l garb--they are perfect. But did I hear a
lady sneeze? Alas! Nature forgot the hot-air pipes; the Cathedral, I
admit, strikes a little chilly. Therefore I dismiss you, my brethren,
lest you should catch pleurisy, or go into galloping consumption.'"

He finished with a laugh, and then passed into the small entrance-cave,
which he denominated facetiously the Church Porch. Here he blew out his
candle, which he placed on a rock, and emerged from his hiding-place.

He had burst from the restful, if cold, comfort of his cave upon the
warring elements. Peal after peal of thunder rolled along the wooded
slopes of the rugged range; fierce flashes of lightning pierced the
gloom of the dark valley below, and from the black thunder-cloud
overhead there poured a torrent of rain which made the goldsmith think
of the Deluge.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, as he stood in the entrance of his damp den, "there
are worse places than my cave after all. But what I want is firewood.
Lord! that flash almost blinded me.
Rumble--grumble--tumble--crash--bang! Go it; never mind _me_. You aren't
frightening me worth tuppence. I rather like a little electricity and
_aqua pura_." In answer there was a dazzling flash, followed by a
terrific clap of thunder which seemed to burst almost above Benjamin's
head. "All right, if you insist--I'll go. Sorry I obtruded ... Good
afternoon."

He retreated into the cave, took up his candle, which he relighted,
saying to himself, "I'll go and explore that passage behind the Organ
Loft, and see if it leads to the outer world. In case I get shut in
here, like a rat in a hole, it's just as well for me to know my burrow
thoroughly."

Groping his way up a slippery ascent where his feet continually stumbled
over the uneven surface of the encrusted floor, he climbed to the Organ
Loft, where, screened behind a delicate, white tracery which hung from
roof to floor of the gallery and assumed the shape of an organ, pipes
and panels complete, he could see his candle's flame shoot long fingers
of light into the vast Nave below.

However, he spent but little time in contemplation of the weird scene,
but turning sharply to the right he followed a narrow, winding passage
which led into the heart of the limestone mountain. His progress was
both slow and difficult, for the encrusting carbonate had, in many
places, all but filled up the passage, and, in many others, the floor
was so broken as to make it almost impossible for him to pre