could see the various [v]strata appearing
and disappearing in the order in which he knew them. Not far below the
surface he passed cavities which he believed had held water; but there
was no water in them now. He had expected these pockets, and had feared
that upon their edges might be loosened patches of rock or soil, but
everything seemed tightly packed and hard. If anything had been
loosened, it had gone down already.

Down, down he went until he came to the eternal rocks, where the inside
of the shaft was polished as if it had been made of glass. The air
became warmer and warmer, but Clewe knew that the heat would soon
decrease. The character of the rocks changed, and he studied them as he
went down, continually making notes.

After a time the polished rocky sides of the shaft grew to be of a
solemn sameness. Clewe ceased to take notes; he lighted a cigar and
smoked. He tried to imagine what he would come to when he reached the
bottom; it would be some sort of a cave, he thought, in which his shell
had made an opening. He began to imagine what sort of a cave it would
be, and how high the roof was from the floor. Clewe then suddenly
wondered whether his gardener had remembered what he had told him about
the flower-beds in front of the house; he wished certain changes made
which Margaret had suggested. He tried to keep his mind on the
flower-beds, but it drifted away to the cave below. He thought of the
danger of coming into some underground body of water, where he would be
drowned; but he knew that was a silly idea. If the shell had gone
through [v]subterranean reservoirs, the water of these would have run
out, and before it reached the bottom of the shaft would have dissipated
into mist.

Down, down he went. He looked at his watch; he had been in that car only
an hour and a half. Was that possible? He had supposed he was almost at
the bottom. Suddenly his mind reverted to the people above and the
telephone. Why had not some of them spoken to him? It was shameful! He
instantly called Bryce, and his heart leaped with joy when he heard the
familiar voice in his ear. Now he talked steadily on for more than an
hour. He had his gardener summoned, and told the man all that he wanted
done in the flower-beds. He gave many directions in regard to the
various operations at the works. There were two or three inventions in
which he took particular interest, and of these he talked at great
length with Bryce. Suddenly, in the m