ments of rock, some
of huge size, which had evidently fallen from the roof.

"De cave whar us lives, des' like dis yer when me find um in de fust
place," the negro was saying to Virginia. "Right smart stuns dar."

"What did you do with them?"

"Tuk all me could tote to make your little dressum-room wiv. Lef' de big
'uns fur cheers when me hab comp'ny, hiah yah! When Pomp come, him help
me place 'em around scrumptious like. Pomp bery strong--lif' like you
neber see!"

Climbing over the stones, they reached, at the farther end of the hall,
an abrupt termination of the floor. A black abyss yawned beyond. In its
invisible depths the moan of waters could be heard. Virginia, who had
been thrilled with wonder and fear, standing in the hall of the stones,
and thinking of those crushing masses showered from the roof, now found
it impossible not to yield to the terrors of her excited imagination.

"I cannot go any farther!" she said, recoiling from the gulf, and
drawing Penn back from it.

"Come right 'long!" cried Cudjo; "no trouble, missis!"

"See, he has piled stones in here and made some very good and safe
stairs. Take my torch, Carl, and follow; Cudjo will go before with his.
Now, one step at a time. I will not let thee fall."

Thus assured, she ventured to make the descent. A strong arm was about
her waist; a strong and supporting spirit was at her side; and from that
moment she felt no fear.

The limestone, out of which the cave was formed, lay in nearly
horizontal strata; and, at the bottom of Cudjo's stairs, they came upon
another level floor. It was smooth and free from rubbish. A gray vault
glimmered above their heads in the torchlight. The walls showed strange
and grotesque forms in bas-relief, similar to those of the first
gallery: here a couchant lion, so distinctly outlined that it seemed as
if it must have been chiselled by human art; an Indian sitting in a
posture of woe, with his face buried in his hands; an Arctic hunter
wrestling with a polar bear; the head of a turbaned Turk; and, most
wonderful of all, the semblance of a vine (Penn named it "Jonah's
gourd"), which spread its massive branches on the wall, and, climbing
under the arched roof, hung its heavy fruit above their heads.

Close by "Jonah's gourd" a little stream gushed from the side of the
rock, and fell into a fathomless well. The torches were held over it,
and the visitors looked down. Solid darkness was below. Carl took from
his pocke