d, we may be charged with
mutilating the body, and perhaps with murder. Let us consign it to the
sea."

"We have nothing with which to sink it, and the waters have already
given up their trust. There, if I mistake not, we shall find a tomb
worthy of a better man than this."

A ledge of the iceberg, some forty feet above the wave-worn base, had
received a tiny branch of the fresh-water stream, at some time long
previous, and its course could still be traced by the immense icicle
formation, which, in fantastical imagery of a lofty cascade, seemed
still to fall from base to summit. Between the ledge and the water were
formed huge irregular pillars and buttresses of opaline ice whose
semi-transparency seemed to indicate the presence of a cave beneath.

Axe in hand, Regnar led the way to the base of the berg, and carefully
examined every nook and cranny, evidently seeking a concealed opening.
A narrow aperture was at last found, some twenty feet above the
ice-pool; and at the call of his companion, La Salle ascended with the
coil of rope, one end of which he fastened firmly to a projection of the
berg.

"Come down here; there is no danger," said the lad; and descending, La
Salle found himself in a cave of large size and almost fairy-like
beauty.

Over their heads the ledge projected some twenty feet above a floor,
levelled by the earlier flow of the cascade, which, by some sudden
removal of obstructing ice or snow, had been projected beyond the little
pool, whose surface had frozen into a level floor of crystal. Over this,
as upon the roof and back of the cave, had gathered groups of those
beautiful congelations to be found only on newly-formed ice, and in
seasons of intense cold. Among them were to be noticed many minute
patterns of the most delicate star-crystals, and the surface of the
floor was nearly covered with congelations of the purest white,
resembling in shape, size, and beauty the leaf of the moss-rose. A
fantastic conglomeration of irregular, round, and convoluted pillars,
running into each other in indescribable ramifications, formed the outer
wall, whose semi-translucent crystal, like opal glass, allowed the rays
of the rising sun to shower a mild and silvery radiance upon the hidden
wonders of the spacious grotto.

"Here he will sleep, after a life of crime and treachery, in a tomb
such as few monarchs can boast of, until in some terrible gale, amid
tremendous and overwhelming seas, this vast fabric s