uous man do without her kindly presence?
By the way, in their simplicity they very quickly let out the reason
why Saunderson recommended their farm. The Professor rose from the
ranks himself, and I believe that in his youth he was not above scaring
crows in these very fields.

It is a most lonely spot, and the walks are picturesque in the extreme.
The farm consists of grazing land lying at the bottom of an irregular
valley. On each side are the fantastic limestone hills, formed of rock
so soft that you can break it away with your hands. All this country
is hollow. Could you strike it with some gigantic hammer it would boom
like a drum, or possibly cave in altogether and expose some huge
subterranean sea. A great sea there must surely be, for on all sides
the streams run into the mountain itself, never to reappear. There are
gaps everywhere amid the rocks, and when you pass through them you find
yourself in great caverns, which wind down into the bowels of the
earth. I have a small bicycle lamp, and it is a perpetual joy to me to
carry it into these weird solitudes, and to see the wonderful silver
and black effect when I throw its light upon the stalactites which
drape the lofty roofs. Shut off the lamp, and you are in the blackest
darkness. Turn it on, and it is a scene from the Arabian Nights.

But there is one of these strange openings in the earth which has a
special interest, for it is the handiwork, not of nature, but of man.
I had never heard of Blue John when I came to these parts. It is the
name given to a peculiar mineral of a beautiful purple shade, which is
only found at one or two places in the world. It is so rare that an
ordinary vase of Blue John would be valued at a great price. The
Romans, with that extraordinary instinct of theirs, discovered that it
was to be found in this valley, and sank a horizontal shaft deep into
the mountain side. The opening of their mine has been called Blue John
Gap, a clean-cut arch in the rock, the mouth all overgrown with bushes.
It is a goodly passage which the Roman miners have cut, and it
intersects some of the great water-worn caves, so that if you enter
Blue John Gap you would do well to mark your steps and to have a good
store of candles, or you may never make your way back to the daylight
again. I have not yet gone deeply into it, but this very day I stood at
the mouth of the arched tunnel, and peering down into the black
recesses beyond, I vowed that w