light the lamps if they are
not broken."

It was found, as they had expected, that the only light which penetrated
the cavern was that which entered by the cave's mouth, which of course
was very feeble.

Presently, to Winnie's surprise, Moses was seen issuing from the kitchen
with a petroleum lamp in one hand, the brilliant light of which not only
glittered on his expressive black visage but sent a ruddy glare all over
the cavern.

Van der Kemp seemed to watch his daughter intently as she gazed in a
bewildered way around. There was a puzzled look as well as mere
surprise in her pretty face.

"Father," she said earnestly, "you have spoken more than once of living
as if in a dream. Perhaps you will wonder when I tell you that I
experience something of that sort now. Strange though this place seems,
I have an unaccountable feeling that it is not absolutely new to me--
that I have seen it before."

"I do not wonder, dear one," he replied, "for the drawings that surround
this chamber were the handiwork of your dear mother, and they decorated
the walls of your own nursery when you were a little child at your
mother's knee. For over ten long years they have surrounded me and kept
your faces fresh in my memory--though, truth to tell, it needed no such
reminders to do that. Come, let us examine them."

It was pleasant to see the earnest face of Winnie as she half-recognised
and strove to recall the memories of early childhood in that singular
cavern. It was also a sight worth seeing--the countenance of Nigel, as
well as that of the hermit, while they watched and admired her eager,
puzzled play of feature, and it was the most amazing sight of all to see
the all but superhuman joy of Moses as he held the lamp and listened to
facts regarding the past of his beloved master which were quite new to
him--for the hermit spoke as openly about his past domestic affairs as
if he and Winnie had been quite alone.

"He either forgets that we are present, or counts us as part of his
family," thought Nigel with a feeling of satisfaction.

"What a dear comoonicative man!" thought Moses, with unconcealed
pleasure.

"Come now, let us ascend to the observatory," said the hermit, when all
the things in the library had been examined. "There has been damage
done there, I know; besides, there is a locket there which belonged to
your mother. I left it by mistake one day when I went up to arrange the
mirrors, and in the hurry of leav