e of their faithful animals that
had been through so many privations with them, they encamped on the
broad table below, where they found a spring of pure water and plenty
of grass for their two remaining horses.

The next day as they were wending their way slowly along, they came to
a range of walls so singular in their conformation as to make them
pause in their journey to examine them. On a broad table, girt in on
either side by the rocky fortresses of the Sierra, a column arose
twenty feet long and sixteen wide at the base, diminishing as it rose
to a height of thirty feet so as to leave the top eight by twelve feet
in dimensions. This column was ascended by a flight of steps, regular
and perfect in their construction. They were not long in ascertaining
this to be a work of art, and perhaps for centuries on centuries it had
stood there defying the elements, and was even now as solid and
perfect, with every block of granite in its place, as when first laid.

"This is the work of the ancestors of the old man of Lake Superior,"
said Howe, thoughtfully.

"Perhaps the savages he told you of, whom he said inhabited the
mountains built it," returned Jane.

"It was never built by a people destitute of the arts and sciences.
Mark the accuracy with which each stone is made to fit its place, hewn
and polished until it is as smooth as marble. Note also the cement in
which it is laid, black and hard as glass, like that in which the
temple was laid where we spent our first winter. No, no; depend upon
it, a civilized people have been here centuries before our forefathers
ever heard of this continent."

A cry of astonishment from Edward who had ascended to the summit,
called their attention there also. Gaining the top, they found on the
centre, raised on blocks of granite, a foot from the smooth floor, a
heavy slab of granite six feet long and two wide and six inches thick,
elaborately carved on the edges, the design being entwined serpents,
the heads laying over the ends with closed mouths and open eyes. They
were represented as being scaly, and each scale was chiseled with some
strange device, all differing in shape and finish. On this slab lay a
flint, the edges sharp, hollowed into a slightly oval form, being made
into a sharp and thin scoop with the shape of a shell. By its side lay
a stone mallet perfect also in its finish. With feelings of awe they
left this memento of the unknown past, and pursued their journey.

The