ssed cavities which he believed held water; but there was
no water in them now. He had expected these, and had feared that
upon their edges there 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. It became
warmer and warmer, but he knew that the heat would soon decrease. The
character of the rocks changed, and he studied them as he went down, and
continually made 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 quietly imagine what he would come to when he got
to the bottom; it would be some sort of a cave into which his shell had
made an opening. He wondered what sort of a cave it would be, and how
high the roof of it was from the bottom. He wondered if his gardener had
remembered what he had told him about the flower-beds in front of his
house; he wanted 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 began to wonder if he would come to some underground
body of water where he would be drowned; but he knew that was a silly
thought. If the shaft had gone through subterranean reservoirs, the
water of these would have run out, and before they 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 he thought of the people above, and of 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 called, and he told him all that he wanted
done in the flower-beds. He gave many directions in regard to the
various operations of the Works. Things had been put back a great deal
of late. He hoped soon to have everything going on in the ordinary way.
There were two or three inventions in which he took particular interest,
and of these he talked at great length with Mr. Bryce. Suddenly, in the
midst of some talk about hollow steel rods, he told Bryce to