All was life and happiness this beautiful morning and all thoughts of the storm had been relegated to the past. On their right stretched the lake, its clear waters stretching far to the north; on the left were the farms and pastures, through which the storm had ploughed its way; on ahead of them, as far as the eye could reach, stretched out the shaded avenue; way off to the northwest could just be seen in the blue distance, hardly perceptible, the faces of the cliffs, and at the base of these cliffs was their destination, and there too were the points of interest, which the party were to see before their return.
“The journey for the next few days will be uneventful enough, will it not?” said Mr. Graham, as he pulled up for a moment alongside of Onrai’s elephant.
“Yes, we will have little to break the monotony between here and the field of brilliants, but the country is beautiful and I think you will find it all interesting,” said Onrai.
“It is all interesting to me,” said Mr. Graham, “but I wished to know if there was anything of special interest, such as mines and quarries.”
“No, nothing of that kind,” said Onrai, “but wait a minute; there is a deserted mine or something, which has never been explored by any of my people, since I can remember, and I cannot tell whether it be a mine or well or natural hole in the ground. It is about the width of the avenue and goes down, down, down, far below where the eyes can reach. I have only looked down this dark hole when I have been passing and know positively nothing about it, but if you would like to do so, we will halt there to-morrow and go down with ropes and explore it as far as we can. A villa stands near in which the ladies can wait for us.”
“I should like to see what this curious place is,” said Mr. Graham.
“Well, then, it is settled, we will explore it to-morrow,” said Onrai.
Mr. Graham again rode up alongside of Mr. Bruce, and telling him of the hole in the ground, had his interest aroused at once. All along the track of the storm many men were at work, but for some time past none had been seen.
“It is strange, is it not?” asked Harry of Mr. Bruce.
“Yes, decidedly so,” said Mr. Bruce.