re birds sang and the sunshine glittered
on a million leaves, Scarlett groped his way as in a maze, dark and
impenetrable; his horse dejected, himself drenched and cold.

CHAPTER XXX.

In Tresco's Cave.

Tresco stood in his dark, dank cavern, and meditated upon the loneliness
of life.

He was naturally a sociable man, and loved the company of his fellows,
but here he was living a hermit's existence, shut up in the bowels of
the earth, with no better associates than the clammy stalactites which
constantly dripped water upon the white, calcareous floors.

The atmosphere was so cold that it chilled the marrow of the goldsmith's
bones, and to render habitable the inner recess where he lived he was
forced to keep a fire perpetually burning. To do this it was necessary
for him to sally into the daylight, in order that he might collect
firewood, of which there was in the neighbourhood of the cave an
abundant supply.

Groping his way slowly through the winding passage, every twist and
turn of which he knew in the dark, Benjamin passed into the lofty cavern
which he had named the Cathedral, where the stalactites and stalagmites,
meeting, had formed huge columns, which seemed to support the great
domed roof overhead. This was a place which Tresco was never tired of
admiring. "A temple built without hands," he said, as he held aloft his
candle, and viewed the snow-white pillars which stood on either side of
what he named the Nave.

"What a place to preach in." He who has no companions must needs talk
to himself if he would hear the human voice. "Here, now, a man _could_
expatiate on the work of the Creator, but his sermon would have to be
within the fifteen minutes' limit, or his congregation would catch
their death of cold. 'Dearly beloved brethren, the words of my text are
illustrated by the house in which we are assembled.'" His voice filled
the Nave, and reverberated down the aisles. "'Here you have the real
thing, built by the Master Builder, Nature, for the use of the Cave Man,
and preserved for all time. How wonderful are the works of Creation, how
exquisite the details. You have heard of the Doric, the Ionic, and the
Corinthian columns, and of the beauties of Greek architecture, but
compare these white, symmetrical piers, raised in one solid piece,
without join or crevice. Observe yonder alabaster gallery where the
organ swells its harmonious tones; observe the vestry, where the
preacher dons his sacerdota