ed toe in a notch, she
climbed up the height of a man, stepped to a ledge, and held a hand
down to Venning. A few steps along the ledge, when they stood by her
side, brought them to a depression in the cliff. Removing a few
stones, she said with a look of sadness--

"Behold the depth that was my secret, and is now yours."

A gush of moist air came out of the dark opening, bringing with if
the sound of hoarse mutterings. Now they had found the opening, they
did not know what to do, far; it was not inviting, and they stood
looking at it warily:

"You would have me enter first," she said quietly. "Come, then, for
it is not all dark within."

She disappeared, and Mr. Hume followed next, with a whisper to
Venning that they must not let her get out of sight. A little way
they passed along a narrow passage, facing a rushing current of
moist air, and then stepped out into a cavern dimly lit by a shaft
of light that crept through the roof. The woman crossed the floor,
and they followed her down another passage, into another cavern
larger than the first. This, too, was dimly lit, and as they stood
with a feeling of mystery and uncertainty that comes to men when
they quit the surface bathed in light fop the-dark underground, they
felt the floor vibrate under their feet, and heard, as if the source
of the uproar were near at hand, a great booming with a shrill note
at intervals.

"Would ye enter further?" asked the woman.

"Have ye entered further, mother?"

"Yebo, 'Ngonyama (lion)."

"Then lead on."

"Listen, Ngonyama; listen, Indhlovu (elephant). There is a path for
the lion in the veld, and another for the elephant in the forest;
but this path is only for those who know it, and are welcome to
those who made it. The sun shines without. It were better if
Ngonyama and the Spider blinked their eyes in the light Mid the
warmth."

"If ye have trodden the way, so will we. Lead on."

"Ye lose your wisdom, great one; but see, I go;" and she went from
the cave into a vaulted passage, in which they encountered the blast
laden with moisture, that made the walls slimy and the floor a
series of puddles.

The way was dark, and they splashed and stumbled in growing
discomfort in the footsteps of the leader, who kept on at a quick
walk, showing a thorough familiarity with the passage. Sometimes, as
they could tell from the sound, the roof of the passage extended to
great heights; at others it closed in till they had to stoop t