding it, suddenly stooped, and, as the sword passed whistling above him, returned with a thrust so fierce that it pierced right through the thick shield opposed to it. here was an opportunity of which bladud was not slow to avail himself. although the arm which held it was slightly wounded, he gave the shield a violent and sudden twist, which not only held the weapon fast but nearly wrenched it out of the chief's hand. an ordinary sword would have been snapped, but gunrig's weapon was a big bronze one that had done service in many a fray, and its owner's hand was strong. he held it fast, but before he could withdraw it and recover himself bladud cut him fair over the head. whether it was accident or design no one could tell, but the flat instead of the edge of his sword descended on the headpiece, and the blow which should otherwise have cleft his adversary to the chin only stretched him insensible on the field. a great sigh of relief, mingled with wild cheers of satisfaction, greeted this effective termination of the fight, and the king was evidently not ill-pleased. "pick him up, some of you," he said, pointing to the prostrate gunrig, "and carry him to the palace. see that he is well cared for. go, branwen, and see that everything is properly done for him." branwen at once left the stand, and the king, descending into the arena, proceeded to congratulate the victor. before he could do so, however, to his unbounded surprise, the queen also descended with her daughter and threw her arms round the prince's neck, while hafrydda seized his hand and covered it with kisses. "body of me! am i dreaming?" cried the king, after a few moments of speechless amazement. "oh! bladud," exclaimed the queen, looking up in his smiling face, "did you really think you could deceive your own mother? fie, fie, i would have recognised you if you had come with your face painted black." by this time the king had recovered, and realised the fact that his long-lost son had returned home. he strode towards him, and, grasping his hand, essayed to speak, but something in his throat rendered speech impossible. king hudibras was a stern man, however, and scorned to show womanly weakness before his people. he turned suddenly round, kicked a few courtiers out of his way, remounted the platform, and, in a loud voice, announced the conclusion of the sports. great was the rejoicing among the people assembled there, when the news spread that the long-lost prince bladud had returned home, and that the tall youth who had defeated gunrig was he, and they cheered him with even more zest and energy than they had at the moment of his victory. meanwhile gunrig, having been conveyed to the residence of the king, was laid on a couch. the palace was, we need scarcely say, very unlike our modern palaces, being merely a large hut or rude shanty of logs, surrounded by hundreds of similar but smaller huts, which composed this primitive town. the couch on which the chief lay was composed of brushwood and leaves. but gunrig did not lie long upon it. he was a tough man, as well as a stout, and he had almost recovered consciousness when the princess, returning from the games, arrived to assist her friend in attending to the king's commands. she found branwen about to enter the chamber, in which the chief lay, with a bandage. "hast heard the news?" she asked, with a gladsome smile. "not i," replied branwen, in a rather sharp tone. "whatever it is, it seems to have made you happy." "truly it has. but let us go in with the bandages first. the news is too good to be told in a hurry." the sound of their voices as they entered aroused gunrig completely, and he rose up as they approached. "my father sent us," said the princess in some confusion, "to see that you are well cared for. your wounds, i hope, are not dangerous?" "dangerous, no; and they will not prevent me from speedily avenging myself on the young upstart who has appeared so suddenly to claim you for a bride. stay, you need not go so quickly, or toss your head in pride. i will stand by my word, and let him keep who wins. but i have a word to say to you, branwen. come along with me." wooers among the ancient albionites were not, it would seem, celebrated for politeness--some of them, at least! the chief seized the shrinking girl by the wrist as he spoke, and led her out of the house and into a neighbouring thicket, where he bade her sit down on a fallen tree. "now," he said, sitting down beside her, and putting his arm round her waist, despite her objections, "this young turkey-cock has fairly won hafrydda, and he is welcome to her for all that i care--that is, if he lives to claim her hand after our next meeting, for, since i've seen your pretty face, branwen, i would rather wed you than the fairest lass that ever owned to norland blood. what say you to take the princess's place and become my wife?" "oh! no, no," exclaimed branwen, in great distress, trying to disengage his arm, "you love hafrydda, and it is impossible that you can love us both! let me go." "i'm not so sure that i ever really cared for the princess," replied the chief; "but of this i am quite sure, that i never loved her half as much as i love you, branwen." the girl tore herself away from him, and, standing up with flushed face and flashing eyes, exclaimed-- "shame would crush you, if you were a brave man, for uttering such a speech. but you are _not_ brave; you are a coward, and your late opponent will teach you that. be sure that i will never consent to wed one who is a disgrace to manhood." a fierce scowl crossed gunrig's swarthy countenance, but it passed in a moment, and a look of admiration replaced it as he looked up with a smile. "i like maids with your temper," he said, still keeping his seat, "but you forget that if the king so wills it, you shall be compelled to accept me, and i think the king will scarce dare to thwart my wishes, especially now that another man has a right to the princess." "i defy you," returned the girl, still at a white heat of indignation, "and if the king tries to force me to wed you, i will defy him too! the young stranger will be my champion--or, if he should refuse, there are other ways by which a helpless girl may escape from tyrants." she turned with these words and fled. gunrig sprang up to pursue, but, fortunately for the girl, a modest bramble, that scarce ventured to raise its branches above the ground, caught his foot and sent him headlong into a rotten stump, which seemed only too ready to receive him. extracting his head from its embrace, he stood up in a bewildered frame of mind, found that the light-footed branwen had escaped him, and sat down again on the fallen tree to recover his equanimity. meanwhile the poor girl ran back to the palace, rushed into hafrydda's room, threw herself on a couch, and burst into tears. this was such an unwonted exhibition of weakness in branwen that the princess stood looking at her for a few moments in silent surprise. then she sought to comfort her, and made her relate, bit by bit, with many a sob between, what had occurred. "but why do you cry so bitterly?" asked hafrydda. "it is so unlike you to give way to despair. besides, you defied him, you say, and you were right to do so, for my dear father will never force you to wed against your wishes." "i know better," returned the other, with some bitterness. "did he not intend to make _you_ wed against your wishes?" "that is true," replied the gentle hafrydda, with a sigh. "but i am saved from that now," she added, brightening up suddenly, "and that reminds me of the good news. do you know who the handsome youth is who rescued me from this monster?" "no, i don't; and i'm sure i don't care," answered branwen, with a touch of petulance. "at all events, i suppose you will be glad of the change of husbands." "he will never be my husband," returned the princess, somewhat amused by her friend's tone, for she suspected the cause. "he is my brother bladud--my long-lost brother!" the change that came over branwen's pretty face on hearing this was remarkable. "your brother!" she exclaimed. "no wonder that he is beautiful, as well as brave!" a merry laugh broke from the princess as she kissed her friend. "well, but," she said, "what will you do? you know that always, when i have been perplexed or in trouble, i have come to you for help and advice. now that things are turned the other way, i know not what advice to give you." "i have settled what to do," answered branwen, drying her eyes, and looking up with the air of one whose mind has been suddenly and firmly made up. "your father, i know, will consent to gunrig's wishes. if he did not, there would be war again--horrible war--between the tribes. i will never be the cause of that if i can help it. at the same time, it would kill me to wed with gunrig. i would rather die than that; therefore--i will run away." "and leave me?" exclaimed the princess anxiously. "well, i should have to leave you, at any rate, if i stay and am compelled to marry gunrig." "but where will you run to?" "that i will not tell, lest you should be tempted to tell lies to your father. just be content to know that i shall not be far away, and that in good time you shall hear from me. farewell, dear hafrydda, i dare not stay, for that--that monster will not be long in hatching and carrying out some vile plot--farewell." chapter twelve. plots and plans. about three miles beyond the outskirts of king hudibras' town--the name of which has now, like many other things, been lost in the proverbial mists of antiquity--an old man dwelt in a sequestered part of the forest. his residence was a dry cave at the foot of a cliff, or, rather, a rude hut which, resting against the cliff, absorbed the cave, so to speak, into its rear premises. the old man had a somewhat aquiline nose, a long white beard, and a grave, but kindly, expression of countenance. he was one of the sons of israel--at that time _not_ a despised race. although aged he was neither bowed nor weak, but bore himself with the uprightness and vigour of a man in his prime. when at home, this man seemed to occupy his time chiefly in gathering firewood, cooking food, sleeping, and reading in a small roll of egyptian papyrus which he carried constantly in his bosom. he was well known, far and near, as beniah the merchant, who trafficked with the phoenician shipmen; was a sort of go-between with them and the surrounding tribes, and carried his wares from place to place far and wide through the land. he was possessed of a wonderful amount of curious knowledge, and, although he spoke little, he contrived in the little he said to make a favourable impression on men and women. being obliging as well as kind, and also exceedingly useful, people not only respected beniah, but treated him as a sort of semi-sacred being who was not to be interfered with in any way. even robbers--of whom there were not a few in those days--respected the hebrew's property; passed by his hut with looks of solemnity, if not of awe, and allowed him to come and go unchallenged. most people liked beniah. a few feared him, and a still smaller number--cynics, who have existed since the days of adam--held him to be in league with evil spirits. he was a tall, stalwart man, and carried a staff of oak about six feet long, as a support during his travels. it had somehow come to be understood that, although beniah was pre-eminently a man of peace, it was nevertheless advisable to treat him with civility or to keep well out of the range of that oaken staff. possibly this opinion may have been founded on the fact that, on one occasion, three big runaway phoenician seamen, who thought they would prefer a life in the woods to a life on the ocean wave, had one evening been directed to beniah's hut as a place where strangers were never refused hospitality when they asked it with civility. as those three seamen made their appearance in the town that same evening, in a very sulky state of mind, with three broken heads, it was conjectured that they had omitted the civility--either on purpose or by accident. be this as it may, beniah and his six-foot staff had become objects of profound respect. evening was drawing on and beniah was sitting on a stool beside his open door, enjoying the sunshine that penetrated his umbrageous retreat, and reading the papyrus scroll already referred to, when the figure of a woman approached him with timid, hesitating steps. at first the hebrew did not observe her, but, as she drew nearer, the crackling of branches under her light footsteps aroused him. he looked up quickly, and the woman, running forward, stood before him with clasped hands. "oh! sir," she exclaimed, "have pity on me! i come to claim your protection." "such protection as you need and i can give you shall have, my daughter; but it is a strange request to make of such a man, in such a place, and at such a time. moreover, your voice is not quite strange to me," added the old man with a perplexed look. "surely i have heard it before?" "ay, beniah, you know my voice and have seen my face," said the woman, suddenly removing her shawl and revealing to the astonished eyes of the old man the pretty head and face of branwen with her wealth of curling auburn hair. "child," exclaimed the hebrew, rising and letting fall his roll, while he took her hand in both of his, "what folly have you been guilty of, for surely nothing but folly could move you thus to forsake the house of your friends?" "ay, father, you say truth," returned the girl, her courage returning as she noted the kindly tone of the old man's voice. "folly is indeed the cause of it, but it is the folly of man, not of women." branwen then gave him a detailed account of the duel between bladud and gunrig, as well as of the subsequent proceedings of the latter, with regard to herself. the face of the old man elongated as she proceeded with her narration, and as it was long by nature--the face, not the narration--its appearance when she had concluded was solemnising in the extreme. "assuredly you are right, my child, for it is amazing folly in such a man as gunrig to suppose he is a fitting mate for you,--though it is no folly in him to wish to get you for a wife,--and it is no folly in you to flee from such an undesirable union. but how to help you in this matter is more difficult to conceive than anything that has puzzled my brain since the day i left tyre." "can you not conceal me here till we have time to think what is best to be done?" asked branwen simply, "for i will die rather than wed this-- this monster gunrig!" the hebrew smiled pitifully, for he saw in the maiden's face and bearing evidence of a brave, resolute spirit, which would not condescend to boasting, and had no thought of using exaggerated language. "truly i will conceal you--for a time. but i cannot leave you here alone when i go on my wanderings. besides, the king will send out his hunters all over the land--men who are trained to note the slightest track of bear, deer, and wolf, and they will find it easy work to discover your little footprints. no doubt, near the town, and even here where many wanderers come and go, they will fail to pick up the trail, but if you venture into the lonely woods the footmarks will certainly betray you, and if i go with you, my doom will be fixed, for my big sandal is as well known to the king's hunters as the big nose on my face, or the white beard on my chin." poor branwen became, and looked, very miserable on hearing this, for the idea of hunters and footprints had not once occurred to her. "oh what, then, is to be done?" she asked with a helpless yet eager look. for some time the old man sat in silence, with closed eyes as if in meditation. then he said, with a sad smile, that he supposed there was nothing for it but to reveal one of his secrets to her. "i have not many secrets, branwen," he said, "but the one which i am about to reveal to you is important. to make it known would be the ruin of me. yet i feel that i may trust you, for surely you are a good girl." "no, i'm _not_," cried branwen, with a look of firmness, yet of transparent honesty, that amused her companion greatly; "at least," she continued in a quieter tone, "i don't _feel_ good, and the queen often tells me that i am _very_ naughty, though i sometimes think she doesn't mean it. but when i think of that--that monster and his insult to my dear hafrydda, and his impudence in wanting me. oh! i could tear him limb from limb, and put the bits in the fire so that they could never come together again!" "my dear child," returned beniah remonstratively, while she paused with flashing eyes and parted lips, as though she had not yet given vent to half her wrath, "whatever other folk may say or think of you, you are good enough in my esteem, but it is wrong to give way thus to wrath. come, i will reveal my little secret, and it behoves us to be quick, for they will soon miss you and send the hunters on your track." as he spoke the hebrew led the refugee through his hut and into the cave beyond, the darkness at the further end of which was so great, that it would have been impossible to see but for a stone lamp which stood in a recess in the wall. this revealed the fact that the place was used as a kitchen. "that is my chimney," said beniah, taking up the lamp and holding it so that a large natural hole or crack could be seen overhead, it formed an outlet to the forest above--though the opening was beyond the reach of vision. the same crack extended below in the form of a yawning chasm, five or six feet wide. there seemed to be nothing on the other side of this chasm except the wall of the cliffs; but on closer inspection, a narrow ledge was seen with a small recess beyond. across the chasm lay a plank which rested on the ledge. "this is my secret--at least part of it," said the hebrew, pointing to the plank which bridged the chasm. "give me your hand; we must cross it." branwen possessed a steady as well as a pretty head. placing her hand unhesitatingly in that of her guide, she quickly stood on the ledge, close to a short narrow passage, by which they reached a smaller cave or natural chamber in the solid rock. here, to the girl's intense surprise, she found herself surrounded by objects, many of which she had never seen before, while others were familiar enough. against the wall were piled webs of cloth of brilliant colours, and garments of various kinds. in one corner was a heap of bronze and iron weapons, shields and other pieces of eastern armour, while in a recess lay piled in a confused heap many phoenician ornaments of gold, silver, and bronze, similar to those which were worn by the warriors and chief men of king hudibras' court. it was, in fact, the stock in trade of the hebrew--the fount at which he replenished his travelling pack; a pack which was a great mystery to most of his friends, for, however much they might purchase out of it, there seemed to be no end to its inexhaustible power of reproduction. "here," said beniah, amused at the girl's gaze of astonishment, "ye will be safe from all your foes till a higher power directs us what shall be done with you, for, to say truth, at this moment my mind is a blank. however, our present duty is not action but concealment. water and dried fruit you will find in this corner. keep quiet. let not curiosity tempt you to examine these things--they might fall and cause noise that would betray us. when danger is past, i will come again. meanwhile, observe now what i am about to do, and try to imitate me." he returned to the entrance, and, taking up the plank-bridge, drew it into the passage, guiding its outer end on a slight branch, which seemed to have fallen across the chasm accidentally, but which in reality had been placed there for this purpose. then, sliding it out again, he refixed it in position. "is that too hard for you? try." branwen obeyed, and succeeded so well, that old beniah commended her on her aptitude to learn. "now be careful," he added, when about to re-cross the bridge. "your life may depend on your attention to my instructions." "but what if i should let the plank slip?" said she in sudden anxiety. "there is another in the cave on the floor. besides, i have two or three planks in the forest ready against such a mishap. fear not, but commit yourself to the all-seeing one." he crossed over alone, leaving the girl on the other side, and waited till she had withdrawn the bridge, when he returned to the mouth of the outer cave, and sat down to continue the perusal of his roll. branwen meanwhile returned to the inner cave, or store, and sat down to meditate on thoughts which had been awakened by the hebrew's reference to the all-seeing one. she wondered if there was an all-seeing one at all, and, if there was, did he see all the wickedness that was done by men-- ay, and even by women! and did he see the thoughts of her mind and the feelings of her heart? it will be gathered from this, that the maiden was considerably in advance of the uncivilised age in which she lived, for the ancient inhabitants of albion were not addicted to the study of theology, either natural or speculative. "if i but knew of such an all-seeing one," she murmured, "i would ask him to help me." raising her eyes as she spoke, she observed the goods piled round the walls, and the light of the lamp--which had been left with her-- glittered on the trinkets opposite. this was too much for her. it must be remembered that, besides living in a barbarous age, she was an untutored maiden, and possessed of a large share of that love for "pretty things," which is--rightly or wrongly--believed to be a peculiar characteristic of the fair sex. theology, speculative and otherwise, vanished, she leaped up and, forgetting her host's warning, began to inspect the goods. at first conscience--for she had an active little one--remonstrated. "but," she replied, silently, with a very natural tendency to self-justification, "although beniah told me not to touch things, i did not _promise_ not to do so?" "true, but your silence was equivalent to a promise," said something within her. "no, it wasn't," she replied aloud. "yes, it was," retorted the something within her in a tone of exasperating contradiction. this was much too subtle a discussion to be continued. she brushed it aside with a laugh, and proceeded to turn over the things with eager admiration on her expressive face. catching up a bright blue-and-scarlet shawl, large enough to cover her person, she threw it over her and made great, and not quite successful, efforts to see her own back. suddenly she became motionless, and fixed her lustrous brown eyes on the roof with almost petrified attention. a thought had struck her! and she resolved to strike it back in the sense of pursuing it to a conclusion. "the very thing," she said, recovering from petrification, "and i'll _do_ it!" the preliminary step to doing it seemed to be a general turn over of the hebrew's shawls, all of which, though many were beautiful, she rejected one after another until she found an old and considerably worn grey one. this she shook out and examined with approving nods, as if it were the finest fabric that ever had issued from the looms of cashmere. tying her luxuriant hair into a tight knot behind, and smoothing it down on each side of her face, and well back so as not to be obtrusive, she flung the old shawl over her head, induced a series of wrinkles to corrugate her fair brow; drew in her lips so as to conceal her teeth, and, by the same action, to give an aquiline turn to her nose; bowed her back, and, in short, converted herself into a little old woman! at court, branwen had been celebrated for her powers of mimicry, and had been a source of great amusement to her companions in the use--sometimes the abuse--of these powers; but this was the first occasion on which she had thought of personating an old woman. having thus metamorphosed herself, she looked eagerly round as if in search of a mirror. it need scarcely be said that glass had not been heard of by the natives of the tin islands or of albion at that time, nevertheless, mirrors were not unknown. espying in a corner, a great bronze shield, that might once have flashed terror at the siege of troy--who knows--she set it up against the wall. it was oval in shape, and presented her face with such a wide expanse of cheeks, that she laughed lightly and turned it the other way. this arrangement gave her visage such lengthened astonishment of expression, that she laughed again, but was not ill pleased at her appearance on the whole. to make the illusion perfect, she sought and found an article of dress, of which the albionic name has been forgotten, but which is known to modern women as a petticoat. it was reddish brown in colour, and, so far, in keeping with the grey old shawl. while she was busy tying on this garment, and otherwise completing her costume, almost quite forgetful in her amusement of the danger which had driven her to that strange place, she heard voices in the outer cave, and among them one which turned her cheeks pale, and banished every thought of fun out of her heart. it was the voice of gunrig! that doughty warrior--after having partially regained the equanimity which he had sat down on the fallen tree to recover--arose, and returned to his apartment in the palace for the double purpose of feeding and meditation. being a robust man, he did not feel much the worse for the events of the morning, and attacked a rib of roast beef with gusto. hearing, with great surprise, that his late antagonist was no other than bladud, the long-lost son of the king, he comforted himself with another rib of roast beef, and with the reflection that a prince, not less than a man-at-arms, is bound to fight a duel when required to do so. having finished his meal, he quaffed a huge goblet of spring water, and went out to walk up and down with his hands behind his back. doubtless, had he lived in modern days, he would have solaced himself with a glass of bitter and a pipe, but strong drink had not been discovered in those islands at the time, and smoking had not been invented. yet it is generally believed, though we have no authentic record of the fact, that our ancestors got on pretty well without these comforts. we refrain, however, from dogmatising on the point, but it is our duty to state that gunrig, at all events, got on swimmingly without them. it is also our duty to be just to opponents, and to admit that a pipe might possibly have soothed his wrath. of course, on hearing of branwen's flight, the indignant king summoned his hunters at once, and, putting the enraged gunrig himself at the head of them, sent him fuming into the woods in search of the runaway. they did not strike the trail at once, because of, as already explained, the innumerable footprints in the neighbourhood of the town. "we can't be long of finding them now," remarked the chief to the principal huntsman, as they passed the entrance to beniah's retreat. "it may be as well to run up and ask the old man who lives here if he has seen her," replied the huntsman. "he is a man with sharp eyes for his years." "as you will," said gunrig sternly, for his wrath had not yet been appreciably toned down by exercise. they found the hebrew reading at his door. "ho! beniah, hast seen the girl branwen pass this way to-day?" cried gunrig as he came up. "i have not seen her pass," replied the hebrew, in a tone so mild that the angry chief suspected him. "she's not in your hut, i suppose?" he added sharply. "the door is open, you may search it if you doubt me," returned the hebrew with a look of dignity, which he knew well how to assume. the chief entered at once, and, after glancing sharply round the outer room entered the kitchen. here beniah showed him the chimney, pointed out the yawning chasm below, and commented on the danger of falling into it in the dark. "and what is there beyond, hebrew?" asked the chief. beniah held up the lamp. "you see," he said, "the rock against which my poor hut rests." then the old man referred to the advantages of the situation for supplying himself with food by hunting in the forest, as well as by cultivating the patch of garden beside the hut, until his visitor began to show signs of impatience, when he apologised for intruding his domestic affairs at such a time, and finally offered to join and aid the search party. "aid us!" exclaimed gunrig in contempt. "surely we need no aid from you, when we have the king's head-huntsman as our guide." "that may be true, chief, nevertheless in the neighbourhood of my own hut i could guide you, if i chose, to secret and retired spots, which it would puzzle even the head-huntsman to find. but i will not thrust my services upon you." "you are over-proud for your station," returned the chief angrily, "and were it not for your years i would teach you to moderate your language and tone." for a moment the eyes of the old man flashed, and his brows contracted, as he steadily returned the gaze of gunrig. in his youth he had been a man of war, and, as we have said, his strength was not yet much abated by age, but years and deep thought had brought wisdom to some extent. with an evident effort he restrained himself, and made no reply. the chief, deeming his silence to be the result of fear, turned contemptuously away, and left the hut with his followers. during this colloquy, poor branwen had stood in the dark passage, listening and trembling lest her hiding-place should be discovered. she was a strange compound of reckless courage and timidity--if such a compound be possible. indignation at the man who had slighted her bosom friend hafrydda, besides insulting herself, caused her to feel at times like a raging lion. the comparative weakness of her slight and graceful frame made her at other times feel like a helpless lamb. it was an exasperating condition! when she thought of gunrig, she wished with all her heart and soul that she had been born a big brawny man. when she thought of bladud, nothing could make her wish to be other than a woman! as she stood there listening, there occurred a slight desire to clear her throat, and she almost coughed. the feeling came upon her like a shock--what if she had let it out! but a sneeze! it was well known that sneezes came even to people the most healthy, and at moments the most inopportune, and well she knew from experience that to repress a sneeze would ensure an explosion fit to blow the little nose off her face. if a sneeze should come at that moment, she was lost! but a sneeze did not come. the olfactory nerves remained placid, until the visitors had departed. then she retreated to the inner cave, drew the grey shawl over her head, and awaited the development of her plans. presently she heard footsteps, and the voice of the hebrew calling to her softly, but she took no notice. after a moment or two it sounded again, somewhat louder. still no answer. then beniah shouted, with just a shade of anxiety, "branwen!" receiving no reply, he ran in much alarm for one of his spare planks; thrust it over the chasm; crossed, and next moment stood in the inner cave the very embodiment of astonished consternation, for branwen was gone, and in her place stood a little old woman, with a bowed form, and a puckered-up mouth, gazing at him with half-closed but piercingly dark eyes! the hebrew was almost destitute of superstition, and a man of great courage, but this proved too much for him. his eyes opened with amazement; so did his mouth, and he grew visibly pale. the tables were turned at this point. the man's appearance proved too much for the girl. her eyes opened wide, her brilliant teeth appeared, and, standing erect, she burst into a fit of merry laughter. "child!" exclaimed beniah, his usually grave mouth relaxing into a broad smile, which proved that his teeth were not less sound than his constitution, "you have shown to me that fear, or something marvellously like it, is capable of lurking within my old heart. what mean you by this?" "i mean that there is an idea come into my head which i shall carry out--if you will allow me. i had thought at first of staying with you as your grand-daughter or your niece, but then it came into my head that i could not live long here in such a character without some one who knew me seeing me and finding me out--though, let me tell you, it would not be easy to find me out, for i can change my look and voice so that none but those who know me well could discover me. then the idea of being an old woman came into my head, and--you can speak to my success. there is nothing more natural than that you should have an old woman to take care of your house while you go on your travels; so i can stay till you go and see my father and tell him to send for me." "your father lives very far from here," returned the hebrew, with the lines of perplexity still resting on his brow. "that is true; but beniah's legs are long and his body is strong. he can soon let my father know of his daughter's misfortune. you know that my father is a powerful chief, though his tribe is not so strong in numbers as the tribe of king hudibras, or that--that fiend gunrig. but his young men and my brothers are very brave." "well, let it be as you say, for the present, my child, and you may consider this cave your private chamber while you remain in my house. but let me advise you to keep close when i am absent, and do not be tempted to prove the strength of your disguise. it may not be as perfect as you think, and your voice may betray you." having agreed upon this temporary plan, the hebrew departed to make preparations for a long journey, while branwen busied herself in arranging the apartment in which, for some time at least, she hoped to remain in hiding. chapter thirteen. mother and son. we need scarcely say that the search for branwen proved fruitless. gunrig and the hunters returned to town crestfallen at being unable to discover the trail of a girl, and the chief went off in undiminished wrath to his own home--which was distant about a day's journey on foot from the capital of king hudibras. even in those savage times warriors were not above taking counsel, occasionally, with women. the king went to consult on the situation with the queen, the princess, and bladud; while gunrig sought advice and consolation from his mother. of course neither of these men would for a moment have admitted that he needed advice. they only condescended to let their women-folk know what had occurred, and hear what they had to say! "why, do you think, has the ungrateful child fled?" asked the king in some indignation. "i cannot imagine," answered the queen. "we have all been so kind to her, and she was so fond of us and we of her. besides, her visit was not half over, and her father would not be pleased if she were to return home so soon and so unexpectedly." of course hafrydda knew the cause, but she maintained a discreet silence. "return home!" echoed the king in contempt, "how can a little delicate thing like her return home through miles and miles of forest swarming with wild beasts and not a few wilder men? impossible! my hunters must go out again, every day, till she is found. i will lead them myself since they seem to have lost the power of their craft." "is this `little delicate thing' as beautiful as my sister describes her to be?" asked bladud, somewhat amused by his father's tone and manner. "ay, that she is," answered the king. "beautiful enough to set not a few of my young men by the ears. did you not see her on the platform at the games--or were you too much taken up with the scowling looks of gunrig?" "i saw the figure of a young woman," answered the prince, "but she kept a shawl so close round her head that i failed to see her face. as to gunrig, i did not think it worth my while to mind him at all, so i saw not whether his looks were scowling or pleased." "ha! boy--he gave you some trouble, notwithstanding." "he has gone away in anger at present, however, so we will let him be till he returns for another fight." gunrig, meanwhile, having reached his town or village, went straight to the hut in which his mother dwelt and laid his troubles before her. she was a calm, thoughtful woman, very unlike her passionate son. "it is a bad business," she remarked, after the chief had described the situation to her, and was striding up and down the little room with his hands behind his back, "and will require much care in management, for king hudibras, as you know, is very fierce when roused, and although he is somewhat afraid of you, he is like to be roused to anger when he comes to understand that you have jilted his daughter." "but i have not jilted her," said gunrig, stopping abruptly in his walk, and looking down upon his parent. "that ass bladud won her, and although he does turn out to be her brother, that does not interfere with his right to break off the engagement if so disposed. besides, i do not want to wed the princess now. i have quite changed my mind." "why have you changed your mind, my son?" "because i never cared for her much; and since i went to visit her father i have seen another girl who is far more beautiful; far more clever; more winning, in every way." the woman looked sharply at the flushed countenance of her son. "you love her?" she asked. "ay, that do i, as i never loved woman before, and, truly, as i think i never shall love again." "then you must get her to wife, my son, for there is no cure for love." "oh, yes, there is, mother," was the light reply of the chief, as he recommenced to pace the floor. "death is a pretty sure and sharp cure for love." "surely you would not kill yourself because of a girl?" gunrig burst into a loud laugh, and said, "nay, truly, but death may take the girl, or death may take me--for, as you know, there is plenty of fighting among the tribes, and my day will surely come, sooner or later. in either case love will be cured." "can you guess why this girl has fled?" asked the woman. gunrig's brows contracted, and a grim smile played on his lips as he replied, after a brief pause-- "well, i am not quite sure, mother. it may be that she is not too fond of me--which only shows her want of taste. but that can be cured when she finds out what a fine man i am! anyhow, i will have her, if i should have to hunt the forest for a hundred moons, and fight all the tribes put together." "and how do you propose to go about it, my son?" "that is the very thing i want you to tell me. if it were fighting that had to be done i would not trouble you--but this is a matter that goes beyond the wisdom of a plain warrior." "then, if you would gain your end, my son, i should advise you to send a message to king hudibras by one of your most trusty men; and let the message be that you are deeply grieved at the loss of his daughter's hand; that--" "but i'm nothing of the kind, mother, so that would not be true." "what does it matter whether true or not, if the king only believes it to be true?" "i don't quite agree, mother, with your notions about truth. to my mind a warrior should always be straightforward and say what he means." "then go, my son, and tell the king what you have just told me, and he will cut your head off," replied the dame in a tone of sarcasm. "if i act on that advice, i will take my warriors with me and carry my sword in my hand, so that his head would stand as good a chance of falling as mine," returned gunrig with a laugh. "but go on with your advice, mother." "well, say that you feel in honour bound to give up all claim to his daughter's hand, but that, as you want a wife very much to keep your house as your mother is getting too old, you will be content to take his visitor, branwen, and will be glad to help in the search for her. will you send that message?" "it may be that i will. in any case i'll send something like it." so saying the chief turned abruptly on his heel and left the room. chapter fourteen. a terrible calamity. it may be imagined that the return home of prince bladud was the cause of much rejoicing in the whole district as well as in his father's house. at _first_ the king, being, as we have said, a very stern man, felt disposed to stand upon his dignity, and severely rebuke the son who had run away from home and remained away so long. but an undercurrent of tenderness, and pride in the youth's grand appearance, and great prowess, induced him to give in with a good grace and extend to him unreserved forgiveness. as for the queen, she made no attempt to conceal her joy and pride, and the same may be said of the princess. there was instituted a series of fetes and games in honour of the return of the prodigal, at which he was made--not unwillingly--to show the skill which he had acquired from practising with the competitors at the olympic games, about which the islanders had heard from phoenician traders from time to time, and great was the interest thus created, especially when he showed them, among other arts, how to use their fists in boxing, and their swords in guarding so as to enable them to dispense with a shield. but these festivities did not prevent him from taking an interest in the search that his father and the hunters were still making for branwen. when many days had passed, however, and no word of her whereabouts was forthcoming, it was at last arranged that a message regarding her disappearance should be sent to her father's tribe by a party of warriors who were to be led by the prince himself. "i will go gladly," he said to his sister, a day or two before the party was to set out. "for your sake, hafrydda, i will do my best to clear up the mystery; and i think it highly probable that i shall find the runaway safely lodged in her father's house." "i fear not," returned hafrydda, with a sad look. "it seems impossible that she could have made her way so far alone through the wild forests." "but she may not have been alone. friends may have helped her." "she had no friends in the town, having been here but a short time," objected the princess. "but do your best to find her, bladud, for i feel quite sure that you will fall in love with her when you see her." the youth laughed. "no fear of that," he said, "many a pretty girl have i seen in the east; nevertheless i have, as you see, left them all without a thought of ever returning again." "but i did not say you would fall in love with branwen because she is pretty. i feel sure that you will, because she is sweet, and merry, and good--yet thoughtful--wonderfully thoughtful!" "ay, and you may add," said the queen, who came into the room just then, "that she is sometimes thoughtless and wonderfully full of mischief." "nay, mother, you are not just," returned the princess. "her mischief is only on the surface, her thoughtfulness lies deep down." "well, well, whatever may be the truth regarding her, i shall not trouble my head about her; for i have never yet felt what men call love, and i feel sure i never shall." "i like to hear you say that, brother," rejoined hafrydda; "for i have noticed, young though i am, that when men say they will never fall in love or marry, they are always pretty near the point of doing one or both." but poor bladud was destined to do neither at that time, for an event was hanging over him, though he knew it not, which was to affect very seriously the whole of his after life. for several days previous to the above conversation, he had felt a sensation that was almost new to him--namely, that of being slightly ill. whether it was the unwonted exertions consequent on his efforts at the games, or the excitement of the return home, we cannot say, but headache, accompanied by a slight degree of fever, had troubled him. like most strong men in the circumstances, he adopted the samsonian and useless method of "shaking it off"! he went down into the arena and performed feats of strength and agility that surprised even himself; but the fever which enabled him to do so, asserted itself at last, and finally compelled him to do what he should have done at first--pocket his pride and give in. of course we do not suggest that giving in to little sensations of ailment is either wise or manly. there are duties which call on men to fight even in sickness--ay, in spite of sickness--but "showing off" in the arena was not one of these. be this as it may, bladud came at last to the condition of feeling weak--an incomprehensible state of feeling to him. he thereupon went straight home, and, flinging himself half petulantly on a couch, exclaimed--"mother, i am ill!" "my son, i have seen that for many days past, and have waited with some anxiety till you should come to the point of admitting it." "and now that i have admitted it," returned the youth with a languid smile, "what is to be done?" the answer to that question was not the simple one of modern days, "send for the doctor," because no doctors worthy of the name existed. there was, indeed, a solemn-visaged, long-headed, elderly man among king hudibras' followers who was known as the medicine-man to the royal household, but his services were not often in request, because people were seldom ill, save when they were going to die, and when that time came it was generally thought best to let them die in peace. this medicine-man, though a quack in regard to physic, was, however, a true man, as far as his knowledge went in surgery--that is to say, he was expert at the setting of broken bones, when the fractures were not too compound; he could bandage ordinary wounds; he had even ventured into the realm of experimental surgery so far as to knock out a decayed back tooth with a bronze chisel and a big stone. but his knowledge of drugs was naturally slight, and his power of diagnosis feeble. still, unworthy though he may be of the title, we will for convenience style him the doctor. "my poor boy," said the queen, in answer to his question, and laying her hand on his hot brow, "i am so sorry that we cannot have the services of our doctor, for he is away hunting just now--you know he is very fond of the bow and line. perhaps he may--" "oh, never mind the doctor, mother," said bladud impatiently, with that slighting reference to the faculty which is but too characteristic of youth; "what do _you_ think ought to be done? you were always doctor enough for me when i was little; you'll do equally well now that i am big." "be not hasty, my son. you were always hot-headed and--" "i'm hot-headed _now_, at all events, and argument won't tend to cool it. do what you will with it, for i can stand this no longer. cut it off if you like, mother, only use a sharp knife and be quick about it." in those days, far more than in this our homeopathic era, it was the habit of the mothers of families to keep in store certain herbs and roots, etcetera, which, doubtless, contained the essences now held in modern globules. with these they contrived decoctions that were unquestionably more or less beneficial to patients when wisely applied. to the compounding of something of this sort the queen now addressed herself. after swallowing it, the prince fell asleep. this was so far well; but in the morning he was still so far from well, that the visit to branwen's father had to be postponed. several days elapsed before the doctor returned from his hunting expedition. by that time the fever had left the prince. he began to get somewhat better, and to go about, but still felt very unlike his old self. during this what we may style semi-convalescent period, captain arkal and little maikar proved of great use and comfort to him, for they not only brought him information about the games--which were still kept up--but cheered him with gossipy news of the town in general, and with interesting reminiscences of their late voyage and the eastern lands they had so recently left. one day these faithful friends, as well as the queen and princess, were sitting by bladud's couch--to which unaccountable fits of laziness confined him a good deal--when the medicine-man was announced. he proceeded at once to examine the patient, while the others stood aside and looked on with that profound respect which ignorance sometimes, though not always, assumes in the presence of knowledge. the doctor laid his hand on bladud's brow, and looked earnestly into his eyes. then he tapped his back and chest, as if to induce some one in his interior to open a door and let him in--very much as doctors do now-a-days. then he made him remove his upper garments, and examined his broad and brawny shoulders. a mark, or spot, of a whitish appearance between the left shoulder and the elbow, at once riveted his attention, and caused an almost startled expression on his grave countenance. but the expression was momentary. it passed away and left the visage grave and thoughtful--if possible, more thoughtful than before. "that will do," he said, turning to the queen. "your treatment was the best that could have been applied. i must now see his father, the king." "alone?" asked the queen. "alone," replied the doctor. "well, what think ye of bladud?" asked the king, when his physician entered his chamber, and carefully shut the door. "he is smitten with a fatal disease," said the doctor in a low, earnest voice. "not absolutely fatal?" cried the king, with sudden anxiety. "as far as i know it is so. there is no cure that i ever heard of. bladud is smitten with leprosy. it may be years before it kills him, but it will surely do so at last." "impossible--impossible!" cried the king, becoming fierce and unbelieving in his horror. "you are too confident, my medicine-man. you may, you must, be mistaken. there is a cure for everything!" "not for leprosy," returned the doctor, with sad but firm emphasis. "at least i never heard of a cure being effected, except by some of the eastern wise men." "then, by all the gods that protect our race and family, my son shall return to the east and one of these wise men shall cure him--else-- else--have ye told the queen?" "not yet." "that is well. i will myself tell her. go!" this summary dismissal was nothing new to the doctor, who understood the king well, and sympathised with his obvious distress. pausing at the door, however, he said-- "i have often talked with phoenician captains about this disease, and they tell me that it is terribly infectious, insomuch that those who are smitten with it are compelled to live apart and keep away from men. if bladud remains here the disease will surely spread through the house, and thence through the town." poor hudibras fell into a chair, and covered his face with both hands, while the doctor quietly retired. it is impossible to describe the consternation that ensued when the terrible fact was made known. of course the news spread into the town, and the alarm became general, for at various times the phoenician mariners had entertained the islanders with graphic descriptions of the horrors connected with this loathsome disease, and it soon became evident, that even if the king and his family were willing to run the risk of infection by keeping bladud near them, his people and warriors would insist on the banishment of the smitten man. to bladud himself the blow was almost overwhelming--almost, but not quite, for the youth was possessed of that unselfish, self-sacrificing spirit which, in all ages of the world's history, has bid defiance to misfortune, by bowing the head in humble submission to the will of god. he knew well the nature of the dread disease by which he had been attacked, and he shuddered at the thought that, however long he might be spared to live, it would sap his strength, disfigure his person, and ultimately render his face hideous to look upon, while a life of absolute solitude must from that day forward be his portion. no wonder that in the first rush of his dismay, he entertained a wild thought of putting an end to his own existence. there was only one gleam of comfort to him, and that was, the recollection that he had caught the disease in a good cause--in the rescue of a poor old woman from destruction. the comfort of the thought was not indeed great, still it was something in the awful desolation that overwhelmed him at the time. while travelling in the east, a short time previous to setting sail for home, he had come across an old woman who was being chased by a wild bull. her flight would have been short-lived in any case, for there chanced to be a steep precipice not far from her, towards which she ran in her terror and scrambled hastily down until she reached a spot where she could go no further without losing her foothold. to the rock she clung and screamed in her despair. it was her screams that first attracted bladud's attention. rushing forward, he was just in time to see the bull--which could not check its mad career--plunge over the cliff, at the bottom of which it was killed by the fall. bladud at once began to descend to the help of the poor woman. as he did so, the words "unclean! unclean!" met his ear. the woman was a leper, and, even in her dire extremity, the force of habit caused her to give the usual warning which the eastern law requires. a shudder passed through the prince's frame, for he knew well the meaning of the cry--but as he looked down and saw the disfigured face and the appealing eyes turned towards him, a gush of intense pity, and of that disregard of self which is more or less characteristic of all noble natures, induced him to continue his descent until he reached the poor creature. grasping her tightly round the waist, he assisted her up the perilous ascent, and finally placed her in safety at the top of the cliff. for a time bladud felt some anxiety as to the result of the risk he had run, but did not mention his adventure to any one. gradually the fear wore off, and at length that feeling of invulnerability which is so strong in youth, induced him to dismiss the subject from his thoughts altogether. he had quite forgotten it until the doctor's statement fell upon him with the stunning violence of a thunder-clap. it is usually when deep sorrows and great difficulties are sent to them, that men and women find out the quality of their natures. despair, followed by listless apathy, might well have seized on one who, a few days before, possessed all the advantages of great physical strength and manly beauty, with what appeared to be sound health and a bright life before him. but, instead of giving way, he silently braced himself for a lifelong conflict. he did not turn, in his extremity, to the gods of his fathers--whatever these might be--for he did not believe in them, but he did believe in one good supreme being. to him he raised his heart, offered an unspoken prayer, and felt comforted as well as strengthened in the act. then, being a man of prompt action, he thoughtfully but quickly formed his plans, having previously made fast his door--for well he knew that although his strong-minded father might keep him at arm's-length, his loving mother and sister would not only come to talk with him, but would, despite all risks, insist on embracing him. that he was not far wrong was proved the same evening, for when the king revealed the terrible news to his wife and daughter, they went straight to bladud's door and knocked for admission. "who goes there?" demanded the prince. "your mother. let me in, bladud." "i may not do so just now, dear mother. tomorrow you shall know all. rest content. i feel better." in the dead of night bladud went out softly and sought the hut where captain arkal and maikar slept. he found them conversing in great sorrow about the terrible calamity that had overtaken their friend when he entered. they started up in surprise to receive him. "keep off," he said, shrinking back. "touch me not! i know not whether the disease may not be catching even at its present stage. sit down. i will stand here and tell you what i want you to tell my mother in the morning." the two men silently obeyed, and the prince continued. "i am on the point of leaving home--it may be for ever. the disposer of all things knows that. the disease, as you know, is thought to be incurable. if so, i shall die where no one shall find me. if health returns i shall come back. it will be of no use to search for me; but i think that will not be attempted. indeed, i know that my father would be compelled to banish me if i wished to remain at home. it is partly to spare him the pain of doing so that i banish myself of my own accord; and partly to avoid leaving infection behind me that i go without farewell. let my dear mother and sister understand this clearly--and-- comfort them if you can." "but where will you go to and what will you do?" asked the captain anxiously. "that i do not yet know. the forests are wide. there is plenty of room for man and beast. this only will i reveal to you. to-night i shall call at the hut of beniah the hebrew. he is a wise man and will advise me. if i send news of myself it shall be through him. but tell not this to any one. it would only bring trouble on the old man. farewell, my comrades. i will remember you as brothers--always. may the all-powerful one watch over us." unable to restrain himself, little maikar sprang up with the obvious intention of rushing at his friend and seizing his hand, but the prince stepped back, shut the door against him, and, in another moment, was gone. chapter fifteen. an eavesdropper in the cave. an hour later beniah the hebrew, who had been obliged to postpone for a time his journey to the north, was startled by hearing footsteps approaching his hut in the dell. it was so unusual an event at that hour of the night, that he arose quickly and grasped the six-foot staff which was his only weapon. at a much earlier hour branwen had retired to rest in the inner cave, and was buried in that profound sleep which proverbially accompanies innocence and youth. the noise in the outer cave partially aroused her, but, turning on her other side with a profound sigh, she prepared for a little more of the perquisites of innocence and youth. presently she was startled into a condition of absolute wide-awakeness by the sound of a well-known voice, but it suddenly changed into that of the hebrew. "i've dreamt it, i suppose," she muttered, in a tone of regret; nevertheless, she listened. "come in," said beniah, evidently to some one outside of his door. "i may not enter--i am a leper," answered the first voice; and branwen sat up, with her great beautiful eyes opened to the utmost, and listening intently, though she could not make out clearly what was said. "it matters not; i have no fear. come in. what! prince bladud!" exclaimed beniah in astonishment as our hero entered. "even so. but how is it that you know me?" "i saw you once, and, once seen, you are not easily forgotten. but what mean ye about being a leper?" "keep at a safe distance, and i will tell you." hereupon the prince began to give the old man an account of his illness; the opinion expressed by the doctor as to its nature; and the determination he had formed of forsaking home, and retiring to the solitude of some unfrequented part of the forest for the remainder of his life. it would have been a sight worth looking at--had there been light to see it--the vision of branwen, as she stood in the passage in partial _deshabille_, with her eyes wide, her lips parted, her heart beating, and a wealth of auburn hair curling down her back, listening, as it were, with every power of her soul and body. but she could not hear distinctly. only a disconnected word reached her now and then. in a state of desperate curiosity she returned to her cave. a few minutes later a noise was heard by the two men in the outer cave; and a little old woman in a grey shawl was seen to thrust a plank over the chasm and totter across towards them. poor beniah was horrified. he did not know what to do or say. happily he was one of those men whose feelings are never betrayed by their faces. the old woman hobbled forward and sat down on a stool close to them. looking up in their faces, she smiled and nodded. in doing so she revealed the fact that, besides having contorted her face into an unrecognisable shape, she had soiled it in several places with streaks of charcoal and earth. "who is this?" asked bladud in surprise. before the old man could reply, the old woman put her hand to her ear, and, looking up in the prince's face, shouted, in tones that were so unlike to her own natural voice that beniah could scarce believe his ears-- "what say you, young man? speak out; i'm very deaf." with a benignant smile bladud said that he had merely asked who she was. "haven't you got eyes, young man? don't you see that i'm a little old woman?" "i see that," returned the prince, with a good-humoured laugh; "and i fear you're a deaf old woman, too." "eh?" she said, advancing her head, with her hand up at the ear. "you seem indeed to be extremely deaf," shouted the prince. "what does he say?" demanded the old woman, turning to the hebrew. by this time beniah had recovered his self-possession. perceiving that the maiden was bent on carrying out her _role_, and that he might as well help her, he put his mouth close to her ear, and shouted in a voice that bid fair to render her absolutely deaf-- "he says he thinks you are extremely deaf; so i think you had better hold your tongue and let us go on with our conversation." "deaf, indeed!" returned the woman in a querulous tone; "so i am, though i hear you well enough when you shout like that. perhaps he'll be as deaf as i am when he's as old. there's nothing like youth for pride and impudence. but go on, never mind me." "she's a poor creature who has sought refuge with me from her persecutors," said beniah, turning to the prince, while the old woman fell to crooning a wild song in a low voice, accompanying the music--if such it may be called--by a swaying motion of her body to and fro. seeing that she meant to sit there, and that she apparently heard nothing, bladud resumed the conversation where it had been interrupted. "now, as i was saying, you know the country in all directions, and can tell me of the most likely part where i can find what i want--a solitude where i shall be able to escape from the face of man, and build a hut to live in till i die. it may be long, it may be short, before death relieves me. meanwhile, i can hunt and provide myself with food till the time comes." the crooning of the old woman stopped at this point, and she sank her face on her hands as if she had fallen asleep. "i know of a man--a hunter," said beniah, "a wild sort of being, who lives a long way from here, in a beautiful part of the land, where there is a wonderful swamp with a hot spring in the midst of it. besides hunting, the man who lives there cultivates the ground a little, and keeps a few cattle and pigs. it may be that he can put you in the way of finding what you want; and you need not tell him about your disease, for you are not yet sure about it. thus you will have an opportunity of keeping out of the way of men until you find out whether the doctor is right about it. he may be wrong, you know. diseases sometimes resemble each other without being the same." bladud shook his head. "there can be no doubt that i am doomed," he said. "i know the disease too well." the hebrew also believed that, if the doctor was right in his opinion, there was no hope for the youth. being unwilling, however, to dwell upon this point, he asked-- "how did you come by it?" "very simply," answered the prince, who thereupon entered into a graphic account of the incident which we have already recorded. having done so, he made up his mind, after some further talk, to pay a visit to the hunter who dwelt in the region of the hot swamp. "but you will not surely go without arms?" said beniah. "why not? if i am doomed to die at any rate, why should i take the life of any man to save my own?" "let me at least give you a bow and a sheaf of arrows. you cannot procure food without these." "well, you are right. i will accept your kind offer. to say truth, my heart was so crushed at first by this blow, that such matters did not occur to me when i left; for it is terrible to think of having to die of a slow disease without father, mother, or sister to comfort one!" "it is indeed, my son," returned beniah with much feeling. "if you will accept it, i can give you a word of comfort." "give it me," said bladud; "for i need it much,--if it be but true." "it is true," returned the hebrew earnestly; "for in one of the books of our holy men who spoke for the all-father, it is written, `when my father and my mother forsake me, then the lord will take me up.'" "it is a good word," returned the prince; "and i can well believe it comes from the all-father, for is he not also all-good? yet i can scarcely claim it as mine, for my father and mother have not forsaken me, but i them." a few minutes more, and bladud rose to depart. he took the bow and arrows in his left hand, and, totally forgetting for the moment the duty of keeping himself aloof from his fellow-men, he shook hands warmly with beniah, patted the old woman kindly on the shoulder, and went out into the dark night. the moment he was gone branwen started up with flashing eyes that were still bedewed with tears, and seized the old man's hand. "child," he said, "thou hast been weeping." "who could listen to his telling of that old woman's escape from the bull and the precipice without tears?" she replied. "but tell me, what is this terrible disease that has smitten the prince?" "it is one well known and much dreaded in the east--called leprosy." here the hebrew went into a painfully graphic account of the disease; the frightful disfigurement it caused, and its almost, if not quite, certain termination in death. "and have the queen and hudibras actually let him go away to die alone?" she exclaimed. "not so, my child. before you interrupted us he told me that he had left home by stealth on purpose. but, branwen," continued the old man with some severity, "how could you run such a risk of being discovered?" "i ran no risk," she replied, with a laugh. "besides, it was not fair to pretend to be deaf and thus obtain all his secrets." "i don't care whether it was fair or not," replied the girl with a wilful shake of her head. "and was it fair of you to back me up as you did?" "your rebuke is just, yet it savours of ingratitude. i should not have done so, but i was completely taken aback. do you know that your face is dirty?" "i know it. i made it so on purpose. now tell me--when are you going away to tell my father and brothers about me?" "i shall probably start to-morrow. but many days must pass before i can bring them here, for, as you know, their town is a long way off. but, child, you do not seem to reflect that you have betrayed me." "how?" asked branwen, wonderingly. "did you not thrust out the plank and cross over before the very eyes of bladud?" branwen pursed her lips into the form of an o and opened her eyes wide. "i never thought of that!" she said. "but after all it does not matter, for the prince took no notice of the plank, and _he_ is not the man to go and betray secrets!" the hebrew laughed, patted the girl on the head and sent her off to rest. then he busied himself in making preparation for his too long-delayed journey. next morning, before daybreak, he set off, leaving branwen in charge of the hut, with strict orders to keep well out of sight. if any one should come to it she was to retreat to the inner cavern and withdraw the bridge. "they may do as seemeth to them good in the outer hut. there is nothing there worth stealing, and they are welcome to make themselves at home." the hebrew went on his mission; arrived in due time at his journey's end; reported branwen's dilemma; guided a party of stout warriors under her father gadarn, and led them to his hut in the dell in the dead of a dark night, for it was no part of the programme to abduct the girl by main force, unless peaceful or stealthy measures should prove unsuccessful. when, however, he reached the dell and entered his dwelling, he found that the bird had flown! every nook and cranny of the place was carefully searched; but, to the consternation of the hebrew, and the wrath of gadarn and his men, not a vestige of branwen was to be found. chapter sixteen. adventures in the forests. poor branwen! it was an unfortunate day for her when, in her youthful ignorance and recklessness, she took to the wild woods, resolved to follow bladud to his destination and secretly wait there and watch over him like a guardian angel, as it were, until the terrible disease should lay him on his deathbed, when she would reveal herself and nurse him to the end! let not the reader suppose there was any lack of maiden modesty in this resolve. it must be borne in mind that branwen was little more than a child in experience; that she was of an age at which the world, with all its affairs, is enveloped in a halo of romance; that her soul had been deeply stirred by the story of the rescue of the leprous old woman, and her pity powerfully aroused by the calm, though hopeless, tones of the doomed man when he spoke of his blighted prospects. rather than leave him to die in absolute solitude she would sacrifice everything, and, in spite of infection and disfigurement, and the horrible nature of a disease which eats away the features before it kills, she would soothe his dying hours. besides this, it must be remembered that our ancestors' notions of propriety were somewhat different from ours, and-- well, it was about eight hundred years búc! whether love was a factor in her resolve we cannot say, but we are firmly convinced that, if it were, she was ignorant of the fact. it is, however, one thing to resolve--quite another thing to carry resolution into effect. branwen had, in an incidental way, obtained from her protector, beniah, information as to the direction in which the hunter of the hot swamp lived, and the distance to his dwelling; but when she actually found herself in the forest, with nothing to guide her save the position of the sun--and, on cloudy days not even that--she began to realise somewhat of the difficulties that attended her enterprise, and when, on the first night, she crouched among the forked branches of an old oak, and heard the cries of wolves and other wild creatures, and even saw them prowling about by the light of the moon as it flickered through the foliage, she began to appreciate the dangers. she had not, indeed, been so foolish as to set out on her expedition without a certain amount of forethought--what she deemed careful and wise consideration. she knew that by noting the position of the sun when at its highest point in the sky she could follow pretty closely the direction which beniah had pointed out to her. she was quite aware that food was absolutely necessary to life, and had packed up a large bundle of dried meat, and also provided herself with one of her host's bows and a sheaf of arrows. besides this, she knew, like every girl of the period, how to snare rabbits, and was even expert in throwing stones, so that, if it should come to the worst, she could manage to subsist on little birds. as to sleeping at night, she had been accustomed, as a little girl, to climb trees, which faculty had not yet departed from her, and she knew well that among the branches of many kinds of trees there were cosy resting-places where neither man nor beast would be likely to discover her. she had also some idea of what it is to follow a trail, for she had often heard the king's chief hunter refer to the process. as it was certain that bladud, being an enormously big man, would leave a very obvious trail behind him, she would follow that--of course keeping well in the rear, so that he might never dream of her existence or intentions until the fatal time arrived when she should have to appear like a guardian angel and nurse him till he died. poor branwen felt dreadfully depressed when she thought of this termination, and was quite unlike her gay reckless self for a time; but a vague feeling of unbelief in such a catastrophe, and a determination to hope against hope kept her from giving way to absolute despair, and nerved her to vigorous exertion. it was in this state of mind that she had set the hebrew's house in order; carried everything of value to the inner cave; removed the plank bridge; closed the outer door, and had taken her departure. as already said, she concealed herself among the branches of an old oak the first night, and, although somewhat alarmed by the cries of wild animals, as well as by the appalling solitude and darkness around, she managed to make a fair supper of the dried meat. then,--she could not tell when,--she fell into a profound slumber, which was not broken until the sun had risen high, and the birds were whistling gaily among the branches--some of them gazing at her in mute surprise, as if they had discovered some new species of gigantic acorn. she arose with alacrity, her face flushed with abounding health, and her eyes dancing with a gush of youthful hope. but memory stepped in, and the thought of her sad mission caused a sudden collapse. the collapse, however, did not last long. her eyes chanced to fall on the bundle of dried meat. appetite immediately supervened. falling-to, she made a hearty breakfast, and then, looking cautiously round to see that no danger was near, she slipped down from her perch, took up the bow and quiver and bundle of food, threw her blanket, or striped piece of phoenician cloth, over her shoulder, and resumed her journey. it was soon after this that branwen found out the misfortune of ignorance and want of experience. ere long she began to feel the cravings of thirst, and discovered that she had forgotten to take with her a bottle, or any other sort of receptacle for water. about noon her thirst became so great that she half repented having undertaken the mission. then it became so intolerable that she felt inclined to sit down and cry. but such an act was so foreign to her nature that she felt ashamed; pursed her lips; contracted her brows; grasped her bow and strode bravely on. she was rewarded. the tinkling of water broke upon her senses like celestial music. running forward she came to a little spring, at which she fell on her knees, put her lips to the pool, and drank with thankfulness in her heart. arising refreshed, she glanced upward, and observed a bird of the pheasant species gazing fixedly down. "how fortunate!" exclaimed the maiden, fitting an arrow to her bow. it was not fortunate for the pheasant, evidently, whatever branwen may have meant, for next moment the bird fell dead--transfixed with an arrow. being high noon by that time, the demands of nature made our huntress think of a mid-day meal. and now it was that she became aware of another omission--the result, partly, of inexperience. having plucked and cleaned the bird, she prepared to roast it, when a sudden indescribable gaze overspread her pretty face. for a moment she stood as if petrified. then she suddenly laughed, but the laugh was not gleeful, for it is trying to human nature to possess a good appetite and a good dinner without the means of cooking! she had forgotten to take with her materials for producing fire. she knew, indeed, that sticks and friction and fungus were the things required, but she knew not what sort of sticks, or where to find the right kind of fungus, or tinder. moreover, she had never tried her hand at such work before, and knew not how to begin. laying the bird on a bank, therefore, she dined off the dried meat--not, however, so heartily as before, owing to certain vague thoughts about supply and demand--the rudimentary ideas of what now forms part of the science of political economy. the first fittings of a careworn expression across her smooth brow, showed, at all events, that domestic economy had begun to trouble her spirit. "for," she thought to herself, "the dried meat won't last long, and i can't eat raw things--disgusting!--and i've a long, long way to go." even at this early period of her mission, her character was beginning to develop a little and to strengthen. for several days she continued her journey through the great solitudes lying to the north-west of king hudibras' town, keeping carefully out of the way of open places, lest wandering hunters should find her, and sleeping in the forked branches of trees at night. of course the necessity of thus keeping to the dense woods, and making her way through thorny thickets, rendered her journey very fatiguing; but branwen was unusually strong and healthy, though the grace of her slender frame gave her a rather fragile appearance, and she did not find herself exhausted even at the end of a long day's march; while her dressed-deerskin skirt and leggings bid defiance to thorns. so did the rude but serviceable shoes which her friend beniah had constructed for her out of raw hide. one thing that troubled the poor girl much was the fact that she had not yet discovered the trail of bladud. in reality, she had crossed it more than once, but, not being possessed of the keen eye of the hunter, she had not observed it, until she came to a muddy swamp, on the edge of which there was an unmistakable track--a trail which a semi-blind man could hardly have missed. stopping for a few minutes to take particular note of it, she afterwards went on with renewed hope and energy. but this state of things did not last, for the trail became to her indistinguishable the moment the swamp was passed, and at last, during a very dark wet day, she lost herself as well as the trail. at evening of the same day she climbed into a tree. opening out her bundle of dried meat, she began to eat and bemoan her fate. tears were in her eyes, and there was a slight tendency to sob in her voice, as she muttered to herself-- "i--i wouldn't mind being lost so much, if i only knew what to do or where to go. and this meat won't hold out another week at the rate i've been eating. but i could hardly help it--i have been _so_ hungry. indeed, i'm hungry _now_, but i must not eat so much. let me see. i shall divide it into two parts. that will last me twelve days or so, by which time i should be there--if i'm still going in the right direction. and now, divide the half into six--there--each of these will do for-- oh! but i forgot, that's only enough for breakfast. it will need two portions for each day, as it will be impossible to do without supper. i must just eat half of to-night's portion, and see how it feels." with this complicated end in view, she dried her eyes and began supper, and when she had finished it she seemed to "see" that it didn't "feel" enough, for, after much earnest consideration, she quietly began to eat the second portion, and consumed it. she was putting away the remnants, and feeling altogether in a more satisfactory state of mind, when her eyes fell upon an object which caused her heart to bound with alarm, and drove all the colour from her cheeks. at the foot of the tree, looking up at her in blank amazement--open-eyed and mouthed--stood a man; a big, rough-looking man, in hairy garments and with a hairy face, which was topped by a head of hair that rendered a cap needless. he stood with his feet apart and an arrow across his bow, like one who sees a lovely bird which he is about to bring down. "oh! don't shoot!" she cried, becoming suddenly and alarmingly aware of the action--"don't shoot! it's me! i--i'm a girl--not a beast!" to make quite sure that the man understood her, branwen jumped to the ground quickly and stood before him. recovering himself, the man lowered his bow and said something in a dialect so uncouth, that the poor girl did not understand him. indeed, she perceived, to her horror, that he was half-witted, and could articulate with difficulty. "i don't know what you say, good man, but i am lost in this forest, and belong to king hudibras' town. i am on my way to visit the hunter of the hot swamp, and i would think it so very, _very_ kind if you would guide me to his hut." the idiot--for such he was--evidently understood the maiden, though she did not understand him, for he threw back his head, and gave vent to a prolonged gurgling laugh. branwen felt that her only chance was to put a bold face on matters. she, therefore, by a violent effort, subdued her emotion and continued. "you know king hudibras?" the man nodded and grinned. "then i am quite sure that if you behave well, and show me the way to the hot swamp, he will reward you in a way that will make your heart dance with joy. come, guide me. we have a good deal of the day still before us." thus speaking, she put her hand quietly within that of the idiot, and in a voice of authority said--"lead on!" regarding the girl with a look of mute surprise, the man obeyed, but, instead of leading her to the region named, he conducted her over a neighbouring ridge, into what appeared to her to be a robber's den. there was nothing for it now but to carry out the _role_ which she had laid down. the desperate nature of the case seemed to strengthen her to play her part, for, as she was led into the circle of light caused by a camp-fire, round which a band of wild-looking men were standing, a spirit of calm determination seemed to take possession of her soul. "what strange sort of animal is this you have caught, lad?" demanded one of the band. before an answer could be given, a tall, fierce-looking woman came out of a booth, or temporary hut, close to the camp-fire, pushed her way through the crowd of men, who fell back respectfully, and, going up to branwen, grasped her by the wrist. "never ye mind what animal she is," cried the woman, shaking her fist at the man who had spoken, "she is my property." then, turning to her captive as she led her into the hut, she said: "don't be afraid, my dear. black-hearted though some of them are, not one will dare to touch you as long as you are under my protection." chapter seventeen. branwen in imminent danger. it is a wonderful, but at the same time, we think, a universal and important fact, that love permeates the universe. even a female snail, if we could only put the question, would undoubtedly admit that it loves its little ones. at least we have the strongest presumption from analogy that the idea is correct, for do we not find lions and tigers, apes and gorillas, engaged in lovingly licking--we don't mean whipping--and otherwise fondling their offspring? even in hades we find the lost rich man praying for the deliverance of his brethren from torment, and that, surely, was love in the form of pity. at all events, whatever name we may give it, there can be no doubt it was unselfish. and even selfishness is love misapplied. yes, let us be thankful that in one form or another love permeates the universe, and there is no place, however unfavourable, and no person, however unlikely, that can altogether escape from its benign influence. we have been led to these reflections by the contemplation of that rugged, hard-featured, square-shouldered, angry old woman who so opportunely took branwen under her protection. why she did so was a complete mystery to the poor girl, for the woman seemed to have no amiable traits of character about her, and she spoke so harshly to every one--even to her timid captive--that branwen could not help suspecting she was actuated by some sinister motive in protecting her. and branwen was right. she had indeed a sinister end in view--but love was at the bottom even of that. the woman, whose name was ortrud, had a son who was to the full as ugly and unamiable as herself, and she loved that son, although he treated her shamefully, abused her, and sometimes even threatened to beat her. to do him justice, he never carried the threat into execution. and, strange to say, this unamiable blackguard also loved his mother--not very demonstratively, it is true, except in the abusive manner above mentioned. this rugged creature had a strong objection to the wild, lawless life her son was leading, for instead of sticking to the tribe to which he belonged, and pillaging, fighting with, and generally maltreating every other tribe that was not at peace with his, this mistaken young man had associated himself with a band of like-minded desperadoes--who made him their chief--and took to pillaging the members of every tribe that misfortune cast in his way. now, it occurred to ortrud that the best way to wean her son from his evil ways would be to get him married to some gentle, pretty, affectionate girl, whose influence would be exerted in favour of universal peace instead of war, and the moment she set eyes on branwen, she became convinced that her ambition was on the point of attainment. hence her unexpected and sudden display of interest in the fair captive, whom she meant to guard till the return of her son from a special marauding expedition, in which he was engaged at the time with a few picked men. whatever opinion the reader may have by this time formed of branwen, we wish it to be understood that she had "a way with her" of insinuating herself into the good graces of all sorts and conditions of men-- including women and children. she was particularly successful with people of disagreeable and hardened character. it is not possible to explain why, but, such being the case, it is not surprising that she soon wormed herself into the confidence of the old woman, to such an extent, that the latter was ere long tempted to make her more or less of a confidant. one day, about a week after the arrival of our heroine in the camp, old ortrud asked her how she would like to live always in the green woods. the look of uncertainty with which she put the question convinced the captive that it was a leading one. "i should like it well," she replied, "if i had pleasant company to live with." "of course, of course, my dear, you would need that--and what company could be more pleasant than that of a good stout man who could keep you in meat and skins and firewood?" any one with a quarter of branwen's intelligence would have guessed at once that the woman referred to her absent son, about whose good qualities she had been descanting at various times for several days past. the poor girl shuddered as the light broke in on her, and a feeling of dismay at her helpless condition, and being entirely in the power of these savages, almost overcame her, but her power of self-restraint did not fail her. she laughed, blushed in spite of herself, and said she was too young to look at the matter in _that_ light! "not a bit; not a bit!" rejoined ortrud. "i was younger than you when my husband ran away with me." "ran away with you, ortrud?" cried branwen, laughing outright. "ay; i was better-looking then than i am now, and not nigh so heavy. he wouldn't find it so easy," said the woman, with a sarcastic snort, "to run away with me now." "no, and he wouldn't be so much inclined to do so, i should think," thought branwen, but she had the sense not to say so. "that's a very, very nice hunting shirt you are making," remarked branwen, anxious to change the subject. the woman was pleased with the compliment. she was making a coat at the time, of a dressed deer-skin, using a fish-bone needle, with a sinew for a thread. "yes, it is a pretty one," she replied. "i'm making it for my younger son, who is away with his brother, though he's only a boy yet." "do you expect him back soon?" asked the captive, with a recurrence of the sinking heart. "in a few days, i hope. yes, you are right, my dear; the coat is a pretty one, and he is a pretty lad that shall wear it--not very handsome in the face, to be sure; but what does that matter so long as he's stout and strong and kind? i am sure his elder brother, addedomar, will be kind to you though he _is_ a bit rough to me sometimes." poor branwen felt inclined to die on the spot at this cool assumption that she was to become a bandit's wife; but she succeeded in repressing all appearance of feeling as she rose, and, stretching up her arms, gave vent to a careless yawn. "i must go and have a ramble now," she said. "i'm tired of sitting so long." "don't be long, my dear," cried the old woman, as the captive left the hut, "for the ribs must be nigh roasted by this time." branwen walked quickly till she gained the thick woods; then she ran, and, finally sitting down on a bank, burst into a passion of tears. but it was not her nature to remain in a state of inactive woe. having partially relieved her feelings she dried her tears and began to think. her thinking was seldom or never barren of results. to escape somehow, anyhow, everyhow, was so urgent that she felt it to be essential to the very existence of the universe--her universe at least--that she should lift herself out of the impossible into the stick-at-nothing. the thing _must_ be done--by miracle if not otherwise. and she succeeded--not by miracle but by natural means--as the reader shall find out all in good time. chapter eighteen. the prince undertakes strange work. when prince bladud entered upon what he really believed would be his last journey, he naturally encountered very different experiences, being neither so ignorant, so helpless, nor so improvident as his helpless follower. after a good many days of unflagging perseverance, therefore, he reached the neighbourhood of the hot swamp, in good spirits and in much better health than when he set out. he was, indeed, almost restored to his usual vigour of body, for the fever by which he had been greatly weakened had passed away, and the constant walking and sleeping in fresh air had proved extremely beneficial. we know not for certain whether the leprosy by which he had been attacked was identical in all respects with the fatal disease known in the east, or whether it was something akin to it, or the same in a modified form. the only light which is thrown by our meagre records on this point is that it began with fever and then, after a period of what seemed convalescence, or inaction, it continued to progress slowly but surely. of course the manner in which it had been caught was more than presumptive evidence that it was at least of the nature of the fatal plague of the east. although his immunity from present suffering tended naturally to raise the spirits of the prince, it did not imbue him with much, if any, hope, for he knew well he might linger for months--even for years--before the disease should sap all his strength and finally dry up the springs of life. this assurance was so strong upon him that, as we have said, he once-- indeed more than once--thought of taking his own life. but the temptation passed quickly. he was too conscientious and too brave to do that; and had none of that moral cowardice which seeks escape from the inevitable in hoped-for oblivion. whether his life was the gift of many gods or of one god, he held that it was a sacred trust which he was bound in honour to guard. therefore he fought manfully against depression of spirits, as one of the destroyers of life, and even encouraged hope, frequently looking at the fatal white spot on his shoulder, and trying to persuade himself that it was not spreading. in this state of mind bladud arrived one day at the abode of the hunter of the hot swamp. it was not, indeed, close to the springs which caused the swamp, but stood in a narrow sequestered gully quite five miles distant from it. the spot had been chosen as one which was not likely to be discovered by wanderers, and could be easily defended if it should be found. moreover, its owner, as bladud had been warned, was a fierce, morose man, who loved solitude and resented interference of any kind, and this was so well known in the thinly-peopled neighbourhood that every one kept carefully out of his way. sometimes this eccentric hunter appeared at the nearest village--twenty miles distant from his home--with some pigs to barter for the few commodities which he wanted from time to time; but he and his horse, cow, and dogs ate up all the remaining produce of his small farm--if such it might be called. it was a beautiful evening when the prince walked up to the door of the little hut, in front of which its owner was standing, eyeing him with a forbidding scowl as he approached. he was in truth a strange and formidable man, such as one would rather not meet with in a lonely place. there appear to have been giants in those days; for this hunter of the hot swamp was nearly, if not quite, as tall as bladud himself, and to all appearance fully as strong of limb. a mass of black hair covered his head and chin; a skin hunting-shirt his body, and a hairy boar-skin was thrown across his broad shoulders. altogether, he seemed to his visitor the very personification of ferocity. a huge bow, ready strung, leaned against his hut. as bladud advanced with his own bow unstrung, the man apparently scorned to take it up, but he grasped and leaned upon a staff proportioned to his size. anxious to propitiate this mysterious being, the prince approached with steady, unaffected ease of manner, and a look of goodwill which might have conciliated almost any one; but it had no effect on the hunter. "what want ye here?" he demanded, when his visitor was near enough. "to enter your service." "_my_ service!" exclaimed the man with a look of surprise that for a moment banished the scowl. "i want no servant. i can serve myself well enough. and, truly, it seems to me that a man like you should be ashamed to talk of service. you are more fitted for a master than a servant. i trow you must have some bad motive for seeking service with a man like me. have you murdered any one, that you flee from the face of your fellows and seek to hide you here?" "no, i am not a murderer." "what then? are you desirous of becoming one, and making me your victim?" asked the hunter, with a look of contempt; "for you will find that no easy job, stout though you be. i have a good mind to crack your crown for coming here to disturb my solitude!" "two can play at that game," replied bladud, with a seraphic smile. "but i am truly a man of peace. i merely want to look after your cattle for occupation; i will gladly live in the woods, away from your dwelling, if you will let me serve you--my sole desire being, like your own, to live--and, if need be, to die--alone." for a few moments there was a softened expression on the hunter's face as he asked, in a tone that had something almost of sympathy in it-- "is there a woman at the bottom of this?" "no. woman has nothing to do with it--at least, not exactly--not directly," returned bladud. "hah!" exclaimed the man, paying no regard to the modification implied in the answer; and advancing a step, with eager look, "did she tempt you on and then deceive you; and scorn you, and forsake you for another man?" "you mistake me. the poor woman i was thinking of was an old one, labouring under a deadly disease." on hearing this the hunter's softened look vanished, and his former scowl returned. "go!" he said, sternly; "i can take care of the cattle myself, without help. but stay, a man of your peaceful nature and humility may, perchance, not be too proud to take charge of pigs." bladud flushed--not so much because of the proposal as the tone of contempt in which it was uttered; but, remembering his condition and his object, he mastered his feelings. "i am willing to take charge of your pigs," he said, in a quiet tone; "where do they feed?" "a goodish bit from here. not far from the hot swamp, that lies on the other side of the hill." the man pointed to a high ridge, just visible beyond the gully in which his hut lay concealed, which was clothed from base to summit with dense forest. "there are plenty of pigs there," he continued in a milder tone. "how many i don't know, and don't care. i brought the old ones here, and they have multiplied. if you choose to keep them together, you are welcome. i want only a few of them now and then. when i do, i hunt them together and drive them with my dogs. you may kill and eat of them as you please; but don't come nigh my hut, mind you, else will i put an arrow in your heart." "good, i will take care," returned the prince gravely. "and if you come nigh _my_ dwelling, is it understood that i am to put an arrow in _your_ heart? i could easily do it, for i am a fair marksman." something approaching almost to a smile crossed the hunter's swart visage at this reply. it did not last, however. "go!" he said. "keep your jesting for the pigs, if they have a mind to listen." "i will try them. mayhap they are more sociable than their owner. and now, master, might i ask for the loan of one of your dogs? it might be useful in herding." "none of them would follow you. yet--yes, the pup might do so. it has not yet come to care for me much." so saying, the man went to the rear of his hut, and, from the kennel there, fetched a young but full-grown dog, somewhat resembling a retriever, which gambolled joyously at the prospect of being let out for a run. "there, take him. he comes of a good breed. keep the leash on his neck till you have given him his first feed; he'll follow you after that." "what is his name?" asked the prince. "no name. like his master in that!" taking the leash in his hand, bladud said farewell, and went away into the woods, while the hunter of the swamp, turning round, stooped as he entered his hut, and shut the door behind him. it may seem strange that the prince should thus voluntarily seek for menial occupation, but, in truth, he shrank from the idea of living absolutely to himself alone, and felt a strong desire to have some sort of responsibility in connection with a human being, however short his life on earth might be, or however uncouth the individual with whom he might have to do--for man is intensely social, as only those who have dwelt in absolute solitude can thoroughly understand. chapter nineteen. prince bladud takes possession of his estate and begins business. pondering over the circumstances of the strange being from whom he had just parted, bladud proceeded to the summit of the hill, or ridge of high land, on the other side of which lay the region in which he had made up his mind to end his days. it took him full two hours to make his way through the dense underwood to the top; but when this point was reached, the magnificent panorama of land and water which met his view was a feast to his eyes, which for a time caused him to forget his forlorn condition. in all directions, wherever he gazed, ridges and knolls, covered with dense woods and richest vegetation, were seen extending from his elevated outlook to the distant horizon. cliffs, precipices, dells, and bright green open spaces varied the landscape; and in the bottom of the great valley which lay immediately beneath his feet there meandered a broad river, in whose waters were reflected here and there the overhanging trees, or green patches of its flower-bespangled banks, or the rich browns and yellows of spots where these banks had been broken away by floods; while, elsewhere, were seen glittering patches of the blue sky. far away in the extreme distance a soft cloud of thin transparent vapour hung steadily over a partially open space, which he rightly conjectured to be the hot swamp, of which he had often heard wondrous stories in his boyhood, but which he had not been permitted to visit, owing to the tribes living near the springs having been at war with his father. during his absence in the east, king hudibras had attacked and almost exterminated the tribes in question, so that the hot swamp region, just at the time when the prince arrived, was a land of desolation. though desolate, however, it was, as we have tried to show, exceeding lovely, so that our wanderer was ravished with the prospect, and seated himself on a bank near the top of the ridge to contemplate its beauties in detail. his canine companion sat down beside him, and looked up inquiringly in his face. during the first part of the journey the pup had strained a good deal at the leash, and had displayed a strong desire to return to its former master, as well as a powerful objection to follow its new one. it had also, with that perversity of spirit not uncommon in youth, exhibited a proneness to advance on the other side of bushes and trees from its companion, thus necessitating frequent halts and numerous disentanglements. on all of these occasions bladud had remonstrated in tones so soft, and had rectified the error so gently, that the pup was evidently impressed. possibly it was an observant pup, and appreciated the advantages of human kindness. perhaps it was a sagacious pup, and already recognised the difference between the old master and the new. be this as it may, bladud had not been long seated there in a state of dreamy abstraction, when he became conscious of the inquiring look. returning it with interest, but without speaking, he gazed steadily into the soft brown eyes that were turned up to his. at last the prince opened his lips, and the dog, turning his head slightly to one side with a look of expectancy, cocked his ears. "browneyes," he said, "you'll grow to be a fine dog if you live." there was the slightest possible tremor in the pup's tail. of course there might have been more than a tremor if the caudal appendage had been at liberty instead of being sat upon. it was enough, however, to indicate a tendency to goodwill. "come here, browneyes," said bladud, holding out his hand. but the pup was hardly prepared for such a complete and sudden concession as the invitation implied. he repeated the tremor, however, and turned his head to the other side, by way of a change, but sat still. a happy thought occurred to the prince--justifying the remark of solomon that there is nothing new under the sun. he opened his wallet, took out a small piece of meat, and held it out. "here, brownie, have a bit." another justification of solomon, for the natural abbreviation of names is not new! the pup advanced with confidence, ate the morsel, and looked inquiringly for more, at the same time wagging its tail with unqualified satisfaction. "yes, brownie, you shall have more." the second morsel was bestowed; the tail wagged effusively; the name of brownie became irrevocably associated with food, and a loving look and tone with favours to come. thus a title and a friendship were established which endured through life and was terminated only by death. so trivial sometimes are the incidents on which the great events of life are hinged! we pause here to deprecate the idea that this fine animal's affection was gained through its stomach. many a time had its old master thrown it savoury junks and bones of food; but a scowl and sometimes a growl, had often been thrown into the mess, thereby robbing the gift of all grace, and checking the outflow of affection. bladud's character similarly, was as clearly perceived by the manner of his gifts. indeed, it would have been a poor compliment to the intelligence of brownie--or of any dog, young or old--to suppose it capable of misunderstanding the gentle tone, the kindly glance, and the patting hand of bladud. at all events, the result was that brownie, with an expressive wag and bark, vowed fidelity from that date to the prince, and, in the same act, renounced allegiance to the hunter of the hot swamp. from that date, too, the master and the dog entered upon, and kept up at frequent though brief intervals, a species of conversation or mental intercourse which, if not profound, was equal to much that passes for intercourse among men, and was, at all events, a source of eminent satisfaction to both. removing the leash, bladud descended the hill, with brownie gambolling delightedly round him. that night they slept together under the spreading branches of a magnificent oak. there was no need to keep watch against wild beasts, for brownie slept, as it were, with one eye open, and the slightest symptom of curiosity among the wild fraternity was met by a growl so significant that the would-be intruder sheered off. the sun was high when the prince awoke and arose from his bed of leaves. the pup, although awake long before, had dutifully lain still, abiding his master's time. it now arose and shook itself, yawned, and looked up with an expression of "what next?" having lighted a fire, bladud set up the carcase of a wild duck to roast. he had shot it the day before on his way to the valley of the swamp. as this was a proceeding in which the pup had a prospective interest, he sat by attentively. "ah! brownie," said his master, sitting down to wait for the cooking of the bird, "you little know what a sad life awaits you. no companionship but that of a doomed man, and i fear you will be a poor nurse when the end comes, though assuredly you will not be an unsympathetic one. but it may be long before the end. that's the worst of it. come, have a bit." he threw him a leg as he spoke, and the two breakfasted peacefully together on the banks of the shining river, slaking their thirst, after it was finished, at the same pure stream. while doing so the prince observed with satisfaction that large trout were rising freely, and that several flocks of wild ducks and other aquatic birds passed both up and down the river. "now, brownie," he said, when the meal was concluded, "you and i must search for a convenient spot on which to build our hut." before starting off, however, he uncovered his shoulder and looked anxiously at the white spot. it was as obvious as ever, but did not seem to him increased since he left home. a very slight matter will sometimes give hope to a despairing man. under the influence of this negative comfort, bladud took up his weapons and sallied forth, closely followed by the pup. in the haste of departure and the depressed state of his mind he had, as has been said, forgotten his sword, or deliberately left it behind him. the only weapon he now possessed, besides the bow and arrows given to him by the hebrew, was a small bronze hatchet, which was, however, of little use for anything except cutting down small trees and branches for firewood. he carried a little knife, also, in his girdle, but it was much too small to serve the purpose of an offensive weapon, though it was well suited to skin wild animals and cut up his food. as for his staff, or club--it might be of use in a contest with men, but would be of little service against bears or wolves. casting it aside, therefore, he cut for himself a ponderous oaken staff about five feet long, at one end of which there was a heavy knotted mass that gave it great weight. the other end he sharpened to a fine point. this formidable weapon he purposed to wield with both hands when using it as a club, while, if need should arise, he might also use it as a spear. "i was foolish, brownie," he remarked, while rounding off the head of this club, "to leave my good sword behind me, for though i have no desire to kill men, there may arise a need-be to kill bears. however, it cannot be helped, and, verily, this little thing will be a pretty fair substitute." he twirled the little thing round his head with one hand, in a way that would have rejoiced the heart of a modern irishman, had he been there to see, and induced the pup to jump aside in surprise with his tail between his legs. a few minutes later, and he was striding over the beautiful land in all directions, examining and taking possession, as it were, of his fair domain. in passing over a knoll which was crowned by several magnificent oaks, they came suddenly on a family of black pigs, which were luxuriating on the acorns that covered the ground. "my future care!" muttered the prince, with a grim smile, for he hardly believed in the truth of all he was going through, and almost expected to awake and find it was a dream. the pigs, headed by a huge old boar, caught sight of the intruders at the same time, and stood for a moment or two grunting in stolid astonishment. with all the gaiety of inexperience, the pup went at them single-handed, causing the whole herd to turn and fly with ear-splitting screams--the old boar bringing up the rear, and looking round, out of the corner of his little eyes, with wicked intent. bladud, knowing the danger, sprang after them, shouting to the pup to come back. but brownie's war-spirit had been aroused, and his training in obedience had only just begun. in a moment he was alongside the boar, which turned its head and gave him a savage rip with a gleaming tusk. fortunately it just barely reached the pup's flank, which it cut slightly, but quite enough to cause him to howl with anger and pain. before the boar could repeat the operation, bladud sent his club whizzing in advance of him. it was well aimed. the heavy head alighted just above the root of the boar's curly tail. instantly, as if anticipating the inventions of the future, fifty steam whistles seemed to burst into full cry. the other pigs, in sympathetic alarm, joined in chorus, and thus, yelling inconceivably, they plunged into a thicket and disappeared. bladud almost fell to the ground with laughing, while brownie, in no laughing mood, came humbly forward to claim and receive consolation. but he received more than consolation, for, while the prince was engaged in binding up the wound, he poured upon him such a flood of solemn remonstrance, in a tone of such injured feeling, that the pup was evidently cut to the heart--his self-condemned, appealing looks proving beyond a doubt that the meaning of what was said was plain to him, though the language might be obscure. on continuing the march, brownie limped behind his master--a sadder and a wiser dog. they had not gone far when they came on another family of pigs, which fled as before. a little further on, another herd was discovered, wallowing in a marshy spot. it seemed to bladud that there was no good feeding in that place, and that the creatures were dirtying themselves with no obvious end in view, so, with the pup's rather unwilling assistance, he drove them to more favourable ground, where the acorns were abundant. at this point he reached a secluded part of the valley, or, rather, an off-shoot from it, where a low precipice rose on one side, and thick flowering shrubs protected the other. the spot was considerably elevated above the level of the low ground, and from an opening in the shrubbery at the further extremity could be seen the larger valley with all its wealth of forest and meadow, its knolls, and slopes, and wooded uplands, with the river winding like a silver thread throughout its whole extent. here the prince resolved to fix his abode, and, not a little pleased with the successful way in which he had commenced his amateur pig-herding, he set vigorously and patiently to work with the little bronze hatchet, to fell such trees as would be required in the construction of his future home. chapter twenty. a strange abode and a wild visitor. bladud's idea of a palace worthy of a prince was not extravagant. he erected it in three days without assistance or tools, except the bronze axe and knife--brownie acting the part of superintendent of the works. until it was finished, he slept with the forest trees for a shelter and the sky for a canopy. the edifice was nothing better than a small hut, or booth, constructed of long branches bent in the shape of semi-hoops, the ends of which were thrust into the ground. the whole was thatched with dried grass and bound down with ropes made of the same material. it was further secured against the possible influence of high winds, by heavy branches being laid across it and weighted with stones. dried grass also formed the carpeting on the floor. of course it was not so high that its architect could stand up in it, but he could sit in it erect, and could lie down at full length without showing his heels outside. there was no door, but one end was left unfinished as a substitute. neither was there a fireplace, the space in front sufficing for a kitchen. while engaged in its erection, bladud was too busy to indulge in gloomy thoughts, but as soon as it was finished and he had lain down to rest under its shade, the terrible, almost incredible, nature of his position rushed upon him in full force. the opening of the hut had been so arranged as to present a view of the wide-spreading valley, and he gazed upon scenes of surpassing loveliness, in which all the sights that met the eye breathed of beauty and repose, while the sounds that broke upon the ear were suggestive of bird and beast revelling in the enjoyment of the gifts and sunshine of a bountiful creator. but such sights and sounds only enhanced the misery of the poor man, and he started up, after a few minutes' contemplation, and rushed outside in the vain hope of escaping from his misery by energetic action. "this will drive me mad," he thought, as he paused and stood for a few minutes irresolute. "better far to return to the east where tyrants reign and people dare not call body and soul their own, and die fighting in the front rank for liberty--but--but--who would let me join them, knowing my disease? `unclean!' i may not even come within touch of my kind--" his head sank on his breast and he tried to banish thought altogether. at the same moment his eyes met the meek, patient look of brownie. "ah, pup," he exclaimed, stooping to fondle the soft brown head as he muttered to himself, "you teach me a lesson and put me to shame, despite your want of speech. you are awaiting my commands, ready to give unquestioning obedience--whether to go to the right, or left, or to lie down. and here am i, not only a prince, but supposed to be a reasoning man, rebelling against the decree of my maker--my spirit-father! surely there must be one who called my spirit into being--else had i never been, for i could not create myself, and it must be his will that i am smitten--and for a _good_ end, else he were not good!" for a few minutes longer he continued to meditate in silence. then he turned quickly and picked up the axe which lay at the entrance of the hut. "come, pup," he cried, cheerfully, "you and i must build another house. you see, we shall have plenty of game and venison soon to guard from the wolves, and it would be disagreeable to keep it in the palace along with ourselves--wouldn't it? so, come along, brownie." thus appealed to, the pup gave its assent by some violent tail activities, and, in a few minutes, had resumed its former post as superintendent of the works, while its master toiled like a second samson in the hope of driving mental distress away through the pores of his skin. he was not indeed altogether unsuccessful, for so intimate is the mysterious connection between spirit and matter that he felt comparative relief--even to the extent of cheerfulness--when the muscles were in violent action and the perspiration was streaming down his brow; but when the second hut, or larder, was completed his depression returned in greater power than before. then he took to hunting with tremendous energy, a plan which was highly approved of by his canine companion. he also devoted himself to his specific duties as swine-herd; collected the animals from all quarters into several large herds, counted them as well as he could, and drove them to suitable feeding-grounds. on retiring each day from this work, into which he threw all his power, he felt so fatigued as to be quite ready for supper and bed. gradually he became accustomed to the life, and at length, after a considerable time of it, a feeling of resignation to his fate began to tell upon him. the effect of prolonged solitude also began even to numb the powers of his mind. he was fully aware of this, and tried to shake it off, for he shuddered more at the thought of mental than of physical decay. among other things, he took to talking more frequently to brownie, but although the pup was, in many respects, a most valuable and sympathetic companion, he could not prevent the conversation from being rather one-sided. by degrees the summer merged into autumn; the foliage assumed the tints of green and gold. then it became russet, and finally the cold bleak winds of a northern winter shrieked through the valley and swept the leaves away. during all this time no human being had gone near that region, or paid the forlorn prince a visit, except once when the hunter of the hot swamp made his appearance. the rebellious tribes retained too vivid a recollection of the slaughter that had taken place during and after the fight with king hudibras, to risk a second encounter with that monarch, so that the place was at that time absolutely deserted by human beings--though it was sufficiently peopled by the lower animals. on the occasion when the hunter unexpectedly appeared, he demanded of bladud an account of his stewardship. the report was so satisfactory that the hunter became, for him, quite amiable; commended his swine-herd and drove off a number of the pigs to market. on his return, laden with the few household goods for which he had bartered them, he paid the prince another visit, and even condescended to accept an invitation to enter his hut and partake of a roast of venison which was at the time being prepared for the mid-day meal. he was still, however, very brusque and taciturn. "no one has been near me during the whole summer or autumn but yourself," observed bladud with an involuntary sigh. "you must be pleased at that," returned the hunter, sharply; "you said you came here for solitude." "truly i did; but i had not thought it would be so hard to bear." "why do you seek it, then, if you don't like it?" asked the hunter in the same brusque, impatient manner which characterised all his words and actions. "i am forced to seek it by a power which may not be resisted with impunity." "there is no such power!" exclaimed the hunter with a wild, demoniac laugh. "i can resist any power--all powers. there is nothing that i cannot resist and overcome." the gigantic man, with his dishevelled locks and shaggy beard, looked so fierce and powerful, as he sat on the opposite side of the fire glaring at his host, that bladud became impressed with a hope that the maniac-- for such he evidently was--would not attempt to prove his resistless power there and then. in order to avert such a catastrophe, he assumed an air of the most perfect ease and indifference to the boast, and asked him with a bland smile if he would have another slice of venison. the hunter seemed to be disconcerted by the question, but, being a hungry man and a ravenous eater, he accepted the offer and began to eat the slice in moody silence. "your good pup has been a real blessing to me," resumed the prince a few minutes later, during which time he had devoted himself to his own portion of food, "not only in the way of helping me to hunt and drive the pigs, but as a companion who can do all but speak." "he could speak if you would let him," returned the hunter. "i speak to my dogs continually, and they always answer--not with their tongues, for that is not dog-language, but with their eyes--and i know every word they speak. you would wonder how clever they are, and what droll things they say sometimes." he burst into a wild hilarious laugh at this point, as if the thought of the canine pleasantries were too much for him; then suddenly became grave, and scowled furtively at his host, as if he felt that he had committed himself. "you are right," replied bladud, affecting not to observe the scowl. "my pup often speaks to me with his eyes, but i am not so good at understanding the language as you appear to be. no doubt i shall acquire it in time." "then you don't like being alone?" said the hunter, after a pause, during which bladud saw that he was eyeing him keenly, though he pretended not to observe this. "no, i don't like it at all, but it can't be helped." "well, it might have been helped, for i could have sent them to you." "sent whom?" "a man and a boy. they were not together, but came to my hut at different times inquiring for you, but, knowing your desire for solitude, i turned them away on the wrong scent." "i'm glad you did," returned the prince, "for i want to be troubled by neither man nor boy. yet i wonder who they could be. did they say why they wanted to find me?" "no, they did not say, and i would not ask; what cared i about their reasons?" "yet you care enough for me, it appears, to say you would have sent them to me if you knew i had been lonely. what was the appearance of the man?" "he was old, but very strong, though not so big as me--or you. his hair was long and white; so was his beard. he wore a long dark robe, and carried a very big staff." bladud had no difficulty in recognising the description of his friend the hebrew. "and the boy; what was he like?" "like all boys, active and impudent." "i am afraid," returned the prince with a slight smile, "that your acquaintance with boys cannot have been extensive--they are not all active and impudent." "most of those that have crossed my path are so. at all events, this one was, for when i pointed out the direction you had gone--which was just the opposite way from here--he said, `i don't believe you!' and when i leaped on him to give him his deserts, he dodged me, and fled into the woods like a squirrel. it was as well, for i should have killed him." "i am not sorry he escaped you, then," said bladud, with a laugh, "though i scarcely think you would have killed the poor lad even if you had caught him." "oh yes, i would. and i'll kill _you_ if you venture to doubt my word." as he said this the hunter sprang to his feet, and, drawing his knife, seemed about to leap upon his host, who, however, sat perfectly still. "i should be sorry that you should die," said bladud in a calm voice, while he kept his eyes steadily fixed on those of the maniac. "_you_ have heard, have you not, of that terrible disease of the east, called leprosy?" "yes--the ship-captains have often spoken of it," said the madman, whose mind, like that of a child, could be easily turned into new channels. "look! i have got that disease. the power which you profess to despise has sent it to me. if you so much as touch me, your doom is fixed." he uncovered his shoulder as he spoke and displayed the white spot. bladud felt quite uncertain how this would be received by the madman, but he was scarcely prepared for what followed. no sooner did the hunter see the spot and realise what it meant, than without a word he turned, caught up his bundle, uttered a yell of terror, and fled from the spot, closely followed by his dogs, which howled as if in sympathy. chapter twenty one. a strange encounter and a friend in need. about a week after the events narrated in the last chapter, an incident occurred which, trifling in itself, was nevertheless the cause of momentous issues in the life of our hero. he was returning one evening from a long ramble with his dog, when the screams of a pig in evident distress attracted his attention. hastening to the place he found that a small member of his charge had fallen over a cliff into a crevice in the rock, where it stuck fast and was unable to extricate itself. the violent nature of the porcine family is well known. although very little hurt, this little pig felt its position so unbearable that it immediately filled the woods with agonising shrieks until bladud dragged it out of the cleft, and carried it in his arms to the foot of the precipice, where he set it free. then the whirlwind of its outcry came to a sudden stop, thereby proving beyond a doubt that passion, not pain, was the cause of its demonstrations. from that date many of the pigs became affected by a cutaneous disease, which gradually spread among all the herds. it was some time before bladud observed this; but when he did notice it, he jumped at once to the conclusion that he must have communicated leprosy to his unfortunate herds while rescuing the little pig. whether or not he was right in this conjecture, we cannot say; but the probability of his mere touch being so contaminating was sufficient to increase greatly the depression of spirits which had been stealing over him--a condition which was not a little aggravated by the fact that the white spot on his arm was slowly but surely spreading. still the disease had not, so far, affected his general health or strength in any serious degree. about that time there set in a long period of fine sunny weather, during which bladud busied himself in hunting and drying meat, as well as fish, which he stored in his larder for future use. he also cut a large quantity of firewood, and built another booth in which to protect it from the weather, and otherwise made preparation for the winter when it should arrive. one day he had wandered a considerable way into the forest, and was about to turn to retrace his steps homeward, when he was surprised to hear some creature crashing through the woods towards him. it could not have been startled by himself, else it would have run away from him. stepping behind a tree, he strung his bow, called brownie close to his heel, and waited. a few seconds later a deer dashed close past him, but, as his belt was already hung round with game, and home was still far distant, he did not shoot. besides, he was curious to know what had startled the deer. a few minutes revealed that, for suddenly the sound of footsteps was heard; then the bushes opposite were parted, and a boy, or youth just emerging from boyhood, ran past him at full speed, with an arrow sticking through his left sleeve. he was unarmed, and gasped like one who runs for his life. catching sight of the prince as he passed the tree that had concealed him, the boy doubled like a hare, ran up to bladud, and, grasping one of his hands, cried--"o! save me!--save me!-- from robbers!" in the most agonising tones. "that will i, poor lad, if i can." he had barely time to make this reply when a man burst from the shrubbery on the other side of the tree, and almost plunged into his arms. so close was he, and so unexpected the meeting, that the prince had not time or space to use his bow, but saluted the man's forehead with such an olympic crack from his fist, that he fell prone upon the ground and remained there. bladud had dropped his bow in the act, but his club leant handily against the tree. catching it up, he wheeled round just in time to face three tall and strong men, with bows in their hands. seeing their leader on the ground, they simultaneously discharged three arrows, which were well aimed, and struck the prince full on the chest; but they did not penetrate far, for, in anticipation of some such possible encounter with foes, he had covered his chest with a breastplate of thick double-ply hide, which effectually checked them. before they could draw other arrows bladud rushed at them with a terrific shout, hurling his mighty club in advance. the weapon caught the nearest robber full in the chest and laid him flat on the grass. the other two, dropping their bows, turned and fled. "guard them, brownie!" cried bladud, as he followed. the dog obediently took up a position between the two fallen men, and eyed them in a way and with an ominous growl, that meant mischief if they dared to stir. bladud easily overtook the other two, grasped them by their necks, and, using their heads as battering-rams, rapped them together. they sank half-stunned upon their knees, and begged for mercy. "you shall have it," said bladud, "on the condition that you go and tell your comrades that if they ever come within twenty miles of the swamp, they shall find a man in the woods who will turn them inside out, and roast them all alive! away!" they went precipitately, as may be readily believed, and, as the prince had intended, spread a report that gave to him thenceforth the rank of a sorcerer, and secured him from future annoyance. returning to the tree, bladud found the fallen robbers beginning to recover consciousness--the one being held in submission by the fugitive youth, who stood, bow in hand, pointing an arrow at his throat; the other by brownie, who merely curled his nose, displayed his magnificent teeth, and uttered a low growl of remonstrance. "get up!" he said to the one he had knocked down with his fist. but as the order was not obeyed with sufficient promptitude, he lifted the man up by the collar, like a kitten, and sent him staggering against the tree with a violence that astounded him. calling off the dog, he gave a similar order to the second robber, who displayed much greater agility in his movements. repeating the little threat with which he had dismissed their comrades, bladud ordered them to be off. the second robber thankfully turned and took to his heels; but the first stooped to pick up his bow, whereupon bladud wrenched it from his grasp, broke it over his head, and belaboured him with the wreck for a couple of hundred yards through the woods, while the robber ran as if he thought the evil spirit was at his heels. returning somewhat blown from this unusual exercise, he found the youth in a state of great amusement and satisfaction. "hah! you may laugh, my lad; but i can assure you it would have been no laughing matter if these scoundrels had caught you." "you speak but the sober truth," returned the boy, still smiling; "for well assured am i that it would have cost me my life if they had caught me. but, believe me, i am not only pleased to see such villains get a little of what they deserve, but am exceedingly grateful to you for so kindly and effectually coming to my aid." "as to that, i would aid any one in distress--especially if pursued by robbers. but, come, sit down and tell me how you fell into their power. this bout has winded me a little. i will sit down on this bank; do you sit on the bank opposite to me." "the explanation is simple and short," replied the boy; "i wanted to have my own way, like most other boys, so i left home without leave, or saying farewell." "that was bad," said the prince, shaking his head. he was on the point of advancing some profitable reflections on this head, but the memory of his own boyhood checked him. "i know it was bad, and assuredly i have been well punished," returned the boy, "for these robbers caught me and have kept me with them for a long time, so long that i have quite lost count of the days now." "does your father live far from here?" "yes, very, very far, and i know not where to go or what to do," answered the boy, with a pitiful look. "never mind, you are safe at present, and no doubt i shall find means of having you sent safe home--though i see not the way just yet." "is that blood on your coat?" asked the lad anxiously, as he pointed to the prince's breast. "it is. the arrow-heads must have gone through the breastplate and scratched the skin. i will look to it." "let me help you," said the boy, rising and approaching. "back! you know not what you do," said the prince sternly. "you must not touch me. you have done so once to-day. it may cost you your life. ask not why, but obey my orders." not less surprised at the nature of these remarks than at the severe tone in which they were uttered, the boy re-seated himself in silence, while bladud removed the breastplate and examined his wounds. they were deeper than he had imagined, the three arrow-heads being half imbedded in his flesh. "nothing serious," he said, drawing out the heads and stanching the flow of blood with a little moss. "come, now, i will show you my home, and give you something to eat before you tell me more of your history. you shall have a couch in one of my outhouses. have a care as you walk with me that you do not come against me, or touch me even with a finger. my reasons you may not know, but--remember what i say." bladud spoke the last words with the severity that he had assumed before; then, dismissing the subject, he commented on the beauty of the landscape, the wickedness of robbers, the liveliness of animated nature and things in general with the cheerful air that had been habitual to him before he was compelled to flee the face of man. the pleasure he had felt in his brief intercourse with the gruff hunter of the swamp had remained a bright spot in his lonely life. he naturally enjoyed with much greater zest the company of the lively boy who had thus unexpectedly crossed his path, but when he retired for the night--having told the lad to make for himself a couch in the fire-wood hut--the utter desolation of his life became, if possible, more deeply impressed on him. during the night his wounds inflamed and became much more painful, and in the morning--whether from this cause or not, we cannot say--he found himself in a high fever. his new friend, like most healthy boys, was a profound sleeper, and when the time for breakfast arrived he found it necessary to get up and awake him. "ho! lad, rise," he cried at the entrance to the firewood hut, "you slumber soundly. come out and help me to get ready our morning meal." the lad obeyed at once. "what is your name?" he asked, as the lad appeared. "cormac," he replied. "well, cormac, do you roast the meat this morning. truly, it seems that you have come just in the nick of time, for i feel so ill that my head seems like a lump of stone, and my skin is burning. it is not often that i have had to ask the aid of man in such matters. will you get me a draught of water from the spring hard by? i will lie down again for a little." cormac willingly ran to a neighbouring spring and filled thereat a cup made of the bark of the birch tree, with which he returned to bladud's hut. "just put it inside the door where i can reach it," shouted the prince. "do not enter on any account." lifting a corner of the skin that covered the entrance, the lad placed the cup inside, and then, sitting down by the fire outside, proceeded to prepare breakfast. when it was ready he called to bladud to say whether he would have some, at the same time thrusting a savoury rib underneath the curtain; but the prince declined it. "i cannot eat," he said; "let me lie and rest if possible. my poor boy, this is inhospitable treatment. yet i cannot help it." "never mind me," returned cormac, lightly. "i like to nurse the sick, and i'll keep you well supplied with water, and cook venison or birds too if you want them. i can even shoot them if required." "no need for that," returned bladud, "there is plenty of food laid up for winter. but don't come inside my hut, remember. it will be death if you do!" all that day the lad sat by the fire or went to the well for water, of which his patient drank continuously. during the night the prince was very restless, and groaned a good deal, so the boy resolved to sit up and watch by the fire. next morning bladud was delirious, and as he could not rise even to fetch from the door the water for which he thirsted, cormac resolved to disobey orders and risk the consequences. entering the hut, therefore, and sitting down beside the patient, he tended him for many days and nights--taking what rest he could obtain by snatches beside the camp-fire. chapter twenty two. the pigs' cure. it was not long before our hero recovered from his delirium. leading, as he had been doing, an abstemious and healthy life, ordinary disease could not long maintain its grasp of him. his superabundant life seemed to cast it off with the ease with which his physical frame was able to cast aside human foes. but he could not thus shake off the leprosy. one of the first things he did on recovering consciousness was to uncover his arm. the fatal spot had increased considerably in size. with something of a shudder he looked round his little hut, endeavouring to remember where he was and to recall recent events. he was alone at the time, and he fancied the fight with the robbers and rescue of the boy must have been all a dream. the name cormac, however, puzzled him not a little. many a time before that had he dreamed of vivid scenes and thrilling incidents, but never in his recollection had he dreamt a name! being thoughtfully disposed, he lay meditating listlessly on this point in that tranquil frame of mind which often accompanies convalescence, and had almost fallen asleep when a slight noise outside awoke him. the curtain-door was lifted, and cormac, entering, sat quietly down on a block of wood beside him. bladud became suddenly aware that he had not been dreaming, but he did not move. through his slightly opened eyelids he watched the lad while he mixed some berries in a cup of water. as he lay thus silently observant, he was deeply impressed with the handsome countenance of his nurse and the graceful movements of his slight figure. presently the thought of his disease recurred to him--it was seldom, indeed, absent from his mind--and the strict injunctions which he had given to his young companion. "boy!--boy!" he cried suddenly, with a vigour that caused the boy to start off his seat and almost capsize the cup, "did i not forbid you to enter my hut or to touch me?" at first cormac looked alarmed, but, seeing that a decided change for the better had taken place in his patient, his brow smoothed and he laughed softly. "how dared you to disobey me?" exclaimed bladud again in stern tones. "i dared because i saw you were unable to prevent me," returned the lad, with a quiet smile. "besides, you were too ill to feed yourself, so, of course, i had to do it for you. do you suppose i am so ungrateful to the man who saved my life as to stand aside and let him die for want of a helping hand? come, now, be reasonable and let me give you this drink." he approached as he spoke. "keep off!--keep off, i say," shouted the prince in a voice so resolute that cormac was fain to obey. "it is bad enough to come into my hut, but you _must not_ touch me!" "why not?--i have touched you already." "how! when?" "i have lifted your head many a time to enable you to drink when you could not lift it yourself." a groan escaped bladud. "then it is too late! look at this," he cried, suddenly uncovering his arm. "what is that?" asked the boy, with a look of curiosity. "it is--leprosy!" "i am not afraid of leprosy!" "not afraid of it!" exclaimed the prince, "that may well be, for you have the air of one who fears nothing; but it will kill you for all that, unless the maker of all defends you, for it is a dread--a terrible--disease that no strength can resist or youth throw off. it undermines the health and eats the flesh off the bones, renders those whom it attacks horrible to look at, and in the end it kills them. but it is possible that you may not yet have caught the infection, poor lad, so you must keep away from me now, and let not a finger touch me henceforth. your life, i say, may depend on it." "i will obey you as to that," replied cormac, "now that you are beginning to recover, but i must still continue to put food and water within your reach." "be it so," rejoined the prince, turning away with a slight groan, for his excitement not less than the conversation had exhausted him. in a few minutes more he was asleep with an expression of profound anxiety stereotyped on his countenance. it was not long after the fever left him that returning strength enabled bladud to crawl out of his hut, and soon after that he was able to ramble through the woods in company with cormac, and with brownie--that faithful friend who had lain by his master's side during all his illness. the sparkling river gladdened the eyes, and the bracing air and sunshine strengthened the frame of the prince, so that with the cheerful conversation of cormac and the gambols of his canine friend he was sometimes led to forget for a time the dark cloud that hung over him. one day he was struck by something in the appearance of his dog, and, sitting down on a bank, he called it to him. after a few minutes' careful examination he turned to cormac with a look of deep anxiety. "my boy," he said, "i verily believe that the hound is smitten with my own complaint. in his faithful kindness he has kept by me until i have infected him." "that cannot be," returned cormac, "for, during my rambles alone, when you were too ill to move, i saw that a great many of the pigs were affected by a skin disease something like that on the dog, and, you know, you could not have infected the pigs, for you have never touched them." bladud's anxiety was not removed but deepened when he heard this, for he called to remembrance the occasion when he had rescued one of the little pigs and carried it for some distance in his arms. "and, do you know," continued the lad, "i have observed a strange thing. i have seen that many of the pigs, affected with this complaint, have gone down to the place where the hot waters rise, and, after bathing there, have returned all covered with mud, and these pigs seem to have got better of the disease, while many of those which did not go down to the swamp have died." "that is strange indeed," returned the prince; "i must see to this, for if these waters cure the pigs, why not the dog?" "ay," rejoined cormac, "and why not the man?" "because my disease is well known to be incurable." "are you sure?" "we can hardly be sure of anything, not even of killing our mid-day meal," rejoined the prince. "see, there goes a bird that is big enough to do for both of us. try your hand." "that will be but losing an opportunity, for, as you know, i am not a good marksman," returned the youth, fitting an arrow quickly to his bow nevertheless, and discharging it. although the bird in question was large and not far off, the arrow missed the mark, but startled the bird so that it took wing. before it had risen a yard from the ground, however, an arrow from bladud's bow transfixed it. that night, after the bird had been eaten, when brownie was busy with the scraps, and cormac had retired to his couch in the firewood booth, bladud lay in his hut unable to sleep because of what he had heard and seen that day. "hope springs eternal in the human breast"--not less in the olden time than now. at all events it welled up in the breast of the royal outcast with unusual power as he waited anxiously for the first dawn of day. up to this time, although living within a few miles of it, the prince had not paid more than one or two visits to the hot swamp, because birds and other game did not seem to inhabit the place, and the ground was difficult to traverse. he had, of course, speculated a good deal as to the cause of the springs, but had not come to any conclusions more satisfactory than have been arrived at by the scientific minds of modern days. that heat of some sort was the cause applied in one fashion or another to the water so as to make it almost boil he had no manner of doubt, but what caused the heat he could not imagine, and it certainly did not occur to him that the interior of the earth was a lake of fire-- the lovely world of vision being a mere crust. at least, if it did, he was never heard to say so. but now he went down to the swamp with a renewed feeling of hope that gave fresh impulse to his heart and elasticity to his tread. arrived at the place, he observed that numbers of his porcine family were there before him. on seeing him they retreated with indignant grunts--their hasty retreat being accelerated by a few remarks from brownie. making his way to what he believed to be the main fountain of the spring, the prince and the dog stood contemplating it for some time. then the former dipped his hand in, but instantly withdrew it, for he found the water to be unbearably hot. following its course, however, and testing it as he went along, he soon came to a spot where the temperature was sufficiently cool to render it agreeable. here, finding a convenient hole big enough to hold him, he stripped and bathed. brownie, who seemed much interested and enlivened by his master's proceedings, joined him on invitation, and appeared to enjoy himself greatly. thereafter they returned home to breakfast and found cormac already up and roasting venison ribs before the fire. "i thought you were still sound asleep in your hut," he said in surprise, as they came up, "and i have been doing my best to make little noise, for fear of awaking you. have you been bathing at the springs? i see the hound's coat is muddy." "thanks for your care, cormac. ay, we have indeed had a bath--brownie and i. you see i have taken your advice, and am trying the pigs' cure." "right, bladud. wiser men have learned lessons from pigs." "are you not presumptuous, my lad, to suggest that there may be a wiser man than i?" "truly, no, for taking the advice of a mere stripling like me, is not a sign of wisdom in a man." "in the present case you are perhaps right, but there are some striplings whose wisdom is sufficient to guide men. however, i will hope that even you, with all your presumption, may be right this time." "that encourages me to offer additional advice," retorted the lad with a laugh, "namely, that you should devote your attention to these ribs, for you will find them excellent, and even a full-grown man can hardly fail to know that without food no cure can be effected." "you are right, my boy. sit down and set me an example, for youth, not less than age, must be supported." without more words they set to work, first throwing a bone to the hound, in order, as bladud remarked, that they might all start on equal terms. from that day the health of the prince began to mend--slowly but steadily the spot on his arm also began to diminish and to assume a more healthy aspect. brownie also became convalescent, and much to the joy of bladud, cormac showed no symptoms of having caught the disease. still, as a precaution, they kept studiously apart, and the prince observed--and twitted the boy with the fact--that the more he gained in health, and the less danger there was of infection, the more anxious did he seem to be to keep away from him! things were in this state when, one evening, they received a visit-- which claims a new chapter to itself. chapter twenty three. in which very perplexing events occur. the visitor referred to in the last chapter was a tall, broad-shouldered old man with a snowy head of hair and a flowing white beard, a long, loose black garment, and a stout staff about six feet long. cormac had gone to a spring for water at the time he arrived, and bladud was lying on his back inside his hut. "is any one within?" demanded the stranger, lifting a corner of the curtain. "enter not here, whoever you are!" replied the prince quickly, springing up--"stay--i will come out to you." "you are wonderfully inhospitable," returned the stranger, as the prince issued from the hut and stood up with an inquiring look which suddenly changed to one of astonishment. "beniah!" he exclaimed. "even so," replied the hebrew, holding out his hand, but bladud drew back. "what! will you neither permit me to enter your house nor shake your hand? i was not so churlish when you visited my dwelling." "you know well, old man, that i do not grudge hospitality, but fear to infect you." "yes, i know it well," rejoined the hebrew, smiling, "and knowing that you were here, i turned aside on my journey to inquire as to your welfare." "i have much to say about my welfare and strange things to tell you, but first let me know what has brought you to this part of the land--for if you have turned aside to see me--seeing me has not been your main object." "you are right. yet it pleases me well to use this opportunity, and to see by your looks and bearing, that the disease seems to have been arrested." "yes, thanks be to the all-seeing one, i am well, or nearly so. but proceed to explain the reason of your journey." "the cause of it is the unaccountable disappearance of the girl named branwen." "what! she who is the bosom friend of my sister hafrydda?" "the same. she had fled, you may remember, from your father's court for fear of being compelled to wed with gunrig, the chief whose crown you cracked so deftly on the day of your arrival. she, poor thing, took refuge at first with me. i hid her for some time--" "then," interrupted the prince, "she must have been hidden in your hut at the time of my visit!" "she was. but that was no business of yours." "surely it was, old man, for my father's business is my business." "yea, but it was not my business to enlighten you, or the king either, while i had reason to know that he meant unduly to coerce the maiden. however, there she was hidden, as i tell you. now, you are aware that branwen's father gadarn is a great chief, whose people live far away in the northern part of albion. i bade branwen remain close in my hut, in a secret chamber, while i should go and acquaint her father with her position, and fetch him down with a strong band of his retainers to rescue her. you should have seen the visage of gadarn, when i told him the news. a wild boar of the woods could scarce have shown his tusks more fiercely. he not only ordered an armed band to get ready, instantly, but he roused the whole country around, and started off that same day with all his followers armed to the teeth. of course i led them. in due course we arrived at my hut, when--lo! i found that the bird was flown!" "i could see by the appearance of things," continued the hebrew, "that the foolish girl had left of her own will, for there was no evidence of violence anywhere--which would doubtless have been the case if robbers had found her and carried her away, for they would certainly have carried off some of my goods along with her. the rage of her father on making this discovery was terrible. he threatened at once to cut off my old head, and even drew his sword with intent to act the part of executioner. but i reminded him that if he did so, he would cut off the only head that knew anything about his daughter, and that i had still some knowledge regarding her with which he was not acquainted. "this arrested his hand just in time, for i actually fancied that i had begun to feel the edge of his sword slicing into my spinal marrow. when he had calmed himself enough to listen, i told him that branwen had spoken about paying a visit to the hot springs--that i knew she was bent on going there, for some reason that i could not understand, and that i thought it more than likely she had gone. `axe-men, to the front! form long line! hooroo!' yelled the chief--(or something of that sort, for i'm a man of peace, and don't understand warlike orders), and away went the whole host at a run, winding through the forest like a great snake; gadarn and i leading them, except when the thickets became impenetrable, and then the axe-men were ordered to the front and soon broke them down. and so, in course of time, we came within a few miles of the hot swamp, and--and, as i have said, i have been permitted to turn aside to visit you." "truly a strange tale," remarked the prince. "and is the armed host of gadarn actually within a few miles of us?" "it is; and, to say truth, i have come out to search for you chiefly to inquire whether you have seen any young woman at all resembling branwen during your wanderings in this region?" the hebrew looked keenly at the prince as he put this question. "you forget i have never seen this girl, and, therefore, could not know her even if i had met her. but, in truth, i have not seen any woman, young or old, since i came here. nor have i seen any human being save my mad master, konar, and a poor youth whom i rescued some time ago from the hands of robbers. he has nursed me through a severe illness, and is even now with me. but what makes you think that branwen intended to come to the swamp?" "because--because, she had reasons of her own. i do not profess to understand the workings of a young girl's mind," answered the hebrew. "and what will you do," said bladud, "now that you find she has not been here? methinks that when gadarn hears of your failure to find her at the swamp, your spinal marrow and his sword will still stand a good chance of becoming acquainted." the hebrew looked perplexed, but, before he could answer, brownie came bounding gaily round the corner of the hut. seeing a stranger, he stopped suddenly, displayed his teeth and growled. "down, pup! he is not accustomed to visitors, you see," said his master apologetically. at that moment cormac turned the corner of the hut, bearing an earthen jar of water on his shoulder. his eyes opened wide with surprise, so did those of the hebrew, and the jar dropped to the ground, where it broke, and brownie, quick to see and seize his opportunity, began to lap its contents. the prince--also wide-eyed--gazed from one to the other. it was a grand _tableau vivant_! the first to recover himself and break the spell was cormac. leaping forward, he grasped the old man by the hand, and turning so as to present his back to bladud, gave the hebrew a look so powerfully significant that that son of israel was quite disconcerted. "my old, kind friend--is it--can it--be really yourself? so far from home--so unexpected! it makes me so glad to see you," said the youth. then, turning to bladud, "a very old friend of mine, who helped me once in a time of great distress. i am so rejoiced, for now he will guide me back to my own home. you know i have sometimes talked of leaving you lately, bladud." "you say truth, my young friend. frequently of late, since i have been getting well, you have hinted at a wish to go home, though you have not yet made it clear to me where that home is; and sad will be the day when you quit me. i verily believe that i should have died outright, beniah, but for the kind care of this amiable lad. but it is selfish of me to wish you to stay--especially now that you have found a friend who, it would seem, is both able and willing to guard you through the woods in safety. yet, now i think, my complaint is so nearly cured that i might venture to do that myself." "not so," returned the lad, quickly. "you are far from cured yet. to give up using the waters at this stage of the cure would be fatal. it would perhaps let the disease come back as bad as before." "nay, but the difficulty lies here," returned the prince, smiling at the boy's eagerness. "this good old man is at present engaged as guide to an army, and dare not leave his post. a foolish girl named branwen fled some time ago from my father's house, intending, it is supposed, to go to some friends living not far from the hot swamp. they have been searching for her in all directions, and at last her father, with a host at his heels, has been led to within a few miles of this place, but the girl has not yet been discovered; so the search will doubtless be continued." "is that so?" asked cormac of the hebrew, pointedly. "it is so." "what is the name of the chief whose daughter has been _so foolish_ as to run away from her friends?" "gadarn," answered beniah. "oh! i know him!" exclaimed cormac in some excitement, "and i know many of his people. i lived with them once, long, long ago. how far off is the camp, did you say?" "an hour's walk or so." "in _that_ direction?" asked cormac, pointing. "yes, in that direction." "then i will go and see them," said the lad, picking up his bow and arrows. "you can wait here till i come back, beniah, and keep bladud company--for he is accustomed to company now! who knows but i may pick up this _foolish_ girl on my way to the camp!" the lad hurried into the woods without waiting a reply; but he had not gone a hundred yards when he turned and shouted, "hi, beniah!" at the same time beckoning with his hand. the hebrew hurried towards him. "beniah," said the lad impressively, as he drew near, "go back and examine bladud's arm, and let me know when we meet again what you think of it." "but how--why--wherefore came you--?" exclaimed the hebrew, pausing in perplexity. "ask no questions, old man," returned the youth with a laugh. "there is no time to explain--. he will suspect--robbers--old mother--bad son-- escape--boy's dress--fill up that story if you can! more hereafter. but--observe, if you say one word about _me to anybody_, gadarn's sword is sharp and his arm strong! you promise?" "i promise." "solemnly--on your word as a hebrew?" "solemnly--on my word as a hebrew. but--?" with another laugh the boy interrupted him, turned, and disappeared in the woods. "a strange, though a good and affectionate boy," remarked bladud when the hebrew returned. "what said he?" "he bade me examine your arm, and tell him what i think of it on his return." "that is of a piece with all the dear boy's conduct," returned the prince. "you have no idea what a kind nurse he has been to me, at a time when i was helpless with fever. indeed, if i had not been helpless and delirious, i would not have allowed him to come near me. you have known him before, it seems?" "yes; i have known him for some time." from this point the prince pushed the hebrew with questions, which the latter--bearing in remembrance the sharpness of gadarn's sword, and the solemnity of his promise--did his best to evade, and eventually succeeded in turning the conversation by questioning bladud as to his intercourse with the hunter of the swamp, and his mode of life since his arrival in that region. then he proceeded to examine the arm critically. "it is a wonderful cure," he said, after a minute inspection. "almost miraculous." "cure!" exclaimed the prince. "do you, then, think me cured?" "indeed i do--at least, very nearly so. i have had some experience of your complaint in the east, and it seems to me that a perfect cure is at most certain--if it has not been already effected." chapter twenty four. describes an ardent search. while the prince and the hebrew were thus conversing, cormac was speeding towards the camp of gadarn. he quickly arrived, and was immediately arrested by one of the sentinels. taken before one of the chief officers, he was asked who he was, and where he came from. "that i will tell only to your chief," said the lad. "_i_ am a chief," replied the officer proudly. "that may be so; but i want to speak with _your_ chief, and i must see him alone." "assuredly thou art a saucy knave, and might be improved by a switching." "possibly; but instead of wasting our time in useless talk, it would be well to convey my message to gadarn, for my news is urgent; and i would not give much for your head if you delay." the officer laughed; but there was that in the boy's tone and manner that induced him to obey. gadarn, the chief, was seated on a tree-stump inside of a booth of boughs, leaves, and birch-bark, that had been hastily constructed for his accommodation. he was a great, rugged, north-country man, of immense physical power--as most chiefs were in those days. he seemed to be brooding over his sorrows at the time his officer entered. "a prisoner waits without," said the officer. "he is a stripling; and says he has urgent business to communicate to you alone." "send him hither, and let every one get out of ear-shot!" said gadarn gruffly. a minute later cormac appeared, and looked wistfully at the chief, who looked up with a frown. "are you the pris--" he stopped suddenly, and, springing to his feet, advanced a step with glaring eyes and fast-coming breath, as he held out both hands. with a cry of joy, cormac sprang forward and threw his arms round gadarn's neck, exclaiming-- "father!--_dear_ father!" for a few moments there was silence, and a sight was seen which had not been witnessed for many a day--two or three gigantic tears rolled down the warrior's rugged cheeks, one of them trickling to the end of his weather-beaten nose and dropping on his iron-grey beard. "my child," he said at length, "where--how came you--why, this--" "yes, yes, father," interrupted the lad, with a tearful laugh. "i'll tell you all about it in good time; but i've got other things to speak of which are more interesting to both of us. sit down and let me sit on your knee, as i used to do long ago." gadarn meekly obeyed. "now listen," said cormac, putting his mouth to his father's ear and whispering. the chief listened, and the first effect of the whispering was to produce a frown. this gradually and slowly faded, and gave place to an expression of doubt. "are you sure, child?--sure that you--" "quite--quite sure," interrupted cormac with emphasis. "but that is not all--listen!" gadarn listened again; and, as the whispering continued, there came the wrinkles of humour over his rugged face; then a snort that caused cormac to laugh ere he resumed his whispering. "and he knows it?" cried gadarn, interrupting and suppressing a laugh. "yes; knows all about it." "and the other doesn't?" "has not the remotest idea!" "thinks that you're a--" here the chief broke off, got up, placed his hands on both his sides and roared with laughter, until the anxious sentinels outside believed that he had gone mad. with the energy of a strong nature he checked himself and became suddenly grave. "listen!" he said; "you have made me listen a good deal to you. it is my turn now. before the sun stands there (pointing), you will be on your way to the court of king hudibras, while i remain, and make this hebrew lead me all over the country in search of--ha! ha!--my daughter. we must search and search every hole and corner of the land; for we must--we must find her--or perish!" again the chief exploded, but subdued himself immediately; and, going to the entrance of the booth, summoned his lieutenant, who started forward with the promptitude of an apparition, and with an expression of some curiosity on his countenance, for he also had heard the laughter. "get ready forty men," said the chief; "to convey this lad in safety to the court of king hudibras. he is well known there. say not that i sent you, but that, in ranging the country, you found him lost in the woods, and, understanding him to belong to the household of the king, you brought him in." without a word the lieutenant withdrew, and the plotters looked at each other with that peculiarly significant expression which has been the characteristic of intriguers in all ages. "thou wilt know how to act, my little one," said the chief. "yes, better even than you imagine, my big one," replied cormac. "what! is there something beyond my ken simmering in thy noddle, thou pert squirrel?" "perchance there is, father dear." a sound at the root of gadarn's nose betrayed suppressed laughter, as he turned away. quarter of an hour later a band of foot-soldiers defiled out of the camp, with cormac in their midst, mounted on a small pony, and gadarn, calling another of his lieutenants, told him to let it be known throughout the camp, that if any officer or man should allow his tongue to wag with reference to the lad who had just left the camp, his tongue would be silenced for all future time, and an oak limb be decorated with an acorn that never grew on it. "you know, and they know, that i'm a man of my word--away!" said the chief, returning to the privacy of his booth. while these events were happening at the camp, bladud and beniah were discussing many subjects--religion among others, for they were both philosophical as well as seriously-minded. but neither their philosophy nor their religion were profound enough at that time to remove anxiety about the youth who had just left them. "i wish that i were clear of the whole business," remarked the hebrew uneasily, almost petulantly. "why, do you fear that any evil can happen to the boy?" asked bladud anxiously. "oh! i fear not for him. it is not that. he will be among friends at the camp--but--but i know not how gadarn may take it." "take what?" demanded the prince in surprise. "take--take my failure to find his daughter." "ha! to be sure; he may be ill-pleased at that. but if i thought there was any chance of evil befalling cormac in the camp, by all the gods of the east, west, north, and south," cried the prince, carried away by the strength of his feelings into improper and even boastful language, "i would go and demand his liberation, or fight the whole tribe single-handed." "a pretty boast for a man in present safety," remarked the hebrew, with a remonstrative shake of the head. "most true," returned the prince, flushing; "i spoke in haste, yet it was not altogether a boast, for i could challenge gadarn to single combat, and no right-minded chief could well refuse to let the issue of the matter rest on that." "verily he would not refuse, for although not so tall as you are, he is quite as stout, and it is a saying among his people that he fears not the face of any man--something like his daughter in that." "is she so bold, then?" "nay, not bold, but--courageous." "humph! that is a distinction, no doubt, but the soft and gentle qualities in women commend themselves more to me than those which ought chiefly to characterise man. however, be this as it may, if cormac does not return soon after daybreak to-morrow, i will hie me to the camp to see how it fares with him." as next morning brought no cormac, or any news of him, bladud started for the camp, accompanied by the anxious hebrew. they found the chief at a late breakfast. he looked up without rising when they were announced. "ha! my worthy hebrew--is it thou? what news of my child? have you heard of her whereabouts?" "not yet, sir," answered beniah with a look of intense perplexity. "but i had thought that--that is, by this time--" "what! no news?" cried the chief, springing up in fierce ire, and dropping the chop with which he had been engaged. "did you not say that you felt sure you would hear of her from your friend? is this the friend that you spoke of?" he turned a keen look of inquiry, with not a little admiration in it, on bladud. "this is indeed he," answered beniah, "and i have--but, but did not a lad--a fair youth--visit your camp yesterday?" "no--no lad came near the camp yesterday," answered the chief gruffly. here was cause for wonder, both for the hebrew and the prince. "forgive me, sir," said the latter, with a deferential air that greatly pleased the warrior, "forgive me if i venture to intrude my own troubles on one whose anxiety must needs be greater, but this youth left my hut yesterday to visit you, saying that he knew you well, and if he has not arrived some evil must have befallen him, for the distance he had to traverse was very short." "that is sad," returned the chief in a tone of sympathy, "for he must either have been caught by robbers, or come by an accident on the way. did you not follow his footsteps as you came along?" "we never thought of following them--the distance being so short," returned the prince with increasing anxiety. "are you, then, so fond of this lad?" asked the chief. "ay, that am i, and with good reason, for he has tended me with self-denying care during illness, and in circumstances which few men would have faced. in truth, i feel indebted to him for my life." "say you so?" cried the chief with sudden energy; "then shall we search for _him_ as well as for my daughter. and you, hebrew, shall help us. doubtless, young man, you will aid us by your knowledge of the district. i have secured the services of the hunter of the swamp, so we can divide into three bands, and scour the whole country round. we cannot fail to find them, for neither of them can have got far away, whether they be lost or stolen. ho! there. assemble the force, instantly. divide it into three bands. my lieutenant shall head one. you, bladud, shall lead another, and i myself will head the third, guided by beniah. away!" with a wave of both hands gadarn dismissed those around him, and retired to his booth to arm himself, and prepare for the pending search. the hebrew was sorely tempted just then to speak out, but his solemn promise to branwen sealed his lips. the fact also that the girl seemed really to have disappeared, filled him with alarm as well as surprise, and made him anxious to participate in the search. in a perplexed state of mind, and unenviable temper, he went away with bladud to the place where the force was being marshalled. "strange that fate should send us on a double search of this kind," remarked the prince as they hurried along. "whether fate sent us, or some mischievous sprite, i know not," growled the hebrew, "but there is no need for more than one search." "how!" exclaimed bladud sternly. "think you that my poor lad's fate is not of as much interest to me as that of gadarn's daughter is to him?" "nay, verily, i presume not to gauge the interest of princes and chiefs," returned beniah, with an exasperated air. "all i know is, that if we find the lad, we are full sure to find the lass not far off." "how? you speak in riddles to-day." "ay, and there are like to be more riddles tomorrow, for what the upshot of it will be is more than i can tell. see you not that, as the two were lost about the same time, and near the same place, they will probably be found together?" "your wits seem to be shaken to-day, old man," rejoined bladud, smiling, "for these two were not lost about the same place or time." fortunately for the hebrew's peace of mind, an officer accosted them at that moment, and, directing the one to head a band just ready to march, led the other to the force which was to be commanded by the chief in person. in a few minutes the three bands were in motion, the main bodies marching north, south, and east, while strong parties were sent out from each to skirmish in all directions. "think you we shall find them, hebrew?" asked the chief, who seemed to be in a curiously impulsive state of mind. "i trust we may. it seems to me almost certain." "i hope so, for your sake as well as my own, old man; for, if we do not, i will surely cut your head off for bringing me here for nothing." "does it not seem unjust to punish a man for doing his best?" asked beniah. "it may seem so to you men of the east, but to the men of the west justice is not held of much account." proceeding round by the hot springs, the party led by gadarn made a careful inspection of every cavern, defile, glade, and thicket, returning at evening towards the camp from which they set out, it having been arranged that they were all to meet there and start again to renew the search, in a wider circle, on the following morning. "no success," remarked gadarn sternly, unbuckling his sword and flinging it violently on the ground. "not yet, but we may have better fortune tomorrow," said beniah. "don't you think the small footprints we saw near the springs were those of the boy?" "they may have been." "and those that we saw further on, but lost sight of in the rocky ground--did they not look like those of a girl?" "they certainly did." "and yet strangely like to each other," said the chief. "marvellously," returned beniah. a slight sound in gadarn's nose caused the hebrew to look up quickly, but the chief was gazing with stern gravity out at the opening of his booth, where the men of his force could be seen busily at work felling trees, kindling fires, and otherwise preparing for the evening meal. chapter twenty five. more secrets and surprises. all went well with the party that conducted branwen to king hudibras' town until they reached the hut of beniah the hebrew, when the lad suggested to the leader of the escort that they should put up there, as it was too late to think of intruding on the king that night. as the lieutenant had been told to pay particular regard to the wishes of his charge, he at once agreed. indeed, during the journey, cormac (as we may here continue to call the girl) had expressed his wishes with such a quiet, matter-of-course air of authority that the officer in charge had come to the conclusion that the youth must be the son of some person of importance--perhaps even of king hudibras himself. he therefore accorded him implicit obedience and deference. "the hut is too small for all of us," said cormac; "the greater number of your men must sleep outside; but that does not matter on so fine a night." "true, it matters nothing," replied the officer. "we will all of us sup and sleep round the campfires." "nay, you and your lieutenant will sup with me. afterwards you can join the men. by-the-by, there is an old woman here, who takes charge--or ought to take charge--of the hebrew's dwelling during his absence." "i have not seen her," said the officer. "true--but she will no doubt make her appearance soon. let her come and go as she pleases without hindrance. it is not safe to thwart her, for her temper is none of the sweetest, and she is apt to scratch." supper was soon over, for the party had travelled all day, and were weary. when it was finished cormac again cautioned the officers not to interfere with the old woman, for she was dangerous. "i will have a care," said the officer, laughing, as he and his subaltern rose, bade their charge good-night, and took their leave. the instant they were gone branwen pushed the plank-bridge across the chasm, and disappeared in the secret cave. half an hour later the two officers were seated with some of the men at the camp-fire nearest the hut, making preparations for going to rest, when they were startled by the creaking of the hut door. to their intense surprise it opened wide enough to let a little old woman step out. she was much bent, wore an old grey shawl over her head, and leaned on a staff. for some moments she looked from side to side as if in search of something. "see! the old woman!" murmured the officer in a low whisper. "true, but we did not see her enter the hut," replied the sub with a solemn look. in those days witchcraft was implicitly believed in, so, when they saw the old creature hobble towards them, they experienced feelings of alarm that had never yet affected their manly bosoms in danger or in war. their faces paled a little, but their courage stood the test, for they sat still till she came close enough to let her piercing dark eyes be seen peering at them like those of a basilisk from out the folds of the shawl that enveloped her. "y-you are the--the old woman, i suppose?" said the officer in a deferential tone. "yes, i am the old woman, young man, and you will be an old woman too when you reach my time of life," she replied, in a deep metallic voice. "i hope not," returned the officer, sincerely. "at all events you'll be a dead man before long if you don't attend to what i say," continued the woman. "your young master in the hut there told me to tell you that he is tired and wants a good long rest, so you are not to disturb him in the morning till he calls you. d'you hear?" "i hear, and will obey." "eh? what? speak out. i'm deaf." "i hear, and will attend to your wishes." "humph! it will be worse for you if you don't," muttered the old hag, as she turned away, hobbled into the woods, and slowly disappeared. it need scarcely be said that the lieutenant and his sub did not sleep much that night. they discussed the subject of witches, their powers and propensities, and the bad luck likely to attend those who actually had the misfortune to see them, until the hair on their heads betrayed a tendency to rise, and the grey dawn began to appear. then they lay down and indulged in some fitful slumber. but the discomforts of the night were as nothing to the anxieties of the morning, for the lazy cormac seemed to have gone in for an extent of slumber that was out of all reason, considering his circumstances. the ordinary breakfast hour arrived, but there was no intimation of his having awoke. hours passed, but there was no call from the hut, and the officer, with ever-increasing anxiety, bade his men to kick up a row--or words to that effect. no command they ever received was more easy of fulfilment. they laughed and talked; they cut down trees and cleaned their breakfast utensils with overwhelming demonstration; they shouted, they even sang and roared in chorus, but without effect. noon arrived and passed, still cormac slept on. it was worse than perplexing--it was becoming desperate! the officer commanding the party was a brave man; so was the sub. their native courage overcame their superstitious fears. "i'll be battle-axed!" exclaimed the first, using a very objectionable old british oath, "if i don't rouse him, though all the witches in albion should withstand me." "and i'll back you up," said the sub with a frown that spoke volumes-- perhaps, considering the times, we should have written--rolls of papyrus. accordingly the two went towards the hut, with pluck and misgiving contending for the mastery. "perchance the witch may have returned while we slept," said the sub in a low voice. "or she may have re-entered the hut invisibly--as she did at first," replied the other. the door was found to be on the latch. the lieutenant opened it a little and peeped in. "ho! cormac!" he shouted; "hi! ho! hooroo hooh!" but he shouted in vain. becoming accustomed to the dim light, he perceived that there was no one within to answer to the call, so he suddenly sprang in, followed by the sub and a few of the more daring spirits among the men. a hasty search revealed the fact that the lad was not to be seen. a more minute and thorough inspection showed clearly that no one was there. they did not, of course, discover the cave, for the plank had been removed, but they gazed solemnly into the depths of the dark chasm and wondered if poor cormac had committed suicide there, or if the witch had murdered him and thrown him in. having neither rope nor ladder, and the chasm appearing to be bottomless, they had no means of settling the question. but now a point of far greater moment pressed on their consideration. what was to be said to king hudibras about the disappearance of the lad? would he believe them? it was not likely. and, on the other hand, what would gadarn say? would _he_ believe them? he might, indeed, for he knew them to be faithful, but that would not mitigate his wrath, and when he was roused by neglected duty they knew too well that their lives would hang on a thread. what was to be done? to go forward or backward seemed to involve death! one only resource was left, namely, for the whole band to go off on its own account and take to the woods as independent robbers--or hunters--or both combined. in an unenviable frame of mind the lieutenant and his sub sat down to the discussion of these knotty points and their mid-day meal. meanwhile the witch, who had been the occasion of all this distress, having got out of sight in the woods, assumed a very upright gait and stepped out with a degree of bounding elasticity that would have done credit to a girl of nineteen. the sun was just rising in a flood of glorious light when she entered the suburbs of king hudibras' town--having previously resumed her stoop and hobbling gait. the king was lazy. he was still a-bed snoring. but the household was up and at breakfast, when the witch--passing the guards who looked upon her as too contemptible to question--knocked at the palace door. it was the back-door, for even at that time palaces had such convenient apertures, for purposes, no doubt, of undignified retreat. a menial answered the knock--after wearisome delay. "is the princess hafrydda within?" "she is," answered the menial, with a supercilious look, "but she is at breakfast, and does not see poor people at such an hour." "would she see rich people if they were to call at such an hour?" demanded the witch, sharply. "per--perhaps she would," replied the menial with some hesitation. "then i'll wait here till she has finished breakfast. is the king up?" "n-no. he still slumbers." "hah! like him! he was always lazy in the mornings. go fetch me a stool." the manner of the old woman with her magnificent dark eyes and deep metallic voice, and her evident knowledge of the king's habits, were too much for the menial--a chord of superstition had been touched; it vibrated, and he was quelled. humbly but quickly he fetched a stool. "won't you step in?" he said. "no, i'll stop out!" she replied, and sat herself doggedly down, with the air of one who had resolved never more to go away. meanwhile, in the breakfast room of the palace, which was on the ground floor--indeed, all the rooms of the palace were on the ground floor, for there was no upper one--the queen and her fair daughter hafrydda were entertaining a stranger who had arrived the day before. he was an exceedingly handsome man of about six-and-twenty; moderately tall and strong, but with an air of graceful activity in all his movements that gave people, somehow, the belief that whatever he chose to attempt he could do. both his olive complexion and his tongue betokened him a foreigner, for although the language he spoke was albionic, it was what we now style broken--very much broken indeed. with a small head, short curly black hair, a very young beard, and small pointed moustache, fine intellectual features, and an expression of imperturbable good-humour, he presented an appearance which might have claimed the regard of any woman. at all events the queen had formed a very high opinion of him--and she was a woman of much experience, having seen many men in her day. hafrydda, though, of course, not so experienced, fully equalled her mother, if she did not excel her, in her estimate of the young stranger. as we should be unintelligible if we gave the youth's words in the broken dialect, we must render his speech in fair english. "i cannot tell how deeply i am grieved to hear this dreadful news of my dear friend," he said, with a look of profound sorrow that went home to the mother's heart. "and did you really come to this land for the sole purpose of seeing my dear boy?" asked the queen. "i did. you cannot imagine how much we loved each other. we were thrown together daily--almost hourly. we studied together; we competed when i was preparing for the olympic games; we travelled in egypt and hunted together. indeed, if it had not been for my dear old mother, we should have travelled to this land in the same ship." "your mother did not wish you to leave her, i suppose?" "nay, it was i who would not leave _her_. her unselfish nature would have induced her to make any sacrifice to please me. it was only when she died that my heart turned with unusual longing to my old companion bladud, and i made up my mind to quit home and traverse the great sea in search of him." a grateful look shot from hafrydda's blue eyes, but it was lost on the youth, who sat gazing at the floor as if engrossed with his great disappointment. "i cannot understand," he continued, in an almost reproachful tone, "how you could ever make up your minds to banish him, no matter how deadly the disease that had smitten him." the princess's fair face flushed deeply, and she shook back her golden curls--her eyes flashing as she replied-- "we did not `make up our minds to banish him.' the warriors and people would have compelled us to do it whether we liked or not, for they have heard, alas! of the terrible nature of the disease. but the dear boy, knowing this, went off in the night unknown to us, and without even saying farewell. we have sent out parties to search for him several times, but without success." the youth was evidently affected by this burst of feeling. "ah," he returned, with a look of admiration at the princess, "that was like him--like his noble, self-denying nature. but i will find him out, you may depend on it, for i shall search the land in all directions till i discover his retreat. if king hudibras will grant me a few men to help me--well. if not, i will do it by myself." "thank you, good dromas, for your purpose and your sympathy," said the queen. "the king will be only too glad to help you--but here he comes to speak for himself." the curtain door was tossed aside at the moment, and hudibras strode into the room with a beaming smile and a rolling gait that told of redundant health, and showed that the cares of state sat lightly on him. "welcome, good dromas, to our board. i was too sleepy to see much of you after your arrival last night. mine eyes blinked like those of an owl. kiss me, wife and daughter," he added, giving the ladies a salute that resounded through the room. "have they told you yet about our poor son bladud?" the visitor had not time to reply, when a domestic appeared and said there was an old woman at the door who would not go away. "give her some cakes and send her off!" cried the king with a frown. "but she will not go till she has had converse with the princess." "i will go to her," said hafrydda, rising. "ay, go, my girl, and if thy sweet tongue fails to prevail, stuff her mouth with meat and drink till she is too stout to walk. come, my queen, what have we this morning for breakfast? the very talking of meat makes me hungry." at this juncture several dogs burst into the room and gambolled with their royal master, as with one who is a familiar friend. when the princess reached the outer door she found the woman standing, and evidently in a rage. "is this the way king hudibras teaches his varlets to behave to poor people who are better than themselves?" "forgive them, granny," said the princess, who was inclined to laugh, but strove to keep her gravity, "they are but stupid rogues at worst." "nay, but they are sly rogues at best!" retorted the old woman. "the first that came, took me for a witch, and was moderately civil, but the second took away my stool and threatened to set the dogs at me." "if this be so, i will have him cow-hided; but tell me--what would you with me? can i help you? is it food that you want, or rest?" "truly it is both food and rest that i want, at the proper times, but what i want with you now, is to take me to your own room, and let me talk to you." "that is a curious desire," returned hafrydda, smiling, "but i will not deny you. come this way. have you anything secret to tell me?" she asked, when they were alone. "ay, that have i," answered the woman in her natural voice, throwing off her shawl and standing erect. the princess remained speechless, for her friend branwen stood before her. "before i utter a word of explanation," she said, "let me say that your brother is found, and safe, and well--or nearly so. this is the main thing, but i will not tell you anything more, unless you give me your solemn promise not to tell a word of it all to any one, till i give you leave. do you promise?" hafrydda was so taken aback that she could do nothing for some time but gaze in the girl's face. then she laughed in an imbecile sort of way. then she burst into tears of joy, threw her arms round her friend's neck, hugged her tight, and promised anything--everything--that she chose to demand. when, an hour later, the princess hafrydda returned to the breakfast room, she informed the king and queen that the old woman was not a beggar; that she had kept her listening to a long story about lost men and women and robbers; that she was a thorough deceiver; that some of the servants believed her to be a witch, and that she had sent her away. "with an invitation to come back again, i'll be bound," cried the king, interrupting. "it's always your way, my girl,--any one can impose on you." "well, father, she _did_ impose on me, and i _did_ ask her to come back again." "i knew it," returned the king, with a loud laugh, "and she'll come, for certain." "she will, you may be quite sure of that," rejoined the princess with a gleeful laugh, as she left the room. about the same time, the little old woman left the palace and returned to the hut of the hebrew. here, as she expected, she found that her escort had flown, and, a brief inspection of their footprints showed that, instead of proceeding towards the town, they had returned the way they came. chapter twenty six. further searchings and perplexities. while these events were taking place at court, the bold chief gadarn was ranging the country far and wide in search of his daughter branwen. there was something in his manner which puzzled his followers not a little, for he seemed to have changed his character--at least to have added to it a strange, wild hilarity which suggested the idea that he enjoyed the hunt and was in no hurry that it should come to an end. those who knew him best began at last to fear that anxiety had unsettled his reason, and bladud, who liked the man's gay, reckless disposition and hearty good-humour, intermingled with occasional bursts of fierce passion, was not only puzzled but distressed by the wild inconsistency of his proceedings. the hebrew, knowing to some extent the cause of what he did, and feeling bound by his promise to conceal his knowledge, was reduced to a state of mind that is not describable. on the one hand there was the mystery of cormac's total disappearance in a short walk of three miles. on the other hand, there was the utter uselessness of searching for branwen, yet the urgent need of searching diligently for cormac. then there was the fear of consequences when the fiery gadarn should come to find out how he had been deceived, or rather, what moderns might style humbugged; add to which he was debarred the solace of talking the subject over with bladud, besides being, in consequence of his candid disposition, in danger of blurting out words that might necessitate a revelation. one consequence was that, for the time at least, the grave and amiable hebrew became an abrupt, unsociable, taciturn man. "what ails you just now, beniah?" asked bladud, one evening as they walked together to gadarn's booth, having been invited to supper. "you seem out of condition mentally, if not bodily, as if some one had rubbed you the wrong way." "do i?" answered beniah, with a frown and something between a grin and a laugh. "well, it is not easy to understand one's mental complaints, much less to explain them." fortunately their arrival at the booth put a timely end to the conversation. "ha! my long-legged prince and stalwart hebrew!" cried the jovial chief in a loud voice, "i began to fear that you had got lost--as folk seem prone to do in this region--or had forgotten all about us! come in and sit ye down. ho! varlet, set down the victuals. after all, you are just in the nick of time. well, beniah, what think you of our search to-day? has it been close? is it likely that we have missed any of the caves or cliffs where robbers might be hiding?" "i think not. it seems to me that we have ransacked every hole and corner in which there is a chance that the lad could be found." "the _lad_!" exclaimed gadarn. "i--i mean--your daughter," returned the hebrew, quickly. "why don't you say what you mean, then? one expects a man of your years to talk without confusion--or is it that you are really more anxious about finding the boy than my girl?" "nay, that be far from me," answered the hebrew. "to say truth, i am to the full as anxious to find the one as the other, for it matters not which you--" "matters not!" repeated gadarn, fiercely. "well, of course, i mean that my friendship for you and bladud makes me wish to see you each satisfied by finding both the boy and the girl." "for my part," said bladud, quietly, "i sincerely hope that we may find them both, for we are equally anxious to do so." "equally!" exclaimed gadarn, with a look of lofty surprise. "dost mean to compare your regard for your young friend with a father's love for his only child!" the prince did not easily take offence, but he could not refrain from a flush and a frown as he replied, sharply-- "i make no useless comparisons, chief. it is sufficient that we are both full of anxiety, and are engaged in the same quest." "ay, the same quest--undoubtedly," observed the hebrew in a grumbling, abstracted manner. "if it were possible," returned gadarn, sternly, "to give up the search for your boy and confine it entirely to my girl, i would do so. but as they went astray about the same place, we are compelled, however little we like it, to hunt together." "not compelled, chief," cried bladud, with a look and a flash in his blue eye which presaged a sudden rupture of friendly relations. "we can each go our own way and hunt on our own account." "scarcely," replied the chief, "for if you found my daughter, you would be bound in honour to deliver her up; and if i found your boy, i should feel myself bound to do the same." "it matters not a straw which is found," cried the hebrew, exasperated at the prospect of a quarrel between the two at such an inopportune moment. "surely, as an old man, i have the right to remonstrate with you for encouraging anything like disagreement when our success in finding the boy,--i--i mean the girl,--depends--" a burst of laughter from the chief cut him short. "you don't seem to be quite sure of what you mean," he cried, "or to be able to say it. come, come, prince, if the hebrew claims a right to remonstrate because he is twenty years or so older than i am, surely i may claim the same right, for i am full twenty years older than you. is it seemly to let your hot young blood boil over at every trifle? here, let me replenish your platter, for it is ill hunting after man, woman, or beast without a stomach full of victuals." there was no resisting the impulsive chief. both his guests cleared their brows and laughed--though there was still a touch of exasperation in the hebrew's tone. while the search was being thus diligently though needlessly prosecuted in the neighbourhood of the hot swamp by gadarn, who was dearly fond of a practical joke, another chief, who was in no joking humour, paid a visit one evening to his mother. perhaps it is unnecessary to say that this chief was gunrig. "from all that i see and hear, mother," he said, walking up and down the room, as was his habit, with his hands behind him, "it is clear that if i do not go about it myself, the king will let the matter drop; for he is convinced that the girl has run off with some fellow, and will easily make her way home." "don't you think he may be right, my son?" "no, i don't, my much-too-wise mother. i know the girl better than that. it is enough to look in her face to know that she could not run away with any fellow!" "h'm!" remarked the woman significantly. "what say you?" demanded the chief, sharply. "i scarcely know what to say. perhaps the best thing to do would be to take a band of our own men and go off in search of the girl yourself." "that's just what i've made up my mind to do; but i wanted to see if hudibras would get up a band to join mine, for i dare not take many away from the town when that scoundrel addedomar is threatening to make a raid upon us." "my son," said the woman anxiously, "what threatened raid do you speak of?" "did you not hear? since the last time we gave that robber a drubbing at the hot swamp, he has taken to the woods and gathered together a large band of rascals like himself. we would not have minded that--for honest men are always numerous enough to keep villains in order--but two chiefs who have long been anxious to take possession of the land round the swamp have agreed to join with him, so that they form a formidable body of warriors--too large to be treated with contempt." "this is bad news, gunrig. how does the king take it?" "in his usual way. he does not believe in danger or mischief till it has overtaken him, and it is almost too late for action. there is one hope, however, that he will be induced to move in time. a young fellow has come from the far east, who was a great friend of that long-legged fellow bladud, and he is bent on finding out where his friend has gone. of course the king is willing to let him have as many men as he wants, though he sternly refuses to let bladud return home; and i hope to induce this youth--dromas, they call him--to join me, so that we may search together; for, of course, the search for the man may result in finding the girl. my only objection is that if we do find bladud, i shall have to fight and kill him--unless the leprosy has happily killed him already. so, now, i will away and see what can be done about this hunt. my object in coming was to get my men, and to warn those left in charge of the town to keep a keen look-out for addedomar, for he is a dangerous foe. farewell, mother." the woman was not addicted to the melting mood. she merely nodded as her son went out. in pursuance of this plan, a band of about two hundred warriors was raised, armed, and provisioned for a long journey. gunrig put himself at the head of a hundred and fifty of these, and dromas, being a skilled warrior, was given command of the remaining fifty, with captain arkal, who begged to be allowed to go as his lieutenant, and little maikar as one of his fighting men. the orders were, that they should start off in the direction of the hot swamp, searching the country as they went, making diligent inquiries at the few villages they might pass, and questioning all travellers whom they might chance to meet with by the way. if branwen should be found, she was to be sent back escorted by a detachment of a hundred men. if the retreat of bladud should be discovered, news of the fact was to be sent to the king, and the prince was to be left there in peace with any of the men who might volunteer to live with him. but on no account were they or bladud to return to hudibras' town as long as there was the least danger of infection. "is he _never_ to return?" asked the queen, whimpering, when she heard these orders given. "no, _never_!" answered the king in that awful tone which the poor queen knew too well meant something like a decree of fate. "oh, father!" remonstrated hafrydda--and dromas loved her for the remonstrance--"not even if he is cured?" "well, of course, if he is cured, my child, that alters the case. but how am i to know that he is cured?--who is to judge? our court doctor knows as much about it as a sucking pig--perhaps less!" "perhaps the hebrew knows," suggested hafrydda--and dromas loved her for the suggestion! "ah, to be sure! i forgot the hebrew. you may call at his hut in passing and take him with you, if he has come home yet. he's an amiable old man, and may consent to go. if not--make him. away! and cease to worry me. that's the way to get rid of business, my queen; isn't it?" "certainly--it is one way," answered the queen, turning to the two commanders. "go, and my blessing go with you!" "success attend you!" murmured the princess, glancing timidly at dromas--and as dromas gazed upon her fair face, and golden curls, and modest mien, he felt that he loved her for herself! success did not, however, attend them at first, for on reaching the hebrew's hut they found it empty, and no amount of shouting availed to call beniah from the "vasty deep" of the chasm, or the dark recesses of the secret chamber. pursuing their way, therefore, the small army was soon lost to view in the forest. chapter twenty seven. cross purposes and complications. we turn now to another scene in the wild-woods, not far distant from the hot swamp. it is a thickly-wooded hollow on the eastern slopes of the high ridge that bounds one side of the valley of the springs. sturdy oaks, tall poplars, lordly elms and beeches, cast a deep shade over the spot which was rendered almost impenetrable by dense underwood. even in brightest sunshine light entered it with difficulty, and in gloomy weather a sort of twilight constantly prevailed, while at night the place became the very abode of thick darkness. in this retreat was assembled, one gloomy afternoon, a large body of armed men, not connected with the searching parties which had been ransacking the region in the vain duplex search which we have tried to describe. it was a war-party under the command of addedomar the outlaw--if we may thus characterise a man in a land where there was little or no law of any kind, save that of might. it was a strong band, numbering nearly four hundred warriors, all of whom were animated with the supposed-to-be noble desire to commit theft on a very large scale. it is true, they called it "conquest," which word in those days, as in modern times even among civilised people, meant killing many of the natives of a place and taking possession of their lands. then--as now--this was sometimes styled "right of conquest," and many people thought then, as some think even now, that by putting this word "right" before "conquest" they made it all right! and had somehow succeeded in abrogating the laws, "thou shalt not steal," and "do to others as thou wouldest have others do to thee," laws which were written by god in the human understanding long before moses descended with the decalogue from sinai. however, as we have said, there was little or no law in the land of old albion at the time of which we write, so that we can scarcely wonder at the aspirations of the band under addedomar--aspirations which were to the full as strong--perhaps even as noble--as those of alexander the great or the first napoleon. it had been ascertained by some stray hunter of addedomar's party that considerable bands of men were ranging the valley of the springs and its neighbourhood in search of something or some one, and that they went about usually in small detached parties. the stray hunter, with an eye, doubtless, to his personal interest, conveyed the news to the robber chief, who, having made secret and extensive preparations, happened at the time to be on his way to raid the territories of king hudibras, intending to take the town of gunrig as a piece of by-play in passing. here, however, was an opportunity of striking a splendid blow without travelling so far. by keeping his force united, and sending a number of scouts in advance, he could attack and overwhelm the scattered detachments in succession. he, therefore, in the meantime, abandoned his original plan, and turned aside to the neighbourhood of the hot swamp. there he remained in the sequestered hollow, which has been described, awaiting the return of his scouts. there was no difficulty in feeding an army in those days, for the forests of albion abounded with game, and the silent bow, unlike the noisy fire-arm, could be used effectively without betraying the presence of the hunter. the eyes of addedomar opened wider and wider as his scouts dropped in one by one, and his heart beat high with glee and hope at the news they brought, for it opened up a speedy conquest in detail of more foes than he had counted on meeting with, and left the prospect of his afterwards carrying into execution his original plan. the first scout brought the intelligence that it was not the men of king hudibras who were in the neighbourhood, but those of gadarn, the great chief of the far north, who had come there with an armed force in search of his daughter--she having gone lost, stolen, or strayed in the wilderness. "is the band a large one?" demanded addedomar. "it is; but not so large as ours, and it is weakened every day by being sent into the woods in different directions and in three detachments." "excellent! ha! we will join gadarn in this search, not only for his daughter, but for himself, and we will double the number of his detachments when we meet them, by slicing each man in two." a loud laugh greeted this pleasantry, for robbers were easily tickled in those days. "i also discovered," continued the scout, "that there is search being made at the same time for some boy or lad, who seems to have disappeared, or run away, or been caught by robbers." again there was a laugh at the idea that there were other robbers about besides themselves, but the chief checked them. "did you find out anything else about this lad?" he asked. "only that he seemed from his dress to be a hunter." addedomar frowned and looked at the ground for some moments in meditation. "i'm convinced," he said at last, "that this lad is none other than the girl who escaped in the hunting dress of my young brother, just the day before i returned to camp. mother was not as careful as she might have been at that time, and lost me a pretty wife. good! things are turning out well to-day. we will rout gadarn, find his daughter and this so-called lad, and then i shall have two wives instead of one." the robber chief had just come to this satisfactory conclusion, when another scout arrived. "how now, varlet? do you bring good news?" "that depends on what you consider good," answered the scout, panting. "i have just learned that a large body of king hudibras' men--about two hundred, i believe--is on its way to the swamp to search for his son bladud--" "what! the giant whom we have heard tell of--who gave gunrig such a drubbing?" "the same. it seems that he has been smitten with leprosy, has been banished from court, and has taken up his abode somewhere near the swamp." "but if he has been banished, why do they send out to search for him, i wonder?" said the robber chief. "it is said," returned the scout, "that a friend of bladud from the far east wants to find him." "good! this is rare good luck. we, too, will search for bladud and slay him. it is not every day that a man has the chance to kill a giant with leprosy, and a king's son into the bargain." "i also learned," continued the scout, "that some lady of the court has fled, and the army is to search of her too." "what! more women? why, it seems as if these woods here must be swarming with them. i should not wonder, too, if it was hudibras' own daughter that has run away. not unlikely, for the king is well known to be a tyrannical old fellow. h'm! we will search for her also. if we find them all, i shall have more than enough of wives--the king's daughter, and gadarn's daughter, and this run-away-lad, whoever she may be! learned you anything more?" "nothing more, except that gadarn intends to make an early start to-morrow morning." "it is well. we, also, will make an early--an even earlier--start to-morrow morning. to your food, now, my men, and then--to rest!" while the robber chief was thus conversing with his scouts, two men were advancing through the forest, one of whom was destined to interfere with the plans which were so well conceived by addedomar. these were our friends arkal and maikar. filled with a sort of wild romance, which neither the waves of the sea nor the dangers of the land could abate, these two shipmates marched through the woods all unconscious, of course, of the important part they were destined to play in that era of the world's history. the two sailors were alone, having obtained leave to range right and left in advance of the column to which they were attached, for the purpose of hunting. "we are not much to boast of in the way of shooting," remarked arkal; "but the troops don't know that, and good luck may prevent them finding it out." "just so," returned maikar, "good luck may also bring us within arrow-shot of a wolf. i have set my heart on taking home a wolf-skin to that little woman with the black eyes that i've spoken to you about sometimes." "quite right, young man," said the captain, in an approving tone. "nothing pleases folk so much as to find that they have been remembered by you when far away. moreover, i think you stand a good chance, for i saw two wolves the other day when i was rambling about, but they were out of range." chance or luck--whichever it was--did not bring a wolf within range that day, but it brought what was more important and dangerous--namely, a large brown bear. the animal was seated under a willow tree, with its head on one side as if in meditation, when the men came upon it. an intervening cliff had prevented the bear from hearing the footsteps of the men, and both parties, being taken by surprise, stared at each other for a moment in silence. no word was spoken, but next instant the bear ran at them, and stood up on its hind legs, according to bear-nature, to attack. at the same moment both men discharged arrows at it with all their force. one arrow stuck in the animal's throat, the other in his chest. but bears are proverbially hard to kill, and no vital part had been reached. dropping their bows, the men turned and made for the nearest trees. they separated in doing so, and the bear lost a moment or two in making up its mind which to follow. fortunately it decided in favour of maikar. had it followed arkal, it would have caught him, for the captain, not being as agile as might be wished, missed his first spring up his tree, and slid back to the bottom. maikar, on the other hand, went up like a squirrel. now, the little seaman had been told that some kinds of bears can climb while others cannot. remembering the fact, he glanced anxiously down, as he went up. to his horror he saw that this bear could climb! and that his only chance would be to climb so high, that the branches which would bear his weight would not support the bear. it was a forlorn hope, but he resolved to try it. arkal, in the meantime, had recovered breath and self-possession. seeing the danger of his comrade, he boldly dropped to the ground, picked up his bow, ran under the other tree, and sent an arrow deep into the bear's flank. with a savage growl, the animal looked round, saw the captain getting ready a second arrow, and immediately began to descend. this rather disconcerted arkal, who discharged his arrow hastily and missed. dropping his bow a second time he ran for dear life to his own tree and scrambled up. but he need not have been in such haste, for although some bears can ascend trees easily, they are clumsy and slow in descending. consequently the captain was high up before his enemy began to climb. that was of little advantage, however, for in a few moments the bear would have been up with him, had not maikar, moved by the consideration no doubt, that one good turn deserves another, dropped quickly to the ground, picked up his bow and repeated the captain's operation, with even more telling effect, for his arrow made the bear so furious, that he turned round to bite it. in doing so he lost his hold, and fell to the ground with such a thud, that he drove the arrow further into him, and a vicious squeal out of him. at this point little maikar resolved to vary the plan of action. he stood his ground manfully, and, when the bear arose with a somewhat confused expression, he planted another arrow up to the feathers in its chest. still the creature was unsubdued. it made a rush, but the sailor sprang lightly behind a tree, getting ready an arrow as he did so. when the animal rushed at him again, it received the shaft deep in the left shoulder, so that, with blood pouring from its many wounds, it stumbled and fell at its next rush. seeing how things were going, you may be sure that arkal did not remain an idle spectator. he dropped again from the outer end of the bough he had reached, and when the bear rose once more to its feet, it found a foe on either side of it. "don't shoot together," panted maikar, for all this violent action was beginning to tell on him. "do you shoot first." this was said while the bear was in a state of indecision. the captain obeyed and put another arrow in its neck. the bear turned savagely on him, thus exposing its side to maikar, who took swift advantage of the chance, and, sending an arrow straight to its heart, turned it over dead! it must be remarked here, that all this shooting was done at such close range that, although the two seamen were, as we have said, rather poor shots, they had little difficulty in hitting so large an object. "now, then, out with your knife and off with the claws for the little woman at home with the black eyes," said arkal, wiping the perspiration from his brow, "and be quick about it, so as to have it done before the troops come up." the little man was not long in accomplishing the job, and he had just put the claws in his pouch, and was standing up to wipe his knife, when the captain suddenly grasped his arm and drew him behind the trunk of a tree, from which point of vantage he cautiously gazed with an anxious expression and a dark frown. chapter twenty eight. enemies, friends, scouts, skirmishes, and councils of war. arkal's attention had been arrested by the figure of a man who suddenly appeared from behind a cliff not four hundred yards distant from the scene of their recent exploit. the stealthy manner in which the man moved among the bushes, and the earnest gaze which he directed from time to time in one particular direction, showed clearly that he was watching the movements of something--it might be a deer or an enemy. "evidently he has not seen us," whispered maikar. "clear enough that, for he is not looking this way," returned arkal. "he presents his back to us in a careless way, which he would hardly do if he knew that two crack bowmen were a hundred yards astern of him." "shall i shoot him?" whispered maikar, preparing his weapons. "he may be a friend," returned the captain. "but, see! yonder comes what interests him so much. look!" he pointed to a distant ridge, over the brow of which the head of gunrig's column of men was just appearing. "he is a scout!" exclaimed maikar. "ay, and you may be sure that an enemy is not far off ahead of our column--unless, perchance, he may be the scout of some tribe friendly to the king. hold your hand, maikar. you are ever too ready to fight. listen, now; yonder is a convenient hollow where i may get into the thick wood unseen by this scout, and run back to warn our friends. ahead, yonder, is a narrow pass which leads, no doubt, into the next valley. run you, as fast as your legs can wag, get through that pass, and see what you can see. in the nature of things the scout is almost sure to return through it, if he intends to carry the news of our approach to his people, who are probably there. you must hide and do the best you can to prevent him from doing this--either by killing him or knocking him down. be off, we have no time to lose." "but how if he should be a friend?" asked maikar with a smile. "how am i to find out?" arkal paused and was perplexed. "you must just exercise your wisdom," he replied. "if the fellow has an ill-looking countenance, kill him. if he looks a sensible sort of man, stretch him out somehow. i would offer to go instead of you, being more of a match for him, but i could not match his legs or yours, so it might well chance that he would reach the pass before me." "pooh, captain," retorted maikar, with a look of scorn. "ye think too much of yourself, and are unwarrantably puffed up about the advantage of size." without a reply--save a grin--arkal turned, and, jumping into the bushes, was immediately out of sight. his comrade, before starting off to carry out his part of the programme, took a good look at the scout whom he was bound to circumvent. he was evidently a tall, powerful man, armed with a bow, a short sword, and a stout staff somewhat longer than himself. that he was also a brave and cool man seemed probable, from the fact that, instead of hurrying off hastily to warn his friends that troops were in sight, he stood calmly leaning on his staff as if for the purpose of ascertaining the exact number of the strangers before reporting them. he was still engaged in this inspection when maikar started off and fled on the wings of hope and excitement toward the pass. arrived there, his first glance revealed to him the troops of addedomar busy with their evening meal in the valley below. "the question is, are they friends or foes?" thought the little seaman. "h'm! it's an awkward thing for a poor fellow not to be quite sure whether to prepare for calms or squalls. such a misfortune never could befall one at sea. well, i must just take them to be foes till they prove themselves to be friends. and this scout, what in the world am i to do about _him_? i have no heart to hide in the bushes and shoot him dead as he passes." the little man had probably forgotten his readiness to shoot the scout in the back only a few minutes before--but is not mankind at large prone to inconsistency at times? "i know what i'll do," he muttered, pursuing his thoughts, and nodding his head, as he stepped aside into the shrubbery that clothed the slopes of the pass. cutting down a suitable branch from a tree, he quickly stripped off the smaller branches and reduced it to a staff about six feet in length. then, hiding himself behind a part of the cliff which abutted close on the footpath that had been worn through the pass by men and wild animals, he laid his bow and quiver at his feet and awaited the coming of the scout. he had not to wait long, for that worthy, having ascertained the size of the invading band, came down the pass at a swinging trot. just as he passed the jutting rock his practised eye caught sight of maikar in time to avoid the blow of the pole or staff, which was aimed at his head, but not to escape the dig in the ribs with which the little man followed it up. instantly the scout's right hand flew to his quiver, but before he could fix an arrow another blow from the staff broke the bow in his left hand. blazing with astonishment and wrath at such rough treatment from so small a man, he stepped back, drew his sword and glared at his opponent. maikar also stepped back a pace or two and held up his hand as if for a truce. "i too have a sword," he said, pointing to the weapon, "and can use it, but i have no desire to slay you till i know whether you are friend or foe." "slay me! thou insignificant rat!" cried the scout in savage fury. "even if we were friends i would have to pay thee for that dig in the ribs and the broken bow. but i scorn to take advantage of such a squirrel. have at thee with my staff!" running at him as he spoke, the scout delivered a blow that would have acted like the hammer of thor had it taken effect, but the seaman deftly dipped his head and the blow fell on a neighbouring birch, and a foot or so of the staff snapped off. what remained, however, was still a formidable weapon, but before the scout could use it he received another dig in the ribs which called forth a yell of indignation rather than of pain. the appropriateness of the name squirrel now became apparent, for maikar even excelled that agile creature in the rapidity with which he waltzed round the sturdy scout and delivered his stinging little blows. to do the scout justice, he played his part like a brave and active warrior, so that it seemed to rain blows and digs in all directions, and, once or twice, as by a miracle, maikar escaped what threatened to be little, if at all, short of extermination. as in running, so in fighting, it is the pace that kills. after five minutes or so both combatants were winded. they separated, as if by mutual consent, and, leaning on their staves, panted vehemently. then at it they went again. "thou little scrap of a pig's snout, come on," shouted the scout in huge disdain. "thou big skinful of pride! look out!" cried maikar, rendering the adoption of his own advice impossible by thrusting the butt of his staff against the scout's nose, and thereby filling his eyes with water. at the next moment he rendered him still more helpless by bestowing a whack on his crown which laid him flat on the footpath. a cheer behind him at that moment caused the little man to look round, when he found that the head of gunrig's column, led by arkal, had come up just in time to witness the final blow. they were still crowding round the fallen man, and asking hurried questions about him, when a voice from the heights above hailed them. instantly a score or two of arrows were pointed in that direction. "hold your hands, men!" shouted gunrig. "i know that voice--ay, and the face too. is it not the white beard of our friend the hebrew that i see?" a few minutes more proved that he was right, for the well-known figure of beniah descended the sides of the pass. the news he brought proved to be both surprising and perplexing, for up to that moment gunrig had been utterly ignorant of the recent arrival of gadarn from the far north in search of his lost daughter, though of course he was well aware of the various unsuccessful efforts that had been made by king hudibras in that direction. moreover, he chanced to be not on the best of terms with gadarn just at that time. then the fact that bladud had recovered his health and was actively engaged in the search--not, indeed, so much for branwen as for a youth named cormac--was also surprising as well as disagreeable news to gunrig. "and who is this cormac in whom the prince seems to be so interested?" he asked. here poor beniah, held fast by his solemn promise, was compelled to give an evasive answer. "all that i can tell about him," he replied, "is that he is a kind young fellow to whose attention and nursing the prince thinks himself indebted for his life. but had we not better question this young man?" he added, turning to the scout. "i have heard rumours about robbers lurking somewhere hereabouts--hence my coming out alone to scout the country round, little dreaming that i should find the men of king hudibras so near." "if robbers are said to be hereabouts," broke in maikar at this point, "i can tell you where to find them, i think, for i saw a band of men in the hollow just beyond this pass." "say you so?" exclaimed gunrig; "fetch the prisoner here." the scout, who had recovered his senses by that time, was led forward, but doggedly refused to give any information. "kindle a fire, men; we will roast him alive, and perhaps that will teach him to speak." it was by no means unusual for men in those days to use torture for the purpose of extracting information from obstinate prisoners. at first the man maintained his resolution, but when he saw that his captors were in earnest, and about to light the fire, his courage failed him. he confessed that he was a scout, and that addedomar was there with several other well-known chiefs and a body of four hundred men. thereupon the man was bound and put in the safe keeping of several men, whose lives were to be forfeited if he should escape. then gunrig, dromas, beniah, arkal, maikar, and several other chief men retired under a tree to hold a council of war. their deliberations resulted in the following conclusions. first, that the number of warriors at their disposal, counting those of king hudibras and those under gadarn, amounted to a sufficient force wherewith to meet the invaders in open fight; second, that a junction between their forces must be effected that night, for, according to usual custom in such circumstances, the enemy would be pretty sure to attack before daybreak in the morning; and, third, that what was to be done must be set about as soon as darkness favoured their operations. "you can guide us in the dark, i suppose," said gunrig, turning to beniah. "ay, as well almost as in the light," replied the hebrew. "let the men feed, then, and be ready for the signal to start," said the chief to his officers, "and see that no louder noise be heard than the crunching of their jaws." the night was favourable to their enterprise. the moon was indeed risen, but clouds entirely hid it, yet allowed a soft light to pass through which rendered objects close at hand quite visible. before midnight they started on the march in profound silence, and, led by beniah, made a wide _detour_ which brought them to the encampment of gadarn. as may easily be understood, that chief was well pleased at the turn events had taken, for, to say truth, his little joke of trotting beniah about the land and keeping him in perplexity, had begun to pall, and he had for some days past been hunting about for a plausible excuse for abandoning the search and going to visit king hudibras. his difficulty in this matter was increased by his unwillingness to reveal the true state of matters to bladud, yet he knew that unless he did so the prince would utterly refuse to abandon the search for cormac. another thing that perplexed the chief greatly was--how the hebrew, knowing branwen as he did, had failed to recognise her in the lad cormac, for of course he knew nothing of the promise that held the hebrew's lips tied; his daughter--who was as fond of a joke as himself-- having taken care not to reveal _all_ the complications that had arisen in regard to herself. the sudden appearance, therefore, of foes with whom he could fight proved to be a sort of fortunate safety-valve, and, besides, he had the comfort of thinking that he would fight in a good cause, for the region of the hot swamp belonged to his friend hudibras, and this robber addedomar was a notorious rascal who required extirpating, while the chiefs who had joined him were little better. the council of war that was hastily called included bladud, who was sent for, being asleep in his own booth when the party arrived. the council chamber was under an old oak tree. when bladud came forward he was suddenly struck motionless and glared as if he had seen a ghost. for the first time in his life he felt an emotion of supernatural fear--for there, in the flesh apparently, stood his friend dromas. a smile from the latter reassured him. leaping forward he seized his friend's hand, but the impulsive greek was not to be put off thus. he threw an arm round the prince's neck and kissed his cheek. "dromas!" cried bladud, "can it be? am i dreaming?" "this is all very well," interrupted the impatient gadarn, "and i have no doubt you are excellent friends though somewhat demonstrative, but we are holding a council of war--not of affection--and as the enemy may be close at hand it behoves us to be smart. shake hands, gunrig; you and i must be friends when we fight on the same side. now, let us to work. who is to have the chief command?" by universal desire the council appointed gadarn. "well, then," said the commander-in-chief, "this is my view: addedomar will come expecting to find us all asleep. he will find us all very wide awake. there is a slope in front of this camp leading down to the swamp. at the bottom is a nice level piece of flat land, bordering on the swamp, that seems just made for a battlefield. we will drive him and his men down the slope on to that flat, from which, after giving them the toothache, we will drive them into the swamp, and as close up to the spring-head as we can, so that they may be half boiled alive, if possible. those who escape the swamp will find men ambushed on the other side who will drive them into the river. those who escape the river may go home and take my blessing along with them." "then do you intend to divide our troops into two bodies?" asked bladud. "of course i do. we can't have an ambush without dividing, can we?" "division means weakness," observed gunrig. "you were ever obstinate, gunrig," said gadarn, sharply. "division sometimes means strength," said dromas in a conciliatory tone, for he was anxious at least to prevent division in the council. "as addedomar is ignorant of the strength of our force, his being attacked unexpectedly, and in the dark, by two or three bands at once, from different quarters, will do much to demoralise his men and throw them into confusion." "right, my young friend," rejoined gadarn; "though you do speak in the tones of one who has been born under other stars, there is sense in your head. that is the very thing i mean to do. we will divide into four bands. i will keep the biggest at the camp to drive them down the slope and begin the fight. prince bladud will take one detachment round through the woods to the river and fall upon them from that side. gunrig, who i know loves the post of danger, will go down between the two mounds and meet the enemy right in the teeth when they are being driven out upon the flat land, and dromas, as he seems to be a knowing man, might take the ambush on the other side of the swamp." "nay, if i may choose, i would rather fight under my friend bladud." "be it so. settle that among yourselves. only i must have konar with me, for he knows the swamp well and can roar splendidly. all the enemy below a certain point of courage will turn and split off when they hear his yell. i'm going to make him keep it for them as a little treat at the last. the hebrew will also keep by me. now marshal your men and take them off at once. we shan't have to wait long, for addedomar is an active villain." chapter twenty nine. the battle of the springs. gadarn was right. the robber chief was very early astir that morning, and marched with his host so silently through the forest, that the very birds on the boughs gave them, as they passed underneath, but a sleepy wink of one eye and thrust their beaks again under their wings. not knowing the country thoroughly, however, addedomar met some slight obstructions, which, necessitating occasional detours from the straight path, delayed him a little, so that it was very near dawn when he reached the neighbourhood of gadarn's camp. hesitation in the circumstances he knew would be ruinous; he therefore neglected the precaution of feeling his way by sending scouts in advance, and made straight for the enemy's camp. scouts previously sent out had ascertained its exact position, so that he had no doubt of effecting a complete surprise. many noted battles have been fought and described in this world, but few, if any, we should think, will compare with the famous battle of the springs in the completeness of the victory. coming out upon the flat which gadarn had determined should be the battle-field, and to the left of which the hot springs that caused the swamp were flowing, addedomar marshalled his men for the final assault. before reaching the flat they had passed almost within bow-shot of the spot where gunrig and his men lay in ambush, and that chief might easily have fallen upon and killed many of them, had he not been restrained by the strict orders of gadarn to let them pass on to the camp unmolested. it is true gunrig found it very hard to hold his hand, but as gadarn had been constituted commander-in-chief without a dissentient voice, in virtue of his superior intelligence and indomitable resolution, he felt bound to obey. bladud and his friend dromas, with their contingent, being at the lower end of the flat and far out of bow-shot, were not thus tempted to disobey orders. the ambuscade on the other side of the swamp had been put under the command of captain arkal, with maikar for his lieutenant. being entirely ignorant of what was going on, the men of this contingent lay close, abiding their time. inaction, during the development of some critical manoeuvre, while awaiting the signal to be up and doing, is hard to bear. arkal and his men whiled away the time in whispered conversations, which related more or less to the part they were expected to play. "if any of the robbers reach this side of the swamp alive," remarked arkal, "there will be no need to kill them." "what then? would you let them escape?" asked maikar in surprise. "not on this side of the river," returned the captain. "but we might drive them into it, and as it is in roaring flood just now, most of them will probably be drowned. the few who escape will do us service by telling the tale of their defeat to their friends." he ceased to whisper, for just then the dawning light showed them the dusky forms of the enemy stealing noiselessly but swiftly over the flat. at their head strode addedomar and a few of his stoutest men. reaching the slope that led to the camp the four hundred men rushed up, still, however, in perfect silence, expecting to take their victims by surprise. but before they gained the summit a body of men burst out from the woods on either side of the track, and leaped upon them with a prolonged roar that must have been the rudimentary form of a british cheer. the effect on the robbers was tremendous. on beholding the huge forms of gadarn, konar, and beniah coming on in front they turned and fled like autumn leaves before a gale, without waiting even to discharge a single arrow. the courageous addedomar was overwhelmed by the panic and carried away in the rush. gadarn, supposing that the attack would have been made earlier and in the dark, had left the bows of his force behind, intending to depend entirely on swords and clubs. but he found that the robbers were swift of foot and that terror lent wings, for they did not overtake them at once. down the slope went the robbers, and down went the roaring northmen, until both parties swept out upon the flat below. they did not scatter, however. addedomar's men had been trained to keep together even in flight, and they now made for the gully between the mounds, their chief intending to face about there and show fight on the slopes of the pass. but the flying host had barely entered it, when they were assaulted and driven back by the forces under gunrig, who went at them with a shout that told of previous severe restraint. the fugitives could not stand it. the arrows, which even during flight were being got ready for gadarn's host, were suddenly discharged at the men in the gully; but the aim was wild, and the only shaft which took serious effect found its billet in the breast of gunrig himself. he plucked it savagely out and continued the charge at the head of his men. turning sharp to the left, the robbers then made for the lower end of the flat, still followed closely by gadarn's band, now swelled by that of gunrig. as had been anticipated, they almost ran into the arms of bladud's contingent, which met them with a yell of rage, and the yell was answered by a shriek of terror. their retreat being thus cut off in nearly all directions, the panic-stricken crew doubled to the left again, and sprang into the swamp, closely followed by their ever-increasing foes. at first and at some distance from the fountain-head the water felt warm and grateful to the lower limbs of the fugitives, but as they plunged in deeper and nearer to the springs, it became uncomfortably hot, and they began to scatter all over the place, in the hope of finding cool water. some who knew the locality were successful. others, who did not know it, rushed from hot to hotter, while some, who were blindly struggling toward the source of the evil, at last began to yell with pain, and no wonder, for the temperature of the springs then--as it has been ever since, and is at the present day--was degrees of fahrenheit--a degree of heat, in water, which man is not fitted to bear with equanimity. "now, konar, give them a tune from _your_ pipe," said gadarn, whose eyes were blazing with excitement. the hunter of the swamp obeyed, and it seemed as though a mammoth bull of bashan had been suddenly let loose on the fugitives. to add to the turmoil a large herd of bladud's pigs, disturbed from their lair, were driven into the hot water, where they swam about in a frantic state, filling the whole region with horrid yells, which, mingling with those of the human sufferers, and the incessant barking of brownie, rendered confusion worse confounded, and caused the wild animals far and near to flee from the region as if it had become pandemonium! the pigs, however, unlike the men, knew how to find the cooler parts of the swamp. perceiving his error when he stood knee-deep in the swamp, gadarn now sought to rectify it by sending a detachment of swift runners back for his bows and arrows. but this manoeuvre took time, and before it could be carried out the half-boiled host had gained the other side of the swamp, and were massing themselves together preparatory to a retreat into the thick woods. "now is _our_ time," said arkal, rising up and drawing his sword. then, with a nautical shout, and almost in the words of a late warrior of note, he cried, "up, men, and at them!" and the men obeyed with such alacrity and such inconceivable violence, that the stricken enemy did not await the onset. they incontinently sloped at an angle of forty-five degrees with mother earth, and scooted towards the river, into which they all plunged without a moment's consideration. arkal and his men paused on the brink to watch the result; but the seaman was wrong about the probable fate of the vanquished, for every man of the robber band could swim like an otter, besides being in a fit condition to enjoy the cooler stream. they all reached the opposite bank in safety. scrambling out, they took to the woods without once looking back, and finally disappeared. during the remainder of that day gadarn could do little else than chuckle or laugh. bladud's comment was that it had been "most successful." "a bloodless victory!" remarked beniah. "and didn't they yell?" said arkal. "and splutter?" added maikar. "and the pigs! oh! the pigs!" cried gadarn, going off into another explosion which brought the tears to his eyes, "it would have been nothing without the pigs!" the gentle reader must make allowance for the feelings of men fresh from the excitement of such a scene, existing as they did in times so very remote. but, after all, when we take into consideration the circumstances; the nature of the weapons used; the cause of the war, and the objects gained, and compare it all with the circumstances, weapons, causes, and objects of modern warfare, we are constrained to admit that it was a "most glorious victory"--this battle of the springs. chapter thirty. small beginnings of future great things. there was one thing, however, which threw a cloud over the rejoicing with which the conquerors hailed this memorable victory. gunrig's wound turned out to be a very severe one--much more so than had been at first supposed--for the arrow had penetrated one of his lungs, and, breaking off, had left the head in it. as bladud was the only one of the host who possessed any knowledge of how to treat complicated wounds, he was "called in," much against the wish of the wounded man; but when the prince had seen and spoken to him, in his peculiarly soft voice, and with his gentle manner, besides affording him considerable relief, the chief became reconciled to his new doctor. "i thought you a savage monster," said the invalid, on the occasion of the amateur doctor's third visit; "but i find you to be almost as tender as a woman. yet your hand was heavy enough when it felled me at the games!" "let not your mind dwell on that, gunrig; and, truth to tell, if it had not been for that lucky--or, if you choose, unlucky--blow, i might have found you more than my match." the chief held out his hand, which the doctor grasped. "i thought to kill you, bladud; but when i get well, we shall be friends." poor gunrig, however, did not from that day show much evidence of getting well. his case was far beyond the skill of his amateur doctor. it was, therefore, resolved, a day or two later, to send him home under an escort led by beniah. "i will follow you ere long," said gadarn, as he grasped the hand of the invalid at parting, "for i have business at the court of king hudibras." gunrig raised himself in the litter in which he was borne by four men, and looked the northern chief earnestly in the face. "you have not yet found your daughter?" he asked. "well--no. at least not exactly." "not exactly!" repeated gunrig in surprise. "no; not exactly. that's all i can say at present. all ready in front there? move on! my greetings to the king, and say i shall see him soon. what, ho! konar, come hither! know you where i can find prince bladud?" "in his booth," replied the hunter. "send him to me. i would have speech with him." when the prince entered the booth of the commander-in-chief, he found that worthy with his hands on his sides, a tear or two in his eyes, and very red in the face. he frowned suddenly, however, and became very grave on observing bladud. "i sent for you," he said, "to let you know my intended movements, and to ask what you mean to do. to-morrow i shall start for your father's town with all my men." "what! and leave your daughter undiscovered?" "ay. of what use is it to search any longer? there is not a hole or corner of the land that we have not ransacked. i am certain that she is not here, wherever she may be; so i must go and seek elsewhere. wilt go with me?" "that will not i," returned bladud decisively. "wherefore? the hebrew tells me you are cured; and your father will be glad to have you back." "it matters not. i leave not this region until i have made a more thorough search for and found the lad cormac, or at least ascertained his fate." "why so anxious about the boy? is he of kin to you?" said gadarn in a tone that seemed to convey the slightest possible evidence of contempt. "ay, he is of kin," returned bladud, warmly; "for it seems to me sometimes that friendship is a closer tie than blood. at all events, i owe my life to him. moreover, if he has been captured by robbers, i feel assured that he will escape before long and return to me." "indeed! are you, then, so sure of his affection? has he ever dared to say that he--he is fond of you?" "truly, he never has; for we men of the southern parts of albion are not prone to speak of our feelings, whatever you of the north may be. but surely you must know, chief, that the eyes, the tones, and the actions, have a language of their own which one can well understand though the tongue be silent. besides, i do not see it to be a very daring act for one man to tell another that he is fond of him. and you would not wonder at my regard, if you only knew what a pure-minded, noble fellow this cormac is,--so thoughtful, so self-sacrificing, for, you know, it must have cost him--it would cost any one--a terrible effort of self-denial to dwell in such a solitude as this for the sole purpose of nursing a stranger, and that stranger a doomed leper, as i thought at first, though god has seen fit to restore me." "nevertheless, i counsel you to come with me, prince, for i have no intention of giving up the search for my child, though i mean to carry it on in a more likely region; and who knows but we may find cormac-- ha!" (here there was a peculiar catch in gadarn's throat which he sought to conceal with a violent sneeze)--"ha! find cormac in the same region!" "that is not likely. i see no reason why two people who were lost at different times, and not, as far as we know, in exactly the same place, should be found"--(here the chief had another fit of sneezing)--"be found together. at any rate, i remain here, for a time at least. my old friend dromas will remain with me, and some of my father's men." as gadarn could not induce the prince to alter his decision, and, for reasons of his own, did not choose to enlighten him, they parted there-- the chief setting off with his troops in the direction of hudibras' town, and the prince returning to his booth, accompanied by captain arkal, little maikar, the hunter of the hot swamp, and about thirty of his father's men, who had elected to stay with him. "as i am now cured, good konar," said bladud to the hunter, while returning to the booth, "and as i have enough to do in searching for my lost friend, i fear that i must end my service with you, and make over the pigs to some other herd." "as you please, prince," returned the eccentric hunter with the utmost coolness, "the pigs were well able to look after themselves before you came, and, doubtless, they will be not less able after you go." bladud laughed, and, putting his hand kindly on the man's shoulder, assured him that he would find for him a good successor to herd his pigs. he also asked him if he would agree to act as hunter to his party, as he intended to remain in that region and build a small town beside the springs, so that people afflicted with the disease from which he had suffered, or any similar disease, might come and be cured. konar agreed at once, for a new light burst upon him, and the idea of living to serve other people, and not merely to feed himself, seemed to put new life into him. "do you really mean to build a town here?" asked dromas, when he heard his friend giving orders to his men to erect a large booth to shelter them all for some time to come. "indeed, i do. so thankful am i, dromas, for this cure, that i feel impelled to induce others to come and share the blessing. i only wish i could hope that you would stay in albion and aid me. but i suppose there is some fair one in hellas who might object to that." "no fair one that i know of," returned dromas, with a laugh, "and as i have left neither kith nor kin at home, there is nothing to prevent my taking the proposal into consideration." "that is good news indeed. so, then, i will ask you to come along with me just now, and mayhap you will make up your mind while we walk. i go to fix on a site for the new town, and to set the men to work." that day the voices of toilers, and the sound of hatchets and the crash of falling trees, were heard in the neighbourhood of the hot swamp, while the prince and his friend examined the localities around in the immediate vicinity of the fountain-head. on coming to the fountain itself, the young men paused to look at it, as it welled up from the earth. so hot was it that they could not endure to hold their hands in it, and in such volumes did it rise, that it overflowed its large natural basin continually, and converted a large tract of ground into a morass, while finding its way, by many rills and channels, into the adjacent river. "what a singular work of nature!" remarked dromas. "why not say--a wonderful work of god?" replied the prince. "come now, my friend, let us not begin again our old discussions. what was suitable for the groves of hellas is not appropriate to the swamps of albion!" "i agree not with that, dromas." "you were ever ready to disagree, bladud." "nay, not exactly to disagree, but to argue. however, i will fall in with your humour just now, and wait for what you may deem a more fitting time. but what, think you, can be the cause of this extraordinary hot spring?" "fire!" returned the greek promptly. "truly that must be so," returned the prince, with a laugh. "you are unusually sharp this morning, my friend. but what originates the fire, and where is it, and why does it not set the whole world on fire, seeing that it must needs be under the earth?" "it would be better to put such questions to the wise men of egypt, next time you have the chance, than to me," returned dromas, "for i am not deep enough in philosophy to answer you. nevertheless, it does not seem presumptuous to make a guess. that there is abundance of fire beneath the ground on which we tread is clear from the burning mountains which you and i have seen on our way from hellas. probably there are many such mountains elsewhere, for if the fire did not find an escape in many places, it would assuredly burst our world asunder. what set the inside of the world on fire at the beginning is, of course, a puzzle; and why everything does not catch fire and blaze up is another puzzle--for it is plain that if you were to set fire to the inside of your booth, the outside would be shrivelled up immediately. then," continued dromas, knitting his brows and warming with his subject, "there must be a big lake under the earth somewhere, and quite close to the fire, which sets it a-boiling and makes it boil over--thus." he pointed to the fountain as he spoke. "there may be truth in what you say, dromas. at all events your theory is plausible, and this, i know, that ever since i came here, there has not been the slightest diminution in the volume of hot water that has poured forth; from which i would conclude that it has been flowing thus from the beginning of time, and that it will go on flowing thus to the end." we know not whether the reader will be inclined to class bladud among the prophets, but there are some prophets who have less claim to the title, for it is a fact that in this year of grace, , the output of hot water from the same fountain, in the town of bath, is one million tons every year, while the quantity and the temperature never vary in any appreciable degree, summer or winter, from year to year! having discussed the philosophical aspect of the fountain, the two friends proceeded with the work then in hand. of course, as they gazed around at the richly wooded hills and attractive eminences, which were not only charming sites for the little town, but also well suited for fortresses to resist invasions they were naturally tempted to sacrifice the useful to the safe and beautiful. fortunately wisdom prevailed, and it was that day decided that the site for swamptown should be on a slope that rose gently from the river bank, passed close by the hot swamp, and was finally lost in the lovely wood-clad terraces beyond. "we must, of course, confine the hot stream within banks, train it to the river, and drain the swamp," observed bladud, as he sat brooding over his plans that night at supper. "ay, and make a pond for sick folk to dip in," said dromas. "and another pond for the healthy folk," suggested captain arkal; "we like to give ourselves a wash now and then, and it would never do for the healthy to go spluttering about with the sick--would it?" "certainly not," interposed little maikar, "but what about the women? they would need a pond for themselves, would they not? assuredly they would keep us all in hot water if they didn't have one." "i see," said bladud, still in a meditative mood. "there would have to be a succession of ponds alongside of the hot stream, with leads to let the water in--" "and other leads to let the overflow out," suggested the practical arkal. "just so. and booths around the ponds for people to dry themselves and dress in. ha!" exclaimed the prince, smiting his knee with his hand. "i see a great thing in this--a thing that will benefit mankind as long as disease shall afflict them--as long as the hot waters flow!" he looked round on his friends with an air of combined solemnity and triumph. the solemnity without the triumph marked the faces of his friends as they returned the look in profound silence, for they all seemed to feel that the prince was in a state of exaltation, and that something approaching to the nature of a prophecy had been uttered. for a few moments they continued to gaze at each other--then there was a general sigh, as if a matter of great importance had been finally settled, and the silence was at last broken by little maikar solemnly demanding another rib of roast-beef. chapter thirty one. more plots and plans. having laid the foundations of the new town, drawn out his plans and set his men to work, bladud appointed captain arkal superintendent, and set out on his quest after his lost friend cormac, taking dromas and maikar along with him and four of the men--one of them being konar the hunter. brownie was also an important member of the party, for his master hoped much from his power of scent. meanwhile cormac--alias branwen, _alias_ the little old woman--forsook the refuge of the hebrew's house, and, in her antique capacity, paid a visit one afternoon to the palace of hudibras. "here comes that deaf old witch again," said the domestic who had formerly threatened to set the dogs at her. "yes," remarked the old woman when she came up to the door, "and the old witch has got her hearing again, my sweet-faced young man--got it back in a way, too, that, if you only heard how, would make your hair stand on end, your eyes turn round, and the very marrow in your spine shrivel up. go and tell the princess i want to see her." "oh!" replied the domestic with a faint effort at a sneer, for he was a bold man, though slightly superstitious. "oh!" echoed the old woman. "yes, and tell her that if she keeps me waiting i'll bring the black cloud of the boong-jee-gop over the palace, and that will bring you all to the condition of wishing that your grandmothers had never been born. young man--go!" this was too much for that domestic. the unheard-of horrors of the boong-jee-gop, coupled with the tremendous energy of the final "go!" was more than he could stand. he went--meekly. "send her to me directly," said hafrydda, and the humiliated servitor obeyed. "dearest branwen!" exclaimed the princess, throwing back the old woman's shawl, straightening her up, and hugging her when they were alone, "how long you have been coming! where have you been? why have you forsaken me? and _i_ have such quantities of news to tell you--but, what has become of your hair?" "i cut it short after i fell into the hands of robbers--" "robbers!" exclaimed the princess. "yes--i shall tell you all about my adventures presently--and you have no idea what difficulty i had in cutting it, for the knife was so blunt that i had to cut and pull at it a whole afternoon. but it had to be done, for i meant to personate a boy--having stolen a boy's hunting dress for that purpose. wasn't it fun to rob the robbers? and then-- and then--i found your brother--" "_you_ found bladud?" "yes, and--and--but i'll tell you all about that too presently. it is enough to say that he is alive and well--sickness almost, if not quite, gone. i _was_ so sorry for him." "dear branwen!" said the princess, with an emphatic oral demonstration. hafrydda was so loving and tender and effusive, and, withal, so very fair, that her friend could not help gazing at her in admiration. "no wonder i love him," said branwen. "why?" asked the princess, much amused at the straightforward gravity with which this was said. "because he is as like you as your own image in a brazen shield--only far better-looking." "indeed, your manners don't seem to have been improved by a life in the woods, my branwen." "perhaps not. i never heard of the woods being useful for that end. ah, if you had gone through all that i have suffered--the--the--but what news have you got to tell me?" "well, first of all," replied the princess, with that comfortable, interested manner which some delightful people assume when about to make revelations, "sit down beside me and listen--and don't open your eyes too wide at first else there will be no room for further expansion at last." hereupon the princess entered on a minute account of various doings at the court, which, however interesting they were to branwen, are not worthy of being recorded here. among other things, she told her of a rumour that was going about to the effect that an old witch had been seen occasionally in the neighbourhood of beniah's residence, and that all the people in the town were more or less afraid of going near the place either by day or night on that account. of course the girls had a hearty laugh over this. "did they say what the witch was like?" asked branwen. "o yes. people have given various accounts of her--one being that she is inhumanly ugly, that fire comes out of her coal-black eyes, and that she has a long tail. but now i come to my most interesting piece of news--that will surprise you most, i think--your father gadarn is here!" branwen received this piece of news with such quiet indifference that her friend was not only disappointed but amazed. "my dear," she asked, "why do you not gasp, `my father!' and lift your eyebrows to the roots of your hair?" "because i know that he is here." "know it!" "yes--know it. i have seen him, as well as your brother, and father knows that _i_ am here." "oh! you deceiver! that accounts, then, for the mystery of his manner and the strange way he has got of going about chuckling when there is nothing funny being said or done--at least nothing that i can see!" "he's an old goose," remarked her friend. "branwen," said the princess in a remonstrative tone, "is that the way to speak of your own father?" "he's a dear old goose, then, if that will please you better--the very nicest old goose that i ever had to do with. did he mention bladud to you?" "yes, he said he had seen him, and been helped by him in a fight they seemed to have had at the hot swamp, but we could not gather much from him as to the dear boy's state of health, or where he lived, or what he meant to do. he told us, however, of a mysterious boy who had nursed him in sickness, and who had somehow been lost or captured, and that poor bladud was so fond of the boy that he had remained behind to search for him. i now know," added the princess with a laugh, "who this dear boy is, but i am greatly puzzled still about some of his doings and intentions." "listen, then, hafrydda, and i will tell you all." as we have already told the reader all, we will not tell it over again, but leap at once to that point where the princess asked, at the close of the narrative, what her friend intended to do. "that," said branwen with a perplexed look and a sigh, "is really more than i can tell you at present. you see, there are some things that i am sure of and some things that i am not quite so sure of, but that i must find out somehow. for instance, i am quite sure that i love your brother more than any man in the world. i am also quite sure that he is the bravest, handsomest, strongest, best, and most unselfish man that ever lived--much about the same as my father, except that, being younger, he is handsomer, though i have no doubt my father was as good-looking as he when he was as young. then i am also quite sure that bladud is very fond of the boy cormac, but--i am not at all sure that he will love the girl branwen when he sees her." "but _i_ am sure of it--quite sure," said the princess, demonstrating orally again. at this there was a slight sound near the door of the apartment in which this confidential talk was held, which induced branwen to spring up and fling it wide open, thus disclosing the lately humiliated servitor with the blush of guilt upon his brow. "enter!" cried the princess, in an imperious tone, looking up at the man, who was unusually tall and limp. the servitor obeyed. "sit down," said the princess, with a view to get the tall man's head on a level with her blue indignant eyes. "have you heard much?" "not much," answered the man, with intense humility. "i heard only a very little at the end, and that so imperfectly that i don't think i can remember it--i really don't." "now, listen," said the princess, with a look that was intended to scorch. "you know my father." "indeed i do,--have known him ever since i was a boy." "well, if you ever breathe a word of what you have seen or heard, or what you think you have seen or heard to-day, to any one, i will set my father at you, and that, as you know, will mean roasting alive over a slow fire at the very least." "and," said branwen, advancing and shaking her forefinger within an inch of the man's nose, "i will set _my_ father at you, which will mean slow torture for hours. moreover, i will set the boong-jee-gop on your track, and that will mean--no, i won't say what. it is too horrible even to mention!" "now--go!" said the princess, pointing to the door. the servitor went with an air of profound abasement, which changed into a look of complicated amusement when he got out of sight. "he is quite safe," said the princess, "not that i count much on his fear, for he is as brave as a she-wolf with whelps, and fears nothing, but i know he likes me." "i think he likes me too," said branwen, thoughtfully. "besides, i feel sure that the boong-jee-gop has some influence over him. yes, i think we are safe." "well, now," she continued, resuming the interrupted conversation, "it seems to me that the only course open to me is to appear to bladud as a girl some day, and see if he recognises me. yet i don't quite like it, for, now that it is all past and he is well again, i feel half ashamed of the part i have played--yet how could i help it when i saw the poor fellow going away to die--alone!" "you could not help it, dear, and you should not wish it were otherwise. now, never mind what you feel about it, but let us lay our heads together and consider what is to be done. you think, i suppose, that bladud may go on for a long time searching for this youth cormac?" "yes, for a very long time, and he'll _never_ find him," replied branwen with a merry laugh. "well, then, we must find some means of getting him home without letting him know why we want him," continued the princess. "just so, but that won't be easy," returned the other with a significant look, "for he is _very_ fond of cormac, and won't easily be made to give up looking for him." "you conceited creature, you are too sure of him." "not at all. only as cormac. i wish i were sure of him as branwen!" "perchance he might like you best as the little old woman in grey." "it may be so. i think he liked me even as a witch, for he patted my shoulder once so kindly." "i'll tell you what--i'll go and consult father," said the princess. "no, you shan't, my dear, for he is not to know anything about it just yet. but i will go and consult _my_ father. he will give me good advice, i know." the result of branwen's consultation with her father was that the hebrew was summoned to his presence. an explanation took place, during which gadarn attempted to look grave, and dignified, as became a noted northern chief, but frequently turned very red in the face and vented certain nasal sounds, which betrayed internal commotion. "you will therefore start for the hot swamp to-morrow, beniah," he finally remarked, "and let bladud know that the king desires his return to court immediately. i have been told by the king to send him this message. but keep your own counsel, hebrew, and be careful not to let the prince know what _you_ know, else it will go ill with you! tell him, from myself, that i have at last fallen on the tracks of the lad cormac, and that we are almost sure to find him in this neighbourhood. away, and let not thy feet take root on the road." chapter thirty two. branwen visits gunrig. before going off on his mission the hebrew paid a visit to his own residence, where he found branwen busy with culinary operations. sitting down on a stool, he looked at her with an expression of mingled amusement and perplexity. "come hither, my girl," he said, "and sit beside me while i reveal the straits to which you have brought me. verily, a short time ago i had deemed it impossible for any one to thrust me so near to the verge of falsehood as you have done!" "i, beniah?" exclaimed the maiden, with a look of surprise on her pretty face so ineffably innocent that it was obviously hypocritical--insomuch that beniah laughed, and branwen was constrained to join him. "yes--you and your father together, for the puzzling man has commissioned me to set out for the hot swamp, to tell bladud that he is urgently wanted at home. and he would not even allow me to open my lips, when i was about to broach the subject of your disguises, although he almost certainly knows all about them--" "what! my father knows?" interrupted branwen, with raised eyebrows. "yes, and you know that he knows, and he knows that i know, and we all know that each other knows, and why there should be any objection that every one should know is more than i can--" "never mind, beniah," interrupted the girl, with the slightest possible smile. "you are a dear, good old creature, and i know you won't betray me. remember your solemn promise." "truly i shall not forget it soon," replied the hebrew, "for the trouble it has cost me already to compose answers that should not be lies is beyond your light-hearted nature to understand." "ah! yes, indeed," rejoined branwen, with a sigh of mock humility, "i was always very lighthearted by nature. the queen used frequently to tell me so--though she never said it was by `nature,' and the king agreed with her--though by the way he used to laugh, i don't think he thought light-heartedness to be _very_ naughty. but come, beniah, i am longing to hear what my father commissioned you to say or do." "well, he was very particular in cautioning me _not_ to tell what i know--" "ah! that knowledge, what a dreadful thing it is to have too much of it! well, what more?" "he told me what i have already told you, and bid me add from himself that he has fallen on the tracks of the lad cormac, and that he is sure to be found in this neighbourhood." "that, at least, will be no lie," suggested the maid. "i'm not so sure of that, for the lad cormac will never be found here or anywhere else, having no existence at all." branwen laughed at this and expressed surprise. "it seems to me," she said, "that age or recent worries must have touched your brain, beniah, for if the lad cormac has no existence at all, how is it possible that you could meet with him at the hot swamp, and even make a solemn promise to him." beniah did not reply to this question, but rose to make preparation for his journey. then, as if suddenly recollecting something that had escaped him, he returned to his seat. "my child," he said, "i have that to tell you which will make you sad-- unless i greatly misunderstand your nature. gunrig, your enemy, is dying." that the hebrew had not misunderstood branwen's nature was evident, from the genuine look of sorrow and sympathy which instantly overspread her countenance. "call him not my enemy!" she exclaimed. "an enemy cannot love! but, tell me about him. i had heard the report that he was recovering." "it was the report of a sanguine mother who will not believe that his end is so near; but she is mistaken. i saw him two days ago. the arrow-head is still rankling in his chest, and he knows himself to be dying." "is he much changed in appearance?" asked branwen. "indeed he is. his great strength is gone, and he submits to be treated as a child--yet he is by no means childish. the manliness of his strong nature is left, but the boastfulness has departed, and he looks death in the face like a true warrior; though i cannot help thinking that if choice had been given him he would have preferred to fall by the sword of bladud, or some doughty foe who could have given him a more summary dismissal from this earthly scene." "beniah, i will visit him," said branwen, suddenly brushing back her hair with both hands, and looking earnestly into the hebrew's face. "that will be hard for you to do and still keep yourself concealed." "nothing will be easier," replied the girl, with some impatience; "you forget the old woman's dress. i will accompany you as far as his dwelling. it is only an easy day's journey on foot from here." "but, my child, i go on horseback; and i am to be supplied with only one horse." "well, my father, that is no difficulty; for i will ride and you shall walk. you will bring the horse here instead of starting straight from the palace. then we will set off together, and i will gallop on in advance. when you reach gunrig's house in the evening, you will find the horse fed and rested, and ready for you to go on." "but how will you return, child?" "by using my legs, man! as an old witch i can travel anywhere at night in perfect safety." according to this arrangement--to which the hebrew was fain to agree-- the pair started off a little after daybreak the following morning. branwen galloped, as she had said, in advance, leaving her protector to make his slower way through the forest. the sun was high when the domestics of gunrig's establishment were thrown into a state of great surprise and no little alarm at sight of a little old woman in grey bestriding a goodly horse and galloping towards the house. dashing into the courtyard at full speed, and scattering the onlookers right and left, she pulled up with some difficulty, just in time to prevent the steed going through the parchment window of the kitchen. "help me down!" she cried, looking full in the face of a lumpish lad, who stood gazing at her with open eyes and mouth. "don't you see i am old and my joints are stiff? be quick!" there was a commanding tone in her shrill voice that brooked no delay. the lumpish lad shut his mouth, reduced his eyes, and, going shyly forward, held out his hand. the old woman seized it, and, almost before he had time to wink, stood beside him. "where is gunrig's room?" she demanded. all the observers pointed to a door at the end of a passage. "take good care of my horse! rub him well down; feed him. _i_ shall know if you don't!" she cried, as she entered the passage and knocked gently at the door. it was opened by gunrig's mother, whose swollen eyes and subdued voice told their own tale. "may i come in and see him, mother?" said branwen, in her own soft voice. "you are a strange visitor," said the poor woman, in some surprise. "do you want much to see him? he is but a poor sight now." "yes--o yes!--i want very much to see him." "your voice is kindly, old woman. you may come in." the sight that branwen saw on entering was, indeed, one fitted to arouse the most sorrowful emotions of the heart; for there, on a rude couch of branches, lay the mere shadow of the once stalwart chief, the great bones of his shoulders showing their form through the garments which he had declined to take off; while his sunken cheeks, large glittering eyes, and labouring breath, told all too plainly that disease had almost completed the ruin of the body, and that death was standing by to liberate the soul. "who comes to disturb me at such a time, mother?" said the dying man, with a distressed look. branwen did not give her time to answer, but, hurrying forward, knelt beside the couch and whispered in his ear. as she did so there was a sudden rush of blood to the wan cheeks, and something like a blaze of the wonted fire in the sunken eyes. "mother," he said, with something of his old strength of voice, "leave us for a short while. this woman has somewhat to tell me." "may i not stay to hear it, my son?" "no. you shall hear all in a very short time. just now--leave us!" "now, branwen," said the chief, taking her hand in his, "what blessed chance has sent you here?" the poor girl did not speak, for when she looked at the great, thin, transparent hand which held hers, and thought of the day when it swayed the heavy sword so deftly, she could not control herself, and burst into tears. "oh! poor, poor gunrig! i'm so sorry to see you like this!--so very, very sorry!" she could say no more, but covered her face with both hands and wept. "nay, take not your hand from me," said the dying man, again grasping the hand which she had withdrawn; "its soft grip sends a rush of joy to my sinking soul." "say not that you are sinking, gunrig," returned the girl in pitying tones; "for it is in the power of the all-seeing one to restore you to health if it be his will." "if he is all-seeing, then there is no chance of his restoring me to health; for he has seen that i have lived a wicked life. ah! branwen, you do not know what i have been. if there is a place of rewards and punishment, as some tell us there is, assuredly my place will be that of punishment, for my life has been one of wrong-doing. and there is something within me that i have felt before, but never so strong as now, which tells me that there _is_ such a place, and that i am condemned to it." "but i have heard from the hebrew--who reads strange things marked on a roll of white cloth--that the all-seeing one's nature is _love_, and that he has resolved himself to come and save men from wrong-doing." "that would be good news indeed, branwen, if it were true." "the hebrew says it is true. he says he believes it, and the all-seeing one is a redeemer who will save all men from wrong-doing." "would that i could find him, branwen, for that is what i wish. i know not whether there shall be a hereafter or not, but if there is i shall hope for deliverance from wrong-doing. a place of punishment i care not much about, for i never shrank from pain or feared death. what i do fear is a hereafter, in which i shall live over again the old bad life-- and i am glad it is drawing to a close with your sweet voice sounding in my ears. i believe it was that voice which first shot into my heart the desire to do right, and the hatred of wrong." "i am glad to hear that, gunrig, though it never entered into my head, i confess, to do you such a good turn. and surely it must have been the all-seeing one who enabled me to influence you thus, and who now recalls to my mind what the hebrew read to me--one of those sayings of the good men of his nation which are marked in the white roll i spoke of. it is this--`god is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.'" "that is a good word, if it be a true one," returned the chief, "and i hope it is. now, my end is not far off. i am so glad and thankful that you have forgiven me before the end. another thing that comforts me is that bladud and i have been reconciled." "bladud!" exclaimed the girl. "ay, the prince with whom i fought at the games, you remember." "remember! ay, right well do i remember. it was a notable fight." "it was," returned the chief, with a faint smile, "and from that day i hated him and resolved to kill him, till i met him at the hot swamp, where i got this fatal wound. he nursed me there, and did his best to save my life, but it was not to be. yet i think that his tenderness, as well as your sweet voice, had something to do with turning my angry spirit round. i would see my mother now. the world is darkening, and the time is getting short." the deathly pallor of the man's cheeks bore witness to the truth of his words. yet he had strength to call his mother into the room. on entering and beholding a beautiful girl kneeling, and in tears, where she had left a feeble old woman, she almost fell down with superstitious fear, deeming that an angel had been sent to comfort her son--and so indeed one had been sent, in a sense, though not such an one as superstition suggested. a few minutes' talk with gunrig, however, cleared up the mystery. but the unwonted excitement and exertion had caused the sands of life to run more rapidly than might otherwise have been the case. the chief's voice became suddenly much more feeble, and frequently he gasped for breath. "mother," he said, "branwen wants to get home without any one knowing that she has been here. you will send our stoutest man with her to-night, to guard her through the woods as far as the hebrew's cave. let him not talk to her by the way, and bid him do whatever she commands." "yes, my dear, dear son, what else can i do to comfort you?" "come and sit beside me, mother, and let me lay my head on your knee. you were the first to comfort me in this life, and i want you to be the last. speak with branwen, mother, after i am gone. she will comfort you as no one else can. give me your hand, mother; i would sleep now as in the days gone by." the bronzed warrior laid his shaggy head on the lap where he had been so often fondled when he was a little child, and gently fell into that slumber from which he never more awoke. chapter thirty three. the hebrew's mission. we turn now to beniah the hebrew. on arriving at the hot swamp he was amazed to find the change that had been made in the appearance of the locality in so short a time. "united action, you see," said captain arkal, who did the honours of the new settlement in the absence of bladud and his friends, these being still absent on their vain search for the lad cormac, "united action, perseveringly continued, leads to amazing results." he repeated this to himself, in a low tone, as if he were rather proud of having hit on a neat way of expressing a great truth which he believed was an original discovery of his own. "yes," he continued, "i have got my men, you see, into splendid working order. they act from morning to night in concert--one consequence of which is that all is harmony, and there is but one man at the helm, the consequence of which is, that all is power. harmony and power! i have no faith, beniah, in a divided command. my men work together and feed together and play together and sleep together, united in the one object of carrying out the grand designs of prince bladud, while i, as the superintendent of the work, see to it that the work is properly done. nothing could be more simple or satisfactory." "or more amazing," added beniah, as they walked by the margin of a hot rivulet. "i could scarcely have known the swamp had i not recognised its beautiful surroundings." "just so; it is all, as i have said, the result of union, which i hold to be the very foundation of human power, for united action is strong," said the captain, with enthusiasm, as he originated the idea which, years afterwards, became the familiar proverb, "union is strength." "most true, o mariner," returned beniah, "your wisdom reminds me of one of our kings who wrote many of our wisest sayings." "ah, wise sayings have their value, undoubtedly," returned arkal, "but commend me to wise doings. look here, now, at the clever way in which bladud has utilised this bush-covered knoll. it is made to divide this rivulet in two, so that one branch, as you see, fills this pond, which is intended for the male population of the place, while the other branch fills another pond--not in sight at present--intended for the women. then, you see that large pond away to the left, a considerable distance from the fountain-head--that is supplied by a very small stream of the hot water, so that it soon becomes quite cold, and branch rivulets from the cold pond to the hot ponds cool them down till they are bearable. it took six days to fill up the cold pond." "we have not yet got the booths made for the women to dress in," continued the captain, "for we have no women yet in our settlement; but you see what convenient ones we have set up for the men." "but surely," said the hebrew, looking round with interest, "you have far more hot water than you require." "yes, much more." "what, then, do you do with the surplus?" "we just let it run into the swamp at present, as it has always done, but we are digging a big drain to carry it off into the river. then, when the swamp is dry, we will plant eatable things in it, and perhaps set up more booths and huts and dig more baths. thus, in course of time--who knows?--we may have a big town here, and king hudibras himself may condescend to lave his royal limbs in our waters." "that may well be," returned the hebrew thoughtfully. "the hot spring is a good gift from the all-seeing one, and if it cures others as it has cured prince bladud, i should not wonder to see the people of the whole land streaming to the place before long. but have you given up all thought of returning to your native land, arkal? do you mean to settle here?" "nay, verily--that be far from me! have i not a fair wife in hellas, who is as the light of mine eyes; and a little son who is as the plague of my life? no, i shall return home once more to fetch my wife and child here--then i shall have done with salt water for ever, and devote myself to hot water in time to come." "a wise resolve, no doubt," said beniah, "and in keeping with all your other doings." "see," interrupted arkal, "there is the river and the women's bath, and the big drain that i spoke of." he pointed to a wide ditch extending from the swamp towards the river. it had been cut to within a few yards of the latter, and all the men of the place were busily engaged with primitive picks, spades, and shovels, in that harmonious unity of action of which the captain had expressed such a high opinion. a few more yards of cutting, and the ditch, or drain, would be completed, when the waters of the swamp would be turned into it. those waters had been banked up at the head of the drain and formed a lake of considerable size, which, when the neck of land separating it from the drain should be cut, would rush down the artificial channel and disappear in the river. engineering in those days, however, had not been studied--at least in albion--to the extent which now prevails in england. the neck of land was not equal to the pressure brought to bear on it, and while the captain and his friend were looking at it, there appeared symptoms which caused the former some anxiety. at that moment konar the hunter came up. although attached to the settlement as hunter, he had agreed to take his turn with the diggers, for the water accumulated in the lake so fast that the work had to be done rapidly, and every available man at the place was pressed into the service. the overseer himself, even, lent a hand occasionally. "i don't like the look of the lower part of that neck," he remarked to the hunter. konar was a man of few words. by way of reply he laid aside his bow and descended the bank to examine the weak point. he was still engaged in the investigation and bending over a moist spot, when the entire mass of earth gave way and the waters burst into the drain with a gush and a roar quite indescribable. konar was swept away instantly as if he had been a feather. arkal and beniah sprang down the bank to his assistance, and were themselves nearly swept into the flood which had swallowed up the hunter, but konar was not quite gone. another moment and his legs appeared above the flood, then his head turned up, and then the raging waters tossed him as if contemptuously on a projecting spit of bank, where he lay half in and half out of the torrent. in a moment both arkal and the hebrew were at the spot, seized the hunter by an arm, the neck of his coat, and the hair of his head, and drew him out of danger; but no sign of life did the poor man exhibit as he lay there on the grass. meanwhile the energetic labourers at the lower end of the drain heard the turmoil and stood motionless with surprise, but were unable to see what caused it, owing to a thick bush which intervened. another moment and they stood aghast, for, round the corner of the only bend in the drain, there appeared a raging head of foam, with mud, grass, sticks, stones, and rubbish on its crest, bearing down on them like a race-horse. with a yell that was as fully united as their method of work, the men scrambled out of the drain and rushed up the bank, exhibiting a unity of purpose that must have gladdened the heart of captain arkal. and they were not a moment too soon, for the last man was caught by the flood, and would have been swept away but for the promptitude of his fellows. "h'm! it has saved you some work, lads," observed the captain, with a touch of grave irony as he pointed to the portion of the bank on which they had been engaged. he was right. the flood had not only overleaped this, but had hollowed it out and swept it clean away into the river-- thus accomplishing effectively in ten minutes what would have probably required the labour of several hours. on carrying konar up to the village of the swamp--afterwards swamptown, later aquae sulis, ultimately bath--which had already begun to grow on the nearest height, they found that bladud and his party had just arrived from the last of the searching expeditions. "what! beniah?" exclaimed the prince, when the hebrew met him. "you have soon returned to us. is all well at home?" "all is well. i am sent on a mission to you, but that is not so urgent as the case of konar." as he spoke the young men laid the senseless form on the ground. bladud, at once dismissing all other subjects from his mind, examined him carefully, while brownie snuffed at him with sympathetic interest. "he lives, and no bones are broken," said the prince, looking up after a few minutes; "here, some of you, go fetch hot water and pour it on him; then rub him dry; cover him up and let him rest. he has only been stunned. and let us have something to eat, arkal. we are ravenous as wolves, having had scarce a bite since morning." "you come in good time," replied the captain. "our evening meal is just ready." "come along, then, let us to work. you will join us, beniah, and tell me the object of your mission while we eat." the men of old may not have been epicures, but there can be no question that they were tremendous eaters. no doubt, living as they did, constantly in fresh air, having no house drains or gas, and being blessed with superabundant exercise, their appetites were keen and their capacities great. for at least ten minutes after the evening meal began, bladud, arkal, dromas, little maikar, and the hebrew, were as dumb and as busy as brownie. they spake not a single word--except that once the prince took a turkey drumstick from between his teeth to look up and repeat, "all well at home, you say?" to which beniah, checking the course of a great wooden spoon to his lips, replied, "all well." there was roast venison at that feast, and roast turkey and roast hare, and plover and ducks of various kinds, all roasted, and nothing whatever boiled, except some sorts of green vegetables, the names of which have, unfortunately, not been handed down to us, though we have the strongest ground for believing that they were boiled in earthenware pots--for, in recent excavations in bath, vessels of that description have been found among the traces of the most ancient civilisation. "now," said the prince, wiping his mouth with a bunch of grass when he came to the first pause, "what may be the nature of your mission, beniah?" "let me ask, first," replied the hebrew, also wiping his mouth with a similar pocket handkerchief, "have you found the lad cormac yet?" "no," answered the prince, gloomily, and with a slightly surprised look, for the expression of beniah's countenance puzzled him. "why do you ask?" "because that bears somewhat on my mission. i have to deliver a message from your father, the king. he bids me say that you are to return home immediately." "never!" cried bladud, with that medo-persic decision of tone and manner, which implies highly probable and early surrender, "never! until i find the boy--dead or alive." "for," continued the hebrew, slowly, "he has important matters to consider with you--matters that will not brook delay. moreover, gadarn bid me say that he has fallen on the tracks of the lad cormac, and that we are almost sure to find him in the neighbourhood of your father's town." "what say you?" exclaimed bladud, dropping his drumstick--not the same one, but another which he had just begun--"repeat that." beniah repeated it. "arkal," said the prince, turning to the captain, "i will leave you in charge here, and start off by the first light to-morrow morning. see that poor konar is well cared for. maikar, you will accompany me, and i suppose, dromas, that you also will go." "of course," said dromas, with a meaning smile--so full of meaning, indeed, as to be quite beyond interpretation. "by the way," continued bladud,--who had resumed the drumstick,--"has that fellow gadarn found his daughter branwen?" beniah choked on a bone, or something, at that moment, and, looking at the prince with the strangest expression of face, and tears in his eyes, explained that he had not--at least not to his, beniah's, absolutely certain knowledge. "that is to say," he continued in some confusion, "if--if--he has found her--which seems to me highly probable--there must be some--some mystery about her, for--it is impossible that--" here the hebrew choked again with some violence. "have a care, man!" cried the prince in some alarm. "however hungry a man may be, he should take time to swallow. you seem to be contradicting yourself, but i don't wonder, in the circumstances." "verily, i wonder at nothing, in the circumstances, for they are perplexing--even distressing," returned the hebrew with a sigh, as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. "better not speak with your mouth full, then. ah! poor gadarn," said bladud, in an obviously indifferent tone of voice. "i'm sorry for him. girls like his daughter, who are self-willed, and given to running away, are a heavy affliction to parents. and, truly, i ought to feel sympathy with him, for, although i am seeking for a youth of very different character, we are both so far engaged in similar work--search for the lost. and what of my father, mother, and sister?" "all hale and hearty!" replied beniah, with a sigh of relief, "and all anxious for your return, especially hafrydda." at this point dromas looked at the speaker with deepened interest. "she is a good girl, your sister," continued beniah, "and greatly taken up just now with that old woman you met in my cave. hafrydda has strange fancies." "she might have worse fancies than being taken up with poor old women," returned the prince. "i'm rather fond of them myself, and was particularly attracted by the old woman referred to. she was--what! choking again, beniah? come, i think you have had enough for one meal. and so have we all, friends, therefore we had better away to roost if we are to be up betimes in the morning." chapter thirty four. bladud's return and trials. we need scarcely say that there was joy at the court of king hudibras when bladud returned home, cured of his terrible disease. the first person whom the prince hurried off to visit, after seeing his father, and embracing his mother and sister, was the northern chief gadarn. that jovial character was enjoying a siesta after the mid-day meal at the time, but willingly arose on the prince being announced. "glad to see you, gadarn," said bladud, entering the room that had been apportioned to the chief, and sitting down on a bench for visitors, which, according to custom, stood against the inner wall of the apartment. "i hope your head is clear and your arm strong." "both are as they should be," answered gadarn, returning the salutation. "i thank you," replied the prince, "my arm is indeed strong, but my head is not quite as clear as it might be." "love got anything to do with it?" asked gadarn, with a knowing look. "not the love of woman, if that is what you mean." "truly that is what i do mean--though, of course, i admit that one's horses and dogs have also a claim on our affections. what is it that troubles you, my son?" the affectionate conclusion of this reply, and the chief's manner, drew the prince towards him, so that he became confidential. "the truth is, gadarn, that i am very anxious to know what news you have of cormac--for the fate of that poor boy hangs heavy on my mind. indeed, i should have refused to quit the swamp, in spite of the king's commands and my mother's entreaties, if you had not sent that message by the hebrew." "ah, bladud, my young friend, that is an undutiful speech for a son to make about his parents," said the chief, holding up a remonstrative forefinger. "if that is the way you treat your natural parents, how can i expect that--that--i mean--" here the chief was seized with a fit of sneezing, so violent, that it made the prince quite concerned about the safety of his nose. "ha!" exclaimed gadarn, as a final wind up to the last sneeze, "the air of that swamp seems to have been too strong for me. i'm growing old, you see. well--what was i saying?--never mind. you were referring to that poor lad cormac. yes, i have news of him." "good news, i hope?" said the prince, anxiously. "o yes--very good-- excellent! that is to say--rather--somewhat indefinite news, for--for the person who saw him told me--in fact, it is difficult to explain, because people are often untrustworthy, and exaggerate reports, so that it is not easy to make out what is true and what is false, or whether both accounts may be true, or the whole thing false altogether. you see, bladud, our poor brains," continued the chief, in an argumentative tone, "are so--so--queerly mixed up that one cannot tell--tell--why, there was once a fellow in my army, whose manner of reporting any event, no matter how simple, was so incomprehensible that it was impossible to--to--but let me tell you an anecdote about him. his name was--" "forgive my interrupting you, chief, but i am so anxious to hear something about my lost friend that--" "ha! bladud, i fear that you are a selfish man, for you have not yet asked about my lost daughter." "indeed i am not by any means indifferent about her; but--but, you know, i have never seen her, and, to tell the plain truth, my anxiety about the boy drove her out of my mind for the moment. have you found her?" "ay, that i have; as well and hearty as ever she was, though somewhat more beautiful and a trifle more mischievous. but i will introduce her to you to-morrow. there is to be a grand feast, is there not, at the palace?" "yes; something of the sort, i believe, in honour of my return," answered the prince, a good deal annoyed by the turn the conversation had taken. "well, then, you shall see her then; for she has only just arrived, and is too tired to see any one," continued gadarn, with a suppressed yawn; "and you'll be sure to fall in love with her; but you had better not, for her affections are already engaged. i give you fair warning, so be on your guard." the prince laughed, and assured his friend that there was no fear, as he had seen thousands of fair girls both in east and west, but his heart had never yet been touched by one of them. at this the chief laughed loudly, and assured bladud that his case had now reached a critical stage: for when young men made statements of that kind, they were always on the point of being conquered. "but leave me now, bladud," he continued, with a yawn so vast that the regions around the uvula were clearly visible; "i'm frightfully sleepy, and you know you have shortened my nap this afternoon." the prince rose at once. "at all events," he said, "i am to understand, before i go, that cormac _has_ been seen?" "o yes! certainly; no doubt about that!" "and is well?" "quite well." fain to be content with this in the meantime, bladud hurried to the apartment of his sister. "hafrydda!" he exclaimed, "has gadarn gone out of his mind?" "i believe not," she replied, sitting down beside her brother and taking his hand. "why do you ask?" "because he talks--i say it with all respect--like an idiot." hafrydda laughed; and her brother thereupon gave her a full account of the recent interview. "now, my sister, you were always straightforward and wise. give me a clear answer. has cormac been found?" "no, he has not been found; but--" "then," interrupted bladud, in a savage tone that was very foreign to his nature, "gadarn is a liar!" "oh, brother! say not so." "how can i help it? he gave me to understand that cormac _has_ been found--at least, well, no, not exactly found, but _seen_ and heard of. i'm no better than the rest of you," continued bladud, with a sarcastic laugh. "it seems as if there were something in the air just now which prevents us all from expressing ourselves plainly." "well, then, brother," said hafrydda, with a smile, "if he told you that cormac has been seen and heard of, and is well, surely that may relieve your mind till to-morrow, when i know that some one who knows all about the boy is to be at our festival. we begin it with games, as usual. shall you be there?" "i'd rather not," replied the prince almost testily; "but, of course, it would be ungracious not to appear. this, however, i do know, that i shall take no part in the sports." "as you please, brother. we are only too glad to have you home again, to care much about that. but, now, i have something of importance to tell you about myself." bladud was interested immediately; and for the moment forgot his own troubles as he gazed inquiringly into the fair countenance of the princess. "i am going to wed, brother." "indeed! you do not surprise me, though you alarm me--i know not why. who is the man?--not gunrig, i hope." "alas! no. poor gunrig is dead." "dead! ah, poor man! i am glad we met at the swamp." bladud looked sad for a moment, but did not seem unduly oppressed by the news. "the man who has asked me to wed is your friend dromas." "what!" exclaimed the prince, in blazing surprise, not unmingled with delight. "the man has been here only a few hours! he must have been very prompt!" "it does not take many hours to ask a girl to wed; and i like a prompt man," returned the princess, looking pensively at the floor. "but tell me, how came it all about? how did he manage it in so short a time?" "well, brother dear--but you'll never tell any one, will you?" "never--never!" "well, you must know, when we first met, we--we--" "fell in love. poor helpless things!" "just so, brother; we fell, somehow in--whatever it was; and he told me with his eyes--and--and--i told him with mine. then he went off to find you; and came back, having found you--for which i was very grateful. then he went to father and asked leave to speak to me. then he went to mother. what they said i do not know; but he came straight to me, took my hand, fixed his piercing black eyes on me, and said, `hafrydda, i love you.'" "was that _all_?" asked bladud. "yes; that was all he _said_; but--but that was not the end of the interview! it would probably have lasted till now, if you had not interrupted us." "i'm so very sorry, sister, but of course i did not know that--" they were interrupted at that moment by the servitor, to whom the reader has already been introduced. he entered with a brightly intelligent grin on his expressive face, but, on beholding bladud, suddenly elongated his countenance into blank stupidity. "the old woman waits outside, princess." "oh, send her here at once." (then, when the servitor had left.) "this is the person i mentioned who knows about cormac." another moment and the little old woman in the grey shawl was ushered in. she started visibly on beholding bladud. "come in, granny. i did not expect you till to-morrow." "i thought i was to see you alone," said the old woman, testily, in her hard, metallic voice. "that is true, granny, but i thought you might like to see my brother bladud, who has just returned home safe and well." "no, i _don't_ want to see your brother. what do i care for people's brothers? i want to see yourself, alone." "let me congratulate you, at all events," interposed the prince, kindly, "on your having recovered your hearing, grannie. this is not the first time we have met, hafrydda, but i grieve to see that my old friend's nerves are not so strong as they used to be. you tremble a good deal." "yes, i tremble more than i like," returned the old woman peevishly, "and, perhaps, when you come to my age, young man, and have got the palsy, you'll tremble more than i do." "nay, be not angry with me. i meant not to hurt your feelings; and since you wish to be alone with my sister, i will leave you." when he was gone branwen threw back the grey shawl and stood up with flashing, tearful eyes. "was it kind--was it wise, hafrydda, to cause me to run so great a risk of being discovered?" "forgive me, dear branwen, i did not mean to do it, but you arrived unexpectedly, and i let you come in without thinking. besides, i knew you could easily deceive him. nobody could guess it was you--not even your own mother." "there must be some truth in that," returned the maiden, quickly changing her mood, and laughing, "for i deceived my own father yesterday. at the swamp he found me out at once as cormac, for i had to speak in my natural voice, and my full face was exposed; but the grey shawl and the metallic voice were too much for him. dear, good, patient, old man, you have no notion what a fearful amount of abuse he took from me, without losing temper--and i gave him some awful home-thrusts too! i felt almost tempted to kiss him and beg his pardon. but now, hafrydda, i am beginning to be afraid of what all this deceiving and playing the double-face will come to. and i'm ashamed of it too--i really am. what will bladud think of me when he finds out? won't he despise and hate me?" "indeed he will not. i know his nature well," returned the princess, kissing, and trying to reassure her friend, whose timid look and tearful eyes seemed to indicate that all her self-confidence and courage were vanishing. "he loves you already, and love is a preventive of hate as well as a sovereign remedy for it." "ay, he is fond of cormac, i know, but that is a very different thing from loving branwen! however, to-morrow will tell. if he cares only for the boy and does not love the girl, i shall return with my father to the far north, and you will never see branwen more." chapter thirty five. the plot thickens. during the residence of gadarn at the court of king hudibras, that wily northern chief had led the king to understand that one of his lieutenants had at last discovered his daughter branwen in the hands of a band of robbers, from whom he had rescued her, and that he expected her arrival daily. "but what made the poor child run away?" asked the king at one of his interviews with his friend. "we were all very fond of her, and she of us, i have good reason to believe." "i have been told," replied the chief, "that it was the fear of gunrig." "gunrig! why, the man was to wed my daughter. she had no need to fear him." "that may be so, but i know--though it is not easy to remember how i came to know it--that gunrig had been insolent enough to make up to her, after he was defeated by bladud, and she was so afraid of him that she ran away, and thus fell into the hands of robbers." while the chief was speaking, hudibras clenched his hands and glared fiercely. "dared he to think of another girl when he was engaged to my daughter!" he said between his teeth. "it is well that gunrig is dead, for assuredly i would have killed him." "it is well indeed," returned gadarn, "for if your killing had not been sufficient, i would have made it more effectual. but he is out of the way now, so we may dismiss him." "true--and when may we expect branwen back again, poor child?" asked the king. "in a day or two at latest. from what was told me by the runner who was sent on in advance, it is possible that she may be here to-morrow, in time for the sports." the wily chief had settled it in his own mind that branwen should arrive exactly at the time when there was to be a presentation of chiefs; which ceremony was to take place just before the commencement of the sports. this arrangement he had come to in concert with a little old woman in a grey shawl, who paid him a private visit daily. "do you know, gadarn, who this youth cormac is, whom bladud raves so much about?" the northern chief was seized at that moment with one of those violent fits of sneezing to which of late he had become unpleasantly subject. "oh! ye--ye--y-ha! yes;--excuse me, king, but since i went to that hot swamp, something seems to have gone wrong wi'--wi'--ha! my nose." "something will go worse wrong with it, chief, if you go on like that. i thought the last one must have split it. well, what know you about cormac?" "that he appears to be a very good fellow. i can say nothing more about him than that, except that your son seems to think he owes his life to his good nursing at a critical point in his illness." "i know that well enough," returned the king, "for bladud has impressed it on me at least a dozen times. he seems to be very grateful. indeed so am i, and it would please me much if i had an opportunity of showing my gratitude to the lad. think you that there is any chance of finding out where he has disappeared to?" "not the least chance in the world." "indeed!" exclaimed the king in surprise. "that is strange, for bladud, who has just left me, says that he has the best of reasons for believing that we shall have certain news of him tomorrow. but go, gadarn, and consult my doctor about this complaint of yours, which interrupts conversation so awkwardly. we can resume our talk at some other time." gadarn obediently went, holding his sides as if in agony, and sneezing in a manner that caused the roof-tree of the palace to vibrate. returning to his own room he found the little old woman in grey awaiting him. "you've been laughing again, father," she said. "i see by the purpleness of your face. you'll burst yourself at last if you go on so." "oh! you little old hag--oh! cormac--oh! branwen, i hope you won't be the death of me," cried the chief, flinging his huge limbs on a couch and giving way to unrestrained laughter, till the tears ran down his cheeks. "if they did not all look so grave when speaking about you, it wouldn't be so hard to bear. it's the gravity that kills me. but come, branwen," he added, as he suddenly checked himself and took her hand, "what makes you look so anxious, my child?" "because i feel frightened, and ashamed, and miserable," she answered, with no symptom of her sire's hilarity. "i doubt if i should have followed bladud--but if i had not he would have died--and i don't like to think of all the deceptions i have been practising--though i couldn't very well help it--could i? then i fear that bladud will forget cormac when he learns to despise branwen--" "despise branwen!" shouted gadarn, fiercely, as his hand involuntarily grasped the hilt of his sword. "if he did, i would cleave him from his skull to his waist--" "quiet you, my sweet father," said branwen, with a little smile, "you know that two can play at that game, and that you have a skull and a waist as well as bladud--though your waist is a good deal thicker than his. i'm not so sure about the skull!" "i accept your reproof, child, for boastfulness is hateful in a warrior. but get up, my love. what would happen if some one came into the room and found a little old hag sitting on my knee with her arm around my neck?" "ah, true, father. i did not think of that. i'm rather given to not thinking of some things. perhaps that inquisitive servitor may be--no, he's not there this time," said branwen, reclosing the door and sitting down on a stool beside the chief. "now come, father, and learn your lesson." gadarn folded his hands and looked at his child with an air of meek humility. "well?" "well, first of all, you must tell the king tomorrow, at the right time, that i have just come back, and am very tired and shall not appear till you take me to him while the other people are being presented. then you will lead me forward and announce me with a loud voice, so that no one shall fail to hear that i am branwen, your daughter, you understand? now, mind you speak well out." "i understand--with a shout, something like my battle-cry!" "not exactly so loud as that, but so as bladud shall be sure to hear you; and he will probably be near to his father at the time." "just so. what next?" "oh, that's all you will have to do. just retire among the other courtiers then, and leave the rest to me." "that's a very short lesson, my little one; would you not like to be introduced to bladud too? he does not know you, you know." "certainly not; that would ruin all--you dear old goose. just do exactly what i tell you, and you will be sure to go right." "how like your dear mother you are, my little one, in your modest requirements!" having finished the lesson, the little old woman retired to a remote part of the palace which, through hafrydda's influence, had been assigned to her, and the great northern chief, unbuckling his sword-belt, called lustily for his mid-day meal. customs at that date, you see, were more free-and-easy than they are now, and less ceremonious. the visitors at the palace of king hudibras were expected only to appear at the royal board at the evening meal after all the business or pleasure of each day was over. at all other times they were supposed to do as they pleased and shout for food as they happened to require it. it is perhaps unnecessary to comment on the exceeding convenience of this custom, leaving, as it did, every one to follow the bent of inclination, from earliest morn till dewy eve, with the prospect of an enjoyable _reunion_ after dark--during which, of course, the adventures of each were narrated, exaggerated, underrated, or commented on, as the case might be, and the social enjoyments were enhanced by warlike and sentimental song as well as by more or less--usually more than less-- thrilling story. chapter thirty six. the denouement. it was a sunny, frosty, glorious forenoon when king hudibras awoke to the consciousness of the important day that was before him, and the importunate vacuum that was within him. springing out of bed with a right royal disregard of appearances he summoned his servitor-in-waiting and ordered breakfast. in the breakfast-room he met the queen, hafrydda, bladud, and dromas-- the latter being now considered one of the family--and these five proceeded to discuss and arrange the proceedings of the day during the progress of the meal. "you will join in the sports, of course, son dromas," said the king, "and show us how the olympic victors carry themselves. ha! i should not wonder if a few of our lads will give you some trouble to beat them." "you may be right, father," returned the young man, modestly, "for one of your lads has already beaten me at most things." "you mean bladud?" returned the king. "dromas is only so far right," interposed the prince. "it is true that where mere brute force is required i usually have the advantage, but where grace and speed come into play i am lost." of course dromas would not admit this, and of course hafrydda's fair cheeks were crimsoned when the youth, accidentally looking up, caught the princess accidentally gazing at him; and, still more of course, the king, who was sharp as a needle in such matters, observed their confusion and went into a loud laugh, which he declared was only the result of merry thoughts that were simmering in his brain. the reception was to be held in the large hall of the palace. no ladies were to be presented, for it must be remembered that these were barbarous times, and woman had not yet attained to her true position! indeed, there was to be no ceremony whatever--no throne, no crown, no gold-sticks in waiting or other sticks of any kind. it was to be a sort of free-and-easy conversazione in the presence of the royal family, where, just before the sports began, any one who was moved by that ambition might hold personal intercourse with the king, and converse with him either on the affairs of state, or on private matters, or subjects of a more light and social kind--such as the weather. at the appointed hour--which was indicated by that rough and ready but most natural of sun-dials, the shadow of a tree falling on a certain spot--the royal family adjourned to the large hall, and the unceremonious ceremony began. first of all, on the doors being thrown open a crowd of nobles--or warriors--entered, and while one of them went to the king, and began an earnest entreaty that war might be declared without delay against a certain chief who was particularly obnoxious to him, another sauntered up to the princess and began a mild flirtation in the primitive manner, which was characteristic of the sons of mars in that day--to the unutterable jealousy of dromas, who instantly marked him down as a fit subject for overwhelming defeat at the approaching games. at the same time the family doctor paid his respects to the queen and began to entertain her with graphic accounts of recent cases--for doctors had no objection to talking "shop" in those days. we have said that no ladies were admitted to places of public importance, such as grand-stands or large halls, but we have also pointed out that the ladies of the royal family and their female friends formed an exception to the rule. it was, as it were, the dawn of women's freedom--the insertion of the small end of that wedge which christianity and civilisation were destined to drive home--sometimes too far home! gradually the hall began to fill, and the hum of conversation became loud, when there was a slight bustle at the door which caused a modification though not a cessation of the noise. it was caused by the entrance of gadarn leading branwen by the hand. the girl was now dressed in the costume that befitted her age and sex, and it is best described by the word simplicity. her rich auburn hair fell in short natural curls on her neck--the luxuriant volume of it having, as the reader is aware, been sacrificed some time before. she wore no ornament of any kind save, on one side of her beautiful head, a small bunch of wild-flowers that had survived the frost. at the time of their entrance, bladud was stooping to talk with hafrydda and did not observe them, but when he heard gadarn's sonorous voice he turned with interest to listen. "king hudibras," said the northern chief, in a tone that produced instant silence, "i have found the lost one--my daughter branwen." as they moved through the crowd of tall warriors bladud could not at first catch sight of the girl. "ha! hafrydda," he said, with a pleasant smile, "your young friend and companion found at last. i congratulate you. i'm so glad that--" he stopped, the colour fled from his cheeks, his chest heaved. he almost gasped for breath. could he believe his eyes, for there stood a girl with the features, the hair, the eyes of cormac, but infinitely more beautiful! for some time the poor prince stood utterly bereft of speech. fortunately no one observed him, as all were too much taken up with what was going on. the king clasped the girl's hands and kissed her on both cheeks. then the queen followed, and asked her how she could have been so cruel as to remain so long away. and branwen said a few words in reply. it seemed as if an electric shock passed through bladud, for the voice also was the voice of cormac! at this point the prince turned to look at his sister. she was gazing earnestly into his face. "hafrydda--is--is that really branwen?" "yes, brother, that is branwen. i must go to her." as she spoke, she started off at a run and threw her arms round her friend's neck. "i cannot--cannot believe it is you," she exclaimed aloud--and then, whispering in branwen's ear, "oh! you wicked creature, to make such a hypocrite of me. but come," she added aloud, "come to my room. i must have you all to myself alone." for one moment, as they passed, branwen raised her eyes, and, as they met those of the prince, a deep blush overspread her face. another moment and the two friends had left the hall together. we need not weary the reader by describing the games and festivities that followed. such matters have probably been much the same, in all important respects, since the beginning of time. there was a vast amount of enthusiasm, and willingness to be contented with little, on the part of the people, and an incredible desire to talk and delay matters, and waste time, on the part of judges, umpires, and starters, but there was nothing particularly noteworthy, except that bladud consented to run one race with his friend dromas, and was signally beaten by him, to the secret satisfaction of hafrydda, and the open amusement of the king. but branwen did not appear at the games, nor did she appear again during the remainder of that day, and poor bladud was obliged to restrain his anxiety, for he felt constrained to remain beside his father, and, somehow, he failed in his various attempts to have a few words of conversation with his mother. at last, like all sublunary things, the games came to an end, and the prince hastened to his sister's room. "may i come in?" he asked, knocking. "yes, brother." there was a peculiar tone in her voice, and a curious expression in her eyes, that the prince did not fail to note. "hafrydda," he exclaimed, eagerly, "there is _no_ cormac?" "true, brother, there is no cormac--there never was. branwen and cormac are one!" "and you knew it--and _she_ knew it, all along. oh, why did you agree to deceive me?" "nay, brother, i did not mean to deceive you--at least not at first. neither did branwen. i knew nothing about it till she came home, after being with you at the swamp, and told me that she was impelled by sheer pity to follow you, intending to nurse you; thinking at first that we had let you go to die alone. then she was caught in the woods by robbers, and she only escaped from them by putting on a boy's dress and running away. they gave chase, however, caught her up, and, had it not been for you, would have recaptured her. the rest you know. but now, brother, i am jealous for my dear friend. she has expressed fear that, in her great pity for you, she may be thought to have acted an unwomanly part, and that you will perhaps despise her." "unwomanly! despise!" exclaimed bladud in amazement. "hafrydda, do you regard me as a monster of ingratitude?" "nay, brother, that do i not. i think that you could never despise one who has felt such genuine pity for you as to risk and endure so much." "hafrydda, do you think there is no stronger feeling than pity for me in the heart of branwen?" asked bladud in a subdued, earnest voice. "that you must find out for yourself, brother," answered the princess. "yet after all, if you are only fond of cormac, what matters the feeling that may be in the heart of branwen? are you in love with her already, bladud, after so short an acquaintance?" "in love with her!" exclaimed the prince. "there is no cormac. there is but one woman in the wide world now--" "that is not complimentary to your mother and myself, i fear," interrupted his sister. "but," continued the prince, paying no regard to the interruption, "is there any chance--any hope--of--of--something stronger than pity being in her heart?" "i say again, ask that of herself, bladud; but now i think of it," added the princess, leaping up in haste, "i am almost too late to keep an appointment with dromas!" she went out hurriedly, and the prince, full of new-born hopes mingled with depressing anxieties, went away into the neighbouring woods to meditate--for, in the haste of her departure, hafrydda had neglected to tell him where branwen was to be found, and he shrank from mentioning her name to any one else. but accident--as we call it--sometimes brings about what the most laboured design fails to accomplish. owing to a feeling of anxiety which she could not shake off, branwen had gone out that evening to cool her fevered brow in the woods, just a few minutes before the prince entered them. it was a strange coincidence; but are not all coincidences strange? seating herself on a fallen tree she cast up her eyes towards the sky where a solitary star, like a beacon of hope, was beginning to twinkle. she had not been there more than a few minutes when a rustle in the neighbouring thicket startled her. almost before she had time to look round the prince stood before her. she trembled, for now she felt that the decisive hour had come--whether for good or evil. seating himself beside her, the prince took one of her hands in his and looked steadily into her downcast face. "corm--bran--" he began, and stopped. she looked up. "branwen," he said, in a low, calm voice, "will it pain you very much to know that i am glad--inexpressibly glad--that there is no youth cormac in all the wide world?" whether she was pained or not the girl did not say, but there was a language in her eyes which induced bladud to slip his disengaged arm round--well, well, there are some things more easily conceived than described. she seemed about to speak, but bladud stopped her mouth-- how, we need not tell--not rudely, you may be sure--suffice to say that when the moon arose an hour later, and looked down into the forest that evening she saw the prince and branwen still seated, hand in hand, on the fallen tree, gazing in rapt attention at the stars. chapter thirty seven. the last. when bladud walked out to the hebrew's hut next day and informed him of what had taken place, that long-suffering man heaved a deep sigh and expressed his intense relief that the whole affair was at last cleared up and had come to an end. "i cannot view matters in the same light that you do, beniah," said the prince, "for, in my opinion, things have only now come to a satisfactory beginning. however, i suppose that you are thinking of the strange perplexities in which you have been involved so long." "i would not style them perplexities, prince, but intrigues--obvious and unjustifiable intrigues--in which innocent persons have been brought frequently to the verge of falsehood--if they have not, indeed, been forced to overstep the boundary." "surely, beniah, circumstances, against which none of us had power to contend, had somewhat to do with it all, as well as intrigue." "i care not," returned the hebrew, "whether it was the intrigues of your court or the circumstances of it, which were the cause of all the mess in which i and others have been involved, but i am aweary of it, and have made up my mind to leave the place and retire to a remote part of the wilderness, where i may find in solitude solace to my exhausted spirit, and rest to my old bones." "that will never do, beniah," said the prince, laughing. "you take too serious a view of the matter. there is no fear of any more intrigues or circumstances arising to perplex you for some time to come. besides, i want your services very much--but, before broaching that point, let me ask why you have invited me to come to see you here. hafrydda gave me your message--" "my message!" repeated the hebrew in surprise. "yes--to meet you here this forenoon on urgent business. if it is anything secret you have to tell me, i hope you have not got your wonderful old witch in the back cave, for she seems to have discovered as thorough a cure for deafness as i found for leprosy at the hot swamp." "wonderful old witch!" repeated beniah, with a dazed look, and a tone of exasperation that the prince could not account for. "do you, then, not know about that old woman?" "oh! yes, i know only too much about her," replied bladud. "she has been staying at the palace for some time, as you know, and rather a lively time the old hag has given us. she went in to see my mother one day and threw her into convulsions, from which, i think, she has hardly recovered yet. then she went to my father's room--the chief gadarn and i were with him at the time--and almost before she had time to speak they went into fits of laughter at her till the tears ran down their cheeks. i must say it seemed to me unnecessarily rude and unkind, for, although the woman is a queer old thing, and has little more of her face visible than her piercing black eyes, i could see nothing to laugh at in her shrivelled-up, bent little body. besides this, she has kept the domestics in a state of constant agitation, for most of them seem to think her a limb of the evil spirit. but what makes you laugh so?" "oh! i see now," returned the hebrew, controlling himself by a strong effort. "i understand now why the old woman wished to be present at our interview. come forth, thou unconscionable hag!" added beniah, in the voice of a stentor, "and do your worst. i am past emotion of any kind whatever now." as he spoke he gazed, with the resigned air of a martyr, at the inner end of his cavern. bladud also looked in that direction. a moment later and the little old woman with the grey shawl appeared; thrust out the plank bridge; crossed over, and tottered towards them. "dearie me! beniah, there's no need to yell so loud. you know i've got back my hearing. what want ye with me? i'm sure i have no wish to pry into the secrets of this young man or yourself. what d'ye want?" but beniah stood speechless, a strange expression on his face, his lips firmly compressed and his arms folded across his breast. "have you become as dumb as i was deaf, old man?" asked the woman, petulantly. still the hebrew refused to speak. "have patience with him, old woman," said bladud, in a soothing tone. "he is sometimes taken with unaccountable fits--" "fits!" interrupted the old woman. "i wish he had the fits that i have sometimes. perhaps they would cure him of his impudence. they would cure you too, young man, of your stupidity." "stupidity!" echoed bladud, much amused. "i have been credited with pride and haste and many other faults in my day, but never with stupidity." "was it not stupid of you to go and ask that silly girl to wed you--that double-faced thing that knows how to cheat and deceive and--" "come, come, old woman," said the prince, repressing with difficulty a burst of indignation. "you allow your old tongue to wag too freely. i suppose," he added, turning to beniah, "that we can conclude our conversation outside?" but the hebrew still remained immovable and sternly dumb. unable to understand this, bladud turned again to the old woman, but, lo! the old woman was gone, and in her place stood branwen, erect, with the grey shawl thrown back, and a half-timid smile on her face. to say that bladud was thunderstruck is not sufficient to indicate his condition. he stood as if rooted to the spot with his whole being concentrated in his wide-open blue eyes. "is my presumption too great, bladud?" asked the girl, hesitatingly. "i did but wish to assure you that i have no other deceptions to practise. that i fear--i hope--that--" the prince, recovering himself, sprang forward and once again stopped her mouth--not with his hand; oh! by no means!--while beniah, with that refinement of wisdom which is the prerogative of age, stepped out to ascertain whether it happened to be rain or sunshine that ruled at the time. curiously enough he found that it was the latter. that evening the doctor of the royal household was summoned by an affrighted servitor to the apartment of gadarn, who had been overheard choking. the alarmed man of medicine went at once, and, bursting into the room without knocking, found the great northern chief sitting on the edge of his couch purple in the face and with tears in his eyes. the exasperated man leaped up intending to kick the doctor out, but, changing his mind, he kicked the horrified servitor out instead, and, taking the doctor into his confidence, related to him an anecdote which had just been told to him by bladud. "it will be the death of the king," said gadarn. "you had better go to him. he may need your services." but the king was made of sterner stuff than his friend imagined. he put strong constraint upon himself, and, being not easily overcome by feeling--or anything else under the sun--he lived to relate the same anecdote to his wife and daughter. the day following, bladud resumed with the hebrew the conversation that had been interrupted by branwen. "i was going to have said to you, beniah, that i want your services very much." "you had said that much, prince, before bran--i mean cor--that is, the old woman--interrupted us. how can i serve you?" "by going back with me to the hot swamp and helping to carry out a grand scheme that i have in my brain." the hebrew shook his head. "i love not your grand schemes," he said, somewhat sternly. "the last grand scheme that your father had was one which, if successfully carried out, would have added a large portion of albion to his dominions, and would have swept several tribes off the face of the earth. as it was, the mere effort to carry it out cost the lives of many of the best young men on both sides, and left hundreds of mothers, wives, sisters, and children to mourn their irreparable losses, and to wonder what all the fighting was about. indeed, there are not a few grey-bearded men who share that wonder with the women and children, and who cannot, by any effort of their imagination, see what advantage is gained by either party when the fight is over." "these grey-beards must be thick-skulled, then," replied the prince with a smile, "for does not the victor retain the land which he has conquered?" "yea, truly, and he also retains the tombs of the goodly young men who have been slain, and also the widows and sweethearts, and the national loss resulting from the war--for all which the land gained is but a paltry return. moreover, if the all-seeing one cared only for the victors, there might be some understanding of the matter--though at the cost of justice--but, seeing that he cares for the vanquished quite as much as for the victorious, the gain on one side is counterbalanced by the loss on the other side, while the world at large is all the poorer, first, by the loss of much of its best blood, second, by the creation of a vast amount of unutterable sorrow and bitter hatred, and, third, by a tremendous amount of misdirected energy. "look, for instance, at the hot swamp. before the late war it was the abode of a happy and prosperous population. now, it is a desolation. hundreds of its youth are in premature graves, and nothing whatever has been gained from it by your father that i can see." "but surely men must defend themselves and their women and children against foes?" said bladud. "verily, i did not say they should not," replied beniah. "self-defence is a duty; aggressive war, in most cases (i do not say in all), is a blunder or a sin." "i think that my mind runs much on the same line with yours, beniah, as to these things, but i am pretty sure that a good many years will pass over us before the warriors of the present day will see things in this light." one is apt to smile at bladud's prophetic observation, when one reflects that about two thousand seven hundred years have elapsed since that day, and warriors, as well as many civilians, have not managed to see it in this light yet! "however," continued the prince, "the scheme which runs in my head is not one of war--aggressive or defensive--but one of peace, for the betterment of all mankind. as you know, i have begun to build a city at the hot swamp, so that all who are sick may go to that beautiful country and find health, as i did. and i want your help in this scheme." "that is well, prince, but i see not how i can aid you. i am not an engineer, who could carry out your devices, nor an architect who could plan your dwellings. and i am too old for manual labour--though, of course, it is not for that you want me." "you are right, beniah. it is not for that. i have as many strong and willing hands to work as i require, but i want wise heads, full of years and experience, which may aid me in council and guard me from the blunders of youth and inexperience. besides, man was not, it seems to me, put into this world merely to enjoy himself. if he was, then are the brutes his superiors, for they have no cares, no anxieties about food or raiment, or housing, and they enjoy themselves to the full as long as their little day lasts. there is surely some nobler end for man, and as you have given much study to the works and ways and reputed words of the all-seeing one, i want you to aid me in helping men to look upward--to soar like the eagle above the things of earth, as well as to consider the interests of others, and so, as far as may be, unlearn selfishness. will you join me for this end?" "that will i, with joy," answered the hebrew with kindling eye; "but your ambition soars high, prince. have you spoken to branwen on these subjects?" "of course i have, and she, like a true woman, enters heartily into my plans. like myself, she does not think that being wedded and happy is the great end of life, but only the beginning of it. when the wedding is over, our minds will then be set free to devote ourselves to the great work before us." "and what duties in the work will fall to the lot of branwen?" asked beniah, with an amused look. "the duties of a wife, of course," returned the prince. "she will lend a sympathetic ear to all plans and proposals; her ingenious imagination will suggest ideas that might escape my grosser mind; her brilliant fancy will produce combinations that my duller brain would never think of; her hopeful spirit will encourage me to perseverance where accident or disaster has a tendency to demoralise, and her loving spirit will comfort me should failure, great or small, be permitted to overtake me. all this, i admit, sounds very selfish, but you asked me what part branwen should play in regard to _my_ schemes. if you had asked me what part i am to play in her life and work, the picture might be inverted to some extent--for our lives will be mutual--though, of course, i can never be to her what she will be to me." with this exalted idea of the married state, prince bladud looked forward to his wedding. whether dromas was imbued with similar ideas we cannot tell; but of this we are sure, that he was equally devoted to the princess--as far as outward appearance went--and he entered with keenest zest and appreciation into the plans and aspirations of his friend, with regard to the welfare of mankind in general, and the men of albion in particular. not many days after that there was a double wedding at hudibras town, which created a tremendous sensation throughout all the land. for, although news travelled slowly in those days, the fame of bladud and his wonderful cure, and his great size and athletic powers, coupled with his eastern learning, and warlike attainments and peaceful proclivities, not to mention the beauty and romantic adventures of his bride, had made such an impression on what may be styled the whole nation, that noted chiefs came from all parts far and near, to his wedding, bringing as many of their distinguished followers with them as they deemed necessary to safe travelling in an unsettled country. some even came from the great western island called erin, and others from the remote isle of the north which lay beyond gadarn's country, and was at a later period named ultima thule. "i wonder when they're going to stop coming," remarked gadarn to king hudibras, as the self-invited guests came pouring in. "let them come," replied the jovial king, with the air of a man of unlimited means. "the more the merrier. there's room for all, and the forests are big." "some of them, i see," rejoined gadarn, "are my mortal foes. we shall now have a chance of becoming mortal friends." it might be supposed that the assemblage of such a host from all points of the compass would, as it is sometimes expressed, eat king hudibras out of house and home; but this was not so, for it was the custom at that time for visitors at royal courts to hunt for their victuals--to go in, as it were, for a grand picnic on a continuous basis, so that the palace of our king, instead of being depleted, became surfeited with food. as his preserves were extensive, and game of all kinds abundant, the expense attendant on this kind of hospitality was _nil_. it would have been very much the reverse had it been necessary to supply drink, but the art of producing liquids which fuddle, stupefy, and madden, had not yet been learnt in this country. consequently there was no fighting or bloodshed at those jovial festivities, though there was a certain amount of quarrelling--as might be expected amongst independent men who held different opinions on many subjects, although politics and theology had not yet been invented. great were the rejoicings when it was discovered, by each band as it arrived, that there was to be a double wedding; that the princess hafrydda was to be one of the brides, and that the fortunate man who had won her was a famous warrior of the mysterious east, and one of the victors at the great games of that part of the world. how the ceremony of marriage was performed we have not, after the most painstaking research, been able to ascertain; but that it was performed somehow, and to the satisfaction of all concerned, we are absolutely certain, from the fact that bladud and branwen, dromas and hafrydda, lived happily together as man and wife for many years afterwards, and brought up large families of stalwart sons and daughters to strengthen the power and increase the prestige of old albion. this, however, by the way. of course the chief amusement of the guests was games, followed by songs and dancing in the evenings. and one of the favourite amusements at the games was scientific boxing, for that was an entirely new art to the warriors, alike of albion, erin, and ultima thule. it first burst upon their senses as a new and grand idea when bladud and dromas, at the urgent request of their friends, stepped into the arena and gave a specimen of the manner in which the art was practised in hellas. of course they did not use what we call knuckle-dusters, nor did they even double their fists, except when moving round each other, and as "gloves" were unknown, they struck out with the hands half open, for they had no wish to bleed each other's noses or black each other's eyes for mere amusement. at the beginning it was thought that dromas was no match at all for the gigantic bladud, but when the wonderful agility of the former was seen-- the ease with which he ducked and turned aside his head to evade blows, and the lightning speed with which he countered, giving a touch on the forehead or a dig in the ribs, smiling all the time as if to say, "how d'ye like it?" men's minds changed with shouts of surprise and satisfaction. and they highly approved of the way in which the champions smilingly shook hands after the bout was over--as they had done before it began. they did not, however, perceive the full value of the art until an ambitious young chief from ultima thule--a man of immense size and rugged mould with red hair--insisted on dromas giving him a lesson. the man from hellas declined at first, but the man from thule was urgent, and there seemed to be a feeling among the warriors that the young hellene was afraid. "it is so difficult," he explained, "to hit lightly and swiftly that sometimes an unintentionally hard blow is given, and men are apt to lose their tempers." this was received with a loud laugh by the thuler. "what! _i_ lose my temper on account of a friendly buffet! besides, i shall take care not to hit hard--you need not fear." "as you will," returned dromas, with a good-humoured smile. the thuler stood up and allowed his instructor to put him in the correct attitude. then the latter faced him and said, "now, guard yourself." next moment his left hand shot out and gently touched his opponent's nose. the thuler received the touch with what he deemed an orthodox smile and tried to guard it after it had been delivered. then he struck out with his left--being an apt pupil--but dromas drew back and the blow did not reach him. then he struck out smartly with his right, but the hellene put his head to one side and let it pass. again he struck out rapidly, one hand after the other, without much care whether the blows were light or heavy. dromas evaded both without guarding, and, in reply, gave the thuler a smartish touch on his unfortunate nose. this was received by the assemblage with a wild shout of surprise and delight, and the thuler became grave; collected himself as if for real business, and suddenly let out a shower of blows which, had they taken effect, would soon have ended the match, but his blows only fell on air, for dromas evaded them with ease, returning every now and then a tap on the old spot or a touch on the forehead. at last, seeing that the man was losing temper, he gave him a sharp dig in the wind which caused him to gasp, and a sounding buffet on the cheek which caused him to howl with rage and feel for the hilt of his sword. that dangerous weapon, however, had been judiciously removed by his friends. he therefore rushed at his antagonist, resolved to annihilate him, but was received with two genuine blows--one in the wind, the other on the forehead, which stretched him on the sward. the thuler rose therefrom with a dazed look, and accepted the hellene's friendly shake of the hand with an unmeaning smile. after the sports had continued for several days king hudibras proposed an excursion--a sort of gigantic picnic--to the hot swamp, where bladud and his friend had made up their mind to spend their honeymoon. arrived there, they found that immense progress had been made with the new city--insomuch that dromas assured hafrydda that it brought to his mind some very ancient fables of great cities rising spontaneously from the ground to the sound of pipes played by the gods. the baths, too, were in such an advanced stage that they were able to fill them on the arrival of the host and allow the interested and impatient chiefs to bathe. "don't let them go in till you give the signal that the baths are ready," said gadarn to the king in that grave, suppressed manner which indicated that the northern chief was inclined to mischief. "why?" asked the king. "because, as i understand, you love fair play and no favour. it would not be fair to let some begin before others. they might feel it, you know, and quarrel." "very well, so be it," returned the king, and gave orders that no one was to go near the baths until they were quite full, when he would give the signal. the chiefs and warriors entering into the spirit of the thing, took quite a boyish delight in stripping themselves and preparing for a rush. "now, are you ready?" said the king. "ay, all ready." "away, then!" the warlike host rushed to the brink of the largest bath and plunged in--some head, others feet, first. but they came out almost as fast as they went in--yelling and spluttering--for the water was much too hot! "ah! i see now," growled the king, turning to gadarn--but gadarn was gone. he found him, a minute later, behind a bush, in fits! pacifying the warriors with some difficulty--for they were a hot-headed generation--the king, being directed by bladud, ordered the water from the cold lake to be turned on until the bath became bearable. then the warriors re-entered it again more sedately. the warm water soon restored their equanimity, and ere long the unusual sight was to be seen of bearded men and smooth chins, rugged men and striplings, rolling about like porpoises, shouting, laughing, and indulging in horse-play like veritable boys. truly warmth has much to do with the felicity of mankind! towards afternoon the warriors were ordered to turn out, and, after the water had been allowed to run till it was clear, king hudibras descended into it with much gravity and a good deal of what was in those ages considered to be ceremonial effect. this was done by way of taking formal possession of the hot springs. he was greatly cheered during the process by the admiring visitors, as well as physically by the hot water, and it is said that while his son bladud was dutifully rubbing him down in the neighbouring booth, he remarked that it was the best bath he ever had in his life, that he would visit the place periodically as long as he lived, and that a palace must be built there for his accommodation. from that day the bath was named the "king's bath," and it is so named at the present day. soon after that the queen visited the swamp and, with her ladies, made use of the bath which had been specially prepared for women; and this one went by the name of the "queen's bath" thereafter. its site, however, is not now certainly known, and it is not to be confounded with the "queen's bath" of the present day, which was named after queen anne. prince bladud lived to carry out most of his plans. he built a palace for his father in swamptown. he built a palace for himself and branwen, with a wing to it for dromas and hafrydda, and took up his permanent abode there when he afterwards became king. at the death of his father he added another wing for the queen-mother--with internal doors opening from each wing to the other, in order that they might live, so to speak, as one family. this arrangement worked admirably until the families became large, and the younger members obstreperous, when the internal doors were occasionally, even frequently, shut. he also built a snug house for konar, and made him hunter-general to the royal household. it is said that, owing to the genial influence of bladud's kind nature, konar recovered his reason, and, forgetting the false fair-one who had jilted him, took to himself a helpmate who more than made up for her loss. captain arkal soon found that his passion for hot water cooled. as it did so, his love for salt water revived. he returned to hellas, and, after paying his respects to his pretty greek wife, and dandling the solid, square, bluff, and resolute baby, he reloaded his ship and returned to albion. thus he went and came for many years. little maikar, however, did not follow his example. true, he accompanied his old captain on his first trip to hellas, but that was for the purpose of getting possession of a dark-eyed maiden who awaited him there; with whom he returned to swamptown, and, in that lovely region, spent the remainder of his life. even addedomar was weaned from outlawry to honesty by the irresistible solicitations of bladud, and as, in modern times, many an incorrigible poacher makes a first-rate gamekeeper, so the robber-chief became an able head-huntsman under the hunter-general. the irony of fate decreed, however, that the man who had once contemplated three wives was not to marry at all. he dwelt with his mother ortrud to the end of her days in a small house not far from the residence of konar. gunrig's mother also dwelt with them--not that she had any particular regard for them personally, but in order that she might be near to the beautiful girl who had been beloved by her son. gadarn, the great northern chief, ever afterwards paid an annual visit to swamptown. while that visit lasted there was a general feeling in the palace--especially among the young people--that a jovial hurricane was blowing. during the daytime the gale made itself felt in loud hilarious laughter, song, and story. at night it blew steadily through his nose. after his departure an unaccountable calm seemed to settle down upon the whole region! beniah performed with powerful effect the task allotted to him, for, both by precept and example, he so set forth and obeyed the laws of god that the tone of society was imperceptibly elevated. men came to know, and to act upon the knowledge, that this world was not their rest; that there is a better life beyond, and, in the contemplation of that life, they, somehow, made this life more agreeable to themselves and to each other. time, which never intermits the beating of his fateful wings, flew by; the centuries rolled on; the roman invaders came; the norsemen and saxons came, the norman conquerors came, and each left their mark, deep and lasting, on the people and on the land--but they could not check by one hair's-breadth the perennial flow of the springs in the hot swamp, or obliterate the legend on which is founded this romance of old albion. the end. none images of public domain material from the google books project.) transcriber notes text emphasis id denoted as _italics_ and =bold=. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | the | | | | scarecrow of oz | | | | | | | | by | | | | l. frank baum | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ [illustration] ===== the famous oz books ===== since , when l. frank baum introduced to the children of america the wonderful wizard of oz and all the other exciting characters who inhabit the land of oz, these delightful fairy tales have stimulated the imagination of millions of young readers. these are stories which are genuine fantasy creative, funny, tender, exciting and surprising. filled with the rarest and most absurd creatures, each of the volumes which now comprise the series, has been eagerly sought out by generation after generation until to-day they are known to all except the very young or those who were never young at all. when, in a recent survey, the =new york times= polled a group of teen agers on the books they liked best when they were young, the oz books topped the list. the famous oz books ------------------- by l. frank baum: the wizard of oz the land of oz ozma of oz dorothy and the wizard in oz the road to oz the emerald city of oz the patchwork girl of oz tik-tok of oz the scarecrow of oz rinkitink in oz the lost princess of oz the tin woodman of oz the magic of oz glinda of oz chicago the reilly & lee co. _publishers_ [illustration: the scarecrow _of_ oz] dedicated to "the uplifters" of los angeles, california, in grateful appreciation of the pleasure i have derived from association with them, and in recognition of their sincere endeavor to uplift humanity through kindness, consideration and good-fellowship. they are big men all of them and all with the generous hearts of little children. l. frank baum [illustration] +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | the | | | | =scarecrow of oz= | | | | | | by | | | | l. frank baum | | | | author of | | | | the road to oz, dorothy and the wizard in oz, the emerald | | city of oz, the land of oz, ozma of oz. the patchwork girl | | of oz, tik-tok of oz | | | | | | | | [illustration] | | | | | | | | illustrated by | | john r. neill | | | | | | =the reilly & lee co= | | chicago | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | copyright | | | | by | | | | l frank baum | | | | all | | | | rights reserved | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ [illustration] 'twixt you and me the army of children which besieged the postoffice, conquered the postmen and delivered to me its imperious commands, insisted that trot and cap'n bill be admitted to the land of oz, where trot could enjoy the society of dorothy, betsy bobbin and ozma, while the one-legged sailor-man might become a comrade of the tin woodman, the shaggy man, tik-tok and all the other quaint people who inhabit this wonderful fairyland. it was no easy task to obey this order and land trot and cap'n bill safely in oz, as you will discover by reading this book. indeed, it required the best efforts of our dear old friend, the scarecrow, to save them from a dreadful fate on the journey; but the story leaves them happily located in ozma's splendid palace and dorothy has promised me that button-bright and the three girls are sure to encounter, in the near future, some marvelous adventures in the land of oz, which i hope to be permitted to relate to you in the next oz book. meantime, i am deeply grateful to my little readers for their continued enthusiasm over the oz stories, as evinced in the many letters they send me, all of which are lovingly cherished. it takes more and more oz books every year to satisfy the demands of old and new readers, and there have been formed many "oz reading societies," where the oz books owned by different members are read aloud. all this is very gratifying to me and encourages me to write more oz stories. when the children have had enough of them, i hope they will let me know, and then i'll try to write something different. l. frank baum "royal historian of oz." "ozcot" at hollywood in california, . [illustration] list of chapters the great whirlpool cavern under the sea the ork daylight at last! the little old man of the island the flight of the midgets the bumpy man button-bright is lost, and found again the kingdom of jinxland pon, the gardener's boy the wicked king and googly-goo the wooden-legged grasshopper glinda the good and the scarecrow of oz the frozen heart trot meets the scarecrow pon summons the king to surrender the ork rescues button-bright the scarecrow meets an enemy the conquest of the witch queen gloria dorothy, betsy and ozma the waterfall the land of oz the royal reception [illustration] [illustration] [illustration: cap'n bill] chapter the great whirlpool "seems to me," said cap'n bill, as he sat beside trot under the big acacia tree, looking out over the blue ocean, "seems to me, trot, as how the more we know, the more we find we don't know." "i can't quite make that out, cap'n bill," answered the little girl in a serious voice, after a moment's thought, during which her eyes followed those of the old sailor-man across the glassy surface of the sea. "seems to me that all we learn is jus' so much gained." "i know; it looks that way at first sight," said the sailor, nodding his head; "but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin' they know all there is to know, while them as knows the most admits what a turr'ble big world this is. it's the knowing ones that realize one lifetime ain't long enough to git more'n a few dips o' the oars of knowledge." trot didn't answer. she was a very little girl, with big, solemn eyes and an earnest, simple manner. cap'n bill had been her faithful companion for years and had taught her almost everything she knew. he was a wonderful man, this cap'n bill. not so very old, although his hair was grizzled--what there was of it. most of his head was bald as an egg and as shiny as oilcloth, and this made his big ears stick out in a funny way. his eyes had a gentle look and were pale blue in color, and his round face was rugged and bronzed. cap'n bill's left leg was missing, from the knee down, and that was why the sailor no longer sailed the seas. the wooden leg he wore was good enough to stump around with on land, or even to take trot out for a row or a sail on the ocean, but when it came to "runnin' up aloft" or performing active duties on shipboard, the old sailor was not equal to the task. the loss of his leg had ruined his career and the old sailor found comfort in devoting himself to the education and companionship of the little girl. [illustration: the old sailor devoted himself to the education of the little girl.] the accident to cap'n bill's leg had happened at about the time trot was born, and ever since that he had lived with trot's mother as "a star boarder," having enough money saved up to pay for his weekly "keep." he loved the baby and often held her on his lap; her first ride was on cap'n bill's shoulders, for she had no baby-carriage; and when she began to toddle around, the child and the sailor became close comrades and enjoyed many strange adventures together. it is said the fairies had been present at trot's birth and had marked her forehead with their invisible mystic signs, so that she was able to see and do many wonderful things. the acacia tree was on top of a high bluff, but a path ran down the bank in a zigzag way to the water's edge, where cap'n bill's boat was moored to a rock by means of a stout cable. it had been a hot, sultry afternoon, with scarcely a breath of air stirring, so cap'n bill and trot had been quietly sitting beneath the shade of the tree, waiting for the sun to get low enough for them to take a row. they had decided to visit one of the great caves which the waves had washed out of the rocky coast during many years of steady effort. the caves were a source of continual delight to both the girl and the sailor, who loved to explore their awesome depths. "i b'lieve, cap'n," remarked trot, at last, "that it's time for us to start." the old man cast a shrewd glance at the sky, the sea and the motionless boat. then he shook his head. "mebbe it's time, trot," he answered, "but i don't jes' like the looks o' things this afternoon." "what's wrong?" she asked wonderingly. "can't say as to that. things is too quiet to suit me, that's all. no breeze, not a ripple a-top the water, nary a gull a-flyin' anywhere, an' the end o' the hottest day o' the year. i ain't no weather-prophet, trot, but any sailor would know the signs is ominous." "there's nothing wrong that i can see," said trot. "if there was a cloud in the sky even as big as my thumb, we might worry about it; but--look, cap'n!--the sky is as clear as can be." he looked again and nodded. "p'r'aps we can make the cave, all right," he agreed, not wishing to disappoint her. "it's only a little way out, an' we'll be on the watch; so come along, trot." together they descended the winding path to the beach. it was no trouble for the girl to keep her footing on the steep way, but cap'n bill, because of his wooden leg, had to hold on to rocks and roots now and then to save himself from tumbling. on a level path he was as spry as anyone, but to climb up hill or down required some care. they reached the boat safely and while trot was untying the rope cap'n bill reached into a crevice of the rock and drew out several tallow candles and a box of wax matches, which he thrust into the capacious pockets of his "sou'wester." this sou'wester was a short coat of oilskin which the old sailor wore on all occasions--when he wore a coat at all--and the pockets always contained a variety of objects, useful and ornamental, which made even trot wonder where they all came from and why cap'n bill should treasure them. the jackknives--a big one and a little one--the bits of cord, the fishhooks, the nails: these were handy to have on certain occasions. but bits of shell, and tin boxes with unknown contents, buttons, pincers, bottles of curious stones and the like, seemed quite unnecessary to carry around. that was cap'n bill's business, however, and now that he added the candles and the matches to his collection trot made no comment, for she knew these last were to light their way through the caves. the sailor always rowed the boat, for he handled the oars with strength and skill. trot sat in the stern and steered. the place where they embarked was a little bight or circular bay, and the boat cut across a much larger bay toward a distant headland where the caves were located, right at the water's edge. they were nearly a mile from shore and about half-way across the bay when trot suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed: "what's that, cap'n?" he stopped rowing and turned half around to look. [illustration] "that, trot," he slowly replied, "looks to me mighty like a whirlpool." "what makes it, cap'n?" "a whirl in the air makes the whirl in the water. i was afraid as we'd meet with trouble, trot. things didn't look right. the air was too still." "it's coming closer," said the girl. the old man grabbed the oars and began rowing with all his strength. "'tain't comin' closer to us, trot," he gasped; "it's we that are comin' closer to the whirlpool. the thing is drawin' us to it like a magnet!" trot's sun-bronzed face was a little paler as she grasped the tiller firmly and tried to steer the boat away; but she said not a word to indicate fear. the swirl of the water as they came nearer made a roaring sound that was fearful to listen to. so fierce and powerful was the whirlpool that it drew the surface of the sea into the form of a great basin, slanting downward toward the center, where a big hole had been made in the ocean--a hole with walls of water that were kept in place by the rapid whirling of the air. the boat in which trot and cap'n bill were riding was just on the outer edge of this saucer-like slant, and the old sailor knew very well that unless he could quickly force the little craft away from the rushing current they would soon be drawn into the great black hole that yawned in the middle. so he exerted all his might and pulled as he had never pulled before. he pulled so hard that the left oar snapped in two and sent cap'n bill sprawling upon the bottom of the boat. he scrambled up quickly enough and glanced over the side. then he looked at trot, who sat quite still, with a serious, far-away look in her sweet eyes. the boat was now speeding swiftly of its own accord, following the line of the circular basin round and round and gradually drawing nearer to the great hole in the center. any further effort to escape the whirlpool was useless, and realizing this fact cap'n bill turned toward trot and put an arm around her, as if to shield her from the awful fate before them. he did not try to speak, because the roar of the waters would have drowned the sound of his voice. these two faithful comrades had faced dangers before, but nothing to equal that which now faced them. yet cap'n bill, noting the look in trot's eyes and remembering how often she had been protected by unseen powers, did not quite give way to despair. the great hole in the dark water--now growing nearer and nearer--looked very terrifying; but they were both brave enough to face it and await the result of the adventure. [illustration] chapter the cavern under the sea the circles were so much smaller at the bottom of the basin, and the boat moved so much more swiftly, that trot was beginning to get dizzy with the motion, when suddenly the boat made a leap and dived headlong into the murky depths of the hole. whirling like tops, but still clinging together, the sailor and the girl were separated from their boat and plunged down--down--down--into the farthermost recesses of the great ocean. at first their fall was swift as an arrow, but presently they seemed to be going more moderately and trot was almost sure that unseen arms were about her, supporting her and protecting her. she could see nothing, because the water filled her eyes and blurred her vision, but she clung fast to cap'n bill's sou'wester, while other arms clung fast to her, and so they gradually sank down and down until a full stop was made, when they began to ascend again. but it seemed to trot that they were not rising straight to the surface from where they had come. the water was no longer whirling them and they seemed to be drawn in a slanting direction through still, cool ocean depths. and then--in much quicker time than i have told it--up they popped to the surface and were cast at full length upon a sandy beach, where they lay choking and gasping for breath and wondering what had happened to them. trot was the first to recover. disengaging herself from cap'n bill's wet embrace and sitting up, she rubbed the water from her eyes and then looked around her. a soft, bluish-green glow lighted the place, which seemed to be a sort of cavern, for above and on either side of her were rugged rocks. they had been cast upon a beach of clear sand, which slanted upward from the pool of water at their feet--a pool which doubtless led into the big ocean that fed it. above the reach of the waves of the pool were more rocks, and still more and more, into the dim windings and recesses of which the glowing light from the water did not penetrate. the place looked grim and lonely, but trot was thankful that she was still alive and had suffered no severe injury during her trying adventure under water. at her side cap'n bill was sputtering and coughing, trying to get rid of the water he had swallowed. both of them were soaked through, yet the cavern was warm and comfortable and a wetting did not dismay the little girl in the least. she crawled up the slant of sand and gathered in her hand a bunch of dried seaweed, with which she mopped the face of cap'n bill and cleared the water from his eyes and ears. presently the old man sat up and stared at her intently. then he nodded his bald head three times and said in a gurgling voice: "mighty good, trot; mighty good! we didn't reach davy jones's locker that time, did we? though why we didn't, an' why we're here, is more'n i kin make out." "take it easy, cap'n," she replied. "we're safe enough, i guess, at least for the time being." he squeezed the water out of the bottoms of his loose trousers and felt of his wooden leg and arms and head, and finding he had brought all of his person with him he gathered courage to examine closely their surroundings. "where d'ye think we are, trot?" he presently asked. "can't say, cap'n. p'r'aps in one of our caves." he shook his head. "no," said he, "i don't think that, at all. the distance we came up didn't seem half as far as the distance we went down; an' you'll notice there ain't any outside entrance to this cavern whatever. it's a reg'lar dome over this pool o' water, and unless there's some passage at the back, up yonder, we're fast pris'ners." trot looked thoughtfully over her shoulder. "when we're rested," she said, "we will crawl up there and see if there's a way to get out." cap'n bill reached in the pocket of his oilskin coat and took out his pipe. it was still dry, for he kept it in an oilskin pouch with his tobacco. his matches were in a tight tin box, so in a few moments the old sailor was smoking contentedly. trot knew it helped him to think when he was in any difficulty. also, the pipe did much to restore the old sailor's composure, after his long ducking and his terrible fright--a fright that was more on trot's account than his own. the sand was dry where they sat, and soaked up the water that dripped from their clothing. when trot had squeezed the wet out of her hair she began to feel much like her old self again. by and by they got upon their feet and crept up the incline to the scattered boulders above. some of these were of huge size, but by passing between some and around others, they were able to reach the extreme rear of the cavern. "yes," said trot, with interest, "here's a round hole." "and it's black as night inside it," remarked cap'n bill. "just the same," answered the girl, "we ought to explore it, and see where it goes, 'cause it's the only poss'ble way we can get out of this place." cap'n bill eyed the hole doubtfully. "it may be a way out o' here, trot," he said, "but it may be a way into a far worse place than this. i'm not sure but our best plan is to stay right here." trot wasn't sure, either, when she thought of it in that light.. after awhile she made her way back to the sands again, and cap'n bill followed her. as they sat down, the child looked thoughtfully at the sailor's bulging pockets. [illustration: trot] "how much food have we got, cap'n?" she asked. "half a dozen ship's biscuits an' a hunk o' cheese," he replied. "want some now, trot?" she shook her head, saying: "that ought to keep us alive 'bout three days if we're careful of it." "longer'n that, trot," said cap'n bill, but his voice was a little troubled and unsteady. "but if we stay here we're bound to starve in time," continued the girl, "while if we go into the dark hole--" "some things are more hard to face than starvation," said the sailor-man, gravely. "we don't know what's inside that dark hole. trot, nor where it might lead us to." "there's a way to find that out," she persisted. instead of replying, cap'n bill began searching in his pockets. he soon drew out a little package of fishhooks and a long line. trot watched him join them together. then he crept a little way up the slope and turned over a big rock. two or three small crabs began scurrying away over the sands and the old sailor caught them and put one on his hook and the others in his pocket. coming back to the pool he swung the hook over his shoulder and circled it around his head and cast it nearly into the center of the water, where he allowed it to sink gradually, paying out the line as far as it would go. when the end was reached, he began drawing it in again, until the crab bait was floating on the surface. trot watched him cast the line a second time, and a third. she decided that either there were no fishes in the pool or they would not bite the crab bait. but cap'n bill was an old fisherman and not easily discouraged. when the crab got away he put another on the hook. when the crabs were all gone he climbed up the rocks and found some more. meantime trot tired of watching him and lay down upon the sands, where she fell fast asleep. during the next two hours her clothing dried completely, as did that of the old sailor. they were both so used to salt water that there was no danger of taking cold. finally the little girl was wakened by a splash beside her and a grunt of satisfaction from cap'n bill. she opened her eyes to find that the cap'n had landed a silver-scaled fish weighing about two pounds. this cheered her considerably and she hurried to scrape together a heap of seaweed, while cap'n bill cut up the fish with his jackknife and got it ready for cooking. they had cooked fish with seaweed before. cap'n bill wrapped his fish in some of the weed and dipped it in the water to dampen it. then he lighted a match and set fire to trot's heap, which speedily burned down to a glowing bed of ashes. then they laid the wrapped fish on the ashes, covered it with more seaweed, and allowed this to catch fire and burn to embers. after feeding the fire with seaweed for some time, the sailor finally decided that their supper was ready, so he scattered the ashes and drew out the bits of fish, still encased in their smoking wrappings. when these wrappings were removed, the fish was found thoroughly cooked and both trot and cap'n bill ate of it freely. it had a slight flavor of seaweed and would have been better with a sprinkling of salt. the soft glow which until now had lighted the cavern, began to grow dim, but there was a great quantity of seaweed in the place, so after they had eaten their fish they kept the fire alive for a time by giving it a handful of fuel now and then. from an inner pocket the sailor drew a small flask of battered metal and unscrewing the cap handed it to trot. she took but one swallow of the water, although she wanted more, and she noticed that cap'n bill merely wet his lips with it. "s'pose," said she, staring at the glowing seaweed fire and speaking slowly, "that we can catch all the fish we need; how 'bout the drinking-water, cap'n?" he moved uneasily but did not reply. both of them were thinking about the dark hole, but while trot had little fear of it the old man could not overcome his dislike to enter the place. he knew that trot was right, though. to remain in the cavern, where they now were, could only result in slow but sure death. it was nighttime upon the earth's surface, so the little girl became drowsy and soon fell asleep. after a time the old sailor slumbered on the sands beside her. it was very still and nothing disturbed them for hours. when at last they awoke the cavern was light again. they had divided one of the biscuits and were munching it for breakfast when they were startled by a sudden splash in the pool. looking toward it they saw emerging from the water the most curious creature either of them had ever beheld. it wasn't a fish, trot decided, nor was it a beast. it had wings, though, and queer wings they were: shaped like an inverted chopping-bowl and covered with tough skin instead of feathers. it had four legs--much like the legs of a stork, only double the number--and its head was shaped a good deal like that of a poll parrot, with a beak that curved downward in front and upward at the edges, and was half bill and half mouth. but to call it a bird was out of the question, because it had feathers whatever except a crest of wavy plumes of a scarlet color on the very top of its head. the strange creature must have weighed as much as cap'n bill, and as it floundered and struggled to get out of the water to the sandy beach it was so big and unusual that both trot and her companion stared at it in wonder--in wonder that was not unmixed with fear. [illustration] [illustration] chapter the ork the eyes that regarded them, as the creature stood dripping before them, were bright and mild in expression, and the queer addition to their party made no attempt to attack them and seemed quite as surprised by the meeting as they were. "i wonder," whispered trot, "what it is." "who, me?" exclaimed the creature in a shrill, high-pitched voice. "why, i'm an ork." "oh!" said the girl. "but what is an ork?" "i am," he repeated, a little proudly, as he shook the water from his funny wings; "and if ever an ork was glad to be out of the water and on dry land again, you can be mighty sure that i'm that especial, individual ork!" "have you been in the water long?" inquired cap'n bill, thinking it only polite to show an interest in the strange creature.. "why, this last ducking was about ten minutes, i believe, and that's about nine minutes and sixty seconds too long for comfort," was the reply. "but last night i was in an awful pickle, i assure you. the whirlpool caught me, and--" "oh, were you in the whirlpool, too?" asked trot eagerly. he gave her a glance that was somewhat reproachful. "i believe i was mentioning the fact, young lady, when your desire to talk interrupted me," said the ork. "i am not usually careless in my actions, but that whirlpool was so busy yesterday that i thought i'd see what mischief it was up to. so i flew a little too near it and the suction of the air drew me down into the depths of the ocean. water and i are natural enemies, and it would have conquered me this time had not a bevy of pretty mermaids come to my assistance and dragged me away from the whirling water and far up into a cavern, where they deserted me." "why, that's about the same thing that happened to us," cried trot. "was your cavern like this one?" "i haven't examined this one yet," answered the ork; "but if they happen to be alike i shudder at our fate, for the other one was a prison, with no outlet except by means of the water. i stayed there all night, however, and this morning i plunged into the pool, as far down as i could go, and then swam as hard and as far as i could. the rocks scraped my back, now and then, and i barely escaped the clutches of an ugly sea-monster; but by and by i came to the surface to catch my breath, and found myself here. that's the whole story, and as i see you have something to eat i entreat you to give me a share of it. the truth is, i'm half starved." with these words the ork squatted down beside them. very reluctantly cap'n bill drew another biscuit from his pocket and held it out. the ork promptly seized it in one of its front claws and began to nibble the biscuit in much the same manner a parrot might have done. "we haven't much grub," said the sailor-man, "but we're willin' to share it with a comrade in distress." "that's right," returned the ork, cocking its head sidewise in a cheerful manner, and then for a few minutes there was silence while they all ate of the biscuits. after a while trot said: "i've never seen or heard of an ork before. are there many of you?" "we are rather few and exclusive, i believe," was the reply. "in the country where i was born we are the absolute rulers of all living things, from ants to elephants." "what country is that?" asked cap'n bill. "orkland." "where does it lie?" "i don't know, exactly. you see, i have a restless nature, for some reason, while all the rest of my race are quiet and contented orks and seldom stray far from home. from childhood days i loved to fly long distances away, although father often warned me that i would get into trouble by so doing. "'it's a big world, flipper, my son,' he would say, 'and i've heard that in parts of it live queer two-legged creatures called men, who war upon all other living things and would have little respect for even an ork.' "this naturally aroused my curiosity and after i had completed my education and left school i decided to fly out into the world and try to get a glimpse of the creatures called men. so i left home without saying good-bye, an act i shall always regret. adventures were many, i found. i sighted men several times, but have never before been so close to them as now. also i had to fight my way through the air, for i met gigantic birds, with fluffy feathers all over them, which attacked me fiercely. besides, it kept me busy escaping from floating airships. in my rambling i had lost all track of distance or direction, so that when i wanted to go home i had no idea where my country was located. i've now been trying to find it for several months and it was during one of my flights over the ocean that i met the whirlpool and became its victim." trot and cap'n bill listened to this recital with much interest, and from the friendly tone and harmless appearance of the ork they judged he was not likely to prove so disagreeable a companion as at first they had feared he might be. the ork sat upon its haunches much as a cat does, but used the finger-like claws of its front legs almost as cleverly as if they were hands. perhaps the most curious thing about the creature was its tail, or what ought to have been its tail. this queer arrangement of skin, bones and muscle was shaped like the propellers used on boats and airships, having fan-like surfaces and being pivoted to its body. cap'n bill knew something of mechanics, and observing the propeller-like tail of the ork he said: "i s'pose you're a pretty swift flyer?" "yes, indeed; the orks are admitted to be kings of the air." "your wings don't seem to amount to much," remarked trot. "well, they are not very big," admitted the ork, waving the four hollow skins gently to and fro, "but they serve to support my body in the air while i speed along by means of my tail. still, taken altogether, i'm very handsomely formed, don't you think?" trot did not like to reply, but cap'n bill nodded gravely. "for an ork," said he, "you're a wonder. i've never seen one afore, but i can imagine you're as good as any." that seemed to please the creature and it began walking around the cavern, making its way easily up the slope. while it was gone, trot and cap'n bill each took another sip from the water-flask, to wash down their breakfast. "why, here's a hole--an exit--an outlet!" exclaimed the ork from above. "we know," said trot. "we found it last night." "well, then, let's be off," continued the ork, after sticking its head into the black hole and sniffing once or twice. "the air seems fresh and sweet, and it can't lead us to any worse place than this." [illustration] the girl and the sailor-man got up and climbed to the side of the ork. "we'd about decided to explore this hole before you came," explained cap'n bill; "but it's a dangerous place to navigate in the dark, so wait till i light a candle." "what is a candle?" inquired the ork. "you'll see in a minute," said trot. the old sailor drew one of the candles from his right-side pocket and the tin matchbox from his left-side pocket. when he lighted the match the ork gave a startled jump and eyed the flame suspiciously; but cap'n bill proceeded to light the candle and the action interested the ork very much. "light," it said, somewhat nervously, "is valuable in a hole of this sort. the candle is not dangerous, i hope?" "sometimes it burns your fingers," answered trot, "but that's about the worst it can do--'cept to blow out when you don't want it to." cap'n bill shielded the flame with his hand and crept into the hole. it wasn't any too big for a grown man, but after he had crawled a few feet it grew larger. trot came close behind him and then the ork followed. "seems like a reg'lar tunnel," muttered the sailor-man, who was creeping along awkwardly because of his wooden leg. the rocks, too, hurt his knees. for nearly half an hour the three moved slowly along the tunnel, which made many twists and turns and sometimes slanted downward and sometimes upward. finally cap'n bill stopped short, with an exclamation of disappointment, and held the flickering candle far ahead to light the scene. "what's wrong?' demanded trot, who could see nothing because the sailor's form completely filled the hole. "why, we've come to the end of our travels, i guess," he replied. "is the hole blocked?" inquired the ork. "no; it's wuss nor that," replied cap'n bill sadly. "i'm on the edge of a precipice. wait a minute an' i'll move along and let you see for yourselves. be careful, trot, not to fall." then he crept forward a little and moved to one side, holding the candle so that the girl could see to follow him. the ork came next and now all three knelt on a narrow ledge of rock which dropped straight away and left a huge black space which the tiny flame of the candle could not illuminate. "h-m!" said the ork, peering over the edge; "this doesn't look very promising, i'll admit. but let me take your candle, and i'll fly down and see what's below us." "aren't you afraid?" asked trot. "certainly i'm afraid," responded the ork. "but if we intend to escape we can't stay on this shelf forever. so, as i notice you poor creatures cannot fly, it is my duty to explore the place for you." cap'n bill handed the ork the candle, which had now burned to about half its length. the ork took it in one claw rather cautiously and then tipped its body forward and slipped over the edge. they heard a queer buzzing sound, as the tail revolved, and a brisk flapping of the peculiar wings, but they were more interested just then in following with their eyes the tiny speck of light which marked the location of the candle. this light first made a great circle, then dropped slowly downward and suddenly was extinguished, leaving everything before them black as ink. "hi, there! how did that happen?" cried the ork. "it blew out, i guess," shouted cap'n bill. "fetch it here." "i can't see where you are," said the ork. so cap'n bill got out another candle and lighted it, and its flame enabled the ork to fly back to them. it alighted on the edge and held out the bit of candle. "what made it stop burning?" asked the creature. "the wind," said trot. "you must be more careful, this time." "what's the place like?" inquired cap'n bill. "i don't know, yet; but there must be a bottom to it, so i'll try to find it." with this the ork started out again and this time sank downward more slowly. down, down, down it went, till the candle was a mere spark, and then it headed away to the left and trot and cap'n bill lost all sight of it. [illustration] in a few minutes, however, they saw the spark of light again, and as the sailor still held the second lighted candle the ork made straight toward them. it was only a few yards distant when suddenly it dropped the candle with a cry of pain and next moment alighted, fluttering wildly, upon the rocky ledge. "what's the matter?" asked trot. "it bit me!" wailed the ork. "i don't like your candles. the thing began to disappear slowly as soon as i took it in my claw, and it grew smaller and smaller until just now it turned and bit me--a most unfriendly thing to do. oh--oh! ouch, what a bite!" "that's the nature of candles, i'm sorry to say," explained cap'n bill, with a grin. "you have to handle 'em mighty keerful. but tell us, what did you find down there?" "i found a way to continue our journey," said the ork, nursing tenderly the claw which had been burned. "just below us is a great lake of black water, which looked so cold and wicked that it made me shudder; but away at the left there's a big tunnel, which we can easily walk through. i don't know where it leads to, of course, but we must follow it and find out." "why, we can't get to it," protested the little girl. "we can't fly, as you do, you must remember." "no, that's true," replied the ork musingly. "your bodies are built very poorly, it seems to me, since all you can do is crawl upon the earth's surface. but you may ride upon my back, and in that way t can promise you a safe journey to the tunnel." "are you strong enough to carry us?" asked cap'n bill, doubtfully. "yes, indeed; i'm strong enough to carry a dozen of you, if you could find a place to sit," was the reply; "but there's only room between my wings for one at a time, so i'll have to make two trips." "all right; i'll go first," decided cap'n bill. he lit another candle for trot to hold while they were gone and to light the ork on his return to her, and then the old sailor got upon the ork's back, where he sat with his wooden leg sticking straight out sidewise. "if you start to fall, clasp your arms around my neck," advised the creature. "if i start to fall, it's good night an' pleasant dreams," said cap'n bill. "all ready?" asked the ork. "start the buzz-tail," said cap'n bill, with a tremble in his voice. but the ork flew away so gently that the old man never even tottered in his seat. trot watched the light of cap'n bill's candle till it disappeared in the far distance. she didn't like to be left alone on this dangerous ledge, with a lake of black water hundreds of feet below her; but she was a brave little girl and waited patiently for the return of the ork. it came even sooner than she had expected and the creature said to her: "your friend is safe in the tunnel. now, then, get aboard and i'll carry you to him in a jiffy." i'm sure not many little girls would have cared to take that awful ride through the huge black cavern on the back of a skinny ork. trot didn't care for it, herself, but it just had to be done and so she did it as courageously as possible. her heart beat fast and she was so nervous she could scarcely hold the candle in her fingers as the ork sped swiftly through the darkness. it seemed like a long ride to her, yet in reality the ork covered the distance in a wonderfully brief period of time and soon trot stood safely beside cap'n bill on the level floor of a big arched tunnel. the sailor-man was very glad to greet his little comrade again and both were grateful to the ork for his assistance. "i dunno where this tunnel leads to," remarked cap'n bill, "but it surely looks more promisin' than that other hole we crept through." "when the ork is rested," said trot, "we'll travel on and see what happens." "rested!" cried the ork, as scornfully as his shrill voice would allow. "that bit of flying didn't tire me at all. i'm used to flying days at a time, without ever once stopping." "then let's move on," proposed cap'n bill. he still held in his hand one lighted candle, so trot blew out the other flame and placed her candle in the sailor's big pocket. she knew it was not wise to burn two candles at once. the tunnel was straight and smooth and very easy to walk through, so they made good progress. trot thought that the tunnel began about two miles from the cavern where they had been cast by the whirlpool, but now it was impossible to guess the miles traveled, for they walked steadily for hours and hours without any change in their surroundings. finally cap'n bill stopped to rest. "there's somethin' queer about this 'ere tunnel, i'm certain," he declared, wagging his head dolefully. "here's three candles gone a'ready, an' only three more left us, yet the tunnel's the same as it was when we started. an' how long it's goin' to keep up, no one knows." "couldn't we walk without a light?" asked trot. "the way seems safe enough." "it does right now," was the reply, "but we can't tell when we are likely to come to another gulf, or somethin' jes' as dangerous. in that case we'd be killed afore we knew it." "suppose i go ahead?" suggested the ork. "i don't fear a fall, you know, and if anything happens i'll call out and warn you." "that's a good idea," declared trot, and cap'n bill thought so, too. so the ork started off ahead, quite in the dark, and hand in hand the two followed him. when they had walked in this way for a good long time the ork halted and demanded food. cap'n bill had not mentioned food because there was so little left--only three biscuits and a lump of cheese about as big as his two fingers--but he gave the ork half of a biscuit, sighing as he did so. the creature didn't care for the cheese, so the sailor divided it between himself and trot. they lighted a candle and sat down in the tunnel while they ate. "my feet hurt me," grumbled the ork. "i'm not used to walking and this rocky passage is so uneven and lumpy that it hurts me to walk upon it." "can't you fly along?" asked trot. "no; the roof is too low," said the ork. after the meal they resumed their journey, which trot began to fear would never end. when cap'n bill noticed how tired the little girl was, he paused and lighted a match and looked at his big silver watch. "why, it's night!" he exclaimed. "we've tramped all day, an' still we're in this awful passage, which mebbe goes straight through the middle of the world, an' mebbe is a circle--in which case we can keep walkin' till doomsday. not knowin' what's before us so well as we know what's behind us, i propose we make a stop, now, an' try to sleep till mornin'." "that will suit me," asserted the ork, with a groan. "my feet are hurting me dreadfully and for the last few miles i've been limping with pain." "my foot hurts, too," said the sailor, looking for a smooth place on the rocky floor to sit down. "_your_ foot!" cried the ork. "why, you've only one to hurt you, while i have four. so i suffer four times as much as you possibly can. here; hold the candle while i look at the bottoms of my claws. i declare," he said, examining them by the flickering light, "there are bunches of pain all over them!" "p'r'aps," said trot, who was very glad to sit down beside her companions, "you've got corns." "corns? nonsense! orks never have corns," protested the creature, rubbing its sore feet tenderly. "then mebbe they're--they're--what do you call 'em, cap'n bill? something 'bout the pilgrim's progress, you know." "bunions," said cap'n bill. "oh, yes; mebbe you've got bunions." "it is possible," moaned the ork. "but whatever they are, another day of such walking on them would drive me crazy." "i'm sure they'll feel better by mornin'," said cap'n bill, encouragingly. "go to sleep an' try to forget your sore feet." the ork cast a reproachful look at the sailor-man, who didn't see it. then the creature asked plaintively: "do we eat now, or do we starve?" "there's only half a biscuit left for you," answered cap'n bill. "no one knows how long we'll have to stay in this dark tunnel, where there's nothing whatever to eat; so i advise you to save that morsel o' food till later." "give it me now!" demanded the ork. "if i'm going to starve, i'll do it all at once--not by degrees." cap'n bill produced the biscuit and the creature ate it in a trice. trot was rather hungry and whispered to cap'n bill that she'd take part of her share; but the old man secretly broke his own half-biscuit in two, saving trot's share for a time of greater need. he was beginning to be worried over the little girl's plight and long after she was asleep and the ork was snoring in a rather disagreeable manner, cap'n bill sat with his back to a rock and smoked his pipe and tried to think of some way to escape from this seemingly endless tunnel. but after a time he also slept, for hobbling on a wooden leg all day was tiresome, and there in the dark slumbered the three adventurers for many hours, until the ork roused itself and kicked the old sailor with one foot. "it must be another day," said he. [illustration] [illustration] chapter daylight at last cap'n bill rubbed his eyes, lit a match and consulted his watch. "nine o'clock. yes, i guess it's another day, sure enough. shall we go on?' he asked. "of course," replied the ork. "unless this tunnel is different from everything else in the world, and has no end, we'll find a way out of it sooner or later." the sailor gently wakened trot. she felt much rested by her long sleep and sprang to her feet eagerly. "let's start, cap'n," was all she said. they resumed the journey and had only taken a few steps when the ork cried "wow!" and made a great fluttering of its wings and whirling of its tail. the others, who were following a short distance behind, stopped abruptly. "what's the matter?" asked cap'n bill. "give us a light," was the reply. "i think we've come to the end of the tunnel." then, while cap'n bill lighted a candle, the creature added: "if that is true, we needn't have wakened so soon, for we were almost at the end of this place when we went to sleep." the sailor-man and trot came forward with a light. a wall of rock really faced the tunnel, but now they saw that the opening made a sharp turn to the left. so they followed on, by a narrower passage, and then made another sharp turn--this time to the right. "blow out the light, cap'n," said the ork, in a pleased voice. "we've struck daylight." daylight at last! a shaft of mellow light fell almost at their feet as trot and the sailor turned the corner of the passage, but it came from above, and raising their eyes they found they were at the bottom of a deep, rocky well, with the top far, far above their heads. and here the passage ended. [illustration] for a while they gazed in silence, at least two of them being filled with dismay at the sight. but the ork merely whistled softly and said cheerfully: "that was the toughest journey i ever had the misfortune to undertake, and i'm glad it's over. yet, unless i can manage to fly to the top of this pit, we are entombed here forever." "do you think there is room enough for you to fly in?" asked the little girl anxiously; and cap'n bill added: "it's a straight-up shaft, so i don't see how you'll ever manage it." "were i an ordinary bird--one of those horrid feathered things--i wouldn't even make the attempt to fly out," said the ork. "but my mechanical propeller tail can accomplish wonders, and whenever you're ready i'll show you a trick that is worth while." "oh!" exclaimed trot; "do you intend to take us up, too?" "why not?" "i thought," said cap'n bill, "as you'd go first, an' then send somebody to help us by lettin' down a rope." "ropes are dangerous," replied the ork, "and i might not be able to find one to reach all this distance. besides, it stands to reason that if i can get out myself i can also carry you two with me." "well, i'm not afraid," said trot, who longed to be on the earth's surface again. "s'pose we fall?'' suggested cap'n bill, doubtfully. "why, in that case we would all fall together," returned the ork. "get aboard, little girl; sit across my shoulders and put both your arms around my neck." trot obeyed and when she was seated on the ork, cap'n bill inquired: "how 'bout me, mr. ork?" "why, i think you'd best grab hold of my rear legs and let me carry you up in that manner," was the reply. cap'n bill looked way up at the top of the well, and then he looked at the ork's slender, skinny legs and heaved a deep sigh. "it's goin' to be some dangle, i guess; but if you don't waste too much time on the way up, i may be able to hang on," said he. "all ready, then!" cried the ork, and at once his whirling tail began to revolve. trot felt herself rising into the air; when the creature's legs left the ground cap'n bill grasped two of them firmly and held on for dear life. the ork's body was tipped straight upward, and trot had to embrace the neck very tightly to keep from sliding off. even in this position the ork had trouble in escaping the rough sides of the well. several times it exclaimed "wow!" as it bumped its back, or a wing hit against some jagged projection; but the tail kept whirling with remarkable swiftness and the daylight grew brighter and brighter. it was, indeed, a long journey from the bottom to the top, yet almost before trot realized they had come so far, they popped out of the hole into the clear air and sunshine and a moment later the ork alighted gently upon the ground. [illustration] the release was so sudden that even with the creature's care for its passengers cap'n bill struck the earth with a shock that sent him rolling heel over head; but by the time trot had slid down from her seat the old sailor-man was sitting up and looking around him with much satisfaction. "it's sort o' pretty here," said he. "earth is a beautiful place!" cried trot. "i wonder where on earth we are?' pondered the ork, turning first one bright eye and then the other to this side and that. trees there were, in plenty, and shrubs and flowers and green turf. but there were no houses; there were no paths; there was no sign of civilization whatever. "just before i settled down on the ground i thought i caught a view of the ocean," said the ork. "let's see if i was right." then he flew to a little hill, near by, and trot and cap'n bill followed him more slowly. when they stood on the top of the hill they could see the blue waves of the ocean in front of them, to the right of them, and at the left of them. behind the hill was a forest that shut out the view. "i hope it ain't an island, trot," said cap'n bill gravely. "if it is, i s'pose we're prisoners," she replied. "ezzackly so, trot." "but, even so, it's better than those terr'ble underground tunnels and caverns," declared the girl. "you are right, little one," agreed the ork. "anything above ground is better than the best that lies under ground. so let's not quarrel with our fate but be thankful we've escaped." "we are, indeed!" she replied. "but i wonder if we can find something to eat in this place?" "let's explore an' find out," proposed cap'n bill. "those trees over at the left look like cherry-trees." on the way to them the explorers had to walk through a tangle of vines and cap'n bill, who went first, stumbled and pitched forward on his face. "why, it's a melon!" cried trot delightedly, as she saw what had caused the sailor to fall. [illustration] cap'n bill rose to his foot, for he was not at all hurt, and examined the melon. then he took his big jackknife from his pocket and cut the melon open. it was quite ripe and looked delicious; but the old man tasted it before he permitted trot to eat any. deciding it was good he gave her a big slice and then offered the ork some. the creature looked at the fruit somewhat disdainfully, at first, but once he had tasted its flavor he ate of it as heartily as did the others. among the vines they discovered many other melons, and trot said gratefully: "well, there's no danger of our starving, even if this _is_ an island." "melons," remarked cap'n bill, "are both food an' water. we couldn't have struck anything better." farther on they came to the cherry-trees, where they obtained some of the fruit, and at the edge of the little forest were wild plums. the forest itself consisted entirely of nut trees--walnuts, filberts, almonds and chestnuts--so there would be plenty of wholesome food for them while they remained there. cap'n bill and trot decided to walk through the forest, to discover what was on the other side of it, but the ork's feet were still so sore and "lumpy" from walking on the rocks that the creature said he preferred to fly over the tree-tops and meet them on the other side. the forest was not large, so by walking briskly for fifteen minutes they reached its farthest edge and saw before them the shore of the ocean. "it's an island, all right," said trot, with a sigh. "yes, and a pretty island, too," said cap'n bill, trying to conceal his disappointment on trot's account. "i guess, partner, if the wuss comes to the wuss, i could build a raft--or even a boat--from those trees, so's we could sail away in it." the little girl brightened at this suggestion. "i don't see the ork anywhere," she remarked, looking around. then her eyes lighted upon something and she exclaimed: "oh, cap'n bill! isn't that a house, over there to the left?" cap'n bill, looking closely, saw a shed-like structure built at one edge of the forest. "seems like it, trot. not that i'd call it much of a house, but it's a buildin', all right. let's go over an' see if it's occypied." [illustration] [illustration] chapter the little old man of the island a few steps brought them to the shed, which was merely a roof of boughs built over a square space, with some branches of trees fastened to the sides to keep off the wind. the front was quite open and faced the sea, and as our friends came nearer they observed a little man, with a long pointed beard, sitting motionless on a stool and staring thoughtfully out over the water. "get out of the way, please," he called in a fretful voice. "can't you see you are obstructing my view?" "good morning," said cap'n bill, politely. "it isn't a good morning!" snapped the little man. "i've seen plenty of mornings better than this. do you call it a good morning when i'm pestered with such a crowd as you?" trot was astonished to hear such words from a stranger whom they had greeted quite properly, and cap'n bill grew red at the little man's rudeness. but the sailor said, in a quiet tone of voice: "are you the only one as lives on this 'ere island?" "your grammar's bad," was the reply. "but this is my own exclusive island, and i'll thank you to get off it as soon as possible." "we'd like to do that," said trot, and then she and cap'n bill turned away and walked down to the shore, to see if any other land was in sight. the little man rose and followed them, although both were now too provoked to pay any attention to him. "nothin' in sight, partner," reported cap'n bill, shading his eyes with his hand; "so we'll have to stay here for a time, anyhow. it isn't a bad place, trot, by any means." "that's all you know about it!" broke in the little man. "the trees are altogether too green and the rocks are harder than they ought to be. i find the sand very grainy and the water dreadfully wet. every breeze makes a draught and the sun shines in the daytime, when there's no need of it, and disappears just as soon as it begins to get dark. if you remain here you'll find the island very unsatisfactory." trot turned to look at him, and her sweet face was grave and curious. "i wonder who you are," she said. "my name is pessim," said he, with an air of pride. "i'm called the observer." "oh. what do you observe?" asked the little girl. "everything i see," was the reply, in a more surly tone. then pessim drew back with a startled exclamation and looked at some footprints in the sand. "why, good gracious me!' he cried in distress. "what's the matter now?' asked cap'n bill. "someone has pushed the earth in! don't you see it?" "it isn't pushed in far enough to hurt anything," said trot, examining the footprints. "everything hurts that isn't right," insisted the man. "if the earth were pushed in a mile, it would be a great calamity, wouldn't it?" "i s'pose so," admitted the little girl. "well, here it is pushed in a full inch! that's a twelfth of a foot, or a little more than a millionth part of a mile. therefore it is one-millionth part of a calamity--oh, dear! how dreadful!" said pessim in a wailing voice. "try to forget it, sir," advised cap'n bill, soothingly. "it's beginning to rain. let's get under your shed and keep dry." "raining! is it really raining?' asked pessim, beginning to weep. "it is," answered cap'n bill, as the drops began to descend, "and i don't see any way to stop it--although i'm some observer myself." "no; we can't stop it, i fear," said the man. "are you very busy just now?" "i won't be after i get to the shed," replied the sailor-man. "then do me a favor, please," begged pessim, walking briskly along behind them, for they were hastening to the shed. "depends on what it is," said cap'n bill. "i wish you would take my umbrella down to the shore and hold it over the poor fishes till it stops raining. i'm afraid they'll get wet," said pessim. trot laughed, but cap'n bill thought the little man was poking fun at him and so he scowled upon pessim in a way that showed he was angry. they reached the shed before getting very wet, although the rain was now coming down in big drops. the roof of the shed protected them and while they stood watching the rainstorm something buzzed in and circled around pessim's head. at once the observer began beating it away with his hands, crying out: "a bumblebee! a bumblebee! the queerest bumblebee i ever saw!" cap'n bill and trot both looked at it and the little girl said in surprise: "dear me! it's a wee little ork!" "that's what it is, sure enough," exclaimed cap'n bill. really, it wasn't much bigger than a big bumblebee, and when it came toward trot she allowed it to alight on her shoulder. "it's me, all right," said a very small voice in her ear; "but i'm in an awful pickle, just the same!" "what, are you _our_ ork, then?" demanded the girl, much amazed. "no, i'm my own ork. but i'm the only ork you know," replied the tiny creature. "what's happened to you?" asked the sailor, putting his head close to trot's shoulder in order to hear the reply better. pessim also put his head close, and the ork said: [illustration] "you will remember that when i left you i started to fly over the trees, and just as i got to this side of the forest i saw a bush that was loaded down with the most luscious fruit you can imagine. the fruit was about the size of a gooseberry and of a lovely lavender color. so i swooped down and picked off one in my bill and ate it. at once i began to grow small. i could feel myself shrinking, shrinking away, and it frightened me terribly, so that i alighted on the ground to think over what was happening. in a few seconds i had shrunk to the size you now see me; but there i remained, getting no smaller, indeed, but no larger. it is certainly a dreadful affliction! after i had recovered somewhat from the shock i began to search for you. it is not so easy to find one's way when a creature is so small, but fortunately i spied you here in this shed and came to you at once." cap'n bill and trot were much astonished at this story and felt grieved for the poor ork, but the little man pessim seemed to think it a good joke. he began laughing when he heard the story and laughed until he choked, after which he lay down on the ground and rolled and laughed again, while the tears of merriment coursed down his wrinkled cheeks. "oh, dear! oh, dear!" he finally gasped, sitting up and wiping his eyes. "this is too rich! it's almost too joyful to be true." "i don't see anything funny about it," remarked trot indignantly. "you would if you'd had my experience," said pessim, getting upon his feet and gradually resuming his solemn and dissatisfied expression of countenance. "the same thing happened to me." "oh, did it? and how did you happen to come to this island?" asked the girl. "i didn't come; the neighbors brought me," replied the little man, with a frown at the recollection. "they said i was quarrelsome and fault-finding and blamed me because i told them all the things that went wrong, or never were right, and because i told them how things ought to be. so they brought me here and left me all alone, saying that if i quarreled with myself, no one else would be made unhappy. absurd, wasn't it?" "seems to me," said cap'n bill, "those neighbors did the proper thing." "well," resumed pessim, "when i found myself king of this island i was obliged to live upon fruits, and i found many fruits growing here that i had never seen before. i tasted several and found them good and wholesome. but one day i ate a lavender berry--as the ork did--and immediately i grew so small that i was scarcely two inches high. it was a very unpleasant condition and like the ork i became frightened. i could not walk very well nor very far, for every lump of earth in my way seemed a mountain, every blade of grass a tree and every grain of sand a rocky boulder. for several days i stumbled around in an agony of fear. once a tree toad nearly gobbled me up, and if i ran out from the shelter of the bushes the gulls and cormorants swooped down upon me. finally i decided to eat another berry and become nothing at all, since life, to one as small as i was, had become a dreary nightmare. "at last i found a small tree that i thought bore the same fruit as that i had eaten. the berry was dark purple instead of light lavender, but otherwise it was quite similar. being unable to climb the tree, i was obliged to wait underneath it until a sharp breeze arose and shook the limbs so that a berry fell. instantly i seized it and taking a last view of the world--as i then thought--i ate the berry in a twinkling. then, to my surprise, i began to grow big again, until i became of my former stature, and so i have since remained. needless to say, i have never eaten again of the lavender fruit, nor do any of the beasts or birds that live upon this island eat it." they had all three listened eagerly to this amazing tale, and when it was finished the ork exclaimed: "do you think, then, that the deep purple berry is the antidote for the lavender one?" "i'm sure of it," answered pessim. "then lead me to the tree at once!" begged the ork, "for this tiny form i now have terrifies me greatly." pessim examined the ork closely. [illustration] "you are ugly enough as you are," said he. "were you any larger you might be dangerous." "oh, no," trot assured him; "the ork has been our good friend. please take us to the tree." then pessim consented, although rather reluctantly. he led them to the right, which was the east side of the island, and in a few minutes brought them near to the edge of the grove which faced the shore of the ocean. here stood a small tree bearing berries of a deep purple color. the fruit looked very enticing and cap'n bill reached up and selected one that seemed especially plump and ripe. the ork had remained perched upon trot's shoulder but now it flew down to the ground. it was so difficult for cap'n bill to kneel down, with his wooden leg, that the little girl took the berry from him and held it close to the ork's head. "it's too big to go into my mouth," said the little creature, looking at the fruit sidewise. "you'll have to make sev'ral mouthfuls of it, i guess," said trot; and that is what the ork did. he pecked at the soft, ripe fruit with his bill and ate it up very quickly, because it was good. even before he had finished the berry they could see the ork begin to grow. in a few minutes he had regained his natural size and was strutting before them, quite delighted with his transformation. "well, well! what do you think of me now?" he asked proudly. "you are very skinny and remarkably ugly," declared pessim. "you are a poor judge of orks," was the reply. "anyone can see that i'm much handsomer than those dreadful things called birds, which are all fluff and feathers." "their feathers make soft beds," asserted pessim. "and my skin would make excellent drumheads," retorted the ork. "nevertheless, a plucked bird or a skinned ork would be of no value to himself, so we needn't brag of our usefulness after we are dead. but for the sake of argument, friend pessim, i'd like to know what good _you_ would be, were you not alive?" "never mind that," said cap'n bill. "he isn't much good as he is." "i am king of this island, allow me to say, and you're intruding on my property," declared the little man, scowling upon them. "if you don't like me--and i'm sure you don't, for no one else does--why don't you go away and leave me to myself?" "well, the ork can fly, but we can't," explained trot, in answer. "we don't want to stay here a bit, but i don't see how we can get away." "you can go back into the hole you came from." cap'n bill shook his head; trot shuddered at the thought; the ork laughed aloud. "you may be king here," the creature said to pessim, "but we intend to run this island to suit ourselves, for we are three and you are one, and the balance of power lies with us." the little man made no reply to this, although as they walked back to the shed his face wore its fiercest scowl. cap'n bill gathered a lot of leaves and, assisted by trot, prepared two nice beds in opposite corners of the shed. pessim slept in a hammock which he swung between two trees. they required no dishes, as all their food consisted of fruits and nuts picked from the trees; they made no fire, for the weather was warm and there was nothing to cook; the shed had no furniture other than the rude stool which the little man was accustomed to sit upon. he called it his "throne" and they let him keep it. so they lived upon the island for three days, and rested and ate to their hearts' content. still, they were not at all happy in this life because of pessim. he continually found fault with them, and all that they did, and all their surroundings. he could see nothing good or admirable in all the world and trot soon came to understand why the little man's former neighbors had brought him to this island and left him there, all alone, so he could not annoy anyone. it was their misfortune that they had been led to this place by their adventures, for often they would have preferred the company of a wild beast to that of pessim. on the fourth day a happy thought came to the ork. they had all been racking their brains for a possible way to leave the island, and discussing this or that method, without finding a plan that was practical. cap'n bill had said he could make a raft of the trees, big enough to float them all, but he had no tools except those two pocketknives and it was not possible to chop down trees with such small blades. "and s'pose we got afloat on the ocean," said trot, "where would we drift to, and how long would it take us to get there?" cap'n bill was forced to admit he didn't know. the ork could fly away from the island any time it wished to, but the queer creature was loyal to his new friends and refused to leave them in such a lonely, forsaken place. it was when trot urged him to go, on this fourth morning, that the ork had his happy thought. "i will go," said he, "if you two will agree to ride upon my back." "we are too heavy; you might drop us," objected cap'n bill. "yes, you are rather heavy for a long journey," acknowledged the ork, "but you might eat of those lavender berries and become so small that i could carry you with ease." this quaint suggestion startled trot and she looked gravely at the speaker while she considered it, but cap'n bill gave a scornful snort and asked: "what would become of us afterward! we wouldn't be much good if we were some two or three inches high. no, mr. ork, i'd rather stay here, as i am, than be a hop-o'-my-thumb somewhere else." "why couldn't you take some of the dark purple berries along with you, to eat after we had reached our destination?" inquired the ork. "then you could grow big again whenever you pleased." trot clapped her hands with delight. "that's it!" she exclaimed. "let's do it, cap'n bill." the old sailor did not like the idea at first, but he thought it over carefully and the more he thought the better it seemed. "how could you manage to carry us, if we were so small?" he asked. "i could put you in a paper bag, and tie the bag around my neck." "but we haven't a paper bag," objected trot. the ork looked at her. "there's your sunbonnet," it said presently, "which is hollow in the middle and has two strings that you could tie around my neck." [illustration] trot took off her sunbonnet and regarded it critically. yes, it might easily hold both her and cap'n bill, after they had eaten the lavender berries and been reduced in size. she tied the strings around the ork's neck and the sunbonnet made a bag in which two tiny people might ride without danger of falling out. so she said: "i b'lieve we'll do it that way, cap'n." cap'n bill groaned but could make no logical objection except that the plan seemed to him quite dangerous--and dangerous in more ways than one. "i think so, myself," said trot soberly. "but nobody can stay alive without getting into danger sometimes, and danger doesn't mean getting hurt, cap'n; it only means we _might_ get hurt. so i guess we'll have to take the risk." "let's go and find the berries," said the ork. they said nothing to pessim, who was sitting on his stool and scowling dismally as he stared at the ocean, but started at once to seek the trees that bore the magic fruits. the ork remembered very well where the lavender berries grew and led his companions quickly to the spot. cap'n bill gathered two berries and placed them carefully in his pocket. then they went around to the east side of the island and found the tree that bore the dark purple berries. "i guess i'll take four of these," said the sailor-man, "so in case one doesn't make us grow big we can eat another." "better take six," advised the ork. "it's well to be on the safe side, and i'm sure these trees grow nowhere else in all the world." so cap'n bill gathered six of the purple berries and with their precious fruit they returned to the shed to bid good-bye to pessim. perhaps they would not have granted the surly little man this courtesy had they not wished to use him to tie the sunbonnet around the ork's neck. when pessim learned they were about to leave him he at first looked greatly pleased, but he suddenly recollected that nothing ought to please him and so began to grumble about being left alone. "we knew it wouldn't suit you," remarked cap'n bill. "it didn't suit you to have us here, and it won't suit you to have us go away." "that is quite true," admitted pessim. "i haven't been suited since i can remember; so it doesn't matter to me in the least whether you go or stay." he was interested in their experiment, however, and willingly agreed to assist, although he prophesied they would fall out of the sunbonnet on their way and be either drowned in the ocean or crushed upon some rocky shore. this uncheerful prospect did not daunt trot, but it made cap'n bill quite nervous. "i will eat my berry first," said trot, as she placed her sunbonnet on the ground, in such manner that they could get into it. then she ate the lavender berry and in a few seconds became so small that cap'n bill picked her up gently with his thumb and one finger and placed her in the middle of the sunbonnet. then he placed beside her the six purple berries--each one being about as big as the tiny trot's head--and all preparations being now made the old sailor ate his lavender berry and became very small--wooden leg and all! cap'n bill stumbled sadly in trying to climb over the edge of the sunbonnet and pitched in beside trot headfirst, which caused the unhappy pessim to laugh with glee. then the king of the island picked up the sunbonnet--so rudely that he shook its occupants like peas in a pod--and tied it, by means of its strings, securely around the ork's neck. "i hope, trot, you sewed those strings on tight," said cap'n bill anxiously. "why, we are not very heavy, you know," she replied, "so i think the stitches will hold. but be careful and not crush the berries, cap'n." "one is jammed already," he said, looking at them. "all ready?" asked the ork. "yes!" they cried together, and pessim came close to the sunbonnet and called out to them: "you'll be smashed or drowned, i'm sure you will! but farewell, and good riddance to you." the ork was provoked by this unkind speech, so he turned his tail toward the little man and made it revolve so fast that the rush of air tumbled pessim over backward and he rolled several times upon the ground before he could stop himself and sit up. by that time the ork was high in the air and speeding swiftly over the ocean. [illustration] [illustration] chapter the flight of the midgets cap'n bill and trot rode very comfortably in the sunbonnet. the motion was quite steady, for they weighed so little that the ork flew without effort. yet they were both somewhat nervous about their future fate and could not help wishing they were safe on land and their natural size again. "you're terr'ble small, trot," remarked cap'n bill, looking at his companion. "same to you, cap'n," she said with a laugh; "but as long as we have the purple berries we needn't worry about our size." "in a circus," mused the old man, "we'd be curiosities. but in a sunbonnet--high up in the air--sailin' over a big, unknown ocean--they ain't no word in any booktionary to describe us." "why, we're midgets, that's all," said the little girl. the ork flew silently for a long time. the slight swaying of the sunbonnet made cap'n bill drowsy, and he began to doze. trot, however, was wide awake, and after enduring the monotonous journey as long as she was able she called out: "don't you see land anywhere, mr. ork?" "not yet," he answered. "this is a big ocean and i've no idea in which direction the nearest land to that island lies; but if i keep flying in a straight line i'm sure to reach some place some time." that seemed reasonable, so the little people in the sunbonnet remained as patient as possible; that is, cap'n bill dozed and trot tried to remember her geography lessons so she could figure out what land they were likely to arrive at. for hours and hours the ork flew steadily, keeping to the straight line and searching with his eyes the horizon of the ocean for land. cap'n bill was fast asleep and snoring and trot had laid her head on his shoulder to rest it when suddenly the ork exclaimed: "there! i've caught a glimpse of land, at last." at this announcement they roused themselves. cap'n bill stood up and tried to peek over the edge of the sunbonnet. "what does it look like?" he inquired. "looks like another island," said the ork; "but i can judge it better in a minute or two." "i don't care much for islands, since we visited that other one," declared trot. soon the ork made another announcement. "it is surely an island, and a little one, too," said he. "but i won't stop, because i see a much bigger land straight ahead of it." "that's right," approved cap'n bill. "the bigger the land, the better it will suit us." "it's almost a continent," continued the ork after a brief silence, during which he did not decrease the speed of his flight. "i wonder if it can be orkland, the place i have been seeking so long?" "i hope not," whispered trot to cap'n bill--so softly that the ork could not hear her--"for i shouldn't like to be in a country where only orks live. this one ork isn't a bad companion, but a lot of him wouldn't be much fun." after a few more minutes of flying the ork called out in a sad voice: "no! this is not my country. it's a place i have never seen before, although i have wandered far and wide. it seems to be all mountains and deserts and green valleys and queer cities and lakes and rivers--mixed up in a very puzzling way." "most countries are like that," commented cap'n bill. "are you going to land?" "pretty soon," was the reply. "there is a mountain peak just ahead of me. what do you say to our landing on that?" "all right," agreed the sailor-man, for both he and trot were getting tired of riding in the sunbonnet and longed to set foot on solid ground again. so in a few minutes the ork slowed down his speed and then came to a stop so easily that they were scarcely jarred at all. then the creature squatted down until the sunbonnet rested on the ground, and began trying to unfasten with its claws the knotted strings. this proved a very clumsy task, because the strings were tied at the back of the ork's neck, just where his claws would not easily reach. after much fumbling he said: "i'm afraid i can't let you out, and there is no one near to help me." this was at first discouraging, but after a little thought cap'n bill said: "if you don't mind, trot, i can cut a slit in your sunbonnet with my knife." "do," she replied. "the slit won't matter, 'cause i can sew it up again afterward, when i am big." so cap'n bill got out his knife, which was just as small, in proportion, as he was, and after considerable trouble managed to cut a long slit in the sunbonnet. first he squeezed through the opening himself and then helped trot to get out. [illustration] when they stood on firm ground again their first act was to begin eating the dark purple berries which they had brought with them. two of these trot had guarded carefully during the long journey, by holding them in her lap, for their safety meant much to the tiny people. "i'm not very hungry," said the little girl as she handed a berry to cap'n bill, "but hunger doesn't count, in this case. it's like taking medicine to make you well, so we must manage to eat 'em, somehow or other." but the berries proved quite pleasant to taste and as cap'n bill and trot nibbled at their edges their forms began to grow in size--slowly but steadily. the bigger they grew the easier it was for them to eat the berries, which of course became smaller to them, and by the time the fruit was eaten our friends had regained their natural size. the little girl was greatly relieved when she found herself as large as she had ever been, and cap'n bill shared her satisfaction; for, although they had seen the effect of the berries on the ork, they had not been sure the magic fruit would have the same effect on human beings, or that the magic would work in any other country than that in which the berries grew. "what shall we do with the other four berries?" asked trot, as she picked up her sunbonnet, marveling that she had ever been small enough to ride in it. "they're no good to us now, are they, cap'n?" "i'm not sure as to that," he replied. "if they were eaten by one who had never eaten the lavender berries, they might have no effect at all; but then, contrarywise, they might. one of 'em has got badly jammed, so i'll throw it away, but the other three i b'lieve i'll carry with me. they're magic things, you know, and may come handy to us some time." he now searched in his big pockets and drew out a small wooden box with a sliding cover. the sailor had kept an assortment of nails, of various sizes, in this box, but those he now dumped loosely into his pocket and in the box placed the three sound purple berries. when this important matter was attended to they found time to look about them and see what sort of place the ork had landed them in. [illustration] [illustration] chapter the bumpy man the mountain on which they had alighted was not a barren waste, but had on its sides patches of green grass, some bushes, a few slender trees and here and there masses of tumbled rocks. the sides of the slope seemed rather steep, but with care one could climb up or down them with ease and safety. the view from where they now stood showed pleasant valleys and fertile hills lying below the heights. trot thought she saw some houses of queer shapes scattered about the lower landscape, and there were moving dots that might be people or animals, yet were too far away for her to see them clearly. not far from the place where they stood was the top of the mountain, which seemed to be flat, so the ork proposed to his companions that he would fly up and see what was there. "that's a good idea," said trot, "'cause it's getting toward evening and we'll have to find a place to sleep." the ork had not been gone more than a few minutes when they saw him appear on the edge of the top which was nearest them. "come on up!" he called. so trot and cap'n bill began to ascend the steep slope and it did not take them long to reach the place where the ork awaited them. their first view of the mountain-top pleased them very much. it was a level space of wider extent than they had guessed and upon it grew grass of a brilliant green color. in the very center stood a house built of stone and very neatly constructed. no one was in sight, but smoke was coming from the chimney, so with one accord all three began walking toward the house. "i wonder," said trot, "in what country we are, and if it's very far from my home in california." "can't say as to that, partner," answered cap'n bill, "but i'm mighty certain we've come a long way since we struck that whirlpool." "yes," she agreed, with a sigh, "it must be miles and miles!" "distance means nothing," said the ork. "i have flown pretty much all over the world, trying to find my home, and it is astonishing how many little countries there are, hidden away in the cracks and corners of this big globe of earth. if one travels, he may find some new country at every turn, and a good many of them have never yet been put upon the maps." "p'raps this is one of them," suggested trot. they reached the house after a brisk walk and cap'n bill knocked upon the door. it was at once opened by a rugged looking man who had "bumps all over him," as trot afterward declared. there were bumps on his head, bumps on his body and bumps on his arms and legs and hands. even his fingers had bumps on the ends of them. for dress he wore an old gray suit of fantastic design, which fitted him very badly because of the bumps it covered but could not conceal. but the bumpy man's eyes were kind and twinkling in expression and as soon as he saw his visitors he bowed low and said in a rather bumpy voice: "happy day! come in and shut the door, for it grows cool when the sun goes down. winter is now upon us." "why, it isn't cold a bit, outside," said trot, "so it can't be winter yet." "you will change your mind about that in a little while," declared the bumpy man. "my bumps always tell me the state of the weather, and they feel just now as if a snowstorm was coming this way. but make yourselves at home, strangers. supper is nearly ready and there is food enough for all." inside the house there was but one large room, simply but comfortably furnished. it had benches, a table and a fireplace, all made of stone. on the hearth a pot was bubbling and steaming, and trot thought it had a rather nice smell. the visitors seated themselves upon the benches--except the ork, which squatted by the fireplace--and the bumpy man began stirring the kettle briskly. "may i ask what country this is, sir?' inquired cap'n bill. "goodness me--fruit-cake and apple-sauce!--don't you know where you are?' asked the bumpy man, as he stopped stirring and looked at the speaker in surprise. "no," admitted cap'n bill. "we've just arrived." "lost your way?" questioned the bumpy man. "not exactly," said cap'n bill. "we didn't have any way to lose." "ah!" said the bumpy man, nodding his bumpy head. "this," he announced, in a solemn, impressive voice, "is the famous land of mo." "oh!" exclaimed the sailor and the girl, both in one breath. but, never having heard of the land of mo, they were no wiser than before. "i thought that would startle you," remarked the bumpy man, well pleased, as he resumed his stirring. the ork watched him a while in silence and then asked: "who may _you_ be?" "me?" answered the bumpy man. "haven't you heard of me? gingerbread and lemon-juice! i'm known, far and wide, as the mountain ear." they all received this information in silence at first, for they were trying to think what he could mean. finally trot mustered up courage to ask: "what is a mountain ear, please?" for answer the man turned around and faced them, waving the spoon with which he had been stirring the kettle, as he recited the following verses in a singsong tone of voice: "here's a mountain, hard of hearing, that's sad-hearted and needs cheering, so my duty is to listen to all sounds that nature makes, so the hill won't get uneasy-- get to coughing, or get sneezy-- for this monster bump, when frightened, is quite liable to quakes. "_you_ can hear a bell that's ringing; _i_ can feel some people's singing; but a mountain isn't sensible of what goes on, and so when i hear a blizzard blowing or it's raining hard, or snowing, i tell it to the mountain and the mountain seems to know. "thus i benefit all people while i'm living on this steeple, for i keep the mountain steady so my neighbors all may thrive. with my list'ning and my shouting i prevent this mount from spouting, and that makes me so important that i'm glad that i'm alive." when he had finished these lines of verse the bumpy man turned again to resume his stirring. the ork laughed softly and cap'n bill whistled to himself and trot made up her mind that the mountain ear must be a little crazy. but the bumpy man seemed satisfied that he had explained his position fully and presently he placed four stone plates upon the table and then lifted the kettle from the fire and poured some of its contents on each of the plates. cap'n bill and trot at once approached the table, for they were hungry, but when she examined her plate the little girl exclaimed: "why, it's molasses candy!" "to be sure," returned the bumpy man, with a pleasant smile. "eat it quick, while it's hot, for it cools very quickly this winter weather." with this he seized a stone spoon and began putting the hot molasses candy into his mouth, while the others watched him in astonishment. "doesn't it burn you?" asked the girl. "no indeed," said he. "why don't you eat? aren't you hungry?" "yes," she replied, "i am hungry. but we usually eat our candy when it is cold and hard. we always pull molasses candy before we eat it." "ha, ha, ha!" laughed the mountain ear. "what a funny idea! where in the world did you come from?" "california," she said. "california! pooh! there isn't any such place. i've heard of every place in the land of mo, but i never before heard of california." [illustration] "it isn't in the land of mo," she explained. "then it isn't worth talking about," declared the bumpy man, helping himself again from the steaming kettle, for he had been eating all the time he talked. "for my part," sighed cap'n bill, "i'd like a decent square meal, once more, just by way of variety. in the last place there was nothing but fruit to eat, and here it's worse, for there's nothing but candy." "molasses candy isn't so bad," said trot. "mine's nearly cool enough to pull, already. wait a bit, cap'n, and you can eat it." a little later she was able to gather the candy from the stone plate and begin to work it back and forth with her hands. the mountain ear was greatly amazed at this and watched her closely. it was really good candy and pulled beautifully, so that trot was soon ready to cut it into chunks for eating. cap'n bill condescended to eat one or two pieces and the ork ate several, but the bumpy man refused to try it. trot finished the plate of candy herself and then asked for a drink of water. "water?" said the mountain ear wonderingly. "what is that?" "something to drink. don't you have water in mo?" "none that ever i heard of," said he. "but i can give you some fresh lemonade. i caught it in a 'jar the last time it rained, which was only day before yesterday." "oh, does it rain lemonade here?" she inquired. "always; and it is very refreshing and healthful." [illustration ] with this he brought from a cupboard a stone jar and a dipper, and the girl found it very nice lemonade, indeed. cap'n bill liked it, too; but the ork would not touch it. "if there is no water in this country, i cannot stay here for long," the creature declared. "water means life to man and beast and bird." "there must be water in lemonade," said trot. "yes," answered the ork, "i suppose so; but there are other things in it, too, and they spoil the good water." the day's adventures had made our wanderers tired, so the bumpy man brought them some blankets in which they rolled themselves and then lay down before the fire, which their host kept alive with fuel all through the night. trot wakened several times and found the mountain ear always alert and listening intently for the slightest sound. but the little girl could hear no sound at all except the snores of cap'n bill. [illustration] chapter button-bright is lost and found again "wake up--wake up!" called the voice of the bumpy man. "didn't i tell you winter was coming? i could hear it coming with my left ear, and the proof is that it is now snowing hard outside." "is it?" said trot, rubbing her eyes and creeping out of her blanket. "where i live, in california, i have never seen snow, except far away on the tops of high mountains." "well, this is the top of a high mountain," returned the bumpy one, "and for that reason we get our heaviest snowfalls right here." the little girl went to the window and looked out. the air was filled with falling white flakes, so large in size and so queer in form that she was puzzled. "are you certain this is snow?" she asked. "to be sure. i must get my snow-shovel and turn out to shovel a path. would you like to come with me?" "yes," she said, and followed the bumpy man out when he opened the door. then she exclaimed: "why, it isn't cold a bit!" "of course not," replied the man. "it was cold last night, before the snowstorm; but snow, when it falls, is always crisp and warm." trot gathered a handful of it. "why, it's popcorn? she cried. "certainly; all snow is popcorn. what did you expect it to be?" "popcorn is not snow in my country." "well, it is the only snow we have in the land of mo, so you may as well make the best of it," said he, a little impatiently. "i'm not responsible for the absurd things that happen in your country, and when you're in mo you must do as the momen do. eat some of our snow, and you will find it is good. the only fault i find with our snow is that we get too much of it at times." with this the bumpy man set to work shoveling a path and he was so quick and industrious that he piled up the popcorn in great banks on either side of the trail that led to the mountain-top from the plains below. while he worked, trot ate popcorn and found it crisp and slightly warm, as well as nicely salted and buttered. presently cap'n bill came out of the house and joined her. "what's this?" he asked. "mo snow," said she. "but it isn't real snow, although it falls from the sky. it's popcorn." cap'n bill tasted it; then he sat down in the path and began to eat. the ork came out and pecked away with its bill as fast as it could. they all liked popcorn and they all were hungry this morning. meantime the flakes of "mo snow" came down so fast that the number of them almost darkened the air. the bumpy man was now shoveling quite a distance down the mountain-side, while the path behind him rapidly filled up with fresh-fallen popcorn. suddenly trot heard him call out: "goodness gracious--mince pie and pancakes!--here is some one buried in the snow." she ran toward him at once and the others followed, wading through the corn and crunching it underneath their feet. the mo snow was pretty deep where the bumpy man was shoveling and from beneath a great bank of it he had uncovered a pair of feet. "dear me! someone has been lost in the storm," said cap'n bill. "i hope he is still alive. let's pull him out and see." he took hold of one foot and the bumpy man took hold of the other. then they both pulled and out from the heap of popcorn came a little boy. he was dressed in a brown velvet jacket and knickerbockers, with brown stockings, buckled shoes and a blue shirt-waist that had frills down its front. when drawn from the heap the boy was chewing a mouthful of popcorn and both his hands were full of it. so at first he couldn't speak to his rescuers but lay quite still and eyed them calmly until he had swallowed his mouthful. then he said: "get my cap," and stuffed more popcorn into his mouth. while the bumpy man began shoveling into the corn-bank to find the boy's cap, trot was laughing joyfully and cap'n bill had a broad grin on his face. the ork looked from one to another and asked: "who is this stranger?" "why, it's button-bright, of course," answered trot. "if anyone ever finds a lost boy, he can make up his mind it's button-bright. but how he ever came to be lost in this far-away country is more'n i can make out." "where does he belong?" inquired the ork. [illustration] "his home used to be in philadelphia, i think; but i'm quite sure button-bright doesn't belong anywhere." "that's right," said the boy, nodding his head as he swallowed the second mouthful. "everyone belongs somewhere," remarked the ork. "not me," insisted button-bright. "i'm half-way 'round the world from philadelphia, and i've lost my magic umbrella, that used to carry me anywhere. stands to reason that if i can't get back i haven't any home. but i don't care much. this is a pretty good country, trot. i've had lots of fun here." by this time the mountain ear had secured the boy's cap and was listening to the conversation with much interest. "it seems you know this poor, snow-covered castaway," he said. "yes, indeed," answered trot. "we made a journey together to sky island, once, and were good friends." "well, then i'm glad i saved his life," said the bumpy man. "much obliged, mr. knobs," said button-bright, sitting up and staring at him, "but i don't believe you've saved anything except some popcorn that i might have eaten had you not disturbed me. it was nice and warm in that bank of popcorn, and there was plenty to eat. what made you dig me out? and what makes you so bumpy everywhere?" "as for the bumps," replied the man, looking at himself with much pride, "i was born with them and i suspect they were a gift from the fairies. they make me look rugged and big, like the mountain i serve." "all right," said button-bright and began eating popcorn again. it had stopped snowing, now, and great flocks of birds were gathering around the mountain-side, eating the popcorn with much eagerness and scarcely noticing the people at all. there were birds of every size and color, most of them having gorgeous feathers and plumes. "just look at them!" exclaimed the ork scornfully. "aren't they dreadful creatures, all covered with feathers?" "i think they're beautiful," said trot, and this made the ork so indignant that he went back into the house and sulked. button-bright reached out his hand and caught a big bird by the leg. at once it rose into the air and it was so strong that it nearly carried the little boy with it. he let go the leg in a hurry and the bird flew down again and began to eat of the popcorn, not being frightened in the least. this gave cap'n bill an idea. he felt in his pocket and drew out several pieces of stout string. moving very quietly, so as to not alarm the birds, he crept up to several of the biggest ones and tied cords around their legs, thus making them prisoners. the birds were so intent on their eating that they did not notice what had happened to them, and when about twenty had been captured in this manner cap'n bill tied the ends of all the strings together and fastened them to a huge stone, so they could not escape. the bumpy man watched the old sailor's actions with much curiosity. "the birds will be quiet until they've eaten up all the snow," he said, "but then they will want to fly away to their homes. tell me, sir, what will the poor things do when they find they can't fly?" "it may worry 'em a little," replied cap'n bill, "but they're not going to be hurt if they take it easy and behave themselves." our friends had all made a good breakfast of the delicious popcorn and now they walked toward the house again. button-bright walked beside trot and held her hand in his, because they were old friends and he liked the little girl very much. the boy was not so old as trot, and small as she was he was half a head shorter in height. the most remarkable thing about button-bright was that he was always quiet and composed, whatever happened, and nothing was ever able to astonish him. trot liked him because he was not rude and never tried to plague her. cap'n bill liked him because he had found the boy cheerful and brave at all times, and willing to do anything he was asked to do. when they came to the house trot sniffed the air and asked: "don't i smell perfume?'" [illustration] "i think you do," said the bumpy man. "you smell violets, and that proves there is a breeze springing up from the south. all our winds and breezes are perfumed and for that reason we are glad to have them blow in our direction. the south breeze always has a violet odor; the north breeze has the fragrance of wild roses; the east breeze is perfumed with lilies-of-the-valley and the west wind with lilac blossoms. so we need no weather-vane to tell us which way the wind is blowing. we have only to smell the perfume and it informs us at once." inside the house they found the ork, and button-bright regarded the strange, bird-like creature with curious interest. after examining it closely for a time he asked: "which way does your tail whirl?" "either way," said the ork. button-bright put out his hand and tried to spin it. "don't do that!" exclaimed the ork. "why not?' inquired the boy. "because it happens to be my tail, and i reserve the right to whirl it myself," explained the ork. "let's go out and fly somewhere," proposed button-bright. "i want to see how the tail works." "not now," said the ork. "i appreciate your interest in me, which i fully deserve; but i only fly when i am going somewhere, and if i got started i might not stop." "that reminds me," remarked cap'n bill, "to ask you, friend ork, how we are going to get away from here?" "get away!" exclaimed the bumpy man. "why don't you stay here? you won't find any nicer place than mo." "have you been anywhere else, sir?" "no; i can't say that i have," admitted the mountain ear. "then permit me to say you're no judge," declared cap'n bill. "but you haven't answered my question, friend ork. how are we to get away from this mountain?" the ork reflected a while before he answered. "i might carry one of you--the boy or the girl--upon my back," said he, "but three big people are more than i can manage, although i have carried two of you for a short distance. you ought not to have eaten those purple berries so soon." "p'r'aps we did make a mistake," cap'n bill acknowledged. "or we might have brought some of those lavender berries with us, instead of so many purple ones," suggested trot regretfully. cap'n bill made no reply to this statement, which showed he did not fully agree with the little girl; but he fell into deep thought, with wrinkled brows, and finally he said: "if those purple berries would make anything grow bigger, whether it'd eaten the lavender ones or not, i could find a way out of our troubles." they did not understand this speech and looked at the old sailor as if expecting him to explain what he meant. but just then a chorus of shrill cries rose from outside. "here! let me go--let me go!" the voices seemed to say. "why are we insulted in this way? mountain ear, come and help us!" trot ran to the window and looked out. "it's the birds you caught, cap'n," she said. "i didn't know they could talk." "oh, yes; all the birds in mo are educated to talk," said the bumpy man. then he looked at cap'n bill uneasily and added: "won't you let the poor things go?" "i'll see," replied the sailor, and walked out to where the birds were fluttering and complaining because the strings would not allow them to fly away. "listen to me!" he cried, and at once they became still. "we three people who are strangers in your land want to go to some other country, and we want three of you birds to carry us there. we know we are asking a great favor, but it's the only way we can think of--excep' walkin', an' i'm not much good at that because i've a wooden leg. besides, trot an' button-bright are too small to undertake a long and tiresome journey. now, tell me: which three of you birds will consent to carry us?" [illustration] the birds looked at one another as if greatly astonished. then one of them replied: "you must be crazy, old man. not one of us is big enough to fly with even the smallest of your party." "i'll fix the matter of size," promised cap'n bill. "if three of you will agree to carry us, i'll make you big an' strong enough to do it, so it won't worry you a bit." the birds considered this gravely. living in a magic country, they had no doubt but that the strange one-legged man could do what he said. after a little, one of them asked: "if you make us big, would we stay big always?" "i think so," replied cap'n bill. they chattered a while among themselves and then the bird that had first spoken said: "til go, for one." "so will i," said another; and after a pause a third said: "i'll go, too." perhaps more would have volunteered, for it seemed that for some reason they all longed to be bigger than they were; but three were enough for cap'n bill's purpose and so he promptly released all the others, who immediately flew away. the three that remained were cousins, and all were of the same brilliant plumage and in size about as large as eagles. when trot questioned them she found they were quite young, having only abandoned their nests a few weeks before. they were strong young birds, with clear, brave eyes, and the little girl decided they were the most beautiful of all the feathered creatures she had ever seen. [illustration] cap'n bill now took from his pocket the wooden box with the sliding cover and removed the three purple berries, which were still in good condition. "eat these," he said, and gave one to each of the birds. they obeyed, finding the fruit very pleasant to taste. in a few seconds they began to grow in size and grew so fast that trot feared they would never stop. but they finally did stop growing, and then they were much larger than the ork, and nearly the size of full-grown ostriches. cap'n bill was much pleased by this result. "you can carry us now, all right," said he. the birds strutted around with pride, highly pleased with their immense size. "i don't see, though," said trot doubtfully, "how we're going to ride on their backs without falling off." "we're not going to ride on their backs," answered cap'n bill. "i'm going to make swings for us to ride in." he then asked the bumpy man for some rope, but the man had no rope. he had, however, an old suit of gray clothes which he gladly presented to cap'n bill, who cut the cloth into strips and twisted it so that it was almost as strong as rope. with this material he attached to each bird a swing that dangled below its feet, and button-bright made a trial flight in one of them to prove that it was safe and comfortable. when all this had been arranged one of the birds asked: "where do you wish us to take you?" "why, just follow the ork," said cap'n bill. "he will be our leader, and wherever the ork flies you are to fly, and wherever the ork lands you are to land. is that satisfactory?" [illustration] the birds declared it was quite satisfactory, so cap'n bill took counsel with the ork. "on our way here," said that peculiar creature, "i noticed a broad, sandy desert at the left of me, on which was no living thing." "then we'd better keep away from it," replied the sailor. "not so," insisted the ork. "i have found, on my travels, that the most pleasant countries often lie in the midst of deserts; so i think it would be wise for us to fly over this desert and discover what lies beyond it. for in the direction we came from lies the ocean, as we well know, and beyond here is this strange land of mo, which we do not care to explore. on one side, as we can see from this mountain, is a broad expanse of plain, and on the other the desert. for my part, i vote for the desert." "what do you say, trot?" inquired cap'n bill. "it's all the same to me," she replied. no one thought of asking button-bright's opinion, so it was decided to fly over the desert. they bade good-bye to the bumpy man and thanked him for his kindness and hospitality. then they seated themselves in the swings--one for each bird--and told the ork to start away and they would follow. the whirl of the ork's tail astonished the birds at first, but after he had gone a short distance they rose in the air, carrying their passengers easily, and flew with strong, regular strokes of their great wings in the wake of their leader. [illustration] chapter the kingdom of jinxland trot rode with more comfort than she had expected, although the swing swayed so much that she had to hold on tight with both hands. cap'n bill's bird followed the ork, and trot came next, with button-bright trailing behind her. it was quite an imposing procession, but unfortunately there was no one to see it, for the ork had headed straight for the great sandy desert and in a few minutes after starting they were flying high over the broad waste, where no living thing could exist. the little girl thought this would be a bad place for the birds to lose strength, or for the cloth ropes to give way; but although she could not help feeling a trifle nervous and fidgety she had confidence in the huge and brilliantly plumaged bird that bore her, as well as in cap'n bill's knowledge of how to twist and fasten a rope so it would hold. that was a remarkably big desert. there was nothing to relieve the monotony of view and every minute seemed an hour and every hour a day. disagreeable fumes and gases rose from the sands, which would have been deadly to the travelers had they not been so high in the air. as it was, trot was beginning to feel sick, when a breath of fresher air filled her nostrils and on looking ahead she saw a great cloud of pink-tinted mist. even while she wondered what it could be, the ork plunged boldly into the mist and the other birds followed. she could see nothing for a time, nor could the bird which carried her see where the ork had gone, but it kept flying as sturdily as ever and in a few moments the mist was passed and the girl saw a most beautiful landscape spread out below her, extending as far as her eye could reach. she saw bits of forest, verdure clothed hills, fields of waving grain, fountains, rivers and lakes; and throughout the scene were scattered groups of pretty houses and a few grand castles and palaces. over all this delightful landscape--which from trot's high perch seemed like a magnificent painted picture--was a rosy glow such as we sometimes see in the west at sunset. in this case, however, it was not in the west only, but everywhere. no wonder the ork paused to circle slowly over this lovely country. the other birds followed his action, all eyeing the place with equal delight. then, as with one accord, the four formed a group and slowly sailed downward. this brought them to that part of the newly-discovered land which bordered on the desert's edge; but it was just as pretty here as anywhere, so the ork and the birds alighted and the three passengers at once got out of their swings. "oh, cap'n bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?" exclaimed trot rapturously. "how lucky we were to discover this beautiful country!" "the country seems rather high class, i'll admit, trot," replied the old sailor-man, looking around him, "but we don't know, as yet, what its people are like." "no one could live in such a country without being happy and good--i'm sure of that," she said earnestly. "don't you think so, button-bright?" "i'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy. "it tires me to think, and i never seem to gain anything by it. when we see the people who live here we will know what they are like, and no 'mount of thinking will make them any different." "that's true enough," said the ork. "but now i want to make a proposal. while you are getting acquainted with this new country, which looks as if it contains everything to make one happy, i would like to fly along--all by myself--and see if i can find my home on the other side of the great desert. if i do, i will stay there, of course. but if i fail to find orkland i will return to you in a week, to see if i can do anything more to assist you." they were sorry to lose their queer companion, but could offer no objection to the plan; so the ork bade them good-bye and rising swiftly in the air, he flew over the country and was soon lost to view in the distance. the three birds which had carried our friends now begged permission to return by the way they had come, to their own homes, saying they were anxious to show their families how big they had become. so cap'n bill and trot and button-bright all thanked them gratefully for their assistance and soon the birds began their long flight toward the land of mo. being now left to themselves in this strange land, the three comrades selected a pretty pathway and began walking along it. they believed this path would lead them to a splendid castle which they espied in the distance, the turrets of which towered far above the tops of the trees which surrounded it. it did not seem very far away, so they sauntered on slowly, admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined the pathway and listening to the singing of the birds and the soft chirping of the grasshoppers. [illustration] presently the path wound over a little hill. in a valley that lay beyond the hill was a tiny cottage surrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. on the shady porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, a pleasant faced woman sitting amidst a group of children, to whom she was telling stories. the children quickly discovered the strangers and ran toward them with exclamations of astonishment, so that trot and her friends became the center of a curious group, all chattering excitedly. cap'n bill's wooden leg seemed to arouse the wonder of the children, as they could not understand why he had not two meat legs. this attention seemed to please the old sailor, who patted the heads of the children kindly and then, raising his hat to the woman, he inquired: "can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?" she stared hard at all three of the strangers as she replied briefly: "jinxland." "oh!" exclaimed cap'n bill, with a puzzled look. "and where is jinxland, please?" "in the quadling country," said she. "what!" cried trot, in sudden excitement. "do you mean to say this is the quadling country of the land of oz?" "to be sure i do," the woman answered. "every bit of land that is surrounded by the great desert is the land of oz, as you ought to know as well as i do; but i'm sorry to say that jinxland is separated from the rest of the quadling country by that row of high mountains you see yonder, which have such steep sides that no one can cross them. so we live here all by ourselves, and are ruled by our own king, instead of by ozma of oz." "i've been to the land of oz before," said button-bright, "but i've never been here." "did you ever hear of jinxland before?' asked trot. "no," said button-bright. "it is on the map of oz, though," asserted the woman, "and it's a fine country, i assure you. if only," she added, and then paused to look around her with a frightened expression. "if only--" here she stopped again, as if not daring to go on with her speech. "if only what, ma'am?" asked cap'n bill. the woman sent the children into the house. then she came closer to the strangers and whispered: "if only we had a different king, we would be very happy and contented." "what's the matter with your king?" asked trot, curiously. but the woman seemed frightened to have said so much. she retreated to her porch, merely saying: "the king punishes severely any treason on the part of his subjects." "what's treason?" asked button-bright. "in this case," replied cap'n bill, "treason seems to consist of knockin' the king; but i guess we know his disposition now as well as if the lady had said more." "i wonder," said trot, going up to the woman, "if you could spare us something to eat. we haven't had anything but popcorn and lemonade for a long time." "bless your heart! of course i can spare you some food," the woman answered, and entering her cottage she soon returned with a tray loaded with sandwiches, cakes and cheese. one of the children drew a bucket of clear, cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate heartily and enjoyed the good things immensely. when button-bright could eat no more he filled the pockets of his jacket with cakes and cheese, and not even the children objected to this. indeed they all seemed pleased to see the strangers eat, so cap'n bill decided that no matter what the king of jinxland was like, the people would prove friendly and hospitable. [illustration] "whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, waving his hand toward the towers that rose above the trees. "it belongs to his majesty, king krewl," she said. "oh, indeed; and does he live there?" "when he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers and war captains," she replied. "is he hunting now?" trot inquired. "i do not know, my dear. the less we know about the king's actions the safer we are." it was evident the woman did not like to talk about king krewl and so, having finished their meal, they said good-bye and continued along the pathway. "don't you think we'd better keep away from that king's castle, cap'n?" asked trot. "well," said he, "king krewl would find out, sooner or later, that we are in his country, so we may as well face the music now. perhaps he isn't quite so bad as that woman thinks he is. kings aren't always popular with their people, you know, even if they do the best they know how." "ozma is pop'lar," said button-bright. "ozma is diff'rent from any other ruler, from all i've heard," remarked trot musingly, as she walked beside the boy. "and, after all, we are really in the land of oz, where ozma rules ev'ry king and ev'rybody else. i never heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you, button-bright?" "not when she knows about it," he replied. "but those birds landed us in just the wrong place, seems to me. they might have carried us right on, over that row of mountains, to the em'rald city." "true enough," said cap'n bill; "but they didn't, an' so we must make the best of jinxland. let's try not to be afraid." "oh, i'm not very scared," said button-bright, pausing to look at a pink rabbit that popped its head out of a hole in the field near by. "nor am i," added trot. "really, cap'n, i'm so glad to be anywhere at all in the wonderful fairyland of oz that i think i'm the luckiest girl in all the world. dorothy lives in the em'rald city, you know, and so does the scarecrow and the tin woodman and tik-tok and the shaggy man--and all the rest of 'em that we've heard so much about not to mention ozma, who must be the sweetest and loveliest girl in all the world!" "take your time, trot," advised button-bright. "you don't have to say it all in one breath, you know. and you haven't mentioned half of the curious people in the em'rald city." "that 'ere em'rald city," said cap'n bill impressively, "happens to be on the other side o' those mountains, that we're told no one is able to cross. i don't want to discourage of you, trot, but we're a'most as much separated from your ozma an' dorothy as we were when we lived in californy." there was so much truth in this statement that they all walked on in silence for some time. finally they reached the grove of stately trees that bordered the grounds of the king's castle. they had gone half-way through it when the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress, reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly. [illustration] [illustration] chapter pon, the gardener's boy it was button-bright who first discovered, lying on his face beneath a broad spreading tree near the pathway, a young man whose body shook with the force of his sobs. he was dressed in a long brown smock and had sandals on his feet, betokening one in humble life. his head was bare and showed a shock of brown, curly hair. button-bright looked down on the young man and said: "who cares, anyhow?" "i do!" cried the young man, interrupting his sobs to roll over, face upward, that he might see who had spoken. "i care, for my heart is broken!" "can't you get another one?" asked the little boy. "i don't want another!" wailed the young man. by this time trot and cap'n bill arrived at the spot and the girl leaned over and said in a sympathetic voice: "tell us your troubles and perhaps we may help you." the youth sat up, then, and bowed politely. afterward he got upon his feet, but still kept wringing his hands as he tried to choke down his sobs. trot thought he was very brave to control such awful agony so well. "my name is pon," he began. "i'm the gardener's boy." "then the gardener of the king is your father, i suppose," said trot. "not my father, but my master," was the reply. "i do the work and the gardener gives the orders. and it was not my fault, in the least, that the princess gloria fell in love with me." "did she, really?" asked the little girl. "i don't see why," remarked button-bright, staring at the youth. "and who may the princess gloria be?" inquired cap'n bill. "she is the niece of king krewl, who is her guardian. the princess lives in the castle and is the loveliest and sweetest maiden in all jinxland. she is fond of flowers and used to walk in the gardens with her attendants. at such times, if i was working at my tasks, i used to cast down my eyes as gloria passed me; but one day i glanced up and found her gazing at me with a very tender look in her eyes. the next day she dismissed her attendants and, coming to my side, began to talk with me. she said i had touched her heart as no other young man had ever done. i kissed her hand. just then the king came around a bend in the walk. he struck me with his fist and kicked me with his foot. then he seized the arm of the princess and rudely dragged her into the castle." "wasn't he awful!" gasped trot indignantly. "he is a very abrupt king," said pon, "so it was the least i could expect. up to that time i had not thought of loving princess gloria, but realizing it would be impolite not to return her love, i did so. we met at evening, now and then, and she told me the king wanted her to marry a rich courtier named googly-goo, who is old enough to be gloria's father. she has refused googly-goo thirty-nine times, but he still persists and has brought many rich presents to bribe the king. on that account king krewl has commanded his niece to marry the old man, but the princess has assured me, time and again, that she will wed only me. this morning we happened to meet in the grape arbor and as i was respectfully saluting the cheek of the princess, two of the king's guards seized me and beat me terribly before the very eyes of gloria, whom the king himself held back so she could not interfere." [illustration] "why, this king must be a monster!" cried trot. "he is far worse than that," said pon, mournfully. "but, see here," interrupted cap'n bill, who had listened carefully to pon. "this king may not be so much to blame, after all. kings are proud folks, because they're so high an' mighty, an' it isn't reasonable for a royal princess to marry a common gardener's boy." "it isn't right," declared button-bright. "a princess should marry a prince." "i'm not a common gardener's boy," protested pon. "if i had my rights i would be the king instead of krewl. as it is, i'm a prince, and as royal as any man in jinxland." "how does that come?" asked cap'n bill. "my father used to be the king and krewl was his prime minister. but one day while out hunting, king phearse--that was my father's name--had a quarrel with krewl and tapped him gently on the nose with the knuckles of his closed hand. this so provoked the wicked krewl that he tripped my father backward, so that he fell into a deep pond. at once krewl threw in a mass of heavy stones, which so weighted down my poor father that his body could not rise again to the surface. it is impossible to kill anyone in this land, as perhaps you know, but when my father was pressed down into the mud at the bottom of the deep pool and the stones held him so he could never escape, he was of no more use to himself or the world than if he had died. knowing this, krewl proclaimed himself king, taking possession of the royal castle and driving all my father's people out. i was a small boy, then, but when i grew up i became a gardener. i have served king krewl without his knowing that i am the son of the same king phearse whom he so cruelly made away with." "my, but that's a terr'bly exciting story!" said trot, drawing a long breath. "but tell us, pon, who was gloria's father?" "oh, he was the king before my father," replied pon. "father was prime minister for king kynd, who was gloria's father. she was only a baby when king kynd fell into the great gulf that lies just this side of the mountains--the same mountains that separate jinxland from the rest of the land of oz. it is said the great gulf has no bottom; but, however that may be, king kynd has never been seen again and my father became king in his place." "seems to me," said trot, "that if gloria had her rights she would be queen of jinxland." "well, her father was a king," admitted pon, "and so was my father; so we are of equal rank, although she's a great lady and i'm a humble gardener's boy. i can't see why we should not marry if we want to--except that king krewl won't let us." "it's a sort of mixed-up mess, taken altogether," remarked cap'n bill. "but we are on our way to visit king krewl, and if we get a chance, young man, we'll put in a good word for you." "do, please!" begged pon. "was it the flogging you got that broke your heart?' inquired button-bright. "why, it helped to break it, of course," said pon. "i'd get it fixed up, if i were you," advised the boy, tossing a pebble at a chipmunk in a tree. "you ought to give gloria just as good a heart as she gives you." "that's common sense," agreed cap'n bill. so they left the gardener's boy standing beside the path, and resumed their journey toward the castle. [illustration] [illustration] chapter the wicked king and googly-goo when our friends approached the great doorway of the castle they found it guarded by several soldiers dressed in splendid uniforms. they were armed with swords and lances. cap'n bill walked straight up to them and asked: "does the king happen to be at home?" "his magnificent and glorious majesty, king krewl, is at present inhabiting his royal castle," was the stiff reply. "then i guess we'll go in an' say how-d'ye-do," continued cap'n bill, attempting to enter the doorway. but a soldier barred his way with a lance. "who are you, what are your names, and where do you come from? demanded the soldier. "you wouldn't know if we told you," returned the sailor, "seein' as we're strangers in a strange land." "oh, if you are strangers you will be permitted to enter," said the soldier, lowering his lance. "his majesty is very fond of strangers." "do many strangers come here?" asked trot. "you are the first that ever came to our country," said the man. "but his majesty has often said that if strangers ever arrived in jinxland he would see that they had a very exciting time." cap'n bill scratched his chin thoughtfully. he wasn't very favorably impressed by this last remark. but he decided that as there was no way of escape from jinxland it would be wise to confront--the king boldly and try to win his favor. so they entered the castle, escorted by one of the soldiers. it was certainly a fine castle, with many large rooms, all beautifully furnished. the passages were winding and handsomely decorated, and after following several of these the soldier led them into an open court that occupied the very center of the huge building. it was surrounded on every side by high turreted walls, and contained beds of flowers, fountains and walks of many colored marbles which were matched together in quaint designs. in an open space near the middle of the court they saw a group of courtiers and their ladies, who surrounded a lean man who wore upon his head a jeweled crown. his face was hard and sullen and through the slits of his half-closed eyelids the eyes glowed like coals of fire. he was dressed in brilliant satins and velvets and was seated in a golden throne-chair. this personage was king krewl, and as soon as cap'n bill saw him the old sailor knew at once that he was not going to like the king of jinxland. "hello! who's here?" said his majesty, with a deep scowl. "strangers, sire," answered the soldier, bowing so low that his forehead touched the marble tiles. "strangers, eh? well, well; what an unexpected visit! advance, strangers, and give an account of yourselves." the king's voice was as harsh as his features. trot shuddered a little but cap'n bill calmly replied: "there ain't much for us to say, 'cept as we've arrived to look over your country an' see how we like it. judgin' from the way you speak, you don't know who we are, or you'd be jumpin' up to shake hands an' offer us seats. kings usually treat us pretty well, in the great big outside world where we come from, but in this little kingdom which don't amount to much, anyhow folks don't seem to 'a' got much culchure." the king listened with amazement to this bold speech, first with a frown and then gazing at the two children and the old sailor with evident curiosity. the courtiers were dumb with fear, for no one had ever dared speak in such a manner to their self-willed, cruel king before. his majesty, however, was somewhat frightened, for cruel people are always cowards, and he feared these mysterious strangers might possess magic powers that would destroy him unless he treated them well. so he commanded his people to give the new arrivals seats, and they obeyed with trembling haste. after being seated, cap'n bill lighted his pipe and began puffing smoke from it, a sight so strange to them that it filled them all with wonder. presently the king asked: "how did you penetrate to this hidden country? did you cross the desert or the mountains?" "desert," answered cap'n bill, as if the task were too easy to be worth talking about. "indeed! no one has ever been able to do that before," said the king. "well, it's easy enough, if you know how," asserted cap'n bill, so carelessly that it greatly impressed his hearers. the king shifted in his throne uneasily. he was more afraid of these strangers than before. "do you intend to stay long in jinxland?" was his next anxious question. "depends on how we like it," said cap'n bill. "just now i might suggest to your majesty to order some rooms got ready for us in your dinky little castle here. and a royal banquet, with some fried onions an' pickled tripe, would set easy on our stomicks an' make us a bit happier than we are now." "your wishes shall be attended to," said king krewl, but his eyes flashed from between their slits in a wicked way that made trot hope the food wouldn't be poisoned. at the king's command several of his attendants hastened away to give the proper orders to the castle servants and no sooner were they gone than a skinny old man entered the courtyard and bowed before the king. this disagreeable person was dressed in rich velvets, with many furbelows and laces. he was covered with golden chains, finely wrought rings and jeweled ornaments. he walked with mincing steps and glared at all the courtiers as if he considered himself far superior to any or all of them. [illustration] "well, well, your majesty; what news--what news?" he demanded, in a shrill, cracked voice. the king gave him a surly look. "no news, lord googly-goo, except that strangers have arrived," he said. googly-goo cast a contemptuous glance at cap'n bill and a disdainful one at trot and button-bright. then he said: "strangers do not interest me, your majesty. but the princess gloria is very interesting--very interesting, indeed! what does she say, sire? will she marry me?" "ask her," retorted the king. "i have, many times; and every time she has refused." "well?" said the king harshly. "well," said googly-goo in a jaunty tone, "a bird that _can_ sing, and _won't_ sing, must be _made_ to sing." "huh!" sneered the king. "that's easy, with a bird; but a girl is harder to manage." "still," persisted googly-goo, "we must overcome difficulties. the chief trouble is that gloria fancies she loves that miserable gardener's boy, pon. suppose we throw pon into the great gulf, your majesty?" "it would do you no good," returned the king. "she would still love him." "too bad, too bad!" sighed googly-goo. "i have laid aside more than a bushel of precious gems--each worth a king's ransom--to present to your majesty on the day i wed gloria." the king's eyes sparkled, for he loved wealth above everything; but the next moment he frowned deeply again. "it won't help us to kill pon," he muttered. "what we must do is kill gloria's love for pon." "that is better, if you can find a way to do it," agreed googly-goo. "everything would come right if you could kill gloria's love for that gardener's boy. really, sire, now that i come to think of it, there must be fully a bushel and a half of those jewels!" just then a messenger entered the court to say that the banquet was prepared for the strangers. so cap'n bill, trot and button-bright entered the castle and were taken to a room where a fine feast was spread upon the table. "i don't like that lord googly-goo," remarked trot as she was busily eating. "nor i," said cap'n bill. "but from the talk we heard i guess the gardener's boy won't get the princess." "perhaps not," returned the girl; "but i hope old googly doesn't get her, either." "the king means to sell her for all those jewels," observed button-bright, his mouth half full of cake and jam. "poor princess!" sighed trot. "i'm sorry for her, although i've never seen her. but if she says no to googly-goo, and means it, what can they do?" "don't let us worry about a strange princess," advised cap'n bill. "i've a notion we're not too safe, ourselves, with this cruel king." the two children felt the same way and all three were rather solemn during the remainder of the meal. when they had eaten, the servants escorted them to their rooms. cap'n bill's room was way to one end of the castle, very high up, and trot's room was at the opposite end, rather low down. as for button-bright, they placed him in the middle, so that all were as far apart as they could possibly be. they didn't like this arrangement very well, but all the rooms were handsomely furnished and being guests of the king they dared not complain. after the strangers had left the courtyard the king and googly-goo had a long talk together, and the king said: [illustration] "i cannot force gloria to marry you just now, because those strangers may interfere. i suspect that the wooden-legged man possesses great magical powers, or he would never have been able to carry himself and those children across the deadly desert." "i don't like him; he looks dangerous," answered googly-goo. "but perhaps you are mistaken about his being a wizard. why don't you test his powers?" "how?" asked the king. "send for the wicked witch. she will tell you in a moment whether that wooden-legged person is a common man or a magician." "ha! that's a good idea," cried the king. "why didn't i think of the wicked witch before? but the woman demands rich rewards for her services." "never mind; i will pay her," promised the wealthy googly-goo. so a servant was dispatched to summon the wicked witch, who lived but a few leagues from king krewl's castle. while they awaited her, the withered old courtier proposed that they pay a visit to princess gloria and see if she was not now in a more complaisant mood. so the two started away together and searched the castle over without finding gloria. at last googly-goo suggested she might be in the rear garden, which was a large park filled with bushes and trees and surrounded by a high wall. and what was their anger, when they turned a corner of the path, to find in a quiet nook the beautiful princess, and kneeling before her, pon, the gardener's boy! with a roar of rage the king dashed forward; but pon had scaled the wall by means of a ladder, which still stood in its place, and when he saw the king coming he ran up the ladder and made good his escape. but this left gloria confronted by her angry guardian, the king, and by old googly-goo, who was trembling with a fury he could not express in words. seizing the princess by her arm the king dragged her back to the castle. pushing her into a room on the lower floor he locked the door upon the unhappy girl. and at that moment the arrival of the wicked witch was announced. [illustration] hearing this, the king smiled, as a tiger smiles, showing his teeth. and googly-goo smiled, as a serpent smiles, for he had no teeth except a couple of fangs. and having frightened each other with these smiles the two dreadful men went away to the royal council chamber to meet the wicked witch. [illustration: queen gloria] [illustration] chapter the wooden-legged grass-hopper now it so happened that trot, from the window of her room, had witnessed the meeting of the lovers in the garden and had seen the king come and drag gloria away. the little girl's heart went out in sympathy for the poor princess, who seemed to her to be one of the sweetest and loveliest young ladies she had ever seen, so she crept along the passages and from a hidden niche saw gloria locked in her room. the key was still in the lock, so when the king had gone away, followed by googly-goo, trot stole up to the door, turned the key and entered. the princess lay prone upon a couch, sobbing bitterly. trot went up to her and smoothed her hair and tried to comfort her. "don't cry," she said. "i've unlocked the door, so you can go away any time you want to." "it isn't that," sobbed the princess. "i am unhappy because they will not let me love pon, the gardener's boy!" "well, never mind; pon isn't any great shakes, anyhow, seems to me," said trot soothingly. "there are lots of other people you can love." gloria rolled over on the couch and looked at the little girl reproachfully. "pon has won my heart, and i can't help loving him," she explained. then with sudden indignation she added: "but i'll never love googly-goo--never, as long as i live!" "i should say not!" replied trot. "pon may not be much good, but old googly is very, very bad. hunt around, and i'm sure you'll find someone worth your love. you're very pretty, you know, and almost anyone ought to love you." "you don't understand, my dear," said gloria, as she wiped the tears from her eyes with a dainty lace handkerchief bordered with pearls. "when you are older you will realize that a young lady cannot decide whom she will love, or choose the most worthy. her heart alone decides for her, and whomsoever her heart selects, she must love, whether he amounts to much or not." trot was a little puzzled by this speech, which seemed to her unreasonable; but she made no reply and presently gloria's grief softened and she began to question the little girl about herself and her adventures. trot told her how they had happened to come to jinxland, and all about cap'n bill and the ork and pessim and the bumpy man. while they were thus conversing together, getting more and more friendly as they became better acquainted, in the council chamber the king and googly-goo were talking with the wicked witch. this evil creature was old and ugly. she had lost one eye and wore a black patch over it, so the people of jinxland had named her "blinkie." of course witches are forbidden to exist in the land of oz, but jinxland was so far removed from the center of ozma's dominions, and so absolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the bottomless gulf, that the laws of oz were not obeyed very well in that country. so there were several witches in jinxland who were the terror of the people, but king krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise their evil sorcery. blinkie was the leader of all the other witches and therefore the most hated and feared. the king used her witchcraft at times to assist him in carrying out his cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to pay blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels before she would undertake an enchantment. this made him hate the old woman almost as much as his subjects did, but to-day lord googly-goo had agreed to pay the witch's price, so the king greeted her with gracious favor. "can you destroy the love of princess gloria for the gardener's boy?" inquired his majesty. the wicked witch thought about it before she replied: "that's a hard question to answer. i can do lots of clever magic, but love is a stubborn thing to conquer. when you think you've killed it, it's liable to bob up again as strong as ever. i believe love and cats have nine lives. in other words, killing love is a hard job, even for a skillful witch, but i believe i can do something that will answer your purpose just as well." "what is that?" asked the king. [illustration] "i can freeze the girl's heart. i've got a special incantation for that, and when gloria's heart is thoroughly frozen she can no longer love pon." "just the thing!" exclaimed googly-goo, and the king was likewise much pleased. they bargained a long time as to the price, but finally the old courtier agreed to pay the wicked witch's demands. it was arranged that they should take gloria to blinkie's house the next day, to have her heart frozen. then king krewl mentioned to the old hag the strangers who had that day arrived in jinxland, and said to her: "i think the two children--the boy and the girl--are unable to harm me, but i have a suspicion that the wooden-legged man is a powerful wizard." the witch's face wore a troubled look when she heard this. "if you are right," she said, "this wizard might spoil my incantation and interfere with me in other ways. so it will be best for me to meet this stranger at once and match my magic against his, to decide which is the stronger." "all right," said the king. "come with me and i will lead you to the man's room." googly-goo did not accompany them, as he was obliged to go home to get the money and jewels he had promised to pay old blinkie, so the other two climbed several flights of stairs and went through many passages until they came to the room occupied by cap'n bill. the sailor-man, finding his bed soft and inviting, and being tired with the adventures he had experienced, had decided to take a nap. when the wicked witch and the king softly opened his door and entered, cap'n bill was snoring with such vigor that he did not hear them at all. blinkie approached the bed and with her one eye anxiously stared at the sleeping stranger. "ah," she said in a soft whisper, "i believe you are right, king krewl. the man looks to me like a very powerful wizard. but by good luck i have caught him asleep, so i shall transform him before he wakes up, giving him such a form that he will be unable to oppose me." "careful!" cautioned the king, also speaking low. "if he discovers what you are doing he may destroy you, and that would annoy me because i need you to attend to gloria." but the wicked witch realized as well as he did that she must be careful. she carried over her arm a black bag, from which she now drew several packets carefully wrapped in paper. three of these she selected, replacing the others in the bag. two of the packets she mixed together and then she cautiously opened the third. "better stand back, your majesty," she advised, "for if this powder falls on you you might be transformed yourself." the king hastily retreated to the end of the room. as blinkie mixed the third powder with the others she waved her hands over it, mumbled a few words, and then backed away as quickly as she could. cap'n bill was slumbering peacefully, all unconscious of what was going on. puff! a great cloud of smoke rolled over the bed and completely hid him from view. when the smoke rolled away, both blinkie and the king saw that the body of the stranger had quite disappeared, while in his place, crouching in the middle of the bed, was a little gray grasshopper. one curious thing about this grasshopper was that the last joint of its left leg was made of wood. another curious thing--considering it was a grasshopper--was that it began talking, crying out in a tiny but sharp voice: "here--you people! what do you mean by treating me so? put me back where i belong, at once, or you'll be sorry!" [illustration] the cruel king turned pale at hearing the grasshopper's threats, but the wicked witch merely laughed in derision. then she raised her stick and aimed a vicious blow at the grasshopper, but before the stick struck the bed the tiny hopper made a marvelous jump--marvelous, indeed, when we consider that it had a wooden leg. it rose in the air and sailed across the room and passed right through the open window, where it disappeared from their view. "good!" shouted the king. "we are well rid of this desperate wizard." and then they both laughed heartily at the success of the incantation, and went away to complete their horrid plans. after trot had visited a time with princess gloria, the little girl went to button-bright's room but did not find him there. then she went to cap'n bill's room, but he was not there because the witch and the king had been there before her. so she made her way downstairs and questioned the servants. they said they had seen the little boy go out into the garden, some time ago, but the old man with the wooden leg they had not seen at all. therefore trot, not knowing what else to do, rambled through the great gardens, seeking for button-bright or cap'n bill and not finding either of them. this part of the garden, which lay before the castle, was not walled in, but extended to the roadway, and the paths were open to the edge of the forest; so, after two hours of vain search for her friends, the little girl returned to the castle. but at the doorway a soldier stopped her. "i live here," said trot, "so it's all right to let me in. the king has given me a room." "well, he has taken it back again," was the soldier's reply. "his majesty's orders are to turn you away if you attempt to enter. i am also ordered to forbid the boy, your companion, to again enter the king's castle." "how 'bout cap'n bill'?' she inquired. "why, it seems he has mysteriously disappeared," replied the soldier, shaking his head ominously. "where he has gone to, i can't make out, but i can assure you he is no longer in this castle. i'm sorry, little girl, to disappoint you. don't blame me; i must obey my master's orders." now, all her life trot had been accustomed to depend on cap'n bill, so when this good friend was suddenly taken from her she felt very miserable and forlorn indeed. she was brave enough not to cry before the soldier, or even to let him see her grief and anxiety, but after she was turned away from the castle she sought a quiet bench in the garden and for a time sobbed as if her heart would break. it was button-bright who found her, at last, just as the sun had set and the shades of evening were falling. he also had been turned away from the king's castle, when he tried to enter it, and in the park he came across trot. "never mind," said the boy. "we can find a place to sleep." "i want cap'n bill," wailed the girl. "well, so do i," was the reply. "but we haven't got him. where do you s'pose he is, trot?" "i don't s'pose anything. he's gone, an' that's all i know 'bout it." button-bright sat on the bench beside her and thrust his hands in the pockets of his knickerbockers. then he reflected somewhat gravely for him. "cap'n bill isn't around here," he said, letting his eyes wander over the dim garden, "so we must go somewhere else if we want to find him. besides, it's fast getting dark, and if we want to find a place to sleep we must get busy while we can see where to go." he rose from the bench as he said this and trot also jumped up, drying her eyes on her apron. then she walked beside him out of the grounds of the king's castle. they did not go by the main path, but passed through an opening in a hedge and found themselves in a small but well-worn roadway. following this for some distance, along a winding way, they came upon no house or building that would afford them refuge for the night. it became so dark that they could scarcely see their way, and finally trot stopped and suggested that they camp under a tree. [illustration] "all right," said button-bright, "i've often found that leaves make a good warm blanket. but--look there, trot!--isn't that a light flashing over yonder?" "it certainly is, button-bright. let's go over and see if it's a house. whoever lives there couldn't treat us worse than the king did." to reach the light they had to leave the road, so they stumbled over hillocks and brushwood, hand in hand, keeping the tiny speck of light always in sight. they were rather forlorn little waifs, outcasts in a strange country and forsaken by their only friend and guardian, cap'n bill. so they were very glad when finally they reached a small cottage and, looking in through its one window, saw pon, the gardener's boy, sitting by a fire of twigs. as trot opened the door and walked boldly in, pon sprang up to greet them. they told him of cap'n bill's disappearance and how they had been turned out of the king's castle. as they finished the story pon shook his head sadly. "king krewl is plotting mischief, i fear," said he, "for to-day he sent for old blinkie, the wicked witch, and with my own eyes i saw her come from the castle and hobble away toward her hut. she had been with the king and googly-goo, and i was afraid they were going to work some enchantment on gloria so she would no longer love me. but perhaps the witch was only called to the castle to enchant your friend, cap'n bill." "could she do that?" asked trot, horrified by the suggestion. "i suppose so, for old blinkie can do a lot of wicked magical things." "what sort of an enchantment could she put on cap'n bill?" "i don't know. but he has disappeared, so i'm pretty certain she has done something dreadful to him. but don't worry. if it has happened, it can't be helped, and if it hasn't happened we may be able to find him in the morning." with this pon went to the cupboard and brought food for them. trot was far too worried to eat, but button-bright made a good supper from the simple food and then lay down before the fire and went to sleep. the little girl and the gardener's boy, however, sat for a long time staring into the fire, busy with their thoughts. but at last trot, too, became sleepy and pon gently covered her with the one blanket he possessed. then he threw more wood on the fire and laid himself down before it, next to button-bright. soon all three were fast asleep. they were in a good deal of trouble; but they were young, and sleep was good to them because for a time it made them forget. [illustration] [illustration] chapter glinda the good and the scarecrow of oz that country south of the emerald city, in the land of oz, is known as the quadling country, and in the very southernmost part of it stands a splendid palace in which lives glinda the good. glinda is the royal sorceress of oz. she has wonderful magical powers and uses them only to benefit the subjects of ozma's kingdom. even the famous wizard of oz pays tribute to her, for glinda taught him all the real magic he knows, and she is his superior in all sorts of sorcery. everyone loves glinda, from the dainty and exquisite ruler, ozma, down to the humblest inhabitant of oz, for she is always kindly and helpful and willing to listen to their troubles, however busy she may be. no one knows her age, but all can see how beautiful and stately she is. her hair is like red gold and finer than the finest silken strands. her eyes are blue as the sky and always frank and smiling. her cheeks are the envy of peach-blows and her mouth is enticing as a rosebud. glinda is tall and wears splendid gowns that trail behind her as she walks. she wears no jewels, for her beauty would shame them. for attendants glinda has half a hundred of the loveliest girls in oz. they are gathered from all over oz, from among the winkies, the munchkins, the gillikins and the quadlings, as well as from ozma's magnificent emerald city, and it is considered a great favor to be allowed to serve the royal sorceress. among the many wonderful things in glinda's palace is the great book of records. in this book is inscribed everything that takes place in all the world, just the instant it happens; so that by referring to its pages glinda knows what is taking place far and near, in every country that exists. in this way she learns when and where she can help any in distress or danger, and although her duties are confined to assisting those who inhabit the land of oz, she is always interested in what takes place in the unprotected outside world. [illustration: the most popular man in the land of oz] so it was that on a certain evening glinda sat in her library, surrounded by a bevy of her maids, who were engaged in spinning, weaving and embroidery, when an attendant announced the arrival at the palace of the scarecrow. this personage was one of the most famous and popular in all the land of oz. his body was merely a suit of munchkin clothes stuffed with straw, but his head was a round sack filled with bran, with which the wizard of oz had mixed some magic brains of a very superior sort. the eyes, nose and mouth of the scarecrow were painted upon the front of the sack, as were his ears, and since this quaint being had been endowed with life, the expression of his face was very interesting, if somewhat comical. the scarecrow was good all through, even to his brains, and while he was naturally awkward in his movements and lacked the neat symmetry of other people, his disposition was so kind and considerate and he was so obliging and honest, that all who knew him loved him, and there were few people in oz who had not met our scarecrow and made his acquaintance. he lived part of the time in ozma's palace at the emerald city, part of the time in his own corncob castle in the winkie country, and part of the time he traveled over all oz, visiting with the people and playing with the children, whom he dearly loved. it was on one of his wandering journeys that the scarecrow had arrived at glinda's palace, and the sorceress at once made him welcome. as he sat beside her, talking of his adventures, he asked: "what's new in the way of news?" glinda opened her great book of records and read some of the last pages. "here is an item quite curious and interesting," she announced, an accent of surprise in her voice. "three people from the big outside world have arrived in jinxland." "where is jinxland?' inquired the scarecrow. "very near here, a little to the east of us," she said. "in fact, jinxland is a little slice taken off the quadling country, but separated from it by a range of high mountains, at the foot of which lies a wide, deep gulf that is supposed to be impassable." "then jinxland is really a part of the land of oz," said he. "yes," returned glinda, "but oz people know nothing of it, except what is recorded here in my book." "what does the book say about it?' asked the scarecrow. "it is ruled by a wicked man called king krewl, although he has no right to the title. most of the people are good, but they are very timid and live in constant fear of their fierce ruler. there are also several wicked witches who keep the inhabitants of jinxland in a state of terror." "do those witches have any magical powers?" inquired the scarecrow. "yes, they seem to understand witchcraft in its most evil form, for one of them has just transformed a respectable and honest old sailor--one of the strangers who arrived there--into a grasshopper. this same witch, blinkie by name, is also planning to freeze the heart of a beautiful jinxland girl named princess gloria." "why, that's a dreadful thing to do!" exclaimed the scarecrow. glinda's face was very grave. she read in her book how trot and button-bright were turned out of the king's castle, and how they found refuge in the hut of pon, the gardener's boy. "i'm afraid those helpless earth people will endure much suffering in jinxland, even if the wicked king and the witches permit them to live," said the good sorceress, thoughtfully. "i wish i might help them." "can i do anything?" asked the scarecrow, anxiously. "if so, tell me what to do, and til do it." [illustration] for a few moments glinda did not reply, but sat musing over the records. then she said: "i am going to send you to jinxland, to protect trot and button-bright and cap'n bill." "all right," answered the scarecrow in a cheerful voice. "i know button-bright already, for he has been in the land of oz before. you remember he went away from the land of oz in one of our wizard's big bubbles." "yes," said glinda, "i remember that." then she carefully instructed the scarecrow what to do and gave him certain magical things which he placed in the pockets of his ragged munchkin coat. "as you have no need to sleep," said she, "you may as well start at once." "the night is the same as day to me," he replied, "except that i cannot see my way so well in the dark." "i will furnish a light to guide you," promised the sorceress. so the scarecrow bade her good-bye and at once started on his journey. by morning he had reached the mountains that separated the quadling country from jinxland. the sides of these mountains were too steep to climb, but the scarecrow took a small rope from his pocket and tossed one end upward, into the air. the rope unwound itself for hundreds of feet, until it caught upon a peak of rock at the very top of a mountain, for it was a magic rope furnished him by glinda. the scarecrow climbed the rope and, after pulling it up, let it down on the other side of the mountain range. when he descended the rope on this side he found himself in jinxland, but at his feet yawned the great gulf, which must be crossed before he could proceed any farther. [illustration] [illustration] the scarecrow knelt down and examined the ground carefully, and in a moment he discovered a fuzzy brown spider that had rolled itself into a ball. so he took two tiny pills from his pocket and laid them beside the spider, which unrolled itself and quickly ate up the pills. then the scarecrow said in a voice of command: "spin!" and the spider obeyed instantly. [illustration] in a few moments the little creature had spun two slender but strong strands that reached way across the gulf, one being five or six feet above the other. when these were completed the scarecrow started across the tiny bridge, walking upon one strand as a person walks upon a rope, and holding to the upper strand with his hands to prevent him from losing his balance and toppling over into the gulf. the tiny threads held him safely, thanks to the strength given them by the magic pills. presently he was safe across and standing on the plains of jinxland. far away he could see the towers of the king's castle and toward this he at once began to walk. [illustration] chapter the frozen heart in the hut of pon, the gardener's boy, button-bright was the first to waken in the morning. leaving his companions still asleep, he went out into the fresh morning air and saw some blackberries growing on bushes in a field not far away. going to the bushes he found the berries ripe and sweet, so he began eating them. more bushes were scattered over the fields, so the boy wandered on, from bush to bush, without paying any heed to where he was wandering. then a butterfly fluttered by. he gave chase to it and followed it a long way. when finally he paused to look around him, button-bright could see no sign of pon's house, nor had he the slightest idea in which direction it lay. "well, i'm lost again," he remarked to himself. "but never mind; i've been lost lots of times. someone is sure to find me." trot was a little worried about button-bright when she awoke and found him gone. knowing how careless he was, she believed that he had strayed away, but felt that he would come back in time, because he had a habit of not staying lost. pon got the little girl some food for her breakfast and then together they went out of the hut and stood in the sunshine. pon's house was some distance off the road, but they could see it from where they stood and both gave a start of surprise when they discovered two soldiers walking along the roadway and escorting princess gloria between them. the poor girl had her hands bound together, to prevent her from struggling, and the soldiers rudely dragged her forward when her steps seemed to lag. behind this group came king krewl, wearing his jeweled crown and swinging in his hand a slender golden staff with a ball of clustered gems at one end. "where are they going?'' asked trot. "to the house of the wicked witch, i fear," pon replied. "come, let us follow them, for i am sure they intend to harm my dear gloria." "won't they see us?" she asked timidly. "we won't let them. i know a short cut through the trees to blinkie's house," said he. so they hurried away through the trees and reached the house of the witch ahead of the king and his soldiers. hiding themselves in the shrubbery, they watched the approach of poor gloria and her escort, all of whom passed so near to them that pon could have put out a hand and touched his sweetheart, had he dared to. blinkie's house had eight sides, with a door and a window in each side. smoke was coming out of the chimney and as the guards brought gloria to one of the doors it was opened by the old witch in person. she chuckled with evil glee and rubbed her skinny hands together to show the delight with which she greeted her victim, for blinkie was pleased to be able to perform her wicked rites on one so fair and sweet as the princess. gloria struggled to resist when they bade her enter the house, so the soldiers forced her through the doorway and even the king gave her a shove as he followed close behind. pon was so incensed at the cruelty shown gloria that he forgot all caution and rushed forward to enter the house also; but one of the soldiers prevented him, pushing the gardener's boy away with violence and slamming the door in his face. "never mind," said trot soothingly, as pon rose from where he had fallen. "you couldn't do much to help the poor princess if you were inside. how unfortunate it is that you are in love with her!" "true," he answered sadly, "it is indeed my misfortune. if i did not love her, it would be none of my business what the king did to his niece gloria; but the unlucky circumstance of my loving her makes it my duty to defend her." "i don't see how you can, duty or no duty," observed trot. "no; i am powerless, for they are stronger than i. but we might peek in through the window and see what they are doing." trot was somewhat curious, too, so they crept up to one of the windows and looked in, and it so happened that those inside the witch's house were so busy they did not notice that pon and trot were watching them. gloria had been tied to a stout post in the center of the room and the king was giving the wicked witch a quantity of money and jewels, which googly-goo had provided in payment. when this had been done the king said to her: "are you perfectly sure you can freeze this maiden's heart, so that she will no longer love that low gardener's boy?" "sure as witchcraft, your majesty," the creature replied. "then get to work," said the king. "there may be some unpleasant features about the ceremony that would annoy me, so i'll bid you good day and leave you to carry out your contract. one word, however: if you fail, i shall burn you at the stake!" then he beckoned to his soldiers to follow him, and throwing wide the door of the house walked out. this action was so sudden that king krewl almost caught trot and pon eavesdropping, but they managed to run around the house before he saw them. away he marched, up the road, followed by his men, heartlessly leaving gloria to the mercies of old blinkie. [illustration] when they again crept up to the window, trot and pon saw blinkie gloating over her victim. although nearly fainting from fear, the proud princess gazed with haughty defiance into the face of the wicked creature; but she was bound so tightly to the post that she could do no more to express her loathing. pretty soon blinkie went to a kettle that was swinging by a chain over the fire and tossed into it several magical compounds. the kettle gave three flashes, and at every flash another witch appeared in the room. these hags were very ugly but when one-eyed blinkie whispered her orders to them they grinned with joy as they began dancing around gloria. first one and then another cast something into the kettle, when to the astonishment of the watchers at the window all three of the old women were instantly transformed into maidens of exquisite beauty, dressed in the daintiest costumes imaginable. only their eyes could not be disguised, and an evil glare still shone in their depths. but if the eyes were cast down or hidden, one could not help but admire these beautiful creatures, even with the knowledge that they were mere illusions of witchcraft. trot certainly admired them, for she had never seen anything so dainty and bewitching, but her attention was quickly drawn to their deeds instead of their persons, and then horror replaced admiration. into the kettle old blinkie poured another mess from a big brass bottle she took from a chest, and this made the kettle begin to bubble and smoke violently. one by one the beautiful witches approached to stir the contents of the kettle and to mutter a magic charm. their movements were graceful and rhythmic and the wicked witch who had called them to her aid watched them with an evil grin upon her wrinkled face. finally the incantation was complete. the kettle ceased bubbling and together the witches lifted it from the fire. then blinkie brought a wooden ladle and filled it from the contents of the kettle. going with the spoon to princess gloria she cried: "love no more! magic art now will freeze your mortal heart!" with this she dashed the contents of the ladle full upon gloria's breast. trot saw the body of the princess become transparent, so that her beating heart showed plainly. but now the heart turned from a vivid red to gray, and then to white. a layer of frost formed about it and tiny icicles clung to its surface. then slowly the body of the girl became visible again and the heart was hidden from view. gloria seemed to have fainted, but now she recovered and, opening her beautiful eyes, stared coldly and without emotion at the group of witches confronting her. blinkie and the others knew by that one cold look that their charm had been successful. they burst into a chorus of wild laughter and the three beautiful ones began dancing again, while blinkie unbound the princess and set her free. trot rubbed her eyes to prove that she was wide awake and seeing clearly, for her astonishment was great when the three lovely maidens turned into ugly, crooked hags again, leaning on broomsticks and canes. they jeered at gloria, but the princess regarded them with cold disdain. being now free, she walked to a door, opened it and passed out. and the witches let her go. trot and pon had been so intent upon this scene that in their eagerness they had pressed quite hard against the window. just as gloria went out of the house the window-sash broke loose from its fastenings and fell with a crash into the room. the witches uttered a chorus of screams and then, seeing that their magical incantation had been observed, they rushed for the open window with uplifted broomsticks and canes. but pon was off like the wind, and trot followed at his heels. fear lent them strength to run, to leap across ditches, to speed up the hills and to vault the low fences as a deer would. [illustration] the band of witches had dashed through the window in pursuit; but blinkie was so old, and the others so crooked and awkward, that they soon realized they would be unable to overtake the fugitives. so the three who had been summoned by the wicked witch put their canes or broomsticks between their legs and flew away through the air, quickly disappearing against the blue sky. blinkie, however, was so enraged at pon and trot that she hobbled on in the direction they had taken, fully determined to catch them, in time, and to punish them terribly for spying upon her witchcraft. when pon and trot had run so far that they were confident they had made good their escape, they sat down near the edge of a forest to get their breath again, for both were panting hard from their exertions. trot was the first to recover speech, and she said to her companion: "my! wasn't it tenable?" "the most terrible thing i ever saw," pon agreed. "and they froze gloria's heart; so now she can't love you any more." "well, they froze her heart, to be sure," admitted pon, "but i'm in hopes i can melt it with my love." "where do you s'pose gloria is?' asked the girl, after a pause. "she left the witch's house just before we did. perhaps she has gone back to the king's castle," he said. "i'm pretty sure she started off in a different direction," declared trot. "i looked over my shoulder, as i ran, to see how close the witches were, and i'm sure i saw gloria walking slowly away toward the north." "then let us circle around that way," proposed pon, "and perhaps we shall meet her." trot agreed to this and they left the grove and began to circle around toward the north, thus drawing nearer and nearer to old blinkie's house again. the wicked witch did not suspect this change of direction, so when she came to the grove she passed through it and continued on. pon and trot had reached a place less than half a mile from the witch's house when they saw gloria walking toward them. the princess moved with great dignity and with no show of haste whatever, holding her head high and looking neither to right nor left. pon rushed forward, holding out his arms as if to embrace her and calling her sweet names. but gloria gazed upon him coldly and repelled him with a haughty gesture. at this the poor gardener's boy sank upon his knees and hid his face in his arms, weeping bitter tears; but the princess was not at all moved by his distress. passing him by, she drew her skirts aside, as if unwilling they should touch him, and then she walked up the path a way and hesitated, as if uncertain where to go next. trot was grieved by pon's sobs and indignant because gloria treated him so badly. but she remembered why. "i guess your heart is frozen, all right," she said to the princess. gloria nodded gravely, in reply, and then turned her back upon the little girl. "can't you like even me?" asked trot, half pleadingly. "no," said gloria. "your voice sounds like a refrig'rator," sighed the little girl. "i'm awful sorry for you, 'cause you were sweet an' nice to me before this happened. you can't help it, of course; but it's a dreadful thing, jus' the same." "my heart is frozen to all mortal loves," announced gloria, calmly. "i do not love even myself." [illustration] "that's too bad," said trot, "for, if you can't love anybody, you can't expect anybody to love you." "i do!" cried pon. "i shall always love her." "well, you're just a gardener's boy," replied trot, "and i didn't think you 'mounted to much, from the first. i can love the old princess gloria, with a warm heart an' nice manners, but this one gives me the shivers." "it's her icy heart, that's all," said pon. "that's enough," insisted trot. "seeing her heart isn't big enough to skate on, i can't see that she's of any use to anyone. for my part, i'm goin' to try to find button-bright an' cap'n bill." "i will go with you," decided pon. "it is evident that gloria no longer loves me and that her heart is frozen too stiff for me to melt it with my own love; therefore i may as well help you to find your friends." as trot started off, pon cast one more imploring look at the princess, who returned it with a chilly stare. so he followed after the little girl. as for the princess, she hesitated a moment and then turned in the same direction the others had taken, but going far more slowly. soon she heard footsteps pattering behind her, and up came googly-goo, a little out of breath with running. "stop, gloria!" he cried. "i have come to take you back to my mansion, where we are to be married." she looked at him wonderingly a moment, then tossed her head disdainfully and walked on. but googly-goo kept beside her. "what does this mean?" he demanded. "haven't you discovered that you no longer love that gardener's boy, who stood in my way?" "yes; i have discovered it," she replied. "my heart is frozen to all mortal loves. i cannot love you, or pon, or the cruel king my uncle, or even myself. go your way, googly-goo, for i will wed no one at all." he stopped in dismay when he heard this, but in another minute he exclaimed angrily: "you _must_ wed me, princess gloria, whether you want to or not! i paid to have your heart frozen; i also paid the king to permit our marriage. if you now refuse me it will mean that i have been robbed--robbed--robbed of my precious money and jewels!" he almost wept with despair, but she laughed a cold, bitter laugh and passed on. googly-goo caught at her arm, as if to restrain her, but she whirled and dealt him a blow that sent him reeling into a ditch beside the path. here he lay for a long time, half covered by muddy water, dazed with surprise. finally the old courtier arose, dripping, and climbed from the ditch. the princess had gone; so, muttering threats of vengeance upon her, upon the king and upon blinkie, old googly-goo hobbled back to his mansion to have the mud removed from his costly velvet clothes. [illustration] [illustration] chapter trot meets the scarecrow trot and pon covered many leagues of ground, searching through forests, in fields and in many of the little villages of jinxland, but could find no trace of either cap'n bill or button-bright. finally they paused beside a cornfield and sat upon a stile to rest. pon took some apples from his pocket and gave one to trot. then he began eating another himself, for this was their time for luncheon. when his apple was finished pon tossed the core into the field. "tchuk-tchuk!" said a strange voice. "what do you mean by hitting me in the eye with an apple-core?" then rose up the form of the scarecrow, who had hidden himself in the cornfield while he examined pon and trot and decided whether they were worthy to be helped. "excuse me," said pon. "i didn't know you were there." "how did you happen to be there, anyhow?" asked trot. the scarecrow came forward with awkward steps and stood beside them. "ah, you are the gardener's boy," he said to pon. then he turned to trot. "and you are the little girl who came to jinxland riding on a big bird, and who has had the misfortune to lose her friend, cap'n bill, and her chum, button-bright." "why, how did you know all that?" she inquired. "i know a lot of things," replied the scarecrow, winking at her comically. "my brains are the carefully-assorted, double-distilled, high-efficiency sort that the wizard of oz makes. he admits, himself, that my brains are the best he ever manufactured." "i think i've heard of you," said trot slowly, as she looked the scarecrow over with much interest; "but you used to live in the land of oz." "oh, i do now," he replied cheerfully. "i've just come over the mountains from the quadling country to see if i can be of any help to you." "who, me?" asked pon. "no, the strangers from the big world. it seems they need looking after." "i'm doing that myself," said pon, a little ungraciously. "if you will pardon me for saying so, i don't see how a scarecrow with painted eyes can look after anyone." "if you don't see that, you are more blind than the scarecrow," asserted trot. "he's a fairy man, pon, and comes from the fairyland of oz, so he can do 'most anything. i hope," she added, turning to the scarecrow, "you can find cap'n bill for me." "i will try, anyhow," he promised. "but who is that old woman who is running toward us and shaking her stick at us?" trot and pon turned around and both uttered an exclamation of fear. the next instant they took to their heels and ran fast up the path. for it was old blinkie, the wicked witch, who had at last traced them to this place. her anger was so great that she was determined not to abandon the chase of pon and trot until she had caught and punished them. the scarecrow understood at once that the old woman meant harm to his new friends, so as she drew near he stepped before her. his appearance was so sudden and unexpected that blinkie ran into him and toppled him over, but she tripped on his straw body and went rolling in the path beside him. [illustration] the scarecrow sat up and said: "i beg your pardon!" but she whacked him with her stick and knocked him flat again. then, furious with rage, the old witch sprang upon her victim and began pulling the straw out of his body. the poor scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few moments all that was left of him was an empty suit of clothes and a heap of straw beside it. fortunately, blinkie did not harm his head, for it rolled into a little hollow and escaped her notice. fearing that pon and trot would escape her, she quickly resumed the chase and disappeared over the brow of a hill, following the direction in which she had seen them go. only a short time elapsed before a gray grasshopper with a wooden leg came hopping along and lit directly on the upturned face of the scarecrow's head. "pardon me, but you are resting yourself upon my nose," remarked the scarecrow. [illustration] "oh! are you alive?" asked the grasshopper. "that is a question i have never been able to decide," said the scarecrow's head. "when my body is properly stuffed i have animation and can move around as well as any live person. the brains in the head you are now occupying as a throne, are of very superior quality and do a lot of very clever thinking. but whether that is being alive, or not, i cannot prove to you; for one who lives is liable to death, while i am only liable to destruction." "seems to me," said the grasshopper, rubbing his nose with his front legs, "that in your case it doesn't matter--unless you're destroyed already." "i am not; all i need is re-stuffing," declared the scarecrow; "and if pon and trot escape the witch, and come back here, i am sure they will do me that favor." "tell me! are trot and pon around here?" inquired the grasshopper, its small voice trembling with excitement. the scarecrow did not answer at once, for both his eyes were staring straight upward at a beautiful face that was slightly bent over his head. it was, indeed, princess gloria, who had wandered to this spot, very much surprised when she heard the scarecrow's head talk and the tiny gray grasshopper answer it. "this," said the scarecrow, still staring at her, "must be the princess who loves pon, the gardener's boy." "oh, indeed!" exclaimed the grasshopper--who of course was cap'n bill--as he examined the young lady curiously. "no," said gloria frigidly, "i do not love pon, or anyone else, for the wicked witch has frozen my heart." "what a shame!" cried the scarecrow. "one so lovely should be able to love. but would you mind, my dear, stuffing that straw into my body again?" the dainty princess glanced at the straw and at the well-worn blue munchkin clothes and shrank back in disdain. but she was spared from refusing the scarecrow's request by the appearance of trot and pon, who had hidden in some bushes just over the brow of the hill and waited until old blinkie had passed them by. their hiding place was on the same side as the witch's blind eye, and she rushed on in the chase of the girl and the youth without being aware that they had tricked her. [illustration] trot was shocked at the scarecrow's sad condition and at once began putting the straw back into his body. pon, at sight of gloria, again appealed to her to take pity on him, but the frozen-hearted princess turned coldly away and with a sigh the gardener's boy began to assist trot. neither of them at first noticed the small grasshopper, which at their appearance had skipped off the scarecrow's nose and was now clinging to a wisp of grass beside the path, where he was not likely to be stepped upon. not until the scarecrow had been neatly restuffed and set upon his feet again when he bowed to his restorers and expressed his thanks did the grasshopper move from his perch. then he leaped lightly into the path and called out: "trot--trot! look at me. i'm cap'n bill! see what the wicked witch has done to me." the voice was small, to be sure, but it reached trot's ears and startled her greatly. she looked intently at the grasshopper, her eyes wide with fear at first; then she knelt down and, noticing the wooden leg, she began to weep sorrowfully. "oh, cap'n bill--dear cap'n bill! what a cruel thing to do!'' she sobbed. "don't cry, trot," begged the grasshopper. "it didn't hurt any, and it doesn't hurt now. but it's mighty inconvenient an' humiliatin', to say the least." "i wish," said the girl indignantly, while trying hard to restrain her tears, "that i was big 'nough an' strong 'nough to give that horrid witch a good beating. she ought to be turned into a toad for doing this to you, cap'n bill!" "never mind," urged the scarecrow, in a comforting voice, "such a transformation doesn't last always, and as a general thing there's some way to break the enchantment. i'm sure glinda could do it, in a jiffy." "who is glinda?" inquired cap'n bill. then the scarecrow told them all about glinda, not forgetting to mention her beauty and goodness and her wonderful powers of magic. he also explained how the royal sorceress had sent him to jinxland especially to help the strangers, whom she knew to be in danger because of the wiles of the cruel king and the wicked witch. [illustration] [illustration] chapter pon summons the king to surrender gloria had drawn near to the group to listen to their talk, and it seemed to interest her in spite of her frigid manner. they knew, of course, that the poor princess could not help being cold and reserved, so they tried not to blame her. "i ought to have come here a little sooner," said the scarecrow, regretfully; "but glinda sent me as soon as she discovered you were here and were likely to get into trouble. and now that we are all together--except button-bright, over whom it is useless to worry--i propose we hold a council of war, to decide what is best to be done." that seemed a wise thing to do, so they all sat down upon the grass, including gloria, and the grasshopper perched upon trot's shoulder and allowed her to stroke him gently with her hand. "in the first place," began the scarecrow, "this king krewl is a usurper and has no right to rule this kingdom of jinxland." "that is true," said pon, eagerly. "my father was king before him, and i--" "you are a gardener's boy," interrupted the scarecrow. "your father had no right to rule, either, for the rightful king of this land was the father of princess gloria, and only she is entitled to sit upon the throne of jinxland." "good!" exclaimed trot. "but what'll we do with king krewl? i s'pose he won't give up the throne unless he has to." "no, of course not," said the scarecrow. "therefore it will be our duty to _make_ him give up the throne." "how?" asked trot. "give me time to think," was the reply. "that's what my brains are for. i don't know whether you people ever think, or not, but my brains are the best that the wizard of oz ever turned out, and if i give them plenty of time to work, the result usually surprises me." "take your time, then," suggested trot. "there's no hurry." "thank you," said the straw man, and sat perfectly still for half an hour. during this interval the grasshopper whispered in trot's ear, to which he was very close, and trot whispered back to the grasshopper sitting upon her shoulder. pon cast loving glances at gloria, who paid not the slightest heed to them. finally the scarecrow laughed aloud. "brains working?" inquired trot. "yes. they seem in fine order to-day. we will conquer king krewl and put gloria upon his throne as queen of jinxland." "fine!" cried the little girl, clapping her hands together gleefully. "but how?" "leave the _how_ to me," said the scarecrow proudly. "as a conqueror i'm a wonder. we will, first of all, write a message to send to king krewl, asking him to surrender. if he refuses, then we will make him surrender." "why ask him, when we _know_ he'll refuse?" inquired pon. "why, we must be polite, whatever we do," explained the scarecrow. "it would be very rude to conquer a king without proper notice." [illustration] they found it difficult to write a message without paper, pen and ink, none of which was at hand; so it was decided to send pon as a messenger, with instructions to ask the king, politely but firmly, to surrender. pon was not anxious to be the messenger. indeed, he hinted that it might prove a dangerous mission. but the scarecrow was now the acknowledged head of the army of conquest, and he would listen to no refusal. so off pon started for the king's castle, and the others accompanied him as far as his hut, where they had decided to await the gardener's boy's return. i think it was because pon had known the scarecrow such a short time that he lacked confidence in the straw man's wisdom. it was easy to say: "we will conquer king krewl," but when pon drew near to the great castle he began to doubt the ability of a straw-stuffed man, a girl, a grasshopper and a frozen-hearted princess to do it. as for himself, he had never thought of defying the king before. that was why the gardener's boy was not very bold when he entered the castle and passed through to the enclosed court where the king was just then seated, with his favorite courtiers around him. none prevented pon's entrance, because he was known to be the gardener's boy, but when the king saw him he began to frown fiercely. he considered pon to be to blame for all his trouble with princess gloria, who since her heart had been frozen had escaped to some unknown place, instead of returning to the castle to wed googly-goo, as she had been expected to do. so the king bared his teeth angrily as he demanded: [illustration] "what have you done with princess gloria?" "nothing, your majesty! i have done nothing at all," answered pon in a faltering voice. "she does not love me any more and even refuses to speak to me." "then why are you here, you rascal?" roared the king. pon looked first one way and then another, but saw no means of escape; so he plucked up courage. "i am here to summon your majesty to surrender." "what!" shouted the king. "surrender? surrender to whom?" pon's heart sank to his boots. "to the scarecrow," he replied. some of the courtiers began to titter, but king krewl was greatly annoyed. he sprang up and began to beat poor pon with the golden staff he carried. pon howled lustily and would have run away had not two of the soldiers held him until his majesty was exhausted with punishing the boy. then they let him go and he left the castle and returned along the road, sobbing at every step because his body was so sore and aching. "well," said the scarecrow, "did the king surrender?" "no; but he gave me a good drubbing!" sobbed poor pon. trot was very sorry for pon, but gloria did not seem affected in any way by her lover's anguish. the grasshopper leaped to the scarecrow's shoulder and asked him what he was going to do next. "conquer," was the reply. "but i will go alone, this time, for beatings cannot hurt me at all; nor can lance thrusts--or sword cuts--or arrow pricks." "why is that?" inquired trot. "because i have no nerves, such as you meat people possess. even grasshoppers have nerves, but straw doesn't; so whatever they do--except just one thing--they cannot injure me. therefore i expect to conquer king krewl with ease." "what is that one thing you excepted?" asked trot. "they will never think of it, so never mind. and now, if you will kindly excuse me for a time, i'll go over to the castle and do my conquering." "you have no weapons," pon reminded him. "true," said the scarecrow. "but if i carried weapons i might injure someone--perhaps seriously--and that would make me unhappy. i will just borrow that riding-whip, which i see in the corner of your hut, if you don't mind. it isn't exactly proper to walk with a riding-whip, but i trust you will excuse the inconsistency." pon handed him the whip and the scarecrow bowed to all the party and left the hut, proceeding leisurely along the way to the king's castle. [illustration] [illustration] chapter the ork rescues button-bright i must now tell you what had become of button-bright since he wandered away in the morning and got lost. this small boy, as perhaps you have discovered, was almost as destitute of nerves as the scarecrow. nothing ever astonished him much; nothing ever worried him or made him unhappy. good fortune or bad fortune he accepted with a quiet smile, never complaining, whatever happened. this was one reason why button-bright was a favorite with all who knew him--and perhaps it was the reason why he so often got into difficulties, or found himself lost. to-day, as he wandered here and there, over hill and down dale, he missed trot and cap'n bill, of whom he was fond, but nevertheless he was not unhappy. the birds sang merrily and the wildflowers were beautiful and the breeze had a fragrance of new-mown hay. "the only bad thing about this country is its king," he reflected; "but the country isn't to blame for that." a prairie-dog stuck its round head out of a mound of earth and looked at the boy with bright eyes. "walk around my house, please," it said, "and then you won't harm it or disturb the babies." "all right," answered button-bright, and took care not to step on the mound. he went on, whistling merrily, until a petulant voice cried: "oh, stop it! please stop that noise. it gets on my nerves." button-bright saw an old gray owl sitting in the crotch of a tree, and he replied with a laugh: "all right, old fussy," and stopped whistling until he had passed out of the owl's hearing. at noon he came to a farmhouse where an aged couple lived. they gave him a good dinner and treated him kindly, but the man was deaf and the woman was dumb, so they could answer no questions to guide him on the way to port's house. when he left them he was just as much lost as he had been before. every grove of trees he saw from a distance he visited, for he remembered that the king's castle was near a grove of trees and pon's hut was near the king's castle; but always he met with disappointment. finally, passing through one of these groves, he came out into the open and found himself face to face with the ork. "hello!" said button-bright. "where did _you_ come from?" [illustration] "from orkland," was the reply. "i've found my own country, at last, and it is not far from here, either. i would have come back to you sooner, to see how you are getting along, had not my family and friends welcomed my return so royally that a great celebration was held in my honor. so i couldn't very well leave orkland again until the excitement was over." "can you find your way back home again?" asked the boy. "yes, easily; for now i know exactly where it is. but where are trot and cap'n bill?" button-bright related to the ork their adventures since it had left them in jinxland, telling of trot's fear that the king had done something wicked to cap'n bill, and of pon's love for gloria, and how trot and button-bright had been turned out of the king's castle. that was all the news that the boy had, but it made the ork anxious for the safety of his friends. "we must go to them at once, for they may need us," he said. "i don't know where to go," confessed button-bright. "i'm lost." "well, i can take you back to the hut of the gardener's boy," promised the ork, "for when i fly high in the air i can look down and easily spy the king's castle. that was how i happened to spy you, just entering the grove; so i flew down and waited until you came out." "how can you carry me?" asked the boy. "you'll have to sit straddle my shoulders and put your arms around my neck. do you think you can keep from falling off?" "til try," said button-bright. so the ork squatted down and the boy took his seat and held on tight. then the skinny creature's tail began whirling and up they went, far above all the tree-tops. after the ork had circled around once or twice, its sharp eyes located the towers of the castle and away it flew, straight toward the place. as it hovered in the air, near by the castle, button-bright pointed out pon's hut, so they landed just before it and trot came running out to greet them. gloria was introduced to the ork, who was surprised to find cap'n bill transformed into a grasshopper. "how do you like it?" asked the creature. "why, it worries me a good deal," answered cap'n bill, perched upon trot's shoulder. "i'm always afraid o' bein' stepped on, and i don't like the flavor of grass an' can't seem to get used to it. it's my nature to eat grass, you know, but i begin to suspect it's an acquired taste." "can you give molasses?" asked the ork. "i guess i'm not that kind of a grasshopper," replied cap'n bill. "but i can't say what i might do if i was squeezed--which i hope i won't be." "well," said the ork, "it's a great pity, and i'd like to meet that cruel king and his wicked witch and punish them both severely. you're awfully small, cap'n bill, but i think i would recognize you anywhere by your wooden leg." then the ork and button-bright were told all about gloria's frozen heart and how the scarecrow had come from the land of oz to help them. the ork seemed rather disturbed when it learned that the scarecrow had gone alone to conquer king krewl. "i'm afraid he'll make a fizzle of it," said the skinny creature, "and there's no telling what that terrible king might do to the poor scarecrow, who seems like a very interesting person. so i believe i'll take a hand in this conquest myself." "how?" asked trot. "wait and see," was the reply. "but, first of all, i must fly home again--back to my own country--so if you'll forgive my leaving you so soon, i'll be off at once. stand away from my tail, please, so that the wind from it, when it revolves, won't knock you over." they gave the creature plenty of room and away it went like a flash and soon disappeared in the sky. "i wonder," said button-bright, looking solemnly after the ork, "whether he'll ever come back again." "of course he will!" returned trot. "the ork's a pretty good fellow, and we can depend on him. an' mark my words, button-bright, whenever our ork does come back, there's one cruel king in jinxland that'll wish he hadn't." [illustration] [illustration] chapter the scarecrow meets an enemy the scarecrow was not a bit afraid of king krewl. indeed, he rather enjoyed the prospect of conquering the evil king and putting gloria on the throne of jinxland in his place. so he advanced boldly to the royal castle and demanded admittance. seeing that he was a stranger, the soldiers allowed him to enter. he made his way straight to the throne room, where at that time his majesty was settling the disputes among his subjects. "who are you?" demanded the king. "i'm the scarecrow of oz, and i command you to surrender yourself my prisoner." [illustration] "why should i do that?" inquired the king, much astonished at the straw man's audacity. "because i've decided you are too cruel a king to rule so beautiful a country. you must remember that jinxland is a part of oz, and therefore you owe allegiance to ozma of oz, whose friend and servant i am." now, when he heard this, king krewl was much disturbed in mind, for he knew the scarecrow spoke the truth. but no one had ever before come to jinxland from the land of oz and the king did not intend to be put out of his throne if he could help it. therefore he gave a harsh, wicked laugh of derision and said: "i'm busy, now. stand out of my way, scarecrow, and i'll talk with you by and by." but the scarecrow turned to the assembled courtiers and people and called in a loud voice: "i hereby declare, in the name of ozma of oz, that this man is no longer ruler of jinxland. from this moment princess gloria is your rightful queen, and i ask all of you to be loyal to her and to obey her commands." the people looked fearfully at the king, whom they all hated in their hearts, but likewise feared. krewl was now in a terrible rage and he raised his golden sceptre and struck the scarecrow so heavy a blow that he fell to the floor. but he was up again, in an instant, and with pon's riding-whip he switched the king so hard that the wicked monarch roared with pain as much as with rage, calling on his soldiers to capture the scarecrow. they tried to do that, and thrust their lances and swords into the straw body, but without doing any damage except to make holes in the scarecrow's clothes. however, they were many against one and finally old googly-goo brought a rope which he wound around the scarecrow, binding his legs together and his arms to his sides, and after that the fight was over. the king stormed and danced around in a dreadful fury, for he had never been so switched since he was a boy--and perhaps not then. he ordered the scarecrow thrust into the castle prison, which was no task at all because one man could carry him easily, bound as he was. even after the prisoner was removed the king could not control his anger. he tried to figure out some way to be revenged upon the straw man, but could think of nothing that could hurt him. at last, when the terrified people and the frightened courtiers had all slunk away, old googly-goo approached the king with a malicious grin upon his face. "i'll tell you what to do," said he. "build a big bonfire and burn the scarecrow up, and that will be the end of him." the king was so delighted with this suggestion that he hugged old googly-goo in his joy. "of course!" he cried. "the very thing. why did i not think of it my self?" so he summoned his soldiers and retainers and bade them prepare a great bonfire in an open space in the castle park. also he sent word to all his people to assemble and witness the destruction of the scarecrow who had dared to defy his power. before long a vast throng gathered in the park and the servants had heaped up enough fuel to make a fire that might be seen for miles away--even in the daytime. when all was prepared, the king had his throne brought out for him to sit upon and enjoy the spectacle, and then he sent his soldiers to fetch the scarecrow. [illustration] now the one thing in all the world that the straw man really feared was fire. he knew he would burn very easily and that his ashes wouldn't amount to much afterward. it wouldn't hurt him to be destroyed in such a manner, but he realized that many people in the land of oz, and especially dorothy and the royal ozma, would feel sad if they learned that their old friend the scarecrow was no longer in existence. in spite of this, the straw man was brave and faced his fiery fate like a hero. when they marched him out before the concourse of people he turned to the king with great calmness and said: "this wicked deed will cost you your throne, as well as much suffering, for my friends will avenge my destruction." "your friends are not here, nor will they know what i have done to you, when you are gone and cannot tell them," answered the king in a scornful voice. then he ordered the scarecrow bound to a stout stake that he had had driven into the ground, and the materials for the fire were heaped all around him. when this had been done, the king's brass band struck up a lively tune and old googly-goo came forward with a lighted match and set fire to the pile. [illustration] at once the flames shot up and crept closer and closer toward the scarecrow. the king and all his people were so intent upon this terrible spectacle that none of them noticed how the sky grew suddenly dark. perhaps they thought that the loud buzzing sound--like the noise of a dozen moving railway trains--came from the blazing fagots; that the rush of wind was merely a breeze. but suddenly down swept a flock of orks, half a hundred of them at the least, and the powerful currents of air caused by their revolving tails sent the bonfire scattering in every direction, so that not one burning brand ever touched the scarecrow. but that was not the only effect of this sudden tornado. king krewl was blown out of his throne and went tumbling heels over head until he landed with a bump against the stone wall of his own castle, and before he could rise a big ork sat upon him and held him pressed flat to the ground. old googly-goo shot up into the air like a rocket and landed on a tree, where he hung by the middle on a high limb, kicking the air with his feet and clawing the air with his hands, and howling for mercy like the coward he was. the people pressed back until they were jammed close together, while all the soldiers were knocked over and sent sprawling to the earth. the excitement was great for a few minutes, and every frightened inhabitant of jinxland looked with awe and amazement at the great orks whose descent had served to rescue the scarecrow and conquer king krewl at one and the same time. the ork, who was the leader of the band, soon had the scarecrow free of his bonds. then he said: "well, we were just in time to save you, which is better than being a minute too late. you are now the master here, and we are determined to see your orders obeyed." with this the ork picked up krewl's golden crown, which had fallen off his head, and placed it upon the head of the scarecrow, who in his awkward way then shuffled over to the throne and sat down in it. seeing this, a rousing cheer broke from the crowd of people, who tossed their hats and waved their handkerchiefs and hailed the scarecrow as their king. the soldiers joined the people in the cheering, for now they fully realized that their hated master was conquered and it would be wise to show their good will to the conqueror. some of them bound krewl with ropes and dragged him forward, dumping his body on the ground before the scarecrow's throne. googly-goo struggled until he finally slid off the limb of the tree and came tumbling to the ground. he then tried to sneak away and escape, but the soldiers seized and bound him beside krewl. "the tables are turned," said the scarecrow, swelling out his chest until the straw within it crackled pleasantly, for he was highly pleased; "but it was you and your people who did it, friend ork, and from this time you may count me your humble servant." [illustration] [illustration] chapter the conquest of the witch now as soon as the conquest of king krewl had taken place, one of the orks had been dispatched to pon's house with the joyful news. at once gloria and pon and trot and button-bright hastened toward the castle. they were somewhat surprised by the sight that met their eyes, for there was the scarecrow, crowned king, and all the people kneeling humbly before him. so they likewise bowed low to the new ruler and then stood beside the throne. cap'n bill, as the gray grasshopper, was still perched upon trot's shoulder, but now he hopped to the shoulder of the scarecrow and whispered into the painted ear: "i thought gloria was to be queen of jinxland." the scarecrow shook his head. "not yet," he answered. "no queen with a frozen heart is fit to rule any country." then he turned to his new friend, the ork, who was strutting about, very proud of what he had done, and said: "do you suppose you, or your followers, could find old blinkie the witch?" "where is she?" asked the ork. "somewhere in jinxland, i'm sure." "then," said the ork, "we shall certainly be able to find her." "it will give me great pleasure," declared the scarecrow. "when you have found her, bring her here to me, and i will then decide what to do with her." the ork called his followers together and spoke a few words to them in a low tone. a moment after they rose into the air--so suddenly that the scarecrow, who was very light in weight, was blown quite out of his throne and into the arms of pon, who replaced him carefully upon his seat. there was an eddy of dust and ashes, too, and the grasshopper only saved himself from being whirled into the crowd of people by jumping into a tree, from where a series of hops soon brought him back to trot's shoulder again. the orks were quite out of sight by this time, so the scarecrow made a speech to the people and presented gloria to them, whom they knew well already and were fond of. but not all of them knew of her frozen heart, and when the scarecrow related the story of the wicked witch's misdeeds, which had been encouraged and paid for by krewl and googly-goo, the people were very indignant. meantime the fifty orks had scattered all over jinxland, which is not a very big country, and their sharp eyes were peering into every valley and grove and gully. finally one of them spied a pair of heels sticking out from underneath some bushes, and with a shrill whistle to warn his comrades that the witch was found the ork flew down and dragged old blinkie from her hiding-place. then two or three of the orks seized the clothing of the wicked woman in their strong claws and, lifting her high in the air, where she struggled and screamed to no avail, they flew with her straight to the royal castle and set her down before the throne of the scarecrow. [illustration] [illustration] "good!" exclaimed the straw man, nodding his stuffed head with satisfaction. "now we can proceed to business. mistress witch, i am obliged to request, gently but firmly, that you undo all the wrongs you have done by means of your witchcraft." "pah!" cried old blinkie in a scornful voice. "i defy you all! by my magic powers i can turn you all into pigs, rooting in the mud, and i'll do it if you are not careful." "i think you are mistaken about that," said the scarecrow, and rising from his throne he walked with wobbling steps to the side of the wicked witch. "before i left the land of oz, glinda the royal sorceress gave me a box, which i was not to open except in an emergency. but i feel pretty sure that this occasion is an emergency; don't you, trot?' he asked, turning toward the little girl. "why, we've got to do _something_," replied trot seriously. "things seem in an awful muddle here, jus' now, and they'll be worse if we don't stop this witch from doing more harm to people." "that is my idea, exactly," said the scarecrow, and taking a small box from his pocket he opened the cover and tossed the contents toward blinkie. the old woman shrank back, pale and trembling, as a fine white dust settled all about her. under its influence she seemed to the eyes of all observers to shrivel and grow smaller. "oh, dear--oh, dear!" she wailed, wringing her hands in fear. "haven't you the antidote, scarecrow? didn't the great sorceress give you another box?" "she did," answered the scarecrow. "then give it me--quick!" pleaded the witch. "give it me--and i'll do anything you ask me to!" "you will do what i ask first," declared the scarecrow, firmly. the witch was shriveling and growing smaller every moment. "be quick, then!" she cried. "tell me what i must do and let me do it, or it will be too late." "you made trot's friend, cap'n bill, a grasshopper. i command you to give him back his proper form again," said the scarecrow. "where is he? where's the grasshopper? quick--quick!" she screamed. cap'n bill, who had been deeply interested in this conversation, gave a great leap from trot's shoulder and landed on that of the scarecrow. blinkie saw him alight and at once began to make magic passes and to mumble magic incantations. she was in a desperate hurry, knowing that she had no time to waste, and the grasshopper was so suddenly transformed into the old sailor-man, cap'n bill, that he had no opportunity to jump off the scarecrow's shoulder; so his great weight bore the stuffed scarecrow to the ground. no harm was done, however, and the straw man got up and brushed the dust from his clothes while trot delightedly embraced cap'n bill. "the other box! quick! give me the other box," begged blinkie, who had now shrunk to half her former size. "not yet," said the scarecrow. "you must first melt princess gloria's frozen heart." "i can't; it's an awful job to do that! i can't," asserted the witch, in an agony of fear--for still she was growing smaller. "you must!" declared the scarecrow, firmly. the witch cast a shrewd look at him and saw that he meant it; so she began dancing around gloria in a frantic manner. the princess looked coldly on, as if not at all interested in the proceedings, while blinkie tore a handful of hair from her own head and ripped a strip of cloth from the bottom of her gown. then the witch sank upon her knees, took a purple powder from her black bag and sprinkled it over the hair and cloth. "i hate to do it--i hate to do it!" she wailed, "for there is no more of this magic compound in all the world. but i must sacrifice it to save my own life. a match! give me a match, quick!" and panting from lack of breath she gazed imploringly from one to another. [illustration] cap'n bill was the only one who had a match, but he lost no time in handing it to blinkie, who quickly set fire to the hair and the cloth and the purple powder. at once a purple cloud enveloped gloria, and this gradually turned to a rosy pink color--brilliant and quite transparent. through the rosy cloud they could all see the beautiful princess, standing proud and erect. then her heart became visible, at first frosted with ice but slowly growing brighter and warmer until all the frost had disappeared and it was beating as softly and regularly as any other heart. and now the cloud dispersed and disclosed gloria, her face suffused with joy, smiling tenderly upon the friends who were grouped about her. poor pon stepped forward--timidly, fearing a repulse, but with pleading eyes and arms fondly outstretched toward his former sweetheart--and the princess saw him and her sweet face lighted with a radiant smile. without an instant's hesitation she threw herself into pon's arms and this reunion of two loving hearts was so affecting that the people turned away and lowered their eyes so as not to mar the sacred joy of the faithful lovers. but blinkie's small voice was shouting to the scarecrow for help. "the antidote!" she screamed. "give me the other box--quick!" the scarecrow looked at the witch with his quaint, painted eyes and saw that she was now no taller than his knee. so he took from his pocket the second box and scattered its contents on blinkie. she ceased to grow any smaller, but she could never regain her former size, and this the wicked old woman well knew. [illustration] she did not know, however, that the second powder had destroyed all her power to work magic, and seeking to be revenged upon the scarecrow and his friends she at once began to mumble a charm so terrible in its effect that it would have destroyed half the population of jinxland--had it worked. but it did not work at all, to the amazement of old blinkie. and by this time the scarecrow noticed what the little witch was trying to do, and said to her: "go home, blinkie, and behave yourself. you are no longer a witch, but an ordinary old woman, and since you are powerless to do more evil i advise you to try to do some good in the world. believe me, it is more fun to accomplish a good act than an evil one, as you will discover when once you have tried it." but blinkie was at that moment filled with grief and chagrin at losing her magic powers. she started away toward her home, sobbing and bewailing her fate, and not one who saw her go was at all sorry for her. [illustration] chapter queen gloria next morning the scarecrow called upon all the courtiers and the people to assemble in the throne room of the castle, where there was room enough for all that were able to attend. they found the straw man seated upon the velvet cushions of the throne, with the king's glittering crown still upon his stuffed head. on one side of the throne, in a lower chair, sat gloria, looking radiantly beautiful and fresh as a new-blown rose. on the other side sat pon, the gardener's boy, still dressed in his old smock frock and looking sad and solemn; for pon could not make himself believe that so splendid a princess would condescend to love him when she had come to her own and was seated upon a throne. trot and cap'n bill sat at the feet of the scarecrow and were much interested in the proceedings. button-bright had lost himself before breakfast, but came into the throne room before the ceremonies were over. back of the throne stood a row of the great orks, with their leader in the center, and the entrance to the palace was guarded by more orks, who were regarded with wonder and awe. when all were assembled, the scarecrow stood up and made a speech. he told how gloria's father, the good king kynd, who had once ruled them and been loved by everyone, had been destroyed by king phearse, the father of pon, and how king phearse had been destroyed by king krewl. this last king had been a bad ruler, as they knew very well, and the scarecrow declared that the only one in all jinxland who had the right to sit upon the throne was princess gloria, the daughter of king kynd. "but," he added, "it is not for me, a stranger, to say who shall rule you. you must decide for yourselves, or you will not be content. so choose now who shall be your future ruler." and they all shouted: "the scarecrow! the scarecrow shall rule us!" which proved that the stuffed man had made himself very popular by his conquest of king krewl, and the people thought they would like him for their king. but the scarecrow shook his head so vigorously that it became loose, and trot had to pin it firmly to his body again. "no," said he, "i belong in the land of oz, where i am the humble servant of the lovely girl who rules us all the royal ozma. you must choose one of your own inhabitants to rule over jinxland. who shall it be?" they hesitated for a moment, and some few cried: "pon!" but many more shouted: "gloria!" so the scarecrow took gloria's hand and led her to the throne, where he first seated her and then took the glittering crown off his own head and placed it upon that of the young lady, where it nestled prettily amongst her soft curls. the people cheered and shouted then, kneeling before their new queen; but gloria leaned down and took pon's hand in both her own and raised him to the seat beside her. "you shall have both a king and a queen to care for you and to protect you, my dear subjects," she said in a sweet voice, while her face glowed with happiness; "for pon was a king's son before he became a gardener's boy, and because i love him he is to be my royal consort." that pleased them all, especially pon, who realized that this was the most important moment of his life. trot and button-bright and cap'n bill all congratulated him on winning the beautiful gloria; but the ork sneezed twice and said that in his opinion the young lady might have done better. then the scarecrow ordered the guards to bring in the wicked krewl, king no longer, and when he appeared, loaded with chains and dressed in fustian, the people hissed him and drew back as he passed so their garments would not touch him. krewl was not haughty or overbearing any more; on the contrary he seemed very meek and in great fear of the fate his conquerors had in store for him. but gloria and pon were too happy to be revengeful and so they offered to appoint krewl to the position of gardener's boy at the castle, pon having resigned to become king. but they said he must promise to reform his wicked ways and to do his duty faithfully, and he must change his name from krewl to grewl. all this the man eagerly promised to do, and so when pon retired to a room in the castle to put on princely raiment, the old brown smock he had formerly worn was given to grewl, who then went out into the garden to water the roses. [illustration] the remainder of that famous day, which was long remembered in jinxland, was given over to feasting and merrymaking. in the evening there was a grand dance in the courtyard, where the brass band played a new piece of music called the "ork trot" which was dedicated to "our glorious gloria, the queen." while the queen and pon were leading this dance, and all the jinxland people were having a good time, the strangers were gathered in a group in the park outside the castle. cap'n bill, trot, button-bright and the scarecrow were there, and so was their old friend the ork; but of all the great flock of orks which had assisted in the conquest but three remained in jinxland, besides their leader, the others having returned to their own country as soon as gloria was crowned queen. to the young ork who had accompanied them in their adventures cap'n bill said: "you've surely been a friend in need, and we're mighty grateful to you for helping us. i might have been a grasshopper yet if it hadn't been for you, an' i might remark that bein' a grasshopper isn't much fun." "if it hadn't been for you, friend ork," said the scarecrow, "i fear i could not have conquered king krewl." "no," agreed trot, "you'd have been just a heap of ashes by this time." "and i might have been lost yet," added button-bright. "much obliged, mr. ork." "oh, that's all right," replied the ork. "friends must stand together, you know, or they wouldn't be friends. but now i must leave you and be off to my own country, where there's going to be a surprise party on my uncle, and i've promised to attend it." "dear me," said the scarecrow, regretfully. "that is very unfortunate." "why so?" asked the ork. "i hoped you would consent to carry us over those mountains, into the land of oz. my mission here is now finished and i want to get back to the emerald city." "how did you cross the mountains before?" inquired the ork. "i scaled the cliffs by means of a rope, and crossed the great gulf on a strand of spider web. of course i can return in the same manner, but it would be a hard journey and perhaps an impossible one for trot and button-bright and cap'n bill. so i thought that if you had the time you and your people would carry us over the mountains and land us all safely on the other side, in the land of oz." the ork thoughtfully considered the matter for a while. then he said: "i mustn't break my promise to be present at the surprise party; but, tell me, could you go to oz to-night?" "what, now?" exclaimed trot. "it is a fine moonlight night," said the ork, "and i've found in my experience that there's no time so good as right away. the fact is," he explained, "it's a long journey to orkland and i and my cousins here are all rather tired by our day's work. but if you will start now, and be content to allow us to carry you over the mountains and dump you on the other side, just say the word and--off we go!" cap'n bill and trot looked at one another questioningly. the little girl was eager to visit the famous fairyland of oz and the old sailor had endured such hardships in jinxland that he would be glad to be out of it. "it's rather impolite of us not to say good-bye to the new king and queen," remarked the scarecrow, "but i'm sure they're too happy to miss us, and i assure you it will be much easier to fly on the backs of the orks over those steep mountains than to climb them as i did." "all right; let's go!" trot decided. "but where's button-bright?" just at this important moment button-bright was lost again, and they all scattered in search of him. he had been standing beside them just a few minutes before, but his friends had an exciting hunt for him before they finally discovered the boy seated among the members of the band, beating the end of the bass drum with the bone of a turkey-leg that he had taken from the table in the banquet room. "hello, trot," he said, looking up at the little girl when she found him. "this is the first chance i ever had to pound a drum with a regular drum stick. and i ate all the meat off the bone myself." "come quick. we're going to the land of oz." "oh, what's the hurry?" said button-bright; but she seized his arm and dragged him away to the park, where the others were waiting. trot climbed upon the back of her old friend, the ork leader, and the others took their seats on the backs of his three cousins. as soon as all were placed and clinging to the skinny necks of the creatures, the revolving tails began to whirl and up rose the four monster orks and sailed away toward the mountains. they were so high in the air that when they passed the crest of the highest peak it seemed far below them. no sooner were they well across the barrier than the orks swooped downward and landed their passengers upon the ground. "here we are, safe in the land of oz!' cried the scarecrow joyfully. "oh, are we?" asked trot, looking around her curiously. she could see the shadows of stately trees and the outlines of rolling hills; beneath her feet was soft turf, but otherwise the subdued light of the moon disclosed nothing clearly. "seems jus' like any other country," was cap'n bill's comment. [illustration] "but it isn't," the scarecrow assured him. "you are now within the borders of the most glorious fairyland in all the world. this part of it is just a corner of the quadling country, and the least interesting portion of it. it's not very thickly settled, around here, i'll admit, but--" he was interrupted by a sudden whir and a rush of air as the four orks mounted into the sky. "good night!" called the shrill voices of the strange creatures, and although trot shouted "good night!" as loudly as she could, the little girl was almost ready to cry because the orks had not waited to be properly thanked for all their kindness to her and to cap'n bill. but the orks were gone, and thanks for good deeds do not amount to much except to prove one's politeness. "well, friends," said the scarecrow, "we mustn't stay here in the meadows all night, so let us find a pleasant place to sleep. not that it matters to me, in the least, for i never sleep; but i know that meat people like to shut their eyes and lie still during the dark hours." "i'm pretty tired," admitted trot, yawning as she followed the straw man along a tiny path, "so, if you don't find a house handy, cap'n bill and i will sleep under the trees, or even on this soft grass." but a house was not very far off, although when the scarecrow stumbled upon it there was no light in it whatever. cap'n bill knocked on the door several times, and there being no response the scarecrow boldly lifted the latch and walked in, followed by the others. and no sooner had they entered than a soft light filled the room. trot couldn't tell where it came from, for no lamp of any sort was visible, but she did not waste much time on this problem, because directly in the center of the room stood a table set for three, with lots of good food on it and several of the dishes smoking hot. [illustration] the little girl and button-bright both uttered exclamations of pleasure, but they looked in vain for any cook stove or fireplace, or for any person who might have prepared for them this delicious feast. "it's fairyland," muttered the boy, tossing his cap in a corner and seating himself at the table. "this supper smells 'most as good as that turkey-leg i had in jinxland. please pass the muffins, cap'n bill." trot thought it was strange that no people but themselves were in the house, but on the wall opposite the door was a gold frame bearing in big letters the word: "welcome." so she had no further hesitation in eating of the food so mysteriously prepared for them. "but there are only places for three!' she exclaimed. "three are quite enough," said the scarecrow. "i never eat, because i am stuffed full already, and i like my nice clean straw better than i do food." trot and the sailor-man were hungry and made a hearty meal, for not since they had left home had they tasted such good food. it was surprising that button-bright could eat so soon after his feast in jinxland, but the boy always ate whenever there was an opportunity. "if i don't eat now," he said, "the next time i'm hungry i'll wish i had." "really, cap'n," remarked trot, when she found a dish of ice-cream appear beside her plate, "i b'lieve this is fairyland, sure enough." "there's no doubt of it, trot," he answered gravely. "i've been here before," said button-bright, "so i know." after supper they discovered three tiny bedrooms adjoining the big living room of the house, and in each room was a comfortable white bed with downy pillows. you may be sure that the tired mortals were not long in bidding the scarecrow good night and creeping into their beds, where they slept soundly until morning. for the first time since they set eyes on the terrible whirlpool, trot and cap'n bill were free from anxiety and care. button-bright never worried about anything. the scarecrow, not being able to sleep, looked out of the window and tried to count the stars. [illustration] chapter dorothy, betsy and ozma i suppose many of my readers have read descriptions of the beautiful and magnificent emerald city of oz, so i need not describe it here, except to state that never has any city in any fairyland ever equalled this one in stately splendor. it lies almost exactly in the center of the land of oz, and in the center of the emerald city rises the wall of glistening emeralds that surrounds the palace of ozma. the palace is almost a city in itself and is inhabited by many of the ruler's especial friends and those who have won her confidence and favor. as for ozma herself, there are no words in any dictionary i can find that are fitted to describe this young girl's beauty of mind and person. merely to see her is to love her for her charming face and manners; to know her is to love her for her tender sympathy, her generous nature, her truth and honor. born of a long line of fairy queens, ozma is as nearly perfect as any fairy may be, and she is noted for her wisdom as well as for her other qualities. her happy subjects adore their girl ruler and each one considers her a comrade and protector. at the time of which i write, ozma's best friend and most constant companion was a little kansas girl named dorothy, a mortal who had come to the land of oz in a very curious manner and had been offered a home in ozma's palace. furthermore, dorothy had been made a princess of oz, and was as much at home in the royal palace as was the gentle ruler. she knew almost every part of the great country and almost all of its numerous inhabitants. next to ozma she was loved better than anyone in all oz, for dorothy was simple and sweet, seldom became angry and had such a friendly, chummy way that she made friends wherever she wandered. it was she who first brought the scarecrow and the tin woodman and the cowardly lion to the emerald city. dorothy had also introduced to ozma the shaggy man and the hungry tiger, as well as billina the yellow hen, eureka the pink kitten, and many other delightful characters and creatures. coming as she did from our world, dorothy was much like many other girls we know; so there were times when she was not so wise as she might have been, and other times when she was obstinate and got herself into trouble. but life in a fairyland had taught the little girl to accept all sorts of surprising things as matters-of-course, for while dorothy was no fairy--but just as mortal as we are--she had seen more wonders than most mortals ever do. another little girl from our outside world also lived in ozma's palace. this was betsy bobbin, whose strange adventures had brought her to the emerald city, where ozma had cordially welcomed her. betsy was a shy little thing and could never get used to the marvels that surrounded her, but she and dorothy were firm friends and thought themselves very fortunate in being together in this delightful country. one day dorothy and betsy were visiting ozma in the girl ruler's private apartment, and among the things that especially interested them was ozma's magic picture, set in a handsome frame and hung upon the wall of the room. this picture was a magic one because it constantly changed its scenes and showed events and adventures happening in all parts of the world. thus it was really a "moving picture" of life, and if the one who stood before it wished to know what any absent person was doing, the picture instantly showed that person, with his or her surroundings. the two girls were not wishing to see anyone in particular, on this occasion, but merely enjoyed watching the shifting scenes, some of which were exceedingly curious and remarkable. suddenly dorothy exclaimed: "why, there's button-bright!" and this drew ozma also to look at the picture, for she and dorothy knew the boy well. "who is button-bright?" asked betsy, who had never met him. "why, he's the little boy who is just getting off the back of that strange flying creature," exclaimed dorothy. then she turned to ozma and asked: "what is that thing, ozma? a bird? i've never seen anything like it before." [illustration] "it is an ork," answered ozma, for they were watching the scene where the ork and the three big birds were first landing their passengers in jinxland, after the long flight across the desert. "i wonder," added the girl ruler, musingly, "why those strangers dare venture into that unfortunate country, which is ruled by a wicked king." "that girl, and the one-legged man, seem to be mortals from the outside world," said dorothy. "the man isn't one-legged," corrected betsy; "he has one wooden leg." "it's almost as bad," declared dorothy, watching cap'n bill stump around. "they are three mortal adventurers," said ozma, "and they seem worthy and honest. but i fear they will be treated badly in jinxland, and if they meet with any misfortune there it will reflect upon me, for jinxland is a part of my dominions." "can't we help them in any way?" inquired dorothy. "that seems like a nice little girl. i'd be sorry if anything happened to her." "let us watch the picture for awhile," suggested ozma, and so they all drew chairs before the magic picture and followed the adventures of trot and cap'n bill and button-bright. presently the scene shifted and showed their friend the scarecrow crossing the mountains into jinxland, and that somewhat relieved ozma's anxiety, for she knew at once that glinda the good had sent the scarecrow to protect the strangers. the adventures in jinxland proved very interesting to the three girls in ozma's palace, who during the succeeding days spent much of their time in watching the picture. it was like a story to them. [illustration: dorothy] "that girl's a reg'lar trump!' exclaimed dorothy, referring to trot, and ozma answered: "she's a dear little thing, and i'm sure nothing very bad will happen to her. the old sailor is a fine character, too, for he has never once grumbled over being a grasshopper, as so many would have done." when the scarecrow was so nearly burned up the girls all shivered a little, and they clapped their hands in joy when the flock of orks came and saved him. so it was that when all the exciting adventures in jinxland were over and the four orks had begun their flight across the mountains to carry the mortals into the land of oz, ozma called the wizard to her and asked him to prepare a place for the strangers to sleep. the famous wizard of oz was a quaint little man who inhabited the royal palace and attended to all the magical things that ozma wanted done. he was not as powerful as glinda, to be sure, but he could do a great many wonderful things. he proved this by placing a house in the uninhabited part of the quadling country where the orks landed cap'n bill and trot and button-bright, and fitting it with all the comforts i have described in the last chapter. next morning dorothy said to ozma: "oughtn't we to go meet the strangers, so we can show them the way to the emerald city? i'm sure that little girl will feel shy in this beautiful land, and i know if 'twas me i'd like somebody to give me a welcome." ozma smiled at her little friend and answered: "you and betsy may go to meet them, if you wish, but i can not leave my palace just now, as i am to have a conference with jack pumpkinhead and professor wogglebug on important matters. you may take the sawhorse and the red wagon, and if you start soon you will be able to meet the scarecrow and the strangers at glinda's palace." "oh, thank you!" cried dorothy, and went away to tell betsy and to make preparations for the journey. [illustration: betsy] [illustration] chapter the waterfall glinda's castle was a long way from the mountains, but the scarecrow began the journey cheerfully, since time was of no great importance in the land of oz and he had recently made the trip and knew the way. it never mattered much to button-bright where he was or what he was doing; the boy was content in being alive and having good companions to share his wanderings. as for trot and cap'n bill, they now found themselves so comfortable and free from danger, in this fine fairyland, and they were so awed and amazed by the adventures they were encountering, that the journey to glinda's castle was more like a pleasure trip than a hardship, so many wonderful things were there to see. button-bright had been in oz before, but never in this part of it, so the scarecrow was the only one who knew the paths and could lead them. they had eaten a hearty breakfast, which they found already prepared for them and awaiting them on the table when they arose from their refreshing sleep, so they left the magic house in a contented mood and with hearts lighter and more happy than they had known for many a day. as they marched along through the fields, the sun shone brightly and the breeze was laden with delicious fragrance, for it carried with it the breath of millions of wildflowers. at noon, when they stopped to rest by the banks of a pretty river, trot said with a long-drawn breath that was much like a sigh: "i wish we'd brought with us some of the food that was left from our breakfast, for i'm getting hungry again." scarcely had she spoken when a table rose up before them, as if from the ground itself, and it was loaded with fruits and nuts and cakes and many other good things to eat. the little girl's eyes opened wide at this display of magic, and cap'n bill was not sure that the things were actually there and fit to eat until he had taken them in his hand and tasted them. but the scarecrow said with a laugh: "someone is looking after your welfare, that is certain, and from the looks of this table i suspect my friend the wizard has taken us in his charge. i've known him to do things like this before, and if we are in the wizard's care you need not worry about your future." "who's worrying?" inquired button-bright, already at the table and busily eating. the scarecrow looked around the place while the others were feasting, and finding many things unfamiliar to him he shook his head and remarked: "i must have taken the wrong path, back in that last valley, for on my way to jinxland i remember that i passed around the foot of this river, where there was a great waterfall." "did the river make a bend, after the waterfall?" asked cap'n bill. "no, the river disappeared. only a pool of whirling water showed what had become of the river; but i suppose it is under ground, somewhere, and will come to the surface again in another part of the country." "well," suggested trot, as she finished her luncheon, "as there is no way to cross this river, i s'pose we'll have to find that waterfall, and go around it." "exactly," replied the scarecrow; so they soon renewed their journey, following the river for a long time until the roar of the waterfall sounded in their ears. by and by they came to the waterfall itself, a sheet of silver dropping far, far down into a tiny lake which seemed to have no outlet. from the top of the fall, where they stood, the banks gradually sloped away, so that the descent by land was quite easy, while the river could do nothing but glide over an edge of rock and tumble straight down to the depths below. "you see," said the scarecrow, leaning over the brink, "this is called by our oz people the great waterfall, because it is certainly the highest one in all the land; but i think--help!" [illustration] he had lost his balance and pitched headforemost into the river. they saw a flash of straw and blue clothes, and the painted face looking upward in surprise. the next moment the scarecrow was swept over the waterfall and plunged into the basin below. the accident had happened so suddenly that for a moment they were all too horrified to speak or move. "quick! we must go to help him or he will be drowned," trot exclaimed. even while speaking she began to descend the bank to the pool below, and cap'n bill followed as swiftly as his wooden leg would let him. button-bright came more slowly, calling to the girl: "he can't drown, trot; he's a scarecrow." but she wasn't sure a scarecrow couldn't drown and never relaxed her speed until she stood on the edge of the pool, with the spray dashing in her face. cap'n bill, puffing and panting, had just voice enough to ask, as he reached her side: "see him, trot?" "not a speck of him. oh, cap'n, what do you s'pose has become of him?" "i s'pose," replied the sailor, "that he's in that water, more or less far down, and i'm 'fraid it'll make his straw pretty soggy. but as fer his bein' drowned, i agree with button-bright that it can't be done." [illustration] there was small comfort in this assurance and trot stood for some time searching with her eyes the bubbling water, in the hope that the scarecrow would finally come to the surface. presently she heard button-bright calling: "come here, trot!" and looking around she saw that the boy had crept over the wet rocks to the edge of the waterfall and seemed to be peering behind it. making her way toward him, she asked: "what do you see?" "a cave," he answered. "let's go in. perhaps we'll find the scarecrow there." she was a little doubtful of that, but the cave interested her, and so did it cap'n bill. there was just space enough at the edge of the sheet of water for them to crowd in behind it, but after that dangerous entrance they found room enough to walk upright and after a time they came to an opening in the w r all of rock. approaching this opening, they gazed within it and found a series of steps, cut so that they might easily descend into the cavern. trot turned to look inquiringly at her companions. the falling water made such din and roaring that her voice could not be heard. cap'n bill nodded his head, but before he could enter the cave, button-bright was before him, clambering down the steps without a particle of fear. so the others followed the boy. the first steps were wet with spray, and slippery, but the remainder were quite dry. a rosy light seemed to come from the interior of the cave, and this lighted their way. after the steps there was a short tunnel, high enough for them to walk erect in, and then they reached the cave itself and paused in wonder and admiration. they stood on the edge of a vast cavern, the walls and domed roof of which were lined with countless rubies, exquisitely cut and flashing sparkling rays from one to another. this caused a radiant light that permitted the entire cavern to be distinctly seen, and the effect was so marvelous that trot drew in her breath with a sort of a gasp, and stood quite still in wonder. but the walls and roof of the cavern were merely a setting for a more wonderful scene. in the center was a bubbling cauldron of water, for here the river rose again, splashing and dashing till its spray rose high in the air, where it took the ruby color of the jewels and seemed like a seething mass of flame. and while they gazed into the tumbling, tossing water, the body of the scarecrow suddenly rose in the center, struggling and kicking, and the next instant wholly disappeared from view. "my, but he's wet!" exclaimed button-bright; but none of the others heard him. trot and cap'n bill discovered that a broad ledge--covered, like the walls, with glittering rubies--ran all around the cavern; so they followed this gorgeous path to the rear and found where the water made its final dive underground, before it disappeared entirely. where it plunged into this dim abyss the river was black and dreary looking, and they stood gazing in awe until just beside them the body of the scarecrow again popped up from the water. [illustration] [illustration] chapter the land of oz the straw man's appearance on the water was so sudden that it startled trot, but cap'n bill had the presence of mind to stick his wooden leg out over the water and the scarecrow made a desperate clutch and grabbed the leg with both hands. he managed to hold on until trot and button-bright knelt down and seized his clothing, but the children would have been powerless to drag the soaked scarecrow ashore had not cap'n bill now assisted them. when they laid him on the ledge of rubies he was the most useless looking scarecrow you can imagine--his straw sodden and dripping with water, his clothing wet and crumpled, while even the sack upon which his face was painted had become so wrinkled that the old jolly expression of their stuffed friend's features was entirely gone. but he could still speak, and when trot bent down her ear she heard him say: "get me out of here as soon as you can." that seemed a wise thing to do, so cap'n bill lifted his head and shoulders, and trot and button-bright each took a leg; among them they partly carried and partly dragged the damp scarecrow out of the ruby cavern, along the tunnel, and up the flight of rock steps. it was somewhat difficult to get him past the edge of the waterfall, but they succeeded, after much effort, and a few minutes later laid their poor comrade on a grassy bank where the sun shone upon him freely and he was beyond the reach of the spray. cap'n bill now knelt down and examined the straw that the scarecrow was stuffed with. "i don't believe it'll be of much use to him, any more," said he, "for it's full of polliwogs an' fish eggs, an' the water has took all the crinkle out o' the straw an' ruined it. i guess, trot, that the best thing for us to do is to empty out all his body an' carry his head an' clothes along the road till we come to a field or a house where we can get some fresh straw." "yes, cap'n," she agreed, "there's nothing else to be done. but how shall we ever find the road to glinda's palace, without the scarecrow to guide us?" "that's easy," said the scarecrow, speaking in a rather feeble but distinct voice. "if cap'n bill will carry my head on his shoulders, eyes front, i can tell him which way to go." so they followed that plan and emptied all the old, wet straw out of the scarecrow's body. then the sailor-man wrung out the clothes and laid them in the sun till they were quite dry. trot took charge of the head and pressed the wrinkles out of the face as it dried, so that after a while the scarecrow's expression became natural again, and as jolly as before. this work consumed some time, but when it was completed they again started upon their journey, button-bright carrying the boots and hat, trot the bundle of clothes, and cap'n bill the head. the scarecrow, having regained his composure and being now in a good humor, despite his recent mishaps, beguiled their way with stories of the land of oz. [illustration] it was not until the next morning, however, that they found straw with which to restuff the scarecrow. that evening they came to the same little house they had slept in before, only now it was magically transferred to a new place. the same bountiful supper as before was found smoking hot upon the table and the same cosy beds were ready for them to sleep in. they rose early and after breakfast went out of doors, and there, lying just beside the house, was a heap of clean, crisp straw. ozma had noticed the scarecrow's accident in her magic picture and had notified the wizard to provide the straw, for she knew the adventurers were not likely to find straw in the country through which they were now traveling. they lost no time in stuffing the scarecrow anew, and he was greatly delighted at being able to walk around again and to assume the leadership of the little party. "really," said trot, "i think you're better than you were before, for you are fresh and sweet all through and rustle beautifully when you move." "thank you, my dear," he replied gratefully. "i always feel like a new man when i'm freshly stuffed. no one likes to get musty, you know, and even good straw may be spoiled by age." "it was water that spoiled you, the last time," remarked button-bright, "which proves that too much bathing is as bad as too little. but, after all, scarecrow, water is not as dangerous for you as fire." "all things are good in moderation," declared the scarecrow. "but now, let us hurry on, or we shall not reach glinda's palace by nightfall." [illustration] [illustration] chapter the royal reception at about four o'clock of that same day the red wagon drew up at the entrance to glinda's palace and dorothy and betsy jumped out. ozma's red wagon was almost a chariot, being inlaid with rubies and pearls, and it was drawn by ozma's favorite steed, the wooden sawhorse. "shall i unharness you," asked dorothy, "so you can come in and visit?" "no," replied the sawhorse. "til just stand here and think. take your time. thinking doesn't seem to bore me at all." "what will you think of?" inquired betsy. "of the acorn that grew the tree from which i was made." so they left the wooden animal and went in to see glinda, who welcomed the little girls in her most cordial manner. "i knew you were on your way," said the good sorceress when they were seated in her library, "for i learned from my record book that you intended to meet trot and button-bright on their arrival here." "is the strange little girl named trot?' asked dorothy. "yes; and her companion, the old sailor, is named cap'n bill. i think we shall like them very much, for they are just the kind of people to enjoy and appreciate our fairyland and i do not see any way, at present, for them to return again to the outside world." "well, there's room enough here for them, i'm sure," said dorothy. "betsy and i are already eager to welcome trot. it will keep us busy for a year, at least, showing her all the wonderful things in oz." glinda smiled. "i have lived here many years," said she, "and i have not seen all the wonders of oz vet." meantime the travelers were drawing near to the palace, and when they first caught sight of its towers trot realized that it was far more grand and imposing than was the king's castle in jinxland. the nearer they came, the more beautiful the palace appeared, and when finally the scarecrow led them up the great marble steps, even button-bright was filled with awe. "i don't see any soldiers to guard the place," said the little girl. "there is no need to guard glinda's palace," replied the scarecrow. "we have no wicked people in oz, that we know of, and even if there were any, glinda's magic would be powerful enough to protect her." button-bright was now standing on the top steps of the entrance, and he suddenly exclaimed: "why, there's the sawhorse and the red wagon! hip, hooray!" and next moment he was rushing down to throw his arms around the neck of the wooden horse, which good-naturedly permitted this familiarity when it recognized in the boy an old friend. button-bright's shout had been heard inside the palace, so now dorothy and betsy came running out to embrace their beloved friend, the scarecrow, and to welcome trot and cap'n bill to the land of oz. "we've been watching you for a long time, in ozma's magic picture," said dorothy, "and ozma has sent us to invite you to her own palace in the em'rald city. i don't know if you realize how lucky you are to get that invitation, but you'll understand it better after you've seen the royal palace and the em'rald city." glinda now appeared in person to lead all the party into her azure reception room. trot was a little afraid of the stately sorceress, but gained courage by holding fast to the hands of betsy and dorothy. cap'n bill had no one to help him feel at ease, so the old sailor sat stiffly on the edge of his chair and said: "yes, ma'am," or "no, ma'am," when he was spoken to, and was greatly embarrassed by so much splendor. the scarecrow had lived so much in palaces that he felt quite at home, and he chatted to glinda and the oz girls in a merry, light-hearted way. he told all about his adventures in jinxland, and at the great waterfall, and on the journey hither--most of which his hearers knew already--and then he asked dorothy and betsy what had happened in the emerald city since he had left there. they all passed the evening and the night at glinda's palace, and the sorceress was so gracious to cap'n bill that the old man by degrees regained his self-possession and began to enjoy himself. trot had already come to the conclusion that in dorothy and betsy she had found two delightful comrades, and button-bright was just as much at home here as he had been in the fields of jinxland or when he was buried in the popcorn snow of the land of mo. the next morning they arose bright and early and after breakfast bade good-bye to the kind sorceress, whom trot and cap'n bill thanked earnestly for sending the scarecrow to jinxland to rescue them. then they all climbed into the red wagon. there was room for all on the broad seats, and when all had taken their places--dorothy, trot and betsy on the rear seat and cap'n bill, button-bright and the scarecrow in front--they called "gid-dap!" to the sawhorse and the wooden steed moved briskly away, pulling the red wagon with ease. it was now that the strangers began to perceive the real beauties of the land of oz, for they were passing through a more thickly settled part of the country and the population grew more dense as they drew nearer to the emerald city. everyone they met had a cheery word or a smile for the scarecrow, dorothy and betsy bobbin, and some of them remembered button-bright and welcomed him back to their country. it was a happy party, indeed, that journeyed in the red wagon to the emerald city, and trot already began to hope that ozma would permit her and cap'n bill to live always in the land of oz. when they reached the great city they were more amazed than ever, both by the concourse of people in their quaint and picturesque costumes, and by the splendor of the city itself. but the magnificence of the royal palace quite took their breath away, until ozma received them in her own pretty apartment and by her charming manners and assuring smiles made them feel they were no longer strangers. trot was given a lovely little room next to that of dorothy, while cap'n bill had the cosiest sort of a room next to trot's and overlooking the gardens. and that evening ozma gave a grand banquet and reception in honor of the new arrivals. while trot had read of many of the people she then met, cap'n bill was less familiar with them and many of the unusual characters introduced to him that evening caused the old sailor to open his eyes wide in astonishment. [illustration] [illustration] he had thought the live scarecrow about as curious as anyone could be, but now he met the tin woodman, who was all made of tin, even to his heart, and carried a gleaming axe over his shoulder wherever he went. then there was jack pumpkinhead, whose head was a real pumpkin with the face carved upon it; and professor wogglebug, who had the shape of an enormous bug but was dressed in neat fitting garments. the professor was an interesting talker and had very polite manners, but his face was so comical that it made cap'n bill smile to look at it. a great friend of dorothy and ozma seemed to be a machine man called tik-tok, who ran down several times during the evening and had to be wound up again by someone before he could move or speak. at the reception appeared the shaggy man and his brother, both very popular in oz, as well as dorothy's uncle henry and aunt em, two happy old people who lived in a pretty cottage near the palace. but what perhaps seemed most surprising to both trot and cap'n bill was the number of peculiar animals admitted into ozma's parlors, where they not only conducted themselves quite properly but were able to talk as well as anyone. there was the cowardly lion, an immense beast with a beautiful mane; and the hungry tiger, who smiled continually; and eureka the pink kitten, who lay curled upon a cushion and had rather supercilious manners; and the wooden sawhorse; and nine tiny piglets that belonged to the wizard; and a mule named hank, who belonged to betsy bobbin. a fuzzy little terrier dog, named toto, lay at dorothy's feet but seldom took part in the conversation, although he listened to every word that was said. but the most wonderful of all to trot was a square beast with a winning smile, that squatted in a corner of the room and wagged his square head at everyone in quite a jolly way. betsy told trot that this unique beast was called the woozy, and there was no other like him in all the world. cap'n bill and trot had both looked around expectantly for the wizard of oz, but the evening was far advanced before the famous little man entered the room. but he went up to the strangers at once and said: "i know you, but you don't know me; so let's get acquainted." and they did get acquainted, in a very short time, and before the evening was over trot felt that she knew every person and animal present at the reception, and that they were all her good friends. suddenly they looked around for button-bright, but he was nowhere to be found. "dear me!" cried trot. "he's lost again." "never mind, my dear," said ozma, with her charming smile, "no one can go far astray in the land of oz, and if button-bright isn't lost occasionally, he isn't happy." [illustration] * * * * * transcriber notes all illustrations were placed so as to not split paragraphs. the color illustrations were grouped together (between pages and ) in the printed version; but have been moved to the relevent point within the story. minor typos corrected. the jenolan caves. [illustration: the coral grotto. [_frontispiece_] the jenolan caves: an excursion in australian wonderland. by samuel cook. _illustrated with twenty-four plates and map._ eyre & spottiswoode, her majesty's printers: london--great new street, fleet street, e.c. . [illustration: coat of arms] preface. the following historical and descriptive account of the jenolan (formerly called the fish river) caves was written for the _sydney morning herald_. by the kind permission of the proprietors of that journal (messrs. john fairfax and sons) and, at the request of numerous correspondents, it is now republished. the author is conscious, however, that neither tongue, nor pen, nor pictorial art can convey an adequate idea of the magnificence and exquisite beauty of these caves. words are too poor to express the feelings of admiration and awe which are experienced by those who wander through the marvellous subterranean galleries embellished with myriads of graceful and fantastic forms of purest white alternating with rich colour and delicate tints and shades. of all the caves in new south wales those at jenolan are the most beautiful, and well-travelled men admit that they are unrivalled in any other part of the world. as they are so little known this book may be interesting, and serve to give some impression concerning geological transformations and the slow processes of nature in the production of works at once grand, ornate, and unique. the illustrations are from photographs by messrs. kerry and jones of sydney, who have generously permitted the author to make selections from their beautiful and extensive series of cave pictures. contents. chapter i. page how the caves were discovered chapter ii. the approach to the caves chapter iii. the external features of the caves--the grand arch chapter iv. the devil's coach house chapter v. the night caves chapter vi. the nettle cave chapter vii. the arch cave chapter viii. the carlotta arch chapter ix. the elder cave chapter x. the lucas cave--the music hall--the shawl cave chapter xi. the exhibition--the broken column--the jewel casket--judge windeyer's couch--the underground bridge chapter xii. the lurline cave--the fossil bone cave--the snowball cave chapter xiii. the bone caves chapter xiv. the imperial cave--the wool shed and the gravel pits--the architect's studio--the bone cave chapter xv. the margherita cave chapter xvi. the helena cave chapter xvii. the grotto cave chapter xviii. the lucinda cave chapter xix. katie's bower chapter xx. the right-hand branch of the imperial cave--the subterranean river chapter xxi. the fossil bone cave, the sparkling rock, and the crystal rock chapter xxii. the shawl cave chapter xxiii. lot's wife chapter xxiv. the crystal cities--the show-room and the grand stalactites chapter xxv. the fairies' bower--the selina cave--the mystery--nellie's grotto chapter xxvi. the vestry, the jewel casket, the bridal veil, and the flowering column chapter xxvii. how caves are made--the work of ages chapter xxviii. the garden palace--the stalagmite cave and the gem of the west chapter xxix. the fairies' retreat--the queen's diamonds chapter xxx. general impressions--caves unexplored chapter xxxi. conclusion list of illustrations. the coral grotto _frontispiece_ the grand arch entrance _to face page_ the grand arch--looking east " camp creek " the devil's coach house " the northern entrance to the devil's coach house " the nettle cave " the arch cave " the carlotta arch " the lucas cave " the shawl cave " the broken column " the underground bridge " the architect's studio " the helena cave " the lucinda cave " katie's bower " the underground river and its reflections " the crystal city " the show-room " the mystery " nellie's grotto " the alabaster column " the gem of the west " map of the district _at end of book._ the jenolan caves. chapter i. how the caves were discovered. the jenolan caves contain some of the most remarkable and beautiful objects in australian wonderland. they are formed in a limestone "dyke," surrounded by magnificent scenery, and hide in their dark recesses natural phenomena of rare interest to the geologist, as well as of pleasurable contemplation by non-scientific visitors; while in and about them the moralist may find "---- tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, and good in everything." to see these caves once is to create a lifelong memory. the pink and the white terraces of new zealand, which before the recent eruptions attracted so many tourists, did not excel in splendour the caves at jenolan. but it is common for people to go abroad to admire less interesting things than are to be found within easy distance of their starting point, and which, if they were a thousand miles away, would probably be regarded as worthy of a special pilgrimage. there are persons living two or three leagues from the caves who have never seen them, and who, if they embraced the opportunity for inspection, would possibly regard them with the kind of wonder with which they would gaze upon the transformation scene at a pantomime. and yet the most frequent entry in the visitors' book is that the caves are "grand beyond expectation," and in some of their principal features "indescribably beautiful." the first of these caves was discovered in by james whalan, who lived on the fish river, near what is now the tarana railway station. having been robbed by a man named mcewan, he accompanied a police officer in search of the desperado, and tracked him to the romantic spot which forms the centre of the cave reserve, where he was captured. it is possible that some of these caves were known previously to outlaws, who found in them a secure and convenient hiding-place when hotly pursued. but the visit of whalan on the occasion of the capture of mcewan first brought them into public notice. the name of the bush-ranger is given to the creek which plays an important part in connection with the caves. one of the principal features received its name from the captor, and another--the bow cave--is called after some stolen bullock-bows found therein. they were then known as the "fish river caves," or as the "binda caves." they were called the fish river caves because they were in what was then regarded as the "fish river district," and not very far from the fish river post-office. they were called the "binda caves" after a station about nine miles distant to the northward. and so they were indifferently known until the month of august, , when their designation was officially changed to "jenolan"--that being the name given by sir thomas mitchell (surveyor-general of new south wales) to the mountain from which is named the parish within which the caves are situated. the change of nomenclature was recommended on the ground that the then existing names were infelicitous and misleading,--the caves being not upon the fish river, but upon a different watershed, separated from it by the main dividing range of the colony. the time was considered appropriate for remedying the mistake, because a map of the parish of jenolan was then in course of preparation, and would shortly be lithographed and issued to the public. the official correspondence on this subject discloses the fact that "binda" was first thought of as a good official name, and then "bindo;" but the former was found to be the name of a post town between yass and goulburn, and the latter the name of a village and a mountain nine miles north of the caves, and, like the fish river, on the west side of the dividing range. some exception was taken to the proposed change. it was urged that the name "jenolan" was already applied to a mountain in the capertee district; but to this it was replied that the mountain called "jenolan," seven or eight miles from the caves in an easterly direction, was marked on sir thomas mitchell's engraved map of the central portion of new south wales, whilst the other was not so defined--showing precedence in point of time and importance; and, further, that the orthography of the two names is different, the one being spelt "jenolan" and the other "geenowlan"--the former being the name of the parish in which the caves are situated, and the latter the name of a peak near capertee, in the county of roxburg. so it was finally determined to change the name of the caves to "jenolan," and in august, , they were gazetted accordingly. such a change could not have taken place without inconvenience and some misconception. recently inquiries have been made as to whether the "jenolan caves" are newly-discovered wonders, or old friends under a new designation? for about a quarter of a century after the discovery by whalan, little notice was taken of the caves. they were regarded by a few who knew about them as remarkable freaks of nature, but allowed to remain unexplored until some of their hidden beauties were so disclosed as to rouse the enthusiasm of the present curator--mr. jeremiah wilson--to whom, for his daring, energy, and patient investigation the public are greatly indebted. when their fame began to be bruited about, the number of visitors increased, and among them were goths and vandals who did not scruple to remove many a crystal gem from the still unfathomed caves. it became evident that unless something were promptly done to secure these newly-found treasures to the public, and protect them from ruthless hands, their magnificence would soon be destroyed, and the people deprived of a possession which should be a source of delight and instruction to succeeding generations, and excite the admiration of tourists from all parts of the world. the government did the right thing when it prevented the acquisition by private individuals of the caves and a large area of land around them. it would have been better had the dedication to the public been made earlier. the _gazette_ notice reserving from conditional purchase land about the caves with a view to their preservation, bears date nd october, , and has appended to it the signature of the late j. bowie wilson, who was then secretary for lands in the martin ministry. the area specially protected is six and a quarter square miles in the county of westmoreland, and near to it are some important forest reserves. the official correspondence from to the present time is not very interesting, having reference principally to suggested improvements; it is very bulky, and shows that a large amount of official interest has been taken in the subject; but the money expended and the work accomplished indicate that hitherto government and parliament have had but a faint idea of their obligations in regard to the jenolan caves. chapter ii. the approach to the caves. there are several routes to the caves. that commonly chosen is by way of tarana, a small township miles from sydney by rail, and , feet above the level of the sea. the train journey is through interesting country. leaving behind the new western suburbs with their elegant villas, stately mansions, and well-kept gardens, the traveller arrives at parramatta with its quaint old church, its fine domain with sturdy english oaks of magnificent growth, its glimpses of river, its old king's school, and its many evidences of change from the old to the new. from parramatta (which is but miles from sydney), to penrith, there are farms, and dark-leaved orange groves sweet-scented and laden with golden fruit; villages and townships and little homesteads where peace and contentment seem to reign; orchards and cultivated fields with rich brown soil on the hill sides; fine horses, splendid cattle, and cottages with troops of sturdy children. at penrith, miles from sydney and feet above sea-level, the country is flat, and the nepean river which flows in graceful contour is spanned by a magnificent iron bridge supported on four massive piers of solid masonry. the train speeds across the emu plains which are walled in by the blue mountains, so-called on account of the azure haze which covers them as with a bridal veil and is to the everlasting hills what the bloom is to the peach. scaling the mountain side by a zigzag road, which is one of the "show" works of the colony illustrative of engineering audacity, in the course of a few miles the train climbs to an elevation of feet. at blaxland's platform, miles from sydney, the altitude is feet above sea-level. the name of blaxland recalls the fact that it was not until that a route across the blue mountains was discovered. near to the railway line is the track found by wentworth, blaxland, and lawson, over what had theretofore been regarded as an impassable barrier range to the westward of sydney. on speeds the train, still rising and rising, and revealing a series of views remarkable for grandeur and the sylvan monotony of the gum tree, until at katoomba platform, miles from sydney, the elevation is , feet above sea-level. and so the journey continues past abrupt rocks, gloomy gorges, sparkling waterfalls, rocky glens, bold bluffs, leafy gullies, fairy dells and vernal valleys, until it descends the great zigzag into lithgow, falling about feet in less than five miles! lithgow is miles from sydney, and although the blue mountains have been passed, the altitude is still about , feet. lithgow is a busy place, apparently destined to become a manufacturing centre. there are already in the vicinity numerous coal mines, potteries, and other works. from this point to tarana the country varies from agricultural and pastoral to rugged scenery. the distance from tarana to the caves is miles, which has to be traversed by coach or on horseback. at present the ordinary course is to take coach on the arrival of the train at tarana and drive to oberon the same evening. the road is good, the district agricultural, and the scenery agreeable. the course from oberon to the caves is through a less settled country, and for a considerable distance through unsettled primeval "bush," occupied chiefly by the wallaby, the opossum, the bandicoot, many varieties of the parrot kind that flaunt their gaudy plumage in the sunlight, and the native pheasant or lyre bird (_menura superba_) which is a veritable mimic. the country is broken and mountainous and in winter the temperature is low, with cutting winds and severe frosts; in summer the heat is fervent. these silent forces in conjunction with brawling mountain torrents have been large factors in the production of the natural phenomena which are to be found in the valley dammed by the limestone "dyke" in which the caves are formed. the approach to the jenolan caves at the end of the route _viâ_ tarana is remarkable for its construction and gradient, as well as for the magnificent scenery which surrounds it. all the way from oberon the land rises, until an altitude of , feet above sea-level is attained. then there is a gradual downward grade, until what is called "the top camp" is reached, shortly after which the traveller arrives at a part of the range which he traverses by five zigzags, and descends about yards in a total length of road five chains less than three miles! this thoroughfare is made by cutting into the mountain side; and although with a well-appointed conveyance and careful driving it is safe enough, inexperienced travellers feel a sense of relief when the journey is concluded, and they are set down at the cave house below, which, notwithstanding that it is in the lowest depth of a mountain recess, is still nearly , feet above sea-level. any feeling of nervousness, however, is superseded by a sense of the grandeur of the view. if an occasional glance is given at the steep declivity, and a thought occurs as to what would be the consequence of a mishap, the attention is immediately diverted to some new magnificence in the wildly beautiful panorama, the sight of which alone would almost compensate for so long a journey. on the return trip, when portly gentlemen ascend on foot this very steep zigzag they pause occasionally to contemplate the beauties of nature and estimate the advantages of pedestrian exercise. perhaps, also, when they have made the same observation two or three times, they begin to think it possible to carry pedestrian exercise to excess, and that a wire tramway would be convenient. still, at a second or third glance, they get an excellent idea of the course of the limestone ridge, and a better understanding of the operations of nature in the excavation of the caves and the production of the wonderful formations they contain. chapter iii. the external features of the caves. that portion of the limestone dyke in which the caves are found runs six miles north and south; and the grand arch and the devil's coach house--the two principal "day caves"--are formed right through the mountain, near the centre, in an easterly and westerly direction. on the one side mcewan's creek flows towards the devil's coach house, and on the other side is a natural watercourse leading to the grand arch, which is only a few yards distant from it. bearing in mind how the watercourses converge towards these two central caves, and with what force, in times of heavy rain, the floods scour them, a good understanding may be obtained of the mechanical causes of the enormous excavations which excite amazement as well as admiration. if a visit be paid in winter, when the frost is sharp and the ground is "hoar with rime;" when every bough and every blade of grass is covered with congealed dew and adorned with forms of crystallisation which rival the rarest beauties of the caves; when rocks are split and crumbled by sudden alternations of heat and cold; there will be abundant illustration of the effect of water and light, and the variation of temperature in causing geological transformation. limestone is not soluble in water without the addition of carbonic acid. an exploration of the caves, however, shows that the mountains are not composed entirely of limestone, but that other substances constitute part of their bulk. the principal causes of the formation of the "day caves," the grand arch and the devil's coach house, are the mechanical action of water and the variation of temperature. as regards the interior caves, where night reigns supreme, chemical combination has played a more important part. but the effect of water power is everywhere observable in graceful contours, caused by continuous motion, or in stony efflorescence, produced by intermittent humidity or dryness of the atmosphere. the action of the former is the more marked and striking, the latter more elaborate, and microscopically beautiful. the hygrometric condition of the caves is recorded in lovely forms, which lend enchantment to ornate bowers, sparkling grottoes, and fairy cities. [illustration: the grand arch entrance.] [illustration: the grand arch--looking east.] the grand arch. the grand arch runs east and west, and is about yards in length, feet high, and feet wide at its western end. the eastern end is feet high, and about feet wide. its proportions and outline are gloomily impressive, and rather awe-inspiring. it is like the portico to some great castle of giant despair. the eastern end is a marvel of natural architecture, and the wonder is how so spacious a roof can remain intact under a weight so enormous. the rugged walls are varied by many peculiar rocky formations. on the northern side is "the lion," shaped in stone so as to form a fair representation of the monarch of the forest. "the pulpit" and "the organ loft" are suggestive of portions of some grand old cathedral. adjacent is "the bacon cave," where the formations represent "sides," like so many flitches in the shop of a dry salter. the roof is hung with enormous honeycombed masses of limestone, whose sombre shades deepen to blackness in numerous fissures and crannies and cavernous spaces. as seen from the floor the roof appears to be covered with rich bold tracery, engraved by herculean hands. near the basement are huge rocky projections, with deep recesses, which for ages have been the retreat of rock wallabies. near the eastern entrance, lying on the ground, is a gigantic block of limestone, weighing from , to , tons, and which at some remote period fell, and tilted half over. this is evident from the stalactite formation which remains on it. ascending the precipitous masses on the south-eastern side of the eastern entrance over rocks which are, on the upper surface, as smooth as glazed earthenware, a position is attained from which the magnitude of the ornaments of the roof can be estimated. it is then perceived that what, viewed from the floor of the archway, seemed like natural carving in moderately bold relief, are pendant bodies of matter extending downwards to feet, and of enormous bulk. along the walls of the arch are caves running obliquely into the mountain , , and feet, and the bottom of which is thick with wallaby "dust." out of these caves are passages which enable the marsupials to pass from one rocky hall to another until they find a secure refuge in some obscure and sunless sanctuary. the wallaby dust resembles mosquito powder. perhaps it would be equally efficacious. it is not improbable that the floors of these caves represent a moderate fortune. the explorer sinks over his boot tops in the fine pulverised matter, which, however, is not odoriferous, and is void of offence if a handkerchief be used as a respirator. the presence of this substance, and the oxidisation of its ammonia, probably account for the saltpetre in the crevices of adjacent rocks, although not absolutely necessary to the result, because, in the absence of such accessories, it is an admitted chemical fact that nitrifiable matter is not commonly absent from limestone. in the mammoth cave of kentucky saltpetre manufacture was carried on to a great extent by lixiviation from to , and during the civil war a principal factor in the manufacture of gunpowder was obtained from the same source. up amongst the rocks, midway between the floor and the roof of the eastern entrance to the grand arch, in the midst of the wallaby drives, and near to a haunt of the lyre bird, the present curator of the caves had his sleeping-place for years. there he strewed his bed of rushes or of grasses and ferns and mosses; and certainly neither philip quarll nor robinson crusoe had ever a more magnificent dormitory. [illustration: camp creek.] near to it is a sepulchral-looking place, which, before the cave house was erected, was reserved for strong-minded lady visitors, and fenced off with a tent-pole and a rug. farther on is a series of rocks, where bachelors could choose for pillows the softest stones in the arch and dream of angels. all these historic places are pointed out by way of contrast to the state of things now existing, and which, perhaps, in turn will form as great a contrast to the state of things years hence. from this part of the archway a much better view of the pulpit, the lion, and the organ loft can be obtained than is possible from the floor. their massiveness is brought out with great effect. the stalactites and stalagmites which form the organ pipes taper with remarkable grace, and are set off by the shadows in the recesses which vary from twilight grey to the darkness of erebus. over all are ponderous masses of blue limestone, with immense convexities filled with perpetual gloom. the rocks leading to the caves, the upper part of which is smooth as glass, owe their polish to their long use by wallabies as a track to and from their favourite haunts. here and there may be detected in the "dust" on the floor the footprint of the native pheasant. there may also be seen and felt boulders and rugged rocks lying about in strange disorder. leaving the grand archway by the eastern end, the excursionist descends, through a rocky defile interlaced with foliage, into a dry, stony creek, about which are growing some very rare ferns, as well as some which are common, but nevertheless beautiful, and also some handsome native creeping plants. from this point may be seen the pinnacle which rises over the archway to an altitude of about feet. about yards down this dry creek, and about yards below the junction of the roads from the grand archway to the devil's coach house, is "the rising of the water." here among the rocks in the bed of the creek the water bursts out of the ground like a sparkling fountain of considerable volume, and "gleams and glides" along a romantic dell "with many a silvery waterbreak." and if it does not "steal by lawns and grassy plots," or yet by "hazel covers," or "move the sweet forget-me-nots that grow for happy lovers," it does here and there "loiter round its cresses." its banks are so steep that its course cannot be easily followed for any great distance, but, without much difficulty, it may be traced until it flows over a rocky ledge into a deep pool, where there is a wire ladder for the convenience of bathers. thence it chatters on to the river cox, whence it enters the warragamba, which joins the nepean a few miles above penrith, and about miles below the pheasant's nest. it does not, therefore, enter into the sydney water supply, but passes through the hawkesbury to the ocean. [illustration: the devil's coach house.] chapter iv. the devil's coach house. the road from the grand arch to the devil's coach house is devious and uneven, with occasional fissures in the ground indicating the entrance to new subterranean marvels. to the right is the mouth of a cave yet unnamed and unexplored. a little farther on, high up in the rocky wall which connects the two converging mountains of limestone, is the carlotta arch, which resembles a gothic window in the grand ruins of some venerable monastic pile, fretted and scarred by centuries of decay. almost immediately after passing the line of the carlotta arch, the visitor arrives at the devil's coach house, which runs nearly north and south. it is an immense cave, whose proportions are better gauged than those of the grand arch, because the light flows in, not only from the ends, but also from the roof. at a height of some feet, it has a large orifice in the dome, fringed with stately trees, the fore-shortening of which from their base upwards is very peculiar as seen from the bottom of the cave. on the floor are strewn about rocks of black and grey marble, smoothed and rounded by attrition, and weighing from a few pounds to many hundredweight. in flood-time the storm-waters dash these rocks against each other with tremendous force, and the roaring of the torrent resounds like thunder through the cave. in such wild seasons blocks of stone a ton weight or more are moved a considerable distance. the walls are partly composed of black marble with white veins, and some of the boulders on the floor contain marks of fossil shells. the most magnificent view of the devil's coach house is from the interior of the cave near the northern entrance, from which the rise of the arch appears to be upwards of feet. its roof is fringed with stalactites, and the outlook is into a wildly romantic gully. stalactites are suspended from the sides of the entrance, and in several places there are stalagmites covered with projections like petrified sponge, while near to them are formations resembling masses of shells commonly found on rocks by the seaside. some of these combinations might be examined for hours, and yet leave new and interesting features to be discovered. small pellucid drops glisten at the ends of the stalactites, illustrating the process of their formation. the large stalactites on the roof and small stalagmites on ledges near the floor of the cave, and _vice versâ_, afford a practical illustration of the theory that where water flows most freely the stalagmites are largest, and where it flows most reluctantly the stalactite formation is the most magnificent. [illustration: the northern entrance to the devil's coach house.] from an inspection of these two kinds of cave ornamentation it is seen that, whereas the former are porous and free from central tubes, sometimes running in a straight line and sometimes obliquely, the latter are solid, being formed by lamination and not by accretions of matter conveyed through small interior ducts to external points. this cave may appropriately be called the marble hall. portions of the walls are graced with a "formation" from the limestone rocks above, the stucco having flowed in shapes both grotesque and arabesque. some of the interstices are filled with stalactites and stalagmites of various colours and proportions. many stalactites on the roof of the mouth of the cave are said to be from to feet long. all around are entrances to numerous interior spaces adorned with stalactites of the most delicate hues. some are tinged with various gradations of blue; others are of salmon colour, and delicate fawn. others again are sober grey, and white shaded with neutral tint. the rocks are decorated with little patches of moss, from rich old gold to living green. the harmony of colour is marvellous, and the combined effect unique. nature herself has so painted and ornamented the cave as to give a lesson to professors of decorative art. the vision of rocky beauty grows upon the imagination of the observer until at last it seems like a new revelation of the enchanting effects which can be produced by natural combination. to the artist this cave presents attractions of a kind not to be found in any other of the wonderful caves of jenolan, although commonly it receives small attention from visitors, who recognise its grand proportions, but are impatient to witness the more elaborate and brilliant features in the hidden recesses of the mountain. why this spacious cavern should be called the devil's coach house (except on the _lucus a non lucendo_ principle) few would divine. the name of his satanic majesty is often associated with horses and horse-racing, but not generally with coaches and coach-houses. in this connection, however, it is necessary to observe class distinctions. the cavern is not sufficiently monstrous to be used by milton's personification of the rebellious archangel, nor sufficiently hideous for burns's "auld clootie," with hoofs and horns. coleridge's devil or southey's devil (as illustrated in "the devil's thoughts" of the one, and "the devil's walk" of the other) was neither too grand nor too ignoble to notice coach-houses. but then, he was a sarcastic fiend, for when he "saw an apothecary on a white horse ride by on his vocations," he "thought of his old friend death in the revelations"--which was rather severe on the pharmacist. but leaving the man of drugs-- "he saw a cottage with a double coach-house, a cottage of gentility; and the devil did grin, for his darling sin is pride that apes humility." the cottage at the caves is not particularly "genteel" in appearance. the coach-house is large enough to hold almost as many horses as were kept by solomon, and as many chariots as were possessed by pharaoh, and at one end it is "double;" but there was no thought of pharaoh, or solomon, or coleridge, or southey when it was named. it was not because this huge place was considered big enough to be the devil's coach house that it was called after the devil, nor because it was thought to be a suitable place for satan to "coach" his disciples in; nor had the person who named it any intention of paying a compliment to poetic genius. it was called the devil's coach house for reasons similar to those which created the nomenclature of the numerous devil's pinches and devil's peaks, devil's mills and devil's punchbowls, in various parts of the world. captain cook more than a century ago gave the name of the devil's basin to a harbour in christmas sound, on the south side of tierra del fuego, because of its gloomy appearance--it being surrounded by "savage rocks," which deprive it of the rays of the sun. for similar reasons, perhaps, the name of the devil's coach house was given to this interesting portion of the jenolan caves, which are surrounded by mountains and "savage rocks," and from which the rays of the sun are excluded, except during a few hours per day. in winter the sunshine does not glint on to the roof of the cave house till about , and at about in the afternoon the valley is wrapped in shade. it is or years since james whalan came suddenly upon the mouth of this cave, and it so impressed him with its rugged grandeur and weirdness that when he returned home he reported that he had been to the end of the world, and had got into the devil's coach house. so by that term it is still called, although it has been since named the easter cave, because of a visit by some distinguished member of the government service during easter, which in new south wales is now as favourite a holiday time as it was when kept as a festival in honour of the goddess of light and spring. for a short period in the afternoon one end of the cave is flooded with the warm beams of the sun. then it is at its best, and, as the enamoured hand of fancy gleans "the treasured pictures of a thousand scenes," so, after the bright rays have disappeared, and the cave is seen in the shade or by "the pale moonlight," its beauties change from hour to hour, like shadows on the mountains or the cloud glories of an autumn sunset. chapter v. the night caves. the "day" caves of jenolan, although grandly picturesque, are but slightly typical of the interior caverns. as the few bars of harmony dashed off by way of prelude to an intricate musical composition prepare the ear for the movement which is to follow, so an inspection of the external caves trains the faculty of observation for the ready appreciation of the more elaborately beautiful objects in the dark recesses of the enchanted mountain. the contrast between the two is as marked as the difference between the costly pearls of a regal diadem and the rough exterior of the shells which first concealed them. to explore the "night" caves it is necessary to be furnished with artificial light, and each excursionist is provided with a candle fitted into a holder, the handle of which is like the barrel of a carriage lamp, and immediately underneath the flame is a saucer-shaped guard with the edge turned inwards, so as to catch the drips from the sperm. by means of this arrangement the lights may be presented at almost any angle without doing injury to the caves, except in regard to the smoke, which although slight, is nevertheless in degree perilous to the wondrous purity of the formations. the principal features of the "night" caves are illuminated by the magnesium light, which is rich in chemical rays and burns with great brilliancy. there should not be allowed in the caves any colorific or other light which would cause smoke by imperfect combustion, or emit volatile substances likely to change the interior hues. if their pristine beauty--or as much of it as remains--is to be preserved, the caves ought to be illuminated by electricity, which will neither affect the temperature nor soil the most delicate of nature's handiwork. the smoke of candles in a quiescent atmosphere like that of the caves, cannot fail, in process of time, to have a deleterious effect. years ago, in the wingecarribee country, there were some fairy gullies. the sides were flanked with sassafras columns, the roofs were covered with branches interlaced by creepers that excluded the sunbeams, and on the banks of the creeks which trickled through the centre were tree-ferns of marvellous beauty. their perfect fronds were lovely--their growth prodigious; but that in which their charm chiefly lay was their unexampled delicacy of colour. when the natural shade was removed, and they were subject to wind, and rain, and dust, they became commonplace. they grew like other tree-ferns, and were ranked with ordinary things. so with the caves. their wondrous beauty and attractiveness are found in their freedom from defilement. in their illumination there should be neither smoke nor heat, and it is a question whether within their precincts incense ought to be burned, even to king nicotine. [illustration: the nettle cave.] chapter vi. the nettle cave. the nettle cave is for the most part a place of twilight. if visitors are incautious in approaching it they will soon come to the conclusion that it has been properly named, for all around are fine clumps of herbaceous weeds with sharp tubular hairs upon vesicles filled with irritating fluid. the sting of a nettle and the sting of an adder resemble each other, but are yet dissimilar. the adder strikes his tubular fang into his prey, but the nettle victim impinges upon the tubular hair which communicates with the acrid vesicle. the nettle cave is reached by climbing feet to the left of the grand arch, and if in the ascent the visitor be invited to smell a plant with alternate leaves and racemes of not very conspicuous flowers, it would be well for him to decline with thanks. there are some rough cut steps leading to this cave, and on one side is a galvanised wire rope supported by iron stanchions let into the rocks, which makes the ascent tolerably safe. the road runs between two bluff rocks, which for a considerable distance rise almost perpendicularly, and then curve so as to form a segment of a circle some feet overhead. the cave is barred from wall to wall by a light iron gate sufficient to prevent improper intrusion, not ponderous enough for a penal establishment, but sufficiently pronounced to suggest richard lovelace's lines-- "stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage; minds innocent and quiet take that for an hermitage." descending some of the rough stones and winding along a footpath, the tourist descends into a chamber below a magnificent series of rocks covered with beautiful "formation" from the dripping roofs above. this is called "the willows," because of the resemblance it bears to the graceful and beautiful appearance of the _salix babylonica_, on which in the olden time captive israelites hung their harps and "wept when they remembered zion." the entrance to this cave is circuitous. first there are some rocky steps to be climbed, and then the road winds through avenues of "willow" formation up to the summit. from this point about or feet down is a funnel-shaped declivity resembling the mouth of an extinct volcano. in some respects it is like the "blow hole" at kiama (a natural fountain, inland, fed by ocean waves which force their way through a water-worn tunnel). undoubtedly that also is one of the wonders of the world, but some time since it was utilised by the local corporation as a receptacle for dead horses and defunct cattle! from this declivity in the nettle cave the visitor naturally shrinks, being dubious as to where his remains would be found if he were to make an uncertain step. in his timorous progress, however, his attention is soon arrested by some splendid stalagmites to the left of the hellish-looking vacuity. one of the most noble is about four feet in diameter at the base, and from to feet high, covered with curiously-shaped ornamentation, and having minute stalactites projecting from the sides. all about it are nodules of delicate fretwork, as lovely as the coral of the ancient sea out of which this mountain was made millions of years ago. on the apex is a gracefully-tapered cone; and hard by is a small stalagmite covered with prickles as sharply defined as those of the echinus. all around are limestone pictures of surpassing loveliness. there is not much variety of colour, but the formation is infinite in its variety. it is intended to have the hideous and perilous-looking volcanic funnel previously mentioned guarded by wirework, which is necessary to ensure the complete safety of sightseers. if an unfortunate wight were to trip, he might fall a distance of about feet, and be shot without ceremony into the devil's coach house. one remarkable stalagmite in the vicinity of this infernal shaft is shaped like a hat, and another is like a gigantic mushroom. the floor of the cave is thin, and when stamped upon vibrates in imitation of an earthquake wave. stalactites in rich profusion depend from the roof, and here and there are clumps of bats, clinging together like little swarms of bees. the stalactites are tipped with drops of lime-water clear as crystal at the lowest point, and becoming gradually opaque. it is also noticeable that while the drops at the ends of the stalactites appear to be perfectly still globular bodies, their molecules seem to be in perpetual motion. the opaque part of the drops thickens until it resembles sperm, and then the gradation is almost imperceptible until it unites with the solid formation. all around are curiously-shaped drives, one of which has been explored until it communicates with the imperial cave. it is not an inviting entry, for it is low and narrow, and has sharp stalactites on the roof. the floor is covered with very fine dust, about the eighth of an inch thick, which, however, seems not to rise, and when struck with a hammer the sound is like a blow struck upon a carpet, and the dull thud reverberates in the caverns below. from the end of the cave, looking towards the mouth, the appearance is particularly wild. the stalagmites in front resemble prisoners in some castle keep, and the part of the cave farther on, upon which the light falls, near to the barred entrance, makes the interior shade seem more gloomy. there is one remarkable pillar about feet in diameter from the floor to the roof of the cave; and seeing that it is about feet in height, and has been made by the constant dripping of lime-water, visitors may speculate as to its age, and statisticians may estimate the number of drips required for its creation. along the sides of the cave are beautiful pillars. some are like trunks of trees, gnarled and knotted, and some like elaborately-carved columns. there are grottoes and alcoves, and terraces formed by runs of water; gothic arches and etruscan columns, carvings of most cunning elaboration, and stalactites more noticeable for their massiveness than for their grace. there are narrow chasms descending into blackness, through which future discoveries may be made. on the water-formed terraces are numerous stalagmites resembling congewoi and other zoophytes. it seems as though nature had fashioned the cave after a kaleidoscopic view of the most remarkable objects in marine and vegetable life. at the end of this section the roof rises, and is pierced by an inverted pinnacle. the walls are composed of masses of stalactite formation, imperfectly developed by reason of pressure. near at hand liquid substances have fallen, and petrified so rapidly as to resemble streaks of lava which had suddenly cooled and formed cords and ligaments like grand muscles and tendons. the eastern end of the cave runs into the devil's coach house, about feet above the coach-house floor. the opening is very beautiful, being ornamented with columns and pinnacles, and the view from this point to the interior of the cave is unexampled. scores of breaches in the roof and sides can be seen leading to other marvellous places--there being cave upon cave and innumerable changes of formation upon the ground. in rocky basins the _débris_ is largely composed of minute bones. the "remains" may be taken up by handfuls. the teeth of bats and native cats--the vertebræ of marsupials and snakes--the wing-bones of birds, and other fragments of the animal world are mixed together in a mammoth charnel-house, whose grandeur could hardly be surpassed by the most costly and artistically designed mausoleum. the ball room--an upper storey of the nettle cave--is reached by mounting twenty-nine steps cut into the rock. near the eastern entrance are two stalactitic figures fashioned like vultures about to engage in combat. all around the little plateau of terpsichore are huge stalagmites, resembling domes, crowded together and pressing into one another. some are set off with stalactites; others are honeycombed. thence the direction is still upwards, and the ascent is made by means of about wooden steps, with a guard rail on each side. the formations are striking and graceful. pointing upward is a gauntleted hand and forearm of a warrior of the olden time. there are representations of bewigged legal luminaries and bearded sages like old father christmas or santa claus. some of the columns which support the archway have tier upon tier of stalactites, drooping so as to counterfeit water flowing from a fountain, alternating with stalactite formation like boughs of weeping willow. one prominent stalagmite is like the back of a newly-shorn sheep, with shear-marks in the wool. on the western side is a figure like that of an orator in the act of exhortation. the forehead is bald, long white locks are flowing on to the shoulders, one arm is upraised, and the pose gives an idea of earnestness and force. in front, just below the bust, is a reading desk of stone, the outer edge of which is fringed with stalactites. from this place are steps leading to the arch. they are safe and convenient. underneath them is still to be seen the wire ladder formerly used to pass from the nettle cave to the arch cave, and it is easy to understand the trepidation of nervous visitors when they were swaying about on it in mid-air over the dark abyss below. after resting for a moment in the midst of a stalagmitic grotto, the visitor ascends some stone steps towards the grand arch, proceeds through a beautiful cavern with norman and doric pillars, composed almost entirely of stalagmites, and enters the arch caves, which were so called because at that time they were accessible only through the carlotta arch. they are now, as previously described, approached through the nettle cave by means of the wooden staircase, which was built about three years ago. chapter vii. the arch cave. the arch cave runs north-westerly from the line of road to the carlotta arch, and has a gradual descent. it is about a hundred yards long, and in some places about half a chain wide. the roof is decked with beauty; the floor is covered with dust. there is now but one complete column in the centre, and that is formed by a stalactite which extends in a straight line from the roof to the floor. it is surrounded by a number of other magnificent pendants of a similar kind, more or less ornate, and crowded together in rich profusion. some of them have grown until they nearly touch bold rocks which jut out from the walls, and the spaces between the larger cylindrical forms are filled by stalactites of various lesser lengths, some of which are figured so as to represent festoons of flowers. the complete pillar tapers from the upper to the lower end. for about two-thirds of the way down it is compounded of several stalactitic lines; the remainder is a simple shaft with irregular surface. to the right of it is a marvellous piece of formation like the head of a lion with the forelegs and the hoofs of a bull, posed so as to resemble assyrian sculpture. [illustration: the arch cave.] at one time there were in this cave five pillars as perfect as the one which remains, but in they were destroyed by a goth from bathurst. there are numerous columns of dimensions not so great along the sides of the cave, and at every step appear fresh objects of admiration. some of the stalactites are resonant, and so is the floor, which, on the thinnest portion, responds imitatively to the tramping of feet. in a passage on the right hand side is a stalactite which the cave-keeper has carefully watched for years, in order to form some idea as to the rate of stalactitic growth. he has always found a drop of water clinging to the lowest surface as though it were ready to fall, and yet during the whole term of years the actual addition to the solid stalactite has been only half-an-inch in length, of a thickness equal to that of an ordinary cedar-covered lead pencil. it is evident, from observation of other portions of this cave, that some formations have been created in a manner less slow. still, it is probable there are stalactites the growth of which has been more gradual than the one subjected to special scrutiny. the entrance furnishes an illustration of damage done by careless visitors years ago, and of the necessity for constant care to preserve the caves from destruction. when this cavern was first opened to the public the floor was white as snow. it is now black and greasy, as well as dusty. the change has been brought about by the pattering of feet encased in soiled boots, and by drips from candles and torches used before the present lighting arrangements were adopted. some of the stalactites have their lower portions damaged in a similar way. but, worse still, an elaborate and very attractive specimen, resembling cockscomb, has been damaged by fracture, and made incomplete by unauthorised appropriation. the porosity of some of the rocks can here be readily distinguished. their surface is like that of pumice stone. in dry weather the walls are sparkling; in wet seasons they are moist and dull. at the far end of the cave the floor is covered with little indurated lumps with carved surfaces. they are all similar in shape, and vary in bulk from the size of quandong seeds or nuts, of which bracelets are sometimes made, to that of a mandarin orange. perhaps they were fabricated on the roof and became detached. it is hardly possible they could have been formed where they lie without being joined together in a solid mass. here perfect silence reigns. it is so profound as to be almost painful, and the darkness is so dense that when the candles are extinguished the visitor can pass a solid object before his eyes without the shadow of a shade being perceptible. it is not suggestive of the darkness which-- "falls from the wings of night like a feather that is wafted downwards from an eagle in its flight." nor yet of "the trailing garments of the night" sweeping "through her marble halls." there is nothing to give the idea of action. solitary confinement for hours in such a "separate cell" would drive some men mad. at the end of the cave is a mass of stalactites, through which is a passage leading to "the belfry," where are some large stalactites, three of which, when struck with a hard substance, sound like church bells. one of them has a deep tone, equivalent to c natural. the others do not vibrate so as to produce perfect notes according to musical scale, nor are their sounds either rich or full. [illustration: the carlotta arch.] chapter viii. the carlotta arch. on returning to the mouth of the arch cave, the tourist proceeds towards the carlotta arch--so named in honour of a daughter of the surveyor-general of new south wales, mr. p. f. adams, who visited the caves or years ago, and has always taken an interest in their exploration and preservation. ascending some stone steps, guarded by galvanised wire, an excellent view of the ball room to the eastward is obtained. the steps make access easy. previously the rocks were slippery, in consequence of the polish given to them by the feet of marsupials, and the return journey was accomplished by holding on to a rope, and sliding down the glassy surface. the entrance to the carlotta arch is protected by a wire railing, about feet by or feet. passing through the iron gate, the visitor finds himself on a little platform. hundreds of feet below is a gully, rippling at the bottom of which is a rill of water, which sings as it goes, and whose melody, softened by distance, is pleasant as the hum of bees or the carolling of birds. above is a hoary rock, rugged and bare, with the exception of some clumps of lilies which flourish and bloom in its inaccessible clefts. from this point the tourist ascends the nettle rocks for about or feet. some steps are to be cut here, and certainly they are much needed, for at present the journey is very toilsome and difficult. from the end of the protected portion to the summit-- or feet--the acclivity may be comfortably surmounted by ordinarily active people. the carlotta arch is about feet high and about feet wide, with an interior fringe of stalactites. the picture seen through it is exceedingly grand, including majestic trees and romantic gullies, huge mountains and immense rocks, with bold escarpments. the walls of the arch are pierced like a fortress. its entire superstructure represents the union of two mountains by a natural bridge, clad with trees and shrubs and creeping plants which trail gracefully down its sides. on the summit are eucalypti, and conspicuous amongst them is an iron guard for the protection of passengers going over the viaduct. about half-way up this track from the arch to the bridge (which is the concluding portion of the new road from mount victoria), a good view can be obtained of mcewan's creek, where the water has broken through the hills, leaving the limestone rocks and caves sometimes on the one side and sometimes on the other for a distance of three miles up the valley running northerly. to the westward is the zigzag, leading to the cave-house by the route from tarana, and from which can be obtained the grandest view _en route_ from oberon to jenolan. here, after having spent an hour or two in the caves, it is pleasant to bask in the golden sunshine and watch the gaudy parrots flit by. from this point to the northward the limestone is visible to its full extent till it is overlapped by higher mountains. it is about three miles in length, by a maximum of half a mile in width. immediately to the south the limestone dyke is covered, but it crops up again about seven miles distant, and continues on the surface for to miles, in the direction of goulburn. near to what is called the gallery (the approach to the bridge over the arch) is an old gum tree, growing right over the centre of the devil's coach house, and feet above the gullies, which can be seen by looking over the precipice. if it were a blue gum tree, "and nothing more," it would be as uninteresting as the "yellow primrose by a river's brim" was to peter bell. as a specimen of its kind this tree is a failure; but it happens to be in the centre of the cave reserve, and the "blaze" on it bears the mark, "f ." from this point the reserve extends two and a half miles east and west by five miles north and south, and is certainly one of the most wonderful areas dedicated to the public. in the rocks near to the centre tree is an orifice called "the devil's hole." it pierces the mountain obliquely, but without much deviation from a straight line, and a stone thrown down it takes, according to its weight, from nine to twelve seconds to find a resting-place on the floor of the devil's coach house! this is an experiment which should not be tried without precaution, and then only under official sanction, otherwise some serious accident may occur. it would be well to erect notice-boards at this and several adjacent places, warning persons not to cast stones into the caverns, for the whole mountain is full of holes and caves and drives. a piece of rock cast heedlessly into a crevice or perforation in one cave might mean death to a tourist in lower cavernous regions, and there is neither medical man nor coroner within convenient distance. from the bridge (which is guarded by wire ropes) on the western side, the visitor looks down on the elder cave; the zigzag is in front, and below is the sylvan valley from which the "ermin'd frost" has been thawed, and which now "laughs back the sun." to the eastward are in view of the spectator the nettle and arch caves gate, the south entrance to the devil's coach house, and the waterfall to the cave river. in the distance can be discerned a place known as oaky camp, or mcewan's camp, which is of interest in connection with bushranging episodes of the olden time. from the highest point of the hill over the grand archway the cave-house can be seen nestling in the valley feet below. perched upon this pinnacle, with terrible depths on each side and awe-inspiring grandeur at every turn, the beholder is apt to realise how very small is the space he fills in the economy of nature, how inadequate is language to express deep emotions of the mind, and how marvellous are the works of the creator! chapter ix. the elder cave. on leaving-the carlotta arch and the bridge, the visitor--mentally gratified, physically tired, and conscious that his perceptive faculties have been somewhat strained--rejoices that the cave-house is conveniently near, so that he can promptly ensconce himself in an easy-chair and meditate upon the charming scenes upon which his eyes have feasted. if he be unusually robust he may economise the return journey by taking a peep at the elder cave, which lies just off his homeward course. it derives its name from the elder trees which grow about it and conceal its entrance, which is at the bottom of a "ragged" shaft similar to that described in the tragedy of "titus andronicus," whose authorship is disputed, but which samuel phelps and others have no doubt was written by shakespeare. it resembles the "subtle hole" where bassianus lay imbrued "all of a heap like a slaughtered lamb." but that was near an alder, and not an elder, tree; and, so far as is known, the pit which leads to the elder cave has no associations so tragic as those which are inseparable from the horrible brutalities of "titus andronicus." its mouth is not covered with "rude growing briars," nor are there upon the leaves "drips of new-shed blood as fresh as morning dew distilled on flowers." on the contrary, it is a rather cheerful-looking pit, filled up with foliage like an arborescent bouquet in an enormous natural vase. for a long time its cavity was completely obscured by the leafy covering, and it was first entered by climbing along a branch level with the surface of the ground, and descending the trunk of the tree to the bottom of the well. there are several elders in the pit, which, being unusually moist, is favourable to their growth, and they bear splendid cymes of cream-coloured flowers and black berries suggestive of spiced home-made wine. the elder cave was found by mr. wilson in , but it has not had much attention bestowed upon it, probably because its beauties have been eclipsed by later discoveries. the first part consists of some rather large chambers connected by small passages, rough inside, and difficult to explore. all are pretty, and one, named "the chapel," contains stalactites called "shawls," on account of their resemblance to ladies' vestments so designated. one of these is about five feet long by six inches deep, and a quarter of an inch thick. half of it is of glassy clearness. the floor is of ornate formation. the next chamber is called the "coral cave." it is difficult of access. the way for about yards varies from only two to four feet from floor to ceiling. nearly at the end is a hole about feet in diameter and feet deep, containing fossil bones. from floor to roof the formation is grand. there are a few fine stalagmites, but the chief beauty is in the stalactitic growth. many of the stalactites hang from the lowest shelving rock to the floor, and form an alabaster palisade. immense bunches of snow-white limestone droop from the roof, and one unusually large conical mass tapers off until it connects with the apex of a pyramidal block on the floor. in contrast with these ponderous specimens are numerous straw-like glassy tubes. portions of the floor are covered with beautiful coral. near the mouth of this pit cave is an aperture of special interest, because it is the entrance to the shaft at the bottom of which, on the th february , the intrepid curator discovered the imperial cave, which is one of the most magnificent opened to the public. he made three separate attempts before he was able to bottom this deep black hole. on the first occasion he was lowered into it at the end of a rope, and when all the line had been paid out was dangling in mid-air at the end of his tether. when he was let down a second time with a longer cord it was found to be deficient, and the cave-keeper was still suspended in ebon space. the second failure made him still more resolute. he did not believe that the black hole into which he had descended was the bottomless pit, and so he tried again to fathom its inky depths, and at a distance of feet from the surface alighted upon the rocky floor of what is now called the imperial cave. cave exploration is not what would be commonly regarded as a pleasant pastime. it requires a lissom body, plenty of physical strength, and a strong nerve to worm along narrow passages, without any certainty of being able to reach a turning-place, and with the risk of being so wedged in as to make retreat impossible. a stout heart is necessary to enable a man to descend to unknown depths of blackness from mouths of fearsome pits, close proximity to which makes one's flesh creep. a fracture of the rope or the falling of a piece of rock might give the explorer his quietus. a somewhat sensational illustration of this kind of peril is given in griffin's "studies in literature." the eldest son of george d. prentice, one of the sweet singers of the new world, determined to fathom the maelstrom of the mammoth cave in kentucky. a long rope of great strength was procured, and with a heavy fragment of rock attached to it, like a stone at the end of a kellick rope, it was let down and swung about to clear the course of loose stones. "then the young hero of the occasion, with several hats drawn over his head to protect it as far as possible against any masses falling from above, and with a light in his hand and the rope fastened around his body, took his place over the awful pit, and directed the half-dozen men, who held the end of the rope, to let him down into the cimmerian gloom. occasionally masses of earth and rock whizzed past, but none struck him. on his way, at a distance of feet, the spray caused by a cataract which rushed from the side down the abyss nearly extinguished his light. one hundred and ninety feet down he stood on the bottom of the pit. returning to the mouth of the cave the pull was an exceedingly severe one, and the rope, being ill-adjusted around his body, gave him the most excruciating pain. but soon his pain was forgotten in a new and dreadful peril. when he was feet from the mouth of the pit and from the bottom, swaying and swinging in mid air, he heard rapid and excited words of horror and alarm above, and soon learned that the rope by which he was upheld had taken fire from the friction of the timber over which it passed. several moments of awful suspense to those above, and still more awful to him below, ensued. to them and to him a fatal and instant catastrophe seemed inevitable. but the fire was extinguished with a bottle of water belonging to himself, and then the party above, though almost exhausted by their labour, succeeded in drawing him to the top. he was as calm and self-possessed as upon his entrance into the pit; but all of his companions, overcome by fatigue, sank down upon the ground, and his friend, professor wright, from over-exertion and excitement, fainted, and remained for some time insensible. the young adventurer left his name carved in the depths of the maelstrom--the name of the first and only person that ever gazed upon its mysteries." the keeper of the jenolan caves has had many experiences quite as thrilling as that of the son of george d. prentice, who, some time after his descent into the maelstrom, fell in the conflict between the northern and the southern states of the american union. the curator has hundreds of times wormed his way in the darkness through narrow drives and descended black holes of unknown dimensions by means of ropes and ladders. he has burrowed about like a rabbit, squeezing through small apertures, occasionally having his clothes torn off him by stalactites, and his knees wounded by miniature stalagmites, and his sides abrased by the sharp corners of projecting rocks. when being lowered by ropes he has run the risk of being brained by falling _débris_. fortunately, he has been preserved from serious injury, and is still as lithe as a ferret. christopher columbus made wonderful maritime discoveries in the western hemisphere, and captain cook distinguished himself in the southern seas, but neither the bold genoese nor the stout-hearted yorkshireman who thrice circumnavigated the globe could have thrown more earnestness into his work than has been displayed by the subterranean explorer at jenolan, of whom it may be said, without prejudice to his good name, that he has done more underground engineering than any "road-and-bridge" member of the legislative assembly, performed more turning and twisting than the most slippery minister of the crown who has ever held a portfolio in new south wales, and found secluded chambers enough to permit every political or social adullamite--"every one that is in distress, and every one that is in debt, and every one that is discontented"--to have a little cave of his own. as the visitor has to be guided by the curator through labyrinthine passages as intricate as the most puzzling mazes of crete or egypt, in order to see fairy grottoes, crystal cities, jewel caskets, coral caves, and mystic chambers which he has discovered, it may be here recorded that mr. jeremiah wilson was born in ireland, near enniskillen, that he was three years old when he came to new south wales, years ago, and that his family have lived continuously near oberon. his first visit to jenolan was with a party of excursionists. he has ever since taken a romantic interest in the caves, and from the time of his appointment as cave-keeper in until now his enthusiasm for exploratory work appears to have never flagged. [illustration: the lucas cave.] chapter x. the lucas cave. the lucas cave presents, in grand combination, almost every type of subterranean beauty to be found in the natural limestone caves of jenolan. it rivals the imperial cave, which, however, is commonly regarded as the more attractive, and displays a more dazzling magnificence than that which characterises either the arch or the elder cave. the approach to the lucas cave is by a zigzag path from the valley, leaving the high pinnacle rock to the left hand. the route is not difficult to agile people, but the road would be greatly improved by the cutting of suitable steps. on gaining the top of the ridge the waterfall is in front. to the left are rocks rising like a vast citadel to a height of feet, at the summit of which are immense cliffs with deep gorges between them. the distance is too great to enable the visitor to discern their geological composition. some of them seem as though they had been shaped by human hands in the time of the pharaohs. they remind one of the enormous stones in the great pyramid of egypt, or the massive blocks in the temple of the sun at heliopolis, and the limestone ridges suggest the mighty nile which runs through similar ranges. these elevated pinnacles and chasms are favourite resorts of marsupials. wallabies may be seen leaping from rock to rock and peering out from the crevices. as they are not molested they afford visitors ample opportunity to watch their graceful movements. the distance from the top of the ridge to the mouth of the cave is about yards, with a fall of feet. the descent in some places is so steep as to make it difficult in dry seasons. in wet weather it is dangerous, the rocks being covered with slippery clay. the grand cavern, called the "lucas cave," was so named in recognition of valuable services rendered by the hon. john lucas, m.l.c., who, from the th december , until the dissolution of parliament on the th december , represented in the legislative assembly the electorate of hartley, in which jenolan is situated. he used his influence to obtain the dedication of the reserve, and make provision for the care and improvement of the caves. it was on his recommendation that the present cave-keeper was appointed to the office of curator. his foresight and activity are suitably commemorated by the association of his name with objects of beauty, the fame of which is now spread throughout the whole civilised world. the opening to the lucas cave is very massive, and has a rather steep fall of about feet from the pathway to the floor of the cavern. the entrance is about feet wide and feet high. the roof of the portico is ornamented by rocks, which in shape and colour appear to be in keeping with the gloomy-looking tunnel beyond. the overhanging masses are honeycombed and convoluted in a remarkable manner, and thin off to points like stalactites. the curved, tapering forms are in groups of various dimensions, drooping in folds like those of loosely-fitting garments. they represent not "formation," but the original rock, out of the crevices of which the softer portions and earthy substances have been extracted by the ordinary operations of nature. to the left of the archway is a bulky convoluted pillar, rising from the surrounding blocks and boulders to the uppermost part of the portico, and to the right of the archway is a fine piece of stalagmite formation about feet in height. in the centre, immediately behind it, is a large stalactite, and near by an extensive patch which looks like conglomerate of lime and pebbles. on the outer walls are flowering shrubs and creeping plants, including one which bears a strong resemblance to the climbing fig (_ficus stipulata_), which clothes with pleasant verdure many an ugly wall in and about sydney. the rock colouring is especially fine and beautifully shaded all the way from the broad daylight to the beginning of the interior blackness, which is somewhat sharply defined by a fringe of stalactites like the vertical bars of a portcullis. the immediate entrance to this cave is begrimed with dust. a few yards onward there is an iron gate. the guide opens it and carefully locks in his visitors, who light their candles and proceed by a downward path. the descent is about feet, partly by steps cut zigzag fashion, and then on a sloping floor covered with _débris_. there is a marked difference in the temperature, which is many degrees higher than that of the outward air, and several degrees warmer than the interior of the arch and nettle caves. small flies surprise the excursionists by the suddenness of their appearance, and by the narrow limits of their _habitat_. they live in the zone between daylight and darkness. in the region of perpetual night the only signs of animated nature are clusters of bats. the lighted candles serve to make the surrounding darkness more pronounced. where the rays of light pierce through the night to its rocky boundary indistinct, irregular lines can be seen like the ribs of a skeleton, and it is easy to conjure up all sorts of uncanny shapes, from hobgoblins to anthropophagi. the only sounds audible, or apparently audible, are the quickened respiration and the throbbing of the heart. when the voice is raised its effect is strange, and there is no responsive echo. darkness and silence dwell together. after spending a few seconds--or minutes--in their company, the curator lights his magnesium lamp, and the visitor finds himself in the precincts of "the cathedral," in the centre of which is a large stalagmite. the roof rises to a height of about feet, feet loftier than canterbury cathedral or notre dame, and within feet of the altitude of st. paul's! the walls are composed of limestone, terraced with tier upon tier of stalagmites brought into bold relief by the gloom of innumerable fantastically-shaped recesses. the preacher is solitude; his theme is "awful stillness." wandering through the nave to the south, the visitor walks over caves not yet opened, but the existence of which can be proved by dropping little pebbles into dark recesses and listening to the percussion on floors more or less remote. in an aisle of the cathedral leading to the music hall, there is another grandly-arched cavern with a steep descent into an abysmal depth. here on the one side are numerous stalactites, white as virgin snow, and on the other similarly-shaped formations of carbonate of lime tinged with oxide of iron--some of them so deeply as to present the colour of a boiled lobster's crust. this is a favourite clustering place for bats, and numbers of these membranous-winged quadrupeds may be seen snoozing together on the roof. the music hall. by means of a wire ladder the excursionist descends still deeper into the bowels of the earth. he then goes farther down by or steps, cut in a clayey substance, to the vestibule of the music hall. some of the stalagmites are stained with clay. they have evidently been used as steadying-posts by visitors who had previously placed their hands on the red earth when working their way down the declivity where the steps are now formed. the other stalagmites away out of reach are white and glistening. the approach to the music hall, which was discovered in the summer of , is low. the passage to it is about yards long. the floor is composed entirely of "formation," and at the sides are numerous columns of different colours. the music hall itself is about feet in height, and runs out at the end to about two feet. it is called the "music hall" because of its very fine acoustic properties. a weak voice raised in song or oratory sounds full and sonorous. this hall encloses a secret which architects of public buildings might covet, and the wonder is how such tonic effects are produced in a chamber which presents so many obstructions to the waves of sound. the floor contains a series of basins, curiously shaped by the water which has been retained in them, until it has escaped by percolation to form stalactites and stalagmites at some lower level. the edges of these shallow reservoirs are sharply defined and gracefully moulded. the formation of the walls is extremely delicate. some of it is white and some like yellow coral. the roof has been slightly defaced by certain nineteenth century cads. in various places the "mark of the beast," in lampblack, has been produced by holding candles near to the ceiling and moving them about gradually, and the sooty hieroglyphics remain unto this day as an evidence of vanity and folly. the floor, which was once like alabaster, is now soiled by the tramping of feet. but, notwithstanding these defects, the music hall is still very beautiful. [illustration: the shawl cave.] the shawl cave. returning to the main passage, the tourist descends steps, and enters the shawl cave, a magnificent chamber, the roof of which slopes at an angle of about degrees. into one side the "formation" of carbonate of lime has floated like lava in volumes, and presents the appearance of a suddenly congealed cascade. all the adjacent rocks are covered with fine sheets of formation, white and coloured, and hanging in graceful folds. on a far-off wall is more formation of a similar kind, projecting from a perpendicular rock, and variegated with superb tracery and colouring. the "shawls" hang parallel to each other. they gradually increase from six inches to three feet in depth, in a lateral length of from to feet, and at a distance appear as though they had been placed on the wall by an artist; but when the light is put behind them it is seen that they are independent, slightly corrugated, semi-transparent slabs of equal thickness and graduated widths. of this kind of formation, however, more magnificent specimens are to be found in the imperial cave. in another part of this cavern are large detached blocks of formation, which sparkle like diamonds all over the lines of fracture. they are in wild disorder, as though they had been hurled about in some titanic conflict. the stalactites here are of different character from those found in the other caves, being composite and covered with ornamentation of various kinds. the lower rocks, too, are rippled and chequered like wicker-work, and resemble the formation of the pink terraces of rotomahana, which were destroyed by lava from a volcano in . the roof is about feet high, and the sides of the cave are formed of massive ledges, over which a limey substance has flowed in large masses and assumed elegant shapes fringed with stalactites. near this place is a hole which goes down to the bottom of another cave. it has not yet been fully explored, but it has been ascertained that its depth is about feet, with a clear pool at the bottom. a stone thrown down it is heard to strike two or three times, and finally splash in the liquid crystal. chapter xi. the exhibition. at the western end of the shawl cave, and on its southern wall, is a remarkable formation denominated "the butcher's shop." experts in the preparation of animal food have discovered in this strong resemblances to sides of beef, joints, and "small goods" covered with a reticulum like the netted membrane sometimes thrown over meat exposed for sale. one would hardly expect to find anything æsthetic about such a display. as a realistic production, however, it will bear favourable comparison with some so-called works of art which show how much humour a jocular sculptor can cut into a piece of cold stone. in its bearing upon gastronomy, exception might be taken to one or two of the joints, which suggest veal that has been "spouted," and an excess of adipose matter; but upon the whole the "shop" may be regarded as a not unpleasing representation of a chamber filled with chilled meat. leaving the unromantic stall and ascending seven steps under a roof about feet high, the cave-walker ambulates towards the exhibition, which is approached by wooden steps, leaving to the right a beautiful formation like a frozen waterfall of from to feet. these steps have pendant from them fungi of the most delicate kind, some resembling eider-down, hanging in flossy masses from underneath the cross pieces. this fungoid growth affords evidence of dampness destructive to the timber, which ought to be replaced by more durable material. it is satisfactory to know that specifications have been prepared and tenders forwarded to the department for this work. it will be more satisfactory to learn that prompt action has been taken in regard to them, and that they have not been simply docketed and smothered in some obscure pigeon-hole. the road to the exhibition is rather rough, there being large masses of angular rocks on either side, and the pathway itself is somewhat rugged. the entrance to the bride's cave is to be seen down a rocky declivity of about feet. the gallery leading to this chamber is only about inches by inches. the cave itself is about six feet high, and hung around with drapery of alabaster. the ceiling is of coral formation, and the floor pure white. farther on to the left is another chamber, the entrance to which is pretty, but difficult of access. it is from inches to feet high. there is beautiful formation in one part from the ceiling to the floor. some of it is like straws, as clear as glass, and a portion of the floor sparkles as though it were set with diamonds. the exhibition is of large proportions, being about feet each way, but its height ranges only from to feet. its floor is reached by nine steps. from the centre of the exhibition the entrance to the bride's chamber is on the right. to the left is a broken column, which at one time was sound from the floor to the roof, but which has been fractured apparently by the sinking of the rock on which the stalagmitic portion rests. the separation is slight, and there is a slight departure from the right line. [illustration: the broken column.] the broken column. to the eastward are several interesting stalactites. one represents a black fellow's "nulla-nulla," another a lady and child, another the palm of a hand blackened by candle smoke. on the south side is a spacious platform like the stage of a theatre--the front, about feet wide, is supported by two columns. the height is about feet, and across the top is a curtain of formation representing drapery gracefully arranged, with a fringe of little sparkling stalactites. on each side of this is a smaller entrance similarly adorned and as exquisitely beautiful. the floor of the stage is about feet deep, and the curved ceiling about feet from the drop curtain to the floor. this is as it appears at a distance. on nearer approach it is perceived that the pillars are uneven, and marked with formations of various kinds. that which seemed like a stage becomes an irregular cavern, with immense rocks lying about in great disorder. when the exhibition is illuminated by the magnesium light, some beautiful red and white stalactites are disclosed, glittering like dewdrops in the sunlight, and also some exceedingly pretty stalagmites. this chamber was called "the exhibition" on account of the variety of its specimens. it contains stalactites and stalagmites, white and coloured--variegated shawls--sombre marble and sparkling rocks, clusters of formation, and elephantine masses of carbonate of lime in shapes which prove how much more subtle than professors of art is nature herself. at the south end a cave slopes down, and there are boulders and _débris_ stained with iron, as well as other indications of great soakage and percolation. the jewel casket. eastward, about feet, is the "jewel casket." on the way to it are openings to numerous unexplored caves. affixed to an immense block of limestone are some or shawl-pattern formations of various sizes, which give forth musical sounds when struck with a hard substance, and which, with a little practice, could be played upon like a mammoth harmonicon. _en route_ from the exhibition to the jewel casket, although the passage has not been so dry for twenty years, the rocks are covered with moisture, and the lime can be scraped off like soft soap. from the exhibition there is a descent eastward of about feet along the gallery, which is somewhat narrow, but the roof of which is covered with pretty stalactites. near the entrance to the casket is a remarkable reticulated rock. the descent is by steps east, and then proceeding north about five yards the jewel casket is reached. the jewel casket is at the end of a very remarkable cave. its ceiling is marvellously beautiful. the walls and ridges on each side sparkle like gems of the first water. some of the rocks are covered with virgin white, and some are delicately coloured. the entrance to the casket itself is very small, being only about inches by . its upper portion is of glistening rich brown, and slopes in varied graceful folds down to the bed rock. when the magnesium light reveals the splendour of the interior it is seen that the casket stretches away to a considerable distance; the floor is covered with white and amber brilliants and snowy coruscating flakes of dazzling purity. here are clusters of cave diamonds, opals, and pearls, with delicate fawn-coloured jewels scattered about promiscuously. rich and rare are the gems this casket contains, and exclamations of delight are evoked when their charms burst upon the view like a vision of fairyland. neither tongue nor pen, nor photographic art nor pencil-sketch, can ever do full justice to this natural treasury of beautiful things. judge windeyer's couch. leaving the jewel casket, the visitor proceeds in a northward direction along a passage, from the exhibition to "the hall to the bridge." there is an ascent of steps west, and then the way to the hall is under a low archway, through which it is necessary to proceed on hands and knees. through this archway is a little cavern, something like the jewel casket, with a floor of diamond drift and delicate coral. at the top of the steps the hall runs north-west. then the way lies down a gradual slope of rough rocks to the head of steps, with a wire rope on the right hand side. at the top of the steps near to the jewel casket and in the hall to the bridge is a piece of formation like an upholstered sofa, which has been named "judge windeyer's couch," because it is said that the learned judge sat on it when he visited the caves. its surface is of a rich reddish brown, and may have suggested the celebrated woolsack which, in the days of "good queen bess," was introduced as the lord chancellor's seat in commemoration of the act to prevent the exportation of wool which was at that time as important an element in england's prosperity as it is at present to the well-being of australia. in the hall beautiful formation is seen. a large rock, with shawl-pattern appendages and other ornamentation, is specially attractive. another represents a miniature niagara, done in stone. the features are varied by splendid stalactites, from pure white to rich brown. the formation on the wall is like frozen fountains. the bottom consists of huge rocks, angular and rugged, with immense flags of limestone. about yards from the bridge is "touch-me-not" corner, with a grotto quite out of reach, but of the interior of which, when the light is flashed into it, a splendid view can be obtained. the stalactites are perfectly shaped and beautifully pure. some of them are as white as snow, some are opaline, and others are tinged with mineral colours. the floor has many stalagmites and sparkling formations like a jewelled carpet, which falls from the entrance a little distance down the wall in graceful brown folds fringed with russet stalactites. here the hall is very spacious, being about feet across, and the roof rises from to feet. it has on it some of the most beautiful stalactites in the caves, many of them being of unsullied white. to the left, high up on the side of the hall, is a piece of pure lime formation like a lace shawl, the apparent delicate network of which is an object of special interest, if not of envy, to the fair sex. [illustration: the underground bridge.] the underground bridge. the underground bridge is not a brilliant achievement in engineering, but seems to be well constructed and safe, which is an important consideration; for, although it is so many hundred feet below the summit of the mountain, and yet down so low as to be on the same level as the foundations of the cave house in the adjacent valley, it spans a black yawning gulf, at the extremity of which, feet still farther down, is a clear pool of water feet deep! the bridge is about feet long. it has wire girders and uprights, with stanchions and handrails, and a wooden deck, which, by-the-bye, needs some repair, for several of the planks are broken. the passage is made increasingly secure by galvanised wire netting stretched along the lower part of the bridge on both sides. the rocks which form the boundary of the immense chasm spanned by the bridge are of enormous size, and the scene from this point is remarkable for sublimity rather than for what is commonly called beauty. near the roof is an immense recess, filled with huge stalactites and mammoth pieces of formation, which have floated over the bottom and formed graceful ornamentation for the cavern below. and so the process is repeated from the top of the immense chamber, near the roof, down to the rugged walls immediately round the bridge. even on the rocks which surround the abyss similar wondrous decorations are lavishly bestowed. the clear-headed and sure-footed guide descends from one jutting rock to another and yet another, until he approaches a row of remarkable stalactites which can be just discerned through the gloom. this group is called "the piano," because of the resonant qualities of its separate parts. each stalactite gives out a note. the notes vary in quality and pitch, but most of them are imperfect. as stalactites they are very fine, but as melodious instruments they are frauds. they refuse to harmonise, and their music is about as entrancing as that of a discordant "upright grand," mounted on one leg and played with a handle. chapter xii. the lurline cave. seventy or eighty yards from the underground bridge is the lurline cave. the course is south-west, through a curved gallery with steps in different flights, and two archways--one like loveliness when "adorned the most," and the other formed by an ornate mass of stalactites. the lurline cave is justly regarded as one of the most charming chambers in the group. the _coup d'oeil_ is magnificent. it does not need any close examination to find that it has some distinctive features which show that, although there is no aqueous accommodation for the queen of the water nymphs, whose name it bears, the appellation of this portion of the lucas cave cannot, etymologically at least, be considered as a _lucus a non lucendo_. there are the "coral bowers" and cells to which rudolph was transported; the "halls of liquid crystal, where the water lilies bloom;" there is the cool grot in which the water queen dwelt; there is the rock on which she sat "when all was silent save the murmur of the lone wave, and the nightingale that in sadness to the moon telleth her lovelorn tale;" there is rhineberg's magic cave, with its "wedges of gold from the upper air;" there are the distant recesses to which lurline sent the gnome while she restored to life her mortal affinity. with such surroundings it is easy to reproduce, link by link, the rosy chain which enthralled the german count and "the daughter of the wave and air." or, to take the more rollicking version by "thomas ingoldsby, esq." here is "a grand stalactite hall," like that which rose above and about the impecunious "sir rupert the fearless," when he followed to the bottom of the rhine the dame whose-- "pretty pink silken hose cover'd ankles and toes; in other respects she was scanty of clothes; for so says tradition, both written and oral, her _one_ garment was loop'd up with bunches of coral." where-- "scores of young women diving and swimming, * * * * all slightly accoutred in gauzes and lawns, came floating about him like so many prawns," and where their queen, lurline, lost her heart and her plate, and, according to the same reverend author, her cajoler, whose disastrous fate inspired the moral-- "don't fancy odd fishes! don't prig silver dishes! and to sum up the whole in the shortest phrase i know, beware of the rhine, and take care of the rhino!" the floor is covered with hemispherical mounds or domes for the naiads to recline on. the outer wall is composed of formations ranged in festoons of stalactites--not smooth and transparent, but opaque white, and marked with all the wonderful elaboration which characterises zoophytic work in the coral reefs of the southern seas. this cave contains several sub-caves, each of which has special charms, and the turning of some of the arches is marvellously graceful. one of the recesses is filled with stalactites which look like groups of seaweed. the coral is russet and cream colour and saffron, and there are honeycombed rocks varying in shade from vandyck brown to chrome yellow. some of the stalactites in the interior sub-caves are transparent. whichever way the eye is turned it encounters submarine grottoes of fantastic shape, decorated with imitations of algæ. if it were only at the bottom of the rhine instead of thousands of feet above sea-level, it would seem natural as well as beautiful, but here its existence is simply a wonder, and the sensation produced is fairly described by the last word in the marriage service of the church of england. still, "when mother fancy rocks the wayward brain," it is easy to associate with it denizens of the deep, and people it with naiads, or with undines, who were supposed to marry human beings, and, in certain conditions, become endowed with human souls. the cave is about feet high, and from to feet broad. some of the coralline ledges at the sides are remarkably handsome, and many of the stalactites are from six to eight inches in diameter. the cavern is elegant in its proportions, highly favoured in regard to stalactite growth, graceful in contour, and rich in colouring. the fossil bone cave. about yards north-west from the lurline cave is the fossil bone cave. to reach this cavern it is necessary to ascend steps. it is scarcely less beautiful than the lurline cave. the lime formation represents pensile boughs of weeping-willow, garlands of flowers, and stalactites covered with all kinds of floral decorations. here also are some fine "shawl" formations hanging from the rocks. one of them is called "the gong," because it produces a sonorous note similar to that of the chinese instrument which is superseding the dinner-bell, and challenging its title to be regarded as "the tocsin of the soul." on a sloping side of the floor are some forms distinctive in shape and colour, and resembling a lot of small potatoes shot down indiscriminately. the wonder is how in such a place they could have been so formed and isolated. here is an oblique cavern, at the bottom of which a bone of some large animal lies embedded in the limestone formation like a type in a matrix. at one time it was doubted whether this, which appeared to be bone, was really an osseous substance, but subsequent examinations have proved that it is bone. a fracture of the rock has shown that the outer part of the bone is compact, and the inner part cellular. it is beautifully white, and, as the formation about is brownish, the phosphate can be readily distinguished from the carbonate of lime. on the roof above the fossil bone cave is a rare stalactite about feet in length, and by the side of the tomb of the unknown animal--which may have been anything from a diprotodon to a dingo--is a splendid monumental stalagmite. the cave is about feet high, and feet in length and breadth. the roof is of a light cream colour, and has brown stalactites of perfect shape. the side rocks are magnificently draped. numerous splendid columns like white marble, and sheets of stalactitic growth, excite wonder and admiration. the snowball cave. about yards through a hall, running north-east of the fossil bone cave, is the snowball cave, which is about feet high, or feet long, and from to or feet wide. it runs north-north-east. its distinctive feature is that its roof and a portion of its walls are covered with little white masses like snowballs. some of the patches of carbonate of lime stick to the walls in isolated discs, and others are massed as though snowballs had been thrown at a mark, and a number of them had stuck close together. some of the stalactites in this chamber have been formed by the upward pressure of water, and assume many tortuous shapes. an interesting feature of this portion of the caves is the existence of a number of stalactites which show how readily vibration is communicated from one to another. the visitor puts his finger to the end of a stalactite, and when an adjacent one is struck so as to make it sound, it is perceptible that the vibration of the sounding stalactite is communicated to its silent neighbour. there is one more chamber to visit in the lucas cave. to reach it the visitor ascends four steps, and travels north-west about yards to the head of a wire ladder, which he descends to a place directly underneath the snowball cave, and then he goes down the steps into the wallaby bone cave, over the entrance to which is a very pretty cluster of stalagmites, from inches to inches long, and varying from the thickness of a straw to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. the floor is covered with wallaby bones, and in the immediate vicinity are quantities of osseous breccia. chapter xiii. the bone caves. the bone caves are intensely interesting, and a considerable amount of attention has been paid to them by scientists. in , professor owen, when writing to the colonial secretary, said that the natural remains obtained from the limestone caves of wellington valley in , "revealed the important and suggestive fact that the marsupial type of structure prevailed in the ancient and extinct as well as in the existing quadrupeds of australia." seventeen years ago there was an expedition to the wellington valley bone caves. parliament voted £ for the purpose, and an investigation was made by mr. gerard krefft, who at that time was curator of the australian museum, and dr. thompson. they obtained many valuable and rare specimens, some of which were said to be quite new to science, consisting of the remains of mammals, birds, and reptiles. the largest bones and teeth discovered were of a size equal to those of a full-grown elephant. they were remains of diprotodons and nototheriums, gigantic marsupials now extinct. the wellington valley caves were discovered by sir thomas mitchell more than years ago. from them no fewer than , specimens of fossil remains were presented to the british museum. when the result of the exploration was forwarded to professor owen, he said that the conclusion was very much what might have been naturally looked for, and that the only disappointment he felt was the absence of human remains and works. ten years ago an attempt was made to obtain the co-operation of the neighbouring colonies in the work of thoroughly exploring the caves of the western and southern districts and australian rivers. the proposition originated with the agent-general for new south wales, professor owen, and sir george macleay, but the adjacent colonies did not see their way to participate, whereupon our cabinet decided to do the work without extraneous aid, and £ was voted by parliament for the service of . at an earlier stage professor liversidge had written to the colonial secretary, transmitting the following extract from a letter he had received from professor boyd dawkins, m.a., f.r.s., of owens college, manchester:--"would the government of new south wales undertake the systematic exploration of the wonderful caves which are in the colony, and which certainly ought to be explored? not only is there a certainty of adding to the great marsupials which have been obtained, but there is a great chance of finding proof that man was living at the same time as the extinct animals, as he has already been found in europe and asia. i should expect to find a very low form of the aborigine. such an inquiry would be of a very great interest to us here in england, who are digging at the caves all over europe, and the duplication which would be obtained would enable the trustees of the australian museum to increase their collections largely by exchanges." the minutes of the meetings of the trustees of the australian museum show that in a committee, consisting of dr. cox, mr. wilkinson, and professor liversidge, was appointed for the management of the exploration of caves and rivers, and it was decided that the following caves should, if possible, be examined in the order as written:--wellington caves, cowra, or belubula caves, abercrombie, wollombi, fish river (now jenolan), wombeyan, wallerawang, cargo, yarrangobilly, murrumbidgee, kempsey. the goodradigbee caves were also included, and from them was taken a great quantity of bones of small animals, with a number of jaw, thigh, hip, and shin bones of some animals of the kangaroo family. the smaller bones were those of mice, bats, birds, and marsupials. in the wellington breccia cave a shaft was sunk, and on the th september, , mr. e. p. ramsay, curator of the museum, reported, among other things, the following:--"a great number of interesting bones have already been obtained from this shaft, but the mass of feet of bone breccia which we passed through shows that we have here a large field for exploration. from this shaft we have obtained bones of the following animals, besides a great number of small bones yet undetermined--diprotodon, macropus, palorchestes, sthenurus, procoptodon, protemnodon, halmaturus, thylacinus, bettongia, sarcophilus, phascolomys, dasyurus, phalangista, pteropus (?), bats, rodents (mus), a few lizards' bones, and a few vertebræ of lizards and snakes." other caves also were explored, but it was found that the bones obtained from them were of recent origin. it is a question whether it would not be desirable to make still further investigations. the osseous breccia--where it exists--appears to be similar in all the caves. there are rifts and pits and chambers where animals have retired to die, and where from time to time their bones have been formed into cement with the liquefied rock, which in process of time has again hardened and become a solid compound of bone and stone. in the southern room on the first floor of the sydney museum is a large collection of bones from the wellington and other caves. these remains have been collected during the last four or five years under the direction of mr. ramsay, the curator. they are chiefly the bones of marsupials. there are not among them any fossil remains which indicate the presence of man in australia at any very remote period. some of the principal bones are those of extinct marsupials, and are important from a scientific point of view. they include bones of the following animals (species extant) found in the wellington caves:--the thylacinus (tasmanian tiger), sarcophilus (tasmanian devil), mastacomys (a rodent), hapalotis albipes, and mus lineatus (new south wales). other important fossil remains in the museum are those of the thylacoleo (two species), diprotodon, procoptodon, protemnodon, palorchestes, macropus titan, nototherium, phascolomys. there are not in the sydney museum any bones from the jenolan caves--which, however, contain many interesting remains of the animal world,--because the search for them would involve the destruction of attractive features. for these reasons attention was given to the wellington caves, whose beauties were not likely to receive further disfiguration than they have already suffered. from the wallaby bone cave the visitor returns to the fossil bone cave, and ascends a wire ladder which is about to be replaced by an iron staircase. as he mounts this wire-rope ladder, which is feet long and not "stayed," he feels the necessity for some better means of communication. from the top to the cathedral is about yards south-east. a large portion of the cave north-west from this point has not been explored. there are five or six different branches, one of which runs out to daylight at a small aperture ( inches by inches) over the rise of the water below the grand archway and the devil's coach house. the distance from here through the cathedral to the entrance gate is about yards, up two flights of steps. there is a gradual ascent to the steps, and the final flight of brings the excursionist to the gate and to the sunshine. he will be glad to rest awhile before entering the imperial cave, which is the grandest of them all. chapter xiv. the imperial cave. the imperial cave is graced with myriads of lovely objects. darkness brooded over them for ages, as drip by drip and atom by atom they were formed into things that charm and shine in chambers whose walls are "clad in the beauty of a thousand stars." there are underground gullies terrible enough to be the home of apollyon, with legions of goblins; and strangely radiant elfin palaces where titania might be supposed to reign, and robin goodfellow carry on his frolicsome pranks. in the year , when the cave-keeper (mr. wilson) discovered this magnificent series of caverns, he was lowered down a distance of feet through egyptian darkness. as this mode of access was neither cheerful nor easy, nor free from danger, he determined, if possible, to find a less inconvenient and perilous approach to the cave. after two years of patient investigation he accomplished his heart's desire. the orifice which has been converted into the present entrance was at first, for a distance of feet, only inches by inches, but the curator worked his way through it, caterpillar fashion, with a light in one hand and a hammer in the other, knocking off the rough formation, and widening the aperture from time to time until he made communication free from difficulty. throughout this splendid cave there are many places where similar efforts, accomplished with equal success, have added largely to the safety and convenience of visitors, who reap the fruits of the heroic work performed by the brave explorer, whose best years have been spent in rendering accessible to the public the marvellous beauties of the jenolan caves. from the accommodation house the way to the imperial cave is through the grand arch, on the northern side of which, at the eastern end, are two wooden staircases. the first springs from the floor of the arch amidst immense blocks of stone irregularly disposed. it has steps, and a handrail on each side. this terminates at the summit of a pile of limestone rocks, the uppermost of which forms a platform guarded by iron stanchions and a galvanised wire rope. from this platform there is another flight of steps to the portico of the cave--a plain archway, the floor of which is feet higher than the floor of the cave-house. the entrance is guarded by a light iron gate. the wool shed and the gravel pits. about yards from the entrance to the imperial cave, northward, and thence about yards east, is "the wool shed." the approach to it is narrow and low. in some places it has been formed by blasting, and in others by excavation through a red, sandy substance underneath the limestone. it widens as the wool shed is approached. in the floor is a hole going down to the former entrance to the cave, now closed by a stone wall. the wool shed is about feet wide, feet high, and feet long. the formation over a large part of the walls and roof resembles the fleeces of sheep, hanging about and spreading over the shelving rocks in all directions. there is one pelt which suggests the "golden fleece" torn by jason from the tree trunk in the poison wood guarded by the huge serpent spangled with bronze and gold, and which was soothed to slumber by the magic song of orpheus. the surroundings are as strange as those of the lonely cave where dwelt cheiron the centaur, who taught the leader of the argonauts "to wrestle and to box, and to hunt, and to play upon the harp." but perhaps, after all, it may be only an indifferent limestone representation of a fellmongering establishment. the woolly skins and scraps are mirrored on the retina. the impressions produced by the sense of vision depend not upon the optic nerve, but upon the imagination. simply as a spectacle, however, the wool shed is curious and entertaining. the blocks of stone near to the base are for the most part plain, and the floor is broken and rugged. descending steps, and passing through a tunnel five feet six inches by two feet, the visitor stands at the junction of the right and the left hand branches of the cave. here formerly the passage was only inches by inches. the larger opening was made by blasting, and the material blown from the solid rock has been packed away in recesses at the side of the hall, which, at the junction of the two branches, widens out considerably, but does not present any specially interesting features. the right hand branch runs north-west, and the left hand branch runs south-west. taking the south-west branch first, after travelling about yards the visitor comes to "the gravel pits," which he reaches by ascending a mound with steps. there are two pits of gravel. one of them is about feet deep and the other about feet. in the rocks overhead are bones distinctly visible, owing to the earthy matter having fallen away from them. some of these bones are large. there are shelving rocks about six feet from the floor. the sides of one of the gravel pits are oblique, but the other pit, which is railed off, is round and perpendicular. it could hardly have been more symmetrical had it been made by a professional well-sinker. this spot, although perhaps uninteresting to a mere sight-seer, cannot fail to attract the attention of geologists. ascending two flights of stairs with steps each, the excursionist attains a height of about feet above the gravel pits in a north-westerly direction. between the two flights of steps the ground is sloping, and the walls hold a considerable portion of drift, the pebbles of which are large and tinged with oxide of iron. this passage leads to the margherita cave, and from it a tunnel branches off towards the "architect's studio." this is a very pretty vestibule, about yards in length, and bearing south-east. at first it rises several feet by steps, and later on there is a descent of five steps through masses of stalactites, and past a beautiful pillar. [illustration: the architect's studio.] the architect's studio. the height of the "studio" is about feet. this _atelier_ is a marvel of beauty. there are in it two temples of the most lovely kind. large masses of splendid stalactites hang from the roof. on the walls are columns profusely decorated with coral and tracery and bosses, and carvings which could be imitated only by the most cunning workmanship. near the centre is a large stalactitic mass, most graceful in shape, with numerous appendages; and underneath appear several stalagmites. some of them have been partially destroyed, but one, which touches the enormous mass of stalactites above, remains intact. near to this is a splendid column, richly embellished. the walls are profusely adorned with elaborate configurations, which are supposed to represent architectural "studies," from which the cave derives its name. most of the formation is white or light grey; but in some of the recesses there is rich colouring. each chamber has its own distinctive attractions, and contains many objects which challenge special admiration. massive grandeur is set off with the most delicate and fragile beauty. stalagmites are not numerous here, but one about eight feet in height, and two inches in diameter at the base, tapers off gradually towards the roof until it becomes as attenuated as the thin end of a fishing-rod. the stalactitic formation hangs in ponderous grotesquely-shaped concretions, some of which extend from the roof nearly to the floor, and many of the stalactites which decorate the stalactitic formation are perfect in shape and purity. the choicest portions of the architect's studio are fenced off with galvanised wire rope on iron standards. the bone cave. ascending a flight of steps out of the architect's studio the course is south-west about yards to the bone cave. the way is difficult, a portion of the journey having to be performed on hands and knees. the cave, which runs north and south, is about feet high, feet long, and from to feet wide. in the middle of it is a passage only partially explored. the bone cave is guarded by iron rods and wire netting. bunches of stalactites hang from the roof, and the floor is strewn with bones, covered with a thick coating of lime formation. there are also bones embedded in the floor. some of the formations on the floor are very peculiar, consisting of small curiously-shaped pieces fitted together at remarkable angles, and yet capable of being taken to pieces like triplicate kernels pressed together in one nutshell. a large proportion of the stalactites are quite transparent and decorated with small sharp points, and some formations among the coral are as lovely as fine marine mosses, which they resemble. in the midst are numerous unexplored recesses, which, when the light penetrates, are seen to hold hundreds of fine stalactites, crystal and opaque. the objects of beauty in the bone cave retain their colour, because they cannot be handled by that class of visitors who fancy that they can see only with their fingers. on the walls are specimens of delicate fretwork, and on the floor as well as on the top of rocky ledges, stalagmites lavishly ornamented. although not as grand as the architect's studio, this is a very fine cave, and additional interest attaches to it in consequence of the fossil bones it contains. the adjacent chambers cannot be explored without destroying some of the well-known beauties of the cavern. chapter xv. the margherita cave. from the bone cave to the margherita cave is about yards, travelling north-east to the top of the first steps, then east into the architect's studio, and then north about yards. the margherita cave varies from to feet in height, and is from to feet wide. it is remarkable chiefly for the magnitude and beauty of its stalactitic formation, the best portions of which are fenced off with iron rods and wire netting. the formations are nearly all of the same general character. although there are many changes in detail, the typical pattern is observed everywhere in the midst of infinite variety, just as in a fugue choice snatches of melody sound forth in the clear treble, skip away in the mellow tenor, roll forth in the deep bass, and then dart about will-o'-the-wisp-like all through the composition, without ever getting out of harmony. it is a grand chamber full of stately concords and charming effects of light and shade. hard by is another chamber with masses of beautiful stalactites, and, on a pinnacle, a figure appears about the height of the venus de medici, robed in drapery of white, slightly suggestive of the binary theory of feminine attire, and with a peculiar curvature denominated the "grecian bend." the bend is unmistakable. there is just a suspicion of the "divided skirt," and the attitude is easy and graceful, the grecian bend notwithstanding. the upper part of the body from the waist has no "boddice aptly laced," but becomes gradually mixed indiscriminately with other kinds of beauty, which, although they may "harmony of shape express," do not in the sense indicated by prior become "fine by degrees and beautifully less." admirers of classic beauty may be inclined to regard the incompleteness of the figure as "fine by defect and delicately weak." there are some stalagmites on the sloping bank of formation, which runs down to the wire netting and is finished off at each extremity by two massive stalactitic pillars. the margherita cave received its name in honour of the wife of lieut.-colonel cracknell, superintendent of telegraphs. col. cracknell visited the caves in , and on the nd july illuminated this and some other portions with the electric light. the margherita was the first of the underground chambers in which flashed its brilliant rays. in the absence of facilities for generating electricity by means of the now well-known dynamo machine, colonel cracknell had recourse to primary batteries, and adopted the form known as the maynooth or callan cell, the elements of which were cast iron and zinc in solutions of nitric and sulphuric acid. it was not an easy task to unload and carry up the iron cell battery and the apparatus into the cave, as each set of six cells weighed lbs. the whole, together with the acids and the electric light apparatus, exceeded cwts. the battery, however, was soon made ready, and to the admiration of all present cave margherita was illuminated by the electric light. a photographic apparatus was then placed in position, the plates were exposed, and in minutes the first negatives were produced, and said to be all that could be desired. it is satisfactory to learn that arrangements are almost complete for the permanent lighting of the caves by electricity. lieutenant-colonel cracknell proposes to illuminate them in sections, containing each, say, incandescent lamps, and when one section has been thoroughly explored the lamps therein will be cut off and those in the next section brought into operation, and so on until the whole of the interior has been examined. it is intended that swan's incandescent lamp of -candle power shall be used. the electricity is to be generated by a small edison dynamo, with which accumulators of the elwell-parker type will be kept charged, so that at all times there will be a supply available for lighting the lamps. it has not yet been determined whether to use steam or water power, but it is thought likely that sufficient of the latter may be secured in the vicinity of the caves to work a turbine, and thus produce the necessary energy. chapter xvi. the helena cave. leaving the margherita cave by a descent of five steps, and travelling north-west about ten yards through a festooned hall, the helena cave opens to view. it was named in . helena is the prenomen of mrs. hart, whose husband accompanied lieutenant-colonel cracknell on his visit to the caves, and took photographs of some of the chambers, when for the first time they were illuminated by electricity. mr. hart was connected with the photographic branch of the government printing office. the pictures then produced, although large and fairly good, are not equal to some more recent photographs taken when the chambers were illuminated by the magnesium light. [illustration: the helena cave.] the helena cave is about yards long, to feet high, and varies in width from to feet. for stalactitic splendour it will bear comparison with the most magnificent of the caves. there are columns like the trunks of stately trees, covered with rough formation resembling coarse bark. coralline masses droop laden with myriads of cells. in the recesses are stalactites perfect in shape--crystal, and alabaster set off by others coloured like ferruginous sandstone. lovely grottoes and decorated rock ledges abound. in one or two instances joined stalactites and stalagmites form pillars with bunches of formation all about them like stony efflorescence. several steps lead into a recess, the floor of which contains basins made by the action of water. the formation throughout is remarkable for its lavish ornamentation and purity. among the grand cornices is one weighing about half a ton, formed in such a manner as to resemble great bunches of grapes, like those brought from eschol by the hebrew spies to illustrate their report on "the promised land." in other parts are small clusters like vine produce growing _en espalier_. it seems as though in these subterranean sunless bowers nature had by some subtle process striven to reproduce in stone the fruits and flowers of the sunned surface, clothing them in pure white and sombre grey, and endowing them with charms as sweet and mutely eloquent as the fragrance of the cestrum nocturnum, or the cold beauty of a night cactus bloom which caresses the moonbeams or wantons in the stellar light. this place, full of enchanted grottoes and elfin palaces, gives, perhaps, the best illustration of the plan, so uniform and yet so diverse, on which these limestone mountains have been honeycombed into galleries, "high overarch'd with echoing walks between," and caverns large and small, from cathedral spaciousness to the minimised dimensions of the tiniest chamber in the finest coralline structure. their infinite gradation may be fairly described by certain well-known lines, and substituting the word "caves" for the name of the most lively insects of the genus pulex-- big caves have little caves and lesser caves about 'em; these caves have other caves, and so _ad infinitum_. the most remarkable feature hereabouts is a piece of formation called "the madonna." it is supposed to represent a woman carrying an infant, which rests on her right arm. the left arm hangs loosely by her side, and the right knee is bent as in the act of walking. the head bears less resemblance to that of one of the favourite creations of the old masters than it does to the anterior part of a russian bear. a pyramidal mound about four feet high forms a pedestal for the figure, which is about two feet six inches from crown to sole. a sculptor with mallet and chisel might in an hour or two convert it into a representation of loveliness, but at present it is only a veiled beauty. visitors have to imagine all those witcheries and feminine perfections portrayed by great artists who have made "the madonna and child" a life study. the best view of this cave is that looking south-east with "my lady" in the centre. the stalactites show to great advantage, and as the manifold charms brought into bold relief by the magnesium light disappear, and the sable goddess "from her ebon throne, stretches forth her leaden sceptre," the sensation produced is one of pleasant bewilderment. the deep gloom which follows celestial brightness enshrouds the glorious scene. the pageant fades away as did the celebrated palace which potemkin reared for his imperial mistress. it was made of blocks of ice. the portico was supported by ionic pillars, and the dome sparkled in the sun, which had just strength enough to gild, but not to melt it. "it glittered afar like a palace of crystal and diamonds, but there came one warm breeze from the south, and the stately building dissolved away until none were able to gather up the fragments." so it is with these underground wonders. they are brought into bold relief, and gilded by the brilliant light of the magnesium lamp. it is extinguished, and the gorgeous palaces and solemn temples suddenly become like "stuff which dreams are made of." another beautiful feature in the helena cave is a formation under a mass of stalactites which hang from the roof and drop water on to a jutting rock below. on a corner of this shoulder is a huge epaulette, and underneath are some elegantly-shaped brackets. still farther down is an enormous richly decorated mass, flanked by shell pattern formation. the base rock rests on a mound of limestone gracefully curved, and the intervening spaces are filled with myriads of ornate specimens. some distance above the floor is a bold rock with a sharply cut under-surface like the sounding-board of a pulpit hung with stalactites. here are also terraces like miniatures of the celebrated white terraces of new zealand, with basins, the sides of which are graced with a formation which at one time was pure white, but the lower portions of which are now discoloured. the upper part, however, still retains its pristine purity and loveliness. the terraces approaching the grotto are stained by the tramping of feet. about halfway up is a handsome stalagmite of fine proportions. this chamber is grandly impressive, and remarkable for its charming variety of formation, as well as for its graceful contours. chapter xvii. the grotto cave. at the point of exit from the helena cave there is a descent of four steps. then it is necessary to ascend steps north-north-east on the way to the right-hand branch of the imperial cave. from the top of the steps the distance to the junction is about yards. on the left side of the passage, at the foot of the lower steps in the left-hand branch, is a drive down into the gallery of the right-hand branch, the fall being about feet. it was by being lowered down this hole that the cave-keeper found that portion of the right-hand branch which extends from the shaft to the junction of the two branches. this perilous part is railed off with two wires supported on iron standards let into the rock. at a point yards north, on the passage to the grotto cave, at an angle, is a drop of feet into the right-hand branch of the imperial cave. sitting on a thin shell of limestone, on the right-hand side, the visitor may pitch a stone into a hole inches by inches, and hear it strike the bottom of the black depth. he may thrust his candle down to arm's length underneath the mineral crust, and (if he be in a very cheerful vein) fancy he is peering into the infernal regions, over which he rests on a thin and fragile screen. from this point the grotto cave is south-south-west about yards. precautions have been taken against accident at this spot. iron standards are let into the rock, and there are double wires stayed back to the walls of the cave. it is intended to make it still more secure on the lower side by a netting of three inch wire, on one and a quarter inch iron standards, from four to six feet high. where the rock has been cut to make the passage wide enough, the steps are wet, and there is a little basin always full of bright water of a bluish tint. a false step here might precipitate a sight-seer into an almost perpendicular hole, some idea of the depth of which may be formed by casting a stone down, and listening to its striking against the sides, until after the lapse of several seconds the sound of its contact with the floor rises like a feeble voice, still further subdued by distance. descending five steps, a good sight is obtained of the grotto cave. it is feet high in places, and about feet wide, with passages in all directions. it runs south-south-east and north-north-west, and is full of interesting vaults and crypts, over which nature seems to have cast a mystic spell. for alluring charms, fantastic combinations, and disposition of matter, no comparison can be found between it and the most artistic grottoes built by human hands. one grotto is roofed with delicately white and richly-traced formation, studded with stalactites of rare splendour. here is a delicate white shaft piercing the dome; there a stalagmite within half-an-inch of the stalactite above. a broken pillar suggests either an accident or a barbaric act; near to it is a perfect column, which, in the dim light, seems like a figure emerging from the cave. close inspection reveals imitations of coral and seaweed, curved stalactites, and filagree work of the most intricate design. little flakes of lime, like snow, at the back of the grotto, sparkle like twinkling stars. another grotto, in the centre of the cave, is made entirely by large stalactites, set off with small ones. some are covered with filaments about the thickness of ordinary sewing-cotton; others seem as though they were covered with beautiful mosses. many of the pendants are richly wrought and extremely graceful. the upper stalactites are covered with thicker filaments like twine and pack-thread. a third grotto is remarkable chiefly for a splendid cornice or buttress projecting from a pillar. it is as grand, though not as ornate, as similar formation in the margherita cave. it was named on the th march , and its designation is appropriate. near the exit is a marvellous grotto, at the entrance to which is a massive stalagmitic pillar, five feet in diameter, meeting the end of a stalactite about feet long. the back of the stalagmite constitutes a separate grotto of stalactites and shell-pattern formation. near to it is a remarkable rock, covered with cauliflower-shaped masses of limestone. it is known as the cauliflower rock--the _choufleur_ of the gnomes who guard the unfathomable caves of jenolan. in yet another grotto, at the rear of the main pillar, is a beautiful canopy, with thin stalactites, straight like walking-canes, and others thin as straws, crystal and opaque. there are also many contorted stalactites and other eccentricities in stone. a little iron ladder makes it easy to descend into this cave of so many beautiful grottoes on gracefully undulating foundations. near the point of departure is a dangerous spot, for the proper guarding of which arrangements are being made. adjacent is a considerable quantity of red clay covered with smooth white formation, and fractures of rock round about sparkle with crystals. [illustration: the lucinda cave.] chapter xviii. the lucinda cave. after travelling a few yards south from the grottoes the visitor arrives at the lucinda cave. the hall is from to feet wide and from to feet high. the approach to the cave is through limestone rocks. the path has a gentle slope, and in some places the walls are besprinkled with a white substance like wool. near the centre of the passage is a hole in the roof partly lined with formation which sparkles like a starlit sky. a little farther on is a descent of four steps through a passage, the walls of which glitter with great brilliancy. about yards from the lucinda cave, south-south-west, is a magnificent spectacle. the roof is densely crowded with stalactites of every type of beauty. on each side are crevices of dazzling splendour, and on the floors of which brilliants have been showered like hail. the largest remain in the centre, and the corners and other remote places are heaped with diamond drift. in one place in the lower cave is a bank made of formation washed from the hall above, thickening to the base at an angle of about °, and studded with cave gems. between the jewelled floors and the superincumbent rocks are stalagmites of pure white calcareous alabaster. at the end of this passage are three steps, which it is necessary to ascend in order to reach the lucinda chamber, which was discovered on the th february, , and is named after the wife of the curator of the caves. the lucinda cave is from to feet high, from to feet wide, and about feet long. its entrance junctions with the steps to katie's bower. to reach the lucinda cave from the junction, the visitor passes over a level floor, like cement, about feet in length. this cave is remarkable for its scenic grandeur. the spectator stands in mute admiration, and gazes upon the magnificent sight like one who is spellbound. the beauty is brobdignagian in its proportions. the figures are all colossal. there are immense stalactites and stalagmites of every hue. an enormous mass of formation droops from the ceiling to the summit of a stalagmitic mound upon which it rests. it is like a series of suddenly congealed waterfalls, and the groundwork below is gracefully rippled on the outer surface, and fringed with stalactites. the mound previously mentioned rests upon another of larger size, of equally graceful contour, and besprent with brilliants which sparkle like immense diamonds. to the right is a cascade of formation which has trickled and solidified from rock to rock and from ledge to ledge in graceful curves from the roof to the floor. those who have seen water arrested by congelation on an extensive weir, and rendered opaque by hoar, can form a tolerably correct idea of the kind of beauty here represented in stone. to the left of the frozen waterfall is a bower of sparkling substances, and at its extremity is a recess, from the farthest visible point of which can be seen magnificent clusters of stalactites, of rich and varied colouring. this bower is more chastely beautiful than any ever possessed by oriental potentate. the walls on the left side are richly draped with sheets of formation of uniform thickness, hanging from the roof like shawls or scarves. this mineral drapery is opaque, striped and flecked with russet and reddish brown, and edged with white as pure as virgin snow. it is guarded by a fence of iron rods and galvanised wire; consequently it is impossible to make a close and minute examination of its interior, but the general effect is fascinating. in one of the recesses is a terraced rock covered with reddish formation, like a cascade, which certainly is not less beautiful than were the pink terraces of rotomahana. a little beyond the cascade the same kind of formation ornaments a massive pillar, which constitutes one of the principal features of the cave. in the foreground is a hall which leads to an unexplored region below, and the entrance to which is guarded by a fence to prevent accidents. the floor is curiously formed by a series of basins, the rims of which are shaped into every variety of curve and indentation, running in and out like frilling, not with regular curved lines like escallops, but representing in miniature the waterlines of a quiet harbour with large bays and pretty inlets and creeks and reaches, without a single straight line. the edges of these basins are about two inches in height, covered on the outside by sparkling limestone, like delicate coral, thickening towards the floor. inside the formation is still more beautiful, with coralline matter of the same general character swelling out to the most graceful concavity. there is perfection in every segment, and in every tiny cell lurks tremulous light. chapter xix. katie's bower. taking a course between the parallel fences of wire-netting, and travelling about yards, the jewel casket is seen on the western side of the cave. it extends about feet due south, and is about two feet six inches high by about six feet wide. it does not contain any new type of beauty, but rather represents a collection of the most enchanting cave splendours. even the stalactites and stalagmites are overlaid with ornamentation. it is a focus of dazzling brilliancy. [illustration: katie's bower.] returning to the junction, there is a descent by steps south-west into "katie's bower," which is the last chamber in the left-hand branch of the imperial cave. forty-three of these steps are like cement, are cut in the solid rock, and are of wood. on the left-hand side, at the foot of the staircase, is a hole feet deep. to the north of the entrance, at the top of the wooden steps, is a remarkable formation suggestive of a chinese pagoda, waxy-amber-and-flesh-coloured. to the left is a beautifully-formed dome, with convexities of pure white, sparkling all over as though it were studded with diamonds cut with large facets. at the bottom of the dome are numerous stalactites, resting on a curved rock coated with the same material. it is like a richly bejewelled throne with a grand canopy suspended from the roof by a large stalactite. it contains many hundredweight of formation, and is about three yards from end to end of the curve. it is ornamented with filagree work and stalactites of the most curious and beautiful kinds, and on the upper surface are some handsome stalagmites. at the rear of this splendid canopy, set with precious stones, is a recess with a sparkling floor. having descended some steps to the south-east, and ascended others through a broken part of the subterranean region, the visitor will find much to admire in katie's bower. it is about feet long, to feet high, and from to feet wide. its direction is from north-west to south-east. the north-west end is very rough, with a rocky floor. the beauties of the bower are located to the south and south-east. there are on the one side alabaster pillars, on the other is formation. immediately over the arch is a deposit of red clay, which has imparted a rich colour to the huge stalactites which hang from the roof. the light of the candles is flashed back by glittering crystals. the floor, which forms the entrance to the bower, is carpeted with glistening alabaster. descending steps into the bower there is a fountain full of lime-water, and a plate suitably inscribed conveys the information that katie's bower was discovered on the th february, , by jeremiah wilson (guide), c. webb, h. fulton, c. west, j. bright, e. webb, e. t. webb, j. thompson, w. h. webb, e. bowman, w. thompson, j. mcphillamy, r. thompson, j. webb, and s. webb. the before-mentioned gentlemen were the first to enter the bower after its discovery. they had rendered valuable assistance to the guide, and were well rewarded for all their trouble by the consciousness that they had participated in opening to the public a new and charming scene in this western wonderland. the stalactites and formation at the mouth of the cave are pure alabaster. it should be here stated that this bower was named in honour of a daughter of the hon. e. webb, m.l.c., of bathurst, who at various times has interested himself in regard to the caves, and sister of the messrs. webb whose names appear on the tablet, and who supplied ladders and ropes to the curator, and otherwise assisted him in his explorations. it is a grand cavern, with massive pillars and large stalactites, and elaborate alabaster structures, more remarkable for richness of detail than the most wonderfully-constructed oriental temple. the dome commences near the roof with a conical mass of brilliant formation, from which depend many fine stalactites, which rest on a solid mass, and seem to hold it suspended. this second mass of formation is ornamented with stalactites like frozen jets of water. and so the process is continued again and again, until the points of the lowest stalactites rest on a white mass level with gracefully-curved and coloured rocks, which descend with elegant contours to the bottom of the bower. the same kind of wonderful fabrication is repeated at the sides of the principal figure. some of the flooring is as rich and pure as that of the jewel casket. it is a marvel of intricate grandeur, and has the advantage of having been well preserved. from the alabaster stalagmite in front, to the most delicate lime drapery on the walls, there is no prominent "mark of the beast." the cads of the period have not been permitted to perform their favourite ceremony of the laying on of hands. it would be useless to speculate as to the time the caves in this branch "took in building." it defies all calculation. apparently the process of formation is finished. there is no dripping from the stalactites. there may be, however, in wet weather; but it seems as though the creative action had given way to the hardening process. it is suggestive of that portion of "king solomon's mines" in which h. r. haggard has a clever and somewhat caustic conceit respecting stalactitic growth. on his way through the enormous cave leading to solomon's treasure-house, he was enchanted with the gigantic pillars, which looked like ice, and which sprang in lofty and yet delicate beauty sheer to the distant roof. "others again," he says, "were in process of formation. on the rock floor there was in these caves what looked exactly like a broken column in an old grecian temple, whilst high above, depending from the roof, the point of a huge icicle could be dimly seen. and even as we gazed we could hear the process going on, for presently with a tiny splash a drop of water would fall from the far-off icicle on to the column below. on some columns the drops only fell once in two or three minutes, and in these cases it would form an interesting calculation to discover how long at that rate of dripping it would take to form a pillar, say feet high by in diameter. that the process was, in at least one instance, incalculably slow, the following instance will suffice to show. cut on one of these pillars, we discovered a rude likeness of a mummy, by the head of which sat what appeared to be one of the egyptian gods, doubtless the handiwork of some old-world labourer in the mine. this work of art was executed at about the natural height at which an idle fellow, be he phoenician workman or british cad, is in the habit of trying to immortalise himself at the expense of nature's masterpieces, namely, about five feet from the ground; yet at the time that we saw it, which must have been nearly , years after the date of the execution of the drawing, the column was only eight feet high, and was still in process of formation, which gives a rate of growth of a foot to a , years, or an inch and a fraction to a century." this is a very good satire upon the presumption of some modern disciples of the illustrious cocker. a botanist may, by its concentric zones, tell the years of an exogenous plant; a bucolic sage may judge the age of horned cattle by counting their horny rings; but to tell the æons of a stalagmite is more difficult than the accurate compilation of a feminine census. arithmetical calculations on such a subject would probably be received with as much confidence as phrenological evidence of the character and habits indicated by bumps on the head of the great sphinx at ghizeh. chapter xx. the right-hand branch of the imperial cave. having thus completed his inspection of the left-hand branch of the imperial cave, the visitor returns to the junction, passing through all the chambers previously noticed in it excepting the architect's studio and the bone cave, and proceeds to explore the still more wondrous and beautiful works in the right-hand branch. the subterranean river. the first object of interest in the right-hand branch of the imperial cave is the subterranean river, which runs at the bottom of a fearful chasm about yards from the point where the two branches bifurcate. after having wandered through marble halls and crystal palaces, and bowers where "rural fays and fairies dwell," the course seems rather gloomy. but attention is attracted by some curiously-shaped nodules, like those found in a part of the arch cave, and by basins with thin laminated sides slightly corrugated. these specimens reveal the secret of the construction of the pretty reticulated mounds, which give such a charming effect to several of the most regularly formed features of the caves. to complete the process, the sharp parallel lines which form a succession of little equidistant ridges require only to be smoothed off by a gently flowing film of water, and to receive a coat of colouring derived from clay or oxide of iron. this part of the branch, therefore, should not be passed through hurriedly, for it is instructive. [illustration: the underground river and its reflections.] the road is fairly good, although the arching is low. those parts, the narrowness of which formerly made progress difficult, have been enlarged, but a pretty natural bridge has been carefully preserved. the halt is at the end of a wire ladder bent over a cliff, which forms one side of an immense gulf, where perpetual darkness broods. here the visitor has a more ungraceful task to perform than that of the cursed serpent, for he must recline face downwards and "progress backwards" until he assumes the form of an obtuse angle, with one line over the precipice. then he has to use his legs pretty much as an octopus uses its tentacles, to gain a footing on the ladder, which descends about feet on the chasm side of the angle. having found the first rung he feels happy, but not sufficiently hilarious to slide like a lamplighter. he grips the side wires carefully, takes heed to his steps, and goes down slowly. when he has descended a little way, the dim candle-lights above appear to be far distant, and when he is or steps down they look like glowworms. the journey, however, is not perilous to persons who possess a fair share of agility and nerve. it is frequently performed by ladies, of whom the guide is specially careful, preceding them and keeping just below them on the ladder. as this is, perhaps, the most interesting of all the cave sights, it is desirable that some easy mode of descent should be provided, such as a skip like those employed in mines, or a lift made by machinery to work as easily and effectively as those which ascended and descended at will in the subterranean world inhabited by "the coming race." it was, perhaps, some such place as this which suggested to bulwer lytton the chasm down which his nameless hero descended to the bottom of an abyss illuminated with a diffused atmospheric light, soft and silvery as from a northern star; where he found lakes and rivulets which seemed to have been curbed into artificial banks, some of pure water, and some which shone like pools of naphtha; where the birds piped in chorus, and where he made the acquaintance of the an people and the gy-ei, who moved through the air without effort, who had for servants automata always obedient, and totally ignorant of the eight-hours system, and whose religion had these two peculiarities: "firstly, that they all believed in the creed they professed; and, secondly, that they all practised the precepts indicated by the creed." underground rivers appear to be natural to limestone caves. the reason of their existence is to be found in the fact that the mountains in which they are formed are, in geological parlance, "dykes." they must not be confounded with old river beds, such as are encountered by miners--where the surface of the earth has been raised by deposits of alluvium, or where the geological condition of things has been changed by volcanic action. these cave rivers have all been formed by water finding the lowest attainable level in its passage to the sea, and by the solid limestone rocks which have barred its direct course, and have been undermined by its subtle but persistent action. the fluid, dammed back by the mountains, has simply obeyed the laws of gravitation and accumulated force, as evidenced in the trickling silvery thread which follows the course of ant-tracks; in the laughing rill which makes its bed among the pebbles; in the babbling brook which leaps to the swelling river; and in the mighty torrent whose strength and velocity proclaim the majesty of hydraulic power. in all parts of the world where limestone dykes and caves exist, it is reasonable to expect to find subterranean rivers. the eye of the seer can follow the water drips-- "down through caverns and gulfs profound, to the dreary fountain-head of lakes and rivers underground." he can see them again when the rain is done-- "on the bridge of colours seven, climbing up once more to heaven, past the setting sun." but the underground rivers found in caves perform vagaries outside the sweet imaginings of the poet and the prevision of the seer. far from the beaten track they turbulently force their way through recesses and tunnels and pockets of the earth, before they are again warmed with sunshine, and glow in the harmonious colours which form the bow of promise. the rev. richard taylor, in his "_te ika a maui_," refers to interesting caves near mokau (new zealand), in some of which bones of the moa have been discovered. about a mile from pukemapau he came to a limestone range, and entered a large cave called tanaureure. at the bottom of a chasm he found a fine crystal spring, about a foot or so deep, but appears not to have been particularly inquisitive as to whence the water came or whither it went. a little distance up one of the tributaries of the rewa river, in fiji, is a crystal streamlet which flows on towards a lofty ridge, near to which it sinks into the earth. at the mouth of a dark cavern can be heard the roaring. it is a grand expansive excavation, but "dark as was chaos ere the infant sun was roll'd together, or had tried his beams athwart the gloom profound." the water rushes through narrow chasms as through a race, collects in a large pool, and flows through a distant outlet, marked by a speck of light, like a tiny star. at the weathercote cave, in yorkshire, a stream swallowed up by a rocky mouth is thus described by walter white in his book entitled "a month in yorkshire":-- "the rocks are thickly covered in places with ferns and mosses, and are broken up by crevices into a diversity of forms, rugged as chaos. a few feet down, and you see a beautiful crystalline spring in a cleft on the right, and the water turning the moss to stone as it trickles down. a few feet lower, and you pass under a natural bridge formed by huge fallen blocks. the stair gets rougher, twisting among the big, damp lumps of limestone, when suddenly your guide points to the fall at the farther extremity of the chasm. the rocks are black, the place is gloomy, imparting thereby a surprising effect to the white rushing column of water. a beck running down the hill finds its way into a crevice in the cliffs, from which it leaps in one great fall of more than feet, roaring loudly. look up: the chasm is so narrow that the trees and bushes overhang and meet overhead; and what with the subdued light and mixture of crags and verdure, and the impressive aspect of the place altogether, you will be lost in admiration. "to descend lower seems scarcely possible, but you do get down, scrambling over the big stones to the very bottom, into the swirling shower of spray. here a deep recess, or chamber, at one side, about eight feet in height, affords good standing ground, whence you may see that the water is swallowed up at once, and disappears in the heap of pebbles on which it falls." in the wombeyan caves, near taralga, in this colony (new south wales), there is a similar phenomenon. the mountain in which the caves are formed dams, at right angles, a valley of considerable length. on the one side a creek flows into a hole underneath the "wombeyan church"--a name given to the principal entrance. this shallow hole is filled with large boulders and less bulky water-worn stones, through which the water instantly filters and disappears. the suction is perceptible if a hand or foot be placed in the basin. on the other side of the mountain the water, running at a considerable distance below the surface, can be seen through an orifice. farther on, about three-quarters of a mile from the mountain side, the stream bubbles up like a fountain, and reminds the visitor of antique pictures representing the rush of water from rock-smitten horeb. the most gigantic of underground river wonders are to be found in the mammoth cave of kentucky, where the echo river is navigable for three-quarters of a mile, where the roaring river raises its liquid voice, where lake lethe soothes to forgetfulness, and where there is a veritable styx with a nineteenth century charon. but although everything about that cave is colossal, it cannot surpass jenolan in its deep emotional effects, or in the admiration it evokes. indeed, in these respects an american visitor, familiar with the mammoth cave, has given the palm to jenolan. having descended the -feet ladder, the foot of which is clamped to a bare rock, the excursionist watches the guide hopping gleefully down, with candles in one hand and paraphernalia in the other. he then peers into the darkness to find the river, and is led along a gradual slope of about ten feet, when he comes to its margin without recognising it, and would possibly soon be up to his knees in it if he were not warned by his cicerone. it is apparently motionless, as smooth as a mirror, and so clear that at first it is difficult to believe there is any water there at all. you see the sand and pebbles and rocks at the bottom, but do not perceive the fluid which covers them. the river is about feet wide, and from to inches deep. the length visible is about yards. the overhanging rocks range from or feet to feet in height. from one end of the river comes a sweet soothing sound, made by water-friction. this proves the existence of a considerable current, but the fluid is so limpid and smooth that the eye cannot detect its motion. it is demonstrated, however, in another way. the curator cuts little sections of sperm candle, and, after lighting the wick, floats them on the river, whereupon they immediately begin to glide down the stream, the course of which is nearly south-east. the effect is extremely pretty. not only are the lights themselves sharply mirrored below, but there is a perfect reflection of the rocks above. near the tunnel by which the water emerges n.n.w. is a mass of overhanging formation, duplicated in a natural mirror. the bed of the watercourse is dark, being covered chiefly with mud and grit and a few water-worn pebbles. the rocky walls are of limestone--white and black. up the channel n.w., about yards, is a good crossing-place--not in old charon's boat, but by means of an ordinary deal plank. on the other side of the river is a ledge of rocks with pebble drift concreted with a substance somewhat resembling the cement in which diamonds are found, and the pebbles, although larger, are of the same shape and blackness as those commonly associated with the luminous gems found in their natural state at kimberley, in south africa, or in the tenterfield district of new south wales. on turning the light of the magnesium lamp up the river, its rocky ledges are seen to be ornamented with stalactites and formation perfectly mirrored in the water, which is about feet from the surface, and about below the level of the cave house in the centre of the valley. never had river more romantic barriers. human imagination could not conceive a freak of nature more wildly grand or mysteriously beautiful. there are large ornamented pillars near delicately-tinted formation, drooping from overhanging rocks, like pensile boughs of weeping willow. some of the twigs skim the surface of the stream, and others are bathed in it. beyond is a water-hole about feet long, and from to feet wide. because of its wonderful clearness, it is difficult to judge of its depth; but it has been tested to the extent of five feet, and probably at the extreme point where the water flows from the tunnel it may be six or seven feet deep. the effect of the brilliant light is superb. the ornamentation on the roof of the tunnel is reflected and transposed in the mirror below, each reflected stalactite having the appearance of a twin stalagmite rising from the river bed, which may be traversed for about yards. nearly six months ago the caretaker placed in this river twenty young carp from bathurst. some of them were enticed from their cavernous resting-places by the bright rays of the lamp, and appeared to be tolerably vivacious and in fair condition. they seem to have all they require except the solar rays; but what is life without sunshine! they ought to be scientifically observed, for there is a theory that in three generations of darkness they will become blind. this has been the fate of the fishes in the mammoth cave of kentucky, and it is stated that their blindness is the result of a law of nature, which does not continue to supply organs or powers which have ceased to be necessary. dr. forwood, in his history of the mammoth cave, says:--"the fishes are of a peculiar species, and are of a class known as viviparous, which give birth to their young alive, and do not deposit eggs after the manner of most other fishes. they have rudiments of eyes, but no optic nerve, and are, therefore, incapable of being affected by any degree of light.... it has been proved that these eyeless fishes prey upon each other. in shape they somewhat resemble the common catfish, and rarely exceed eight inches in length." professor silliman published the following in his "journal" for may :--"of the fish there are two species, one of which has been described by dr. wyman in the _american journal of science_, and which is entirely eyeless. the second species of the fish is not colourless like the first, and it has external eyes, which, however, are found to be quite blind. the crawfish, or small crustacea, inhabiting the rivers with fish are also eyeless and uncoloured; but the larger-eyed and coloured crawfish, which are abundant within the caves, are also common at some seasons in the subterranean rivers, and so also, it is said, the fish of the green river are to be found in times of flood in the rivers of the caves." dr. forwood gives also the following quotations, on the authority of professor agassiz, an eminent naturalist in the department of ichthyology:-- "the blind fish of the mammoth cave was for the first time described in in the 'zoology of new york,' by dr. dekay, part rd, page , under the name of 'amblyopsis spelæus,' and referred, with doubt, to the family of 'siluridæ,' on account of a remote resemblance to my genus cetopsis. dr. j. wyman has published a more minute description of it, with very interesting anatomical details, in vol. xlv. of the 'american journal of science and arts,' , page . "in , dr. tellkampf published a more extended description, with figures, in 'müller's archiv' for , and mentioned several other animals found also in the cave, among which the most interesting is the crustacean which he calls 'astacus pellucidus,' already mentioned, but not described, by mr. thompson, president of the natural history society of belfast. both thompson and tellkampf speak of eyes in these species, but they are mistaken. i have examined several specimens and satisfied myself that the peduncle of the eye only exists; but there are no visible facets at its extremity, as in other crawfish. "mr. thompson mentions, further, crickets, allied to 'phalangopsis longipes,' of which tellkampf says that it occurs throughout the cave. of spiders, dr. tellkampf found two eyeless, small white species, which he calls 'phalangodes armata' and 'anthrobia monmouthia'; flies, of the genus 'anthomyia'; a minute shrimp, called by him 'triura cavernicola'; and two blind beetles; 'anophthalmus tellkampfii' of erichson, and 'adelops hirtus;' of most of which dr. tellkampf has published a full description, and figures in a subsequent paper, inserted in erichson's 'archiv,' , p. . "the infusoria observed in the cave resemble 'monas kolpoda,' 'monas socialis,' and 'bodo intestinalis,'--a new chilomonas, which he calls 'ch. emarginata,' and a species allied to 'kolpoda cucullus.' "as already mentioned, dekay has referred the blind fish, with doubt, to the family of siluridæ. dr. tellkampf, however, establishes for it a distinct family. dr. storer, in his 'synopsis of the fishes of north america,' published in , in the 'memoirs of the american academy of arts and sciences,' is also of opinion that it should constitute a distinct family, to which he gives the new name of 'hypsæidæ,' page . from the circumstance of its being viviparous, from the character of its scales, and from the form and structure of its head, i am inclined to consider this fish as an aberrant type of my family of cyprinodonts." the effect of long-continued darkness upon visual organs has had some remarkable illustrations. at one time an idea prevailed in america that caves possessed certain curative properties, and afflicted people remained in them; but the absence of light proved disastrous to many. it is recorded that those patients "who remained in the cave three or four months presented a frightful appearance. the face was entirely bloodless, eyes sunken, and pupils dilated to such a degree that the iris ceased to be visible, so that, no matter what the original colour of the eye might have been, it soon appeared black." this subterranean river offers a fine opportunity for scientific observation well worthy to be embraced by some australian naturalist. in the vicinity of the river is to be noticed one of the few signs of decay to be found in the caves--a portion of shell pattern formation shows evidence of mouldering, and appears like a mere skeleton. when the visitor has ascended the ladder and safely negotiated the angle at the top, he feels that he has witnessed the most interesting place to be found in the western wonderland; and when he fishes for a compliment to his agility, and is reminded of the graceful forms that occasionally ascend and descend in much better style, he immediately recalls a patriarch's dream, and thinks the ladder ought to be named after jacob. chapter xxi. the fossil bone cave, the sparkling rock, and the crystal rock. about yards north from the ladder to the underground river is the entrance to the fossil bone cave. here is a stratum of coffee-coloured slatey substance in layers like those of the wianamatta shale. it is so soft that a gentle touch is sufficient to pulverise it. it is slightly honeycombed, and its outer surface is covered with imitations of delicate lichens. in this cave there is not anything in the shape of a stalagmite, except an empty brandy bottle on a little shelving rock, and that would be generally regarded as a bad substitute. for æsthetic as well as for other reasons, it would be better to keep such "stalagmites" out of the caves. on the top of a large rock is a mass of "washdirt," inches deep, with "headings" of about the same dimensions. some experienced diggers say they never saw more promising stuff. during the yellow fever from which so many suffered a few years ago, companies were floated on the strength of "claims" equally delusive. proverbially, "auriferous ground" is deceitful, and this "washdirt," which looks rich enough to make a prospector's eyes sparkle with delight, has proved to be as worthless as a lying prospectus. a portion of it was washed, but did not show the colour of gold. it remains, however, an object of interest, and may serve to teach a useful lesson. there are in this cave solid limestone rocks above and below. the roof is about feet beneath the surface of the mountain. in the bed of the cavern are many fossil bones. some appear to be remains of native dogs. in various rocks are clusters of bat bones. a very noticeable osseous object is the vertebra of a bird with one side-bone. there is no trace of the other. there are also many large bones, the cylindrical cavities of which are filled up with formation. some of these bones are deposited about eight feet from the bottom of the cave. on one ledge is a heap of bones, large and small. some of them are very fine specimens. the height of this cave is about feet, and its breadth from to feet. travelling from the passage leading to the fossil bone cave n.n.w. about yards, and passing through a cutting n.w. about yards, the visitor comes to "the sparkling rock." a cutting, five feet by two feet, forms the entrance to a spacious hall, where is seen the sparkling rock, large and shelving. the principal portion of it is slightly coloured, but the lower part is beautifully white. it is hung with large stalactites and fleecy pendants. some of the formation resembles sheepskins, with the woolly side outwards, thrown negligently over the ledges. from this point the course runs west about yards through a hall from to feet high, and from to feet wide, and thence north about yards to the crystal rock. about yards west from the sparkling rock, and by a road wide enough for a coach and four, there is a large upward shaft of about feet to the grotto cave, which, as previously stated, is between the helena and the lucinda caves in the left-hand branch. here the tourist gets a good idea of the way in which the two branches of the imperial cave are situated with regard to each other. the right-hand branch is the lower series. the left-hand branch is higher up in the interior of the mountain, and to the south-east, with the exception of the grotto cave, which is immediately overhead, and about feet from the sparkling rock. on the left-hand side of the passage, and about yards from the crystal rock, is a very pretty grotto of formation, with an overhanging ornamental mass like a canopy. up above, about feet, is the opening to an unexplored cave, the mouth of which is composed of solid shining rock, with white stalactites. there are also, round about, coloured stalactites varying in length from an inch to a couple of feet. the remainder of the passage is lofty and rugged. not far from the entrance to the crystal rock is the bottom of the shaft down which the curator was lowered from the coral cave (a sub-cavern of the elder cave) into the imperial, and on the wall this memorable event is duly recorded. here we read:--"these caves were discovered by jeremiah wilson." then follows a list of the names of persons who lowered the fearless curator down the black hole: "alfred whalan, thomas a. gread, jeremiah f. cashin, joseph read, nicholas delaney, ralph t. wilson, thomas pearson, heinrich neilzet, and william read." they were named "wilson's imperial caves" on february , . from this spot the sparkling rock is about yards n.n.e. it is about feet wide and about feet high. stalactitic formation descends from an angle in the roof, and rests on four or five finely coloured terraces which glitter all over as though they were covered with spangles. to the left of these terraces is a large basin with coral sides and a rim composed of three or four layers of shell-shaped pattern overlapping like fish scales, the rows being a little way apart from each other, and the intervening spaces filled with formation. the bottom of the basin is covered with very delicate ornamentation, deposited by water which has soaked through to a lower level. in the background is another rock, covered with similar formation, fringed with stalactites, and stalactites also descend to it from the roof. chapter xxii. the shawl cave. about yards from the sparkling rock is the shawl cave. it is approached through a passage from six to eight feet high and two to four feet wide, containing numerous small but pretty grottoes. the shawl cave is very interesting. to the left of the entrance is a grotesque pillar with little domes of snowy whiteness and masses of stalactite. the cave is about feet long, feet high, and from to feet wide. it contains three magnificent "shawls." one is feet long, inches deep, and one-sixth of an inch thick, and in the blending of colours represents tortoise-shell. the other two are not quite as large as the first-mentioned. they are straw-coloured, varied with rich brown. they hang at right angles from the side of a convex sloping roof, and the colouring runs from end to end in parallel lines, but the bands of colour vary in depth. for instance, the first piece of the shawl--say one inch and a half from the roof--may be pure white formation, of lime, or carbonate of lime coloured with oxide of iron which gradually becomes paler and paler. the next two inches may be light yellow, spotted with brown. the next strip may be fox-colour, and so on, until the design is completed. for the most part, the cave "shawls" are of uniform thickness, like sheets of opaque glass slightly corrugated transversely. the opposite wall is nearly perpendicular. at each end of the cave is a grotto. one is low down and gloomy-looking; the other lofty, going up into the roof and full of formation, some of which is like frost work. the stalactites are immense. from the further wall are sloping terraces, gradually enlarging towards the base underneath the hanging shawls. there are also some remarkable clumps of formation. one is like a giant's foot; another resembles the skull of a wolf, or of some other animal related to the canine tribe. about seven yards north from the shawl cave is a cavern feet broad, yards long, and from to feet high, the principal object in which is "the lady's finger." under a shelving rock fringed with stalactites of all the prevailing colours, and almost every variety of shape, the "finger" forms the extremity of a stalagmite about inches high, and similar in figure to a feminine forearm in a sleeve, with coral trimmings. the forearm is white, and the chubby hand is of a waxy-looking flesh colour. the thumb and the index finger point upward. according to the talmud, "man is born with his hands clenched, and dies with his hands wide open;" in reference to which one of the rabbinical sages remarks--"entering life he desires to grasp everything; leaving the world, all that he possessed has slipped away." this hand with the lady's finger, however, is not grasping, and it points upwards. the modern science of chiromancy, according to a. r. craig, m.a., in his interesting book "your luck is in your hand," divides hands into seven classes: " . the hand elementary, or hand with a large palm; . the hand necessary, or spatulated; . the hand artistic, or conical; . the useful or square hand; . the philosophical, or knotted hand; . the psychological, or pointed hand; . the mixed hand." it would be difficult to class the hand with "the lady's finger" in any of the foregoing divisions, and it would puzzle one skilled in palmistry, and who regards the human hand as a mirror of the mind, to use it even in the way phrenologists use the casts of bull-necked, animal-headed felons. the index finger is long, the pollex (thumb) is short; the medius (middle) is wanting, and so are the annularis (ring finger) and the auricularis (little finger), "so named by the romans because of its utility in cleansing the ear." the visitor, therefore, must not expect to find here a hand like a model of perfection on a greek statue; but he will see a remarkable alabaster extremity, sufficiently well formed to be called "the lady's finger." the rocky bank, which is coloured with several shades of brown, and veined with formation, is also flecked with white, like snow. at one end of the cave the view closes with long-sparkling stalactites--those nearest being brown and flesh-coloured. behind them is pure white formation which sets off to great advantage the beautifully-tinted stalactites sparsely scattered about the cave. the other end of the cavern gradually tones off to sombre rocks of grey and brown. at the end of the lady's finger cave is a charming grotto, and, above, the rocks are like fine coral in various shades of red and grey. inside the grotto are stalagmites thick at the base and with elegant stalactites resting on them. some are pure white, and others are covered with fine tracery. in front is a perfect stalactite which descends to within an inch of a perfect stalagmite just underneath it, and aptly illustrates the process of their growth. on the floor are pretty hillocks of somewhat dismal-looking matter which, on close inspection, is seen to be made of coralline figures and sparkling crystal atoms. in the foreground is a fine stalagmite, fitted all over with minute coral. this group, protected by wire netting, is specially interesting because it is unblemished. all round the approaches are little bunches of stalactites like epaulettes. after travelling west about nine yards, ascending five steps, and then proceeding yards north, the tourist arrives at a cave containing a very conspicuous column called "lot's wife." chapter xxiii. lot's wife. the alabaster pillar called "lot's wife" stands in solitary grandeur within a gloomy cave. its sombre surroundings are in harmony with the tragic old-world history recalled by the central figure. the nimble thought skips over ages and ages, and in the "mind's eye" appear the rich plains of siddim and the flowing jordan, and the fugitives and the lava, and the terrible climax. as the biblical record of the catastrophe is supposed to teach the folly of disobedience on the part of wives, and the perils of hankering after doubtful pleasures, the pillar which recalls it may be contemplated with advantage by newly-married couples, now that the caves are becoming a favourite resort of honeymooners. perhaps in time to come there may be religious services and solemnisation of matrimony in these fantastic subterranean caverns. it is related by dr. forwood, that a romantic marriage took place in the gothic chapel of the mammoth cave of kentucky, "which family interference prevented occurring _on_ the earth." he says: "the fair lady, whose lover was opposed by her parents, in a rash moment promised them that she would never marry her betrothed 'on the face of the earth.' afterwards, repenting of her promise, but being unable to retract and unwilling to violate it, she fulfilled her vow to her parents as well as to her lover by marrying him 'under the earth.'" how far the pillar in the caves is like that mentioned in the book of genesis it is impossible to say, because the latter has been neither minutely described nor photographed. josephus, the great historian of the wars and antiquities of the jews, and who was not born until about , years after lot's departure from sodom, says he saw it. his words are: "when lot went away with his two maiden daughters--for those who were betrothed to them were above the thoughts of going, and deemed that god's words were trifling--god then cast a thunderbolt upon the city, and set it on fire with its inhabitants.... but lot's wife continually turning back to view the city as she went from it, and being too nicely inquisitive what would become of it, although god had forbidden her to do so, was changed into a pillar of salt." and, he adds, "for i have seen it, and it remains to this day." it is to be regretted that he did not describe the pillar itself. a century later irenæus bore testimony to the existence of the pillar, and spoke of its lasting so long "with all its members entire." this would lead to the inference that the original pillar retained the shape of a female figure. if it did, then in this respect there is no similarity between the pillar of warning on the dead sea plain and the pillar in the jenolan caves. the latter is a pretty round column, about five feet four inches high, rounded off irregularly at the top, and built up in sections, which show separate growths, like divisions in the stem of a cabbage-tree palm, or the joints of a bamboo. it is probable, therefore, that there is not the slightest resemblance between the two pillars. bishop patrick thinks that some of the storm which overwhelmed the cities of the plain overtook lot's wife, "and falling upon her as she stood staring about, and minded not her way or guide, suddenly wrapped her body in a sheet of nitro-sulphurous matter, which, congealing into a crust as hard as stone, made her appear, they say, as a pillar of salt, her body being candied in it." it is about , years since the disobedient "help-meet" of the oriental squatter was fixed like a fly in amber, as a solemn warning to recalcitrant spouses for all time. had the first drip then fallen on to the mound in the jenolan caves where now stands "lot's wife"? query. the jenolan pillar is evidently of slow growth. each joint, which looks something like fine tallow, may, as the curator facetiously puts it, represent a century of "dripping." in this respect it is unlike the historic pillar whose name it bears. dr. kitto, in his very interesting "daily biblical illustrations," says in reference to the latter: "from the nature of the case, and from the peculiarly bituminous and saline character of the locality through which this phenomenon was produced, we must not expect to discover many parallel instances which might be quoted in illustration. accordingly we find that the illustrative parallels which have been diligently sought out by the old commentators have rarely any real bearing on the subject, being for the most part accounts of people frozen to death and long preserved in that condition uncorrupted in the boreal regions, or else of persons suffocated and then petrified by the mineral vapours of the caves in which they were hid, or otherwise of persons 'turned to stone,' and found generations after standing in the postures wherein they found their death. the only instance we have met with which seems appropriate, and which rests on the authority of a contemporary of fair credit, is related by aventinus, who states that in his time about country people, with their cows and calves, were, in carinthia, destroyed by strong and suffocating saline exhalations which arose out of the earth immediately upon an earthquake in . they were by this reduced to saline statues or pillars, like lot's wife, and the historian tells us that they had been seen by himself and the chancellor of austria." it was, perhaps, some such incident as this which gave to mr. haggard the idea as to how the kukuana people from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. he first of all described twala, the last of the kukuana kings, as in a limestone cave, with his head perched upon his knees and his vertebræ projecting a full inch above the shrunken flesh of the neck. "then," he says, "the whole surface of the body was covered by a thin glassy film caused by the dripping of lime-water. the body was being transformed into a stalactite." the antecedent kings were ranged around a table in this wonderful cave, and the author continues:--"a look at the white forms seated on the stone bench that ran around that ghastly board confirmed this view. they were human forms indeed, or rather had been human forms; now they were stalactites [stalagmites?]. this was the way in which the kukuana people had from time immemorial preserved their royal dead. they petrified them. what the exact system was, if there was any, beyond placing them for a long period of years under the drip, i never discovered; but there they sat, iced over and preserved for ever by the silicious fluid. anything more awe-inspiring than the spectacle of this long line of departed royalties, wrapped in a shroud of ice-like spar, through which the features could be dimly made out (there were of them, the last being ignosi's father), and seated round that inhospitable board, with death himself for a host, it is impossible to imagine. that the practice of thus preserving their kings must have been an ancient one is evident from the number, which, allowing for an average reign of years, would, supposing that every king who reigned was placed here--an improbable thing, as some are sure to have perished in battle far from home--fix the date of its commencement at four and a quarter centuries back. but the colossal death who sits at the head of the board is far older than that, and, unless i am much mistaken, owes his origin to the same artist who designed the three colossi. he was hewn out of a single stalactite [stalagmite?], and, looked at as a work of art, was most admirably conceived and executed." there is nothing suggestive of anything so hideous as this in the jenolan caves. "lot's wife," as she appears there, is as straight down as a "shaker," without the slightest suspicion of artificial "improvement." nor does the pillar correspond with the result of more recent discovery made by an american expedition to the dead sea, and in reference to which dr. kitto says:--"the course of their survey could hardly fail to bring under notice every marked object upon either shore, and one they did find, an obviously natural formation, which--or others in former times like it--might readily be taken by persons unaccustomed to weigh circumstances with the precision we are now accustomed to exact, for the pillar of lot's wife. among the salt mountains of usdum (an apparent transposition of sodom), on the west side of the kind of bay which forms the southern extremity of the dead sea, the party beheld, to their great astonishment, while beating along the shore, a lofty round pillar, standing, apparently detached from the general mass, the head of a deep, narrow, and abrupt chasm. they landed, and proceeded towards this object over a beach of soft slimy mud, encrusted with salt, and at a short distance from the water, covered with saline fragments and flakes of bitumen. the pillar was found to be of solid salt, capped with carbonate of lime, _cylindrical in front_ and _pyramidal behind_." the italics are the doctor's. it is not novel to say that history repeats itself; but it is questionable whether among the fashionable inhabitants of the cities of the plain in the days of lot the modern crinolette was a feminine artifice of that worthless time. according to the koran, lot's wife, waila, was in confederacy with the men of sodom, and used to give them notice when any strangers came to lodge with him "by a sign of smoke by day and of fire by night." in this regard the pillar at jenolan may be regarded as a warning, and not as suggestive of anything, except, perhaps, the lesson conveyed by the apocrypha, in the book of wisdom x. , where there is a reference to lot's wife, "of whose wickedness even to this day the west land that smoketh is a testimony, and plants bearing fruits that never come to ripeness; and the standing pillar of salt is a monument of an unbelieving soul." is it not a pity that so beautiful a column in the most wonderful caves ever made by nature should have been associated with so much that is off-colour? true, it is itself a little crooked and irregular, but these characteristics are accounted for by its peculiar formation. it has not been produced in the ordinary way by drippings from one stalactite, but, contrary to rule, owes its origin and development to two small stalactites in the roof. consequently, its growth has been continually warped. it is, however, a beautiful feature of the imperial cave, and may teach many useful lessons to persons of observation and _nous_. [illustration: the crystal city.] chapter xxiv. the crystal cities--the show-room and the grand stalactites. from "lot's wife" to "the crystal cities" is about yards north, through a hall from to feet high. on the right-hand side is a concrete wall, which rises about inches from the floor, to protect the "cities" from dust raised by the tramping of feet. at the end of this concrete wall is a descent of two steps, which brings visitors in full view of the exquisitely beautiful cave, in which there is a group of dazzling lilliputian cities, whose buildings are of crystallized lime. the streets appear to be thronged with minute figures "---- no bigger than an agate stone on the forefinger of an alderman." the sight recalls the man mountain and the wonderful land of lilliput, upon which lemuel gulliver was cast, where cavalry exercised on the palm of his hand, and infantry marched abreast between his legs, which were stretched out like those of a colossus. imagination can supply the palace of belfaborac in the metropolis of lilliput, surrounded by myriads of tiny statuettes, representing the kingdom in which raged no less than six rebellions, excited by an imperial decree that eggs should be broken only at the smaller end, whereas it had been from time immemorial an article of faith that they should be broken only at the larger end, and notwithstanding that their book of faith and morals required only that all true believers should break their eggs at the "convenient end." there is no evidence in these crystal cities, however, of any rival factions corresponding to the "big-endians" and the "little-endians" of lilliput. the figures are crowded together like masses of people before a hustings or at a cricket match, and the effect is passing strange. they have been formed by water which has been retained for a time in natural basins and then gradually percolated through the floor, possibly to enter into the composition of crystal cities in other sparkling caves. in this respect they resemble the basins previously described. the crystallization formed in still water, or in water which moves only downwards, passing slowly through the floor as through a dripstone, is always characterized by extreme delicacy and elaboration. the contrast between the "lot's wife" crypt and this is as great as the distinction between the dead sea and the garden of eden; between gustave doré's illustrations of purgatory and paradise; between milton's l'allegro and his il penseroso; between the pink and white terraces which until recently were the delight of new zealand tourists, and the eruptive mask of scoria which now covers their charms. in this remarkable cave several distinctive features are presented. the central horizontal line is well defined by an overhanging ledge, from which hang some splendid stalactites. several of them are of extraordinarily large size, elegant form, and delicate colour. one, of pure white, on the left-hand side of the cave, rests on the head of a sturdy stalagmite which has grown from the middle of a mass of rocks, sloping down to the base. a little to the right are two twin stalactites, caricatures of the stretched out scraggy legs of some very-long-cold-and-hungry man, and the most prominent central figures of the ledge are two conical pieces tapering off to fine points, like mammoth icicles. above this ledge the formation of lime on the dark rugged wall and roof resembles fleecy clouds in an angry sky. below, running back into the mountain, are the crystal cities, fenced in with corrugated sparkling walls coped with shell-formation. a little beyond is another wall of a similar kind, also gracefully curved in obedience to natural laws, for nature loves curves and wages perpetual war against straight lines. in the distance are five or six other mural divisions. the central one is gracefully bent like the letter s, but not quite so much rounded at the ends. between the outer wall and the rest is an open pear-shaped space, in which are four small domes and two conspicuous figures. the principal of these is "the queen's statue," a pleasing stalagmitic form of pure alabaster, about inches in height, and standing on a pedestal of white, shading off to brown. it does not require much imaginative power to see in this image a representation of some royal personage clad in ermine robes. the proportions are good, and the pose is exceedingly graceful. near to the queen's statue is another notable stalagmitic object, formed in three sections, indicating periods of rest between. first there is a foundation of white limestone formation. then there is a columnar growth of a few inches, with a distinct joint between it and the base. superposed is a dome-shaped summit, not unlike the back of a human head of that kind which phrenologists call "intellectual;" and between this and the lower portion is another well-defined joint at the nape of the neck. it is peculiar, but not regal, in appearance. the topographical aspect of the crystal cities is something like that presented by a bird's-eye view of a piece of country, in which everything is much foreshortened, as in the case of the katoomba colliery and mining township in the depths of the kanimbla valley, when seen from a cliff , feet overhead. giant eucalypti are dwarfed to the proportions of pot plants. tall tree ferns resemble starfish. stalwart workmen are reduced to pigmies, and the railway seems like the double line at the foot of an account in a ledger. the various walls in the cave are supposed to encompass separate cities. the old english idea of a "city" is an incorporated place, with a cathedral and a bishop. in america all incorporated towns with a mayor and aldermen are spoken of as cities. but modern cities are not walled like those in the caves. the latter accord more with ancient cities which were intramural. for "cities" are ancient. cain built one. walled cities were numerous in the land of canaan. but from the cities of the plain to the apocalyptic city of gold, with foundations garnished with all manner of precious stones, it would be difficult to imagine anything more brilliant and sparkling than the crystal cities of the jenolan caves. passing from the crystal cities to "the show-room," about yards north, several charming features present themselves for admiration, among which are conspicuous a glittering cascade, terraces of warm brown colour, reticulated; and also a pure white, delicately-made shawl hanging from the roof. the height of the crypt is about four feet, and its breadth feet. the floor is mitred at the side, and between the shell borders are little forests of figures. some elegant doric shafts extend from the floor to the roof, which is adorned by many sparkling stalactites. the show-room itself is a marvel of beauty. its name indicates that it is a place of splendid exhibits, and it is appropriate. the cavern is feet high, feet wide, and about yards long. some of its principal features are remarkable for their elegance, and the most striking figure is distinguished by classic grace. it is a stalactite of purest white, seven or eight feet long, and from a little distance seems as smooth and round as though it had been turned in a lathe. it tapers very gradually, and its termination, which is thickened a little, rests on a stalagmite equally symmetrical, but formed in sections, each layer--of which there are about a dozen--indicating separate periods of formation and times of rest. this peculiar stalagmite stands on a dome marked by similar lights and shades. it is the centre of many varieties of cave ornamentation. for the most part the stalagmites are dumpy and poor, but there are numerous shelving platforms hung round with gorgeous stalactites, and above them are pieces of intricate formation, both floral and coral, of different classes of excellence. there are magic haunts and silent chambers with coruscations like twinkling stars on a "moon-deserted night." nature has cast over the whole of this cave a spell of exquisite beauty. [illustration: the show-room.] near to the show-room is the cave of "the grand stalactites." it is only about feet by feet, but its massive grandeur is so impressive that the pleasure it produces is "akin to pain." some of the stalagmites are enormous. their summit is lost in the masses of huge stalactites which depend from the roof, and they rest on beautiful brown terraces and mounds, covered with scintillating reticulation. the elephantine stalagmites, like the stalactites which hang between and about them, and in several instances descend nearly to their base, are of dazzling whiteness. the massive pillars are so close together that the intervening spaces look like columns of jet, and thus we have "buttress and buttress alternately framed of ebon and ivory." the majesty of this cave haunts you. when the magnesium lamp is extinguished and thick darkness once more casts its veil over the magnificent scene, the vision of beauty dwells in the mind like a memory which stirs the depths of the soul. chapter xxv. the fairies' bower. a few paces only from "the show-room" is "the fairies' bower," rich in grotesque lines and mystic crypts, in the purity of the formation which decorates it, and in delicacy of tints and shades. in the midst is a peculiarly-shaped stalactitic pillar resting on a dome, and which may be regarded as the pixies' trysting-place. then there are the "diamond walls," covered with millions of gems, each of which, as it flashes through the gloom, sparkles like "a rich jewel in an ethiop's ear," or, like the very obtrusive french paste "drops" which, on her "sunday out," light up the auricular organs of mary jane. it is noticeable that the walls are not of the formation which is diamantiferous. there is nothing suggestive of the diamond beds on the banks of the ganges, the gem mines of brazil, the rich fields of south africa, or even the more recently-discovered diamond-bearing districts of bingera, mudgee, or new england, in new south wales. there is not any gravel-drift, and the reflected light displays neither diamantine lustre nor play of colours; but, nevertheless, there is great brilliancy. it suggests, however, not so much the glories of the koh-i-noor or the splendours of the orloff, in the russian imperial sceptre, as the glitter of spangles on the dress of the acrobat. the selina cave. north-west from the diamond walls is a gallery to the selina cave. midway, or about yards from the junction at the diamond walls, is "cook's grotto," named after mr. samuel cook, of marrickville. it is a lovely nook, with stalactites of rare purity and beauty. this grotto is about five feet high and from to feet wide. in front is a conical sloping rock with a waxy-looking reticulated surface; and the grotto itself is filled with stalactites as white as the foam of an ocean billow dashed upon the rocks of an iron-bound coast. between two of the principal stalactites is a fine "shawl" or "scarf," made of the purest meerschaum. over the grotto is some pretty formation, and round about are many coloured stalactites, which make a striking contrast. to the left is a splendid alabaster stalagmite, semi-transparent, like camphor, and the little stalactites above, from which it has been formed, are of similar character, being slightly opalescent, and without any stellar reflection of light. the selina cave, yards north of cook's grotto, is about feet high, yards long, and feet wide. it is named in honour of the wife of the hon. e. b. webb, m.l.c., of bathurst, and in recognition of the interest in the caves taken by the webb family from time to time. the walls are heavily laden with ornament. there is on the right hand side a lavish supply of variously-coloured stalactites. a large mass of formation has flowed from the fore part of the ceiling to the left, and assumed all sorts of graceful and fantastic shapes, until it reaches a shell pattern composite dwarf wall on the floor, about a foot thick at the base, and thinning off to about an inch at the top. the best of the stalactites are objects of great curiosity on account of the peculiar way in which they are embellished by small gnarled and twisted projections, and protuberances like miniature stalactitic protea in every conceivable kind of tortuosity. in front of the cave is a magnificent stalagmite called "lot." it is about feet high and two feet in diameter, and may be supposed to represent the patriarch after his capture by the confederate monarchs who made war against the kings of the cities of the plain. it is rather large, but then it is recorded--"there were giants in those days." it is not on record why this particular column is called "lot." perhaps it was thought that the briny tears shed by the son of haran on account of the loss of his wife would be sufficient to make a second pillar of salt of similar dimensions. the roof opening into the cave is adorned with stalactites, and on the floor there are besides "lot" two other remarkable stalagmites, which may be taken to represent members of his family. in shape they are probably quite as representative as noachian figures of mesdames shem, ham, and japhet, that give variety to the contents of those wonderful arks which are supposed to convey to the juvenile mind the principal incidents associated with the deluge. the roof opening into the cave is adorned with splendid stalactites, and among these is a beautiful white "shawl." the floor is composed partly of handsome basins, on the bottom and sides of which is elegant crystallization. in one corner of the roof some rich colouring sets off pure snowflakes done in lime. among the stalactites and stalagmites are some exceedingly grotesque figures. there is also a little tablet, "selina cave, feb. , ." [illustration: the mystery.] the mystery. from the "selina cave" to "the mystery" is about yards north. in the gallery leading to this wondrous cavern may be noticed a number of small testaceous shells resembling those of cockles, embedded in the walls. the cave itself is rightly named, because of the wonder it excites by its sublimity. the spectator is first fascinated by its magnificence, and then puzzled to account for the many peculiarities and eccentricities of form which present themselves. it is an enigma. some of the conformations appear more like the expression of vagrant fancies than the result of inanimate natural forces. florid stalactites and floriferous rocks have become almost commonplace objects, and the visitor by this time is nearly satiated with limestone beauty; but here he finds new marvels written in mystic characters, which can be deciphered only by long and patient study. the cavern is about feet high, from to feet wide, and about yards in length. it consists of two parts. on one side is an immense mass of delicate white and rich cream-coloured formation, with numerous giant stalactites, which in purity rival virgin snow. smaller stalactites in great profusion, are of the most perfect whiteness. but in the midst of the masses of formation are most wonderfully-contorted tubes and threads and thousands of fine lines, some like hairs and others like spun glass. there is filagree work of the most _recherché_ kind. some of the threads are as fine as the filaments of a spider's web, but twisted and turned in a more subtle manner. some of the stalactites are decorated in the same mysterious way, their hirsute covering being partly pellucid and partly opaque. on the other side of the cave is a similar wonder, which still further illustrates the mysterious operations of nature, and shows with what affluence she can adorn, and how fertile are her resources. [illustration: nellie's grotto.] nellie's grotto. about yards north-west from "the mystery" is "nellie's grotto," named in honour of mrs. carruthers, of sydney, who visited the cave shortly after its discovery. this grotto varies from one to five feet in height, and is about feet from end to end. its beauty is bold and striking. its chief features are taken in at a glance, and its general effect is unique. in the foreground on the right hand side is a pillar of great thickness and apparent strength, standing on a gracefully waved and rippled mound. about half of this column is stalagmitic, and was formed at different rates of speed, as may be noticed from its uneven bulk and the shape of the sections which enlarge upwards. each succeeding portion belongs to a separate epoch commencing on a smaller circumference, until it imitates in shape its predecessor; and then the process is again repeated. the stalagmitic part of the pillar ends at about the centre of the column, and is out of the perpendicular, like the leaning tower of pisa. from the shape of the upper section, it seems as though three or four stalactites of about equal thickness, but of various lengths, had been closely cemented together. altogether this pillar is a very bold and beautiful object. at the other end of the grotto are two columns composed in a somewhat similar manner, but of much smaller dimensions. they also rest on blocks of formation, and are surrounded by a number of splendid stalactites, some of which descend half way and others to the base. between these two extremities, there are on the floor about a dozen little cones of white matter like sugar-loaves, but not so smooth. on four of them rest the points of magnificent tapering stalactites, straight from the roof of the grotto, and in a line with these and the two extreme columns are stalactites of various lengths, some plain and some richly ornamented. the interior of the grotto is also enriched with similar kinds of beauty. a little distance away to the left is to be seen on another bold rocky ledge a second series of small stalactites, suggestive of the commencement of another grotto similar to that which now wins so much admiration. there is also a very remarkable stalagmitic formation which resembles a wax candle burning before a shrine of purity. it is with reluctance that the tourist turns from this lovely grotto and wends his way towards "the vestry." he feels as though he could hardly refrain from taking a last fond look, even though he should run the risk of being converted into a limestone pillar. chapter xxvi. the vestry, the jewel casket, the bridal veil, and the flowering column. about yards north of nellie's grotto is "the vestry," a cavern about feet high, feet wide, and feet in length. it is called the vestry, because of its propinquity to some very fine cathedral-like architecture, and not because any minister requires it to robe himself in, or because it is used for the meetings of any parochial assembly. this vestry runs east and west, and there is here a large area of unexplored caves. indeed, it may be said that there are in almost every part of the mountain openings which indicate the possibility of the existence of new and lovely caverns. it is also probable that in process of time it will be found that all the principal chambers are connected by passages which by a little enlargement may make intercavernous communication complete between all the best known caves. that this is likely may be gathered from an incident which occurred a few months ago. there were then at the cave house four black cats, slightly marked with white. on being petted, the playful animals would not only purr their thanks, but also follow like dogs. one day the most venturesome of them went with a party into the lucas cave, and travelled with them a considerable distance before it was missed, and then it was thought that it had returned to the daylight. in the evening, however, it was not in its accustomed place on the hearthrug, and about the middle of the following day it was discovered in the imperial cave on the other side of the grand arch! the attention of the party was attracted by the doleful cries of the animal, which had by that time realised the fact that it had lost itself in a dangerous place. some doubt might have existed as to the identity of the cat found in the imperial with that lost in the lucas cave, had it not been that with the party that took it in were two boys, who had carried it now and then, and permitted its extremities once or twice to come in contact with their lighted tapers. they were able to identify it by "the drips of sperm on its back, its burnt whisker, and the singe on the tip of its tail!" thus a very interesting fact was established which but for the accidental brandings would have been doubtful. the visitor returns to the fairies' bower and the grand stalactites junction; and about yards north-west from the junction he arrives at the crystal palace, which is fenced in by wire-netting in order to protect its marvellous grandeur from that class of sightseers who appear to be unable to look at anything except they can place their unwashed paws upon it--in which case impressions are mutual. there are three distinct types of beauty in this palace--the simple, the compound, and the elaborately complex. the simple forms are extremely massive. to call them "pretty" would be to convey an entirely erroneous idea of their quality. the stalagmitic features are immense. one of them is a gigantic pillar, built up in sections from an enormous basement on a rocky mound, over which it has flowed like milk-white lava. about a foot or so above the crest of the rock it is several feet thick, and at one time its upper surface formed a disc or table. on this flat top was gradually formed another white mass of somewhat smaller proportions, tapering towards the top, or second platform, from which rises another stalagmitic section, expanding from the base, and this process is repeated to the very summit, so that the beautiful white pillar has a serrated appearance. for unsullied whiteness and peculiarity of structure it will bear favourable comparison with the most remarkable pillars in the cave. near to it is another pyramidal-shaped mass of even greater bulk, which tapers as it rises towards the stalactitic formation, and harmonises with it in grandeur. from the right hand side of the base another and smaller stalagmite rears its head, and immediately above it, and to the right of it, are masses of formation hanging like stalactites of various lengths, and bound together in solid but graceful combination. farther still to the right is an immense stalactite, shaped like the body of a kingfish minus its tail. the floor of this part of the palace is also very attractive, by reason of its graceful curves and undulations, and miniature rippled terraces. the more complex part of the palace to the left begins with a magnificent piece of shawl formation, from the lower end of which depends a splendid stalactite. the shawl is draped at an angle of about - / degrees, and in a line with its principal portion the wall is hung with marvellous stalactites, one of which is of great length, and clear as crystal. then there is a cavernous place, from the shades of which emerge rounded masses of white formation, fringed with myriads of stalactites. from behind these the same kind of ornamentation is repeated again and again until a ledge of rocks is reached, which slopes down to a marvellously beautiful stalagmite several feet high, and which rises from the floor immediately underneath the stalactite at the end of the shawl before mentioned. the general impression left by this part of the palace is that its grandeur is different from that which distinguishes other portions of the caves, but it would be as difficult to say in what the peculiarity consists as it would be to describe the general appearance presented by different turns of a kaleidoscope. the most intricate part of the palace is distinctive enough to leave a separate memory. the wall is covered with masses of brilliantly white formation, with stalactites all about them, some short, some long, some tapering like icicles, some straight like pipe-stems; most of them pellucid, and some like iridescent glass. some of the "shawls" are delicately tinted, and present a charming appearance. there are deep brown and delicate fawn-coloured banks, which seem as though they were covered with a stony network. little caves at the sides are partly filled with drifts of glistening snow. some of the ledges are covered with white stucco, with delicate fringes. many of the stalactites are charged with water, and the drops coquette with the light and rival the glitter on the walls. there are stately and elegant shafts of alabaster from floor to ceiling, coloured stalactites and stalagmites nearly meeting. at every glance the eye is pleased with new and curious forms and rich combinations of colour. masses of the formation are fringed with contorted threads and pipes, and on the foreground are some curiously-shaped masses like snow, with delicate frost work and projections like frosted hairs all over their surface. these are for the most part opaque, but the predominant features are crystal. the distance from the crystal palace to the jewel casket is about yards north-west, through a hall about feet high and about feet wide. the casket itself is a horizontal fissure in the rocks, about feet by , filled with brilliants of various hues. its splendour is enchanting. overhanging stalactites guard the casket, and form as it were bars of alabaster, opal and crystal, and through the spaces may be seen many different varieties of crystallization. the floor is carpeted with jewels, set off with sparkling masses like frozen snow. some of the gems are white like diamonds, some coloured like cairngorms, and other varieties of rock crystal of even more delicate tints, and numbers of them are clear and translucent. some of the ornamentation is of a rich brown. the impression produced is that nothing could possibly be more brilliant and entrancing than this rich casket; and yet, remembering how many times previously he has come to the same conclusion and subsequently found he had miscalculated the magnificence still in reserve, the visitor hesitates to accept the jewel casket as the _ne plus ultra_ of cave magnificence. then there is the bridal veil, about feet by feet--a wonderful piece of delicate tracery imitating fine lace--not _écru_, but white as the fairest emblem of a blameless life. here are numerous terraces in deep brown and fawn colour covered with spangles which glitter like broken-up moonbeams on the wavelets of a summer sea or the phosphorescence which, in the wake of a ship, mocks the stars. the flowering column comes next--a huge mass of formation feet high, branching off into all sorts of shapes graceful and grotesque. it is about eight feet wide in the centre, of a rich brown colour shading off to a brighter and lighter hue. this pillar is covered with remarkable little figures like flowers natural and fanciful, and near to it is a series of imitation cascades in regular sequence which simulate so much natural force that they might be taken as an illustration in lime of "how the waters come down at lodore." these cataracts or waterfalls are now for the most part dry; but at one time the supply of liquid or semi-liquid limestone, of which they are formed, must have been very abundant. chapter xxvii. how caves are made--the work of ages. there remain now to be described but four of the caves ordinarily frequented by visitors. these are "the garden palace," "the stalagmite cave," "the gem of the west," and "the fairies' retreat," with "the queen's diamonds." but, as already intimated, it is impossible to foretell what visions of loveliness may be disclosed by future explorations. quite recently the curator has wormed his way into another splendid cave of large dimensions and great beauty. an opening of about eight feet leads to a small chamber feet wide and from four to eight feet high. the floor is pure and sparkling. there are some very pretty stalactites and pieces of formation hanging from the roof, with transparent pipes and straws terminating in little hair-like projections. from this cave there is a passage inches by inches high and then inches high by inches wide, extending about feet, and opening on to a room with a floor of velvet-like coral. as the foot rests on it the sensation resembles that produced by walking on a new brussels carpet, or stepping on a frosted lawn of buffalo grass, which slightly crunches beneath the feet. this cavern is about feet by feet, and from feet to feet high. from it there is a fall of about feet, opening into another chamber, to the left of which is a pretty fimbriated tray, feet by feet, filled with little knobs of formation, with points so sharp that any pressure of the hand would cause pain. these nodes and points are almost as clear and spotless as the drops of a glass chandelier before they have been converted into fly-walks. then there is another tray or basin with looped edges containing crystals which are a little "off colour;" and yet another, with escalloped border and formation of a milky hue--that is, pure milky--opaque white, not cerulean blue. this basin is about feet by feet. the roof immediately over the basin is like delicate coral. to the right is a sort of illusion representing solidified water round about black limestone pebbles. this crystal has been formed by a run of water from a rock, the summit of which is about feet away, and which slopes down from the wall at an angle of about degrees. the sloping rock is beautifully reticulated and marked by curved lines, which gradually diminish towards the base, where the formation changes to nodules and curiously-formed, irregular combinations of the preceding figures massed together. from the ceiling descend various formations of cave decoration, some clear as the skin of a mayfair beauty at her first ball, others of a delicate fawn colour, and the remainder tinged with oxide of iron. there is a range from the delicate lily of the valley to the rough bronze of the muscular navvy, not to speak of the dusky brown of the unwashed sundowner who arrives at a "station" when "the shades of night are falling fast," and whose motto is not "excelsior." the next chamber is about feet by feet, at the end of a slight declivity as white as snow. it is in the form of an ordinary retort, and is succeeded by another chamber of somewhat similar contour, the principal ornamentation being on the floor. thence the course is upwards, and the most attractive formation is from the roof. the stalactites are in clusters, and for the most part small. some of them are like twigs, but clear as a limpid stream. here also are stalagmites about nine inches high, formed on the ends of huge rocks. in addition to these are other smaller stalagmites near to a hole about feet deep, and on the floor are fossil remains. in this hole are passages unexplored. hard by is a pretty "shawl" hanging from the roof, and beyond it a rock about three feet high, the edge of which is covered with a fine substance like down, which, when blown upon, flies about like the winged seeds of thistles. descending from this cavern, about yards through a narrow passage, there is a steep fall of nearly feet, which leads to a chamber, the roof of which is about feet high. on the right hand side of this cave are some very white shawl pattern formations and stalactites, and to the left are fine shawls, clear as glass, from four to eight feet long, and from to inches deep. just beyond is a crisp, velvety floor, like that which characterises a chamber previously described, but not of the same colour. this floor is in some parts very red, as though it had been coloured with clay, and other parts are like glass stained with red ochre. the stalactites are thin, and formed in all sorts of peculiar shapes. the floor is uncommon, being of a piebald character, appearing as though buckets of solution of lime had been cast upon it, in the midst of some large stalactites that give character to the cave, which is about feet by feet. passing on you come to a pretty chamber ornamented with stalactites, composed mostly of yellow crystal. the cave then runs nobody at present knows where. there are unexplored chambers all around. this cave is named after the government geologist, and is to be known as the wilkinson cave. mr. c. s. wilkinson has contributed some valuable matter to cave literature. his account of the jenolan caves, written for the government, contains several beautiful passages bearing upon the physical and chemical agencies at work in the formation of limestone caverns. and here it may be interesting to refer to one or two other authorities also on the same subject. dr. wright, an american scientist, says, "there can be no doubt that the solvent action of water holding carbonic acid in solution" is the primary agency concerned in the formation of limestone caves. "limestone," he says, "is not soluble in water until it combines with an additional proportion of carbonic acid, by which it is transformed into the bicarbonate of lime. in this way the process of excavation is conducted until communication is established with running water, by which the mechanical agency of that fluid is made to assist the chemical. little niches and recesses, which seem to have been chiselled out and polished by artificial means, were formed in this manner; for when these points are strictly examined, a crevice will be observed at the top or at the back of them, through which water issued at the time of their formation, but which has been partially closed by crystals of carbonate of lime or gypsum." dr. wright, referring to the different conditions and different periods of cave formation, says:--"the sulphate of lime, which is known under the name of gypsum, plaster of paris, selenite, alabaster, etc., exerts a much greater influence in disintegrating rock than the sulphate of soda. the avenues in which gypsum occurs are perfectly dry, differing in this respect from those that contain stalactites. when rosettes of alabaster are formed in the same avenue with stalactites, the water which formed the latter has for ages ceased to flow, or they are situated far apart, as the former cannot form in a damp atmosphere." mr. wilkinson also alludes to separate periods of formation in connection with the jenolan caves. he says:--"there appear to have been two distinct periods during which stalactitic growth formed; one of comparatively remote age, and very local in character, being chiefly confined to the caves known as the lurline and bone caves; and another but recent and still in operation. the older growth is essentially of a stalactitic type, and the stalactites are remarkably thick, though in one or two cases a huge stalagmite is to be seen. the newer growth exhibits every fantastic and beautiful form known, from the thin hollow reed and transparent veil to the snow-white dome stalagmites, the crystal-fringed pool, the wave-lined floor, and the crooked-fringed shapes that are turned in all directions." but there is one passage in mr. wilkinson's account which takes us far beyond the time when the limestone mountains were formed, and describes a complete circle of natural transmutation and reproduction, and which may be appropriately quoted in connection with the cave which bears his name. here it is:--"first, the decaying vegetation of some ancient forest is invisibly distilling the gas known as carbonic acid; then a storm of rain falls, clearing the air of the noxious gas, and distributing a thousand streamlets of acid water over the surrounding country, and which, as it drains off, not only wears the rocks it passes over, but dissolves them in minute quantities, especially such as contain much lime, and then, laden with its various compounds, flows off to the distant sea, where reef corals, lying in fringing banks round the coast, are slowly absorbing the lime from the water around them, and building the fragile coatings that protect them during life. slowly as the land sinks the coral bank increases in height, for reef corals can only live near the surface of the water; and soon a considerable thickness has been obtained; while below the upper zone of live corals lies a vast charnel-house of dead coral coverings; then comes a change; suitable temperature, or some other essential condition, fails, killing out all the corals, and through long ages other deposits accumulate over them, gradually crushing and consolidating the coral bank into a firm rock. at last a convulsion of the earth's crust brings it up from the buried depth in which it lies, leaving it tilted on its edge, but still, perhaps, below the surface of the ground; rain, frost, and snow slowly remove what covers it, until it lies exposed again to the sunlight, but so changed that but for the silent but irresistible testimony of the fossil forms of which it is composed, it were hard to believe that this narrow band of hard grey rock was once the huge but fragile coral bank glistening in the bright waters with a thousand hues. and now the process is repeated; the decaying vegetation of the surrounding forest produces the carbonic acid, the rains spread it over the ground, which is now the most favourable for being dissolved, and the consequence is that the acid water saturates itself with the limestone rock, and whenever the least evaporation takes place, has to deposit some of its dissolved carbonate of lime in one of the many stalactitic forms, before it can flow off to the sea and distribute its remaining contents to fresh coral banks. thus the old coral reef melts away far inland, and the lime that formed the coatings of its corals is again utilised for the same purpose. what a simple succession of causes and effects, and yet before the circle is completed long ages of time have come and gone; and what a fine example of the balance between the waste and reproduction that takes place in nature!" and thus the diurnal motion of the earth and its annual journey round the solar circle, as well as the repetitions of history, have impressive geological analogies. how many hearts have begun to beat--how many have throbbed with passion and ambition, and waxed cold as an extinct volcano in the years required to form a small stalactite? how many ages have come and gone since the jenolan caves were coral reefs in the azure sea? chapter xxviii. the garden palace--the stalagmite cave and the gem of the west. the "garden palace," about yards north from the flowering column, is remarkable for the beauty of its proportions and the charming grace of its arches and dome. it has on the left hand side a magnificent stalactite descending from the roof, and coming to a fine point on the top of a stalagmite, which rises a short distance from the floor. there are also many other stalactites and stalagmites of rare proportions. near to it is a fascinating little crypt that can be peered into from a small aperture in the wall of the passage, which is here about feet wide and feet high. this part of the "palace" is about feet by feet inches and about inches high. there is no association about this portion to vividly recall the elegant building which adorned the inner domain, or even the grandeur of its ruins, which the fierce flames could not consume. it is simply a charming little peepshow filled with the most dainty specimens of crystallization, the purest stalactites, and the most elaborate decoration. in front is a stalagmite called the "prince's statue." most of the stalactites are transparent. the stalagmites are white as snow, and some of them sparkle with an external coating like hoar-frost. there are small globular pieces covered with tubular spikes, like those of the echinus, but as fine as the stings of bees or the antennæ of butterflies. in the centre is a little colour of a roseate hue, and the most prevalent forms resemble transparent flowers and plants which rival the skill of the glass-blower, and surpass the most delicate work of the artificer in gold and silver. this crypt is like a dreamland treasure-house filled with spoils of art and fancy. the stalagmite cave and the "gem of the west" are about yards north of the garden palace, through a hall about feet high and feet wide. the stalagmites are magnificent, and the walls are adorned with glittering formation of delicate tracery. there are some fine specimens of stalactites, and the distance between two of them has been carefully measured with a view to accurate observation as regards the rate of future growth. not far from these are some remarkable stalagmites, formed on and about a sugar-loaf-shaped mound. the uppermost one, which appears incomplete--not having yet received its apex--is composed of five sections. another close by is formed of eight or nine sections, and one lower down of about the same number of distinct portions. like some other stalagmites already described, their individual sections represent separate periods of formation and of rest. [illustration: the alabaster column.] one of the most beautiful of the large stalagmites in the caves is the alabaster column. [illustration: the gem of the west.] the "gem of the west" is in every respect worthy of its name. it is one of the most attractive caves in the series, and calls forth expressions of delight the moment it is illuminated by a magnesium lamp. it is carefully protected by wire netting, and retains all its pristine loveliness. it occupies but a small space, being seven or eight feet high by about five feet wide. there is a considerable amount of formation on the roof, extending down the wall to the ledge of a rock, the flat under-surface of which forms the roof of the cave. from it descend numbers of stalactites of various lengths, as clear as crystal. in between these are numerous small glass-like ornaments, and here and there are little rifts filled with a substance like drifted snow and sleet. the stalactites are not all clear; some of them resemble alabaster, and their shapes are very grotesque. many are straight as reeds; some are bulbous, and several are combinations of straight pipe and bulb. a few have grown obliquely, but many of the smaller ones are contorted in the most extraordinary manner. on the other side is a formation like a miniature niagara, with "wild shapes for many a strange comparison," and forms of exquisite beauty. "full many a gem of purest ray serene the dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear." but ocean caves do not contain anything more pure and captivating than the splendours of the gem of the west. chapter xxix. the fairies' retreat. it is about yards north-east from the gem of the west to the fairies' retreat. the passage is from to feet high and from to feet wide, and rather damp. the visitor ascends a short ladder to a rocky ledge, where there is a small opening and a narrow passage, along which he has to wriggle his way in a recumbent posture and with his feet foremost. long before he has reached the immediate entrance to the retreat he begins to think puck has led him a "pretty dance," and he has gained some idea of the least pleasant sensations incident to cave exploration. when he has completed the journey in a doubled-up posture, and is placed in an attitude scarcely less uncomfortable, curved like a boomerang, he feels as though he would give the world to be able to stretch himself. but a slight pressure upwards reminds him of the superincumbent mountain, and so he feels like a prisoner with billions of tons above him and the rocky base below. he begins to grow hot, and would give anything to be in a place capacious enough to enable him to expand and breathe freely. however, the lamp is turned on, and for a moment or two he is lost in admiration of the scene. he might fancy himself sindbad in the diamond valley, or think that the cave-keeper possessed the lamp of aladdin, or that he had come upon enchanted land. this retreat extends s.e. about yards. its entrance is about feet by inches at the embouchure, and it widens a little towards the end. it is about four feet wide and three feet high, and is filled with glittering cave gems and alabaster flowers, and myriads of figures which sparkle with brilliants. but what are the brightest jewels and the choicest flowers to ease of body and mental serenity? many of the fair sex have visited this retreat, carefully tutored and assisted by the curator. it may be appropriately and pleasantly inspected by agile sylphs and dapper little men who affect a contempt for muscular development and insist upon being gauged by dr. watts's standard, but ladies who are massive and gentlemen who are portly and plethoric will, when making their exit, caterpillar fashion, think it very absurd that so splendid a spectacle should have so mean and inconvenient an approach. the queen's diamonds. after seeing the fairies' retreat there remains but one other surprise, and that is "the queen's diamonds." these are in a casket easily accessible, and the opening to which is about three feet wide by one foot high. the jewel case itself is about four feet wide, three feet deep, and feet long. when the light is turned into it the brilliancy of the scene is perfectly dazzling. the prismatic formations are wonderful, and the blaze of magnificence mocks the descriptive power of either pen or pencil. it is "labyrinth of light" which appeals to the imagination with rare force. edgar a. poe worked up an excellent sensation in his story of "the gold bug." the way in which mr. william legrand became possessed of the scarabæus with scales of bright metallic lustre, and of the scrap of paper which contained mysterious directions leading to hidden piratical plunder by kidd, is not more interesting to the general reader than cryptography is to the student. the enthusiastic way in which the curator speaks of this cave and its distance and measurements recalls to memory the exciting incidents connected with the death's-head, the gold bug dropped through its eye-socket, the taping of the distance from the fall of the scarabæus to the hidden wealth, the hurried digging, and the discovery of the buried treasure. "as the rays of the lantern fell within the pit, there flashed upwards a glow and a glare from a confused heap of gold and of jewels that absolutely dazzled our eyes." the feeling produced in that case was exhaustion from excitement; but the sensation caused by a glance at the brilliance of the queen's diamonds is one of intense gratification. it is a most vivid and lustrous spectacle. the crystals are in clusters grouped together like the petals of flowers, and these flower-shaped forms combine with others of a similar kind, and constitute elaborate floral masses. they are much more difficult to decipher than was the cryptography left by the pirate kidd. as brewster puts it, "though the examination of these bodies has been pretty well pursued, we can form at present no adequate idea of the complex and beautiful organization of these apparently simple bodies" of the , or more different crystals known to science, nearly half are composed of carbonate of lime, but "the queen's diamonds" are certainly among the rarest. the crystallized forms in the caves are very numerous. some of them are irregular, on account of the substance not having been sufficiently divided before its deposition, or because of inadequate space or insufficient repose, but for the most part they are regular and perfect of their kind. none, however, are more regularly formed or more pronounced than "the queen's diamonds." it would be difficult to describe their geometric shape. the separate fragments of each cluster vary from about an inch to a fraction thereof. they are like three-sided prisms, tapering to points at the ends. the edges are sharp as knives from the centre to the upper point; but from the centre to the end which is joined to others, the sharp edge is replaced by a smooth surface, as though a cut had been made with a razor. the upper ends of these prisms are clear as glass; the lower ends are a little cloudy. the brilliancy of the combination is marvellous. chapter xxx. general impressions. when the queen of sheba heard of the fame of solomon she went to jerusalem with a great train, with camels that bore spices and large quantities of gold and precious stones, and fully satisfied the curiosity commonly attributed to her sex. she proved the wisdom of the far-famed monarch, admired his house and its appointments, the apparel of his servants, the attendance of his ministers, and the magnificence of his daily table; and, according to josephus, she said: "as for the report, it only attempted to persuade our hearing, but did not so make known the dignity of the things themselves as does the sight of them, and being present among them. i, indeed, who did not believe what was reported by reason of the multitude and grandeur of the things i inquired about, do see them to be much more numerous than they were reported to be." or, as the verdict of "the queen of the south" is given in the authorized version of the old testament, "i believed not the words until i came, and mine eyes had seen it; and, behold, the half was not told me." a similar testimony will be borne by most visitors in regard to the magnificence of the jenolan caves, and "the multitude and grandeur" of the objects which excite surprise or challenge admiration at almost every step. jenolan is a veritable wonderland, as well as a most interesting geological study. it presents features sufficiently sublime to touch the deepest chords of the human heart: forms sufficiently graceful to charm the artist; situations affording novel material for the romancist; configurations, transmutations, and fascinations to move the soul of the poet; and vast, silent cathedrals which inspire a feeling of devotion, for-- "nature, with folded hands, seems there kneeling at her evening prayer." some of the best photographs which have been taken of the most prominent features of the caves give an idea of their grandeur, but it is only a poor one. they convey no impression of their delicate sheen and dazzling beauty, of the gradations of tint and colour; of the mystic crypts and charming contours. a good photograph may aid those who have seen the caves to fill in details, but even to the most imaginative person who has not had the pleasure of a personal inspection it cannot possibly convey anything like an adequate sense of the thousand and one charms which elude both the photographer and the artist. there is as much difference between the pictorial illustration and the reality as there is between a vacant stare and an eye filled with lovelight and sparkling recognition. and the same remark will apply in greater or lesser degree to verbal description. words are altogether too poor, and it may be folly to attempt to describe the indescribably beautiful. among the numerous inscriptions in the cave book, a visitor has given his judgment upon this point very bluntly. he says, without periphrasis or euphemism--"the man who would attempt to describe these caves is a fool." still, these articles as they appeared in the _sydney morning herald_, have at least brought the caves prominently before the public, and perchance in their present form may be of use to future visitors. on leaving the cimmerian gloom of the imperial cave, and emerging into the clear daylight, the sensation is strange, for after being two or three hours entombed in the heart of the limestone mountains, the darkness seems as natural as night. it is joyous, however, to be back again in the sunshine, and to find that-- "there is a tongue in every leaf, a voice in every rill." caves unexplored. and as you glance once more along the limestone mountain ridge you wonder what hidden beauties yet remain to be revealed. to the north from the devil's coach house numerous caves are known to exist, and it is probable that some of them may present features more remarkable than any yet discovered. the creek, which runs quietly along, has on its way some oblique outlets before it sinks into the earth, and recalls, with its surroundings, the pleasure-place of kubla khan,-- "where alf the sacred river ran through caverns measureless to man down to the sunless sea." the first of these caves is very deep, with a steep ascent. the curator has penetrated it to a depth of feet. he was lowered into one shaft feet perpendicular, and found in it a number of interesting bones, which he sent to the museum of the department of mines in sydney. one of them resembled the tusk of a tiger, and was thought to be too large to have been in the jaw of any australian animal extant. the next known cave is called the "glass cave," on account of the transparent beauty of its adornments, which are equal to those of the imperial cave. the third is unexplored, but there is reason to believe that it is very extensive. the fourth, which seems to run southward, is also unexplored. some time ago the curator was lowered into it, a depth of feet, but he has not been able to make any examination of its interior. next is the mammoth cave, so called because of its vast chambers. one of these is estimated to be upwards of feet high, feet long, and feet wide. it contains a large amount of formation, the prettiest portions of which are about feet from the floor. the roof is so high that the magnesium lamp is hardly strong enough to bring it into view. there is a very long and wide chamber leading from this towards the south, with a large number of "drops" of from to feet, many of them unexplored. the length of this chamber is about chains--that is, one-eighth of a mile. from this the curator was lowered into another chamber of vast proportions, and from to feet deeper down, through solid limestone. at the end of its undulating floor he came to a river about six feet wide and nine inches deep, the water of which was running in a strong stream. round about are many little caverns full of bones. the next is the bow cave, to which reference has previously been made. it is a small cavern, and, as has already been explained, there were found in it six bullock bows, together with two harrow pins, and a pair of hinges; supposed to have been "planted" there by mcewan, the bush-ranger, about the year . this cave has about it numerous small drives not yet explored. farther on is a pretty cave, running, with a gentle slope, two or three hundred yards into the mountains, and containing numerous chambers and water-holes. five or six of these chambers only have been explored, and they contain some very handsome stalactites. farther on are two or three other caves, to the entrance of which only the curator has been. above all these caves a strong stream of water sinks suddenly into the ground. it is believed that this feeds the river in the mammoth cave, and afterwards flows into the imperial, and comes to the surface again in camp creek, on the other side of the limestone range, where it bursts up suddenly from between the boulders, as though there were underneath them a broken -inch city water-pipe. on the south side of the grand arch are several known caves. the curator has been lowered about feet into one of small dimensions, with a large chamber from it, containing many sonorous stalactites of large proportions, as well as much elaborate formation. next to this is a cavern called the specimen cave. it is about feet deep, with a large number of bones on the floor, which has been broken away. the fracture shows that it was largely composed of red clay. the broken face is full of bones. this cave would be worth special examination, because it is believed many of the bones belonged to animals which have disappeared from new south wales. farther on is a cave into which, five years ago, the curator was lowered about feet. at a still greater distance, three miles from the cave house, is a cave, with a strong stream of water flowing out of it. that is the farthest limestone visible on this side of the mountain. the stream sinks into the ground at a short distance after it leaves the mouth of the cave. it is believed that this water runs underneath all the caves on the south side into the lucas cave, and is not seen again until it re-appears under "the bridge." the range of limestone rocks seen from the cave house extends north and south five-and-a-half or six miles. at each end water in considerable volume sinks into the earth suddenly and re-appears in caves near the centre of the valley; the northern stream flowing through the imperial cave, and the southern through the lucas cave. both streams come to the surface in camp creek, and chatter away towards the sea. chapter xxxi. conclusion. the journey from sydney to the caves is long and expensive, but the route is interesting all the way. thirty-six miles from the city after crossing the emu plains and the magnificent bridge over the nepean at penrith, feet above sea-level, the train begins to climb the mountain range, and after travelling miles it attains an altitude of , feet. the first zigzag up lapstone hill brings into view a splendid panorama, and, notwithstanding the disregard of railway surveyors for fine scenery when it is placed in the balance against economical construction, there are many glorious glimpses to be obtained from the carriage windows during the journey between sydney and tarana. if the traveller has time to stop _en route_ he will find much to interest him round about lawson and katoomba, blackheath and mount victoria. the great zigzag into the lithgow valley is one of the most remarkable feats of engineering in the world. there is a fall of about yards in five miles of running. even after this sudden descent the country is still very elevated, and at tarana, where it is necessary to take coach for the caves, it is upwards of , feet above the level of the sea. the train which leaves sydney at o'clock in the morning arrives at tarana at . in the afternoon. by coach or buggy from tarana the little agricultural township of oberon--distant about miles--can be approached comfortably the same evening. at oberon there is a well-kept hotel, which reminds one of the best village hostelries in the old country. here it is customary to stay the night. bidding good morning to your host after a moderately early breakfast, you can drive to the door of the cave house just in time for lunch. the road from tarana to oberon is well made and metalled, and with a pair of good horses you can travel at a spanking pace. from oberon to the caves the road is also good, but not so wide as that from tarana to oberon. a considerable portion of it may be described in fact as an excellently kept bush track. the road down the zigzag is, as already mentioned, a trial to the nerves of timid people. it is much too narrow, and ought to be widened by cutting still farther into the mountain side, building up the retaining wall more substantially, and paying greater attention to drainage. a cable tramway would then make the transit easy and pleasant. a light railway to oberon would probably give as good a return as nine-tenths of the mileage on our railways, and if the tramway from there to the caves would not pay immediately it would ultimately create settlement and traffic, and in the meantime be an important factor in increasing the traffic on the miles of railway leading to it from sydney. until a short time ago the caves were completely cut off from rapid communication with the outer world, but now they are in telephonic communication with the telegraph system of the colony. [illustration: coat of arms] [illustration: map section of new south wales, showing the position of jenolan caves.] london: printed by eyre and spottiswoode, _her majesty's printers_, downs park road, hackney. transcriber's notes: bloxland changed to 'blaxland' throughout. such places named after gregory blaxland ( - ), fordwich, kent. wombean changed to 'wombeyan' throughout. coach-house changed to 'coach house' throughout. coodradigbee changed to 'goodradigbee'. page . kunimbla changed to 'kanimbla'. page . transcriber note italic text is denoted by _underscores_. glaciÈres or freezing caverns [illustration: ice slope and basin, kolowratshÖhle.] glaciÈres or freezing caverns by edwin swift balch a. b. (harvard); f. r. g. s. member of the franklin institute of the appalachian mountain club of the american philosophical society author of "mountain exploration," &c. philadelphia allen, lane & scott copyright, , by edwin swift balch. press of allen, lane & scott, philadelphia, pa. this book is affectionately dedicated to my mother, whose deep interest in my work has helped me greatly. preliminary note. many kind friends have given me information about glacières or assistance in my work. i am especially indebted to mr. robert butler, of san josé, cal.; mr. f. h. cushing, of washington, d. c.; professor charles e. fay, of tufts college, mass.; professor eberhard fugger, of salzburg, austria; mr. alois f. kovarik, of decorah, iowa; monsieur e. a. martel, of paris, france; mr. john ritchie, jr., of boston, mass.; professor i. c. russell, of ann arbor, mich.; miss h. varena, of wiesbaden, germany; and miss mary coxe, mr. g. l. farnum, mr. j. e. farnum, mr. f. l. garrison, mr. w. c. hall, mr. e. i. h. howell, mrs. horace jayne, mr. w. e. meehan, mr. c. j. nicholson, mr. g. b. phillips, mr. bunford samuel, mr. w. w. wagner, and dr. w. h. wahl, of philadelphia. i wish to acknowledge also the help i have derived from the bibliothèque nationale and the library of the british museum. e. s. b. philadelphia, february the th, . contents. page part i. experiences in glacières part ii. the causes of subterranean ice part iii. list of glacières part iv. some opinions about glacières part v. list of authors index illustrations. ice slope and basin, kolowratshöhle frontispiece glacière de chaux-les-passavant ice stalagmites, chaux-les-passavant vertical section of chaux-les-passavant ice stalagmites, chaux-les-passavant vertical section of dóbsina the lower rositten alp and the untersberg the entrance of the kolowratshöhle vertical section of the kolowratshöhle top of ice slope, kolowratshöhle at the entrance of the schafloch hollow cones and fissure columns, schafloch on the ice slope, schafloch in the rear of the schafloch vertical section of déményfálva the frauenmauer and the gsoll alp in the frauenmauerhöhle vertical section of the frauenmauerhöhle ice stalactite, frauenmauerhöhle vertical section of the suchenreuther eisloch la glacière de saint-georges vertical section of the glacière de saint-georges vertical section of grand cave de montarquis the bluff at decorah entrance of the cave of decorah locus glacialis, cave of decorah gorge at ellenville vertical section of pit near summit vertical section of freezing cave near williamstown vertical section of a windhole freezing cavern at brainard part i. experiences in glaciÈres. experiences in glaciÈres. subterranean ice in king's ravine. subterranean ice was brought to my notice by a mere accident, late in the month of september, , while on a descent of king's ravine, on mount adams, in the white mountains of new hampshire. we had just descended the rock wall of the mountain and had reached the head of the gorge, when my companion, mr. charles e. lowe, the well-known appalachian guide of randolph, suddenly said to me, "would you like a piece of ice? i can get you some presently." i answered, "certainly," wondering where he would find any. when we got among the big boulders, which form so rough a path for the traveler at the bottom of the ravine, mr. lowe climbed down under one of the biggest, and presently reappeared with a good sized lump of ice. i was much impressed at finding ice at the end of the summer in this gorge, when for months past no ice or snow had been visible on the surrounding mountains. i noticed also the peculiar, flaky formation of the ice, and saw at once that it was something new to me, and in fact it was a piece of what i have since learned to know as "prismatic ice." glaciÈre near brisons. in the summer of the year , i traveled through the alps, with a friend from philadelphia. on the th of september, we drove from geneva to bonneville. thence we started on foot without a guide, and as a result got lost in the woods, from which we only extricated ourselves at nightfall. after retracing our steps to bonneville, we were glad to find a man to show us the way we should have taken, and finally reached the little village of brisons in france, where we slept. the next day we took a guide and made our way across the mountains to annecy, at one spot going out of our direct route to see a place spoken of by the natives as a glacière. it was a little pit, and at the base of one side thereof was the mouth of a small cave into which we could not see any distance. at the bottom of the pit lay a mass of dirty snow and ice to which we did not descend, as the sides of the pit were sheer and smooth, and there was no ladder. this pit seemed to be more of the nature of a gully filled with winter snow, than a true rock cave containing ice. the glaciÈre de l'haut-d'aviernoz. three days after this, on tuesday, the st of september, , we visited the two largest glacières on the mont parmelan, near annecy, france. at annecy we inquired at the hotel for a man who knew the mont parmelan; and, after finding one, we made our way to les villaz, where we spent the night in an _auberge_. our companion was an odd personage. he was small, about fifty years of age, and looked meek, crushed and hungry. he wore a long black frock coat and black trousers, thin boots and a linen shirt, certainly not the ideal outfit for a cave explorer. under his care we started early in the morning and toiled up a mountain path some eight hundred or a thousand meters,[ ] through woods and pastures, to the higher plateau of mont parmelan, in which was situated the first glacière. this was in a great pit, at the bottom of which, on one side, was a big cave. on the side of the pit opposite to the opening, there was a steep rock slope, forty or fifty meters long, whose lower portion was covered with snow. down this slope we descended with but little difficulty, reaching at the bottom an almost level ice floor which spread over the entire cave and was formed throughout of thick, solid ice. a second and much smaller pit in the roof of the cave opened directly over the ice floor; and under this pit rose a small cone of ice, some two meters high, the only one in this glacière. [ ] the metric system is used throughout this book, except in a few quotations. thermometric observations are given in degrees centigrade. the glacière itself was approximately round in shape, and some twenty meters in diameter. at one place the rock wall was broken and we could look into a much smaller inner cave or chamber. into this we could not penetrate on account of a long, narrow crack or hole which yawned in the ice floor for a distance of some five or six meters and continued through the opening into the second chamber. we tried to cut our way along the side of the hole, but had to give it up, finding the ice too hard and our time too short. the crack or hole, whose sides were solid ice, proved conclusively that the ice in this glacière was many meters in thickness, for we could look a long way down into the hole, certainly for ten or twelve meters, until the ice sides disappeared in darkness, without any visible bottom. the hole cannot be spoken of as a crevasse, for, besides not looking like a crevasse, it was certainly formed by other causes than those which form the crevasses in glaciers, since there is, as a rule, no perceptible movement in subterranean ice. doubtless, the hole was due to the drainage of the cave, which undoubtedly passed off through the hole. there may be, nevertheless, some little motion in the ice of this glacière, for it is evident that it is fed principally directly by the winter snows; which, whether as frozen or melted snow, descend gradually, by the force of gravitation, from the slope of the pit into the glacière. as for any possibility of this great mass of ice melting away and forming again in any one year, it passes belief; there must be at least the cubic contents of a dozen ordinary houses in the cave, and such a mass could hardly be destroyed or formed again in any such short space of time as a fall or spring. this is, therefore, probably a permanent or perennial glacière. the glaciÈre de chapuis. starting out from the glacière de l'haut-d'aviernoz we walked across the plateau of the mont parmelan, _en route_ for the second glacière. this plateau is a curious rock formation, consisting of what the natives call _lapiaz_, which might be translated "stone-heaps." the plateau is full of great projecting rocks; and myriads of cracks and crevices everywhere rend the surface, and over these crevices one sometimes has to jump. still, i do not remember any particular difficulty. it was certainly not nearly as bad walking as the taluses of loose rocks one meets at the base of many mountains. our guide led us for about an hour across the plateau in a southerly direction, and then, looking over the side of the parmelan, with a sweep of the arm covering south, west and north, he told us that the glacière lay between those points, but he did not know exactly where. this seemed a rather hopeless prospect, so, as we had no clue to the whereabouts of our prospective hole, we descended to a couple of châlets we saw some two hundred meters below, but which at least were in the direction of annecy. we followed a goat-herd's path which led to the châlets from the plateau, one of those dangerous grass tracks, where nothing would be easier than to make a slip, and where a bad slip might have unpleasant results. this is, however, just the kind of place where every one is particularly careful not to slip. we were careful and so reached the châlets all right, and there we found a strong, intelligent boy, who at once pointed out the place where the glacière was, about half way up the slope we had just come down. so we took him with us, leaving our guide at the châlets to await our return. the entrance to the glacière was in a wall of rock, set at an angle of some thirty-five degrees; at the bottom of this there was some grass. an easy chimney some fifteen meters high led up to the glacière. up this chimney we climbed. at the top we entered a little cave about two meters deep, by a sort of portal about two meters wide. the cave made an elbow to the right, and passing this we found that it turned to the left and pointed directly into the mountain. the rock went down vertically in front of us, but the boy said we could get down, so having first lowered a candle by a string to see the depth, which turned out to be a perpendicular drop of some four or five meters, with the help of the rope we all climbed down. we were already almost entirely away from the daylight and a few steps took us into complete darkness, except for the light we had from the candle each of us held in his hand. the fissure led straight into the mountain. it was a couple of meters wide at places, and there we moved along the bottom. in one place it narrowed below to a wedge, and there we progressed either by climbing along one side or by placing one foot on one side and the other foot on the other. the fissure led downwards as well as inwards. it would have been nothing in daylight to go through it; but in the semi-darkness it was not easy. after a descent of some twenty-five meters or thereabouts, we arrived at the glacière, and i have certainly never seen a weirder place. there was a great arched rock dome, perhaps six meters in height, and some twelve in diameter; the floor was a sheet of smooth, slippery ice, at one end curling over, gently at first, afterwards more steeply, to a lower depth; and on the sides were seven or eight ice columns streaming from cracks in the rocks to the floor. each of these columns was some three or four meters high, and, small at the top and in the middle, spread out at the base into the shape of fans. in the dim candle light and the cold damp atmosphere, the columns loomed up like so many ghosts, and the landscape impression was strange and solemn. the air here seemed perfectly still. there was another curiosity. the fissure we had come down, at this point some three meters wide, was filled, just beyond the glacière, with pure, transparent water, which formed a little lake: this was perhaps one meter deep, and extended across the fissure, barring further progress. it certainly seems strange that in the same cavern, under nearly the same conditions of temperature, there should be one place covered with a flooring of ice and another filled with water. the explanation, however, is perhaps not far to seek. over the lake there was a distinct draught of air. the draught probably melts the ice in summer, if indeed it does not prevent any from forming in winter. there are, so far, no winter observations reported of this cave, yet it would seem to be one which would well repay the trouble. the glaciÈre de chaux-les-passavant. on the th of august, , my brother and i arrived at besançon, the vesontio of the romans, bent on seeing the glacière de chaux-les-passavant or de la grâce-dieu, which is not far distant from the town. the hotel we stopped at was pretty bad; the beds were surmounted with those old-fashioned curtains which were of use before the invention of glass windows, but which now only serve to exclude air and ventilation. however, i learnt something of the manners and customs of the country, for on getting down at six o'clock the next morning for breakfast, the first question the waiter asked was: _quel vin monsieur prendra-t-il?_ at seven o'clock we sallied forth in a little open one-horse victoria, with a dull gray sky overhead. besançon is well down in a valley, so the first five miles of the road were a slow, gradual rise to the surrounding levels. the scenery as we drove along reminded us of turner's pictures: distant vistas of hills and valleys with factories blowing off their smoke and with tumble-down old houses ensconced in picturesque nooks, just those long-distance effects that turner loved to paint and which, for some reason, the artists of the present generation have generally neglected and usually speak of as unpaintable or unpicturesque. there was a row of trees, the whole way, on each side of the road, a bit of practical forestry, the wisdom of which it would be well for americans to recognize. after our poor horse had pulled us up the long hills, we had an almost level road running in a straight line as far as the eye could see. we saw at least a hundred little hawks, who live on field mice and other rodents, and whose preservation is another evidence of french wisdom. the last four miles of the drive was up a ravine in the woods, near the beginning of which we passed the trappist convent of la grâce-dieu. [illustration: glaciÈre de chaux-les-passavant. from a photograph by e. mauvillier. ] opposite the entrance of the glacière, there is a little restaurant where the peasants come to dance and picnic, and where the few travellers who get to these parts, can obtain a tolerable _déjeuner_. they keep a fair _vin du pays_ there, and we had some trouble on the way home in consequence. our driver, a talkative specimen of the genus and an old soldier of bourbaki's, told us, on the way out, many things about besançon during the franco-german war and of the retreat of the french army into switzerland; but on the way home, he showed that he evidently was not a member of the blue ribbon army. he first seemed desirous of not taking us back to besançon, preferring to go in the other direction towards bale; and afterwards he evinced a violent inclination to go to sleep. we thought we should have to request him to change seats with us, and drive back ourselves, but we obviated the difficulty by plying him with questions as soon as he began to nod on his box. eventually, we reached besançon all right, only once bumping a passing cart, and only once nearly capsizing into a ditch. if americans can learn some points from europeans about forestry, i think the latter might get some equally valuable information from us concerning the use of water, externally and internally. the good lady at the restaurant acts the part of the old-fashioned cave dragon, and we had to appease her by handing over four _sous_ as a preliminary to exploration. she also had a sign up, saying that no one is allowed to break off or take away any ice, which must sadly interfere with the tourists' privilege of bringing away specimens. the entrance of the glacière was surrounded by woods, which formed a natural rampart to anything like wind. as we stood facing the glacière a great pit opened before us, with a slope about one hundred and thirty-five meters long leading to the bottom. this slope is at first gentle in its gradient, but lower down it steepens to an angle of some thirty degrees so that we were glad to resort to the trail which descends in regular alpine zigzags. in one place, on the right hand, there were the remains of a stone wall with a door, and local tradition relates that in former times there was a sort of fortified habitation there, which was used in war times as a place of retreat. the lower part of the slope is covered by a protecting roof of rock which, thin at the rim where it is edged with forest, gradually slopes downward overhead so that at the mouth of the glacière we looked back and up what might be described as an immense tunnel. the lower part of the slope was a mixture of broken rocks, mud and ice: the last, however, seemed to be all on the surface, although it was impossible to determine whether it went to any depth. [illustration: ice stalagmites, chaux-les-passavant. from a photograph by e. mauvillier. ] at the base of the tunnel we found ourselves on the threshold of an immense, almost circular cave, with a diameter of some fifty meters, rising overhead into a regular vault or dome about twenty-seven meters in height. the entrance to the cave is so large that plenty of daylight is admitted, and the whole cave easily examined. the rocks are of a yellowish brown hue, and i could not help thinking of nibelheim in richard wagner's rheingold. [illustration: fig. .[ ] vertical section of chaux-les-passavant.] [ ] the figures in this book are rough sketches, without pretense at accuracy of measurement, and are only explanatory of the text. the bottom of the cave was entirely covered with a flooring of ice. how thick this flooring was there was no means of judging, as there were no holes, but it must have been at least two or three meters thick in places. at the back of the cavern, directly facing the entrance, one magnificent frozen water fall streamed from a fissure. it was perhaps five meters high, and began to take the fan shape from its origin. the base was about four meters wide, and did not rest on the ice floor, but on a sloping rock extending out from the side of the cave. perhaps the most remarkable feature of all, were six or seven great ice stalagmites, shaped like cones or rough pyramids, which rose on the floor of the cave. one of these was at least five meters in diameter and six in height, and seemed perfectly solid. in the case of two of the others, however, the cones were broken on one side, revealing in each the stem and branches of a young pine tree. these evidently had been planted in the ice and round them the columns had grown. whether all the ice cones were thus artificial in their origin i could not determine, but it seemed probable that they were the result of years of undisturbed accretion and growth. in both the cones where the break on the side gave a view into the interior, the dark blue-green color of deep glacier crevasses was present. a pool of water, perhaps thirty centimeters in depth and three or four meters in diameter, lay at one place on the ice floor. the whole cave was damp and the ice in places decidedly slushy, in fact all the signs showed that it was thawing. in the case of this glacière as well as in those of the mont parmelan, it seemed clear that it must be in the winter months that the formation of ice takes place. [illustration: ice stalagmites, chaux-les-passavant. from a photograph by e. mauvillier. ] dÓbsina jegbarlang. the cavern of dóbsina, in the carpathian mountains, is easily reached either from poprád to the north, or from dóbsina to the south. the hotel at poprád is better, however, than the inn at dóbsina, where my brother and i spent two nights. it was decidedly primitive. the food was not so bad, but the pigs ran round in the courtyard, and one morning a gypsy band woke us at half-past three o'clock by playing in front of our windows, in dreadful wailing tones, which were most irritating at that hour. at the proper time, however, hungarian gypsy music,--despite the fact that none of the players ever seem to look at the leader, and that each man appears to play the tune he likes the best,--is strangely fascinating. dóbsina itself lies in a hollow, surrounded with well-wooded hills, the general appearance much resembling some of the valleys of the white mountains of new hampshire. my brother and i started from dóbsina on the morning of the th of july, , at half-past seven o'clock, in a little open carriage with excellent horses and a hungarian driver in national costume. he was a nice fellow, but he did not understand a word of german. the road reminded us of some of our own mountain roads, as it was rough, full of holes and partly washed away by the rains. we first ascended to the crest of the surrounding hills and then descended to the stracena thal, a wild limestone valley covered with fine forest. two hours and a half driving landed us at the hotel-restaurant near the cave, at which i should certainly stop on another visit. it was half an hour's stroll thence, through beautiful woods, to the cavern's entrance. northwards in the distance the tátra range was visible, a set of sharp bare rock peaks, at whose base, ensconced in pine forests, is situated the famous hungarian summer resort of tátra füred, which much resembles bar harbor. the entrance to the cavern is enclosed by a fence with a gate, and here the dóbsina people have a high tariff and take toll from tourists. at the gate, we waited for half an hour, until a sufficient number of persons had arrived to form a party. this mode of visiting the cave rather detracts from the pleasure, even though it does away with all difficulty and makes the beauties of dóbsina accessible to everyone. it was also necessary to wait long enough to cool off thoroughly before entering, on account of the icy air of the cavern, where heavy winter clothes are indispensable. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of dóbsina.] the entrance to dóbsina faces nearly due north. it is small, perhaps two meters wide and three meters high, and is perfectly sheltered from any wind. the sudden drop in temperature at the entrance was startling; in fact it was the most extreme change i have noticed in any cave. within the length of an ordinary room, say in a distance of five meters, we passed from an extremely hot summer morning to the chill of a mid-winter afternoon. a slight air current, perhaps, issued from the entrance, as we observed a faint mist there. at the rock portal there was ice on the rocks overhead, and underfoot was the beginning of the huge mass of ice which almost fills the cavern. a descent down eighteen wooden steps landed us at the beginning of a great ice floor, in what is called the _grosser saal_. it is a magnificent cave. the floor is a sheet or rather a mass of solid ice, the surface of which is level enough in one place to permit of skating; in other spots it is sloping and covered with small ice hillocks. the ice is solid throughout, without any holes or cracks. several fissure columns stream to the floor from cracks in the sides. joining the roof to the floor are numerous big ice stalactites, which form frozen pillars and columns. these are from eight to eleven meters in height, and some two to three meters in average breadth and width. nearly translucent, they are covered with all sorts of icy ornaments hanging about them in tufts and fringes; they are beautiful in their shapes, as well as in their white and blue colors. one of these columns is called the _brunnen_, because until about ten years ago, a small stream dribbled continuously from the roof and cut a channel across the ice floor; but now the stream has solidified into the pillar, and the channel is filled up, although it can still be traced in the ice. the cavern is lighted by electricity, which has the merit, even if it brings in an element of artificiality, of clearly revealing one of the chief glories of dóbsina. this is the rime or hoar frost, which in the shape of ice or snow crystals, covers the entire limestone roof, and, reflecting the electric light, shines like frosted silver. some of these frost crystals seem to be precipitated to the floor, and in one place i found a small sheet of them, perhaps two meters in width each way, which looked and felt like genuine snow. the general color effect of all this upper cave is white, although there is some blue in the ice, and gray and brown in the rocks and shadows. it would not be much of a misnomer to call dóbsina "the great white cave." the ice extended to the sides of the cave except in two places. here there were holes in the ice, bridged by low rock arches. we passed through one of these and descended by a wooden staircase some eighty steps, afterwards returning up through the other arch by another staircase. at the bottom we stood in a magnificent gallery named the _korridor_, formed by a solid wall of ice on one side and by a wall of limestone rock on the other. the ice wall is the lower portion of the ice floor; the rock wall is the continuation of the roof. for the entire distance the ice wall rises almost perpendicularly some fifteen meters in height, while the rock wall arches overhead. [illustration: the lower rositten alp and the untersberg.] the bottom of the _korridor_ was filled with blocks of fallen limestone, through which any water drains off, and on which there was a wooden walk, so that we circled round the ice with the greatest ease. at one place on the limestone wall hung a cluster of big icicles, which, from their shape really deserved the name they bear, of the _orgel_. at another place a hole, some six or seven meters deep, was hewn, in the form of a small chamber, directly into the ice mass. this is the _kapelle_, where we performed our devotions by leaving our visiting cards on the floor. near the middle of the _korridor_ the ice mass bulges out and extends to the limestone wall, breaking the whole _korridor_ into two parts, the western portion about eighty meters, and the eastern about one hundred and twenty meters long. this necessitated cutting a tunnel about eight meters long in the ice to get through. the color of the _korridor_ is a darkish gray and is much more sombre than that of the _grosser saal_. a remarkable feature of the ice wall is the fact that distinct bands of stratification are visible in the ice in many places. why the _korridor_ is not filled up with ice and why the ice is perpendicular for such a distance are questions i am unable to answer satisfactorily; but it is probable that the temperature of the rock walls is sufficiently high to prevent ice from forming in winter or to melt it in summer if it does form in winter. the air in dóbsina seemed still, and scarcely felt damp. in one or two places in the _grosser saal_ there was a slight sloppiness, showing incipient signs of thaw. in the _korridor_ it was freezing hard. the kolowratshÖhle. the kolowratshöhle is situated on the north slope of the untersberg, near salzburg, at an altitude of meters. my brother and i visited it on the d of august, . we had one of the patented guides of the district, jacob gruber by name, in regular tyrolese dress, with gray _jacke_ and black chamois knee breeches. we left salzburg in the early morning in an _einspänner_ and drove to the foot of the untersberg in about an hour, whence, by a rough path passing by the rositten alp, we ascended to the cave in about three hours. the last hundred and sixteen meters of the path were cut across some moderately steep rock slabs and a perfectly unnecessary iron hand-railing affixed. the entrance faces northeast. here there must have been a slight draught of cold air moving outwards, the effect of which was perceptible to the eye, as at the point where the cold inside air met the quiet warm outside air, a faint mist was visible. from the entrance, a sharp slope, set at an angle of about forty degrees, led to the lowest point of the cave. the upper half of this slope was still covered with the winter snow which had blown or had slid in. we descended on the right hand edge of the snow by means of some steps cut in the rock by the _deutschen-oesterreichischen alpen club_. these steps were covered with a sticky, red mud, which left almost ineradicable stains on our clothing, and as there was also ice in places, they were decidedly slippery. [illustration: the entrance of the kolowratshÖhle.] [illustration: fig. . vertical section of the kolowratshöhle.] at the bottom of the slope we were at the lowest point of the cave, to which all the water flowed, and where it drained off into a crack with a loud gurgling noise. back of us was the daylight streaming through the entrance; opposite to us was first an ice floor, then a great ice slope, which came down from the further end of the cave. the ice was transparent and of a pale ochre-greenish hue, and filled the entire width of the cave. there is a streak of iron, probably, through the limestone, which in places tints the rocks a dull red. the color impression is a dull green-red, and, on account of the size of the entrance, the light effect is only semi-subterranean. the ice floor was covered with a layer of slabs of ice, eight or ten centimeters thick, which, earlier in the year, had evidently had water under them. the ice wall or ice slope consisted of two big waves, one above the other, the lower set at an angle of about ten degrees, the upper set at an angle of about twenty-five degrees. to get up the upper wave required about twelve steps cut with the axe. behind the upper wave, five or six fissure columns streamed out to the beginning of the ice. one ice stalactite, at least two or three meters long, overhung the ice floor, and gruber said about this: "well, i wonder it has not fallen yet: they seldom last as late in the year," a confirmation of what was clearly evident, namely, that the whole cave was in a state of thaw. in two places there was a strong, continuous drip from the roof to the ice floor, which formed, in each case, what i can only call an ice basin. these basins were nearly circular; one was about four meters, the other about two, in diameter. around about two-thirds of the rim of the larger one, ice rose in a surrounding ring two or three meters high, suggesting that earlier in the year this basin was a cone, and possibly a hollow cone. the depth in the ice floor, in both cases, was about one and a half meters, and each basin contained some thirty centimeters in depth of water. they reminded me of the rock basins one sees in mountain torrents, where an eddying current has worn smooth all the edges of the rocks. from the larger of these basins, a channel as deep as the basin ran to the lowest point of the cave. this channel was cut out by the overflow, which ran through it in a tiny stream.[ ] [ ] the photographs of the rositten alp, of the entrance of the kolowratshöhle, and of the interior of the kolowratshöhle, were made for me on the th of july, , by herr carl hintner, jr., of salzburg. the two latter photographs are, i believe, the first good ones ever obtained of the inside of the cave. they were taken without artificial light on quick plates; the best of the two received an hour and a half, the other two hours' exposure. the photographer said at first that it was not possible to succeed, and it was only by promising to pay him in any case, that he could be induced to try. [illustration: top of ice slope, kolowratshÖhle.] the schafloch. the schafloch, on the rothhorn, near the lake of thoune, is one of the biggest glacières in the alps. on the th of august, , after early coffee, made by the _portier_ of the hotel belvedère at interlaken, i drove to merligen, on the north shore of the lake, with emil von allmen, an excellent guide. we left merligen on foot at a quarter before seven, and, making no stops on the way, reached the schafloch at ten minutes past ten. the path mounts gently up the wüste thal, which higher up is called the justiz thal. the track through the latter is almost on a level, over grassy alps. on the right hand rise the steep, almost dolomitic, limestone cliffs of the beatenberg. on the left is the range of the rothhorn, with steep grass and forest slopes below, and limestone cliffs above. the last hour of the walk was up these slopes, by what baedeker calls a "giddy path." by leaving the word "giddy" out, his description is accurate. the cavern is at the base of the limestone cliff, and the grass slope extends up to it. the entrance to the schafloch is at an altitude of meters: it is a fine archway, and a low wall is built partly across it. in front of this, we sat down and consumed our chicken and cheese, and that best of a traveller's drinks, cold tea. the day was windless, and when i lighted a cigar, to see whether there was any draught at the entrance, the smoke rose straight up, showing that the air was perfectly still. when we were sufficiently cooled off, we entered the cave. the entrance faces east-south-east, but after about ten meters the cavern takes a sharp turn to the left, forming a sort of elbow, and runs about due south, constantly descending in an almost straight line. for the first eighty meters or so, the floor was covered with blocks of fallen limestone, among which we had to carefully pick our way. then we began to find ice, which, a few meters further on, spread out across the entire width of the cave, with a gentle slope towards the left. the surface of the ice was rather soft, and the whole cave was evidently in a state of thaw. a few scratches with the axe--the most invaluable friend in an ice cave--were necessary at one place to improve our footing. it would have been impossible to move here without a light, and i carried our torch, made of rope dipped in pitch, which occasionally dropped black reminders on my clothes. we were in the middle of a great ice sheet to which several fissure columns streamed. on the right hand a beautiful ice stalactite flowed from the roof to the floor; it was some five meters high, and perhaps seventy-five centimeters in diameter, and swelled out slightly at the base. on the left hand were three or four ice stalagmites, shaped like pyramids or cones. [illustration: at the entrance of the schafloch.] one of these cones was especially remarkable. it was at least five meters high--von allmen said eight--and at the bottom was about four meters in diameter. the base of this cone was entirely hollow. there was a break on one side by which we could enter, and we then stood on a rock floor with a small ice dome or vault overhead. i have seen no other hollow cone like this. the guide lighted a red bengal fire inside, when the whole pyramid glowed with a delicate pink light, resembling _alpenglühn_. near this cone stood the half of another ice cone. it was quite perfect, and the missing half was cut off perpendicularly, as if with a huge cleaver. a hollow in the base of the remnant showed that this cone must have been originally also a hollow cone, and its destruction was probably due to the change in the temperature of the drip from the roof, at the setting in of the summer thaw. just beyond the cones, the ice floor steepens and curls over into a big ice slope, one of the finest i have seen. von allmen spoke of this as _der gletscher_, an expression i never heard applied elsewhere to subterranean ice. on the right side, the slope would be difficult to descend in the darkness. on the left, the slope is gentle and a rock juts out a little way down. von allmen insisted on roping--an unnecessary safeguard--but he said: "if you slip, you will probably break an arm or a leg, and then we shall be in a nice mess." he then cut about twelve steps in the ice, down to the rock, while i shed light on the performance with our torch. we were so completely away from daylight that black was the predominating color; and even the ice was a dark gray, and only appeared white in the high lights. below the rock, we found a narrow strip on the left side of the ice slope free from ice and blocked with boulders, over which we carefully picked our way down. at the bottom, the ice expanded into a level surface, stretching nearly to the end of the cave. there were only a few fissure columns in this part of the cavern, where the most remarkable feature was the cracks in the rock walls, which were so regular in formation that they almost looked like man's handiwork. the rocks are free from stalactites, and in fact stalactites seem a good deal of a rarity in glacières. on retracing our steps, we saw, when the first glimmers of daylight became perceptible, the rocks assume a brilliant blue color, as if they were flooded with moonlight. this effect lasted until near the mouth of the cavern. [illustration: hollow cone and fissure columns, schafloch.] dÉmÉnyfÁlva jegbarlang. a little west of poprád, in northern hungary, on the railroad between sillein and kassa, is the village of liptós szt miklós, to which place i journeyed on the th of june, . the conductor was the only man on the train or at any of the stations who would admit that there was a glacière at déményfálva, and that it was feasible to get into it: every one else professed entire ignorance on the subject. it is perhaps, worth noting at this time that it is always difficult to get any information about glacières; in fact, the advice about cooking a hare might well be applied to glacière hunting: first catch your glacière. the scenery between sillein and miklós was picturesque. the hills were covered with forest. in one place, the railroad ran through a beautiful mountain gorge alongside a river, where a number of rafts were floating down. there were also some primitive ferries, where a rope was stretched across the river, and the force of the current carried the ferryboat across, once it was started. many peasants were at work in the fields; often in squads. white, blue, brown, and a dash of red were the predominating colors in their dress. the men wore white trousers, made of a kind of blanket stuff, and a leather, heelless moccasin of nearly natural shape. almost all the women had bare feet; those of the older ones were generally shaped according to nature's own form, while those of the younger ones were generally distorted from wearing fashionable shoes. we went past several villages of huts with thatched roofs, something like the russian villages one sees beyond moscow, only less primitive. the inn at miklós was poor, and as at dóbsina, the pigs lived in the yard and occasionally came for an interview under the covered doorway. inquiries elicited the information that déményfálva could be reached by carriage, so i engaged one at the livery stable. the owner told me that about twenty years before, he leased the glacière and carried on a regular business in supplying buda-pest with ice. he had thirty lamps put in to give light to the workmen, who brought up the ice in baskets on their backs. at half past five o'clock next morning the carriage, which was innocent of paint, lined with a sort of basket work and without springs, but certainly strongly built, stood at the door. a boy of about eighteen years of age, who could speak german, went along as interpreter. the morning was dismal, and, every quarter of an hour or so, a shower of thick mist fell and gradually made us damp and uncomfortable. after about twenty minutes on a pretty bad road, we came to a place where there was a fork, and the driver turned to the left, over a track which consisted of two deep ruts through the fields. soon after, we heard some shouting behind us, and a fierce-looking man, in a leather jacket and carrying a large axe, came up and abused the driver. he was not an agreeable person; however, presently he simmered down and began to smile. it turned out that he was a _wächter_, that is, a guardian of the fields, and that we were trespassing. the driver meekly promised to return by the other route, and we went on our way in peace. after awhile, we drove into some woods and then into a mountain gorge, with forest-covered slopes at the base and with limestone cliffs jutting out above. here we came to the cottage of the _wächter_ or _förster_ of the surrounding woods, who also acted as guide to the cave, for the few tourists who came to see it; and when he heard of our destination, he at once slipped on a second ragged coat, took a woodman's axe and started on foot, going much faster than the carriage. this was not surprising, for the road resembled nothing but the bed of a mountain brook, a mass of boulders with ruts between them. this highway was made by the peasants driving their carts over the plain in the same place, and as the soil was cut away, the boulders appeared; and over and among these we went banging along, and we were jolted about and bumped into each other, until every bone in my body ached. [illustration: on the ice slope, schafloch.] at a quarter past seven o'clock we came to another house in a little glade, where the carriage stopped; and on asking the _förster_ for his name, he wrote down in my note book, in a clear well formed hand:--misura, franz. from the glade, ten minutes' walk on a mountain path, up an easy slope, took us to the entrance of déményfálva. it is about two meters wide by three quarters of a meter high. we passed through and entered a large chamber, well lighted from the right by another opening, which is higher up and bigger than the entrance. the air in this chamber was at about the same temperature as that of the outside air, and, on our return from the nether world, it seemed positively balmy. in the floor at the end of the chamber, a small pit yawns open. it is perpendicular on three sides and set at a sharp angle on the fourth. a wooden staircase of some two hundred steps, many of which are sadly out of repair, leads nearly straight down this slope to the glacière. after descending about eighty steps of the staircase, bits of ice appeared on the walls and floor and after some thirty steps more, a lateral gallery opened to the right, and into this we turned. this may be called the upper cave or story, for in démenyfálva--besides the entrance chamber--there are practically two stories, the upper one of which is mainly ornamented with stalactites, the lower one with ice. there was a little ice on the floor from which rose some small ice columns, perhaps fifty centimeters in height. the cave or gallery had a gentle downward slope and turned towards the left. after some little distance, we came to another wooden staircase, of ten or twelve steps, quite coated over with thick, solid ice. misura had to cut away at it for several minutes, before he could clear the steps enough to descend. this was in fact the beginning of an ice wall, the _eiswand_ or _eismauer_, which, turning to the right, flowed through a rock arch to the lowest cave. the rock arch or portal was some three meters wide and two meters high, and a fringe of beautiful organ-pipe like icicles hung on it on the right hand. just beyond the portal the ice sloped steeply for a couple of meters; then it became level and on it rose a little pyramid, a meter and a half in height perhaps, and a column; then the ice sloped away again to the lower cave. [illustration: in the rear of the schafloch.] [illustration: fig. . vertical section of démenyfálva.] we then continued our course beyond the rock portal along the upper cavern for about two hundred meters. it was a fine large gallery or passage and during the first fifty meters or so, we found numerous small ice cones, perhaps a hundred of them, from tiny little ones to some about forty centimeters in height. many of these were columnar in form, nearly as large at the top as at the base: in some cases the top was flat, and the columns then looked almost as if an upper portion were sawn off. i have seen this shape of column nowhere else. in places there were slabs and bits of ice on the floor. the last hundred meters of this upper cave was free from ice and was exceptionally dry. it was formed of a pale yellow limestone rock, almost dolomitic in color, and many stalactites, in their thousand various shapes, hung from the roof and on the sides. in one spot, one big limestone stalagmite towered up directly in the middle of the gallery. we did not go to the end of the cave, where ice has never been found. retracing our course past the rock portal to the entrance pit, we descended on the long staircase for some eighty steps more, the amount of ice on the rocks steadily increasing. in places, frost crystals had formed in small quantities on the roof and walls. at the bottom of the pit, another lateral gallery, directly under the upper gallery, opened to the right. entering this, we passed over broken limestone débris, which seemed to overlie a mass of ice. limestone stalactites were noticeable all through this lower cavern, and frost and icicles had sometimes formed over them, in which case the ice stalactite assumed the form of the limestone stalactite. advancing a few meters, we went by, on our right hand, an ice pyramid of a couple of meters in height. just beyond this, the cave turned to the left like the upper cave, and we descended to a level floor of transparent ice, into which we could see some distance. at this spot, numerous icicles, generally of inconsiderable size, hung from the roof and on the sides of the cavern. at the further end of this ice floor or ice lake we reached an ice slope, the _eiswand_, which flowed to the ice floor from the upper cave in several waves. it was some six meters wide and twenty-five meters long; and it was not steep, perhaps fifteen degrees in the steepest portions. on the slope some old, nearly obliterated steps were visible, and at these misura proceeded to cut, and with torch in one hand and axe in the other, gradually worked his way up, until he once more reached the level spot whence we had looked down the ice slope. here he stood waving his torch, a proceeding indeed he did constantly throughout the trip, for he seemed exceedingly proud of the beauties of his cavern. this waving of torches, however, is exceedingly foolish, as their smoke quickly blackens stalactite, and in fact nothing but candles and magnesium wire should be carried for lighting purposes underground. the ice of the ice slope was hard, gray and opaque, quite different from that of the ice lake. the ice floor is formed of new ice, which is gradually refilling the place from which misura said the ice for buda-pest was taken out twenty-five years ago. to prove this assertion, he called my attention to the side of the lake directly opposite the ice slope. at that spot, under the limestone rubbish over which we came, there was an outcrop of perpendicular opaque ice about a meter high. misura said that the workmen began to cut at the ice slope and that they dug out a couple of meters in depth from the ice lake, until they had cut back to where the vertical outcrop was standing. the explanation seemed to be in accord with the facts, and if so, it would go to show that the ice in this cave is of slow formation and great permanency; as seems also proved by the steps on the ice wall, which--we were the first party in the cave in --had remained over from the preceding summer. misura told me he had never seen so much ice nor seen it so hard as during our visit, and he added that there was generally water on the ice lake, and he thought there would be some in two or three weeks more. the greatest quantity of ice in the upper cave was at the head of the ice-slope, and it would seem as though there must be cracks or fissures in the overhead rocks there, through which the water is supplied to feed the ice, not only that of the upper cave, but also the larger portion of that of the lower cave. the heavy winter air would naturally sink down into the entrance pit to the lower cavern, and some of it diverge into the beginning of the upper cavern, which at first is distinctly a down slope. a little beyond the portal at the head of the ice slope, the upper cave is either horizontal or in places slightly ascending. probably this prevents the cold air from entering further, and probably also, the heat of the earth neutralizes the cold air of winter beyond a definite spot. the air in the cave seemed absolutely still throughout; it was also extremely dry, undoubtedly because melting had not yet begun. the icicles evidently were formed by the slow drip freezing as it descended, and there were no perceptible cracks nor fissures in the rocks underneath them. the facts seem to me to prove that neither evaporation nor regelation can be the factors at work in making the ice and we may deduce an important rule therefrom. when a cave is dry, then the air is dry; when a cave is wet, then the atmosphere is damp. in other words, the state of dryness or dampness of glacière atmosphere depends on how much the ice is thawing and parting with its moisture. on our return to the base of the long staircase, and while we ascended it, we had an exquisite moonlight effect, much resembling the one at the schafloch. the frainer eisleithen. about two hours by rail, north of vienna, is the village of schoenwald, to which i journeyed on june the th, . at the railroad station there was a k. k. post omnibus in waiting, which, when it was packed with passengers and luggage, drove over to frain in an hour. the admirable road lies across a rolling plain, until it reaches the brink of the valley of the thaya, to which it descends in long alpine zigzags. on the bluff overlooking the opposite side of the river, there is a fine _schloss_. i secured the seat next to the driver and questioned him about the eisleithen. although he had driven on this road for five years, without visiting the eisleithen, yet he was positive that they were warm in winter, but cold in summer. he said more than once: _desto heisser der sommer, desto mehr das eis_, and in fact was an emphatic exponent of the notions generally held by peasants, which some _savants_ have adopted and tried to expound. at frain, i applied at the little hotel for a guide, and was entrusted to the care of the hotel boots. he was an intelligent, talkative youth, but he insisted also that "the hotter the summer, the more ice there is." however, he was polite, and made up for any shortcomings by always addressing me as _der gnädige herr_. the day was hot, so it took us three-quarters of an hour on foot, along the valley of the thaya, to reach the base of the bluff where the eisleithen are situated, at an altitude of about four hundred meters. the hillside is covered with patches of scrubby forest; and towards the summit, the entire mass of the hill is honey-combed with cracks and the rocks are much broken up. after about ten minutes' ascent up a little path, we came to small holes, from each of which a current of cool air poured out; these holes seemed fairly horizontal, and the temperatures were high enough to prove that there was no ice within. a little further on, we came to a hole or tiny cave among a pile of rocks, where there was a painted sign: _eisgrube_. it went down from the mouth, and i put my hand well in, but, beyond the length of my arm, i could neither see nor measure its shape or depth. the air felt cold, but was nowhere near freezing point; nor was it possible to determine whether there was a draught: it may or may not be a wind cave. not far from this, there were two gullies, each terminating in a small cave. the first gully was planned somewhat like certain traps for wild animals, that is, it narrowed gradually from the entrance, then became covered over; and then dwindled, after some four meters more, into a small descending hole, the end of which we could not reach. but we got in far enough, to come to large chunks or slabs of ice plastered about on the floor and sides. in this cave, which was sheltered against sun and wind, the air, as tested by the smoke of a cigar, was motionless, and the cave seemed unconnected with any air current. the second gully terminated in a somewhat larger cave, whose floor was well below the entrance; no ice was visible, however, although the air was still and the temperature low. this cave may or may not be a glacière; but surely it is not a cold current cave. these frainer eisleithen certainly offer an interesting field to anyone studying subterranean ice, from the fact that there are, in the same rocks, caves without apparent draughts in summer and containing ice, and caves with distinct draughts and no ice. the problem seems more intricate than is usually the case, but the solution is simply that the two classes of caves happen to be found together. the eishÖhle bei roth. the eifel is one of the bleakest districts of central europe, and to one entering it from the vineyards and the well-inhabited basin of the rhine, the contrast is impressive. the railroad rises gradually to a land of comparatively desert appearance, with rocks and trees on the heights and a sparse cultivation in the valleys. but, if the country is unattractive to the agriculturist, it is interesting to the geologist, on account of the great number of extinct volcanoes. almost in the centre of the eifel is the little town of gerollstein, famed for the _gerollsteiner sprudel_, which gives forth an effervescence undreamed of by anyone, who has not visited the birth place of some of these german table waters. about an hour's walk from gerollstein, on the side of a small hill, is situated the little eishöhle bei roth, named after a neighboring village. i went to this place, on the th of june, , with a young boy as guide. the cave is sheltered from the wind by a wood around it, among which are many large trees. it is at the base of a wall of piled up lava, or at least volcanic, rocks which form a sort of cauldron. the entrance is a small tunnel some five meters long, which goes straight down at an angle of about twenty-five degrees and then turns sharply to the left. at the turn, the cave may be perhaps one meter in height. we did not go beyond this spot, where the air was icy and the temperature sub-normal, as the tunnel was blocked up by a large boulder, which had evidently recently fallen from the rocks in front. there was no ice, as far as we went, and the boy said it began three or four meters further in. he told me that there was no ice in the cavern in winter, but admitted that he had not entered it at that season, so that was hearsay. he had heard also that the ice was sometimes taken out for sick people, but otherwise it was not used. it seemed to me that the conditions at roth show that the ice is formed by the cold of winter alone: the cave is well below the entrance; it is the lowest point of the surrounding cauldron of rocks and all the cold air naturally gravitates to it; it is sheltered by rocks and trees from wind or exposure to the rays of the sun; the tunnel faces nearly due north; and the water necessary to supply the ice, easily soaks between the lava blocks. the frauenmauerhÖhle. eisenerz, in eastern tyrol, is a picturesquely situated little town. it is at the bottom of a great valley, with mountains all around it. two of these are bare, gaunt limestone peaks, which are decidedly dolomitic in form and color. the sharpest of these is to the north. it is called the pfaffenstein and is the beginning of the range culminating in the frauenmauer. on a mountain to the east of the town, one sees the iron mines and works, whence the town takes its name "ironore," and whence quantities of iron are taken out every year. the mines are said to have been in operation for over a thousand years, since about a. d. . after the ore is taken from the mine and roughly prepared, it is run down in small cars through a covered way to the railroad station to be shipped; and at certain times there is a seemingly endless procession of these cars, each bearing, besides its load of ore, a miner, with clothes and person entirely begrimed to the yellow-brown color of the iron. as i walked out of the eisenerz railroad station, an old man in tyrolese costume asked me if i wanted a _träger_ and a guide, so, while he was carrying my valise to the hotel, we came to terms. he was one of the patented guides of the district and wore the large badge of the austrian guides. if the size of the badge made the guide, one should be safe with tyrolese, but for difficult excursions, it will not do to trust to a guide simply because he happens to be "patented"; that is, not if one values the safety of one's neck. next morning, july the th, , the old guide arrived betimes at the hotel and roused me by tapping on the wall below my window with his stick. we left at half past five o'clock. my companion, who should have known better, had not breakfasted, so by the time we reached the gsoll alp at a quarter-past seven, he was almost tired out. he wore the regulation black chamois knee breeches and a _gamsbart_ in his hat. he picked many flowers en route, ostensibly because they were pretty; but in reality, i think, because it gave him the opportunity to recover his wind. he told me he was sixty-three years old, and he certainly went up hill with some difficulty, and for the first time in my life, i fairly succeeded in showing a clean pair of heels to a _patentirter führer_ on a mountain side. at one place he found a large snail in the road. this he wrapped up in leaves and placed on a rock, and on our return he picked the leaves and snail up, and rammed the whole bundle into his pocket, informing me that it was excellent _arznei_, although he did not mention for what complaint. [illustration: the frauenmauer and the gsoll alp.] the road led up a wooded valley, in a sort of series of steps, bits of even ground interspersed by steeper ones, with the pfaffenstein-frauenmauer limestone peaks poking up their jagged summits on the left. the sky was clear at starting, except in the west, where clouds were forming, and these gradually overspread the whole sky, and finally turned to rain. just before we reached the gsoll alp, we went by a huge snow avalanche, which had fallen in february and torn a lane clear through the pines, bringing down numbers of them with it. the remains of the avalanche were banked up on the side of the road, which was cut out, and many of the pines were still piled on and in the snow. stopping ten minutes at the alp to allow my guide to recuperate on some bread and milk, we then crossed the pastures and pushed up a rather steep slope by a small path, at one place crossing the remains of another avalanche. we also came near having the attentions of a little bull which was screaming viciously. my guide said it was an extremely disagreeable beast, but he did not think it would attack him, as he always made a point of giving it bread when at the châlet. we reached the entrance of the cave at a quarter-past eight. a man and a boy from eisenerz, who had heard i was going to the cavern and who wished to profit by my guide, caught up with us here. they were much disappointed when i told them i should visit only the _eiskammer_. they went into the cave at the same time that we did, and eventually we left them pushing up one of the side chambers, with only one torch in their possession. my guide said he thought they were risking their lives, as there were many holes they might fall into, besides the probability of their finding themselves in total darkness. he told me that once, while in the cavern, he heard distant yells, and, going up the gallery whence they proceeded, found a man half dead, who said he had tried to come through the mountain by himself, had broken his lantern and had remained in the darkness an indefinite number of hours; a situation, the horror of which could not be realized by anyone who has not been underground without a light and felt the absolute blackness of a cavern. the frauenmauer is a limestone peak, meters in height, one of several forming a horseshoe round the gsoll alp. it presents on that side a sheer wall of rock, in which there are two holes close together, at an altitude of meters. these are the lower openings of the frauenmauerhöhle, of which the higher and biggest one is used for an entrance. they are some thirty or forty meters from the base of the rock wall, and a flight of wooden steps leads up to the entrance opening, which is narrow and high. at the top of the steps, we stood in the mouth of the cave; and, going in four or five meters, saw the other opening to the left, below us. about five meters further, there was one small lump of ice, as big as a pumpkin, lying on the ground, but this may have been carried there from within. the cavern went nearly straight for some twenty-five meters from the entrance, rising all the time gently. then came a steep little drop, of some four or five meters, in the rock floor, and here a small wooden staircase was placed. a gallery opened to the right and this was the cavern proper, which leads through the mountain. it rose considerably and contained no ice as far as we went, which was for some distance. the walking was bad, as the floor was covered with _geröll_, that is broken detritus. [illustration: in the frauenmauerhÖhle. from a photograph by a. kurka. ] returning and continuing towards the freezing chamber, the floor of the cavern began to rise once more, continuing for some forty-five meters to its highest point, which is lower, however, than the top of the entrance, an important fact to notice. for, although the floor of the cave is considerably higher, at a distance of seventy meters within, than the level of the bottom of the entrance; still, that highest spot is below the level of the top of the entrance. this fact, and also the size of the gallery, unquestionably explains why the cold air can get in as far as it does. at this highest spot we found a considerable mass of ice, a couple of cartloads in bulk perhaps, which the guide said would melt away later in the summer. this was, perhaps, the remains of a fallen stalactite. this mass of ice is an interesting point in connection with the frauenmauerhöhle, for it shows that ice in a cave sometimes forms, even if in small quantities, above the level of the base of the entrance. there seems no reason why it should not do so, provided there is the necessary water supply. such ice would, however, suffer more, as soon as the outside air was over freezing point, than would ice which was below the level of the entrance. it would probably disappear early in the year, unless the cave were in a latitude or at an altitude where snow remained in the open during most of the year. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of the frauenmauerhöhle.] from this highest point, the cave turns somewhat to the left, and the floor begins to slope downward, sinking gradually to some six meters below the level of the entrance. ten meters or so from the highest point, we began to find icicles and fissure columns, and about twenty meters further, we reached an almost level ice floor, stretching across the entire width of the cave--some seven meters--and extending about fifty meters more to the end of the cave. in several places there was much frozen rime on the rock walls. there were also a number of columns and icicles, though none of any special beauty. i broke a piece off one of them, and the ice was transparent and free from prisms, showing that this column was probably of fairly recent origin. letting a bit melt in my mouth, the water tasted pure and sweet. [illustration: ice stalactite, frauenmauerhÖhle. from a photograph by a. kurka. ] in two places, there were _abgrunds_, that is, holes in the ice. one of these was a wide, deep hole on the left side of the cave, between the rock and the ice floor. the other was a great hole in the ice floor itself. as the edges of both holes sloped sharply, it was impossible to get near enough to look into either, but i threw in lumps of ice, and from the sound should judge that the holes were about three meters deep. the hole in the ice floor seemed to be cut by drip, and i think they both carried off the drainage. the ice floor was sloppy and thawing rapidly. at the furthest point we reached, within about fifteen meters from the end of the ice chamber, we were stopped by an accumulation of water lying on the ice. i poked into it with my ice axe and found it about twenty centimeters in depth. there was a crust of ice on top in places. the lake was cold, but i am sure the water was not freezing, as i held my hand in it at least a minute without pain. the guide assured me that in two weeks or so the lake would be completely frozen, provided there was some fine, warm weather; but, if there was rain, he said that it would not freeze. by this statement, he unintentionally explained, what he asserted was true, namely, that the cave froze harder in august than in july. the explanation of course is, that in fine, dry weather, water does not run into the cavern, and then the lake gradually drains off, leaving the ice floor free from water; and this the natives interpret to mean that the water has frozen up. at the edge of the lake there was a fissure in the left hand rock wall, in which my companion assured me that a column would shortly form. i absolutely doubt this statement, as, if it were true, it would be contrary to everything i have seen; still, i wish i could have returned in august, to verify the matter. i poked my torch up the fissure, also felt in with my hand. it was cold, and on the rocks inside there was much hoar frost, but i could neither see nor feel any ice mass, nor am i sure how far the fissure extended. the air was still, damp and over freezing point throughout the _eiskammer_, and all the signs showed that the cave was in a state of thaw. although the rocks are limestone and scarcely blackened by smoke anywhere, yet as our torches did not give much light, the color impression was black and gray, like the schafloch. at the hotel the landlord confirmed in every particular the story of the cave freezing hardest in august or september. he had never been there himself, but stated that everyone said the same thing, and that many people had "broken their heads" trying to account for it. at eight o'clock in the evening, my guide came to let me know that the man and boy, whom we left trying to penetrate the cave, had just turned up after making all their relatives extremely anxious. they were nearly lost, and had in general an extremely uncomfortable time. it is scarcely to be wondered at that accidents occur in caves and on mountains when people, with neither knowledge nor proper preparation, go wandering off by themselves into the unknown.[ ] [ ] on the evening of june th, , i met at hieflau three viennese tourists who had come that day through the frauenmauer. they found the lake on the ice floor of the _eiskammer_, just as i had in . they said also, moreover, that they found ice and icicles or ice columns in the main cave; unfortunately, they did not explain clearly in what part. the milchhÄuser of seelisberg. the summer of , will long be remembered by alpine climbers for the pitiless rain storm, which kept coming steadily down during the vacation months. it was in the midst of this that i arrived at trieb, on the lake of lucerne, on the th of august, to see whether i could find the windholes which were reported near seelisberg. at the landing place i found herr j. m. ziegler, the owner of the hotel bellevue at seelisberg, who promptly secured a nice, blond bearded young fellow, a relative of his and his _knecht_, as a guide. it was pouring when we started, a proceeding which kept on during our entire excursion. we tramped up a narrow road, paved with great stones in the old swiss fashion, and, as my guide truly said, awfully steep for horses. half an hour from the boat landing, took us to the first milkhouse, which belonged to herr ziegler. it was in a small patch of woods, and was placed against a cliff, where rocks had fallen down and formed a talus of broken detritus. the side walls of the house were built out from the cliff and roofed over, and the front wall had a doorway closed with a wooden door. at the back the detritus or _geröll_ was built into a vertical, unplastered wall between most of the interstices of which, cool air came forth. several of these interstices were fairly large holes of uncertain depth. it was a cool day and the air currents were only a little cooler than the temperature outside. another half an hour of uphill walking, partly on roads and partly over soaking meadows, took us to seelisberg, where we stopped at the house of the owner of the second milkhouse, to get the key. the owner could not go with us because he had damaged his foot, by wearing great wooden shoes or _sabots_ armed with enormous spikes, while cutting grass on steep slopes. he was hospitable enough: unlike his dog, who was exceedingly anxious to attack us. the owner said--in the intervals of the dog's howls--that ice formed during the winter in the rear wall of his milkhouse and remained until about june. the milkhouse was in a little patch of woods against a small cliff, at the bottom of which were broken rocks. we had some difficulty in getting in, working for at least ten minutes at the lock, while drops of rain-water would occasionally drip into our coat collars. just as i had given up hope, my companion succeeded in getting the key to turn. there were several pans, full of milk, placed to cool, and several barrels of potatoes; and, as at the first milkhouse, we found that the rear wall consisted simply of heaped up detritus built into a vertical position. gentle air currents flowed from several large holes and from the cracks between the stones. from here we went by a path through woods and over meadows down to the lake, coming to the shore some distance to the west of the steamboat landing. everything was soaking wet, and as we proceeded, i felt my clothes getting wetter and my shoes absorbing water like sponges until, when we came to an overflowing brook, wading through seemed rather pleasant. there is one advantage of getting thoroughly wet feet in the mountains: it makes crossing streams so much easier, as one does not delay, but simply steps right in. the lower milkhouse was on the shore of the lake, near the house of a fisherman, whose wife opened the door for us. there was some milk in pans and several barrels of wine; and on a board were a number of _ferras_ from the lake; the result of two days' catching in nets. this was the largest of the three milkhouses; although it did not have as many big holes in the rock wall as the others, but only the interstices between the blocks of rock, whence we could feel cool air flowing out. the woman said that the ice melted away by april or may, but that in winter the wine barrels were all covered with frost. she also said that the air coming from the clefts in summer was colder when the weather was warm, than when it was rainy. doubtless the temperature of the draughts remains the same during the summer, but the air feels cooler to the hand when the outside air is hot. a walk of another half hour, through more soaking wet grass, brought us back to the steamboat landing at trieb, where i touched my guide's heart with the gift of a five franc piece, and had a talk with herr ziegler. he said that there were a number of places in the neighborhood whence cold air came forth during the summer from cracks in the rocks: that there were also other milkhouses, notably one at tell's platte, on the lake: and that the milkhouses were not generally used in winter, when the doors were left open, to allow the cold air to penetrate as much as possible through the rocks behind. during the winter the draughts were reversed, and poured in instead of out of the openings, and herr ziegler thought that at that time the interior of the rock cracks became chilled, and that possibly ice formed in them which helped to chill the summer currents, when the draughts poured out from the holes. the glaciÈre de la genolliÈre. on tuesday, the th of august, , a cool and rainy day, i left geneva and went by train to nyon, where i found at the station a little victoria, in which i drove up to saint-cergues. the road lay across the plain to the base of the slopes of the jura, and then up these in long zigzags; it was admirably built and on the hill slopes passed the whole way through a beautiful thick forest, principally beeches and birches. at saint-cergues, i went to the pension capt, where the landlady soon found a guide in the shape of the gendarme of the district, a right good fellow, amy aimée turrian by name. he was in uniform, with an army revolver in a holster at his belt. we then drove about half an hour beyond saint-cergues, the road rising but little, and the thick forest giving place to a more open wood of evergreens, with patches of pasturage. as a forest sanitarium, saint-cergues seems unsurpassed in the whole of europe. the carriage turned up a little country road, which soon became too rough for driving, so we proceeded on foot for about another half hour, through pine woods and pastures, to the glacière. turrian enlivened the way with an account of his life as a gendarme, of the long solitary six hour patrols in the woods in winter, and of how he lay in ambush for poachers. he said he would not take long to fire on anyone resisting arrest, as that was _sérieux_. the glacière is in the middle of a pasture, with several pine trees overhanging it. it is surrounded by a wall, built to prevent the cows from falling in. there are two pits, side by side and about three meters apart: they are some thirteen meters in depth, with a width of five or six meters. they open into one another at the bottom; the rock separating them, forming a natural bridge overhead. one of the pits is vertical on all sides. the other is vertical all around, except on the side furthest away from the natural bridge. here the side of the pit is in the shape, so usual in glacières, of a steep slope. down this slope we descended. it was slippery and muddy, owing to the recent heavy rains, and my ice axe proved invaluable and probably saved me some unpleasant falls. under the bridge, the floor was covered with a mass of shattered limestone debris, among which there was neither ice nor snow; both of which my guide said he had found in abundance the preceding june. a little limestone cavern opened on one side below the bridge. a great, flat limestone slab formed a natural lintel, and, lighting our candles, we stooped down and passed under it into the cave, which was about the size of a room and in which we could just stand up. at the entrance and over most of the floor there was ice, in one place thirty or forty centimeters in depth, as i could see where a drip from the roof had cut a hole. there were no signs of icicles or columns. my guide said he had never penetrated into this chamber, which he thought, on his earlier visit, was blocked with ice and snow. i did not see any limestone stalactites anywhere, and i am inclined to think that the low temperatures of glacières have a tendency to prevent their formation. after our visit, we went to the châlet de la genollière close by, where there were some thirty cows and calves. the intelligent _berger_ or manager said that most of the ice from the glacière was used for butter making during the hot weather; and that between the inroads thus made upon it and from other causes, the ice disappeared every year before autumn, but that it formed afresh every winter; pretty good evidence to show that the ice in this cave has nothing to do with a glacial period. he also stated that when he first entered the inner chamber in the spring there were four ice columns there. the glacière de la genollière is a clear exemplification of the theory that the cold of winter is the sole cause for the ice. the whole glacière is rather small and is fairly well protected against wind. although snow cannot fall directly under the rock arch, yet i should imagine it drifts under, or after melting, runs in and refreezes. to the inner cave snow, as snow, could hardly reach; and the cavern is probably filled, like most cave glacières, from frozen drip. the inner cave is, therefore, a true cave glacière, while the outer pits and the bridge are something between a gorge and a cave. la genollière should, i think, be visited about the end of june, when the ice formations are certainly larger and more interesting than in august. the friedrichsteiner or gottscheer eishÖhle. a little to the east of, and in about the same latitude as trieste, is the small town of gottschee, now reached by a branch railroad from laibach. gottschee is a german settlement almost in the centre of the district known as the duchy of krain, austria, which is mainly inhabited in the north by slavonians and in the south by croatians. gottschee lies directly at the western base of the friedrichsteiner gebirge, one of whose peaks is the burgernock. on the eastern slopes of this mountain is situated the friedrichsteiner or gottscheer eishöhle, at an altitude of about nine hundred meters. on the th of june, , i left gottschee at half past six o'clock in the morning with stefan klenka, a nice little man. i had asked to have him come at six o'clock, but he did not turn up and i had to send for him. his excuse was, that tourists always ordered him for six o'clock, but when the time came, they were still in bed. he had taken a german officer and his wife to the cave the year before, and after keeping him waiting three hours, they started at nine o'clock. the result was that they did not get to the cave until two o'clock, and returned to gottschee just at nightfall. we reached the cave at half past eight o'clock. the steep and rough path went uphill through a fine forest, which my guide said was _urwald_, _i. e._, primeval forest; and there were certainly some big trees and many fallen ones, and much underbrush. he assured me that bears were still plentiful in the neighborhood, and that prince auersperg, who owns the shooting, does not allow them to be killed, preferring to pay for any damage they may cause to the peasants' fields or for any cattle they may dine on, rather than to have these interesting animals exterminated from his woods. he also said that there was a two meter snowfall in gottschee in winter: a sufficient quantity to account for the glacières. at one place on the road we stopped before a small crack in the rocks, and klenka dropped in some small stones, which we could hear strike two or three times a long distance below. there is surely an unexplored cavern at this spot. the friedrichsteiner eishöhle is a large pit cave, well lighted by daylight. it is sheltered from any winds by the great trees which grow all around it and even over the rock roof. a long, steep slope leads straight into the pit and from the top the ice floor is in full sight. on both sides of the slope the rocks are almost sheer. over the bottom of the slope the rock roof projects at a great height. the sides of the cave rise perpendicularly at least forty meters, and in fact, the cave suggests an unfinished tunnel set on end. some years ago, the _deutschen und oesterreichischen alpen verein_ built a wooden staircase, in a series of zigzags, on the slope. this staircase should have been cleared off earlier in the year, but, of course, the matter was neglected. down these steps we descended until they became covered with snow, and lower down with hard ice. all this was winter's snow which fell directly on to the slope and gradually melted and froze again, so this was really a miniature glacier. it was not subterranean ice at all. we cut down the snow, but had to stop when we came to the ice, as it would have involved a couple of hours at least of the hardest kind of step cutting; and this my guide did not care to undertake, especially as he was nearly killed on this slope the week before. he had reached, with some tourists from trieste, a place above that where we stopped, when he slipped and fell down the slope, shooting clear across the cave, where he remained until ropes were procured, and he was dragged out. he afterwards showed me the numerous cuts and bruises he had received on his perilous glissade. we had to stop also for another reason. i had unwisely brought as wrap, a thick overcoat reaching to the knees, and this was such an impediment on the icy staircase, that i took it off, and soon began to feel long shivers creeping down my spine. this question of extra clothing for glacière exploration is hard to arrange. one must guard against most trying changes of temperature. for, on entering a big glacière, the heat of a july day without, will, at a distance of only a few meters, give place to the cold of a january day within, and nothing could be better devised than a big glacière to lay the seeds of rheumatism. it is difficult to plan a garb suitable to meet all the varying conditions, but the dress must be cool and warm, and light enough to permit free motion. the clothes i have found most practical are a thin waistcoat and thick trousers, and two short sack coats, one of them a heavy winter one. the coats should button at the throat, and it is well to place straps round the bottom of the trousers. thick kid gloves should always be worn in caves, to save cutting the hands on rocks or ice in the darkness, and hobnails may prevent some unpleasant slips. from the point where we stopped, some ten meters away from the ice floor, the largest portion of the cave was visible. the finest object was a big ice curtain or _vorhang_, as my guide called it, which, from a height of five or six meters, flowed down from fissures to the ice floor, and which covered the rocks on the eastern side. under one point of this curtain, klenka said that there was a deep hole in the ice. smaller fissure columns also streamed from the rear wall to the ice floor. the ice floor itself was flat, of an ochre greenish tinge, and was covered with broken ice fragments. we could not see the western portion of the cavern, as the rocks jutted out in a sort of corner. klenka said that there were several small pyramids there; a large one which he spoke of as the _altar_; and a small ice slope, plastered on the side rocks. the sides of the cave were of a dark gray limestone rock, and from the top of the slope they assumed a decidedly bluish tone, and i am inclined to think that there was already--we were there from eight-thirty a. m. until ten a. m.--a faint mist in the cavern. this is the most interesting phenomenon connected with the friedrichsteiner eishöhle. the cavern faces due south, and about midday, in clear weather, the sun shines directly into it, causing a mist or cloud to form in the cave on warm days; a mute witness that evaporation is connected with the melting, not with the forming, of the ice. the air at every point seemed still. on my return to gottschee, i called on one of the professors of the k. k. gymnasium, and he told me many interesting facts about the surrounding country. among other things he said that no traces of a glacial period or indeed of glaciers were found in the krain; and as this district is particularly rich in glacières, this fact is a strong proof against the glacial period theory. he assured me also that many bears still existed in the neighborhood; that one family was known to inhabit the woods round the friedrichsteiner eishöhle, and that he had often seen bear tracks on his own shooting, some ten kilometers to the south. the suchenreuther eisloch. on the th of june, , i left gottschee at six-thirty a. m. in an _einspänner_, and drove thirteen kilometers southward, over a good road, albeit hilly in places, to mrauen, which we reached in about two hours. the weather was exceedingly hot. i took klenka along, as he spoke german, and he entertained me on the drive by telling me that there were many poisonous snakes in the country, of which the _kreuzotters_ or vipers were the worst, and that three or four persons were bitten every year. mrauen is in croatia, and i could see a slight difference in the people and their dress from those of gottschee. from mrauen, the landlord of the _gasthaus post_, josef sirar, led us to the grosses eisloch. this is sometimes spoken of as the eisloch bei skrill, but as it lies in a patch of woods below the village of suchenreuth, the suchenreuther eisloch seems the correct name. at least that was what sirar called it. it took us about an hour on foot from mrauen to get into the woods. on the way we met two guards in uniform, carrying männlicher carbines with fixed bayonets, and it was agreeable to feel that the strong arm of the austrian government extended over this semi-wild land. in the woods, following sirar's able guidance, we took a short cut--always a mistake--and were lost temporarily in a maze of bushes and brambles, in which i thought of the _kreuzotters_. after that, sirar at first could not find the cave and had to hunt around for it, while i sat on a stone and waited impatiently. at the cave a rather steep slope of wet mud, covered with dead leaves, led down through a rock arch. sirar had to cut several steps in the mud with his hatchet, or we should probably have sat down suddenly. the archway opened into a moderately large cavern, which was about twenty meters deep, almost round and some fifteen meters in diameter. the slope continued right across the cave, and on some parts of it were logs of wood and much débris. on the wall hung a few limestone stalactites. in the roof of the cave was a great hole, and under this was a big cone of old winter snow, which had become icy in its consistency, and on which there was much dirt and many leaves. the temperature in the cave was several degrees above freezing point, and there was no ice hanging anywhere. sirar said that when the weather got hotter, the ice would come; but as he said also, that he had been only once before in the cave, some ten years ago, his opinion was not worth much. both men said that the preceding winter was unusually warm. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of the suchenreuther eisloch.] the nixloch. near hallthurm in bavaria, a railroad station between reichenhall and berchtesgaden, is a well known congeries of windholes, called the nixloch. i visited it on friday, july the d, , with a railroad employee, whom i found at the peasants' _gasthaus_. the nixloch is ten minutes distant in the forest, on the slopes of the untersberg. it is among a mass of big limestone blocks, and close by are the remains of the walls of an old castle or fortification. the nixloch descends from the entrance for about two meters nearly sheer, and there is just room to get through. as i sat within the outside edge of the mouth of the cave, the smoke of my cigar was slowly carried downward into it. dropping down through the hole, we found ourselves in a small cavern formed of rough limestone blocks overhead and underfoot. it is possible to go still further down and my companion said that formerly it was possible to go through the cave and come out at a lower opening; this exit, however, was destroyed when the railroad was built. the draught, as tested by the flame of a candle, was still drawing in some seven or eight meters from the entrance. there is a second cavity immediately next to the entrance, and at the bottom of these holes, the inward draught was so violent as to blow the candle out. the thermometer outside in the shade was °c.; inside the cave, where the draught was still perceptible, it was about °c. within the cave i noticed two large, dark brown spiders. on returning to the _gasthaus_, i had a talk with some peasants who were dining there, and they told me that it was warm in winter in the nixloch, and that ice never formed there. the dornburg. if one draws a line northeast from coblentz and another northwest from frankfort-on-the-main, they will intersect nearly at the dornburg. the railroad from frankfort goes, via limburg and hadamar, to frickhofen and wilsenroth, from either of which villages the ice formations of the dornburg are easily reached on foot in half an hour. i arrived at wilsenroth on the th of july, , and soon found an old forester, who said he had lived in the neighborhood for over fifty years, to show me the way. the dornburg is a low hill, perhaps a hundred meters high and a kilometer long. it is basaltic and covered with sparse woods. the forester said that on top were the remains of the foundations of an old castle, and that this was possibly the origin of the name dornburg. we circled round the eastern base of the hill for some ten minutes, when we came to a little depression, filled with basalt debris, among which were several small holes, out of which came currents of cool air. ten minutes further in the woods, we arrived at the _dornburg restauration_ and then almost immediately at the glacière. it is at the bottom of a talus of broken basaltic rocks and has been much affected by the agency of man. in it are two _eislöcher_ or _stollen_, as the forester called them. these are little artificial pits or cellars, dug into the talus. they are side by side, opening about southeast, and each is about one and a half meters wide, three meters long, and two meters high. the sides are built up with wooden posts and overhead is a thick roof of logs strewn with dirt. the day was cool and at the mouth of each _eisloch_, a faint outward current of air was discernible at nine-thirty a. m. i could not find any currents coming into the _eislöcher_. inside it was cold and damp, and evidently thawing. there was a good heap of ice in each _eisloch_; it was clear, and i could detect no trace of prisms. by much questioning, i dug out something of the history of these _stollen_ from the forester. formerly the ice was found at this spot, among the boulders at the base of the slope. but the people gradually took many of these basaltic blocks away, to break up for road making, and then the ice diminished. about , a brewery, since burnt, was built at the dornburg and the brewer had these _stollen_ built, a sort of semi-natural, semi-artificial ice house. every winter, the present owner of the _stollen_ throws a quantity of snow into them, and this helps materially in forming the mass of ice. just below the restaurant there is a spring, which was said to be extremely cold, but there was nothing icy nor apparently unusual about it. under the restaurant itself is an interesting cellar. it was closed by wooden doors. first there was a passage way which turned steadily to the right, and which we descended by some ten steps. this was about two meters wide and was full of beer bottles and vegetables. on the left of the passage was a large double chamber where meat is kept. at eleven-thirty a. m. a faint draught blew down the passage and into the hall, the outside door being then open. the double hall was perhaps six meters each way, and i could detect no air currents coming into it at any place, except from the passage way. both passage and halls were, as far as i could see, entirely built over with masonry. there was no ice and the temperature was some ° or ° above freezing point. the daughter of the proprietor of the restaurant said that ice began to form in the cellar in february and that it lasted generally until october; but that this year it was destroyed early because the masonry was repaired, although it was still possible to skate in the cellar as late as march. in the beginning of winter the cellar was warm, and as she expressed it, _der keller schwitzt dann_, which i suppose means that the walls are damp. she also said that it was a _naturlicher keller_, and i am inclined to think that it was a natural glacière, converted into a cellar. this visit to the dornburg gave me many new ideas about classifying glacières, especially in relation to the movements of air. i was long puzzled by the german terms, _eishöhlen_ and _windröhren_; and it suddenly struck me, at the dornburg, that this terminology is incorrect, when used as a classification of glacières. the presence or absence of strong, apparent draughts, cannot be considered as a test as to whether a place is or is not a glacière; the presence of ice, for at least part of the year, alone makes a glacière, and this it does whether there are or are not draughts. it seems to me more than ever clear, however, that it all depends on the movements of air, as to whether ice forms in a cave. if the movements of air take the cold air of winter into a cave, then and then only--provided there is also a water supply--do we have ice. i am now inclined to think that caves, as far as their temperatures are concerned, should be classified into caves containing ice, cold caves, ordinary normal caves, and hot caves, without reference to the movements of air. the glaciÈre de saint-georges. from rolle, on the north shore of the lake of geneva; an excellent carriage road leads in two hours and a half to saint-georges in the jura. at first the way goes steeply uphill and passes through many vineyards, and afterwards it crosses level fields to gimel, then rises through woods to saint-georges. on arriving there on the afternoon of august d, , i found the street filled with evergreens, and long benches and tables; the débris of a _fête de tir_, which had lasted for two days, with dancing and banquets and, i suspect, much _vin du pays_. when i got down stairs at six o'clock next morning, all the people of the inn were sound asleep recovering from the effects of the _fête_, and instead of their calling me, i had to call them. finally i succeeded in getting breakfast and then started in company with a first rate fellow, named aymon Émery. [illustration: la glaciÈre de saint-georges. from a photograph by e. truand. ] we walked up through woods, in about an hour and a half, to the glacière de saint-georges, which lies at an altitude of meters in the midst of the forest. there are two holes close together. one of these descends vertically and is partly roofed over with logs on which is rigged a pulley. Émery, who was the _entrepreneur_ of the glacière, which means that he attended to getting out the ice, told me that they pulled the ice up through this vertical hole, making a noose with a rope round each block. the other and shallower opening ended in a rock floor, which was reached by a short ladder. to the right was an arch, under which the rock terminated as a floor and descended vertically, forming the wall of the cave. on this wall two ladders, spliced at the end into one long ladder, were placed in a nearly vertical position. i tied the end of my rope round my waist, and got a workman, who had come to cut ice, to pay out the rope to me, while i went down. the cave is rather long and narrow, perhaps twenty-five meters by twelve meters, and the limestone roof forms an arched descending curve overhead. i could not see any limestone stalactites; neither were there any ice stalactites or stalagmites in the cave, but a good part of the wall, against which the long ladder was placed, was covered by an ice curtain. it was thin and had evidently been damaged by the ice cutters or i think it would have covered the entire lower portion of the wall. the base of the long ladder rested on an ice floor which filled the bottom of the cave, and which would probably have been level if it had not been cut out here and there in places, leaving many holes. a good many broken ice fragments lay on the floor and in some of the holes were pools of water. some of the floor ice was exceedingly prismatic in character, and i was able to flake it off or break it easily with my hands into prisms. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of the glacière de saint-georges.] under the vertical shaft, which is at one end of the cave, was a mass of winter's snow which had fallen through the opening. under this snow was a deep hole, which i believe was the drain hole of the glacière before the ice floor was cut away to a level below its mouth. into this hole i threw lumps of ice and heard them go bumping down for three or four seconds. the atmosphere was not uncomfortable, although the temperature was about ° c. the air did not feel damp, and seemed almost still, but standing on the ice floor nearly under the vertical hole, i found that the smoke from my cigar ascended rapidly, and it seemed as if there were a rising air current, which sucked up the smoke. saint-georges is a fine cavern and well worth visiting. Émery said that the ice was not cut out for eight years preceding the summer of , and that for several years it was not possible to go down at all, as there were no ladders, until he put in the two we utilized.[ ] all the natives of saint-georges believed that the ice was a summer formation and that it was warm in the cave in winter. [ ] in the illustration of the glacière de saint-georges, the opening to the left is the vertical pit, through which the ice is taken out: underneath it, is the heap of winter snow. the man in the upper part of the picture is standing on the rock shelf at the base of the upper ladder and at the top of the lower ladder. to the right of the lower ladder near the bottom, a bit of the ice curtain is visible. the glaciÈre du prÉ de saint-livres. from the glacière de saint-georges, Émery and i pushed on through the woods to the pré de saint-livres. in several places we came on the tracks of deer, and my guide told me he had killed eleven roe during the last hunting season. he said also that an attempt is being made to introduce the red deer into the jura, and that the experiment seemed to be meeting with success. we kept to the crest of the ridge along wood paths, and, as the day was fortunately cool and cloudy, we were able to walk fast and reached the pré de saint-livres in two hours. at a spot called la foiraudaz we met the workmen coming down with a cartload of ice, which they were taking to bière. some of this ice was extremely prismatic. the pré de saint-livres is a big mountain pasture or meadow, surrounded with hills covered with pine trees. in the middle of it is the châlet de saint-livres, round which numerous cows and calves were congregated and where a small shepherd gave us some milk. the châlet is not one of the old picturesque swiss châlets with great stones on the roof to keep it from being blown away by the wind, but a strongly built single storied stone structure, which looks extremely modern among the green hills. the glacière lies close to the châlet, on the southern side of the meadows, just on the edge of the woods, and is surrounded with trees. it is at an altitude of meters and faces nearly due north. to prevent the cattle from falling in, it is enclosed with a stone wall, except in front, where there is a fence formed of an abattis of pine trees. the cave belongs to the pit variety, and the pit is a big one. as you stand at the top, you can look down to the end of the glacière. the rocks are vertical all round the pit, and in front there is a small rock shelf, one-third of the way down, which divides the rock wall into two long drops. against each of these was a rickety ladder, so we fixed the end of my rope to the pine trees of the fence, and hung on to it while we climbed down. the base of the lower and longer ladder rested on a mass of snow. this was the beginning of a long snow slope which gradually turned to ice and filled the cave. the cave itself, measuring along the snow slope, is some forty meters long and some ten to fifteen meters wide, and is entirely lighted by daylight. the snow and ice slope fell in a series of small waves, and the upper portion was rather dirty. on the right hand the workmen had fixed a rope as a handrail, and all the way down had cut a staircase in the ice, so that the descent was not difficult. some of the ice was sloppy. the ice mass did not abut entirely against the end of the cave, but left an open space between the ice and the rock, some three or four meters wide and some four or five meters deep. here the workmen had been getting their ice, and had cut into the ice mass for several meters, forming a little tunnel. there were no ice cones nor stalactites, neither did i see any limestone stalactites. much of the ice was prismatic; in fact, together with that at saint-georges, it was the most strongly prismatic i have seen. i can perhaps best describe it, by saying that it was brittle in texture, as i could break up small lumps in my hands. there was more prismatic ice at saint-livres, however, than at saint-georges. the air in the cave was still and decidedly damp; and the temperature was several degrees above freezing point. the day, however, was almost windless, and i would not assert that movements of air, due to the wind, might not sometimes take place in the pit. the glacière du pré de saint-livres is one of those caves which may be looked on as a transitional form between gorges containing ice and caves containing ice. the winter snow falls into the mouth of the pit, and is the chief foundation of the ice mass. it would be interesting to make a series of observations in this cave to see whether there was anything like glacier motion. Émery, of his own accord, expressed the opinion that much of the ice here was due to the winter snows; in fact, he thought that it was all due to it, and that it gradually descended into the cave and turned, little by little, into ice. he told me that some years ago a cow was found by the workmen, frozen into the ice, at a depth of four meters; the flesh was perfectly preserved, and was eaten. i asked him if he had ever seen insects in either cave, and he said he had not. from the glacière we walked back to the village of saint-georges. on asking my guide how much i owed him, he said he received four francs for a _journée_, so i gave him six francs, and we parted the best of friends. glacier ice cave in the fee glacier. during a rather protracted stay at saas-fee in switzerland, i visited the glacier ice cave of the fee glacier on the th and th of august, , both cool and rainy days. it is about half an hour's walk from the hotel to the ice cave, which is in the snout of the fee glacier, below the eggfluh. a considerable stream issued from the cave. on nearing the opening, a strong cold air current poured out above the stream. at the front edge of the ice, the height of the ice roof in the centre was perhaps twelve meters and the width fifteen meters. around the edge, the roof formed an almost perfect curve. the ice walls contracted in a regular manner within, and the cave became narrower and lower, and suggested an enormous funnel cut in half, into which you looked from the larger end. the cave also grew gradually darker, and the darkness prevented seeing further than to a depth of some fifteen meters. in the ice walls, just inside the entrance, were several crevasses, of the ordinary blue-green color. they followed nearly the same curve as the roof, but did not go through to the outside. there were no icicles. the ice was faintly stratified in places, and at the outer edge was brittle. it did not break into the long narrow prisms of the ice at saint-georges and the pré de saint-livres, but rather into small lumps with facets, of all sorts of shapes. it was evidently unsafe to penetrate under the ice roof, for while i stood in front of the cave, a large lump broke off from the roof and fell with a clatter among a lot of other ice fragments already on the moraine floor. in two places there was a steady rain of drops from the roof, showing that the ice was melting. this is perhaps the glacier cave in switzerland which is easiest to visit, and my inspection intensified my belief in what i consider the correct explanation of some of the phenomena in glacières. the suggestion was that as soon as the temperature gets above freezing point in a glacier ice cave, the only process is that of destruction of the ice, which seems to be also the case with glacières. la grand cave de montarquis. my brother and i left cluses, in savoie, a railroad station on the line between geneva and chamonix, at two o'clock on the afternoon of the d of august, , and drove up in two hours and a half to pralong du reposoir, a distance of eleven kilometers. the road is a _route nationale_, fine and broad, with parapets in many places. after passing scionzier, it mounts gradually, passing through a tremendous wild gorge, cut by the waters and heavily clad with firs. we reached pralong at four-thirty, and stopped at a primitive inn, still in process of construction, and tenanted only by blue-bloused peasants, who, as it was sunday night, sat up late, drinking and making a heathenish noise they mistook for singing. i talked to some of these men, and they all insisted that there was no ice at the grand cave in winter, but that it came in summer. _plus il fait chaud, plus ça gêle_, they said. one man explained the formation of the ice in an original way, and with an intelligence far above that of the average peasant. he considered that it was due to air currents, and thought that in winter the snow stopped up the holes in the rocks, through which the currents came; but that when the snow melted, the draughts could work, and that then they formed the ice. the weather was abominable next morning, the clouds lying along and dripping into the valley; but the inn was so awful that we decided to try to reach the cave. we had a nice little blue-bloused peasant for a guide, sylvain jean cotterlaz by name. we went first for about an hour on foot towards le grand bornant on a fair road, to an alp called la salle. this was surrounded by a herd of cows, some of whom seemed interested in our party. it now began to rain fiercely, and except for my brother's perseverance, i should certainly have given in. a fair path led up steep grass slopes into the clouds covering the mont bargy. each of us had his umbrella raised, and the ascent was slippery and uninspiring. an hour took us to two deserted huts, the alpe montarquis, and half an hour beyond, we came to the caves; by which time we were thoroughly soaked. the caves are on mont bargy, at the base of a limestone precipice, which, i think, faces nearly north. there are three caves close together. the lowest, or petite cave de montarquis, cotterlaz said is also called la cave des faux-monayeurs; as according to a, probably untrue, tradition, it was once used by counterfeiters. above this is a small rock pocket, accessible down an easy slope. we went in and found that there was no ice and indeed scarcely any water in it. the grand--not grande--cave is a little higher up, and as we came to it, several sheep, which had taken refuge in the mouth from the storm, hastily skipped away, evidently distrusting our intentions. the altitude of the cave is said to be meters. the entrance must face about north east; it is elliptical in shape, about fifteen meters wide, and six meters high, and is badly sheltered against the wind. the cave is of moderate size, about sixty meters in length and forty-five meters in width, and the average height of the roof is not over four or five meters. a gentle slope leads downwards. many blocks of rock in the front part had bits of moss growing on them, and some of the mud there was of a dull purple color, as if some dark madder was mixed with it. there was a red streak in the right hand wall, probably caused by iron. i observed no limestone stalactites nor stalagmites in the cave, the main body of which was well lighted throughout by daylight. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of grand cave de montarquis.] the ice was in the shape of a nearly level floor, about twelve meters long and eight meters wide: the shape was irregular, and the ice so smooth that it was hard to stand up. the rocks in the rear overhung the ice floor at one spot; and here, there streamed from a fissure to the ice floor an ice column, some three meters high, whose base was fully two meters distant from the rock wall. near this column was a tiny ice cone, which evidently had been bigger. cotterlaz seemed impressed with the fact that there was only one column in the cave, as he said that in june, there would have been many columns and a larger and deeper ice floor. the ice was sloppy in places, with several small hollows cut by the drip and containing water. in one place there was a tiny runnel filled with water, but there was no current. there was a good deal of drip all through the cave, and in fact in one or two places we might have kept on holding up our umbrellas with advantage. i hacked at several pieces of ice, but none of it was prismatic. at the rear of the cave, the ice ran, in a tongue, up the entrance of an ascending fissure in the rocks. my brother cut here six or seven steps in the ice; and he found them difficult to make, as the ice was hard and thin, and not in a melting state. above the ice tongue we clambered up the rocks of the fissure some four or five meters further, finding there some lumps of ice which were not melting. at this spot we were almost in darkness. a lighted match burned steadily, so that there was evidently not much draught, but the smoke gradually descended, showing a slight downward current. this was the coldest, as well as the furthest point of the cave we could reach, and we there heard a tiny waterfall trickling within the fissure, although we could not see it. by this time we were all chilled to the bone, so, abandoning the idea of entering the petite cave, we retreated down the sopping wet, slippery grass slopes to pralong, and then immediately walked all the way to cluses to avoid taking cold. the grand cave was the most fatiguing trip i ever made after glacières, but the circumstances were rather unusual. the freezing well of owego. on thursday, june d, , i went to owego, in tioga county, new york. inquiries at the lehigh valley railroad station and at the chief hotel failed to elicit any information about a freezing well; and in fact, i soon found that the existence of such a thing was a blank to the rising generation. so i called on an old resident of owego, who told me that he knew of the well in question and that it was filled up with stones many years ago; but that he remembered that, when he was a boy, it used to freeze, and that it was spoken of as the deep well or freezing well. i then walked up to the site of the well, which is about one and a half kilometers to the northwest from the centre of owego and about one kilometer from the susquehanna river. it is directly in the middle of the highway, and nothing is now visible but a heap of stones. near by was the house of a mr. preston, who told me he was born in , and had lived all his life at this spot. he said that the well was about twenty-eight meters deep, and that it went first through a layer of sand and then through a layer of gravel. he had more than once been down the well and had seen the sides covered with ice. a bucket sent down for water would sometimes come up with ice on the sides. whether the water at the bottom ever froze, no one knew, for the ice caked and filled up the bore at about two-thirds of the way down and became so thick, that as mr. preston put it, "it was just like hammering on an anvil to try to break it." he also stated that another well was dug about one hundred meters further down the road, and that originally this sometimes had a little ice on the sides. of late years however, it was covered over with a wooden top and since then no ice was known to form. i could obtain no information about any other wells in the neighborhood ever showing similar peculiarities. the icy glen, near stockbridge. the icy glen is situated on bear mountain, about one kilometer from stockbridge, massachusetts. it is in the midst of fine woods and there are many big trees in it. the bottom of the glen is full of rocks and boulders, among which there is a rough path. i was told that ice remained over there much longer than anywhere else in the neighborhood, sometimes as late as may. on the d of july, , i not only found no traces of ice or snow, but the temperatures under the boulders showed nothing abnormal. to make up for this, however, there were legions of mosquitoes. freezing marble cave, near manchester. near manchester, vermont, there is a little cave,[ ] which is noteworthy, in that it is in a marble formation. it is known as skinner's cave, because it was owned for many years by mr. mark skinner. it lies in skinner's hollow, some five or six kilometers from the centre of manchester, at the base of the eastern slope of mount equinox, of the taghconic range of the green mountains. [ ] my attention was called to this cave, by messrs. john ritchie, jr., of boston, and byerly hart of philadelphia, who visited it some years ago. mr. ritchie's opinion is that it is simply a refrigerator. the cave is on the property of mr. n. m. canfield, who, on learning the object of my visit, on the th of july, , with true native american courtesy, walked up to it with me. the last two kilometers were over a rough logging road, which towards the end was steep and covered with many broken logs. i could not have found the cave alone, as it was so surrounded with bushes, that the entrance was invisible until we actually reached it. it is in a gorge of mount equinox, in the midst of a beautiful forest, which effectually cuts off any wind. the cave faces nearly north and can scarcely ever, if indeed at any time, be reached by the rays of the sun. the moment we got into the entrance, we found the chilly, damp, summer atmosphere of true glacière caves. the rocks were brown and mossy on the outside, but mr. canfield called my attention to the fact that they were marble, and on his knocking off a small piece, a section of pure white marble was exposed. in no other instance have i heard of a marble cave in connection with ice. there were scarcely any cracks or crevices in the rock. the cave goes down with a steep slope from the entrance, much in the shape of a tunnel, for some ten meters. the slope was covered with slippery mud and decayed leaves, and at the bottom expanded into a little chamber, in which lay a mass of wet, compact snow, some two by three meters. it was evident that the snow was simply drifted in during the winter, and was in too large a mass and too well protected to melt easily, and there could be no question but that this place was purely a refrigerator. the air was tranquil throughout and there were no draughts. on the same day, a good breeze was blowing in the manchester valley. the freezing well of brandon. the freezing well of brandon is situated on the western or southwestern outskirts of the village of brandon, vermont, not far from the railroad station. i visited it on the th of july, . the well was protected by a wooden cover. on raising this, a faint stream of cool air seemed to issue forth; but this was probably only imagination. the sides, as far down as one could see, were built in with rather large blocks of stone without cement. at the bottom water was visible and there were no signs of ice. we drew up some water in a bucket, and although it was cool there was nothing icy about it. i twice lowered a thermometer nearly to the water and each time after ten minutes it registered only ° c. there was certainly nothing abnormal in this temperature, in fact it was strictly normal and my thermometer showed conclusively by its actions that it could not have been near any ice mass. the people at the house, however, assured me that a month before there was ice in the well. afterwards i called on mr. c. o. luce, the owner of the well. he stated that it was eleven and a half meters deep to the bottom, that it was dug in , and that the ground through which it goes was found frozen at a depth of about four and a half meters. here there is a stratum of gravel and this is where the freezing occurs. mr. luce thought that the water was under the ice, that is, that the water came up from the bottom. he said also that the well usually froze solid in winter; but, that as this winter was an open one, there was less ice this year than usual. he thought that there was less ice anyway now than in former years, partly because of the cover which was put over the well, and which keeps out some of the cold; and partly because a neighboring gravel hillock, called the hogback, was a good deal cut away, and this in some way affects the supply of cold in the gravel. he added that the sandy soil round brandon does not as a rule freeze to a greater depth than two meters each winter. the house built beside the well was said to be comfortable in winter. there seems no doubt that this is another refrigerator. the cold water of the winter snows percolates into the gravel mass and refreezes, and, owing to the bad conductive quality of the material, the gravel remains frozen later than the soil elsewhere in the neighborhood. the fact that the well went through a frozen gravel stratum when dug, proves that it is not alone the air that sinks into the well itself, which makes the ice. the fact that the well freezes on the whole less than formerly, apparently partly owing to the digging up of some of the gravel close by, goes to prove the same thing. the fact that the well generally freezes solid every winter, shows that although some of the gravel mass possibly remains frozen all the time, much of the ice is renewed each year. this is especially important as proving that the ice found in gravel deposits is due to the cold of winter and not to a glacial period, although, of course, no one could say for how long a time the ice was forming and melting; and this process might date back to the time of the formation of the gravel mass. i could learn nothing of any similar place near brandon, except that mr. luce said that in an old abandoned silver mine in the neighborhood, he had once seen ice during hot weather. freezing talus on lower ausable pond. on the eastern side of lower ausable pond, essex county, new york, at the foot of mount sébille or colvin, there is a talus of great laurentian boulders, which fell from the mountain and lie piled up on the edge of the lake. among these boulders, at a distance of about five hundred meters from the southern end of the lake, there are spaces, several of which might be called caves, although they are really hollows between the boulders. on the th of july, , i visited this spot with mr. edward i. h. howell of philadelphia. from several of the rock cracks we found a draught of air flowing strongly out, as tested by the smoke of a cigar. the air was distinctly icy and there could be no question that there was a considerable quantity of ice among the rocks to produce the temperature. in three places we found masses of ice. one of these hollows was small, and the other two were much larger. one of the latter was almost round in shape, and perhaps three meters in diameter; with a little snow near the mouth and with plenty of ice at the bottom. the other was a long descending crack between two boulders which joined overhead, and with the bottom filled by a long, narrow slope of ice, perhaps seventy-five centimeters in width and six meters in length, set at an angle of about thirty-five degrees. the ice was hard and non-prismatic. the cold air affects a large area of land around the boulders. mr. howell called my attention to the flowers of the bunch-berry, which he said were at least two weeks behind those on the surrounding mountains. the same was true of _oxalis_, a pretty white flower, of which we found several beds in full bloom. mr. howell went to this talus, on the th of july previous, with mr. niles, president of the appalachian mountain club, on which occasion they found plenty of snow near the entrance of the larger hollow. mr. howell, indeed, has repeatedly visited this place, and always found ice, which must, therefore, be looked on as perennial. at all times also he has felt cold draughts flowing out; sometimes they were so strong as to lower the temperature over the lake to a distance of thirty meters or more: on hot days he has seen occasionally a misty cloud form on the lake in front of the boulders. mr. howell considers that the draughts so affect the surrounding air, that an artificial climate is produced, and it is owing to this that spring flowers bloom late in july and sometimes in august. another fact well known to him, is that in hot weather, the spot in front of the boulders is the best in the whole lake to catch trout, as they always congregate in the coldest water. the adirondack guides use these ice retaining hollows, which they call ice-caves, as refrigerators for their provisions and game in hot weather: they say that the ice is formed in winter and remains over during the summer, as it is so well sheltered. freezing talus of the giant of the valley. on the indications of mr. otis, chief guide of the adirondack reserve, i explored with mr. c. lamb, a guide from keene valley, the southern base of the giant of the valley mountain, essex county, new york, on the th of july, . a road runs from keene heights to port henry, through the gap between the south base of the giant of the valley and the north base of round mountain, and passes close to a small lake called chapel pond. some three hundred meters west of this lake, we left the road and struck north, across the brook, into the thick, mossy woods. after perhaps one hundred meters, we came to a talus of great boulders of laurentian rock, with the cliffs of the giant, whence the boulders had fallen, rising steeply above. we found ice under several of them, although never in any quantity. the thermometer, after an exposure of fifteen minutes in one of these little hollows, registered ° c., although not more than one meter from where the sunshine fell on the moss. in the shade of a tree one meter distant from the same hollow it registered ° c.; a difference of ° c. at a distance of only two meters. perhaps one kilometer east of chapel pond, there is a place, where the bases of the mountains come much nearer together, which bears the name of "the narrows." here we crossed the brook again, and, after some fifteen or twenty meters of scrambling through rough woods, reached once more the talus of the giant, composed of tremendous boulders. among these we found ice in many places and this time in large quantities. within one boulder cave we found an ice slab some four meters in length, by two meters in width, and one meter in thickness. this was pure, hard and non-prismatic ice, and was evidently not formed of compressed snow: in fact snow could not have drifted in under the boulder. we broke off a large piece of ice and took it back to saint hubert's inn, and it melted rather slowly. from the mouth of this cave an icy draught issued, and, as it struck the warmer air outside, a slight mist was formed. mr. lamb said that from the road itself he had sometimes seen mist rising from this talus. further explorations of the talus of the giant would probably reveal ice in many other places than those we examined.[ ] [ ] mr. e. i. h. howell examined several times, in , the talus of the giant of the valley. he found ice in many places; also cold air currents blowing out. at one spot, there is a spring which flows all through the summer, and the water is so cold, that its temperature is little above that of melting ice. mr. howell found, as at ausable pond, spring flowers growing in mid-summer among the rocks of the talus. mr. lamb told me of two other places in the adirondacks, where he found ice in similar boulder formations. one was in the talus of mount wallface in indian pass, between mounts wallface and mcintyre. the other was in the talus of mount mcintyre in avalanche pass, between mounts mcintyre and colden. at the latter place, he found it near the trail going round the lake in the pass. the ice gulch, randolph. the randolph ice gulch is situated in randolph township, new hampshire, about eight kilometers from randolph station, on the boston and maine railroad.[ ] i visited it on august th, . at the mount crescent house, i found a guide in the person of mr. charles e. lowe, jr. the excursion took us about six hours. the trail was a rough bush path, cut by the appalachian mountain club, and which had not been cleaned out that year. it was a cloudy but hot day and this, combined with the badness of the road, made the walk fatiguing. [ ] i first heard of the ice gulch from mr. john ritchie, jr., of boston. some years ago in the middle of july, he found ice plentiful in the second chamber. he thought the gulch only a refrigerator. the gulch lies between crescent and black mountains. the altitude of the upper end of the gulch is something over eight hundred meters, that of the lower end about six hundred meters. it is some fifteen hundred meters long, and averages perhaps one hundred meters in width at the top, and only a few meters at the bottom. the depth may be about seventy-five meters and the sides are steep, in some places sheer. the bottom is a mass of broken, fallen rocks, with a good many trees growing among them. there are several steps, so to speak, in the gulch, which are called chambers, although the term seems rather meaningless. promenading through the bottom of the gulch was fraught with difficulty, because the rocks were placed in most unsuitable positions for human progression, and my hands were certainly as useful to me as my feet in preserving equilibrium. we found ice in one or two places, but not in any great quantity. in one spot it was overlaid by water. my guide said that there was less ice than the year before. a large piece which we broke off, and which furnished us with a cooling morsel of frozen fluid, was full of air bubbles. it was not prismatic ice, and was certainly unusual in formation. it crunched up under the teeth and, although it did not look like solidified snow, yet, judging from its position among the boulders, it was doubtless formed from the melting and refreezing of snow.[ ] my guide said he had heard that fresh ice began to form sometimes in september. the gulch is well protected against wind, and i detected no draughts among the rocks. except in the immediate vicinity of the ice, the temperature was not abnormally low. [ ] on the th of february, , four days after the greatest snow storm in philadelphia in many years, i noticed that the snow on my roof solidified slowly into a mass of ice which contained a good many air-bubbles. it strikingly resembled the ice of the ice gulch, only that it was more solid and did not have more than half as many air-bubbles. on returning to the mount crescent house, i had a talk with mr. charles e. lowe, sr., who told me that alpine plants, like those which grow on mount washington and mount adams, are found in the gulch; but that they do not exist on the neighboring black and crescent mountains. he said also that ice was present in more than one place in king's ravine, and that it was always there. freezing boulder talus at rumney. about three kilometers south of rumney, new hampshire, there is a hill called bald mountain, which, about three hundred meters west of the carriage road from rumney to plymouth, descends as a big cliff, with an exposure facing nearly southeast. at the base of this cliff, there is a talus[ ] which i visited on the th of august, , with the sheriff of rumney, mr. learned. he said he had found plenty of ice there on the th of august, , but he doubted whether there would be any left this year, on account of the hot weather. effectively a careful hunt failed to reveal any ice, although the talus was just the kind of place where it might have been expected, as the boulders were piled one over the other and in one or two places there were considerable hollows. the temperatures were normal, and there were no draughts. the talus is exposed to the sun, and only moderately sheltered against wind by a scrub forest. but there can be no doubt, that ice lingers there long after it has disappeared from every other spot in the neighborhood, and it seems as if our not finding any, is another proof that it is the heat of summer which melts it away. [ ] mr. john ritchie, jr., wrote me about this place, where he had found ice plentiful some years ago in august, within two or three meters from the outside: he considered it only a refrigerator. ice formations and windholes at watertown. at watertown, new york, on the south side of the black river, in the town itself, are some natural cracks or crevices in the limestone rocks. they are only a short distance from the new york central railroad station. the cracks enter the northern side of the railroad embankment, pass under the railroad tracks, and extend some distance back. in front of them are four cellars, used for storing beer kegs. the lessor, mr. ehrlicher, obligingly had the cellars opened for me, on the th of september, . there was neither ice nor draughts in the cellars, and the temperature was normal. mr. ehrlicher said that in the spring there was ice in the cracks, but that it had all melted away as the result of the hot summer. [illustration: the bluff at decorah. from a photograph by mr. a. f. kovarik. ] about four kilometers west of watertown, on the south bank of the black river, is the picnic ground of glen park, which is reached by trolley. the manager of the restaurant walked around the park with me. in one spot is a hollow or glen at the base of a small, much cracked limestone cliff, which has a northern exposure. the manager said that snow and ice usually lies in this place until june, not only among the broken rocks, but even in the open. sometimes ice remains among the boulders all summer, but only near the front of the boulders, and by pushing in, one soon gets beyond it: we found none, a fact showing once more the effect of the unusually warm summer. on hot days, draughts issue from between the boulders, but as the day was cool, we did not notice any. the spot is well sheltered against the wind by a number of trees; and the shape of the hollow reminded me of the glen in front of the eishöhle bei roth. not one hundred meters from this hollow, is a little limestone cave, closed by a wooden door, which excludes any cold air in winter. the cave is lighted by electric lights, and is a narrow, crooked, descending fissure, a _ganghöhle_, where the marks of water action are plainly visible. at the bottom a little stream, evidently the active agent in forming the cave, ran through the fissured limestone. in the stream a large toad or frog was swimming about. there was nothing icy about the cave or the water, and the temperature was normal. ice was never known to form in the cave. these two places, so close together, are an interesting confirmation that it is only where the outside cold can get in, that we find subterranean ice. the freezing cave and freezing wells of decorah. near decorah, iowa, is a freezing cavern, which is more frequently referred to in cave literature than is generally the case. i visited it on friday, september the th, , with an old english resident of decorah, mr. w. d. selby-hill. the cave is situated about one kilometer to the northward of decorah, on the north bank of the upper iowa river, at the base of a bluff. it is some thirty to forty meters above the stream, and faces southward. it looks like a fault or fissure in the rocks, with the sides meeting a few meters overhead. it is a true cave, but probably in an early stage of formation, for there are no apparent traces of water action, nor any stalagmites nor stalactites. the absence of the latter may, however, be due to the fact that it is a periodic glacière. the rock is a white limestone, rich in fossils. the cave is some two to three meters in width and is rather winding, with a short arm or pocket branching out on the west side. the main cave runs back some thirty meters from the entrance. in one place it is necessary to stoop, to get past some overhanging rock slabs. by candle light, we went to the rear of the cave, and found it warm, dry, and free from ice. there were no draughts, possibly because the day was cool. [illustration: entrance of the cave of decorah. from a photograph by mr. a. f. kovarik. ] i looked in vain for _tubular fissures_, or indeed any fissures, through which _water might freeze by pressure in its descent_, as the believers in the capillary theory say it does. nothing of the kind existed, and i wrote in my note-book: "writing on the very spot about which this theory was started, i feel justified in asserting that the theory amounts to absolutely nothing and is entirely incorrect." mr. hill told me that there were two wells in the southern portion of decorah township, where ice was found in summer. i visited them both, but found no ice, and the temperatures normal. mr. hill said that one of the wells was dug about thirty years ago, and that the workman told him that the ground which he went through was frozen; and that at one place he struck an opening, from which came so strong a current of icy air, that it was hard to keep at work. i talked to several persons afterwards. _inter alia_, they told me that the bluff was a great place for rattlesnakes, sometimes big ones. they admitted also generally that they were puzzled about the formation of ice in the cave. some claimed that the ice formed in summer--the old story once more. i met, however, mr. alois f. kovarik of the decorah institute, who had made a series of regular observations for over a year and found that the ice begins to form about the end of march and beginning of april, and is at its maximum towards the beginning of june. mr. kovarik also told me, that he had found ice in one of the wells in the beginning of august. this was an especially satisfactory trip to me, for it did away, once for all, with any possible belief that there was any basis of fact for the capillary theory. it also seems to me important to find that the ice of these freezing wells melts in summer. for it shows that their ice is due to the same causes as those which form the ice in the cave, and is another proof against the validity of the glacial period theory. freezing rock talus on spruce creek. on spruce creek, huntingdon county, pennsylvania, about four kilometers north of the pennsylvania railroad depot, is an ice bearing talus, known locally as the ice holes or ice caves. i visited this spot, on october the th, , with mr. benner, of spruce creek. we walked up the pretty valley along the old pittsburgh turnpike, at one place finding some papaw trees, whose fruit had a horrible sickening taste; then we crossed spruce creek by a footbridge and followed the other bank back for some five hundred meters, until we were nearly opposite the old colerain forge, which is located in a piece of land called by the curious name of africa. about half way from the bridge we smelt a strange odor, which my companion thought came from a copperhead or rattlesnake: we did not investigate. [illustration: locus glacialis--cave of decorah. from a photograph by mr. a. f. kovarik. ] the freezing talus is situated at the foot of tussey mountain: it is big, and is composed of small sandstone (?) rock débris. the talus is at least thirty meters high and one hundred and twenty meters long. as i stood at the bottom, i was reminded strongly of the talus at the dornburg. at the base were a number of small pits, evidently dug by man. from the interstices between the rocks, icy cold draughts issued in some places, and there was no doubt that there was plenty of ice beneath the stones. in one place we thought we could see ice, and i poked at the white substance with my stick, but i am not positive that it was ice. all over the talus, the temperature was strikingly colder than a few meters away, and in the pits we could see our breaths distinctly. although i am not much of a botanist, yet it seemed to me that the flora immediately near the talus was somewhat different in character from that of the surrounding country. mr. benner told me that he saw, three or four weeks before, plenty of ice in the pits; that they were made by farmers who formerly came to this spot to get ice; and that parties occasionally picnic here in the summer and make ice cream. he stated also that he saw, some years ago, a small cave or hole containing ice near mapleton, pennsylvania, but that it was destroyed by quarrying the rock away. freezing gorge near ellenville. on sunday, october the th, , with a young man from ellenville, i visited the well known ellenville gorge, in the shawangunk range, ulster county, new york. we left the hotel at eight-forty a. m. and reached the gorge, known locally as the ice cave, at ten-five a. m. it is about four kilometers northeast from ellenville. the path rises steadily uphill and is of the roughest description; it is covered with loose stones, and looks as if it might become the bed of a mountain brook in wet weather. i call this place a gorge, instead of a cave, because it is uncovered at the top, but probably originally it was covered. it is shaped like a pit cave minus a roof, and it reminded me of the friedrichsteiner eishöhle, and the glacières de saint-georges and du pré de saint-livres. it is entered by a long slope from the western end, the gorge turning northward further back. i estimated its width, at the bottom at some five to seven meters, at the top at some three to four meters; its length at some thirty meters and the deepest point we reached, at some twenty meters below the surface. these are guesses, however. in one place, a great rock slab overhangs the gorge. at nearly the lowest point of the rock floor, there is a hole which extends perpendicularly downwards some five or ten meters more; this opening is partly blocked up with fallen masses of rock which would make a further descent perilous. the north end of the gorge is also filled up with a mass of great broken rocks; in fact, the whole place is out of repair, as the rocks are cracked and creviced on both sides to a great extent. the rock is friable and seems to be all breaking up, or rather down, and i think there is some danger from falling stones, although i did not see any fall. there is a good deal of moss on the sides of the gorge, and on some ledges small evergreens are growing. the gorge is sheltered thoroughly from winds by its formation and position, and somewhat by the scrub forest surrounding it. there are several long, deep crevices a few meters further up the mountain side, and i think one of them is an extension of the main gorge. [illustration: gorge at ellenville. from a photograph by mr. davis. ] we found no ice. it generally lasts till about the beginning of september; and professor angelo heilprin, and miss julia l. lewis, of philadelphia, have found plenty of it in july and august. but the ice had evidently now been gone for some time, for the temperature at the bottom of the gorge was about ° c. at ten-thirty a. m. this was but little colder than the temperature v outside, which at ten-fifteen a. m. was ° c. on returning to ellenville, i learnt that there was another somewhat similar smaller gorge, some eight kilometers away, at a place called sam's point. this, however, is said to retain only snow, while in the ellenville gorge much ice is sometimes formed, and icicles a couple of meters long are said to hang on the sides of the cliffs. the proprietor of the hotel told me he had heard of a cave which contained ice not far from albany, at a place called carlisle, on the delaware and hudson railroad. freezing cave and windholes near farrandsville. i arrived at farrandsville, clinton county, pennsylvania, early on tuesday morning, october the th, , and found a boy, who worked in a brick mill, as guide to the caves.[ ] after emptying a small, flat bottomed boat of the water of which it was half full, we rowed across the susquehanna river; then we walked up the road, along the river bank, for a couple of hundred meters, and struck up the so-called path to the caves. although the whole of the mountain side was at the disposal of the road maker, no better plan seems to have suggested itself than to make the track go straight up. this saved making zigzags, yet the result is that the path is steep, and as it is rocky and slippery, it is hard travelling without bootnails or alpenstock. [ ] i learned of this cave from mr. eugene f. mccabe, of renovo, pennsylvania. mr. mccabe took out large pieces of ice from it in the month of august. on december d, , he found no ice inside the cave, but a hoar frost covered the rocks; the temperature outside was - . °; inside - . °: the day was clear and there was no breeze; several matches lighted in the cave were almost instantly blown out by a current of air coming from crevices in the rocks. mr. ira c. chatham, postmaster at farrandsville, wrote to me on the th of october, , as follows: "your paper on ice caves [journal of the franklin institute, march, ] at pp. and describes the farrandsville cave as near as is possible, as the ice forms in the spring from the snow melting and dropping through the rocks into the cave, and the rocks face directly north as stated." as we went up, i noticed, in one or two places, cold draughts issuing from crevices in the rocks. we soon came to a hollow under a rock, where there were a number of cracks and crevices: the boy spoke of it as the lower cave. it is some sixty meters above the susquehanna river and cold draughts flowed from the cracks, although we saw no ice. the cave was about twenty meters higher up. one could crawl into it for a couple of meters, and all round it the rocks are somewhat creviced; in fact, i think there are a good many cracks in the entire hill. there was no ice in sight in this hole, but a strong, cold draught poured from it. after an exposure of fifteen minutes the thermometer registered ° c.; while outside, in the shade, it stood at ° c. this decidedly sub-normal temperature proved unmistakably, in my opinion, the presence of ice a little further than we could see in. both holes face about north and are sheltered, by their position and by the sparse forest which covers the ridge, against all winds except those from the north. i talked to the postmaster and the railroad agent at farrandsville on my return, and they stated that there was no ice in the hole in winter, but that it formed about april and remained over until towards september, showing that the cave is a normal glacière on a small scale. glaciÈres near summit. in the search for coal, the mountains of the appalachian chain between the little town of summit, and the neighboring village of coaldale, carbon county, pennsylvania, were mined and tunneled in every direction. owing to the caving in of some of these mines, depressions formed in certain places along the ridge in the upper surface of the ground, and in two of these hollows natural refrigerators occur. these were brought to my notice by mr. c. j. nicholson of philadelphia, and i visited them on may the th, , in company with two coal miners of summit. starting from summit, we passed across some rough ground under which there was a mine on fire; and the miners showed me the tops of two pipes sticking out of the ground, from which issued a smoke or steam, too hot to hold the hand in more than a few seconds. going beyond through brushwood, for a couple of hundred meters, we came to the first glacière, which was also the nearest to summit. it faced almost due north and looked as if it was formerly the entrance to a mine. it was fairly big, and my companions assured me that, until within about a year, ice was always found in it. recently, however, part, of the rock roof fell in, blocking up the entrance with a mass of débris and making it unsafe to venture in. formerly parties of tourists constantly visited this place, after coming over the switchback, but this is no longer done and there has been some talk of cleaning away the broken rocks and making the glacière accessible. the men also said that occasionally people living in the neighborhood had dug out the ice for their own use. the other glacière was a short distance further, in the direction of coaldale. it is in a pit, which may have been the mouth of a disused shaft or only a depression resulting from a cave-in. a scrubby forest, which surrounds the hollow, acts as a windbrake. a rather steep slope leads down into the pit, and at the end passes under the wall of rock of the opposite side for a short distance, forming a small cave, which faces almost due south and whose floor is choked up with broken rock fragments. at the bottom of the slope we found some snow, and among the boulders a good deal of snow-ice as well as several long icicles hanging from the rocks. all the ice and snow lay on the north side of the rocks, or underneath them, so that it was in shady places where the sun could not reach it. the temperature was not at all uncomfortable, although somewhat cool and damp. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of pit near summit.] there was nothing in either glacière, to show that the ice was formed from any other cause than the drifting in, and melting and refreezing of the winter's snow; and my impression is that the ice in the second glacière could not last through the summer. the snow hole near williamstown. the snow hole near williamstown (massachusetts) is situated near the northern end of the petersburgh mountain of the taghconic range; it is slightly below the watershed on the williamstown side, at an altitude of about seven hundred meters. the snow hole is in the state of new york, near the boundary between new york and massachusetts. it is a long two hours' drive from williamstown, the last four kilometers or so, over an exceedingly steep and rough road, which is, in fact, nothing but an old logging road, and the worst i ever drove over except the road to démenyfálva. i visited the snow hole with my brother on friday, september the th, . it is surrounded by a dense forest, mainly of recent growth, which thoroughly shelters it from all winds. in shape and appearance it resembles the gorge at ellenville, except that it is smaller: its location on the ridge is not unlike that of the friedrichsteiner eishöhle. it is a narrow crack--or cave minus a roof--about fifteen meters long, six to seven meters deep and from two to five meters wide. it faces nearly north, and the bottom is in perpetual shadow. from the northern end, a gentle slope leads to the rear. the slope was a good deal blocked up by a big tree with large branches, which had fallen directly into the fissure. there was some moss or greenish mould on the rocks in places, and at the rear end of the slope there were some fissures in the rocks, into which one might perhaps have crawled a little farther, which formed a tiny cave. there was also a similar incipient cave at the northern end. i could not detect any draughts issuing from these rock fissures, and the air throughout was still, although the wind was blowing hard on the ridge. the rocks were moist in places and the air damp, but there was neither snow nor ice and the temperatures were normal. the driver told me that he had found plenty of snow in the base of the gorge some years ago in july; and he said that he had always heard that snow was found in the snow hole all the year round. all the conditions of the place, the shape of the fissure, and its sheltered northern exposition, are favorable to the retention of ice and snow, and it is not surprising that they remain over every spring. icy gulf near great barrington. the icy gulf or icy glen is some eight kilometers from great barrington, massachusetts. i have not been in it, but was told in october, , by the farmers living near by, that after snowy winters, ice remains over through july. it must be similar to the icy glen at stockbridge. the ice bed of wallingford. the ice bed of wallingford is situated about three kilometers to the east of wallingford, vermont. a drive of half an hour, over the mount holly and hearburrow roads, takes the visitor to the entrance of a rough wood path, which, at a distance of three or four hundred meters, leads to the ice bed. this is a huge talus, at the base of the white rock mountain, whose cliffs rise steeply overhead for some three or four hundred meters. the talus, which was doubtless formed by a great slide at some distant date, consists of granite boulders, some of which are big ones. the ice-bearing portion may be some thirty or forty meters high vertically. it lies in a sort of gully or rock basin, and at the top is about thirty meters broad, tapering to a point at the bottom. the talus faces southward, and during a good part of the day the sun shines full upon it. a thin forest fringes the sides and grows round the bottom, but this can afford but little protection from the winds, especially to those from the south. i visited this place on the th of october, . there was a distinct drop in temperature as we neared the base of the talus, and a cool air drew gently down over the rocks. i think slight draughts issued from some of the crevices; but of this i am not sure. the temperature was sub-normal, about °, but hardly low enough to prove the presence of ice, although we could see our breaths distinctly. we looked carefully under a number of the boulders, but neither ice nor snow was visible. i was assured that ice was abundant there in the past july and august, and i should think it had melted away only shortly before my visit. my impression is, that this is a periodic glacière. caves near williamstown. on the eastern slope of the petersburgh mountain of the taghconic range in massachusetts, at a good deal lower altitude than the williamstown snow hole and about southeast of it are some caverns, which are but little known. a five or six kilometer drive from williamstown takes the visitor to the base of the mountain, whence a rather steep ascent of about a kilometer and a half brings him to the caves, which are in the midst of a dense, scrub forest. the caves were first entered, and possibly discovered, by mr. w. f. williams, of williamstown, when a boy. since then, he has visited them many times and explored them a good deal. they do not appear to have any name as yet, and it would seem only fitting to christen them after their explorer: the williams caves. there are several unimportant holes in the immediate neighborhood of the two main caves. the latter lie side by side. the rock formation is the same as that of the snow hole, a dark gray slate with a few veins of quartz, and they are due also evidently to the same geological causes. it would seem as though the mountain had tended to open or crack at these spots and fallen apart. this seems probable, because wherever there is a projection on one side of the cracks, there is a corresponding hollow in the opposite side. after this, water action has come, and erosion and corrosion have worn out and carried away earthy matter, and slowly deepened and widened the fissures. the remarkable point in connection with the main caves, however, is that one is a normal cave and the other a periodic glacière. i went with mr. williams to these caves on the th of october, , and partially explored the glacière. on the way up, just as we left the carriage road, a fine, three-year-old buck, in his winter coat, came bounding out of the forest; on seeing us he stopped, and after taking a good look, quietly trotted off into the bushes. the glacière is rather peculiar in shape and may be described as two storied. a long slope, set at an angle of some forty degrees, and covered with mud and dead leaves, leads down into the crack, which is from one to three meters in width. the first half of the slope is open to the sky; the last half is covered by the rock roof, and is a real cave. in this the floor is horizontal, the place forming a little chamber in which the daylight has almost vanished. at the exact summit of the slope a big tree grew most conveniently; and we tied to this one end of a twenty-meter austrian alpine club rope, and by holding fast to it, and kneeling or sitting down in the mud in two or three places, the descent was easy enough. it was rather difficult to scramble up the slope again, however. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of freezing cave near williamstown.] in the floor of the little chamber there are two holes, and, stepping over these, we stood at the rear end, about eighteen meters distant from the beginning of the slope. my companion now set some birchbark on fire and dropped it into the innermost hole, and we laid down in turn, flat on the rock floor, and craned our necks through the hole. mr. williams thought he could see ice below us. i looked down after him and found that i was looking into a lower chamber whose sides were invisible. the floor was some three meters below vertically, and on this the birchbark was burning brightly. i think i saw some ice, but i could not be sure, as there was too much smoke to see distinctly. my companion offered to go down through the hole and get some ice; a proposition i promptly vetoed, as had anything gone wrong, i could not possibly have given him any assistance, as there was no extra rope. mr. williams told me that he went down several times before in july or august, and always found ice on the slanting floor. he said he did not know how far this lower chamber extended, nor the length of the ice floor. one thing which makes me hesitate to think that we saw ice was, that the temperature of the chamber where we were was not at all icy; but probably--i had forgotten my thermometer--nearly normal. when we stood once more by the tree at the top of the slope, the mouth of another cave was visible about two meters below us. mr. williams said it had never looked more than a little crack before, and that the opening was much bigger than at his last visit. it was directly under the slope by which we descended and it vanished into darkness. its direction led straight towards the lower chamber, and it almost surely leads to it. it seems thus that there are two hollows, one directly above the other; and that the lower one is a glacière, while the upper one is not. the cold air of winter would naturally sink into the lower chamber, and the spring thaws would furnish plenty of drip, so that this place seems to answer every requirement of a cave glacière. but the most interesting fact about these caves is that, while the shallower one is a glacière, the bigger and deeper one is not. this is situated about ten meters north of the glacière and the direction of the entrance is about the same. mr. williams has found snow and ice in may in the entrance pit as far as the daylight goes, but none beyond. i am inclined to think that the explanation of this is the fact that the cave is a _ganghöhle_ or tunnel cave. mr. williams described it as a narrow passage with chambers, and at least a hundred meters long, and fifty meters in depth below the surface. the cold air sinks in a certain distance, but as the passage is narrow and long, and too winding for any strong draughts, the cold air which enters is soon neutralized by the supply of warmer air within and by contact with the rocks. i cannot help thinking that it is by some such explanation that we must hope to solve the problem of why certain caves are glacières and others in the immediate neighborhood normal caves; and the caves near williamstown are exceptional in presenting the problem so patently. part ii. the causes of subterranean ice. the causes of subterranean ice. i. _terminology._--ice enduring the entire year is found, in temperate latitudes, in a variety of forms and in several different kinds of places. in some cases it is entirely above the surface of the earth; in others it is entirely beneath the surface of the earth. these are the extremes, and between them there are certain intermediate forms. the perennial ice above ground of temperate regions has gradually become known in english by the french word _glacier_, but strange to say, there is no term in use in english which accurately describes the perennial ice formations which are partially or completely underground. thus the term "ice cave" is applied to a rock cavern containing ice, and the term "ice gorge" to a rock gorge containing ice. both terms are misleading, because the character of the contents is mentioned before the nature of the geological formation. we say correctly enough "limestone cave" or "lava cave" and, in my opinion, we should apply the term "ice cave" in a similar manner to the hollows in the ice at the lower end of glaciers, whence the glacier waters make their exit. these are really "ice caves," that is caves with sides and roof made of ice. another trouble of the term "ice cave," as applied to rock formations containing ice, is that it is not generic: not only is it incorrect, but also it is not comprehensive. it does not apply to mines, tunnels, wells, gullies, boulder taluses, or underground ice sheets. if "ice cave" is used, except in its true sense of glacier ice cave, it seems at least as though it should be so only for real caves which retain ice, as opposed to taluses and wells. curiously enough, the germans are just as inaccurate as ourselves, for their terms _eishöhle_ and _eisloch_ are absolute translations of our "ice cave" and "ice hole." indeed, there is no doubt that some of the incorrect notions about subterranean ice formations, are due to the inaccuracy of the terminology. the only language, so far as i know, which has a correct and really generic term for subterranean ice formations, is the french in its word _glacière_. the french and swiss say _glacières naturelles_ of ice deposits formed naturally underground; and _glacières artificielles_ of ice houses. _glacière naturelle_ is comprehensive and accurate. it covers all the rock formations and suggests also the mode of formation of the ice. it likewise implies the strong resemblance between natural ice deposits and artificial ice houses. it might be well, therefore, if the french term _glacière_ were adopted as a generic term for all underground ice formations. as, however, there is little likelihood of this happening, the question arises as to the best english equivalent or equivalents. these seem to be "freezing cavern, freezing talus," etc., "natural refrigerator" or "subterranean ice formation." "natural refrigerator" and "subterranean ice formation" are more generic than "freezing cavern, freezing well," etc.; but the latter have the advantage of suggesting immediately that reference is made to the hollows of the earth which at times contain ice; and, therefore, they are the best terms, perhaps, which can be chosen in english. another point in the terminology of this subject has reference to subterranean hollows where draughts issue or enter. such hollows are found in all parts of the world and are known usually in english as "blowing caves" or "cold current caves." the germans speak of them as _windröhren_ or _windlöcher_. in my first paper about caves,[ ] i used the word "windhole" which i translated from the german. the term "windhole" seems to me preferable to "blowing cave" or "cold current cave" in that it is more generic. it applies to taluses or boulder heaps, or in fact, to any hollows where draughts issue or enter, whether these hollows are genuine caverns or not. [ ] _ice caves and the causes of subterranean ice_, november , and march . it is necessary also to explain here that "glacière" and "windhole" are not synonymous terms. it must be understood that a glacière or natural refrigerator is a place where ice forms and endures in a subterranean or semi-subterranean situation; and that _the presence of ice_ is the criterion of whether a place is or is not a glacière. likewise it must be understood that a windhole or blowing cave is an underground hollow with at least two openings, and in which distinct draughts occur; and that the _presence of draughts_ is necessary to constitute a place a windhole or blowing cave. a freezing cavern may or may not be a windhole, and a windhole may or may not be a freezing cavern. _temperatures._--the phenomena of glacières are so closely connected with temperatures that it seems necessary at this point to mention some general facts in connection with subterranean temperatures, even if these still form a subject of some uncertainty, and one about which further observation is desirable. subterranean temperatures may be grouped under three heads: , ordinary or normal temperatures; , temperatures above the normal or super-normal temperatures; , temperatures below the normal or sub-normal temperatures. . in the great majority of caves, cellars and subterranean places of all descriptions, the temperature of the air is about the same, all the year round, as that of the ground. the frost of winter and the heat of summer penetrate the earth for some trivial distance, a few meters perhaps, and lower or raise the temperature of the ground temporarily. below this there is a stratum where the temperature is found to vary but little the entire year and which, in a majority of cases, approximates the mean annual temperature of the district. below this invariable stratum, the temperature generally rises slowly, not at exactly the same rate everywhere, but in a regular increase. this increase of temperature averages ° c. for every meters. as most caves and cellars are of small depth and as they take their temperatures from that of the ground, it follows that as a rule their temperatures are moderate and pleasant. and as the air of the majority of caves and subterranean hollows is about the same as the temperature of the surrounding rock, it is correct to call subterranean air temperatures closely approximating the ordinary temperature of the ground, ordinary or normal temperatures. as already stated, with an increase of depth, there is, in almost all cases, a regular increase of temperature. for this reason, mines, which are much the deepest hollows reached by man in the surface of the earth, are, as a rule, warmer in the lower levels: if deep, they are also hot. and this is so generally the case that warmer temperatures at the bottom of mines may be considered as normal. . in a few hollows close to the surface, there are temperatures much above the normal temperature of the ground. such places are rare and abnormal.[ ] the heat is generally due to the presence of hot springs or to some volcanic action in the immediate neighborhood. in the case of one cave close to the surface, the heat is due to some limekilns which are situated immediately overhead.[ ] where these warm hollows are genuine caves it seems proper to call them "hot caves." [ ] kraus. _höhlenkunde_, page . [ ] grotte du jaur. _les abimes_, page . . in a number of places, there are abnormally low temperatures underground either for the whole or only for part of the year. although commoner than hot caves, yet the underground places with low temperatures are also rare and abnormal. they may be divided into two groups: , those where the temperatures are lower than the normal, without becoming low enough for ice to form; and , those where the temperature sinks so low, that ice forms. it is difficult to make definite divisions among the various forms of natural refrigerators, but it is correct, probably, to classify them under five heads, in accordance with the different kinds of formations of the hollows in the rocks: . gullies, gorges, and troughs where ice and snow remain. . soil or rocks overlaying ice sheets. . taluses and boulder heaps retaining ice. . wells, mines and tunnels in which ice sometimes forms. . caves with abnormally low temperatures, and often containing ice. . _gorges and troughs._--gullies, gorges and basins which retain snow and ice are fairly numerous in mountain districts. they are generally ravines, or rock fissures, or hollows, in positions below the snow line where snow and ice are sufficiently protected, from sun and wind, to remain long after snow in the surrounding open country, at the same altitude, has melted away. some of these gorges are small, some big. as a rule, they are deep and narrow. in north-eastern siberia, a form of permanent surface ice is found, which the tungusses speak of as _tarinnen_, which means "ice troughs" or "ice valleys."[ ] these _tarinnen_ are broad valleys, with either a horizontal floor or one sloping gently in the form of a trough, over which the ice is spread in the form of a sheet. the tungusses assert that the ice in some of these troughs never wholly melts away, although it lessens in quantity from the beginning of may till the end of august, after which it once more increases. [ ] _bulletin de la classe physico-mathématique de l'académie impériale des sciences de st. pétersbourg._ . vol. xi, pages - . _subterranean ice sheets._--in several places in different parts of the world there are underground ice sheets which extend over large spaces; they are common under the tundras of alaska; and there are fine examples on kotzebue sound,[ ] on the kowak river,[ ] and along the yukon river.[ ] the "ice spring" in oregon seems to be a formation of the same kind. several examples of these subterranean ice sheets are reported also from different parts of the russian empire. [ ] see part iii: page . [ ] see part iii: page . [ ] see part iii: page . a somewhat different kind of ice sheet was observed on mount etna. sir charles lyell[ ] speaks of it as a "glacier preserved by a covering of lava." he says signor mario gemmellaro satisfied himself that nothing but a flowing of lava over snow could account for the position of the glacier. ice sheets somewhat similar to these are reported from tierra del fuego,[ ] and probably also such sheets occur in iceland; and enormous heaps of ice covered with sand are found on mount chimborazo.[ ] on the northwestern coast of greenland, glaciers, whose flow has stopped, were observed buried under an accumulation of moss and grass.[ ] [ ] _principles of geology_, th edition, chap. xxvi. [ ] see part iii: page . [ ] see part iii: page . [ ] see part iii: page . _taluses and boulder heaps._--taluses and broken debris, and in general boulder heaps of all sorts, have interstices and openings between the boulders, and in these it occasionally happens that ice is found. this is most common among the taluses at the base of cliffs, but in some cases ice is found among broken rocks on the sides of gently sloping hills, or even on the plateaus of their summits. sometimes the ice and snow on the bottom of rock gorges all melts away, while further down, in the hollows of the boulders forming the floor, ice still remains. the rocks of which these ice bearing taluses are formed are generally gneiss, granite, limestone, sandstone, basalt or porphyry. among such boulder taluses the phenomenon designated as _windröhren_ or _ventarolen_, that is, windholes, is frequently found. sometimes the air among such boulder formations is quiet, but as a general thing draughts pour out at the lower openings during the hot months, and blow into them during the cold ones. _freezing wells, mines and tunnels._--subterranean ice is also found in certain places in connection with man's handiwork. in a few wells in the united states, the temperature in winter becomes abnormally low, and for four or five months these wells freeze up and become useless. a case of a freezing well was recently observed near la ferté milon in central france.[ ] ice is reported also as forming in various mines in europe, asia and america; in fact, it is not an uncommon occurrence. occasionally, also, ice forms in tunnels. [ ] see part i.: pages , , . part iii.: page . _cold caves._--caves with abnormally low temperatures may be divided into two classes. first, caves where the temperatures are lower than the normal, without becoming low enough for ice to form; and second, caves where the temperatures sink so low, that ice forms. caves where the temperatures sink below the normal, but in which ice does not form either in winter or in summer, are found in several places in different parts of the world. they are termed in french _cavernes froides_ and in german _kalte höhlen_. there are but few data from reliable observers about such cold caves. some descriptions are given without thermometric measurements, and the statements that the caves are cold, mean nothing beyond the fact that they feel colder than the outside air. it is, however, conclusively proved that cold caves exist, and that while they are not freezing caverns, yet that they have a temperature lower than the mean annual temperature of their district. in fact, the assumption, which had passed into an axiom, that caves always have the same temperatures as the mean annual temperature of the district, must certainly be given up. cold caves are generally in one of two shapes: , in the shape of a sand glass,--two cones above each other meeting at the narrowest point--where the upper cone lets the heavy cold air descend easily, while the lower bell shaped cone prevents its escape; and , where two sink holes open into one pit, which is in the shape of a bell.[ ] [ ] _les abimes_, page . _glacière caves or freezing caves._--caves where the temperatures sink so low that ice is able to form, are found in many different rock formations and in various positions, shapes and sizes. the rock formation of freezing caverns is generally limestone, but sometimes it is marble, lava, basalt, gneiss or granite. in all cases, however, the rock is either porous or else it is broken and fissured, as otherwise the water supply necessary to the formation of ice could not find its way in. glacière caverns may, for the sake of convenience, be classified into several classes, according to their position or to their form. the lines of transition between them, however, are so indefinite in nature, that it is often difficult to specify a cavern as belonging to any special type. the most important factor in classifying glacière caves is their position. under this head there are two main divisions: first, pit caves; second, cliff caves. pit caves are those where a pit or pits open into the ground, and the ice is found at the bottom. sometimes there is no roof, when the place may be called a gorge: this occurs at ellenville, where the roof has fallen. again, the pit itself is more or less roofed over and the ice is found mainly or wholly under the roof: this is the case at haut d'aviernoz, at the friedrichsteinerhöhle, at saint-livres, and at saint-georges. sometimes the pit takes the form of a descending tunnel, leading into a hall or chamber, in which the ice lies under a rock roof: this happens at chaux-les-passavant. in all these pit caves the body of the cave is below the entrance, and most of them are fairly well lighted by daylight throughout. generally there is only one pit, but occasionally there are two connected underground, as is the case at la genollière. cliff caves are those where the entrance is at the base or in the side of a cliff. frequently the cave is in the shape of a hall or chamber, which begins directly at the entrance, and which may be large or small. this kind always has a down slope directly from the mouth. the kolowratshöhle, dóbsina and the grand cave de montarquis may be mentioned as examples. in some cases there is a pit at the base of a cliff and there is a slope leading down to the cave, somewhat in the form of a tunnel: this is the case at manchester and practically also at roth. again there is a more or less long gallery between the entrance and the glacière, which is always below the level of the entrance. the schafloch, démenyfálva and decorah may be cited as examples. as a rule the gallery slopes down from the entrance, but sometimes the floor rises and then sinks to the glacière. the top of the entrance, however, is always higher than the highest point of the floor, as otherwise the cold air could not get in. this is the case at the frauenmauerhöhle, and, apparently, also at the posselthöhle. in one case, at amarnath in kashmere, the floor is said to rise to the roof at the back; but as the entrance is nearly as big as the floor area, the ice formations must also be below the level of the top of the entrance. the dimensions of glacière caves vary greatly. some are large, others are small. saint georges, a roofed pit cave, is some twenty-five meters by twelve meters, with a depth of about twelve meters. chaux-les-passavant, a cave at the end of a pit tunnel, has a diameter of some twenty-seven meters. the measures of dóbsina, a cave at the bottom of a cliff, are given as follows: height of roof above ice floor, to meters; length meters; breadth, to meters, and surface about meters. the frauenmauerhöhle is a gallery about one hundred meters long before the ice floor is reached, and this is some fifty meters more in length by about seven meters in width. the glacière cave near frain, on the contrary, is so small that one can only crawl in some two or three meters. in fact, glacière caves vary in size between great halls and little tunnels where one cannot stand up straight. the entrances of glacière caves also vary greatly in their dimensions. for instance, the friedrichsteinerhöhle is on one side of a huge pit and is as large and deep as the pit. saint georges, on the contrary, has, near one end of the roof, a couple of holes, some three meters in diameter. the entrance to the schafloch is four meters wide by four meters seventy centimeters high, while the entrance to roth is not over one meter each way. a classification of subterranean ice formations, and one which applies to all the different forms, is into permanent and periodic glacières. when in any underground spot, ice remains throughout the year, the place may be called a permanent glacière; when on the contrary the ice melts away for part of the year, the place may be called a periodic glacière. this classification, which several observers have used already, is convenient and valuable. _movements of air._--another classification of glacières can be made in accordance with the movements of air underground. glacières may be divided into those where there are no strong draughts in summer and those where there are draughts: or into "apparently static caves"; and "dynamic caves" or "windholes." the first class includes those caves where there is one or more openings close together and those above the body of the cave. in such hollows the air in summer is nearly still, while in winter there are distinct rotary movements of the air as soon as the temperature outside is lower than that within. almost all glacière caves belong to this class of caves without strong draughts in summer. sometimes, however, ice is found in hollows where there are two or more openings, at different altitudes and at different ends of the hollow, and where there are draughts. occasionally, also, there are fissures in the sides or rear of apparently static caves, which allow something like draughts at times, as is the case at the grand cave de montarquis. professor thury of geneva coined the terms "static cave" and "dynamic cave" which have come largely into use since, and which practically correspond to the german terms _eishöhle_ and _windröhre_. i do not think the term "static cave" accurate, and prefer the term "apparently static cave" or "cave without distinct draughts." for although there are many caves where the air seems stagnant at times, and there are no distinct perceptible draughts, still that the air is really stagnant all summer appears to me doubtful, and it seems as if the movements of air were distinctly apparent only in certain caves and not in others. air which is apparently stagnant is found in both pit and cliff caves mainly in the summer months, but even in these i have noticed several times in summer slight movements of air, especially near the entrance. i could not exactly feel the air moving, but by lighting a cigar the smoke could be seen borne outwards exceedingly slowly. at the entrance of the kolowratshöhle i think there was a faint outward current when i was there. the day was hot and windless, and as the cold air met the hot outside air it formed a faint cloud or mist at the mouth of the cavern. at saint-georges, although the air seemed tranquil, i found that the smoke of my cigar ascended rapidly just below the hole in the roof, showing an ascending air current. in the double cave of chapuis, i found one cavern filled by a little lake over which there was a draught.[ ] [ ] see part iv.: butler, page . from the few winter observations we have, there can be no doubt that in winter the movements of the atmosphere are lively, the break in the air column occurring as soon as the outside temperature is lower than that within, when the outer air immediately begins to sink into the cave.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: chaux-les-passavant, page ; saint-georges, page . if i have doubts as to the existence of absolutely static caves, it is different about dynamic caves. when a subterranean hollow goes through rocks, with one opening higher than the other, there will surely be distinct draughts. these dynamic caves exist in many parts of the world under such names as cold current caves or blowing caves or windholes. sometimes they are fissures in broken limestone. often they are the cracks between piles of boulders. a cool air generally pours from the lower opening in summer while the cold air pours into it in winter, the draught being then reversed. at the upper opening the operation takes place in the opposite way, the hot air being sucked in in summer, and given out in winter. sometimes, however, changes take place, according to the differences in the outside temperature, in the direction of the air current in the course of a single day. the causes of the movements of air in these windholes are exceedingly simple. the movements of air depend on the fact that in summer the air in the tube becomes colder from contact with the rocks and, therefore, heavier than the air outside, and by gravity the heavy inside air displaces the lighter outside air and comes rushing out at the lower opening. this leaves a vacuum, which is filled by the warmer air dropping into the tube from above. in winter on the contrary, the air within the tube is warmed by contact with the rocks and becomes lighter than the air outside. it, therefore, rises and streams out from the upper opening, and the vacuum is filled by the heavy cold air pushing in at the lower opening. [illustration: fig. . vertical section of a windhole.] g. f. parrot's[ ] explanation is so satisfactory that i give it with one or two changes. he considers the air movements an ordinary statical phenomenon of the air, in caves which have two openings at different altitudes. let e g d represent the section of such a cave with the openings a and b. let us think that there are over c and b two vertical air columns and from b to c a horizontal air column b c; then the two air columns over b and c are at all times of the year equal in weight. not so the air columns a c and a e g d b, because their temperatures are different. assume the temperature in the cave g is + ° the whole year round. if in summer the air column a c is at a temperature of + °, then the heavy air in the cave g pours out through a and is replaced by air flowing in through b. if in winter the air column a c is at a temperature of - °, then the air pours with equal inverse velocity at a into the cave, and out at b. the velocity of the current in both cases depends on the difference of temperature within and without. [ ] _grundriss der physik der erde und geologie_, , pages - . the foregoing explanation makes it evident that the movements of air in these windholes do not depend on the presence of ice. in many of those i have examined myself there was no ice visible, and from the temperature of the air current, there could not have been any ice within the mountain. still, there are numerous cases where ice is found in windholes among boulders, and a few cases where windholes exist in connection with apparently static glacière caves. undoubtedly the great majority of windholes do not contain ice in summer, or, indeed, at any time of the year, and, as far as i can see, windholes, according to their temperatures, belong rather to the class of normal caves than to that of glacières. _forms of ice._--almost all the forms assumed by underground ice are different from those assumed by overground ice. this is not surprising, as the conditions, under which the ice is formed, are so different. almost all the lines of underground ice are rounded. the sharp angles and fractures visible on glacier or iceberg are absent. instead of seracs and crevasses, broken ice falls, or piled up ice floes, we have hanging stalactites and rising stalagmites, smooth ice floors and curved ice slopes. this difference is of course due to the fact that most subterranean ice is formed from the drip from the roof or the sides of caves, and because the factor of motion--which plays so large a part in the shaping by fracture of overground ice--is practically wanting. the most striking forms of subterranean ice are the ice stalactites and stalagmites. they descend from the roof as icicles or rise from it as rough cones or pyramids. the icicles are of all sorts of shapes and sizes: sometimes they are tiny; sometimes they grow downward till they reach the floor and form regular columns, in some cases no less than eleven meters in height. the ice stalagmites likewise are of all sorts of shapes and sizes, some of them growing to a height of seven or eight meters. occasionally they have hollow bases, but this is rare. how these hollow cones are formed is a still uncertain matter; but it is in some way by the action of the drip. at the kolowratshöhle i saw the drip from the roof cutting out in july the basin, whose tall remaining sides suggested that early in the spring it was probably a hollow cone. the cone at the schafloch of which i saw one half remaining, could only be accounted for by some action from the drip.[ ] the warmth of the rock floor may help perhaps also, in melting away some of the base of the hollow columns. [ ] see part iv.: thury, page ; browne, page . the frozen waterfalls which issue from fissures in the rock walls of caves are another form of ice seen only below ground. for lack of a better name, i call them fissure columns. a peculiarity of these is that, while the rock fissure is more or less rectangular or at least sharp angled, the ice column issues in a rounded stream. sometimes these fissure columns stream over the rock; sometimes they spring out far enough from the rock to be quite away from it. they vary from about one to five meters in height, and at the base they almost always spread out in a shape resembling that of a fan. the ice on the bottom of caverns of course takes its shape from the form and angles of the floor of the caves. if the bottom is level or nearly so, the ice lies on it as a sheet or floor. if the bottom of the cave is sloping, the ice follows the angles of the slope, forming an ice slope or ice wall, and sometimes becoming nearly or quite vertical. these ice slopes distantly resemble the portions of glaciers called an ice fall, with the great difference, however, that there are no crevasses, not even tiny ones. occasionally, slabs of ice are found reposing in a fractured sheet over a solid ice floor. this means that a lake has formed on this spot in the spring, frozen over, and then run off, leaving its frozen surface in broken pieces on top of the under ice. another kind of frozen water is the hoar frost which forms on the rock roofs and walls. this is not at all rare. it is an open question whether this is not the same thing as that which has been described as subterranean snow.[ ] i found myself in dóbsina a small sheet of what to look and touch was snow. i wrote of this as snow in my first paper about glacières[ ], but i am of the opinion now that it was the hoar frost detached from the roof and not genuine snow. [ ] see part iii.: ziegenloch, page ; creux de souci, page . [ ] _ice caves and the causes of subterranean ice_, november, , and march, . at dóbsina, also, i noticed that the ice of the ice wall of the korridor assumed a stratified or laminated form. mr. john f. lewis of philadelphia suggested to me that this was probably due to a precipitation of the hoar frost from the roof, and i think his explanation is correct. the hoar frost forming at a certain degree of cold, would doubtless be precipitated at a rise of temperature, and would then act much as do the different layers of snow in the upper portion of glaciers.[ ] it would consolidate gradually, layer over layer, and form strata, producing the banded or laminated structure visible in the vertical ice of the dóbsina korridor. [ ] whymper: _scrambles amongst the alps_, , page . the ice in caverns is sometimes found with a structure which is, i believe, of rare occurrence above ground. this is when it takes the shape known as prismatic ice, which means that if a lump is broken from a column or icicle, the fracture will show regular prisms. this phenomenon is not as yet satisfactorily accounted for; the only thing certain about it is, that it does not occur in ice of recent formation. from my own observations, i should say that ice became prismatic at the end of summer; at least i have always found it in august or september rather than in june or july.[ ] [ ] see part iv.: browne, page ; lohmann, page . besides building up ice heaps, the drip, also, has the function of destroying its own creations. if there are no crevasses, there are holes and runnels. these are generally found at or leading to the lowest point of the ice floor. occasionally the holes are deep, sometimes many meters in depth. they are certainly cut out by the melting water, to which they offer an exit; in fact they are a part of the drainage system present in all glacière caves, where there must be some outlet for surplus water at or near the lowest point: and as the caves are always in porous or broken rock, the drainage takes place through the cracks and fissures. the drip produces also the exact opposite of pyramids in the shape of ice basins. these are cut in the floor by an extra strong drip from the roof at those spots. basins exactly like these are not seen on glaciers. not infrequently they are full of water of considerable depth. lakes and pools are found in glacière caves. sometimes they are on the ice floor, and in this case they are due either to rain-water collecting faster than it can flow off, or else because the cave is in a state of thaw. sometimes these pools are among the rocks in one part of a cave, while the ice is in another part. i have said above that motion in subterranean ice is practically wanting. this is proved by the lack of crevasses on the ice slopes or ice walls, and also by the fact that basins and cones appear year after year in the same spots, where they remain whether they are increasing or diminishing. but this statement cannot be held to cover the entrance snow and ice slopes of some of the open pit caves such as the gottscheer cave, or saint-livres or haut d'aviernoz. here the snow, which falls on the entrance slope, must gradually gravitate to the bottom. the question is whether it only descends in the shape of water after melting or as snow before solidifying; or whether it ever slides down at all after becoming somewhat solidified. probably, however, the ice of these slopes, judging from the fact that crevasses are entirely lacking, remains stationary. _color effects._--the color effect of every glacière cavern has a certain individuality, according to the color of the rocks, the quantity of ice, and the amount of daylight admitted through the entrance. in my opinion, the white note given by the ice, makes a fine glacière cave the most beautiful of all subterranean hollows. in this respect it seems to me that they are similar to high alps, which are certainly most impressive with coverings of snow and glacier. there are, however, two distinct notes in the color effects of glacière caves and these may be described as the partly subterranean, or as the wholly subterranean. in the former case the local tints stand out more clearly. for instance, at the kolowratshöhle the ice is beautifully transparent and of a pale ochre-greenish hue: the limestone rocks are streaked with iron, and thus have a reddish hue, while, owing to the entrance admitting plenty of daylight, the effect is only semi-subterranean. again, at chaux-les-passavant plenty of daylight is admitted: the rocks are a yellowish brown, and the ice is white and blue. at the schafloch or the frauenmauer, on the contrary, the effect is wholly subterranean: daylight is so completely absent that black is the predominating note, the ice itself looking gray. dóbsina is an exception, as, thanks to the electric light, white is the conspicuous tone, even though rocks and shadows dull many places and corners into a sombre gray. more than once, on returning to daylight from the intense blackness of a cave, i have seen the rocks near the entrance appear a dark blue color, exactly simulating moonlight. this effect is common to both glacière caves and ordinary caverns. it is a striking but rare phenomenon, and depends apparently on the shape of the cave. this moonlight effect only seems to occur when a cave makes an elbow directly after the mouth and then goes straight for some distance. when the daylight is actually in sight, the moonlight impression vanishes. _carbonic acid gas._--carbonic acid gas, judging from the most recent explorations, is more of a rarity in rock caves with normal temperatures than is generally supposed. there appears to be only one case on record where this gas was observed in a cold cave. this was in the creux-de-souci,[ ] which is rather a cold than a freezing cavern, but which on one occasion was found to contain snow, and whose temperature is always extremely low. from the present state of knowledge, therefore, it may be assumed that if carbonic acid gas does form in glacière caves, it does so only seldom. [ ] see part iii.: page . _fauna._--no attention whatever has been paid, practically as yet, as to whether any distinctive animal life exists in glacières. so far, i have seen none myself. the rev. g. f. browne, in four instances, found a large red-brown fly nearly an inch long, which is supposed to be _stenophylax hieroglyphicus_ of stephens; and at chapuis, he obtained an ichneumon of the genus _paniscus_. at font d'urle, monsieur villard captured a blind specimen of a coleoptera, _cytodromus dapsoïdes_. a variety of rotifer, _notholca longispina_, is now living in the creux-de-souci. in skerisora, remains of bats have been found, not very different from those now living in the neighborhood.[ ] it is, in any case, certainly remarkable that the same kind of fly should have been discovered in several glacières in different localities; and it may some day be shown that there is a special insect fauna. certainly the subject is worth investigating.[ ] [ ] see part i.: ausable pond, page , and part iii.: creux-de-souci, page ; font d'urle, page ; chapuis, page ; la genollière, page ; skerisora, page . [ ] in june, , i mentioned these facts to monsieur armand viré, director of the biologic laboratory in the catacombs of the jardin des plantes in paris. he was much interested, and promised to make a careful investigation of the matter. _flora._--the flora of glacières has been as little observed as the fauna. there are scarcely any references to such a thing as glacière plant life in literature. whether there is a special flora in any glacière cave is still an open question. in the cases of several boulder taluses, there is no doubt that, even if there is not a special flora, at least that the plants near the ice beds are greatly retarded every year in their development. probably the flora among the boulders blooms a month or six weeks later than the flora in the immediate vicinity. in the cases of the cave of paradana and of the kuntschner eishöhle it is reported that the plant life becomes more and more arctic in character towards the bottom of the pit.[ ] [ ] see part i.: ausable pond, page ; giant of the valley, page , note ; ice gulch, page ; spruce creek, page . see part iii: spruce creek, page ; paradana, page ; kuntschner eishöhle, page . _paleontology._--no paleontological remains have as yet been reported from glacière caves. no bones of animals have been found, except those of bats in skerisora[ ] and a few of the common genus _bos_.[ ] no relics of the handiwork of man have been discovered; nor, indeed, with the exception of the skeletons found in the cave of yeermallik in kondooz,[ ] anything which reveals the presence of man in glacières or that they were ever used for habitation. the reason that there are so few remains in glacière caves is undoubtedly because their temperatures are too low for their occupation by animal or man; but, from the evidence afforded by their non-occupation, may be drawn the valuable inference that the glacière caves of to-day were glacière caves long ago. [ ] see part iii.: skerisora, page . [ ] see part i.: saint-livres, page . [ ] see part iii.: yeermallik, page . _legends and religion._--there are scarcely any legends connected with glacières. i know only of one about one of the caves of the mont parmelan.[ ] nor does there seem to be any reference to glacière caves in works of fiction. dante makes his last hell full of an ice lake, but an attentive perusal fails to reveal a single line which in any way describes or suggests a glacière. in at least two cases,[ ] however, the ice in caves is connected with religion, as in kashmere, the hindoos, and in arizona, the zuni indians, either worship or pray at glacière caves, overawed, from some mystical feeling, by the permanence of the ice formations which they connect with their deities. [ ] see part iii.: glacière de l'enfer, page . [ ] see part iii.: amarnath, page ; cave, white mountains, arizona, page . ii. the cause of the formation of subterranean ice is undoubtedly one of the most intricate problems in connection with caverns. various theories have been advanced why ice is found in certain caves and not in others. some writers have held that it is a remnant of a glacial period; others that it is owing to the presence of salts in the rocks; some have said that it is due to the rocks retarding waves of heat and cold; and still others think that it is formed by pressure on the percolating waters. many of these theories were formulated in explanation of the belief of peasants living near the caves, who almost always say that the ice is formed in summer and melts in winter. most scientific observers on the other hand claim that the ice is due to the cold of winter, and a few think that it is formed or helped by draughts and by evaporation and expansion of the air. the variety of opinions put forth, show at any rate the intricacy of the problem. all my own observations have tended more and more to make me believe that the cold of winter is the cause of the ice. before elaborating my own views, however, i wish to take up seriatim the theories which have been formulated, principally in explanation of the belief that the ice was a summer product, and to give my reasons for my disbelief in them. _glacial period._--the first theory, perhaps, to touch on, is the one that the ice is a remnant of a glacial period. this seems to occur to many persons as a solution of the question when they first hear of glacières, and it has been several times propounded to me, and naturally enough, always by scientific men.[ ] still i do not think it has ever been held by anyone who had made a study of glacières. [ ] see part iv.: hitchcock, page ; bonney, page ; dawkins, page . the theory is, indeed, untenable in regard to freezing caves, as it does not accord with the observed facts of the yearly disappearance of the ice in many caves and taluses. at szilize every year the ice has disappeared pretty completely by november, and the cave is free; but in april or may the floor is again covered with ice, and columns and icicles have formed on the roof and sides. at la genollière the cave is used by the people of the neighboring châlets, through the spring and early summer, to help in the operation of butter making; by the middle or the end of august it has entirely disappeared, but is found formed afresh the following spring. at the rumney talus, at the cave of decorah, at the gorge of ellenville, and at the williamstown snow hole, i found no snow or ice.[ ] yet it is abundant in all these localities in the spring. too many examples of the complete melting away of the ice every year can be cited, to permit any doubt: glacière caves are not connected with a glacial period. [ ] see part i.: rumney, page ; decorah, page ; ellenville, page ; williamstown, page . though it may be stated positively that the ice in caves is not a remnant of a glacial period, yet this cannot be done so authoritatively about subsoil ice sheets and freezing wells. at brandon, owego and decorah the gravel was found frozen at the time the wells were dug, and it is of course impossible to determine for how long a time this was the case previous to the digging. the proofs, however, are so strong that the ice re-forms every winter at such freezing wells, that they may be considered as in every respect following the same general laws as glacière caves. that the ice in these wells is not the remains of a glacial period, seems proved moreover by the work of the boston natural history society, which sank two wells at brandon near to the freezing well. one of these was only twenty-one meters distant and went through the same gravel drift. yet it did not strike ice.[ ] a somewhat similar state of things appears to be the case with the centennial lode and other lodes on mount mcclellan,[ ] where the causes also seem to be local, as there is no ice in mines on neighboring mountains. [ ] see part iv.: hager, page ; hitchcock, page . [ ] see part iii.: rifts of ice, etc., page . _the summer's heat theory._--the natives and peasants in the neighborhood of glacière caves generally believe that the ice of caves is formed in summer and melts in winter. i have met with this belief everywhere in europe; in the eifel, jura, swiss alps, tyrolese alps, and carpathians: and also occasionally in the united states. peasants and guides tell you with absolute confidence: "the hotter the summer the more ice there is." the strange thing is that any number of writers[ ]--sometimes scientific men--have accepted the ideas and statements of the peasants about the formation of ice in summer, and have tried to account for it. [ ] among them may be mentioned: boisot, ; valvasor, ; behrens, ; billerez, ; bel, ; rosenmüller and tillesius, ; sartori, ; pictet, ; scrope, ; murchison, . the belief of the peasants is founded on the fact that they scarcely ever go to any cave except when some tourist takes them with him, and, therefore, they rarely see one in winter, and their faith is not based on observation. it is, however, founded on an appearance of truth: and that is on the fact that the temperatures of glacière caves, like that of other caves or that of cellars, are colder in summer than the outside air, and warmer in winter than the outside air. possessing neither reasoning powers nor thermometers, the peasants simply go a step further and say that glacière caves are cold in summer and hot in winter. professor thury tells a story to the point. he visited the grand cave de montarquis in mid-winter. all the peasants told him there would be no use going, as there would be no ice in the cave. he tried to find even one peasant who had been to the cave in winter, but could not. he then visited it himself and found it full of hard ice. on his return he told the peasants of his discovery. they were staggered at first, finally one exclaimed: "it makes no difference; in genuine glacières there is no ice in winter." it will be difficult, probably, to eradicate this belief and the consequent theories among the uneducated people in the vicinity of glacière caves, for their imperfect observations will keep it alive. in refutation, it may be said that the winter's cold theory is the direct opposite of the summer's heat theory, and that all the observations and all the facts which prove the one, disprove the other. within two or three years, however, the formation of small quantities of ice has been observed during the summer months in one or two caves. this has taken place in mountain caves situated at a high altitude at times when the air outside has dropped below freezing point during the night. there is, therefore, nothing inconsistent in this fact with the winter's cold theory: indeed it is only a widening of it in the meaning of the word winter.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: beilsteinhöhle, page . part iv.: professor cranmer, page . _chemical causes._--non-scientific persons, on first hearing of glacière caves, almost always suggest that to form the ice there must be salts in the rocks. probably they connect unconsciously in their minds "ice caves" and "ice cream." chemical causes, however, have never appealed to scientific men.[ ] there are only two places i know of where salt is reported. one is the ice spring in oregon, which is said to be slightly saline in taste; the other is the cave of illetzkaya-zatschita, where the gypsum hillock, in which the ice is found, overlies a bed of rock salt. repeated experiments in letting lumps of glacière ice melt in my mouth have convinced me personally that in all cases the water is exceedingly pure and sweet, a fact mentioned in the very first notice extant about glacières, the letter of benigne poissenot in , who speaks of the deliciousness of the water in chaux-les-passavant. to sum this matter up briefly, it can be safely asserted that all causes, which would fall under the head of "chemical causes," must be entirely eliminated as possible cold producers. [ ] see part iv.: billerez, page ; hacquet, page . _waves of heat and cold._--while sir roderick murchison was studying the geology of russia,[ ] he visited illetzkaya-zatschita and was puzzled to account for the ice formations. he thought, at first, that they were due to the presence of salt, but recognizing that this was not correct he submitted the case to sir john herschel, who, rejecting the evaporation or condensation of vapor as the cause, argued that the ice was due to waves of heat and cold, and that at certain depths in the interior, the cold wave arrived in mid-summer and the heat in mid-winter. murchison declined to assent to this doctrine, asking why one cave should present this exceptional occurrence, when the numerous other rents and openings in the same hillock were free from ice. the impossibility of the heat and cold wave theory was so completely shown by murchison's objection, that it has never again been brought forward. [ ] _the geology of russia and the ural mountains_, vol. i., pages - . _capillary or compressed air theory._--the possibility of compressed air causing subterranean ice to form seems to have been first authoritatively formulated by mr. n. m. lowe, of boston.[ ] his theory in brief is this:--bubbles of air drawn into water flowing down through fissures in rocks are liable to a continually increasing pressure. when the air has reached the bottom and is liberated in the cave, it will be from a pressure equal to the height of the column of water, and it will have lost by connection in the mass through which the conduit passes, the heat due to its compression; and on being liberated, it will immediately absorb from the air and the water in the cave, the heat which it has lost in its downward passage. [ ] _science observer._ boston, , vol. ii., page . see part iv.: silliman, page ; olmstead, page . several scientific observers have rallied to this idea.[ ] one of the hungarian residents at dóbsina, a doctor, whose opportunities for observations are unrivalled, told me--if i understood him correctly--that he believed in the capillary theory. [ ] see b. schwalbe, _ueber eishöhlen und eislöcher_, page . there are many facts, however, which militate against the compressed air theory as applied to caves. almost all caves receive some drip through fissures, and yet there are many thousands of caves which never contain ice, and whose temperature scarcely varies the year round. especially against the theory is the fact that glacière caves are never known in hot countries. if the theory were correct we should, for instance, sometimes find ice in such caves as those of yucatan described by mr. mercer.[ ] [ ] _the hill caves of yucatan._ there are also some mechanical difficulties in the way. mr. john ritchie[ ] touches them when he says: "if the passage through which the water flows down is at all tubular the column will be subjected to the usual hydrostatic pressure." the word _tubular_ is the hard one to answer. limestone rock fissures are certainly not tubular. they have all sorts of shapes and angles and corners, every one of which would interfere with anything like a regular pressure. [ ] _boston transcript_, january d, . this latter objection would not apply to borings in mines. i have been assured that in some borings in western mines ice has been formed by pressure, and there may be truth in this, although i doubt it, as i have yet to hear of ice in any mines in warm latitudes. mr. john ritchie[ ] has suggested, also, that if compressed air does not perhaps act strongly enough to form ice, yet it may help in keeping the temperature low and aid in the formation of draughts in caves and boulder heaps. at present, however, i can see no reason to think that the ice in caves is due to compressed air.[ ] [ ] _the happy thought._ boston, january d, . [ ] see part i.: page . iii. i have already said that i believe that the cold of winter is the cause of the ice in caves. to make this clearer, i may say that i look on glacières as the last outcrop, the outside edge, so to speak, of the area of low temperatures, which has its culminating point in the northern hemisphere in the arctic ocean, greenland and siberia, and in the southern hemisphere in the antarctic; and which is manifested to us in the snows of mountain peaks, and immediately round us in frozen ponds and rivers and snowy blizzards; and which, as it disappears each summer, leaves its last traces in our latitudes in sequestered gorges and convenient caverns. in every case, it seems to me, glacières are simply refrigerators, which preserve the ice and snow accumulated in them during the winter. they all follow the same general laws as to the origin of their contents, modified only in slight degree according to the varying natural local conditions, such as the water supply, or the protection from sun and wind, or the thickness of the overhead rock, or the altitude or latitude. i cannot see that there is anything remarkable about the fact that the cold of winter is able to penetrate and make itself felt sometimes for a slight depth in the earth's crust; a depth, so far as yet known, never exceeding one hundred and fifty meters. it seems to me that glacières only emphasize a law of nature, which has doubtless been formulated many times in connection with springs and phreatic waters, and that is, that where we find cold waters underground, we may be sure that they have penetrated from the outside. if we look first at the mode of formation of overground perennial ice, that is, of the ice of glaciers and of rock gorges; and then at the evidences of the mode of formation of underground perennial ice, in boulder heaps, wells and caves; we will soon see that the transitions between them are gentle in character and that there is nothing unnatural about the formation of the ice in glacières. _glaciers._--everyone now knows the main characteristics of glaciers. they are formed in parts of the earth where the land or the mountains reach to the region of perpetual snow. the snows fall from the sky, and accumulate into a snow cap, which by its own weight and by melting and regelation, gradually changes to ice. this, by the laws of gravitation, descends to lower levels, and in mountain valleys extends sometimes far below the snow line into the region of cultivated fields. these valley prolongations of the perpetual snow caps are the glaciers. the important point to notice here, is that the formation of glaciers is originally entirely due to the precipitation of moisture by cold in the upper portions; while the destruction of glaciers is due to the action of heat melting the ice in the lower portions, where they disappear in the shape of streams of running water. it is, therefore, not surprising that the greatest glaciers are found in the arctic and antarctic regions and in the highest mountain ranges; and that in the tropics glaciers are either wanting or exceedingly small. _gorges and troughs._--gorges and gullies, where ice remains over, are a transitional form between glaciers and glacières. in many mountain ravines or canyons, the enduring snow consists principally of the avalanches which have fallen from the heights above during the winter and solidified in the bottom of the ravines. freezing gorges proper, however, are not dependent on avalanches for their supply, but they receive the accretions to their ice directly from the winter snows. these fall into the gorge itself and by melting and regelation gradually solidify into a mass of ice which, when well sheltered against sun and wind, remains over sometimes till the following winter. by their mode of formation, therefore, it is evident that the ice in these gorges has some of the characteristics of glaciers; that it is due to the same prime causes as the ice of glaciers or the ice on ponds and rivers, namely the cold of winter; and in fact, it is not far wrong to consider these gorges as miniature glaciers. freezing gorges, however, show, also, certain degrees of kinship to freezing caverns and taluses, principally in the protection afforded to the ice against external destructive influences. the ice is almost always found in positions where it receives little, if any, of the direct rays of the sun and, also, where it is scarcely, if at all, exposed to any winds. the sides of the fissures and surrounding trees generally afford the necessary protection. some of the forms which the ice assumes in gorges, such as long pendent icicles, are also more characteristic of underground than of overground ice. the freezing troughs or basins found in siberia are evidently closely related to gorges, and the fact that the ice is found in less sheltered places may be explained by the high northerly latitudes of these troughs, in general between fifty-seven and sixty degrees. _the winter's cold theory._--the places where ice is found underground differ in one important respect from gullies and troughs, and that is, in the fact that above the ice there is rock or soil, which, in true caves, takes the form of a roof. this causes some important distinctions between overground and underground perennial ice. it means that the ice is formed directly in the caves, and that it is genuine subterranean ice, and not, except perhaps near the entrance, solidified snow. the roof, while not admitting the winter snows, is, however, a protection against warm summer rains, and, of course, entirely cuts off radiation from the sky. if, therefore, it keeps out some cold, it also acts as a protector against heat. that the cold of winter is the source of the cold which produces the ice which forms underground, and that it is through its influence, with the assistance of certain secondary causes, that some caves are converted into what are practically natural ice houses, seems to me the true explanation of the phenomenon of subterranean ice, not only since it is the simple and obvious explanation, but also because all the facts, so far as i have myself observed, are in accord with this theory.[ ] [ ] among those who have written or said that the cold of winter plays a more or less important part in the formation of subterranean ice may be mentioned: poissenot, ; gollut, ; deboz, ; nagel, ; cossigny, ; jars, ; hacquet, ; girod-chantrans, ; hablizl, ; prévost, ; townson, ; humboldt, ; dearborn, ; deluc, ; dewey, ; lee, ; reich, ; hayden, ; guyot, ; rogers, ; petruzzi, ; smyth, ; hager, ; thury, ; browne, ; raymond, ; krenner, ; ritchie, ; benedict, ; schwalbe, ; fugger, ; trouillet, ; girardot, ; russell, ; martel, ; krauss, ; lohmann, ; balch, ; cvijic, ; butler, ; kovarik, ; cranmer, . to form subterranean ice, just as to form any other ice, two things are necessary: the first is cold, the second is water. cold is supplied by the cold air of winter, and water must in some manner find its way into the cave while the cold air is there. the process is as follows: the cold air of winter sinks into and permeates the cave, and in course of time freezes up all the water which, in the shape of melting snow or cold winter rain or spring water, finds its way in; and once ice is formed it remains long after ice in the surrounding open country has melted away, because heat penetrates with difficulty into the cave. the only effect of the heat of summer is to melt the ice. the proofs, to my mind, of the truth of this view are: --glacières are always found in parts of the world where, during part of the year at least, the temperatures of the surrounding country fall below freezing point. --all observations by reliable observers show that the temperatures of glacière caves vary, but in a much narrower thermometric scale, with those of the outside air: that the temperatures are lowest, and as a rule below freezing point, during the winter months; and that the temperatures are highest, and as a rule above freezing point, during the summer months. --ice is never found far from the mouth of caves, but always near enough for the cold air to get in. --evaporation, according to my observations, is, as in all other forms of ice in nature, connected mainly with the melting, not the freezing of the ice. _geographical distribution and altitudes._--glacière caves proper are found in various parts of europe, asia, and america, mostly in the smaller mountain ranges or in the outliers of the snowy mountain chains; generally in limestone and occasionally in basaltic formations. there are a good many in the jura; a few in the swiss and the italian alps; a number in the eastern alps of tyrol and carinthia. there are some in hungary, several in russia, one in iceland, one on the peak of teneriffe, a number in siberia, one in kondooz in central asia, one in the himálaya, one in japan, and one in korea. i have heard so far of over fifty glacières in north america, several of which are in pennsylvania. from all over the world there are some three hundred places reported where subterranean ice is said to occur. this includes gorges, boulder heaps and freezing mines and wells, all of which exist in much the same localities as glacière caves. all the glacières which i know of, are situated in a latitude or at an altitude where ice and snow forms for part of the year in the surrounding open country. none are reported from india or africa, or in fact from any low-lying places in tropical latitudes. most of them are found in middle latitudes, and only where during part of the year, at least, there is a cold season, that is, where for some time the thermometer stands below freezing point. glacières are, in general, at fairly high altitudes. the schafloch is at meters; skerisora in transylvania at meters; dóbsina at meters; the glacière de saint-georges at meters. it is true that there is one freezing cavern in the sub-tropical latitude of teneriffe, la cueva de la nieve; but it is at an altitude of meters, and where snow falls every year in the open on the peak. unless some freezing cave is hereafter discovered in a region where there is no ice in the open in winter, i do not see how the imperative necessity of the cold air of winter for forming the supply of ice can be controverted. _thermometric observations._--that the cold air of winter is the important factor in the production of cold is proved, also, by the thermometric observations recorded in various caves by different observers. they all tell the same tale: that the temperatures vary with those of the outside air, that they are lowest in winter and highest in summer. i quote in the "list of glacières"[ ] a few of those published; but there are many more, and they all show the same general characteristics. [ ] see part iii.: decorah, page ; chaux-les-passavant, pages - ; la poujade, page ; montarquis, page ; saint-georges, page ; schafloch, page ; kolowratshöhle, page ; schellenberger eisgrotte, page ; frain, page ; dóbsina, page ; etc. a comparison of all the figures recorded proves that, as a rule--inside of glacière caves--from about the first of november to the first of july, there are winter temperatures, that is temperatures below freezing point; and from about the first of july to the first of november, there are summer temperatures, that is temperatures above freezing point. the observations prove also that the inner temperatures vary less than the outer, that is that they range within narrower limits. they also show that the inner air is but slowly affected by the outer air when the latter is above freezing point, the inner temperature rising then only gradually. per contra, when the outside temperature drops quickly much below freezing point, the inside temperature generally drops correspondingly at once, proving that the cold air has sunk by its weight into the cave. the observations also prove that the old idea that the temperature of caves is the same throughout, can no longer be considered correct. the observations also appear to show, that the temperature of a cave does not necessarily represent the mean annual temperature of a surrounding district. observation is still entirely lacking on the mean annual temperature of glacières, so that one cannot speak definitely about the matter; but it seems likely that the mean annual temperature of a glacière cave is lower than the isotherm of its locality; and it seems more than probable that on the same isotherm different glacière caves may have different mean annual temperatures, varying with the elements of size, quantity of ice, position of body of cave and of entrance, water supply and other factors. _ice near the entrance of caves and the surface of the soil._--an important proof that it is the cold air of winter which forms the ice is the fact that the latter is always found near the entrance of caves or near the surface of the soil. it never extends far within. to the best of my knowledge, ice has never been found two hundred meters from the entrance nor at any depth beyond one hundred and fifty meters. in all caves of great extent, the temperature far in is about the same as that of the surrounding rock, and in all deep borings the temperature increases with the depth and at great depths the temperature becomes high. this nearness of subterranean ice to the outside air is one of the best proofs, that, paradoxical as the whole phenomenon appears at first, yet in reality it is an extremely simple matter. the position of the entrance of a cave in relation to the body of the cave is an important factor in permitting the cold air to permeate and remain in the cave. in all the caves or gullies i have examined myself, the main mass of ice is well below the level of the entrance, and even if the latter is sheltered against the wind, it is not sheltered against the cold air of winter. this is heavy, and by its own weight sinks well down to the bottom, freezing up in course of time all the moisture that may drip from the roof, or that may come into the cave in the shape of melted snow or cold winter rain. the summer air, which is warm and, therefore, light, can only enter the cave with great difficulty; and, as a rule, before it dislodges the winter air and destroys the ice, another winter's freeze reverses once more the conditions. these principles seem to hold of every known glacière. it is true, that at the frauenmauer, the floor of the cavern rises somewhat from the entrance; but the highest point of the floor is still below the level of the top of the entrance, so that the cold air can flow over the highest point without difficulty. the same appears to be the case at the posselthöhle; while at amarnath in kashmere, where the floor is said to rise to the back wall, the entrance is about as large as the area of the floor, so that the ice must also be below the level of the top of the entrance. the position or situation of the entrance is important. in almost all cases it has a northerly exposure, and is sheltered against entering winds. if these two conditions do not exist the ice supply surely suffers. sometimes the entrance is more or less tortuous. in some cases it is protected by a fringe of trees. still, there is no absolute rule about entrances. the friedrichsteinerhöhle faces about due south, and at midday in summer, the sun shines all the way down to the ice floor, causing mists to form. in the kolowratshöhle, the entrance is badly sheltered against the wind and this undoubtedly affects the supply in summer and causes more rapid melting there than in some other cases.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: decorah, page . freezing boulder taluses invariably have the ice near the surface, and probably it is never a dozen meters distant from the open air. these taluses are one of the strongest links in the chain of evidence proving the winter's cold theory. the snow and ice on the surface of the taluses and on the surface of the boulders in gullies melts away, while it still lingers underneath the boulders. it seems self-evident that the melting snow water has run to the lowest level and there congealed, and then remained because it was better sheltered than the ice outside. the subsoil ice of the tundras of siberia and alaska is almost identical with the ice of boulder formations, except that it extends under larger areas. it is the product of a climate where there is a long, rigorous winter and it is not surprising that the ice is found at greater depths than in more southerly latitudes.[ ] the depth to which the ice extends is, of course, determined by the depth to which the winter's cold can penetrate the soil. there is no doubt that the causes of this ice are local, that is, that it is due to the long prevailing low temperatures. [ ] see part iii.: alaska, page ; klondike, page ; kowak river, page ; kotzebue sound, page . the freezing wells of which the most conspicuous examples are at brandon, owego, decorah, and in montana, seem also due to local causes and the ice is never far from the surface, that is, not over twenty meters; and apparently also it forms above the water horizons which supply the wells. the ice sheet on mount etna[ ] does not seem to be at any great depth. it apparently had a different origin from most subterranean ice masses, in that the snow probably fell first and was then covered by a flow of lava. it is, therefore, almost _sui generis_ in its mode of formation, unless there are similar sheets on other volcanoes, which is probable in a country like iceland, and which is said to be the case in tierra del fuego,[ ] but the original cause of the ice sheet on etna was the same as all other subterranean ice masses, namely the cold of winter. [ ] see part iii., page . [ ] see part iii., page . _evaporation and movements of air._--the formation of subterranean ice is sometimes assigned partly to evaporation or to expansion of the air. the theory is an old one, and both scientific and non-scientific men have advanced it.[ ] [ ] among those who have written that evaporation is a factor in the formation of subterranean ice, may be mentioned: pictet, ; scrope, ; reich, ; pleischl, ; murchison, ; olmstead, ; hitchcock, ; white, ; kirchhoff, ; krauss, . i have already said that i believe it is the movements of the air which cause a cave to be a glacière cave or a normal cave. when they act in such a way as to permit the cold air of winter to permeate a cave, we find low temperatures and ice; when they do not, we find the temperature about the same as that of the ground and no ice. that the ice is not formed in apparently static caves, by movements of air producing evaporation, seems to me proved by what i have noticed in regard to the atmosphere. the dryness or moistness of the air within a glacière cave is coincident with the state of freezing or thawing of the cave. when i have visited a large cave in june, everything was frozen tight, there were no drips nor mushy ice, the air was relatively dry and the sensation of cold not unpleasant. when i have visited a cave in august, the ice was soft and mushy, water was dripping from the roof, the atmosphere was moist, and the cold penetrating. it seems to me that the facts go to show that it is not evaporation which forms the ice, but the melting of the ice which fills the cave with moisture. if there are any draughts or movements of the atmosphere when above freezing point, then their tendency is to vaporize the ice. the process of the formation of ice in relation to the atmosphere is as follows: the cold air permeates the cave and freezes up all the drip: the atmosphere becomes dry: gradually warmer air gets in and the ice begins to melt: then the atmosphere gets charged slowly with the vapor of the melting ice. this process is the exact opposite of the formation of ice by evaporation; it is the atmosphere which is made humid by the vaporizing of the ice, and by the drip. when the air is thoroughly saturated with the vapor, being scarcely renewed from outside and but a few degrees above freezing point, it undoubtedly retards evaporation, acts like a blanket and lessens the rate of melting of the ice.[ ] [ ] see part iv.: thury, page ; fugger, page ; trouillet, page . everything i have personally observed in freezing windholes shows that in them also the cold of winter and not evaporation is the cause of the ice. they answer to the same tests as other glacières, of geographical distribution and altitude, nearness of ice to the outside, thermometric observations, and dampness of the air when the ice melts. equally with other glacières, the movements of air in windholes do not depend on the presence of ice, but the ice does depend on the movements of air and a water supply at the proper time. a proof that it is the cold of winter which makes the ice in windholes, is that the ice is always found at the lower extremity, for the reason that it is at that end that the cold air enters and to that end that the water gravitates. the reason that ice is more rarely found in windholes than in apparently static caves, is due to the movements of air. unlike the caves where the heavy cold air preserves the ice by remaining pent up, as soon as the outside temperature rises the heavy cold air in windholes tumbles out at the lower opening and is replaced gradually by air at a higher temperature. this also flows out and when it is above freezing point, it naturally melts the ice and becomes humid: in fact, it vaporizes the ice as it passes, and dissipates the moisture into the outer air. it is, however, certain, that in caves with a temperature some degrees above freezing point, when there is either running water or strong drips, evaporation may be, and sometimes undoubtedly is, a factor in lowering the temperature somewhat.[ ] as in some windholes there is occasionally moisture on the rock surfaces where the air current passes, the evaporation from these surfaces doubtless lowers the temperature of the draughts, and it may be, also those of the rock surfaces, a little. [ ] see part iv.: de saussure, page . see also _les abimes_, , page . further observations, however, will be necessary in regard to evaporation underground, as the data are still insufficient to make absolutely positive statements.[ ] i fail to see any evidence to show that evaporation ever lowers the temperature of draughts underground below freezing point, only that it may help to lower them to something less than they would otherwise be. taking all the facts which i have myself observed, and all i have read of in the reports of others, my own conclusion is that we have no proof that evaporation underground is ever strong enough to produce ice. [ ] several observers consider evaporation as more or less of a factor in the production of cold underground. it is suggested also, that in certain cases, at high altitudes, evaporation tends to prevent the melting of the ice in windholes, but this is not proved, as yet. see part iv.: de saussure, page ; fugger, page ; trouillet, page ; martel, page ; lohmann, page . _time of formation of ice._--everything i have seen points to the fact that ice begins to form in a cave as soon as the temperature of the cave has sunk below freezing point, whenever, from any cause, water gets into the cave. the cold may begin to penetrate caves as soon as outside frosts have occurred, that is in the fall months, about november; and as soon as the temperature inside sinks below freezing point, ice will begin to form, provided also that water gets into the cave, from rains or springs or any other source. in the mid-winter months, although there is then plenty of cold, the water supply is generally lacking, as the outside moisture is mostly frozen up and the result is that the winter months are not those when the ice is mainly formed. some is undoubtedly formed in certain caves whenever during the course of the winter a surface thaw outside furnishes water to the cave,[ ] but in other cases this is not so and the ice does not appear before the spring. in all cases it is in the spring, before the cave has parted with its store of cold, and when both the air and the rock walls are chilled below freezing point[ ] that the ice forms fastest. then plenty of water is furnished by the melting of the snows and the unlocking of the brooks, and also by early spring rains. all this surface water runs through the fissures into the still freezing cave and there becomes ice. not only the air, but also the rock walls are chilled below freezing point, and as the rocks part slowly with the cold stored in them, this cold helps to freeze the water pouring in. [ ] see part iii.: chaux-les-passavant, page ; saint-georges, page . [ ] see part iv.: townson, page ; thury, page ; trouillet, page ; schwalbe, page ; terlanday, page ; kovarik, page . the natural law in relation to time seems to be this: ice may be formed in caves as soon as the outside temperature sinks below freezing point. in some caves it forms intermittently all through the cold months because there is a water supply. in other caves it only forms in the spring, because there is no water supply in the winter months. in all cases, however, the end of winter is the time when most of the ice is formed. part iii. list of glaciÈres. list of glaciÈres.[ ] [ ] this list is necessarily incomplete, and only approximately accurate in many cases. north america. buried or fossil glaciers, north greenland. (w. e. meehan, _philadelphia ledger_, .)--on robertson's bay is the plateau of the verhoef glacier, which is about meters long and meters wide, and stands back only a few meters from the edge of the sea. this plateau, both top and sides, is a mass of flourishing vegetation, chiefly grass, which reaches above a man's knee. from among this verdure buttercups, poppies, cinquefoils and dandelions thrust their golden heads in wild profusion. similar buried glaciers are found in many places along the fiords of north greenland. mr. meehan gives a simple explanation in connection with the verhoef glacier. he says that this glacier formerly extended out into the sea, and that while it moved forward, the clump moss, which struggles for existence in greenland gorges, could do little more than hold its own. in course of time, from some unknown cause, the glacier receded to the point where it now discharges, the part in the water floating away in the shape of icebergs, and the part on the shore remaining stationary. this was the opportunity for the clump mosses. caring nothing for the cold they crept slowly over the quiet mass of ice and made their way first in thin net-like layers, later in thick masses, till they reached the rocky shore. year after year the mosses grew, the young plants trampling underfoot the older; until the latter, rotting, turned into a rich mould. the seeds of grasses and flowers found their way to this, blown by the wind or carried on the feet of birds. the plateau now is a garden of green, gold and white. how long this will last it is impossible to say, as any time nature may unloose its hold, and the frozen river once more pour down into the bay. subsoil ice in alaska. (i. c. russell, _a journey up the yukon river_, page , and _second expedition to mount saint elias_, page .)--professor russell found ice covered by rocks and vegetation in several places in alaska, especially along the southern edge of the malaspina glacier and on the yukon river. he gives the following interesting account in of these ice sheets: "throughout the length of the yukon, one is frequently reminded of the high latitude drained by the great river, by seeing strata of ice in the recently cut banks, beneath the dense layer of moss and roots forming the surface on which the forests grow. one may frequently find ice even on a hot summer's day, by scraping away the moss at his feet. in some instances the frozen layer has been penetrated to the depth of twenty-five feet, but its full depth has never been ascertained. in the banks of some of the streams to the north of the lower yukon, strata of ice over a hundred feet thick have been observed, and the indications are that its total depth is considerably greater than the portion exposed. this subsoil ice is stagnant and without the characteristics of glaciers." subsoil ice in the klondike region. (_philadelphia ledger_, december th, .)--the klondike mining country is covered with snow most of the year. the ground is frozen for ten or twelve meters in depth, down to bed rock. in some places the ground, which is protected by a thick moss, is not thawed out by the sun in summer. the miner cuts off the moss with a shovel, and then builds a fire, which thaws out the ground for five or ten centimeters. he digs this out, rebuilds a fire, and then continues this process. ice cliffs on the kowak river, alaska. (lieutenant j. c. cantwell, _national geographic magazine_, october, .)--on the shores of the kowak river are a series of ice cliffs of from about meters to meters in height. on top of these ice cliffs is a layer of black silt-like soil some meters in thickness, and from this springs a luxuriant growth of mosses, grass and arctic shrubbery. the melted ice shows a residuum of fine dust, which while fresh emits a pungent odor. subterranean ice sheet on kotzebue sound. (otto von kotzebue, _entdeckungsreise in die südsee_, etc. weimar, . vol. iv., page .)--dr. eschholz discovered near kotzebue sound, in , a mass of ice more than meters thick, and entirely covered with a layer at least centimeters thick of clay, sand, and earth, on which heavy, long grass was growing. in the ice and in the soil overlaying it, were many remains of extinct animals. on the side towards the ocean the ice was entirely bare, exposed to sun and air, and much of it was melting away in streamlets. freezing lava caves, washington. (r. w. raymond, _overland monthly_, d november, , page . th. kirchhoff, _reisebilder und skizzen aus america_, , vol. ii., page . _philadelphia ledger_, september th, .)--these caves are distant about four hours from the foot of mount adams, and about kilometers from the mouth of the white salmon river, where it falls into the columbia river. the caves are in basalt, and they are connected at both ends with the open air. only a few of them contain any ice, which in the largest cave is about meters below the entrance, from which one descends by a ladder. the cave opens on one side and is some meters in depth, meters or meters in width and meters or meters in height. this part contains the most ice. the other side gradually narrows from the entrance, is longer, and reaches out through fallen rocks and rubbish to daylight. in the lower portion, there are a few ice stalactites and stalagmites: one a superb, transparent hillock, which rises nearly to the roof, is called the iceberg. a strong draught flows into the cave in summer through the open arm. the following paragraphs from the _philadelphia ledger_ probably refer to the same locality:-- "ice for the cutting, and that in august and early in september, is a novelty not often found in regions as far south as the columbia river basin; but the novelty is enjoyed every year by people who visit the ice caves under the shadow of mount adams, about miles northeast of portland. it is a very extensive region. frank mcfarland, who has just returned from a six weeks' vacation camping trip there, gives an interesting account of its general make up. "at the ice caves, which are six miles from trout lake, the stalactites are more beautiful and wonderful this year than ever before, and this was mr. mcfarland's fifteenth trip there. he broke off and took to camp chunks of ice weighing pounds. pleasure parties who come to the lake use considerable of the ice for packing their trout to take home. all you have to do is to take a torch of pitch pine or a lantern, and go into the big caves and pack off all the ice you want. it is a sure crop, and never fails." ice spring in the rocky mountains, oregon. (g. gibbs, _american journal of science and arts_, , second series, vol. xv., page .)--the ice spring is about kilometers from the south pass to the right of the sweetwater river. it is situated in a low marshy swale, where the ground is filled with springs; and about centimeters below the turf is a sheet of horizontal ice, some centimeters to centimeters thick, lasting throughout the year. the ice is clear and is disposed in hexagonal prisms; it has a slightly saline taste, the ground above it being impregnated with salt and the water near by tasting of sulphur. freezing lava caves in modoc county, california. (_dispatch_, frankford, pennsylvania, d january, , reprinted from another paper.)--the lava beds, where the modoc indians made their last stand against the united states troops, are described as an immense field of lava covered with a beautiful forest of conifers. numerous caves of varying shapes and dimensions are scattered throughout these lava beds. some are mere covert ways, with an arch of stone thrown over them; others are immense chambers some meters from the surface; another kind sinks deeply and may be in a series of chambers united by a corridor that opens at the surface; while another kind seems to go directly to the centre of the earth without stopping. some of these caves contain ice and from them the modocs drew their water supply while besieged by the troops. judging from what is reported of the caves the quantity of ice in them must be large. the thermometer in winter in the region is said to go as low as - ° c. freezing lava beds near medicine lake, siskiyou county, northern california. (m. s. baker, _sierra club bulletin_, . vol. ii., page .)--"one other feature of the lava region must be mentioned--the ice caves. there are several of these known, and very likely many more remain undiscovered. those located along the edge of the lava, near the cinder cone, i have known to contain ice and water as late as august. the largest i have seen is on the mayfield road, about twenty miles east of bartles. it is situated in the barren lava, and in one of the warmest localities of the region,--and there are few cool spots in the lava anywhere. one enters the cave by crawling down a hole none too large. the instant the interior is reached the temperature falls in a surprising way. not more than ten feet below the surface of the hot rocks is a bed of ice, covered by a foot or so of ice water. the body of ice was perhaps twelve or fifteen feet long, by five feet across in the widest places. this cave is formed by a fissure that extends a distance of twenty miles from the ice cave to pittville, and nearly coincides with the foot level, as shown in the map. along the southeastern half of this earth fissure the southwest wall has faulted, leaving a cliff, which, in places, must be nearly feet high." freezing shafts, montana.--mr. robert butler, of san josé, cal., has given me much information about glacières in montana. he visited one miners' shaft which is situated about kilometers up the rosebud river from rosebud station on the northern pacific r. r., and about kilometers northeast of the cheyenne indian agency. it is on the north slope of the little wolf mountains, near the summit, at the head of greenleaf creek. the canyon and surrounding slopes are covered with a dense growth of pine. the rock has the appearance of scoriæ caused by the burning of immense beds of coal in recent geological times. the rock is broken into comparatively small pieces. the altitude is some meters. the forest, the volcanic ash and the altitude, besides the loose rock formation, makes this place a natural ice house. ten or twelve years ago three prospectors, looking for silver, sunk a shaft here. at a depth of about meters it began to grow cold, and at meters they found ice and imagined they could feel an upward draught. being ignorant and superstitious, they became frightened and abandoned the shaft. during the winter, the snow fills the shaft half full of ice, which then remains over through the summer. there is a general report and belief among those who have visited the well, that it freezes in summer and thaws in winter. there are thousands of mining shafts in montana, and if they are on the north slope of a mountain of considerable altitude and under a dense forest and not too deep, they generally have ice at the bottom during the summer. it is also said to be nothing new for a miner in following crevices to find them filled with ice, especially if near the surface on the north slope of a mountain. freezing cave, fergus county, montana.--mr. robert butler, of san josé, cal., visited this place, which is about kilometers southeast of lewistown. it is on the north side of a butte. masses of ice and great icicles form in some parts of the cave in such quantities during the latter part of winter that the cave furnishes ice for cooling the drinking water for several dozen families. during july and august the people come from some distance around to get the ice. the people in the neighborhood believe that the ice forms in summer and thaws away in winter. they also speak of the ever upward draught of cold air coming possibly from some great hidden cavern in the lower recesses of the mountain. freezing well at horse plains, montana. (levi allen, _scientific american_. new series, th october, .)--the well is described as . meters deep. it is dug through solid gravel, and in sinking it there was encountered, at a depth of . meters, a current of air strong enough to blow out a candle. it began to freeze in september, , and in november it was frozen solid. freezing silver mine, bighorn county, wyoming.--this place is in the sunlight basin of the shoshone mountains. mr. william worrell wagner, of philadelphia, informs me that he visited it in august, . it is a silver mine or tunnel, running straight into the mountain for about meters, at an altitude of about meters. the peaks of the teton range were in sight from the mouth of the tunnel. for the first half of the way in, a good many icicles were hanging from the rocks. the last half of the tunnel was thickly coated with ice and looked like a cold storage plant. snow disappears on the rocks outside about june, and begins to fall again in september, so that mr. wagner's visit was at about the hottest time of the year. mr. wagner presented the meat of a bull wapiti he had shot to the miners, and they stored it in the mine as if it had been an artificial refrigerator. rifts of ice, mount mcclellan, colorado. (edward l. berthoud, _american journal of science and arts_. third series, , vol. xi., page .)--near the summit of mount mcclellan, is the centennial lode, which runs into the mountain, at an altitude of about meters. intercalated in the mineral vein are three or four well defined veins of solid ice parallel with the bedding of the rock and filling all its inner side-cracks and fissures. the same frozen substratum is found in two other lodes near by on the same mountain. nothing of the kind is known on other colorado mountains. the soil is loose and largely made up of rocky débris, which shows that the ice is probably due to local causes. freezing tunnel on the hagerman pass, colorado. (_philadelphia press_, october th, .)--the hagerman pass railroad line is said to have been abandoned after the completion of the busk-ivanhoe tunnel, but to have been rebuilt. the hagerman tunnel for a distance of over meters was filled with solid ice, and it required blasting with dynamite, and a month's continuous labor, day and night, to dig the ice out. freezing cavern in cow mountain, colorado. (_post dispatch_, st. louis, mo., july th, , and september th, . _mail order monthly_, st. paul, minn., october, .)--the cave was discovered by parties doing assessment work on a group of claims. a man was picking in a three meter hole when he struck his pick into an opening, which was gradually enlarged and showed a deep pit underneath. the men got a rope and descended into an immense cavern full of ice. later exploration led to a small hall, some meters in diameter, full of icicles. from here a fissure led into a second rock chamber larger than the first. a small hole in the floor at an angle of some ° gave access to a third and larger hall, about meters by meters. great masses of ice were found in this, also a small lake, about meters by meters. "some who have visited the wonderful discovery are of the opinion that it is a great cave or fissure in a glacier which for centuries has been slowly making its way down from pike's peak and whose waters are now feeding the arkansas river." windhole, arizona. (_christian herald_, march th, .)--mr. cofman, while drilling a well on his place, is said to have opened a windhole from which the escaping air current was strong enough to blow off the hats of the men who were recovering the lost drill. some days the air escapes with such force that pebbles the size of peas are thrown up, accompanied by a sound much like the distant bellowing of a fog horn. again for days there will be a suction current, unaccompanied by sound, in which the current of air passes into the earth with somewhat less force than when escaping, and any light object, as a feather or a piece of paper, will be immediately sucked in. the account is probably exaggerated. freezing lava cave near flagstaff, arizona.--professor w. b. scott of princeton university told me of this cave, which he had not visited himself. it lies . kilometers south of flagstaff, on the mesa table land, at an altitude of about meters. it was described to professor scott as a double cave, with two floors, one over the other, the lower containing the most ice. it is in lava, and can only be entered by crawling in on hands and knees. freezing cave or gorge, white mountains, arizona.--mr. frank hamilton cushing has told me of this place. it is a cleft among lava rock, which being roofed at the further end, might be described as a cave. in this the ice remains until june or july, much later than anywhere else in the neighborhood. the zuni indians worship before this, calling the ice the breath of the gods, the snow they consider as a sort of down. the region is arid, which makes any water precious, and this fact has developed the element of mysticism about snow and ice among the indians. freezing cave near galena, black hills, south dakota. (miss l. a. owen, _cave regions of the ozarks and black hills_. cincinnati, , page ): "at galena, a new mining town of golden promise, there is reported to be an ice cave, where ice forms at all seasons, and during the warm weather is a source of comfort and pleasure to the miners." windholes in the ozark mountains, missouri.--mr. h. f. brinckerhoff, of aurora, mo., informs me that there are a number of cold air current caves in the ozark mountain region. one of them is some kilometers south of aurora, lawrence county, and is used for cold storage in summer. there is a cave in a limestone bluff about meters above a river, and in the rear is this windhole, which is an opening about centimeters high and meters wide. a strong current of air comes out from it in summer, and the hotter the air outside, the stronger is the outward coming current. in winter the current is reversed. the outward current is so strong in very hot weather that a handkerchief held in it is straightened out to an angle of about °. freezing cave and well at decorah, iowa. described in part i. (dr. c. a. white, _report of geological survey of state of iowa_, , vol. i., page . a. f. kovarik, _scientific american supplement_, no. , november th, , pages , , , ). on june st, , dr. white found the ice dry and well frozen, and he thought it was then accumulating. the cave was cool and apparently dry, and no strong air current was passing through. mr. alois f. kovarik, of the decorah institute, has made a valuable series of observations about the decorah cave. the temperatures he observed were the following: in the valley, locus shade. division. glacialis. end. july , + . ° + . ° . ° . ° " , " + . ° + . ° . ° . ° aug. , " + . ° + . ° + . ° . ° sept. , " + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° " , " + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° oct. , " + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° " , " + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° dec. , " - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° jan. , - . ° - . ° - . ° . ° " , " - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° feb. , " - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° march , " + . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° " , " + . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° april , " + . ° - . ° + . ° - . ° " , " + . ° + . ° - . ° - . ° may , " + . ° + . ° - . ° . ° june , " + . ° + . ° - . ° . ° " , " + . ° + . ° - . ° . ° july , " + . ° + . ° . ° + . ° on the st of july, , a cold breeze was noticed coming from the cave to a distance of at least meters. at the entrance the breeze was strong enough to blow out a candle. this breeze was not noticed at other times. from december to february inclusive, on the contrary, the breeze was reversed. from july to october, , the walls of the cave were moist. from october to february they were dry. in february frost began to appear on the walls. on march th, , the walls were covered with frost. the ice appeared at a spot nearly at the end of the cave on the th of march, . at a place about . meters nearer the entrance, however, is where most ice forms. this place mr. kovarik calls _locus glacialis_. the ice appeared here about the th of may, . it increased rapidly up to june th, when it was at its maximum, and was about two meters in width. it generally covers the north wall from top to base. the greatest thickness in was centimeters. the temperature which mr. kovarik recorded on the th of april at _locus glacialis_ of + . seems an anomalous one. on writing to him he sent me the following explanation: "april th, after i left the thermometer at _locus glacialis_ the usual time, i noticed that it registered + . ° c. it seemed singular, for at both the division and the end, the thermometer registered considerably lower. i left the thermometer at its place for about an hour longer, and noticed then that it did not register differently. i would suggest this explanation: this is true about water that upon freezing it gives off its latent heat. now on april th some water dripped into the cave on the wall near where the thermometer was, about . meters from the floor. the amount of water was very small, but as it came in contact with the cold wall it began to give out its latent heat which affected the close by thermometer. the temperature of the rock was without doubt between - .° and - °." freezing cavern at brainard, iowa. (alois f. kovarik, _decorah public opinion_, september th, .)--this little cave is situated on the north side of a hill about . kilometers northwest of brainard. it is about . meters deep. on june th, , mr. kovarik found the floor and walls covered with ice. the temperature was ° c. the owner claims to have taken enough ice out of it on july th, , to freeze cream. freezing cave near elkinsville, brown county, indiana. (clipping from a western newspaper, .)--the entrance is said to be overlapped by trees and to resemble a mine shaft. the winding way leads to a hollow some meters below the surface, resembling a broad vaulted corridor, which is known to the natives as the devil's chamber and where the temperature is low. from this point several galleries lead further in, and from one of them comes a blast of icy cold air. this passage is similar to the one at the entrance to the cave, but after a few meters frost is visible, and further on it is thick on all sides, like the crust that is formed on the pipes of an ice plant. the narrow way leads to a big chamber, known as the ice vault. in this dome, which is fully meters in width, the ice forms a large stalagmite and is of unknown depth. freezing gully on mount abraham, maine. (jackson, _report of the geology of maine_, , iii.)--ice was found in june at an altitude of meters among the boulders in one of the gullies of mount abraham. [illustration: freezing cavern at brainard. from a photograph by mr. a. f. kovarik. ] subterranean ice in king's ravine, mount adams, new hampshire.--described in part i., page . ice gulch on crescent mountain, randolph, new hampshire.--described in part i., page . ice in a hole at dixville notch, new hampshire.--mr. john ritchie, jr., of boston, has examined this place, which he is sure is a refrigerator. it is in a hole north of the cliff and near its top. ice on mount garfield, new hampshire.--mr. john ritchie, jr., informs me that ice was discovered among the boulders on the summit of mount garfield during the summer of . freezing talus near rumney, new hampshire.--described in part i., page . freezing talus near north woodstock, new hampshire.--mr. john ritchie, jr., has examined this locality. he thinks the ice was gone in july, but judges it to be on the level of an old talus and a couple of meters down. freezing well at lyman, grafton county, new hampshire. (_geology of vermont_, , i., page .)--a well in that town is reported as having been frozen solid in june, , at a depth of about . meters from the surface. icy wells at the foot of mount mansfield, vermont. (n. m. lowe, _science observer_, vol. ii., page .)--these are described as being really "incipient caves." freezing cave near manchester, vermont.--described in part i., page . ice bed of wallingford, rutland county, vermont. described in part i., page . (s. pearl lathrop, _american journal of science and arts_, , xlvi., page .)--dr. lathrop says that ice has been found at the ice bed as late as september. freezing wells at brandon, vermont. described in part i., page . (_geology of vermont_, , vol. i., page .)--mr. hager says that the well was dug into a mass of sand and gravel, of the kind known as modified drift. the gravel was frozen at the time of digging. the boston natural history society, in , sank two wells, one meters southeast of the original one, the other meters northwest. the first was meters in depth and did not reach ice; the second was meters in depth, and came to the layer of frozen gravel. cave near brandon, vermont. (_geology of vermont_, , vol. i., page .)--mr. hager heard that about kilometers north of brandon village was a cavern, in a hill, in which ice is found most of the summer. icy gulf near great barrington, massachusetts.--mentioned in part i., page . icy glen near stockbridge, massachusetts.--described in part i., page . the snow hole, new york: near williamstown, massachusetts. described in part i., page . (dewey, _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. i., page ; and , vol. v., page .)--mr. dewey found, in june, snow meters deep on ice of unknown depth. on his second visit he found less ice and snow than on his first visit, as the trees in the neighborhood had been cut down. glacière near williamstown, massachusetts.--described in part i., page . freezing well near ware, massachusetts.--(_geology of vermont_, , vol. i., page .)--depth . meters. this is in a sand and gravel formation much like that at brandon, except that there is less clay, and that none of the pebbles are limestone. wolfshollow near salisbury, connecticut. (c. a. lee, _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. viii., page .)--in the eastern portion of the township, at an altitude of about meters, is a chasm about meters long, meters deep and meters wide. it is in mica-slate, and is sheltered by large trees. at the bottom at one end is a spring of cold water and a cave of considerable extent, in which ice and snow is found the greater part of the year. natural ice house, near meriden, connecticut. (benjamin silliman, _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. iv., page .)--it lies between new haven and hartford, about kilometers from the sea, at an altitude of about meters. the ice is found in a narrow defile of perpendicular trap rock, at the bottom filled with broken stones. the defile is so placed that in summer the sun only shines into it for about an hour each day; it is also well protected by surrounding trees, the leaves from which form beds at the bottom among the rocks and help to protect the ice. natural ice house of northford, connecticut. (benjamin silliman, _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. iv., page .)--about kilometers from new haven on the middletown road between branford and northford, is a gorge where ice remains throughout the year. in this case the ice is mixed with a considerable quantity of leaves and dirt; it has sometimes been brought to new haven. ice in an old iron mine, near port henry, lake champlain. (_geology of vermont_, , vol. i., page .)--ice was found during the summer at a depth of from meters to meters, and a current of cold air was issuing from the opening. there seems to be more than one opening to the mine. freezing talus on lower ausable pond, essex county, new york.--described in part i., page . freezing talus at the south base of the giant of the valley, essex county, new york.--described in part i., page . freezing boulder talus, indian pass, new york. see part i., page . freezing boulder talus, avalanche pass, new york.--see part i., page . freezing cave near carlisle, new york.--see part i., page . ice among the catskill mountains, new york.--mr. george brinton phillips informs me that he has seen subterranean ice in august among boulders in a gorge in the catskills near the stony cloves road, starting out from haines' falls. the people in the neighborhood speak of the place as an ice cave. gorge in the shawangunk mountains, near ellenville, ulster county, new york. described in part i., page . (heilprin, _around the world_, , page .)--professor heilprin found in july a mass of ice measuring about thirty meters in length and meter in depth. the thermometer near the ice read about ° c. above freezing point, the day being hot. icicles hung from the ledges on the side of the gorge. freezing gorge at sam's point, new york.--see part i., page . ice deposits and windholes at watertown, new york.--described in part i., page . freezing well near tioga, new york.--depth, meters. no information. freezing well near prattsburg, new york.--depth, . meters. no information. freezing well near owego, new york. described in part i., page . (d. o. macomber, _american journal of arts and sciences_, , vol. xxxvi., page . _well's annual of scientific discovery_, , page .)--the thermometer is said to have stood at-- . ° at the bottom of the biggest well when it registered-- ° outside. when a candle was let down, the flame became agitated and was thrown in one direction at the depth of meters; at the bottom the flame was still, but soon died out. large masses of ice were found in the biggest well as late as july, and the men who made the well were forced to put on thick clothing in june, and even so could not work for more than two hours at a time. cave in the panama rocks, chautauqua, new york. the rev. horace c. hovey informs me that he has been in a small cave in this locality, and that he found ice in it. cave in sussex county, new jersey.--a clipping from a newspaper, with neither name nor date, says that new ice is found daily on the land of peter feather, in the mouth of an unexplored cavern. a small stream of water runs out of the cavern and forms a pool at the opening, and here it is that the ice forms. enough has been taken in one day to freeze two cans of ice cream. a cold draught of air issues continuously from the cavern. hole containing ice on blue mountain, new jersey. reported; no information. gorge containing ice on bald eagle mountain, clinton county, pennsylvania.--mr. henry chapman mercer, of doylestown, learned of the existence of this gorge during the summer of . it is near the village of mcelhatten, in the neighborhood of lock haven, and is some kilometers distant from the susquehanna river. ice is said to remain over during the entire summer. freezing cave and windholes near farrandsville, clinton county, pennsylvania.--described in part i., page . underground ice formations, sullivan county, pennsylvania, on the southwestern borders of lycoming county.--mr. w. coleman hall of philadelphia, about twenty years ago, found ice in two or three places, on bear creek, north of muncy creek, about kilometers north of the susquehanna river, and southwest of eagles mere. the ice was under rocks, in what may be described as limestone sinks. since the destruction of the forest, the ice has become less abundant, if indeed any still forms. glacières in abandoned coal mines near summit, carbon county, pennsylvania.--described in part i., page . ice cave railroad station, luzerne county, pennsylvania. on the bowman creek branch of the lehigh valley r. r.--mr. f. holschuh, agent at luzerne, informs me that about kilometers from ice cave station is a little waterfall on the side of a mountain which was formerly covered with dense forest. a short distance below the fall, a large hollow place has been worn out of the rocks by the action of the water. the overhanging rocks give this almost the appearance of a cave. while the forest was still thick and when the winter was cold, ice would form under these rocks and would not disappear until summer was well advanced. the station was called ice cave on account of this place. hole containing ice at millerstown, pennsylvania.--reported; no information. freezing talus at spruce creek, huntingdon county, pennsylvania. described in part i., page . the _philadelphia ledger_ of july th, , states that around the boulders where the ice lies, there are found varieties of plants strongly arctic in character. ice mountain, hampshire county, virginia. (c. b. hayden, _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. xlv., page .)--it lies on the north river, near the road leading from winchester to romney, at an altitude of from about meters to meters. one side of the hill is entirely composed of loose stones, among which an abundance of ice is found at all times, although the sun shines on the upper surface of the stones from ten in the morning until sunset. the ice is regularly used in summer by the people near by. constant and strong air currents issue from the crevices in the rocks. similar, but smaller accumulations, are said to occur in the same county. mrs. george b. balch visited the ice mountain in august, . she saw no ice, but the air under the stones was very cold. blowing cave, bath county, virginia.--mrs. horace jayne informs me that there is a blowing cave near the cowpasture river, about half way on the old stage road between millboro and warm springs. a draught flows out from it, strong enough to blow the grass about, three or four meters away. the draught is cold, perhaps abnormally so. the cave has not yet been explored. south america. ice sheets on mount chimborazo. (a. von humboldt, _travels to the equinoctial regions_, london, , vol. i., page .)--"on chimborazo, enormous heaps of ice are found covered with sand, and in the same manner as at the peak [of teneriffe] far below the inferior limit of the perpetual snows." tierra del fuego. (a. winchel, _walks and talks_, , page .)--"on tierra del fuego ice and lava are found interstratified for a great depth, each winter's snow being covered by a new lava sheet." teneriffe. la cueva de la nieve or del hielo. (humboldt, _travels to the equinoctial regions_, , vol. i., pages , . c. piazzi smyth, _teneriffe, an astronomer's experiment_, , page .)--la cueva de la nieve lies at an altitude of meters in the malpays on the peak of teneriffe, just below the snow line. it is in obsidian. the entrance is . meters high and . meters broad. the grotto is meters long, meters wide, and meters high. the descent into the cave is so steep that it is necessary to be lowered by ropes. professor smyth found in july an ice floor about centimeters thick which was covered with water. a good deal of snow was lying near the mouth of the cave. the walls were covered with ice and icicles and a few small ice cones rose on the ice floor. iceland. the surtshellir or cave of surtur. (olafsen and povelsen, _voyage en islande_, paris, . henderson, _iceland_, , d ed., page . guimard, _voyage en islande_, page .)--the surtshellir lies in the volcanic waste of westisland, and is in lava which has flowed from the bald jokul. the approach is through an open chasm. the length of the cave is meters, with an average width of from meters to meters, and a nearly uniform height of from meters to meters. in four places the roof is broken and allows daylight to enter. a great deal of ice is sometimes found in the cave, in the shape of an ice floor, transparent icy pillars, hanging icy pendants, and columns and arches of ice along the walls. some of the pillars have been found . meters high. kutlagaya. (a. winchel, _walks and talks_, , page .)--"in the crater of the mountain kutlagaya, in iceland, hurled out simultaneously into the air lumps of lava and ice, all intermingled together." scandinavia. ice in the mines of nordmark. (jars, _voyages métallurgiques_, , page .)-- kilometers north of philipstadt, wermeland, sweden, a number of holes were dug, some to a depth of meters. ice of some thickness formed in some of these towards the end of winter, and lasted until about september, despite the fires of the workmen. persberg iron mines, sweden. (j. prestwich, _collected papers_, etc., on page , quotes dr. clark's _travels in scandinavia._)--ice is said to have been found on the sides and bottom of the mine to a depth of about meters. ice caves reported in norway.--i was told in norway that some of the caves in the mountains near the swartisen ice field contained ice, but i do not know whether this is true. i suspect that there are glacier ice caves which have given rise to this report. england. helvellyn, cumberland. (wordsworth, _fidelity_.)--the following verses were pointed out to me by mr. bunford samuel. as far as i know they are the only poetry about glacières:-- "it was a cove, a huge recess that keeps, till june, december's snow; a lofty precipice in front, a silent tarn below! far in the bosom of helvellyn, remote from public road or dwelling pathway or cultivated land from trace of human foot or hand." ice in an old copper mine, cumberland. (j. clifford ward, _nature_, vol. xi., page .)--ice reported as a rare occurrence. ludchurch chasm, staffordshire. (r. k. dent and joseph hill's _historic staffordshire_, quote dr. plot, .)--mr. bunford samuel called my attention to this book, in which dr. plot is quoted as saying that as late as the th of july, snow has been found in ludchurch chasm. messrs. dent and hill do not mention anything of the kind as occurring now. blowing cave in denbighshire, wales.--a newspaper cutting says that there are such strong eruptions of winds from a cave in this neighborhood as to toss back to a great height in the air any article of apparel thrown in. tin croft mine, cornwall. (j. prestwich, _collected papers_, etc., page , quotes mr. moyle.)--ice has been found in abundance in this mine at a depth of nearly meters. central europe. glacière de chaux-les-passavant. described in part i., page . (poissenot, _nouvelles histoires tragiques de benigne poissenot, licencié aux lois. a paris, chez guillaume bichon, rue s. jacques, a l'enseigne du bichot, , avec privilege du roy_, pages - . gollut, _les mémoires historiques de la repub. sequanoise, et des princes de la franche comté de bourgogne, par m. lois gollut, advocat au parlement de dôle; a dôle, _. trouillet, _mémoires de la société d'Émulation du doubs, _. girardot, _mémoires de la société d'Émulation du doubs, _.) the earliest notice of a glacière which i have been able to find is in the shape of a letter giving an account of a visit to the glacière de chaux-les-passavant in , by benigne poissenot, a french lawyer. the account, which i have translated as literally as possible, is in a special chapter, as follows:-- "sir:--since our separation, i have had this pleasure (_heut_) to hear news of you only once, having found your brother in paris; who, having assured me of your good health (_disposition_), informed me of how since we had seen each other you had travelled to italy, even as far as greece, of which you had seen a large portion: and that sound and safe, after so long a journey, you had reappeared and landed at havre de grace where you wished to go, that is to say at home. all the pleasure which a friend can receive, knowing the affairs of another self, joined to such a happy result, seized my heart, at the recital of such agreeable news: and i did not fail shortly after, to write you amply all which had happened to me since i left you until my return to france: congratulating you at having escaped from marine abysses and perilous passages on land, on which travellers are often constrained to risk their life. from this time, i have always stayed in paris or in the neighborhood, according to the good pleasure of dame fortune, who ruled me in her wise and fed me with her dishes the most common and ordinary until the first day of january of the year , when i received my first gift in the shape of a strong and violent disease, which tormented me more than a month: from which, having become cured with the help of god, and having with time recovered my health and my strength at the arrival of spring, i was seized with the desire to smell the air of the country. and in fact having thrown away my pen and travelled about (_battu l'estrade_) through high and low burgundy, i stopped at bezenson, imperial city, to spend the summer. this city is still to day just the same as julius cæsar describes it, in the notable mention he makes of it, in the first book of his commentaries of the war in gaul, there remaining there all the vestiges of the most remarkable things, which he tells of in his description. there are also very fine fountains, from all of which water streams from the representation of some god of antiquity, as a neptune, a bacchus, a pan, a nereide or others: except before the state house, where the statue of charles the fifth, representing him in a most natural manner, is placed on an eagle, which from its beak, pours out such a great quantity of water that this is the most beautiful, among all the other fountains. and as i do not doubt that while traversing italy, you both saw and examined with curiosity the most handsome singularities, which presented themselves to your eyes and that on your return, passing through avignon and dauphiné, as your brother informed me, you had the advantage over me of seeing the wonders of the country, of which you had heard me speak sometimes, regretting that the war, during the time i was in that quarter, had prevented my going to the spot, to see the burning fountain as in dodone, and the fountain called jupiter, which torches of fire light up and which grows less till midday and then grows till midnight, and then diminishes and fails at midday: and another in epirus which we call to day albania, the tower without venom and the inaccessible mountain: then as i said, since you have contemplated these things and several others not less admirable, i wish to entertain you about a marvel which i saw, during my sojourn in bezenson, to know from you, whether in all your journey, you saw a similar thing. know then that the day of the festival of st. john baptist, a young man, provided with an honest knowledge, with whom i had made some little acquaintance, presented me with an icicle, to cool my wine at dinner, and which i admired greatly, on account of the time of the year in which we then were, begging him who gave it to me to tell me where he had discovered this rare present for that time. he answered me that every year, the day of the solemnity of the festival of st. john baptist, the inhabitants of a village, which he named, were bound to come to offer the great church of st. john of bezenson, a goodly quantity of ice, which they got in a wood, and brought to town at night on horses, for fear that by day it should melt, and that one of his cronies had given to him what he had given to me. "suddenly there flamed up in me a desire to see this place, where in the height of the summer, ice was to be found. when he who had presented me with the icicle saw this, he promised to accompany me, not having as yet, any more than myself, seen this marvel. i did not hatch very long this decision, all the more as all those, to whom i mentioned it, encouraged me to carry it out as soon as i could, assuring me that i should see a strange thing, and that even the duke of alva on his return from flanders, passing through franche comté, had wished to see this novelty. therefore calling on the promise of the one who was the cause of undertaking this journey, we went together to versey, a fine town, distant five leagues from bezenson, turning a little off our direct route, to go to see a literary man, at this said versey, who having called on me at bezenson, had extracted from me the promise of going to see him. there happened to me in this spot, what the poet du bellay says happened to him, on his return from italy, passing through the grisons, to go into france: who, after having chanted the troubles there are in the passage, says that the swiss made him drink so much, that he does not remember anything he saw in that country. likewise, i can assure you that my host, following the custom of those of the country (who do not think they are treating a man properly if they do not make him drink a lot, taking that from the germans, their neighbors) made us carouse so well, that when we went to bed, we were very gay boys. for although we had both made an agreement on the road, yet our host knew so well how to win us over, saying that those who would not drink, gave reason to think badly of them, and that they had committed, or wished to commit some great crime, which they feared to give away in drinking, that in the end we let ourselves go, passing the time in pantagruelic fashion. the next morning having taken some "hair from the beast" and a guide which our host gave to us to conduct us to the _froidiere_--we continued our wanderings, and arrived at a little village called chaud, joining a large wood, where our guide told us, that although he had been more than six times to the _froidiere_, yet the road was so tortuous and so cut up by small paths, that if we did not take a man from this village, to be more sure, we might spend more than half a day in the wood, before finding what we were seeking. getting off our horses now, we added to our company a native of the place, who having led us by crooked roads, about a quarter of a league, through the forest, made us enter into a close thicket and by a little path led us to a pleasant meadow; where, looking down, we saw a hole, of difficult descent, at the bottom of which was the opening of a grotto, pretty big, and so awful and terrifying to see, that one would have said, it was the mouth of hell. and in truth, i remembered then, the hole of st. patrick, which is said to be in hibernia. we were not brave enough knights, to try the adventure, my companion and i, if our guides had not taken the lead. after whom we descended as magnanimously as the trojan duke followed the sybil to the plutonic realms, the sword half drawn from the scabbard, and well determined to make test of the platonic doctrine, which teaches that demons can be dissected, in case any shade or spook should have come to meet us. about the middle of the way, we began to feel in descending a very agreeable freshness; for it was the second day of july and the sun shone very warmly, which made us sweat drop by drop. but we had good opportunity to refresh ourselves and put ourselves to cool, having reached the grotto which we found of the length and breadth of a large hall, all paved with ice in the bottom, and where a crystalline water, colder than that of the mountains of arcadia nonacris, streamed from many small brooklets, which formed very clear fountains, with the water of which i washed myself and drank so eagerly, that i had wished the thirst of tantalus, or else that i had been bitten by a dipsas, in order to be always thirsty, amid such a pleasant beverage. a great lord, who in some pleasure resort, should have such a refrigerator in summer, could boast according to my judgment, to be better provided with drink, than the kings of persia were with their river coaspis, which engulphs itself into the tigris, the water whereof was so sweet, that the use of it was allowed only to the great king, for the retinue and cronies of his household. do not think, that among these delights, i was at all free from fear, for never did i raise my eyes above that from terror my whole body shivered and the hair stood up on my head, seeing the whole roof of the grotto, covered with big massive icicles, the least of which, falling on me, had been sufficient to scramble up my brains and knock me to pieces; so much so that i was like to that criminal, whom they say is punished in hell, by the continual fear of a big stone, which seems as though it must suddenly fall on his ears. there are besides the large hall of the grotto, some rather roomy corners, where the gentlemen of the neighborhood, put their venison to cool in summer, and we saw the hooks, where they hang the wild fowl. it is true, that when we were there, we saw neither game nor wild fowl, and i think, that if we had found any of it, we were men to carry off some of it. we walked around for about a quarter of an hour, in this _froidiere_ and we should have staid there longer if the cold had not driven us out; which struck in to our backs, even to make our teeth crack; we reascended the slope, not forgetting, all of us as many as we were, to provide and load ourselves with ice, which served us at lunch in the little village mentioned above to drink most delightfully, assuring you that it is impossible to drink more freshly than we drank then. i thought of those old voluptuaries, who cooled their wine with snow, and it seemed to me, as though they might have had it much cheaper if in their time there had been many such _froidieres_, to refresh it with ice, instead of with snow, as some of the gentlemen of the neighborhood of the _froidiere_ and some of the most notable persons of the neighborhood of bezenson do; who by night, have a good supply brought on horses, which they keep in their caves, and use at their meals and banquets. turning back towards the imperial city of bezenson, i carried for about two great leagues, a rather large icicle in my hands, which little by little melted and was a pleasant and agreeable cooler, on account of the great heat of the weather. after having thought over in my mind, the cause of this _antiperistase_, i could find none other but this: to wit, that as heat domineers in summer, the cold retires to places low and subterranean, such as is this one, to which the rays of the sun cannot approach, and that in such an aquatic and humid place, it operates the results, which we have shown above. which seemed to me so much more likely, that on asking the peasants of the neighboring village, if in winter there was ice in this _froidiere_, they answered me that there was none, and that on the contrary, it was very warm there. whatever may be the cause, whether this or another, i can assure you, that i admired this singularity as much as any i have seen, since a large church, cut into a rock which i had seen a few years previously, in a little town of gascony called st. milion, distant seven leagues from bordeaux; on the steeple of which is the cemetery, where they bury the dead; a thing to be marvelled at by him who has not seen it. "i have made trial, to enrich this missive, with all the artifice which has come into my head, using the leisure, which the present time brings me: as the temple of janus is open, the air beyond breathing nothing but war: which forces me, against my wish, to sojourn in this place longer than i had intended. if these troubles settle down, and if after the rain, god sends us fine weather as requires the calamitous state in which is now the flat country, i shall return to my parnassus; from which if i go out hereafter, believe that it will be very much in spite of myself, or that my will will have very much changed. you will be able to let me hear from you there, and take your revenge for the prolixity of this letter, by sending me one still longer, which you will write to me with more pleasure, as i shall take much in reading it. however as it is becoming time to sound taps, i will pray the sovereign creator for my affectionate recommendations to your graces. "sir, and best friend, may you keep in health and have a long and happy life. from sens this th of june . "your obedient friend, benigne poissenot. "end of the description of the marvel, called the _froidiere_." the next notice about the glacière de chaux-les-passavant is by gollut in , as follows:-- [sidenote: "ices in summer."] "i do not wish however to omit (since i am in these waters) to bring to mind the commodity, which nature has given to some dainty men, since at the bottom of a mountain of leugné ice is found in summer, for the pleasure of those who wish to drink cool. nevertheless at this time, this is disappearing, for no other reason (as i think) except, that they have despoiled the top of the mountain, of a thick and high mass of woods, which did not permit that the rays of the sun came to warm the earth, and dry up the distillations, which slipped down to the lowest and coldest part of the mountain where (_by antiperistase_) the cold got thicker, and contracted itself against the heats surrounding and in the neighborhood during the whole summer, all the external circumference of the mountain." the ice at chaux-les-passavant is said to have been entirely cleared out, by the duc de lévi, in , for the use of the army of the saone. in , when de cossigny visited the cave, the ice was formed again. there are no reports about the intervening time between and . the ice probably all re-formed the winter after it was taken away. captain trouillet in writes of chaux-les-passavant: "the following winter had shown itself unfavorable to the production of ice, the periods of humidity preceding too long ahead the periods of frost. finally last summer, coming after a wet spring, was exceptionally warm. such were the circumstances which brought about in the glacière the ruin which could be seen at the end of last october. * * * on the th of november, the first effects of frost are felt and the temperature falls in the glacière to - °: outside the thermometer drops to - °. on the morning of the th, same result, and ice makes its appearance in the grotto, as the report of the observer shows: but the quantity produced is so small that the internal thermometer soon goes above °. it is only on the th of december that the frost wins definitely; on the th, th and th the chill is intense and reaches - ° outside, stopping at - ° in the glacière. the water coming from the rains between the th and the th drip at this time through the roof and the big side crevasse: circumstances grow favorable and the ice accumulates. from the th, the entrance slope becomes almost impracticable; the icicles grow on the roof, as big as the body of a man. * * * from this time to the end of december, the ice sheet does not increase, for water only arrives by the rare drip of the roof, and only the stalactites increase slowly. outside, however, the cold continues vigorously, the thermometer on the st of december dropping to - ° and to - ° in the glacière. if the production of the ice stops, it is not the cold which is wanting, but the other element, the one which as our former study showed, is the most rarely exact at the meeting. the winter is only favorable on condition that it offers alternating periods of freezing and thawing; so the observer writes in his report: 'it is the water which is wanting, otherwise the glacière would be magnificent.'" trouillet speaks of the difficulty of winter observations in the following words: "mons. briot, the present lessor of the glacière, has the unpaid mission of going every week to the bottom of the grotto to get and put in place the interior thermometer. it is a really hard piece of work at this time of the year: each journey takes about one hour. besides the chance that a visitor has of receiving on his head one of those magnificent stalactites meter or meters long which fall continually from the roof, it is perfectly disagreeable to him to arrive at the base of the slope otherwise than on the sole of his boots, and to face thus the frequent and painful meeting with rocks whose angular edges dot the surface of the descent, smooth as a mirror set at an angle of °." trouillet and girardot obtained a series of observations with maxima and minima thermometers at chaux-les-passavant during the winter of - . at the end of november the temperature inside was + °. on the d of december it rose to + . °. on the th of december, it sank to - °, and after this date, it remained below freezing point all winter. the observations were not continuous, but they showed that every time the temperature outside dropped considerably, the temperature inside immediately did likewise. for instance, on the th of january, the outside air dropped to - °, and the inside air responded by falling to - °. on the other hand, when the temperature outside rose above freezing point, the temperature inside remained stationary or fluctuated only gently. for instance, from the th of march to the th of april, the outside air went up and down perpetually, the extremes being - ° and + °; while in the same time the inside air rose continuously from - ° to - . °. windholes and ice formations near gérardmer, vosges. (rozet, in _encyclopédie moderne_, didot frères, paris, , vol. xvi., page .) l'abime du creux-percé or glacière de pasques. (martel, _les abimes_, , page ; _annuaire du club alpin français_, vol. xix., page .)--on the plateau of langres, côte d'or. it lies kilometers from dijon, and is really a limestone rock gorge, of meters in depth, which at the top is meters long and meters wide, and at the bottom is meters long and meters wide. in march , mons. martel found the north side covered with large icicles meters long. the ice seems to remain throughout the year. the bottom of the abime has been reached only by means of two long rope ladders. creux de chevroche or roche chèvre, côte d'or. (clément drioton, _mémoires de la société de spéléologie_, , vol. i., page .)--"in the woods of mavilly, near bligny-sur-ouches, is a little cave, called creux de chevroche or roche-chèvre, where one can find ice until the month of july." freezing well of marolles, at la ferté-milon, aisne. (martel, _les abimes_, page , note .)--this well is . meters deep; the altitude is meters. during the winter of - the water in it froze for a thickness of centimeters. the minimum outside temperature that year was - °. windholes near pontgibaud, puy de dome. (g. poulett-scrope, _the geology and extinct volcanoes of central france_, , page .)--these windholes are in basalt. there are many cracks, whence cold air currents issue, and where ice has been found, sometimes in summer. there are cold storage huts over some of the cracks. le creux-de-souci, puy de dome. (martel, _les abimes_, , page .)--this is situated kilometers southeast of besse-en-chandesse. it is a large lava cavern with the entrance directly in the middle of the roof. the bottom is partly filled by a lake. the depth from the surface of the ground to the lake is meters; from the smallest part of the opening to the lake the depth is . meters. down this last portion one can descend only by means of a rope ladder. the temperature is extremely low; in general near freezing point. in june, july, august and november , monsieur berthoule, _maire_ of besse, did not find any snow. on the th of august, , on the contrary, he found at the bottom a heap of snow, which he thinks was formed in the cave itself, by the freezing during their descent of the drops of water which are constantly dripping from the roof. he reports landing on _une montagne de neige, de neige blanche_. on several visits, mons. berthoule noticed carbonic acid gas in dangerous quantities. there was none at the time he observed the snow heap, but ten days later he found it impossible to descend into the cave as the carbonic acid gas came up in puffs to the entrance. in the lake, mons. berthoule discovered a variety of rotifer, _notholca longispina_, and also several algæ and diatoms. the _asterionella formosa_ is the most remarkable from its abundance: it exists in some of the lakes of the alps, but not in those of the pyrenees. aven de lou cervi, vaucluse. (martel, _les abimes_, page .)--this is a cold cave. it belongs to the class which mons. martel calls _avens à rétrécissement_, or _abimes à double orifice_. in september, , mons. martel noted a temperature of . ° at meters; of . ° at meters. mean temperature of locality, . °. igue de biau, lot. (martel, _les abimes_, page .)--cold cave. temperature on th july, : °. fosse mobile, charente. (martel, _les abimes_, page .)--cold cave. temperature on th april, : °. aven de deidou, causse méjean. (martel, _les abimes_, page .)--cold cave. temperatures on th october, : outside air, °; at bottom, . °. aven des oules, causse méjean. (martel, _les abimes_, page .)--cold cave. temperatures on st october, : outside air, . °; at bottom, °. windhole cold caves near roquefort, aveyron.--they lie kilometers from millau, at an altitude of about meters, and are utilized in the manufacture of roquefort cheese. aven de carlet, near la roche giron, basses alpes. (martel, _les abimes_, page .)--lumps of ice are reported to have been taken from it. la poujade, cévennes. (martel, _les abimes_, pages - .)--an intermittent spring in limestone rock. at the bottom of the first gallery, on the th of september, , the temperature of the air was . °, and that of a pool of water supplied by drip . °. mons. martel thought that the drip brought to the pool the mean annual temperature of the ground through which it had come. a little further within and meters lower, the temperature of the air was . ° and that of another pool of water . °. this pool was not supplied by drip and must have been left over by the last flow of the spring. mons. martel thought that the lower temperatures at this spot were due to the cold air of winter dropping to the bottom of the cave and on account of its density not being able to get out. snow preserved in chasms in the italian mountains. (_the penny magazine_, london, august, , page .)--mr. bunford samuel called my attention to an article in which the southern italians are said to dig wells or cellars on the mountain sides, and to throw snow into them in winter. the snow is well pressed together and straw, dried leaves, etc., is thrown on top. by having a northern exposure for these pits, and seeing that they are in thick forest, or in rifts where the sun does not penetrate, these depots may be safely placed as low down the mountain as the snow falls and lies. naples is largely supplied [ ] with snow in summer from such snow wells situated on monte angelo, the loftiest point of the promontory separating the bay of naples from the bay of salerno. cold caves of san marino, apennines. (de saussure, _voyages dans les alpes_, , iii., page .)--these are probably windholes. la bocche dei venti di cesi. (de saussure, _voyages dans les alpes_, , iii., page .)--these windholes were in the cellar of the house of don giuseppe cesi, in the town of cesi. the cellar acted as a natural refrigerator. the air stream was so strong, that it nearly blew out the torches. in winter the wind rushed into the holes. de saussure was shown the following latin verses by the owner:-- "abditus hic ludit vario discrimine ventus et faciles miros exhibet aura jocos. nam si bruma riget, quaecumque objeceris haurit. evomit aestivo cum calet igne dies," windholes or "ventarole" on monte testaceo, near rome. (de saussure, _voyages dans les alpes_, , iii., page .)--there are a number here among heaps of broken pottery. the temperatures seem abnormally low. krypta sorana. (kircher, _mundus subterraneus_, , page and page .)--this has been spoken of as a glacière cave, but as there is much doubt in the matter, i quote the passages, on which the reports are based, in the original latin: "cryptae sunt naturales, quarum innumerae sunt species, juxta vires naturales iis inditas. sunt nonnullae medicinali virtute praeditae, quaedam metallicis vaporibus, exhalationibus, aquis scatent, sunt et glaciales, plenae nivibus et crystallo, uti in monte sorano me vidisse memini." and further: "vidi ego in monte sorano cryptam veluti glacie incrustatam, ingentibus in fornice hinc inde stiriis dependentibus, e quibus vicini montis accolae pocula aestivo tempore conficiunt, aquae vinoque, quae iis infunduntur, refrigerandis aptissima, extremo rigore in summas bibentium delicias commutato." subterranean ice sheet, mount etna, sicily. (lyell, _principles of geology, th edition_, chapter xxvi.)--this ice sheet is near the casa inglese. sir charles lyell ascertained the fact of its existence in , and in he found the same mass of ice, of unknown extent and thickness, still unmelted. in the beginning of the winter of , lyell found the crevices in the interior of the summit of the highest cone of etna encrusted with thick ice, and in some cases hot vapors actually streaming out between masses of ice and the rugged and steep walls of the crater. lyell accounts for this ice sheet by the explanation that there must have been a great snow bank in existence at the time of an eruption of the volcano. this deep mass of snow must have been covered at the beginning of the eruption by volcanic sand showered on it, followed by a stream of lava. the sand is a bad conductor of heat and together with the solidified lava, preserved the snow from liquefaction. glacière on the moncodine. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--the moncodine is described as a dolomite near the lago di como. the cave lies up the val sasina, two hours from cortenuova, at an altitude of meters. the entrance faces north, and is . meters high and . meters wide. the average diameter of the cave is meters. the floor is solid ice, which has been sometimes cut for use in the hotels on the lago di como and even been sent to milan. la ghiacciaia del mondole. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--the mondole is a mountain meters high, near mondovi, south of turin. the cave lies on the eastern slope, at an altitude of about meters. it is hard to get at. the entrance is to the east, and is meters wide and . meters high. a passageway some meters long leads to a large chamber where there is plenty of ice. in hot summers ice is brought from the cave to mondovi. _ghiacciaia_ means freezing cavern in italian. la ghiacciaia del val séguret. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--it lies near susa at the base of chalk cliffs, at an altitude of about meters. the cave is said to be about meters deep, meters wide and meters high. bonetti in may, , found many icicles and ice cones. la borna de la glace. (chanoine carrel, _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. xxxiv., page .)--it lies in the duchy of aosta, commune of la salle, on the northern slope of the hills near chabauday, in a spot called plan agex. the altitude is meters. the entrance opens to the east and is centimeters wide and centimeters high. one can descend for meters. there are two branches in the rear of the entrance. chanoine carrel found an ice pillar meter high in the western branch. he recorded these temperatures on the th of july, : outside + °. entrance + . °. east branch + . °. west branch + . °. windholes in the italian alps. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, pages - .)--a number of these seem to have abnormally low temperatures. some are in the mountains around chiavenna, and are sometimes, by building small huts over them, utilized as refrigerators. some are reported in the neighborhood of the lago di como near dongo, near menaggio, and in the villa pliniana near curino; in the neighborhood of the lake of lugano at the base of monte caprino, near melide, near mendrisio and near sertellino; and in the val maggia near cevio. the glacière de font d'urle, or fondurle, dauphiné. (héricart de thury, _annales des mines_, vol. xxxiii., page ; g. f. browne, _ice caves_, etc., page ; e. a. martel, _mémoires de la société de spéléologie_, vol. i., page ; l. villard, _spélunca_, , vol. ii., page .)--it lies on the foire de font d'urle, kilometers north of dié, kilometers east of valence, and kilometers south of grenoble. the glacière consists of two large pits, lying east and west, and with underground communication. from this tunnel a long low archway leads to a broad slope of chaotic blocks of stone, which is meters long and meters in greatest width. the ice begins half way down this slope, fitfully at first and afterwards in a tolerably continuous sheet. thury found many icicles hanging from the roof. browne found four columns of ice, of which the largest was . meters across the base. on his visit, in the middle of august, the ice was strongly thawing. both explorers noted the extremely prismatic character of the ice. browne found a temperature of + . °. martel gives a section and plan of font d'urle. mons. villard says about this cavern: "a curious thing: i found in this cave, motionless on a piece of rock, entirely surrounded by ice for a distance of several meters, a blind specimen of a coleoptera, _cytodromus dapsoïdes_." the chourun clot. (e. a. martel, _sous terre_. _annuaire du club alpin français_, vol. xxiii., , pages , ; _mémoires de la société de spéléologie_, vol. i., page .)--in dauphiné, half way between agnières and the pic costebelle, at an altitude of , meters. there is first a pit meters long, . meters wide and meters deep. in the bottom of this is a vertical hole meters deep and from meter to meters in diameter, in which there was much ice on the st of july, . then the pit changes to a sloping gallery which terminates in a little hall, full of ice, at a depth of meters. martel gives a cut and section of this glacière. the glacière du trou de glas. (e. a. martel, _la géographie_, , vol. i., page .)--in the range of the grande chartreuse. the chourun martin. (e. a. martel, _la géographie_, , vol. i., page .)--in the range of the dévoluy, hautes-alpes; altitude , meters. an extremely deep pit, which on july st, , was much blocked up with snow. the chourun de la parza. (e. a. martel, _la géographie_, , vol. i., page .)--in the range of the dévoluy, hautes-alpes; altitude , meters. a fine pit, meters in diameter, and meters in depth. filled with snow or rather névé, in which are deep holes. the glacière de l'haut-d'aviernoz. described in part i., page . (c. dunant, _le parmelan et ses lapiaz_, page ; browne, _ice caves_, etc., page .)--mons. dunant calls this glacière l'haut d'aviernoz; mr. browne calls it the glacière du grand anu. by a plumb line held from the edge of the larger pit, browne found that the ice floor was about meters from the surface, which would give a level for the ice floor closely identical to the one i found. in july, , he recorded a temperature of + . °. the glacière de l'enfer. (g. f. browne, _good words_, november, ; t. g. bonney, _the alpine regions_, , pages , ; c. dunant, _le parmelan et ses lapiaz_, page .)--on mont parmelan. a pit cave with a steep slope of broken rock leading to a rock portal in the face of a low cliff. this opens into a roughly circular hall about meters in diameter and meters to meters in height. a chink between the rock and the ice permitted mr. browne to scramble down three or four meters to where a tunnel entered the ice mass. throwing a log of wood down this tunnel, a crash was heard and then a splash of water, and then a strange gulping sound. "the tunnel obviously led to a subglacial reservoir and this was probably covered by a thin crust of ice; the log in falling had broken this and then disturbed the water below, which then commenced bubbling up and down through the hole, and making a gulping noise, just as it does sometimes when oscillating up and down in a pipe." mons. c. dunant of the _club alpin français_ describes a visit to the glacière de l'enfer. he mentions also a legend of a witch from a neighboring village who would get the ice from these caves and bring it down in the shape of hail on the crops of the peasants who were inhospitable to her. the glacière de chapuis. described in part i., page . (browne, _ice caves_, etc., page , and _good words_, november, .)--mr. browne calls it the glacière de chappet-sur-villaz. mr. browne and professor t. g. bonney found several flies in the glacière de chapuis. three of them were specimens of _stenophylax_, the largest being probably, but not certainly, _s. hieroglyphicus_ of stephens. two smaller caddis flies were either _s. testaceus_ of pictet or some closely allied species. one other insect was an ichneumon of the genus _paniscus_, of an unidentified species. it differed from all its congeners in the marking of the throat, resembling in this respect some species of _ophion_. mr. browne thinks that the case flies may have been washed into the cave somehow or other in the larva form, and come to maturity on the ice where they had lodged. but this explanation will not hold in the case of the ichneumon, which is a parasitic genus on larvæ of terrestrial insects. the glacière de le brezon. (pictet, _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. xx., page , and thury, _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. x., pages and .)--it lies southeast of bonneville near the foot of mount lechaud, at an altitude of meters. the cave is . meters long, about meters wide and the greatest height is about meters. the entrance is small and is at the base of a cliff, in some places of which cold air currents issue. the ice lies on the floor. some of it is probably winter snow. the glacière de brisons.--described in part i., page . the grand cave de montarquis. described in part i., page . (thury, _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, vol. x., pages - .)--professor thury describes two visits to this cave. on the th of august, , he found no ice stalactites or stalagmites. on the th of january, , he did not find a single drop of water in the cave, but many stalactites and stalagmites of beautiful clear ice, one of which resembled porcelain more than any other substance. in august, thury found an air current streaming into the cave at the rear, but this did not, however, disturb the air of the interior, for in one part it was in perfect equilibrium: along the line of the draughts the ice was more melted than elsewhere in the cave. in january, the current was reversed and poured into the fissure, with the temperature varying between - . ° and - . °. he observed the following temperatures at the grand cave:-- time. outside. inside. th august, + . ° + . ° th january, . p. m. + . ° - .° " " " . " + . ° - .° " " " . " - . ° - .° the petite cave de montarquis. mentioned in part i., page . (thury, _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. x., page . also quotes morin.)--at the end of a crooked fissure meters deep, a passage meters long, leads into a cave meters high and meters in diameter. in august, , morin found an ice stalagmite of meters in height in the middle of the cave. cave containing ice on the southern shore of lake geneva.--reported; no information. the glacière and neigière d'arc-sous-cicon. (browne, _ice caves_, etc., page .)--these lie close together in the jura about twenty kilometers from pontarlier. the little glacière is formed by a number of fissures in the rock, disconnected slits in the surface opening into larger chambers where the ice lies. the neigière is a deep pit, with a collection of snow at the bottom, much sheltered by overhanging rocks and trees. a huge fallen rock covers a large part of the sloping bottom of the pit, which forms a small cave in the shape of a round soldier's tent, with walls of rock and floor of ice. the glacière de la genollière. described in part i., page . (browne, _ice caves_, etc., page .)--mr. browne observed in a temperature of + . °, and two days later of + . °. he also found a number of flies running rapidly over the ice and stones. he was told in england, from the specimen he brought away, that it was the _stenophylax hieroglyphicus_ of stephens or something very like that fly. the glacière de saint-georges. described in part i., page . (thury, _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. x.)--professor thury obtained the following temperatures at the glacière de saint-georges:-- outside. inside. th january, . p. m., - . ° . p. m., - . ° " " " . " - . ° " " " . " - . ° " " " . " - . ° minimum of night - . ° - . ° th january, . a. m., - . ° . a. m., - . ° " " " . " - . ° . " - . ° " " " . " - . ° . " - . ° " " " . p. m., - . ° . p. m., - . ° " " " . " - . ° . " - . ° " " " . " - . ° . " - . ° " " " . " - . ° . " - . ° " " " . " - . ° . " - . ° minimum of night - . ° - . ° th january, . a. m., - . ° d april, . p. m., + . ° - . ° minimum of night + . ° d april, . a. m., + . ° . a. m., - . ° professor thury's winter excursions caused him to accept as proved that part of the mountaineers' belief, which holds that there is no ice formed in caves in winter. one of the main grounds for his opinion was the series of observations he made in the glacière de saint-georges. he found no ice forming there in winter and the natives said it did not because the cavern was not cold enough. so he placed large dishes filled with water in the cave and found that they froze solid during the night, which he had been assured was impossible. thury also found violent movements of the air at saint-georges in january, . a candle burned steadily for some time, but at . p. m. it began to flicker and soon inclined downwards through an angle of about °; and in the entrance, the flame assumed an almost horizontal position. at p. m., the current of air nearly disappeared. thury thought that this violent and temporary disturbance of equilibrium was due to the fact that as the heavier air outside tended to pass into the cave, the less cold air within tended to pass out; and the narrow entrance confining the struggle to a small area, the weaker current was able for a while to hold its own. the glacière du pré de saint-livres. described in part i., page . (browne, _ice caves_, page .)--mr. browne found, in , a temperature of °. the petite glacière du pré de saint-livres. (browne, _ice caves_, page .)--this is near the last cave at a slightly higher altitude. there is first a small pit, then a little cave, in which there is an ice slope. this passes under a low arch in the rock wall, and leads down into another small cave. mr. browne descended this ice stream, which was itself practically a fissure column and spread into the fan shape at the base. the lower cave was meters long and meters wide, and contained an ice floor and several fissure columns. the glacière de naye, above montreux, switzerland. (e. a. martel, _les abimes_, page ; _spélunca_, , vol. i., pages , ; _mémoires de la société de spéléologie_, vol. iii., pages - .)--this is called a _glacier souterrain_. it was discovered in by professor dutoit. there are fifty-four caves known among the rochers de naye, and only this one contains ice. it is a long narrow cave with two entrances and widest towards the base, which opens over a precipice. the altitude is high, the upper entrance being at an altitude of meters, and the lower of meters. the place is both a passage cave and a windhole. the snow falls into the upper entrance, and slides down, becoming ice in the lower portion. there are other connecting passages and hollows where the cold air cannot get in, and there ice does not form. mons. martel thinks that the ice formed during the winter is preserved by the draughts--due to the difference in level of the two openings--causing an evaporation and chill sufficient for the purpose. the creux bourquin. (e. a. martel, _les abimes_, page .)--at mauberget, near grandson. this is a rock gorge meters deep. at the bottom, on the th of july, , was a mass of ice meters long and meters wide. the glacière de monthézy. (browne, _ice caves_, page .)--this lies to the west of neufchâtel, between the val de travers and the val de brévine, on the path between the villages of couvet and le brévine, at an altitude of meters. the cave is nearly oval in shape, with a length of meters and a width of meters. the roof is from meter to meters high. there are three pits, about meters deep, on different sides of the cave. the descent is made through the largest pit. on the th of july, , mr. browne found the floor of the cave covered with ice, and icicles and columns in some places; he also saw a clump of cowslips (_primula elatior_) overhanging the snow at the bottom of the pit through which he descended. pertius freiss. (t. g. bonney, _nature_, vol. xi., page .)--it lies on the way to the pic d'arzinol, near evolène, in the val d'hérens. a slip or subsidence of part of a cliff has opened two joints in the rock, in both of which fissures professor bonney found ice on july d. the schafloch. described in part i., page . (körber, _jahrbuch des schweizer alpen club_, , vol. xx., pages , .)--herr körber gives some of the dimensions as follows: entrance meters wide and . meters high. length of cave . meters: average width meters and greatest width . meters. height from meters to meters. length of ice slope meters and breadth . meters; for meters the slope has an inclination of °. körber made the following observations in the schafloch:-- meters meters meters date. outside. from from from entrance. entrance. entrance. september, , . ° . ° . ° . ° january, , . ° - . ° - . ° -- the rev. g. f. browne, in , found a temperature of + . °. the eisloch of unterfluh. (baltzer, _jahrbuch des schweizer alpen club_, - , pages - .)--twenty minutes from unterfluh near meiringen. a long narrow rock crack, some meters deep and running some distance underground. windholes and milkhouses of seelisberg.--described in part i., page . windholes on the spitzfluh. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--these are situated between oltingen and zeylingen, canton bâle: they generally contain ice till the end of july. windholes on the blummatt. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the northwestern slope of the stanzerberg. ice sometimes lies over in these windholes. windholes near bozen. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the mendel ranges in eppan, southwest of bozen, among porphyry rocks. there are strong wind-streams. ice is said to remain till late in the summer. grotto on monte tofana, dolomites. (t. g. bonney, _nature_, vol. xi., page .)--this is probably a rudimentary glacière. holes with ice near lienz. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--one hour and a half distant near aineth, is a small cave containing ice, and further up the valley towards huben, are several windholes. eishöhle am birnhorn. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near leogang in the pinzgau. altitude meters. there are two entrances, from which a slope meters long, set at an angle of °, leads to an ice floor meters long and meters high. then comes a small ice slope, and a little horizontal floor at the back. explored by fugger. glacières on the eiskogel. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--the eiskogel is in the tennengebirge, a mountain mass lying east of pass lueg. at an altitude of about meters, are two small caves, about meters to meters apart. they are some meters in length and get smaller towards the bottom. holes with ice in the tennengebirge, between the schallwand and the tauernkogel. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in this gorge are some small holes at an altitude of about meters, which are said to contain ice in summer. the seeofen. (a. posselt-csorich, _zeitschrift des deutschen und oesterreichischen alpen verein_, , page .) on the hean krail in the tennengebirge, at an altitude of about meters. the entrance faces southwest, and is meters high and . meters wide. the cave is meters long, and meters wide. the floor of the cave is meters below the entrance. the posselthöhle. (a. posselt-csorich, _zeitschrift des deutschen und osterreichischen alpen verein_, , page .)--named after its discoverer. it lies on the hochkogel in the tennengebirge, at an altitude of about meters. the entrance faces southwest, and is about meters high and meters wide. from the entrance the cave first rises, then sinks again below the level of the entrance, where the ice begins. the cave is about meters wide. about meters were explored, to a point where a perpendicular ice wall, meters high, barred the way. about meters from the entrance, there was an ice cone about meters high. the gamsloch or diebshöhle. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--it lies on the breithorn of the steinernes meer, near the riemannhauss, at an altitude of about meters. the entrance faces south. there is first a small, then a larger chamber. the latter is some meters long, by meters or meters wide. the ice is in the large chamber. eishöhle am seilerer. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the eastern side of the seilerer arête on the ewigen schneeberg, west of bischofshofen, at an altitude of about meters, is a small glacière cave. cave in the hagengebirge, west of pass lueg. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--it lies about kilometers east of kalbersberg, at an altitude of about meters. a snow slope, with an ice floor at the bottom, leads into a long cave, about which little is known. the nixloch. described in part i., page . (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--professor fugger gathered some valuable data in connection with the nixloch. in august, , he found the air current entering downwards; on september th, , there was no current either way. on christmas day, , on the contrary, the draughts were reversed, pouring out of the hole with a temperature of + . °: the outside air then being - . °. at this time the known lower opening was in existence. the kolowratshöhle. described in part i., page . (fugger, _beobachtungen_, etc., page .)--this cavern has been more carefully studied than any other glacière cave. some of its dimensions are given by professor fugger as follows: from the entrance to the ice floor, . meters; surface covered by ice as measured on a plane, square meters; approximate cubical measure of entire cave, , cubic meters. the height of the entrance is meters, with a width at the base of . meters, and at the top of . meters. on the entrance slope occurred the only fatal accident i know of in glacières. in , the bavarian minister freiherr von lerchenfeld tried to descend; a wooden handrail which had been erected over the snow broke under his weight; von lerchenfeld fell to the bottom of the cave and died a few days after from the injuries he received. of the kolowratshöhle, we have numerous thermometric observations by professor fugger, of which i select a few. date. outside. entrance. inside. rear. may + . ° + . ° + . ° °& + . ° june + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° june + .° + . ° + . ° -- july -- -- + . ° -- july + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° july + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° aug. + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° sept. + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° sept. -- -- + . ° -- oct. + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° oct. + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° nov. + . ° + . ° - . ° -- jan. + . ° + . ° - . ° - . ° the schellenberger eisgrotte. (fugger, _beobachtungen in den eishöhlen des untersberges_, page .)--on the southeast slope of the untersberg near salzburg, at an altitude of meters. the path leads past the kienbergalp over the mitterkaser and the sandkaser. in front of the entrance is a sort of rock dam, meters long and meters or meters higher than the entrance. masses of snow fill the space between the two. the entrance is about meters wide and from meters to meters high. a snow slope of meters in length, set at an angle of °, leads to the ice floor. the cave is meters long, from meters to meters broad and from meters to meters high. the cave has been repeatedly examined by fugger, who has always found most snow and ice in the beginning of the hot weather, after which it gradually dwindles away. of the schellenberger eisgrotte, we have the following thermometric observations by professor fugger:-- date. outside. entrance. inside. june, + ° -- + . ° " + ° + . ° + . ° aug., + . ° -- + . ° " + . ° -- + . ° oct., + . ° + . ° + . ° " + . ° + . ° + . ° " + . ° -- + . ° " + . ° -- + . ° nov., + . ° -- + . ° the grosser eiskeller or kaiser karls höhle. (fugger, _beobachtungen_, etc., page .)--on the untersberg, between the salzburger hochthron and the schweigmüller alp. altitude meters. a stony slope of meters in length leads to an ice floor which is meters long and meters to meters wide. the kleiner eiskeller. (fugger, _beobachtungen_, etc., page .)--near the last. a small cave meters long, meters wide, meters high. the windlöcher on the untersberg. (fugger, _beobachtungen_, etc., page .)--on the klingersteig, at an altitude of meters. four small caves of about meters each in length and meters in depth, and communicating at the bottom. there are strong draughts among them. in one of the caves is a small pit of great depth. the eiswinkel on the untersberg. (fugger, _beobachtungen_, etc., page .)--between the klingeralp and the vierkaser, at an altitude of meters. a small cave or rather rock shelter. windholes on the untersberg. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, pages , .)--windholes have been found by fugger on the lower slopes of the untersberg: near the hochbruch at fürstenbrunn. in the débris of the neubruch. in the débris of the veitlbruch. hotel cellar at weissenbach on the attersee. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--there is a small cave here, at an altitude of meters, which is utilized as a cellar, and which is said to contain ice in summer. cave near steinbach. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small cave containing ice on the northwest slopes of the höllengebirge. altitude about meters. the kliebensteinhöhle or klimmsteinhöhle. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the north slope of the höllengebirge, near the aurachkar alp, between steinbach and the langbath lakes. altitude about meters. length about meters, width meters, height meters. the wasserloch. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the south slope of the höllengebirge, near the spitzalpe. altitude about meters. at the bottom of a gorge is a snow heap and a small cave. the snow becomes ice in the cave. cave on the zinkenkogl near aussee. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--altitude about meters. a snow slope leads to an ice floor meters long and meters wide. cave on the kasberg. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--south of grünau near gmunden. altitude about meters. small cave meters long, meters wide. the wasseraufschlag on the rothen kogel. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a tunnel near aussee. the ice in it was formerly used. the gschlösslkirche. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the dachstein range, facing the lake of gosau. a small cave, mostly filled with snow. cave with ice on the mitterstein. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the dachstein, one hour and a quarter from the austria hut. altitude about meters. cave meters to meters wide, meters long. in the rear a passage leads apparently to a windhole where there is a strong draught. windholes in the obersulzbach valley in the pinzgau. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--fugger found ice among these on the st of august, . ice in an abandoned nickel mine on the zinkwand, in the schladming valley. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .) windholes on the rothen kogel near aussee. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--these were found to contain ice on the d of september, . cave on the langthalkogel. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the dachstein plateau between hallstatt and gosau. a small cave which contains ice. eislunghöhle. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small cave between the hochkasten and ostrowiz in the priel range. the geldloch or seelücken on the oetscher. (schmidl, _die höhlen des Ötscher and die oesterreichischen höhlen_; cranmer and sieger, _globus_, , pages - , and - .)--the second known notice of a glacière cave is the account of a visit to the oetscher caves in . after lying in manuscript for two and a half centuries, it was published by dr. a. schmidl in , in _die höhlen des Ötscher_, pages - . according to the account, which is naive, but evidently truthful, kaiser rudolf ii. ordered reichard strein, owner of the herrschaff friedeck, to investigate the Ötscher and especially its caves. he did so, with the title of _kaiserlicher commissarius_, and accompanied by the _bannerherr_ christoph schallenberger, hans gasser, and eleven porters. on september the th, , they visited the seelücken, where they found a lake in the front of the cave, and where the party had great difficulties in climbing round on to the ice. the seelücken on the oetscher is situated at an altitude of meters. it opens nearly due south. the ice floor is about meters below the entrance and is about meters long and meters wide; at the rear, it rises for some meters as an ice wall at an angle of about °, and then forms a second ice floor about meters long by meters wide. the front part of the ice is sometimes, about july, covered with water. the cave continues further back, in two branches, and professors cranmer and sieger consider that it is a large windhole, in which draughts are infrequent, on account of its length and because the openings are near the same level. there are also several up and down curves and in these cold air remains and acts something like a cork in stopping draughts. on the th of september there were no draughts, and the temperatures between a. m. and m. were:-- outside air + . ° inside near entrance + . ° a little further in + . ° at the lowest point near ice + . ° on the st of october, , there was a draught, which followed the curves of the cavern, and which flowed out at the southern end. the temperatures were:-- outside air + . ° inside near entrance + . ° at the lowest point near ice + . ° on the second, higher ice floor + . ° in the main passage behind ice + . ° cave on the kühfotzen near warscheneck. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small cave containing ice. eiskeller on the rax. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page ; cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., page .)--altitude about meters. a doline with a small cave at the bottom, in which melting snow was found on the th of september, . the tablerloch. (cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., pages - .)--on the dürren-wand in the mountains south of vienna, hours distant from miesenbach r. r. station. altitude about meters. entrance meters wide, . meters high. slope ° from entrance. lowest point meters below entrance. extreme length of cave meters, width meters, height meters. professor cranmer found fresh ice beginning to form on the th of november, ; on the st of december, ; and on the th of october, . he found it melting away on the d of june, ; on the st of june, ; and on the st of may, . the rates at which the ice formed or melted, however, were not always the same in different parts of the cave. the greatest amount of ice observed seems to have been in march and april. in the summer months no perceptible movements of air seem to have been noticed. this was also sometimes the case in the winter months, during which, however, movements of air were at other times plainly perceptible. the gipsloch. (cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., page .)--a small cave on the hohen-wand near wiener-neustadt. it is rather a cold cave than a glacière. the windloch. (cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., page .)--on the hohen-wand near wiener neustadt. small cave. snow found in it on june the d, . eisloch in the brandstein on the hochschwab. (cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., page .)--altitude about meters. a moderately large cave. on the st of august, , there was an ice floor meters long and meters broad. temperature in rear of cave, - . °. caves on the beilstein. (krauss, _höhlenkunde_, , pages - ; cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., page .)--these lie about hours on foot from gams in steiermark, at an altitude of meters, in a place where the mountain is much broken up by fissures and snow basins. the large cave has two openings, from which steep snow slopes descend. the cave is meters long, meters to meters broad, and about meters high. clefts in the rock in two places lead to two lower, small ice chambers. in the neighborhood of the large cave are two small ones. prof. cranmer found fresh ice in the beilsteinhöhle on the th of august, . two days before, fresh snow had fallen on the neighboring mountain peaks. eishöhle on the brandstein. (cranmer, _eishöhlen_, etc., page .)--a small cleft cave near the langriedleralm near gams in steiermark. on the th of august, , it contained some ice. the frauenmauerhöhle.--described in part i., page . the bärenloch near eisenerz. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the neighborhood of the frauenmauerhöhle. altitude meters. a steep snow slope leads to an ice floor meters long. the katerloch. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the göserwand near dürnthal, glemeinde gschaid in steiermark. a large cave, some meters long and meters wide. a thin ice crust has been found on parts of the walls in the rear. caves in the stein alps. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--the plateau of velica planina lies, at an altitude of meters, kilometers north of stein in the duchy of krain. there are three caves containing ice on the plateau. the first is a big one and is called v. kofcih. the second is called mala veternica. the third and biggest is called velika veternica; its length is about meters and its breadth meters. glacière caves on the nanos mountain. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the southwestern krain, kilometers from präwald. there are four caves containing ice reported on the nanos mountain. two of them are big. the altitude of one of these is meters, of the other meters. brlowa jama. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--seven kilometers from adelsberg. small glacière cave. kosova jama. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near divacca. forty meters long, meters broad. glacière near adelsberg. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--small cave. one hour from adelsberg. kacna jama. (j. marinitsch, _la kacna jama_, _mémoires de la société de spéléologie_, vol. i., page .)--a great pit near the railroad station of divacca. herr marinitsch observed the following temperatures on january d, :-- at divacca - ° c. in the kacna jama at meters - . ° c. " " " " " meters + . ° c. " " " " " meters + . ° c. sanct canzian, karst. (e. a. martel, _les abimes_, page , note.)--during the winter of - , herr marinitsch found stalactites of ice as far as the seventeenth cascade of the recca; meters from the third entrance of the river. the temperature of the recca was then at °; during the summer, the temperature of the water rises to ° (?). the grosses eisloch of paradana. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the high plateau of the forest of tarnowa, east of görz. a large pit cave, meters to meters deep. professor fugger says of it: "the flora in the basin-like depression has the character of high mountain vegetation, with every step it resembles more this flora as it exists in the neighborhood of glaciers, until finally in the deepest point of the basin all vegetation stops." the kleines eisloch of paradana. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small pit glacière, meters distant from the grosses eisloch of paradana. suchy brezen. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small pit glacière, situated about midway between the grosses and kleines eisloch of paradana. prevalo cave. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the buchenhochwald, south of karnica. small glacière. cave of dol. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on a mountain near haidenschaft. small glacière. glacière near matena in bezirke radmansdorf. (petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., page .)--on a wooded height. the ice commences to melt in the early summer. glacière on the schutzengelberge near the golac. (petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., page .)--a small glacière. glacière cave near lazhna-gora or latzenberg. (valvasor, _die ehre des herzogthumes crain_, vol. i., pages , ; hacquet, _oryctographia carniolica_, , iii., page .)--in the neighborhood of vishnagora in the krain. the entrance is under a church. it is a large cave, meters long and meters high, where the ice all melts by the end of the summer. valvasor gives the following account of this cave in , which seems the first printed notice of a glacière in german:-- "near to lazchenberg up by the church of st. nicholas, where a _thabor_ stands, one finds a big hole, which sinks into the stony rocks. through this one descends deep with torches: there opens then underneath as big a cavity as the biggest church could be, and the same is extremely high, in the form of a cupola. one sees there different teeth, formed and hardened from the water turned to stone. further down one arrives to a deep gully: into which, however, i have not been. on the other side one must again ascend, and then one comes again to a cupola: in which cupola ice stands up like an organ from the earth. "there also one sees icicles of pure ice of different sizes and heights, of which many are one or two _klafters_ high and as thick as a man; but many only two or three spans high or higher, and as thick as an arm, and some also thinner. this ice is formed from the drops of falling water; and indeed in summer; for in winter there is no ice therein. over such ice one must then ascend, as there are then said to be separate holes and grottoes. but no one has been any further." glacière on the dini verh. (petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., page .)--near tomischle in the krain. small glacière. eiskeller near rosseck. (petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., page .)--on the pograca mountain in the krain, northeast of the hornwald, near the meierhof rosseck. small glacière cave. gorge near rosseck. (valvasor, _die ehre des herzogthumes crain_, vol. i., page and page ; petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., page .)--behind the ruined castle of rosseck, on the pograca mountain in the krain, is a gorge, at whose bottom are four little holes containing ice most of the year. valvasor wrote of this cave in : "near rosseck immediately back of the castle there opens a mighty cavern entirely in stony rock, and yawns in the shape of a cauldron down into the earth. above as wide as a good rifle shot, but below quite narrow. and there underneath there are many holes where the ice remains through the whole summer. from such ice have duke frederick graf and duke von gallenberg daily made use in summer to cool their wine. six years ago i descended there in the month of august, and found ice enough in all the holes." in the same volume freiherr valvasor elaborates his remarks about this cave and that at latzenberg, repeating in the main the observations in the paragraph just given. he says: "there hang also long icicles which are quite pleasant to look at. * * * this ice breaks all too easily and quickly. * * * contrarywise, however, this ice lasts much longer in the sun and the heat than other ice. * * * some might think it would eventually turn into stone: this, however, does not happen: for it remains only in summer and disappears in winter: as i can say for certain, as i have been in myself in the winter as well as in the summer time. * * * for as in the summer the floor is quite covered with ice: it makes walking so dangerous and bad that one cannot take a step without climbing irons; but in the winter time one goes safely and well. * * *" freiherr valvasor was evidently an accurate observer, and, if for his word "winter" we substitute "autumn," his account will be much more nearly correct than might have been expected two centuries ago. the kuntschner eishöhle. (petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., pages , .)--this is known also as the töplitzer, unterwarmberger or ainödter grotto. it lies kilometers from kuntschen, and kilometers from töplitz near neustädtel, in the krain. altitude about meters. petruzzi says: "of all so far noticed ice grottoes it is the most wonderful and splendid." in august and september, , the temperatures near the ice were about two degrees above freezing. on the th of august, there were many long ice stalagmites and stalactites; on the th of september they had diminished materially. petruzzi says also: "one leaves the abundant vegetation of the alpine summer flora, and through bushes and dwarf underbrush, through bare and half moss covered rocks and débris, through rotten and twisted tree stems, one comes to the hall of eternal winter, where the microscopic mosses of the north surround the thousand year old stalactites, hanging from the dripping vault, with an always passing, always freshly forming, tender sulphur colored down." dr. schwalbe has also examined this cave. the friedrichsteiner or gottscheer eishöhle.--described in part i., page . the handler eisloch.-- kilometers south of gottschee and about twenty minutes from the village of handlern, near rieg. altitude meters. small cave. professor hans satter of gottschee told me he doubted whether ice ever formed there now. the suchenreuther eisloch.--described in part i., page . ledenica na veliki gori. (petruzzi in haidinger's _berichte_, etc., vol. vii., page .)--in the krain, kilometers from reifnitz, on the balastena mountain. altitude meters. much ice was found there on the th of july, . mrzla jama. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the innerkrainer schneeberg, kilometers from laas. glacière caves on the kapella. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on a pass in the neighborhood of piacenza. altitude meters. glacière cave in west bosnia. (fugger, _eishöhlen_. page .)--west of kljuc, county petrovac, district smoljama, near village trvanj. called trvanj, also ledenica. altitude about meters, length meters, breadth from meters to meters. rtanj, servia. (a. boué, _la turquie d'europe_, , vol. i., page ; dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , pages - .)--this glacière is on the south side of siljak, near the village muzinac. a passage meters long leads to a hall about meters in height. dr. boué found snow here in august, the thermometer standing below freezing point. the people in the neighborhood told dr. boué that the snow is formed in june and disappears in september and that it is sometimes carried to nisch. he also heard of similar cavities on the bannat mountain. dr. cvijic observed in the hall a temperature of + . ° c. ledena pec, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , pages , .)--on the ledini verh or glacial peak, at an altitude of meters; distant one hour and a half from the village of souvold. length of passage meters; at entrance about meters, at end about meters in height. on the th of may, , there was plenty of ice and snow. temperature of outside air + ° c.; inside air at rear + . ° c. probably permanent glacière. dobra ledenica, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--west of ledeno brdo. probably periodic glacière. on july th, , the temperature of the outside air was + ° c.; of the inside air + . °c. _ledenica_ is the name for a glacière in servia. ledenica in the mala brezovica, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--length meters. a large, permanent glacière. on july th, , the outside air was + °: inside air + °. ledenica treme in the souva planina, servia. (cvijic, dr. a., _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--altitude meters to meters. a rather large, probably permanent glacière. plenty of ice in it on april st, . zla ledenica, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--on the kucaj. a permanent glacière, meters or meters deep. on july th, , outside air + °; inside air at snow + °. glacière on the devica, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--under the peak lazurevica. altitude meters. a narrow passage leads to a hall meters long by meters wide and meters high. on june th, , there was plenty of snow in the passage and ice in the hall. glacière vlaska pecura, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--on the devica, under the golemi vech. a small periodic glacière. glacière in the zdrebica, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--on the southeast side of the souva planina, near the village veliki krtchimir. a small periodic glacière. on april th, , plenty of snow and ice. glacière stoykova, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , pages , .)--on the kucaj. a large pit cave with a total depth of meters. probably a permanent glacière. on july st, , plenty of ice and snow. outside air + °; inside air in hall + . °. glacière on the topiznica mountain, servia. (dr. a. cvijic, _spélunca_, vol. ii., , page .)--altitude meters. a large pit cave with an extreme depth of meters. in august, , there was plenty of snow and ice, and the inside temperature was + °. glacière cave near borszék. (bielz, _siebenbürgen_, , page .)--about an hour distant from the baths, in broken limestone. it seems to be a rock fissure, at the end of which ice is found till towards the middle of july. glacière cave near sonkolyos in the korös valley. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--small cave. glacière near zapodia. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near petrosc in the bihar mountains. altitude meters; length meters, width meters. pescerca la jesere. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--between vervul la belegiana and the batrina in the bihar mountains. small freezing cave. glacière cave near verespatak, in transylvania. (bielz, _siebenbürgen_, page .)--small cave. gietariu near funacza. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the bihar mountains. small glacière cave. cave of skerizora. (karl f. peters, _sitzungsbericht der k. k. akademie der wissenchaften_, wien, vol. xliii., , page ; bielz, _siebenbürgen_, , page .)--this is one of the greatest glacière caves known. it lies in the bihar mountains, three hours from the village of ober-girda, which can be reached from gyula fehérvar, via topánfalva. it is a pit cave, in limestone, at an altitude of meters. the pit is about meters broad, and meters deep, with exceedingly steep walls. the entrance is in the northeast wall and is about meters high. this leads into a nearly circular hall meters in diameter and about meters high. the floor is ice. in the southeast corner is a hole over meters deep. in the northwest wall is an opening meters wide, which forms the beginning of a sort of gallery meters long and which at its further end is meters wide and meters high. this is also covered with a flooring of ice, which in some places can only be descended by step cutting. this passage is also richly adorned with ice stalactites and stalagmites. at its end is another also nearly circular hall, meters in diameter and about meters high. this is called the '_beszerika_' or church. in one place there is a magnificent collection of ice stalagmites called the "altar." peters found in dirt on the sides of the cave remains of bats not very different from those now living in the vicinity. he thinks the bats may have come there before the cave became a glacière; or else that they may even now sometimes get into the first hall and there perish from cold. this makes it uncertain, therefore, whether the remains can be considered as of the past or the present. eishöhle bei roth.--described in part i., page . mines on the eisenberg. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--these lie near blankenburg in the thüringer wald and have been known to contain ice. the ziegenloch or grosses kalte loch, and the kleines kalte loch. (behrens, _hercynia curiosa_, pages , .)--these lie near questenberg in the southern harz mountains, at an altitude of about meters. the grosses loch is described as a sort of small pit some meters deep, in one side of which opens a small fissure some meters long. ice has been found in this in april; schwalbe found none there in july. the kleines loch was another small cold cave near the ziegenloch, but it has been filled up. behrens says that the dampness at the cave at questenberg is precipitated as snow. holes with ice near sanct blasien. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the black forest, among boulders at an altitude of meters. holes with ice near hochenschwand. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the black forest, among boulders at an altitude of meters. eisstollen and eiskeller at the dornburg. described in part i., page . (poggendorff's _annalen der physik und chemie, ergänzungsband_, , pages - .)--ice appears to have been discovered at the dornburg in june, . it was found from a depth of centimeters down to meters. the width of the ice-bearing talus was from meters to meters; and it is said that it becomes wider in winter and narrower in summer. beschertgluck mine, freiberg district. (prestwich, _collected papers_, etc., page .)--mr. prestwich quotes daubuisson as having seen the shaft of the mine lined with ice to a depth of toises ( meters?). ice in the zinc mines on the sauberg. (reich, _beobachtungen über die temperatur des gesteines_, , pages and .)--these are near ehrenfriedersdorf in saxony and formerly contained ice in winter. they are reported now to be destroyed. the garische stollen. (lohman, _das höhleneis_, etc., page .)--near ehrenfriedersdorf in the freiwald. lohman found much ice in this in january, less in march, and scarcely any in may. the ritterhöhle. (lohman, _das höhleneis_, page .)--near ehrenfriedersdorf in the freiwald. small ice deposit. the rock is granite. the stulpnerhöhle. (lohman, _das höhleneis_, page .)--near the ritterhöhle. small ice deposit in granite rock. eisloch and eishöhle near geyer in saxony. (lohman, _das höhleneis_, page .)--these are in a place called die binge. both are small. the alte thiele. (lohman, _das höhleneis_, page .)--near buchholz in saxony. small ice deposit. mine pits in the saxon erzgebirge. (reich, _beobachtungen über die temperatur des gesteines_, .)--extremely low temperatures have been found in several of these pits:-- in the churprinz friedrich august erbstollen near freiberg. in the heinrichs-sohle in the stockwerk near altenberg. in the henneberg stollen, on the ingelbach, near johanngeorgenstadt. in the weiss-adler-stollen, on the left declivity of the valley of the schwarzwasser, above the antonshütte. holes holding ice on the saalberg. (_annalen der physik und chemie_, , lxxxi., page .)--these lie between saalberg and the burgk. ice is found here on the surface from june to the middle of august. from the observations of professor hartenstein, fugger deduces that this place must be the lower end of one or more windholes. millstone quarry of niedermendig. (m. a. pictet, _mémoires de la société d'histoire naturelle de genève_, , vol. i., page .)--on the niederrhein. there are many connecting pits and galleries here, in which ice has been found in the hottest days of summer as well as in march. the abandoned shafts are utilized as beer cellars. eisgrube on the umpfen. (voigt, _mineralogische reisen durch das herzogthum weimar_, , vol. ii., page .)--in the rhöngebirge, twenty minutes from kaltennordheim, are some irregular masses of columnar basalt, at an altitude of about meters, among which abundant ice has been found up to late in the summer. cave near muggendorf, franconia.--the landlord of the kurhaus hotel at muggendorf, told me that there was a small cave in the vicinity where there was ice in the winter and spring, but that it all melted away before august. cave on the dürrberg. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near zwickau in bohemia. small cave which sometimes contains ice. the schneebinge. (lohman, _das höhleneis_, page .)--near platten in bohemia. a small ice deposit in an old mine. ice among basaltic rocks on the pleschiwitz. (pleischl, in poggendorff's _annalen der physik und chemie_, vol. liv., , pages - .)--above kameik near leitmeritz in bohemia. professor pleischl, in may, , found ice under the rocks a little distance from the surface. the surface of the rocks was then warm. on the st of january, , professor pleischl found snow on the outside of the rocks, but no ice underneath. he was assured by the people of the district that the hotter the summer, the more ice is found. glacière on the zinkenstein. (pleischl, in poggendorff's _annalen der physik und chemie_, vol. liv., , page ).--the zinkenstein is one of the highest points of the vierzehnberge, in the leitmeritz kreis. there is a deep cleft in basalt, where ice has been found in summer. eislöcher on the steinberg. (pleischl, in poggendorffs _annalen der physik und chemie_, vol. liv., , page .)--in the herrschaft konoged. small basalt talus where ice is found in the hottest weather. windholes in bohemia. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the neighborhood of leitmeritz. these are in basaltic rock. ice sometimes forms at the lower extremity. the most notable are-- on the steinberg near mertendorf on the triebschbach; on the kelchberg near triebsch; on the kreuzberg near leitmeritz; on the rodersberg near schlackenwerth; in the grossen loch near tschersink. ice in a pit near neusohl. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .) the frainer eisleithen. described in part i., page . (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .) professor fugger quotes the following observations by forester wachtl at frain:-- . . january - ° to - ° - ° february - ° to ° - ° to - ° march ° to + ° - ° to ° april + ° to + ° ° may + ° + ° to + ° june + ° to + ° + ° to + ° july + ° + ° to + ° august + ° to + ° + ° september + ° to + ° + ° to + ° october + ° + ° november -- + ° december - ° to - ° ° to - ° démenyfálva jegbarlang. described in part i., page . dóbsina jegbarlang. described in part i., page . (pelech; _the valley of stracena and the dobschau ice cavern_; schwalbe, _Über eishöhlen und eislöcher_, page .)--pelech gives the following measurements: the grosser saal is meters long, meters to meters wide, and meters to meters high, with a surface area of square meters. the ice mass is estimated as , cubic meters in volume. the length of the korridor is meters; the left wing being meters, and the right wing meters long. the cave was first entered on july th, , by herr eugene ruffiny, of dóbsina, and some friends. he had happened to fire a gun in front of it, and hearing a continuous muffled rolling echo within, determined to explore it. dr. schwalbe quotes the following series of observations in dóbsina during the year : deepest point from korridor entrance. grosser saal. of korridor. to kleinen saal. january - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° february - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° march - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° april - . ° - . ° - . ° + . ° may + . ° + . ° - . ° + . ° june + . ° + . ° - . ° + . ° july + . ° + . ° + . ° + . ° august + . ° + . ° + . ° + . september + . + . ° - . ° - . ° october - . ° + . ° - . ° - . ° november - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° december - . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° ------ ------ ------ ------ year + . ° - . ° - . ° - . ° the philadelphia _evening bulletin_, march, st, , printed the following note about dóbsina: "in this cave, some sixteen years ago, a couple named kolcsey elected to pass the week immediately following their marriage. they took with them a plentiful supply of rugs, blankets and warm clothing, but notwithstanding all precautions, their experience was not of a sufficiently pleasant nature to tempt imitators." lednica of szilize. (m. bel, _philosophical transactions_, london, , vol. xli., page _et seq._; townson, _travels in hungary_, ; terlanday, _petermann's mittheilungen_, , page .)--it lies . kilometers from the village of szilize, near rosenau, in gomör county, in the carpathians, at an altitude of meters. a pit about meters deep, meters long, and meters wide opens in the ground, and at the southern end, in the perpendicular wall, is the cave. the entrance is meters wide, meters high, and faces north. a slope meters long sinks with an angle of ° to the floor of the cave, which is nearly circular in form, with a diameter of about meters. on the east side of the cave there seems to be a hole in the ice some meters deep. in , there was published in london a curious letter in latin from matthias bel, a hungarian _savant_, about the cavern of szilize. he says: "the nature of the cave has this of remarkable, that, when outside the winter freezes strongest, inside the air is balmy: but it is cold, even icy, when the sun shines warmest. as soon as the snow melts and spring begins, the inner roof of the cave, where the midday sun strikes the outside, begins to sweat clear water, which drops down here and there; through the power of the inner cold it turns to transparent ice and forms icicles, which in thickness equal large barrels and take wonderful shapes. what as water drops from the icicles to the sandy floor, freezes up, even quicker, than one would think. "the icy nature of the cave lasts through the whole summer, and what is most remarkable, it increases with the increasing heat of the sun. in the beginning of the spring the soft winter's warmth begins to give way soon thereafter, and when spring is more advanced, the cold sets in, and in such a manner, that the warmer does the (outside) air grow, the more does the cave cool off. and when the summer has begun and the dog days glow, everything within goes into icy winter. then do the drops of water pouring from the roof of the cave change into ice, and with such rapidity that where to-day delicate icicles are visible, to-morrow masses and lumps, which fall to the ground, appear. here and there, where the water drips down the walls of the cave, one sees wonderful incrustations, like an artificial carpeting. the rest of the water remains hanging on the ice, according to the warmth of the day. for when for a longer time it is warmer, the ice of the stalactites, of the walls and of the floor increases; but when the ruling heat, as sometimes happens, is diminished through north winds or rainstorm, the waters freeze more slowly, the ice drips more fully and begins to form little brooklets. when however the temperature gets warmer, the icy nature of the cave begins once more. some have observed, that the nature of the grotto receives the changes of temperature ahead, like a barometer. for, when a warmer temperature sets in outside, the waters change into ice, several hours before the heat sets in, while the opposite takes place, when by day the temperature is colder; for then even by the warmest sky the ice begins to melt noticeably. "when the dog days have passed and the summer has already changed into fall, the cave with its own nature follows the conditions of the external air. in the early months and while the nights are growing colder, the ice diminishes visibly; then when the air cools off more and more and when the brooks and side are rigid with frost, it begins to melt as though there was a fire built underneath, until, when winter reigns, it is entirely dry in the cave, without a sign of ice being left behind. then gentle warmth spreads into the entire cave, and this icy grave becomes a safety resort for insects and other small animals, which bear the winter with difficulty. but besides swarms of flies and gnats, troops of bats and scores of owls, hares and foxes take up their abode here, until with the beginning of spring, the cave once more assumes its icy appearance." these assertions of bel are the most inaccurate ones made about glacières. yet, strange to say, they have colored the literature of the subject down to our own times; and have been repeated many times, sometimes with, sometimes without, the hares and foxes; the latest repetition seeming to occur in . cave near the village of borzova, torna county, carpathians. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--reported to contain ice, but nothing certainly known. crimea. ledianaia yama. (montpeyreux, _voyage autour du caucase_ v., page ; hablizl, _description physique de la tauride_, , pages - .)--on the karabi-yaïla, kilometers southwest of karasubazar. altitude about meters. a fairly large pit glacière cave. the name means an abyss of ice. glacière cave on the yaïla of oulouzène at kazauté. (montpeyreux, _voyage autour du caucase_, ii., page .)--a small pit cave. caucasus. glacière cave in the khotevi valley. (montpeyreux, _voyage autour du caucase_, ii., page .)--in the province of radscha, near the monastery nikortsminda. a large pit cave which must be of the same order as that of chaux-les-passavant and from which the inhabitants of koutaïs get ice. glacières near koutaïs. (e. a. martel, _les abimes_, page .)--"dr. a. sakharov, it appears, has recently discovered in the government of koutaïs caves containing ice." cave of sabazwinda. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near the town of zorchinwall, on the river liachwa, province of gori, in georgia, near the ossete mountains. ice has been found in the cave in summer. in december there was none. ural. glacière cave near sukepwa. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--on the volga, province of zlatoust. small cave on the river bank. glacière cave on the tirmen tau. (lepechin, _tagebuch der reise_, etc., vol. ii., page .)--near the village of chaszina, kilometers from orenburg. small cave. glacière cave of kurmanajeva. (lepechin, _tagebuch der reise_, etc., vol. ii., page .)--near kurmanajeva, a village kilometers from tabinsk, in the government of orenburg. a large cave. lepechin found ice in one part of the cave and deep water in another. there were draughts in some places. cave on the baislan tasch. (lepechin, _tagebuch der reise_, etc., ii., page .)--the baislan tasch is a mountain on the right bank of the bielaja river, which flows into the kama. there is a large cave in the mountain in which ice has been found. cave on the muinak tasch. (lepechin, _tagebuch der reise_, etc., ii., page .)--the muinak tasch is a mountain on the bielaja river. there is a large cave in it, in which a little ice has been found. cave of kungur. (lepechin, _tagebuch der reise_, etc., ii., page ; rosenmüller and tilesius, i., page .)--the cavern of kungur is near the town of kungur in the government of perm. there are in it many passages and grottoes connecting with one another, some of which contain ice. it is a fine, large cave, whose greatest length is meters. mines of kirobinskoy. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--these mines are kilometers southeast of miask in the ural; they have been abandoned. one of them contains ice all the year round. caves of illetzkaya-zatschita. (murchison, vernieul and keyserling, _the geology of russia in europe and the ural mountains_, , vol. i., page .)-- kilometers southeast from orenburg. the caves are in the kraoulnaïgora, a gypsum hillock meters high, rising in the midst of an undulating steppe, which lies on a vast bed of rock salt. only one of the caves contains ice. there are strong draughts in places. siberia. cave near the fortress kitschigina. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small cave, kilometers east of kajilskoi, kilometers from petropaulowsk, kilometers from tobolsk. the cave is in an open plain, and sometimes contains ice. wrechneja petschera. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near the village birjusinska, in the neighborhood of krasnojarsk, on the right bank of the yenisei. large glacière cave. glacière cave of balagansk. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a narrow cleft, meters long; kilometers downstream from irkutsk on the left bank of the angora river; at a distance of kilometers from the river. glacière cave on the onon river. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--a small cave; kilometers from the borsja mountain. mines of siranowsk. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--in the altai mountains, on the buchtorma river, an affluent of the irtysch. magnificent ice formations have been found in these mines. mines of seventui. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near nertschinsk, on the amoor river. two of the levels contain perennial ice and hence are called _ledenoi_. these are at a depth of about meters in porous lava. the rest of the mine is in more solid rock. glacière cave near lurgikan. (fugger, _eishöhlen_, page .)--near the confluence of the lurgikan and schilka rivers, in the province nertschinsk. from meters to meters wide. length meters. basins or troughs retaining ice. (dittmar, _ueber die eismülden im Östlichen siberien_; middendorff, _zusatz_; _bulletin de la classe physico-mathématique de l'académie impériale des sciences de st. pétersbourg_, , vol. xi., pages - .)--these troughs are nearly akin to gorges and gullies, but their water supply seems to come from a cause which is not usually present in gorges. their principal observer, m. de dittmar, thought that a cold and snowy winter would add materially to the supply of ice, but he also thought that a necessity to the existence of the ice in these troughs was an abundant water supply from a spring, whose temperature should be so high as not to freeze in winter. the cold is supplied by the winter temperatures. some of the most important are reported-- in the turachtach valley. near kapitanskji sasiek. in the valley of the river belvi. in the valley of the river antscha. in the kintschen valley. in the neighborhood of kolymsk. in the werchojanski mountains. in the stanowáj mountains. kondooz. cave of yeermallik. (burslem, _a peep into toorkisthan_, , chaps. x., xi.)--in the valley of the doaub, northwest of kabul. the entrance is half way up a hill, and is about meters wide and meters high. this is a large cave, with many ramifications and galleries. in the centre of a hall far within, captain burslem found a mass of clear ice, smooth and polished as a mirror, and in the form of a beehive, with its dome-shaped top just touching the long icicles which depended from the jagged surface of the rock. a small aperture led into the interior of this cone, whose walls were about centimeters thick and which was divided into several compartments. some distance from the entrance of this cave there is a perpendicular drop of meters. a short distance beyond this, in one of the halls, were hundreds of skeletons of men, women and children, in a perfectly undisturbed state, also the prints of a naked human foot and the distinct marks of the pointed heel of an afghan boot. the moollah, who was acting as guide, said the skeletons were the remains of seven hundred men of the huzareh tribe who took refuge in the cave with their wives and children during the invasion of genghis khan, and who defended themselves so stoutly, that after trying in vain to smoke them out, the invader built them in with huge natural blocks of stone, and left them to die of hunger. some of the afghans said that the cave was inhabited by sheitan, a possibility denied by the moollah who guided captain burslem, on the philosophical plea that the cave was too cold for such an inhabitant. himÁlaya. glacière cave of amarnath. (miss mary coxe of philadelphia showed me a copy of a letter of dr. wilhelmine eger describing a visit to this cave.)--it lies three days' journey from pailgam in kashmere, on the borders of little tibet. the altitude is evidently high as one crosses snow fields to get to it. a small path zigzagging up a grassy slope leads to the cave and is a stiff climb from the valley. the cave opens on the side of a mountain and has a large, almost square mouth at least as big as the floor area within. the floor of the cave is the continuation of the grass slope and slants upwards and backwards to the back wall, the only case of the kind so far reported. this cave is most curiously connected with religion. dr. eger says that there are two small blocks of ice in it which never melt. from time immemorial these blocks of ice have been sacred to the hindoos who worship them--as re-incarnations--under the names of shiva and ganesh. dr. eger saw offerings of rice and flowers on them. thousands of pilgrims come every year at the end of july or beginning of august from all parts of india. thousands of miles have been traversed and hundreds of lives laid down through this journey. every year people die either before reaching the cave or after. the trip from pailgam in kashmere takes three days up and two days down, if one returns by a shorter route where the way is unsafe because of avalanches. so many have perished there that the pass is called "the way of death." this must be taken by one class of pilgrims, _sardhas_ or holy men, to complete the sacred circuit, but the hindoos say any one dying on the pass will go straight to heaven. icicles formed by radiation. (general sir richard strachey, _geographical journal_, , vol. xv., page .)--on the balch pass of the balch range in tibet, general strachey, in , saw icicles of which he says: "on the rocks exposed to the south were very curious incrustations of ice, icicles indeed, but standing out horizontally like fingers towards the wind. i was not able to understand how they were caused, nor can i tell why they were confined to particular spots. the thermometer stood at °[f.], and though the dew point at the time would probably have been below °[f.], and the cold produced by evaporation sufficient therefore to freeze water, yet it is evident that no condensation could ever take place simultaneously with the evaporation. * * * it has since occurred to me that these icicles were formed by radiation. i found, subsequently, in a somewhat similar position, that a thermometer suspended vertically, and simply exposed to the sky in front of it, was depressed as much as ° f. below the true temperature of the surrounding air. this result was, of course, due to the radiation through the extremely dry and rarefied atmosphere at the great elevation at which the thermometer was exposed. as radiation takes place freely from a surface of ice, the growth of such icicles as those described might be due to the condensation of vapour brought up by the southerly day winds that so constantly blow over these passes, and its accumulation in the form of ice on the exposed extremity of the icicle, the temperature of which might thus have been greatly reduced." india. ice formed by radiation. (t. a. wise, _nature_, vol. v., page ; r. h. scott, _elementary meteorology_, third ed., pages , .)--mr. bunford samuel called my attention to the mode of manufacturing ice by radiation in india. it is as follows:-- "a very practical use of nocturnal radiation has been made from time immemorial in india in the preparation of ice, and on such a scale that about tons of ice can be procured in a single night from twenty beds of the dimensions about to be given, when the temperature of the air is ° or ° [f.] above the freezing point. * * * the locality referred to is the immediate neighborhood of calcutta. a rectangular piece of ground is marked out, lying east and west, and measuring by feet. this is excavated to the depth of two feet and filled with rice straw rather loosely laid, to within six inches of the surface of the ground. the ice is formed in shallow dishes of porous earthenware, and the amount of water placed in each is regulated by the amount of ice expected. "in the cold weather, when the temperature of the air at the ice fields is under °, ice is formed in the dishes. the freezing is most active with n. n. w. airs, as these are driest; it ceases entirely with southerly or easterly airs, even though their temperature may be lower than that of the n. n. w. wind. "no ice is formed if the wind is sufficiently strong to be called a breeze, for the air is not left long enough at rest, above the bed, for its temperature to fall sufficiently, by the action of radiation. "the rice straw, being kept loose and perfectly dry, cuts off the access of heat from the surface of the ground below it, and, when the sun goes down, the straw being a powerful radiator, the temperature of the air in contact with the dishes is reduced some ° below that prevailing some two or three feet above them. the rapid evaporation of the water into the dry air above creates also an active demand for heat to be rendered latent in the formation of steam, and the result of all these agencies is the formation of ice, under favorable circumstances, on the extensive scale above mentioned." korea. glacière cave on the han gang.--messrs. j. edward farnum and george l. farnum, of philadelphia, inform me that they saw a small cave containing ice on the banks of one of the korean rivers. it is about kilometers from seoul, nearly northeast, near the ferry where the old road leading from seoul towards northern korea crosses the han gang, the river which passes by seoul. the entrance is small; perhaps meters wide. the cave is not thoroughly explored. ice lies near the entrance, and as far back as the messrs. farnum could see. japan. glacière lava cave near shoji. (_evening telegraph, philadelphia, january d, ._)--the cave is about kilometers from shoji, and is in lava. first there is a pit in the forest, some meters wide by meters deep. the cave opens into this. it seems to be some meters long and from meters to meters high. there is an ice floor in places, also many ice stalagmites. at the furthest point reached there is a strong air current, which extinguishes torches and so far has prevented further exploration. ice from the cave has been cut by the country people for sale at kofu, which is not far distant. part iv. some opinions about glaciÈres. some opinions about glaciÈres. benigne poissenot, in , hinted that the cold of winter produced the ice at chaux-les-passavant.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: page . reichard strein and christoph schallenberger visited the caves on the Ötscher in .[ ] [ ] see part iii.: page . gollut, in , suggested the cold of winter as the cause of the ice at chaux-les-passavant.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: page . in the _histoire de l'académie royale des sciences_, , tome ii., pages , , there is an account, with no author's name, of chaux-les-passavant. the memoir states that in winter the cave is filled with thick vapors and that after some trees were cut down near the entrance, the ice was less abundant than formerly: that people come for ice with carts and mules, but that the ice does not become exhausted, for one day of great heat forms more ice than could be carried away in eight days in carts and wagons: and that when a fog forms in the cave, there is assuredly rain the following day, and that the peasants in the neighborhood consult this curious "almanac" to know the weather which is coming. freiherr valvasor, in , wrote about some of the glacières of the krain.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: pages , . behrens, in , thought it was colder in summer than in winter in the caves near questenberg in the harz. m. de billerez, in , writes that at chaux-les-passavant it is really colder in summer than in winter; and that the ice is harder than river ice, and this he thinks is due to the presence of a nitrous or ammoniacal salt, which he says he found in the rocks. m. de boz made four trips to chaux-les-passavant on the th of may and th of november, ; and the th of march and th of august, . his memoir says that his observations tend to disprove those of m. de billerez, and that "the cause for the great cold, which is less great in summer, although always remaining, is quite natural." he cites as causes for the ice the exposure to the north-north-east; the rock portal sheltering the entrance, and all the forest covering the surrounding lands; and adds that some veracious persons told him that since some of the big trees above the grotto had been cut down there was less ice than before. he found no traces of salt, nor any springs, and that the water supply came from the rains and melted snows filtering through the ground. in , matthias bel published his curious account of szilize.[ ] [ ] see part iii.: page . j. n. nagel, a vienna mathematician, visited the Ötscher in . he concluded that the ice was made in winter and preserved in summer as in an ice house. m. de cossigny wrote, in , about chaux-les-passavant. he made a plan of the cave and took many observations in april, august and october, and concluded that the interior condition of the cave does not change noticeably from winter to summer, no matter what the external conditions of temperature may be; that what people say of greater cold in summer, vanishes before actual experience and that, as a state of freezing reigns more or less continuously in the cave, it is not surprising if the ice accumulates. apparently he was the first to notice and insist on the necessity of drainage to the cave through cracks in the rocks. he also made a series of observations disproving those of m. de billerez, as to the presence of any kinds of salts in the rocks or ice. hacquet, in , thought that the ice in the cave at lazhna-gora formed in winter, but he also thought that there must undoubtedly be some salt in the water. he says he found ice in the cave in the spring, and that his companion, a priest, had never found any in winter. he therefore concluded that by that time it had all melted. romain joly, in , claims to have visited chaux-les-passavant on the th of september (year not given). his account seems largely borrowed from the one in the _histoire de l'académie royale des sciences_, in . he says: "this ice is formed by the drops of water which fall from the roof, and which freeze because of the chill of the cave. in the winter there is no ice, but running water." he says nothing, however, about the ice forming in summer. the _citoyen_ girod-chantrans visited chaux-les-passavant in august, , and reached the conclusion, from all he saw and heard, that the cave did not freeze in summer nor thaw in winter, and that it was really a natural ice house. he was aided by the notes of a neighboring physician, dr. oudot, who had made observations in the cave, and among others, had placed stakes of wood, on the th of january, , in the heads of the columns he had found in the cave; and on the d of february, , had found these stakes completely covered with ice, forming columns centimeters in diameter. hablizl, in , wrote that the ice in the cave near karassoubazar formed in the spring by the snows which melt, run into the cave, and refreeze. he also thought that there was less ice there in the fall than in the spring, that it diminishes in july and august, and that the idea, current in the neighborhood, of the formation of ice in summer, is a mistake. professor pierre prévost, in , gave an accurate explanation of the formation of the ice in chaux-les-passavant. he says: "weighing carefully the local circumstances, one discovers in truth a few causes of permanent cold. but these causes seem rather suited to keep up a great freshness or to diminish the heat of summer, than to produce a cold such as that which reigns in the cavern. first of all, big trees throw shade over the entrance; it is, i was told, forbidden under severe penalties to cut down any of them, for fear of depriving the grotto of a necessary shelter. in the second place, this entrance is situated almost due north, leaning a little to the east, which is the coolest exposure one can choose, and the one most suited to help the effect of the icy winds which blow from that quarter. finally the slope is steep and the grotto deep and covered with a thick vault. these three conditions united constitute, as it seems to me, a very good _ice house_; by which i mean a reservoir fit to preserve during the summer, the ice which may bank up in winter. "but how does this ice bank up? one knows that the outside waters above form on the roof, during the winter, long drops and stalactites of ice. these icicles, which hang down and increase constantly by the drip from the same source which formed them, fall at last, carried away by their own weight, and form so many centres, around which freeze the waters with which the floor of the grotto is always inundated. at the same time, the blowing of the north wind accumulates snow at the base of the slope, which is uncovered in part and exposed above to all the vicissitudes of the weather. thus during the winter is formed an irregular heap of ice and snow, which the first heats of spring begin to make run, but which the heats of summer cannot finish dissolving. the winter following has therefore even more facility to augment the mass of these ice pyramids, which have resisted until the fall. and if men did not work at diminishing it, it might happen that it would fill the entire cavern at last to a great height. "i am therefore strongly inclined to think that the process of nature is here precisely similar to that of art; that without any especial cause of cold, the natural glacière of besançon conserves in the moderate temperature of deep caverns, the heaps of snow and ice which the winds and the outside waters accumulate there during the winter; and that the melting of these snows and of these accumulated ices forms little by little the ice floor, scattered over with blocks and pyramids, which one observes there during the summer." horace bénédict de saussure, the great swiss scientist and mountaineer, in , published a number of observations about cold current caves in various parts of the alps. he found that in summer the air blows outward at the lower end, and that in winter it draws inward. his explanation is that in summer the colder air in the tube is heavier than the outside air and displaces it by gravity; while in winter the rupture takes place in the other direction, since the column within the tube is warmer than the outside air and therefore is pushed upwards by the heavy air flowing in. he concludes that evaporation due to the air passing internally over moist rocks suffices to explain the phenomenon of low temperatures and that such caves have a rather lower temperature in the alps than in italy owing to the greater natural cold of the swiss lake region. an experiment of his is worth mentioning. he passed a current of air through a glass tube, . centimeters in diameter, filled with moistened stones, and found that the air current which entered with a temperature of . ° came out with a temperature of . °, that is with a loss of . ° of heat. robert townson, ll.d., in , published an account, perhaps the first in english, of a glacière cave. he says of szilize: "ice i truly found here in abundance, and it was mid-summer, but in a state of thaw; the bed of ice, which covered the floor of the cavern was thinly covered with water and everything announced a thaw. i had no need to use my thermometer: however i placed it in the ice and it fell to ° of réaumur: i then wiped it and placed it in a niche in the rock, at the furthest part of the cavern, a yard above the ice and here it remained near an hour: when i returned i found it at °. * * * everything therefore, ice, water and atmosphere in the neighborhood had the same temperature, and that was the temperature of melting ice: ° réaumur. "when then is the ice which is found here, and in such quantities that this cavern serves the few opulent nobility in the neighborhood as an ice house, formed? surely in winter, though not by the first frost, not so soon as ice is formed in the open air. no doubt, from the little communication this cavern has with the atmosphere, it will be but little and slowly affected by the change. should therefore, mr. bel, or any of his friends, have come here to verify the common report at the commencement of a severe frost, when the whole country was covered with ice and snow, they might still have found nothing here but water, or the ice of the preceding winter in a state of thaw, and the cavern relatively warm; and likewise, should they have visited it in a warm spring, which had succeeded to a severe winter, they might have found nothing here but frost and ice; and even the fresh melted snow, percolating through the roof of this cavern, might again have been congealed to ice. i observed frequently in germany in the severe winter of - , on a sudden thaw, that the walls of churches and other public buildings, on the outside were white and covered with a hoar frost, and the windows on the same side covered with a rime." dr. franz sartori, in , was a strong believer in the summer ice theory, and wrote of the flies and the gnats, the bats and the owls, and the foxes and the hares coming to szilize to winter. alexander von humboldt, in , says about the cueva del hielo on the peak of teneriffe that so much snow and ice are stored up in winter that the summer heat cannot melt it all, and also adds that permanent snow in caves must depend more on the amount of winter snow, and the freedom from hot winds, than on the absolute altitude of the cave. dewey, in , thought that the ice in the snow glen at williamstown was a winter formation. professor m. a. pictet visited saint-georges, le brezon and montarquis and in endeavored to prove that they are cold current caves and that the ice in them is due entirely to draughts causing evaporation. he believed in the theory of the ice forming in summer more than in winter and that it could not be the residue of a winter deposit. he therefore argued that it must be due to descending currents of air which he thought would be most energetic in summer; that they would become at least as low as the mean annual temperature of the place and be still further cooled by evaporation. the strange thing about his theories is that he does not seem to have personally observed any draughts either at saint-georges or le brezon, but the fact that the ice was evidently not an accumulation of winter snow led him to try to reconcile what he had himself seen with de saussure's theories about windholes. jean andré deluc in published a paper discussing the theories of mm. de cossigny, prévost and pictet. deluc had never visited a glacière himself, but he explains clearly the impossibility of professor pictet's cold current theory, on the simple ground that professor pictet himself did not find any cold currents. he takes up professor prévost's theories warmly; using also the manuscript notes of mons. colladon who had visited the grand cave de montarquis. deluc says: "that the winter's cold penetrates into these caves, freezes the water which collects there and that the ice thus formed has not the time to melt during the following summer." he says further: "it seems that in the three glacières with which we have been occupied there is a flat or rather hollow bottom, where the waters can form a more or less deep pond, and whence they therefore cannot flow away; it is there they flow in winter; and as these are shut in places where the air cannot circulate, the heats of summer can only penetrate very feebly. the ice once formed in such cavities, only melts slowly; for one knows that ice in melting, absorbs ° of heat; and where find this heat in an air always very cold and nearly still? during a great cold, the ice forms with great promptness, while it melts with much slowness, even when the temperature of the air is several degrees above zero; what must then not be this slowness when the temperature of the interior air only rises in summer one degree above freezing point. it would need several summers to melt this ice if it did not reform each winter." c. a. lee, in , wrote that the ice in the wolfshollow near salisbury was a winter formation. g. poulett scrope, in , accepted as the truth the statement that the cave of roth was filled with ice in summer, but that it was warm during the winter. in , he explained the presence of ice at pontgibaud as follows: "the water is apparently frozen by means of the powerful evaporation produced by a current of very dry air issuing from some long fissures or arched galleries which communicate with the cave, and owing its dryness to the absorbent qualities of the lava through which it passes." f. reich, in , thought that there were two possible causes which might produce subterranean ice: , the difference in specific gravity between warm and cold air; , evaporation. he thought the cold air a sufficient cause in most caves, but he considered that evaporation also played a part not infrequently. professor silliman, in , gave the first hint, in the negative, about compressed air as a cause for subterranean ice. he said about owego that if one could suppose that compressed gases or a compressed atmosphere were escaping from the water or near it, this would indicate a source of cold, but that as there is no indication of this in the water, the explanation is unavailable. professor a. pleischl wrote in that he was told that ice formed on the pleschiwetz and on the steinberge in summer. continuing, he says: "the author is therefore, as well as for other reasons, of the opinion, that the ice is not remaining winter ice, but a summer formation, and one formed by the cold of evaporation. * * * the basalt is, as a thick stone, a good conductor for the heat, and takes up therefore easily the sun's warmth, but parts with it easily to other neighboring bodies. in the hollows, between the basalt blocks, is found, as i already mentioned, rotting moss, which forms a spongy mass, which is wet through with water. the basalt heated by the sun's rays now causes a part of the water in the spongy mass to vaporize; for this evaporation the water needs heat, which it withdraws from the neighboring bodies and in part from water, and makes the water so cold, that it freezes into ice, as, under the bell of an air pump--nature therefore makes here a physical experiment on the largest scale." much stress appears to have been laid on the paper of professor pleischl by professor krauss and one or two others. the weak point in it is that pleischl did not see the ice form in summer, but was only, as usual, told that it did so. there is nothing in the facts given to show that the places mentioned are different from any other taluses, where ice does not form as the result of heat. mr. c. b. hayden, in , wrote about the ice mountain in virginia, and held that the porous nature of the rocks makes them poor conductors of heat, and that the mountain is a huge sandstone refrigerator. dr. s. pearl lathrop, in , wrote of the ice bed at wallingford, vermont, as a great natural refrigerator. sir roderick impey murchison wrote in about the salt mine and freezing cave of illetzkaya-zatschita. he visited them during a hot august, and was assured that the cold within is greatest when the external air is hottest and driest; that the fall of rain and a moist atmosphere produce some diminution in the cold of the cave and that on the setting in of winter the ice disappears entirely. he accepted these statements evidently only in a half hearted way, submitting them to sir john herschel, who tried to explain them, in case they were true, of which herschel was likewise doubtful. murchison at first thought that the ice was due to the underlying bed of salt, but soon recognized that this explanation could not be correct. he also rejected herschel's "heat and cold wave" theory. shortly after this he came across pictet's memoir, and on the strength of it concluded that the ice in illetzkaya-zatschita could not be the residue of a winter deposit, but must be due to descending currents of air; to the previously wet and damp roof affording a passage to water; and to the excessive dryness of the external air of these southern steppes contributing powerfully to the refrigerating effects of evaporation. professor arnold guyot, in , said that the well at owego admitted large quantities of snow which melts, but not readily, because it is not accessible to the sun. it therefore goes through the same process as glaciers, of partly melting and refreezing; and we have the formation of a glacier without movement. professor w. b. rogers, in , held that the well at owego became the recipient of the coldest air of the neighborhood, and the temperature remained abnormal because the bad conducting power of the materials of the well retained the cold. professor d. olmstead, in , held about owego that cold air exists in the interior of the earth which may have found a ventilating shaft in the well. professor petruzzi, in , considered the following requirements necessary for a glacière: a high altitude above the sea; a decided drop into the interior of the mountain; absence of all draught; protection against all warm and moist winds, therefore the opening to north and east. he also says about the glacière on the pograca: that it is in shadow; that the thick forest round the mouth keeps the temperature down; that it begins to freeze below when it does above; that the cold remains there into the spring; and that the water from rain or other sources, which flows into the cave, must freeze there, and the ice form in greater quantities than the heat of summer can melt away. mr. albert d. hager wrote in : "the question now arises, why it was that such a congealed mass of earth was found in brandon at the time the frozen well was dug. my opinion is, that the bad conducting property of the solids surrounding it, the absence of ascending currents of heated air, and of subterranean streams of water in this particular locality favored such a result; and that the bad conducting property of clay, as well as that of the porous gravel associated with it, taken in connection with the highly inclined porous strata, and the disposition of heated air to rise, and the cold air to remain below, contribute to produce in the earth, at this place, a _mammoth refrigerator_, embracing essentially the same principle as that involved in the justly celebrated refrigerator known as 'winship's patent.' "clay is not only nearly impervious to air and water, but it is one of the worst conductors of heat in nature. (note.--to test the question whether clay was a poor conductor of heat or not, i took two basins of equal size, and in one put a coating of clay one-half inch thick, into which i put water of a temperature of ° fahrenheit. into the other dish, which was clean, i put water of the same temperature, and subjected the two basins to equal amounts of heat; and in five minutes the water in the clean dish indicated a temperature of ° while that of the one coated with clay was raised only to °.) if we can rely upon the statements of those who dug out the frozen earth, it rested upon a stratum of clay that lay upon the bed of pebbles in which the water was found, for it was described as being a very sticky kind of hard pan. "this being the case, if the water contained in the pebbly mass had a temperature above the freezing point, the heat would be but imperfectly transmitted to the frost, through the clay, provided there was no other way for its escape. but we have seen that the stratum of clay that overlays the bed of pebbles in the side of the gravel pit was not horizontal, but inclined towards the well at an angle of °. now if this drip was continued to the well, and existed there (which is highly probable), it will be seen that the ascending current of heated air, in the pebbly bed, would be checked upon meeting the overlying barrier of clay and be deflected out of its upward course. the tendency of heated air is to rise, hence it would continue its course along the under side of the clay, through the interstices in the bed of pebbles, till it found a place of escape at the surface, which in this case may have been at the gravel pit before named." professor edward hitchcock wrote in : "the presence of a mass of frozen gravel deep beneath the surface in brandon, was first made known by digging a well in it in the autumn of . * * * the gravel, also, rises into occasional knolls and ridges. in short, it is just such a region of sand and gravel as may be seen in many places along the western side of the green mountains; and indeed, all over new england. it is what we call modified drift, and lies above genuine drift, having been the result of aqueous agency subsequent to the drift period. * * * the well was stoned up late in the autumn of , and during the winter, ice formed upon the water in one night, two inches thick. it continued to freeze till april; after which no ice was formed on the surface, but we can testify that as late as june th, the stones of the well for four or five feet above the surface of the water were mostly coated with ice; nay, it had not wholly disappeared july th. the temperature of the water was only one degree of fahrenheit above freezing point. the ice did however disappear in the autumn but was formed again (how early we did not learn) in the winter, and so thick too that it was necessary to send some one into the well to break it. we visited the well august th, , and found the temperature °. yet only the week previous ice was seen upon the stones, and we were even told by one of the family, that a piece of ice had been drawn up the day before in the bucket. * * * these frozen deposits may have been produced during the glacial period that accompanied the formation of drift, and continued far down into the subsequent epochs of modified drift. * * * but in all the excavations both gravel and clay occur: and how almost impervious to heat must such a coating feet thick, be! it would not, however, completely protect the subjacent mass from solar heat. but there is another agency still more powerful for this end, namely, evaporation, which we think has operated here, as we shall more fully describe further on; and we think that these two agencies, namely, non-conduction and evaporation, may have preserved this frozen deposit for a very long period, from exterior influences." professor thury in says about saint-georges: "such is the _résumé_, concise but exact, of the results of our winter excursion. they furnish proof to the fact generally borne witness to by the mountaineers, that ice does not form in winter in the interior of caverns. but if this is so, it is for a very simple reason: two things are necessary for the formation of ice: cold and water. in winter, the cold is not wanting: but if there is no spring opening in the cave, the water is absent, and then no ice forms. "it is in the spring, at the time of the first melting of the snows, that the ice must form. then water at ° pours over the surface, and penetrates by the fissures of the rock and by the large openings into the chilled cavern, which is also receiving the freezing air of the nights. the grotto then makes its annual provision of ice, which after this could only diminish little by little during the whole duration of the warm season." professor thury writes about the grand cave de montarquis: "here it must be when water and cold meet, that is autumn and especially spring, the time of the first melting of the snows." "during the winter * * * the colder, heavier air comes to freeze the water of the grotto, and chill the ice and the wall of rock." "during the summer, the radiation of the vaults and the proper heat of the ground only melt a small quantity of ice because this absorbs much heat to pass into a liquid state." "the heat of the air is entirely used to melt the ice; it does not therefore manifest itself as sensible heat." "the contact of the ice ready to melt, plays in a certain way, towards the air a little warmer than itself, the rôle of an extremely absorbing body, or one which has an excessive caloric conductibility." "here the formation of the ice could not possibly be attributed to the cold caused by evaporation. the psychrometer indicated ninety-two per cent, of relative humidity: the atmosphere of the grotto was therefore almost saturated with evaporation of water, and the maximum of cold caused by evaporation was not over half a degree centigrade." about prismatic ice and a hollow pyramid, he says: "the prismatic (_aréolaire_) structure is produced later on in the ice, by a new and particular arrangement of the molecules of the already solidified water. therefore the recent stalactites are never crystallized." "in the beginning of the hot season, the atmospheric temperature of the grotto rises slowly. inferior to zero by some tenths of a degree, it produces first on the surface, in the stalactites, the prismatic structure. the temperature continues to rise, the central portions of the stalactites, still composed of ordinary ice, liquefy, and if the melting water finds some issue, either by accidental openings left between some prisms, or by the extremity of the stalactite or by some point of its surface which had escaped the action of the regular crystallization; by this opening the water escapes, and the tubular stalactite has been formed." "the column was composed of a very special ice, perfectly dry, perfectly homogeneous, translucid and whose appearance could only be compared to that of the most beautiful porcelain. i am inclined to believe that we had under our eyes a special molecular state of congealed water. this state would be produced under the influence of a constant temperature of a certain degree (note--perhaps not far from °--the actual temperature of the grotto) long prolonged. these causes can be realized more completely in glacières than anywheres else." the reverend george forrest browne, published in , _ice caves in france and switzerland_, one of the most delightful books of travel ever written, on account of the scientific accuracy and the humor of the author. he visited la genollière, saint-georges, saint-livres, chaux-les-passavant, monthézy, arc-sous-Çicon, the schafloch, haut-d'aviernoz, which he calls grand anu, chapuis, and font-d'urle. he says: "the view which deluc adopted was one which i have myself independently formed. * * * the heavy cold air of winter sinks down into the glacières, and the lighter warm air of summer cannot on ordinary principles of gravitation dislodge it, so that heat is very slowly spread in the caves; and even when some amount of heat does reach the ice, the latter melts but slowly, for ice absorbs ° c. of heat in melting; and thus, when ice is once formed, it becomes a material guarantee for the permanence of cold in the cave. for this explanation to hold good it is necessary that the level at which the ice is formed should be below the level of the entrance to the cave; otherwise the mere weight of the cold air would cause it to leave its prison as soon as the spring warmth arrived. in every single case that has come under my observation, this condition has been emphatically fulfilled. it is necessary, also, that the cave should be protected from direct radiation, as the gravitation of cold air has nothing to do with resistance to that powerful means of introducing heat. this condition, also, is fulfilled by nature in all the glacières i have visited, excepting that of s. georges; and there art has replaced the protection formerly afforded by the thick trees which grew over the hole of entrance. the effect of the second hole in the roof of this glacière is to destroy all the ice which is within range of the sun. a third and very necessary condition is, that the wind should not be allowed access to the cave; for if it were, it would infallibly bring in heated air, in spite of the specific weight of the cold air stored within. it will be understood from my description of such glacières as that of the grand anu, of monthézy, and the lower glacière of the pré de s. livres, how completely sheltered from all winds the entrances to those caves are. there can be no doubt, too, that the large surfaces which are available for evaporation have much to do with maintaining a somewhat lower temperature than the mean temperature of the place where the cave occurs." browne noticed prismatic ice several times. he says of it: "m. thury suggests also, as a possibility, what i have found to be the case by frequent observations, that the prismatic ice has greater power of resisting heat than ordinary ice. * * * a frenchman who was present in the room in which the chemical section of the british association met at bath, and heard a paper which i read there on this prismatic structure, suggested that it was probably something akin to the rhomboidal form assumed by dried mud; and i have since been struck by the great resemblance to it, as far as the surface goes, which the pits of mud left by the coprolite workers near cambridge offer, of course on a very large scale. this led me to suppose that the intense dryness which would naturally be the result of the action of some weeks or months of great cold upon subterranean ice might be one of the causes of its assuming this form, and the observations at jena would rather confirm than contradict this view: competent authorities, however, seem inclined to believe that warmth, and not cold, is the producing cause." mr. browne found a hollow cone at la genollière, for which he accounted as follows: "in the loftier part of the cave * * * ninety six drops of water in a minute splashed on to a small stone immediately under the main fissure. this stone was in the centre of a considerable area of the floor which was clear of ice. * * * i found that the edge of the ice round this clear area was much thicker than the rest of the ice on the floor, and was evidently the remains of the swelling pedestal of the column. * * * when the melted snows of spring send down to the cave, through the fissures of the rock, an abundance of water at a very low temperature and the cave itself is stored with the winter's cold, these thicker rings of ice catch first the descending water, and so a circular wall, naturally conical, is formed around the area of stones; the remaining water either running off through the interstices, or forming a floor of ice of less thickness, which yields to the next summer's drops. in the course of time, this conical wall rises, narrowing always, till a dome-like roof is at length formed and thenceforth the column is solid." from what i have observed myself, this explanation seems to fairly meet the facts. professor t. g. bonney, in , was inclined to believe that there was some connection between glacières and a glacial period. mr. w. r. raymond, in , concluded from his own observations about the lava cave in washington: that the cold air of winter freezes up the percolating waters from the surface, layer upon layer, solid from the bottom, and the accumulated ice thaws slowly in summer, being retarded by the covering which keeps out the direct rays of the sun, and by the fact that the melting ice at one end of the cave, through which the summer draught enters, itself refrigerates the air and maintains a freezing temperature at the other end. dr. c. a. white, in , says of the cavern at decorah: "the formation of the ice is probably due to the rapid evaporation of the moisture of the earth and rocks, caused by the heat of the summer sun upon the outer wall of the fissure and valley side. this outer wall is from ten to twenty feet in thickness where the ice was seen to be most abundant. the water for its production seems to be supplied by slow exudation from the inner wall of the cave." dr. krenner, in , wrote of dóbsina as "a natural ice cellar of giant dimensions, whose ice masses formed in winter, the summer does not succeed in melting." professor w. boyd dawkins wrote in : "the apparent anomaly that one only out of a group of caves exposed to the same temperature should be a glacière, may be explained by the fact that these conditions [those formulated by the rev. g. f. browne] are found in combination but rarely, and if one were absent there would be no accumulation of perpetual ice. it is very probable that the store of cold laid up in these caves, as in an ice house, has been ultimately derived from the great refrigeration of climate in europe in the glacial period." mr. theodore kirchhoff examined the lava caves in the state of washington and in wrote that he considered that the ice in the smaller ones were simply remains of the winter's cold. he thought that the ice in the large cave where there is a draught could not be accounted for in the same way, so he concluded that the ice must be due to the draught. mr. n. m. lowe, in , proposed the compressed air or capillary theory[ ] about the cave at decorah. [ ] see part ii., page . mr. john ritchie, jr., in , gave an exceedingly clear exposition of the theory in the same journal. mr. aden s. benedict, in , published his observations about decorah. he found that there was no water falling in the cave to compress the air, that there was no water falling near enough to be heard, nor any aperture giving vent to cold air in the cave. he thought that the cold of winter cools the sides of the cave several degrees below freezing point and that these rocks are so far underground that it would take a long season of hot weather to raise this temperature to the melting point of ice. in the spring the water percolates through the soil and drips on to the yet freezing rocks; on which it freezes and remains until the heat of summer penetrates to a sufficient depth to melt it away. the rocks once raised above ° remain so until the following winter and consequently if there are heavy autumn rains there is water on the rocks but no ice. mr. benedict concluded that there was nothing more mysterious about decorah than the fact that if you drop water on a cold stone it will freeze. professor friederich umlauft in wrote about glacières "that as moreover they were generally protected against warm winds and strong draughts and as their entrances look towards the north or east, there is consequently more ice formed under these conditions in winter than can melt away in summer. other ice grottoes however show the remarkable characteristic, that it is warm in them in winter, in the summer on the contrary it becomes so cold that all the dripping water freezes. they are found near snow clefts and gorges; when in the hot summer months the snow melts, then the cold which has become free presses down the temperature in the cave so much that the water freezes into ice. such grottoes are in austria at * * * frauenmauer, * * * brandstein, * * * teplitz, * * * scilize, * * * dobschauer." herr körber in wrote about the schafloch, that the stored-up winter's cold stands out as permanent adversary of the higher temperature of the earth. the thermometer proved this by its action at the end of the cave in a rock cleft, which is warmer than the rest of the cave. in september herr körber found the masses of ice less and the stalagmites smaller than in january, especially a column which in january had become a stately mountain of transparent ice. professor eberhard fugger of salzburg, has studied the caves of the untersberg carefully, having paid over eighty visits to them. he classifies freezing caverns into the following types, according to their position and their shape: according to position: , open caves, that is those whose entrance is free on a rock wall; , pit caves, where the entrance is at the bottom of a pit; , pit caves, where the pit is covered and the opening is in the roof. according to shape: , _sackhöhlen_ or chamber caverns, into which one enters immediately at the entrance; , _ganghöhlen_, or passage caves terminating in a chamber; , _röhrenhöhlen_, or passage caves where the passages continue further than the chamber. he is a strong advocate of the winter's cold theory. he says: "the ice of caves is formed by the cold of winter, and remains despite the heat of summer, as through local circumstances the quantity of heat brought to the ice is not great enough to melt it by the time when ice and snow in the open at the same altitude have already disappeared." "in order that ice may form in a cave in winter, two factors are necessary. there must be water present in some form or other, and in some way the outside cold air must be able to sink into the cave." "when the bottom of a cave is below the entrance, the outside cold winter air sinks into the cave from its weight, when the temperature of the cave air is higher than that of the outside air; and it will remain there during the warmer weather, as the warm outside air on account of its lighter weight cannot drive out the cold heavy cave air." "the most important factor for the formation of ice is the drip water. the more drip flows into a cave during the cold season, the more ice is formed; the more drip, on the contrary, flows into the cave during the warm season, the more ice is destroyed." "the warmth, which the roof of the cave gives out, is also a cause which helps to melt the ice, and a cause in fact which works the harder, the higher the temperature of the roof and the dirtier the ice floor." "if direct rays of the sun penetrate a cave, they scarcely warm up the air which they traverse, but they raise the temperature of the floor or of the walls, which they touch. they are therefore a very important factor, which may bring about the melting of the ice." "the snow slope at the mouth of a cave offers some protection against the rays of the sun, especially if it is no longer white, but covered with all sorts of dirt." "the larger the mass of ice, the longer is its duration." "a certain thickness to the roof is of importance in preserving the ice. if it is less than meters, then it is well if it is covered with outside vegetation." i entirely agree with these _dicta_ of professor fugger. in , fugger writes: "the peculiar readings of temperature, which i made in august , in the kolowratshöhle, namely on the th at m., . °, on the th at p. m., . °, on the d at a. m., . °, on the th at a. m., . °, and on the th at . p. m., - . °, i think i can attribute to the workings of the winds. in the observations themselves there could scarce be an error. all five observations were made at the same place, with the same thermometer, after at least half an hour's exposure. in the time from the th to the th of august, the temperature minimum in the town of salzburg, was °; before the th were several cloudless nights. during the whole of august scarcely any but southeast and northwest winds were blowing. the kolowratshöhle opens in a rock wall to the east; the above named winds therefore affected during the entire month the entrance to the cave and may have produced a lively evaporation in the cave, through a sort of sucking up of the cave air, and thus have created the rather decided cooling off of . ° within seventeen days." this statement, coming from professor fugger, deserves particular attention, because it would go to show: first, that the air in the kolowratshöhle, a _sackhöhle_ with only one entrance, is only apparently stagnant in summer and not really so; and second, that evaporation may act to a limited extent in a cavern where there is almost no running water. captain trouillet, in , published a paper about chaux-les-passavant. he found that when it was colder inside than outside, the internal air was nearly cut off from the outside; when it was coldest outside there was a lively disturbance. he called these two classes _périodes fermées_ and _périodes ouvertes_. he says: "the duration of a _closed period_ is measured then on the curves [of a maximum and minimum thermometer] of the interior temperatures, between a minimum and the following maximum; that of an _open period_ is between a minimum and the preceding maximum. one can thus count from the th november to the st december _open periods_ of a total duration of hours or times hours: which gives for each a duration of ½ hours. the shortest lasted hours and the longest hours. during the same interval, the _closed periods_ numbered , making a total duration of about days; the longest, which lasted from the d to the th december, was hours long." trouillet also says: "from the d to the th december, the grotto was completely isolated from the external air, and yet during three consecutive nights, the interior had three marked chills. such is the phenomenon whose cause can only lay, in our opinion, in the introduction of the dry air driven to the cave by the winds between north and east. this air on entering comes in contact with the ice and the humid roof of the cave; it saturates itself in producing a formation of vapors, and therefrom a consumption of heat which may be considerable." there are some discrepancies in this last paragraph which must be noted, for the reason that trouillet's observations are so valuable. he does not mention having seen the vapors himself, in fact the production of these vapors seems only an inference. nor is it easy to understand how the grotto could be "completely isolated from the external air" if the phenomenon lay "in the introduction of the dry air driven to the cave by the winds north and east." dr. b. schwalbe, in , wrote that "all my observations point to the fact that the rock is the cooling factor in summer, and that the cold goes out from it." he says also that "when i saw for the first time the little cave of roth, which was filled with fairly numerous ice formations, it was precisely the smallness of the volume of air and the strange appearance of the ice which made the simple cold air theory seen insufficient, nor could i later, by widening the theory and observing the localities from the basis of deluc's theory, accept it. it always seemed by all my observations that in the rock there must be a lasting source of cold. there must be a cause present, which prevents the rapid warming of the cave wall through the temperature of the ground, which also keeps the stone cool in summer and induces the main ice formation in the spring." he also hints that mr. lowe's compressed air theory may be the correct one. dr. schwalbe's work, _Über eishöhlen und eislöcher_, is one of the four or five most important contributions to glacière literature, and his opinion is entitled to great respect on account of his many observations. professor israel c. russell wrote in , about the ice beds on the yukon: "it is thought by some observers, to be an inheritance from a former period of extreme cold; but under existing climatic conditions, when ice forms beneath a layer of moss, it is preserved during the short summer, and may increase as it does on the tundras, to an astonishing thickness." in , professor russell says: "it is not probable that all the subsoil ice of northern regions has been formed in one way. along the flood plains and on the deltas of rivers where layers of clear ice are interbedded with sheets of frozen gravel and vegetable matter, as is frequently the case, it seems evident that the growth of the deposit is due, in some instances, to the flooding of previously frozen layers, and the freezing and subsequent burial of the sediment thus added to their surfaces. when spring freshets spread out sheets of débris over the flood plain of a river, as frequently happens when streams in high latitudes flow northward, the previously frozen soil and the ice of ponds and swamps may be buried and indefinitely preserved." "there is still another process by which frozen subsoil may be formed in high latitudes: this is, the effects of the cold during the long winters are not counteracted by the heat during the short summers. under the conditions now prevailing in northern alaska, where the mean annual temperature is below ° fahrenheit, the frozen layer tends to increase the thickness from year to year just as the depth of frozen soil in more temperate latitudes may increase from month to month during the winter season. during the short northern summers, especially where the ground is moss covered, melting only extends a few inches below the surface." mons. e. a. martel, in , wrote of the creux-percé: "i incline only, as in all the pits which narrow at the bottom (_avens à rétrécissement_) to attribute the chilling to the fall of the cold air of winter and to its non-renewal in summer." and at page of _les abimes_ he says: "one knows that _evaporation_ is an active cause of cooling; therefore it is always cooler in caves near the drips of water. * * * i have positively noted this influence of evaporation near the drips of tabourel ( ° instead of . °), of dargilan, of the cerna jama, and in abysses with double mouths where there were strong draughts (rabanel, biau, fosse-mobile, etc.)." in december, , mons. martel writes: "in short, the action of the winter's cold is the real cause accepted by * * * and recently confirmed by fugger, trouillet and martel." and also: "it is probable that this influence [evaporation] is only real at rather high altitudes; this is at least what seems the result of the studies of the caves of naye ( to meters) begun by professor dutoit." in , mons. martel gave an account of the glacière de naye. in this paper, he abandons definitely fossil ice, salts and the capillary theory as possible causes of underground ice. he considers that there are four causes: , shape of the cavity; , free access of snow in winter; , high altitude; , evaporation due to wind currents. the last two causes he thinks are not necessarily always present. for instance he considers that, at the creux-percé, and at chaux-les-passavant, the ice is due especially to the sack or hour-glass shape of these hollows where the summer air cannot get in on account of its lightness. at the glacière de naye, which is a big windhole, situated at an altitude of to meters, mons. martel thinks that the ice is formed by the snow and cold of winter, but that its preservation is assured by the evaporation caused by the action of the windhole. dr. terlanday, in , asserted that ice does not form in szilize in winter, and that the ice first forms in the winter in the upper part of rock fissures and that in the spring, at the time of an increase of temperature, this fissure ice is brought to the melting point by the successive entering of heat into the earth and that it then arrives at the cave, where it aids the formation of icicles. this theory about fissure ice is probably in so far correct, that the ice in the upper parts of fissures, near the surface of the ground, melts before the ice in the lower parts of fissures. the drip would then naturally run into the cave and, as long as the temperature of the cave was low, help to form cave ice. dr. hans lohmann, in , published some valuable notes about several glacières. while considering the cold of winter as the main cause of the ice, he thought evaporation a secondary cause of cold. he says: "that the cold from evaporation bears its share in cooling a cave, will not be denied. * * * the air saturated with aqueous vapor makes one think of constant evaporation. the aqueous vapor spreads itself by diffusion throughout the entire cave, and if the outside air is driest, goes to that. through this, more ice and water can always be vaporized, and to the warming elements there is furnished a cooling one. if dry winds get into the cave, then must evaporation be very lively and the chilling especially strong. through this cause alone can be explained the remarkably low temperature of + . ° in the new part of the garischen stollen, in contrast to the temperature of + . ° in the old part. the strong draught in the last drew out through its suction the damp air of the new adit, so that there had to be a strong evaporation." dr. lohmann gives some exhaustive notes about prismatic ice. he found it a product of the fall months. he thinks all the observations show that "the beginning of all prismatic formation in the ice may be looked for in the changes of temperature in the cave at the time of the formation of the ice. these cause the everywhere recognized splitting, vertically to the outer surface. the further development hangs, as shown by hagenbach and emden, on the attempt of the neighboring cells, to join into larger unities. the increase of the larger crystals is finally prevented by the melting out of the openings between the separate crystals. through this may be explained the difference in the prismatic ice in different parts of the same cave." regierungsrath franz kraus, in , wrote a short essay on glacières in _höhlenkunde_. he seems to have seen but few glacières himself, and considers the scientific side of the question by no means solved as yet. he says: "the last word will not be spoken by the geographers and the alpine climbers * * * but by the physicists, in whose field both questions really belong. only then, when the physical circumstances of the formation of the ice in glacières have been so thoroughly understood, that under the same circumstances it may be possible to build artificial glacières, only then could one say: the glacière question is definitely settled. the best proof is always experiment." he lays down several dicta which he says are universally recognized, among which is this: " . the ice formations in the débris heaps of basaltic mountains are summer ice formations. the evaporation of the infiltration water is recognized on all sides as the cause of this ice." i differ in opinion from herr kraus about this matter, and think that, on the contrary, every proof shows that the ice of basaltic taluses is not a summer formation and is not due to evaporation. herr kraus also says: "the _eishöhlen_ resemble so little the _windröhren_, that for these a proper name is quite correct. just as one cannot draw a sharp line between _einstürzschlünden_ and _einstürzdolinen_, so one cannot draw a sharp line between _eishöhlen_ and _windröhren_. a stagnation of cave air does not exist, and no cave student would pretend to say it existed. the circulation of air may in certain caves take place almost entirely through the mouth and it then depends largely on the shape of the latter; in other caves are crevices and erosion holes, which allow a circulation of air. again in other caves air may come through the floor into the cave, as is proved by certain places always remaining free from ice." he also says: "the formation of dripstone is also diminished about thick roofs, when the cracks are too broad to permit a slow dripping process. in caves with sufficient air movements, that is ventilation, the dripstone formation takes place faster than in those in which the air is only slowly renewed. also in such caves, in which the air is strongly filled with moisture, the dripstone formation process is materially hindered. therefore in water caves and in _eishöhlen_ one finds only rarely dripstone formations, and these mainly of poor appearance. but in all cases the carbonic acid of the infiltration water plays an important part." in , a western newspaper published the following explanation about the presence of ice in the cave at elkinsville, indiana; and it shows how the idea--long since exploded--of the ice being due to chemical causes, serenely bobs up on the discovery of a new cave: "some have advanced the theory that the air is forced through under passages of the earth with such pressure as to make the strange formation; some have attributed the cause to an underlying bed of alkali, whose chemical change to a gaseous form has produced the phenomenon. others have thought that the interior heat of the earth, acting upon the iron pyrites, or fool's gold, which largely abounds in this country, is the true source of this unparalleled discovery. still others think that the sudden expansion of the carbonic acid gas given off by the heated limestone, which is also common in this country, could have easily produced the ice. but thus far the theories are nothing more than speculation, and further than the fact that the ice cave exists, and is, indeed, a remarkable phenomenon, none has been able to further determine." in , dr. a. cvijic wrote that the cold air of winter is the source of cold in the glacières of servia. the mountains have so little water that the shepherds constantly take the ice out in summer for their own use. in , numerous newspapers, among others, the _philadelphia press_ of august st, romanced as follows about the cave at decorah: "in the summer its temperature is far below freezing. * * * from some unknown source in the impenetrable rear of the cave comes a blast of cold air as chill as from the arctic region. in the winter the temperature of the cave is like summer. * * * we followed the winding passage in and out for more than feet. * * * i took out the thermometer and laid it upon the floor of the cavern for three minutes. when i took it up again i found that the mercury had fallen to degrees below zero." "what is it that causes this phenomenon? scientific men are said to have visited the cave within the last day or two who have declared that it had in some manner a subterranean connection with the polar regions, and that the cold air from the north coming in contact with the warm moist atmosphere from outside converted the vapor into water on the walls of the cavern where it straightway congealed. * * * it seems to me possible after thinking the matter over carefully, that in some mysterious manner the same influences that work the changes in climate in the arctic and antarctic regions are operating in this cave. it is a well-known fact that in the regions referred to the seasons are the reverse of what they are here." mr. w. s. auchincloss writes in : "we also notice the working of the same principle during summer days. the hottest part does not occur at the noon hour--when the sun is on the meridian--but several hours later in the afternoon. in this case the accessions of heat arrive more rapidly than radiation is able to carry off. radiation, however, keeps on apace, and, at last attaining the mastery, temperature falls. ice caves furnish another example of the gradual procession in the seasons." mr. alois f. kovarik writes about decorah in that "the length of duration of the ice in the cave during the spring and summer depends upon the quantity of cold stored up in the walls and this again upon the coldness and the length of coldness of the previous winter. if the winter be severe and long, the walls will store up a great supply of cold for the gradual dissipation in the spring and summer and consequently the phenomenon of the ice in the ice chambers will last longer. last winter, with an exception of the fore part of december, was quite mild. as a result, the ice began to disappear with the latter part of june, and totally disappeared by the end of july. * * * the time of the lowest temperature in the cave depends upon how soon the cold spells of the winter begin; for the sooner the walls begin to freeze to a greater depth, the sooner have they stored up the greatest amount of cold. * * * february th, , when the walls contained the greatest amount of cold, there was no ice in the cave, for the reason that no water made appearance. could water have appeared, no doubt a great amount of ice would have formed; but as the conditions are, the water has to come from the ground outside, and this being frozen at the time, water could not in any natural way appear. if in early spring, sufficiently warm days should come to melt the snow and open the ground, the water not taken up by the ground would flow and seep through crevices into the cave and ice consequently would appear early. somewhat such conditions prevailed this year, for warm days appeared quite early in the spring. if _per contra_ the ground does not open until in april, as was the case in and , the appearance of the ice is consequently delayed. * * * naturally this opening [the entrance] was small, but to give easier entrance, it was enlarged to its present size. * * * if the entrance had been left a small opening, as it naturally was, it is my belief that the temperature of the interior of the cave would be lower in summer than it is, and the ice would not disappear as soon as it does." mr. robert butler, of san josé, cal., investigated the question of cold air draughts coming from the glacière cave and from the freezing shaft he examined in montana. he wrote to me, in , that he found that one notices or imagines to notice a draught of air, especially on hot days. rapidly walking into the cave from the hot air without to the rapidly cooling air within produces the same nervous sensations as though one were to remain stationary and the air were to pass by from the warm to the colder portions. a distance of twelve meters finds a difference in temperature of fifteen degrees centigrade. twelve meters can be walked quickly, so quickly that the nerves cannot become accustomed gradually to the change of temperature. the rapidly cooling air does actually produce the sensation of cool air passing by one's face. it produces somewhat the same sensation as the evaporation of ether on the surface of the body. mr. butler satisfied himself that as far as he had observed all the seemingly peculiar conditions and places where the ice has been found do not indicate any other causes when carefully investigated than those of the seasons of the year, and that the ice was formed by no other cause than the natural cold of winter. professor cranmer, in , added some important contributions to our knowledge of freezing caverns. all his work goes to prove the winter's cold theory, but he has brought out some new details. he found warm and cold periods in the tablerloch during the winter months. the coldest air sank to the bottom and the air in the cave stratified itself according to its specific gravity and its temperature. during a cold period, the outside air sank into the cave only to the air stratum, whose temperature, from the preceding warm period, was as much higher as that of the outer air, as this had become warmer in sinking to that stratum. the air which enters falls down the slope and displaces an equal volume of air which streams out under the roof. water will sometimes drip through a crack in winter until that crack freezes up, when the water may then find some other crack to drip through; at this second place a stalagmite may then grow, while at the first place the stalagmite may stop growing and even begin to diminish from evaporation. ice begins to form, whenever water gets into a cave, if the cave temperature is below °; ice begins to melt as soon as the temperature is over °. professor cranmer found that occasionally small quantities of ice form in caves in the summer months: this was in mountain caves, where there was snow on the mountains and the temperature of the nights at least, had sunk below freezing point: in fact when the conditions were those of the winter months. part v. list of authors. list of authors.[ ] [ ] this list of authors includes all the authorities which i have personally consulted. several papers, such as dr. schwalbe's "_uebersichtliche zusammenstellung literarischer notizen ueber eishöhlen_" and the works of dr. listoff, i have been unable to find in any library. allen, levi. _scientific american, new series_, october th, , page . _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. xxxvi., page . auchincloss, w. s., c. e. _waters within the earth and the laws of rainflow_, philadelphia, . badin, adolphe. _grottes et cavernes_, paris, hachette, . baedeker, karl. _handbook of austria._ _handbook of the eastern alps._ _handbook of south eastern france._ _handbook of switzerland._ _handbook of the united states._ baker, m. s. _the lava region of northern california: sierra club bulletin_, san francisco, cal., , vol. ii., page . balch, edwin swift. _ice caves and the causes of subterranean ice_: allen, lane & scott, philadelphia, november, , and _the journal of the franklin institute_, philadelphia, march, , vol. cxliii., pages - . _ice cave hunting in central europe: appalachia_, boston, , vol. viii., pages - . _subterranean ice deposits in america: journal of the franklin institute_, philadelphia, april, , vol. cxlvii., pages - . baltzer, dr. a. _eine neue eishöhle im berner oberland: jahrbuch des schweizer alpen club_, bern, - , pages - . behrens, dr. georg henning. _hercynia curiosa_, nordhausen, . bel, matthias. _philosophical transactions_, london, , vol. xli., page _et seq._ benedict, aiden s. _decorah republican_, june th, . berthoud, edward l. _american journal of science and arts_, third series, , vol. xi., page . bielz, e. albert. _siebenbürgen, handbuch_, carl graeser, wien, . billerez, mons. de. _histoire de l'académie royale des sciences_, , page _et seq._ bonney, t. g. _the alpine regions, ._ _nature_, vol. xi., pages , , . boué, dr. ami. _la turquie d'europe_, paris, , vol. i., page . _sitzungsbericht der k. k. akademie der wissenschaften in wien_, , i. theil, page _et seq._ boz, mons. de, ingénieur du roy. _histoire de l'académie royale des sciences_, , pages , . browne, the reverend g. f. _ice caves in france and switzerland_, london, longmans, . _ice caves of annecy: good words_, edinburgh, november, . _bulletin, the evening_, philadelphia, march st, . burslem, captain rollo. _a peep into toorkisthan_, . c. b. a. _scientific american_, may d, . cantwell, lieutenant j. c. _ice cliffs on the kowak river: national geographic magazine_, october, . carrel, chanoine g. _bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. xxxiv., page . _christian herald_, march th, . colladon. his manuscript notes were used by j. a. deluc in _annales de chimie et de physique_, paris, , vol. xxi., page _et seq._ cossigny, mons. de, ingénieur en chef de besançon. _mémoires de mathématique et de physique présentés à l'académie royale des sciences_, , vol. i., page _et seq._ cranmer, professor hans. _eishöhlen und windröhren studien: abhandlungen der k. k. geographischen gesellschaft in wien_, vol. i., . cranmer, professor hans, and sieger, professor dr. rob. _untersuchungen in den oetscherhöhlen: globus_, , vol. lxxv., pages - , and - . cvijic, dr. a. _les glacières naturelles de serbie: spélunca, bulletin de la société de spéléologie_, ^{me} année, paris, , pages - . dawkins, professor w. boyd. _cave hunting_, london, macmillan, . deluc, jean andré, neveu. _des glacières naturelles et de la cause qui forme la glace dans ces cavités_, genève october, : _annales de chimie et de physique_, paris, , vol. xxi., page _et seq._ dent, r. k., and hill, joseph. _historic staffordshire_, birmingham, . dewey. _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. i., page , and , vol. v., page . _dispatch_: frankford, pennsylvania, d january, . dittmar, c. v. _ueber die eismülden im Östlichen sibirien: bulletin de la classe physico-mathématique de l'académie impériale des sciences de st. pétersbourg_, , tome xi., pages - . drioton, clément. _les cavernes de la côte d'or: mémoires de la société de spéléologie_, paris, , vol. i., page . dufour, lieutenant-colonel. _notice sur la caverne et glacière naturelle du rothhorn: bibliothèque universelle de genève_, , vol. xxi., page _et seq._ dufour, l. _ueber das gefrieren des wassers und über die bildung des hagels: poggendorff's annalen der physik und chemie_, , vol. cxiv., pages - . dunant, c. _le parmelan et ses lapiaz: annuaire du club alpin français_, ^{me} vol., paris, . fugger, professor eberhard. _Über eishöhlen: petermann's mittheilungen_, vol. xxix., , pages - . _beobachtungen in den eishöhlen des untersberges_, salzburg, . _eishöhlen und windröhen_, salzburg, , , . _eishöhlen und windröhren: mittheilungen der k. k. geographischen gesellschaft_, vienna, , pages - . _géographie, la: bulletin de la société de géographie_, paris, , vol. i., pages - . georgi, john gottl. _bemerkungen einer reise im russischen reich_, saint petersburg, , vol. i., page . gibbs, g. _american journal of science and arts_, , second series, vol. xv., page . girardot, albert. _les dernières observations du capitaine l. trouillet à la glacière de chaux-les-passavant: mémoires de la société d'Émulation du doubs_, . girod-chantrans, le citoyen. _journal des mines_, prairial, an. iv., pages - . gollut, lois. _les mémoires historiques de la repub. sequanoise_, dôle, . guimard, paul. _voyage en islande et au gröenland exécuté pendant les années et _, paris, . guyot, professor arnold. _well's annual of scientific discovery_, , page . hablizl. _description physique de la contrée de la tauride_, la haye, , pages - . hacquet. _oryctographia carniolica_, leipzig, . hager, albert d. _hitchcock's geology of vermont_, , vol. i., page _et seq._ hann, hochstetter and pokorny. _allgemeine erdkunde_, , pages , . hayden, c. b. _american journal of science and arts_, , vol. xlv., page . 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journey to the lakes rakas-tal and manasorowar, in western tibet, undertaken in september, : geographical journal_, london, , vol. xv., page . _telegraph, the evening_, philadelphia, january d, , and january th, . terlanday, professor emil. _meine erfahrungen in der eishöhle von szilize: petermann's mittheilungen_, , page . _sommereisbildung in der eishöhle von szilize: petermann's mittheilungen_, , page . thomä, dr. c. _das unterirdische eisfeld bei der dornburg_, wiesbaden, . thury, héricart de. _journal des mines_, vol. xxxiii., page . _the edinburgh philosophical journal_, vol. ii., page . thury, professor. _Études sur les glacières naturelles: bibliothèque universelle, archives des sciences physiques de genève_, , vol. x., pages - . _times, the_, philadelphia, november th, . townson, robert, ll. d. _travels in hungary_, , pages - . trouillet, capitaine. _la glacière de chaux-les-passavant: mémoires de la société d'Émulation du doubs_, besançon, . umlauft, professor dr. friedrich. _die oesterreichisch-ungarische monarchie_, wien, pest, leipzig, . valvasor, johann weichard, freiherrn. _die ehre des herzogthumes crain_, laybach, . villard, l. _grottes du vercors: spélunca_, , vol. ii., page . voigt, joh. carl wilhelm. _mineralogische reisen durch das herzogthum weimar_, weimar, , vol. ii., page . ward, j. clifford. _nature_, vol. xi., page . white, dr. c. a. _geological reports of the state of iowa_, des moines, , vol. i., page . whymper, edward. _scrambles amongst the alps_, london, john murray, . winchel, alexander. _walks and talks in the geological field_, the chautauqua century press, . wise, t. a. _ice making in the tropics: nature_, macmillan, london and new york, , vol. v., pages - . index. index. page adirondack guides, opinions of, alaska, subsoil ice in, , allmen, emil von, guide, altitude of glacières, amarnath, cave of, apparently static caves, arizona, glacières in, , auchincloss, mr. w. s., auersperg, prince, ausable pond, freezing talus at, balch, mrs. geo. b., balch pass, the, bargy, mont, basins, ice, , behrens, beilstein, caves on the, bel, matthias, , benedict, mr. a. s., benner, mr., berthoule, mons., besançon, billerez, mons. de, bonney, professor t. g., , , boston natural history society, , boué, dr. a., boulder heaps, boz, mons. de, brandon, freezing well of, , , , brinckerhoff, mr. f. h., briot, mons., brisons, glacière de, browne, the rev. g. f., , , , , , , , , _bulletin, the evening_, buried glaciers, burslem, captain, butler, mr. r., , , california, glacières in, , canfield, mr. n. m., capillary or compressed air theory, carbonic acid gas, carrel, chanoine, caucasus, glacières in the, cesi, don giuseppe, chapuis, glacière de, , chatham, mr. i. c., chaux-les-passavant, glacière de, , chemical causes theory, cliff caves, , , , , , , , clothes for glacière exploration, cold caves, colladon, mons, color effects, colorado, glacières in, , cossigny, mons. de, , cotterlaz, s. j., guide, coxe, miss mary, cranmer, professor h., , , , creux-de-souci, le, crevasses, crimea, glacières in the, cushing, mr. f. h., cvijic, dr. a., , dante, daubuisson, dawkins, professor w. boyd, decorah, freezing cave of, , decorah, freezing well of, deluc, mons. j. a., démenyfálva jegbarlang, dewey, mr., , dimensions of glacières, dittmar, mons. de, dóbsina jegbarlang, , dóbsina, village of, dornburg, freezing talus at the, , dornburg, freezing cellar at the, draughts, , , , , dripstone formations in glacières, , , , , , duc de lévy, dunant, mons. c., , dutoit, professor, eastern alps, glacières in the, - eastern united states, glacières in the, - eger, dr. w., ehrlicher, mr., eisenerz, elkinsville, glacière at, , ellenville, freezing gorge at, , Émery, aymon, guide, , enfer, glacière de l', england, glacières in, , entrances of glacières, eschholz, dr., evaporation, , , , , , , , farrandsville, cave at, farnum, mr. g. l., farnum, mr. j. e., fauna of glacières, , , , , , fee glacier, ice cave in, flora of glacières, , , , , , , , , fondurle, glacière de, forms of ice, frainer eisleithen, the, , france, glacières in, - , - frauenmauerhöhle, the, freezing mines and tunnels, freezing wells, , , , , friedrichsteinerhöhle, fugger, professor e., , , , , , , , genollière, glacière de la, , geographical distribution of glacières, germany, glacières in, - giant of the valley, talus of the, girardot, mons. a., girod-chantrans, le citoyen, glacial period theory, the, glacière, advantage of term, glacière caves, glaciers, gollut, lois, , gorges and troughs, , great barrington, icy gulf near, gruber, j., guide, gsoll-alp, guyot, professor a., hablizl, hacquet, hager, mr. a. d., , hall, mr. w. coleman, hart, mr. b., hartenstein, professor, haut-d'aviernoz, glacière de l', , hayden, professor c. b., heilprin, professor a., , herschel, sir john, hitchcock, professor e., hoar frost, , , holes in ice, , , , hollow ice stalagmites, , , , holschuh, mr. f., hovey, the rev. h. c., howell, mr. e. i. h., , humboldt, alexander von, ice floors, , , , , , , , , , , ice formed by radiation, - iceland, glacières in, , ice near entrance of caves, ice sheets, subterranean, ice slabs on floor, ice slopes, , , , , , ice spring, oregon, the, ice stalactites and stalagmites, , , , , , , , italy, glacières in, - japan, glacière in, jayne, mrs. horace, joly, capucin romain, karst, glacières in the, - king's ravine, subterranean ice in, kirchhoff, mr. t., klenka, s., guide, kolowratshöhle, the, , körber, herr b., , korea, glacière in, kovarik, mr. a. f., , , , krain, glacières in the, - krauss, regierungsrath f., krenner, dr., lakes, subterranean, , lamb, mr. c., guide, lathrop, mr. s. p., lava caves, washington, learned, mr., lee, mr. c. a., legends about glacières, , lepechin, lerchenfeld, freiherr von, lewis, miss j. f., lewis, mr. j. f., liptós szt miklós, lohmann, dr. h., lowe, mr. c. e., jr., lowe, mr. c. e., sr., , lowe, mr. n. m., , luce, mr. c. o., lyell, sir charles, , manchester, marble freezing cave at, marinitsch, herr j., martel, mons. e. a., , , , , , mccabe, mr. e., meehan, mr. w. e., mercer, mr. h. c., , metric system, mist in caves, , misura, f., forester, montana, glacières in, - montarquis, grand cave de, , , montarquis, petite cave de, moonlight effects, , , morin, mons., motion in subterranean ice, movements of air, , murchison, sir r. i., nagel, j. n., naye, glacière de, nicholson, mr. c. j., niles, mr., nixloch, the, , oetscher, the seelücken on the, olmstaed, professor d., otis, mr., oudot, dr., owego, freezing well of, , paleontological remains, parmelan, mont, , parrot, g. f., peasants, opinions of, , , pelech, dr. j. e., periods in glacières, open and closed, peters, k. f., petruzzi, professor, , phillips, mr. g. b., pictet, professor m. a., pit caves, , , , , , , , pleischl, professor a., , poissenot, benigne, , poprád, pralong du reposoir, _press, the philadelphia_, preston, mr., prestwich, mr., prévost, professor p., prismatic ice, , , , , , _public ledger, the_, randolph, the ice gulch,, raymond, mr. w. r., reich, f., religious feeling about ice, , , ritchie, mr. john, jr., , , , , , rogers, professor w. b., roth, eishöhle bei, rudolf ii., kaiser, ruffiny, herr e., rumney, freezing talus at, russell, professor i. c., , saint-georges, glacière de, , , saint-georges, village of, saint-livres, glacière de, saint-livres, pré de, sakharov, dr. a., samuel, mr. b., , , sartori, dr. f., satter, professor h., saussure, h. b. de, , scandinavia, glacières in, schafloch, the, , schallenberger, c., , schellenberger eisgrotte, the, schwalbe, dr. b., , , scott, professor w. b., scrope, mr. g. p., seelisberg, the milchhaüser of, selby-hill, mr. w. d., servia, glacières in, - skerizora, cave of, skinner's cave, siberia, glacières in, - sieger, professor, silliman, professor, sirar, j., guide, snow, subterranean, , , , south america, subsoil ice in, , spruce creek, freezing talus at, , stockbridge, icy glen near, strachey, gen. sir r., strein, r., , suchenreuther eisloch, the, summer's heat theory, the, summit, glacières near, switzerland, glacières in, - szilize, cave of, tablerloch, the, taluses, , , , , , temperatures, subterranean, teneriffe, glacière on the peak of, terlanday, dr., terminology, thermometric observations, , , , , , , , , thury, professor, , , , , , , time of formation of ice, townson, r., trouillet, captain, , turrian, a. a., gendarme, umlauft, professor f., ural, glacières in the, - valvasor, freiherr, , , villard, mons. l., , viré, mons. a., wachtl, forester, wagner, mr. w. w., wallingford, the ice beds of, watertown, cave at, watertown, windholes at, waves of heat and cold, theory of, white, dr. c. a., williams, mr. w. f., williamstown, caves near, williamstown, the snow hole near, , winter's cold theory, the, windholes, , , windholes, the theory of, wordsworth, verses by, yeermallik, cave of, ziegler, herr j. m., * * * * * transcriber note images were moved so as to not split paragraphs. accents were standardized. obvious punctuation errors and typos repaired. the netherworld of mendip netherworld of mendip explorations in the great caverns of somerset, yorkshire derbyshire, and elsewhere by ernest a. baker, m.a.(lond.) author of "moors, crags, and caves of the high peak" etc. joint-editor of "the voice of the mountains" and herbert e. balch clifton j. baker & son london simpkin, marshall, hamilton, kent & co. preface the objects of this work are twofold: to describe the actual incidents of various interesting episodes in the modern sport of cave exploring, and to give an account of the scientific results of underground investigations in the mendip region of somerset. speleology is the latest of the sporting sciences: like orology and arctic exploration, it has two sides, sport and adventure being the lure to some, whilst others are chiefly attracted by the new light thrown by these researches on the geology, the hydrology, and the natural history of the subterranean regions explored. the chapters dealing with the scientific results are by h. e. balch, who has been working on the geology of mendip, more especially among the caves, for upwards of twenty years: the accounts of actual experiences, in which the sporting side is predominant, are by e. a. baker, who described the recent exploration of the derbyshire caves in his _moors, crags, and caves of the high peak_, . no attempt is made to traverse the ground so perfectly covered by professor boyd dawkins in his fascinating volume on _cave hunting_, and elsewhere, most of the work described here being supplementary to that done by him, and, largely, outside the scope of his aims. the authors are indebted to the kindness of the editors of the _liverpool courier_ and _daily post_, the _manchester guardian_, the _standard_, the _yorkshire post_, the _irish naturalist_, and the _climbers' club journal_ for permission to use the substance of various articles which have appeared in their pages, and to m. martel, mr. c. blee, and messrs. gough for permission to reproduce a number of excellent illustrations by them. contents page the cave district of the mendips the cheddar group of caverns antiquity of the caves of mendip cave exploring as a sport exploring wookey hole strenuous days in the eastwater swallet swildon's hole the great cavern at cheddar five caverns at cheddar the burrington caverns the coral cave at compton bishop lamb's lair a cave in the quantocks cave exploring at abergele cave discoveries on the welsh border the exploration of stump cross cavern swallet-hunting in derbyshire exploring new caves in derbyshire a visit to mitchelstown cave index list of illustrations page map of the mendip district of somerset, showing swallets, caves, and outlets the great gorge of cheddar photo by dawkes & partridge, wells. romano-british pottery, coins, human remains, etc., wookey hole cave photo by h. e. balch. hyÆna den and badger hole, wookey hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. plan and section of wookey hole cavern by h. e. balch. the great swallet on bishop's lot, priddy photo by bamforth, holmfirth. st. andrew's well, wells photo by h. e. balch. profile of the "witch of wookey," wookey hole cavern photo by h. e. balch. among the pools, wookey hole cavern photo by h. e. balch. mass of stalagmite, wookey hole photo by h. e. balch. in the first chamber, wookey hole cavern photo by bamforth, holmfirth. stalactite terrace, wookey hole photo by h. e. balch. great river chamber, wookey hole photo by dawkes & partridge, wells. second great chamber, wookey hole photo by dawkes & partridge, wells. entrance of third chamber, wookey hole photo by dawkes & partridge, wells. stalactite grotto: new chambers, wookey hole cave photo by h. e. balch. stalactite grotto, wookey hole photo by claude blee. stalactite pillars, wookey hole photo by claude blee. new stalactite grotto, wookey hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. the grille: new chambers, wookey hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. the source of the axe, wookey hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. entrance to great cavern of eastwater photo by bamforth, holmfirth. section of eastwater cavern by h. e. balch. the descent of eastwater cavern, the second vertical drop from sketch by h. e. balch. the great canyon, eastwater cavern from sketch by h. e. balch. entrance of swildon's hole photo by m. martel. waterfall, swildon's hole photo by h. e. balch. entrance of stalactite chamber, swildon's hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. stalactite curtains, swildon's hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. stalactite chamber, swildon's hole photo by bamforth, holmfirth. stalagmite pillars in gough's great cavern photo by gough, cheddar. the pillars of solomon's temple, gough's caves, cheddar photo by gough, cheddar. organ pipes, gough's caves, cheddar photo by gough, cheddar. "niagara," gough's cave, cheddar photo by m. martel. in cox's cavern at cheddar photo by bamforth, holmfirth. great rift cavern, cheddar gorge photo by bamforth, holmfirth. entrance to lamb's lair, harptree photo by bamforth, holmfirth. plan and section of the great cavern of lamb's lair by h. e. balch. the "beehive" chamber, lamb's lair photo by bamforth, holmfirth. stalactite wall, lamb's lair photo by bamforth, holmfirth. entrance to great chamber, lamb's lair photo by bamforth, holmfirth. largest chamber in somerset, lamb's lair, harptree from sketch by h. e. balch. stalactites in entrance gallery, lamb's lair photo by bamforth, holmfirth. the ogo, near abergele photo by e. a. baker. inside the ogo, near abergele photo by e. a. baker. in the ogo, near abergele photo by e. a. baker. a pre-glacial cave, llandulas photo by e. a. baker. on the ceiriog photo by e. a. baker. upper ceiriog cave photo by e. a. baker. lower ceiriog cavern photo by e. a. baker. in stump cross cavern photo by e. a. baker. the pillar, stump cross cavern photo by e. a. baker. the chapel: stump cross cavern photo by e. a. baker. ricklow cave in flood photo by g. d. williams. a great pillar: mitchelstown cavern photo by e. a. baker. a fairy lantern: mitchelstown cavern photo by e. a. baker. the netherworld of mendip the cave district of the mendips "a land of caves, whose palaces of fantastic beauty still adorn the mysterious underworld where murmuring rivers first see the light." in these words an imaginative writer describes somerset, which shares with derbyshire and yorkshire the title of a land of caverns. across it the range of the mendips, a region of old red sandstone and carboniferous limestone, feet above tide-level, stretches in a huge, flat-topped rampart for nearly miles, from the town of frome to the sea. no piece of country in the kingdom offers so much to explore. an abundant harvest is there waiting to be reaped; for on every side are obvious indications of half-buried gateways to the dark and secret pathways to the netherworld, and everywhere upon the surface of the mendip tableland lie the open pits and hollows which the local speech calls "swallets," that is to say, swallow holes, some of them dry, some actively engulfing streams, but all testifying to untold ages of water action. this limestone district lies far from the busy hives of industry, remote and secluded in the very heart of lovely somerset. only on the darkest of nights, with the clouds low in the sky, can the glare of the lights of bristol be seen reflected far to the northward. one main line of railway, the great western from bristol to exeter, passes near it, and even that does not intrude beyond the margin of this caveland. the rendezvous for the cave explorers of the district is usually the quiet little city of wells, lying calm and secluded under the southern slopes of mendip, in close proximity to all the principal caverns. a mile to the south-east rises the bold and picturesque dulcote hill, a fragment of the most southerly anticline of mountain limestone in the kingdom. from this point, rolling northward in a great fivefold anticline, old red sandstone, lower limestone shales, and mountain limestone form the great mass of the worn-down stump of the once mighty mendip range. the extent of the denudation which has taken place indicates that this range was originally at least feet high, yet now in but a few places is the height of feet attained, and this is reached only by the old red sandstone ridges laid bare in the prolonged course of that denudation. the first of these high ridges rises boldly to the north of wells, and a steep climb of feet in two and a half miles brings us to the summit of pen hill, or rookham, from which a grand southward view is to be obtained. immediately below, the three cathedral towers pierce the blue mist hanging over the little city we have just left. beyond, the peat moors of the brue and the axe stretch away to the isle of avalon, sacred as the birthplace of our christian faith in england. here below us is that "island valley of avilion, where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, nor ever wind blows loudly; but it lies deep meadow'd, happy, fair with orchard lawns, and bowery hollows crowned with summer seas." here, where arthur's bones are said to have been found, and where traditions associated with him abound, his memory is kept green in the names of many well-known spots; and yonder rises cadbury camp, looked upon by many as the camelot of romance. on the low ridge which intervenes between the valleys of the axe and the brue lies wedmore, where king alfred gained in the peace of wedmore such temporary respite from his foes as allowed him to gather strength for the great operations that resulted at last in the conquest and unity of the whole kingdom. yonder, too, are the marshes of the parrett and the tone, around which cluster tales familiar to every schoolchild. in the marshes between the mendips and glastonbury, exploration has unearthed a most interesting example of a swamp or lake village, with great store of antiquarian material, throwing a flood of light upon a period of which little was known. beyond lies sedgemoor, where in took place the last battle ever fought on english soil; and throughout this neighbourhood the infamous jeffreys worked his will in the judicial slaughter of countless somerset men. in the far distance the sunshine glints on the waters of the bristol channel, where, miles away, the bold promontory of the foreland rises sheer from the sea; to the south, upon the farthest limits of our vision, pilsdon and lewsdon mark the descent of our southern counties to the english channel; whilst, on a clear day, between them is seen the summit of golden cap, the base of which is washed by our southern sea. surely here is as fair a scene as eye could wish to see. only a pleasant walk away, the great chasms of ebbor and cheddar have rent the rocks asunder, forming two of the loveliest ravines in the kingdom. northward across the intervening syncline of mountain limestone, pitted with swallets marking the entrances to many an unknown subterranean labyrinth, are seen the old red sandstone summits of north hill, crowned with its seventeen neolithic barrows, and of blackdown beyond, from whose bare top is seen the broad estuary of the severn spreading out across the view, giving a glimpse of the coast of south wales in the far distance, its busy factories showing their pencil-like chimneys against the dark hills behind. in the channel the little islands of steepholm and flatholm mark the line of the original continuation of the great mendip range into south wales. the limestone shores of the former rise sheer from the sea, forming an impregnable fortress. here, far below the level of the salt water around, a supply of pure water is obtained from the limestone, brought, doubtless, from the limestone area of mendip by way of some hidden fissure. hard by, at clevedon, is the grave of that great friend of tennyson, who sat here and listened to "the moaning of the homeless sea, the sound of streams that, swift or slow, draw down æonian hills, and sow the dust of continents to be." very truly and accurately his words describe the action that is going on, by which the swallet streams are undermining and honeycombing these hills and bearing their component rocks away to the sea. standing on pen hill and looking northward, a great east and west depression is seen forming a broad low valley in the tableland of mendip. into this valley numerous springs and a liberal rainfall are for ever pouring their waters. yet nowhere is there a surface channel which can carry this water away; and nowhere, save in the small hollows of the old red sandstone and shales, does water accumulate. the reason is not far to seek. the carboniferous limestone, evenly stratified everywhere, has been split by vertical joints into a series of gigantic cubes. between them, the surface waters, laden with carbonic acid obtained from the atmosphere and from vegetation, have for ages made their way, enlarging them by both chemical and mechanical action, till they have become fissures capable of giving passage to an enormous quantity of water. so from one joint to another, from one bedding plane to another, the water percolates downwards until it meets with some impermeable rock beneath, or until it finds an outlet at the level of the secondary rocks forming the valley below. such impermeable beds are found in the lower limestone shales, and the resulting outlets are well known in the great risings of st. andrew's well in the gardens of the bishop's palace at wells, in the source of the axe at wookey hole, in the cheddar water and other large springs, of all of which more hereafter. [illustration: map of the mendip district of somerset, showing swallets, caves, and outlets.] reference to the sketch map of the district will show that the majority of the more important swallets lie along the line of the great depression referred to. these comprise by no means all the swallets of mendip, yet they are the chief ones. it is obvious that the whole of the mass of material represented by this great depression has been removed in suspension by way of these swallets; and one is compelled to ask, how long has this work been going on? what time is represented by so vast a work? on the threshold of the inquiry we are met by such an amount of evidence bearing upon it that the subject must be dealt with separately. for, upon the upturned edges of the carboniferous limestone rocks, which can have been brought down to their present plane of denudation only by long-continued water action, have been deposited, and still remain _in situ_, great masses of the basement beds of the secondary rocks, lying in such a manner as to convince us that swallet action had prepared the denuded surfaces upon which they lie. and upon this hinges the whole question of the antiquity of the caverns of mendip. but whilst the age of our caverns is a debatable matter, no one can question the accuracy of the theory of ravine formation from the collapse of cavern roofs, as evidenced by the instances supplied by mendip. through crevices and cracks, here, there, and everywhere, the percolating waters find their way. now some crevice is enlarged into a passage; now some weak point in the passage becomes a chamber; and on the water rushes, steadily joining forces and accumulating, until on the level of the lower land it finds an outlet, and rushes forth a considerable stream. in its headlong course the water again and again leaps down some great series of potholes, as down some giant stairway, forming many fine cascades, whose deafening roar goes on for ever where there is no ear to hear and where no footstep ever treads the rocky ways. along the course of the larger streams huge chambers occur; for the ever-eddying water, bearing sand along in its course, eats out the sides of its channel, or, revolving stones in its bed, carves out the pothole by friction. or some pendent mass of rock has its support undermined and comes crashing into the streamway, only to be broken up and carried away by the ceaseless energy of the stream, so ever enlarging the chambers upwards towards the light of day. but whilst this action is going on underground, a more potent factor is at work where the subterranean stream first sees the light. here very soon the action of the water alone gives rise to a little cliff overhead. now rain and frost, wind and tempest, loosen, bit by bit, the fragments of rock forming the face of the cliff, which fall away into the river, to be broken up and carried away. little by little the face of the cliff recedes, along the line of the subterranean river, until the first underground chamber is reached. the undermined archway of rock is less able to withstand the agents of denudation, and the cliff front recedes apace. such is the present stage at wookey hole, the chamber whence the river axe issues being still in process of destruction. thus the work goes on slowly, yet none the less surely, until along the whole course of the subterranean river the roof of the cavern is destroyed, perhaps effectually hiding the stream under huge blocks of limestone, such as those of ebbor gorge, near wells, or until the water finds another course for itself, as at cheddar, to begin the whole story over again. every stage is abundantly illustrated by our mendip swallets and caves. the large swallets of eastwater, three and a half miles from wells, of swildon's or swithin's hole, a half-mile nearer priddy, and the more recent swallet of stoke lane, half-way between wells and frome, are excellent examples of streams engulfed on the summit of mendip. the whole of the country surrounding the two first-named caverns is dotted with innumerable small pits and hollows. the great swallet of hillgrove, three miles north of wells, in the exploration of which we are at present engaged, in an endeavour to penetrate the labyrinth of ways to which it will undoubtedly afford access, is a fine example of an intermittent swallet. here three ways, carved deeply through the stream-borne sands and clays of some uncertain epoch of geological history, converge in a deep glen, beautiful with its tropical wealth of ferns. in the bottom of the glen huge spurs of limestone stand up boldly, dipping towards the old red sandstone exposed to the south, and pointing to a great fault, along the line of which the limestone water is bound to accumulate in a huge triangular reservoir, the outflow from which may account for the summer flow of the axe when the majority of the swallets are dry. in winter the converging torrents here find ingress into the limestone, but, though pits and hollows abound on every hand, no foot of man has ever yet trod the hidden ways beneath. at a depth of feet we have reached the first open channel, only to have it blocked subsequently by a fall of the treacherous gravel through which we have been working. vast dry swallets are represented by a great depression which we call the bishop's lot swallet, on the road from wells to priddy. here a huge hollow in the ground, perfectly circular and yards round, shows us the largest swallet in mendip. though the surrounding land slopes gently to the edge of the great pit, which is feet in depth, there is but the smallest trace of water penetrating it. it is ages since the drainage of the surrounding land gravitated towards it, for it lies at a considerable height above the level of most of the other swallets in the neighbourhood. a mile and a half to the west, a similar pit occurs called sand pit hole. here too water has ceased to flow, and it remains, with precipitous sides, a problem for us to investigate in the near future. to enter either of the active swallets of eastwater or swildon's hole, and to follow it to its greatest depth, is to gain an insight into the action of subterranean streams such as no other method can give. the former is well illustrated by the annexed section, in which its profound depth and its labyrinth of passages may readily be understood. the difficulties and disappointments which we encountered when i conducted the operations which at last resulted in our effecting an entrance into this cavern, the existence of which was not even suspected previously, need not here be recapitulated. altogether, what with volunteers and labourers, nearly a dozen of us were occupied ten days in the determined effort which we made, and which at last was crowned with success. from the point of view of the subsequent explorer the reader is referred to the ensuing chapter upon eastwater cavern, which will convey some idea of what the first explorers must undergo in any such place when to the ordinary difficulties of such an exploration is added the great uncertainty felt at every step taken, and when every boulder upon which our weight is to rest must first be carefully examined. the difficulty of our work at eastwater is practically what must be experienced in any new work undertaken in the mendip region, and there is much waiting to be done. if there is one thing more than another to be learned from eastwater cavern, it is the great importance of chokes in determining the lines of subterranean drainage. here they are seen in every stage of formation and destruction, and the channels which have been carved by the arrested water may be readily recognised. there is a fascination in exploration work such as that at eastwater, where corridors, hitherto untrodden by the foot of man, open up all around as you make your way ever downwards into the heart of the hills; and even now there are many accessible passages into which as yet no one has penetrated. reference to the section annexed will show an upper way, which terminates abruptly in a choke of stones and gravel, holding up a little water, whilst allowing a considerable quantity to pass. it is a remarkable fact that in all the labyrinths of galleries which we have explored in the profound depths of this cavern we have not yet alighted upon any portion which gives access to the continuation of this channel. there, rendered inaccessible by the barrier of débris, is, without doubt, a cavern as extensive as that which we have proved to exist in the sister watercourse hard by; and these two channels, starting from practically the same point, must diverge widely, and certainly do not unite again before the depth of feet is attained. farther eastward in mendip, too, are similar swallet caverns. not far to the north-west of stoke lane is an interesting cavern locally known as cox's hole. it is situated in the limestone forming the southern edge of the great basin in which lies the radstock coalfield. owing to the existence of this coalfield, there are no deep caves accessible in this part of mendip. yet a good deal of water must be absorbed through the innumerable fissures into the depths of the carboniferous limestone underlying the coalfield, and it is by no means unlikely that this water, heated to a high point by the subterranean temperature, gives rise to the hot springs at bath. cox's hole was at a remote period, when the form of the hill was very different from that presented now, an active water-channel, evidently draining towards st. dunstan's well. it has two distinct entrances, one, the more westerly, being a cavity of considerable size. for about feet the cavern consists of a roomy gallery running more or less horizontally. then it pinches in, until the height is less than a foot, and only those can get along who are able to compress themselves into small compass. in a few feet, however, it widens out into a good-sized passage, with fine stalactites here and there, especially at a point on the northern side where an aven opens into a chamber more than feet high. now roomy and now contracted, the passage leads on until, at a distance of yards from the entrance, it becomes so small that there is considerable difficulty in proceeding. beyond this point the cavern becomes a simple water-tunnel, of a type common in yorkshire. at yards there is a sharp descent, the floor is littered with boulders, and yards farther the passage is choked with silt. a very small passage, which had water in it when i was there, is said to be passable at times, though i am inclined to doubt this. an almost vertical ascent amongst treacherous boulders, however, seems an indication of a possible route onwards, which may, i trust, with care be yet explored. the last yards of the cave run to the south-east--that is, away from the direction of st. dunstan's well--a beautiful spring rising from the carboniferous limestone hard by; yet i feel sure that it must of necessity be a part of the same waterway. either it was an inlet which received the waters of some vanished old red sandstone spring, or it was a former outlet for the waters of that well. i am inclined to favour the former theory. as to the present source of the waters of st. dunstan's well there can be no doubt whatever. in the valley below stoke lane, and three-quarters of a mile distant from the well and from cox's hole, there is a most interesting swallet, of comparatively recent age. it is obviously certain that, not so long ago, the stream which courses down the valley flowed unchecked down its whole length, and so reached the larger stream below. slightly retarded, in all probability, by some flood-borne silt, the water found a little joint in the western bank of the valley, and by slow degrees so enlarged it that it at last became capable of swallowing the whole. even now a few hours' work would divert the water and cause it to resume its former course. upstream is a mill, the owner of which has courteously given every facility for testing and for exploration. it was found that the effect of damming the mill stream entirely was to reduce the flow at st. dunstan's well enormously, and to render the entrance of the swallet passable. mr. marshall of stratton-on-the-fosse with his party made a successful descent, and travelled a considerable distance, mainly parallel with the valley without and to a great extent horizontally, through water-tunnels of small size. as no measurements were taken one cannot say yet how far it is passable, but he says that they did not get to the limits of possible exploration, as the time which they spent there was getting dangerously near the hour up to which it is possible to dam the water, and they most wisely beat a hasty retreat. the first opportunity will be taken by us to make use of a spell of fine weather to carry this exploration to a successful issue. not far distant, too, is another swallet, from which the water has been diverted to be used for water-supply. this is in the vicinity of a ruined hunting lodge, and is said to lead in the same direction as the stoke lane swallet. the whole of this district is likely to be very interesting, there being a series of remarkable rifts or fissures in the dolomitic conglomerate which deserve attention. one of these, called fairy slats, has been known for many years, and is indeed shown on the ordnance map; and the fact that such fissures abound has been forcibly brought home by a disaster to a new reservoir, only recently completed by the authorities of downside monastery, to supply the neighbouring villages. here a finely designed basin, having been constructed over one of these fissures, had its massive concrete bottom burst out as if it were an egg-shell the moment the water filled it, and in a single hour the whole fabric was absolutely ruined. some measure of the extent of the concealed fissures may be gathered from the fact that , gallons of water were absolutely swallowed up without a drop coming to light in the neighbouring valley. an early visitor to the adjoining field reported that air was being ejected through the grass all around him, much to his alarm, as he was quite unaware of what had occurred. it will be a most interesting subject for inquiry, as to how far such fissures as these are the results of water action or otherwise, and it is most desirable to descend one of them at the first opportunity in search of evidence. at present i am inclined to attribute their presence to movements in the secondary rocks, due to the intersection of the district by valleys. the conglomerate mass has parted along the lines of the principal joints, and the rifts thus formed have become lines of drainage. this theory, in view of possible future discoveries, may have to be modified. above stoke lane swallet, and evidently connected with it in some remote way, is a cavity without a name, the exploration of which would probably be interesting, and would be most likely to yield remains of primitive man. mr. marshall also reports the existence of a fissure of considerable size, where, after a very small entrance, a point is reached with a vertical descent of great depth. all these things indicate that there is a splendid field here for further work. indeed there are abundant evidences of this all over mendip. one of the most interesting problems has had further light thrown upon it by work recently done by us at wookey hole. the hyæna den and the badger hole are testimony that a large amount of underground action has taken place upon the east side of the ravine, yet nothing has been known hitherto of any series of dry channels upon that side. recently, however, we have succeeded in gaining access, by way of the smallest of fissures, into what will turn out most likely to be a portion of this very series. here is to be seen a choked-up chamber of precisely the same type as the hyæna den, but far deeper in the wall of the ravine. without doubt it contains prehistoric remains, yet its excavation will entail great labour. we have already reached a distance of feet from the entrance, and only a partially choked passage bars the way. high up in the ravine at ebbor, too, there is a very promising field for further research. this is immediately beneath a cliff on the western side of the valley, where we have already done much preliminary work. there is also a very promising little cave, slightly north of tower rock in the same gorge and high up in its side. here a narrow entrance gives access to a small chamber, on the floor of which is a deep deposit of cave earth, from which i have obtained deer bones. at dulcote, again, there is a series of waterways and dry caves of great interest, which in themselves bear corroborative evidence of the great antiquity of the caverns of the district. from time to time the quarrymen have broken in upon these waterways, which have been lost in subsequent operations. not many years ago a blast blew off the top of an almost vertical shaft, carved out in the limestone by water action and descending to a great depth. the mass of rock blown off by the charge turned over and fell down the shaft, blocking it at feet from the surface. it was possible to descend to this point and throw down stones, which fell for a considerable distance; but the block was never moved, and in the process of quarrying the hole became filled, and is now lost in the general level of the quarry. hard by, also, a cavern of considerable extent was opened, and still remains. it contains nothing of peculiar interest, though when i was first lowered into it, from a hole feet above its floor, it contained very pretty coral-like splash stalagmite; and also, in the mud floor, the tubular linings of calcite, formed from the drip from above. in this quarry, too, were found a considerable quantity of the bones of bear, deer, bos, horse, etc., and these are now in the wells museum, where they were deposited some years since by a. f. somerville, esq. there are numerous other minor caves in this locality. farther up the same valley, above croscombe, is a small cave known locally as betsy camel's hole, and it appears to have been occupied by a woman bearing that name for some years. she was, of course, carried away by the devil, according to the same popular report. it may very well have been a rock shelter at some stage of its history. mr. somerville informs me, too, that in dinder wood there is a small cave which was almost certainly a rock shelter. this also has never been explored. in fact, the whole district may be described as an unexplored field, and there is abundant room for willing helpers. the landowners, for the most part, are exceedingly kind and ready to offer every facility for scientific research. h. e. b. the cheddar group of caverns the great gorge of cheddar and its caverns form a subject of surpassing interest to the student of geology. presenting some of the most stupendous cliff scenery in england, the great wall of rock on the southern side of the valley towers nearly feet into the air, defying all attempts at mapping contour lines; and the road which traverses the ravine winds, with many a sudden turn, along the base of this noble cliff, ever upwards, until in four miles the actual summit of the mendip downs is reached. at the entrance to the gorge, and close to the caverns owned by gough, the hidden river bursts into the light, pouring forth a stream of great volume, which, after serving the purposes of various millers in the village, hurries on to join its sister stream from wookey hole, the two then flowing into the sea near weston-super-mare. it is strange that in all the exploration work that has been done at cheddar, the underground channel of the stream has not once been reached. near the entrance in gough's cave a fairly deep hole contains water, which changes in level along with the river itself, but no open passage leads from it. a vertical rope descent of feet from the upper and practically unknown caverns belonging to gough brings the explorer to what must be regarded as the nearest point which has yet been reached to the subterranean river of cheddar. as this gorge is the most stupendous in the mendip region, so is this stream the most considerable in volume. mr. sheldon of wells has gauged its minimum flow to be not less than three million gallons per day, whilst its torrent at flood time must be many times as much, probably not less than eight or ten millions. [illustration: the great gorge of cheddar. _photo by dawkes & partridge, wells._] this is considerably larger than the other two great outlets of the subterranean waters of mendip, those of wookey hole and wells, each of which, however, pours forth an enormous volume. that it is the cheddar stream which is responsible for the existence of the gorge itself no one can doubt, and it is a most interesting subject for discussion as to how this has been brought about. it is not difficult to determine what points must mark the boundaries of the catchment area, the waters of which drain to cheddar. the road from castle comfort to charterhouse on the north-east, the outcrop of shales south of blackdown on the north, and a line drawn from rowberrow farm north of priddy to the gorge itself on the south, enclose the whole area from which the supply is obtained. this is somewhere about square miles in extent. to this must be added, possibly, some water from slightly more to the eastward. it is now the commonly accepted theory that the whole of this water, or at any rate the bulk of it, found inlet into a series of caverns along the line now occupied by the gorge, and that then the processes which are so well known to be going on gradually enlarged these to the point of collapse, the falling débris being removed by the still flowing stream. it is only right to add that m. martel, arguing from his long experience, which probably exceeds that of any man who has ever studied the subject, sees in the gorges of cheddar, burrington, and presumably ebbor, the superficial channels worn by the escaping streams from the ancient mendip plateau. he says, "the numerous dried valleys (burrington combe, cheddar cliffs, etc.), which cut through the circumference of the mendips, witness, as everywhere, to the ancient superficial flowing off of the rivers, and to their capture by the natural wells, successively opened and enlarged in the cracks of the limestone rock." that even small streams acting through a sufficient period of time are capable of doing enormous erosive work it would be idle to deny, but the difficulties in the way of accepting this theory as alone sufficient are too great to admit of its acceptance. it demands that the water of a very large area could find access to the eastern end of the ravine, which itself demands that the general configuration of the mendips must have been very different from that presented now. this, from the existence of the secondary beds in their present position, say near harptree, was not the case; and therefore, for the theory to hold good, we must suppose that the superficial gorge was pre-triassic. as it was not filled in, either in triassic time or subsequently, it could not have been superficial. of course it may be contended that the reversal of this line of argument demonstrates that the gorge is post-liassic and may then have been a superficial channel, but i hold this to be disproved in my chapter on the antiquity of the mendip caves. i am, accordingly, forced to the conclusion that the cheddar gorge was during the whole of the secondary period a roofed-in cavern. the only difficulty which arises is a doubt as to the ability of the stream to remove so vast a bulk of falling material as must be accounted for; but when we see the process in actual operation, as at wookey hole, it is only necessary to demand sufficient time, and the difficulty vanishes. that a time did arrive when the rate of collapse more than kept pace with the destructive energy of the stream is indicated by the rapid rise which takes place in the road through the gorge. this favours the cave theory as opposed to the superficial channel theory, inasmuch as a superficial channel would probably have maintained a more nearly equal depth throughout. that the portion of m. martel's theory which explains the absence of the stream from the gorge is correct is very clear, there being obvious indications, notably at the western end of the ravine, where points of absorption might be traced beneath the high cliffs, any one of which, if excavated, would almost certainly lead to the present channel of the river beyond gough's caves. the long hole above, as pointed out in my chapter upon the antiquity of the mendip caves, is corroborative evidence which tends to disprove the superficial valley theory, as it is without a doubt an old cavern of absorption, which could not have existed had the ravine been a superficial valley. everyone must lament the recent developments in the cheddar gorge by which the northern side is being hacked to pieces to provide road metal. there are thousands of places where the same stone could be obtained, with almost equal ease; and it does seem pitiful that one of the finest places in the kingdom should be sacrificed to the most callous and sordid commercialism. the conditions under which the work is being carried on constitute also a public danger, as has now been exemplified by the collapse into the gorge of a huge mass of the rock. the dip of the limestone is to the southward, and consequently any work done on the northern side is removing the support that holds up the great mass upon an inclined plane. of necessity the mass above, its support gone, comes hurtling down to the roadway, and it is practically certain that, if quarrying operations continue, some day the gorge will be entirely closed by a gigantic fall. an interesting little tributary ravine and cavern, far up the gorge, provides a perfect example of the cave theory of the formation of the gorge itself. about two miles from the village, on the southern slopes of the ravine, is an extensive fir wood. high up on the opposite side this little ravine is visible, and it may be reached with ease. here sides that gently slope give way to precipitous walls, between which you walk. moss-grown stones give place to new-fallen stones, and then you have before you the little ravine roofed in; you pass beneath, and find yourself in the darkness of the cavern itself, which can be followed for some distance. here, at any rate, there can be no doubt as to the process that has been at work. h. e. b. antiquity of the caves of mendip when we consider the question of the age of our caverns, we are met at the outset by a mass of evidence forcing upon us the certainty that they must be credited with a very high antiquity indeed. here measurement by years and centuries fails, and the imagination must be called in to aid us to compute the epochs that have successively elapsed since the first cave, to take one example, began to be formed at wookey hole. these evidences are of three kinds: historical, palæontological, and geological. in the first place, there has been obviously little change in the general configuration of our caverns since earliest historical times. the dens and caves of the earth have afforded a retreat to the persecuted of all generations, and a ready-made home when all else has failed. here, too, with the rocky walls behind him and his protecting fires at the entrance, early man could defy the savage beasts that roamed the land in those far-off days. at wookey hole it was only necessary to scratch the very surface of the accumulated débris within the mouth of the great cave to turn up fragments of romano-british pottery and a human jaw and rib-bones. these interesting relics are in the possession of myself and mr. troup. from the very nature of the place, it is obvious that the tendency has been to accumulate more and more débris upon the mass of cave earth which contains these remains. slightly deeper, yet still only in the loose earth of the cavern mouth, we found pottery of still earlier date, unwheeled and cruder. the fact is borne in upon us, that certainly for two thousand years this entrance has remained much as it is now. perhaps a loose rock here and there has been dislodged from the overhanging cliff outside, and, crashing to the stream bed below, has there been broken up and carried away by the river. but no one can doubt that the general outline is the same now as then. and farther within the cavern an interesting sidelight is thrown on the slowness with which things change in the underworld. at the descent into the first great chamber a chalk inscription roughly made reads "e a ." that inscription has been there unchanged, to my knowledge, for the last twenty years, and i have no reason to doubt its authenticity. if a chalk mark remains unerased for a century and more, how long have those solid walls stood, and how long will they endure? as i have gazed upon that inscription, the thought has come, that such a place as this would be an ideal site for national monuments. when our abbeys and cathedrals are crumbled away, these great subterranean halls will remain practically unchanged. and in the caves of cheddar like evidences meet the eye. in the loose material in the roman cave there, roman and romano-british remains have been found in abundance; and here again we are forced to the conclusion that no change has taken place since those remains were deposited. but when we consider the evidences furnished by the remains of the extinct mammalia, mingled with those of primitive man, much more is it impressed upon the mind that we are dealing with relics of enormous antiquity. the great assemblage of bones of the extinct animals which occurs at banwell cave, and the numberless finds from the caves of cheddar, are indications of this; but those of the hyæna den of wookey hole, and the conditions of their deposit there, afford us much more reliable testimony. here are two principal cavities on the eastern side of the ravine, representing two of the five river levels which the stream of the axe has hollowed for itself in the dolomitic conglomerate. these are branch or side chambers which have not been totally destroyed in the process of erosion that formed the ravine at the expense of the cavern. in the uppermost cavity, known as the badger hole (it was the haunt of badgers until a few years ago), no traces of the extinct mammalia are to be found, nor have i found definite traces of prehistoric man. at seven feet below the surface, however, there is a bed of river sand of precisely the same kind as that in the upper chambers of the great cavern. in the hyæna den below, on the other hand, so thoroughly and systematically explored by professor boyd dawkins, was found one of the most perfect assemblages of the remains of extinct animals ever discovered. many years after his labours were completed i searched there again, and was rewarded with a by no means poor collection of bones and teeth: mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, irish elk and reindeer, red deer, bison, cave lion and bear, hyæna and wolf, wild goat, wild horse, and wild boar have all been found. one of my earliest trophies was a fairly complete skull of a young bear; and i have representatives of all the others. from a small hole in the side of the valley hard by, which i thought looked promising, we have obtained a large number of rhinoceros teeth, together with those of several of the other kinds present in the den. the examination of these cavities and their contents demonstrates the fact that they were the actual dens of some of these animals. the abundant marks of gnawing show that the hyænas made their home there. over the vertical cliff many a worn-out beast was hunted to its death by the hyænas and wolves, and its shattered carcass dragged to this hole. [illustration: romano-british pottery, coins, human remains, etc., wookey hole cave. _photo by h. e. balch._] [illustration: hyÆna den and badger hole, wookey hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] it is easy to wander back in imagination and bring the state of things that existed visibly before the mind's eye: to watch the unwieldy mammoth or the great rhinoceros rolling its huge bulk along; to see the pack of cowardly hyænas or wolves hounding some worn-out bison to its death, over the awful cliff close by their den, which purpose effected, they themselves rushed headlong down the steep slope hard by, to fight and wrangle over the shattered carcass of their prey; or to see the lion lying in wait by the peaceful stream in the little valley for the noble elk or timid deer to come for its accustomed drink; and then to behold savage man, with his weapons of flint or bone, when out on his hunting expeditions, arriving at this peaceful valley, and there for a while making his quarters in the den, and lighting his fires at the entrance to scare the wild beasts from their lair.[ ] [ ] only a few years since, three cows were driven over the cliff by several unruly dogs, and of course were instantly killed. thus was the tragedy of long ago re-enacted. how long ago this state of things existed is a matter for geological calculation. suffice it that the earliest historical records show us no wild beasts existing in the land except bears and wolves, along with the red deer which is with us to this day. now there is no sign at wookey hole of the time when the bear and wolf alone remained and all else had become extinct from the land. there is no trace whatever in the hyæna den of the pottery which we find in the entrance of the great cave. without a doubt, the latest deposits here are vastly older than the most ancient deposits there. the commingling of northern, temperate, and southern forms gives evidence of oscillations in temperature such as demand a vast time to have taken place. yet the whole of these remains accumulated between the time when the entrance to the den was left exposed by the gradual destruction and retreat of the cliff face up the valley, and the infilling and choking of the entrance by the accumulating gravel which eventually blocked it. it is only within the last few years that the gravel arch which was first formed, and then undermined in the search after bones, has collapsed, revealing the true configuration of the cavern. here we must again postulate a great antiquity for our caverns, since these deposits exist in what is really an insignificant fragment of the great cavern, and are only an incidental part of the material which an exposed cavity is sure to receive. but when purely geological evidences are taken into account, the demand for time becomes still more imperative. the subterranean axe occupies, as its present channel, vast chambers formed by the excavation of thousands of tons of the hard conglomerate, great halls over feet in height and of fine proportions. the process which formed these is still at work enlarging them, till in the course of time they must collapse; yet no change is ever visible, no signs of recent action can at any point be seen. the rarely occurring great flood serves but to remove one film of sand from the floor and to leave another in its place as the waters subside. so slow is the undermining action that no eye can ever detect a change though the waters rise ever so high. yet this channel is but one of five distinct levels which the river has occupied from time to time, until it has found in turn a lower course, leaving its sands as a record upon each, here and there sealed down beneath a mass of stalagmite. what untold ages have elapsed since first the river flowed through these upper channels! [illustration: plan and section of wookey hole cavern.] but an examination of the top of the mendips points to a vaster antiquity still. the published horizontal section no. of the geological survey gives an excellent idea of the plateau of mendip, which stretches from immediately north of wells to the neighbourhood of compton martin. this plane of denudation would never have been reached save by the long-continued action of subterraneous streams, an assumption supported by the existence of the great depression crossed by the road from wells to priddy. that depression of nearly feet in depth and several miles in length, hollowed in the hard carboniferous limestone, here dotted with every known type of swallet or swallow hole, has been obviously formed by the slow action of swallet streams prolonged through vast periods of time. every atom of the millions of tons of solid rock represented by this depression has been borne down the course of the subterranean axe. tributary to this depression a little valley has been eroded across the old red sandstone anticline immediately to the north, and in it are deposited masses of dolomitic conglomerate, the component pebbles of which were derived from the surrounding rocks. the same valley existed, therefore, in pre-triassic time, and as there was obviously no other outlet for its water, the cavities into which it flowed--that is to say, the swallets and subterranean channels--must have existed also, and are therefore pre-triassic in date. though at first sight this appears impossible, inasmuch as the known course of the resulting axe river is through triassic conglomerate, i propose to show that such a conclusion is necessary and inevitable. long ago i was struck with the fact that at wookey hole the triassic conglomerate attains an abnormal thickness, and measurements have shown that at the far end of the cavern there is certainly a thickness of over feet of this rock. as there is no sign of any approach to the limestone against which it must abut, nor any change in the character of the conglomerate itself at this point, i think that we may fairly conclude that the total thickness of it must be at least feet. now this is a vast deposit, far exceeding any known to exist elsewhere, and it requires a special explanation to account for it. only one explanation is possible. the conglomerate is here filling in some great pre-existing valley in the mountain limestone. that is just what i should expect. the great limestone cavern formed by the action of the swallet streams in early triassic times collapsed, and formed a limestone ravine, into which was rolled a great accumulation of fragments of the limestone derived from the slopes and crags above. with the whole of this part of england these beds were subsequently submerged, remaining so during the deposit of the whole of the secondary beds; and on their emerging once more from beneath the sea the lines of drainage were re-established along the old courses, where these had not been choked with sedimentary material. forcing a way through the conglomerate which then impeded its flow, the river formed those cavities which we see. indeed, it may well be that the successive levels cut by the axe through the conglomerate may represent stages in the uplifting of the land, the lowest channel being the last and largest, as it has been formed during an extended period of stability. but we are not without evidences of another sort as to the existence of some of our swallet ways at that remote period. the cavities found in the holwell quarries, near frome, filled in with rhaetic material containing bones and teeth of fishes; those of gurney-slade, near radstock; and numbers which from time to time are laid bare in the limestone quarries, all filled in with triassic sediment, show that penetrating waterways of considerable size then existed. there was, too, at charterhouse-on-mendip, north of cheddar, a fissure, possibly a swallet, which, being open, received an infilling of liassic material that is known to extend to a depth of feet. had these channels been closed by a narrow aperture temporarily blocked, no infilling but by water would have taken place when the land sank beneath the waters of the triassic and liassic seas. furthermore, in the position of the entrances of many of our swallets there is corroborative evidence to the same effect. the great circular swallet on rookham, near wells, situated far from any existing line of drainage, yet withal one of the largest cavities on mendip, shows that great changes have taken place since it was an active waterway. the position of the caverns of compton bishop and of banwell, far removed from any stream or any line of drainage possible with the present contours, proves that the configuration of the country has utterly changed since they formed the points of engulfment of any streams. the coral cave (as we have called it) at compton bishop descends abruptly into the earth, and its outlet must have been far below the level where now the triassic marl forms an impervious barrier. the waters of banwell pond rise through the marl, forced upwards through beds which do not yield water and ordinarily retard its passage. doubtless the marl when it was deposited covered some earlier outlet from the limestone. the waters of st. andrew's well, at wells, are forced upwards through dolomitic conglomerate and overlying pleistocene gravel, the former of which was doubtless deposited upon what was once a free and unimpeded outlet from the mountain limestone, similar to that of cheddar. the water of rickford, near burrington, resulting from the streams engulfed at and around burrington, is forced up through the secondary beds, which have been similarly deposited upon the pre-existing outlet. all these things help to demonstrate that what i contend is true, viz. that our caverns as a whole are pre-triassic in age. the long hole at cheddar, high in the cliffs above gough's cave, lends its evidence too. contrary to all the other caves at cheddar, it was a channel of intake for the water which formed it. doubtless it is a fragment of a larger cavern, which, before the gorge of cheddar itself was formed, existed in the mass of rock occupying the whole area. at the northern end of the limestone defile of ebbor, near wells, the ravine is carved through dolomitic conglomerate, which has been much worked for iron ore. the fact that this conglomerate was deposited in a depression in the land, at the head of the present ravine, yet without entering it, suggests that here was an entrance to a series of caverns, the collapse of which produced the gorge. [illustration: the great swallet on bishop's lot, priddy. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth_] [illustration: st. andrew's well, wells. _photo by h. e. balch._] the devil's punchbowl, near the castle of comfort inn on the mendips, is, in all probability, a collapse of the remarkable lias beds which there occur into some pre-existing cavity in the mountain limestone below, somewhat in the same manner as the shake holes in the glacial drift on the yorkshire moors were formed. no one questions the existence of the cavities beneath before the deposit of the drift, neither do i doubt the existence of swallets beneath the trias and lias before these were deposited on the mendips. the question naturally arises, why do we not find in our caverns remains of all the ages that have elapsed since that time? why are only pleistocene remains discovered? surely, because we have not found them it does not follow that they are nonexistent. the recent discovery of pliocene remains in a cavern at doveholes, near buxton (derbyshire), is clear proof that we may search hopefully for similar remains in the mendips. it must be borne in mind, that the further we go back in time, the more certain we are to find that the contents of any limestone cavern would be completely mineralised, until the whole of the contents may have become cemented into a solid mass. where running water is present, attrition may have destroyed them, or borne them onwards to those great depths where, constantly submerged as they must be, we can never hope to penetrate. i am aware, however, of the existence, in the eastwater cavern, of very ancient chokes of water-borne material, from which i have some hope of obtaining remains. i might mention the demonstrated antiquity of the bosses of stalagmite in kent's cavern at torquay, and from it argue the immense age of the great masses of stalagmite in the mendip caves, but, recognising the variable rate of deposit of the carbonate of lime in different caverns, and indeed in different parts of the same cavern, no useful purpose would be served thereby. the huge beehive of lamb's lair at harptree, the large boss in the first great chamber at wookey hole, gough's "niagara" at cheddar, the tall and slender pillars in cox's cave at cheddar, and the taller "sentinel" pillar at wookey hole, all demand for their formation a prodigious length of time, which it is but folly to attempt to compute with our present information. certainly many thousands of years are required for some of them, and it should be remembered that we have then arrived merely at the time when the floor upon which they stand had received its final form, the action of running water having ceased.[ ] who can doubt then, that, as we stand in the great waterways of the profound depths of our hills, we are looking upon scenes which have varied little since remote ages, and that in some form or other these waterways played an important part in the degradation of the earlier and loftier mendip range? [ ] in the initials "t. w." were carved by mr. willcox of wells on the great stalagmite bank in the end chamber of lamb's lair. i added " ," that in years to come some measure may be obtained of the rate at which this bank is being formed. i make a rule of never making an inscription, but in this case i thought that the end justified the means. it is worthy of remark in this connection that the veteran m. martel, commenting upon the caverns of mendip, says, "in consequence of the existence, on the flanks of the mendip hills, of deposits of triassic dolomitic conglomerate (keuper) of rhaetian beds, and of possibly glacial alluvia, unconformably on the carboniferous limestone, the outflow of the water in the risings operates in three ways: (a) by large fissures in the limestone itself, when it flows out freely, as at cheddar; (b) through the crevices in the dolomitic conglomerate (the axe at wookey hole, etc.); (c) where the outlet of the water from the limestone is hidden by alluvia (st. andrews well, at wells). the consequence of this arrangement is that it will be possible--notably at wookey hole, when the explorations now going on have enlarged the new galleries recently found--to ascertain whether the dolomitic conglomerate is there shown in long beds of ancient shores, regularly superposed on the limestone, or rather accumulated in filled-up pockets, in hollows pre-existing in the limestone; that is to say, there will be a material verification of mr. balch's hypothesis (already outlined by boyd dawkins in ) of the very ancient excavation of certain caves of the mendip hills, even before the keuper period. the lie of the conglomerate under the vaulted roofs of wookey hole appeared to me to favour this idea. and it is necessary to wait till formal proofs have been gathered together here, that caves were hollowed out there before the trias. i recall, on this subject, that long ago i concluded, with messrs. de launey, van den broeck, boule, etc., that the formation of caves could commence in the most distant geological epochs, and that the pockets of phosphorites, among others at quercy and the albanets of couvin (belgium), testify to caves or abysses of at least eocene times." h. e. b. cave exploring as a sport we are called a nation of sportsmen; yet the first criticism we level against any new sport, not our own, is the question, usually unanswerable and always irrelevant, what is the use of it? one may then, with a certain show of propriety, point out that cave exploring is a sport not entirely lacking in utilitarian or scientific objects. it belongs, in fact, to that large class which originated as something else than mere pastime. mountaineering and hunting are typical representatives of that class. the earliest mountaineers were geographers. cave exploring was first of all taken up as a branch of archæological and palæontological research, and then as a general inquiry into the physical nature of caves. but a science that has discovery as its principal object, and hardships and adventure as its natural concomitants, is bound to attract as many sportsmen as scientists. the geographical might be called the sporting sciences. and so there are now many ardent cave explorers who would blush to be called speleologists, their sole motive being the enjoyment of the game, and scientific results purely a by-product. thus the science of caves has given birth to a sport that subserves its aims in the same irregular way as rock-climbing and peak-bagging subserve the aims of geography, geology, meteorology, and other sciences. speleology itself is, comparatively, a new science. cave hunting, the search for human and animal remains, has been an important bypath of scientific investigation since the days of dean buckland and the discoveries recorded in _reliquiæ diluvianæ_, . professor boyd dawkins has in recent decades done still more valuable work for palæontology. speleology is a word of both wider and narrower meaning; in the widest sense covering all kinds of knowledge about caves, their geography, geology, hydrology, their fauna, their palæontology. but most speleologists confine their attention to the physical characteristics of caves. this side of the inquiry has practical utilities. at vaucluse, for instance, near avignon, m. bouvier in explored the channels of a gigantic siphon that carries the waters of an inaccessible reservoir into the fontaine de vaucluse, a famous "rising." his object was partly scientific, and partly to determine the nature of this permanent source, so as to utilise its waters to regulate the level of the sorgue, to extend the irrigation system of the neighbourhood, and to secure water-power for manufacturing purposes. the katavothra of pod-stenami were enlarged by an enterprising engineer, and protected by iron gratings, after their subterranean exits had been explored, and so utilised to regulate the drainage of the marshy plains of laibach, and to prevent periodical inundations. in our own country, underground exploration has brought to light valuable water-supplies, and enabled us to safeguard the public interests by pointing out sources of pollution. caves are most abundant in the districts where those great fissures known as rakes occur, which are rich in minerals, especially lead, calamine, copper, gypsum, and fluor-spar. during the short period in which cave work has been taken up as a sport, discoveries have been made, which of course it is impossible to particularise, that may be the source of considerable profit in the future. the majority of those engaged in this physical exploration of caves are french. france possesses a société de spéléologie, the secretary of which, monsieur e. a. martel, author of _les abîmes_, is a most indefatigable and courageous explorer, and the man who has made the science an important and a living one. but m. martel himself awards the title of "créateur de la spéléologie" to a forgotten predecessor, dr. adolphe schmidl, who published _die grotten und höhlen von adelsberg_, in . in this country, although such brilliant discoveries have been made of extinct animals and prehistoric relics of humanity, cave exploring of this kind is a new pursuit. m. martel says, in _irlande et cavernes anglaises_, : "in short, the underground of the calcareous regions of the british isles may be considered as being, topographically, very insufficiently known; this is the conviction impressed on me by my own researches in ." something has been accomplished since that date. two or three clubs, consisting chiefly of climbers, and a few speleologists working independently, have effected a thorough examination of the great caverns of the peak, the extraordinary system of underground waters, huge cavities, and profound abysses in the west riding, and the beautiful caverns of somerset. but the ground that remains unexplored, the opportunities for adventure and the possibilities of discovery are such as may probably astonish those people who think there is nothing of the sort left in old england. caves are formed in calcareous strata by the chemical action of water laden with carbonic acid, and by the mechanical action of streams. in consequence of the original structure of the limestone, the joints of which run at right angles to the bedding planes, these eroded hollows have two dominant forms: the vertical pot, swallet, or hole, produced by the widening of a master-joint; and the horizontal water-channel, running in the same direction as the line of stratification. but the strata being commonly tilted, these pits and abysses are often a long way out of the vertical, and the caverns that follow the strata very steep. many of these ancient watercourses are now dry, but others are still traversed by streams, and present the explorer with most formidable obstacles. the complete exploration of any cave system would involve the tracing out of all its passages from the point where the stream or streams enter the earth to the point of exit. but i know not a single instance where such a task has been worked out in its entirety. in many cases the streams enter the ground merely as small rivulets, and begin to excavate passages practicable to man only at a considerable depth. "siphons," or traps, as they ought to be called, complete or partial chokes, and a variety of other causes, may put insuperable obstacles in the explorer's way. take two of the most important cave problems still awaiting solution, one in yorkshire, the other in somerset. a large beck is precipitated into the abyss of gaping ghyll, feet deep, and emerges from an opening in the hillside, a mile away, close to the mouth of ingleborough cave, which was itself an earlier exit. several parties have descended gaping ghyll, and followed the passages at the bottom to a distance of more than feet. then impenetrable water-sinks, and muddy chambers with no outlet, have been encountered, and the communication with the lower cavern has hitherto proved undiscoverable. both the dry galleries and the canals of ingleborough cave have been explored, with great toil and daring, to a considerable distance upwards, with similar results; and though many speleologists are still absorbed in this problem, there is little hope that it will be cleared up without adopting the drastic and costly measure of cutting through the obstructions. the other problem is that of wookey hole, the cave in britain which has the longest history, and which is still yielding interesting discoveries. a number of streams disappear into the earth on the mendip plateau, miles away and feet above, and find their issue in the source of the axe at wookey hole. two of the mendip swallets have been explored to a great depth. swildon's hole, an exquisite series of terraced galleries and stalactite grottoes, has been penetrated to a depth of feet. but a more determined attempt has been made to reach the bottom of the eastwater cavern. this was discovered in by my friend mr. balch, of wells, by means of opening the swallet, where a tiny brook ran away through small crevices in a limestone ravine. a far-extending cave was thus disclosed, full of intricate ramifications, that explain in a graphic manner how new galleries are formed and old ones left dry and deserted, as the result of floods and partial chokes. we have, in the longest route discovered in this complicated system, reached a distance of feet from the entrance and a depth below the surface of feet. at this point no absolutely impassable barrier has been met with. there is reason to hope that we may still advance farther into the mysterious region between it and wookey hole. but the formidable difficulties of the journey hither have set a limit to endurance. hundreds of feet of creeping through steep, narrow, and contorted passages, compared with which a series of drain-pipes would afford luxurious travelling; perpendicular drops of and feet, with no convenient ledges at the top for letting men down; and, in addition, the necessity of transporting great quantities of tackle to the bitter end of it, have made a twelve hours' day underground as much as we could stand. the difficulty may perhaps be got over by means of a subterranean bivouac. unfortunately, it would not do to leave the apparatus in position for long beforehand, as it would deteriorate so rapidly. in wookey hole itself, we have not yet succeeded in reaching a farther distance than feet from the cave mouth; there a submerged tunnel has stood in the way. but mr. balch has thoroughly explored the upper passages that honeycomb the rock above the known caves; he has discovered a number of promising galleries, which are being slowly cleared of débris; and, among them, a series of the most beautiful incrusted grottoes in britain. a season of drought may reveal an opening up the river-course. innumerable similar problems still await solution. some of us have been engaged in trying with pick and crowbar to engineer a way into the swallets above castleton, which send their waters through the heart of the hills down to the caves in the dale of hope. one of these, which we have penetrated to a distance of feet, may turn out to be the entrance to as wonderful a chain of caverns as those of eastwater. long kin hole, helln pot, and other tremendous cavities in the ingleborough district, still promise good sport. of all the varieties of cave forms these vertical holes are the most impressive, and also the most perilous to explore. no exploit stands out more finely in the record of that intrepid explorer, m. martel, than his single-handed descent into gaping ghyll, the first ever accomplished. in the cevennes, however, he has reached the bottom of abysses still more profound, though without the unpleasant accompaniment of falling water. one of the most awkward of the descents described by him is that of the aven de vigne close (ardèche), mètres in depth. this strange pit is almost a corkscrew in shape, comprising five perpendicular drops, the bottom of one being a few feet from the top of the next. to manage the final pitch, with a chain of rope ladders mètres too short, it was necessary to get six men down to the "salle à manger" at the foot of the fourth stage, others remaining as sentinels at the head of the various stages. some of these waited on their narrow perches for eleven hours, in the dark, with nothing to do but listen to the distant noises of their comrades at work. one man, hanging at the end of a rope, succeeded single-handed in fastening a pulley to the free end of the second ladder, and so let down the third ladder to the required extent. this critical operation was carried out under grave difficulties, the nerves of the whole party having been shaken a few minutes earlier by the accidental fall of a heavy lamp, which was within an inch of killing the men beneath. elden hole, in the peak of derbyshire, a yawning cavity feet deep, with an inner cave feet deeper, has been descended several times recently. on the first occasion, through the inexperience of the party, i had the privilege of spending nine hours in the hole, in a state of uncertainty as to whether it was in the power of the other men to get me out. on the next occasion, we let down a dozen men safely. but there still remains the possibility that excavation might clear up the puzzle as to the connection of elden hole with other swallets and caves in the vicinity. the old miners believed that it had communication with the natural chambers in the speedwell mine; and that is a problem which will entail exploration in collapsible boats along the flooded levels. the great chasm in the speedwell, which used to be reputed bottomless, has been proved to be only feet deep. it has an upward extension, in the same steep rake, which has not been climbed, nor its top so much as caught sight of. it attains a height, most probably, of at least feet. that is a problem worthy the mettle of our most skilful cragsmen. in the blue john mine, a vertical fissure has been climbed, by a party properly roped up, to the height of feet, between walls splendidly adorned with polished and translucent stalagmite. ladders may sometimes be rigged up, one above another, to reach hollows in the roof of caves. in this way a handsome grotto was discovered above peak cavern. when these vertical fissures are open to the sky, it is a simple matter to fix tackle, and even a windlass, for letting men down. when they open in the floor of a well-nigh impracticable gallery, as in the eastwater cavern, the difficulties of securing pulleys and ropes are serious. there our troubles are aggravated by the proximity of deep, gaping chasms at the foot of each pitch, lying in wait to receive falling bodies. nevertheless, by an ingenious arrangement of life-line and pulley, the entire party gets safely to the bottom of the gulf and back again, although it is usual in such situations to leave a sentry behind at the top. grandest of all these underground cavities in england is the great chamber of lamb's lair, in the mendips. the approaches and subsidiary chambers of that marvellous cavern are magnificent in the richness of their incrustation and their colouring; but this mighty hall surpasses the rest by far. floor, walls, and roof, of a dome-shaped chamber feet high, are a mass of sculptured transparencies, fantastic reliefs and glowing enamel, all the colours of the rainbow being produced by the different veins of minerals. only a strong party of experienced climbers or cave workers, fully equipped, should venture to explore this fine cavern in its present dangerous state. no chapters in _les abîmes_ are more absorbing than those describing the exploration of underground waters. by means of collapsible boats, m. martel explored the concealed streams that tumble into the canyon of the ardèche. in - , m. mazauric, with enormous toil and considerable danger, traced out the labyrinthine ramifications of the bonheur at bramabiau (gard). the tindoul de la vayssière (aveyron), with its yawning abyss and powerful subterranean torrent, and the causse de gramat (padirac), both entailed the descent of a deep chasm and the navigation of large streams. at padirac the exploring party made their way in four boats along a river, with frequent portages caused by dykes of stalagmite, and discovered some of the most exquisite and romantic stalactite scenery in the vaults through which the river flows. as a sport, cave exploring ranks high. the exertion it entails is exceedingly severe. the innumerable obstacles and difficult problems to be faced make incessant demands on our inventiveness, adaptability, and presence of mind. the exposure, the hardships, the dangers that must be encountered, form an admirable discipline. those who consider these any detraction from the merits of the sport, must condemn, not one sport, but a whole class. running risks, we must remember, is always foolhardy, but to nullify danger by means of science and skill is an aim worthy of the noblest kinds of sport. it will, of course, be objected that the lack of exhilarating conditions, and of the stimulus of fresh air, deprives the sport of the usual benefits of outdoor games. but the air at the bottom of a cave or more feet deep is usually as pure and sweet, and not seldom as dry, owing to its free circulation, as that on the hills. then the darkness and the sense of imprisonment, you say, are not conducive to healthy enjoyment. but a cave explorer, enthralled by the manifold interest and excitement of the pastime, will never admit this. the variety of entertainment it affords constitutes a peculiar charm. only to judge by the number of climbers that have taken up cave work as a pastime, there must obviously be a natural relation between this sport and rock climbing. certainly, there are many methods common to the two sports, and the expert cragsman has an immense advantage over others when he takes to cave exploring. but the methods and appliances of the mountaineer are restricted by artificial regulations. there are many things that must not be done, even to enable a climber to ascend an otherwise inaccessible peak or to avoid serious peril. in cave work, on the other hand, the difficulties and dangers are multiplied so formidably by the singular conditions, of which darkness is but one, that such prohibitions would be absurd. when one may be called upon to climb a wall of mud, or a sheet of slippery stalagmite, or to traverse water-swept rocks with an unfathomed pool or swallet underneath, every safeguard must needs be utilised. any mechanical means of accomplishing, facilitating, or expediting a passage is legitimate in cave work; ropes, pulleys, ladders of rope and wood, windlass, rafts, boats, crowbar, pick, shovel--all these, and an enormous variety of other things, have their place in the cave explorer's equipment. one might write a volume on the equipment of cave explorers. hardly any other sport requires so formidable a variety. i must limit myself to a few words. the explorer's dress should be a boiler suit, made all in one piece from neck to heel, and with no pockets or buttons to catch in the jagged limestone, plenty of both being provided inside. he must renounce any hankering after waterproof garments, the proper precaution against the effects of wet being to wear thick woollen underclothing. his boots should be nailed after the manner of those worn by rock climbers. candles are the best illuminant, much better than any lamp--acetylene, electric, or other. but a supply of magnesium wire should be carried, with waterproofed matches in water-tight boxes; and a powerful limelight, burning ether instead of hydrogen, for the sake of portability, is a useful auxiliary. boats have been used in some of the caves in the peak, in wookey hole, and in the cavern of marble arch, explored by m. martel, in ireland. plenty of rope--not of the alpine club material, but hempen--is necessary, and a few rope ladders often come in handy. the only rule of the game that i should like to insist upon is, that no damage should be done to the beautiful features of a cave. it is a rule observed by every cave explorer worthy of the name. the temptation to acquire specimens must be resisted. the first thing that the cave explorer, eager for discovery, has to learn, is not to lose himself. in many cases no special precautions are necessary, but if there are numerous bifurcations, specific measures must be adopted. often it is sufficient to station a hurricane lamp or a good-sized candle at the cross roads; a surer method, but one that is rather troublesome, is to unreel a thread as we advance. such a cavern as goatchurch, in burrington combe, somerset, is a perplexing maze, where one loses one's bearings completely two minutes after looking at the compass. the mass of the hill is shivered into innumerable fragments, of giant size. passages striking off along the fractures often lead one back imperceptibly to the point of divergence. at the eastwater cavern, in the same district, after i had already gone four times through the enormous aggregation of shattered rocks at the top, where a human body is like a beetle in a heap of macadam, i tried in vain to make my way out without using the life-line. although there is but feet of it, one takes half an hour to get through. the original explorers spent a much longer time in discovering a practicable route. for my own part, i was lost in a few moments, and compelled to return. the imprudence of two men in the bagshawe cavern, in derbyshire, who went too far in advance in their anxiety to be discoverers, led to an uncomfortable experience both for them and for their rescuers. this very extensive cavern has a number of ramifications. the two men who were following reached a distant and unexplored part of the cave, only to find that they had missed their comrades, the sand and clay on the cave floor being still perfectly smooth and untrodden. they failed to discover the wanderers in the neighbouring passages, and lost their own way for a time before they got back, through the winding tunnels, low-roofed fissures, and deep canals, crawling, scrambling, and wading breast-deep through icy water, to the place where they had parted. they hoped the truants had found their way back, but there was no sign of them, and preparations had to be made for a second journey. after a fatiguing quest, that lasted several hours, they found the missing adventurers in a remote part of the cavern, nursing their last shred of candle and waiting to be rescued. the experiences of some youthful explorers in wookey hole, who found themselves on dangerous ground and all their matches gone, are described on another page. there is a romance about cave exploring that is almost unrivalled. the conditions of the sport are so weird and exciting, so strangely different from everything we are accustomed to. to be so near to, and yet so far from, the scenes of our everyday life; to be launched on a voyage of discovery on an english river, or to be the first to gaze on some miracle of fantastic crystallisation only a few miles away from a large town--these are among the attractions of the sport, at least in its present stage. there is nothing in this country to compare with the prodigious caves of kentucky or the terrific subterranean defiles of adelsberg. one might as well look for the magnificence of the alps among our english mountains. yet the caves and gulfs of derbyshire and yorkshire have a grandeur of structure and diversity of character, and the somerset caves a brilliance of crystalline deposits, that are fully as admirable and impressive. e. a. b. exploring wookey hole "where albion's western hills slope to the sea, there is a cave, and o'er its dismal mouth, whence come to quick, mysterious ears hoarse sounds of giant revelry, the ivy grew and shut the old sepulchral darkness in; and by its side a well, whence ever full and ever overflowing, silent, deep, and cold as death, the waters creep adown the broken rocks in search of day. above it frowns a fretted, stony brow, and only from the setting sun e'er came within that place the joyfulness of light." w. w. smith, _angels and men_: a poem. hardly anywhere else in britain is the mind borne down with such a sense of incalculable antiquity as at wookey hole. nowhere, certainly, is there anything like such a continuous record from ages inconceivably remote. to touch first of all upon periods that are historical and measurable, we have the name wookey, which appears to be the one bestowed by the ancient britons; for it is a recognisable corruption--especially as the people of the district sound it, "ookey"--of the celtic ogo, a cavern, the same word, ogof, as the modern welsh still apply to several caves in the principality. clemens alexandrinus, in the second century a.d., has a reference to the cavern, and there are periodical allusions in latin and english writers from that time to the present. in the middle ages its fame as one of the wonders of england was great. william of worcester has a quaint description; he says, "its entrance is narrow, and the ymage of a man stands beside it called the porter, of whom leave to enter the hall of wokey is to be obtained." what became of this janitor is now unknown, unless he be represented by the recumbent monolith still to be seen outside the portal. references to the antiquities of wookey hole occur in leland's _itinerary_ and in camden's _britannia_, and there is incorporated in percy's _reliques_ a ballad, by an eighteenth-century virtuoso, dr. harrington of bath, entitled "the witch of wokey," recounting an old legend of the neighbourhood. "in aunciente dayes, tradition showes, a base and wicked elfe arose the witch of wokey hight." so it begins, and goes on to relate, in the sham antique style of the day, how a malevolent old woman was for her misdeeds changed to stone by a "lerned clerk of glaston." the witch, a black, aquiline profile in stone and stalagmite, is with her culinary utensils the chief attraction to sightseers in the first great chamber, or, as it is sometimes called, the witch's kitchen. [illustration: profile of the "witch of wookey," wookey hole cavern. _photo by h. e. balch._] [illustration: among the pools, wookey hole cavern. _photo by h. e. balch._] it is impressive enough to stand beside the very modern-looking paper-mill, where the infant axe, still dazzled by its sudden entry into the sunlight, is harnessed to assist in the manufacture of such workaday commodities as bank-note paper, and to see before one things that carry the memory back all those stages; yet it is but the last few pages of the voluminous history that we are considering now. professor boyd dawkins, who won his spurs as a palæontologist by his researches at wookey hole, discovered in the neighbouring hyæna den, which is really a branch of the old cavern, human and animal remains whose antiquity, compared with the periods just reviewed, is as the age of stonehenge compared with that of a man. in the less known passages of the hole itself, such relics have constantly been found in the course of our investigations. potsherds, celts, bone implements, the carbonised embers from ancient hearths, all sorts of refuse lying in odd corners, have continually brought us, as it were, face to face with the time when man was little more than the king of beasts. whosoever would read in the deeper chapters of this vast chronicle must be referred to the fascinating pages of _cave hunting_; there will be only an occasional glance at the human history in this record of a different class of exploration. palæontological research has not been our object. several of my companions have made some valuable discoveries in this line, and are intent on making more; but my own original motive, and that of several others, was the sport, as much as the scientific results, to be enjoyed in endeavouring to work out the great problem of the waters that have made themselves a road through the underworld of mendip, and found an escape from bondage at wookey hole. this cavern has been known so long and so familiarly, that it must have seemed as if there were nothing more to be found out about it. it will, surely, be a surprise to many to learn what important additions have recently been made to the extent of its known and accessible passages, and what progress there has been in explaining the secrets of its water system. we are, in all probability, on the brink of yet more startling revelations. drayton complained, in "polyolbion," that the renown of the devil's hole in the peak of derbyshire, then as in the present day, had robbed the somersetshire cave of some of its glory. "yet ochy's dreadful hole still held herself disgrac'd with th' wonders of this isle that she should not be plac'd: but that which vex'd her most, was that the peakish cave before her darksome self such dignity should have." many things here bring to mind the derbyshire cavern, which several of our party had explored pretty thoroughly before we did any serious work in somerset--the approach along the deep wooded ravine cut through the dolomitic conglomerate, the river pouring out from vast reservoirs within the earth, the legendary associations, and the mystery shrouding the stream's subterranean course. from the drainage area about priddy, feet above, on the top of mendip, these waters find their way down through a multitude of channels. most of these passages are quite unknown, but the two most important, of which a good deal will be said presently,--the eastwater swallet and swildon's hole,--have been explored to a considerable depth. in the latter we have got to a depth of feet, but natural obstacles and other difficulties have prevented us from following the stream-course farther. mr. balch has traced the eastwater swallet, which he opened in , to the depth of feet below the point of absorption--almost, that is to say, down to the level of wookey hole; but an enormous thickness of rock still remains unexplored between the farthest points attained, from below upwards and from above downwards. most likely, when we get farther, if we succeed in passing the present obstacles, we shall soon find ourselves entering the canals and water caverns that lie on the same level as the great natural reservoirs of wookey hole; in other words, we are approaching the plane of saturation. exploration in the eastwater swallet is still being carried on, though perforce very slowly; and concurrently therewith, efforts are being made, not without success, to trace the passages in the lower cavern farther and farther back. [illustration: mass of stalagmite, wookey hole. _photo by h. e. balch._] [illustration: in the first chamber, wookey hole cavern. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] the summer tourist, conducted through the three principal chambers of wookey hole by a guide armed with a can of benzoline, for making stalagmites into torches, comes out having a very imperfect knowledge of the geography of the cavern, and a totally inadequate idea of its beauties. i well remember how little i was impressed by my first visit, under these conditions, many years ago. the weak illumination seemed to reveal only the proportions of some rather large cellars, pervaded by oily pools, into which the contents of the can were poured and set on fire, producing an unearthly glare through the darkness and the waters; and a number of dingy and unconvincing natural effigies, black with the accumulation of soot. our exploring party in march saw these things under an illumination such as had never been kindled there before, and i for one was quite unprepared for the revelation of brilliance and spaciousness and beauty that we were to witness. "wokey hole," says bishop percy, "has given birth to as many wild, fanciful stories as the sybil's (sic) cave in italy. through a very narrow entrance it opens into a large vault, the roof whereof, either on account of its height or the thickness of the gloom, cannot be discovered by the light of torches. it goes winding a great way underground, is crost by a stream of very cold water, and is all horrid with broken pieces of rock: many of these are evident petrifactions, which, on account of their singular forms, have given rise to the fables alluded to in this poem," the story, that is, of the blear-eyed hag who was turned into stone. this quaint description is true in every particular. the first cavern, or the "witch's kitchen," has a weird similitude to gothic architecture. arch springs from arch up to the lofty summit, and the walls and vaulting are full of canopied recesses, with wild foliations of glistening calcite wreathed from niche to niche. below us, as we enter, a broad deep pool stretches away into darkness. could we follow the gently moving current in a boat, we should enter another great vault, whose existence the ordinary visitor never suspects. there, in a small passage beyond the water, mr. balch discovered human remains. whilst we peered into the gloom, the limelight was burning up, and now it flashed across the cavern to where the black scowling head of the witch overshadows terraces, basins, and wild imageries of spectral stalagmite. "a glow! a gleam! a broader beam startles those realms of endless night, while bats whirl round on slanting wing, astonished at this awful thing. the rocky roof's reflected rays are caught up in the waterways, and every jewelled stalactite is bathed in that stupendous light, one moment only; then the caves are plunged again in stygian waves; the fairy dream has passed away and night resumes her ancient sway." the vicar of whiteparish, near salisbury, wrote these expressive lines after seeing wookey hole lighted up with magnesium. our beam of light was less transitory, and gave us ample leisure to contemplate the glories of this magnificent chamber. its walls for the most part are coloured a rich red, which absorbs light readily and makes photography a slow business. the first exposure took half an hour. against the warm red, the pearly streaks of stalactite and stalagmite shine in exquisite relief. there is a superb mass of stalactite near the witch; to say truth, the eye is confounded by the wild grouping of fantastic piles of dripstone around that uncouth head; the colours of the rocks and the flashing crystallisations are reflected in the pellucid water, and confused again with our glimpses of the river-bed, smitten by the moving shaft of light. on the nearer side of the cave, where a narrow arch leads into an incrusted grotto, a gentle stream has deposited a fairy-like series of fonts and stoups, ending in a pure white sheet of dripstone, over which the water murmurs. the surface of all these fabrications is diapered over with a network of delicate pearly ridges; so that here you see a mass, as it were, of polished brain coral, and there madrepores and alcyonaria, where the deposits have continued their growth under water. some of these efflorescences are like petrified filaments of water weed. the foul scurf and soot that covers the witch's cooking apparatus and other accessories would, doubtless, disappear under a fresh deposit of pristine white, would the guides but cease for a twelvemonth to drench them in benzoline, for the delectation of such as love conundrums in stone. still, these things are but a small part of the scenery, when all is lighted up as we were able to light it. our work done, a bengal fire was set off, and the glimpses it gave us along the waterway to the inaccessible chamber beyond added vastness and mystery to the scene. [illustration: stalactite terrace, wookey hole. _photo by h. e. balch._] [illustration: great river chamber, wookey hole. _photo by dawkes & partridge, wells._] the next chamber is a loftier vault, and the arching is more decidedly gothic in its suggestiveness. two low arches at either side form the portals, far above which a series of pointed arches spring to a height of feet, their summits converging in a polygonal cleft, like the lantern of some cathedral dome. then we make our way across the sandbanks, between the pools, into the largest chamber of all, with a roof of enormous span, whose breadth dwarfs its height, arching over the sleeping river and the broad slopes of sand, whereon grotesque limestone monoliths take the likeness of prehistoric monsters sleeping by the waterside. through the clear water we can discern a submerged arch communicating with more distant caverns. there is a tradition, coming down from the mediæval historians, that unfathomable lakes lie behind the barrier. this is probably true in so far as it points to the existence of enormous reservoirs of water beyond the accessible parts of wookey hole, the theory being confirmed by the behaviour of the silt at flood time. were the hatches belonging to the paper-mill opened, and the water lowered a few feet, an attempt might be made to solve these problems. mr. balch did, in fact, at a time when the water was partially lowered, make his way into two unexplored chambers, fed by tunnels submerged a foot or so below the surface. [illustration: second great chamber, wookey hole. _photo by dawkes & partridge, wells._] [illustration: entrance of third chamber, wookey hole. _photo by dawkes & partridge, wells._] the older and the newer caves and passages of wookey hole lie at five levels, one above the other like five storeys, the topmost of all representing the oldest channel of the subterranean axe, which has in the course of ages forsaken first one and then the other, boring fresh passages in the conglomerate. of these five storeys, one alone, the nethermost, is known to the uninitiated visitor. portions of the other four had been explored from time to time by mr. balch, who in made such discoveries of unknown continuations as fill us with hopes of penetrating deeply into the mysterious region beyond. climbing into the upper series from a spot near the threshold of the witch's kitchen, we made our way eastward over dry rocks, and came speedily to the junction with another passage from nearer the cave mouth. only a thin leaf of rock separates the two, for it is characteristic of all these upper passages that they run almost parallel to each other whilst rising to other levels. altogether, we doubled back on our original direction three or four times, creeping through holes in the walls partitioning the corridors, and ascending to the top of several lofty bridges, formed by fragments that have fallen from roof and walls and wedged themselves securely. the construction of these bridges is often marvellous to see. in one case a number of rocks form an irregular arch, at the top of which a keystone wedges the whole cluster together. obviously they must have fallen and come together practically at the same instant. this was what happened hard by with two great boulders that fell down the rift and caught each other in mid-air. another impressive natural structure is known to explorers of wookey hole as the spur and the wedge. the huge horizontal peak of limestone projecting into the chasm brings to mind a famous passage in mr. rider haggard's _she_. this spot was the scene of a droll adventure that befell one of my companions years ago. with several other boys, he wandered into these passages, when suddenly the one candle they had with them went out. a boy had been commissioned to bring a supply of matches, but it was ascertained that he had only one left, which on being struck promptly went out. in this emergency, the lads could do nothing but sit still until help arrived. they had no food, and in trying to feel the time, they broke the hands of the only watch. they computed that they had been in durance three days when the rescue party reached the spot, but the protracted and hungry period of waiting turned out to be only eight hours. their resting-place was the flat back of the pinnacle, with a -foot drop on one side and jagged rocks on the other. in two places in these galleries there are fine displays of stalagmite on the wall, in the form of corrugated sheets, the ridges of which, stained red with ferrous deposits, hang straight down like a series of organ pipes. the walls glisten here and there with minute crystals. but the most striking sight is where the dolomitic conglomerate, of which the walls are composed, appears in clean-cut sections. one of these, which has been successfully photographed, shows the differently coloured pebbles, chiefly mountain limestone with a few of old red sandstone, embedded in the matrix, and surrounded with distinct layers of cement, all as brilliantly defined as the concentric rings of an agate. hard by is a corner where mr. balch discovered the bones of a man; they were mineralised, but it was impossible to tell their period, or even whether they represented an interment, or were merely the remains of some wanderer from his tribe who had perished in this forlorn spot. sleeping bats hung from many a coign, and would not be awakened even when lifted down. big cave spiders crawled over the walls in the parts adjoining the open air, where the breeze found its way in, although we could not see through the narrowing crevices. here and there the cocoons of the spiders hung from the roof in white, woolly balls. at the farthest point reached was a settlement of jackdaws, with a number of untidy-looking nests, and there we could hear a thrush singing in the trees outside; for we were close to the main cliff, and the river was flowing out beneath our feet, under a great thickness of rock. [illustration: stalactite grotto: new chambers, wookey hole cave. _photo by h. e. balch._] [illustration: stalactite grotto, wookey hole. _photo by claude blee._] by the natural falling in of the roof, the first great chamber of wookey has broken through into the galleries above, and certain passages of the upper series now open high up in the vault of the witch's kitchen. one of these openings has been known for years; another, which we reconnoitred carefully in march , has now had its barrier of cave earth cut through, with the result that a group of stalactite chambers of wonderful beauty has been disclosed, with untold possibilities of further advance. boxing day was spent in an exploration of these new chambers. climbing on my shoulders, mr. balch got hand-hold in a chink of the limestone, and pulled himself up feet. here a stalagmite peg held the rope ladder whilst we clambered after, entering a cross gallery that gives access by another short scramble to the loveliest of the new grottoes. when the discovery was made, mr. balch and his assistants had to keep watch and ward day and night, until a door had been fitted up, and every hole and crevice securely blocked; for the entire village was quickly on the scene, and irretrievable damage might have been committed. the grotto is irregular in shape, and the incrustations are disposed without order or system. from every nook and corner in the superimpending rocks bundles of stalactite spears are thrust; bosses and pillars spring from the floor, and sometimes meet the descending shafts. of all these frail pillars, the finest, rising on the very edge of the rift we had ascended, seems to support the whole ponderous roof, like the fragile column left by a dexterous architect, to cheat the eye, in some cathedral vestibule. certain of these hanging shafts are shaped like the barbed head of a spear, a slanting stalactite having intercepted and coalesced with the dripping calcite from an inch or two away. a creamy, brownish yellow, with a golden lustre like that of amber, is the prevailing tint; but, here and there, plaques of dazzling white shine out against the burning magnesium. crawling in and out among the stalagmite pedestals, grievously afraid of injuring the diaphanous fabric, we emerged in a very low chamber of great area, right across which a grille of translucent rods, each a foot high and ranged in regular line, fills the narrow space between roof and floor. this extraordinary and strangely beautiful railing is some feet long, and only in one spot is it possible, by dint of careful wriggling, to pass between the rods into the farther parts of the chamber. mr. balch entreated me not to attempt this. when he tried it, a fortnight ago, he had indeed got through to the series of caves beyond, but, in returning, a projection had caught him at the lowest spot, where the chamber is only nine inches high, and he had struggled hard for twenty minutes before he could move an inch. two of us, notwithstanding this advice, ventured through. after draining off a pool of water that was held back by a thin rim of dripstone, we traversed the low chamber and a short tunnel beyond, climbed a vertical cleft, and entered another low chamber of immense length and breadth, whose various extensions we explored until the accumulated deposits of boulders and cave earth stopped our advance for the time being. in returning through the tunnel and the low chamber with the grille, we tried successfully to dive under the archway and wriggle into the opening head foremost, in spite of two opposing stumps of stalagmite. by these tactics we escaped the worst of the squeeze. [illustration: stalactite pillars, wookey hole. _photo by claude blee._] [illustration: new stalactite grotto, wookey hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] whilst engaged in this excursion, we had heard the sound of hammering somewhere away in the heart of the rock. it was our three friends attempting to break into a promising gallery, which ought to cross the vestibule of the main cavern and connect the two groups of upper caves. we were not long in joining them; and now with pick, hammer, and crowbar we attacked the barrier in force. the chief obstacle was a great flat rock standing on end across the unexplored opening, and propped up by a heap of boulders, which we gradually smashed up or removed to one side. still the big fellow would not budge, and we had to sap his foundations by degrees. yet this huge rock was but a fragment that had fallen from the edge of a vast and threatening leaf of rock, which now hung over our heads like a monstrous guillotine. the upper caves are waterless, and it soon became desirable to send one of our number to fetch us a drink. presently we heard a plaintive cry from the distance: his candle had gone out, and he had forgotten the matches. going to the rescue, i found him groping about on a shelf of rock, feet from the floor, hard by the spur and wedge; he had lost his bearings altogether. on his return, we made another onslaught upon our rocky adversary, the five of us sitting on his shoulder and pushing against the wall, whilst our leader waxed grimly facetious as to what would happen to us if the shock brought down the guillotine. slowly and painfully we tilted the mass of rock over, but only a few inches, leaving just room enough for a thin man to crawl behind. squirming eagerly into the opening, i looked under, and was disappointed to see that, if wide, it was still heaped right to the crown of the arch by the rubbish flung there long ago by the river. nevertheless, mr. balch was not dissatisfied. though parts of these ancient waterways are choked with débris, it is unlikely, nay impossible, that the main channels should not remain open. our day's work had taken us on another stage in our slow journey. the labour of removing the new obstacle will be considerable, but the result is sure. in we had the pleasure of escorting that veteran speleologist, monsieur e. a. martel, through the old and the new caves at wookey hole. about the same time efforts were made anew to force a way into unexplored territory, with not uninteresting results. many hours were spent one day by three of us in a hole that we had discovered just within the doorway of the cavern, a thing that had most unaccountably escaped observation hitherto, though right under our noses. the opening pointed in the direction of the lower cave mouth, where the axe comes out; but it certainly did not look very promising. crawling in, we found ourselves in a steeply descending passage, almost completely choked by stones and cave earth. but at the end of the first portion it was noticed that the floor dropped suddenly, indicating a chamber or gallery below. an afternoon was spent in the laborious task of shifting rocks, small stones, and earth, and passing up the fragments, great and small, from hand to hand, until they could be placed in safe positions near the mouth of the hole. eventually, an ancient channel through the solid rock was disclosed, and at the end of feet or so a broad low chamber appeared, floored with rocks and earth, and roofed in with solid rock at a height of or inches. pushing on, the leader speedily found he was jammed between floor and ceiling, and could go no farther without more engineering; but an elder wand was procured, a candle tied to the end of it, and this rough-and-ready torch being pushed forward, it was possible to see some feet ahead into the low chamber, in the depths of which a row of spiky stalactites stretched across like an alabaster grating. to explore this chamber thoroughly, it will be necessary to hollow out a passage in the soft floor. in all likelihood, it crosses the present river-course at a level only a few feet higher. quantities of pottery, bones, teeth, and fragments of charcoal were found in digging out the obstacles. it seems most probable that the hole was stopped up by human agency in prehistoric ages; perhaps it was a place of sepulture. the obstacles were carefully wedged together, and their removal caused much difficulty. it is not pleasant to lie on one's back in a hole, whose roof is only a few inches above one's face, and have a block of limestone rolled from end to end of one's frame, without allowance for projections in either. in all several tons of material were shifted and carried out of the way. much of the pottery had designs of a primitive character worked on the surface; the more elaborate was romano-british. considerable sections of amphoræ and other vessels have since been pieced together. [illustration: the grille: new chambers, wookey hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: the source of the axe, wookey hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] next day i made a curious find at a point farther in. where the path from the entrance rises over a big accumulation of rocks, just before it reaches the first great chamber, a hole in the floor had been noticed. it had not been explored, but was waiting for someone capable of standing an exceptionally hard squeeze. the depth being uncertain, i had a rope tied on, and after a brief struggle managed to get through the first hole, into a crooked passage of no great length, which brought me down to a small bell chamber. this had simply been produced by the piling up of huge quantities of rocks and stones on the floor of the original cavern, the whole structure having since become thoroughly cemented and solidified by the growth of stalagmite. there were many teeth lying about, but the most interesting object was a wooden bowl, slightly flattened out, and resembling the top of a man's skull in shape and size. it felt soft, like a piece of cork, but was perfectly sound. what its age would be one could not tell within a century or two. it is now in the possession of mr. troup of wells. e. a. b. strenuous days in the eastwater swallet from two to three miles north of wookey hole, on the top of the mendip tableland, is a broad, shallow valley, surrounded on every side by higher ground. it is a grey, desolate tract, with few trees dotted over its surface, but a thick belt of wood on the south, the dark green of which in summer, and the black stems in winter, make the grey landscape seem the more arid, gaunt, and desolate. the ruined engine house of a deserted lead mine does not add to the attractiveness of the scenery. but that is soon lost to sight in the vastness of the rolling tableland, which swells up in the distance to feet above the sea on pen hill to the east, and again to the same height at priddy nine barrows on north hill, the general brown tints of the heather and bracken showing that the old red sandstone comes to the surface on these and the other saliences of the plateau. within this shallow basin the rock is limestone, and the causes of the existence of a valley without any visible outlet for its drainage are at once manifest. in many places the surface of the ground is scored and pitted by innumerable depressions of diverse shapes and sizes; roundish basins, steep funnels, craggy troughs with streams running in and disappearing, and mere dimples, grass-lined and perfectly dry. through these swallets, or swallow holes, the whole of the drainage finds a vent, and all the material excavated by the forces of nature in the process of hollowing out this valley, has been carried off in the same way. the work is still going on. at eastwater a little stream, flowing down a long ravine, suddenly comes against a limestone cliff, and begins to burrow. less than a mile away, another stream, big enough to be called a brook, pours into a cleft in the ground and is seen no more. this second swallow is known as swildon's hole, swildon being a corruption of swithin. years ago, in the course of a lawsuit, it was proved that the waters about the village of priddy, which stands on the edge of this upland valley, find their way into the axe, uniting their streams somewhere in the heart of the hill between this point and wookey hole. when there were storms on the hilltop, or the upland waters were fouled artificially, the axe came out turbid. that the area drained by the underground axe is a large one is proved by the size of the river, which must be formed by the junction of a good many streams of the volume of eastwater and the swildon brook. probably that area extends as far east as hillgrove, where a series of swallets in a woodland ravine are now being enlarged by mr. balch, with a view to an exploration of the underlying caverns. in mr. balch's party made a descent into swildon's hole, and got to a depth of feet below the point of absorption, which is at the same level as the eastwater swallet and that at hillgrove--that is, feet above the sea. difficulties having been put in the way of a more complete exploration by the owner of the field in which the swallet is situated, he turned his attention to the neighbouring stream of eastwater, which, unfortunately, runs away through holes impenetrable to man, and therefore had not promised so easy a route into the unknown. undeterred by the obvious difficulties, mr. balch set to work early in , and, as he describes, made his way at last into the open passages underneath the swallet. in the course of two or three visits he reached a point nearly feet below the cave mouth, and distant about feet in horizontal measurement. [illustration: entrance to great cavern of eastwater. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: section of eastwater cavern.] he invited a large party to descend with him on march th, , for a more elaborate exploration. besides the leader, mr. balch, experienced cave explorers came from oxford, derby, holmfirth, glastonbury, and wells. driving up from wells early in the morning, we donned our overalls at the mouth of the swallet. everything was in readiness for the adventure, and at eleven o'clock or thereabouts the first man descended the artificial hole, feet deep, into the enormous accumulation of loose rocks that extends for more than feet into the head of the cavern. the blocks forming the sides of this shaft, and many of those beyond its foot, had been carefully underpinned with timber. everything bore witness to the labour and perseverance spent in engineering an entrance. the baggage having been let down by a rope, we pushed on through the confusion of rocks by a maze of passages resembling the intricacies of the well-known goatchurch cavern, at burrington, although the rocks, instead of being huge rectangular masses, were shattered into the most irregular forms and sizes, leaving holes between scarce big enough for a human body to squeeze through. the first explorers were two hours in finding a way through this bewildering labyrinth. some of our men went head foremost, others crawled on their backs with feet in front. the rocks were water-worn and jagged, and often so rotten with the action of water laden with carbonic acid, that a finger could be thrust in up to the hilt, as into clay. we formed ourselves into a chain to hand on the luggage; this was a trying business, for we were taking down more than feet of rope, besides a pick, a shovel, a bucket, various steel pulleys, an ample stock of candles, and provisions for three meals, to humour which through these unaccommodating passages was worse than coaxing one's own body along. both horizontal and vertical openings occurred here and there, and had to be avoided carefully, one of the most important of these being a flood-way formed by the stream entering the swallet. it was curious to find a withy stick making desperate efforts to put forth leaves in the darkness, and succeeding in producing a long white sprout. suddenly the noise of falling water was heard, and the leading men called for the rope ladder. the masses of loose rock end abruptly. to the right a steep tunnel, called the -foot way, carries a small stream down; to the left is a large, irregular chamber; and beyond it, the main passages of the cavern. the ladder being secured, each man resigned himself to the inevitable drenching, and descended into the rugged cave at the head of the -foot way. a camera was got down so far, but most of the apparatus was left at the parting of the ways. our road was now decidedly easier. the water-channel was rugged, but the roof rose fairly high, and there were few boulders. a large tunnel, cut in the solid rock, brought down a tributary stream on the right; on the other side, a horizontal tunnel was marked down for further investigation. the real termination of the -foot way has not been discovered. at present there is no passing beyond a choke of stones and gravel that fills it nearly to the roof; but mr. balch proposes to remove this. we returned to the horizontal tunnel. it led into an extensive sloping chamber whose shape is peculiarly characteristic of this cavern. roof and floor, roughly parallel, are inclined at an angle of fifty degrees. for a long distance there was space to creep along under the roof, then the space grew less, and at length the leading men shouted that they could get no farther. being rather slighter in build than those who were in front, i made an effort to pass them, and succeeded by clambering along at a higher level. a hole between some choke-stones and a stalactite gave me admittance to a continuation of this extraordinary chamber. then, dropping into a dry water-channel, i wriggled downward and downward, following the noise of some dislodged stones that rattled away to a considerable depth. at last i found it impossible to get any farther, though two more feet would have led me into a sudden widening that looked rather promising. the next man behind was unable to get within feet of this point. [illustration: the descent of eastwater cavern, the second vertical drop. _from sketch by h. e. balch._] [illustration: the great canyon, eastwater cavern. _from sketch by h. e. balch._] after an exceedingly painful journey back to the mouth of the tunnel, we sat down to lunch, before re-ascending the rope ladder, and carrying our baggage through a series of awkward holes and pits, all deluged with water, into the big chamber at the head of the main passages. in this chamber, whose walls, floor, and roof are formed of gigantic blocks seemingly on the point of collapsing, is an opening in the roof, through which a stream comes tumbling in. at the farthest corner therefrom a large opening leads to the bottom of a chimney or aven. great quantities of clay on walls and roof show that this cavern has frequently been filled with water through the choking up of the lower exit. the stream runs away into the rocky floor at the lower end of the cave, and a few feet above it is a flood-way, a short, low tunnel, through which we crawled. then begins one of the most interesting portions of the cavern. in one of those broad, low-roofed fissures, inclined at the same angle of fifty degrees as the general dip of the strata, and formed, in fact, by the widening of a bedding-plane in the limestone strata, a deep, winding channel has been cut by the stream we have just passed. it has been called, from its likeness, the canyon. for a considerable distance our path lies down the canyon, and with our heavy burdens we find the passage far from easy. as far as possible, we keep near the top of the ravine, straddling across. sometimes, however, there is no help for it but to drop right to the bottom. before we reach its termination, we have to climb out on the smooth, sloping floor of the main fissure, and wriggle forwards lying on our sides or on our backs. foot-hold and hand-hold being singularly scarce hereabouts, we shall find this one of the most troublesome places in returning. on the right, we have a glimpse through a hole here and there of another great low-roofed fissure sloping at the same angle; then there are cross roads, with a tunnel on the left admitting to a stalactite chamber, and a passage on the right leading to the lower end of the canyon. we now reached the most constricted portion of the main channel. it is a low, roundish tunnel, with an s curve at the distant end. a good deal of our locomotion might be likened to crawling through drain-pipes; we were now coming to a sort of trap. the s bend has to be taken with the body lying on its right side. once in it, the explorer cannot turn round, since the diameter every way only just admits a human body, and the three curves are close together. my candle went out half-way through, and to unjam my arm and get it down for the waterproof matches was a difficult and protracted operation. moving the luggage through was a very severe task, the width of the hole at one spot being only nine and a half inches. we issued into a good-sized passage. immediately on the left a twisting fissure went down to the head of the first perpendicular drop; but, leaving this for a while, we spent nearly an hour exploring the lofty chamber straight ahead of us. it rises to an unknown height in a vertical fissure, narrowing gradually. at the bottom is a deep cutting, which some of us passed by back and knee work, at a height above the floor. on the left, that is the eastern, wall are openings into a parallel tunnel with good stalactites. at the far end both this tunnel and the passage itself are blocked with clay and gravel.[ ] on our second visit, a day or two later, i explored a tunnel in the other wall feet from the floor. it led into another of the vast sloping fissures already described, which i was too much exhausted to explore very far. these fissures, all inclined at the same angle, and either parallel or else lying in one plane, are most impressive features of the eastwater cavern; their extent is evidently enormous, and it seems as if only a few frail pillars of jammed stones served to prevent the great mass of the hill from settling down and crushing roof and floor together. on a more minute survey it may turn out that these are all portions of one huge fissure, merely partitioned off by different chokes. [ ] recently, october , mr. balch dug through an obstruction here and entered a vast fissure chamber, which he climbed to a height of feet: it has a remarkable shaft as its outlet. it was four in the afternoon when we entered the twisting fissure leading to the first vertical descent, and two of the party had now to return. through an oversight in not bringing a short rope for harnessing the pulley, nearly two hours were spent in rigging up the tackle, the situation being awkward for letting men down safely. we were ensconced in a little chamber, the boulder floor of which opened into the top of a narrow rift widening downwards, where, about feet beneath, the walls funnelled into a yawning pit feet deep. this pit had been explored previously, and was found to be choked at the bottom; it formed a safe and certain receptacle for anything lost or dislodged by persons descending the cliff above it. the configuration of our hole was such that only one man at a time could get a steady pull on the life-line, which ran over a pulley. a manilla rope was therefore let down from the same belaying-pin, for a man to climb up and down by, so far as he was able, the life-line being used merely as a safeguard. one by one the explorers dropped over into the abyss. the last three or four had the best of it, since, with a hauling party below, full use could be made of the pulley. we were now drawing nigh to the final tug of war. a quarter of an hour of indescribable wriggling brought us to a narrow and lofty rift, into which as many of the party as it would accommodate wedged themselves, right over the second vertical drop. much the same tactics were resorted to here, save that, instead of a fixed pulley, each man in turn had a large steel pulley belted to him, through which ran feet of rope, one end fixed to a wedged boulder beneath us, the other end in the hands of the hauling party. a -foot manilla was, as before, allowed to hang free, as a guide-rope, over the crags, and enabled each man to do something for himself and assist those above. only four men essayed this last descent. the gigantic cavity into which we now dropped is one of the most savage and impressive things it has ever been my lot to see. at the top, over the heads of the hauling party, it runs up into the rocky mass of the hill as a vertical chimney, under the mouth of which lay what appeared to be a deep black pit. we alighted, one by one, on a sloping shelf that traversed the side of the cavity at a considerable height. creeping along this ledge, we saw at the end of it a huge cavernous opening descending into darkness, with a mighty rock wedged across it like a bridge. the black, gaunt walls on each side of us were craggy and rifted; their surfaces glistened with streaming water. our ledge ending abruptly, we dropped, hand over hand, on the rope, to the edge of a large pothole, into which a stream was rushing. at this point a tunnel goes off to the left, and, as it had not been explored, i was asked by mr. balch to proceed down it. two of us crept and clambered and slid down a very dirty watercourse, till, at a distance of perhaps yards, we found ourselves atop of a high clay bank, closely overhung by rocks, with a stream rumbling along to the south-south-west. i got within feet of the water, but without a rope to get us up again we would not venture farther. we had now been in the cave nine and a half hours, and were too much fatigued to undertake new work. it was ascertained, beyond reasonable doubt, that a fine series of potholes that exist in the continuation of the great cavity must drain into the stream just discovered. beyond those potholes, to pass which involves much hard work, is another cavity, and beyond that what?--at present no one can tell. all we know is, that the water finds its way ultimately into the vast reservoirs inside wookey hole; but whether there are other vast cavities, or merely narrow crevices and impassable clefts between, is a question that will require labours almost herculean to solve. in scrambling back along the ledge in the big cavity i gave the final shove to a dangerous loose rock weighing something like six hundredweight. it fell into the ravine beneath, and hurtled onwards toward the chain of potholes, making the whole grim place ring with a crash of echoes. it took us two hours and a half to return to the cave mouth, although we were unencumbered with apparatus, for we had left the ropes and pulleys in place for another descent. getting seven men up the higher of the two vertical pitches was a tough undertaking at the end of an arduous day, and when we returned through the famous s tunnel more than one explorer seemed disposed to snatch a sleep on its procrustean bed. we had been twelve hours underground when we revisited the glimpses of the moon. it had been proposed to continue the exploration next day, but no one was fit for such a repetition of exhausting labours. the day following, a party of three was mustered to recover the apparatus that had been left in the depths. two of us reached the head of the nethermost pitch, and after hours of severe work got everything up to the mouth of the swallet. once more we drove back over mendip in the dark. all around us on the desolate plateau was impenetrable gloom, but in the northern sky, and it seemed but a few miles away, the lights of bath and bristol flared across the heavens like two immense conflagrations. never does one feel the sublimity of the open, windy earth, the starry sky, and the free sense of space, so profoundly as after striving for a long day to break through the barriers that shut us out from the regions of mystery under the hills. e. a. b. swildon's hole an insignificant crevice, a hole scarcely wide enough to tempt a dog or fox, alone gives admittance to what is perhaps the wildest and most magnificent cavern in britain. swildon's hole, it has already been stated, lies at the same level, feet above the sea, as the eastwater swallet and that of hill grove. it lies in a separate trough, within the same basin as the eastwater stream, with whose waters it unites somewhere in the bowels of the rocky hills, to flow out of wookey hole as the river axe, of which it may be considered as the principal feeder. a few years ago the actual swallet was visible, the brooklet running away into holes under a bank of earth and rock crowned with foliage. more recently, in order to make a small fish pond, the landowner has made a dam above the swallet, which is entirely concealed by this means, an entrance remaining, however, into the maze of cavities and waterways through a narrow crevice at the side. mr. balch was the first person to recognise the importance of swildon's hole as a chief feeder of the axe, and in he made preparations to explore it. but through some delay, three members of his party were the first to enter the cave, without him--namely, messrs. troup and h. and f. hiley. a short while after, mr. balch was able to carry out a more extended exploration. then for some time no one entered the swallet, which gradually became choked with stones and litter brought down by the stream. very few had ever heard of the cave, and hardly anyone realised that one of the most beautiful pieces of underground scenery in britain was lying there unseen, and one of the most important of hydrological problems remaining quite unsolved. the next visit took place about christmas . mr. troup, who had been one of the first in the cave, took the lead of our party. my other companions were messrs. bamforth and e. e. barnes, but we expected to be joined some hours later by mr. balch and mr. slater. when the first explorers entered this cavern some little while ago, they met with serious difficulties owing to the presence of ancient chokes or dams that held back pools of water, but they were assisted by the dryness of the weather. we, on the contrary, made our descent after a period of heavy rains, and the volume of water that accompanied us down was twentyfold as great. we had one advantage, however: the original discoverers were with us to point the way. with luggage reduced to a minimum, two ropes, plenty of illuminants, food, and two cameras, we passed through the uninviting entrance, and attacked methodically a close-packed mass of débris that had been washed into a narrow gut since the former visit. whilst we lay at work, the sound of falling water in the depths below broke on our ears, a musical but ominous salutation. the obstacle wasted two hours of valuable time. wriggling through at last, feet foremost, our legs came out over the rift, a narrow chasm some feet deep, with the head stream of the cavern tumbling in over a choke-stone at one end. our goods were let down carefully into the hands of the first man, who lodged them in a sheltered spot whilst we scrambled hastily down through showers of spray. now began a painful advance into the depths. along the tilted bedding planes, down the perpendicular joints of the limestone, widened by the water into broad, low chambers and deep shafts and canyons, we forged ahead, hugging the stream, which grew larger and angrier as tributaries came swishing in from walls and roof. at one point the water swept horizontally along a straight canal, but was stopped at the end by a recent choke, and now tumbled through a hole in the wall into a huge pothole. through this lay our road. [illustration: entrance of swildon's hole. _photo by m. martel._] [illustration: waterfall, swildon's hole. _photo by h. e. balch._] the water poured down a staircase of similar basins, where to keep clear of the stream was impossible. so far we had kept tolerably dry, but as we clung to this watery ladder i pricked up my ears at the remark, "will you have your back or your stomach in it?" crouching on all fours, with back pressed against the low roof, and looking between my legs, i watched the performances of my comrades, as each in turn went through the final archway. not one escaped a severe wetting. but i was going to be more wily--at least, i thought so. with hands and knees in the rushing stream, i squirmed hastily but cautiously through. i seemed to be getting on famously, and gave a spurt. that moment the rocks ended; they were undercut. i found myself sliding down a waterfall feet high, and floundering in a big pool at the bottom. drenched we were; but what better preparation could we have for the troubles ahead? this part of the cavern shows traces of enormous changes in the course of the stream, which has planed down great masses of stalagmite, the growth of ages, when this section of the tunnels was dry or all but deserted by the streams, which found a way down by the horizontal canal or some higher channel. between this first water-chute and the second lies the most nerve-trying part of the journey to the farthest point hitherto attained. it is a succession of lofty rifts, giving into each other at right angles, the water sweeping from one to the next through curving fissures and sudden falls. for a while we kept above the canyons on a water-worn shelf, all that remained of a low, flattish chamber that sufficed for the small streams of older times. this giving out, we scrambled along the cliffs of the canyons, which seemed in the gloom without top or bottom, bestraddling the rift, or with feet on one side and back to the other pushing on from hold to hold. the limestone grips would have been amply sufficient for this mode of progression had they not been drenched and slippery. below us the waters raced and bellowed. at the junctions of the canyons they sounded on all sides at once; the invisible hollows all round seemed to be alive with angry voices, mad to be at us. what if a thunderstorm burst over mendip now? such thoughts would occur, although we knew we could climb into safety on the upper shelves of the canyon; for with a water-chute above and another below, a little flood would make us fast prisoners. at the well, the stream tumbles suddenly into a deep round pit, in which it is churned to foam before being driven out with accelerated speed along a rugged gorge to the second staircase of potholes. shreds of magnesium ribbon dropped into the well lit up such a turmoil of waters as one might see in some gigantic turbine going at full speed. two of us now went ahead to report on the condition of the next stage. the gorge was too wide for climbing, but we found a footing on the rocks in the bed, then squirmed through a narrow fissure, and began to descend the potholes. these were deep basins, with high walls on the upper side where the stream poured in, and the other side broken down by the force of the torrent. below them lay the second water-chute, a big fall pitching into a hole underneath a low arch, and sliding out into a turbulent pool. it was a sort of culvert, with very little head-room above the water. had we not come through so many tribulations already, and had we not known of the glories that awaited us in the great stalactite chamber beyond this last trial, we should certainly have been turned back by this obstacle. after some little hesitation we resolved to attempt it, and went back to the head of the well for our companions. one of the cameras had already been left behind; it was decided to leave the other here. the leader went down the water-chute on his back; the rest adopted all the other attitudes possible short of a complete header. but it made little difference; all got a most effectual drenching. running the gauntlet beneath another tributary, which came swishing in just over our heads, we pushed on into a high and ample chamber, where in times gone by a volume of water had accumulated in a sort of gigantic cistern. the rocky roof was flat and smooth, its cracks and fissures fringed with meandering lacework of stalactite. in front, the rocky mole that once held up the reservoir was cloven into a series of limestone seracs, between which the stream found its way down into the remoter cavities. masses of clay, some feet thick, deposited by the ancient waters, still flanked this rugged portal into the unknown. bones of sheep, cattle, horses, and lesser mammals lay about in profusion, enough to reconstruct whole skeletons; with them were the relics of animals now extinct on mendip, deer and other creatures. higher up sherds of samian pottery had been found, brought down by the stream from the rubbish heaps of long ago. what struck the imagination as still more wonderful was that in this sunless spot, feet below the surface, there were creatures that lived. empty snail shells were abundant, but yet more plentiful were tiny snails that were actually crawling over the clay, feeding, no doubt, on water-borne vegetable matter. gossamer-like webs stretched across many chinks in the limestone, but the microscopic spiders we could not see. what flies did they live on? surely not the caddis, whose corpses lay about in plenty on every shoal. from this chamber the stream quickly descends into the great water rift, one of the most wonderful things in the whole cavern. it is but a few feet wide, but its height is enormous. the walls go up like mountain cliffs, but are lost in gloom instead of mist. here tremendous changes had taken place since the former exploration. at that time the rift was blocked up in one place by a vast barrage of rock and stalagmite, that came down to the stream and forbade human progress save by one strait and difficult way. at a height above the water a hole ascended seven feet into the barrier, its orifice all but closed by a fringe of stalactites. contriving to enter, the explorers crept up this pipe, and down a corresponding one on the other side, coming out on a cliff face overhanging the continuation of the water rift, to attain the bottom of which was an abstruse gymnastic problem. a little farther on they reached the utmost limit of their journey, where the stream beats violently against the termination of the rift, is hurled sideways, and finds an outlet through a low crevice, whence it tumbles in a -foot cataract into an unknown pool. our main object to-day had been to descend this -foot pitch; that was the reason why we had encumbered ourselves with two long ropes. but now all was different. in the short interval that had elapsed since the former visit, the strength of the ungovernable torrent had swept away the whole of this vast structure, the work of thousands of ages--for the pyramids are recent erections compared with these products of unimaginably slow crystallisation. hardly a vestige remained; and now the current dashed unimpeded from end to end of the water rift, and the incessant thunder of the cataract deafened ears already attuned to the noise of the higher falls and canyons. probably the removal of stones and dams by the former party, in making their way down, had contributed largely to this extraordinary event. nothing could be done in the face of such a volume of water. we turned, accordingly, out of the main passage into a lofty gallery or transept that branches off to the west, the general direction of the cavern being due south. to say it branches off is slightly incorrect, for it is really the course of a tributary brook, and quite possibly may have been in remote times the channel of the main stream. at all events its shape and magnitude indicate that it was once a very important section of the cavern. scrambling cautiously along the sides of the toppling fragments of the mole, we crossed a deep gap and entered the gallery. at the portal a great hollow corbel of stalactite stood out from the wall, like an enormous stoup, its huge rims curved over like the petals of a flower. it stood there in solitary grandeur, but it was a token of transcendent glories beyond. a few more steps, and we saw that we were on the threshold of a fane more beautiful than any made with hands. the rocks to right and left were sheeted with crystalline enamel, its surface powdered thickly with a minute splash deposit, so frail that it gave one a twinge to crush the lovely efflorescence as we moved. one could not go a step without destroying hundreds of these delicate spicules, the work of untold ages of water action. more great corbels stood out from the walls as we advanced; they were richly moulded with concentric rings of stalagmite, and these again were carved and chased with wonderful reliefs. from the corbels sprang huge pillars right to the roof, pillars feet in height; and from their capitals shining curtains hung down in ample folds, heavy as parian marble, and as lovely in hue. one would have called them white, had we not seen, hanging from a cleft high up in the lofty walls, a mass of curtains as white as arragonite, the whitest thing there is. so dazzling was their immaculate purity that the rich creamy surface of the other incrustations showed dusky in comparison. we were veteran cave explorers, yet it seemed to us that all the caves we had ever seen in britain could no more vie with this than parish churches with cathedrals. at each turn there was a new and more enthralling vista: more pillars, ampler curtains, piers and arches of oriental magnificence, fluted and moulded into wildest fantasies. it struck one with a curious wonder to think that all these splendours had lain here unbeheld by living eye, untouched by a gleam of light, until one casual year in the twentieth century. but the photographer was exercised by other feelings. he was here, but where was his camera? it had seemed a herculean labour to bring that much-enduring instrument down to the -foot level, but he declared that the task was not superhuman, and, furthermore, he was determined to do it. he could not do it alone, however; that was obvious. the expedition, therefore, came down out of the stalactite gallery. two went through the water-chute, two remained just outside it, to assist in the last and most dangerous stage of the transportation. we waited a long time; in fact, we had leisure enough to explore an interesting side gallery whilst the others made their way to and from the head of the well. at last their welcome shout was heard. standing in the water, with light held low under the arch, we caught sight of a hand, and then of a wading and much-crumpled-up man, lugging the camera, which he kept out of the foaming water with admirable skill. we grabbed it, and put the precious instrument in a place of safety; ten minutes later the flashlight was at work, taking our breath away with its gorgeous revelations. the photographer had his troubles even here, though not such as to be compared with those of the water caverns we had recently traversed, where at this moment two of our party, following us down, were engaged in photographing the canyons and the falls, under difficulties that few cameras have ever been confronted with. here there was no marble pavement suitable to the splendours of the walls; nothing for the camera to stand on but an inch or two of slippery ledge, with a depth of mud in the middle that none of us cared to fathom. the only place that could be found at one spot for the flashlight was the top of my unfortunate head, which i generously put at the photographer's disposal. on it was laid a piece of stone, on which the gun-cotton was spread and sprinkled with the powder, which, when it went off, made me shut both eyes for fear of the shower of sparks, and so i missed the glorious blaze of light that illumined the cavern. [illustration: entrance of stalactite chamber, swildon's hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: stalactite curtains, swildon's hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] these stately columns, soaring vaults, and sweeping marble draperies were strangely out of proportion to the narrowness of the place. but now the sinuous aisle broadened out, and the style of the architecture was changed entirely. we were at the junction chamber where, in the remote past, two big streams came down from the yawning passages to the left and right, and met here, probably as the main stream of the cavern. the roof is a spacious dome, hung with resplendent candelabra. but the unique feature of the place, the thing that impresses itself on the memory as one of the most dazzling creations of the wonder-working calcite, is the stalagmite bridge. bridge, i say, but it is more than a bridge, for its complicated arches support a beautiful piazza, with a huge array of dripstone terraces, crystal basins, massive pedestals, and obelisks of stalagmite, which all but fills the chamber and extends some distance up the alcoves behind. standing on one of the great hemispheres of dripstone, one could put one's head among the pendulous shafts above, and see how each was marvellously twisted, moulded, and fantastically embossed and gemmed with flashing crystals. the splash formation covered everything beneath the roof, save portions of the polished floor, with millions of tiny spicules. we had to move about cautiously, not only for fear of doing damage, but to avoid gaping pitfalls in the bridge, the surface of which was smooth as ice. [illustration: stalactite chamber, swildon's hole. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] whilst we were at work photographing a distant shout was heard, and soon the two men who had followed us down arrived at the big chamber. but our party was again reduced to its original four by the departure of two other members, who were to go back by the aquatic route in order to pick up certain articles that had been deposited on the way down. we ourselves hoped to get to the surface by another and a drier course. at the previous exploration two men had missed the rest of the party, and found their way, after divers adventures, through the ramifications of the cavern, to what they described as a great stalactite chamber, which was presumably our gallery. when they reached it, however, no one was there, nor any trace of human presence; either the explorers had finished their work and departed, or the pair had missed their way altogether. it was believed that they had come down to this very spot by the gallery joining this one on the north, and we purposed following that passage out. but this, as we presently discovered, was all wrong. two of us now went off on an exploring trip into the great passage running west. at once we encountered a series of huge obstructions. this passage was of the usual rift pattern, and, save for holes and crevices between, was wholly blocked up by large masses of tumbled rocks. one of us climbed to the top of the cyclopean pile, whilst i attempted to make my way along at the middle height, but eventually found it easier to crawl through the culverts and water-gaps, regardless of mud and wet. even among the piled-up rocks there were charming little nooks adorned with rich incrustations. when the rocks ended the open tunnel began to ascend rapidly; then, after a while, we came to another tunnel joining it on the north. this, though smaller, was the more important passage; the other shortly came to an end in a lofty grotto, bountifully tapestried with curtains and tassels of stalactite. we climbed the northern passage, through several brilliant displays of incrustation, and reached a level approximately feet below the surface, by aneroid; there we could get no farther. but, unknown to ourselves, we had brought back important information. we had noticed mysterious bits of string at two points in this series. when we reported the discovery to the two men left behind, they at once saw its significance. the two men whose route down to the stalactite chamber had caused so much perplexity had used a ball of string to mark their way out--these were the relics. our casual trip had, perhaps, saved us from a night of blind wandering in the unknown branches of the great tunnel on the north. all being in readiness for our departure, we now proceeded to take up this providential thread. it was not an easy task. often not an inch of string remained undecayed for many hundreds of feet together, and often we nosed the walls and floor, eagerly but in vain, for droppings of candle grease left by our predecessors. the way was dry, that was a relief, after six or seven hours in wet clothes; but it was a tighter squeeze than the other, and the sharpness of the turns was often aggravated by a portcullis of crystals on our backs, and a _cheval de frise_ of stalagmite spear-heads against our stomachs. all the while we wondered whether we should really find the exit, or whether we should have to return and undertake the canyons after all. mr. balch compared our task of finding the desired exit to an attempt to ascend from the mouth of a river to some unknown point upon one of its tributaries, with nothing to indicate which way to take. this puts the position clearly enough, i think. there was no string to be found in the higher parts. at last the man in front disappeared feet foremost through the ugliest hole we had yet seen, out of which the noise of waters sounded ominously. a cheering cry came back to us; he had found the rift, where we had descended seven hours ago into the route through the canyons. a few more yards of determined wriggling, and the candle left by the other two men hove in sight. we found they had got out two hours ago. the stars were shining from a clear sky, and a keen frost was on the fields, but the excitement and the success of our adventure were stimulant enough to keep out the cold. e. a. b. the great cavern at cheddar the ultimate goal of our researches at cheddar has been the discovery of the underground river-course. not many yards below the entrance to gough's, or the great cavern, a large body of water wells up at the foot of a cliff, spreading out into a beautiful mere, half encircled by crags; flows on thence through the village, performing a great deal of industrial work on its way; and, finally, proceeds a mile or two farther as the cheddar water, to join its brother, the axe, which has a similar origin. but less is known about the darksome course of the cheddar water than about the stream flowing out of wookey hole. with its tributaries, it has doubtless been the principal agent in the formation, not only of the caves, but also of the famous cheddar gorge, which bears every evidence of having been produced by the gradual destruction of a series of caverns. yet this important stream has actually not been met with hitherto at any single point of its course underground, and we have anything but complete information as to its sources on the uplands of mendip. the owners of the great cavern, the messrs. gough brothers, tell me that they intend to blast away about feet of rock immediately overlying the exit of the river. when the stream is very full, water often bursts forth here from cracks and joints several feet above the normal level, and they imagine that there must be a chamber of some height just within. this, however, in my opinion, is not a necessary inference, since every cavity and crevice behind the outlet would at such times be heavily charged with water, under pressure, and the large cavities might be a long way back. it is curious that the water in a low tunnel recently discovered in cox's cavern, which lies some distance from gough's, and at a lower level, rises and falls in unison with the movements of the water-level of the river outside, although that always remains feet higher. cox's cavern is occasionally flooded, yet the water never rises to a point within feet of the river level. obviously the subterranean connection must be of a complicated and roundabout form. at the time of my first serious attempt to explore the caves of cheddar, when our party contained dr. norman sheldon, mr. j. o. morland, and mr. harry bamforth, two of whom have not since been able to join us in somerset, i had not the advantage of knowing mr. h. e. balch, and we were utterly unaware of the great work he had been doing in the cave region adjoining wells. on the other hand, we received invaluable assistance from the brothers gough, who are not only proprietors of show caves, but take a sincere interest in underground exploration. their father, who died in , was the discoverer of the caverns that bear his name, and was actively at work pushing his way farther and farther into the rocky bosom of the hill up to the year of his death, at a good old age. [illustration: stalagmite pillars in gough's great cavern. _photo by gough, cheddar._] [illustration: the pillars of solomon's temple, gough's caves, cheddar. _photo by gough, cheddar._] the great cavern was discovered in . the parts open to visitors extend in a generally easterly direction for some yards, and consist of natural chambers and passages, connected here and there by artificial tunnels. we began work early in the morning, carrying into the cavern a large quantity of ropes, ladders of wood and rope, and plenty of illuminants, including a -candle-power limelight, which with its lens or condenser is one of the most valuable aids in subterranean work. many openings are seen overhead and in the walls of the cavern as the visitor advances, some of which end abruptly, whilst others lead into small grottos and galleries. one of the most conspicuous chimneys, or perpendicular caves, has at its base a peculiar staircase of stalagmitic basins, formed by the deposits of a calcareous spring that is now dried up. these basins are known as the "fonts." our conductors had been in the habit of climbing about feet up this lofty chasm, over the crust of stalagmite, and a wire rope had been fixed to assist visitors in ascending to a broad, deep ledge. above this point the rocks were much steeper. no one had ever succeeded in seeing the top, and at first we thought it would be impossible to ascend any higher without some sort of apparatus. we sent for a ladder, and meanwhile dr. sheldon and i tried to clamber over the jutting arch of rock that formed the first obstacle--a cave-pitch in a gully or chimney we should call it in climbing parlance. to our surprise, we succeeded in reaching the continuous channel or gutter above it, which ascended at a high angle, with sheer walls to right and left, and the other side of the huge shaft overhanging it. the holds were shallow and slippery, and with one hand grasping a candle we found the ordinary difficulties of a rock-climb multiplied enormously. half-way up my candle went out, but my companion was now well ahead, and i groped my way after him with confidence. when a shout from below announced that the ladder had been hoisted up to the platform above the "fonts" we were within a few yards of the top. at a height of feet (by the aneroid) above this platform and of feet above the floor of the cavern we found the shaft completely blocked up with débris and clay. we were in a subterranean pot, or swallet, of large dimensions, formed in remote ages by a big stream, which had worked through its limestone bed, and continued its path at a deeper level. whether this was the main stream that now flows in an unknown course hundreds of feet below, or only a tributary, it is at present impossible to tell. mr. bamforth's limelight was now projected up the chasm, revealing grand masses of superincumbent rock on the farther side, whilst the view downwards, past our friends into the dark bottom of the pit, was very curious. roping ourselves together for the descent, we kept near each other for fear of a slip, and took the utmost precautions not to dislodge any stones on the heads of those underneath. the limelight was a great advantage, although many dark reaches had to be carefully inspected with a taper before we could secure foothold. when we got to the critical bit at the bottom we found the ladder placed ready for us. not far from the entrance to the "fonts" is the mouth of a low passage on the other side, with a hole at the far end of it, that our guides thought must communicate with the underground river which, they conjecture, has its channel not far below this spot. we crawled into this burrow and fixed ourselves in the confined space round the black pit, which we found, by throwing in stones, had water in it. with a rope round my waist i climbed down the fissure, whose sides were of sharply corrugated rock though they looked like wet clay. about feet down the hole grew so narrow that i could not turn round; i could just reach the water with my foot, but found that it was quite a small pool. another "well," nearer the cave mouth, was explored after our further operations had been carried out. it was situated at the extremity of another burrow, but was much larger in circumference. steadied by the rope, i climbed to the bottom and found a large pool of great depth about feet below the edge. no current was perceptible, and its connection with running water is hardly probable. some years later, a perfect skeleton of a man was exhumed from the clay beneath the stalagmite in this burrow; accompanying it were numerous flint flakes. some peculiarities indicate that the find was that of a man of early neolithic age. it is shown by the gough brothers at the entrance of their cave. while some of the party were photographing the "show place," a lofty dome-shaped cavern with its sheet of stalagmite poured over the cliff like a petrified waterfall, two of us retraced our steps from "st. paul's," as this beautiful sight is nicknamed, to the branch leading to the other principal shows. "solomon's temple" is a wonderful grotto, walled, roofed, and floored with gleaming white and ivory calcite, and set at the top of another great fall of stalagmite which has flowed on and on in a gentle stream and covered the floor of a lofty cavern with dimpling waves of crystal. nor are these all its attractions, for on turning round the spectator sees on the opposite cliff a broad and voluminous sheet of stalagmite, rippling down, spouting and foaming over the rocks like a waterfall, but still as marble and white as frozen snow. we had seen all these things before, however, and were anxious to move on to new ground again. [illustration: organ pipes, gough's caves, cheddar. _photo by gough, cheddar._] [illustration: a stalagmite fall, gough's cave, cheddar. _photo by m. martel._] in the fork between the main passage and this big cavern is a large irregular opening, with disorderly blocks of limestone heaped up on its floor. we picked our way across these, and at a height of feet reached the edge of an abrupt rock some four yards high. we dropped over on to an earthy floor, and going a little farther found ourselves in a domical chamber with three low exits. first of all exploring that on our left, we had a look at a slanting shaft filled with a "ruckle" of big shattered blocks wedged insecurely, above which are two small chambers incrusted with stalagmite, but with no apparent exit. we climbed down again, and tried the third opening. it led through a series of caves and narrow clefts into a larger chamber, all maintaining the same easterly direction, and there we found two possible ways onward. the first of these brought us in a few moments to the brink of a steep cliff, which seemed to be one wall of a considerable cavern. we preferred to wait for the limelight before venturing to let a man down into this unknown abyss, and meanwhile to examine the other passage. a few minutes' crawling brought us to a great pit, which sounded very deep when we threw in some fragments of rock. apparently it was the chasm that had been described to us as feet deep by one of our guides who had descended part of the way. we approached the edge with respect, and as a preliminary step let down a rope ladder into the upper part, which is strangely twisted. at a depth of feet i found a possible landing-place; the second man joined me, and by dint of careful manoeuvring the third got down to the same spot. with an -foot rope tied on, i now explored the next section of the chasm, and was delighted to find that there was just enough rope to reach a slope of big rocks at the bottom. a little more scrambling brought me into a vast chamber, the floor of which was piled up with enormous blocks, while the lowest part seemed to offer two possible routes onwards. one of these proved to be a mere hollow, but the other was evidently the channel of a stream, and apparently led onwards into further caves. but the roof was extremely low, and it was quite impossible to wriggle through. one of my companions, who had now joined me, also failed to squeeze through the opening, and we decided to leave it until the hole could be enlarged with pick and shovel. the alleged feet was found by aneroid to be exactly feet. in a corner of this lofty cavern was a steep fissure which seemed to be well worth exploring. the bottom half of it was completely walled in by an enormous flake of limestone that had come down from the roof, and looked as if a touch would send it tumbling on the heaps of rock at the bottom of the cave. we scrambled up the fissure at the back of this, and reached a promising gallery; but, to our disgust, this was entirely blocked up with clay and mud at the top, and it was impossible to proceed. gaining the summit of the huge limestone flake, we lit up the cave with magnesium wire, and were deeply impressed by its height and the grandeur of the shattered crags bristling on walls, roof, and floor. everything was black, save one long, dripping cascade of stalagmite on the wall over against us; its unsullied whiteness shone weirdly out of the gloom as the fierce light fell on it. just at that moment voices were heard, and from a rent in the rocky wall in front the intolerable beam of the searchlight came right in our faces. the remainder of the party had followed us up, and reached the spot where we had first looked over into the deep chasm. revealed in all its extent by this penetrating light, the cave reminded us strongly of the enormous chamber that we had explored a few months earlier in the lowest part of the blue john mine in derbyshire. on the way back one of the acetylene lamps fell down the pit by which we had entered, and was completely smashed. with no other mishap, we made our way through the tortuous passages and amongst the chaos of tumbled rock masses back to the cavern under "solomon's temple." two of us explored the openings above "st. paul's" a few days later. a -foot ladder was placed against the corner of the stalagmite fall, and a yard or two of scrambling took us to the top. on the left was an ascending vault, with openings to right and left. taking the latter to begin with, we found it gradually trend downhill and dwindle away into a series of holes scarcely big enough to let a human body pass. squeezing through with a good deal of trouble, i reached a flattish cave with a floor of rock and stalagmite all cracked and fissured. the whole of this part seemed to have been shivered by some large movement of the rocky strata. one of the fissures gave entrance to a passage underneath the floor; but this speedily narrowed, and when it was impossible to get farther i found myself right underneath my companion, who was holding my rope and paying it out as i advanced from his original position in the outer passage. no other exit being discoverable on this side, we crossed to the passage on the right, and after a few yards of crawling under a depressed roof we found ourselves on the largest expanse of stalagmite either of us had ever met with. it had flowed down from fissures high up on our left and spread over a wide, rocky slope; it had then contracted and poured over a cliff immediately on our right. we still kept the rope taut, and moved about cautiously, for the crystalline floor was extremely slippery, and the cliff immediately beneath us would have made the slightest accident serious. a broad flat roof of rock overhung the floor of stalagmite closely, and was covered with thin pipes and reeds of stalactite. we soon ascertained that we had returned by a different route to the crown of the petrified cascade in "st. paul's," although a craggy partition separated us from our route up the ladder. we explored the edges of this huge surface of stalagmite, which we could not measure, having no better light to guide us than a few tapers, but which could not be much less than feet wide. where the deposits came down through crevices at the top they had settled in jewelled and diapered masses of the most fantastic patterns. our situation was, however, too precarious for lingering in this strange spot, and without another man to back one up it was impossible to explore the hole at the top. we gave up our quest reluctantly and returned towards our ladder, incrusted from head to foot with the thick, plastic clay. a convenient knob of stalagmite enabled us to give the rope a hitch whilst we scrambled down to the top of our ladder. one other passage from the main cavern was explored, with a curious cluster of vertical cavities near its extremity. the end of the passage was coated in every direction with tinted deposits, among which we noticed beautiful specimens of the branching stalactites that were called _anemolites_ by the explorers of the blue john caverns, who thought they had acquired their abnormal shapes through the irregularity of evaporation caused by air currents. i climbed or feet up one of the openings in the roof, whilst dr. sheldon explored another. at the top we found no exits big enough to afford a man passage. a wider cavity in the middle of the roof looked more promising. a ladder was adjusted, but fell short; but my companion, with considerable risk of a dangerous fall, clambered up to the rocky slope and over the piles of jagged blocks that well-nigh filled it. this too failed to afford us a passage, and the daring climber had great difficulty in coming down, being forced to thread the rope and let himself down on it to the ladder. during the operation a flake of rock came hurtling down and hit the ladder, but luckily did nothing worse than smash a rung. these cavities in the roof were extremely interesting, and no doubt are connected together and have a common origin in some neighbouring fissure or waterway. five caverns at cheddar the cheddar gorge, which is the deepest and narrowest defile, and on its south side presents the loftiest face of absolutely vertical rock in england, is not dissimilar, though far superior in height and grandeur, to the winnats pass in derbyshire. the huge chasm runs east-north-east across the dip of the limestone beds, which are tilted up towards the saddle of mendip; one of its sides, consequently, is formed mainly of shelving rock, and the other is almost continuously precipitous. if, as may be assumed with confidence, the original cause of the ravine was a stream or streams flowing through a chain of caverns, one would naturally expect to find openings on the abrupt side through which the underground waters were successively tapped, and followed the trend of the strata to a lower level. this view is confirmed by observation. except at the jaws of the defile, where both sides are equally high and precipitous, there are no caves on the northern side, but on the south openings both large and small are frequent, some narrow and lofty--"slitters," they are called locally--the others low and wide, according as they originated in a vertical joint or a bedding plane. they occur at various levels, some on inaccessible shelves high up in the cliffs, others along the base. but the larger number of these openings have in the lapse of time become silted up with clay and débris, so that the entrance is either completely masked or it is impossible to penetrate far without toilsome work with pick and shovel. after exploring the great cavern our party of four devoted some time to an examination of these openings, so far as could be done without excavating. there are three important caverns in close proximity to the great cavern, or gough's. the best known is cox's, a small but exceedingly beautiful stalactite cavern (see frontispiece). no one interested in caves would think of visiting cheddar without seeing the great cavern, nor would any such person dream of missing cox's. each is the complement of the other as a piece of underground scenery. the spacious vaults and vast stalagmite falls of the one fill one with a sense of power and majesty; the other is a gem of fantastic architecture, embellished with the most lawless and fairy-like designs of the subterranean artificer, and unique in one respect--the wealth and diversity of the mineral deposits that have dyed its multiform incrustations with luminous tints. no sane man, however, would attempt to describe cox's cavern in detail, and a photograph can give only colourless glimpses of its kaleidoscopic beauties. the cavern seems, at first sight, to be a solitary freak of nature, having no connection with the general system of caves and streams. but since the visit just referred to, several new passages have been opened, among them the interesting water-tunnel with its ebb and flow corresponding to the movements of the cheddar water outside, which, as already described, flows at a higher level. of three other good-sized fissures or ancient channels radiating from the same large chamber, two after a while dwindle away almost to nothing, but the third has indications of a channel striking downwards, which it might be worth while to clear of rubbish. all these passages were choked with clay until quite recently. [illustration: in cox's cavern at cheddar. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: great rift cavern, cheddar gorge. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] the next cave also is of minor interest to the speleologist, although it contains many curious sights. it is called "gough's old cavern," and its entrance is close to the mouth of the great cavern. it is an ascending cleft, apparently not linked at present with the other caves, although it was once probably a sloping aven draining into the big series of caverns that have been gradually cut back by the falling in of the defile. whoever likes such things may find here plenty of those freaks and alleged similitudes that puzzle and delight the ordinary sightseer. on a stalagmite excrescence nicknamed the "ribs of beef" we had the luck to see a far more interesting phenomenon. the calcite mass was clustered over with a number of motionless black objects, which we found to be roosting bats, hanging head downwards by their claws. they were not disturbed in the least by our presence, and one that was lifted off gently just showed his teeth and claws, and clung on again as fast as ever when replaced on the rock to resume his patient sleep. a photograph of this curious sight was obtained by means of the flashlight. at the head of the cave are several incrusted grottoes, where the process of deposition is still going on, roof and walls streaming with moisture. this part is not unlike the show places in the bagshawe cavern in the peak of derbyshire. in many respects the roman cave is much more interesting. its mouth is situated about feet up the cliffs, almost immediately over the cave just described. quantities of roman pottery, coins, bones, and other remains, have been discovered there, showing it to be one of the places that sheltered fugitives after the evacuation of britain by the roman legions. the entrance is a broad anticlinal arch, and the main passage, high-roofed and ascending gradually, runs east for perhaps a furlong. then the floor, which has been covered with earth and stones, becomes rugged and rock-strewn, and suddenly we creep through a lowly portal into a high and gloomy chamber, the shadowy corners of whose roof our lights are too feeble to explore. to all appearances this was the end of the cavern; but we had been told that the passage takes a turn here and goes on nearly a quarter of a mile farther. we scanned every part of the walls as far up as we could see, but no accessible opening disclosed itself. in a recess on one side a number of fallen rocks were piled up and wedged between the converging walls. to examine the cavity from a vantage spot, we climbed with a good deal of difficulty to the top of these, and there, to our astonishment, a wide passage sloped up at right angles to the one we had entered by. a curious slit in the wall opened into a perpendicular fissure that was situated right in the roof of the latter, and through the hole we caught a glimpse of our friends following us up. three men now pushed on up the new passage and entered a chamber whose sole exit was a small and uninviting hole. we crawled and scraped through, and on over sharp stones till at last we could get no farther. we had evidently doubled back over the main cavern, and that we could not be far from the open air was shown by the presence of a bewildered bat, who flew to and fro in the confined space and hit us in the face several times. and in the extreme recess of this narrow branch a steady draught of air blew in through a crevice and nearly put the lights out. through an oversight we found ourselves at this point reduced to two tapers and a bit, and to economise we kept only one alight at a time, so as to have enough for the return journey. all went well, however, and the sole difficulty we met with was in getting down over the wedged blocks in the big chamber, a climb that proved extremely awkward when taken the reverse way. in many parts of this cavern we noticed prodigious quantities of moths on the walls, as well as many huge spiders. but a more interesting thing was the vegetation naturalised in the caves, examples of which we found in other mendip caverns as well. it will be advisable to have them examined by a botanical specialist. all i can say about them now is that they consist of extremely slender branching tendrils, some white and translucent, others brownish, thin as cotton. it was late in the afternoon when we entered the roman cavern; it was dark now, and the stars were out. returning in advance of the others, i sat down just within the majestic gateway of the cavern, a flattened arch about feet wide resting on enormous rocky jambs, and looked out across the deep wooded abyss where cheddar lay, its lights reflected here and there by the dark waters of the mere, towards the craggy heights of mendip opposite, just sinking down towards sedgemoor. the great bear was shining brightly right in front--it almost spanned the breadth of the cave mouth; and the solemnity of the place and the hour could not but bring to mind the miserable fugitives who sat in this forlorn asylum, hemmed in by foes, and looked out on the same giant constellation thrice five hundred years ago. the place is admirably adapted for defence. a rear attack was of course impossible, whilst a frontal attack by way of the cliffs would be easily repelled; and a tolerable water-supply was to be found inside the cavern. the huge natural glacis of the fortress is covered to-day with a dense tangle of ivy and other climbers, through which we made our way heedfully, for a slip would have been easy in the dark, and a terrible fall the consequence. next morning we strolled up the defile and looked at the mouths of several caves that are now choked up. two furlongs above its entrance the ravine makes a double curve like a gigantic figure three. the two crescents of beetling limestone, with their jutting horns, that appear to the astonished beholder underneath like towering pyramids and slim aiguilles, rise to a vertical height of feet, and, being absolutely unassailable, they fill a crag climber's mind with admiration tempered by regret. what enhances their grandeur, while it softens the savage aspect of the sheer and ledgeless precipice, is the bountiful vegetation clinging wherever it can find a hold, dark shrouds of ivy and darker masses of yew standing out against the grey rock in beautiful relief. would the indomitable scramblers who haunt lakeland at easter, we asked ourselves, have forced a way up these tremendous "chimneys" if the cheddar cliffs had been pitched somewhere in the latitude of wastdale? we went so far as to reconnoitre one alluring fissure, feet or more in length, but the gap between its base and the first feasible lodgment was insuperable. not far away a long talus of scree marks the foot of an easy though rather sensational way to the cliff top. passing it by, we stopped at the mouth of a vertical fissure that opens on to the roadway. it expands slightly inside, and the roof soars higher and higher; then the floor breaks away, and the two men who descended the next feet had to be steadied by the rope. the walls were wet and soft, being incrusted with a sticky calcareous substance. at the bottom of the precipitous slope the magnesium ribbon revealed the enormously lofty walls of a narrow chamber, whose farther extent was blocked up by an accumulation of rocks and débris. returning to the open air, we ascended to the cliff top, and, skirting each promontory and rounding the edge of every bay, proceeded towards the mouth of the defile on the lookout for openings. not far from the highest point we had noticed from the road a series of dark cavities. one man scrambled along a ledge to the uppermost of these, and found that it was merely a shallow niche, and another, on a ledge some feet lower, proved to be only feet deep. he made a determined effort to reach another fissure on the same level as the last but sundered from it by a wide space of cliff which was covered with dense brambles. holding on to the prickly stems, and fighting his way through, he got near enough to see into the fissure, but was quite unable to enter it for a closer examination. an opening in the cliffs at a lower point, but still some feet above the road, led a long way into the recesses of the limestone strata, making two wide curves to the right, but maintaining a generally easterly direction. the passages were very low, narrow, and awkwardly shaped, involving a great deal of unpleasant crawling; and when we reached the stalagmite grotto at the end we found that it had been pillaged of every bit of calcite that could be removed. this cavern, the "long hole," must have been the channel of a stream that once flowed from somewhere on the other side of the gorge, through the mass of rock that has now been swept away by the forces of disintegration. though several hundred feet long, it is but the tail end of the cavern that once existed. the remainder of our time was devoted to two of the burrington caverns, on the opposite side of the mendip hills, and to a fruitless search for a large chasm or swallet hole into which the drainage from the now abandoned lead mines on the top of mendip used to fall and ultimately find its way to cheddar, where it poisoned the trout stream. a score or more of years ago i saw these mines, still in working order; but now the dried-up pools and the wilderness of refuse, with fragments of ruined buildings, look as old almost as the remains of the roman mines. of the important opening that we sought there is now no trace; it may have been filled up intentionally and the stream allowed to revert to its old channel, whence it had been turned artificially. hard by, in the long wood near charterhouse, and elsewhere, there are smaller swallets that we were already acquainted with; and there are others at priddy, the waters of which find an exit farther to the east. the ground we were on is well known to readers of walter raymond's romances, and we were much interested when it was pointed out that the lonely house facing us was the actual ubley farm that figures in _two men o' mendip_. e. a. b. the burrington caverns burrington combe is a smaller limestone defile on the north side of mendip--that is to say, the opposite side to that of cheddar. it is smaller, and because of its proximity to cheddar it has to suffer disadvantageous comparisons. anywhere else the grandeur of burrington combe, the magnificence of its crags, with dark, heather-clad black down lowering behind them, and the beauty of the copses that lurk in its corners and clamber up its precipices, would excite the admiration of guide-books and attract crowds of tourists. like the cheddar defile, burrington combe was doubtless formed by the gradual destruction of a series of caverns, and there remains of that series a number of caves or openings of blocked-up caves on either side of the ravine. of these the most important and the only one well known to speleologists is goatchurch cavern, which was explored by professor boyd dawkins in . the next in importance is aveline's hole, discovered in , but not explored till , when about fifty human skeletons were found lying side by side with their weapons, a stalagmitic crust sealing bones and implements to the floor. this cavern has since had its mouth silted up by drainage from the road, so that troublesome excavation will have to be undertaken before it can be entered again. it would well repay a thorough exploration, for it is reported that a natural pit, covered by a slab, has never yet been descended, and leads probably into important cavities. foxe's hole is interesting for its curious bosses of tufaceous stalactite. a nearly vertical cave, plumley's den, has been stopped up with a plug of timber and stones at the depth of feet, in consequence of a fatal accident to a man who tried to descend it in . at a level probably a few feet below that of the caves whose destruction was the origin of the combe, a good road with a grassy margin now ascends towards the top of mendip, where it joins the old roman road that runs from "severn sea" to old sarum, along the crown of the ridge. our waggonette when we left the bath arms at cheddar was piled up with ropes, cameras, gas cylinders, condensers for the searchlight, and an incredible amount of needful and superfluous things, for we were quite unable to say what would be wanted. climbing to the miniature mountain pass across mendip at shipham was hard work for the horse, and we walked up the hill. dr. sheldon and mr. bamforth were my companions. our clothes, still richly daubed with the clay and mire of the cheddar caverns, made our appearance both business-like and picturesque. the north side of the mendips is very different from the bleak and craggy slopes on the south. from the broad bare top of the hills down to the valley stretches, almost continuously, a deep mass of trees that looks in the distance like a wall of dusky verdure. we drove between orchards where great bushes of mistletoe grew on nearly every tree, till we were within a few hundred yards of burrington village; then, turning towards mendip, we drove through more orchards, till suddenly the rocky entrance of the combe appeared and we heard the clink of pick and crowbar in the limestone quarry not far from plumley's den. half-way up the gorge makes a sudden bend towards the east, a little below which point a shallower ravine comes in on the other side. about feet above the bed of this dry ravine is the entrance to goatchurch cavern. we coaxed the horse over the stony turf and up the ravine till the roughness of the ground and the thickness of the bramble bushes stopped him. at this point we were met by the lord of the manor, mr. james gibson of langford, who is the owner of the burrington caves. his men assisted us to get our apparatus up to the cave mouth, and afterwards convoyed us and the luggage throughout the less difficult parts of the cavern. a few years ago the entrance to goatchurch cavern was an insignificant hole, through which adventurous boys used to crawl as far as the first considerable chamber, where professor boyd dawkins found a few remains of extinct animals. owing to the depredations which were made by neighbouring villagers in search of specimens of calcite, mr. gibson recently had the entrance enlarged and closed with a padlocked gate, the public being admitted only on certain days of the week or by appointment. it is a pity this step was not taken before many of the finer stalactites had been carried away. in this long chamber, the floor of which is covered with sheets and bosses of dripstone, we entered some of the funnel-shaped openings in the roof by means of a ladder, but soon perceived that no discoveries were to be made that way. at the end of the chamber a precipitous hole goes down to the left, and fixed ropes are used for getting into the lower galleries. we found ourselves at once entering on a maze of passages, where the presence of our guides saved valuable time. so intricate and bewildering are these ramifications that mr. balch tells me that he discovered a passage some years ago that led him eventually to a much deeper part of the cavern than had ever been reached before, but every attempt to rediscover the passage since has failed. in spite of our efforts to examine every branch of the various passages, we also missed this important link. it would seem that the solid mass of the hill has been shivered here into vast, roughly cubical fragments, between which lie the irregular passages and narrow chambers of the cavern. many tempting galleries lead the explorer on and on till they dwindle to a mere rabbit hole, or till he finds himself wedged in the cleft between two enormous surfaces of rock. disorderly accumulations of boulders and splinters cover the floor; there is hardly a level spot anywhere, and it is desirable to explore every yard carefully with a taper or a lantern to avoid the consequences of a rash step. we crawled on hands and knees and wormed along through insignificant holes, making our way into spots that had probably not been inspected before; but we always came back to the main channel, where our guides were waiting, having made no noteworthy find. assembling again in a more roomy chamber, about feet below the entrance, we all proceeded along a tunnel that showed evident traces of the action of a stream to another chamber, where the sound of running water came up from a grim-looking chasm. only two of us went beyond this point. the rest secured the rope, whilst we climbed down the steep hole into a large cavern through which the stream runs from the swallet hole in the ravine outside on its way to rickford rising, where it issues in considerable volume. the stream has a somewhat puzzling course after leaving the cavern, for it runs underground athwart burrington combe and through the solid hill opposite, burrington ham. this stream, as professor boyd dawkins pointed out, was doubtless the originating cause of goatchurch cavern, running in at the present mouth, which is now dry. the ravine outside has since been hollowed out to a further depth of feet, and the stream finds its way in at a lower level. the professor also describes a very pretty experiment. having taken the temperature of the stream before it enters the cave, he tested it again after it had run some distance underground, finding that it was here several degrees cooler. it is obvious that a colder stream must have joined it at some unknown point midway. the nethermost series of chambers and passages are not very different from those above, their shape rugged and irregular, and their floor heaped up with fragments of all sizes. we reached no lower point than that attained by previous explorers--that is, feet below the entrance, as measured by aneroid. squeezing with difficulty through the deepest fissure, i found myself in a small cave, whence, turning round, i only perceived one exit. it looked and felt so small that i despaired of pushing through and turned to go back, when it suddenly occurred to me that this was the hole i had come in by, and there was no other way out. such little incidents often happen in cave work, but most often in such a complicated network of tunnels and fissures as the goatchurch cavern, where we were quite convinced that an important passage ran due east until the compass assured us that the direction was west. clambering up a steep bank of stiff clay out of the lowest cave, we reached a vaulted grotto with a cascade of stalagmite flowing down one side. on the edge of this a sloping passage disclosed itself, lined with stalagmite, and we ascended it in the expectation of finding something new. it brought us by an easy scramble back to the upper cave, whence we had descended on the rope; and with little more deviation from the main passages we made our way back to the cave mouth, where a well-earned lunch was waiting. but little time was wasted in examining the silted-up entrance to aveline's hole and another cave mouth, and the next halt was made at plumley's den. tying two alpine ropes together, a pair of us descended this ancient pothole as far as the artificial pile of débris that blocks it up. one man was hit rather severely by a dislodged stone--a serious danger in caves of this sort--and in returning he dropped and smashed his acetylene lamp. the hole is effectually plugged, a tree and a quantity of stone having been flung in after plumley's fatal mishap; and until mr. gibson carries out his proposal to remove the stones that block it, the feet which are said, on doubtful authority, to lie beyond can never be explored. mr. gibson also proposes to bore a new entrance from the combe into the lower series of caves at goatchurch. above plumley's den a magnificent rib of limestone, like those at matlock, springs nearly to the hilltop; and over the way a picturesque pile of crag comes out to meet it, and is known as the "rock of ages," from the tradition that toplady, the divine, taking shelter under it from a storm, composed his famous hymn there. still piloted by our kind host, we walked across burrington ham and saw the brook which we had heard babbling amid the silence of goatchurch cavern flowing out, a strong body of water, at rickford rising, after a subterranean course of about two miles from its sources high up on black down. rickford rising is in the secondary beds, but a short mile up the beautiful combe at whose outlet it lies, a limestone ridge comes down to the road. hard by the extremity is a hole in the rocky ground, now almost entirely choked with stones, but not so many years ago an open pit. it is known as the "squire's well." here, in times of continuous rain, a body of water issues forth, often flooding the road. it seems to be connected with the water-channels that feed rickford rising, to which it acts as a safety valve. to open it would not be a very serious affair, and might discover something interesting. at the back of mendip lodge, on the hill immediately west of burrington combe, the hilltop is cut up by innumerable ravines ending in swallets, the water of which comes to light again in a large stream in the yeo valley near upper langford, about a mile away. several of these swallets look as if they would repay the trouble of a little excavation; and the size of the stream at the point of issue indicates the existence of large cavities in the line of its subterranean course. e. a. b. the coral cave at compton bishop a cave just discovered near compton bishop, on the skirts of mendip, furnishes valuable evidence in corroboration of the theory that the limestone caverns of this region were formed at a period enormously anterior to that generally accepted. it is situated a little way up the slope of wavering down, only a short distance above the upper limit of the red marl laid down in the triassic age, unconformably on the denuded edges of the carboniferous limestone. we had been engaged in some exploring work in the cheddar caves, the results of which were of a negative kind, but none the less important, as modifying the lines of costly excavation. accompanied by the messrs. gough, the proprietors of the great cave at cheddar, we proceeded late in the day to axbridge, where mr. balch joined the party. our goal was a certain cavern, explored about a century ago, and described by the antiquary phelps, but now little known. this purpose was, however, not carried out that day, for in making inquiries about the cave as we passed through the village of cross, we got wind of a cavern that had never yet been explored, and was therefore treasure-trove to such ardent cave workers. two years ago, in blasting for stone to line a drinking-place for cattle, a farmer had blown a hole into the top of a subterranean cavity. two -rung ladders were lashed together, so we learned, and a bold countryman, secured by a cart-rope, descended into the mysterious hollow, alighting on a slope of shifting stones and earth, whence he could see a second chasm, black as tophet and of unknown profundity, yawning beneath him. no one would venture on this further descent; a rock was rolled against the opening to prevent sheep or incautious persons from tumbling in, and there for the time being was an end of the matter. our first task was to withdraw this formidable plug. it was a sound, unfissured block of mountain limestone, weighing perhaps half a ton. we thought that six men with a rope ought to move it easily; but we could not make it budge. a spade and a crowbar were fetched, with which we laboured diligently for an hour; but the only effect was to drop the stone deeper into the hole. a sledgehammer was now obtained from the nearest smithy, and one after another we attacked the foe with might and main. at length it yielded. pieces flaked off, and at last it split; the fragments tumbled into the chasm, and the rock, diminished to half its former size, was rolled away. the job had taken two hours and a half, and it was now dark. mr. balch and i cast lots for the honour of the first descent: it fell to me. an alpine club rope was tied on as life-line, whilst a -foot cotton rope was to be used for lowering and lifting. slung in a bight of the latter, i was carefully let down over the cliff-like face below the entrance. the cavity formed part of a huge choked swallet, which extended up into the hill above the point where we had been working, and ran away obliquely underneath, so that i was coming down from a hole perforating one corner of the roof. over against the hole was the steep slope of earth and scree already mentioned, steep almost as a wall, and the scree so loose that it seemed to be in a state of suspended animation. as soon as one came into contact with the treacherous stuff, an avalanche of stones was launched, and i sought in vain for a spot where it would be safe to unrope and await the next man. the cliff down which i had been lowered was undercut by a wide archway, through which i looked into a black, forbidding pit gaping at the bottom. with nowhere to rest, and with the risk of falling stones, it was obviously wiser to finish the descent before another man started. tying the loose rope round me (for it was necessary to swing out under the arch), i was let down slowly, and began to slip over a smooth, greasy rock-face into the unknown cavity. at feet from the ground i alighted at the top of a slope of stones, and was able to remove the ropes and scramble to the bottom. lighting some magnesium wire, i found myself in a bell-shaped chamber about feet high, opening above by the precipitous archway into the upper cavity, and on the other side into an ascending vault running north-west. all around were the indelible marks of water action in the remote past. on the upper side the rocks were carved and pitted as by the swirling of a violent torrent. but there was now no sign of running water, only the drip, drip from the moist roof; and the outlet of the ancient stream at the bottom of the cavern was blocked up by a deep accumulation of débris. among the countless fragments strewn all over the floor i found a large stone covered with a mass of dog-tooth crystals, clear as diamonds and large as walnuts. but at the very bottom of the place was something even more lovely, myriads upon myriads of exquisite spicules of carbonate, some little more than specks of red, orange, and amber, but thousands like wee tendrils of coral three-eighths of an inch in length. they were the growth, through age after age, of a splash deposit from the roof or from the stream that had disappeared. such a formation is not rare in water caverns; but in such beauty of shape and hue it is rare indeed, for these tender little crystal flowers took all manner of forms, blossoming ofttimes into wreaths and clusters like a miniature coral. one of the most exquisite and most puzzling features was that the dots and spicules were often arranged in set patterns, symmetrical and even geometrical, in tiny circles, squares, and triangles, by the rhythmic action of the waters that had left this beautiful record of their passage. we named the cave the coral cavern. as the descent had not been direct, and there might be difficulty in recovering the ropes if once let go, it seemed most prudent that no one should follow me down for the present. climbing the slopes of rocks and scree that led up through a lofty vault to the north-west, i reached a height of considerably more than feet above the floor of the coral cavern, the present floor of which is feet below the point of entrance. the open way then came to an end abruptly, in a tiny grotto, at a distance of feet from that point. but hard by there were funnel-like cavities penetrating the roof, and hinting at the proximity of a secondary swallet hole on the hillside close overhead. evidently, when the cave was in working order, in times of indefinable remoteness, a big stream had run down this steep vaulted passage, and united with the main stream at the bottom, both then pursuing their way into the fissures of the rock, and ultimately finding an exit into the open air at some point now buried under triassic deposits. enormous slabs of limestone, smooth, and fitting close over each other like boiler-plates, formed the sloping floor of this tunnel on one side. these too were a conspicuous testimony to powerful water action. at present the red marl of the trias comes nearly up to the artificial entrance of the cavity. it is obvious that when the cave was occupied by a stream, its waters must have found a vent some distance below the upper limit of the marl; whence it necessarily follows that the marl has been laid down here since that period. much evidence has been gathered in the course of our cave work in the mendips to show that many of the caverns are older than the vast accumulations of dolomitic conglomerate and other deposits of triassic age, but nowhere is the proof put so clearly and concisely as by the new cave at compton bishop. my stay underground was cut short by the fear that the others would grow impatient. i was hauled up without mishap, save that at one point the cotton rope stuck fast in a cleft, and i had to pull myself up hand over hand on the life-line. two men then went down, with the result we had dreaded--the rope could not be got back to the last man without extreme difficulty. only after tying on stone after stone, and making many a cast in vain, did we ultimately restore communication. he came up; the guardian block was pushed back into its place; and at a late hour we struck down the hillside home. a day or two later we set out once more to find phelps's cavern. it opens on the very crest of the ridge leading up to crook hill, or, as it is more commonly known to-day, crook's peak, a sharp limestone spur, running south-east from the western extremity of wavering down. at the foot of the hill, near the road, we came across a small cave, called the fox's hole, which we searched thoroughly for any continuation upwards or downwards, but in vain. after a great deal of jamming and squeezing, we got in to a distance of feet, where a low chamber has holes between wall and floor that had acted as a water-sink to some ancient system of cavities. but the floor was heaped with stones, and in spite of our efforts to clear these out, we did not discover a single hole big enough to enter. this small cave is, doubtless, but the tail end of the cavern that once existed here; and, indeed, the large cavern at the hilltop must be little more than a fragment of what it was. crook's peak seems to be the mere skeleton of a hill. to account for the presence of such a cavern at the summit, one must postulate a large drainage area in days gone by, and a general configuration entirely opposite to the present. the higher part of the hill is but a limestone shell enclosing these ancient, and now waterless, caverns. the big cavern is known as denny's hole. descending the sloping side of an open pit, we found ourselves under an arch of mighty span, the crown of which was formed by the rock-wall on the other side. under this arch the floor sloped precipitously into the jaws of the cavern; then the roof came close down, and the farther passages wound onwards as low tunnels, descending steeply into the entrails of the hill. it is easy enough to get to a considerable depth and distance in the largest of these, but the journey is not specially interesting, for the place has been looted by adventurous rustics, and serious exploration is at present brought to a standstill by the enormous quantities of loose stones filling every cavity in the floor. coming back to the cave mouth, we were struck by the grandeur of the vestibule, which has every appearance of being the remains of a great subterranean chamber, the pit-like entrance, through which we look up to the sky and the sunshine, being the remnant of a cave-tunnel, once perhaps of very considerable length. phelps had alluded to another chamber, of some beauty, to be attained, at the expense of divers wrenches and abrasions, by a certain tortuous passage leading out of the vestibule. after diligent search we found a hole in the floor at one corner, but it seemed to be only a foot or two deep. kicking about for some time, with body half in and half out of the hole, i managed to shift some loose stones, and felt space below. but the space proved, on experiment, at least as excellent a place of torment as phelps's description had been able to do justice to. the passage doubled back upon itself at once, and twisted here and there like a corkscrew. only by obstinate wriggling were we able to worm a way down to the low cavity at the bottom. two blind passages started therefrom, and in one wall was a long, horizontal slit, with some big place beyond, as we judged from the sound of the stones we threw in. in various cautious attitudes we inserted ourselves into the slit. the drop inside, though fearful to anticipate, was a matter of only a few feet. the cave we found ourselves in was a sort of double chamber, with vestiges of a partition across the middle; the whole was some feet in length. at one end was a pool of water, stagnant at present, or nearly so. close by, a low fissure sloped downwards to a vertical hole or pot that sounded deep; but we could not get near it for the spikes of stalactite that guarded it on all sides. this chamber, which we thought must communicate with the series reached by the main passage from the vestibule, seems to have been hardly ever visited. we heard a story of a lady's pet dog that had been lost here for a week, and was not found, although a tempting reward was offered, until a farmer, who told us the story, explored the corkscrew tunnel leading to this cave. he found the poor beast shivering on the edge of the slit we had come in by, afraid to jump. even the farmer, who thought he knew all the ramifications of this perplexing cavern, did not seem to have reached this chamber, the natural ornaments of which showed no trace of specimen-hunting. returning to daylight, we examined a cave vent in the ground hard by, where a vapour was steaming up into the chilly air. the penetrable portion was just big enough to accommodate the six feet two of our tallest man. with some time left on our hands, we decided now to walk on to loxton, the next village, where another cave was situated on a limestone hilltop. there were only two miles to walk, so we did not think it worth while to doff our cave panoply. great was the speculation that our unexampled appearance excited in the people we met. we could not be tramps--in fact, we hardly looked respectable enough; and yet our rucksacks, ropes, and cameras gave us an air of distinction that was puzzling in the extreme. faces crowded to the windows at every house we passed, and at loxton we had to run the gauntlet of satiric observation. as we asked our way to the quarry at loxton, the general conclusion was that we were in quest of a job there. this cave must have been a very interesting one long ago, but now it is like those at compton bishop, only a remnant; and besides what has been destroyed by natural denudation, a great deal has been damaged by the gradual approaches of a limestone quarry on the side of the hill. this has exposed the outlets of several passages. a labyrinth of low galleries remains, with a few larger hollows here and there; but of whatever beauty they once possessed they have long been denuded by the devastating village boy, who has found the intricacies of loxton cavern a perfect paradise. it does not follow that the cave would necessarily not pay for a thorough exploration. if some of the lower reaches were carefully examined, entrances would very likely be found into still nether caverns, of which these dry channels were at one time the feeders. but the work would be peculiarly difficult on account of the smallness of the open spaces, and the result uncertain. yet the limestone of the mendips is so thick--the thickest in england--and the parts that have been explored are so honeycombed with cavities and passages, that every gateway into this strange underworld promises more or less reward. it is somewhere in the neighbourhood of loxton and banwell that the famous "gulf" was discovered in the days of the old lead miners. in driving an extensive level through a hill, at a point fathoms below the summit, they came upon a gigantic rift. a man was let down on a long rope--so tradition reports--and when he had descended to the full extent of it he was unable to see either walls or bottom of the tremendous abyss. we are probably on the track of this monster cavity, an exploration of which will entail labour and fortitude. that and the exploration of the swallet at hillgrove, when it is opened, are the two most fascinating problems awaiting us in the immediate future. e. a. b. lamb's lair a few years ago the great western opened what they called the wrington vale light railway up the valley of the yeo, which borders mendip on the north. a few miles beyond its present terminus lie the two harptrees, in the heart of a sequestered countryside of great pastoral beauty. here, where nowadays all the pursuits are agricultural, a great deal of mining was carried on in years gone by, the relics of which are still visible in the surface workings, grown over with grass. in the upland ravines of lamb's bottom, near the top of the mendip plateau, these are very numerous, and seem to be the work of both lead miners and searchers for black oxide of manganese. early in the eighteenth century a cavern of prodigious size and beauty was discovered in this locality; but, by one of those curious accidents which are by no means infrequent in the history of caves, it was lost, and its site remained unknown for a hundred and twenty years. its fame, however, was cherished by the country folk, and the tradition of its fabulous wonders induced a lord of the manor, a quarter of a century ago, to offer a heavy monetary reward, which led to its rediscovery in the year . this new exploration made some noise at the time, and a fair number of people ventured on a descent. the difficulties were smoothed down considerably. ladders were fixed in the shaft, which was strengthened by timber supports, and in difficult parts of the lower galleries; solid beds of arragonite were cut through, and a heavy structure of timber, carrying a windlass, was built out on the verge of an abyss, to make accessible the floor of the great chamber. lamb's lair is even alluded to, though incorrectly, in the fourth edition of murray's guide--that for --and, for a while, great was the renown of its unparalleled beauties. then, as usually happens with cave scenery when there is any difficulty or any peril involved, the novelty and the popularity of lamb's lair waned; and now for a long period the cave has been derelict, the timber erections have become rotten and dangerous, and the only visit during many years previous to the one i am about to describe nearly resulted in a catastrophe. [illustration: entrance to lamb's lair, harptree. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: plan and section of the great cavern of lamb's lair.] our party of four had been engaged in some arduous work near wells, and a descent into lamb's lair meant a long drive across mendip, nearly to east harptree. we were dropped by our waggonette, with a great pile of apparatus, at a gate into a field. the field was part of the lamb's bottom ravine, and we had some difficulty in locating the entrance to our cavern among the innumerable workings and natural depressions that cut up the surface. at length we caught sight of the end of a ladder sticking out from a hole that was buried in brushwood, and straightway we found ourselves on the brink of the -foot shaft. the uppermost ladder was broken six feet from the top, and so was the second; neither was fit to be trusted. we supported the broken part of the top ladder with a forked branch, and i took up my station on a ledge feet down, to steady the things as they were lowered. each man was roped for the descent, for the crazy ladders, the decayed woodwork, and the loose stones in the shaft all threatened disaster. at last all our paraphernalia was safe at the bottom, and now a muddy progress began through a narrow, dripping cleft into a low tunnel, that brought us, after many windings, to the top of a fourth ladder. this one was not so high, but it was quite as shaky as the others, and a member of the party got a nasty blow on the shoulder from a beam connected with it, that gave way whilst we were passing the luggage from hand to hand. descending still through an irregular passage, we suddenly entered a roomy vault with stalactites on the roof. here the glories of lamb's lair begin. in a few moments we shall be at the threshold of the incomparable beehive chamber, and thence, to a point far beyond what we can attain to-day, the poetry and witchery of cave scenery are at their finest. stumbling over the irregularities of the crystal floor, we see dimly, by the light of our candles, great luminous arcs bending over our heads; and then, catching sight of a regularly shaped hemisphere rising out of the darkness and dwarfing the cave with its enormous proportions, we realise that this is the beehive chamber. when the limelight is brought in, and its fierce beams play upon the wild arcades and groining of this fantastic vault, we are astounded by the wealth and brilliance and extraordinary variety of the incrustations: not a rib, not a corner of bare rock remains visible; every inch of floor and walls and roof has been thickly coated with the calcareous enamel. the beehive itself, feet high and enormous in girth, is not more astonishing for its size than for the regularity of its shape. it is probably the largest boss of stalagmite in england. the sides are streaked with white and yellow bands, which enhance the weird symmetry and polish of its appearance; and, on the summit, wide enough for a man to walk about, we noticed that a number of stalactites, fallen from the vault above, had become embedded in its mass, and were slowly being crusted over with the ceaseless deposits. all over the chamber there is a continuous patter of water-drops, carrying on the work of the ages, and laying film after film of lustre on the imageries of this hidden shrine, which man has visited so rarely. to right and left of the beehive the uneven floor descends into deep recesses--which we see as we draw nigh to be rocky porches adorned with the most magnificent incrustations--leading into two passages. these two porches, the arch by which we have entered, and the wild vaulting that rises to an apex over our heads amid a profusion of glistening stalactites, are the dominant features of this piece of fairy architecture. but who can count or describe the gleaming volutes and scrolls that wind over the walls in brilliant confusion, the clustered corbels whence random ribs spring towards the roof, the lace-like fringe of delicate stalactites that hangs from every ridge, or the gnome-like fingers and ghoulish faces, staring and pointing downwards, that one seems to discern amid the disordered sculpture of roof and walls? a broken bottle of paraffin and some pieces of cotton-waste, evidently the relics of the last party who had used them to light up the beehive chamber years ago, were lying in a corner just as they were left. in one of the galleries i noticed the marks of fingers and the impress of the clothes of a man who had crawled along the clay floor--as fresh as if he had been there an hour ago. this changelessness of everything fills one with a certain awe; but what impresses one as still more wonderful is that all this consummate beauty and grandeur should lie concealed and unknown in the midst of modern england, only a few miles away from important cities, but unvisited by a soul for long periods of years, while the country people seem hardly aware of the cave's existence. were the cave easily accessible, one can hardly question that crowds of sightseers would be attracted, and much of the charm would be dispelled, even if its treasures were not ransacked. for the present these are perfectly safe. [illustration: the "beehive" chamber, lamb's lair. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: stalactite wall, lamb's lair. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] from the beehive chamber a passage winds downward under one of the glorious porches already described, and on and on between walls of calcspar and arragonite, toward the chief wonder of lamb's lair, the great chamber. the original passage was low and difficult, and early explorers cut a deeper way through solid beds of arragonite, whose miraculous whiteness glistens on every side as we advance. so enormous is the thickness of this compact and fine-grained variety of the calcium carbonate, with its delicate lines of crystallisation showing transparently where it is shattered, that fully three and a half feet are shown in section, a wall of snowy brilliance; and one cannot judge how much more is hidden. the tunnel widens into an arch of reddish rock, covered with sparry reliefs; then suddenly we find ourselves stepping on a plank, and out of the darkness ahead starts up the gaunt shape of a windlass. we have reached the spot where the gallery breaks into the upper part of the great chamber; under our feet is a black void, and further progress is forbidden. the gallery ends on a sloping bevel, feet wide, that dips steeply into the chasm. on this bevel, which overhangs by many feet the receding wall of the great chamber, a timber platform was erected a quarter of a century ago. it is a sort of cantilever, with the windlass resting on the long arms. we moved here with utmost caution, hardly venturing to place a foot on the time-worn structure without holding on to the rocks at the side. on the last occasion that the cavern was visited, some years ago, a fatal accident was averted almost by a miracle. the rope broke while mr. balch was descending; he fell about feet, on to the broken rocks beneath, checking his fall by catching at a tangle of line that was hanging near. his hands were cut to the bone, and he lay at the bottom stunned for a quarter of an hour, and has hardly ceased to feel the effects of the shaking. naturally, he now felt little inclination to venture another descent, especially as he told us that the rickety state of the platform has filled him with grave doubts as to its safety if weight were put on it. at present, beyond the stark shape of the windlass, darkness reigned. we flung blocks of arragonite out into the void. there was an interval of silence, then a crash on the hard floor, and the missile burst into fragments. when the ray of our -candle-power searchlight flashed across the abyss, we found ourselves looking into a chamber whose weird majesty held us spellbound. its height is feet, and the walls curve gradually over in an irregular dome. hardly a square foot of this mighty wall-space is blank. stripes and reticulations and pendulous lacework run all over it in enchanting disorder. here a snow-white flood of calcite drops from an unseen cleft, there a cascade of many colours ripples down from roof to floor. there are great sheets of opaline enamel, curtains drooping in massy folds, silken fabrics wrinkled over the face of the rock, all giving one the sense of motion suddenly arrested, and of light and colour captured from the rainbow and sleeping here in the darkness, waiting year after year for our lamp to awaken it to life and beauty. [illustration: entrance to great chamber, lamb's lair. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] [illustration: largest chamber in somerset, lamb's lair, harptree. _from sketch by h. e. balch._] the cylinder of oxygen and the ether saturator were pushed out as far as we dared, and the camera was set up on the edge of the platform, to secure at least a glimpse of this hall of wonders. we were told what lay beyond. another gallery, begemmed as richly as the one behind us, leads on and on, until a high chamber is reached, into which water pours over a sheet of snowy stalagmite, feet high. we could not descend into the great chamber, but we intended to light it up. a tinful of bengal fire was put into an iron saucer, hanging from a string by iron wires; and this with a light attached was lowered through the hole in the platform, whereon we lay extended at full length looking over into the gulf. there was a fizz, and then the fierce radiance swept from side to side of the huge vault, staining the sheets and curtains and cascades of white a splendid crimson. the walls sparkled blood-red as if set with rubies, and the blue-black sheets of calcite marked by oxide of manganese were empurpled by the glow. we fled before the pungent clouds of smoke that rose into our gallery, back to the beehive chamber, leaving that glorious hall once more to solitude and silence. the only other part we explored was the winding tunnel that begins under the second porch in the beehive chamber. it goes far away down, and is knee-deep in mire for a considerable distance. at last, when it seems as if the great chamber itself cannot be far away, the passage ends in a choke. we had been in the cavern about five hours, when, after much hard work, we got our apparatus back to the foot of the shaft. climbing ahead up the rickety ladders, the broken rungs of which were caked with mud and clay, and keeping hold of the life-line all the while, i found our driver waiting for us at the top, for we were an hour late. several dangerous stones were shifted in pulling up the luggage, and one man below not only received a nasty blow, but narrowly escaped destruction by another stone that he just succeeded in warding off his face. we have since regretted that we did not test the platform and windlass by a rough-and-ready method, and then descend by a long alpine rope. the sharp ledges underneath might, however, have rendered this dangerous. we had not seen everything, but we had seen enough to recompense us abundantly for the toil, the slight risk, and the dirt. murray says that lamb's lair is the finest cave in somerset; i would confidently venture further, and say that for transcendent beauty it has not its equal in england.[ ] e. a. b. [ ] mr. james mcmurtrie, then manager of earl waldegrave's estates, was responsible for the exploration of this cavern after its rediscovery in . he had it surveyed and plans made; he had the windlass erected, but went down himself before it was fixed. very great credit is due to him for this valuable work, which it is hoped will not be rendered less valuable by allowing the artificial shaft as well as the windlass to be permanently destroyed through neglect and decay. the plan and section contained here were the result of independent measurements, which fully confirmed the results of his previous survey. [illustration: stalactites in entrance gallery, lamb's lair. _photo by bamforth, holmfirth._] a cave in the quantocks at bridgewater, where we had arrived one winter morning at sunrise, after a melancholious journey in unwarmed carriages across the flooded moors beyond glastonbury, not a person had heard tell of a cave in the quantocks. but the information we relied on, though a century old, was definite enough to warrant the hire of a trap to convey us and our apparatus to a certain lonely cross-road, seven miles away, in a corner of the broad parish of bloomfield. climbing steadily through enmore, we found the cross-road on a hilltop feet above the sea, hard by a homely tavern, where we got cider for ourselves and feed for the horse. to our west was the beacon on cotherstone hill, and two miles farther the fire signal pits on will's neck ( feet), the highest of the quantock hills. but of the red-deer country that lay around us we saw little, and less as the day wore on, for a cold sea-mist came rolling up from the bristol channel, and would have given us trouble in finding our cave, had not a guide appeared providentially. it was a tattered and weather-beaten countryman, who emerged from the tap-room and announced that he was the only person who knew anything about the cave. he dilated in glowing terms on its beauties--"it be very ornamental, sur, very ornamental." fox by name and fox by nature, so he described himself--for he was both garrulous and egotistical--he was fond of burrowing into holes. that he was a poacher to boot, we had no reason to disbelieve after a few minutes' conversation. he led us by a veritable fox's path over fields and hedges, through a mist-drenched spinney, down to a dingle, where beetle-browed rocks overhung the entrance to the cave. a rusty iron gate barred the way, and was padlocked. reynard proposed to make a journey of several miles, at our expense, to procure the key; but a broken link in the chain saved us time and cider. there is not much limestone on the quantocks, and caves are a rarity. at this spot an outlier of carboniferous limestone lies in close contact with beds of greywacke slate--a very unusual conjunction, which prepared us for something new and strange in the way of crystallisations. descending a few yards beyond the entrance, the main passage rises a little, and then drops gradually towards a stagnant pool, beyond which it is impossible to get. the length of this portion is only feet, and the direction from north-east to south-west. certain narrow passages, however, bore into the limestone on the north, and extend their ramifications much farther. only one of these seems to have been known before our visit. in the main passage, near the pool, is seen the special wonder of holwell cave, a brilliant display of arragonite crystals all over the roof. arragonite usually occurs in massive deposits of satin spar, distinguished by a perfection of whiteness when newly split, a whiteness that grows dingy very soon if you try to keep specimens. here it occurs in quite another form--the coralloid, known as flos ferri; thousands of filaments or spicules ramifying from centres, and looking as soft as cobweb, though as brittle as blown glass. this delicate product is often tinged with a pink stain like that of fluor-spar. andrew crosse, the electrician, who was carrying on his researches in the neighbourhood when holwell cavern was found about , thought that the crystal might have been distorted by slow degrees into these fanciful shapes "through the invisible action of electric energy," an agent to which most mysterious natural processes have been attributed some time or another; but the fibrous arragonite, scientists tell us, is by no means abnormal. it all lies on the greywacke part of the roof; the adjoining limestone has no arragonite, but is incrusted with the usual sheets and bosses of calcite, mutilated somewhat by visitors who have taken away mementos. "ain't it ornamental, sur?" said our conductor; but his exclamations were still more enthusiastic when the magnesium ribbon lit up the millions of arragonite crystals that covered the roof with a glistering efflorescence. then the flashlight blazed out, as our camera got into action, and the old man was speechless with amazement. he had known the cave, boy and man, all his life, but never before had he, or anyone else for that matter, gazed upon all its beauties. several photographs were secured--among them the portrait of a sleeping bat clinging to the groining of calcite--and then the cave grew too smoky for further work. so we went off to explore. first we climbed into an opening high up in the north wall. it seemed to run parallel with the main passage, and soon we beheld daylight in front. ere we reached the open air, however, we came to a steep drop, and found that the branch had simply brought us back to the vestibule of the cavern. another opening, near the entrance, running due north, proved more interesting, leading eventually to a bell chamber, floored, walled, and roofed with polished carbonate. someone had reached this point twenty years ago, so dates and initials testified; but there were virgin passages branching off to left and right for us to investigate, as far as bodies of speleological slimness were admissible. a squeeze through a crevice in the east wall led into a parallel tunnel, depressingly low and painfully narrow, which seemed to run on indefinitely to the north. the soft clay floor showed it was at times the path of a heavy stream. northward, it shrank to a mere drain-pipe; southward it led by one joint and culvert to another, all at right angles, into other straight channels, all going in the same general direction. my companion stuck fast a little way beyond the first tunnel; i pushed on like a weevil into the maze of perforations, but met the same fate at last, not giving in, however, until i had been held as in a vice at one point for a good five minutes, with boot jammed, candle out, and no room to get my hand to the pocket where the waterproof matches were safely stowed away. it was still possible to see a long way ahead, by candlelight and magnesium; and we made out that north of the known cave lies a whole network of dry waterways, the principal channels running due north, roughly parallel to the limestone escarpment in which the cave mouth opens, and all connected together by rectangular branches. one channel brought us within view of daylight; but the crevice was too small for anything but a rabbit, and we had to return by the same arduous and abrading passages we had come by. as old fox would have said, the things we saw were "very handsome," but we could not tempt him to enter this uncomfortable region. e. a. b. cave exploring at abergele travellers on the north-western to holyhead or snowdonia are familiar with several cave mouths that form a prominent feature in the limestone cliffs above lord dundonald's castle, near the station of llandulas. the most conspicuous is a vast antre near the cliff-top; and legend has it that this opens into passages running for great distances, and eventually descending beneath the sea. (welsh cave-myths are not less extravagant than those of derbyshire and somerset, where stories of dogs, geese, and other animals that have made long pilgrimages underground and come into daylight again divested of feathers or hair, are still piously cherished by the credulous.) the name attached to this group of caves, tanyrogo--"under the cave"--is derived from the celtic ogo or ogof, a cavern, and is almost identical with the original name of wookey hole in somerset. a party of explorers from liverpool and colwyn bay have recently carried out some researches in the tanyrogo caves, and in those at st. george, on the other side of abergele; and while verifying their disbelief in the supposed extent of the subterranean galleries, have ascertained many interesting facts as to the formation and the geological history of both series. a grassy terrace runs along the cliff face to the gaping portal of the ogo, the biggest of the tanyrogo caves, which looks seaward and commands a magnificent view over the coast and the irish sea. the prehistoric men who doubtless lived here once showed not only good taste in the choice of a site for their residence, but a judicious eye for military possibilities; the place is all but impregnable, save by starvation, the only access being by this narrow ledge, which a handful of men could defend against an army. spanned by a noble arch is a colossal vestibule, rock-floored and dry. but this imposing entrance is a deception--there is nothing beyond to compare with its shape and magnitude. we swerved to the left, and at once found ourselves treading a floor of wet clay, which began to ascend, and soon steepened into a high bank leading up towards the roof. creeping under an arch, we found ourselves in a transverse fissure that may have run as far as the legends pleased, but grew too narrow in a few feet for any human being to penetrate farther. a few rudimentary stalactites and a crust of pure white calcite adorned one small grotto; the rest was bare rock walls and rugged arches, springing here and there high into the darkness, in fissures that must reach very nearly to the summit of the cliff. a branch passage dwindled away still more quickly, and so did a minor opening that looks like a side door to the main entrance. the rock structure of the cave arches is displayed in very beautiful ways in this cavern, but the most interesting feature is the remnant of an old cave floor. the cavern was evidently formed in pre-glacial times, and the vast quantities of clay that plug it up almost entirely now must have been carried in by the ice. after the glaciers had receded, the normal agencies began their work again; a stalagmite floor was formed by the drip of water from the roof, depositing a layer of calcite; this in the course of time was broken down again, and now leaves a kind of high-water mark all round the walls of the cavity. [illustration: the ogo, near abergele. _photo by e. a. baker._] [illustration: inside the ogo, near abergele. _photo by e. a. baker._] the line of the fissure creating the upward chasms inside the cave can be traced in the external configuration of the cliff; in sundry vertical openings in the face, and in the clean-cut walls, where sheer masses have fallen away, broken at the joints. similar joints and fissures played a part in the formation of a lower tier of caves, which we explored next. the first was only a yard or two wide, but very lofty, and its floor was composed of a level bed of sand and clay. this gradually rose as we walked into the darkness, until the cave ended more abruptly even than the last. we noticed pebbles of bunter sandstone in the floor, and the next cave produced many more examples of the same stone, which must have been brought from a long distance, the nearest strata corresponding to it being in wirral. at the back of this next cave a bank of cave earth and boulder clay was piled right up to the roof, so steeply that it was not too easy a climb to the summit. arrived there, we found no possible egress; but a horizontal tunnel, a sort of squint or hagioscope probably more than forty feet long, gave us a peep through the rocky cliff out to the sunlight. we set out forthwith to discover the outside orifice of this curious hole, and found it came out on a ledge in the face of the cliff, hard by an open platform which had a very queer look about it. on examination this proved to be the floor of an old cave that had been destroyed by the quarrymen. half-embedded in thick clay were a number of stalagmite pedestals, and a floor of stalagmite underneath several feet in depth, surmounting a thick bed of boulder clay stuck full of bunter pebbles. it was obvious that the quarrymen, coming across this mass of useless material, had not troubled to attack the solid layer of stalagmite above it. the remains of stalactites and stalagmite curtains still adhered to the neighbouring cliff. the spot is well worth visiting, if only to see this remarkable illustration of several consecutive chapters in the history of a cavern. the destructive work of the limestone quarry, having been checked at this particular point, exposes the whole thing as in a diagram; and the actual evidences are there just as they were produced by the forces acting in successive epochs--the mouth of the original cave, formed perhaps in pre-triassic times; the masses of drift thrust in by the glaciers; and the new cave floor, with its growth of stalagmites. since the caves lie at a height of several hundred feet above sea-level, it is fairly certain that the moving glaciers exerted an upward as well as a horizontal force, shoving the plastic masses of clay and débris into the ascending passages, and caulking up, no doubt, a good many tributary galleries that are now unknown. the caves look north, and the material pushed into them must have come from seaward; there is, furthermore, no rock in the adjoining districts that could have yielded this kind of pebbles: so that it appears the stream of glaciers which flowed across from lancashire and cheshire, impinging against the contrary flow of ice from snowdonia, must be held responsible for the presence of these dense deposits. all along the meadow-lands between the limestone hills and the sea a series of risings or big springs are noticeable from the railway, forming large pools. these are the outlets of the drainage that has been absorbed by the limestone strata, through which the water has found its way until, meeting with an impermeable layer of rock, or reaching the plane of saturation at sea-level, it has been forced to the surface. [illustration: in the ogo, near abergele. _photo by e. a. baker._] the st. george's caves are situated on and about a wooded hill of limestone near the village, which adjoins the low-lying lands of morfa rhuddlan, the scene of a murderous battle in the year . the celt, with his strong historical imagination, such a factor in national solidarity, still remembers, though confusedly perhaps, some incidents of that calamitous fight. the old woman who pointed out the situation of the caves drew our attention to the ditch and rampart which run round the hillcrest, where it is not protected by cliffs. there, she said, the routed welsh tribes had entrenched themselves and fought desperately on until every man was put to the sword. the wood on the hilltop is full of graves, she told us, and weapons often come to light there. a great master-joint or fissure runs across the hill towards the battlefield, and in it lie the caves, or rather the cave, for so far as we could make out they are all parts of one stream-channel. at the top of a cliff that is now being worked for lime is a small orifice, a mere fox's hole, blocked up against master reynard or the badgers that often find a home in these small caves. a hundred feet beneath it is a larger opening, which is said to give entrance into several good-sized chambers; but that also has been carefully built up with fragments of limestone by the quarrymen. we were driven accordingly to seek the outlet of the cave, and this we found by following the smooth, straight escarpment, produced by the fault, in a wood close to the mainroad. a large stream once issued from the cave mouth, but has since become engulfed in some internal swallet, and emerges a few yards lower down, welling out from a funnel of crystal water some feet deep. the cave itself discharges a stream only in flood-time. there, too, we were stopped from penetrating far by the beds of clay that gradually rose to the cave roof; but in this instance the deposits had been made by the stream, and were not the results of glacial action pushing upwards. in fact, this is a cave with quite a modern history, one still in working order, and used as a waterway at the proper times and seasons by the stream that made it. the tanyrogo caves, on the other hand, have ceased for untold ages to be actual water-channels, having been deprived long ago by denudation above and behind them of the greater part of their drainage area. and since that remote epoch they have gone through the series of vicissitudes so plainly recorded in their present physiognomy. [illustration: a pre-glacial cave, llandulas. _photo by e. a. baker._] cave discoveries on the welsh border the other day, a liverpool friend, who has a bungalow in the ceiriog valley, close to offa's dyke, told me he had found a cave there, which had never been explored, but was reputed to go six miles underground, to the neighbourhood of oswestry. he invited me to come down and explore it, and i readily agreed, on the condition that he was to seize the opportunity to make his début as a cave explorer. on the side of the valley where the cave lies the hill falls steeply to the ceiriog, and the densely-wooded cliff of limestone that bathes its foot in the river is like a bit of dovedale. not so the other side of the valley, where different strata crop out, and the hills, with all their trees, rise more gently to the brow overlooking llangollen. the cave mouth is about feet above the river, in a cliff facing due north, in which the limestone is tilted at an angle of degrees. it is recessed within a lofty arch, but the entrance itself is low, compelling us to creep for the first few yards. after two or three bends, the roof as well as the floor rises, and the passage opens into a chamber whose floor is heaped up to a height of feet with fallen débris, thickly plastered with mud. at first the cave runs due south, but the main axis of this chamber, which is lofty and measures about feet by , runs east-south-east. the roof rises about feet higher than the central heap of débris. water drips occasionally, but there are no stalactites. at the far end the passage turns south-east, and, though lofty, is narrow, the walls being parallel, and tilted at an angle of degrees from the perpendicular. then a second chamber widens out, feet long by feet broad, as muddy as the former. rising feet, the passage continues to the east-south-east, but the walls converge for a time, forcing us to crawl, extended on our sides. then it opens out again, and we climb over more heaps of débris littering the floor, and all bedaubed with thick, tenacious clay. now the passage becomes loftier but narrower, and progress has to be made by keeping near the roof, the walls sloping at an angle of degrees from the vertical, opening at one point into a small chamber with a false floor of jammed rocks, then immediately closing again, and so continuing for a distance of feet. the narrowness is so great that one goes ahead only by dint of a continuous struggle against friction. up to this, my friend had kept close at my heels, followed by his man. but here the only way visible was down a still narrower rift bending off to the left, and the latter found his own diameter greater than that of the cave. we left him, and pushed obstinately forward, though we had not seen a sign of any person's former presence for a long distance. nearer the cave mouth matches and candle-grease and the marks of crawling had been plentiful, local adventurers having got in nearly feet. [illustration: on the ceiriog. _photo by e. a. baker._] [illustration: upper ceiriog cave. _photo by e. a. baker._] already we had struck the water in two or three places, but had not found it in the main passage. now we crossed a long pool or runnel of stagnant water, which came in from under the rocks to the south-east, and climbed into a tight little curving tunnel that led back to it in a semi-circle. beyond it, i found myself in a rift chamber, with the water coming in from under the rocks at one end, and flowing out in like manner at the other. there seemed to be no egress, till suddenly i noticed that the niche in which i was sitting was the end of a small horizontal hole or dry water-pipe, striking off at right angles. but my companion had found the tunnel too much for him. the sides bristled with points of rock, and pressed in so close that one could only wriggle through by fractions of an inch, stretched at full length on the left side. now he made a stout attempt to get through underneath, in the water tunnel. i heard the sound of wallowing, and then my friend's head and shoulders came splashing in at the bottom of the cave, his body dragging after through water and mud. but again he stuck fast, and announced that he would give the thing up. it was not wise to go on far alone, for fear of being left by any accident without a light; but in order to make a reconnaissance for future work i pushed through the water-pipe, and to my delight found myself in another horizontal tunnel running parallel to the main chamber. crawling ahead, first over a clay-lined floor, and then over splinters of limestone mixed with stalagmites, i emerged presently into an open passage, or feet high, with the stream peacefully reposing in one long pool at the bottom. it appeared to go on indefinitely, and i might have gone farther, but for the present determined to leave off the exploration at this point. the parallel tunnel seemed to be going straight back towards the cave mouth, and it looked as though it might form a short cut home. as a matter of fact, this was a right branch striking off from the point where our man had stuck fast. by crawling in his direction and shouting, i made him hear, and at last saw his light through a chink only three inches wide. fallen blocks of limestone choked the tunnel at his end, where it leaves the main passage near the roof, and in its present state this branch of the cave was practically invisible. we shifted several big stones, however, and in a few minutes my friend joined me, pleased enough to find a way out that saved the discomforts of his recent journey. he had had the misfortune to array himself in white flannels, and now the state of his garments was so deplorable that he straightway hid himself in the river, like the pseudo marquis of carabas, until more presentable clothing could be fetched. [illustration: lower ceiriog cavern. _photo by e. a. baker._] a veteran cave-hunter from liverpool gladly joined me in a second visit to the ceiriog cavern. our host could not be with us, but sent a village youth as his substitute. this young man was very keen and plucky, and, as things turned out, saved the situation, for my speleological friend, to his intense chagrin, failed to get through the narrow entrance to the parallel tunnel, and the two of us had to finish the job by ourselves. climbing along the walls of the water-rift, we soon found it best to wade straight through the stream bed, and finally, when the space grew more and more restricted, to crawl through the water. toward the end of the rift a small tunnel broke away to the left, and the water disturbed by our advance flowed into it and away down a small swallet. wriggling through, heedless of a wetting, we came into a small chamber with four exits, each of which we explored, marking off each with a cross or arrow to prevent our losing the route back. every branch led eventually to other points of divergence, and ultimately to small tunnels or pipes, through which the water flows in rainy weather into the head of the cavern. having conscientiously examined every one, without finding the mythical passage to oswestry, we returned to the tunnel of the swallet. one of the bifurcations, it was interesting to discover, led back unexpectedly into the water-rift. there were numberless chinks and fissures, and holes in the roof, leading into this network of passages, all very interesting as a concise example of the whole history of the formation of a cave; but the farthest point reached was, by measurement, only a little more than feet from the entrance. only in places were there stalactites, and those small ones. there were stalagmite curtains on the walls at one or two spots, and patches of very white amorphous tufa. curious filaments of cave-weed, white and brown, without a vestige of leaves, abounded throughout the cavern. not far above the cave mouth i came across the exit of the water, a beautiful spring, pouring down into the ceiriog, a few yards away. on the top of the hill, in a disused limestone quarry, there were traditions of a cave opening that had been covered by a landslip for some thirty years. a man was set to work digging it out, and a small fissure was disclosed, the old channel of a tributary leading into the middle of a cave running north-north-east and south-south-west. the total length was feet. the water apparently entered at the top of the left passage and ran away into a low bedding cave to the right. the floor is wet clay at present, but there are traces of large stalagmites, including one handsome "beehive"; and the roof is covered with beautiful white and amber stalactites. our further attempts to uncover openings into the limestone only brought us down to the solid rock, and we found nothing to confirm the rumour that a cave exists which carried a stream down to the ceiriog, feet below. the exploration of stump cross cavern the explorers who have done so much work in derbyshire and somersetshire have also carried out extended explorations in some of the more remote caves of yorkshire. recently a party carried out farther investigations than any previous explorers in stump cross cavern, on the moors between wharfedale and nidderdale. this cavern, which is named after the ancient boundary mark of knaresborough forest, and is situated near the summit of the moors, feet above sea-level, - / miles from pateley bridge and - / from skipton, was discovered in by miners searching for lead, as was the case with several of the derbyshire caverns. the greenhow lead mines are not far off, and the ground in many parts hereabouts is riddled with old workings. no place could look more unlikely for caves than the flat field on the top of the hill, where a few steps lead down to a doorway into the ground, close to the rough road to grassington and appletreewick. the party of five, besides myself, messrs. b. and f. wightman, j. w. puttrell, j. croft, and h. bamforth (all members of the kyndwr club), drove up from bolton abbey station by way of burnsall, and through various delays did not reach the cave mouth till nine o'clock on saturday evening. with our photographic and other apparatus we descended at once to a level gallery feet or so below the surface, whence several passages branch off, and there we made a halt. to give a clear general idea of the structure of this cavern is not easy. it consists of a number of galleries running in different directions at different levels, with a few intercommunications, and many continuations that have gradually become choked with clay and stalagmite and have for ages been impassable. descending the steep stairway in a northerly direction one soon reaches the first of the natural passages, which bears to the west. a gallery goes off to the right, west-south-west, and bifurcates, but is uninteresting, the earth and clay that show its proximity to the surface rendering it very dirty. in the opposite direction, east-north-east, the corridor where we had placed the luggage and made our general rendezvous continues to a distance of feet, and then dwindles away into a low stalactite grotto. being so inaccessible and so little known, the various chambers have never yet been christened, except with the vague and general names of upper caverns and lower caverns, which have little meaning owing to the intricate conformation of the series. from our rendezvous two important tunnels, called the lower caverns, go off in a westerly direction from the bottom of a natural shaft feet deep. these were left for the present whilst we went into the middle caverns, which strike off to the north from the same spot, and after many turns and twists approach the surface in the ravine of dry gill, south-east from the entrance to the caves. many chambers and passages open out from this series, the largest and most beautiful being called, very inappropriately, the top cavern. as it leads eventually to a charming piece of cave scenery that we agreed to call the "bowling alley," it might well be named after this. [illustration: in stump cross cavern. _photo by e. a. baker._] [illustration: the pillar, stump cross cavern. _photo by e. a. baker._] i will now, as clearly as i can, follow the steps of the party in their exploration of these middle caverns, and proceed afterwards with them into the other series. descending gradually, and passing many nooks and corners where exquisite recesses are wreathed about by the ivory-white incrustations on wall, roof, and floor, we stayed to drink a ceremonious glass from the icy waters of jacob's well, a crystal pool curtained in with masses of stalactite, and then passed on to one of the chief show places seen by the public, bearing the modest name of the chapel. its great attraction is the series of massive pillars of translucent white that seem to uphold the arching roof. in few of the caverns that i have explored is there anything to compare with the stateliness of this pure colonnade, the cylindrical shafts of which are a good deal longer than a man's height, and modelled fantastically by the irregular deposit of the calc spar. one column in this part of the cave measured three feet in circumference. a peculiar beauty was the transparency of the material, a pure glassy white through which the light of a candle shone clearly, whilst a light inside converted the hanging folds and clusters of stalactites into a beautiful species of lantern. on the walls were folds and ridges of snowy stalagmite, and from the roof hung stalactites of all shapes and sizes, myriads of threadlike growths hanging in a lacy fringe. onwards the arcading and the array of pillars extended into a roomy vault, the end of which struck upwards, as already explained, south-eastwards, toward dry gill. though a perceptible draught comes through from the open air, and the heaps of clay-coated blocks show that a swallet is not far off above, no way can be forced through without excavation. augmented by the arrival of two or three local friends, the party descended, after lunch, into the lower caverns. unlike the other passages, with their continual windings and perplexing branches, these two series of large vaults, narrow tunnels, and almost impracticable crevices maintain a westerly direction throughout, and the few branches strike off decisively to the right or to the left. two of us, being delayed by some trifling accident, missed the others at the bottom of the short vertical descent, and, unaware that there were two series of passages, crept on along the first that opened. this had the appearance of an old stream-bed, the ground being littered in places with blocks of limestone, in others clayey, and in some parts smoothed down by the rush of a torrent. high in places, it often dwindled to a very low passage, through which we crept and wriggled after the manner of the serpent, ofttimes exerting no little strength to push beneath the projections overhead. here a shaft of glassy stalagmite, uniting floor and roof, tried to bar the way, and there it was impossible to advance without scraping against the vitreous threads that hung like hairs from the dripping rocks. we shouted to the others who we thought were ahead of us, but got no reply, and after twenty minutes of this painful progression began to think of returning. noticing a hollow in the right wall, i asked my comrade to wait while i examined it. inside was a blind passage and the round orifice of a small tunnel, into which i thrust my head and shoulders and then crawled forward. it was not an inviting hole, being wet and an exceedingly tight fit, and i was on the point of returning when a voice was heard faintly in the distance. listening intently and creeping on again, i heard the voice more distinctly, and shouted. the voice replied from below. i quickly realised that we two had missed the others, who were following a lower series of passages somewhere beneath us. unable to turn round, and too far advanced to return up this slippery tunnel, i saw there was nothing for it but to push on, head downwards. in a yard or two, to my unspeakable relief, the hole grew big enough to turn round in, just before i got to the end of it, and saw messrs. croft and puttrell, feet below me, holding out their hands and inviting me to drop. the leap was a little sensational, but i had my turn of enjoyment in witnessing the grace with which my comrade from above, who was now courteously invited to follow me through the water-pipe, took the jump on to the clay floor of the lower tunnel. we returned later to the other westerly passage, at the top of the water-pipe. examining every opening carefully, we noticed many similar communications between the two series, evidently proving that the upper was a very ancient stream course that had been tapped successively until the lower tunnel superseded it as a waterway. pushing ahead, we soon realised that we had arrived at the richest part of the whole cavern, though also the most inaccessible. the roof came down bristling with spikes and shafts of the purest calcite; the floor was one mass of crystallisation, ridged all over with the rippling lines that form as the crust grows under water. this exquisite scene was continued for hundreds of feet, various and indescribable as a dream, whilst our march onward over the sharp crystals of the floor and through the portcullis that closed every chamber was as painful as a nightmare. loveliest of all was a long tunnel that once held many pools of water, half-encrusted over with a film of carbonate. only one of these lucid mirrors remained, but the dried-up basins were as beautiful now as ever, with the bottom and sides covered by a coraline growth delicate in colour as in form. at the end was a small dome-like chamber, where we extended ourselves for a hard-earned rest before facing the toils and tribulations of the journey back. [illustration: the chapel: stump cross cavern. _photo by e. a. baker._] we thought this expedition to the lower series had exhausted the principal beauties of stump cross cavern, but we were wrong. on our way to rejoin the other men in the middle cavern we were much impressed by two large curtains of stalactite, one of them folded and wrinkled, and the other hanging straight down without a curve, but both striped with deep bands of crimson, orange, and golden yellow when a piece of magnesium was burnt behind them. these were equal in extent and brilliance to anything i have ever seen, even in cox's cavern at cheddar. a round tunnel, ribbed and groined with glistening dripstone, and a broad low arch set with pillars and string-like stalactites stretched from top to bottom, led into the long, wide chamber that we dubbed the "bowling alley," on account of the stumps and pedestals of stalagmite that stud the floor between the pillars. beyond it a short passage leads into a grotto to the right, and a very difficult one continues some distance to the left. it was now past three in the morning. tired and battered to the point of exhaustion, but delighted with an exploration that far exceeded in interest all we had looked for, we returned to the cave mouth. an unpleasant-looking bull which had with great suspicion watched us make our nocturnal entry into the regions below had, greatly to our relief, got tired of waiting, and the coast was clear. out of the everlasting silence and the shadows, lit so rarely by the glare of the magnesium and the beams of the limelight, we returned again, with the surprise that never fails, to the light of the heavens. dusk was on the far-extending moors and hills, daylight was creeping on over the sky, a pair of larks saluted us with a hilarious song. our driver was soon awake at the little inn, two furlongs away, and in the freshness of the morning we crawled down the break-neck road to appletreewick, bolton woods and the wharfe growing in light before us; and then at an exhilarating pace rolled up the dale to the red lion at burnsall. swallet-hunting in derbyshire "giant's hole" and "manifold" between sparrowpit and the head of the winnats the old road from chapel-en-le-frith to castleton skirts what is, geologically, one of the most important localities in derbyshire. it runs along the side of a shallow upland valley, about feet above tide-level and two miles long, which is bounded on two sides by the curve of rushup edge and on the other two by elden hill, windy knoll, and other limestone acclivities. one of the great faults of the pennine chain traverses this valley longitudinally, the yoredale strata having been thrown down to the level of the limestone, so that the middle of the valley is the boundary between the yoredale rocks, shale grits, and milestone grit on the north, and the limestone plateau of mid-derbyshire on the south. the valley is completely encircled by higher ground; there is no egress for streams on the surface. accordingly other modes of drainage are to be looked for, and they will be discovered in a numerous series of swallets situated along the line of the fault, the water that runs over the impervious shales perforating the limestone as soon as it comes in contact with it. this shallow valley, in fact, is the gathering ground for the waters that pour into the abyss of the speedwell cavern, traverse peak cavern, and make their way to the open air at russet well and other springs at castleton. that such is the case has long been proved by observations of the temperature and colour of the waters, and by tracing chaff and other things thrown into the upland streams. but there exist hardly enough data to establish the theory of the french speleologist, m. martel, that peak's hole water comes from perryfoot, and the water of russet well from coalpit mine, near sparrowpit. all that is definitely known is that these waters run through the massive limestone for distances varying from two to three miles and reappear in castleton, feet beneath. whether they unite into one or two large streams, which form considerable chambers and caverns in the inaccessible region beyond the farthest known parts of speedwell and peak caverns, is an interesting question, that tempts one to answer boldly in the affirmative, since the action of underground streams in somerset and yorkshire seems to justify the assumption, if we take into account the extent of the vertical joints eaten away by the water in its descent of feet, and the effects of periodical floods. in somerset, in a situation exactly similar, two caves of feet fall and feet horizontal measurement have recently been discovered by opening similar swallet-holes. is there any hope of finding such hypothetical cavern or caverns here by exploring, and if necessary opening artificially, any of the swallets between perryfoot and giant's hole? the investigations recently carried out by a friend and myself do not make us hopeful that if there are such caverns they will ever be made accessible. we began our work at giant's hole, which opens in the bottom of a little gorge between peak's hill and middle hill. the brooklet that runs in at the cave mouth was very low, and we passed almost dryshod over the rough stones that cover the stream-bed for some feet. giant's hole has an arched entrance about seven feet high, and the first part of the cave retains the same form. then the walls contract, and the cave takes the shape of a deep and narrow canyon, cut through solid rock, with the stream coursing along at the bottom over little falls and waterslides and through pools that are not easy to pass without a wetting. one hundred and fifty feet from the entrance to the cave is a lofty rift, near the top of which an upper gallery turns west, the general direction of the main passage being southerly. passing this, we followed the stream downhill for another fifty or sixty yards, and were then brought to a standstill by a partial choke. at this point a quantity of stones and gravel comes within two feet of the roof, and the water is dammed back in a pool a foot deep, so that there is barely a foot of clear space between water and roof. returning to the steep climb to the upper gallery, we scaled the wet and slippery rocks, and found ourselves on a shelf over the canyon. the shelf gave ingress to the gallery, which rose gently in a westerly direction, with frequent twists and turns, and then turned north. in feet it divided. we scrambled on; but all the branches evidently approached the surface of the ground, becoming earthy, and we soon found it impossible to get any farther. this upper level, which for our purposes was of less interest than the lower, is incrusted with deposits throughout its length of or yards. there are stalagmite curtains and sheets of tufa on the walls, the older rocks on the floor are cemented together with a crust of polished stalagmite, and some of the boulders are covered with shining enamel. we found it best to use an alpine rope in getting back to the lower level, the ledges underneath not being easy to find by candlelight. outside the sun was shining brightly, and the light that streamed in at the cave mouth, through the ferns and flowers and grasses that encircled it, was stained a fairy-like green. continuing our way through the gorge between the sharp limestone knoll of peak's hill and the bulkier middle hill, we followed a stream that comes down from rushup edge, perforates the limestone base of peak's hill, and comes out on the other side at a small cave. in three furlongs this stream is swallowed under a cliff some feet high, the ingress at present being through a series of holes, where the water makes an intermittent roaring, almost like the throb of a hydraulic ram, as if a siphon were momentarily discharging. older rifts are seen in the same line of cliffs, and can be penetrated for feet, but are now deserted by the water save at flood-time. farther on is a deep depression in the hillside, big enough to engulf a house. it is supposed locally to have been produced by the falling in of a cave roof, but it is more probably an independent swallet, one of a series, nearly all funnel-shaped and long out of working order, that lie along a higher level in the limestone than those that occupy the line of demarcation from the shales. the biggest of them is bull pit, which we come to later. next to the last pair of large openings into which streams are running, and which may be called the peak's hill swallets, since their waters rise out of peak's hill, we come to a large irregular series of trough-shaped hollows converging on another swallet at this same geological border-line. the openings here are all little ones. but the next swallet has a cave above it, into which we entered. it does not go far, but it has two ascending branches that can be traced to two small depressions in the limestone where tiny affluents have percolated and cut for themselves little tunnels in the rock. the next swallet beyond this has but a small opening, although the hollow cut out by its rivulets through the shales is hundreds of square yards in area. an abrupt cliff walls in the hollow on the limestone side, only a few paces from which are naked patches of yoredale rocks, clearly defining the boundary of the two series. we now came to one of the most interesting openings that we have met with. it lies about yards north of bull pit. as often happens, immediately above the swallet, in the limestone, is a deep chasm almost perforating the escarpment. at the base of the escarpment is a rounded archway with a turbulent stream running in. after securing a photograph we enter, and make our way down stream easily for a little distance; then the cave twists and narrows, and at a distance of feet or so we are disappointed to find the channel too confined for us to force our way farther. outside we had observed that the basin-shaped area had been flooded not long ago, and inside the vegetable débris that was plastered over the walls and roof showed that the swallet must have been completely choked during the recent wet weather. but the peculiarity of this swallet was that the solid mass of rock through which the stream had carved its way was not ordinary limestone, but beautifully veined and crystalline like marble, and its surface smooth and polished. it had very much the same appearance as the marmorised limestone found in the neighbourhood of intrusive lavas, such as those near tideswell. by the action of the water it had been sculptured into fantastic shapes; in one place a corner had been cut through and a small pillar left, joined to the rock at top and bottom. we scrambled with some difficulty into the chasm behind the swallet. at the bottom, on the same side as the existing swallet, was the broad and lofty arch of a cave, which went only a few yards in, otherwise it would have broken through the escarpment. right above the keystone of the arch was a weathered group of stalactites hanging from a ledge, and under them the broken stalagmite floor of a tiny grotto. it is a rare thing to find such deposits in the open air, and doubtless it indicates that the chasm was formed by the destruction of a larger cave. a thick deposit of earthy mud covered the floor, and at one side a big hole penetrated this to a depth of six feet, the work of a stream that had perhaps not run for ages. this deposit, though dry, was so soft that i nearly sank through into the hole. we found four birds' nests in this cave mouth, with eggs and young in them, and were disappointed not to come across the egg of a cuckoo that flew out the moment before we entered. in the wiry grass not far away from the top of the cavity we discovered a lark's nest with two eggs in it. bull pit lies in the wood just above this opening, nearer the road. it is a great open abyss, walled on three sides by crags of limestone nearly a hundred feet high, and with trees growing all round the edges. this, no doubt, is a very ancient swallet that has not been in operation for ages--belongs, perhaps, to the same period as elden hole, which opens or feet higher, a mile away, on elden hill. a little way on, near perryfoot, we come in sight of another very ancient cavity, on the side of gautries hill. it is a gaping pit about feet deep, with a noble arch inside, spanning the entrance to a broad cave. at present the cave mouth is silted up with sand and clay. all these rocky openings are the lurking-places of beautiful ferns and mosses; the feathery fronds of the limestone polypody, the late primroses, various saxifrages, and the delicate foliage of herb robert making a brave show. the wilder birds take refuge there. a crow flew out of the hole on gautries hill, and one day on approaching elden hole i was startled by a dense cloud of jackdaws, more than a hundred, suddenly rushing out. farther down, from to feet lower, a host of starlings had built their nests on the walls of the chasm. disturbed, they came flying up in twos and threes, beating the air in painful efforts to wing their way straight up and out of the hole. at perryfoot a stream is engulfed which m. martel considers to be the source of peak's hole water, and to be identical with the stream that flows through the inmost passages of peak cavern. it now runs into a cleft that is too small to be explored. but at a comparatively recent date it was swallowed in a number of large fissures in a crescent-shaped wall of limestone yards away. most of these openings are impracticable, but at the extreme east i had already reconnoitred a promising cleft which we now proceeded to examine thoroughly. this complicated swallet, with the passages behind it, is known locally as "manifold." going east for feet, the fissure divides, one passage striking up towards the surface and the other turning south. we soon had to crawl, the passage being very low, narrow, and lined with objectionable stones. after feet more we came to a wider place, with a sort of chimney on one side. here was the sole mark of humanity that we found in this cave, a stake that had apparently been used to climb into the chimney. nothing was gained by climbing it, so we squeezed our way along the main passage. now the tunnel grew into a high but narrow canyon where we could stand upright, then it dwindled to a tunnel again, generally descending, but occasionally rising in what was once a siphon. we passed one or two branches, at the most important of which the principal tunnel curved to the left and descended a little more steeply over some small ledges and basins brimming with water. we began to feel sanguine about the wished-for cavern, but presently the diameter of the tunnel grew so small that we could not advance another yard. my companion was some distance behind with his candle out, and i would not make a move until he had got it relighted, the consequences of both candles going out at once being unpleasant and possibly dangerous. for a long way we could not turn round, and had to crawl feet foremost. just after repassing the junction my companion shouted that we were going wrong. he did not recognise the passage. i remained at the junction whilst he went farther and ascertained that it was the right channel after all. then i examined the branch. it ascended feet and then divided, the left branch, which was earthy, plainly striking up to the surface, the right branch going back towards the swallet. undoubtedly there must be quite a labyrinth of dry water channels to correspond with the numerous series of openings in the cliff, but the one we explored seemed to be the largest and most practicable. very tired and hot, not to mention the dirt, we made our way back to the exit, glad to feel that our day's work was done. the one thing that had impressed us most during our explorations was that all these swallets and water channels are cut through solid rock. only when the rocks are shattered or disintegrated, as in the cases alluded to in somerset, would there be any possibility of enlarging a swallet artificially. and though we had penetrated to a distance of feet at manifold we had not found the passages growing more roomy nor enlarged by the accession of tributaries. so far, the prospect of opening up the large fissures and chambers that must surely exist deeper in the rock seems unfavourable, unless the main channel of giant's hole can be unblocked. e. a. b. exploring new caves in derbyshire the new and exciting game of cave-exploring has been pursued so strenuously during the last four years that one would almost think the possibilities of fresh discoveries had been exhausted. when a little while ago, therefore, rumours came in of a big cavern in lathkill dale, so big that people were said to have been lost in its recesses, they were received not a little incredulously. but after the usual allowances had been made for exaggeration and myth, and the alleged casualties reduced to the misfortunes of a sheep-dog who spent fourteen days in the cavern, probably rock-bound on a ledge, it still appeared that there was something worth exploring. accordingly two friends, messrs. w. h. and g. d. williams, who were residing near matlock, kindly undertook to find the cave or caves, and see what was to be done; and a native of middleton was commissioned to make further inquiries. first, a letter arrived with the disappointing intelligence that there was no cave on the lathkill, nothing but old mine workings: but hard on its heels came a wire to say that a cave had been located and was being explored tentatively. then further messages arrived with mention of another opening, but which was the reputed great cavern was a question to be settled only by a regular exploration. a day was fixed for the campaign, and my section of the party drove up early in the morning from bakewell station on the midland. our friends were waiting at the head of ricklow dale, a mile below the little village of thornyash, and we proceeded without delay down that streamless canyon, first over smooth greensward between the grim limestone walls, then hopping from point to point of huge, close-packed fragments, until we reached the uppermost cave mouth. it has a very imposing entrance, solid piers supporting a massive lintel, about feet wide. it opens in the west cliff of ricklow dale, at a height of feet above sea-level, and is evidently the source at times of a large stream. ricklow dale is really the upper part of lathkill dale, above the junction with cales dale, and the head streams of the lathkill originally flowed down it from the neighbourhood of monyash. but at a later period, seemingly, the stream betook itself to an underground course, until it emerged into the open from this cave. at the present time the cave is swept by water only when the deeper cavities of the rock overflow. this happened, for instance, a few weeks ago, when the cave discharged a considerable stream, and was for the time being quite impenetrable to man. as the messrs. williams had been into this cavern a day or two before, we left it for the present, in order to try some unexplored openings farther down the dale. on the same side of the dale they had detected the entrance to something, whether cave or mine they knew not, covered in by stones and earth. with pick and crowbar an entrance was soon exposed, not much larger than a badger's hole, and we crept through. at once it became evident that the hole was not a natural one; it was no "self-cave," as the country people say, but an ordinary level or a sough draining a lead mine. a pool of water filled the tunnel from side to side, stretching away into the distance; and as we preferred, if wading were necessary, to postpone it as long as we could, we left this alone for the present, and went on with our quest at two other spots in the entrance to cales dale. needless to say, we had missed no opportunity of cross-examining the inhabitants of the district, but the results had been absurdly inaccurate and conflicting. already a crowd of rustic onlookers had gathered round, but the only individual among them who knew anything about the region inside was the afore-mentioned sheep-dog, who could tell us nothing. he, too, was the only one who showed any inclination to join our underground party. in the upper cales dale cavern, as we named it, he actually went ahead of us, and put our candles in jeopardy with the spirited wagging of his tail. this cave is doubtless a very ancient channel of the cales dale water, which now runs through hidden crevices till it meets the lathkill; the span of its antiquity may be gauged by the fact that cales dale has been cut feet deeper, and the cave left high and dry, since it was a regular stream-course. i say dry in a comparative sense, for we quickly found ourselves confronted by a short passage of extreme dampness. the main channel runs west for feet, and then divides, both branches dwindling rapidly to mere water-pipes. but near the entrance a branch strikes off to the right. although the roof came down on our backs as we crawled, we managed to keep just above the surface of a shallow pool that lay in the middle: but a second pool was almost entirely mopped up by our journey to and fro. the passage ended in a chamber where two can stand upright. every bit of this little nook is covered with a creamy-white and brownish coating of amorphous carbonate. it is like a small empty shrine, with heavy curtains flowing over its walls, their folds and ridges flecked with innumerable scaly projections, like some delicate frilling. the rest of the cave is devoid of charm, though there are interesting masses of white tufa on the walls, as soft as putty. at the bottom of the dale, almost exactly under and parallel to this upper cave, is a larger one, which we called the lower cales dale cavern. it is entirely concealed by bushes and nettles, and we had to remove a mass of blocks and detritus before we laid bare the two entrances. even then, room could not be made for the broad-shouldered member of the party to get in. at the end of feet of very tight wriggling there was more head room. we were in a straight tunnel, arched as evenly as a culvert, the floor covered with the gravelly deposits of a stream. evidently it is a channel still used frequently by the cales dale water. it ran due west for feet, with room in most places for us to crawl on hands and knees: then it bent one point to the north. here the stream had thrown up a low dam, behind which it had bored a series of holes on the south side, through which most of it gets away. soon a wall of rock, shaped like the steps of a weir, confronted us, at the top of which we found ourselves in a wide, irregular chamber, the height of whose roof varied from feet to feet. we called it the pot hole cavern, because of the number of water-worn cavities in the roof. the biggest of these cavities appearing to give entrance to an upper gallery, i climbed into it with the aid of a comrade's shoulder. it contained a pretty grotto, lined with incrustations, but led to nothing. deep horizontal fissures yawned on every side of the pot hole chamber, and vertical joints split the interposing strata. all the exits, however, came to an end speedily except two, one extending a point east of south, the other a point east of north. i explored the northern branch before my friends arrived. it had several short ramifications, in some of which there were trails of rabbits, and other evidences of a communication with the surface, such as pieces of sodden wood and deposits of soil; but it gave ingress for barely feet. the other branch seemed more important, and as we were tired out and hungry, we left it until we had returned to the dale for rest and lunch, a waste of time, unfortunately, for it ran only for feet farther. [illustration: ricklow cave in flood. _photo by g. d. williams._] we crept over a pavement of fractured blocks, into a broad, low passage that seemed to have been hewn by giants out of the solid limestone. all around were the marks of a powerful, swirling current, that had split and torn the rocks asunder, and bored its way through their joints; yet not a grain of sand or a speck of mud was visible on their cleaned and polished surface. fissures and passages twisted away at the side, but returned in a few yards to the main corridor. in the roof were discernible the clean-cut hollows whence slabs of limestone had fallen that still cumbered the floor. the large chamber that we reached finally was bestrewn and heaped up with such masses, and all the ways of egress save one were entirely blocked up. this very soon came to an abrupt termination in a bell-shaped cavity, floored with a crust of stalagmite. but there were narrow fissures, a few inches only in width, running away in many directions; a strong draught made the candles gutter; and the occasional presence of great volumes of water was made evident by the damage done to some of the incrustations. there was no sign or sound of flowing water now; the silence was as profound and impressive as the darkness. yet this rock-strewn chamber was once the birthplace of a river. hither, from countless fissures, the streamlets gathered together and poured through the hidden places of the hill, now in a rippling brook, and now in a torrent, crashing and rending. at present the cales dale stream finds its way to the lathkill river by still more secret channels. but at no infrequent times, even yet, the torrent thunders over the waterfall in the pot hole cavern, the swallet is inundated, and a flood pours on through the long tunnel, and so into the open stream-course in the dale, now dried up and covered with vegetation. proofs of this were legible all around us. returning up the dale, we closed the mouth of the artificial level, and went back to the ricklow cavern. although the portal is so majestic, the passage becomes anything but commodious at the end of a few paces. once more we had to crawl over hard, water-worn rock, deeply fissured and thrown out of the horizontal; our galled knees and elbows could scarcely be induced to go at all, and the pace was miserably slow. then the roof came down so close in a horizontal fissure of huge extent, that there was nothing for it but to wriggle. my friends had ascertained that feet of this work leads into a lofty chamber. it is one of those long, vertical fissures, not wide but enormously high, that are common in the castleton caves. there were indications of galleries overhead, but we were too much exhausted to attempt climbing without a ladder. only one exit was practicable, which led in feet into just such another hollow, but still wider and uglier of aspect. filling the cavity to a height of feet was a mountain of shattered rocks, flung together pell-mell and wedged loosely. when we climbed it, the light of our candles showed that the structure was hollow, and hardly more durable in appearance than a house of cards. some of the rocks were held by points and corners, swinging on their long axes; a touch sent others clattering down, as we crept with the utmost caution up the adjoining wall. it was as if the interior of the hill had been rent apart by an earthquake, and the headlong stream of rocks caught suddenly and held by the closing in of the fracture. we clambered to the summit of this hollow mass of ruin, and lit some magnesium wire. the formless walls went up into a dark void above us, their ledges fringed with glistening spikes and tendrils of transparent stalactite, revealed by the glare. there had been visitors here before. scratched on the walls, but partially coated over by a crystalline enamel, were the initials "h. b.--r. a.," and the date ; other scrawls were indecipherable. no doubt this was the cave whose legendary renown had reached our ears. getting down our shattered staircase was a more formidable job than the ascent. one stone, as big as a table, rocked like a see-saw when we set foot on it. stalactites were not numerous in these caves, which are not only very humid, but continually swept by water. animal remains were plentiful, all recent, bones being carried in by beasts of prey and deposited by floods. as this process must have been going on for ages, the two cales dale caverns would probably yield good results to palæontological research. a comic incident cheered my fatigued comrades when we regained the open air. in the morning i had brought my family up from bakewell station for a day in the country, a work of supererogation that now placed me in a curious predicament. the waggonette had gone off to pick them up for the early train, and, to my distress, i found the driver had relieved us of all the luggage, including the rücksack which held my clothes, not to mention boots, pipe, and railway ticket. the alternative stared me in the face of proceeding to town in slimy overalls or in attire of dangerous slightness. but the broad-shouldered friend came to the rescue with his cave jacket, a garment that fell about me like a baggy greatcoat, hiding the worst deformities, and with battered hobnailers at one extremity, and a cap that had more stiff clay than cloth in it at the other, i made the best of my way home under the cover of darkness. a visit to mitchelstown cave mitchelstown cave, the largest ever discovered in the british isles, is not situated at the town of that name, in county cork, but miles away, in tipperary, on the road to cahir. its entrance is in a small limestone hill in the broad vale of the blackwater, midway between the knockmealdown mountains and the sandstone ridges and tables of the galtees. the cave was laid open in the course of quarrying operations in , from which time to the present the work of exploration has gone on progressively, if at long intervals, and may, perhaps, continue until the extent of the passages known is considerably enlarged. it seems now to be entirely forgotten that the spot has been famous from time immemorial for a wonderful stalactite cavern. in october , arthur young was taken into a cave, known as skeheenarinky, after the townland, but the old irish name of which was oonakareaglisha. "the opening," he says, "is a cleft of rock in a limestone hill, so narrow as to be difficult to get into it. i descended by a ladder of about twenty steps, and then found myself in a vault of feet long and or high: a small hole, on the left, leads from this a winding course of, i believe, not less than half an irish mile." he goes on to describe the beautiful scenery of the cave, which, he says, is much superior to the peak cavern in derbyshire, "and lord kingsborough, who has viewed the grot d'aucel in burgundy, says that it is not to be compared with it."[ ] the odd thing is that the very existence of this cavern seems to have been forgotten since the discovery of its much finer neighbour. yet the trees and brushwood guarding its mouth are in full view of the well-frequented entrance to the other cave; and dr. lyster jameson, who was with monsieur martel on his visit in , told me some years ago that an opening had been pointed out to him into a lower series of caves, which i have little hesitation in identifying with young's cavern and the cave mouth i allude to. [ ] arthur young's _tour in ireland_; ed. by a. w. hutton. vols. bell, . see pages - , vol. i. [illustration: a great pillar: mitchelstown cavern. _photo by e. a. baker._] [illustration: a fairy lantern: mitchelstown cavern. _photo by e. a. baker_.] dr. c. a. hill and i visited the spot in august , intending to go through all the accessible parts of the huge series now known collectively as mitchelstown cave, and also to examine the series referred to by dr. jameson, who had been unable to undertake their exploration. our impression was that little or nothing was known of the latter series, and it was not until after our return from ireland that we were startled and puzzled by turning up an account in _the postchaise companion_ ( ed., pp. , ) of a cave in this place already known and celebrated thirty years before the discovery of the mitchelstown cave. the explanation probably is that the guides find one cave a more profitable investment than two. to show the second (or rather the first, since the other is the usurper) would involve twice as much labour, but would hardly bring in twice the income. since , then, the original cavern has been suppressed, so successfully that even the omniscient baddeley never suspected that there are two series, although he had read young's description and confused it with the other. dr. hill let me down a few feet into the old cave-mouth, just such a narrow slit as young depicts; but we found that the rock was cut away immediately beneath, and without more hauling power, the only way to get down was to use a long ladder, and this we could not obtain. the guide told us that the hole led into nothing of any interest, and that the entrance had been used as a receptacle for deceased dogs and other excreta. this effectually took away any wish to pursue our researches in that direction for the present. still, the old cave ought not to be lost sight of; and we propose, if no one else undertakes the work, to explore the lower series on some future visit to ireland. the unscientific explorers of a hundred years ago may have left discoveries to future workers as important as those which remained for so many years after the early explorations in the neighbouring great cave. what was done in the latter during the first year after the discovery may be read in an article by dr. apjohn in the _dublin penny journal_ for december , , an article reproduced from the _dublin geological journal_, vol. i. dr. apjohn carried out a most elaborate and painstaking survey to points considerably beyond the second great cavity, now known as the "house of lords," but failed to reach "o'leary's cave," the key of the farther ramifications, or to explore the tunnels connected with "the river." his plan, worked out to scale, and showing the differences of level with great minuteness, remained the only map of the cave until m. martel's survey in . meanwhile various adventurers had got to more distant points, particularly to the long chain of caverns running east to brogden's, at the end of which m. martel's chart stops. the french explorer does not seem to have broken any fresh ground; but his plan, which appeared in _the irish naturalist_ for april , with an account of his visit, was a brilliant achievement, especially when the short time at his disposal is considered, six hours for the whole of the cavern. parts of this chart were only hastily sketched in, either from a rapid survey or from information supplied by the guide, as m. martel explained to me in a conversation some time ago, and errors of detail were, under these conditions, unavoidable. for instance, "o'leary's cave" is much larger than appears on the plan, and the "chimney" is not situated at the far end of a passage, but actually opens in the floor of "o'leary's cave." the caves running east, again--o'callaghan's and brogden's--are not such a simple series of straight passages as they seem on the chart; our guide had considerable difficulty in threading his way among the various bifurcations. as will transpire later, there is a mystery connected with the name of "cust's cave," the real cust's being in a totally different part of the series, and a different chamber altogether in shape. unfortunately we did not go prepared to carry out any survey, believing that all this had been done; so that we can at the most point out some places where the existing plans are at fault. we were also unfortunate in not being prepared to take a large number of photographs, the accounts we had read not leading us to anticipate the actual grandeur and extent of the scenery. m. martel compares the mitchelstown cave with such famous continental caverns as those of adelsberg, padirac, dargilan, and han-sur-lesse, and it comes off but poorly in such a comparison. i have seen his lantern slides of these caves, and after exploring all the most beautiful caves discovered as yet in england, i venture to say there is not one english cave that would not come off badly if set beside any of these. compared, however, with other british caverns, that of mitchelstown can hold its own easily; though individual chambers may be surpassed, there is nothing like the same extent of brilliant subterranean scenery anywhere else in these islands. the tourist portion of the cavern, a fraction of the whole, but yet a considerable extent of underground passages, is deservedly much frequented. the spacious vault, nicknamed the "house of commons," vies in dimensions and dignity with those in the peak of derbyshire, but it is far surpassed by the "house of lords." seventeen massy columns of pure white stalactite, surmounting enormous cones of terraced stalagmite, tower from floor to roof of this impressive dome, some feet in span and feet high. the grandeur of its height is lost somewhat through the mountain of fallen blocks that rises from the entrance almost to the apex of the roof. behind this vast accumulation a sort of ambulatory runs round under the walls, opening here and there into side chapels and irregular cavities, all bountifully adorned with the fairy-like work of the limestone carbonate. the so-called "tower of babel" is a majestic pillar rising from the summit of a pyramidal mass of stalagmite, feet in circumference, that being also the measure of its total height. a crowd of other limestone freaks, some aptly and some incongruously nicknamed, and many extremely beautiful, are found in this chamber. the cavities and passages that lie to the north-east of the first great chamber are not often visited. they start from "sadlier's cave," which is not large but bewilderingly picturesque, and contains a superb pillar, "lot's wife," almost of the prodigious size of the "tower." the "kingston gallery" is a straight rift, nearly feet long, but only two or three feet wide, with sheets of snowy white sweeping down the walls, and breaking into whole garlands of scrolls and pennons and curtains, which in places have been thrown right across the gallery, dividing it into lofty cells. manholes, actually, had to be cut through these diaphanous partitions to create a passage. from the cave at the end, a lower passage, the sand cave, comes back in a parallel direction to the point of junction, and from the quantities of fine sand on its bed, was evidently an important stream-course after the kingston gallery was drained of its waters. it has one unique feature, the succession of parallel rifts, called the "closets," which are connected together by rents in their dividing walls. some of these are extremely narrow, and by candlelight it is impossible to see any limit to their height, depth, or length. similar widenings of the master joints and degradation of the limestone separating them, are a special feature of the mitchelstown cave, and the key to its ground-plan, with its maze of right-angles. the great eastern vault, the garret, which is only feet below the level of the entrance, does not fall, as stated by m. martel, towards a series of choked swallets, that originally carried the waters farther down, but rises towards inlets from the surface. its fretted roof has fallen in at the upper end. a little to the south is a nameless series of charming vestibules, grottoes, and tunnels, meandering towards the insignificant lakelet called the "river." here we spent the whole of our first day. it is possible, we learned, to reach the easternmost series of caverns by this route, which also takes one into the square cavity designated as "cust's cave" on m. martel's chart. we chose the other way, that is, through the passage from the "house of lords" to the "cathedral." in the tangle of contrary passages into which this leads we lost ourselves several times, in the absence of the guide, and only recovered the thread by careful observation with the compass. eventually we found the way into "o'leary's cave," which struck us as one of the most impressive chambers in the whole cavern. it is not only much larger than is shown on the plan, but different in shape. apparently it is the most recent of all in formation, although this may be only an appearance caused by the falling in of the roof. unlike the other parts, where every bit of débris is sealed down by a glistening layer of stalagmite, this great cavity is heaped high with loose fragments, as free from incrustation as if the ceiling had collapsed yesterday. so wild and vast is the configuration of "o'leary's cave" that, standing on the lower side and looking across a depression in the middle to the ascending ground opposite, one fancied oneself, in the dim candlelight, gazing across a valley to a range of hills in the distance. we spent some time vainly searching for the horizontal tunnel supposed to end at the "chimney," and before the guide joined us were lucky enough to hit upon a string of chambers that seem never to have been entered before. these run, so far as we could make out without actual measurement, right over the o'callaghan series. in fact there were openings in the floor which we might have explored but for the aggressive and tenacious clay bedaubing everything, apparently leading down to these nether passages. brilliant draperies swept down to the bold masses of stalagmite below the walls, and long crystalline wands hung from the roof in thousands, so that we could not move without committing havoc in this pendulous forest. conducted by the guide, we now descended the "chimney" into the tortuous passages leading to the "scotchman's cave," which lies under o'leary's. it is a small but very beautiful chamber, giving one the idea that it has been hollowed out in a mountain of parian marble. now we struck into the long series running east through "o'callaghan's cave" to the farthest point yet reached. this was one of the principal channels by which the ancient waters descended, from openings now unknown and inaccessible, to the labyrinth of forsaken waterways we had left behind. our guide, who astonished us by the rapidity with which he got over difficult ground, was unable to make very speedy progress here. the ramifications are extremely hard to unravel, and he had only been in this part twice before, in with m. martel, and twenty-five years earlier, as a boy, with his father. eventually, after many wanderings, we reached "brogden's cave," where hitherto all direct progress had stopped. on the south side (not on the north, as shown in the chart) is the "chapel," which m. martel rightly described as the most beautiful thing in the whole cavern. it is an arched recess, canopied with stalagmite of the purest and most delicate lustre. whilst my companion rested, i joined the guide, who was hunting for the passage to a cave where his father had taken him thirty-five years ago. we discovered the opening at last, and after wriggling and squirming round innumerable twists and corners, we dropped over a low cliff, beyond which a short wriggle brought us into a long and lofty cave, magnificently walled and pillared with snowy calcite. floor, walls, and roof were a spotless white, wrought into intricate reliefs and embroideries by the flow of the freakish stalagmite. the guide stated that this was "cust's cave," and the one beyond, where our progress stopped, he called the "demon's cave." m. martel's chart shows a "cust's cave" of a totally different shape and size, near the "river"; and, as there is no mention extant of any cave beyond brogden's, i take it that this, the real cust's, was unknown to him. unfortunately i had followed the guide without bringing the plan or a compass, unaware that we were going so far from the known parts of the cavern; and now, to my disgust, the guide was unable to find the way out. twice he descended into a hole at our end of the cave, and emerged with the intelligence, "it's not there, sir." we ransacked every opening in wall and floor, but failed to hit on any exit whatever. the guide grew alarmed, and rushed off to the farther end of the cave, wondering if we had completely lost our sense of direction. he tried whistling; but the hundreds of feet of rock between us and our companion were well able to guard their ancient silence. tired with these exertions, he next proposed that we should put out the lights and rest for a while. whether his idea was to husband the only provisions we had, i could not say; but at any rate the situation did look serious, since rescuers might have taken days to discover our position in this remote corridor, of whose very existence, probably, our guide was the only man in ireland that knew anything. but where there is a way in, there is a way out, as i very well knew from several similar experiences; and after a pretty bad half-hour, we did manage to recover the trail, and got back to our friend, who had been completely mystified by our disappearance, and was almost as relieved as we by our return. after many hours of fatiguing work, we were glad to follow our guide back through the labyrinthine passages, by the most direct route to the open air. our chief regret was that we had relied too much on the completeness of previous surveys, and had not taken materials for correcting the map. we had secured many photographs of the earlier chambers, but had not taken the camera into the innermost cavities, where photography would be most profitable. m. martel's dictum can still be endorsed that there is a great field for research in the mitchelstown cavern. index abergele, . _abîmes, les_, , . adelsberg, , . albanets of couvin (belgium), . alfred (king), . alps, . anemolites, . _angels and men_ (quotation), . antiquity of caverns, , , . apjohn (dr.), . arragonite, , . arthur (king), . attrition, effect of, . avalon, isle of, . aveline's hole, , . aven de vigne close (ardèche), . avignon, . axbridge, . axe, the river, , , , , , , , , , , , , , . badger hole, , . bagshawe cavern, , . balch (mr.), , , , , , , , . bamforth (mr. h.), , , , , . banwell cave, , , . barnes (mr.), . bath, , . bats, , , . bear, , , . beehive, . beehive chamber, lamb's lair, . betsy camel's hole, . bishop's lot swallet, . bishop's palace at wells, . bison, , . blackdown, , , , . blackwater, . blue john mine, , , . bonheur (gard), . bos, . boule (m.), . bouvier (m.), . bowling alley, . bramabiau (gard), . bristol, , , . bristol channel, . brogden's cave, . brue, , . buckland (dean), . bull pit, , , . bunter sandstone, . burrington, , , , , , , , . buxton, . cadbury, . calamine, . cales dale, , , . camden's _britannia_, . camelot, . canyon, , , , , , . carbonic acid (action of), . carboniferous or mountain limestone, , , , , , , , , , , , , . cascades, . castle of comfort, , . castleton, , , . causse de gramat (padirac), . cave-earth, . _cave hunting_, . cave man of cheddar, , . ceiriog valley, . cevennes, . chapel-en-le-frith, . charterhouse, , , . cheddar, , , , , , , , , , , , , . cheddar water, , , . chokes, , , . clemens alexandrinus, . clevedon, . coalpit mine, . compton bishop, , , . compton martin, . copper, . coral cave, , . corridors, . cotherstone hill, . cows hounded over cliff, . cox's cavern, , . cox's hole, , . croft (mr. j.), . crook's peak, , . croscombe, . cross, . crosse (andrew), . cust's cave, , , . dangers of exploration, , . dargilan, . dawkins (prof. boyd), , , , , , , . de launey (m.), . deer, , , , . demon's cave, . denny's hole, . denudation, , . derbyshire, , , , , , , . devil's hole, . devil's punchbowl, . dinder wood, . dolomitic conglomerate, , , , , , , , , , , . dovedale, . doveholes, . downside monastery, . drayton, . dulcote, , . east harptree, . eastwater, , , , , , , , , , . ebbor, , , , , . elden hill, . elden hole, , , . english channel, . enmore, . eocene, . exeter, . exploration (dangers of), , , . extinct animals, , , , . fairy slats, . fauna of caves, , . fissures, , , , , , , , , , , . flatholm, . fluor-spar, . fontaine de vaucluse, . foreland, . foxe's hole (burrington), . fox's hole (compton bishop), . frome, , , . frost (action of), . galtees, . gaping ghyll, , . gautries hill, . geological survey, . giant's hole, , , . gibson (mr. james), , . glacial drift, , . glastonbury, . goatchurch cavern, , , , , . golden cap, . gough (messrs.), , , , , , . grassington, . gravel, . great cavern of cheddar, , , . great chamber of lamb's lair, . green how, . _grotten und höhlen von adelsberg, die_, . gurney slade, . gypsum, . han-sur-lesse, . harptree, . harrington (dr.) of bath, . helln pot, . hiley (mr.), . hill (dr.), . hillgrove, , , , . holwell, , , . hope, dale of, . horse, . hyæna, , , . hyæna den, , , , . hydrology, . ingleborough cave, , . inscriptions, , . irish elk, , . _irlande et cavernes anglaises_, . jackdaws, . jacob's well, . jameson (dr.), . joints, , , , . katavothra, . kent's cavern, . kentucky, . keuper, . knockmealdown mountains, . kyndwr club, . labyrinths, , , . laibach, . lake village, . lamb's lair, , , . lathkill dale, , , . lathkill river, . lead, . leland, . lewsdon, . lias, , , . lion, , . llangollen, . long hole, , , . long kin hole, . long wood, . lower limestone shales, , , . loxton, , . mammoth, , . manifold, , . marble arch, . marshall (mr.), , . martel (mons.), , , , , , , , , , , , , . master-joint, , . matlock, . mazauric (m.), . mcmurtrie (mr. j.), . mendip plateau, . middle hill, . mitchelstown cave, . monyash, . morfa rhuddlan, . morland (mr. j. o.), . murray's guide, , . natural wells, . neolithic barrows, . niagara (gough's caves), . nidderdale, . north hill, , . o'callaghan's cave, , . offa's dyke, . ogo, , . ogof, , . old red sandstone, , , , , , , , , . o'leary's cave, , . ookey, . oonakareaglisha, . outfit, , . padirac, . parrett, . peace of wedmore, . peak, , , , , , , . peak's hill, . peak's hole, . peak's hole (source of water of), . pen hill, , , . percolating water, . percy's _reliques_, . perryfoot, , . phelps, . phosphorites, . pilsdon, . pleistocene gravel, . pliocene, . plumley's den, , , . _polyolbion_, . pot, , . pothole cavern, , . potholes, , , . pottery, , , , . priddy, , , , , , , . primitive man, , , , , , . puttrell (mr. j. w.), . quantocks, . quercy, . radstock, . radstock coalfield, . rain (action of), . rakes, , . ravine formation, . ravines, , , . raymond, walter, . red deer, , . reindeer, . _reliquiæ diluvianæ_, . revolving stones (action of), . rhaetic, , . rhinoceros, . rickford, , , . ricklow cavern, . ricklow dale, . risings (extent of flow), . "rock of ages," . rock shelter, . roman cave of cheddar, , . roman mines, . romano-british pottery, , , , . rookham, , . rowberrow farm, . rushup edge, , . russet well, , . "s" bends, , . st. andrew's well, , , . st. dunstan's well, , . st. george's cave, , . "st. paul's," , . st. swithin's hole, . "salle à manger," . sand (action of), . sand pit hole, . schmidl (dr. adolph), . scotchman's cave, . secondary rocks, , , , , . sedgemoor, . severn, . shakeholes, . sheldon (dr.), , , , . sheldon (mr., of wells), . shipham, . silt, , . siphons, , . skeheenarinky, . slater (mr.), . smith (w. w.), . snowdonia, . société de spéléologie, . "solomon's temple," , . somerville (a. f.), , . sorgue, . sparrowpit, , . speedwell mine, , . speleology, . spiders, . springs, , . spur and wedge, , . squire's well, . stalactites, , , , , , , , . stalagmite bridges, . steepholm, . stoke lane, , , , , . stratton-on-the-fosse, . stump cross cavern, . subterranean streams, , , , . subterranean waterfalls, . swallets, swallow-holes, , , , , , , , , , , , . swildon's hole, , , , , , . tanyrogo, . tennyson, . thornyash, . tideswell, . tindoul de la vayssière (aveyron), . tone, . torquay, . tower rock, . traps, , . trias, , , , , , , , , , . troup (mr.), , , , . _two men o' mendip_, . ubley farm, . undermining, , , . upper langford, . van den broeck, . vaucluse, . wastdale, . wavering down, , . wedmore, . well (in swildon's hole), , . wells, , , , , , , , , , . wells museum, . west riding, . weston-super-mare, . wharfedale, . wightman (mr. f.), . wild boar, . wild goat, . wild horse, . willcox (mr.), . william of worcester, . williams, (w. h. and g. d.), . wills neck, . wind (action of), . winnats, , . wirral, . witch of wookey, . wolf, , . wookey, . wookey hole, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . woolly rhinoceros, . wrington vale, . yoredales, . yorkshire, , , , , . young's cavern, . _printed by_ j. baker & son, _clifton_ transcriber's note: obvious printer errors have been corrected. otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact. the scarecrow of oz by l. frank baum dedicated to "the uplifters" of los angeles, california, in grateful appreciation of the pleasure i have derived from association with them, and in recognition of their sincere endeavor to uplift humanity through kindness, consideration and good-fellowship. they are big men--all of them--and all with the generous hearts of little children. l. frank baum 'twixt you and me the army of children which besieged the postoffice, conquered the postmen and delivered to me its imperious commands, insisted that trot and cap'n bill be admitted to the land of oz, where trot could enjoy the society of dorothy, betsy bobbin and ozma, while the one-legged sailor-man might become a comrade of the tin woodman, the shaggy man, tik-tok and all the other quaint people who inhabit this wonderful fairyland. it was no easy task to obey this order and land trot and cap'n bill safely in oz, as you will discover by reading this book. indeed, it required the best efforts of our dear old friend, the scarecrow, to save them from a dreadful fate on the journey; but the story leaves them happily located in ozma's splendid palace and dorothy has promised me that button-bright and the three girls are sure to encounter, in the near future, some marvelous adventures in the land of oz, which i hope to be permitted to relate to you in the next oz book. meantime, i am deeply grateful to my little readers for their continued enthusiasm over the oz stories, as evinced in the many letters they send me, all of which are lovingly cherished. it takes more and more oz books every year to satisfy the demands of old and new readers, and there have been formed many "oz reading societies," where the oz books owned by different members are read aloud. all this is very gratifying to me and encourages me to write more stories. when the children have had enough of them, i hope they will let me know, and then i'll try to write something different. l. frank baum "royal historian of oz." "ozcot" at hollywood in california, . list of chapters - the great whirlpool - the cavern under the sea - the ork - daylight at last - the little old man of the island - the flight of the midgets - the bumpy man - button-bright is lost, and found again - the kingdom of jinxland - pon, the gardener's boy - the wicked king and googly-goo - the wooden-legged grass-hopper - glinda the good and the scarecrow of oz - the frozen heart - trot meets the scarecrow - pon summons the king to surrender - the ork rescues button-bright - the scarecrow meets an enemy - the conquest of the witch - queen gloria - dorothy, betsy and ozma - the waterfall - the land of oz - the royal reception chapter one the great whirlpool "seems to me," said cap'n bill, as he sat beside trot under the big acacia tree, looking out over the blue ocean, "seems to me, trot, as how the more we know, the more we find we don't know." "i can't quite make that out, cap'n bill," answered the little girl in a serious voice, after a moment's thought, during which her eyes followed those of the old sailor-man across the glassy surface of the sea. "seems to me that all we learn is jus' so much gained." "i know; it looks that way at first sight," said the sailor, nodding his head; "but those as knows the least have a habit of thinkin' they know all there is to know, while them as knows the most admits what a turr'ble big world this is. it's the knowing ones that realize one lifetime ain't long enough to git more'n a few dips o' the oars of knowledge." trot didn't answer. she was a very little girl, with big, solemn eyes and an earnest, simple manner. cap'n bill had been her faithful companion for years and had taught her almost everything she knew. he was a wonderful man, this cap'n bill. not so very old, although his hair was grizzled--what there was of it. most of his head was bald as an egg and as shiny as oilcloth, and this made his big ears stick out in a funny way. his eyes had a gentle look and were pale blue in color, and his round face was rugged and bronzed. cap'n bill's left leg was missing, from the knee down, and that was why the sailor no longer sailed the seas. the wooden leg he wore was good enough to stump around with on land, or even to take trot out for a row or a sail on the ocean, but when it came to "runnin' up aloft" or performing active duties on shipboard, the old sailor was not equal to the task. the loss of his leg had ruined his career and the old sailor found comfort in devoting himself to the education and companionship of the little girl. the accident to cap'n bill's leg bad happened at about the time trot was born, and ever since that he had lived with trot's mother as "a star boarder," having enough money saved up to pay for his weekly "keep." he loved the baby and often held her on his lap; her first ride was on cap'n bill's shoulders, for she had no baby-carriage; and when she began to toddle around, the child and the sailor became close comrades and enjoyed many strange adventures together. it is said the fairies had been present at trot's birth and had marked her forehead with their invisible mystic signs, so that she was able to see and do many wonderful things. the acacia tree was on top of a high bluff, but a path ran down the bank in a zigzag way to the water's edge, where cap'n bill's boat was moored to a rock by means of a stout cable. it had been a hot, sultry afternoon, with scarcely a breath of air stirring, so cap'n bill and trot had been quietly sitting beneath the shade of the tree, waiting for the sun to get low enough for them to take a row. they had decided to visit one of the great caves which the waves had washed out of the rocky coast during many years of steady effort. the caves were a source of continual delight to both the girl and the sailor, who loved to explore their awesome depths. "i b'lieve, cap'n," remarked trot, at last, "that it's time for us to start." the old man cast a shrewd glance at the sky, the sea and the motionless boat. then he shook his head. "mebbe it's time, trot," he answered, "but i don't jes' like the looks o' things this afternoon." "what's wrong?" she asked wonderingly. "can't say as to that. things is too quiet to suit me, that's all. no breeze, not a ripple a-top the water, nary a gull a-flyin' anywhere, an' the end o' the hottest day o' the year. i ain't no weather-prophet, trot, but any sailor would know the signs is ominous." "there's nothing wrong that i can see," said trot. "if there was a cloud in the sky even as big as my thumb, we might worry about it; but--look, cap'n!--the sky is as clear as can be." he looked again and nodded. "p'r'aps we can make the cave, all right," he agreed, not wishing to disappoint her. "it's only a little way out, an' we'll be on the watch; so come along, trot." together they descended the winding path to the beach. it was no trouble for the girl to keep her footing on the steep way, but cap'n bill, because of his wooden leg, had to hold on to rocks and roots now and then to save himself from tumbling. on a level path he was as spry as anyone, but to climb up hill or down required some care. they reached the boat safely and while trot was untying the rope cap'n bill reached into a crevice of the rock and drew out several tallow candles and a box of wax matches, which he thrust into the capacious pockets of his "sou'wester." this sou'wester was a short coat of oilskin which the old sailor wore on all occasions--when he wore a coat at all--and the pockets always contained a variety of objects, useful and ornamental, which made even trot wonder where they all came from and why cap'n bill should treasure them. the jackknives--a big one and a little one--the bits of cord, the fishhooks, the nails: these were handy to have on certain occasions. but bits of shell, and tin boxes with unknown contents, buttons, pincers, bottles of curious stones and the like, seemed quite unnecessary to carry around. that was cap'n bill's business, however, and now that he added the candles and the matches to his collection trot made no comment, for she knew these last were to light their way through the caves. the sailor always rowed the boat, for he handled the oars with strength and skill. trot sat in the stern and steered. the place where they embarked was a little bight or circular bay, and the boat cut across a much larger bay toward a distant headland where the caves were located, right at the water's edge. they were nearly a mile from shore and about halfway across the bay when trot suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed: "what's that, cap'n?" he stopped rowing and turned half around to look. "that, trot," he slowly replied, "looks to me mighty like a whirlpool." "what makes it, cap'n?" "a whirl in the air makes the whirl in the water. i was afraid as we'd meet with trouble, trot. things didn't look right. the air was too still." "it's coming closer," said the girl. the old man grabbed the oars and began rowing with all his strength. "'tain't comin' closer to us, trot," he gasped; "it's we that are comin' closer to the whirlpool. the thing is drawin' us to it like a magnet!" trot's sun-bronzed face was a little paler as she grasped the tiller firmly and tried to steer the boat away; but she said not a word to indicate fear. the swirl of the water as they came nearer made a roaring sound that was fearful to listen to. so fierce and powerful was the whirlpool that it drew the surface of the sea into the form of a great basin, slanting downward toward the center, where a big hole had been made in the ocean--a hole with walls of water that were kept in place by the rapid whirling of the air. the boat in which trot and cap'n bill were riding was just on the outer edge of this saucer-like slant, and the old sailor knew very well that unless he could quickly force the little craft away from the rushing current they would soon be drawn into the great black hole that yawned in the middle. so he exerted all his might and pulled as he had never pulled before. he pulled so hard that the left oar snapped in two and sent cap'n bill sprawling upon the bottom of the boat. he scrambled up quickly enough and glanced over the side. then he looked at trot, who sat quite still, with a serious, far-away look in her sweet eyes. the boat was now speeding swiftly of its own accord, following the line of the circular basin round and round and gradually drawing nearer to the great hole in the center. any further effort to escape the whirlpool was useless, and realizing this fact cap'n bill turned toward trot and put an arm around her, as if to shield her from the awful fate before them. he did not try to speak, because the roar of the waters would have drowned the sound of his voice. these two faithful comrades had faced dangers before, but nothing to equal that which now faced them. yet cap'n bill, noting the look in trot's eyes and remembering how often she had been protected by unseen powers, did not quite give way to despair. the great hole in the dark water--now growing nearer and nearer--looked very terrifying; but they were both brave enough to face it and await the result of the adventure. chapter two the cavern under the sea the circles were so much smaller at the bottom of the basin, and the boat moved so much more swiftly, that trot was beginning to get dizzy with the motion, when suddenly the boat made a leap and dived headlong into the murky depths of the hole. whirling like tops, but still clinging together, the sailor and the girl were separated from their boat and plunged down--down--down--into the farthermost recesses of the great ocean. at first their fall was swift as an arrow, but presently they seemed to be going more moderately and trot was almost sure that unseen arms were about her, supporting her and protecting her. she could see nothing, because the water filled her eyes and blurred her vision, but she clung fast to cap'n bill's sou'wester, while other arms clung fast to her, and so they gradually sank down and down until a full stop was made, when they began to ascend again. but it seemed to trot that they were not rising straight to the surface from where they had come. the water was no longer whirling them and they seemed to be drawn in a slanting direction through still, cool ocean depths. and then--in much quicker time than i have told it--up they popped to the surface and were cast at full length upon a sandy beach, where they lay choking and gasping for breath and wondering what had happened to them. trot was the first to recover. disengaging herself from cap'n bill's wet embrace and sitting up, she rubbed the water from her eyes and then looked around her. a soft, bluish-green glow lighted the place, which seemed to be a sort of cavern, for above and on either side of her were rugged rocks. they had been cast upon a beach of clear sand, which slanted upward from the pool of water at their feet--a pool which doubtless led into the big ocean that fed it. above the reach of the waves of the pool were more rocks, and still more and more, into the dim windings and recesses of which the glowing light from the water did not penetrate. the place looked grim and lonely, but trot was thankful that she was still alive and had suffered no severe injury during her trying adventure under water. at her side cap'n bill was sputtering and coughing, trying to get rid of the water he had swallowed. both of them were soaked through, yet the cavern was warm and comfortable and a wetting did not dismay the little girl in the least. she crawled up the slant of sand and gathered in her hand a bunch of dried seaweed, with which she mopped the face of cap'n bill and cleared the water from his eyes and ears. presently the old man sat up and stared at her intently. then he nodded his bald head three times and said in a gurgling voice: "mighty good, trot; mighty good! we didn't reach davy jones's locker that time, did we? though why we didn't, an' why we're here, is more'n i kin make out." "take it easy, cap'n," she replied. "we're safe enough, i guess, at least for the time being." he squeezed the water out of the bottoms of his loose trousers and felt of his wooden leg and arms and head, and finding he had brought all of his person with him he gathered courage to examine closely their surroundings. "where d'ye think we are, trot?" he presently asked. "can't say, cap'n. p'r'aps in one of our caves." he shook his head. "no," said he, "i don't think that, at all. the distance we came up didn't seem half as far as the distance we went down; an' you'll notice there ain't any outside entrance to this cavern whatever. it's a reg'lar dome over this pool o' water, and unless there's some passage at the back, up yonder, we're fast pris'ners." trot looked thoughtfully over her shoulder. "when we're rested," she said, "we will crawl up there and see if there's a way to get out." cap'n bill reached in the pocket of his oilskin coat and took out his pipe. it was still dry, for he kept it in an oilskin pouch with his tobacco. his matches were in a tight tin box, so in a few moments the old sailor was smoking contentedly. trot knew it helped him to think when he was in any difficulty. also, the pipe did much to restore the old sailor's composure, after his long ducking and his terrible fright--a fright that was more on trot's account than his own. the sand was dry where they sat, and soaked up the water that dripped from their clothing. when trot had squeezed the wet out of her hair she began to feel much like her old self again. by and by they got upon their feet and crept up the incline to the scattered boulders above. some of these were of huge size, but by passing between some and around others, they were able to reach the extreme rear of the cavern. "yes," said trot, with interest, "here's a round hole." "and it's black as night inside it," remarked cap'n bill. "just the same," answered the girl, "we ought to explore it, and see where it goes, 'cause it's the only poss'ble way we can get out of this place." cap'n bill eyed the hole doubtfully "it may be a way out o' here, trot," he said, "but it may be a way into a far worse place than this. i'm not sure but our best plan is to stay right here." trot wasn't sure, either, when she thought of it in that light. after awhile she made her way back to the sands again, and cap'n bill followed her. as they sat down, the child looked thoughtfully at the sailor's bulging pockets. "how much food have we got, cap'n?" she asked. "half a dozen ship's biscuits an' a hunk o' cheese," he replied. "want some now, trot?" she shook her head, saying: "that ought to keep us alive 'bout three days if we're careful of it." "longer'n that, trot," said cap'n bill, but his voice was a little troubled and unsteady. "but if we stay here we're bound to starve in time," continued the girl, "while if we go into the dark hole--" "some things are more hard to face than starvation," said the sailor-man, gravely. "we don't know what's inside that dark hole: trot, nor where it might lead us to." "there's a way to find that out," she persisted. instead of replying, cap'n bill began searching in his pockets. he soon drew out a little package of fish-hooks and a long line. trot watched him join them together. then he crept a little way up the slope and turned over a big rock. two or three small crabs began scurrying away over the sands and the old sailor caught them and put one on his hook and the others in his pocket. coming back to the pool he swung the hook over his shoulder and circled it around his head and cast it nearly into the center of the water, where he allowed it to sink gradually, paying out the line as far as it would go. when the end was reached, he began drawing it in again, until the crab bait was floating on the surface. trot watched him cast the line a second time, and a third. she decided that either there were no fishes in the pool or they would not bite the crab bait. but cap'n bill was an old fisherman and not easily discouraged. when the crab got away he put another on the hook. when the crabs were all gone he climbed up the rocks and found some more. meantime trot tired of watching him and lay down upon the sands, where she fell fast asleep. during the next two hours her clothing dried completely, as did that of the old sailor. they were both so used to salt water that there was no danger of taking cold. finally the little girl was wakened by a splash beside her and a grunt of satisfaction from cap'n bill. she opened her eyes to find that the cap'n had landed a silver-scaled fish weighing about two pounds. this cheered her considerably and she hurried to scrape together a heap of seaweed, while cap'n bill cut up the fish with his jackknife and got it ready for cooking. they had cooked fish with seaweed before. cap'n bill wrapped his fish in some of the weed and dipped it in the water to dampen it. then he lighted a match and set fire to trot's heap, which speedily burned down to a glowing bed of ashes. then they laid the wrapped fish on the ashes, covered it with more seaweed, and allowed this to catch fire and burn to embers. after feeding the fire with seaweed for some time, the sailor finally decided that their supper was ready, so he scattered the ashes and drew out the bits of fish, still encased in their smoking wrappings. when these wrappings were removed, the fish was found thoroughly cooked and both trot and cap'n bill ate of it freely. it had a slight flavor of seaweed and would have been better with a sprinkling of salt. the soft glow which until now had lighted the cavern, began to grow dim, but there was a great quantity of seaweed in the place, so after they had eaten their fish they kept the fire alive for a time by giving it a handful of fuel now and then. from an inner pocket the sailor drew a small flask of battered metal and unscrewing the cap handed it to trot. she took but one swallow of the water although she wanted more, and she noticed that cap'n bill merely wet his lips with it. "s'pose," said she, staring at the glowing seaweed fire and speaking slowly, "that we can catch all the fish we need; how 'bout the drinking-water, cap'n?" he moved uneasily but did not reply. both of them were thinking about the dark hole, but while trot had little fear of it the old man could not overcome his dislike to enter the place. he knew that trot was right, though. to remain in the cavern, where they now were, could only result in slow but sure death. it was nighttime up on the earth's surface, so the little girl became drowsy and soon fell asleep. after a time the old sailor slumbered on the sands beside her. it was very still and nothing disturbed them for hours. when at last they awoke the cavern was light again. they had divided one of the biscuits and were munching it for breakfast when they were startled by a sudden splash in the pool. looking toward it they saw emerging from the water the most curious creature either of them had ever beheld. it wasn't a fish, trot decided, nor was it a beast. it had wings, though, and queer wings they were: shaped like an inverted chopping-bowl and covered with tough skin instead of feathers. it had four legs--much like the legs of a stork, only double the number--and its head was shaped a good deal like that of a poll parrot, with a beak that curved downward in front and upward at the edges, and was half bill and half mouth. but to call it a bird was out of the question, because it had no feathers whatever except a crest of wavy plumes of a scarlet color on the very top of its head. the strange creature must have weighed as much as cap'n bill, and as it floundered and struggled to get out of the water to the sandy beach it was so big and unusual that both trot and her companion stared at it in wonder--in wonder that was not unmixed with fear. chapter three the ork the eyes that regarded them, as the creature stood dripping before them, were bright and mild in expression, and the queer addition to their party made no attempt to attack them and seemed quite as surprised by the meeting as they were. "i wonder," whispered trot, "what it is." "who, me?" exclaimed the creature in a shrill, high-pitched voice. "why, i'm an ork." "oh!" said the girl. "but what is an ork?" "i am," he repeated, a little proudly, as he shook the water from his funny wings; "and if ever an ork was glad to be out of the water and on dry land again, you can be mighty sure that i'm that especial, individual ork!" "have you been in the water long?" inquired cap'n bill, thinking it only polite to show an interest in the strange creature. "why, this last ducking was about ten minutes, i believe, and that's about nine minutes and sixty seconds too long for comfort," was the reply. "but last night i was in an awful pickle, i assure you. the whirlpool caught me, and--" "oh, were you in the whirlpool, too?" asked trot eagerly. he gave her a glance that was somewhat reproachful. "i believe i was mentioning the fact, young lady, when your desire to talk interrupted me," said the ork. "i am not usually careless in my actions, but that whirlpool was so busy yesterday that i thought i'd see what mischief it was up to. so i flew a little too near it and the suction of the air drew me down into the depths of the ocean. water and i are natural enemies, and it would have conquered me this time had not a bevy of pretty mermaids come to my assistance and dragged me away from the whirling water and far up into a cavern, where they deserted me." "why, that's about the same thing that happened to us," cried trot. "was your cavern like this one?" "i haven't examined this one yet," answered the ork; "but if they happen to be alike i shudder at our fate, for the other one was a prison, with no outlet except by means of the water. i stayed there all night, however, and this morning i plunged into the pool, as far down as i could go, and then swam as hard and as far as i could. the rocks scraped my back, now and then, and i barely escaped the clutches of an ugly sea-monster; but by and by i came to the surface to catch my breath, and found myself here. that's the whole story, and as i see you have something to eat i entreat you to give me a share of it. the truth is, i'm half starved." with these words the ork squatted down beside them. very reluctantly cap'n bill drew another biscuit from his pocket and held it out. the ork promptly seized it in one of its front claws and began to nibble the biscuit in much the same manner a parrot might have done. "we haven't much grub," said the sailor-man, "but we're willin' to share it with a comrade in distress." "that's right," returned the ork, cocking its head sidewise in a cheerful manner, and then for a few minutes there was silence while they all ate of the biscuits. after a while trot said: "i've never seen or heard of an ork before. are there many of you?" "we are rather few and exclusive, i believe," was the reply. "in the country where i was born we are the absolute rulers of all living things, from ants to elephants." "what country is that?" asked cap'n bill. "orkland." "where does it lie?" "i don't know, exactly. you see, i have a restless nature, for some reason, while all the rest of my race are quiet and contented orks and seldom stray far from home. from childhood days i loved to fly long distances away, although father often warned me that i would get into trouble by so doing. "'it's a big world, flipper, my son,' he would say, 'and i've heard that in parts of it live queer two-legged creatures called men, who war upon all other living things and would have little respect for even an ork.' "this naturally aroused my curiosity and after i had completed my education and left school i decided to fly out into the world and try to get a glimpse of the creatures called men. so i left home without saying good-bye, an act i shall always regret. adventures were many, i found. i sighted men several times, but have never before been so close to them as now. also i had to fight my way through the air, for i met gigantic birds, with fluffy feathers all over them, which attacked me fiercely. besides, it kept me busy escaping from floating airships. in my rambling i had lost all track of distance or direction, so that when i wanted to go home i had no idea where my country was located. i've now been trying to find it for several months and it was during one of my flights over the ocean that i met the whirlpool and became its victim." trot and cap'n bill listened to this recital with much interest, and from the friendly tone and harmless appearance of the ork they judged he was not likely to prove so disagreeable a companion as at first they had feared he might be. the ork sat upon its haunches much as a cat does, but used the finger-like claws of its front legs almost as cleverly as if they were hands. perhaps the most curious thing about the creature was its tail, or what ought to have been its tail. this queer arrangement of skin, bones and muscle was shaped like the propellers used on boats and airships, having fan-like surfaces and being pivoted to its body. cap'n bill knew something of mechanics, and observing the propeller-like tail of the ork he said: "i s'pose you're a pretty swift flyer?" "yes, indeed; the orks are admitted to be kings of the air." "your wings don't seem to amount to much," remarked trot. "well, they are not very big," admitted the ork, waving the four hollow skins gently to and fro, "but they serve to support my body in the air while i speed along by means of my tail. still, taken altogether, i'm very handsomely formed, don't you think?" trot did not like to reply, but cap'n bill nodded gravely. "for an ork," said he, "you're a wonder. i've never seen one afore, but i can imagine you're as good as any." that seemed to please the creature and it began walking around the cavern, making its way easily up the slope. while it was gone, trot and cap'n bill each took another sip from the water-flask, to wash down their breakfast. "why, here's a hole--an exit--an outlet!" exclaimed the ork from above. "we know," said trot. "we found it last night." "well, then, let's be off," continued the ork, after sticking its head into the black hole and sniffing once or twice. "the air seems fresh and sweet, and it can't lead us to any worse place than this." the girl and the sailor-man got up and climbed to the side of the ork. "we'd about decided to explore this hole before you came," explained cap'n bill; "but it's a dangerous place to navigate in the dark, so wait till i light a candle." "what is a candle?" inquired the ork. "you'll see in a minute," said trot. the old sailor drew one of the candles from his right-side pocket and the tin matchbox from his left-side pocket. when he lighted the match the ork gave a startled jump and eyed the flame suspiciously; but cap'n bill proceeded to light the candle and the action interested the ork very much. "light," it said, somewhat nervously, "is valuable in a hole of this sort. the candle is not dangerous, i hope?" "sometimes it burns your fingers," answered trot, "but that's about the worst it can do--'cept to blow out when you don't want it to." cap'n bill shielded the flame with his hand and crept into the hole. it wasn't any too big for a grown man, but after he had crawled a few feet it grew larger. trot came close behind him and then the ork followed. "seems like a reg'lar tunnel," muttered the sailor-man, who was creeping along awkwardly because of his wooden leg. the rocks, too, hurt his knees. for nearly half an hour the three moved slowly along the tunnel, which made many twists and turns and sometimes slanted downward and sometimes upward. finally cap'n bill stopped short, with an exclamation of disappointment, and held the flickering candle far ahead to light the scene. "what's wrong?" demanded trot, who could see nothing because the sailor's form completely filled the hole. "why, we've come to the end of our travels, i guess," he replied. "is the hole blocked?" inquired the ork. "no; it's wuss nor that," replied cap'n bill sadly. "i'm on the edge of a precipice. wait a minute an' i'll move along and let you see for yourselves. be careful, trot, not to fall." then he crept forward a little and moved to one side, holding the candle so that the girl could see to follow him. the ork came next and now all three knelt on a narrow ledge of rock which dropped straight away and left a huge black space which the tiny flame of the candle could not illuminate. "h-m!" said the ork, peering over the edge; "this doesn't look very promising, i'll admit. but let me take your candle, and i'll fly down and see what's below us." "aren't you afraid?" asked trot. "certainly i'm afraid," responded the ork. "but if we intend to escape we can't stay on this shelf forever. so, as i notice you poor creatures cannot fly, it is my duty to explore the place for you." cap'n bill handed the ork the candle, which had now burned to about half its length. the ork took it in one claw rather cautiously and then tipped its body forward and slipped over the edge. they heard a queer buzzing sound, as the tail revolved, and a brisk flapping of the peculiar wings, but they were more interested just then in following with their eyes the tiny speck of light which marked the location of the candle. this light first made a great circle, then dropped slowly downward and suddenly was extinguished, leaving everything before them black as ink. "hi, there! how did that happen?" cried the ork. "it blew out, i guess," shouted cap'n bill. "fetch it here." "i can't see where you are," said the ork. so cap'n bill got out another candle and lighted it, and its flame enabled the ork to fly back to them. it alighted on the edge and held out the bit of candle. "what made it stop burning?" asked the creature. "the wind," said trot. "you must be more careful, this time." "what's the place like?" inquired cap'n bill. "i don't know, yet; but there must be a bottom to it, so i'll try to find it." with this the ork started out again and this time sank downward more slowly. down, down, down it went, till the candle was a mere spark, and then it headed away to the left and trot and cap'n bill lost all sight of it. in a few minutes, however, they saw the spark of light again, and as the sailor still held the second lighted candle the ork made straight toward them. it was only a few yards distant when suddenly it dropped the candle with a cry of pain and next moment alighted, fluttering wildly, upon the rocky ledge. "what's the matter?" asked trot. "it bit me!" wailed the ork. "i don't like your candles. the thing began to disappear slowly as soon as i took it in my claw, and it grew smaller and smaller until just now it turned and bit me--a most unfriendly thing to do. oh--oh! ouch, what a bite!" "that's the nature of candles, i'm sorry to say," explained cap'n bill, with a grin. "you have to handle 'em mighty keerful. but tell us, what did you find down there?" "i found a way to continue our journey," said the ork, nursing tenderly the claw which had been burned. "just below us is a great lake of black water, which looked so cold and wicked that it made me shudder; but away at the left there's a big tunnel, which we can easily walk through. i don't know where it leads to, of course, but we must follow it and find out." "why, we can't get to it," protested the little girl. "we can't fly, as you do, you must remember." "no, that's true," replied the ork musingly. "your bodies are built very poorly, it seems to me, since all you can do is crawl upon the earth's surface. but you may ride upon my back, and in that way i can promise you a safe journey to the tunnel." "are you strong enough to carry us?" asked cap'n bill, doubtfully. "yes, indeed; i'm strong enough to carry a dozen of you, if you could find a place to sit," was the reply; "but there's only room between my wings for one at a time, so i'll have to make two trips." "all right; i'll go first," decided cap'n bill. he lit another candle for trot to hold while they were gone and to light the ork on his return to her, and then the old sailor got upon the ork's back, where he sat with his wooden leg sticking straight out sidewise. "if you start to fall, clasp your arms around my neck," advised the creature. "if i start to fall, it's good night an' pleasant dreams," said cap'n bill. "all ready?" asked the ork. "start the buzz-tail," said cap'n bill, with a tremble in his voice. but the ork flew away so gently that the old man never even tottered in his seat. trot watched the light of cap'n bill's candle till it disappeared in the far distance. she didn't like to be left alone on this dangerous ledge, with a lake of black water hundreds of feet below her; but she was a brave little girl and waited patiently for the return of the ork. it came even sooner than she had expected and the creature said to her: "your friend is safe in the tunnel. now, then, get aboard and i'll carry you to him in a jiffy." i'm sure not many little girls would have cared to take that awful ride through the huge black cavern on the back of a skinny ork. trot didn't care for it, herself, but it just had to be done and so she did it as courageously as possible. her heart beat fast and she was so nervous she could scarcely hold the candle in her fingers as the ork sped swiftly through the darkness. it seemed like a long ride to her, yet in reality the ork covered the distance in a wonderfully brief period of time and soon trot stood safely beside cap'n bill on the level floor of a big arched tunnel. the sailor-man was very glad to greet his little comrade again and both were grateful to the ork for his assistance. "i dunno where this tunnel leads to," remarked cap'n bill, "but it surely looks more promisin' than that other hole we crept through." "when the ork is rested," said trot, "we'll travel on and see what happens." "rested!" cried the ork, as scornfully as his shrill voice would allow. "that bit of flying didn't tire me at all. i'm used to flying days at a time, without ever once stopping." "then let's move on," proposed cap'n bill. he still held in his hand one lighted candle, so trot blew out the other flame and placed her candle in the sailor's big pocket. she knew it was not wise to burn two candles at once. the tunnel was straight and smooth and very easy to walk through, so they made good progress. trot thought that the tunnel began about two miles from the cavern where they had been cast by the whirlpool, but now it was impossible to guess the miles traveled, for they walked steadily for hours and hours without any change in their surroundings. finally cap'n bill stopped to rest. "there's somethin' queer about this 'ere tunnel, i'm certain," he declared, wagging his head dolefully. "here's three candles gone a'ready, an' only three more left us, yet the tunnel's the same as it was when we started. an' how long it's goin' to keep up, no one knows." "couldn't we walk without a light?" asked trot. "the way seems safe enough." "it does right now," was the reply, "but we can't tell when we are likely to come to another gulf, or somethin' jes' as dangerous. in that case we'd be killed afore we knew it." "suppose i go ahead?" suggested the ork. "i don't fear a fall, you know, and if anything happens i'll call out and warn you." "that's a good idea," declared trot, and cap'n bill thought so, too. so the ork started off ahead, quite in the dark, and hand in band the two followed him. when they had walked in this way for a good long time the ork halted and demanded food. cap'n bill had not mentioned food because there was so little left--only three biscuits and a lump of cheese about as big as his two fingers--but he gave the ork half of a biscuit, sighing as he did so. the creature didn't care for the cheese, so the sailor divided it between himself and trot. they lighted a candle and sat down in the tunnel while they ate. "my feet hurt me," grumbled the ork. "i'm not used to walking and this rocky passage is so uneven and lumpy that it hurts me to walk upon it." "can't you fly along?" asked trot. "no; the roof is too low," said the ork. after the meal they resumed their journey, which trot began to fear would never end. when cap'n bill noticed how tired the little girl was, he paused and lighted a match and looked at his big silver watch. "why, it's night!" he exclaimed. "we've tramped all day, an' still we're in this awful passage, which mebbe goes straight through the middle of the world, an' mebbe is a circle--in which case we can keep walkin' till doomsday. not knowin' what's before us so well as we know what's behind us, i propose we make a stop, now, an' try to sleep till mornin'." "that will suit me," asserted the ork, with a groan. "my feet are hurting me dreadfully and for the last few miles i've been limping with pain." "my foot hurts, too," said the sailor, looking for a smooth place on the rocky floor to sit down. "your foot!" cried the ork. "why, you've only one to hurt you, while i have four. so i suffer four times as much as you possibly can. here; hold the candle while i look at the bottoms of my claws. i declare," he said, examining them by the flickering light, "there are bunches of pain all over them!" "p'r'aps," said trot, who was very glad to sit down beside her companions, "you've got corns." "corns? nonsense! orks never have corns," protested the creature, rubbing its sore feet tenderly. "then mebbe they're--they're-- what do you call 'em, cap'n bill? something 'bout the pilgrim's progress, you know." "bunions," said cap'n bill. "oh, yes; mebbe you've got bunions." "it is possible," moaned the ork. "but whatever they are, another day of such walking on them would drive me crazy." "i'm sure they'll feel better by mornin'," said cap'n bill, encouragingly. "go to sleep an' try to forget your sore feet." the ork cast a reproachful look at the sailor-man, who didn't see it. then the creature asked plaintively: "do we eat now, or do we starve?" "there's only half a biscuit left for you," answered cap'n bill. "no one knows how long we'll have to stay in this dark tunnel, where there's nothing whatever to eat; so i advise you to save that morsel o' food till later." "give it me now!" demanded the ork. "if i'm going to starve, i'll do it all at once--not by degrees." cap'n bill produced the biscuit and the creature ate it in a trice. trot was rather hungry and whispered to cap'n bill that she'd take part of her share; but the old man secretly broke his own half-biscuit in two, saving trot's share for a time of greater need. he was beginning to be worried over the little girl's plight and long after she was asleep and the ork was snoring in a rather disagreeable manner, cap'n bill sat with his back to a rock and smoked his pipe and tried to think of some way to escape from this seemingly endless tunnel. but after a time he also slept, for hobbling on a wooden leg all day was tiresome, and there in the dark slumbered the three adventurers for many hours, until the ork roused itself and kicked the old sailor with one foot. "it must be another day," said he. chapter four daylight at last cap'n bill rubbed his eyes, lit a match and consulted his watch. "nine o'clock. yes, i guess it's another day, sure enough. shall we go on?" he asked. "of course," replied the ork. "unless this tunnel is different from everything else in the world, and has no end, we'll find a way out of it sooner or later." the sailor gently wakened trot. she felt much rested by her long sleep and sprang to her feet eagerly. "let's start, cap'n," was all she said. they resumed the journey and had only taken a few steps when the ork cried "wow!" and made a great fluttering of its wings and whirling of its tail. the others, who were following a short distance behind, stopped abruptly. "what's the matter?" asked cap'n bill. "give us a light," was the reply. "i think we've come to the end of the tunnel." then, while cap'n bill lighted a candle, the creature added: "if that is true, we needn't have wakened so soon, for we were almost at the end of this place when we went to sleep." the sailor-man and trot came forward with a light. a wall of rock really faced the tunnel, but now they saw that the opening made a sharp turn to the left. so they followed on, by a narrower passage, and then made another sharp turn this time to the right. "blow out the light, cap'n," said the ork, in a pleased voice. "we've struck daylight." daylight at last! a shaft of mellow light fell almost at their feet as trot and the sailor turned the corner of the passage, but it came from above, and raising their eyes they found they were at the bottom of a deep, rocky well, with the top far, far above their heads. and here the passage ended. for a while they gazed in silence, at least two of them being filled with dismay at the sight. but the ork merely whistled softly and said cheerfully: "that was the toughest journey i ever had the misfortune to undertake, and i'm glad it's over. yet, unless i can manage to fly to the top of this pit, we are entombed here forever." "do you think there is room enough for you to fly in?" asked the little girl anxiously; and cap'n bill added: "it's a straight-up shaft, so i don't see how you'll ever manage it." "were i an ordinary bird--one of those horrid feathered things--i wouldn't even make the attempt to fly out," said the ork. "but my mechanical propeller tail can accomplish wonders, and whenever you're ready i'll show you a trick that is worth while." "oh!" exclaimed trot; "do you intend to take us up, too?" "why not?" "i thought," said cap'n bill, "as you'd go first, an' then send somebody to help us by lettin' down a rope." "ropes are dangerous," replied the ork, "and i might not be able to find one to reach all this distance. besides, it stands to reason that if i can get out myself i can also carry you two with me." "well, i'm not afraid," said trot, who longed to be on the earth's surface again. "s'pose we fall?" suggested cap'n bill, doubtfully. "why, in that case we would all fall together," returned the ork. "get aboard, little girl; sit across my shoulders and put both your arms around my neck." trot obeyed and when she was seated on the ork, cap'n bill inquired: "how 'bout me, mr. ork?" "why, i think you'd best grab hold of my rear legs and let me carry you up in that manner," was the reply. cap'n bill looked way up at the top of the well, and then he looked at the ork's slender, skinny legs and heaved a deep sigh. "it's goin' to be some dangle, i guess; but if you don't waste too much time on the way up, i may be able to hang on," said he. "all ready, then!" cried the ork, and at once his whirling tail began to revolve. trot felt herself rising into the air; when the creature's legs left the ground cap'n bill grasped two of them firmly and held on for dear life. the ork's body was tipped straight upward, and trot had to embrace the neck very tightly to keep from sliding off. even in this position the ork had trouble in escaping the rough sides of the well. several times it exclaimed "wow!" as it bumped its back, or a wing hit against some jagged projection; but the tail kept whirling with remarkable swiftness and the daylight grew brighter and brighter. it was, indeed, a long journey from the bottom to the top, yet almost before trot realized they had come so far, they popped out of the hole into the clear air and sunshine and a moment later the ork alighted gently upon the ground. the release was so sudden that even with the creature's care for its passengers cap'n bill struck the earth with a shock that sent him rolling heel over head; but by the time trot had slid down from her seat the old sailor-man was sitting up and looking around him with much satisfaction. "it's sort o' pretty here," said he. "earth is a beautiful place!" cried trot. "i wonder where on earth we are?" pondered the ork, turning first one bright eye and then the other to this side and that. trees there were, in plenty, and shrubs and flowers and green turf. but there were no houses; there were no paths; there was no sign of civilization whatever. "just before i settled down on the ground i thought i caught a view of the ocean," said the ork. "let's see if i was right." then he flew to a little hill, near by, and trot and cap'n bill followed him more slowly. when they stood on the top of the hill they could see the blue waves of the ocean in front of them, to the right of them, and at the left of them. behind the hill was a forest that shut out the view. "i hope it ain't an island, trot," said cap'n bill gravely. "if it is, i s'pose we're prisoners," she replied. "ezzackly so, trot." "but, 'even so, it's better than those terr'ble underground tunnels and caverns," declared the girl. "you are right, little one," agreed the ork. "anything above ground is better than the best that lies under ground. so let's not quarrel with our fate but be thankful we've escaped." "we are, indeed!" she replied. "but i wonder if we can find something to eat in this place?" "let's explore an' find out," proposed cap'n bill. "those trees over at the left look like cherry-trees." on the way to them the explorers had to walk through a tangle of vines and cap'n bill, who went first, stumbled and pitched forward on his face. "why, it's a melon!" cried trot delightedly, as she saw what had caused the sailor to fall. cap'n bill rose to his foot, for he was not at all hurt, and examined the melon. then he took his big jackknife from his pocket and cut the melon open. it was quite ripe and looked delicious; but the old man tasted it before he permitted trot to eat any. deciding it was good he gave her a big slice and then offered the ork some. the creature looked at the fruit somewhat disdainfully, at first, but once he had tasted its flavor he ate of it as heartily as did the others. among the vines they discovered many other melons, and trot said gratefully: "well, there's no danger of our starving, even if this is an island." "melons," remarked cap'n bill, "are both food an' water. we couldn't have struck anything better." farther on they came to the cherry trees, where they obtained some of the fruit, and at the edge of the little forest were wild plums. the forest itself consisted entirely of nut trees--walnuts, filberts, almonds and chestnuts--so there would be plenty of wholesome food for them while they remained there. cap'n bill and trot decided to walk through the forest, to discover what was on the other side of it, but the ork's feet were still so sore and "lumpy" from walking on the rocks that the creature said he preferred to fly over the tree-tops and meet them on the other side. the forest was not large, so by walking briskly for fifteen minutes they reached its farthest edge and saw before them the shore of the ocean. "it's an island, all right," said trot, with a sigh. "yes, and a pretty island, too," said cap'n bill, trying to conceal his disappointment on trot's account. "i guess, partner, if the wuss comes to the wuss, i could build a raft--or even a boat--from those trees, so's we could sail away in it." the little girl brightened at this suggestion. "i don't see the ork anywhere," she remarked, looking around. then her eyes lighted upon something and she exclaimed: "oh, cap'n bill! isn't that a house, over there to the left?" cap'n bill, looking closely, saw a shed-like structure built at one edge of the forest. "seems like it, trot. not that i'd call it much of a house, but it's a buildin', all right. let's go over an' see if it's occypied." chapter five the little old man of the island a few steps brought them to the shed, which was merely a roof of boughs built over a square space, with some branches of trees fastened to the sides to keep off the wind. the front was quite open and faced the sea, and as our friends came nearer they observed a little man, with a long pointed beard, sitting motionless on a stool and staring thoughtfully out over the water. "get out of the way, please," he called in a fretful voice. "can't you see you are obstructing my view?" "good morning," said cap'n bill, politely. "it isn't a good morning!" snapped the little man. "i've seen plenty of mornings better than this. do you call it a good morning when i'm pestered with such a crowd as you?" trot was astonished to hear such words from a stranger whom they had greeted quite properly, and cap'n bill grew red at the little man's rudeness. but the sailor said, in a quiet tone of voice: "are you the only one as lives on this 'ere island?" "your grammar's bad," was the reply. "but this is my own exclusive island, and i'll thank you to get off it as soon as possible." "we'd like to do that," said trot, and then she and cap'n bill turned away and walked down to the shore, to see if any other land was in sight. the little man rose and followed them, although both were now too provoked to pay any attention to him. "nothin' in sight, partner," reported cap'n bill, shading his eyes with his hand; "so we'll have to stay here for a time, anyhow. it isn't a bad place, trot, by any means." "that's all you know about it!" broke in the little man. "the trees are altogether too green and the rocks are harder than they ought to be. i find the sand very grainy and the water dreadfully wet. every breeze makes a draught and the sun shines in the daytime, when there's no need of it, and disappears just as soon as it begins to get dark. if you remain here you'll find the island very unsatisfactory." trot turned to look at him, and her sweet face was grave and curious. "i wonder who you are," she said. "my name is pessim," said he, with an air of pride. "i'm called the observer." "oh. what do you observe?" asked the little girl. "everything i see," was the reply, in a more surly tone. then pessim drew back with a startled exclamation and looked at some footprints in the sand. "why, good gracious me!" he cried in distress. "what's the matter now?" asked cap'n bill. "someone has pushed the earth in! don't you see it? "it isn't pushed in far enough to hurt anything," said trot, examining the footprints. "everything hurts that isn't right," insisted the man. "if the earth were pushed in a mile, it would be a great calamity, wouldn't it?" "i s'pose so," admitted the little girl. "well, here it is pushed in a full inch! that's a twelfth of a foot, or a little more than a millionth part of a mile. therefore it is one-millionth part of a calamity--oh, dear! how dreadful!" said pessim in a wailing voice. "try to forget it, sir," advised cap'n bill, soothingly. "it's beginning to rain. let's get under your shed and keep dry." "raining! is it really raining?" asked pessim, beginning to weep. "it is," answered cap'n bill, as the drops began to descend, "and i don't see any way to stop it--although i'm some observer myself." "no; we can't stop it, i fear," said the man. "are you very busy just now?" "i won't be after i get to the shed," replied the sailor-man. "then do me a favor, please," begged pessim, walking briskly along behind them, for they were hastening to the shed. "depends on what it is," said cap'n bill. "i wish you would take my umbrella down to the shore and hold it over the poor fishes till it stops raining. i'm afraid they'll get wet," said pessim. trot laughed, but cap'n bill thought the little man was poking fun at him and so he scowled upon pessim in a way that showed he was angry. they reached the shed before getting very wet, although the rain was now coming down in big drops. the roof of the shed protected them and while they stood watching the rainstorm something buzzed in and circled around pessim's head. at once the observer began beating it away with his hands, crying out: "a bumblebee! a bumblebee! the queerest bumblebee i ever saw!" cap'n bill and trot both looked at it and the little girl said in surprise: "dear me! it's a wee little ork!" "that's what it is, sure enough," exclaimed cap'n bill. really, it wasn't much bigger than a big bumblebee, and when it came toward trot she allowed it to alight on her shoulder. "it's me, all right," said a very small voice in her ear; "but i'm in an awful pickle, just the same!" "what, are you our ork, then?" demanded the girl, much amazed. "no, i'm my own ork. but i'm the only ork you know," replied the tiny creature. "what's happened to you?" asked the sailor, putting his head close to trot's shoulder in order to hear the reply better. pessim also put his head close, and the ork said: "you will remember that when i left you i started to fly over the trees, and just as i got to this side of the forest i saw a bush that was loaded down with the most luscious fruit you can imagine. the fruit was about the size of a gooseberry and of a lovely lavender color. so i swooped down and picked off one in my bill and ate it. at once i began to grow small. i could feel myself shrinking, shrinking away, and it frightened me terribly, so that i lighted on the ground to think over what was happening. in a few seconds i had shrunk to the size you now see me; but there i remained, getting no smaller, indeed, but no larger. it is certainly a dreadful affliction! after i had recovered somewhat from the shock i began to search for you. it is not so easy to find one's way when a creature is so small, but fortunately i spied you here in this shed and came to you at once." cap'n bill and trot were much astonished at this story and felt grieved for the poor ork, but the little man pessim seemed to think it a good joke. he began laughing when he heard the story and laughed until he choked, after which he lay down on the ground and rolled and laughed again, while the tears of merriment coursed down his wrinkled cheeks. "oh, dear! oh, dear!" he finally gasped, sitting up and wiping his eyes. "this is too rich! it's almost too joyful to be true." "i don't see anything funny about it," remarked trot indignantly. "you would if you'd had my experience," said pessim, getting upon his feet and gradually resuming his solemn and dissatisfied expression of countenance. "the same thing happened to me." "oh, did it? and how did you happen to come to this island?" asked the girl. "i didn't come; the neighbors brought me," replied the little man, with a frown at the recollection. "they said i was quarrelsome and fault-finding and blamed me because i told them all the things that went wrong, or never were right, and because i told them how things ought to be. so they brought me here and left me all alone, saying that if i quarreled with myself, no one else would be made unhappy. absurd, wasn't it?" "seems to me," said cap'n bill, "those neighbors did the proper thing." "well," resumed pessim, "when i found myself king of this island i was obliged to live upon fruits, and i found many fruits growing here that i had never seen before. i tasted several and found them good and wholesome. but one day i ate a lavender berry--as the ork did--and immediately i grew so small that i was scarcely two inches high. it was a very unpleasant condition and like the ork i became frightened. i could not walk very well nor very far, for every lump of earth in my way seemed a mountain, every blade of grass a tree and every grain of sand a rocky boulder. for several days i stumbled around in an agony of fear. once a tree toad nearly gobbled me up, and if i ran out from the shelter of the bushes the gulls and cormorants swooped down upon me. finally i decided to eat another berry and become nothing at all, since life, to one as small as i was, had become a dreary nightmare. "at last i found a small tree that i thought bore the same fruit as that i had eaten. the berry was dark purple instead of light lavender, but otherwise it was quite similar. being unable to climb the tree, i was obliged to wait underneath it until a sharp breeze arose and shook the limbs so that a berry fell. instantly i seized it and taking a last view of the world--as i then thought--i ate the berry in a twinkling. then, to my surprise, i began to grow big again, until i became of my former stature, and so i have since remained. needless to say, i have never eaten again of the lavender fruit, nor do any of the beasts or birds that live upon this island eat it." they had all three listened eagerly to this amazing tale, and when it was finished the ork exclaimed: "do you think, then, that the deep purple berry is the antidote for the lavender one?" "i'm sure of it," answered pessim. "then lead me to the tree at once!" begged the ork, "for this tiny form i now have terrifies me greatly." pessim examined the ork closely "you are ugly enough as you are," said he. "were you any larger you might be dangerous." "oh, no," trot assured him; "the ork has been our good friend. please take us to the tree." then pessim consented, although rather reluctantly. he led them to the right, which was the east side of the island, and in a few minutes brought them near to the edge of the grove which faced the shore of the ocean. here stood a small tree bearing berries of a deep purple color. the fruit looked very enticing and cap'n bill reached up and selected one that seemed especially plump and ripe. the ork had remained perched upon trot's shoulder but now it flew down to the ground. it was so difficult for cap'n bill to kneel down, with his wooden leg, that the little girl took the berry from him and held it close to the ork's head. "it's too big to go into my mouth," said the little creature, looking at the fruit sidewise. "you'll have to make sev'ral mouthfuls of it, i guess," said trot; and that is what the ork did. he pecked at the soft, ripe fruit with his bill and ate it up very quickly, because it was good. even before he had finished the berry they could see the ork begin to grow. in a few minutes he had regained his natural size and was strutting before them, quite delighted with his transformation. "well, well! what do you think of me now?" he asked proudly. "you are very skinny and remarkably ugly," declared pessim. "you are a poor judge of orks," was the reply. "anyone can see that i'm much handsomer than those dreadful things called birds, which are all fluff and feathers." "their feathers make soft beds," asserted pessim. "and my skin would make excellent drumheads," retorted the ork. "nevertheless, a plucked bird or a skinned ork would be of no value to himself, so we needn't brag of our usefulness after we are dead. but for the sake of argument, friend pessim, i'd like to know what good you would be, were you not alive?" "never mind that," said cap'n bill. "he isn't much good as he is." "i am king of this island, allow me to say, and you're intruding on my property," declared the little man, scowling upon them. "if you don't like me--and i'm sure you don't, for no one else does--why don't you go away and leave me to myself?" "well, the ork can fly, but we can't," explained trot, in answer. "we don't want to stay here a bit, but i don't see how we can get away." "you can go back into the hole you came from." cap'n bill shook his head; trot shuddered at the thought; the ork laughed aloud. "you may be king here," the creature said to pessim, "but we intend to run this island to suit ourselves, for we are three and you are one, and the balance of power lies with us." the little man made no reply to this, although as they walked back to the shed his face wore its fiercest scowl. cap'n bill gathered a lot of leaves and, assisted by trot, prepared two nice beds in opposite corners of the shed. pessim slept in a hammock which he swung between two trees. they required no dishes, as all their food consisted of fruits and nuts picked from the trees; they made no fire, for the weather was warm and there was nothing to cook; the shed had no furniture other than the rude stool which the little man was accustomed to sit upon. he called it his "throne" and they let him keep it. so they lived upon the island for three days, and rested and ate to their hearts' content. still, they were not at all happy in this life because of pessim. he continually found fault with them, and all that they did, and all their surroundings. he could see nothing good or admirable in all the world and trot soon came to understand why the little man's former neighbors had brought him to this island and left him there, all alone, so he could not annoy anyone. it was their misfortune that they had been led to this place by their adventures, for often they would have preferred the company of a wild beast to that of pessim. on the fourth day a happy thought came to the ork. they had all been racking their brains for a possible way to leave the island, and discussing this or that method, without finding a plan that was practical. cap'n bill had said he could make a raft of the trees, big enough to float them all, but he had no tools except those two pocketknives and it was not possible to chop down tree with such small blades. "and s'pose we got afloat on the ocean," said trot, "where would we drift to, and how long would it take us to get there?" cap'n bill was forced to admit he didn't know. the ork could fly away from the island any time it wished to, but the queer creature was loyal to his new friends and refused to leave them in such a lonely, forsaken place. it was when trot urged him to go, on this fourth morning, that the ork had his happy thought. "i will go," said he, "if you two will agree to ride upon my back." "we are too heavy; you might drop us," objected cap'n bill. "yes, you are rather heavy for a long journey," acknowledged the ork, "but you might eat of those lavender berries and become so small that i could carry you with ease." this quaint suggestion startled trot and she looked gravely at the speaker while she considered it, but cap'n bill gave a scornful snort and asked: "what would become of us afterward? we wouldn't be much good if we were some two or three inches high. no, mr. ork, i'd rather stay here, as i am, than be a hop-o'-my-thumb somewhere else." "why couldn't you take some of the dark purple berries along with you, to eat after we had reached our destination?" inquired the ork. "then you could grow big again whenever you pleased." trot clapped her hands with delight. "that's it!" she exclaimed. "let's do it, cap'n bill." the old sailor did not like the idea at first, but he thought it over carefully and the more he thought the better it seemed. "how could you manage to carry us, if we were so small?" he asked. "i could put you in a paper bag, and tie the bag around my neck." "but we haven't a paper bag," objected trot. the ork looked at her. "there's your sunbonnet," it said presently, "which is hollow in the middle and has two strings that you could tie around my neck." trot took off her sunbonnet and regarded it critically. yes, it might easily hold both her and cap'n bill, after they had eaten the lavender berries and been reduced in size. she tied the strings around the ork's neck and the sunbonnet made a bag in which two tiny people might ride without danger of falling out. so she said: "i b'lieve we'll do it that way, cap'n." cap'n bill groaned but could make no logical objection except that the plan seemed to him quite dangerous--and dangerous in more ways than one. "i think so, myself," said trot soberly. "but nobody can stay alive without getting into danger sometimes, and danger doesn't mean getting hurt, cap'n; it only means we might get hurt. so i guess we'll have to take the risk." "let's go and find the berries," said the ork. they said nothing to pessim, who was sitting on his stool and scowling dismally as he stared at the ocean, but started at once to seek the trees that bore the magic fruits. the ork remembered very well where the lavender berries grew and led his companions quickly to the spot. cap'n bill gathered two berries and placed them carefully in his pocket. then they went around to the east side of the island and found the tree that bore the dark purple berries. "i guess i'll take four of these," said the sailor-man, "so in case one doesn't make us grow big we can eat another." "better take six," advised the ork. "it's well to be on the safe side, and i'm sure these trees grow nowhere else in all the world." so cap'n bill gathered six of the purple berries and with their precious fruit they returned to the shed to big good-bye to pessim. perhaps they would not have granted the surly little man this courtesy had they not wished to use him to tie the sunbonnet around the ork's neck. when pessim learned they were about to leave him he at first looked greatly pleased, but he suddenly recollected that nothing ought to please him and so began to grumble about being left alone. "we knew it wouldn't suit you," remarked cap'n bill. "it didn't suit you to have us here, and it won't suit you to have us go away." "that is quite true," admitted pessim. "i haven't been suited since i can remember; so it doesn't matter to me in the least whether you go or stay." he was interested in their experiment, however, and willingly agreed to assist, although he prophesied they would fall out of the sunbonnet on their way and be either drowned in the ocean or crushed upon some rocky shore. this uncheerful prospect did not daunt trot, but it made cap'n bill quite nervous. "i will eat my berry first," said trot, as she placed her sunbonnet on the ground, in such manner that they could get into it. then she ate the lavender berry and in a few seconds became so small that cap'n bill picked her up gently with his thumb and one finger and placed her in the middle of the sunbonnet. then he placed beside her the six purple berries--each one being about as big as the tiny trot's head--and all preparations being now made the old sailor ate his lavender berry and became very small--wooden leg and all! cap'n bill stumbled sadly in trying to climb over the edge of the sunbonnet and pitched in beside trot headfirst, which caused the unhappy pessim to laugh with glee. then the king of the island picked up the sunbonnet--so rudely that he shook its occupants like peas in a pod--and tied it, by means of its strings, securely around the ork's neck. "i hope, trot, you sewed those strings on tight," said cap'n bill anxiously. "why, we are not very heavy, you know," she replied, "so i think the stitches will hold. but be careful and not crush the berries, cap'n." "one is jammed already," he said, looking at them. "all ready?" asked the ork. "yes!" they cried together, and pessim came close to the sunbonnet and called out to them: "you'll be smashed or drowned, i'm sure you will! but farewell, and good riddance to you." the ork was provoked by this unkind speech, so he turned his tail toward the little man and made it revolve so fast that the rush of air tumbled pessim over backward and he rolled several times upon the ground before he could stop himself and sit up. by that time the ork was high in the air and speeding swiftly over the ocean. chapter six the flight of the midgets cap'n bill and trot rode very comfortably in the sunbonnet. the motion was quite steady, for they weighed so little that the ork flew without effort. yet they were both somewhat nervous about their future fate and could not help wishing they were safe on land and their natural size again. "you're terr'ble small, trot," remarked cap'n bill, looking at his companion. "same to you, cap'n," she said with a laugh; "but as long as we have the purple berries we needn't worry about our size." "in a circus," mused the old man, "we'd be curiosities. but in a sunbonnet--high up in the air--sailin' over a big, unknown ocean--they ain't no word in any booktionary to describe us." "why, we're midgets, that's all," said the little girl. the ork flew silently for a long time. the slight swaying of the sunbonnet made cap'n bill drowsy, and he began to doze. trot, however, was wide awake, and after enduring the monotonous journey as long as she was able she called out: "don't you see land anywhere, mr. ork?" "not yet," he answered. "this is a big ocean and i've no idea in which direction the nearest land to that island lies; but if i keep flying in a straight line i'm sure to reach some place some time." that seemed reasonable, so the little people in the sunbonnet remained as patient as possible; that is, cap'n bill dozed and trot tried to remember her geography lessons so she could figure out what land they were likely to arrive at. for hours and hours the ork flew steadily, keeping to the straight line and searching with his eyes the horizon of the ocean for land. cap'n bill was fast asleep and snoring and trot had laid her head on his shoulder to rest it when suddenly the ork exclaimed: "there! i've caught a glimpse of land, at last." at this announcement they roused themselves. cap'n bill stood up and tried to peek over the edge of the sunbonnet. "what does it look like?" he inquired. "looks like another island," said the ork; "but i can judge it better in a minute or two." "i don't care much for islands, since we visited that other one," declared trot. soon the ork made another announcement. "it is surely an island, and a little one, too," said he. "but i won't stop, because i see a much bigger land straight ahead of it." "that's right," approved cap'n bill. "the bigger the land, the better it will suit us." "it's almost a continent," continued the ork after a brief silence, during which he did not decrease the speed of his flight. "i wonder if it can be orkland, the place i have been seeking so long?" "i hope not," whispered trot to cap'n bill--so softly that the ork could not hear her--"for i shouldn't like to be in a country where only orks live. this one ork isn't a bad companion, but a lot of him wouldn't be much fun." after a few more minutes of flying the ork called out in a sad voice: "no! this is not my country. it's a place i have never seen before, although i have wandered far and wide. it seems to be all mountains and deserts and green valleys and queer cities and lakes and rivers--mixed up in a very puzzling way." "most countries are like that," commented cap'n bill. "are you going to land?" "pretty soon," was the reply. "there is a mountain peak just ahead of me. what do you say to our landing on that?" "all right," agreed the sailor-man, for both he and trot were getting tired of riding in the sunbonnet and longed to set foot on solid ground again. so in a few minutes the ork slowed down his speed and then came to a stop so easily that they were scarcely jarred at all. then the creature squatted down until the sunbonnet rested on the ground, and began trying to unfasten with its claws the knotted strings. this proved a very clumsy task, because the strings were tied at the back of the ork's neck, just where his claws would not easily reach. after much fumbling he said: "i'm afraid i can't let you out, and there is no one near to help me." this was at first discouraging, but after a little thought cap'n bill said: "if you don't mind, trot, i can cut a slit in your sunbonnet with my knife." "do," she replied. "the slit won't matter, 'cause i can sew it up again afterward, when i am big." so cap'n bill got out his knife, which was just as small, in proportion, as he was, and after considerable trouble managed to cut a long slit in the sunbonnet. first he squeezed through the opening himself and then helped trot to get out. when they stood on firm ground again their first act was to begin eating the dark purple berries which they had brought with them. two of these trot had guarded carefully during the long journey, by holding them in her lap, for their safety meant much to the tiny people. "i'm not very hungry," said the little girl as she handed a berry to cap'n bill, "but hunger doesn't count, in this case. it's like taking medicine to make you well, so we must manage to eat 'em, somehow or other." but the berries proved quite pleasant to taste and as cap'n bill and trot nibbled at their edges their forms began to grow in size--slowly but steadily. the bigger they grew the easier it was for them to eat the berries, which of course became smaller to them, and by the time the fruit was eaten our friends had regained their natural size. the little girl was greatly relieved when she found herself as large as she had ever been, and cap'n bill shared her satisfaction; for, although they had seen the effect of the berries on the ork, they had not been sure the magic fruit would have the same effect on human beings, or that the magic would work in any other country than that in which the berries grew. "what shall we do with the other four berries?" asked trot, as she picked up her sunbonnet, marveling that she had ever been small enough to ride in it. "they're no good to us now, are they, cap'n?" "i'm not sure as to that," he replied. "if they were eaten by one who had never eaten the lavender berries, they might have no effect at all; but then, contrarywise, they might. one of 'em has got badly jammed, so i'll throw it away, but the other three i b'lieve i'll carry with me. they're magic things, you know, and may come handy to us some time." he now searched in his big pockets and drew out a small wooden box with a sliding cover. the sailor had kept an assortment of nails, of various sizes, in this box, but those he now dumped loosely into his pocket and in the box placed the three sound purple berries. when this important matter was attended to they found time to look about them and see what sort of place the ork had landed them in. chapter seven the bumpy man the mountain on which they had alighted was not a barren waste, but had on its sides patches of green grass, some bushes, a few slender trees and here and there masses of tumbled rocks. the sides of the slope seemed rather steep, but with care one could climb up or down them with ease and safety. the view from where they now stood showed pleasant valleys and fertile hills lying below the heights. trot thought she saw some houses of queer shapes scattered about the lower landscape, and there were moving dots that might be people or animals, yet were too far away for her to see them clearly. not far from the place where they stood was the top of the mountain, which seemed to be flat, so the ork proposed to his companions that he would fly up and see what was there. "that's a good idea," said trot, "'cause it's getting toward evening and we'll have to find a place to sleep." the ork had not been gone more than a few minutes when they saw him appear on the edge of the top which was nearest them. "come on up!" he called. so trot and cap'n bill began to ascend the steep slope and it did not take them long to reach the place where the ork awaited them. their first view of the mountain top pleased them very much. it was a level space of wider extent than they had guessed and upon it grew grass of a brilliant green color. in the very center stood a house built of stone and very neatly constructed. no one was in sight, but smoke was coming from the chimney, so with one accord all three began walking toward the house. "i wonder," said trot, "in what country we are, and if it's very far from my home in california." "can't say as to that, partner," answered cap'n bill, "but i'm mighty certain we've come a long way since we struck that whirlpool." "yes," she agreed, with a sigh, "it must be miles and miles!" "distance means nothing," said the ork. "i have flown pretty much all over the world, trying to find my home, and it is astonishing how many little countries there are, hidden away in the cracks and corners of this big globe of earth. if one travels, he may find some new country at every turn, and a good many of them have never yet been put upon the maps." "p'raps this is one of them," suggested trot. they reached the house after a brisk walk and cap'n bill knocked upon the door. it was at once opened by a rugged looking man who had "bumps all over him," as trot afterward declared. there were bumps on his head, bumps on his body and bumps on his arms and legs and hands. even his fingers had bumps on the ends of them. for dress he wore an old gray suit of fantastic design, which fitted him very badly because of the bumps it covered but could not conceal. but the bumpy man's eyes were kind and twinkling in expression and as soon as he saw his visitors he bowed low and said in a rather bumpy voice: "happy day! come in and shut the door, for it grows cool when the sun goes down. winter is now upon us." "why, it isn't cold a bit, outside," said trot, "so it can't be winter yet." "you will change your mind about that in a little while," declared the bumpy man. "my bumps always tell me the state of the weather, and they feel just now as if a snowstorm was coming this way. but make yourselves at home, strangers. supper is nearly ready and there is food enough for all." inside the house there was but one large room, simply but comfortably furnished. it had benches, a table and a fireplace, all made of stone. on the hearth a pot was bubbling and steaming, and trot thought it had a rather nice smell. the visitors seated themselves upon the benches--except the ork. which squatted by the fireplace--and the bumpy man began stirring the kettle briskly. "may i ask what country this is, sir?" inquired cap'n bill. "goodness me--fruit-cake and apple-sauce!--don't you know where you are?" asked the bumpy man, as he stopped stirring and looked at the speaker in surprise. "no," admitted cap'n bill. "we've just arrived." "lost your way?" questioned the bumpy man. "not exactly," said cap'n bill. "we didn't have any way to lose." "ah!" said the bumpy man, nodding his bumpy head. "this," he announced, in a solemn, impressive voice, "is the famous land of mo." "oh!" exclaimed the sailor and the girl, both in one breath. but, never having heard of the land of mo, they were no wiser than before. "i thought that would startle you," remarked the bumpy man, well pleased, as he resumed his stirring. the ork watched him a while in silence and then asked: "who may you be?" "me?" answered the bumpy man. "haven't you heard of me? gingerbread and lemon-juice! i'm known, far and wide, as the mountain ear." they all received this information in silence at first, for they were trying to think what he could mean. finally trot mustered up courage to ask: "what is a mountain ear, please?" for answer the man turned around and faced them, waving the spoon with which he had been stirring the kettle, as he recited the following verses in a singsong tone of voice: "here's a mountain, hard of hearing, that's sad-hearted and needs cheering, so my duty is to listen to all sounds that nature makes, so the hill won't get uneasy-- get to coughing, or get sneezy-- for this monster bump, when frightened, is quite liable to quakes. "you can hear a bell that's ringing; i can feel some people's singing; but a mountain isn't sensible of what goes on, and so when i hear a blizzard blowing or it's raining hard, or snowing, i tell it to the mountain and the mountain seems to know. "thus i benefit all people while i'm living on this steeple, for i keep the mountain steady so my neighbors all may thrive. with my list'ning and my shouting i prevent this mount from spouting, and that makes me so important that i'm glad that i'm alive." when he had finished these lines of verse the bumpy man turned again to resume his stirring. the ork laughed softly and cap'n bill whistled to himself and trot made up her mind that the mountain ear must be a little crazy. but the bumpy man seemed satisfied that he had explained his position fully and presently he placed four stone plates upon the table and then lifted the kettle from the fire and poured some of its contents on each of the plates. cap'n bill and trot at once approached the table, for they were hungry, but when she examined her plate the little girl exclaimed: "why, it's molasses candy!" "to be sure," returned the bumpy man, with a pleasant smile. "eat it quick, while it's hot, for it cools very quickly this winter weather." with this he seized a stone spoon and began putting the hot molasses candy into his mouth, while the others watched him in astonishment. "doesn't it burn you?" asked the girl. "no indeed," said he. "why don't you eat? aren't you hungry?" "yes," she replied, "i am hungry. but we usually eat our candy when it is cold and hard. we always pull molasses candy before we eat it." "ha, ha, ha!" laughed the mountain ear. "what a funny idea! where in the world did you come from?" "california," she said. "california! pooh! there isn't any such place. i've heard of every place in the land of mo, but i never before heard of california." "it isn't in the land of mo," she explained. "then it isn't worth talking about," declared the bumpy man, helping himself again from the steaming kettle, for he had been eating all the time he talked. "for my part," sighed cap'n bill, "i'd like a decent square meal, once more, just by way of variety. in the last place there was nothing but fruit to eat, and here it's worse, for there's nothing but candy." "molasses candy isn't so bad," said trot. "mine's nearly cool enough to pull, already. wait a bit, cap'n, and you can eat it." a little later she was able to gather the candy from the stone plate and begin to work it back and forth with her hands. the mountain ear was greatly amazed at this and watched her closely. it was really good candy and pulled beautifully, so that trot was soon ready to cut it into chunks for eating. cap'n bill condescended to eat one or two pieces and the ork ate several, but the bumpy man refused to try it. trot finished the plate of candy herself and then asked for a drink of water. "water?" said the mountain ear wonderingly. "what is that?" "something to drink. don't you have water in mo?" "none that ever i heard of," said he. "but i can give you some fresh lemonade. i caught it in a jar the last time it rained, which was only day before yesterday." "oh, does it rain lemonade here?" she inquired. "always; and it is very refreshing and healthful." with this he brought from a cupboard a stone jar and a dipper, and the girl found it very nice lemonade, indeed. cap'n bill liked it, too; but the ork would not touch it. "if there is no water in this country, i cannot stay here for long," the creature declared. "water means life to man and beast and bird." "there must be water in lemonade," said trot. "yes," answered the ork, "i suppose so; but there are other things in it, too, and they spoil the good water." the day's adventures had made our wanderers tired, so the bumpy man brought them some blankets in which they rolled themselves and then lay down before the fire, which their host kept alive with fuel all through the night. trot wakened several times and found the mountain ear always alert and listening intently for the slightest sound. but the little girl could hear no sound at all except the snores of cap'n bill. chapter eight button-bright is lost and found again "wake up--wake up!" called the voice of the bumpy man. "didn't i tell you winter was coming? i could hear it coming with my left ear, and the proof is that it is now snowing hard outside." "is it?" said trot, rubbing her eyes and creeping out of her blanket. "where i live, in california, i have never seen snow, except far away on the tops of high mountains." "well, this is the top of a high mountain," returned the bumpy one, "and for that reason we get our heaviest snowfalls right here." the little girl went to the window and looked out. the air was filled with falling white flakes, so large in size and so queer in form that she was puzzled. "are you certain this is snow?" she asked. "to be sure. i must get my snow-shovel and turn out to shovel a path. would you like to come with me?" "yes," she said, and followed the bumpy man out when he opened the door. then she exclaimed: "why, it isn't cold a bit!" "of course not," replied the man. "it was cold last night, before the snowstorm; but snow, when it falls, is always crisp and warm." trot gathered a handful of it. "why, it's popcorn?" she cried. "certainly; all snow is popcorn. what did you expect it to be?" "popcorn is not snow in my country." "well, it is the only snow we have in the land of mo, so you may as well make the best of it," said he, a little impatiently. "i'm not responsible for the absurd things that happen in your country, and when you're in mo you must do as the momen do. eat some of our snow, and you will find it is good. the only fault i find with our snow is that we get too much of it at times." with this the bumpy man set to work shoveling a path and he was so quick and industrious that he piled up the popcorn in great banks on either side of the trail that led to the mountain-top from the plains below. while he worked, trot ate popcorn and found it crisp and slightly warm, as well as nicely salted and buttered. presently cap'n bill came out of the house and joined her. "what's this?" he asked. "mo snow," said she. "but it isn't real snow, although it falls from the sky. it's popcorn." cap'n bill tasted it; then he sat down in the path and began to eat. the ork came out and pecked away with its bill as fast as it could. they all liked popcorn and they all were hungry this morning. meantime the flakes of "mo snow" came down so fast that the number of them almost darkened the air. the bumpy man was now shoveling quite a distance down the mountain-side, while the path behind him rapidly filled up with fresh-fallen popcorn. suddenly trot heard him call out: "goodness gracious--mince pie and pancakes!--here is some one buried in the snow." she ran toward him at once and the others followed, wading through the corn and crunching it underneath their feet. the mo snow was pretty deep where the bumpy man was shoveling and from beneath a great bank of it he had uncovered a pair of feet. "dear me! someone has been lost in the storm," said cap'n bill. "i hope he is still alive. let's pull him out and see." he took hold of one foot and the bumpy man took hold of the other. then they both pulled and out from the heap of popcorn came a little boy. he was dressed in a brown velvet jacket and knickerbockers, with brown stockings, buckled shoes and a blue shirt-waist that had frills down its front. when drawn from the heap the boy was chewing a mouthful of popcorn and both his hands were full of it. so at first he couldn't speak to his rescuers but lay quite still and eyed them calmly until he had swallowed his mouthful. then he said: "get my cap," and stuffed more popcorn into his mouth. while the bumpy man began shoveling into the corn-bank to find the boy's cap, trot was laughing joyfully and cap'n bill had a broad grin on his face. the ork looked from one to another and asked: "who is this stranger?" "why, it's button-bright, of course," answered trot. "if anyone ever finds a lost boy, he can make up his mind it's button-bright. but how he ever came to be lost in this far-away country is more'n i can make out." "where does he belong?" inquired the ork. "his home used to be in philadelphia, i think; but i'm quite sure button-bright doesn't belong anywhere." "that's right," said the boy, nodding his head as he swallowed the second mouthful. "everyone belongs somewhere," remarked the ork. "not me," insisted button-bright. "i'm half way round the world from philadelphia, and i've lost my magic umbrella, that used to carry me anywhere. stands to reason that if i can't get back i haven't any home. but i don't care much. this is a pretty good country, trot. i've had lots of fun here." by this time the mountain ear had secured the boy's cap and was listening to the conversation with much interest. "it seems you know this poor, snow-covered cast-away," he said. "yes, indeed," answered trot. "we made a journey together to sky island, once, and were good friends." "well, then i'm glad i saved his life," said the bumpy man. "much obliged, mr. knobs," said button-bright, sitting up and staring at him, "but i don't believe you've saved anything except some popcorn that i might have eaten had you not disturbed me. it was nice and warm in that bank of popcorn, and there was plenty to eat. what made you dig me out? and what makes you so bumpy everywhere?" "as for the bumps," replied the man, looking at himself with much pride, "i was born with them and i suspect they were a gift from the fairies. they make me look rugged and big, like the mountain i serve." "all right," said button-bright and began eating popcorn again. it had stopped snowing, now, and great flocks of birds were gathering around the mountain-side, eating the popcorn with much eagerness and scarcely noticing the people at all. there were birds of every size and color, most of them having gorgeous feathers and plumes. "just look at them!" exclaimed the ork scornfully. "aren't they dreadful creatures, all covered with feathers?" "i think they're beautiful," said trot, and this made the ork so indignant that he went back into the house and sulked. button-bright reached out his hand and caught a big bird by the leg. at once it rose into the air and it was so strong that it nearly carried the little boy with it. he let go the leg in a hurry and the bird flew down again and began to eat of the popcorn, not being frightened in the least. this gave cap'n bill an idea. he felt in his pocket and drew out several pieces of stout string. moving very quietly, so as to not alarm the birds, he crept up to several of the biggest ones and tied cords around their legs, thus making them prisoners. the birds were so intent on their eating that they did not notice what had happened to them, and when about twenty had been captured in this manner cap'n bill tied the ends of all the strings together and fastened them to a huge stone, so they could not escape. the bumpy man watched the old sailor's actions with much curiosity. "the birds will be quiet until they've eaten up all the snow," he said, "but then they will want to fly away to their homes. tell me, sir, what will the poor things do when they find they can't fly?" "it may worry 'em a little," replied cap'n bill, "but they're not going to be hurt if they take it easy and behave themselves." our friends had all made a good breakfast of the delicious popcorn and now they walked toward the house again. button-bright walked beside trot and held her hand in his, because they were old friends and he liked the little girl very much. the boy was not so old as trot, and small as she was he was half a head shorter in height. the most remarkable thing about button-bright was that he was always quiet and composed, whatever happened, and nothing was ever able to astonish him. trot liked him because he was not rude and never tried to plague her. cap'n bill liked him because he had found the boy cheerful and brave at all times, and willing to do anything he was asked to do. when they came to the house trot sniffed the air and asked "don't i smell perfume?" "i think you do," said the bumpy man. "you smell violets, and that proves there is a breeze springing up from the south. all our winds and breezes are perfumed and for that reason we are glad to have them blow in our direction. the south breeze always has a violet odor; the north breeze has the fragrance of wild roses; the east breeze is perfumed with lilies-of-the-valley and the west wind with lilac blossoms. so we need no weathervane to tell us which way the wind is blowing. we have only to smell the perfume and it informs us at once." inside the house they found the ork, and button-bright regarded the strange, birdlike creature with curious interest. after examining it closely for a time he asked: "which way does your tail whirl?" "either way," said the ork. button-bright put out his hand and tried to spin it. "don't do that!" exclaimed the ork. "why not?" inquired the boy. "because it happens to be my tail, and i reserve the right to whirl it myself," explained the ork. "let's go out and fly somewhere," proposed button-bright. "i want to see how the tail works." "not now," said the ork. "i appreciate your interest in me, which i fully deserve; but i only fly when i am going somewhere, and if i got started i might not stop." "that reminds me," remarked cap'n bill, "to ask you, friend ork, how we are going to get away from here?" "get away!" exclaimed the bumpy man. "why don't you stay here? you won't find any nicer place than mo." "have you been anywhere else, sir?" "no; i can't say that i have," admitted the mountain ear. "then permit me to say you're no judge," declared cap'n bill. "but you haven't answered my question, friend ork. how are we to get away from this mountain?" the ork reflected a while before he answered. "i might carry one of you--the boy or the girl--upon my back," said he, "but three big people are more than i can manage, although i have carried two of you for a short distance. you ought not to have eaten those purple berries so soon." "p'r'aps we did make a mistake," cap'n bill acknowledged. "or we might have brought some of those lavender berries with us, instead of so many purple ones," suggested trot regretfully. cap'n bill made no reply to this statement, which showed he did not fully agree with the little girl; but he fell into deep thought, with wrinkled brows, and finally he said: "if those purple berries would make anything grow bigger, whether it'd eaten the lavender ones or not, i could find a way out of our troubles." they did not understand this speech and looked at the old sailor as if expecting him to explain what he meant. but just then a chorus of shrill cries rose from outside. "here! let me go--let me go!" the voices seemed to say. "why are we insulted in this way? mountain ear, come and help us!" trot ran to the window and looked out. "it's the birds you caught, cap'n," she said. "i didn't know they could talk." "oh, yes; all the birds in mo are educated to talk," said the bumpy man. then he looked at cap'n bill uneasily and added: "won't you let the poor things go?" "i'll see," replied the sailor, and walked out to where the birds were fluttering and complaining because the strings would not allow them to fly away. "listen to me!" he cried, and at once they became still. "we three people who are strangers in your land want to go to some other country, and we want three of you birds to carry us there. we know we are asking a great favor, but it's the only way we can think of--excep' walkin', an' i'm not much good at that because i've a wooden leg. besides, trot an' button-bright are too small to undertake a long and tiresome journey. now, tell me: which three of you birds will consent to carry us?" the birds looked at one another as if greatly astonished. then one of them replied: "you must be crazy, old man. not one of us is big enough to fly with even the smallest of your party." "i'll fix the matter of size," promised cap'n bill. "if three of you will agree to carry us, i'll make you big an' strong enough to do it, so it won't worry you a bit." the birds considered this gravely. living in a magic country, they had no doubt but that the strange one-legged man could do what he said. after a little, one of them asked: "if you make us big, would we stay big always?" "i think so," replied cap'n bill. they chattered a while among themselves and then the bird that had first spoken said: "i'll go, for one." "so will i," said another; and after a pause a third said: "i'll go, too." perhaps more would have volunteered, for it seemed that for some reason they all longed to be bigger than they were; but three were enough for cap'n bill's purpose and so he promptly released all the others, who immediately flew away. the three that remained were cousins, and all were of the same brilliant plumage and in size about as large as eagles. when trot questioned them she found they were quite young, having only abandoned their nests a few weeks before. they were strong young birds, with clear, brave eyes, and the little girl decided they were the most beautiful of all the feathered creatures she had ever seen. cap'n bill now took from his pocket the wooden box with the sliding cover and removed the three purple berries, which were still in good condition. "eat these," he said, and gave one to each of the birds. they obeyed, finding the fruit very pleasant to taste. in a few seconds they began to grow in size and grew so fast that trot feared they would never stop. but they finally did stop growing, and then they were much larger than the ork, and nearly the size of full-grown ostriches. cap'n bill was much pleased by this result. "you can carry us now, all right," said he. the birds strutted around with pride, highly pleased with their immense size. "i don't see, though," said trot doubtfully, "how we're going to ride on their backs without falling off." "we're not going to ride on their backs," answered cap'n bill. "i'm going to make swings for us to ride in." he then asked the bumpy man for some rope, but the man had no rope. he had, however, an old suit of gray clothes which he gladly presented to cap'n bill, who cut the cloth into strips and twisted it so that it was almost as strong as rope. with this material he attached to each bird a swing that dangled below its feet, and button-bright made a trial flight in one of them to prove that it was safe and comfortable. when all this had been arranged one of the birds asked: "where do you wish us to take you?" "why, just follow the ork," said cap'n bill. "he will be our leader, and wherever the ork flies you are to fly, and wherever the ork lands you are to land. is that satisfactory?" the birds declared it was quite satisfactory, so cap'n bill took counsel with the ork. "on our way here," said that peculiar creature, "i noticed a broad, sandy desert at the left of me, on which was no living thing." "then we'd better keep away from it," replied the sailor. "not so," insisted the ork. "i have found, on my travels, that the most pleasant countries often lie in the midst of deserts; so i think it would be wise for us to fly over this desert and discover what lies beyond it. for in the direction we came from lies the ocean, as we well know, and beyond here is this strange land of mo, which we do not care to explore. on one side, as we can see from this mountain, is a broad expanse of plain, and on the other the desert. for my part, i vote for the desert." "what do you say, trot?" inquired cap'n bill. "it's all the same to me," she replied. no one thought of asking button-bright's opinion, so it was decided to fly over the desert. they bade good-bye to the bumpy man and thanked him for his kindness and hospitality. then they seated themselves in the swings--one for each bird--and told the ork to start away and they would follow. the whirl of the ork's tail astonished the birds at first, but after he had gone a short distance they rose in the air, carrying their passengers easily, and flew with strong, regular strokes of their great wings in the wake of their leader. chapter nine the kingdom of jinxland trot rode with more comfort than she had expected, although the swing swayed so much that she had to hold on tight with both hands. cap'n bill's bird followed the ork, and trot came next, with button-bright trailing behind her. it was quite an imposing procession, but unfortunately there was no one to see it, for the ork had headed straight for the great sandy desert and in a few minutes after starting they were flying high over the broad waste, where no living thing could exist. the little girl thought this would be a bad place for the birds to lose strength, or for the cloth ropes to give way; but although she could not help feeling a trifle nervous and fidgety she had confidence in the huge and brilliantly plumaged bird that bore her, as well as in cap'n bill's knowledge of how to twist and fasten a rope so it would hold. that was a remarkably big desert. there was nothing to relieve the monotony of view and every minute seemed an hour and every hour a day. disagreeable fumes and gases rose from the sands, which would have been deadly to the travelers had they not been so high in the air. as it was, trot was beginning to feel sick, when a breath of fresher air filled her nostrils and on looking ahead she saw a great cloud of pink-tinted mist. even while she wondered what it could be, the ork plunged boldly into the mist and the other birds followed. she could see nothing for a time, nor could the bird which carried her see where the ork had gone, but it kept flying as sturdily as ever and in a few moments the mist was passed and the girl saw a most beautiful landscape spread out below her, extending as far as her eye could reach. she saw bits of forest, verdure clothed hills, fields of waving grain, fountains, rivers and lakes; and throughout the scene were scattered groups of pretty houses and a few grand castles and palaces. over all this delightful landscape--which from trot's high perch seemed like a magnificent painted picture--was a rosy glow such as we sometimes see in the west at sunset. in this case, however, it was not in the west only, but everywhere. no wonder the ork paused to circle slowly over this lovely country. the other birds followed his action, all eyeing the place with equal delight. then, as with one accord, the four formed a group and slowly sailed downward. this brought them to that part of the newly-discovered land which bordered on the desert's edge; but it was just as pretty here as anywhere, so the ork and the birds alighted and the three passengers at once got out of their swings. "oh, cap'n bill, isn't this fine an' dandy?" exclaimed trot rapturously. "how lucky we were to discover this beautiful country!" "the country seems rather high class, i'll admit, trot," replied the old sailor-man, looking around him, "but we don't know, as yet, what its people are like." "no one could live in such a country without being happy and good--i'm sure of that," she said earnestly. "don't you think so, button-bright?" "i'm not thinking, just now," answered the little boy. "it tires me to think, and i never seem to gain anything by it. when we see the people who live here we will know what they are like, and no 'mount of thinking will make them any different." "that's true enough," said the ork. "but now i want to make a proposal. while you are getting acquainted with this new country, which looks as if it contains everything to make one happy, i would like to fly along--all by myself--and see if i can find my home on the other side of the great desert. if i do, i will stay there, of course. but if i fail to find orkland i will return to you in a week, to see if i can do anything more to assist you." they were sorry to lose their queer companion, but could offer no objection to the plan; so the ork bade them good-bye and rising swiftly in the air, he flew over the country and was soon lost to view in the distance. the three birds which had carried our friends now begged permission to return by the way they had come, to their own homes, saying they were anxious to show their families how big they had become. so cap'n bill and trot and button-bright all thanked them gratefully for their assistance and soon the birds began their long flight toward the land of mo. being now left to themselves in this strange land, the three comrades selected a pretty pathway and began walking along it. they believed this path would lead them to a splendid castle which they espied in the distance, the turrets of which towered far above the tops of the trees which surrounded it. it did not seem very far away, so they sauntered on slowly, admiring the beautiful ferns and flowers that lined the pathway and listening to the singing of the birds and the soft chirping of the grasshoppers. presently the path wound over a little hill. in a valley that lay beyond the hill was a tiny cottage surrounded by flower beds and fruit trees. on the shady porch of the cottage they saw, as they approached, a pleasant faced woman sitting amidst a group of children, to whom she was telling stories. the children quickly discovered the strangers and ran toward them with exclamations of astonishment, so that trot and her friends became the center of a curious group, all chattering excitedly. cap'n bill's wooden leg seemed to arouse the wonder of the children, as they could not understand why he had not two meat legs. this attention seemed to please the old sailor, who patted the heads of the children kindly and then, raising his hat to the woman, he inquired: "can you tell us, madam, just what country this is?" she stared hard at all three of the strangers as she replied briefly: "jinxland." "oh!" exclaimed cap'n bill, with a puzzled look. "and where is jinxland, please?" "in the quadling country," said she. "what!" cried trot, in sudden excitement. "do you mean to say this is the quadling country of the land of oz?" "to be sure i do," the woman answered. "every bit of land that is surrounded by the great desert is the land of oz, as you ought to know as well as i do; but i'm sorry to say that jinxland is separated from the rest of the quadling country by that row of high mountains you see yonder, which have such steep sides that no one can cross them. so we live here all by ourselves, and are ruled by our own king, instead of by ozma of oz." "i've been to the land of oz before," said button-bright, "but i've never been here." "did you ever hear of jinxland before?" asked trot. "no," said button-bright. "it is on the map of oz, though," asserted the woman, "and it's a fine country, i assure you. if only," she added, and then paused to look around her with a frightened expression. "if only--" here she stopped again, as if not daring to go on with her speech. "if only what, ma'am?" asked cap'n bill. the woman sent the children into the house. then she came closer to the strangers and whispered: "if only we had a different king, we would be very happy and contented." "what's the matter with your king?" asked trot, curiously. but the woman seemed frightened to have said so much. she retreated to her porch, merely saying: "the king punishes severely any treason on the part of his subjects." "what's treason?" asked button-bright. "in this case," replied cap'n bill, "treason seems to consist of knockin' the king; but i guess we know his disposition now as well as if the lady had said more." "i wonder," said trot, going up to the woman, "if you could spare us something to eat. we haven't had anything but popcorn and lemonade for a long time." "bless your heart! of course i can spare you some food," the woman answered, and entering her cottage she soon returned with a tray loaded with sandwiches, cakes and cheese. one of the children drew a bucket of clear, cold water from a spring and the three wanderers ate heartily and enjoyed the good things immensely. when button-bright could eat no more he filled the pockets of his jacket with cakes and cheese, and not even the children objected to this. indeed they all seemed pleased to see the strangers eat, so cap'n bill decided that no matter what the king of jinxland was like, the people would prove friendly and hospitable. "whose castle is that, yonder, ma'am?" he asked, waving his hand toward the towers that rose above the trees. "it belongs to his majesty, king krewl." she said. "oh, indeed; and does he live there?" "when he is not out hunting with his fierce courtiers and war captains," she replied. "is he hunting now?" trot inquired. "i do not know, my dear. the less we know about the king's actions the safer we are." it was evident the woman did not like to talk about king krewl and so, having finished their meal, they said good-bye and continued along the pathway. "don't you think we'd better keep away from that king's castle, cap'n?" asked trot. "well," said he, "king krewl would find out, sooner or later, that we are in his country, so we may as well face the music now. perhaps he isn't quite so bad as that woman thinks he is. kings aren't always popular with their people, you know, even if they do the best they know how." "ozma is pop'lar," said button-bright. "ozma is diff'rent from any other ruler, from all i've heard," remarked trot musingly, as she walked beside the boy. "and, after all, we are really in the land of oz, where ozma rules ev'ry king and ev'rybody else. i never heard of anybody getting hurt in her dominions, did you, button-bright?" "not when she knows about it," he replied. "but those birds landed us in just the wrong place, seems to me. they might have carried us right on, over that row of mountains, to the em'rald city." "true enough," said cap'n bill; "but they didn't, an' so we must make the best of jinxland. let's try not to be afraid." "oh, i'm not very scared," said button-bright, pausing to look at a pink rabbit that popped its head out of a hole in the field near by. "nor am i," added trot. "really, cap'n, i'm so glad to be anywhere at all in the wonderful fairyland of oz that i think i'm the luckiest girl in all the world. dorothy lives in the em'rald city, you know, and so does the scarecrow and the tin woodman and tik-tok and the shaggy man--and all the rest of 'em that we've heard so much about--not to mention ozma, who must be the sweetest and loveliest girl in all the world!" "take your time, trot," advised button-bright. "you don't have to say it all in one breath, you know. and you haven't mentioned half of the curious people in the em'rald city." "that 'ere em'rald city," said cap'n bill impressively, "happens to be on the other side o' those mountains, that we're told no one is able to cross. i don't want to discourage of you, trot, but we're a'most as much separated from your ozma an' dorothy as we were when we lived in californy." there was so much truth in this statement that they all walked on in silence for some time. finally they reached the grove of stately trees that bordered the grounds of the king's castle. they had gone halfway through it when the sound of sobbing, as of someone in bitter distress, reached their ears and caused them to halt abruptly. chapter ten pon, the gardener's boy it was button-bright who first discovered, lying on his face beneath a broad spreading tree near the pathway, a young man whose body shook with the force of his sobs. he was dressed in a long brown smock and had sandals on his feet, betokening one in humble life. his head was bare and showed a shock of brown, curly hair. button-bright looked down on the young man and said: "who cares, anyhow?" "i do!" cried the young man, interrupting his sobs to roll over, face upward, that he might see who had spoken. "i care, for my heart is broken!" "can't you get another one?" asked the little boy. "i don't want another!" wailed the young man. by this time trot and cap'n bill arrived at the spot and the girl leaned over and said in a sympathetic voice: "tell us your troubles and perhaps we may help you." the youth sat up, then, and bowed politely. afterward he got upon his feet, but still kept wringing his hands as he tried to choke down his sobs. trot thought he was very brave to control such awful agony so well. "my name is pon," he began. "i'm the gardener's boy." "then the gardener of the king is your father, i suppose," said trot. "not my father, but my master," was the reply "i do the work and the gardener gives the orders. and it was not my fault, in the least, that the princess gloria fell in love with me." "did she, really?" asked the little girl. "i don't see why," remarked button-bright, staring at the youth. "and who may the princess gloria be?" inquired cap'n bill. "she is the niece of king krewl, who is her guardian. the princess lives in the castle and is the loveliest and sweetest maiden in all jinxland. she is fond of flowers and used to walk in the gardens with her attendants. at such times, if i was working at my tasks, i used to cast down my eyes as gloria passed me; but one day i glanced up and found her gazing at me with a very tender look in her eyes. the next day she dismissed her attendants and, coming to my side, began to talk with me. she said i had touched her heart as no other young man had ever done. i kissed her hand. just then the king came around a bend in the walk. he struck me with his fist and kicked me with his foot. then he seized the arm of the princess and rudely dragged her into the castle." "wasn't he awful!" gasped trot indignantly. "he is a very abrupt king," said pon, "so it was the least i could expect. up to that time i had not thought of loving princess gloria, but realizing it would be impolite not to return her love, i did so. we met at evening, now and then, and she told me the king wanted her to marry a rich courtier named googly-goo, who is old enough to be gloria's father. she has refused googly-goo thirty-nine times, but he still persists and has brought many rich presents to bribe the king. on that account king krewl has commanded his niece to marry the old man, but the princess has assured me, time and again, that she will wed only me. this morning we happened to meet in the grape arbor and as i was respectfully saluting the cheek of the princess, two of the king's guards seized me and beat me terribly before the very eyes of gloria, whom the king himself held back so she could not interfere." "why, this king must be a monster!" cried trot. "he is far worse than that," said pon, mournfully. "but, see here," interrupted cap'n bill, who had listened carefully to pon. "this king may not be so much to blame, after all. kings are proud folks, because they're so high an' mighty, an' it isn't reasonable for a royal princess to marry a common gardener's boy." "it isn't right," declared button-bright. "a princess should marry a prince." "i'm not a common gardener's boy," protested pon. "if i had my rights i would be the king instead of krewl. as it is, i'm a prince, and as royal as any man in jinxland." "how does that come?" asked cap'n bill. "my father used to be the king and krewl was his prime minister. but one day while out hunting, king phearse--that was my father's name--had a quarrel with krewl and tapped him gently on the nose with the knuckles of his closed hand. this so provoked the wicked krewl that he tripped my father backward, so that he fell into a deep pond. at once krewl threw in a mass of heavy stones, which so weighted down my poor father that his body could not rise again to the surface. it is impossible to kill anyone in this land, as perhaps you know, but when my father was pressed down into the mud at the bottom of the deep pool and the stones held him so he could never escape, he was of no more use to himself or the world than if he had died. knowing this, krewl proclaimed himself king, taking possession of the royal castle and driving all my father's people out. i was a small boy, then, but when i grew up i became a gardener. i have served king krewl without his knowing that i am the son of the same king phearse whom he so cruelly made away with." "my, but that's a terr'bly exciting story!" said trot, drawing a long breath. "but tell us, pon, who was gloria's father?" "oh, he was the king before my father," replied pon. "father was prime minister for king kynd, who was gloria's father. she was only a baby when king kynd fell into the great gulf that lies just this side of the mountains--the same mountains that separate jinxland from the rest of the land of oz. it is said the great gulf has no bottom; but, however that may be, king kynd has never been seen again and my father became king in his place." "seems to me," said trot, "that if gloria had her rights she would be queen of jinxland." "well, her father was a king," admitted pon, "and so was my father; so we are of equal rank, although she's a great lady and i'm a humble gardener's boy. i can't see why we should not marry if we want to except that king krewl won't let us." "it's a sort of mixed-up mess, taken altogether," remarked cap'n bill. "but we are on our way to visit king krewl, and if we get a chance, young man, we'll put in a good word for you." "do, please!" begged pon. "was it the flogging you got that broke your heart?" inquired button-bright. "why, it helped to break it, of course," said pon. "i'd get it fixed up, if i were you," advised the boy, tossing a pebble at a chipmunk in a tree. "you ought to give gloria just as good a heart as she gives you." "that's common sense," agreed cap'n bill. so they left the gardener's boy standing beside the path, and resumed their journey toward the castle. chapter eleven the wicked king and googly-goo when our friends approached the great doorway of the castle they found it guarded by several soldiers dressed in splendid uniforms. they were armed with swords and lances. cap'n bill walked straight up to them and asked: "does the king happen to be at home?" "his magnificent and glorious majesty, king krewl, is at present inhabiting his royal castle," was the stiff reply. "then i guess we'll go in an' say how-d'ye-do," continued cap'n bill, attempting to enter the doorway. but a soldier barred his way with a lance. "who are you, what are your names, and where do you come from?" demanded the soldier. "you wouldn't know if we told you," returned the sailor, "seein' as we're strangers in a strange land." "oh, if you are strangers you will be permitted to enter," said the soldier, lowering his lance. "his majesty is very fond of strangers." "do many strangers come here?" asked trot. "you are the first that ever came to our country," said the man. "but his majesty has often said that if strangers ever arrived in jinxland he would see that they had a very exciting time." cap'n bill scratched his chin thoughtfully. he wasn't very favorably impressed by this last remark. but he decided that as there was no way of escape from jinxland it would be wise to confront the king boldly and try to win his favor. so they entered the castle, escorted by one of the soldiers. it was certainly a fine castle, with many large rooms, all beautifully furnished. the passages were winding and handsomely decorated, and after following several of these the soldier led them into an open court that occupied the very center of the huge building. it was surrounded on every side by high turreted walls, and contained beds of flowers, fountains and walks of many colored marbles which were matched together in quaint designs. in an open space near the middle of the court they saw a group of courtiers and their ladies, who surrounded a lean man who wore upon his head a jeweled crown. his face was hard and sullen and through the slits of his half-closed eyelids the eyes glowed like coals of fire. he was dressed in brilliant satins and velvets and was seated in a golden throne-chair. this personage was king krewl, and as soon as cap'n bill saw him the old sailor knew at once that he was not going to like the king of jinxland. "hello! who's here?" said his majesty, with a deep scowl. "strangers, sire," answered the soldier, bowing so low that his forehead touched the marble tiles. "strangers, eh? well, well; what an unexpected visit! advance, strangers, and give an account of yourselves." the king's voice was as harsh as his features. trot shuddered a little but cap'n bill calmly replied: "there ain't much for us to say, 'cept as we've arrived to look over your country an' see how we like it. judgin' from the way you speak, you don't know who we are, or you'd be jumpin' up to shake hands an' offer us seats. kings usually treat us pretty well, in the great big outside world where we come from, but in this little kingdom--which don't amount to much, anyhow--folks don't seem to 'a' got much culchure." the king listened with amazement to this bold speech, first with a frown and then gazing at the two children and the old sailor with evident curiosity. the courtiers were dumb with fear, for no one had ever dared speak in such a manner to their self-willed, cruel king before. his majesty, however, was somewhat frightened, for cruel people are always cowards, and he feared these mysterious strangers might possess magic powers that would destroy him unless he treated them well. so he commanded his people to give the new arrivals seats, and they obeyed with trembling haste. after being seated, cap'n bill lighted his pipe and began puffing smoke from it, a sight so strange to them that it filled them all with wonder. presently the king asked: "how did you penetrate to this hidden country? did you cross the desert or the mountains?" "desert," answered cap'n bill, as if the task were too easy to be worth talking about. "indeed! no one has ever been able to do that before," said the king. "well, it's easy enough, if you know how," asserted cap'n bill, so carelessly that it greatly impressed his hearers. the king shifted in his throne uneasily. he was more afraid of these strangers than before. "do you intend to stay long in jinxland?" was his next anxious question. "depends on how we like it," said cap'n bill. "just now i might suggest to your majesty to order some rooms got ready for us in your dinky little castle here. and a royal banquet, with some fried onions an' pickled tripe, would set easy on our stomicks an' make us a bit happier than we are now." "your wishes shall be attended to," said king krewl, but his eyes flashed from between their slits in a wicked way that made trot hope the food wouldn't be poisoned. at the king's command several of his attendants hastened away to give the proper orders to the castle servants and no sooner were they gone than a skinny old man entered the courtyard and bowed before the king. this disagreeable person was dressed in rich velvets, with many furbelows and laces. he was covered with golden chains, finely wrought rings and jeweled ornaments. he walked with mincing steps and glared at all the courtiers as if he considered himself far superior to any or all of them. "well, well, your majesty; what news--what news?" he demanded, in a shrill, cracked voice. the king gave him a surly look. "no news, lord googly-goo, except that strangers have arrived," he said. googly-goo cast a contemptuous glance at cap'n bill and a disdainful one at trot and button-bright. then he said: "strangers do not interest me, your majesty. but the princess gloria is very interesting--very interesting, indeed! what does she say, sire? will she marry me?" "ask her," retorted the king. "i have, many times; and every time she has refused." "well?" said the king harshly. "well," said googly-goo in a jaunty tone, "a bird that can sing, and won't sing, must be made to sing." "huh!" sneered the king. "that's easy, with a bird; but a girl is harder to manage." "still," persisted googly-goo, "we must overcome difficulties. the chief trouble is that gloria fancies she loves that miserable gardener's boy, pon. suppose we throw pon into the great gulf, your majesty?" "it would do you no good," returned the king. "she would still love him." "too bad, too bad!" sighed googly-goo. "i have laid aside more than a bushel of precious gems--each worth a king's ransom--to present to your majesty on the day i wed gloria." the king's eyes sparkled, for he loved wealth above everything; but the next moment he frowned deeply again. "it won't help us to kill pon," he muttered. "what we must do is kill gloria's love for pon." "that is better, if you can find a way to do it," agreed googly-goo. "everything would come right if you could kill gloria's love for that gardener's boy. really, sire, now that i come to think of it, there must be fully a bushel and a half of those jewels!" just then a messenger entered the court to say that the banquet was prepared for the strangers. so cap'n bill, trot and button-bright entered the castle and were taken to a room where a fine feast was spread upon the table. "i don't like that lord googly-goo," remarked trot as she was busily eating. "nor i," said cap'n bill. "but from the talk we heard i guess the gardener's boy won't get the princess." "perhaps not," returned the girl; "but i hope old googly doesn't get her, either." "the king means to sell her for all those jewels," observed button-bright, his mouth half full of cake and jam. "poor princess!" sighed trot. "i'm sorry for her, although i've never seen her. but if she says no to googly-goo, and means it, what can they do?" "don't let us worry about a strange princess," advised cap'n bill. "i've a notion we're not too safe, ourselves, with this cruel king." the two children felt the same way and all three were rather solemn during the remainder of the meal. when they had eaten, the servants escorted them to their rooms. cap'n bill's room was way to one end of the castle, very high up, and trot's room was at the opposite end, rather low down. as for button-bright, they placed him in the middle, so that all were as far apart as they could possibly be. they didn't like this arrangement very well, but all the rooms were handsomely furnished and being guests of the king they dared not complain. after the strangers had left the courtyard the king and googly-goo had a long talk together, and the king said: "i cannot force gloria to marry you just now, because those strangers may interfere. i suspect that the wooden-legged man possesses great magical powers, or he would never have been able to carry himself and those children across the deadly desert." "i don't like him; he looks dangerous," answered googly-goo. "but perhaps you are mistaken about his being a wizard. why don't you test his powers?" "how?" asked the king. "send for the wicked witch. she will tell you in a moment whether that wooden-legged person is a common man or a magician." "ha! that's a good idea," cried the king. "why didn't i think of the wicked witch before? but the woman demands rich rewards for her services." "never mind; i will pay her," promised the wealthy googly-goo. so a servant was dispatched to summon the wicked witch, who lived but a few leagues from king krewl's castle. while they awaited her, the withered old courtier proposed that they pay a visit to princess gloria and see if she was not now in a more complaisant mood. so the two started away together and searched the castle over without finding gloria. at last googly-goo suggested she might be in the rear garden, which was a large park filled with bushes and trees and surrounded by a high wall. and what was their anger, when they turned a corner of the path, to find in a quiet nook the beautiful princess, and kneeling before her, pon, the gardener's boy! with a roar of rage the king dashed forward; but pon had scaled the wall by means of a ladder, which still stood in its place, and when he saw the king coming he ran up the ladder and made good his escape. but this left gloria confronted by her angry guardian, the king, and by old googly-goo, who was trembling with a fury he could not express in words. seizing the princess by her arm the king dragged her back to the castle. pushing her into a room on the lower floor he locked the door upon the unhappy girl. and at that moment the arrival of the wicked witch was announced. hearing this, the king smiled, as a tiger smiles, showing his teeth. and googly-goo smiled, as a serpent smiles, for he had no teeth except a couple of fangs. and having frightened each other with these smiles the two dreadful men went away to the royal council chamber to meet the wicked witch. chapter twelve the wooden-legged grass-hopper now it so happened that trot, from the window of her room, had witnessed the meeting of the lovers in the garden and had seen the king come and drag gloria away. the little girl's heart went out in sympathy for the poor princess, who seemed to her to be one of the sweetest and loveliest young ladies she had ever seen, so she crept along the passages and from a hidden niche saw gloria locked in her room. the key was still in the lock, so when the king had gone away, followed by googly-goo, trot stole up to the door, turned the key and entered. the princess lay prone upon a couch, sobbing bitterly. trot went up to her and smoothed her hair and tried to comfort her. "don't cry," she said. "i've unlocked the door, so you can go away any time you want to." "it isn't that," sobbed the princess. "i am unhappy because they will not let me love pon, the gardener's boy!" "well, never mind; pon isn't any great shakes, anyhow, seems to me," said trot soothingly. "there are lots of other people you can love." gloria rolled over on the couch and looked at the little girl reproachfully. "pon has won my heart, and i can't help loving him," she explained. then with sudden indignation she added: "but i'll never love googly-goo--never, as long as i live!" "i should say not!" replied trot. "pon may not be much good, but old googly is very, very bad. hunt around, and i'm sure you'll find someone worth your love. you're very pretty, you know, and almost anyone ought to love you." "you don't understand, my dear," said gloria, as she wiped the tears from her eyes with a dainty lace handkerchief bordered with pearls. "when you are older you will realize that a young lady cannot decide whom she will love, or choose the most worthy. her heart alone decides for her, and whomsoever her heart selects, she must love, whether he amounts to much or not." trot was a little puzzled by this speech, which seemed to her unreasonable; but she made no reply and presently gloria's grief softened and she began to question the little girl about herself and her adventures. trot told her how they had happened to come to jinxland, and all about cap'n bill and the ork and pessim and the bumpy man. while they were thus conversing together, getting more and more friendly as they became better acquainted, in the council chamber the king and googly-goo were talking with the wicked witch. this evil creature was old and ugly. she had lost one eye and wore a black patch over it, so the people of jinxland had named her "blinkie." of course witches are forbidden to exist in the land of oz, but jinxland was so far removed from the center of ozma's dominions, and so absolutely cut off from it by the steep mountains and the bottomless gulf, that the laws of oz were not obeyed very well in that country. so there were several witches in jinxland who were the terror of the people, but king krewl favored them and permitted them to exercise their evil sorcery. blinkie was the leader of all the other witches and therefore the most hated and feared. the king used her witchcraft at times to assist him in carrying out his cruelties and revenge, but he was always obliged to pay blinkie large sums of money or heaps of precious jewels before she would undertake an enchantment. this made him hate the old woman almost as much as his subjects did, but to-day lord googly-goo had agreed to pay the witch's price, so the king greeted her with gracious favor. "can you destroy the love of princess gloria for the gardener's boy?" inquired his majesty. the wicked witch thought about it before she replied: "that's a hard question to answer. i can do lots of clever magic, but love is a stubborn thing to conquer. when you think you've killed it, it's liable to bob up again as strong as ever. i believe love and cats have nine lives. in other words, killing love is a hard job, even for a skillful witch, but i believe i can do something that will answer your purpose just as well." "what is that?" asked the king. "i can freeze the girl's heart. i've got a special incantation for that, and when gloria's heart is thoroughly frozen she can no longer love pon." "just the thing!" exclaimed googly-goo, and the king was likewise much pleased. they bargained a long time as to the price, but finally the old courtier agreed to pay the wicked witch's demands. it was arranged that they should take gloria to blinkie's house the next day, to have her heart frozen. then king krewl mentioned to the old hag the strangers who had that day arrived in jinxland, and said to her: "i think the two children--the boy and the girl--are unable to harm me, but i have a suspicion that the wooden-legged man is a powerful wizard." the witch's face wore a troubled look when she heard this. "if you are right," she said, "this wizard might spoil my incantation and interfere with me in other ways. so it will be best for me to meet this stranger at once and match my magic against his, to decide which is the stronger." "all right," said the king. "come with me and i will lead you to the man's room." googly-goo did not accompany them, as he was obliged to go home to get the money and jewels he had promised to pay old blinkie, so the other two climbed several flights of stairs and went through many passages until they came to the room occupied by cap'n bill. the sailor-man, finding his bed soft and inviting, and being tired with the adventures he had experienced, had decided to take a nap. when the wicked witch and the king softly opened his door and entered, cap'n bill was snoring with such vigor that he did not hear them at all. blinkie approached the bed and with her one eye anxiously stared at the sleeping stranger. "ah," she said in a soft whisper, "i believe you are right, king krewl. the man looks to me like a very powerful wizard. but by good luck i have caught him asleep, so i shall transform him before he wakes up, giving him such a form that he will be unable to oppose me." "careful!" cautioned the king, also speaking low. "if he discovers what you are doing he may destroy you, and that would annoy me because i need you to attend to gloria." but the wicked witch realized as well as he did that she must be careful. she carried over her arm a black bag, from which she now drew several packets carefully wrapped in paper. three of these she selected, replacing the others in the bag. two of the packets she mixed together, and then she cautiously opened the third. "better stand back, your majesty," she advised, "for if this powder falls on you you might be transformed yourself." the king hastily retreated to the end of the room. as blinkie mixed the third powder with the others she waved her hands over it, mumbled a few words, and then backed away as quickly as she could. cap'n bill was slumbering peacefully, all unconscious of what was going on. puff! a great cloud of smoke rolled over the bed and completely hid him from view. when the smoke rolled away, both blinkie and the king saw that the body of the stranger had quite disappeared, while in his place, crouching in the middle of the bed, was a little gray grasshopper. one curious thing about this grasshopper was that the last joint of its left leg was made of wood. another curious thing--considering it was a grasshopper--was that it began talking, crying out in a tiny but sharp voice: "here--you people! what do you mean by treating me so? put me back where i belong, at once, or you'll be sorry!" the cruel king turned pale at hearing the grasshopper's threats, but the wicked witch merely laughed in derision. then she raised her stick and aimed a vicious blow at the grasshopper, but before the stick struck the bed the tiny hopper made a marvelous jump--marvelous, indeed, when we consider that it had a wooden leg. it rose in the air and sailed across the room and passed right through the open window, where it disappeared from their view. "good!" shouted the king. "we are well rid of this desperate wizard." and then they both laughed heartily at the success of the incantation, and went away to complete their horrid plans. after trot had visited a time with princess gloria, the little girl went to button-bright's room but did not find him there. then she went to cap'n bill's room, but he was not there because the witch and the king had been there before her. so she made her way downstairs and questioned the servants. they said they had seen the little boy go out into the garden, some time ago, but the old man with the wooden leg they had not seen at all. therefore trot, not knowing what else to do, rambled through the great gardens, seeking for button-bright or cap'n bill and not finding either of them. this part of the garden, which lay before the castle, was not walled in, but extended to the roadway, and the paths were open to the edge of the forest; so, after two hours of vain search for her friends, the little girl returned to the castle. but at the doorway a soldier stopped her. "i live here," said trot, "so it's all right to let me in. the king has given me a room." "well, he has taken it back again," was the soldier's reply. "his majesty's orders are to turn you away if you attempt to enter. i am also ordered to forbid the boy, your companion, to again enter the king's castle." "how 'bout cap'n bill?" she inquired. "why, it seems he has mysteriously disappeared," replied the soldier, shaking his head ominously. "where he has gone to, i can't make out, but i can assure you he is no longer in this castle. i'm sorry, little girl, to disappoint you. don't blame me; i must obey my master's orders." now, all her life trot had been accustomed to depend on cap'n bill, so when this good friend was suddenly taken from her she felt very miserable and forlorn indeed. she was brave enough not to cry before the soldier, or even to let him see her grief and anxiety, but after she was turned away from the castle she sought a quiet bench in the garden and for a time sobbed as if her heart would break. it was button-bright who found her, at last, just as the sun had set and the shades of evening were falling. he also had been turned away from the king's castle, when he tried to enter it, and in the park he came across trot. "never mind," said the boy. "we can find a place to sleep." "i want cap'n bill," wailed the girl. "well, so do i," was the reply. "but we haven't got him. where do you s'pose he is, trot? "i don't s'pose anything. he's gone, an' that's all i know 'bout it." button-bright sat on the bench beside her and thrust his hands in the pockets of his knickerbockers. then he reflected somewhat gravely for him. "cap'n bill isn't around here," he said, letting his eyes wander over the dim garden, "so we must go somewhere else if we want to find him. besides, it's fast getting dark, and if we want to find a place to sleep we must get busy while we can see where to go." he rose from the bench as he said this and trot also jumped up, drying her eyes on her apron. then she walked beside him out of the grounds of the king's castle. they did not go by the main path, but passed through an opening in a hedge and found themselves in a small but well-worn roadway. following this for some distance, along a winding way, they came upon no house or building that would afford them refuge for the night. it became so dark that they could scarcely see their way, and finally trot stopped and suggested that they camp under a tree. "all right," said button-bright, "i've often found that leaves make a good warm blanket. but--look there, trot!--isn't that a light flashing over yonder?" "it certainly is, button-bright. let's go over and see if it's a house. whoever lives there couldn't treat us worse than the king did." to reach the light they had to leave the road, so they stumbled over hillocks and brushwood, hand in hand, keeping the tiny speck of light always in sight. they were rather forlorn little waifs, outcasts in a strange country and forsaken by their only friend and guardian, cap'n bill. so they were very glad when finally they reached a small cottage and, looking in through its one window, saw pon, the gardener's boy, sitting by a fire of twigs. as trot opened the door and walked boldly in, pon sprang up to greet them. they told him of cap'n bill's disappearance and how they had been turned out of the king's castle. as they finished the story pon shook his head sadly. "king krewl is plotting mischief, i fear," said he, "for to-day he sent for old blinkie, the wicked witch, and with my own eyes i saw her come from the castle and hobble away toward her hut. she had been with the king and googly-goo, and i was afraid they were going to work some enchantment on gloria so she would no longer love me. but perhaps the witch was only called to the castle to enchant your friend, cap'n bill." "could she do that?" asked trot, horrified by the suggestion. "i suppose so, for old blinkie can do a lot of wicked magical things." "what sort of an enchantment could she put on cap'n bill?" "i don't know. but he has disappeared, so i'm pretty certain she has done something dreadful to him. but don't worry. if it has happened, it can't be helped, and if it hasn't happened we may be able to find him in the morning." with this pon went to the cupboard and brought food for them. trot was far too worried to eat, but button-bright made a good supper from the simple food and then lay down before the fire and went to sleep. the little girl and the gardener's boy, however, sat for a long time staring into the fire, busy with their thoughts. but at last trot, too, became sleepy and pon gently covered her with the one blanket he possessed. then he threw more wood on the fire and laid himself down before it, next to button-bright. soon all three were fast asleep. they were in a good deal of trouble; but they were young, and sleep was good to them because for a time it made them forget. chapter thirteen glinda the good and the scarecrow of oz that country south of the emerald city, in the land of oz, is known as the quadling country, and in the very southernmost part of it stands a splendid palace in which lives glinda the good. glinda is the royal sorceress of oz. she has wonderful magical powers and uses them only to benefit the subjects of ozma's kingdom. even the famous wizard of oz pays tribute to her, for glinda taught him all the real magic he knows, and she is his superior in all sorts of sorcery everyone loves glinda, from the dainty and exquisite ruler, ozma, down to the humblest inhabitant of oz, for she is always kindly and helpful and willing to listen to their troubles, however busy she may be. no one knows her age, but all can see how beautiful and stately she is. her hair is like red gold and finer than the finest silken strands. her eyes are blue as the sky and always frank and smiling. her cheeks are the envy of peach-blows and her mouth is enticing as a rosebud. glinda is tall and wears splendid gowns that trail behind her as she walks. she wears no jewels, for her beauty would shame them. for attendants glinda has half a hundred of the loveliest girls in oz. they are gathered from all over oz, from among the winkies, the munchkins, the gillikins and the quadlings, as well as from ozma's magnificent emerald city, and it is considered a great favor to be allowed to serve the royal sorceress. among the many wonderful things in glinda's palace is the great book of records. in this book is inscribed everything that takes place in all the world, just the instant it happens; so that by referring to its pages glinda knows what is taking place far and near, in every country that exists. in this way she learns when and where she can help any in distress or danger, and although her duties are confined to assisting those who inhabit the land of oz, she is always interested in what takes place in the unprotected outside world. so it was that on a certain evening glinda sat in her library, surrounded by a bevy of her maids, who were engaged in spinning, weaving and embroidery, when an attendant announced the arrival at the palace of the scarecrow. this personage was one of the most famous and popular in all the land of oz. his body was merely a suit of munchkin clothes stuffed with straw, but his head was a round sack filled with bran, with which the wizard of oz had mixed some magic brains of a very superior sort. the eyes, nose and mouth of the scarecrow were painted upon the front of the sack, as were his ears, and since this quaint being had been endowed with life, the expression of his face was very interesting, if somewhat comical. the scarecrow was good all through, even to his brains, and while he was naturally awkward in his movements and lacked the neat symmetry of other people, his disposition was so kind and considerate and he was so obliging and honest, that all who knew him loved him, and there were few people in oz who had not met our scarecrow and made his acquaintance. he lived part of the time in ozma's palace at the emerald city, part of the time in his own corncob castle in the winkie country, and part of the time he traveled over all oz, visiting with the people and playing with the children, whom he dearly loved. it was on one of his wandering journeys that the scarecrow had arrived at glinda's palace, and the sorceress at once made him welcome. as he sat beside her, talking of his adventures, he asked: "what's new in the way of news?" glinda opened her great book of records and read some of the last pages. "here is an item quite curious and interesting," she announced, an accent of surprise in her voice. "three people from the big outside world have arrived in jinxland." "where is jinxland?" inquired the scarecrow. "very near here, a little to the east of us," she said. "in fact, jinxland is a little slice taken off the quadling country, but separated from it by a range of high mountains, at the foot of which lies a wide, deep gulf that is supposed to be impassable." "then jinxland is really a part of the land of oz," said he. "yes," returned glinda, "but oz people know nothing of it, except what is recorded here in my book." "what does the book say about it?" asked the scarecrow. "it is ruled by a wicked man called king krewl, although he has no right to the title. most of the people are good, but they are very timid and live in constant fear of their fierce ruler. there are also several wicked witches who keep the inhabitants of jinxland in a state of terror." "do those witches have any magical powers?" inquired the scarecrow. "yes, they seem to understand witchcraft in its most evil form, for one of them has just transformed a respectable and honest old sailor--one of the strangers who arrived there--into a grasshopper. this same witch, blinkie by name, is also planning to freeze the heart of a beautiful jinxland girl named princess gloria." "why, that's a dreadful thing to do!" exclaimed the scarecrow. glinda's face was very grave. she read in her book how trot and button-bright were turned out of the king's castle, and how they found refuge in the hut of pon, the gardener's boy. "i'm afraid those helpless earth people will endure much suffering in jinxland, even if the wicked king and the witches permit them to live," said the good sorceress, thoughtfully. "i wish i might help them." "can i do anything?" asked the scarecrow, anxiously. "if so, tell me what to do, and i'll do it." for a few moments glinda did not reply, but sat musing over the records. then she said: "i am going to send you to jinxland, to protect trot and button-bright and cap'n bill." "all right," answered the scarecrow in a cheerful voice. "i know button-bright already, for he has been in the land of oz before. you remember he went away from the land of oz in one of our wizard's big bubbles." "yes," said glinda, "i remember that." then she carefully instructed the scarecrow what to do and gave him certain magical things which he placed in the pockets of his ragged munchkin coat. "as you have no need to sleep," said she, "you may as well start at once." "the night is the same as day to me," he replied, "except that i cannot see my way so well in the dark." "i will furnish a light to guide you," promised the sorceress. so the scarecrow bade her good-bye and at once started on his journey. by morning he had reached the mountains that separated the quadling country from jinxland. the sides of these mountains were too steep to climb, but the scarecrow took a small rope from his pocket and tossed one end upward, into the air. the rope unwound itself for hundreds of feet, until it caught upon a peak of rock at the very top of a mountain, for it was a magic rope furnished him by glinda. the scarecrow climbed the rope and, after pulling it up, let it down on the other side of the mountain range. when he descended the rope on this side he found himself in jinxland, but at his feet yawned the great gulf, which must be crossed before he could proceed any farther. the scarecrow knelt down and examined the ground carefully, and in a moment he discovered a fuzzy brown spider that had rolled itself into a ball. so he took two tiny pills from his pocket and laid them beside the spider, which unrolled itself and quickly ate up the pills. then the scarecrow said in a voice of command: "spin!" and the spider obeyed instantly. in a few moments the little creature had spun two slender but strong strands that reached way across the gulf, one being five or six feet above the other. when these were completed the scarecrow started across the tiny bridge, walking upon one strand as a person walks upon a rope, and holding to the upper strand with his hands to prevent him from losing his balance and toppling over into the gulf. the tiny threads held him safely, thanks to the strength given them by the magic pills. presently he was safe across and standing on the plains of jinxland. far away he could see the towers of the king's castle and toward this he at once began to walk. chapter fourteen the frozen heart in the hut of pon, the gardener's boy, button-bright was the first to waken in the morning. leaving his companions still asleep, he went out into the fresh morning air and saw some blackberries growing on bushes in a field not far away. going to the bushes he found the berries ripe and sweet, so he began eating them. more bushes were scattered over the fields, so the boy wandered on, from bush to bush, without paying any heed to where he was wandering. then a butterfly fluttered by. he gave chase to it and followed it a long way. when finally he paused to look around him, button-bright could see no sign of pon's house, nor had he the slightest idea in which direction it lay. "well, i'm lost again," he remarked to himself. "but never mind; i've been lost lots of times. someone is sure to find me." trot was a little worried about button-bright when she awoke and found him gone. knowing how careless he was, she believed that he had strayed away, but felt that he would come back in time, because he had a habit of not staying lost. pon got the little girl some food for her breakfast and then together they went out of the hut and stood in the sunshine. pon's house was some distance off the road, but they could see it from where they stood and both gave a start of surprise when they discovered two soldiers walking along the roadway and escorting princess gloria between them. the poor girl had her hands bound together, to prevent her from struggling, and the soldiers rudely dragged her forward when her steps seemed to lag. behind this group came king krewl, wearing his jeweled crown and swinging in his hand a slender golden staff with a ball of clustered gems at one end. "where are they going?" asked trot. "to the house of the wicked witch, i fear," pon replied. "come, let us follow them, for i am sure they intend to harm my dear gloria." "won't they see us?" she asked timidly. "we won't let them. i know a short cut through the trees to blinkie's house," said he. so they hurried away through the trees and reached the house of the witch ahead of the king and his soldiers. hiding themselves in the shrubbery, they watched the approach of poor gloria and her escort, all of whom passed so near to them that pon could have put out a hand and touched his sweetheart, had he dared to. blinkie's house had eight sides, with a door and a window in each side. smoke was coming out of the chimney and as the guards brought gloria to one of the doors it was opened by the old witch in person. she chuckled with evil glee and rubbed her skinny hands together to show the delight with which she greeted her victim, for blinkie was pleased to be able to perform her wicked rites on one so fair and sweet as the princess. gloria struggled to resist when they bade her enter the house, so the soldiers forced her through the doorway and even the king gave her a shove as he followed close behind. pon was so incensed at the cruelty shown gloria that he forgot all caution and rushed forward to enter the house also; but one of the soldiers prevented him, pushing the gardener's boy away with violence and slamming the door in his face. "never mind," said trot soothingly, as pon rose from where he had fallen. "you couldn't do much to help the poor princess if you were inside. how unfortunate it is that you are in love with her!" "true," he answered sadly, "it is indeed my misfortune. if i did not love her, it would be none of my business what the king did to his niece gloria; but the unlucky circumstance of my loving her makes it my duty to defend her." "i don't see how you can, duty or no duty," observed trot. "no; i am powerless, for they are stronger than i. but we might peek in through the window and see what they are doing." trot was somewhat curious, too, so they crept up to one of the windows and looked in, and it so happened that those inside the witch's house were so busy they did not notice that pon and trot were watching them. gloria had been tied to a stout post in the center of the room and the king was giving the wicked witch a quantity of money and jewels, which googly-goo had provided in payment. when this had been done the king said to her: "are you perfectly sure you can freeze this maiden's heart, so that she will no longer love that low gardener's boy?" "sure as witchcraft, your majesty," the creature replied. "then get to work," said the king. "there may be some unpleasant features about the ceremony that would annoy me, so i'll bid you good day and leave you to carry out your contract. one word, however: if you fail, i shall burn you at the stake!" then he beckoned to his soldiers to follow him, and throwing wide the door of the house walked out. this action was so sudden that king krewl almost caught trot and pon eavesdropping, but they managed to run around the house before he saw them. away he marched, up the road, followed by his men, heartlessly leaving gloria to the mercies of old blinkie. when they again crept up to the window, trot and pon saw blinkie gloating over her victim. although nearly fainting from fear, the proud princess gazed with haughty defiance into the face of the wicked creature; but she was bound so tightly to the post that she could do no more to express her loathing. pretty soon blinkie went to a kettle that was swinging by a chain over the fire and tossed into it several magical compounds. the kettle gave three flashes, and at every flash another witch appeared in the room. these hags were very ugly but when one-eyed blinkie whispered her orders to them they grinned with joy as they began dancing around gloria. first one and then another cast something into the kettle, when to the astonishment of the watchers at the window all three of the old women were instantly transformed into maidens of exquisite beauty, dressed in the daintiest costumes imaginable. only their eyes could not be disguised, and an evil glare still shone in their depths. but if the eyes were cast down or hidden, one could not help but admire these beautiful creatures, even with the knowledge that they were mere illusions of witchcraft. trot certainly admired them, for she had never seen anything so dainty and bewitching, but her attention was quickly drawn to their deeds instead of their persons, and then horror replaced admiration. into the kettle old blinkie poured another mess from a big brass bottle she took from a chest, and this made the kettle begin to bubble and smoke violently. one by one the beautiful witches approached to stir the contents of the kettle and to mutter a magic charm. their movements were graceful and rhythmic and the wicked witch who had called them to her aid watched them with an evil grin upon her wrinkled face. finally the incantation was complete. the kettle ceased bubbling and together the witches lifted it from the fire. then blinkie brought a wooden ladle and filled it from the contents of the kettle. going with the spoon to princess gloria she cried: "love no more! magic art now will freeze your mortal heart!" with this she dashed the contents of the ladle full upon gloria's breast. trot saw the body of the princess become transparent, so that her beating heart showed plainly. but now the heart turned from a vivid red to gray, and then to white. a layer of frost formed about it and tiny icicles clung to its surface. then slowly the body of the girl became visible again and the heart was hidden from view. gloria seemed to have fainted, but now she recovered and, opening her beautiful eyes, stared coldly and without emotion at the group of witches confronting her. blinkie and the others knew by that one cold look that their charm had been successful. they burst into a chorus of wild laughter and the three beautiful ones began dancing again, while blinkie unbound the princess and set her free. trot rubbed her eyes to prove that she was wide awake and seeing clearly, for her astonishment was great when the three lovely maidens turned into ugly, crooked hags again, leaning on broomsticks and canes. they jeered at gloria, but the princess regarded them with cold disdain. being now free, she walked to a door, opened it and passed out. and the witches let her go. trot and pon had been so intent upon this scene that in their eagerness they had pressed quite hard against the window. just as gloria went out of the house the window-sash broke loose from its fastenings and fell with a crash into the room. the witches uttered a chorus of screams and then, seeing that their magical incantation had been observed, they rushed for the open window with uplifted broomsticks and canes. but pon was off like the wind, and trot followed at his heels. fear lent them strength to run, to leap across ditches, to speed up the hills and to vault the low fences as a deer would. the band of witches had dashed through the window in pursuit; but blinkie was so old, and the others so crooked and awkward, that they soon realized they would be unable to overtake the fugitives. so the three who had been summoned by the wicked witch put their canes or broomsticks between their legs and flew away through the air, quickly disappearing against the blue sky. blinkie, however, was so enraged at pon and trot that she hobbled on in the direction they had taken, fully determined to catch them, in time, and to punish them terribly for spying upon her witchcraft. when pon and trot had run so far that they were confident they had made good their escape, they sat down near the edge of a forest to get their breath again, for both were panting hard from their exertions. trot was the first to recover speech, and she said to her companion: "my! wasn't it terr'ble?" "the most terrible thing i ever saw," pon agreed. "and they froze gloria's heart; so now she can't love you any more." "well, they froze her heart, to be sure," admitted pon, "but i'm in hopes i can melt it with my love." "where do you s'pose gloria is?" asked the girl, after a pause. "she left the witch's house just before we did. perhaps she has gone back to the king's castle," he said. "i'm pretty sure she started off in a diff'rent direction," declared trot. "i looked over my shoulder, as i ran, to see how close the witches were, and i'm sure i saw gloria walking slowly away toward the north." "then let us circle around that way," proposed pon, "and perhaps we shall meet her." trot agreed to this and they left the grove and began to circle around toward the north, thus drawing nearer and nearer to old blinkie's house again. the wicked witch did not suspect this change of direction, so when she came to the grove she passed through it and continued on. pon and trot had reached a place less than half a mile from the witch's house when they saw gloria walking toward them. the princess moved with great dignity and with no show of haste whatever, holding her head high and looking neither to right nor left. pon rushed forward, holding out his arms as if to embrace her and calling her sweet names. but gloria gazed upon him coldly and repelled him with a haughty gesture. at this the poor gardener's boy sank upon his knees and hid his face in his arms, weeping bitter tears; but the princess was not at all moved by his distress. passing him by, she drew her skirts aside, as if unwilling they should touch him, and then she walked up the path a way and hesitated, as if uncertain where to go next. trot was grieved by pon's sobs and indignant because gloria treated him so badly. but she remembered why. "i guess your heart is frozen, all right," she said to the princess. gloria nodded gravely, in reply, and then turned her back upon the little girl. "can't you like even me?" asked trot, half pleadingly. "no," said gloria. "your voice sounds like a refrig'rator," sighed the little girl. "i'm awful sorry for you, 'cause you were sweet an' nice to me before this happened. you can't help it, of course; but it's a dreadful thing, jus' the same." "my heart is frozen to all mortal loves," announced gloria, calmly. "i do not love even myself." "that's too bad," said trot, "for, if you can't love anybody, you can't expect anybody to love you." "i do!" cried pon. "i shall always love her." "well, you're just a gardener's boy," replied trot, "and i didn't think you 'mounted to much, from the first. i can love the old princess gloria, with a warm heart an' nice manners, but this one gives me the shivers." "it's her icy heart, that's all," said pon. "that's enough," insisted trot. "seeing her heart isn't big enough to skate on, i can't see that she's of any use to anyone. for my part, i'm goin' to try to find button-bright an' cap'n bill." "i will go with you," decided pon. "it is evident that gloria no longer loves me and that her heart is frozen too stiff for me to melt it with my own love; therefore i may as well help you to find your friends." as trot started off, pon cast one more imploring look at the princess, who returned it with a chilly stare. so he followed after the little girl. as for the princess, she hesitated a moment and then turned in the same direction the others had taken, but going far more slowly. soon she heard footsteps pattering behind her, and up came googly-goo, a little out of breath with running. "stop, gloria!" he cried. "i have come to take you back to my mansion, where we are to be married." she looked at him wonderingly a moment, then tossed her head disdainfully and walked on. but googly-goo kept beside her. "what does this mean?" he demanded. "haven't you discovered that you no longer love that gardener's boy, who stood in my way?" "yes; i have discovered it," she replied. "my heart is frozen to all mortal loves. i cannot love you, or pon, or the cruel king my uncle, or even myself. go your way, googly-goo, for i will wed no one at all." he stopped in dismay when he heard this, but in another minute he exclaimed angrily: "you must wed me, princess gloria, whether you want to or not! i paid to have your heart frozen; i also paid the king to permit our marriage. if you now refuse me it will mean that i have been robbed--robbed--robbed of my precious money and jewels!" he almost wept with despair, but she laughed a cold, bitter laugh and passed on. googly-goo caught at her arm, as if to restrain her, but she whirled and dealt him a blow that sent him reeling into a ditch beside the path. here he lay for a long time, half covered by muddy water, dazed with surprise. finally the old courtier arose, dripping, and climbed from the ditch. the princess had gone; so, muttering threats of vengeance upon her, upon the king and upon blinkie, old googly-goo hobbled back to his mansion to have the mud removed from his costly velvet clothes. chapter fifteen trot meets the scarecrow trot and pon covered many leagues of ground, searching through forests, in fields and in many of the little villages of jinxland, but could find no trace of either cap'n bill or button-bright. finally they paused beside a cornfield and sat upon a stile to rest. pon took some apples from his pocket and gave one to trot. then he began eating another himself, for this was their time for luncheon. when his apple was finished pon tossed the core into the field. "tchuk-tchuk!" said a strange voice. "what do you mean by hitting me in the eye with an apple-core?" then rose up the form of the scarecrow, who had hidden himself in the cornfield while he examined pon and trot and decided whether they were worthy to be helped. "excuse me," said pon. "i didn't know you were there." "how did you happen to be there, anyhow?" asked trot. the scarecrow came forward with awkward steps and stood beside them. "ah, you are the gardener's boy," he said to pon. then he turned to trot. "and you are the little girl who came to jinxland riding on a big bird, and who has had the misfortune to lose her friend, cap'n bill, and her chum, button-bright." "why, how did you know all that?" she inquired. "i know a lot of things," replied the scarecrow, winking at her comically. "my brains are the carefully-assorted, double-distilled, high-efficiency sort that the wizard of oz makes. he admits, himself, that my brains are the best he ever manufactured." "i think i've heard of you," said trot slowly, as she looked the scarecrow over with much interest; "but you used to live in the land of oz." "oh, i do now," he replied cheerfully. "i've just come over the mountains from the quadling country to see if i can be of any help to you." "who, me?" asked pon. "no, the strangers from the big world. it seems they need looking after." "i'm doing that myself," said pon, a little ungraciously. "if you will pardon me for saying so, i don't see how a scarecrow with painted eyes can look after anyone." "if you don't see that, you are more blind than the scarecrow," asserted trot. "he's a fairy man, pon, and comes from the fairyland of oz, so he can do 'most anything. i hope," she added, turning to the scarecrow, "you can find cap'n bill for me." "i will try, anyhow," he promised. "but who is that old woman who is running toward us and shaking her stick at us?" trot and pon turned around and both uttered an exclamation of fear. the next instant they took to their heels and ran fast up the path. for it was old blinkie, the wicked witch, who had at last traced them to this place. her anger was so great that she was determined not to abandon the chase of pon and trot until she had caught and punished them. the scarecrow understood at once that the old woman meant harm to his new friends, so as she drew near he stepped before her. his appearance was so sudden and unexpected that blinkie ran into him and toppled him over, but she tripped on his straw body and went rolling in the path beside him. the scarecrow sat up and said: "i beg your pardon!" but she whacked him with her stick and knocked him flat again. then, furious with rage, the old witch sprang upon her victim and began pulling the straw out of his body. the poor scarecrow was helpless to resist and in a few moments all that was left of him was an empty suit of clothes and a heap of straw beside it. fortunately, blinkie did not harm his head, for it rolled into a little hollow and escaped her notice. fearing that pon and trot would escape her, she quickly resumed the chase and disappeared over the brow of a hill, following the direction in which she had seen them go. only a short time elapsed before a gray grasshopper with a wooden leg came hopping along and lit directly on the upturned face of the scarecrow's head. "pardon me, but you are resting yourself upon my nose," remarked the scarecrow. "oh! are you alive?" asked the grasshopper. "that is a question i have never been able to decide," said the scarecrow's head. "when my body is properly stuffed i have animation and can move around as well as any live person. the brains in the head you are now occupying as a throne, are of very superior quality and do a lot of very clever thinking. but whether that is being alive, or not, i cannot prove to you; for one who lives is liable to death, while i am only liable to destruction." "seems to me," said the grasshopper, rubbing his nose with his front legs, "that in your case it doesn't matter--unless you're destroyed already." "i am not; all i need is re-stuffing," declared the scarecrow; "and if pon and trot escape the witch, and come back here, i am sure they will do me that favor." "tell me! are trot and pon around here?" inquired the grasshopper, its small voice trembling with excitement. the scarecrow did not answer at once, for both his eyes were staring straight upward at a beautiful face that was slightly bent over his head. it was, indeed, princess gloria, who had wandered to this spot, very much surprised when she heard the scarecrow's head talk and the tiny gray grasshopper answer it. "this," said the scarecrow, still staring at her, "must be the princess who loves pon, the gardener's boy." "oh, indeed!" exclaimed the grasshopper--who of course was cap'n bill--as he examined the young lady curiously. "no," said gloria frigidly, "i do not love pon, or anyone else, for the wicked witch has frozen my heart." "what a shame!" cried the scarecrow. "one so lovely should be able to love. but would you mind, my dear, stuffing that straw into my body again?" the dainty princess glanced at the straw and at the well-worn blue munchkin clothes and shrank back in disdain. but she was spared from refusing the scarecrow's request by the appearance of trot and pon, who had hidden in some bushes just over the brow of the hill and waited until old blinkie had passed them by. their hiding place was on the same side as the witch's blind eye, and she rushed on in the chase of the girl and the youth without being aware that they had tricked her. trot was shocked at the scarecrow's sad condition and at once began putting the straw back into his body. pon, at sight of gloria, again appealed to her to take pity on him, but the frozen-hearted princess turned coldly away and with a sigh the gardener's boy began to assist trot. neither of them at first noticed the small grasshopper, which at their appearance had skipped off the scarecrow's nose and was now clinging to a wisp of grass beside the path, where he was not likely to be stepped upon. not until the scarecrow had been neatly restuffed and set upon his feet again--when he bowed to his restorers and expressed his thanks--did the grasshopper move from his perch. then he leaped lightly into the path and called out: "trot--trot! look at me. i'm cap'n bill! see what the wicked witch has done to me." the voice was small, to be sure, but it reached trot's ears and startled her greatly. she looked intently at the grasshopper, her eyes wide with fear at first; then she knelt down and, noticing the wooden leg, she began to weep sorrowfully. "oh, cap'n bill--dear cap'n bill! what a cruel thing to do!" she sobbed. "don't cry, trot," begged the grasshopper. "it didn't hurt any, and it doesn't hurt now. but it's mighty inconvenient an' humiliatin', to say the least." "i wish," said the girl indignantly, while trying hard to restrain her tears, "that i was big 'nough an' strong 'nough to give that horrid witch a good beating. she ought to be turned into a toad for doing this to you, cap'n bill!" "never mind," urged the scarecrow, in a comforting voice, "such a transformation doesn't last always, and as a general thing there's some way to break the enchantment. i'm sure glinda could do it, in a jiffy." "who is glinda?" inquired cap'n bill. then the scarecrow told them all about glinda, not forgetting to mention her beauty and goodness and her wonderful powers of magic. he also explained how the royal sorceress had sent him to jinxland especially to help the strangers, whom she knew to be in danger because of the wiles of the cruel king and the wicked witch. chapter sixteen pon summons the king to surrender gloria had drawn near to the group to listen to their talk, and it seemed to interest her in spite of her frigid manner. they knew, of course, that the poor princess could not help being cold and reserved, so they tried not to blame her. "i ought to have come here a little sooner," said the scarecrow, regretfully; "but glinda sent me as soon as she discovered you were here and were likely to get into trouble. and now that we are all together--except button-bright, over whom it is useless to worry--i propose we hold a council of war, to decide what is best to be done." that seemed a wise thing to do, so they all sat down upon the grass, including gloria, and the grasshopper perched upon trot's shoulder and allowed her to stroke him gently with her hand. "in the first place," began the scarecrow, "this king krewl is a usurper and has no right to rule this kingdom of jinxland." "that is true," said pon, eagerly. "my father was king before him, and i--" "you are a gardener's boy," interrupted the scarecrow. "your father had no right to rule, either, for the rightful king of this land was the father of princess gloria, and only she is entitled to sit upon the throne of jinxland." "good!" exclaimed trot. "but what'll we do with king krewl? i s'pose he won't give up the throne unless he has to." "no, of course not," said the scarecrow. "therefore it will be our duty to make him give up the throne." "how?" asked trot. "give me time to think," was the reply. "that's what my brains are for. i don't know whether you people ever think, or not, but my brains are the best that the wizard of oz ever turned out, and if i give them plenty of time to work, the result usually surprises me." "take your time, then," suggested trot. "there's no hurry." "thank you," said the straw man, and sat perfectly still for half an hour. during this interval the grasshopper whispered in trot's ear, to which he was very close, and trot whispered back to the grasshopper sitting upon her shoulder. pon cast loving glances at gloria, who paid not the slightest heed to them. finally the scarecrow laughed aloud. "brains working?" inquired trot. "yes. they seem in fine order to-day. we will conquer king krewl and put gloria upon his throne as queen of jinxland." "fine!" cried the little girl, clapping her hands together gleefully. "but how?" "leave the how to me," said the scarecrow proudly. "as a conqueror i'm a wonder. we will, first of all, write a message to send to king krewl, asking him to surrender. if he refuses, then we will make him surrender." "why ask him, when we know he'll refuse?" inquired pon. "why, we must be polite, whatever we do," explained the scarecrow. "it would be very rude to conquer a king without proper notice." they found it difficult to write a message without paper, pen and ink, none of which was at hand; so it was decided to send pon as a messenger, with instructions to ask the king, politely but firmly, to surrender. pon was not anxious to be the messenger. indeed, he hinted that it might prove a dangerous mission. but the scarecrow was now the acknowledged head of the army of conquest, and he would listen to no refusal. so off pon started for the king's castle, and the others accompanied him as far as his hut, where they had decided to await the gardener's boy's return. i think it was because pon had known the scarecrow such a short time that he lacked confidence in the straw man's wisdom. it was easy to say: "we will conquer king krewl," but when pon drew near to the great castle he began to doubt the ability of a straw-stuffed man, a girl, a grasshopper and a frozen-hearted princess to do it. as for himself, he had never thought of defying the king before. that was why the gardener's boy was not very bold when he entered the castle and passed through to the enclosed court where the king was just then seated, with his favorite courtiers around him. none prevented pon's entrance, because he was known to be the gardener's boy, but when the king saw him he began to frown fiercely. he considered pon to be to blame for all his trouble with princess gloria, who since her heart had been frozen had escaped to some unknown place, instead of returning to the castle to wed googly-goo, as she had been expected to do. so the king bared his teeth angrily as he demanded: "what have you done with princess gloria?" "nothing, your majesty! i have done nothing at all," answered pon in a faltering voice. "she does not love me any more and even refuses to speak to me." "then why are you here, you rascal?" roared the king. pon looked first one way and then another, but saw no means of escape; so he plucked up courage. "i am here to summon your majesty to surrender." "what!" shouted the king. "surrender? surrender to whom?" pon's heart sank to his boots. "to the scarecrow," he replied. some of the courtiers began to titter, but king krewl was greatly annoyed. he sprang up and began to beat poor pon with the golden staff he carried. pon howled lustily and would have run away had not two of the soldiers held him until his majesty was exhausted with punishing the boy. then they let him go and he left the castle and returned along the road, sobbing at every step because his body was so sore and aching. "well," said the scarecrow, "did the king surrender?" "no; but he gave me a good drubbing!" sobbed poor pon. trot was very sorry for pon, but gloria did not seem affected in any way by her lover's anguish. the grasshopper leaped to the scarecrow's shoulder and asked him what he was going to do next. "conquer," was the reply. "but i will go alone, this time, for beatings cannot hurt me at all; nor can lance thrusts--or sword cuts--or arrow pricks." "why is that?" inquired trot. "because i have no nerves, such as you meat people possess. even grasshoppers have nerves, but straw doesn't; so whatever they do--except just one thing--they cannot injure me. therefore i expect to conquer king krewl with ease." "what is that one thing you excepted?" asked trot. "they will never think of it, so never mind. and now, if you will kindly excuse me for a time, i'll go over to the castle and do my conquering." "you have no weapons," pon reminded him. "true," said the scarecrow. "but if i carried weapons i might injure someone--perhaps seriously--and that would make me unhappy. i will just borrow that riding-whip, which i see in the corner of your hut, if you don't mind. it isn't exactly proper to walk with a riding-whip, but i trust you will excuse the inconsistency." pon handed him the whip and the scarecrow bowed to all the party and left the hut, proceeding leisurely along the way to the king's castle. chapter seventeen the ork rescues button-bright i must now tell you what had become of button-bright since he wandered away in the morning and got lost. this small boy, as perhaps you have discovered, was almost as destitute of nerves as the scarecrow. nothing ever astonished him much; nothing ever worried him or made him unhappy. good fortune or bad fortune he accepted with a quiet smile, never complaining, whatever happened. this was one reason why button-bright was a favorite with all who knew him--and perhaps it was the reason why he so often got into difficulties, or found himself lost. to-day, as he wandered here and there, over hill and down dale, he missed trot and cap'n bill, of whom he was fond, but nevertheless he was not unhappy. the birds sang merrily and the wildflowers were beautiful and the breeze had a fragrance of new-mown hay. "the only bad thing about this country is its king," he reflected; "but the country isn't to blame for that." a prairie-dog stuck its round head out of a mound of earth and looked at the boy with bright eyes. "walk around my house, please," it said, "and then you won't harm it or disturb the babies." "all right," answered button-bright, and took care not to step on the mound. he went on, whistling merrily, until a petulant voice cried: "oh, stop it! please stop that noise. it gets on my nerves." button-bright saw an old gray owl sitting in the crotch of a tree, and he replied with a laugh: "all right, old fussy," and stopped whistling until he had passed out of the owl's hearing. at noon he came to a farmhouse where an aged couple lived. they gave him a good dinner and treated him kindly, but the man was deaf and the woman was dumb, so they could answer no questions to guide him on the way to pon's house. when he left them he was just as much lost as he had been before. every grove of trees he saw from a distance he visited, for he remembered that the king's castle was near a grove of trees and pon's hut was near the king's castle; but always he met with disappointment. finally, passing through one of these groves, he came out into the open and found himself face to face with the ork. "hello!" said button-bright. "where did you come from?" "from orkland," was the reply. "i've found my own country, at last, and it is not far from here, either. i would have come back to you sooner, to see how you are getting along, had not my family and friends welcomed my return so royally that a great celebration was held in my honor. so i couldn't very well leave orkland again until the excitement was over." "can you find your way back home again?" asked the boy. "yes, easily; for now i know exactly where it is. but where are trot and cap'n bill?" button-bright related to the ork their adventures since it had left them in jinxland, telling of trot's fear that the king had done something wicked to cap'n bill, and of pon's love for gloria, and how trot and button-bright had been turned out of the king's castle. that was all the news that the boy had, but it made the ork anxious for the safety of his friends. "we must go to them at once, for they may need us," he said. "i don't know where to go," confessed button-bright. "i'm lost." "well, i can take you back to the hut of the gardener's boy," promised the ork, "for when i fly high in the air i can look down and easily spy the king's castle. that was how i happened to spy you, just entering the grove; so i flew down and waited until you came out." "how can you carry me?" asked the boy. "you'll have to sit straddle my shoulders and put your arms around my neck. do you think you can keep from falling off?" "i'll try," said button-bright. so the ork squatted down and the boy took his seat and held on tight. then the skinny creature's tail began whirling and up they went, far above all the tree-tops. after the ork had circled around once or twice, its sharp eyes located the towers of the castle and away it flew, straight toward the place. as it hovered in the air, near by the castle, button-bright pointed out pon's hut, so they landed just before it and trot came running out to greet them. gloria was introduced to the ork, who was surprised to find cap'n bill transformed into a grasshopper. "how do you like it?" asked the creature. "why, it worries me good deal," answered cap'n bill, perched upon trot's shoulder. "i'm always afraid o' bein' stepped on, and i don't like the flavor of grass an' can't seem to get used to it. it's my nature to eat grass, you know, but i begin to suspect it's an acquired taste." "can you give molasses?" asked the ork. "i guess i'm not that kind of a grasshopper," replied cap'n bill. "but i can't say what i might do if i was squeezed--which i hope i won't be." "well," said the ork, "it's a great pity, and i'd like to meet that cruel king and his wicked witch and punish them both severely. you're awfully small, cap'n bill, but i think i would recognize you anywhere by your wooden leg." then the ork and button-bright were told all about gloria's frozen heart and how the scarecrow had come from the land of oz to help them. the ork seemed rather disturbed when it learned that the scarecrow had gone alone to conquer king krewl. "i'm afraid he'll make a fizzle of it," said the skinny creature, "and there's no telling what that terrible king might do to the poor scarecrow, who seems like a very interesting person. so i believe i'll take a hand in this conquest myself." "how?" asked trot. "wait and see," was the reply. "but, first of all, i must fly home again--back to my own country--so if you'll forgive my leaving you so soon, i'll be off at once. stand away from my tail, please, so that the wind from it, when it revolves, won't knock you over." they gave the creature plenty of room and away it went like a flash and soon disappeared in the sky. "i wonder," said button-bright, looking solemnly after the ork, "whether he'll ever come back again." "of course he will!" returned trot. "the ork's a pretty good fellow, and we can depend on him. an' mark my words, button-bright, whenever our ork does come back, there's one cruel king in jinxland that'll wish he hadn't." chapter eighteen the scarecrow meets an enemy the scarecrow was not a bit afraid of king krewl. indeed, he rather enjoyed the prospect of conquering the evil king and putting gloria on the throne of jinxland in his place. so he advanced boldly to the royal castle and demanded admittance. seeing that he was a stranger, the soldiers allowed him to enter. he made his way straight to the throne room, where at that time his majesty was settling the disputes among his subjects. "who are you?" demanded the king. "i'm the scarecrow of oz, and i command you to surrender yourself my prisoner." "why should i do that?" inquired the king, much astonished at the straw man's audacity. "because i've decided you are too cruel a king to rule so beautiful a country. you must remember that jinxland is a part of oz, and therefore you owe allegiance to ozma of oz, whose friend and servant i am." now, when he heard this, king krewl was much disturbed in mind, for he knew the scarecrow spoke the truth. but no one had ever before come to jinxland from the land of oz and the king did not intend to be put out of his throne if he could help it. therefore he gave a harsh, wicked laugh of derision and said: "i'm busy, now. stand out of my way, scarecrow, and i'll talk with you by and by." but the scarecrow turned to the assembled courtiers and people and called in a loud voice: "i hereby declare, in the name of ozma of oz, that this man is no longer ruler of jinxland. from this moment princess gloria is your rightful queen, and i ask all of you to be loyal to her and to obey her commands." the people looked fearfully at the king, whom they all hated in their hearts, but likewise feared. krewl was now in a terrible rage and he raised his golden sceptre and struck the scarecrow so heavy a blow that he fell to the floor. but he was up again, in an instant, and with pon's riding-whip he switched the king so hard that the wicked monarch roared with pain as much as with rage, calling on his soldiers to capture the scarecrow. they tried to do that, and thrust their lances and swords into the straw body, but without doing any damage except to make holes in the scarecrow's clothes. however, they were many against one and finally old googly-goo brought a rope which he wound around the scarecrow, binding his legs together and his arms to his sides, and after that the fight was over. the king stormed and danced around in a dreadful fury, for he had never been so switched since he was a boy--and perhaps not then. he ordered the scarecrow thrust into the castle prison, which was no task at all because one man could carry him easily, bound as he was. even after the prisoner was removed the king could not control his anger. he tried to figure out some way to be revenged upon the straw man, but could think of nothing that could hurt him. at last, when the terrified people and the frightened courtiers had all slunk away, old googly-goo approached the king with a malicious grin upon his face. "i'll tell you what to do," said he. "build a big bonfire and burn the scarecrow up, and that will be the end of him." the king was so delighted with this suggestion that he hugged old googly-goo in his joy. "of course!" he cried. "the very thing. why did i not think of it myself?" so he summoned his soldiers and retainers and bade them prepare a great bonfire in an open space in the castle park. also he sent word to all his people to assemble and witness the destruction of the scarecrow who had dared to defy his power. before long a vast throng gathered in the park and the servants had heaped up enough fuel to make a fire that might be seen for miles away--even in the daytime. when all was prepared, the king had his throne brought out for him to sit upon and enjoy the spectacle, and then he sent his soldiers to fetch the scarecrow. now the one thing in all the world that the straw man really feared was fire. he knew he would burn very easily and that his ashes wouldn't amount to much afterward. it wouldn't hurt him to be destroyed in such a manner, but he realized that many people in the land of oz, and especially dorothy and the royal ozma, would feel sad if they learned that their old friend the scarecrow was no longer in existence. in spite of this, the straw man was brave and faced his fiery fate like a hero. when they marched him out before the concourse of people he turned to the king with great calmness and said: "this wicked deed will cost you your throne, as well as much suffering, for my friends will avenge my destruction." "your friends are not here, nor will they know what i have done to you, when you are gone and can-not tell them," answered the king in a scornful voice. then he ordered the scarecrow bound to a stout stake that he had had driven into the ground, and the materials for the fire were heaped all around him. when this had been done, the king's brass band struck up a lively tune and old googly-goo came forward with a lighted match and set fire to the pile. at once the flames shot up and crept closer and closer toward the scarecrow. the king and all his people were so intent upon this terrible spectacle that none of them noticed how the sky grew suddenly dark. perhaps they thought that the loud buzzing sound--like the noise of a dozen moving railway trains--came from the blazing fagots; that the rush of wind was merely a breeze. but suddenly down swept a flock of orks, half a hundred of them at the least, and the powerful currents of air caused by their revolving tails sent the bonfire scattering in every direction, so that not one burning brand ever touched the scarecrow. but that was not the only effect of this sudden tornado. king krewl was blown out of his throne and went tumbling heels over head until he landed with a bump against the stone wall of his own castle, and before he could rise a big ork sat upon him and held him pressed flat to the ground. old googly-goo shot up into the air like a rocket and landed on a tree, where he hung by the middle on a high limb, kicking the air with his feet and clawing the air with his hands, and howling for mercy like the coward he was. the people pressed back until they were jammed close together, while all the soldiers were knocked over and sent sprawling to the earth. the excitement was great for a few minutes, and every frightened inhabitant of jinxland looked with awe and amazement at the great orks whose descent had served to rescue the scarecrow and conquer king krewl at one and the same time. the ork, who was the leader of the band, soon had the scarecrow free of his bonds. then he said: "well, we were just in time to save you, which is better than being a minute too late. you are now the master here, and we are determined to see your orders obeyed." with this the ork picked up krewl's golden crown, which had fallen off his head, and placed it upon the head of the scarecrow, who in his awkward way then shuffled over to the throne and sat down in it. seeing this, a rousing cheer broke from the crowd of people, who tossed their hats and waved their handkerchiefs and hailed the scarecrow as their king. the soldiers joined the people in the cheering, for now they fully realized that their hated master was conquered and it would be wise to show their good will to the conqueror. some of them bound krewl with ropes and dragged him forward, dumping his body on the ground before the scarecrow's throne. googly-goo struggled until he finally slid off the limb of the tree and came tumbling to the ground. he then tried to sneak away and escape, but the soldiers seized and bound him beside krewl. "the tables are turned," said the scarecrow, swelling out his chest until the straw within it crackled pleasantly, for he was highly pleased; "but it was you and your people who did it, friend ork, and from this time you may count me your humble servant." chapter nineteen the conquest of the witch now as soon as the conquest of king krewl had taken place, one of the orks had been dispatched to pon's house with the joyful news. at once gloria and pon and trot and button-bright hastened toward the castle. they were somewhat surprised by the sight that met their eyes, for there was the scarecrow, crowned king, and all the people kneeling humbly before him. so they likewise bowed low to the new ruler and then stood beside the throne. cap'n bill, as the gray grasshopper, was still perched upon trot's shoulder, but now he hopped to the shoulder of the scarecrow and whispered into the painted ear: "i thought gloria was to be queen of jinxland." the scarecrow shook his head. "not yet," he answered. "no queen with a frozen heart is fit to rule any country." then he turned to his new friend, the ork, who was strutting about, very proud of what he had done, and said: "do you suppose you, or your followers, could find old blinkie the witch?" "where is she?" asked the ork. "somewhere in jinxland, i'm sure." "then," said the ork, "we shall certainly be able to find her." "it will give me great pleasure," declared the scarecrow. "when you have found her, bring her here to me, and i will then decide what to do with her." the ork called his followers together and spoke a few words to them in a low tone. a moment after they rose into the air--so suddenly that the scarecrow, who was very light in weight, was blown quite out of his throne and into the arms of pon, who replaced him carefully upon his seat. there was an eddy of dust and ashes, too, and the grasshopper only saved himself from being whirled into the crowd of people by jumping into a tree, from where a series of hops soon brought him back to trot's shoulder again. the orks were quite out of sight by this time, so the scarecrow made a speech to the people and presented gloria to them, whom they knew well already and were fond of. but not all of them knew of her frozen heart, and when the scarecrow related the story of the wicked witch's misdeeds, which had been encouraged and paid for by krewl and googly-goo, the people were very indignant. meantime the fifty orks had scattered all over jinx land, which is not a very big country, and their sharp eyes were peering into every valley and grove and gully. finally one of them spied a pair of heels sticking out from underneath some bushes, and with a shrill whistle to warn his comrades that the witch was found the ork flew down and dragged old blinkie from her hiding-place. then two or three of the orks seized the clothing of the wicked woman in their strong claws and, lifting her high in the air, where she struggled and screamed to no avail, they flew with her straight to the royal castle and set her down before the throne of the scarecrow. "good!" exclaimed the straw man, nodding his stuffed head with satisfaction. "now we can proceed to business. mistress witch, i am obliged to request, gently but firmly, that you undo all the wrongs you have done by means of your witchcraft." "pah!" cried old blinkie in a scornful voice. "i defy you all! by my magic powers i can turn you all into pigs, rooting in the mud, and i'll do it if you are not careful." "i think you are mistaken about that," said the scarecrow, and rising from his throne he walked with wobbling steps to the side of the wicked witch. "before i left the land of oz, glinda the royal sorceress gave me a box, which i was not to open except in an emergency. but i feel pretty sure that this occasion is an emergency; don't you, trot?" he asked, turning toward the little girl. "why, we've got to do something," replied trot seriously. "things seem in an awful muddle here, jus' now, and they'll be worse if we don't stop this witch from doing more harm to people." "that is my idea, exactly," said the scarecrow, and taking a small box from his pocket he opened the cover and tossed the contents toward blinkie. the old woman shrank back, pale and trembling, as a fine white dust settled all about her. under its influence she seemed to the eyes of all observers to shrivel and grow smaller. "oh, dear--oh, dear!" she wailed, wringing her hands in fear. "haven't you the antidote, scarecrow? didn't the great sorceress give you another box?" "she did," answered the scarecrow. "then give it me--quick!" pleaded the witch. "give it me--and i'll do anything you ask me to!" "you will do what i ask first," declared the scarecrow, firmly. the witch was shriveling and growing smaller every moment. "be quick, then!" she cried. "tell me what i must do and let me do it, or it will be too late." "you made trot's friend, cap'n bill, a grasshopper. i command you to give him back his proper form again," said the scarecrow. "where is he? where's the grasshopper? quick--quick!" she screamed. cap'n bill, who had been deeply interested in this conversation, gave a great leap from trot's shoulder and landed on that of the scarecrow. blinkie saw him alight and at once began to make magic passes and to mumble magic incantations. she was in a desperate hurry, knowing that she had no time to waste, and the grasshopper was so suddenly transformed into the old sailor-man, cap'n bill, that he had no opportunity to jump off the scarecrow's shoulder; so his great weight bore the stuffed scarecrow to the ground. no harm was done, however, and the straw man got up and brushed the dust from his clothes while trot delightedly embraced cap'n bill. "the other box! quick! give me the other box," begged blinkie, who had now shrunk to half her former size. "not yet," said the scarecrow. "you must first melt princess gloria's frozen heart." "i can't; it's an awful job to do that! i can't," asserted the witch, in an agony of fear--for still she was growing smaller. "you must!" declared the scarecrow, firmly. the witch cast a shrewd look at him and saw that he meant it; so she began dancing around gloria in a frantic manner. the princess looked coldly on, as if not at all interested in the proceedings, while blinkie tore a handful of hair from her own head and ripped a strip of cloth from the bottom of her gown. then the witch sank upon her knees, took a purple powder from her black bag and sprinkled it over the hair and cloth. "i hate to do it--i hate to do it!" she wailed, "for there is no more of this magic compound in all the world. but i must sacrifice it to save my own life. a match! give me a match, quick!" and panting from lack of breath she gazed imploringly from one to another. cap'n bill was the only one who had a match, but he lost no time in handing it to blinkie, who quickly set fire to the hair and the cloth and the purple powder. at once a purple cloud enveloped gloria, and this gradually turned to a rosy pink color--brilliant and quite transparent. through the rosy cloud they could all see the beautiful princess, standing proud and erect. then her heart became visible, at first frosted with ice but slowly growing brighter and warmer until all the frost had disappeared and it was beating as softly and regularly as any other heart. and now the cloud dispersed and disclosed gloria, her face suffused with joy, smiling tenderly upon the friends who were grouped about her. poor pon stepped forward--timidly, fearing a repulse, but with pleading eyes and arms fondly outstretched toward his former sweetheart--and the princess saw him and her sweet face lighted with a radiant smile. without an instant's hesitation she threw herself into pon's arms and this reunion of two loving hearts was so affecting that the people turned away and lowered their eyes so as not to mar the sacred joy of the faithful lovers. but blinkie's small voice was shouting to the scarecrow for help. "the antidote!" she screamed. "give me the other box--quick!" the scarecrow looked at the witch with his quaint, painted eyes and saw that she was now no taller than his knee. so he took from his pocket the second box and scattered its contents on blinkie. she ceased to grow any smaller, but she could never regain her former size, and this the wicked old woman well knew. she did not know, however, that the second powder had destroyed all her power to work magic, and seeking to be revenged upon the scarecrow and his friends she at once began to mumble a charm so terrible in its effect that it would have destroyed half the population of jinxland--had it worked. but it did not work at all, to the amazement of old blinkie. and by this time the scarecrow noticed what the little witch was trying to do, and said to her: "go home, blinkie, and behave yourself. you are no longer a witch, but an ordinary old woman, and since you are powerless to do more evil i advise you to try to do some good in the world. believe me, it is more fun to accomplish a good act than an evil one, as you will discover when once you have tried it." but blinkie was at that moment filled with grief and chagrin at losing her magic powers. she started away toward her home, sobbing and bewailing her fate, and not one who saw her go was at all sorry for her. chapter twenty queen gloria next morning the scarecrow called upon all the courtiers and the people to assemble in the throne room of the castle, where there was room enough for all that were able to attend. they found the straw man seated upon the velvet cushions of the throne, with the king's glittering crown still upon his stuffed head. on one side of the throne, in a lower chair, sat gloria, looking radiantly beautiful and fresh as a new-blown rose. on the other side sat pon, the gardener's boy, still dressed in his old smock frock and looking sad and solemn; for pon could not make himself believe that so splendid a princess would condescend to love him when she had come to her own and was seated upon a throne. trot and cap'n bill sat at the feet of the scarecrow and were much interested in the proceedings. button-bright had lost himself before breakfast, but came into the throne room before the ceremonies were over. back of the throne stood a row of the great orks, with their leader in the center, and the entrance to the palace was guarded by more orks, who were regarded with wonder and awe. when all were assembled, the scarecrow stood up and made a speech. he told how gloria's father, the good king kynd, who had once ruled them and been loved by everyone, had been destroyed by king phearce, the father of pon, and how king phearce had been destroyed by king krewl. this last king had been a bad ruler, as they knew very well, and the scarecrow declared that the only one in all jinxland who had the right to sit upon the throne was princess gloria, the daughter of king kynd. "but," he added, "it is not for me, a stranger, to say who shall rule you. you must decide for yourselves, or you will not be content. so choose now who shall be your future ruler." and they all shouted: "the scarecrow! the scarecrow shall rule us!" which proved that the stuffed man had made himself very popular by his conquest of king krewl, and the people thought they would like him for their king. but the scarecrow shook his head so vigorously that it became loose, and trot had to pin it firmly to his body again. "no," said he, "i belong in the land of oz, where i am the humble servant of the lovely girl who rules us all--the royal ozma. you must choose one of your own inhabitants to rule over jinxland. who shall it be?" they hesitated for a moment, and some few cried: "pon!" but many more shouted: "gloria!" so the scarecrow took gloria's hand and led her to the throne, where he first seated her and then took the glittering crown off his own head and placed it upon that of the young lady, where it nestled prettily amongst her soft curls. the people cheered and shouted then, kneeling before their new queen; but gloria leaned down and took pon's hand in both her own and raised him to the seat beside her. "you shall have both a king and a queen to care for you and to protect you, my dear subjects," she said in a sweet voice, while her face glowed with happiness; "for pon was a king's son before he became a gardener's boy, and because i love him he is to be my royal consort." that pleased them all, especially pon, who realized that this was the most important moment of his life. trot and button-bright and cap'n will all congratulated him on winning the beautiful gloria; but the ork sneezed twice and said that in his opinion the young lady might have done better. then the scarecrow ordered the guards to bring in the wicked krewl, king no longer, and when he appeared, loaded with chains and dressed in fustian, the people hissed him and drew back as he passed so their garments would not touch him. krewl was not haughty or overbearing any more; on the contrary he seemed very meek and in great fear of the fate his conquerors had in store for him. but gloria and pon were too happy to be revengeful and so they offered to appoint krewl to the position of gardener's boy at the castle, pon having resigned to become king. but they said he must promise to reform his wicked ways and to do his duty faithfully, and he must change his name from krewl to grewl. all this the man eagerly promised to do, and so when pon retired to a room in the castle to put on princely raiment, the old brown smock he had formerly worn was given to grewl, who then went out into the garden to water the roses. the remainder of that famous day, which was long remembered in jinxland, was given over to feasting and merrymaking. in the evening there was a grand dance in the courtyard, where the brass band played a new piece of music called the "ork trot" which was dedicated to "our glorious gloria, the queen." while the queen and pon were leading this dance, and all the jinxland people were having a good time, the strangers were gathered in a group in the park outside the castle. cap'n bill, trot, button-bright and the scarecrow were there, and so was their old friend the ork; but of all the great flock of orks which had assisted in the conquest but three remained in jinxland, besides their leader, the others having returned to their own country as soon as gloria was crowned queen. to the young ork who had accompanied them in their adventures cap'n bill said: "you've surely been a friend in need, and we're mighty grateful to you for helping us. i might have been a grasshopper yet if it hadn't been for you, an' i might remark that bein' a grasshopper isn't much fun." "if it hadn't been for you, friend ork," said the scarecrow, "i fear i could not have conquered king krewl." "no," agreed trot, "you'd have been just a heap of ashes by this time." "and i might have been lost yet," added button-bright. "much obliged, mr. ork." "oh, that's all right," replied the ork. "friends must stand together, you know, or they wouldn't be friends. but now i must leave you and be off to my own country, where there's going to be a surprise party on my uncle, and i've promised to attend it." "dear me," said the scarecrow, regretfully. "that is very unfortunate." "why so?" asked the ork. "i hoped you would consent to carry us over those mountains, into the land of oz. my mission here is now finished and i want to get back to the emerald city." "how did you cross the mountains before?" inquired the ork. "i scaled the cliffs by means of a rope, and crossed the great gulf on a strand of spider web. of course i can return in the same manner, but it would be a hard journey--and perhaps an impossible one--for trot and button-bright and cap'n bill. so i thought that if you had the time you and your people would carry us over the mountains and land us all safely on the other side, in the land of oz." the ork thoughtfully considered the matter for a while. then he said: "i mustn't break my promise to be present at the surprise party; but, tell me, could you go to oz to-night?" "what, now?" exclaimed trot. "it is a fine moonlight night," said the ork, "and i've found in my experience that there's no time so good as right away. the fact is," he explained, "it's a long journey to orkland and i and my cousins here are all rather tired by our day's work. but if you will start now, and be content to allow us to carry you over the mountains and dump you on the other side, just say the word and--off we go!" cap'n bill and trot looked at one another questioningly. the little girl was eager to visit the famous fairyland of oz and the old sailor had endured such hardships in jinxland that he would be glad to be out of it. "it's rather impolite of us not to say good-bye to the new king and queen," remarked the scarecrow, "but i'm sure they're too happy to miss us, and i assure you it will be much easier to fly on the backs of the orks over those steep mountains than to climb them as i did." "all right; let's go!" trot decided. "but where's button-bright?" just at this important moment button-bright was lost again, and they all scattered in search of him. he had been standing beside them just a few minutes before, but his friends had an exciting hunt for him before they finally discovered the boy seated among the members of the band, beating the end of the bass drum with the bone of a turkey-leg that he had taken from the table in the banquet room. "hello, trot," he said, looking up at the little girl when she found him. "this is the first chance i ever had to pound a drum with a reg'lar drum stick. and i ate all the meat off the bone myself." "come quick. we're going to the land of oz." "oh, what's the hurry?" said button-bright; but she seized his arm and dragged him away to the park, where the others were waiting. trot climbed upon the back of her old friend, the ork leader, and the others took their seats on the backs of his three cousins. as soon as all were placed and clinging to the skinny necks of the creatures, the revolving tails began to whirl and up rose the four monster orks and sailed away toward the mountains. they were so high in the air that when they passed the crest of the highest peak it seemed far below them. no sooner were they well across the barrier than the orks swooped downward and landed their passengers upon the ground. "here we are, safe in the land of oz!" cried the scarecrow joyfully. "oh, are we?" asked trot, looking around her curiously. she could see the shadows of stately trees and the outlines of rolling hills; beneath her feet was soft turf, but otherwise the subdued light of the moon disclosed nothing clearly. "seems jus' like any other country," was cap'n bill's comment. "but it isn't," the scarecrow assured him. "you are now within the borders of the most glorious fairyland in all the world. this part of it is just a corner of the quadling country, and the least interesting portion of it. it's not very thickly settled, around here, i'll admit, but--" he was interrupted by a sudden whir and a rush of air as the four orks mounted into the sky. "good night!" called the shrill voices of the strange creatures, and although trot shouted "good night!" as loudly as she could, the little girl was almost ready to cry because the orks had not waited to be properly thanked for all their kindness to her and to cap'n bill. but the orks were gone, and thanks for good deeds do not amount to much except to prove one's politeness. "well, friends," said the scarecrow, "we mustn't stay here in the meadows all night, so let us find a pleasant place to sleep. not that it matters to me, in the least, for i never sleep; but i know that meat people like to shut their eyes and lie still during the dark hours." "i'm pretty tired," admitted trot, yawning as she followed the straw man along a tiny path, "so, if you don't find a house handy, cap'n bill and i will sleep under the trees, or even on this soft grass." but a house was not very far off, although when the scarecrow stumbled upon it there was no light in it whatever. cap'n bill knocked on the door several times, and there being no response the scarecrow boldly lifted the latch and walked in, followed by the others. and no sooner had they entered than a soft light filled the room. trot couldn't tell where it came from, for no lamp of any sort was visible, but she did not waste much time on this problem, because directly in the center of the room stood a table set for three, with lots of good food on it and several of the dishes smoking hot. the little girl and button-bright both uttered exclamations of pleasure, but they looked in vain for any cook stove or fireplace, or for any person who might have prepared for them this delicious feast. "it's fairyland," muttered the boy, tossing his cap in a corner and seating himself at the table. "this supper smells 'most as good as that turkey-leg i had in jinxland. please pass the muffins, cap'n bill." trot thought it was strange that no people but themselves were in the house, but on the wall opposite the door was a gold frame bearing in big letters the word: "welcome." so she had no further hesitation in eating of the food so mysteriously prepared for them. "but there are only places for three!" she exclaimed. "three are quite enough," said the scarecrow. "i never eat, because i am stuffed full already, and i like my nice clean straw better than i do food." trot and the sailor-man were hungry and made a hearty meal, for not since they had left home had they tasted such good food. it was surprising that button-bright could eat so soon after his feast in jinxland, but the boy always ate whenever there was an opportunity. "if i don't eat now," he said, "the next time i'm hungry i'll wish i had." "really, cap'n," remarked trot, when she found a dish of ice-cream appear beside her plate, "i b'lieve this is fairyland, sure enough." "there's no doubt of it, trot," he answered gravely "i've been here before," said button-bright, "so i know." after supper they discovered three tiny bedrooms adjoining the big living room of the house, and in each room was a comfortable white bed with downy pillows. you may be sure that the tired mortals were not long in bidding the scarecrow good night and creeping into their beds, where they slept soundly until morning. for the first time since they set eyes on the terrible whirlpool, trot and cap'n bill were free from anxiety and care. button-bright never worried about anything. the scarecrow, not being able to sleep, looked out of the window and tried to count the stars. chapter twenty-one dorothy, betsy and ozma i suppose many of my readers have read descriptions of the beautiful and magnificent emerald city of oz, so i need not describe it here, except to state that never has any city in any fairyland ever equalled this one in stately splendor. it lies almost exactly in the center of the land of oz, and in the center of the emerald city rises the wall of glistening emeralds that surrounds the palace of ozma. the palace is almost a city in itself and is inhabited by many of the ruler's especial friends and those who have won her confidence and favor. as for ozma herself, there are no words in any dictionary i can find that are fitted to describe this young girl's beauty of mind and person. merely to see her is to love her for her charming face and manners; to know her is to love her for her tender sympathy, her generous nature, her truth and honor. born of a long line of fairy queens, ozma is as nearly perfect as any fairy may be, and she is noted for her wisdom as well as for her other qualities. her happy subjects adore their girl ruler and each one considers her a comrade and protector. at the time of which i write, ozma's best friend and most constant companion was a little kansas girl named dorothy, a mortal who had come to the land of oz in a very curious manner and had been offered a home in ozma's palace. furthermore, dorothy had been made a princess of oz, and was as much at home in the royal palace as was the gentle ruler. she knew almost every part of the great country and almost all of its numerous inhabitants. next to ozma she was loved better than anyone in all oz, for dorothy was simple and sweet, seldom became angry and had such a friendly, chummy way that she made friends where-ever she wandered. it was she who first brought the scarecrow and the tin woodman and the cowardly lion to the emerald city. dorothy had also introduced to ozma the shaggy man and the hungry tiger, as well as billina the yellow hen, eureka the pink kitten, and many other delightful characters and creatures. coming as she did from our world, dorothy was much like many other girls we know; so there were times when she was not so wise as she might have been, and other times when she was obstinate and got herself into trouble. but life in a fairy-land had taught the little girl to accept all sorts of surprising things as matters-of-course, for while dorothy was no fairy--but just as mortal as we are--she had seen more wonders than most mortals ever do. another little girl from our outside world also lived in ozma's palace. this was betsy bobbin, whose strange adventures had brought her to the emerald city, where ozma had cordially welcomed her. betsy was a shy little thing and could never get used to the marvels that surrounded her, but she and dorothy were firm friends and thought themselves very fortunate in being together in this delightful country. one day dorothy and betsy were visiting ozma in the girl ruler's private apartment, and among the things that especially interested them was ozma's magic picture, set in a handsome frame and hung upon the wall of the room. this picture was a magic one because it constantly changed its scenes and showed events and adventures happening in all parts of the world. thus it was really a "moving picture" of life, and if the one who stood before it wished to know what any absent person was doing, the picture instantly showed that person, with his or her surroundings. the two girls were not wishing to see anyone in particular, on this occasion, but merely enjoyed watching the shifting scenes, some of which were exceedingly curious and remarkable. suddenly dorothy exclaimed: "why, there's button-bright!" and this drew ozma also to look at the picture, for she and dorothy knew the boy well. "who is button-bright?" asked betsy, who had never met him. "why, he's the little boy who is just getting off the back of that strange flying creature," exclaimed dorothy. then she turned to ozma and asked: "what is that thing, ozma? a bird? i've never seen anything like it before." "it is an ork," answered ozma, for they were watching the scene where the ork and the three big birds were first landing their passengers in jinxland after the long flight across the desert. "i wonder," added the girl ruler, musingly, "why those strangers dare venture into that unfortunate country, which is ruled by a wicked king." "that girl, and the one-legged man, seem to be mortals from the outside world," said dorothy. "the man isn't one-legged," corrected betsy; "he has one wooden leg." "it's almost as bad," declared dorothy, watching cap'n bill stump around. "they are three mortal adventurers," said ozma, "and they seem worthy and honest. but i fear they will be treated badly in jinxland, and if they meet with any misfortune there it will reflect upon me, for jinxland is a part of my dominions." "can't we help them in any way?" inquired dorothy. "that seems like a nice little girl. i'd be sorry if anything happened to her." "let us watch the picture for awhile," suggested ozma, and so they all drew chairs before the magic picture and followed the adventures of trot and cap'n bill and button-bright. presently the scene shifted and showed their friend the scarecrow crossing the mountains into jinxland, and that somewhat relieved ozma's anxiety, for she knew at once that glinda the good had sent the scarecrow to protect the strangers. the adventures in jinxland proved very interesting to the three girls in ozma's palace, who during the succeeding days spent much of their time in watching the picture. it was like a story to them. "that girl's a reg'lar trump!" exclaimed dorothy, referring to trot, and ozma answered: "she's a dear little thing, and i'm sure nothing very bad will happen to her. the old sailor is a fine character, too, for he has never once grumbled over being a grasshopper, as so many would have done." when the scarecrow was so nearly burned up the girls all shivered a little, and they clapped their hands in joy when the flock of orks came and saved him. so it was that when all the exciting adventures in jinxland were over and the four orks had begun their flight across the mountains to carry the mortals into the land of oz, ozma called the wizard to her and asked him to prepare a place for the strangers to sleep. the famous wizard of oz was a quaint little man who inhabited the royal palace and attended to all the magical things that ozma wanted done. he was not as powerful as glinda, to be sure, but he could do a great many wonderful things. he proved this by placing a house in the uninhabited part of the quadling country where the orks landed cap'n bill and trot and button-bright, and fitting it with all the comforts i have described in the last chapter. next morning dorothy said to ozma: "oughtn't we to go meet the strangers, so we can show them the way to the emerald city? i'm sure that little girl will feel shy in this beautiful land, and i know if 'twas me i'd like somebody to give me a welcome." ozma smiled at her little friend and answered: "you and betsy may go to meet them, if you wish, but i can not leave my palace just now, as i am to have a conference with jack pumpkinhead and professor wogglebug on important matters. you may take the sawhorse and the red wagon, and if you start soon you will be able to meet the scarecrow and the strangers at glinda's palace." "oh, thank you!" cried dorothy, and went away to tell betsy and to make preparations for the journey. chapter twenty-two the waterfall glinda's castle was a long way from the mountains, but the scarecrow began the journey cheerfully, since time was of no great importance in the land of oz and he had recently made the trip and knew the way. it never mattered much to button-bright where he was or what he was doing; the boy was content in being alive and having good companions to share his wanderings. as for trot and cap'n bill, they now found themselves so comfortable and free from danger, in this fine fairyland, and they were so awed and amazed by the adventures they were encountering, that the journey to glinda's castle was more like a pleasure trip than a hardship, so many wonderful things were there to see. button-bright had been in oz before, but never in this part of it, so the scarecrow was the only one who knew the paths and could lead them. they had eaten a hearty breakfast, which they found already prepared for them and awaiting them on the table when they arose from their refreshing sleep, so they left the magic house in a contented mood and with hearts lighter and more happy than they had known for many a day. as they marched along through the fields, the sun shone brightly and the breeze was laden with delicious fragrance, for it carried with it the breath of millions of wildflowers. at noon, when they stopped to rest by the bank of a pretty river, trot said with a long-drawn breath that was much like a sigh: "i wish we'd brought with us some of the food that was left from our breakfast, for i'm getting hungry again." scarcely had she spoken when a table rose up before them, as if from the ground itself, and it was loaded with fruits and nuts and cakes and many other good things to eat. the little girl's eyes opened wide at this display of magic, and cap'n bill was not sure that the things were actually there and fit to eat until he had taken them in his hand and tasted them. but the scarecrow said with a laugh: "someone is looking after your welfare, that is certain, and from the looks of this table i suspect my friend the wizard has taken us in his charge. i've known him to do things like this before, and if we are in the wizard's care you need not worry about your future." "who's worrying?" inquired button-bright, already at the table and busily eating. the scarecrow looked around the place while the others were feasting, and finding many things unfamiliar to him he shook his head and remarked: "i must have taken the wrong path, back in that last valley, for on my way to jinxland i remember that i passed around the foot of this river, where there was a great waterfall." "did the river make a bend, after the waterfall?" asked cap'n bill. "no, the river disappeared. only a pool of whirling water showed what had become of the river; but i suppose it is under ground, somewhere, and will come to the surface again in another part of the country." "well," suggested trot, as she finished her luncheon, "as there is no way to cross this river, i s'pose we'll have to find that waterfall, and go around it." "exactly," replied the scarecrow; so they soon renewed their journey, following the river for a long time until the roar of the waterfall sounded in their ears. by and by they came to the waterfall itself, a sheet of silver dropping far, far down into a tiny lake which seemed to have no outlet. from the top of the fall, where they stood, the banks gradually sloped away, so that the descent by land was quite easy, while the river could do nothing but glide over an edge of rock and tumble straight down to the depths below. "you see," said the scarecrow, leaning over the brink, "this is called by our oz people the great waterfall, because it is certainly the highest one in all the land; but i think--help!" he had lost his balance and pitched headforemost into the river. they saw a flash of straw and blue clothes, and the painted face looking upward in surprise. the next moment the scarecrow was swept over the waterfall and plunged into the basin below. the accident had happened so suddenly that for a moment they were all too horrified to speak or move. "quick! we must go to help him or he will be drowned," trot exclaimed. even while speaking she began to descend the bank to the pool below, and cap'n bill followed as swiftly as his wooden leg would let him. button-bright came more slowly, calling to the girl: "he can't drown, trot; he's a scarecrow." but she wasn't sure a scarecrow couldn't drown and never relaxed her speed until she stood on the edge of the pool, with the spray dashing in her face. cap'n bill, puffing and panting, had just voice enough to ask, as he reached her side: "see him, trot?" "not a speck of him. oh, cap'n, what do you s'pose has become of him?" "i s'pose," replied the sailor, "that he's in that water, more or less far down, and i'm 'fraid it'll make his straw pretty soggy. but as fer his bein' drowned, i agree with button-bright that it can't be done." there was small comfort in this assurance and trot stood for some time searching with her eyes the bubbling water, in the hope that the scarecrow would finally come to the surface. presently she heard button-bright calling: "come here, trot!" and looking around she saw that the boy had crept over the wet rocks to the edge of the waterfall and seemed to be peering behind it. making her way toward him, she asked: "what do you see?" "a cave," he answered. "let's go in. p'r'aps we'll find the scarecrow there." she was a little doubtful of that, but the cave interested her, and so did it cap'n bill. there was just space enough at the edge of the sheet of water for them to crowd in behind it, but after that dangerous entrance they found room enough to walk upright and after a time they came to an opening in the wall of rock. approaching this opening, they gazed within it and found a series of steps, cut so that they might easily descend into the cavern. trot turned to look inquiringly at her companions. the falling water made such din and roaring that her voice could not be heard. cap'n bill nodded his head, but before he could enter the cave, button-bright was before him, clambering down the steps without a particle of fear. so the others followed the boy. the first steps were wet with spray, and slippery, but the remainder were quite dry. a rosy light seemed to come from the interior of the cave, and this lighted their way. after the steps there was a short tunnel, high enough for them to walk erect in, and then they reached the cave itself and paused in wonder and admiration. they stood on the edge of a vast cavern, the walls and domed roof of which were lined with countless rubies, exquisitely cut and flashing sparkling rays from one to another. this caused a radiant light that permitted the entire cavern to be distinctly seen, and the effect was so marvelous that trot drew in her breath with a sort of a gasp, and stood quite still in wonder. but the walls and roof of the cavern were merely a setting for a more wonderful scene. in the center was a bubbling caldron of water, for here the river rose again, splashing and dashing till its spray rose high in the air, where it took the ruby color of the jewels and seemed like a seething mass of flame. and while they gazed into the tumbling, tossing water, the body of the scarecrow suddenly rose in the center, struggling and kicking, and the next instant wholly disappeared from view. "my, but he's wet!" exclaimed button-bright; but none of the others heard him. trot and cap'n bill discovered that a broad ledge--covered, like the walls, with glittering rubies--ran all around the cavern; so they followed this gorgeous path to the rear and found where the water made its final dive underground, before it disappeared entirely. where it plunged into this dim abyss the river was black and dreary looking, and they stood gazing in awe until just beside them the body of the scarecrow again popped up from the water. chapter twenty three the land of oz the straw man's appearance on the water was so sudden that it startled trot, but cap'n bill had the presence of mind to stick his wooden leg out over the water and the scarecrow made a desperate clutch and grabbed the leg with both hands. he managed to hold on until trot and button-bright knelt down and seized his clothing, but the children would have been powerless to drag the soaked scarecrow ashore had not cap'n bill now assisted them. when they laid him on the ledge of rubies he was the most useless looking scarecrow you can imagine--his straw sodden and dripping with water, his clothing wet and crumpled, while even the sack upon which his face was painted had become so wrinkled that the old jolly expression of their stuffed friend's features was entirely gone. but he could still speak, and when trot bent down her ear she heard him say: "get me out of here as soon as you can." that seemed a wise thing to do, so cap'n bill lifted his head and shoulders, and trot and button-bright each took a leg; among them they partly carried and partly dragged the damp scarecrow out of the ruby cavern, along the tunnel, and up the flight of rock steps. it was somewhat difficult to get him past the edge of the waterfall, but they succeeded, after much effort, and a few minutes later laid their poor comrade on a grassy bank where the sun shone upon him freely and he was beyond the reach of the spray. cap'n bill now knelt down and examined the straw that the scarecrow was stuffed with. "i don't believe it'll be of much use to him, any more," said he, "for it's full of polliwogs an' fish eggs, an' the water has took all the crinkle out o' the straw an ruined it. i guess, trot, that the best thing for us to do is to empty out all his body an' carry his head an' clothes along the road till we come to a field or a house where we can get some fresh straw." "yes, cap'n," she agreed, "there's nothing else to be done. but how shall we ever find the road to glinda's palace, without the scarecrow to guide us?" "that's easy," said the scarecrow, speaking in a rather feeble but distinct voice. "if cap'n bill will carry my head on his shoulders, eyes front, i can tell him which way to go." so they followed that plan and emptied all the old, wet straw out of the scarecrow's body. then the sailor-man wrung out the clothes and laid them in the sun till they were quite dry. trot took charge of the head and pressed the wrinkles out of the face as it dried, so that after a while the scarecrow's expression became natural again, and as jolly as before. this work consumed some time, but when it was completed they again started upon their journey, button-bright carrying the boots and hat, trot the bundle of clothes, and cap'n bill the head. the scarecrow, having regained his composure and being now in a good humor, despite his recent mishaps, beguiled their way with stories of the land of oz. it was not until the next morning, however, that they found straw with which to restuff the scarecrow. that evening they came to the same little house they had slept in before, only now it was magically transferred to a new place. the same bountiful supper as before was found smoking hot upon the table and the same cosy beds were ready for them to sleep in. they rose early and after breakfast went out of doors, and there, lying just beside the house, was a heap of clean, crisp straw. ozma had noticed the scarecrow's accident in her magic picture and had notified the wizard to provide the straw, for she knew the adventurers were not likely to find straw in the country through which they were now traveling. they lost no time in stuffing the scarecrow anew, and he was greatly delighted at being able to walk around again and to assume the leadership of the little party. "really," said trot, "i think you're better than you were before, for you are fresh and sweet all through and rustle beautifully when you move." "thank you, my dear," he replied gratefully. "i always feel like a new man when i'm freshly stuffed. no one likes to get musty, you know, and even good straw may be spoiled by age." "it was water that spoiled you, the last time," remarked button-bright, "which proves that too much bathing is as bad as too little. but, after all, scarecrow, water is not as dangerous for you as fire." "all things are good in moderation," declared the scarecrow. "but now, let us hurry on, or we shall not reach glinda's palace by nightfall." chapter twenty-four the royal reception at about four o'clock of that same day the red wagon drew up at the entrance to glinda's palace and dorothy and betsy jumped out. ozma's red wagon was almost a chariot, being inlaid with rubies and pearls, and it was drawn by ozma's favorite steed, the wooden sawhorse. "shall i unharness you," asked dorothy, "so you can come in and visit?" "no," replied the sawhorse. "i'll just stand here and think. take your time. thinking doesn't seem to bore me at all." "what will you think of?" inquired betsy. "of the acorn that grew the tree from which i was made." so they left the wooden animal and went in to see glinda, who welcomed the little girls in her most cordial manner. "i knew you were on your way," said the good sorceress when they were seated in her library, "for i learned from my record book that you intended to meet trot and button-bright on their arrival here." "is the strange little girl named trot?" asked dorothy. "yes; and her companion, the old sailor, is named cap'n bill. i think we shall like them very much, for they are just the kind of people to enjoy and appreciate our fairyland and i do not see any way, at present, for them to return again to the outside world." "well, there's room enough here for them, i'm sure," said dorothy. "betsy and i are already eager to welcome trot. it will keep us busy for a year, at least, showing her all the wonderful things in oz." glinda smiled. "i have lived here many years," said she, "and i have not seen all the wonders of oz yet." meantime the travelers were drawing near to the palace, and when they first caught sight of its towers trot realized that it was far more grand and imposing than was the king's castle in jinxland. the nearer they came, the more beautiful the palace appeared, and when finally the scarecrow led them up the great marble steps, even button-bright was filled with awe. "i don't see any soldiers to guard the place," said the little girl. "there is no need to guard glinda's palace," replied the scarecrow. "we have no wicked people in oz, that we know of, and even if there were any, glinda's magic would be powerful enough to protect her." button-bright was now standing on the top steps of the entrance, and he suddenly exclaimed: "why, there's the sawhorse and the red wagon! hip, hooray!" and next moment he was rushing down to throw his arms around the neck of the wooden horse, which good-naturedly permitted this familiarity when it recognized in the boy an old friend. button-bright's shout had been heard inside the palace, so now dorothy and betsy came running out to embrace their beloved friend, the scarecrow, and to welcome trot and cap'n bill to the land of oz. "we've been watching you for a long time, in ozma's magic picture," said dorothy, "and ozma has sent us to invite you to her own palace in the em'rald city. i don't know if you realize how lucky you are to get that invitation, but you'll understand it better after you've seen the royal palace and the em'rald city." glinda now appeared in person to lead all the party into her azure reception room. trot was a little afraid of the stately sorceress, but gained courage by holding fast to the hands of betsy and dorothy. cap'n bill had no one to help him feel at ease, so the old sailor sat stiffly on the edge of his chair and said: "yes, ma'am," or "no, ma'am," when he was spoken to, and was greatly embarrassed by so much splendor. the scarecrow had lived so much in palaces that he felt quite at home, and he chatted to glinda and the oz girls in a merry, light-hearted way. he told all about his adventures in jinxland, and at the great waterfall, and on the journey hither--most of which his hearers knew already--and then he asked dorothy and betsy what had happened in the emerald city since he had left there. they all passed the evening and the night at glinda's palace, and the sorceress was so gracious to cap'n bill that the old man by degrees regained his self-possession and began to enjoy himself. trot had already come to the conclusion that in dorothy and betsy she had found two delightful comrades, and button-bright was just as much at home here as he had been in the fields of jinxland or when he was buried in the popcorn snow of the land of mo. the next morning they arose bright and early and after breakfast bade good-bye to the kind sorceress, whom trot and cap'n bill thanked earnestly for sending the scarecrow to jinxland to rescue them. then they all climbed into the red wagon. there was room for all on the broad seats, and when all had taken their places--dorothy, trot and betsy on the rear seat and cap'n bill, button-bright and the scarecrow in front--they called "gid-dap!" to the sawhorse and the wooden steed moved briskly away, pulling the red wagon with ease. it was now that the strangers began to perceive the real beauties of the land of oz, for they were passing through a more thickly settled part of the country and the population grew more dense as they drew nearer to the emerald city. everyone they met had a cheery word or a smile for the scarecrow, dorothy and betsy bobbin, and some of them remembered button-bright and welcomed him back to their country. it was a happy party, indeed, that journeyed in the red wagon to the emerald city, and trot already began to hope that ozma would permit her and cap'n bill to live always in the land of oz. when they reached the great city they were more amazed than ever, both by the concourse of people in their quaint and picturesque costumes, and by the splendor of the city itself. but the magnificence of the royal palace quite took their breath away, until ozma received them in her own pretty apartment and by her charming manners and assuring smiles made them feel they were no longer strangers. trot was given a lovely little room next to that of dorothy, while cap'n bill had the cosiest sort of a room next to trot's and overlooking the gardens. and that evening ozma gave a grand banquet and reception in honor of the new arrivals. while trot had read of many of the people she then met, cap'n bill was less familiar with them and many of the unusual characters introduced to him that evening caused the old sailor to open his eyes wide in astonishment. he had thought the live scarecrow about as curious as anyone could be, but now he met the tin woodman, who was all made of tin, even to his heart, and carried a gleaming axe over his shoulder wherever he went. then there was jack pumpkinhead, whose head was a real pumpkin with the face carved upon it; and professor wogglebug, who had the shape of an enormous bug but was dressed in neat fitting garments. the professor was an interesting talker and had very polite manners, but his face was so comical that it made cap'n bill smile to look at it. a great friend of dorothy and ozma seemed to be a machine man called tik-tok, who ran down several times during the evening and had to be wound up again by someone before he could move or speak. at the reception appeared the shaggy man and his brother, both very popular in oz, as well as dorothy's uncle henry and aunt em, two happy old people who lived in a pretty cottage near the palace. but what perhaps seemed most surprising to both trot and cap'n bill was the number of peculiar animals admitted into ozma's parlors, where they not only conducted themselves quite properly but were able to talk as well as anyone. there was the cowardly lion, an immense beast with a beautiful mane; and the hungry tiger, who smiled continually; and eureka the pink kitten, who lay curled upon a cushion and had rather supercilious manners; and the wooden sawhorse; and nine tiny piglets that belonged to the wizard; and a mule named hank, who belonged to betsy bobbin. a fuzzy little terrier dog, named toto, lay at dorothy's feet but seldom took part in the conversation, although he listened to every word that was said. but the most wonderful of all to trot was a square beast with a winning smile, that squatted in a corner of the room and wagged his square head at everyone in quite a jolly way. betsy told trot that this unique beast was called the woozy, and there was no other like him in all the world. cap'n bill and trot had both looked around expectantly for the wizard of oz, but the evening was far advanced before the famous little man entered the room. but he went up to the strangers at once and said: "i know you, but you don't know me; so let's get acquainted." and they did get acquainted, in a very short time, and before the evening was over trot felt that she knew every person and animal present at the reception, and that they were all her good friends. suddenly they looked around for button-bright, but he was nowhere to be found. "dear me!" cried trot. "he's lost again." "never mind, my dear," said ozma, with her charming smile, "no one can go far astray in the land of oz, and if button-bright isn't lost occasionally, he isn't happy." the wonderful oz books by l. frank baum the wizard of oz the land of oz ozma of oz dorothy and the wizard in oz the road to oz the emerald city of oz the patchwork girl of oz tik-tok of oz the scarecrow of oz rinkitink in oz the lost princess of oz the tin woodman of oz the magic of oz glinda of oz the outdoor girls on pine island or a cave and what it contained by laura lee hope author of "the outdoor girls of deepdale," "the moving picture girls," "the bobbsey twins," "bunny brown and his sister sue," etc. _illustrated_ new york grosset & dunlap publishers books for girls by laura lee hope * * * * * mo. cloth. illustrated. price per volume, cents, postpaid. =the outdoor girls series= the outdoor girls of deepdale the outdoor girls at rainbow lake the outdoor girls in a motor car the outdoor girls in a winter camp the outdoor girls in florida the outdoor girls at ocean view the outdoor girls on pine island =the moving picture girls series= the moving picture girls at oak farm the moving picture girls snowbound the moving picture girls under the palms the moving picture girls at rocky ranch the moving picture girls at sea =the bobbsey twins series= for little men and women the bobbsey twins the bobbsey twins in the country the bobbsey twins at the seashore the bobbsey twins at school the bobbsey twins at snow lodge the bobbsey twins on a houseboat the bobbsey twins at meadowbrook the bobbsey twins at home grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york copyright, , by grosset & dunlap * * * * * the outdoor girls on pine island [illustration: their clothes were picturesque and each one carried a huge bundle. _the outdoor girls on pine island._ _frontispiece_ (_page _)] contents chapter page i the runaway car ii a lucky escape iii fortunes iv the gypsy encampment v thieves in deepdale vi a wonderful outing vii closed for repairs viii the jet necklace reappears ix pine island at last x bright and early xi a jolly trip xii "where there is smoke----" xiii the gathering of the clans xiv a victory for betty xv a splendid catch xvi not a moment too soon xvii beneath the moon xviii water sprites xix a marvelous discovery xx dangerous visitors xxi the lost trail xxii mollie wins xxiii hidden treasure xxiv lying in wait xxv glorious news the outdoor girls on pine island chapter i the runaway car "the boys will be here in five minutes!" cried mollie billette, bursting in upon her friend, dark hair flying and eyes alight. "you'd better get on your hat." "what boys and why the hat?" returned grace ford who, pretty and graceful, as always, was provokingly calm. "i'll answer any and everything if you will only get ready. oh, have you got to go upstairs? hurry then," and mollie swung her feet impatiently as grace detached herself from the great chair slowly and gracefully and started out into the hall. "if you will come upstairs with me, mollie," grace suggested, "perhaps you will deign to tell me why you rush in here like a whirlwind and insist on my putting on my hat to go goodness knows where." "oh, all right, if you will only hurry," cried mollie in desperation, and jumping from her chair she propelled her friend in most undignified haste up the broad stairway--grace protesting at every step. "here's your coat. now don't talk--act!" mollie was commanding when grace took her firmly by her two shoulders and backed her up against the wall. "now listen here, young lady," she said, looking sternly down into her friend's laughing eyes. "it's my turn to talk. i refuse to budge another step until you have explained, to my perfect satisfaction, the cause of all this rush." "well, since you feel that way about it," laughed mollie, "suppose you let me--sit down." "will you tell me about it if i let you go? promise!" "uh-huh," said mollie, and so she was released. "there isn't much to tell anyway," she went on. "betty and i met frank haley and will a few minutes ago and frank happened to remark that it was a splendid day for an auto ride. we agreed with him--that's all." "fine--but where's betty?" and grace adjusted her tiny toque with care before the huge mirror. "oh, she's coming, just as soon as she lets her mother know where she's off to. we wanted amy to go along too--stopped in there on the way down--but mrs. stonington isn't feeling well and amy thought she ought to stay with her." "i'm sorry for that. but would there have been room for all of us in frank's car, anyway?" "oh, yes, it's a big seven-passenger affair. mr. nelson says it is a wonder. just think! i can only squeeze five into mine," and mollie drew a long sigh at fate. "how ungrateful, mollie--most girls would be glad of the chance to ride around in a neat little machine like yours. why, i'd even be thankful for a tiny runabout." "there it is now," mollie said as a motor horn tooted insistently on the drive below. "don't let's keep them waiting." "hello, girls, we'd have been here sooner if betty hadn't delayed us." it was frank haley who spoke, a handsome young fellow, whose merry grey eyes showed that he deserved his name--the first part of it, at least. "come, 'fess up, betty," he added, turning to the bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked girl beside him. "i'm afraid i did keep them waiting, girls--about two minutes," betty nelson admitted, then added in defense: "but i couldn't go looking the way i was, you know." "i don't see why not. i didn't see anything wrong." "that doesn't prove a single thing, frank," grace retorted as he opened the door for the girls. "boys never do." "don't they though?" frank objected. "do you mean to say i don't know that that little whatever-you-may-call-it in your hat is quite considerable----" "class?" finished will, who had been busy tucking in the robe about mollie's feet. "personally i think we're a pretty fine crowd, take us all together." "well, did you ever hear such--frank, don't you think we'd better get started before he says anything worse?" and betty turned appealingly to frank. "just as you say," he answered obligingly, and at his words the great car glided noiselessly down the drive and out into the street. "where to?" called will from the tonneau. "how about a little spin in the country, frank?" "ask the girls," was the reply. "what they say goes." "oh, yes, let's," said mollie eagerly. "it is just getting so green and beautiful now. summer is the only time in the year anyway." "the winter didn't seem to bother you girls much last year," frank broke in. "if i could go to florida every winter, the cold and wintry blasts would have no more terrors for me." "oh, well, it was wonderful--in more ways than one," this last so low that only will heard it, as grace squeezed his hand under cover of the robe. you see, will was her brother, and they were very fond of each other, as well they might be. "whom did you wave to then, betty?" mollie asked, as the car swung off into the country road. "i didn't see them till we were almost past." "alice jallow and her friend, kitty rossmore. they're always together," betty answered, then added: "by the way, mollie, it seems to me you were just saying you had something good to tell." "my aunt has a bungalow out on pine island. it's a lovely place, the bungalow, i mean, not the island, although if all they say is true, i shouldn't wonder if that's all right too." "but, mollie, what has that to do with us?" grace interrupted. "is she going to ask you to make her a visit?" "no. it's lots better than that. you see uncle james wants to take her to europe this summer and so----" "oh, mollie!" betty interrupted, her eyes sparkling. "you don't mean----" "yes i do--exactly," and mollie settled back with a contented sigh. "i'm afraid i am very stupid to-day," grace remarked. "more than usual?" asked will, the irrepressible, with a twinkle in his eye. "why don't you see, grace?" betty's face was radiant. "can't you see mollie means that we are to occupy that vacated bungalow this summer?" "but please, girls, don't get your minds made up to it yet, for nothing is really settled, you know. perhaps i should have waited till i was sure before i spoke of it." mollie seemed to be doubtful. "oh, it's certain to turn out all right," said betty, with conviction. "everything has that we have ever planned before, and there is no reason why this should be an exception." "and even if it doesn't, just think what fun we will have thinking about it," added grace, philosophically, at which they all laughed. "anyway you are a dear, mollie, for having such lovely relatives," cried betty gaily. "if i could only climb over this seat, i'd give you two great big hugs, one for each of them." "nobody calls me a dear and offers to hug me, and i've got the loveliest relatives in the world--you can ask them if you don't believe me," and frank managed to look very pathetic and forlorn. all this time they had been getting farther and farther out into the country and now frank put on extra speed to ascend the rather steep incline directly in front of them. "your car runs like a dream, frank," betty was saying as they reached the top. "look at that great big haystack down there--it must have taken some time to gather it in. why don't you slow down a little? don't you think--oh, what is it, frank?" for she had noticed the set lines of his mouth and the look of terror that had flashed into his eyes. "oh, frank!" she cried again. "sit tight," he muttered through clenched teeth. "the brake won't work!" on, on dashed the great machine, swaying from side to side and gaining velocity with each second, while the girls, with terror tugging at their hearts, sat still--and waited. chapter ii a lucky escape to those who are already acquainted with the outdoor girls, no explanations are necessary, but for the benefit of my new readers i will take advantage of this moment to make them better acquainted with the characters and setting of the story. in the first book of this series, called "the outdoor girls of deepdale," the girls, betty nelson, sometimes called the little captain, because of her fearless leadership, mollie billette, grace ford and amy blackford, had gone on their famous walking tour, and during their wanderings had solved the mystery of a five-hundred-dollar bill. the second volume, "the outdoor girls at rainbow lake," tells of a summer full of interest and adventure during which the horse grace was riding ran away with her. this misfortune led to the loss of some very valuable papers, with a subsequent strange happening on an island, about which, and the recovery of the papers, you may read, dear reader, if you will. "the outdoor girls in a motor car" is the third book of the series. yes, there really was a house where all sorts of weird sights and sounds might be seen and heard at night if one had the courage to stay around. and you may imagine the consternation of the outdoor girls when mollie was captured by the "ghost." at the end of a delightful summer, spent in touring the country in mollie's car, the girls had a wonderful chance to spend the winter in the woods. needless to say, they took advantage of the opportunity. the fourth book, "the outdoor girls in a winter camp," describes the settlement of a certain property dispute, involving mr. ford. the happy result was made possible by the good fortune that favors our girls. this volume tells also how amy was claimed by a brother, of whose existence she was unaware. then followed their adventures in florida during which the girls had succeeded in finding will ford, grace's brother, who had been virtually kidnapped by a villainous labor contractor and had been set to work in a turpentine camp. the fifth volume, entitled "the outdoor girls in florida; or, wintering in the sunny south," tells of many other adventures the girls had during their winter among the "orange blossoms," but now it was over, and deepdale, which they had left covered deep with snow, had begun once more to stir with life beneath the gentle touch of spring. in the sixth book, "the outdoor girls at ocean view," the girls have many good times and stirring adventures. the discovery of a box, containing veritable riches in diamonds, led to the kidnapping of betty and amy and their subsequent rescue. and now that spring had dipped into summer, and they were again in deepdale, was this ride of theirs, begun so joyously, about to end in tragedy? "frank, frank!" screamed grace, "if you don't stop, i'll jump, i will--i will!" "no, you won't! sit where you are!" her brother will commanded sternly. "sit still, i tell you!" on, on, they went with ever-increasing speed, while frank tried desperately to jam the useless brake--but to no effect! the car was like a horse with the bit between its teeth, plunging madly to destruction. "oh, oh, _oh_!" screamed grace, pressing her hands tightly before her eyes. "we're going to be killed, i know it!" there was a shock, a sound like tearing cloth, the big machine plowed half its length through the big haystack and--stopped! "frank, i'm getting smothered; won't you dig me out?" it was betty's voice, plaintive and half hysterical. will and frank shook the hay from their own eyes and then went to the rescue of the girls. then they stared at each other. gradually the look of utter bewilderment faded from their faces and a smile flashed from one to the other like a ray of sunshine. then suddenly mollie laughed. "oh, you look so funny!" she gasped. "just when i thought we were all going to be killed----" "you get disappointed," frank finished with a rueful smile. "just the same, it's lucky for us that big haystack was just exactly where it is," he added. "when i hit the rock i sure thought we were all goners." "oh, don't," begged grace, then added, with a shame-faced little smile, "i'm sorry i made such a fuss--i always am ashamed of myself when the danger is over." "you needn't apologize, grace," said betty, quickly. "if there's one time you ought to be excused for making a fuss it's when you think it's going to be your last chance." that was betty all over--bright, generous, fun-loving, the acknowledged leader of the girls. grace was tall, graceful, slender, with a pretty face framed in a wealth of bright hair. she was accustomed to take life more easily than betty and, although not a coward in the true sense of the word, she was always willing to have the other girls go first. then there was mollie, dark eyed and quick tempered, with more than a touch of the french in her, but betty's equal in bravery. the last of the little quartette was amy blackford (formerly called amy stonington), who has not yet appeared in this book. up to a year before she had been surrounded by a mystery which would have held great interest for the girls even had they not loved and admired her for her own good qualities. such were the girls who, with betty's help, were fast recovering their good spirits. "if we can back the machine out of this haystack," frank was saying, "i guess we had better start for home." "but don't you think we had better walk," grace suggested nervously. "i'm afraid to trust myself to the old thing again." "oh, there won't be any danger now," will assured her. "we can go back by a roundabout route where there aren't any hills to speed us into haystacks. how about it, frank?" "you're right! we are not going to take any more chances, i can tell you that." then, turning to the girl beside him, he added, "how are you feeling, betty? awfully shaken up?" "not a bit," she assured him, gaily. "why, after the first shock i really enjoyed it." "that's the way to talk and i'm mighty glad no one's hurt. now for home." after a great number of half starts and sudden stops they succeeded finally in backing the great machine away from the haystack and out on the road again. "now remember your promise," cried grace as they started off. "no more speeding, frank, and no more hills." "right," he sang back, cheerily. "we have had excitement enough for one day. just watch me." and, true to his word, after an hour's roundabout trip, they swung quietly into deepdale, without having encountered further mishap on the way. chapter iii fortunes early the next morning mollie hailed betty as the little captain went up the street. "where to, so early?" she called. "why didn't you stop for me?" "oh, i was going to amy's first, to find out how mrs. stonington is," said betty as she turned back. "then i was going to stop in to see if you would go with me to call on grace. i promised her last night i would come over this morning." "but isn't it early?" said mollie, doubtfully. "probably grace won't even be up yet." the little captain seated herself comfortably on the board step of the veranda. "yes she will," she said decidedly. "i told her yesterday that if i came over this morning and found her in bed eating candy before breakfast instead of enjoying the wonderful morning air, i'd never come over again. she knows that i mean it, too." "well, in that case, she may be up," laughed mollie. "if you will wait a minute i'll go with you to amy's," she added and ran lightly into the house. the girls found mrs. stonington very much improved and amy only too glad to get out into the glorious sunshine of the summer morning. as the three chums, clad daintily in white, with a background of velvety green lawn to set them off, approached the fords' beautiful home, they were surprised beyond measure to see grace swinging leisurely back and forth in the big hammock under the trees. they stopped short and gazed upon this spectacle. "and she's not eating chocolates either," remarked amy in an awe-struck voice. "what can have happened?" "i wish you would stop gazing at me like that," said grace, raising her head and looking at the three girls who were still regarding her fixedly. "is it my hair, or is my nose red, or is it my skirt that's too tight? please tell me and get it over with. i can stand anything but this suspense." "a miracle has taken place--the impossible has happened!" cried betty, striking a theatrical pose. "never again will i doubt the wisdom of those so learned----" "what is she raving about, girls, do you know?" asked grace plaintively. "she never used to be like this." "it's the shock, that's all," interpreted mollie. "never mind, betty," she added soothingly. "you will get used to it in time." "amy, you're the only sane one in that crowd," cried grace in desperation. "will you kindly explain what those two lunatics are talking about--if they know themselves!" this last was uttered so vindictively that the girls came down from rhetorical heights with a bounce. "oh," laughed betty, running up to grace and giving her a hug. "you must really forgive us, grace dear, we just couldn't help it--you reformed so suddenly, you know." "reformed?" said grace, still mystified, while she made room for the other girls in the hammock. "what do you mean--'reformed'? i didn't know i needed to." "listen to the child," mocked mollie. "why, don't you know, grace, that there isn't one of us that doesn't need a lot of reforming?" "speak for yourself, mollie billette," remarked grace, a trifle shortly, for her natural good temper was becoming ruffled under the continued teasing. "now, please, girls," said betty, fearing a storm, "don't let's quarrel, whatever we do. we were only surprised to see you up so early, grace, that's all. but now i'm mighty glad you are, because we'll have a chance for a nice long talk. what time do you suppose it is now?" "it was nearly ten when i came out of the house," grace replied, placated by the little captain's tactful changing of the subject. "can't you all stay to lunch? then we can make a good long day of it." the girls took a walk about town before lunch, just to "be sure of an appetite," as amy said. during the tramp they met roy anderson, an old boy friend. "are you doing anything particular this afternoon?" he wanted to know, and upon the girls replying in the negative, asked if he might bring some of the other boys around. "we have made a discovery!" he shouted after them. "we'll tell you about it when we see you." and so, the noon meal over, the girls strolled out on the lawn again and waited eagerly for what the boys might have to tell them. they had not long to wait--in fact they had barely had time to settle themselves in the comfortable chairs, when along the road came--not the boys, but a ragged, bent, old woman, leaning heavily on a twisted stick for support. instead of going straight on, as the girls had expected she would do, the old woman turned in at the drive and made straight for them. "what shall we do? shall we go in the house?" whispered grace to betty. "i don't like her looks very much, do you?" "she isn't particularly beautiful," betty telegraphed back. "but she can't possibly do us any harm. let's wait and see what she has to say." as the old hag drew nearer, the girls instinctively shrank back in their chairs. and, indeed, she was not a prepossessing figure. her head was bound about with an old red handkerchief, tied under the wrinkled chin and framing a face seamed and crisscrossed with a million wrinkles. an old, tattered shawl covered her bent shoulders, and the hand that grasped the knotted stick was claw-like and emaciated. her eyes were the only part of her that seemed to retain some semblance of youth. they were little and beady and exceedingly keen, so that when she raised them to betty's young face, that staunch little captain felt that she would almost rather be anywhere else than there beneath the trees with the searching eyes of the old crone fixed upon her. "what do you want?" betty gasped, trying to make her voice calm and steady, but with little success. "i won't hurt you, pretty ladies," said the old woman, divining their repugnance and half-fear and desiring to placate them. "won't you have your fortunes told? only twenty-five cents, and i can tell you of your past and as much as you will of your future. only a quarter, pretty ladies." betty glanced inquiringly at the other girls, but they shook their heads decidedly--the mumbling old crone was getting on their nerves. "not to-day," said betty, as kindly as she could. "we are expecting company and we haven't time. some other time perhaps." "some other day may be too late," said the old crone, leeringly. "oh, yes, you will have all the time there is to be miserable in. and you will be! you will be! the curse be on you for refusing an old woman like me the price of her bread!" and she hobbled down the long drive muttering to herself and stopping once to shake her fist at the startled girls. "oh, did you ever!" mollie exclaimed. just then there was a sound of jolly, masculine laughter and around a corner of the house came the boys. "oh, i've never been so glad to see anybody in all my life!" said grace with a little shiver, as the boys paused to gaze after the retreating form of the old hag. "it is such a relief to have some boys around!" "i say! who's your venerable friend, grace?" roy inquired as he and his friends joined the girls. "yes, what did you do to her, betty?" it was allen washburn who asked the question. he was a young lawyer, liked and admired by every one in deepdale, and let it be said here that betty was no exception to the general rule. and as for young allen washburn himself, he never sought to conceal his genuine admiration for the little captain. "the last i saw of her, she was shaking her fist at the house. she didn't seem to be in any too sweet a temper, either." "it was just because we wouldn't let her read our fortunes," betty explained. "oh, i wouldn't let that old thing touch me!" "i could tell your fortune for you, if you'd only let me," whispered allen, so softly that only betty heard. but that was as it should be, since it was intended for her ear alone. "she looked just like a--oh, what do you call them?--the people that wander around all the time and never have any homes--oh, i know, gypsies," said amy eagerly. "wasn't she a gypsy, will?" "oh, now she's gone and spilled the beans!" said frank, so ruefully that they all laughed. "here we come, all primed to give you a surprise, and we find you prepared beforehand." "but what surprise?" asked mollie. "she didn't tell us anything--we wouldn't let her." "yes, she did. she told you everything, only you don't know it," was will's enigmatic comment. "you see," he went on, "there's a gypsy encampment near by and we thought you girls might like to visit it. the caravans they use and the strange costumes are all mighty interesting." "oh, won't that be fine!" said grace eagerly. "i've always wanted to see one of those things near by. when can we go?" "i thought you didn't like gypsies, grace," betty broke in. "well, i wouldn't if they were all like this," answered grace. "but they're not, are they, roy? there are lots and lots of really romantic-looking ones if all the books i've read know anything about it." "of course there are. you don't suppose we'd take you to see a lot of old crones like this peppery woman, do you?" roy answered. "why, i've heard there are some mighty good-looking girls in this crowd." "now i see why they're so anxious to go," laughed betty. "i don't think we'd better chance it, girls. they might become so charmed with the fair gypsy maids that they'd forget our existence." "i don't think you need worry too much about that," said allen, answering the challenge in betty's eyes. "the only question is whether we will have eyes to see the charms of the gypsy maids." "here! here!" shouted will. "you're coming on, allen, you're coming on. i wish i could reel them off like that. well, ladies, what day shall we set for the adventure?" "to-night," said betty promptly. "good," frank responded. "betty has the right idea, all right. to-night it is!" so it was settled, and when they parted eyes were bright with the excitement of the coming adventure. chapter iv the gypsy encampment betty was ready before any one arrived that night. the boys and girls were to meet at her house and from there go on to the gypsy encampment. she sat on the porch with a light wrap thrown over one arm and waited impatiently. "oh, why don't they come?" she thought. "the girls said they would be early, and the boys are always away ahead of time. oh, here come grace and will, now if the others will only hurry." "hello, betty! been waiting long?" it was will's cheery greeting. "oh, for hours and hours," said the little captain with a sigh. "i'd begun to think everybody had forgotten all about it. i'm so glad you're here. you can keep me company anyway." "oh, are we the first?" grace was surprised. "i hurried will till he nearly had a fit. said we would be ahead of everybody else, but i didn't believe him." "some day," said will in a prophetic voice, "some day, young lady, you will learn that i _do_ know something." "oh, do you really think so?" said grace, hopefully. "if that day ever comes, will, dear, i will be the very first to congratulate you." "here come some of the others," betty cried out. "i can't quite make them out, but it looks like roy and amy and--yes--there's allen, too. but who is the other girl? it certainly isn't mollie. i know her walk too well." "no, it isn't mollie," said grace, slowly. "do you know whom it looks like, betty?" "no," said that young person, straining her eyes in the direction of the newcomers. "who is it?" "i'm not sure but it looks like----" grace paused a moment, then said with conviction, "i'm right! it's alice jallow, and i don't like her very much. what is she doing in our crowd anyway?" "that's what i would like to know," growled will. "we had just enough before. i don't know who's going to take care of her." "will, don't be ungallant," warned his sister. "play the game. probably there's some explanation, anyway." but to the little captain, as she watched the quartette approaching, there seemed no plausible explanation. why should allen be paired off with "this jallow girl"? betty knew very little of the latter except that she was always trying to get in where she was not wanted. well, she certainly was not wanted now. oh, why did allen look so happy? if "this jallow girl" had her, betty's, escort, where did she come in? hot tears of anger and mortification rose to her eyes, but she drove them back mercilessly and her greeting to the newcomers was as merry as ever. "hello, everybody!" she called. "you surely took long enough to get here." "hello, betty! this is----" amy paused, then went on rather awkwardly. "you see, alice happened to be at the house when the boys came and--well--we brought her along," she finished, lamely. "and here i am," said alice effusively. "i do hope i'm not putting any one out. the idea of visiting the gypsy camp was so fascinating that i simply couldn't resist the temptation. i think you might have let me in on it in the first place," and she looked reproachfully at allen. that young gentleman had been sending imploring looks in betty's direction over alice jallow's head, which the former had chosen absolutely to ignore. now, being thus appealed to, he smiled down at alice. "it certainly was a grave oversight on our part," he said. betty felt as if her little world had been turned upside down and she wanted to shake somebody--it didn't much matter who it was--but shake somebody she must, good and hard! just at this critical moment up came the two missing ones, mollie and frank--and a third. "now, who is that?" thought the poor little captain in despair. "if this keeps on, we shall have the whole town assembled pretty soon. oh, dear!" "betty, this is a friend of mine, jack sanford," frank introduced him in his own pleasant way. "he's not such a bad chap when you get to know him well," he added, while his friend thanked him, ironically. betty acknowledged the introduction gaily. if allen liked "this jallow girl," why, he could, that was all! and she was not going to let them spoil the evening for her. besides, here was one providentially sent, or so it seemed to her. and he was nice, too, very nice! he seemed to be hail-fellow-well-met with the boys. and the girls--well, one could see that they liked him from the start. but if only allen would not look so happy! "suppose we start, now we're all here," suggested roy. "the sooner we get there the more time we'll have." "bright boy," commented allen. "how did you ever find that out?" then, under cover of the laughter and the darkness, he found betty's hand and held it for a moment. "betty," he pleaded, "i----" "may i, miss nelson?" it was jack sanford, bowing low before her. "sounds like a dance," laughed betty, and added: "indeed you may. oh, isn't it a wonderful night?" allen ground his teeth and once more submitted to the effusive attentions of alice jallow. if betty could have seen him then she would have been moved to pity. "is it very far to the camp?" mollie asked, after they had been walking some time. "i'm anxious to get there." "not very far, now," roy assured her. "it's just on the outskirts of the town. just wait till you get there. when you see how interesting it is you won't mind the walk." "i guess you don't know whom you are talking to," called betty, just behind them. "you forget that walking is our middle name." "pardon, fair damsel," said roy in mock humility. "i must confess i had forgotten for the moment that----" "oh, look! look! all the bonfires and things and people sitting around them!" mollie interrupted. "that must be the camp, isn't it, roy?" it really was the camp. the young people drew closer together as they neared it, fascinated, yet half afraid. there were huge bulky objects in the background beyond the illuminated circle of firelight. "those are the caravan wagons, aren't they?" demanded the little captain in hushed tones. "oh, i wish i could see inside one of them." "yes, they are the pullman cars of the gypsies," laughed jack. "perhaps you wouldn't like them so much inside if you did see them," he added. "oh, let's go on," urged grace at betty's elbow. "i'm dying to see more of them, even if i am horribly afraid. just look at all the tents they have put up. they must expect to stay a long time." the girls' eyes grew wider and wider as they advanced toward the circle of flickering firelight. it seemed they were not the gypsies' only visitors, for there were many residents of deepdale, some of whom the girls recognized. the roving folk had set forth their wares upon rudely constructed tables, ready for the first purchaser. some of the things were truly beautiful--pieces of rare old lace, chains and chains of many-colored beads, silver that was polished till it reflected dazzlingly the dancing firelight. there were rude tents set aside for the telling of fortunes, and somewhere further back in the camp the wild, sweet strains of a violin mingled with a man's sweet tenor voice. "some of those fellows surely can sing," frank remarked. "i'd give a good hundred dollars this minute if i had his voice." "i wish i could find one for you, frank," said grace. "i need the hundred badly." the young people spent over an hour wandering about the place, enjoying to the full the novelty and the romance of it all. just as they had about made up their minds that it was time to go home, betty, who had exclaimed more than once over the beauty of some of the young gypsy girls, their beauty being emphasized by the picturesque clothes they wore, stepped back to look into a tent they had passed a moment before. allen saw his opportunity and was quick to improve it. "you must be careful how you trot about alone here, betty. you know----" he began, when she interrupted him. "oh, it is!" she said. "it is!" "what?" asked allen, mystified. she drew him back into the shadows before she answered. "i wasn't sure, but now i know," she said. "that's the very old woman who wanted to tell our fortunes at grace's this afternoon." "well, what of it?" he inquired, with an attempt to be reassuring. "she won't hurt you--not while i'm around." "oh, but i don't like her looks," and the girl shivered slightly. "you need your coat, betty," said allen. "where is it?" "jack--mr. sanford has it. i'll get it." she started forward, but he laid a restraining hand on her arm. "betty, betty," he whispered. "you're not going to keep this up, are you?" "what do you mean?" she questioned, with an attempt at dignity that was not a very great success. "you know as well as i do," he answered. "it wasn't my fault. amy introduced her and i--well, i had to be decent. betty, don't you know me well enough----" "where have you people been anyway?" it was amy's voice. "we've been looking all over for you." "right here, every minute," said allen cheerily, and the little party started on again. not, however, before mollie and grace had exchanged very significant glances. the young people turned for a last look at the gypsy rendezvous before a bend in the road shut it from view. "i've had an awfully good time," said grace, then added, irrelevantly: "i only hope those gypsies don't steal anything." "that's a good hope," whispered allen in betty's ear. "they are dabsters when it comes to getting away with other people's property." chapter v thieves in deepdale the door bell rang out its noisy summons. betty forestalled the maid on her way to the portal with a merry: "i'll go, mary. it's probably one of the girls." it was not one of the girls only, but all three of them, and seemingly in the wildest excitement. "oh, betty, betty!" mollie cried, not even stopping to say "hello." "have you heard the news--have you?" "no, it's so early----" began betty, but grace interrupted her. "but it isn't half as bad as what happened to us," she said, sinking into a porch chair and fanning herself violently, being overcome either by the heat or her emotions--possibly both. "why! dad's running around the house like a mad man this morning, swearing all sorts of vengeance on the thief, whoever he or she is--i suppose it must be a he, though, because women don't steal----" "hold on, hold on a minute," commanded betty, her hands over her ears. "how _do_ you expect me to find out what has happened if you won't come to the point?" "well, i was going to tell you if you'd only have a little patience," grace continued, in an injured voice. here she paused to put into her mouth a chocolate cream, which she had taken from a little box she had brought with her. then, seeing amy about to speak, she went on hastily, holding the box out mutely toward her friends, who all shook their heads. "here i rush all the way over and get all heated up and everything----" "oh, for goodness' sake, grace!" mollie broke in, having come to the end of her patience. "if you don't tell the story i will. you have been half an hour already getting nowhere." at this dire threat grace continued quickly. "oh, well," she capitulated, "since you are in such a hurry--well, the fact is, betty, beauty's been stolen," and she delivered the terrible news in a hushed voice. "oh!" said betty, horrified. "and your father valued him above all the rest. are you sure he was stolen, grace?" "well, i don't see what else could have happened to him." now that she had delivered her news, grace was once more as calm and composed as ever. "the horse couldn't very well file the padlock from the outside or climb out the window, and the groom wouldn't be very likely to take him for a gentle stroll in the middle of the night. and unless one of those things has happened, beauty has been stolen. anyway, he's gone, there's no doubt of that." "that's pretty bad--i can imagine just how your father feels, grace," betty's voice was grave. "i do hope they will be able to trace him. does your father suspect the gypsies?" "yes, ever since the store was robbed the other night, dad has been suspicious of them," grace answered. "he has tried to watch his horses with especial care, too. that's one thing that makes him so tearing mad to-day. oh, you should have heard him!" and grace sighed at the memory. "i remember," said betty thoughtfully, "that allen said something the other night when we went to visit their camp about the gypsies being expert thieves. from the way things have turned out i guess he knew what he was talking about." "and they looked so nice and romantic, too," said amy, and drew a sigh at the irony of fate. this conversation took place between the girls on a certain morning several days after their memorable visit to the gypsy camp. a day or so before one of the large stores of the town had been looted and practically cleaned out. for two days deepdale had been in a furore of excitement and indignation, for in the memory of most of the inhabitants no such crime had ever been perpetrated. there had been small robberies, of course, but that hendall's, traditionally the oldest store in deepdale, should have been treated to such insult, and by a band of roving gypsies, too--for every one suspected them from the first--why, it was unheard of! incredible! detectives and sheriff had searched the town from end to end but had found no sign of the missing goods. they had visited the gypsy camp, too, submitting it to a strict investigation, but with no result. the countryside had been scoured for miles around, but no trace had as yet been found of the missing criminals nor of their loot. indeed, the thieves had covered their tracks well, and the inhabitants of deepdale were beginning to lose hope of immediate reparation. such was the chaotic state of affairs on this beautiful summer morning when mr. ford had awakened to find his splendid horse, beauty, the ornament of his stables and the pride of his heart, strangely and inexplicably missing. for an hour or so the girls pondered on these two mysterious robberies and found themselves not one whit nearer the solution. it was mollie who finally suggested that they go to her house and look at a couple of new dresses she had bought recently. "it will help get our minds off the robbery," she said. the girls agreed readily, for they were always anxious to see mollie's things. "they are always so novel," grace had once said, and mollie had been uncertain whether to ticket it a compliment or otherwise. "really, my head aches trying to figure things out," amy complained, as they neared the billette home. "well, it seems to me it is just about time some of those detectives found things out for us," mollie rejoined. "will ought to be able to help, grace," she added, "since he is in the secret service." "you may be sure he is doing his best," grace retorted with spirit. "those gypsies make thieving their profession and it isn't always as easy to track them as it seems. if you don't believe me, just try it yourself." "i didn't say anything about not believing you," mollie rejoined, icily. "and there's no reason why you have to go up in the air about nothing. i was simply suggesting, that's all." "girls, some day, i am just going to get terribly angry about something and then let fly," betty broke in. "i'd just like to know what would happen and where we would end up if you didn't have me to act as peacemaker." "probably in the county jail for disturbing the peace," said grace ruefully, and mollie laughed, thereby restoring harmony, for the time being at least. "oh, hurry, please do hurry, mollie!" a small cyclone precipitated itself out of the house and into mollie's arms. "muvver's cwyin' tuwible and she's telephonin' to evwybody to make you come home quick. oh--oh----" this was the beginning of a muffled wail--silenced by mollie's hand over the small one's mouth. "dodo, don't cry," mollie implored. "what is the matter with mother? is she sick? oh, don't bother to tell me--i'll see for myself. come on, girls." "had we better?" asked betty, with instinctive delicacy. "it may be something she won't want us to know." "oh, don't be silly," cried mollie, impatiently, shoving the three girls before her through the doorway. "you know as well as i do that we haven't any secrets from you. oh, what can be the matter?" they found mrs. billette in the library where her small daughter, dora--nicknamed dodo, and one of a pair of exceedingly mischievous twins--ran to tell her of mollie's timely arrival. the girls followed hesitatingly, as mollie rushed forward and threw her arms about her mother's neck, crying: "mother, dear, what is it? dora says you have been crying and that you have been telephoning for me all over. oh, i wish i had known! we would have run all the way." "oh, i suppose a few moments more or less would make no difference. it wouldn't bring back the silver," said mrs. billette, quietly. hysterics had given place to a sort of despairing resignation. "only, at first, i felt as if i must talk to some one about it. the twins didn't understand, of course, and i couldn't very well talk to jane." "but, mother, what is it?" mollie demanded again. "has aunt elvira died or has paul caught the mumps, or----" "of course not, mollie! how silly of you," her mother broke in, impatiently. "aunt elvira will probably live another twenty years. and as for paul's having the mumps----" "then what is it? have we been robbed?" mollie's little foot tapped a sharp tattoo on the floor. "that is just what has happened to us," said mrs. billette, as the girls stared incredulously. "we've been robbed of some things that money never can replace. oh-oh-oh, if i had only put it in a safer place! how could i have been such a fool! oh! oh!" and mrs. billette, poor woman, was fast verging on another attack of hysteria. mollie put her arms about her mother soothingly. "there, there, mother," she crooned. "it may turn out all right after all. but, remember, you haven't told us what is lost yet," she suggested, with a gentleness very unlike her former impatience. "i think it would make you feel much better to talk about it. did you say it was the silver that had been stolen?" "yes, the silver tea service that has been in the family for over a hundred and twenty years." mrs. billette's french origin gleamed in her dark eyes as she added: "oh, if we could only catch them! i'd like to make them suffer for this!" from mrs. billette's rather disjointed story the girls gathered that not only the valuable tea service was missing, but also a number of smaller articles, such as knives and forks. then there was a valuable jet necklace which mrs. billette had locked up with the silver for safe keeping. the girls were stunned by this last calamity. they could think of one solution and one only, and that was--the gypsies. as betty took leave of the girls at her own door that noon, after vainly urging them to stay to lunch--they were too impatient to get home and spread the news to stop for anything, even lunch at betty's--she heard the jangle of the telephone. "sorry you won't come in," she called. "i'll see you later, anyway!" and she flew upstairs to answer the insistent summons. "hello! . . . oh, that you, allen? . . . yes, i've just come home from mrs. billette's. . . . she has lost a silver tea service and some other things. . . . what's that? . . . yes, stolen. . . . gone! . . . are you sure? . . . oh, now they will never get their things! . . . yes, come over to-morrow and we can talk things over. . . . don't be silly! . . . yes, come early. . . . good-bye." as she hung up the receiver mechanically, betty's gaze traveled out of the window and over the smooth, green lawn to the far-distant horizon. "gone!" she murmured. "the gypsies are gone! oh, i wonder where they went to?" chapter vi a wonderful outing "hello, betty, that you? yes, this is mollie, of course. it seems to me that i'm always at the 'phone these days. but, oh, betty, i just simply couldn't wait a minute to tell you! . . . yes, i've just received a letter. . . . what's that? . . . no, mother hasn't been able to trace her silver at all yet. isn't it terrible? . . . oh, well, she is becoming resigned to the worst. . . . but, betty, aren't you a bit interested? . . . yes, i know you are, dear, and it's very sweet of you. . . . well, it's from aunt elvira. remember i told you the other day that she intended to go to europe? well, it's about that. . . . yes, there has been so much excitement about these old gypsies that i had almost forgotten i had such an aunt. . . . no, i won't tell you one thing more about it, except that everything is o. k. will you come over to-night? . . . what's that--you can't? oh, betty, you just have to. oh, well, if that's all why don't you bring him along? . . . yes, all the boys are coming anyway. will says he has something to talk over with us. . . . then i may count on you, to-night, honey? . . . all right--good-bye till then." this conversation took place in the morning. promptly at eight that evening the door bell rang and betty, after a last peep in the mirror and a finishing pat to her dress, flew down to answer the summons. "right on the dot, allen," she laughed, flinging the door wide open. "the clock is just striking the hour--listen," and obediently he listened, his eyes on betty's face, while the sweet chimes filled the hall with melody. "no wonder i am on the minute," he said, smiling whimsically. "i have been wandering around for the past half hour trying to kill time. you see i didn't quite dare to come at half-past seven." she laughed gaily. "you would have had to spend your time in the library if you _had_ come early," she said. "because i have been ready for only half a minute. here's your hat, allen," she added, taking it down from the peg where he had just deposited it for the evening. her manner was grave but mischief sparkled in her eyes. "what's the big idea?" he inquired, regarding the hat held out to him with a puzzled expression. "i am very well acquainted with the article in your hand. too well acquainted, in fact, for this is the second season we have been chums; and i see prospect of a third, if the law business doesn't pick up. but, seriously, what is the idea, betty? do you want me to go home and spend a dismal evening all by myself--is that it?" "far from it, allen. oh, please don't look so glum," she added, and the mischief bubbled over from her eyes and she laughed happily. opening allen's hand, she placed the unwelcome hat therein and closed his fingers over it. "the explanation for all this," she went on, making him a curtsy, "is very simple. we have been invited to spend the evening at mollie's." "oh, bother m----" he began, then added, decidedly: "i came to see you to-night and i am not going to the billettes' or anywhere else! here, hat, get back where you belong," and he flung the offending article back on the hook with an air of finality that matched his words. "please don't be an old bear," coaxed betty, and betty knew how to coax to perfection. "mollie has some perfectly wonderful news to tell us and all our girls and boys are going to be there to hear it. you wouldn't want me to be terribly disappointed--now you know you wouldn't," and she looked at him appealingly. mollie opened the door to them herself, radiantly eager to tell her news. "oh, hurry, you two!" she cried. "i thought you would never get here. we have been waiting for--oh, ever so long." "well, if we are the last, everybody must have turned over a new leaf just for to-night," remarked betty, as she started for the library from which came a confused murmur of many voices, speaking all at once, with now and then a burst of merry laughter. "leave your hat here, allen," said mollie, and betty threw him a merry glance over her shoulder. "hello, everybody," she called a moment later, as she flung aside the portières and stood framed in the doorway. "mollie tells us we are the last and----" "well, so you are. we thought you and allen had mistaken the date," said frank. "accidentally on purpose," he added slyly. "not a chance in the world, frank," said allen, who had come into the room in time to hear the last remark. "i might be afflicted with loss of memory; but, betty--never!" they all laughed with enjoyment--all but betty who threw him a reproachful glance which he refused to catch. "well, now we are here, let's have the news," said roy, who was always impatient to get to the heart of things. "come on, mollie--out with it." nothing loath, mollie settled herself with an important air and began her tale. "well, you see----" she began, when will interrupted. "no, we don't. what?" he asked innocently. "now i won't try to tell it at all if you are going to begin that," said mollie with asperity. and grace added: "do let mollie tell it her own way, will, and if you interrupt again, we will get the boys to throw you out. you will do it, won't you, boys?" "sure!" they shouted with one accord, and will retired meekly into a corner. "i'll begin all over again," said mollie. "you all know, with the exception of amy and allen, and they soon will, that i have been expecting to hear from my aunt and uncle every day. they took rather a long time to make up their minds, but now everything is settled. they are really going to europe, and we girls are going to have the use of their bungalow, 'the shadows,' for the summer. or at least for the month and a half that is left." "splendid, mollie! where is the bungalow?" inquired betty, leaning forward eagerly. "we ought to have a wonderful time." "well, i hope we shall," mollie continued. "the bungalow is on an island called pine island in lake tarracusio. they say it is a beautiful place, and it is only about a day's journey in an auto. we could make it easily." "all this is very fine, but where do we come in?" allen inquired. "there isn't room in this wonderful bungalow for us, is there?" "of course not!" said mollie scornfully. "and if there were, do you think we would have you boys fussing around?" "well, i was just in search of information," allen answered defensively. "and all i get is scorn and ridicule." "hard luck, old man," said will, feelingly. "i am in the same boat. but you girls had better look out," he added threateningly. "don't forget that i had something to suggest to-night and if you don't treat me better, i'll----" "will this do," interrupted mollie, and, with hands clasped in prayerful attitude, she besought will, with tears in her voice, to have pity. "oh, kind and noble sir," she said, "be kind--be gracious to us, your humble slaves, and deign to honor----" "now that's something like," broke in will, beaming around on the assembled company. "if you had done that from the first, mollie----" "oh, will, please hurry," betty urged impatiently. "i know you have something good to tell us, and i wish you wouldn't keep us in such terrible suspense." "well, since you appreciate how great is the----" "yes, yes, go on," grace interrupted. "news i am about to impart," he continued without a glance in her direction. "you will impart it," allen finished for him. "thank you," said will, bowing gravely in allen's direction. "as our friend says, i will proceed. well, to come down to brass tacks," he continued, dropping the air of dignity, which, considering his youthful appearance, was always very comical, "i thought maybe you fellows would like to put up a tent on the same island and camp there near the girls for the rest of the summer. we could have no end of fun." there was a yell of joy from the boys, and the excited exclamations, questions and answers that followed showed that they agreed heartily with will in his last prophecy that "they would have no end of fun." "oh, won't it be great!" cried betty, her cheeks flushed with excitement. "i do believe this is the very best of all," then her face clouded as she turned to allen, who had not been taking a very active part in the conversation. "do you think you can make it, allen?" she asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of her voice. "you said something about a change in the management of the firm----" her voice was questioning. "why, i was just wondering if i couldn't fix things up some way," he answered seriously. "it looks as if some of our work might have to lay over for a time anyway, and if it does----" "of course you will have to manage it somehow, allen," frank broke in. "why, having you there would be half the fun!" "oh, i guess i can," allen began uncertainly. then he continued: "but you can just better believe if there is a chance in the world, i'll be there." "that's the way to talk," cried mollie. "now there is just one important thing we haven't decided yet, girls, and that is, whom are we going to have for a chaperon." "i have been thinking of that, and i am sure i know just the one," said amy quietly; and they turned to her in amazement. amy was like that, she didn't talk much, but when she did, what she said was usually to the point. "you all know young mrs. irving whose husband travels?" "and she seems sort of lonely sometimes," grace added, taking a chocolate nut from a dish of candy that mollie had placed, for grace's special delectation, on the table. "amy, you _are_ a wonder," said mollie, regarding her chum with awe. "i would never have thought of her in a thousand years, and of course she's just the one." "well, now that the all-important question of chaperon is happily settled," said roy, veering back to the point like a compass, "suppose we decide when to start." after much discussion it was finally decided they were to start a week from that day, which was tuesday. it was late when mollie's guests started for home, and even then they were all reluctant to go. as allen stood on the porch of the nelson home a few minutes later, betty turned to him impulsively. "oh, i do hope you will be able to go, allen," she said. "would you be sorry if i didn't?" he asked her, eagerly. "why, of course." "then, i'll be there," he said, with a smile. chapter vii closed for repairs "grace, grace, do wake up!" betty looked at her sleeping chum in absolute amazement. how could anybody sleep so soundly on this, the day of days, when one should have been awake at six o'clock thinking over the delights in store! grace had come over the night before to talk over some minor details of the outing, bringing with her a new and, she declared, a specially delicious brand of chocolates. it had been so late when she had started to leave that she had been prevailed upon to spend the night with betty. and so it was that on that eventful morning she lay slumbering peacefully in the little captain's bed, defying all that impatient young person's efforts to rouse her. "grace! grace!" betty cried again. "won't you please wake up? why, it's seven o'clock this minute! we have to be out of the house in an hour." grace groaned dismally. "oh, betty, i will have to have some more sleep," she wailed, pitifully. "if i don't i won't be fit for a thing the rest of the day. don't you suppose we could make it if we started by nine?" she added hopefully. betty paused in the act of putting on a shoe and held it poised in the air while she gazed at her friend incredulously. "grace ford, of all the----" she almost stuttered. then, as a thought flashed before her mind she laughed delightedly. "can't you see them, grace," she chuckled, putting on one shoe and picking up the other. "can't you see the boys when i tell them they will have to walk around the block while grace gets her beauty sleep. oh! oh!" and even grace had to laugh at the picture. "they probably wouldn't wait anyway," betty continued, with the tact of a diplomat. "they would go on to the shadows and let you follow later at your leisure. it will be a nice, dusty, hot ride in the train, too," she added, examining the lace on her handkerchief with the air of a connoisseur. grace sat up on the edge of the bed and regarded her chum reproachfully. "nobody has any heart at all, and you least of all, betty nelson," she complained. "oh, where did i put my slippers? i was so excited last night i don't remember what i did with them," and she began a listless search under the bed. "they are over by that chair," said betty patiently. then went on: "oh, grace, dear, please wake up. you will give me the blues if you don't shake off that dead and alive air. imagine betty nelson with the blues to-day." "it _is_ rather impossible," remarked grace, regarding betty's flushed cheeks and dancing eyes with admiration. "i wish i didn't need any more sleep than you, betty. oh, well, the worst part of getting up is over now and i'll feel fine when i get some breakfast. you just watch me." "that's something like," betty said approvingly. "oh, grace, we are going to have one of the most glorious times we ever had in our lives to-day." "shouldn't wonder," grace agreed. "what does that clock say, half-past seven? oh, betty, now i _will_ have to hurry!" "if you glare at the clock like that it is apt to develop palpitation of the heart and stop altogether," laughed betty. "it can't help the time, you know." "well, that is the very first time i have ever been accused of stopping a clock," said grace with dignity. then added plaintively: "and by my best friend, too! oh, well, i suppose you can get used to anything if you try hard enough." "oh, grace, you're a dear when you look resigned like that," said betty, dancing over to her friend and hugging her ecstatically. "if you weren't so pretty, i wouldn't dare talk about stopping clocks," she added, and peace was restored, and soon both hurried down to breakfast. "oh, there they are now," cried betty, hastily swallowing the last of her cocoa. "i knew they would be here before we were half ready. oh, gracy, dear, hurry, will you!" "i am all ready," grace answered. "suppose you go out and speak to them while i get the luggage. i'll bring down your hat and coat, too, if you want me to." "you _are_ a dear," said betty, for the second time this morning. "goodness, they are making enough noise with their old horns. anybody would think there were ten automobiles instead of two," and while she ran out to greet the newcomers, grace hurried--yes, actually _hurried_--up the stairs to get the small bags they were to take with them for immediate use, in case the trunks, which had been sent on before, did not arrive in time. betty found the others all radiant. roy was at the wheel in mollie's car--she had invited him to act as chauffeur and he had gleefully accepted--with mollie herself beside him and will and amy in the tonneau. the others--mrs. irving, their young and jolly chaperon, and the four girls and boys--were to make the journey in frank's big car, with frank, of course, at the wheel. "hello, betty!" will shouted. "you are looking as sweet and fresh as a daisy! jump in! where's that runaway sister of mine? i hope you succeeded in getting her up in time." "i did--after considerable persuasion," laughed betty. "i came out to tell you we just have to get our outside things on and we shall be ready. i can see grace beckoning now--just a minute," and she ran toward the house. "can't we carry the luggage--and the chocolates?" said frank and allen together. "if you insist," betty flung the answer over her shoulder as she joined grace. the boys had tumbled out of the automobile and were racing up the drive as if their lives depended on their reaching the porch at the same second. the girls adjusted their pretty panamas before the wide mirror while the boys picked up the bags and waited. "is my hat on right, allen, or should it be tilted a little more over the left eye?" mimicked frank, as they watched the girls. "or, perhaps it should be made to cover my face entirely?" "i think the latter--with places for the eyes and nose," said allen in the same tone of voice. "anybody who invented such a hat would be a benefactor to the world at large, frank," said betty, as she swept past him--her nose in the air. "oof! that was an awful one," returned frank, while grace chuckled at his discomfiture. "a few more of those, betty, and i am afraid i shall have to stay at home!" "that sounds just like percy," betty remarked, as the boys deposited the luggage in the car and opened the door for the girls. "for goodness' sake, don't take him for a model, frank." "i wonder where the dear old chappie is, anyway," remarked allen as he took his seat between betty and mrs. irving in the tonneau. grace was to sit with frank. "i haven't seen him about town lately. i wonder if mother has taken her darling boy to the seashore," he added, as the car moved off. "i hope so. if she would only take him to kalamazoo it would suit me better," said betty. "it's a wonder he didn't invite himself to come along." "nothing doing!" laughed frank. "i can just imagine darling percy sleeping in a tent and cooking his own meals. can't you, allen? oh, what a circus!" "it is rather hard to imagine the immaculate percy in those surroundings," drawled grace. "he would be running down to the river to wash his hands every two minutes. how do we get over to the island from the mainland, betty, do you remember?" she added. "i know mollie said something about a steamer, but i didn't get a very good idea of it." "oh, we will have lots of fun on it," betty answered, enjoying the prospect immensely. "mollie says it is an old, rickety thing that looks as if it were going to pieces any minute. she thinks it must be at least two hundred years old, if what her aunt says is true. it will be awfully interesting." "yes, especially if it fulfills its promise and goes to pieces in the middle of the lake," grace remarked dryly. "i wouldn't mind the dip in weather like this, but i would rather choose the time and place." "well, perhaps it _would_ be better if we put on our bathing suits first," betty admitted. "then we would at least be prepared for the worst." "i wouldn't call that the worst thing that could happen to us," said allen; and when the girls looked to him for an explanation he added: "it would be no end of fun to be dumped in the river with a boatful of pretty girls. think of the good time we could have rescuing you." "well, maybe you call that fun, but i should say it was pretty hard work," said frank, ungallantly. "especially if the girls should lose their heads and begin to choke you. all hail, for davy jones' locker!" "you needn't worry," said betty, with dignity. "in the first place we wouldn't have to be rescued. we can swim just as well as you boys can----" "now, now, betty," frank protested laughingly, "don't exaggerate." "i'm not," she denied indignantly. "we haven't lived in the outdoors for nothing, you know." "well, we shall have a chance to settle all disputes when we get to pine island," said allen. "to change the subject--has anybody noticed that the sun has gone under a cloud and that there is a stiff little breeze coming up? i shouldn't wonder if we were in for a storm." "yes, we may need our bathing suits even before we get to the island," said betty, ruefully. "i hope you didn't forget to bring your suit, mrs. irving," she added, turning to the chaperon, who had been singularly silent during the ride. perhaps she was realizing for the first time the great responsibility she had taken upon herself. however, she spoke now, accompanying her words with a bright smile. "indeed i did," she said. "there is nothing i enjoy quite so much as a good swim. from what you girls say of the island we ought to have as many as we want." "i am very much afraid we won't leave to wait till we get there," said frank, regarding the sky anxiously. "unless i am a pretty poor prophet we are in for a considerable spell of bad weather. what do you say, allen?" "i say you are right and then some," allen answered emphatically. "i think it would be a pretty good stunt to get the top up, frank, before the girls are deluged." accordingly frank slowed down and waited for mollie's trim little machine to catch up with them. "what do you make of the weather?" asked will, as they came up alongside. "looks pretty threatening, don't you think?" "if you don't want to get wet, you had better do what we are going to," frank advised them. "put your top up." "oh, hurry, frank, i felt a drop then!" exclaimed grace. "and there's another! oh, do hurry!" the boys worked quickly and in a few moments had raised the tops and were ready to let down the waterproof sides that would make them comfortable in almost any weather. "we are going to speed up some," frank shouted to those in the other car. "when the roads get muddy it's going to be pretty hard going, so we want to make good time now." "aye, aye, captain!" roy answered. "lead, and we follow." for a short distance all went well. in fact, the girls rather liked riding in the rain. then suddenly, without any warning, frank stopped the car. "what is it, frank?" cried grace in alarm. "did you run over somebody?" "no, it's worse than that," he answered gloomily. "look, the road's closed for repairs!" chapter viii the jet necklace reappears the girls and boys stared at each other, dismay written on their faces. the road closed and the rain pouring down in torrents--a nice predicament! it was mrs. irving's calm voice which first broke the silence. "there must be some way around," she said. "it will take us a little longer, that's all." "oh, of course we shall be able to strike the main part of the road again if we go a couple of miles out of our way," frank agreed, a worried frown on his forehead. "the only question is, how are we going to find our way? i didn't bring a chart with me--worse luck." "perhaps roy has one," betty suggested. "he usually carries a lot of junk like that around with him." "well, if he has this particular species of junk it will come in mighty handy just now," said frank, hopefully. "i'll stick my head out and yell at him. gee, it sure is raining some!" and he craned his neck toward the other car, squinting his eyes to keep out the stinging drops. "hey, roy!" he shouted. "do you happen to have anything like a map of the surrounding country in your inside vest pocket? if you have, throw it over. we are stuck good and plenty." "i don't get you, old man," roy shouted back. "say the first part of that speech over again, will you?" frank drew in his head and mopped his face and hair with a huge silk handkerchief. "two minutes before the next plunge," he announced to the amused occupants of his car. "allen, if he doesn't get me this time you will have to change places with me. i'll be almost drowned," then he thrust his head out once more and shouted in the direction of mollie's car. "i said, have you a map of this here countryside?" he repeated. "betty says you usually carry such things with you." "sorry i can't oblige," came his disappointing answer. "i left that home in my old coat this morning." "of course, just when you knew we would probably need it!" frank retorted scathingly. "now we'll have to hike along and trust to luck. nobody knows where we will end up." "well, you needn't blame it on me," roy shouted wrathfully. "i couldn't be expected to see twenty miles down the road from deepdale." "nobody accused you of it," frank answered, in the same belligerent voice. "but as long as you had the chart you might have thought far enough----" grace seized frank's arm and pulled him back into the machine. "for goodness' sake, what is the use of making such a fuss about that old map?" she said. "and in the rain, too!" "yes, if that were you and i, grace," said betty, "the boys would say something about 'isn't that just like a woman,' or, 'aren't girls the limit--always arguing about nothing?'" "votes for women!" allen shouted. "since when have you taken to stump oratory, betty?" "oh, she is just naturally eloquent," said grace languidly and they all laughed, even frank--although his brow clouded anxiously a minute later. "however, all this isn't getting us anywhere," he said. "we can't stay out here in the rain all night, you know." "i don't believe any of us expect to," said allen, dryly. "what do you say we take that side road we passed a little way back, frank? we can at least see where it leads and we can inquire our way as we go along." "i don't know whom we shall find to inquire of," said frank, who, contrary to his usual custom, persisted in looking at the gloomy side of everything. "we didn't pass a soul on the way down." "please cheer up, frank," laughed betty. "you ask us to make a suggestion and then when we do you scout it. suppose you tell us what _you_ would like to do." "i know what i should _like_ to do," he added, readily. "i should like to break down that board that is in our way and go ahead whether they like it or not. nothing would give me greater pleasure." "however?" suggested allen. "however, i know we'd get pinched--pardon, ladies--i mean, pulled in. that doesn't sound just right, either, does it?" and he regarded them with laughing eyes. "i imagine 'arrested' is the word you want," said betty, demurely. "that's it, thank you," he said, all irritability gone as suddenly as it had come. "so, as long as that is understood, perhaps we might do worse than follow allen's suggestion, after all." "genius always triumphs in the end," said allen, with a gravity that set them laughing. "perhaps it would be better if we hurried a little," mrs. irving suggested, when they had had their laugh out. "with no delay it would take us almost till sundown to reach the shadows and i don't want to be too late." "all right, here goes to try to back the old bus out of this mud-hole and turn her around," frank agreed. "i don't know how long it will take us, though." "you had better tell roy what you are going to do," grace suggested. "we don't want any collisions." frank obediently thrust out his head, only to jerk it back quickly the next instant with a startled exclamation. "they are gone!" he said. "gone!" the others cried together. "but they couldn't have gone far," mrs. irving added. "probably they have motored back to the crossroads to wait for us," allen suggested. "when they saw the blockade they knew there was just one thing to do and they did it." "well, they might at least have told us where they were going," frank grumbled. "they should have known mrs. irving would be worried." "they probably thought they'd decamp before the mud got so bad," said betty. "just the same, they should have told us." "you are right," mrs. irving agreed. "however, the only thing to do now is to follow them as quickly as possible." for answer, frank threw in the clutch, and the big machine very slowly and painfully plowed its way through the clinging mud of the road and turned its face toward the crossroads and, in all probability, mollie's runaway car. "no wonder they want to repair the road," said frank when they were well under way. "if the rest of it is any worse than this i should think they would need a new one." "there's mollie's car, straight ahead," said grace a moment later. "i wager they are just sitting there as large as life, laughing at us." "let them laugh," said frank savagely. "it's good to see somebody happy." "well, if that's all you want," sang betty, cheerily, "just look at grace and mrs. irving and allen and me. i, for my part, am having the time of my life. and look, everybody," she added, "it isn't raining nearly so hard as it was. we will be seeing the sun next!" "there is just one thing that is better to have along than the sun," said allen, softly. mrs. irving, hearing, smiled knowingly to herself. when they overtook the car ahead, roy explained that they had gotten out of the way to make room for frank's big car to turn around. "you surely gave us plenty of it," frank remarked dryly, upon hearing the explanation. "but we will have to hurry now if we expect to get anywhere before dark." as they all heartily agreed to this, especially mrs. irving, there was no further discussion and the cars swung down the narrow side road at a very good pace--good, that is, considering the going. they had been riding for half an hour when suddenly betty's prediction came true. the rain stopped entirely and the sun peeped out from behind the clouds, touching the leaden sky with gold. "i knew it, i knew it!" cried betty in delight. "now we can take down the top, can't we, frank? oh, let's do it!" "mighty good suggestion, betty," frank agreed, bringing the car to a stop once more. "the good old sun sure does change everything, doesn't it?" five minutes later the cars started on again, with the breeze fanning the faces of the occupants and the sun pouring down goldenly upon them. as frank had said, "the world was a different place to live in." a moment later those in frank's car were surprised to see roy stop his automobile and signal them to draw up alongside. "did you see that gypsy girl who just passed in front of us?" mollie whispered when they had done as they were desired. then, as the girls nodded assent, she continued excitedly: "well, i am almost sure she had on that jet necklace that disappeared with mother's silver! oh, if we could only follow the girl we might find that too! oh, can't we--can't we?" she added, fairly dancing with excitement. "sure, come ahead, fellows!" cried allen, who was always ready for adventure. "did you see which way she went, roy?" "over this way, i think," roy answered. "we may be able to trace her to the gypsy camp. there must be one near here, and it is probably the same." "we'll be back in a minute," called will, and then the boys disappeared in the underbrush. "oh, i'm afraid to have them go," whispered betty fearfully. "suppose one of those murderous-looking gypsies should stab them in the back!" "one gypsy couldn't do it all," said grace with a little nervous laugh. "i guess they can take care of themselves, betty. we needn't worry." "what do you think, mrs. irving?" amy asked quietly. "the boys went off in such a hurry they didn't give you a chance to say anything if you had wanted to." "i imagine talking wouldn't have done much good anyway," answered mrs. irving with a smile. "besides, there should not be any danger if they only keep their wits about them." "oh, mother will be the happiest woman in the world if they can only find her silver for her." mollie was so agitated she was actually trembling. "girls, do you think they will?" "there, there, don't get so excited about it, mollie, dear," cautioned the little captain. "you may be sure the boys will do the very best they can." at the end of the hardest hour they had ever spent, for inaction was not easy for outdoor girls, they heard the welcome sound of masculine voices and the regular tramp-tramp of the boys' feet. "oh, oh," they cried together in whole-souled relief, while mollie added eagerly: "did you get it--did you?" allen, who was in the lead, shook his head regretfully. "we couldn't find a sign of anything," he said. "not even the camp." "but if you didn't find anything, what ever in the world kept you so long?" betty demanded. "we imagined all sorts of horrible things happening to you." "oh, you couldn't get rid of us," said will, cheerily. "we hated to come back empty handed--that's all." "well, we are mighty glad to get you back," said mollie, who, after the first disappointment, had become resigned to the inevitable. "that's the way to make them appreciate us; eh, fellows?" said frank, as he flung himself into the car. "they don't realize how good we really are till they think we are gone." "right you are, frank," said roy. "what do you say to full speed ahead?" "full speed ahead it is," frank agreed, and they were off like a shot down the road. chapter ix pine island at last the outdoor girls and their boy friends made good time for the rest of the journey and it was not quite sundown when they came in sight of the beautiful shores of lake tarracusio. "we will have to leave the automobiles somewhere in town, won't we?" asked amy, as the two machines drew up side by side for a final consultation. "of course," said grace. "according to mollie's description of the rickety old steamer i should think it would have all it could do to carry us--let alone the machines." "there ought to be at least one big garage in town, frank," betty suggested. "let's move along the main street until we find it." "nobody asks me for my advice," complained mollie, in an injured tone. "and i am the most likely one to know about it." mollie gave the directions for finding the garage which her aunt had written. a minute later they drew up before the place and tumbled out, bag and baggage, in obedience to frank's instructions. while the boys were in the garage talking to the proprietor, the girls had a chance to look about them. "isn't it lovely?" cried mollie delightedly. "it looks just like the little colored pictures of towns they have in the magazines sometimes. the same quaint little frame houses with green shutters and well-kept lawns in front----" "and flower beds with borders of white shells," amy finished for her. "i know just what you mean, mollie; i've seen them myself." "girls," said betty, jumping up from the overturned suitcase she was using for a seat, and speaking impressively, "i have a feeling----" here she paused for effect. "i have a feeling," she continued, "that we are going to have a good time." "humph," snorted mollie. "why don't you tell us something we don't know?" "get off the luggage, you girls!" will commanded, good-naturedly. "the man in there says we have just exactly five minutes to catch that joke steamer for the island, and if he is right, we've got to hustle. sling over that bag, sis, will you?" "with the greatest of pleasure," said grace. "but will somebody kindly tell me how we are going to make that boat in five minutes?" "by running like the very wind," frank declared, and, picking up two suitcases in one hand, he propelled grace down the street with the other. "please hurry," he urged. "never mind about your hats, girls. it will soon be so dark nobody will be able to see them." "shall we give them a race?" asked allen of betty, as they prepared to follow roy, who had taken both mollie and their gay little chaperon in tow. "let's," said betty with dancing eyes. "nobody knows us here and i wouldn't care if they did--better people than you and i have run for boats before, allen." "oh, i don't know," he said, argumentatively. "just as good, possibly, but never better." "all right, have it your own way," she laughed. "now do we begin? one--two--three--come on. we'll beat them even with the head start." off they raced, light and graceful and buoyantly alive. it was no task at all to overtake roy, who was hampered by gasping little mrs. irving--who, although young, was not--_so_ young. next came amy and will, running easily, but allen and betty passed them as if they had been standing still. "oh, you will, will you?" will shouted as they went by. "we'll see about that. what do you say, amy, more speed?" "sure," said game little amy. "i can go lots faster than this." so the two quickened their pace, but betty and allen were on wings, and, try as they might, they could not lessen the space between. "oh, well, we don't want to beat them anyway, do we?" said will, when they had to give up. "no, we wouldn't think of taking the fun from them," she panted, and they both laughed merrily. meanwhile the two champion runners had overtaken grace and frank and had started on the last lap to the wharf. "there's the little steamer now, allen!" gasped betty. "oh, do you think it will go without us?" as if for answer the whistle on the curious old ferry shrieked a warning to all would-be voyagers to pine island. allen's hand tightened its grasp of betty's arm. "are you game for one last spurt?" he asked her. "we may be able to make it." betty nodded her head, for just then breath was precious and not to be wasted in idle words. silently, the two called on their splendid reserve strength, while arm in arm they sped along the shore to the dock. they reached it just in the nick of time. "hold on there, will you?" shouted allen, with what he had left of his breath. "the rest of the party will be up in a minute." true to his prophecy, in a moment's time the entire company was assembled on the ancient dock, tired and out of breath, but happy to be there nevertheless. "you two are some classy little speed merchants," remarked frank, slangily, while he regarded the pair thus designated with profound admiration. "i never knew two people could run so fast before." "so this is the steamer!" said grace, as soon as she could find breath enough to speak at all. "it does justify your aunt's description, mollie, although it doesn't look quite so rickety as i expected." "probably she will look lots worse in the daylight," will prophesied cheerfully. "say, folks, what do you say to our making ourselves comfortable? we have quite some ride before us; eh, mollie?" "about half an hour's _sail_," corrected mollie. "you _ride_ in an automobile, but you _sail_ in a boat." "i don't see why ride isn't just as appropriate as sail in this case," said will, sitting on a suitcase beside amy, with his back against the rail, prepared to argue the point. "especially since this old tub has never known a sail." "betty," frank said, turning to that young person who was gazing dreamily out over the water, "what did they put in that basket when we stopped at the hotel this afternoon?" "what?" she said, bringing her mind down to every-day things with an effort. "oh, the basket! i wouldn't dare tell you that," she added, with sudden animation. "boys, boys, if you could only see inside--if you only could--oh, how your mouths would water!" "just think," said grace, tragically. "here we have everything that goes to make up a romantic sail----" "what, for instance?" roy demanded. "if you call a leaky old ferryboat with the weather so damp that you can't touch the rail without feeling as if you have had a dip in the briny--if that's what you call romantic, then give me a good open fire and plenty of chicken bones to gnaw." "oh," said betty in sorrow, shaking her head at the depths to which the boys had fallen. "frank, i would never have thought it of you. just the same," she added, in a stage whisper, "i wouldn't mind having a couple of them myself." "betty, betty," allen reproved her. "i thought----" "oh, mollie, look there," cried betty, pulling her friend towards her and indicating an indistinct shadowy bulk looming eerily before them. "mollie, dear, that's the island, isn't it? i can't wait until i put my two feet on it." "oh, i wish we could see an inch before our noses!" said grace impatiently. "i can't make out a single blessed thing." "probably going to rain some more," said frank consolingly. "never mind, grace, whenever your heart begins to fail you, just think of--what, fellows?" "chicken!" they shouted, with one voice. "you don't know you are going to get any, yet," betty declared. "if i remember rightly, frank is the only one who said anything about it, and he doesn't know what he is talking about." "betty, don't be heartless," allen implored. "is there or is there not a fowl in that basket?" "there is!" she answered in solemn tones. "hoorah!" shouted will. "three cheers for the good old bird!" as he spoke the little steamer scraped against the dock that was almost invisible to those on deck, then came to a full stop. the shrill whistle which roy contemptuously characterized as a joke, broke the misty stillness with a shriek, that echoed and re-echoed, thrown back upon itself by some distant cave or hillside on the island. "goodness! i wouldn't mind a nice fire myself," said mollie, shivering with something a little more than cold. there was something mysterious about this island, shrouded as it was in the clinging mist--something that made the girls draw close together for companionship. "i hope it will be more cheerful in the daytime--the island, i mean, not the fire," she added. "girls," cried betty, "this looks like a regular adventure island. maybe we'll find the gypsies here." "oh, don't," shivered amy. "don't talk about gypsies--until daylight, at least." "here comes the rain!" roy shouted. "we'll have to hurry some, if we want to beat it to the house. here, will, take hold of this bag. quick, i can't carry more than three at a time." "give it to allen," will advised, as they tumbled out on the tiny wharf. "i have more than my share already." "oh, all right," said allen, "i'll be the goat. how about it, betty--shall we give them another race? it looks as if a little speed would come in handy." "no, let mollie lead this time. i hope she knows the way." "of course i do," said mollie, coming up behind them. "there isn't any way to find. the house is at the end of the wharf. follow us and----" "you'll get something to eat," roy finished for her. "we have the basket." "then you needn't worry about our following you," said allen. "only if you don't look out we will get there before you after all. come on, betty," and for the second time that day the young folks had a chance to test their skill in running. the main thing was that they got there before the rain. chapter x bright and early the morning dawned clear and bright. mollie woke first in the large, sunshiny room which the girls had chosen to occupy together during their stay on pine island. it contained two large double beds--each in a little alcove of its own. the spotless grass mats, the flowers that bloomed on the wide-silled, latticed windows gave the room an air of cheerful hominess and comfort that was very pleasant. all this mollie took in subconsciously as her sleepy gaze wandered about the room. then slowly full wakefulness banished the last vestige of sleep from her eyes and she sat up in bed. "the sun!" she cried joyfully. "and i was sure it was going to be rainy this morning! oh, now we shall see the island as it really is. wake up, amy, do! oh, goodness, how the child sleeps!" and she shook her slumbering friend with no uncertain hand. "there is no use, mollie," said betty's voice from the other end of the room. "you couldn't wake amy or grace without a good shaking." "what's that?" cried mollie, startled, as a loud knock sounded on the door. "i wonder who is coming to visit us so early?" "probably one of the boys," betty suggested, "come to tell us it is nine o'clock and high time we were up and dressed." "nine o'clock!" grace fairly stuttered, but just then mollie called out an impatient: "who's there?" in response to a second and harder knock at the door. "it's i, will. mrs. irving sent me up to ask when in the name of common sense you girls are coming down to breakfast." "what time is it?" betty countered. "if you tell us that, we'll tell you what time we are coming down." "it is half-past eight," will answered. "we fellows have been up since six o'clock getting our summer quarters fixed up!" "i won't believe it until i see it," said mollie darkly. "six o'clock, indeed!" and she sniffed disdainfully. "well, if you don't believe it," said will, through the keyhole, "all you have to do is to come down and see for yourself. we've got everything fixed up o. k. all right. but say! when are you fellows--i mean girls--going to get up?" "right away, will," betty promised, popping out of bed and into her slippers all at once. "we will be down in a jiffy." it required a great deal of tact to coax amy and grace out of bed, but it took a still greater amount of merciless driving to get them downstairs and into the big airy dining room, where mrs. irving was impatiently awaiting them. "here you are," she said, laying down her book as the four girls tumbled into the room. "i thought you would be tired after last night's fun, so i let you sleep it out." "well, we surely did sleep," said the little captain brightly. "i for one feel as if i'll never sleep again." "and i feel as if i could sleep forever," said grace. "you never saw anything like betty, mrs. irving," she complained. "why, i do believe she could have made a fortune in the old days as an overseer down south." mrs. irving laughed. "you don't look especially brow-beaten," she said. "and anyway, i should think you would be glad to get up--you must be nearly starved to death." "i thought after last night, and the chicken, i could never eat again," said mollie, her eyes sparkling at the memory. "but i find that i can, very easily. oh, mrs. irving, what is there?" "well," their chaperon began, "there are the eggs we had put up with the other things yesterday and some fruit and honey and we can make some fluffy white biscuits in no time----" "oh, oh, say no more!" said betty, clapping her hands joyfully and executing a little dance about the room. "honey and biscuits--i could make a meal of them alone. mrs. irving, show me the stove--lead me to it--and i'll make the biscuits," she finished importantly. "mrs. irving," grace pleaded, turning to the chaperon, "you are the only one here who could possibly make betty do anything that she didn't want to do or stop her doing anything she had set her heart on. won't you please interfere for the sake of the community? it might really be dangerous," she added plaintively. "don't worry," mollie put in. "i have eaten betty's biscuits of old, and, believe me, they are good. all i ask is that you hustle, betty--shoo----" and she hurried the willing little captain before her into the kitchen. mrs. irving followed more slowly with amy and grace, and they were just in time to hear mollie's last sentence: "where have the boys disappeared to?" "they're out yonder in the woods," mrs. irving replied, indicating a spot beyond the cottage. "they were up very early this morning--couldn't wait to get the tents up. allen left word that they would stop around in a couple of hours to say good-afternoon to you girls--if you happened to be up by that time," and the little chaperon's eyes twinkled as she saw the look of rising indignation in the girls' faces. "if we happen to be up, indeed," sniffed betty, bustling around the kitchen in a business-like fashion, sorting out pans and getting out the flour, which mollie's aunt had very thoughtfully left in the larder. "if they talk like that much more, they won't get any of my biscuits. just wait till they smell them, girls--they will go down on their knees." "yes, the only way to manage boys is to feed them well," sighed amy, with a funny air of knowing all there was to be known about men. "oh, amy! amy!" gasped mollie, "you will be the death of me yet. anybody would actually think, to hear you talk, that you had really had some experience. say, betty," she added, regarding the doughy mixture--the result of betty's skillful manipulation, "that looks mighty interesting--i shouldn't mind learning how to make them myself." "oh, it's lots of fun," betty affirmed, cutting out the biscuits with an improvised cutter--this last being the top of a baking powder can. "only take my advice," she went on, standing with the cover poised in the air and speaking earnestly. "don't try it on your family first--they never appreciate you. why, the first time i made biscuits, do you know what dad said?" "no, but i can imagine," said grace, who had also been regarding the operation, "judging from what dad and will would have remarked." "well, he said," betty continued, patting the last biscuit into its appointed place and regarding her work with satisfaction, "he said the best thing i could do with them would be to pack them and send them to the old country to use in some of the new howitzers or something like that they are getting out. how is that for a slam?" "well, i shouldn't wonder," said grace wickedly, "if he were justified." betty turned and shot a reproachful glance at her friend. "just for that, grace," she said, "i ought to say you can't have any of these--works of art," indicating the pan she was putting into the oven. "why do you girls stand around staring at me anyway?" she added, a sudden note of impatience in her voice. "why don't you do something to earn your living? set the table or get the water boiling for the eggs. i can't do everything--now scatter! if you were all as hungry as i am you wouldn't wait to be told." laughingly the girls did as the little captain bid--somehow it was impossible to do anything else. "where is the table cloth, mollie?" called amy from the other room. "we used paper napkins and doilies last night." then she added, as mollie came to help her, "did you ever see anybody eat like those boys last night?" "it was a wonderful and awesome sight," mollie agreed, as she and amy spread the cloth. "i wonder," she added as a sudden thought struck her, "if the boys have had their breakfast." "what a question!" said grace, appearing at the door carrying a plateful of the most deliciously golden honey the girls had ever seen--or so at least it seemed to them. "do you imagine they could exist from six o'clock to ten without eating? mollie, i gave you credit for more sense." "is that so?" retorted mollie, cross because she was hungry. "well, i have a good deal more sense than some people i know. i mention no names, but see where i am looking," and she stared steadfastly at her unruffled chum, who was calmly setting the honey on the table. "here i am again," said betty, "acting the part of peacemaker. oh, girls, it is too wonderful a day for outdoor girls to quarrel. i am simply crazy to get out in the woods and just revel in the grass and the trees and the sunshine." and she glanced longingly out of the open door that led to the porch. "oh, i wish," she said, "i wish the biscuits could be done and eaten all in five minutes. amy, did you put the eggs in?" she demanded, and amy, who had been gazing out of the window, scuttled out to the kitchen obediently. the girls had nearly finished breakfast, when there was a sound of voices outside the door, and a moment later the boys burst in upon them. "hello!" said allen, evidently surprised. "i didn't expect to see you for another hour." "say, those biscuits look good," said roy. "i should say biscuit," he corrected himself. "say, betty, do you happen to have any more of those around?" "no, and you don't get this one, either. it belongs to amy," said betty decidedly. "she has had only three and i made four apiece." frank was just about to protest when she added compromisingly: "i'll make some more for lunch." "when is lunch?" inquired will practically. "twelve o'clock?" "no, about one," mollie answered. "we couldn't possibly eat before then." allen had been talking to betty in an undertone, and now he broke into the conversation with: "betty says she wants to see our camp. who cares to go along?" there was a clamorous assent followed by a faint little protest from grace. "don't you think we had better wash the dishes first?" she asked. "oh, hang the dishes!" said frank, inelegantly. "remember we are camping." "we'll wash them up with the lunch dishes," betty compromised, then added, with a sly little glance in allen's direction: "we'll make the boys wipe them for us." chapter xi a jolly trip the girls and the boys, laughingly driving mrs. irving before them, fairly tumbled down the shallow steps in their eagerness to feel the soft grass under their feet. as betty said, it was a glorious day, a typical day in early august, when a soft breeze tempers the heat of the scorching sun, and sets the trees to murmuring. the spicy air, sweet with the intoxicating scent of damp, moist earth and blossoming flowers, went to their heads like wine and they danced down the path that led through the woods on feet that scarcely touched the ground. soon they emerged from the dense shadows of the wood into the small clearing which was thick and mossy under foot, and there, nestling among the trees, were the two tents the boys had so laboriously constructed. "oh, it is ideal!" cried mollie, delightedly, as they stopped for a moment on the outskirts of the clearing to survey the scene. [illustration: they roamed about the clearing inspecting the tent critically. _page _ _the outdoor girls on pine island._] "glad you like it," said frank, then advancing toward the nearer of the two tents, he paused, turned, and made a low bow. "enter, fair damsels," he said. "he thinks he is reading 'a connecticut yankee in king arthur's court,'" drawled grace. "however, we will deign to honor you with our presence." and she swept past him with a queenly air that elicited amused laughter from the others. for more than an hour the outdoor girls and their friends roamed about the clearing inspecting the tent critically, inside and out, and picking flowers in between times. it was will who first suggested a change. "why not take a walk about the country?" he asked. "i guess we have seen all there is to be seen here. come on, everybody. i want to get a bigger appetite for lunch." "all right; where shall we go?" betty agreed readily. "your aunt must have told you about this part of the world, mollie. where can we find excitement?" "well, there is the summer colony at the other end of the island," mollie began doubtfully. "but it is rather a long way off. the steamer touches there from here." "too far to go before lunch," mrs. irving said. the party spent the rest of the time until one o'clock visiting the wharf and roaming the country in the immediate vicinity of the pretty bungalow. true to her promise, betty turned out at the appointed time a panful of the most appetizing biscuits, and let it be said here that the boys did them full justice--to say nothing of the girls. it was well on toward three o'clock before the girls had changed their morning middies and skirts for dainty afternoon dresses, and had made all other necessary preparations for a trip to town. mrs. irving declined to go, saying she wished to write letters. it was in the best of spirits that the party of young people stood on the end of the dock, waiting to hail the little steamer as it chug-chugged its way from the summer colony at the far end of pine island to the mainland. when finally it did come in sight, the girls and the boys found themselves convulsed with laughter. if the shabby little craft had appeared grotesque in the mist of the night before, how much more forlorn did it look in the full, dazzling glare of the sun! as it came nearer they saw that the decks were crowded with people, the gay dresses of the girls mingling with the white flannel trousers and dark coats of the men. "it's a wonder," said frank, "that with all that crowd of people paying good money to be towed ashore, they couldn't get something a little more modern. my! it looks as if it had come out of the ark." "oh, well, as long as it is seaworthy, i suppose they think it will do as well as any other," said roy. "the more some people make the less they like to spend." by this time the clumsy ferry had plowed its way to the wharf, and had come to a stop, while the people on board eyed the waiting young folks curiously. "guess they will know us the next time they see us," whispered allen. "we ought to hang out a placard: _don't stare. we don't look it, but we are human._" betty laughed gaily. "they do need a few lessons in manners." the bungalow party thoroughly enjoyed the trip to the mainland. the scenery was as beautiful as it had been pictured, and when they got tired of looking at the sky, the water, and the mainland, they had plenty to occupy their attention in the people about them. everybody seemed ready for a good time, and the old ferryboat was filled with shouts and laughter. "i shouldn't mind knowing some of those people," roy confided to allen, as they leaned against the shaky, old rail. "there's certainly nothing slow about them." "well, there is no reason why we shouldn't know them," said allen. "from what mollie says, they are pretty close neighbors. in fact, the girls said something about going over there this afternoon." "well," returned roy, "we can't go too soon to suit me." "if you are thinking of girls," said allen, as mollie and grace came up to them, "it is my opinion that they have nothing half so good to offer us as we have already." "i guess you are right," roy admitted, as they joined the rest of the party. "just look at all those dudes, staring at betty and grace! say! i'd like to teach them manners!" and he glowered at the unconscious boys from the summer colony with a ferocity that should have terrified the most hardy. "come away," said allen. "you can't blame them for doing just what we have done for the last two years," he added, dryly. "here we are, almost ashore," cried amy, a little later. "have you got the list of the things we need, allen? let's see--butter and sugar and baking powder and eggs and--oh, we mustn't forget the meat." "chocolates," murmured grace. "don't worry so soon, amy," laughed will. "there will be plenty of time for that when we get back to the island and find that we have forgotten half the things." "well, if we think of them now," said usually quiet amy, "there won't be any excuse for our forgetting them later." "well, but perhaps we shall need an excuse," reasoned will. "you would never make a good diplomat, amy." betty put her arm protectingly around the younger girl. "there is no reason why you should want to be that, is there?" she questioned. "amy thinks that as long as she feeds you boys well there is no need of----" "oh, betty, do stop," begged amy, her face flushing scarlet. "it isn't fair." "i know it," said betty soothingly, while the boys looked on, curious to know the meaning of this mystery. "i won't do it again, dear, i promise." "i wish you would tell us----" allen began, but once more mollie interrupted. "we had better get down near the front," she said, "or we'll not be able to get ashore in half an hour. did you ever see such a mob?" "it is considerable of a crowd," frank admitted. "i think mollie's suggestion is a good one, fellows. let's try to make an opening while we can." the boys managed so well that when the little boat scraped against the wall, their party was almost the first to set foot upon the land. "that was pretty good work," said will, with an air of satisfaction as they made their way to the shore, followed by a stream of laughing humanity. "i hope the girls didn't mind getting their dresses mussed. say, fellows, if any one should ask me, i'd tell them it was one peach of a day!" there being no disputing this fact, no one tried. the eight young people swung down the shaded street, feeling in tune with the whole world. they succeeded in finding the general store. "now get out that list, allen," said betty, as they entered the wide doorway. "it would really be a shame to forget anything." allen began to search through his pockets, calmly at first, then in frantic haste. seven pairs of eyes followed his panicky movements anxiously. "you have never gone and forgotten it?" cried mollie, in the awed tones of one announcing the end of the world. "oh, allen! you haven't?" "guess i have," he returned grimly, and, having searched through every pocket, began all over again. "it's strange--i could have sworn----" "you're a nice one----" grace began, but roy interrupted her with a shout that made their nearest neighbors turn and look at them curiously. "i have it!" he cried. "don't you remember, allen, that you gave it to me just before we left, while you ran back to get something for betty? behold," and he dangled the precious list before their eyes. "oh," sighed mollie in relief, "now if we girls had done anything like that----" "hands up, don't shoot!" cried roy. "we admit everything." chapter xii "where there is smoke----" the outdoor girls must have a fire. that they had decided at the supper table. what was the use of having a big fire-place if they never used it? betty's theory was, that it was wicked to let anything go to waste. all this being true, it stood to reason that a fire they must have. "i wonder if the boys wouldn't come in and help us build it," grace suggested, seized with a brilliant idea. "there are already some logs in the fire-place, but i feel that i would like to have somebody else work for me to-night." "why, of course," said mollie. "that's what we brought them with us for--to help out when they were needed." "they would be flattered if they could hear you," said amy. "i don't see why they insist on staying out in the woods and cooking their own meals. just think what fun we could have with them, if they were here now," put in mollie once again. "yes, but then think of all the trouble they would be making us," said betty. "besides," she added, "your aunt didn't say anything about a troop of noisy boys, mollie, when she lent us her bungalow for the summer." "that's right, too," mollie reluctantly conceded. "just the same i hope they haven't forgotten they are due here at six-thirty to wipe the dishes. there is _such_ a pile of them!" "methinks," grace announced solemnly, "that even at this moment i hear the sound of approaching footsteps." "how can you hear footsteps on the grass?" mollie demanded rudely. "you must have better ears than i have." "of course i have," grace retorted calmly. "i knew that long ago." before mollie could answer a head was poked in at the door and an accompanying voice asked cheerily: "may we come in? are we on time?" "you're as welcome as a day in june, frank," called betty, as she arose and started to take the dishes into the kitchen. "we want you to wipe these for us, and make a fire." "anything else?" frank inquired mildly, while the rest of him followed his head into the room. "the fellows told me to come on ahead, and say to you ladies that they would be here as soon as they got through scouring their frying pan." "poor boys," said amy impulsively. "why don't they bring the things here?" but mollie's thoughts took another direction. "i hope they bring back the sapolio," she said practically. "it was the only cake we had." betty paused half way to the kitchen and balanced her pile of dishes on one hand. "mollie," she cried in dismay, "they will never think of it! don't you think you had better go back and tell them, frank?" she said. "sure!" he answered obligingly, while he sunk into an easy chair with a sigh of content. evidently he was settled for the evening. "then why don't you go?" mollie demanded impatiently. "if boys aren't the most aggravating things, when they want to be!" she added. "there's plenty of time," frank assured her calmly. "i left the fellows in the first throes of cleaning up--they won't be through for half an hour at least." "well, i don't care," said betty, continuing her journeyings into the kitchen. "if we haven't anything to scour the pans with, then they'll not get scoured--that's all." "that's the spirit i like to see," said frank, and betty could have thrown something at him, with the greatest of pleasure. "it's fine to see anybody resigned to the inevitable." "well, i know one thing," mollie threatened, "if you don't go back in five minutes, i will," and for emphasis she banged the salt cellar forcibly upon the table. "what's the matter with our going together?" frank inquired, moving his head slightly to bring mollie within his range of vision. "the distance won't seem half as far if i have such pleasant company," he added gallantly. "don't do it," betty, coming in from the kitchen, advised. "make him work a little." "oh, you're only jealous because i didn't ask you," frank teased. "i always knew you thought a good deal of me, betty." she made a little face at him, but did not deign to reply. indeed, why should she--the accusation was so plainly absurd? long before they had expected, voices were heard in the distance and the most unearthly noises broke the woodland stillness. there was a banging of wood upon tin and the clatter of utensils mingling with the outrageous uproar from three pairs of sound and healthy lungs. there were shouts and war cries and yells, combining in a weird clamor that could be heard for miles around--or so it seemed to the girls. the girls looked at each other inquiringly--then made a concerted rush for the door. "oh, what a noise!" cried betty. "it's just as well there isn't anybody else in this part of the wood." a moment later the boys rushed upon them, vigorously pounding utensils, and shouting at the top of their voices. the girls gave way before them, and the roisterers tumbled in and took possession as though they were really the redskins, whose cries they were successfully imitating. they raced about the house like madmen, while the girls watched their antics in a peculiar frame of mind. if the truth must be told, they were undecided whether to be displeased or amused. amusement conquered in the end, however, for the boys were irresistibly funny, and the girls laughed till they ached and the tears rolled down their cheeks. after considerable time they all managed to quiet down enough to talk sense. "the girls want us to make a fire, fellows," said frank. "the idea looks good to me." "it is good," allen agreed. "give us the wood and matches, and we will have a fire going in no time." "the wood is in the fire-place," betty answered, "and mollie has the matches, i think." with this the boys set to work energetically, while the girls and mrs. irving stood about them in a semi-circle. "it's so different from building a fire in the open," amy commented. "i always love them. can't we toast marshmallows? that's the most fun of all." "we could if we had any," grace replied dryly. "i have some chocolates but you can't roast them, and nobody had the sense to think to buy marshmallows to-day." at this last remark, frank sat back upon his heels and favored mollie with a sly wink--while that young lady smiled mysteriously. "thereby hangs a tale of which you shall hear later," he said, and, in spite of all their urging, he could not be made to say another word. however, their curiosity was forgotten a moment later--forgotten in the excitement caused by a strange and curious happening. suddenly the smoke which had been rolling in clouds up the chimney, refused to roll farther. there being no other exit except into the room, the girls and boys suddenly found themselves suffocating. they choked, and the boys stumbled to their feet and followed the fleeing girls into the dining room. there was a chorus of sneezes and smothered cries of "i'm choking! open the window, some one, quick!" "the windows are open and the doors, too," gasped frank, in answer to this last request. "don't be alarmed, any one," allen commanded. "it's nothing but a clogged-up chimney, and that won't hurt anybody." "but the smoke!" gasped mollie. "why, the house will be ruined. what will aunt elvira say?" "oh, it won't hurt anything," said betty, making a brave attempt to push her way through the smoke into the living room. "but it is terrible. can't we do something to stop it, boys?" "i don't know how we can--unless----" roy turned quickly to mollie. "did your aunt say anything about a blower?" he asked eagerly. "i don't remember--i--i don't remember," stammered poor mollie, whose memory was being taxed to the utmost. "you might look though, and see what you can find." "oh, do hurry, somebody!" begged grace. "i'll take to the woods in another minute." "oh, have a little patience, sis, can't you?" cried will, losing his temper. "we are all doing the best we can." "but look," said mollie, suddenly pointing to the other room. "the smoke is beginning to clear and the wood isn't half burned out yet." "let's investigate," frank suggested. "maybe we can find out what is wrong with the thing. come on," and in they all trooped, coughing and choking, but dauntless. "get me a stick, will you, girls," roy entreated, as he went nearer to inspect the fire-place. "a broom will do. or anything else you happen to have around." mollie disappeared into the kitchen and returned a moment later, bringing back with her an old stick that looked as though it might have been a clothespole in its better days. "will this do?" she asked, holding it out to roy. "it was the only thing i could find." "just what i wanted," roy answered. "now, fellows, let's see what we can do with the thing." the four boys crowded around, peering up into the opening as if they hoped to find the solution of the mystery there, while the girls watched them with breathless interest. it was then that it happened. roy poked upward inquiringly with his stick, and for answer a cloud of soot and ashes discharged itself from the chimney, showering the boys' faces with grimy dust. they drew back with cries of disgust and began rubbing their eyes and faces furiously. then the four blackened adventurers turned to the girls appealingly. they looked so funny, standing there with their faces black and their clothes bespattered with grime and a look of sheepish chagrin on their faces, that the girls burst into gales of uncontrolled laughter. "you look just like candidates for a minstrel show," gasped mollie, while the boys stood regarding her reproachfully. "oh, boys, if you only had a mirror! if you only had!" chapter xiii the gathering of the clans "if you got us some soap and water," will suggested after they had indulged in some sheepish grins at their own expense, "you might be doing a little good in the world." "well, you ought to know how to find it yourselves," grace retorted. "suppose you go and wash, and make yourselves look like respectable citizens again--even though you aren't," she added sweetly. "look out, grace, some time we will get even for all the knocks you have been handing out," frank threatened, shaking a grimy fist in her direction. "now i don't suppose we can have a fire at all," sighed mollie, as the boys made a rush for the stairs. "and i did so want one." "if we can find a blower," allen shouted from the landing, "we'll have a good fire yet." "yes, look around, girls, will you?" roy added, "it will save no end of time." "do you know what a blower looks like?" mollie inquired, a puzzled frown on her forehead. "how can i find anything when i don't know what it looks like?" "oh, i know," said betty. "we used to have one at home before dad put the hood on the fire-place. let's go on a still hunt." this they did, and when the boys came down a few minutes later they proudly announced their discovery. "this is it, isn't it?" asked betty, indicating a big square of tin with a handle at the top. "it looks like the one we used to use." "it's exactly the thing," cried frank, pouncing on it eagerly. "now if this doesn't make the wood burn, nothing will." in less time than it takes to tell the boys had succeeded in igniting the green wood, and had applied the blower before the smoke had had a chance to get out into the room. the fire danced and glowed, while its leaping flames sent fantastic shadows playing hide and seek around the room. "how is this for a fire, eh?" said will, holding out his hand to the welcome warmth of the blaze, for although the days were hot, the nights were apt to be damp and cool on this island, surrounded as it was by the waters of the lake. "some time the girls will find out that we know our business pretty well. oh, that feels good!" "you are right," said frank, as they instinctively drew their chairs nearer to the fire. "now all we need is something to roast or toast, it doesn't much matter which." "that reminds me," said betty, turning accusing eyes upon roy and mollie, whose faces were clearly outlined in the dancing fire-light. "you two people over there seem to have a secret that you don't want to share with us. i think mrs. irving knows," she went on, turning an accusing eye on the chaperon where she sat in the midst of the circle, "but she won't let on. suppose you tell the rest of us what it is." "well, mollie said something about a fire," roy admitted, "and i thought a couple of boxes of marshmallows wouldn't be unwelcome; so, when the rest of you were all busy buying other things, mollie and i slipped off and got them. where are they, mollie?" "i'll get them," she answered, rising reluctantly from her comfortable chair. "i hid them. i knew that if grace once had an inkling they were in the house she would never rest till she found them. in that case----" she paused impressively, and looked about her, "there wouldn't have been one left by to-night." they laughed, well knowing the truth of this remark, while grace gave a sigh at being so misunderstood. a few moments later, mollie had returned with the cherished sweetmeats and the boys were busily engaged in the process of toasting them on the ends of long wire forks made especially for that purpose. "um--um, this is good," said betty, biting off the end of a delicious morsel. "why didn't you buy three boxes while you were about it, roy?" "that's all you get----" roy was beginning, when mollie interrupted him, speaking dreamily. "wasn't he a funny old man, roy?" she said--"the one who sold us the candies, i mean." "yes, i guess he must have been in his dotage," roy agreed. "in five minutes he told us all his life's history and then some." "that's pretty good," said allen with interest, while he dangled his marshmallow perilously near the leaping flames. "i bet you couldn't do as well." "i know i couldn't," roy answered modestly. "that old chap was a past master all right. some of the things he said were interesting, though. weren't they, mollie?" "very," said mollie, while she stared fixedly at the fire. "interesting and--a little creepy," she added. the girls started and leaned forward eagerly, mrs. irving and the boys evincing equal interest. "creepy!" amy repeated, in awed tones. "oh, mollie, what do you mean?" "just that," said mollie, enjoying the sensation she was making. "he was an awfully wizened old man, and when he heard we were from pine island--well, he told us some mighty queer things." "pine island?" cried mrs. irving, the color flaming into her cheeks, whether from excitement or the warmth of the fire, no one could tell. "what can be strange about pine island?" demanded betty. "mollie, i could shake you; why don't you tell us and have it over with?" mollie glanced at roy. "shall i?" she asked, just as if she had not been longing for the last half hour for the time to come when she could create a sensation by telling. "you might as well," he answered condescendingly. "as long as we have to have them around for the rest of the summer, we might as well let them in on it." "well of all the----" grace was beginning, when betty nudged her sharply. "don't interrupt, grace, whatever you do," she whispered. "they take long enough getting to the point anyway." grace saw the wisdom in this, and stopped short. "well," began mollie, speaking slowly and with aggravating distinctness, "you see, in the old days, this island used to be a rendezvous for all the wandering gypsies for miles around." "what?" frank cried. "well, i am only telling you what the old man said," asserted mollie defensively and with warmth. "i don't say he may not be mistaken----" "oh, that's all right, mollie," betty broke in quickly. "we understand that you are not vouching for the old man's honesty. all we want is his story. please go on--i am awfully interested." "just think, gypsies on this island!" murmured amy, shuddering. "he says," mollie continued, "in the old days there used to be as many as two or three hundred of the gypsies gathered around here--on this part of the island, too." she paused to see the effect of her words. "but didn't your aunt say anything about that, mollie?" grace queried. "why, it seems impossible. i don't wonder you felt creepy, especially if there are many like that old crone we saw in deepdale," and she glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the open window. "don't you think we had better lock the door?" suggested amy. "some of those men in the gypsy camp looked actually murderous." of course the boys laughed at her fears, and roy remarked casually: "the old chap told us something else, fellows, that may be of interest later on." "what's that?" will demanded. "he said that when the tide was on the ebb, you could actually ford the lake to the islands farther south. it might be worth while trying some time." "you bet it will!" said allen, and his eagerness was not feigned. "we'll try it the first chance we get," frank added. "we're going, too," said betty. "you needn't think you can leave us behind when there is anything like that afoot." "we wouldn't try," said allen, ruefully. "especially as you girls say you can swim." "however, they will have to prove that point," roy put in. "that's easy," said grace fearlessly. "as we have remarked before, we haven't been outdoor girls all our lives for nothing." "if you boys hadn't been so set on our looking at your old camp to-day," said amy with unusual spirit, "we would have proved it to you before this. but do you really think there are gypsies on the island?" she added. "because, if there are, we might be able to find some of their loot." she voiced this last desire in hushed tones. the girls laughed even while they drew their chairs still closer to the fire. "such a chance!" gibed will, but betty's eyes were shining in the glow of the fire-light. "oh, if we only could!" she whispered softly. "if we could only get the stuff stolen from deepdale!" chapter xiv a victory for betty breakfast was cleaned away and betty, with mollie at her heels, made a rush for the bedroom. "i'm willing to wager anything," called the former, gaily, "that i'll be in my bathing suit before any of the rest of you have started." "i hope the water isn't too cold," grace shivered, as she took out her bathing suit. "if there is anything i hate, it's trying to swim in icy water. it almost makes my heart stop beating." "all right, we'll have the weather man heat it for you," said betty, slipping into her neat little suit. "i don't know how the water can be cold, though," she added, "the air is suffocating to-day." "now--one, two, three--go!" and they were off like four little black sprites, down the broad stairway and into the living room where the boys were already assembled, talking to the chaperon. the boys wore raincoats over their bathing suits; and, as the girls entered the room, they shouted a merry greeting. "so soon?" called frank in surprise. "why, we didn't expect to see you for an hour at least." "an hour?" said betty, with feigned indignation--for she was a good little actress, was betty. "why, we thought you were never coming!" "you mean to say you were waiting for us?" said allen, incredulously. "betty, are you telling the truth? mrs. irving, is she?" "i assure you i was too busy finding my bathing suit and getting into it to know just when the girls were ready," responded the chaperon. at one part of the island the ground dipped gradually so that one might have any depth of water desired, and it was to this part that the young folks made their way. "remember----" said frank, referring to the conversation of the night before, "remember, you girls will have to prove your claims to championship swimming this morning. if you were just faking, now is the time we'll find you out." "we're not faking," mollie denied stoutly. "i learned to swim when i was nine years old, and i've been swimming ever since." "really?" roy inquired with interest. "then you must be mollie's ghost, while the real mollie is swimming around out there somewhere," waving his hand in the direction of the water, "chumming with some of the beautiful water nymphs. just think, nothing to do but swim for--how many years is it, mollie?" he asked. "goose!" was all she answered, but that one little word managed somehow to contain a world of scorn. "you try it first, will," begged his sister. "then you can tell us whether it is cold or not." "say, what kind of sport are you, anyway?" will demanded. "that's the way with girls--they all make a big bluff about being able to do what we can, and then when it actually comes down to business they want to try it on us first. i'd like to see one of you go in first!" betty made a dash for the water. "wouldn't it be nice," she flung back at him over her shoulder, "if all wishes could be granted so easily. come on, girls--we'll show them a thing or two," and she waded in till the water was above her waist, then plunged in over her head. mollie followed close upon her heels and it was a moment before the boys realized what had happened, and could rouse themselves to action. "come on, fellows!" allen shouted. "we can't let two girls get the best of us like that." mrs. irving, who was at home in the water, entered and swam out boldly. "are you going to stay there?" frank shouted to amy and grace, who stood uncertainly on the bank, undecided whether to advance or retreat. "come on in--the water's fine." thus encouraged, the two girls threw caution to the winds, and waded in till the warm water was up to their shoulders. "oh, it is wonderful!" cried amy. "look how far we are behind. let's see if we can't catch up with them." and they started off with a will after their deserting comrades. it was not long before the powerful strokes of the boys brought them up beside mollie and betty who were swimming easily. "hello, runaways," was frank's greeting, turning over on his back and propelling himself by a whirlpool motion of his arms. "thought you'd give us the slip, did you? well, we shall see." betty followed frank's example, floating lazily on the still surface of the water. "we weren't running away," she said; "we just wanted to show you we weren't afraid, that's all." "i'll give you a race to that floating log out there, betty." betty turned over and regarded the log in question with thoughtful eyes. "all right," she agreed, after a moment's hesitation. "i guess i can make that easily enough. will you call the start?" "just as you say," he answered. "we are almost even now, and when i say go, we're off. agreed?" "uh'huh," answered betty. "all right. one--two--three--go!" they shot forward together, side by side and shoulder to shoulder, each determined to save his strength for the final spurt. by this time the others had come up and were watching the race with interest. on, on the two racers went, with no apparent effort, until half the distance to the log had been covered. it was then that the watchers noticed the change. betty lengthened her stroke a trifle and forged ahead, while frank still kept the same steady stroke. then, when more than half of the remaining distance had been covered, frank evidently made up his mind that it was time to show those people some real speed. suddenly he dropped the lazy stroke, and it seemed as though he were imbued with new life. his arms and legs worked together with the precision of a machine and he shot through the water like a catapult. betty was not prepared for so sudden a transformation, but her surprise lasted only a minute. gallantly she gathered all her strength and made a dash for the goal. "i see betty's finish," will was saying, when mollie cried excitedly: "you just watch betty. did you ever see a girl like her?" as allen came up beside the pair he thought that at last he and mollie had found something to agree upon. they watched betty with straining eyes. "she'll do it!" cried allen. "i never thought it was possible for a girl to swim like that. look, she has caught up to him." it was so. betty had used the last ounce of strength in her strong, young arms and the result was a tie. she and frank laid hands upon the log at one and the same instant. frank shook the water from his eyes, and regarded his rival in amazement. "how did you ever do it?" he questioned. "i thought i had you beat a mile." "well, that's where you had another think coming." betty would not have been human had she not gloried in this victory--for even a tie with one of frank's strength and muscle was a triumph. "i told you i could swim." "hoorah for the cham_peens_!" shouted will as the others reached the goal a few moments later. "that's pretty good work, betty. i have to hand it to you." "don't you think we had better get to the shore and rest a while?" roy suggested. "amy and grace seem to have gotten there before us, and mrs. irving has gone back to the bungalow." the others agreed and they all swam lazily toward the mossy bank. betty drew herself up and sank upon the grassy knoll with a sigh of utter relaxation. "i'd like to give you a longer race," said frank, whose near defeat at the hands of a girl was hard to bear. "i bet i could beat you easily on a long stretch." betty sat up suddenly and stared at him. "frank haley!" she cried, "i've a good mind to take you up." "a race! a race!" cried mollie, clapping her hands in delight. "oh, i'd love to see it." "go on, frank, set the day," allen urged. "after what you said you are in honor bound to give betty a chance." "i am perfectly willing," said frank, glancing toward betty. "what do you say about it?" "you can't arrange it too soon to suit me," betty answered, undaunted. chapter xv a splendid catch "can't anybody think of anything to do?" mollie queried impatiently. "i'll go crazy if i have to sit around here for another half hour," and she dug the toe of her shoe into the soft sward viciously. "you are not very flattering to our company," said roy, leaning on one elbow and smiling up lazily at the straight little figure beside him. mrs. irving was lying down and the rest of the party was gathering about the camping place of the boys, some roaming about restlessly and others sitting upon the grass. it was a sultry, scorching day, when not a breeze came to temper the heat--a day when the slightest movement produces the effect, as mollie had said, "of a fire lighted right under your nose." the young people were restlessly on edge, undecided what to do. it was too hot to make the long-looked-for walk to the summer colony a possibility. of course they could swim, but this they had done all morning long and one couldn't swim forever! this was the state of affairs then, when mollie made her petulant remark. "that's nonsense," she retorted, in reply to roy. "it isn't the company i find fault with, it's the atmosphere." allen and betty, who had come back from a little ramble in the woods, surveyed the scene thoughtfully. "i tell you what we can do," said allen, and the two on the grass regarded him hopefully. "we fellows have brought some fishing tackle--suppose we go out and try to get some fish for supper? that doesn't require much energy," he added. "allen, you have saved my life!" cried mollie, springing up from the mossy rock, which had been her seat. "can't we go right away? oh, do call the others and ask them to hurry!" "take it easy," roy cautioned, still stretched out on the grass. "you'll get all heated up again. besides there's no such awful rush--we have all the time there is before us." but mollie was all action, now that there was some definite point in view. she called the others to her, speaking quickly. "we are going to catch some fish," she announced eagerly. "or at least we are going to try to." "try is good," murmured frank, but mollie continued, unheeding. "it is strange that i didn't remember before," she went on, "what aunt elvira said about the wonderful fishing pool about a mile away." "a mile!" groaned grace. "do you mean to say that we have to walk a mile in this blazing heat?" "nobody _has_ to," mollie retorted. "it's only a question of wanting to. i'm going if i have to go alone." "oh, come on, grace, be a sport," frank coaxed. "just think how nice and shady and cool it will be when we get there. it _will_ be nice and shady and cool, won't it, mollie?" he added, turning to her for confirmation. "nice rocks with great, big trees shading them and clear, cold water with lots of fish in it and--and--oh, everything!" she agreed in a burst of enthusiasm. "that sounds mighty good to me," said roy. "now for the fishing tackle--where is it, fellows?" "oh, wait a minute," called mollie, as they made a rush for the tents. "there are some rods up at the house, too. we might as well take all we can get." "good!" said will. "i'll go with the girls, fellows, and help them while you are getting things ready." their present elation was very different from the apathy which had possessed them so short a time before. indeed, mollie's description of the fishing pool was very alluring. "whereabouts did you see the tackle, mollie?" will asked, as they entered the house. "oh, i can find it," said mollie with conviction. "i think there were four rods. i hope i wasn't mistaken." "if you were," said amy, "one of us will have to sit still and watch!" "and i think i know who that will be," said will with a sly glance at his sister. "just for that," grace retorted, "i'll show you the best catch of the day." "we shall see," said mollie, opening the door of a small closet under the stairs. "look," she added, "there they are. you're a judge of rods, will--how do these look?" will took them in his hands and examined them minutely. "they're pippins!" he exclaimed joyfully. "i don't know when i've seen a better outfit. you ought to be able to catch all the fish in the lake with these, girls," and he regarded them admiringly. "we'd better watch out for the boys," said amy, wisely, as they left the house. "they will be exchanging their rods for ours, if we aren't careful." they all laughed, including mrs. irving, who had come downstairs. she had not been feeling well of late--the heat had been too much for her--but she had announced a strong desire to accompany the young folks, if they went very far from home. they found the three boys industriously digging worms, and so intent were they in this absorbing occupation that they did not look up when the party approached. "what are you doing?" grace asked, and then, as allen held up a wriggling candidate for the hook, she shivered and drew back in disgust. "ugh," she said, "how i hate the nasty things! somebody will have to bait my hook for me. i couldn't do it in a million years." "all right, nobody asked you to. how's that for a good fat one, eh?" asked roy, as he held up an unusually fine one for her inspection. "why is it boys always have to tease?" betty asked of the world in general. "we know you have to have worms for bait, but that doesn't make us like to look at them." "well, i guess that's enough," said allen, clapping the top on the big tin box, and getting to his feet. "now if the fish don't like the bait any better than you girls, i shouldn't wonder if we got done out of our supper." "my aunt says they are wonderfully agreeable," said mollie as they started down the path, "especially in that pool. she says they just fall over one another in their hurry to get caught." "and you waited all this time to tell us about it," said allen reproachfully. "and even then i had to suggest it." "yes, if it were just an ordinary pool you could understand it," frank added. "but a marvel like this! gee, those fish must be hungry!" the outdoor girls and their companions tramped for what seemed to them a very long time, but at last they were rewarded by a vision of a beautiful glade--all trees and rocks and crystal-clear water. "well, this looks like something," said will, drawing a deep breath. "i wouldn't mind camping here for the rest of the season." betty laughed. "you would either have to saw down about a hundred trees," she said, "or camp in the pool with the little fishes." "well, it might not be so bad at that," said will, cheerfully, while he helped amy over the uneven places. "i could have fish dinners if i wanted them anyway." "well, there is nothing like looking on the bright side of things," laughed allen. "look, betty, here is a place that was just made for you. seat and back and everything complete. isn't it a dandy?" "do i dangle my feet over it?" asked betty doubtfully, surveying the water beneath. "suppose one of my slippers dropped off?" "i suppose i'd go down and get it," he said, brushing the difficulty aside with a wave of his hand. "but it would be ruined," wailed betty. "they don't feel very tight, you know." allen ran his hand through his hair in evident perplexity. then his brow cleared before the light of a sudden inspiration. "can't you take them off?" he asked eagerly. "allen!" she cried. "what an idea! of course i can't." "well, what are you going to do then?" he demanded despairingly. "i've suggested everything i could think of and you certainly can't stand up all afternoon." "what are you two talking about?" grace demanded. "don't you know you are blocking the way?" "i don't want to put my feet over the edge," betty explained. "and i don't know what else to do." "follow my example," mollie suggested. "sit on 'em." "good idea," betty agreed. and she immediately plumped down on her two slim ankles, looking up at allen invitingly. "you look so far away," she said. "when you sit down you are not nearly so impressive. there's plenty of room for two," and she patted the rock beside her. allen obediently stretched his long length on the turf at her side, letting his legs hang over. "you see i'm not afraid to risk a dip in the aqua pura," he said. "it wouldn't ruin my dainty little gunboats." "it looks as if nothing would hurt them but an axe," frank remarked. he had seated himself next to allen and betty, after having made grace comfortable, and was busily engaged in baiting his hook. "you'd better hurry up, allen--we'll have all the fish in the place hooked before you get started." "oh, no you won't," said allen. "hand us some of those worms, will, will you?" "don't let them come too near me, will you, allen?" begged betty. "i don't like them much more than grace does." "anybody would think you were talking about some lion or tiger from the jungle," laughed allen, as will handed him the bait, "instead of three little, harmless, unoffending worms----" "who seem to be running in a streak of hard luck," frank finished, as he cast his line into the water. "it does seem foolish," betty admitted, taking her rod from allen's hand, "but i can't help it. come, little fishes," she called, casting her line far out into the pool. "right this way! you have got to live up to the reputation mollie has given you." allen had just succeeded in landing a magnificent, big fish, and was holding it down to keep it from sliding into the water, when a terrified cry broke the stillness. "help! help! i am drowning." for one stupefied instant, the fishers gazed dumbly at one another. then allen released his hold on the big fish, letting it slide unheeded into the water, and led the dash through the woods. "help! help!" called the voice again, fainter this time. "keep up your courage!" allen shouted. "we are coming!" chapter xvi not a moment too soon "oh, oh!" betty almost sobbed, as they stumbled on over stumps and fallen logs. "if the boys can only get there in time--if they only can!" as allen was the first to start, so he was also the first to reach the water's edge. he was just in time to see two hands above the surface of the water--two hands clutching in anguish. as he rid himself of his shoes in frantic haste, there was one thought and one only in his mind--to reach the helpless owner of those hands and bring her back to life and hope. he was sure it was a girl--those little appealing hands could belong to no other. the next moment he was in the water, swimming desperately toward the point where he had seen the hands disappear. oh, he would never reach it! the water seemed to be some living thing, pushing him; driving him back to the shore in spite of himself! his muscles seemed weighted with lead, his sodden clothing dragged upon him mercilessly! oh, he would never reach her in time--he couldn't! then a wild, hot thought flashed through his consciousness, searing it like a flame. now was no time to say he could not! he must! _he must!_ a life depended on his ability to reach that spot when the girl came to the surface again--if indeed she ever did. ah, perhaps what he had seen had been the last time. then he must dive, dive, dive until he found her, even though he lose his own life in the attempt. but no--there right before him so near that he could almost touch it, a figure rose to the surface, struggling faintly. with one supreme effort allen forged ahead and grasped the skirt of the girl's bathing suit as she sank for the last time beneath the surface. "thank god!" he murmured, as he raised the girl's head, with its mass of tangled hair, above the water. "oh, thank god!" as he turned and started to swim slowly back to shore with his burden, he almost ran into the other three boys who had followed close upon his heels. "oh, you've got her, have you?" said frank, unutterable gladness in his voice. "i was sure you would be too late." "it may be yet," said roy, "if we don't get her to shore pretty quick. here, let me take her, old man--you're all tuckered out." allen willingly released his burden, and they swam as quickly as they could to the shore. they found the girls waiting for them, with white, strained faces. "oh, oh!" cried grace, as they lifted the poor little inert body on to the bank. "oh, do you suppose she is dead?" "well, she will be if we don't hurry pretty fast," said betty, her voice trembling but determined. "boys, look about and see if you can find anything round and hard that we can use in place of a barrel. oh, do hurry! mollie, you take her other arm and move it up and down--that's the way--hard--hard." mollie did as she was told and in less time than seemed possible the boys returned bringing with them part of a fallen log. this betty declared was the very thing. for half an hour they worked over the unconscious form and more than once during that time, they had almost given up hope of bringing back the spark of life. then, all at once, a change took place--the ashy look of her face gave way to a faint tinge of color--the blue lips parted in something very like a sigh, and her hands, which had been lying inert and lifeless at her side, twitched almost imperceptibly. "oh, she's coming back! she's coming!" cried amy almost in tears. "oh, i was sure she was dead!" "hush," betty cautioned her in a whisper. "i think she knows what we are talking about," then bending over the girl she said very gently: "do you feel better, dear?" slowly the eyelids fluttered, and the eyes gazed vaguely up into betty's sweet ones. the lips moved and betty bent down closer to listen. "i don't know you, do i?" the words were almost inaudible. "i--i--don't seem to remember----" "don't try, my dear," said betty soothingly, while two tears made their way down her face, only to be dashed away impatiently. "you have been through a terrible experience, and you don't have to think very hard just now--there is plenty of time." slowly, understanding replaced the vague wonder in the girl's eyes, and she reached out with an unsteady hand to touch betty's white dress. "i wanted to be sure you were real," she explained, smiling wistfully. "i was afraid you might vanish. will you help me to remember?" she pleaded. betty's warm heart went out to the girl, and when she spoke her voice was full of pity and tenderness. "i'll help you as far as i can," she promised. "you were swimming and something happened that made you cry for help. luckily we happened to be near and one of the boys got you and brought you back to land. and here you are getting strong and well again," she finished brightly. "well, whoever you are, you're a dear," said the stranger, the emphasis showing how quickly she was gaining strength. "i remember now all about it. mother and dad have told me over and over that i must not come over here alone; but the day was perfect for a swim and no one else would come, so i slipped off by myself. i was swimming all right, and then i was taken with cramps. oh, oh, it was terrible!" and she covered her face with her hands to shut out the memory. "don't think of it," said amy compassionately, kneeling down beside the girl and taking the cold hand in hers. "it's all over now, and you are safe and sound. try just to remember that." the girl looked up wonderingly at the sweet girlish faces gathered about her. "i think you must be a--a company of angels," a sharp sob broke the attempt at a laugh--for she was still very weak. "you are all so good to me i----" "you would have done the same for any of us," said betty, trying hard to keep her voice matter-of-fact. "so you needn't thank us for it. how are you feeling--better?" "a great deal," answered the girl, with a grateful glance toward betty. "i almost feel as if i could stand up." "if you want to try, one of the boys will help you," grace suggested, turning to the latter, who had been standing several feet back from the little group, natural delicacy forbidding them to intrude. but now, being thus appealed to for help, they stepped forward like one person, offering assistance. they helped the girl to her feet and steadied her as she stood, weak and trembling. she looked from one to the other with a wan little smile on her lips. "which one of you have i to thank for--for saving me?" she asked. "none of us," said roy, with an attempt at gallantry which was rendered funny by his extremely sodden aspect. "it was a pleasure." noting the girl's bewilderment, betty hastened to explain. "they all did it," she said; "but if credit is due to any one of them it must be given to allen for reaching you first." "nonsense!" said allen, abashed at being brought into the limelight. "i was nearer than the other fellows, that's all. what's the use of talking about it, anyway?" "there is a good deal of use, i think," the girl answered softly. "if you people hadn't been so good and kind to me, i would have----" she paused before the word, and shivered again in her weakness. "don't think of it any more," betty urged. "now, what you most need is rest. if we could get you back to our cottage or, perhaps, to your own people----" she paused questioningly. "oh, please," said the girl, "if you could only get me back to the hotel, you don't know how grateful i would be. mother and dad will be crazy." "if we were only nearer our bungalow, we might take you back there and then send word to your mother and father," said mollie, thoughtfully. "but i guess it is just about as far one way as the other." "yes, the best thing we can do," mrs. irving decided, "is to get her as quickly as possible to the summer colony. that is where you come from, isn't it?" she asked. the girl nodded. all this time she had been standing, supported on either hand by roy and will. but now allen had a suggestion to make. "we could make a seat," he said, "and carry her the rest of the distance to the colony. the sooner we start the better it will be." on this plan they agreed. very naturally the girl was strainingly eager to relieve the anxiety of her parents--to let them know she was safe again. allen and frank, being the stronger of the boys, volunteered to carry the slight girl--she was young, scarcely sixteen--for the first half mile. then the other two boys were to carry her the rest of the distance. in a moment the little procession was formed, and it started off for the woods, toward the summer colony. allen and frank moved in front with their burden, followed by the four girls and mrs. irving, while roy and will brought up the rear. the boys were wet to the skin, and even on a scorching day in august that is anything but a pleasant sensation. then, too, the way was rough, and the briers and brambles along the path scratched their hands and tore at their clothing. ordinarily all these petty annoyances would have tended toward making them irritable and cross, but on this day all such trifles passed over their heads unnoticed. for had they not between them done a marvelous thing? to save one life--to have brought back from eternity one little soul--was there not joy enough in that to last them all their days? the girls thought there was. after a walk that seemed endless, will called out to the boys in the front: "isn't it time for relief work, allen? we must have traveled more than half a mile." "we're not tired," allen shouted back. "the hotel is right ahead--we can carry her for the rest of the way." "just as you say," roy answered. "but we are ready whenever you want us." "all right," called allen. "we may be glad of your help yet;" and so the little party went on. a few moments later they heard voices directly ahead, and anita--for that, she had said, was her name--raised her voice excitedly. "they are probably coming in search of me," she cried, cheeks flushing with the hope of it. "i knew they would! oh, i knew it! dad! conway!" she called. "nita! where are you?" a voice shouted back, unutterable relief vibrating in every syllable. "call again!" anita obeyed with a will. "just keep on the way you are coming. i'm all right, but please hurry!" then the two relief parties came face to face. frank and allen set the girl gently upon her feet and her father caught her in his arms. "you're safe!" he murmured over and over again. "my little girl!" and the others turned away before the depth of his emotion. his weakness lasted only a moment, then recovering his self-control he handed anita over to the affectionate bear hugs of an elder brother, and turned to his daughter's rescuers. "madam," he said to mrs. irving, "if you will tell me to whom i am indebted for anita's safe return, i will try to thank him or her or all of you as the case may be. although thanks at this time seem a small return for such a service." "i am sure none of us wish any thanks for whatever little help we may have been able to render your daughter," mrs. irving answered, with grave courtesy. "we can only thank a kind fate for leading us within hearing distance of her appeal for help. the rest is simply what you and your son would have done for any of us had we been in similar danger." "that doesn't make what you have done any the less splendid," anita's brother broke in impulsively, holding his sister as though he would never let her go again. "anita is tired now, but when we hear the whole story, i know we are going to be even more grateful to you than we were before--eh, anita?" "oh, they were wonderful to me," said the girl, her eyes shining like stars. "if it hadn't been for them--i don't dare--think----" and again her hand flew to her eyes to shut out the horror of that awful moment. suddenly all mrs. irving's mother instinct rose to the fore, and she spoke impulsively. "take the child home," she begged; "what she needs more than anything else is rest. you can see she is at the breaking point." mr. benton looked at his daughter, who indeed was trembling like a leaf in her brother's arms, and saw the truth of the statement. "you are right," he said slowly. "we can't get anita home too soon." then, turning once more to mrs. irving, he added, while his eyes traveled over the group of girls and boys behind her: "although we haven't time now to become better acquainted, we are going to stay here the rest of the summer, and if you expect to remain our neighbors----" "yes, father," broke in anita, "they live at the bungalow at the other end of the island, and they have already invited conway and me to visit them. when shall we go, con?" "as soon as you are able, sister dear," conway benton said fondly. "i'll be glad to go any time. now we will have to get you home." so, after many words of mutual understanding and friendliness, they parted and went on their separate ways. "i guess we shall have just time to get the fish and reach the bungalow before dark," said mrs. irving, as our party started to retrace their steps with weary feet and joyful hearts. it was not till they had nearly reached the fishing pool that allen thought of his big fish. "it was wicked to let that beauty go," he said, gazing ruefully into the pool. "he was the king of them all." "yes, but just see what you accomplished," betty said at his elbow, softly. "what you did to-day is worth a million fish." "yes, and there are plenty more where that came from," he added, smiling down at her. "now let's hike along home--i am getting hungry." chapter xvii beneath the moon "i have often read about it, but i never thought i would be fortunate enough to actually see it," said amy, clasping her hands behind her head, and gazing out at the blue of an azure sky. the four girls were seated on the steps of the veranda talking, talking over the events of the day before and speculating as to the future. "well, it scared me nearly to death," said grace, who was curled up on the lower step, with a cushion brought from the house acting as head rest. "i declare when i saw them drag her up on the bank, betty, i thought that she was dead. she looked so drawn and white, and----" "well, you couldn't expect her to look particularly rosy and happy, after all she had been through," mollie remarked. "if i had been doused under water as long as that poor girl was i would not only have looked dead, i'd have been it." "oh, i don't know," grace retorted lazily. "if i'm not mistaken it would take a good deal to stop that tongue of yours, mollie." "speak for yourself," mollie was beginning angrily, when betty entered into the conversation. she had been dreamily studying the shimmering ripples the soft wind had stirred upon the surface of the water. "some day," she began in a sing-song voice, her eyes still fixed on the distance, "i'm just going to let you two go on to the bitter finish. i shouldn't wonder if you will be like the two cats of kilkenny. you remember what they did, don't you?" "no, what?" asked mollie, and grace added: "we might just as well know where our bad tempers are going to land us. what did they do, betty?" "they fought and they fit and they scratched and they bit," chanted betty, "till instead of two cats there weren't any." "i guess we had better take warning while there is still time, grace," said mollie, with a little laugh. and so for the time being at least peace was restored. "but when do you suppose anita and her brother will come to see us?" asked amy. "i do hope it won't be very long." "i think amy likes conway," said grace, then turning to betty she asked meaningly: "do you, by any chance, believe in love at first sight?" "oh, i think it can be done," betty answered, her eyes twinkling with fun as she looked at amy's flushed face. "at least, i do believe in strong attractions at the first meeting. perhaps that is all amy has felt just yet." "oh, girls!" implored amy, in an agony of bashfulness, "i don't like conway benton one bit more than any of the rest of you, and you know it. i think it is mean for you to tease." "oh, amy, dear, it is only fun," cried betty, throwing an arm about her friend. "we don't really think that you have been smitten with a stranger's charms. still _stranger_ things have happened." "i don't agree with you," said amy, and they wisely forbore to pursue the subject. "oh, but didn't that fish taste good last night?" said mollie, coming down to every-day matters. "i never ate anything like it in all my life." "that's because we caught it ourselves," said grace, unconsciously voicing a common trait in human nature. "let's take fish out of the conversation for a little while," betty suggested, "and talk about something romantic." "for instance?" grace inquired, with uplifted eyebrows. "the gypsies," betty answered. "ever since the other night i've been wondering if there was anything in what that old store-keeper said." "i hope not," said amy, with a shudder. "i am more afraid of them than anything else in the world, i think." "i don't see why," mollie reflected. "probably they are a great deal more afraid of us." "well, all gypsies are akin, they say; so maybe we could find out something about mr. ford's beauty and about mrs. billette's silver," returned betty. "oh, don't talk about that," cried mollie. "it fairly makes me sick, for i'm sure we shall never hear of the things again." "i wonder when the boys are going to try to ford to the islands?" said grace. "the tide's getting low now." "hello! where is everybody?" it was will's voice calling from the woods. "we are going for a paddle--who wants to come along?" "ask us," called betty. "we were just hoping you'd come to life." "ah, the voice of the siren," called will, over his shoulder. "come on, fellows, let's break up this galaxy of beauty." the boys sauntered up to the group of girls, and sprawled upon the steps wherever there was room. "where _have_ you kept yourselves all morning?" mollie inquired, as frank drew a bur from her white skirt. "if you hadn't come pretty soon, we were going over to look for you." "oh, just around clearing up," frank replied, with a vague little gesture. "if we had known how much you wanted to see us, we would have left some things undone." "you needn't have hurried on my account," grace drawled. "i don't know when i have ever felt happier than i did before you came. oh, roy, do look out, you are sitting on my dress." roy rose with alacrity. "gee! a fellow can't do anything around here without getting sat on," he complained. "it seems to me it was grace's dress that was being sat on that time, not you," betty remarked, with a glint of mischief in her eyes. "i wonder if anybody else has ever noticed," she went on, "the funny habit all you boys have of blaming somebody else for blaming you." "you're away too deep for me, betty," roy protested with a shake of his head. "that must be a mighty funny habit." "to change the subject," said allen, rising and stretching his arms far above his head, as if to make sure his muscles were still in good condition, "who wants to share a nice little canoe with me? your aunt sure knew what she was doing, mollie." "we would all like to go, i know," said betty, with a doubtful glance at the fast sinking sun. "only i am afraid it is pretty near dinner time." "well, i tell you what we'll do," said frank, with sudden inspiration. "we'll postpone our canoeing trip till to-night. there is going to be a fine moon." "what difference does that make?" grace asked severely. "i think we had better go now, and have a fire this evening." "oh, grace, don't be a kill-joy," said her brother. "it is going to be too wonderful a night to spend indoors." "well, if mrs. irving says so," she began, and they all knew it was settled. "have dinner early, will you?" roy urged, taking out his watch. "it is a quarter past five now. can you be ready to start by six?" "oh, long before," mollie assured him, rising hurriedly, and starting toward the house, while the others followed her example. then after a whispered consultation with the girls at the door, she turned and threw the boys a merry glance. "if you are very good," she said, "we will let you eat with us to-night." "fine!" cried allen. "and biscuits, betty?" "biscuits," she answered. they were hilarious all during the meal. in the first place, everything was delicious, and in the second, everybody was in the best of spirits. afterward they cleared away the dishes in no time, and the four girls, mrs. irving having refused to be of the party, ran upstairs to get the light wraps that were always needed at night. the boys met them outside as they rushed down laughing and breathless, and ready for a good time. "i hope it doesn't take the moon till twelve o'clock to show itself," said will, as they made their way down the walk and on to the float where the canoes were attached. "mrs. irving says that we are to be back by ten o'clock at the latest." "that will give us plenty of time," frank answered. "don't you remember we saw it a little after seven last night?" "it's lucky these canoes are eighteen feet long," said allen, as he unfastened the rope. "otherwise we would have to take turns paddling." "who's going to do the work first?" asked betty. then she added: "i love to paddle." "if nobody has any objection," said allen, "you shall. grace, you drop into the middle with frank, until it comes your turn to do the work. betty may like it, but i must say i'd rather watch you people slave." "all right, we'll go fifty-fifty with you," frank agreed cheerily. "here, grace, step in the middle--that's the way. now we are all settled. let her go, captain." allen swung himself into the stern, and deftly pushed the canoe clear of the swaying float. "all right," he sang out. "left hand or right, betty? it makes no difference to me. now for the moon." "look out, allen, you are getting poetical," warned betty, as she dipped her paddle into the clear water. "many a man has reached for the moon, only to find that he had plucked some green cheese." "are you sure it wasn't limburger?" asked frank, mildly for so strong a subject. "ugh, don't!" cried grace. "how i hate even the name of the horrid stuff!" "and on a night like this, too," said betty. "can't we talk about something less odoriferous?" "remember you started it," said frank defensively. "yes, i know, but what i spoke of is such a wee little cousin to----" "is that the dipper up there, frank?" grace asked, in haste to change the subject. "somehow it doesn't look natural." frank squinted aloft. "that's our same old friend," he said. "by the way, speaking of dippers, i am getting thirsty." "well, i can't give you a drink, but i can feed you. have a chocolate?" cried grace. "oh, grace!" protested betty, "you never brought chocolates along?" "to be sure i did. why not?" "you are hopeless," laughed frank. "look at that shooting star," said betty, pointing with her paddle. "oh, that was a beauty!" "did you wish on it?" asked grace eagerly. "i didn't know i had to. goodness, did i throw away an opportunity?" betty's tone was dismayed. "why, of course," said grace, with an air of superiority. "it's bad luck if you don't." "all right, i won't let the next one escape," betty promised. and so they went on and on, enjoying the shadowy stillness of the night, and later revelling in the silver radiance of the moonlight. it was not until they started on their journey side by side with the other canoe that allen broached a subject that had been almost entirely forgotten in the excitement of the last few days. "say, when are you and frank going to practice for the big race, betty?" he asked. "i am mighty anxious to see it." "to-morrow morning, i guess," said betty, then added suddenly: "i don't see why frank and i should furnish all the fun. why don't you all join in? it would be ever so much more exciting." "that's a good idea," said allen. "i'll do it if the rest are willing. how about it, grace?" "i'm willing," she replied. "oh, i have a bright idea!" "shoot!" said frank inelegantly. "suppose we take our lunch," she went on enthusiastically, "and have a regular old-fashioned picnic in the woods beyond the camp." "grace, you are a marvel," cried betty. "i can't think of anything i'd like better. swimming in the morning and a party in the afternoon! oh, every day is more wonderful than the last!" chapter xviii water sprites the sunbeams danced across the shimmering water and into the room where the outdoor girls lay sleeping. they made patches on the floors and ceiling, and showered mollie's face with golden darts. she moved restlessly and raised her hand as though to ward off this invader of her dreams, muttering softly, "oh--don't----" gradually she passed from sleeping to waking and, realizing the cause of the disturbance, sat up in bed with a start. "oh, the world's on fire with sunshine! what a day to swim! now, as soon as i can rouse these sleeping beauties, i'll proceed to get breakfast." "oh, a--my!" she called aloud, giving the bed such a thump that amy's eyes sprung wide open on the instant--wide and startled. "are you going to sleep for-_ever_? oh, i'm hungry!" with which words she sprang out of bed and began dressing hastily. for once amy seemed to agree with her chum, for the moonlight sail of the night before with only grace's candies to nibble on had left them ravenous. "all right," she said, sitting up and looking toward the bed in the far corner of the big room. "betty and grace are just yawning themselves awake. we ought to beat them dressed easily." "we don't care," came betty's sleepy voice. "whoever gets down first has to get the breakfast, you know." even this did not daunt mollie. she did not mind getting breakfast at all. in her own words, "she could smell the good things that much longer." so now her only answer was: "sleepy-head," uttered in a severe tone. "i don't care," came the defiant answer, "it's mighty nice to feel sleepy sometimes," and betty stretched luxuriously. "oh, dear!" said grace irritably, "it seems to me life is one long succession of getting ups and going to beds." "the last isn't as hard as the first, is it, gracy?" mollie teased. "probably if you _could_ sleep, you wouldn't want to," replied grace. "oh, if any one would only give you the chance!" and betty gave grace an affectionate little shake. "some time we won't call you, grace," she laughed. "i'd like to find out just how long you could sleep, if you were left to yourself." "goodness, i wouldn't like to chance it," said mollie, slipping a middy over her head. "i am afraid we would have to carry her home at the end of the summer--a sleeping beauty still." "or a still sleeping beauty," betty suggested. "that would be more to the point." "suits me exactly," grace drawled, "as long as the prince is handsome enough." "always the prince," groaned mollie, giving grace up in despair--then added, as she opened the door preparatory to flight: "frank is quite good looking. come on, amy!" "i don't see what that has to do with it!" grace retorted; but only a sharp click of the door and a little derisive laugh in the hall outside answered her. "oh, well," she added, sitting up and regarding betty reproachfully as if that young person were responsible, "i suppose i have got to get up." "of course, and make yourself charming for the prince," said betty, pinning a rose at exactly the right angle in her soft white waist. "you don't have to be a _sleeping_ beauty to find him, you know," she added sagely. "you seem to know a lot about it," said grace, regarding her friend soberly. "i shouldn't wonder if you had found him, betty." betty turned sharply to see if she were joking, then the soft color flooded her face. "nonsense!" she said, but her tone was not convincing. "yes, you have," said grace, not to be put off. "i can tell by the way you look at him, and the way he looks at you and oh--and--a hundred little things." she waved her hand vaguely. "oh, gracy, don't be foolish," said betty, recovering her usual composure. "if you don't look out _i'll_ begin to get personal. you needn't think you are the only one that has eyes." "oh, well," said, grace, flushing in her turn. "if you are going to begin that---- oh, betty, just smell the bacon! please hand me that shoe, quick!" "oh!" cried betty, and drew back as a small stone flung by some one below hurtled through the open window and fell to the floor at her feet. "look! it has something tied to it," she cried, and, stooping, picked it up. "bring it here," called grace excitedly. "oh, this is romantic! betty, let me see it, quick!" "wait a minute, i haven't seen it myself yet," said betty, as she unfolded the tiny slip of paper attached to the stone. "well, of all the----" grace looked over her shoulder and this is what the two girls read: "when are you coming out? the water's fine." with one accord they rushed to the window through which the message had come and leaned far out. but look as they might in every direction, there was no sight nor sound of human beings. the grounds about the house and even the woods seemed deserted. the girls drew back in, looked at each other in perplexity, then their gaze instinctively traveled to the note still held in betty's hand. "well," grace announced, "it seems that we have here a key to some mystery----" "mystery nothing!" betty interrupted disrespectfully. "we know who wrote this--there is no mistaking roy's scrawl. the senders have decamped--that's all." "speak of princes----" said grace, as they went out arm in arm. "and they are sure to turn up," betty finished merrily. mollie's breakfast was good. and the young folks ate with the healthy appetites of youth. mrs. irving left the table early to get herself ready to go over to the summer colony where she had promised to spend the day with friends who were summering there. the girls had scarcely finished their breakfast when the boys broke in upon them. "you girls eat too much," frank complained, when the first greetings were over. "now, if you only had our dainty little appetites----" "the best way to treat some people," put in mollie significantly, "is to pay no attention to them or their remarks." "is she speaking to me or at me?" frank inquired good-humoredly. "oh, it is just a general slam at the sex," laughed allen, who had not taken his eyes from betty and the pink rose. "we ought to be hardened by this time." "yes, you are terribly ill-treated, aren't you?" betty sympathized and remarked: "it is truly a case for the s. p. c. a.--i mean the s. p. c. c.," she corrected hastily, while the girls laughed merrily and the boys looked injured. "that's the worst yet, betty," will reproached her. "you needn't make out you didn't mean it, either--we know better." "oh, all right," said betty, her eyes twinkling. "have it your own way." "to change the subject," roy broke in, "what are you girls all togged up for--didn't you get my message?" "of course," said grace. "you nearly put betty's eyes out with it." "sorry," said roy, with a quick glance at betty's nearly injured eyes, which had never looked brighter than at that instant. "they look pretty good to me. but that brings me back to my first query--why are you girls all dressed up?" "well, you know we could hardly wear our bathing suits down to breakfast. imagine a lot of sea nymphs boiling eggs and frying bacon!" ejaculated mollie. "besides," betty argued, "it's just as much trouble to put ugly things on as it is pretty ones----" "and they don't look as nice," frank finished. "exactly!" said betty. "and now if you will excuse us we'll put on our suits, and show you boys how to swim. come on, girls!" "you can't be too quick to suit me," allen called after them. mollie made a little face at him from the doorway. "anxious to meet your water-loo?" she mocked impishly, and before he could answer had followed the girls up the stairway. the boys raced back to camp to prepare themselves for the swim, and a few minutes later met the girls coming from the house. "you see you didn't have to wait," said amy. "we are as anxious as you to get into the water this morning. oh, i can almost feel it!" "let's run," suggested mollie. "somehow to-day i can't be sedate. i'll race everybody to the bank." [illustration: they ran out into the tepid water. _the outdoor girls on pine island._ _page _] she broke into a run, and the others followed--bringing up at the edge of the water a moment later, breathless but glowing. this time no one hesitated, not even amy. they ran out into the tepid water, then plunged in, swimming with strong, even, steady strokes. it had been decided that all were to take part in the race--consequently all were bent on losing not one moment of practice. they swam, off and on, for the whole morning--occasionally throwing themselves upon the mossy bank, to rest and get their breath, then going at it again with renewed vigor and resolve. it was only when the position of the sun and acute pangs of hunger warned them that it was long past their luncheon hour, that they decided it was time to turn their attention to other things. "i left the basket back at the house," said mollie, when they had come to this conclusion. "i thought probably we would like to get dressed before we ate." "oh, why?" will protested. "it's a scorching hot day, and we'll probably want to go in for a swim later on, anyway." "why not slip a skirt and middy over our bathing suits?" betty suggested. "by the time we reach the house, our suits will be dry. mine is almost, now." "good!" said grace. "we'll feel more respectable, and if we do want to go in for a swim later it won't be any trouble at all to take them off." so it was decided, and they all tramped off through the woods, laughing, merry, and friends with the world. chapter xix a marvelous discovery upon reaching the house the outdoor girls ran upstairs while the boys went back to camp to get some things they thought they might need. a few moments later the girls rejoined them. "where shall we go?" roy, who was leading the van, paused and looked behind him. "let's take some different part of the wood--some place we haven't explored yet." "if there is any," allen agreed. "there is some place, for we have not yet found the gypsies mollie's old store-keeper told her about," put in betty. "very well, then, trot ahead, roy, we'll follow you." "all right, but don't blame me if we are lost." "oh, if there is any danger of that," said amy, pulling away and looking back longingly, "perhaps we better stick to what we know." "oh, roy is only talking to hear himself talk," will assured her. "it isn't possible to get lost on this island, even if you wanted to. all we would have to do would be to follow the shore and sooner or later we'd be bound to come upon 'the shadows.'" amy saw the reason in this and was reassured. "all right," she said; "but it wouldn't be very much fun to get lost." "why not?" demanded will, and she looked at him in surprise. "well, would it?" she asked wonderingly. "it would be the greatest little lark ever," he said so decidedly that amy blushed. "we'd have some excitement for a little while, anyway." when they had walked a little farther into the woods roy stopped again, and, pointing before him, called out: "we have found just the place, people--it's arcadia itself." they crowded about him, gazing in the direction he had pointed out. it was a wonderful island, this--where you were always stumbling into some little glade or woodland bower made especially for you. surely this tiny garden spot of nature was even more alluring than the famous fishing pool, and the girls pushed forward eagerly. "that big flat stone over there will be just the very thing to spread the eatables out on," said grace, "and i guess we can all manage to get around it, too." "of course we can," said mollie enthusiastically. "it's exactly the right height. oh, every thing is perfect!" "if you girls will only stop raving long enough to get us something to eat," said will plaintively, "you'll be doing some good in the world. gee, but i'm hungry!" "poor boy," said betty, with ready sympathy, "i know just exactly how you feel, because i'm nearly dead myself. hand over the basket, allen, please, and i'll spread the cloth." "you bet i will!" said allen readily. "i'll help you fix things." "look out for him, betty," roy cautioned. "he's got his eye on the good things." "what good does that do?" sighed allen. "i'd rather have my teeth on them." "so say we all of us," laughed frank. "can't i help, too, betty?" "of course--all of you," the little captain agreed, magnanimously. "come on, girls--stop admiring the view and help with these things." "oh! will we?" cried mollie, and all made a rush for the baskets. "what's first? you've got the table cloth? well, then the napkins next and the sandwiches--and the biscuits, and--oh, boys, you never could guess----" mollie sat back on her heels and regarded them laughingly. "think of the thing you want most in the world," she said. "that's it!" "there are lots of things i want," frank began, but roy interrupted him. "there is only one thing in the world that is better than anything else," he said. "and that?" the others queried breathlessly. "plum pudding!" he pronounced the two words with the reverence due them. grace stared at him in amazement. "how did you know?" she stammered. "it's almost uncanny." "not at all," said roy, with a superior air. "it's perfectly simple--i smelled it." "oh, so that was the blithe and savory odor that assailed our nostrils a short time ago," said frank. "but my hopes never soared to the heights of plum pudding." "and here is the hard sauce," said mollie, passing it around from one to the other as though it had been a precious jewel. "amy made it--all of powdered sugar--with perhaps a little egg and butter thrown in--and i know it is delicious." "you had better put that out of sight till we get through eating other things, mollie," betty cautioned. "the boys will be starting at the wrong end of the meal." "yes, and spoil their appetites," amy added, while mollie removed the temptation. however, from the way the good things disappeared, there seemed no reason for amy's fears--appetites like those were proof even against plum pudding. at last the picnickers stretched themselves, replete and happy, upon the soft grass, to discuss a further course of action. "what shall we do next?" asked betty, after a somewhat lengthy pause. "are we going to take a walk or swim some more or just stay here?" "you've got the right idea," roy commended. "which?" she asked, with uplifted eyebrows. "i suggested three things." "the last of course," he answered, plucking a piece of long grass and beginning to chew the end of it. "i don't know what you put in that plum pudding, but it has made me everlastingly sleepy. i'd like to take a nice long nap;" and a prodigious yawn gave truth to his words. "how interesting," grace mocked. "mrs. irving warned mollie that it might have such an effect--in fact, she said it was too hearty for hot weather. behold we have the proof of her words." "for goodness' sake, roy, brace up!" cried will, in a stage whisper. "can't you see what you are doing? if you keep this up they won't give us any more. brace up!" seeing the wisdom of this, roy did his best to "brace up," but the girls only laughed at him. "we are sleepy, too," amy confessed, "so we won't tell. besides, don't you suppose _we_ like plum pudding?" "good!" said roy, leaning back against the tree with a relieved sigh. "now we can act naturally." however, the outdoor girls and their boy chums were too active to remain quiet long, even after plum pudding. allen was the first to become restless, and the others soon caught it from him. he rose, went through some gymnastic exercises, then looked about him curiously. "i wonder if there are any more places like this hereabout?" he said. "does anybody want to take a little tramp and find out? you look about as energetic as a bunch of turtles. come on, let's do something." "why do something when we can get lots more fun out of doing nothing?" asked roy lazily. "what wouldst have us do?" "i just told you," allen's tone showed disgust. "isn't there one among you with any pep at all? how about you, betty? you're usually the one to start things." betty looked up at him with a slow, tantalizing little smile. "that's why i am letting you take the lead this time," she purred. "i thought i'd wait and see who'd make the first move." "and i am going to force the second move," and before she could guess what he was going to do, he leaned over, caught her two hands in his and pulled her to her feet. "now, you are going to take a little walk with me, young lady. if the rest of this lazy crowd don't want to come along, they know what they can do!" the little captain blinked at him uncertainty. "you might tell me what you are going to do," she complained. "look, allen--you hurt me!" he regarded the brown little hand, held up for his inspection, anxiously. "i don't see anything," he said. "but if i hurt it i am sorry," and he stroked the place that should have been red. "if you are going, why don't you go?" grace demanded, then added meaningly: "i guess they _are_ glad we are lazy." "please don't make any insinuations," said betty, her nose in the air, but allen sent a laughing shot back at them before they disappeared into the denser wood. "you can eat another plum pudding if you like," he said. frank chuckled audibly. "wise old chap--allen," he remarked. "i wish we could take his advice," mourned amy. "if you boys hadn't been such pigs, we might have had some pudding left." "oh, why didn't you make more?" was will's uncivil comment. for a long time allen and betty wandered through the woods, seeing nothing and hearing nothing but the usual sights and sounds of the forest--and seemingly quite content to go on in that way forever. it was allen who first broke the silence. "i wish you would tell me what you are thinking about so hard, betty. it must be very interesting, because you haven't said a word to me since we left that lazy crowd back there. 'fess up!" betty flushed faintly. "you should never ask what a person thinks about on a beautiful summer, day when she is wandering through the woodland with--with----" "whom?" allen prompted softly. "go on, betty, finish the story." "can't," she smiled up at him roguishly. "it's one of those 'to be continued.'" he caught her hand, but she drew it away quickly. "allen, what's this?" she cried. she had accidentally brushed aside some brambles that had caught on her dress, and there close beside them, so near that she could thrust her hand into the opening, yawned the cavernous black mouth of a cave. allen drew her aside quickly. "don't go near it," he commanded, in a tone that made betty look at him in surprise. "i'm suspicious of these caves until i have investigated them myself. i am going to have a look, betty. you stay where you are." but the little captain had not been so named for nothing. she seized allen's arm, and drew him back from the opening. "allen, if you go in there, i'm going, too," she cried, her eyes blazing. "do you suppose i'm going to stand here, and see you get eaten up by a--a----" "a what?" said allen, putting his hands on her shoulders and laughing down at her. "well, whatever there is in the cave," she finished lamely. "anyway, i'm going in with you." "betty, do be reasonable," he pleaded, but she flared up at that. "do you know, allen, there is nothing a girl hates more than to have a boy ask her to be reasonable, when she knows she is? anyway," her voice lowered and she pleaded her turn. "anyway, it's lots worse to see anybody get hurt, anybody that you like, that is, than it is to get hurt yourself." "you little soldier," allen murmured. "but can't you see, betty, that i am here to protect you from danger if there is any--not let you run right into it?" "then there is no reason why you should, either," she said obstinately. "will it make you feel any better if we get the others?" allen asked, just a little exasperated, for he liked mysteries and hated to leave them unsolved. "we can get to them in five minutes if we run." "yes, that will be better," betty agreed, seizing the suggestion eagerly. "but do you think we can find the cave again?" "easily," said allen. "you see, we are pretty near the water right here and that bent old tree at the edge of the lake--see what i mean?--well, that's right on the line with the mouth of the cave. i guess it will be easy enough to find." so it was settled, and they raced back hand in hand to the spot where they had left their friends, eager to tell the news. "so here you are," cried mollie, at sight of the runaways. "we thought you were never coming back." allen wasted no time, but told his story in the fewest words possible. they were all tremendously excited, and followed the two adventurers eagerly as they led the way along the shores of the lake. "are you sure you can find it again?" grace was asking when amy seized her arm and pointed out over the water. "look!" she cried. "gypsies!" chapter xx dangerous visitors "gypsies?" betty echoed. "where?" "can't you see?" returned amy. "they are fording just as that old man said they could. oh, what are we going to do?" the boys had been gazing with interest toward the little group of wanderers, but at amy's cry they were aroused to sudden action. "get to a place where we can see, and not be seen," said frank. "i'd like to watch this thing through." "they are coming right this way, too," said grace, delightfully afraid. "oh, what have they got on their backs?" "looks like loot of some sort," will volunteered, peering forth from his tree trunk. "say, this promises to be a lark, fellows." "we'd better get back a little farther, if we don't want them to run right into us," roy suggested. "they are headed this way." the watchers retreated still farther into the woods until they came to a dense overgrowth of foliage which effectually screened them from prying eyes. "this is just the thing," roy exulted. "i tell you we are running in luck to-day." "i am glad you think so," said amy. "if one of those gypsies discovered us, i am afraid we wouldn't live long." "well, they are not going to," said roy, overhearing the last remark. "don't be a wet blanket, amy. anyway, just because they are gypsies they needn't be murderers." "i'm not a----" amy was beginning, when allen hissed a sharp warning. "keep still, everybody," he said. "they are not a hundred yards away!" after that silence reigned, broken only occasionally by a nervous whisper from one of the girls as they watched the approach of the enemy--or so they regarded them--with breathless interest. there were about twenty in the group, of which the majority were men. as they came nearer, the girls and boys could see how greatly their ages varied. some were old men with white hair and flowing beards, while others were young striplings scarcely out of boyhood. their clothes were many hued and picturesque, while each one carried on his back a huge bundle. they traveled along the bank, speaking in a low mellow tone, a language which the outdoor girls and the boys had never heard before. grace crowded close to betty, and the little captain squeezed her arm reassuringly. "i kind of like them," she whispered. "they look so interesting. they look like bandits or----" frank's hand closed abruptly over her mouth--for low as her tone had been the gypsies were near enough now to hear the slightest whisper. on, on came the little procession so near that the girls, by stretching out their hands, could almost have touched them. they scarcely dared to breathe. the gypsies moved on for a short distance, then gathered about something the nature of which the girls and boys could not discern. in his curiosity, allen forgot caution and rising from the protection of the bushes he tip-toed over to a more advantageous lookout. in a moment he was back again on his knees beside the crouching group crying in an excited manner: "it's our cave--the cave betty and i discovered--they are going into it. say, i wish we had gone in when we had the chance!" "i don't," said mollie, "they might have found you there and knifed you in the back or something." "especially something," mocked roy. but mollie was too excited to hear him. "look!" grace cried. "now that they are all inside, you wouldn't know that there was any opening there at all." "it _is_ tough to have to sit outside and look at nothing," roy began. "don't look at me when you say that," complained mollie, with a little grimace. "when we ought to be in there capturing the thieves--if that is what they are," he finished. "i'd bet on it," said frank. "all gypsies are born robbers. just the same, i wouldn't mind having some of their loot." "frank!" grace exclaimed, in a shocked voice. "you know you wouldn't like anything of the sort." "why not?" he said, his eyes twinkling, for teasing grace was one of his greatest delights. "i wouldn't go in anybody's house and deliberately steal anything, but if somebody is kind enough to do it for me----" "it will do you as much good as it will them, eh, frank?" finished will, companion in crime. "i think you are just talking to hear yourselves talk," grace commented, and betty heartily approved. "that's the most sensible thing i ever heard you say, grace." "i'm getting stiff sitting on my heels," mollie complained. "i wish those old gypsies would go home where they belong, and let us get up." "seventh inning," said frank. "all get up and stretch." willingly they followed his example, but no sooner had they risen to their feet than they were sent scuttling back again like rabbits into a burrow. the bushes were pushed aside and an aged gypsy stepped forth from the opening. with a little gasp of excitement the girls realized that he was without his heavy pack. whatever it was they had brought evidently had been left behind in the cave. one by one they emerged until their number was complete. the last of the little band, a lad apparently no more than sixteen years old, replaced the screening bushes very carefully across the mouth of their hiding place. then they turned, and retraced their steps, still speaking that strange melodious tongue of theirs, until they had reached the shore and departed the way they had come. it was not till then that the watchers ventured to speak above a whisper. "now for the cave and what it contains!" cried will, and started for the spot the gypsies had so lately occupied. the girls and boys followed him, the former excited yet half fearful. "do you think we had better?" asked amy, as will pushed aside the curtain of foliage and peered inside. "it's getting dark, and besides the gypsies might come back. please don't, will." "do you mean to say that you girls want us to go home without seeing what is in there?" asked frank incredulously. "it can't be done, amy." nevertheless, the boys hesitated before the entrance to this mysterious hole. after all, it was getting dark and the very blackness of the place was forbidding. "if we only had some matches," said roy uncertainly. "it wouldn't do us much good to go stumbling around in the dark." "and i presume mrs. irving is back and will be terribly worried," mollie added, seizing upon the most effective argument she could think of. "she told us to be home before dark." "yes, and we can come here to-morrow, anyway," amy added. "what do you think about it, betty?" "well, i am just crazy to see what the gypsies left there," the little captain answered, "but i do think it's a little late now to begin exploring. it isn't as if this were our last day on the island." "i think betty is right, fellows." it was roy who spoke. "mrs. irving left the girls in our care and she won't do it again in a hurry if we don't get them home pretty soon." "that's so, of course," allen admitted reluctantly. "just the same, it's a crime to leave a discovery like this without getting to the bottom of it." "but we can come to-morrow," betty pleaded. "it isn't as if----" "oh, i know all about that," he interrupted. "but we probably can't find the place to-morrow." "well, we will have to take our chances on that," cried mollie, tapping her foot impatiently. "the rest of you may stay here all night if you want to, but i'm going back to 'the shadows.'" "hold on a minute, mollie, can't you?" said will. "i wish it weren't so late, but since it is, i suppose we shall have to act accordingly. who's got the lunch basket?" "frank had, the last time i saw it," said amy, looking about her at the gathering shadows uneasily. "oh, please let's hurry." "i forgot all about the basket," frank confessed. "i think i left it over there behind the bushes." allen went with him to find it, while the girls stood huddled together, wishing themselves back at the bungalow. mystery is wonderful in the glaring sun of noon-day, but in the chill dusk of evening, with a damp mist rising and touching all the land with clammy fingers--at such a time it is not so alluring. all they wanted was home and a fire and a chance to talk things over. allen and frank, carrying the basket between them, soon rejoined those who were waiting at the cave, and they started along the shores of the lake, keeping a sharp lookout for anything that looked like a gypsy. however, they reached home at last without encountering anything more formidable than their own shadows. "but i _would_ like to know what they had in those bags," sighed betty, as the boys took leave of them. "can we go back the first thing in the morning, allen?" "we can't go too soon to suit me," allen agreed. "but aren't you going to let us fellows come over to-night to talk things over?" "of course," said mollie, "and we'll have a fire." "that sounds good," said roy. "we won't keep you waiting." then the girls went in to relieve mrs. irving's anxiety and to tell her the wonders they had witnessed that afternoon. chapter xxi the lost trail before the cheerful glow of the fire, the young people talked long that night, while mrs. irving listened with interest. her eyes sparkled at the description of the cave and the gypsy troupe and once she broke in with: "you needn't think you are going to leave me behind when such exciting things are happening. after this, i am going to be on the spot with the rest of you." "i wish you would," mollie answered. "we thought you didn't care to go along." "ask me in the morning," she said. and now the morning had come at last. betty had lain awake most of the night, too excited to sleep and impatiently awaiting the first streak of dawn. now it had come after a wait that had seemed interminable and she slipped silently out of bed, determined not to awaken the sleeping girls. but before she had time to move half way across the room, grace hailed her. "hello, betty!" she called, "i'm glad you are up--i haven't been able to sleep for the longest while. what are you going to do?" "get dressed, i suppose," betty answered. "i simply couldn't lie in bed any longer." "guess i will, too," said grace; and that being the first time she had ever agreed with betty on that subject, the latter looked at her in surprise. "you must be all worked up, gracy," she commented, "to be willing to get up at this time in the morning. i don't think it can be six o'clock, at the very latest." "well, anything is better than lying in bed awake," yawned grace, sitting up in bed and curving her arms behind her head with that slow, instinctive grace that was part of her. "look at mollie staring at us for all the world like a little night-owl," she added. "thanks," said mollie dryly. "i feel highly complimented, i'm sure. i'd hate to tell you what you look like." "don't," said grace. "what i don't know won't hurt me." "let's all agree that you both look as bad as you can," said betty crossly, for the strain of a sleepless night was beginning to tell. "it would be a relief to know the worst, anyway." "oh, for goodness' sake, betty, don't you begin to disturb the peace, too," amy broke in sleepily. "it was bad enough before with grace and mollie always at swords' points, but if you begin it, i don't know what i shall do." amy's despair was so comical that the girls had to laugh in spite of themselves. as if at a signal, the sun broke through the heavy mist that had risen over night and flooded the room with golden beams. somehow the world suddenly seemed a better and a happier place to live in, and the girls' spirits rose like mercury. "do you suppose mrs. irving will really want to go?" amy asked, as they finished dressing. "she seemed eager enough last night, but she may have changed her mind by this time." "i don't think so," said betty. "she is as game as we are for things like that." "yes, and she is feeling better now," said gentle little amy. the boys called for them bright and early. it seemed that they, also, had spent a rather restless night, and were glad of the sunshine and warmth of the morning. the party started off in high spirits to find the cave and solve its mysteries. mrs. irving was with them, for, as betty had said, she was a game little person and in for a good time whenever one could be found. "suppose we can't find the place?" it was grace who voiced the thought that had been secretly troubling them all. "betty just found it by accident yesterday." "don't cross bridges till you come to them, grace," frank admonished her. "we'll find it, all right, if we have to cover every square inch of the island." "i vote that we let allen and betty take the lead," roy suggested. "they know more about it than we do--or at least they ought to." "what's that?" asked betty, who had been deep in a conversation with amy. "who's talking about me now?" "they are shifting the responsibility to our shoulders, that's all," allen explained. "roy says because we found the cave in the first place, it's sort of up to us not to disappoint them now." "you may be sure we'll do our best," said the little captain, with her whimsical smile, "since we'd be disappointing ourselves at the same time." "wasn't it somewhere about here, allen?" asked mollie, pointing into the woods. "the place looks familiar." "i don't think so," said allen, puzzled. "betty and i noticed a big tree that was almost directly on a line with the cave, but i don't see it to-day. i wonder----" "it's a little farther ahead, i think, allen," betty volunteered, trying to force conviction into her tone. "i'm sure we haven't passed it." "well, i'm not," said mollie, abruptly. "i'm positive i saw the bushes where we hid yesterday quite a distance down the road." "well, why on earth didn't you say so," grace demanded, "instead of letting us wander on ahead?" "well, i wasn't sure," mollie retorted. "and besides, i thought betty and allen knew what they were doing----" "sh-h!" warned mrs. irving. "there's nothing to get excited about. we all want to find the cave, and we are all going to do our best to find it. remember, we are equally interested." "well, but it's very strange that we can't locate that tree," said the little captain, a troubled frown on her forehead. "allen and i were so particular about it yesterday." "well, we surely won't accomplish anything by standing here," said will, a shade impatiently. "let's travel ahead a little--it seems to me it was farther on." so they started again, troubled and perplexed and scanning every step of the way. half an hour later they halted for another conference. the tree was nowhere to be found--neither was the cave. it seemed as if their adventure of the day before had been a dream which had faded and vanished into thin air with the advent of the morning. "every place we look at seems to be it, and then it isn't," wailed amy. "that's fine english, i must say," will teased. "where did you go to school?" "oh, for goodness' sake, let her english alone, will!" grace admonished. "it isn't _that_ we're interested in just at present. oh, where has the old thing gone to?" "i guess it never was," roy replied gloomily. "we just imagined it." "imagined it!" sniffed betty. "if i thought i had an imagination like that i'd write books or something." "i wish i knew what the something stood for," said frank, laughing at her. "it must be good." "i imagine it would be," said betty, laughing back at him, "if i only knew myself." "stop fooling, you two, and help us think of something," mollie demanded. "we can't stand here and admire the view all day." "what would you suggest?" frank asked politely. "we are willing to give weighty consideration to anything you say." mollie looked weakly about her for support. "grace, can't you do anything with him?" she pleaded. "he does nothing but talk nonsense all day long." "and just after he's paid you a compliment," grace drawled. "i wonder you call that nonsense." mollie had opened her mouth for a stinging rejoinder, but before she could voice it there came a disturbance from a new and unexpected quarter. the bushes parted and two figures emerged--a young man and a girl. astonishment held the little group motionless, but the strangers, or so they appeared, stepped forward impulsively. "it's no wonder you don't remember me," said the girl impulsively, "since i was dressed very differently when you last saw me. i am anita benton--the girl you rescued the other day." as usual, betty was the first to find her voice. "oh, we _are_ glad to see you!" she said warmly. "we were wondering when you and your brother were coming to pay us that promised visit." "oh, we would have been here long ago, but, you see, i was rather, well--shaken up," anita explained, with a merry little laugh that made the girls warm to her at once. "conway could hardly wait to come to tell you all how grateful he was--and is," she added, with a quaint little sideways glance in the direction of her tall brother. "anita's right. i almost came alone when i found she was inconsiderate enough to get sick," said conway, who had been regarding the scene with lively interest. "you see, i never knew before what it was to almost lose a small sister." "he speaks as if he had any number of them," cried anita, gaily; and one could see at a glance the perfect understanding and union between the two. "but, really, this is the very first day i have been able to walk any distance at all, so con and i thought we'd take advantage of it." "well, we are mighty glad you did," said roy heartily, and mollie glanced at him sideways. "i wonder if you two could help us solve a riddle," he added. "we had just about given it up for a bad job when you came along." "what is it?" asked the girl eagerly. "i love riddles." "don't let him get your hopes raised," betty warned. "it isn't a riddle at all. the thing is, we found a cave yesterday, and to-day it has simply vanished, disappeared, gone up in smoke." "a cave?" said conway, interestedly. "a cave around here? why, i never heard of any." "well, we are beginning to think that _we_ dreamed it," said allen, pessimistically. "the only strange thing about it is that we all should dream the same thing." "but please tell me what you mean," begged anita. "caves are even better than riddles. why did you say you dreamed it?" there could be no escaping this emphatic young person--that they realized--so allen started to explain. when he had finished the two visitors were almost, if not quite, as excited as the outdoor girls and their boy chums had been. "you think it was somewhere about here, don't you?" anita asked. "it ought to be easy enough to find." "that's what we thought before we started," said grace, "but after you have been hunting for an hour or two you begin to realize your mistake. i vote we do something else." "grace! and leave the cave?" amy cried, amazed at her friend's lack of romantic fervor. "why not?" said grace. "it won't run away. besides, i guess everybody's forgotten this is the day we set for the race." they stared at one another dumbfounded. it was as grace had said--this was the day they had decided on for the race and they had forgotten all about it. had ever such a thing happened before in the annals of history? if so, they could not remember it. "a race?" demanded anita. "what race?" betty looked at her dazedly. "what race?" she repeated. "why, _the_ race, of course. oh, i beg your pardon--i forgot you didn't know. the fact is, we have been planning a swimming race for--oh, ever so long--and now this gypsy-cave business put it clear out of our heads. oh! how could we have forgotten it?" "well, it isn't too late yet," said will, practically. "that is, if you aren't too set on finding this elusive cave to do anything else." "oh, that's safe enough where it is," said allen. "if we can't find it, it's a pretty safe bet that nobody else can." "i vote we get into our bathing suits just as fast as we can," said frank. "that is, if our visitors don't mind seeing a crazy race," he added, half-apologetically; for he remembered his manners just in the nick of time. "there's nothing we would like better," conway assured him heartily. "and i don't think it will be crazy, either, from the way you fellows demonstrated your swimming ability the other day." "oh, it would be all right if we fellows could be in it alone," said roy, wickedly. "but, you see, the girls have a mistaken idea they can swim, too, and so, just to encourage them, we have let them in on it." "let them in on it, indeed!" sniffed betty. "if i remember correctly, we were the first to propose the race. that doesn't look as if we were particularly afraid of getting beaten." "sheer nerve, that's all," said frank, snapping his fingers with an air of superiority. "we don't need to talk," said mollie; "we will _show_ you what we can do." "all right, we're from missouri," will announced, cheerily. "all we want is to be shown." by this time they were well on their way to the bungalow, and now the subject of the cave was overshadowed by the excitement of the approaching race. as the young people neared "the shadows" their excitement grew, and when at last they reached the house the girls fairly flew up the stairs, dragging anita with them, conway going with the boys, of course. "don't you want a suit?" betty inquired of her visitor, pausing in the act of slipping her skirt over her head. "i brought an old one in case of emergency that i think would fit you." anita shook her head. "thanks just the same," she said. "but the doctor says i mustn't think of swimming for some time." "it's pretty hard luck," said mollie, sympathetically, "to have to stay out of the water on days like this. say, girls, do you think we have a chance in the world of even keeping up with the boys?" she asked, anxious, now that the moment of the test had come. "why, of course we can," said betty, pretending a confidence she did not feel. "especially if the boys give us the heavy handicap we agreed on. i didn't want them to, but i guess it may come in handy." "well, are you ready?" cried mollie, jumping up. "i am. come on, girls, let's show them something!" and she was off down the stairs with the others close behind. chapter xxii mollie wins the outdoor girls found the boys waiting for them, and evidently as eager as the girls to begin the race. "well, it didn't take you very long," frank remarked; for the boys had never ceased to marvel that girls could be on time. "what point do you start from?" asked conway, as they started off together. "how long is the race, anyway?" he added. "well," said allen, electing himself spokesman, "we decided on a starting point about a quarter of a mile from here. you see, from a sharp turn there, there is, for about three-quarters of a mile, a course almost straight. so, you see, that makes a fairly good course." "i should say so," conway commented. "why didn't you say something about it to the folks over at the hotel--you'd have had considerable of a crowd for an audience." "oh, we didn't want it," cried amy, shrinking from the very mention of such a thing. "i couldn't swim at all if i thought anybody was looking at me." "don't you make any exceptions?" asked anita, twinkling. "con and i don't feel like going home just yet, and mrs. irving has elected to be audience instead of actor." "oh, of course i didn't mean you!" amy exclaimed, embarrassed at the slip. "i don't mean one or two----" "of course you don't," said anita remorsefully. "i only wish i could go in with you." they soon reached the bend of the river which allen had indicated, the girls growing more nervous with every step. "i tell you what you can do," said allen, struck by a sudden thought. "you and your sister can be the judges. in case there are any ties--although, of course such a thing is improbable"--the girls refused to become indignant at this shot--"we'll need somebody to settle our dispute, and mrs. irving has flatly refused to interfere before this." "all right, that will be fine--provided everybody agrees to abide by our decision. you see, we are absolutely neutral." "oh, we won't kick at anything you say," frank promised. "there is not much i can say for this crowd. but one thing--we are good sports. all in favor of allen's proposition say 'aye.'" the vote was carried unanimously, and the newly made judges were instructed by will to "trot along to the finishing point" and wait till they saw him leading the van. then they would know who had won the race. there was an ironic shout at this assertion and conway's laugh came back to them as he and his sister started to obey orders. "well, now, is everybody ready?" roy asked, surveying the group critically. "suppose you girls get started. we won't jump in until one of you gets well past that jut in the shore--then it's our time to show a little speed." "all right, we are ready," said mollie. "frank, when you say the word we'll start." the girls lined up with beating hearts, waiting for the word that would relieve their taut muscles. "one--two--three--_go_!" frank counted, and the outdoor girls made a running dive into the water, which was deep at this point, and struck out strongly for the goal. "those girls sure can swim some," was will's admiring comment. "for girls," grunted roy. "get ready now, fellows," commanded allen. "they've almost reached the point." "i think we gave them too big a handicap," said frank doubtfully. "they swim like fish." "you old croaker!" will exclaimed. "why, we ought to be able to beat them with twice that handicap." "look out, mollie has reached the point, fellows!" allen shouted. "now's the time!" without more ado, the boys struck out bravely, determined to overtake the girls in the shortest time possible. they found it was not so easy, however, as might have been anticipated. the girls had had a big advantage and were still swimming strongly. will and roy began to agree with frank that they had given them too long a handicap. on the other hand, the girls were not so confident. the strain was beginning to tell even upon their tried young muscles. their breath was becoming labored and the goal seemed terribly far away. mollie and betty had fallen a short distance behind the other two. they had felt the tax the speed was making on their strength, and had decided wisely to save the rest of it until it was more needed then at the present. naturally amy and grace thought their friends were giving up and marveled at it. how on earth could they have lost out so soon? had they been more versed in races they could have answered that question themselves. meanwhile the boys, pulling hard, had managed to make up half the distance between them and the girls, and in sight of betty's and mollie's evident weariness their hopes soared high. why, with these last two out of the running the race was as good as won. on, on they came, hand over hand, stroke following stroke, rhythmic and strong and confident. betty looked at mollie and mollie looked at betty, and each knew she had discovered the other's secret and at the same time recognized a rival. amy had come to the limit of her strength with the goal an eighth of a mile away. she knew that for her the race was over. the waters pushed her back, forced her back, seeming like some pitiless enemy bent upon her downfall. and what of grace? she would not acknowledge to herself that her strength was leaving her--why, she had swum as far as that many a time before--it was absurd that she should give up now. besides, she was leading them all. with this thought she put the remainder of her waning strength into a few last desperate strokes. meanwhile, the boys had caught up with mollie, and seeing this she quickened her stroke, forging ahead again. but betty kept the same calm, steady stroke which had so deceived the boys--and the girls, too, for that matter, with the exception of mollie. on, on they came--almost abreast now. the boys, tired from the long chase, were resting, gathering strength for the last spurt. the finish line had been very conveniently marked by a slender tree which had evidently been torn down in some terrific storm and now lay half on the shore and half upon the water. this, then, was their goal. conway was the first to see them coming. "look, nita!" he cried, seizing his sister's arm and drawing her to the edge of the water. "from the way they are all lined up i should judge this is nobody's race yet. that's the kind of a thing i enjoy--where there is occupation at the end. and look----" "look at betty," cried anita, interrupting him. "she can swim better than i can, and i thought i was pretty good." there was no conceit in this remark--it was simply a statement of fact. out on the water the girls and boys knew the time had come when they must show what was in them. grace and amy, with the discomfited will, had fallen to the rear, and the race lay between the other five. allen was leading, and the two young judges on the bank had just decided that either he or frank would be the winner. then it happened! the two girls gathered all their energy, that splendid reserve strength they had kept so well in check--summoned every ounce of vitality they had and gave it full rein. their muscles, trained to outdoor life, gallantly responded to the call. they passed first frank, then allen, who stared after them stupidly. you see, the boys were not believers in miracles. however, they rallied their reserved strength and shot ahead until they were even with the girls again. the goal was close before them. now, if ever, must come the last desperate spurt. could they make it? they must! they must! the thought kept hammering itself over and over in the girls' consciousness. they were so near now--they couldn't lose--oh, they couldn't! and the girls were right. anita almost fell into the water in her excitement as the four swept on, swimming as though they had just touched the water. "mollie! betty!" she cried. "go it--for the cause!" whether this encouragement reached the ears it was intended for is doubtful. suffice it to say, the girls followed her instructions to the letter. conway stretched forward eagerly as the swimmers rushed on toward the mark. four hands closed over the fallen tree trunk almost at the same instant--but not quite. mollie reached the goal a fraction of a second ahead--the race was hers. as the dripping contestants drew themselves up upon the bank, anita and conway rushed forward eagerly. "mollie had it!" they cried together, and nita added: "i don't see how you ever did it--it was the closest thing i ever saw." for a few seconds the swimmers were too spent even to congratulate the winner. but when they did recover sufficient breath, they fairly overwhelmed her with praises. as roy had said, "they were nothing if not sports." "it was lucky you did have a judge, or, i should say judges." conway glanced apologetically toward his sister. "otherwise i don't believe anybody would have known which of you got there first. it was as near a tie as anything i have ever seen." as the four lagging participants in the race came up to them, rather sore and disgruntled, the young folks delicately forbore to look in their direction and frank covered their coming with a remark. "i don't know how you girls ever accomplished it--i thought you were done almost at the beginning. tell us the secret." mollie and betty looked at each other significantly. "that's our secret," said betty. then, springing to her feet, she cried: "let's give three cheers for the winner of the race, miss mollie billette!" the cheers were given with a will that awoke the answering echoes on the island. mollie flushed gratefully. "thank you," she said. "it was only luck anyway that i happened to touch the tree a second before the rest of you." "don't be modest, mollie," roy entreated. "you beat us all fairly--especially me," he added ruefully. they laughed and betty added whimsically: "i thought i had you up to the last, mollie. it wasn't fair to lead me on like that." "well, you sure know how to swim--all of you," conway commented admiringly. "you must do a lot of it." "oh, we are at it a good deal of the time," frank agreed carelessly. "and the girls--well, they have formed a club for all sorts of outdoor stunts. you see the results." "oh, isn't that great!" exclaimed anita with genuine enthusiasm. "i love all those things, too. i wish i could belong to such a club." "if you lived anywhere near deepdale," said betty warmly, "we should be very glad to have you join us." only too soon--for anita and the outdoor girls had taken a great liking to one another--the former declared that it was time she and her big brother must be starting for home. "dad and mother worry whenever i am out of their sight nowadays--even though con is with me," she explained. "come again soon," betty called after them. "will you have another race?" asked anita. "yes, especially for your entertainment," laughed the little captain. "and we won't let mollie win it either." "all right, then, i'll come," anita promised. "humph, we'll see about that," said mollie, referring to betty's last remark. "history often repeats itself, you know." allen sighed as they started homeward. "we won't be able to come anywhere near them now, fellows," he said. "they'll have suffrage banners hung all over the house." the girls laughed, for after all they _had_ won through mollie, and the taste of triumph was very sweet. "wasn't it grand!" cried betty. "the best ever!" returned grace, as she popped a chocolate candy in her mouth. "i'd like another such race," said mollie, wistfully. chapter xxiii hidden treasure the week that followed the outdoor girls remembered as just one endless round of fun. with the exception of two days, the weather was perfect. they traveled over to town on the rickety ferryboat several times. they took the cars out of the garage for short spins about the country, and otherwise amused themselves. then, too, the fish in the unrivaled fishing pool proved just as agreeable as they had on that first day, and provided many delicious suppers for the young people. the only thing that served to mar their pleasure was the continued reluctance of the mysterious cave to come to light--it was as though the earth had opened and swallowed it up. "i'm beginning to think it just never was," grace remarked, as she contentedly munched some chocolates that frank had laid on her altar. "will is terribly worried about it. he thinks since he is in the secret service that he ought to investigate it." "how can he if there isn't anything to investigate?" asked betty. and in truth there seemed some reason in her query. "it makes me angry every time i think of it." "yes, the fellows say will even talks in his sleep about the cave," amy volunteered. "probably they exaggerate, but i don't wonder he is all on edge about it." "and we have to leave so soon, too," mollie commented. "we haven't much more time to look for it." "it doesn't seem possible we have to go back home in less than a week," sighed amy. "i just hate to leave this place." "to change the subject," said betty, "i wonder what's keeping the boys. let's get the lunch and go to meet them." the girls agreed, and betty ran in to get the luncheon and tell mrs. irving where they were going. before they had gone more than a hundred feet from the house they were met by the boys, who seemed in a great hurry. "oh, did we keep you waiting?" roy inquired anxiously, evidently relieved to see them. "old will here disappeared and we had to go on a still hunt to find him." "yes, he still has that confounded cave in his head. i'd given the thing up. why worry about a thing you can't find?" frank demanded. "but we saw it," will argued, relieving the girls of the basket. "and as long as we saw it, it's got to be on this island somewhere--that's a sure thing--and i'm going to find it." "well, i wish you luck," said allen gloomily. "blow a horn when you find it--we all want to be in at the death." "if you are going to be so lazy i'll keep it all to myself," will retorted. "that cave is somewhere on this island, and i intend to find where if i have to stay for another six months." "hear! hear!" cheered roy. "that's the way i like to hear a fellow talk." "yes, you do," will was beginning when betty interrupted him. "i'm on your side, will," she said staunchly. "i'm not going to stop looking for the cave until we have to go home. why, just think of the things we might find. there is probably loot in that place that is worth a great big lot of money, and in some cases they might be things that money couldn't replace. it's not a question of mere curiosity, it's a duty we owe to society." "speech! speech!" roy cried again. "we have some little orator in our midst! but may i ask," he added, with exaggerated politeness, "how we are to go about accomplishing this service to society?" betty's patience was at an end. "ask something you can answer yourself!" she said shortly, and roy was silenced. they deposited the basket at what seemed to them an ideal spot and were about to examine the contents when a sharp cry from mollie arrested their attention. "look! look!" she cried. "i've found it! girls--boys, come here! quick." there was no need of urging, for they fairly flew in the direction of her voice. there she was down on her knees before an opening much lower and narrower than the one they had discovered before, but nevertheless unmistakably another entrance to the cave. "i caught my foot in a twig," she explained, as they crowded around her, wild with excitement, "and i almost fell into the cave." so, as in the first place, the discovery had been made through an accident. the cave seemed to have been formed in a rise of the ground--it could hardly be termed a hill--and as the young people looked inside, its black interior stretched as far as they could see. "who wants to go in first?" asked amy, her tone low and awed in the presence of the unknown. "the boys will have to stoop to get in." "i'll go," said will, pushing his way past them, and in his tone was a ring of command. "come on, anybody that wants to. i'm going to find what's in this place before it disappears again." the place had a damp and earthy smell, and amy drew back uncertainly. "the rest of you go first," she said. "i'll come--later." nothing loath, mollie, betty and even grace pressed into the opening after will, the boys standing aside--this last bit of self-control proving that chivalry was not all dead yet. the first temptation had been to run pell-mell after will, regardless of girls or any other disturbing element that might be about. however, as has been said, they allowed the girls to go in first and followed them as closely as they dared, amy, however, going last of all. after several feet of back-breaking progress the girls came out into another portion of the cave, where the roof was high enough to admit of an upright position. as they stood up, nerves aquiver with suppressed excitement, will rushed back to them. "there is another entrance at the other end," he cried. "that must be the one you and allen found, betty. come over here where you can get more light," he added. "it filters through the leaves and twigs at the opening." all this time he was leading the way to the spot that he was describing, the others following breathlessly. once there, he grasped allen's arm excitedly, crying in a tense voice: "look here, old man, here is one of those bags they carried the other day--the place is full of them. now i am going to open this one. you keep a good lookout." "hush!" cried allen, and they listened, scarcely daring to breathe. from the mouth of the cave, soft but unmistakable, came the sound of voices--voices speaking in a tongue the boys had heard before. there could be no mistake--the gypsies were visiting their hiding place! "get back," breathed will. "back into the other mouth of the cave." he pushed the others before him with all his force and they obeyed without question. they shrank back in the darkness and waited for what was to come. they might have fled, but curiosity held them chained to the spot. once amy uttered a weak protest, saying: "don't you think we had better go back?" when will silenced her, none too gently. the moment was a critical one. the little group of young people held their breath while the gypsies entered, silent now. in the dim light of the cave their features could not be seen, but there was something about the bent old figure of the foremost gypsy that proclaimed the leader of that other day. they were as velvet-footed as cats, and as the girls' eyes became more accustomed to the gloom they discovered that the gypsies were not hunch-backed, as had first appeared, but merely carried upon their backs packs like those others scattered about the cave. these they deposited on the floor without much ceremony and were gone before the girls and boys had fairly realized it. the watchers stood motionless even after the footsteps had died away in the distance. it seemed as though a mystic spell had been woven about them, which, for the time, they were powerless to break. it was roy who first "came to life," as mollie expressed it. "i say, what's the use of standing here?" he inquired. "let's have a look." "oh, hush, please!" begged grace, alarmed at the unrestraint of his tone. "they might come back." "no, they won't," will asserted, for he had suddenly acquired great dignity. "they have probably gone for another haul. in the meantime it is up to us to inform the authorities, and mighty quick, too." "but we don't even know that it _is_ loot, will," betty protested. "we ought to make sure first." "that's easy enough," allen commented. "besides i've been anxious to examine the contents of that bag for a long time. now, i'd like to see anybody keep me from it!" and he rushed over to the other side of the cave and was opening one of the bags even as he spoke. the others crowded close beside him as he knelt on the ground, taking advantage of the meager light from the cave mouth to examine its contents. what they did see literally made them gasp. gold and silver and strings upon strings of beads--some very valuable, others less so--and trinkets of all sorts and descriptions. "say, those gypsies are experts!" frank exclaimed, awe in his tone. "i think i'll go into the business." the girls didn't even pretend to be shocked at this--they were too taken up with their own emotions--too excited to notice such trivial remarks. "oh, aren't they wonderful?" cried amy, down on her knees before the bag, and running her fingers through the brilliant mass delightedly. "how do they ever get such things?" "that's a funny question to ask," grace remarked. "they steal them, of course." "but what are we going to do?" asked betty practically. "if all the bags contain things like these, this cave is a mighty valuable place. oh, and to think that we were the ones to discover it!" "well, you people can stay here and guard the loot if you want to," said will. "but i'm going over to the mainland to hunt up a couple of ancient sheriffs--i suppose they are ancient," he added whimsically. "in stories, you wouldn't recognize a sheriff without his whiskers." "never mind the whiskers," said mollie impatiently. "the thing is, somebody has to stay and guard the cave or it will disappear the way it did the other time, and you will bring the authorities over here for nothing." "well, of course you will have to stay until i get back," will decided. "in the meantime, you can eat lunch. good-bye, i'm off." and he led the way into the sunlight, which dazzled their eyes after the semi-gloom of the cave. "but you will have to wait for the ferry," allen called after him, "and it may not be along for some time." "i'll take a chance," will flung back. "i'll get there if i have to swim!" "maybe if you swim you can beat the ferry," suggested allen, with a laugh. "say, that's a scheme! i guess i had better try it." "nonsense! you take the boat, old as it is." "all right, allen." chapter xxiv lying in wait somehow the lunch did not taste as good that day. excitement had robbed the outdoor girls and their boy friends of appetite. they ate in a preoccupied way, eyes now on the cave so close at hand, now wandering in the direction from which the gypsies had come. if these latter should return before will--well, then it would be time for a hurried exit on their part. they had no intention of being caught in the wolf's lair. it was will, however, who reached the place first, and those waiting for him could have danced with relief when they heard his voice. a moment later they caught sight of him, accompanied by two men from the town. judging from their gesticulations, the latter were more than ordinarily excited. incidentally, let it be recorded that neither of them, the sheriff nor his deputy, had a beard. "here they are!" will cried, as he caught sight of his friends. "i thought i was on the right track. any news since i left?" "not a thing," frank answered. "the place has been absolutely deserted." "good," said will, then, turning to the men beside him, added: "this is the entrance we found to-day--you see the bushes hide it completely. but there is another and a larger opening at the other end--that's the one we stumbled into in the first place." the two men listened to his words attentively, and when he had finished set about little explorations of their own. "you say there is another opening at the farther side?" one of them inquired, pausing in the act of pushing aside the bushes. "that probably is the main one." "i think so," will agreed, "but they both lead to the same place." satisfied on this point, the two continued their investigations. they disappeared within the cave and the young folks waited impatiently for their reappearance. "do you suppose they will bring the bags out here?" asked mollie eagerly. "if they do, then we can really see what the things are like." "i hope so," amy stated. but betty started to speak dreamily, saying: "what will those poor old gypsies do when they come back and find the place cleared out?" "they'll probably all go to the penitentiary," said frank calmly. "the authorities will be on the lookout for them and they'll get caught all right when they do come back." "oh!" said grace, horror in her tone; for so far that side of the question had not occurred to her. "it's terrible to think of sending those poor things to jail." "well, but they have earned it," allen argued. "they must have been getting away with this thing for years." "it's a wonder aunt elvira never suspected anything," said mollie, frankly puzzled. "why, she didn't even mention the gypsies." "probably thought the story too old to tell," roy suggested. "we wouldn't have believed there was such a place on pine island ourselves if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes." "i suppose not," mollie admitted, and then the sheriff and his deputy emerged into the daylight once more and each brought with him a bag. "now we will find out how far their rascality has gone," one of the men, the elder of the two, asserted. "perhaps you don't know it," he added, untying the fastenings of the first bag, "but you young people have done the community a great service. people all over are complaining of stolen property, and, although we have suspected the gypsies for some time, so far we haven't been able to prove anything. however, this discovery of yours changes things considerably. ah, what have we here?" the sun struck full upon the brilliant mass, making it glow and sparkle like a jewel. there were other and real jewels, too, in the collection, which they were soon to discover. "oh," murmured mollie, "if i could only find some trace of mother's silver service among those things!" the detective looked up sharply. "have you folks lost anything?" he asked. "oh, yes!" mollie explained. "mother lost her silver tea service that has been in the family for ever so many years, besides an expensive jet necklace. and, besides that, miss ford's father had his pet thoroughbred horse stolen." "and one of the big stores in deepdale was looted," betty added. "oh, there was tremendous excitement there for a time." "hum," said the spokesman, stroking his beardless chin thoughtfully. "it looks as if we might be able to trace a good many things." and he continued to explore the contents of the bag to the very bottom. the other one was treated in like manner but nothing familiar met the watching eyes. of course, all were disappointed, but mr. mendall, for such was the sheriff's name, warned the young people that it was not yet time to give up hope--there were plenty more bags where these had come from. "but we haven't time to go through all of them now," he stated. "i simply wanted to assure myself that the things were valuable. now that i am satisfied on that score, the best thing to do is to get the loot away as soon as possible and then set somebody to watch for those gypsies. i never saw anything like them when it comes to nerve," he added, waxing enthusiastic on the subject. "why, i believe if you were crossing a chasm with only a board between you and eternity, and they happened to need that board for kindling wood they would pull it out from under you without the slightest compunction." the girls laughed, but they could not help thinking that the statement was somewhat exaggerated. "but you are not going to leave the cave unprotected until you get the loot away?" mollie cried. "suppose they should come back in the meantime?" "then they would fall into a very prettily laid trap," was the grim answer. "no, my dear young lady, we are not going to leave the cave unguarded. i'll have men watching day and night until we catch them red-handed. it is sure to come sooner or later." the girls drew a relieved sigh. they had not liked the idea of being alone on this end of the island when the gypsies returned to find the cave empty. mr. mendall rose to his feet, gripping a bag in each hand, but together they were all that he could carry. "here, trent, you take one of these," he ordered. "i'll take the other and, armed with proof like this, we ought to be able to convince even those skeptical people on shore." then he added, turning to will: "if you will keep watch for another hour we will be back with more men to relieve you." will readily promised, and once more the young folks were left alone. "you people don't have to stay just because i do," said will, meaning to be generous. "you can go home, or go in swimming, or anything else to amuse yourselves you wish, while i do the sentry act." "go home!" mollie cried indignantly. "why, how can you think of such a thing, will, when you know how interested we all are? i, for one, can't do anything but wait." "nor i," said grace. "they may be able to find your mother's silver, mollie, but i'm afraid our poor dear beauty is gone forever." "oh, i wouldn't say that," betty argued cheerfully. "just because they didn't sew him up in a bag and stick him in a gloomy old cave is no reason why we can't find him. we may come across him any time." "well, maybe," sighed grace, and her tone was anything but optimistic. the friendly sheriff had set an hour for the time of his absence, but long before the hour had sped he returned, bringing with him six other men and a small hand-cart. "i don't see how you managed to get it through the woods," said allen, referring to the hand-cart. "oh, we stuck to the shore most of the time," said mr. mendall, cheerily, "and the rest of the way there are pretty broad paths. now for the clearing up," and he led his half dozen followers after him into the cave. they made several trips until the crazy cart was heaped high with veritable treasure bags. "oh, aren't you going to let us see what is in them now?" betty entreated, intense disappointment in her voice. "we are so anxious to know." "sorry," said the big man kindly, "but i'll feel safer when this loot is safely locked up on shore. we'll let you know exactly what's in them as soon as we know ourselves," he promised. "nothing could be fairer than that," said allen cheerfully. "i guess since we've waited so long, we can afford to wait a little longer." "it won't be much longer," mr. mendall responded. "we want you all to know how grateful we are for this assistance. without it we would probably have been a long time getting to the bottom of things. as i said before, you have rendered a great service to the community." and with this graceful little speech, mr. mendall and two of the men he had brought with him took their leave, carrying with them the precious bags, one of which mollie so hoped would contain some, at least, if not the whole, of her mother's silver. the other four men were left behind to watch for the return of the gypsies. "oh, i don't know how i can wait till to-morrow," wailed mollie, as they started homeward. "i'm simply dying to know. i think they might have opened the things while we were there. horrid old things! the gypsies probably wouldn't be back for another two weeks, anyway, and there really wasn't any danger." "but to think we had the luck to find it!" cried betty, her eyes still glowing. "and after we had given it up, too. goodness, i'm glad you had that tumble, mollie." "thank you," sniffed mollie. "just the same," she added with a gleeful little laugh, "i'd give a great deal to see aunt elvira's face when she hears the story." chapter xxv glorious news "i guess they will never come," said mollie, gazing despairingly out over the water. "they must have been gone at least an hour." "goodness, mollie!--an hour," echoed betty, in imitation of mollie's tragic tones. "don't you know that it would take at least three hours for the boys to go over, find out what mr. mendall has to say to them and get back here? remember they have to wait for the ferry," she added significantly. "well, i know, but if it is going to take that long, we won't get home to-day," mollie grumbled. "besides, i've _got_ to hear the news." it was early in the morning of the day on which the outdoor girls and the boys had decided to start for home. for days they had expected word from mr. mendall. the boys had haunted the town hoping to hear from him--but no word had come. then suddenly will had burst in upon the others with the great news that he had almost run into mr. mendall turning a corner, and that genial man had expressed great pleasure at sight of him. "why, he said----" will had reported excitedly, "he said that if he hadn't met me, he fully intended coming over to camp--that he had something to tell me that might be of great interest. and he wants us fellows to come over first thing in the morning," he had finished exultantly. so it was that the girls were waiting impatiently for confirmation of their hopes. "we don't really have to go home to-day," amy was saying doubtfully. "i don't see why we couldn't have waited until to-morrow." "it does seem a shame to leave this wonderful place," sighed grace looking about her. "it seems to me it is more beautiful now than it ever was. september is the best time in the year, anyway." "why can't we stay over anyway--to-morrow is saturday. i think we might as well finish out the week," cried grace, seized with a bright idea. "maybe mrs. irving will consent, since it is bound to be late when we do get home." she popped a chocolate in her mouth as she finished. betty regarded her chum pityingly. "that _is_ clever," she said. "especially since the boys have taken down their tents, and we have everything packed up." grace looked rather crestfallen. "well, i suppose we couldn't," she admitted. "just the same i would be glad of any excuse that would keep us on the island a few days longer. oh, dear----" and she gazed about her longingly. "haven't we had a good time?" asked betty, as she settled herself on the steps. "this last week has been great, too--even though we were so anxious to hear about mollie's silver." "oh, and do you know what anita said the other day?" amy broke in suddenly. "she said she had some distant relatives in deepdale, and that if she could fish around and get an invitation, she might see us there." "oh, wouldn't that be great!" said mollie, with genuine enthusiasm. "yes, she's a fine girl," betty echoed. "i only wish she lived in deepdale, so we might invite her to join our happy little party." "yes, and the boys like her brother, too," said grace. "will says he is a fine fellow; and will never says a thing like that unless he means it." "do my eyes deceive me?" cried betty, springing up and pointing toward the mainland, "or is that the good old pine island dreadnaught steaming majestically from the harbor? tell me some one--am i right?" "you are!" cried grace, dramatically. "that noble ship could be no other." "oh, do stop your nonsense," cried mollie impatiently. "are you sure that's the ferry?" "since it is the only apology for a boat that ever comes this way," grace remarked lazily, "i guess it must be." "oh, grace, don't tease," warned the little captain, in an aside. "can't you see how worked up mollie is? no wonder she is excited--the news may mean a lot to her." grace glanced at her chum and saw that betty had spoken the truth. mollie's hands were clenched tight to her side, crimson flamed in her face, and her foot tapped nervously on the ground. "oh, they'll never get here," she was saying over and over again. "can't the old ferryboat get up any steam at all?" "perhaps we might help tow it in?" betty suggested, striving to break the tension. "i think we could paddle lots faster in the canoes." "goodness, i would almost like to try it!" mollie exclaimed. "i think they might get something modern on the lake--something real modern--around the eighteenth century." "oh, isn't she sarcastic," said amy, putting an arm about her friend and patting her hand gently. "never mind, mollie, all things come in time." of course she was right, even mollie had to admit it. at the end of one of the longest half hours the girls had ever spent, the rickety little ferryboat scraped against the dock, and they ran down to meet the boys. the latter almost fell out of the boat, careless of what any one might think. at the first sight of them the girls were convinced their news was of the best. "oh, oh, hurry!" cried mollie. "i thought you would never get here. oh, you have something wonderful to tell us--i know it!" "you bet we have!" cried allen. "we have the very finest news you ever heard." "oh, what is it?" the girls cried in unison, and mollie added pleadingly: "don't keep us waiting any longer, boys, please." "all right," will agreed; for he was as anxious to tell as the girls were to hear. "come to the house and we will tell you the whole story." "but did you get them?" mollie demanded. "i don't see why you have to wait till you get to the house to tell me that." "you can see by their faces they have, mollie," betty assured her. "you had better not interfere--they will tell the story their own way, whatever you say." by this time they had reached the house and called to mrs. irving to come and hear the news. she joined them in a moment, and will began. "well, you see," he said, "in the first place, mr. mendall didn't want to raise our hopes until he found out definitely whether anything there belonged to us." "yes," broke in mollie quickly. "don't interrupt," will warned her. "you might sidetrack me or something." "oh, will, don't be a goose!" cried his sister. "go on." "i'm not a goose," he declared with dignity, "and i expect to go on if i am given half a chance." he paused for a reply, but as none was forthcoming and as only threatening looks met him on every side, he continued hurriedly. "well, as i was saying," he went on, "mr. mendall did finally succeed in getting the information he wanted. then yesterday afternoon i happened to meet him----" "yes, we know all about that," said betty, dancing with mingled excitement and exasperation. "please get to the point." "since you insist," will answered gravely. "the fact is, mollie, that all your mother's silver is there--even down to the little sugar bowl." "oh!" gasped mollie, and for a moment she could say no more. then the flood gates of speech opened, and her questions poured forth. "oh, will! isn't that wonderful?" she cried. "i didn't dare really to believe till this very moment. are you sure everything is there--not a thing missing? the creamer and teapot? and oh, will!" she grasped his arm beseechingly, "did you find the necklace?" will looked evasive. "why, you see----" he was beginning, when frank interrupted him. "the necklace is probably gracing the swarthy neck of some fair gypsy damsel," remarked the latter, rather flippantly. "here we offer you a whole silver service, and you're not satisfied." mollie looked from one to the other of her two tormentors in pathetic bewilderment. "please, _please_!" she begged. "mother'll be wild when she hears about the silver. but oh, i do want that jet necklace almost more than anything in the world! don't tease me any more, please." at this appeal, will's heart softened, and, with a quick movement, he drew his hand from behind him, disclosing to four pairs of incredulous eyes the precious jet necklace. "here it is," he announced triumphantly. mollie grasped the heirloom with a little cry of joy. then she threw her arms about betty's neck, and began to laugh hysterically. "don't mind me," she gasped, as the boys looked on mystified. "i--i can't help it! i'm just so--so happy!" betty patted her chum's shoulder, soothingly. "now, see what you've gone and done," she accused poor will. "i--i didn't know----" he was beginning, but he seemed destined not to finish his sentences that day. mollie, a creature of moods, withdrew herself from betty's arms and favored the promising young detective with an ecstatic little hug that amazed and delighted that young gentleman immensely. "i say, mollie, do it again," he pleaded, while the other three boys hastened to demand their share of the reward. but mollie had caught grace about the waist and they were engaged in what might be called a cross between a virginia reel and an indian war dance. when they were forced to stop from sheer lack of breath, the volcanic mollie flung herself upon the steps, and beamed upon them. "and that's not all," will said, and glanced instinctively toward his sister. grace started, and leaned forward beseechingly. "will?" she breathed. "yes," he continued, answering her unspoken question, "we found beauty." the girl's eyes opened wide at this new disclosure, and grace grasped her brother's arm imploringly. "oh, will, where?" "he was found by one of the farmers near the town. looked as though he'd broken away from whoever'd had him. the farmer saw he was a thoroughbred, and guessed at once that he had been stolen. luckily for us he was an honest man." "darling old beauty," murmured grace, tearfully. "oh, wait till dad hears!" "i guess he'll get a welcome, all right," will agreed gleefully. "poor old beauty! i saw him myself this morning." "mr. mendall says," allen volunteered, "there are traces of a good many other things from deepdale. we'll probably have a triumphant home coming. and they have captured the gypsies and put them in jail." "oh, oh, and to think we did it!" sighed amy, contentedly. so joyful were they at the outcome of their detective work, that the long journey to deepdale was almost forgotten. it was mrs. irving who brought them to their senses. "i'm afraid," she said, "that if we don't start pretty soon, deepdale won't see us until to-morrow morning, and that will never do. come, girls, get ready." "oh, i don't want to go home," wailed amy, as they rose to follow instructions. "but just think what we will have to tell them when we get there!" said betty, and the thought lent wings to their feet. once more the outdoor girls and their comrades assembled on the wharf, waiting for the ridiculous little ferryboat that had been the butt of their jokes during the summer. now that they were going away, however, the sound of the shrill little whistle, as it panted up to them, seemed somehow strangely typical of their life on the island, and they felt an unexpected throb of home-sickness. "we'll have to come back to it some time," betty said. "i love the place." "i wonder if there are any more mysteries floating around loose," said roy, pausing for one last backward glance over his shoulder. "if there are, i'm going back." but allen seized him and drew him aboard. "come on," he cried, "we're off!" the four girls linked arms, as they gazed back at the familiar bungalow. suddenly mollie chuckled irrepressibly. "oh, girls," she murmured softly, "i must be on the spot when aunt elvira hears the news." the little ferryboat steamed away from the dock, carrying with it our happy outdoor girls, to whom we must once more wave a reluctant farewell. the end the moving picture girls series by laura lee hope author of "the bobbsey twins series." * * * * * = mo. bound in cloth. illustrated. uniform style of binding= * * * * * the adventures of ruth and alice devere. their father, a widower, is an actor who has taken up work for the "movies." both girls wish to aid him in his work and visit various localities to act in all sorts of pictures. the moving picture girls or first appearance in photo dramas. having lost his voice, the father of the girls goes into the movies and the girls follow. tells how many "parlor dramas" are filmed. the moving picture girls at oak farm or queer happenings while taking rural plays. full of fun in the country, the haps and mishaps of taking film plays, and giving an account of two unusual discoveries. the moving picture girls snowbound or the proof on the film. a tale of winter adventures in the wilderness, showing how the photo-play actors sometimes suffer. the moving picture girls under the palms or lost in the wilds of florida. how they went to the land of palms, played many parts in dramas before the camera; were lost, and aided others who were also lost. the moving picture girls at rocky ranch or great days among the cowboys. all who have ever seen moving pictures of the great west will want to know just how they are made. this volume gives every detail and is full of clean fun and excitement. the moving picture girls at sea or a pictured shipwreck that became real. a thrilling account of the girls' experiences on the water. the moving picture girls in war plays or the sham battles at oak farm. the girls play important parts in big battle scenes and have plenty of hard work along with considerable fun. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the outdoor girls series by laura lee hope author of the "bobbsey twin books" and "bunny brown" series. * * * * * = mo. bound in cloth. illustrated. uniform style of binding= * * * * * these tales take in the various adventures participated in by several bright, up-to-date girls who love outdoor life. they are clean and wholesome, free from sensationalism, absorbing from the first chapter to the last. the outdoor girls of deepdale or camping and tramping for fun and health. telling how the girls organized their camping and tramping club, how they went on a tour, and of various adventures which befell them. the outdoor girls at rainbow lake or stirring cruise of the motor boat gem. one of the girls becomes the proud possessor of a motor boat and invites her club members to take a trip down the river to rainbow lake, a beautiful sheet of water lying between the mountains. the outdoor girls in a motor car or the haunted mansion of shadow valley. one of the girls has learned to run a big motor car, and she invites the club to go on a tour to visit some distant relatives. on the way they stop at a deserted mansion and make a surprising discovery. the outdoor girls in a winter camp or glorious days on skates and ice boats. in this story, the scene is shifted to a winter season. the girls have some jolly times skating and ice boating, and visit a hunters' camp in the big woods. the outdoor girls in florida. or wintering in the sunny south. the parents of one of the girls have bought an orange grove in florida, and her companions are invited to visit the place. they take a trip into the interior, where several unusual things happen. the outdoor girls at ocean view or the box that was found in the sand. the girls have great fun and solve a mystery while on an outing along the new england coast. the outdoor girls on pine island or a cave and what it contained. a bright, healthful story, full of good times at a bungalow camp on pine island. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the girls of central high series by gertrude w. morrison * * * * * = mo. bound in cloth. illustrated. uniform style of binding.= * * * * * here is a series full of the spirit of high school life of to-day. the girls are real flesh-and-blood characters, and we follow them with interest in school and out. there are many contested matches on track and field, and on the water, as well as doings in the classroom and on the school stage. there is plenty of fun and excitement, all clean, pure and wholesome. the girls of central high or rivals for all honors. a stirring tale of high school life, full of fun, with a touch of mystery and a strange initiation. the girls of central high on lake luna or the crew that won. telling of water sports and fun galore, and of fine times in camp. the girls of central high at basketball or the great gymnasium mystery. here we have a number of thrilling contests at basketball and in addition, the solving of a mystery which had bothered the high school authorities for a long while. the girls of central high on the stage or the play that took the prize. how the girls went in for theatricals and how one of them wrote a play which afterward was made over for the professional stage and brought in some much-needed money. the girls of central high on track and field or the girl champions of the school league this story takes in high school athletics in their most approved and up-to-date fashion. full of fun and excitement. the girls of central high in camp or the old professor's secret. the girls went camping on acorn island and had a delightful time at boating, swimming and picnic parties. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the tom swift series by victor appleton * * * * * = mo. cloth. uniform style of binding. colored wrappers.= * * * * * these spirited tales convey in a realistic way the wonderful advances in land and sea locomotion. stories like these are impressed upon the memory and their reading is productive only of good. tom swift and his motor cycle or fun and adventure on the road tom swift and his motor boat or the rivals of lake carlopa tom swift and his airship or the stirring cruise of the red cloud tom swift and his submarine boat or under the ocean for sunken treasure tom swift and his electric runabout or the speediest car on the road tom swift and his wireless message or the castaways of earthquake island tom swift among the diamond makers or the secret of phantom mountain tom swift in the caves of ice or the wreck of the airship tom swift and his sky racer or the quickest flight on record tom swift and his electric rifle or daring adventures in elephant land tom swift in the city of gold or marvellous adventures underground tom swift and his air glider or seeking the platinum treasure tom swift in captivity or a daring escape by airship tom swift and his wizard camera or the perils of moving picture taking tom swift and his great searchlight or on the border for uncle sam tom swift and his giant cannon or the longest shots on record tom swift and his photo telephone or the picture that saved a fortune tom swift and his aerial warship or the naval terror of the seas tom swift and his big tunnel or the hidden city of the andes * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers new york the moving picture boys series by victor appleton * * * * * = mo. bound in cloth. illustrated. uniform style of binding.= * * * * * moving pictures and photo plays are famous the world over, and in this line of books the reader is given a full description of how the films are made--the scenes of little dramas, indoors and out, trick pictures to satisfy the curious, soul-stirring pictures of city affairs, life in the wild west, among the cowboys and indians, thrilling rescues along the seacoast, the daring of picture hunters in the jungle among savage beasts, and the great risks run in picturing conditions in a land of earthquakes. the volumes teem with adventures and will be found interesting from first chapter to last. the moving picture boys or perils of a great city depicted. the moving picture boys in the west or taking scenes among the cowboys and indians. the moving picture boys on the coast or showing the perils of the deep. the moving picture boys in the jungle or stirring times among the wild animals. the moving picture boys in earthquake land or working amid many perils. the moving picture boys and the flood or perilous days on the mississippi. the moving picture boys at panama or stirring adventures along the great canal. the moving picture boys under the sea or the treasure of the lost ship. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the motion picture chums series by victor appleton * * * * * = mo. bound in cloth. illustrated. uniform style of binding.= * * * * * in these stories we follow the adventures of three boys, who, after purchasing at auction the contents of a moving picture house, open a theatre of their own. their many trials and tribulations, leading up to the final success of their venture, make very entertaining stories. the motion picture chums' first venture or opening a photo playhouse in fairlands. the adventures of frank, randy and pep in running a motion picture show. they had trials and tribulations but finally succeed. the motion picture chums at seaside park or the rival photo theatres of the boardwalk. their success at fairlands encourages the boys to open their show at seaside park, where they have exciting adventures--also a profitable season. the motion picture chums on broadway or the mystery of the missing cash box. backed by a rich western friend the chums established a photo playhouse in the great metropolis, where new adventures await them. the motion picture chums' outdoor exhibition or the film that solved a mystery. this time the playhouse was in a big summer park. how a film that was shown gave a clew to an important mystery is interestingly related. the motion picture chums' new idea or the first educational photo playhouse. in this book the scene is shifted to boston, and there is intense rivalry in the establishment of photo playhouses of educational value. the motion picture chums at the fair or the greatest film ever exhibited. the chums go to san francisco, where they have some trials but finally meet with great success. the motion picture chums' war spectacle or the film that won the prize. through being of service to the writer of a great scenario, the chums are enabled to produce it and win a prize. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the outdoor chums series by captain quincy allen the outdoor chums are four wide-awake lads, sons of wealthy men of a small city located on a lake. the boys love outdoor life, and are greatly interested in hunting, fishing, and picture taking. they have motor cycles, motor boats, canoes, etc., and during their vacations go everywhere and have all sorts of thrilling adventures. the stories give full directions for camping out, how to fish, how to hunt wild animals and prepare the skins for stuffing, how to manage a canoe, how to swim, etc. full of the spirit of outdoor life. the outdoor chums or the first tour of the rod, gun and camera club. the outdoor chums on the lake or lively adventures on wildcat island. the outdoor chums in the forest or laying the ghost of oak ridge. the outdoor chums on the gulf or rescuing the lost balloonists. the outdoor chums after big game or perilous adventures in the wilderness. the outdoor chums on a houseboat or the rivals of the mississippi. the outdoor chums in the big woods or the rival hunters at lumber run. the outdoor chums at cabin point or the golden cup mystery. = mo. averaging pages. illustrated. handsomely bound in cloth.= * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the boys of columbia high series by graham b. forbes never was there a cleaner, brighter, more manly boy than frank allen, the hero of this series of boys' tales, and never was there a better crowd of lads to associate with than the students of the school. all boys will read these stories with deep interest. the rivalry between the towns along the river was of the keenest, and plots and counterplots to win the champions, at baseball, at football, at boat racing, at track athletics, and at ice hockey, were without number. any lad reading one volume of this series will surely want the others. the boys of columbia high or the all around rivals of the school the boys of columbia high on the diamond or winning out by pluck the boys of columbia high on the river or the boat race plot that failed the boys of columbia high on the gridiron or the struggle for the silver cup the boys of columbia high on the ice or out for the hockey championship the boys of columbia high in track athletics or a long run that won the boys of columbia high in winter sports or stirring doings on skates and iceboats = mo. illustrated. handsomely bound in cloth, with cover design and wrappers in colors.= * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the famous rover boys series by arthur w. winfield * * * * * american stories of american boys and girls * * * * * a million and a half copies sold of this series * * * * * = mo. cloth. uniform style of binding. colored wrappers.= * * * * * the rover boys at school or the cadets of putnam hall the rover boys on the ocean or a chase for a fortune the rover boys in the jungle or stirring adventures in africa the rover boys out west or the search for a lost mine the rover boys on the great lakes or the secret of the island cave the rover boys in the mountains or a hunt for fame and fortune the rover boys on land and sea or the crusoes of seven islands the rover boys in camp or the rivals of pine island the rover boys on the river or the search for the missing houseboat the rover boys on the plains or the mystery of red rock ranch the rover boys in southern waters or the deserted steam yacht the rover boys on the farm or the last days at putnam hall the rover boys on treasure isle or the strange cruise of the steam yacht the rover boys at college or the right road and the wrong the rover boys down east or the struggle for the stanhope fortune the rover boys in the air or from college campus to the clouds the rover boys in new york or saving their father's honor the rover boys in alaska or lost in the fields of ice the rover boys in business or the search for the missing bonds the rover boys on a tour or last days at brill college. * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the dick hamilton series by howard r. garis * * * * * a series that has become very popular * * * * * dick hamilton's fortune or the stirring doings of a millionaire's son. dick, the son of a millionaire, has a fortune left to him by his mother. but before he can touch the bulk of this money it is stipulated in his mother's will that he must do certain things, in order to prove that he is worthy of possessing such a fortune. the doings of dick and his chums make the liveliest kind of reading. dick hamilton's cadet days or the handicap of a millionaire's son. the hero is sent to a military academy to make his way without the use of money. life at an up-to-date military academy is described, with target shooting, broadsword exercise, trick riding, sham battles, etc. dick proves himself a hero in the best sense of the word. dick hamilton's steam yacht or a young millionaire and the kidnappers. a series of adventures while yachting in which our hero's wealth plays a part. dick is marooned on an island, recovers his yacht and foils the kidnappers. dick hamilton's football team or a young millionaire on the gridiron. a very interesting account of how dick developed a champion team and of the lively contests with other teams. there is also related a number of thrilling incidents in which dick is the central figure. dick hamilton's touring car or a young millionaire's race for a fortune. dick's father gives him an automobile made to live in, which enables him and his companions to have a good time. dick hamilton's airship or a young millionaire in the clouds. tells how dick built an airship to compete in a twenty thousand dollar prize contest, and of many adventures he experiences. = mo. handsomely printed and illustrated, and bound in cloth stamped in colors. printed wrappers.= * * * * * grosset & dunlap, publishers, new york the putnam hall series companion stories to the famous rover boys series by arthur m. winfield open-air pastimes have always been popular with boys, and should always be encouraged. these books mingle adventure and fact, and will appeal to every manly boy. mo. handsomely printed and illustrated. the putnam hall mystery or the school chums' strange discovery the particulars of the mystery and the solution of it are very interesting reading. the putnam hall encampment or the secret of the old mill a story full of vim and vigor, telling what the cadets did during the summer encampment, including a visit to a mysterious old mill, said to be haunted. the book has a wealth of fun in it. the putnam hall rebellion or the rival runaways the boys had good reasons for running away during captain putnam's absence. they had plenty of fun, and several queer adventures. the putnam hall champions or bound to win out in this volume the putnam hall cadets show what they can do in various keen rivalries on the athletic field and elsewhere. there is one victory which leads to a most unlooked-for discovery. the putnam hall cadets or good times in school and out the cadets are lively, flesh-and-blood fellows, bound to make friends from the start. there are some keen rivalries, in school and out, and something is told of a remarkable midnight feast and a hazing that had an unlooked for ending. the putnam hall rivals or fun and sport afloat and ashore it is a lively, rattling, breezy story of school life in this country written by one who knows all about its pleasures and its perplexities, its glorious excitements, and its chilling disappointments. * * * * * grosset & dunlap,--new york the flag and frontier series by captain ralph bonehill these bracing stories of american life, exploration and adventure should find a place in every school and home library for the enthusiasm they kindle in american heroism and history. the historical background is absolutely correct. every volume complete in itself. mo. bound in cloth. stamped in colors. with boone on the frontier, or the pioneer boys of old kentucky. relates the true-to-life adventures of two boys who, in company with their folks, move westward with daniel boone. contains many thrilling scenes among the indians and encounters with wild animals. pioneer boys of the great northwest, or with lewis and clark across the rockies. a splendid story describing in detail the great expedition formed under the leadership of lewis and clark, and telling what was done by the pioneer boys who were first to penetrate the wilderness of the northwest. pioneer boys of the gold fields, or the nugget hunters of ' . giving the particulars of the great rush of the gold seekers to california in . in the party making its way across the continent are three boys who become chums, and share in no end of adventures. with custer in the black hills, or a young scout among the indians. tells of the experiences of a youth who, with his parents, goes to the black hills in search of gold. custer's last battle is well described. boys of the fort, or a young captain's pluck. this story of stirring doings at one of our well-known forts in the wild west is of more than ordinary interest. gives a good insight into army life of to-day. the young bandmaster, or concert, stage and battlefield. the hero is a youth who becomes a cornetist in an orchestra, and works his way up to the leadership of a brass band. he is carried off to sea and is taken to cuba, and while there joins a military band which accompanies our soldiers in the attack on santiago. off for hawaii, or the mystery of a great volcano. several boys start on a tour of the hawaiian islands. they have heard that there is a treasure located in the vicinity of kilauea, the largest active volcano in the world, and go in search of it. a sailor boy with dewey, or afloat in the philippines. the story of dewey's victory in manila bay as it appeared to a real, live american youth who was in the navy at the time. many adventures in manila and in the interior follow. when santiago fell, or the war adventures of two chums two boys leave new york to join their parents in cuba. the war between spain and the cubans is on, and the boys are detained at santiago, but escape across the bay at night. many adventures follow. * * * * * grosset & dunlap,--new york * * * * * transcriber's notes: obvious punctuation errors repaired. page , "gracie" changed to "gracy" to conform to rest of text. (oh, gracy, dear) page , "girmy" changed to "grimy". (shaking a grimy fist) page , "molly" changed to "mollie". (will we?" cried mollie) page , "splended" changed to "splendid". (that splendid reserve) two cases of "fire-light" and three of "firelight" were retained.