quiet face, and
above all the soft blue eyes, quickly put to flight such fears, although
they could not altogether dispel the solemn awe he felt at being carried
so suddenly into such a mysterious place.

But he had scarcely recovered some degree of confidence, when his mind
was again thrown into a violent state of agitation by the fact that the
horse, turning to the right, began deliberately to ascend the precipice,
which was as perpendicular as a wall. It did not indeed ascend after
the manner of a fly on a window, but it went up on what appeared to be a
narrow, spiral pathway. In a few seconds they had ascended about fifty
feet, and March, projecting out from the precipice as he did, owing to
his position in the rider's left arm, felt a horrible sensation of
giddiness come over him, and could not suppress a slight groan.

"Don't be afear'd, lad," said his companion, "I've got ye tight, an' the
horse is used to it. The track's broader than ye think, only ye can't
see it as ye lie now."

March felt reassured; nevertheless, he shut his eyes very tight and held
his breath.

Presently he felt that they had turned sharp to the right, so he
ventured to open his eyes, and found that they were standing at the
mouth of what appeared to be a cavern. In another moment they were
under its dark roof and the horse came to a stand. From the hasty
glance he gave it, he could only ascertain that the interior was buried
in profound darkness.

Without causing March to move in any way, the stout horseman dismounted.
In fact, the burden seemed no greater to him than a child would be to
an ordinary man.

"Here we are--at home," he said. "Come, old horse, get away in."

The horse obeyed, and disappeared in the darkness beyond.

"Now, lad, don't be afear'd, I know every fut o' the way. Ye can shut
yer eyes an ye like--but there's no occasion."

Saying this, he advanced with a steady tread into the cave, the echoes
of which were still ringing with the clatter of the horse's hoofs as it
passed over the stone floor. It could not have been more than a quarter
of a minute when they reached the end of what appeared to be the outer
vestibule of this cavern, though to March it seemed to be more than five
minutes; and, now that he could no longer see the blue eyes, all manner
of horrible doubts and fears assailed him. He felt deeply his helpless
condition, poor fellow. Had he been sound in wind and limb he would
have cared little