us."

"The thing that I'm most interested in, at this present moment,"--the
goldsmith took up his heavy "swag"--"is tucker."

Without further words, he led the way between perpendicular outcrops
of rocks whose bare, grey sides were screened by fuchsia trees, birch
saplings, lance-wood, and such scrub as could take root in the shallow
soil. Turning sharply round a projecting rock, he passed beneath a tall
black birch which grew close to an indentation in the face of the
cliff. Beneath the great tree the heels of the goldsmith crushed the
dry, brown leaves deposited during many seasons; then in an instant he
disappeared from the sight of the lynx-eyed Jake, as a rabbit vanishes
into its burrow.

"Hi! Here! Boss! Where the dooce has the ole red-shank got too?"

A muffled voice, coming as from the bowels of the earth, said, "Walk
inside. Liberty Hall.... Free lodging and no taxes."

Jake groped his way beneath the tree, surrounded on three sides by the
limestone cliff. In one corner of the rock was a sharp depression, in
which grew shrubs of various sorts. Dropping into this, the lad pushed
his way through the tangled branches and stood before the entrance of a
cave.

Inside Tresco held a lighted candle in his hand. In front of him stood
Jake, spellbound.

Overhead, the ceiling was covered with white and glistening stalactites;
underfoot, the floor was strewn with bits of carbonate and the broken
bases of stalagmites, which had been shattered to make a path for the
ruthless iconoclast who had made his home in this pearly-white temple,
built without hands.

Tresco handed Jake another lighted candle.

"Allow me to introduce you, my admirable Jakey, to my country mansion,
where I retire from the worry of business, and turn my mind to the
contemplation of Nature. This is the entrance hall, the portico: observe
the marble walls and the ceiling-decorations--Early English,
perpendicular style."

Jake stood, open-mouthed with astonishment.

"Now we come to the drawing-room, the grand _salon_, where I give my
receptions." Benjamin led the way through a low aperture, on either side
of which stalactites and stalagmites had met, leaving a low doorway in
the centre. Beyond this, the candles' dim light struggled for supremacy
in a great hall, whose walls shone like crystal. On one side the
calcareous encrustations had taken the form of a huge organ, cut as
if out of marble, with pipes and key-board complete.

"Holee Chri