In some cases the ends of the pendants nearly touched the points of the stalagmites rising from the bottom, and not a few were dropping pure, clear water, which formed little pools that ran in rivulets to the great well, and there vanished in the bowels of the earth.
It was quite cold there, yet there was a strong, fresh, invigorating taste to the air, which was agreeable to the lungs.
At various parts of the walls were other natural formations, and among them, in a niche, the figure of a woman holding a child.
"For beauty, the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky cannot compare with this place," said Young King Brady, in tones of delight.
"We are forgetting our object," said the old officer.
"True. But no one is in this place."
"Let us see if there are not adjoining caverns."
"Explore those openings in the wall."
He pointed at an arched aperture, and they crept into it on their hands and knees, and went ahead a dozen yards, then paused.
They were on the brink of another chasm.