When the boat had floated entirely out of sight of the waving handkerchiefs of their friends, the party, taking their hand luggage, went into the cabin to find their staterooms and deposit their belongings. They had four staterooms in all. Fannie and Miriam occupied one communicating with that of Fannie's parents; and Ernestine, Gretta, Winnie and her Aunt Kitty had another similar suite. This duty over, they went on deck to enjoy the sweet, fresh air from the river and the beautiful scenery along its banks.
Just after the short landing which had been made at Lawrenceburg, supper was called, and they were all ready to respond. The colored waiters were delighted to find such a party of young girls, and served them with the utmost alacrity, anticipating every want in a delightful manner.
After supper they sat on deck till long after dark. Mr. Allen and Mr. Van Orten were exchanging reminiscences of their college days; and later, joined by Mrs. Allen, of summers passed at beautiful Lake George and in the White Mountains. To all of this the remainder of the party listened with absorbing interest. However, the air, which had first given them so good an appetite for supper, now made them sleepy, so that by ten o'clock the girls had all climbed into their narrow berths and were soon sound asleep.
They had breakfast on the boat, so were ready to continue their journey by rail without interruption. After a pleasant ride through a picturesque country they reached Cave City, where they were transferred to a tram—an engine and one coach—which took them first up and then down hill over a road cut right through the woods, so that in some places the trees almost interlaced over the top of the coach. It was most delightful to all the party, and would have been only too short had it not been for what was to follow. It formed a fit introduction to the sublime and wonderful results of Nature's long and patient work which they were to see. Therefore, in spite of the novelty and beauty, they were glad to reach the hotel, a long, rambling, wooden building, so unlike anything the girls had ever before seen that the short stay within its quaint rooms, with their bare floors and whitewashed walls, was in itself an experience long to be remembered.
After a night's refreshing sleep they were ready to start out bright and early for the first day's adventures. With many girlish giggles they arrayed themselves in the costumes provided by the Cave management—the short woolen skirts and loose blouses carrying with them a delightfully free and unconventional feeling—and then, at the sound of the gong, set forth with their guide; Mr. and Mrs. Allen in the lead, close behind them Miss Kitty and Miriam, next Fannie and Gretta, then Ernestine with one hand locked in that of her uncle and the other tightly holding Winnie's fingers, while the interesting and friendly dog, "Brigham,"—so called, the guide explained, because he was no longer young—divided his attentions between them, but seemed most inclined to make friends with Miss Kitty, who was accused of having a piece of meat in her pocket as the only way to account for her mysterious fascination for his dogship.
They had a short but beautiful walk through the fern-decorated woods, down a steep path, over a little bridge, till they found themselves on a stone platform directly in front of an enormous opening in the hill, a natural arch overhung with trees, rocks, ferns and wild-flowers—a sight never to be forgotten, so wonderfully beautiful and grand was it—and the party stepped back to admire it.
When they went forward again in order to enter, they saw that what was an arch above was a gaping chasm below, which looked ready to swallow them, and down which there seemed no way to go except to fall headlong. Their guide watched their dismay with amusement, but presently Miriam discovered a narrow flight of steps cut out of the solid rock. Down these they went, shaded by the trees, under the sparkling cascade, beneath the black, overhanging rock, winding their way along to where the last bit of daylight is swallowed up, and then, with various kinds of sensations, watched the guide unlock the iron gate through which they were to pass on their way to the mysterious region of the nether world. As they took their lamps and the gate closed behind them with a clang, Miriam confided to Miss Kitty that she felt little shivers running up and down her back.
As the darkness became more intense, Winnie slipped away from Ernestine to her Aunt Kitty, whose hand she seized with a breath of relief, as if feeling safer there; and Gretta and Fannie clung closely together.
As they advanced, the sense of mystery increased, and for a minute the girls huddled together in a bunch. Brigham, however, sniffed once more—a little contemptuously, according to Miss Kitty—and then ran ahead on side trips of his own, returning to the party from time to time as if to reassure them that everything was all right and they might place implicit confidence in his knowledge of the Cave and his friendship for them.
Their first stop was made in the Rotunda in order to examine the saltpeter vats, in which Ernestine, in keeping with her liking for history, was much interested when she heard that the saltpeter made here was taken to Philadelphia to be used in the manufacture of gunpowder during the war of 1812.