r that its
inhabitants were associated in groups or families, spaces being marked
off by an arrangement of logs and household goods, etcetera, as if to
indicate the habitation of each group, and, from certain indications in
the smaller chambers, it was equally evident that these had been
apportioned as the sleeping-places of the females. A larger space at
the end of the cave, opposite to that on which Mark and his comrades
reclined, seemed to be a general meeting-place.

To this spot it was that Ravonino went, leading his little sister
Ra-Ruth by the hand, and followed by all the inmates of the place, who
were eager to know what news he had brought. That the news was the
reverse of good soon became evident, from the bowed heads and frequent
sighs with which it was received.

Of course our travellers could make no use of their ears, but they made
the best use of their eyes, and were deeply interested in the
expressions and actions of the various members of the group who
successively spoke after the guide had told his story. Poor little
Ra-Ruth, whose age might have been about seventeen, was not one of the
speakers. She was evidently a timid as well as a pretty little
creature, for she clung to and nestled against her stout brother's arm
while he was speaking, and hid her face now and then in the masses of
her luxuriant brown hair.

Close to her sat a young woman whose appearance and manner formed a
striking contrast. She was much darker in complexion, but her features
were of classical beauty and her air calm and self-possessed. When she
had occasion to speak, she arose, displaying a tall elegantly-formed
figure, which moved with queen-like dignity while she gesticulated with
graceful animation, and frequently pointed upwards as if appealing to.
God. When she was speaking Ra-Ruth's timidity seemed to vanish, for she
shook back her hair, and fixed her eyes on the other's face with a gaze
that told of ardent love as well as admiration.

The next who spoke was a young man, who in face and figure so strongly
resembled the last speaker, that it was impossible to resist the
conclusion that they were brother and sister. There was the same tall
commanding figure, of course on a larger scale, the same noble cast of
feature and the same dignified mien. But in the man, more than in the
woman, there was an air of gentle modesty which contrasted well with his
powerful frame. He did not gesticulate much in speaking, and,