Entrance to Cave--Interior View. [Page 52.]
The chilliness presently recalled us from further indulgence in that great scene, to ordinary affairs; and consulting the reliable thermometer, it was found to register 42°, while in some of the lower passages the temperature is 58°; but the variation is not in accordance with the accepted theory of one degree to the one hundred feet descent.
A return to the beautiful Spring of Youth Room was now a necessity, but we were careful to allow no drop of water falling from clay-stained hands to reach the purity of that lovely bowl, and then being happy and hungry, we retired to the piano's protecting tent for refreshment.
The atmosphere in Marble Cave has the peculiar bracing and invigorating quality common to the majority of caves, that seems almost to defy fatigue and encourage exertion that under ordinary conditions would be impossible.
After the exertion necessary in the warmer portions of the cave, the temperature of 42° proved rather low for comfort and finally was admitted to be a sufficient reason for either leaving the cave or sending out for the wraps. Slowly and reluctantly the party walked up the long winding path to the summit of the Hill where the stairway finds support, stopping many times to admire again the perfect curves and fine color-tones of that wonderful high arch—within a mountain yet softly radiant with the light of day.
Still lingering regretfully among the fern-decked rocks before quite finishing the ascent to the actual outside world, the mercury lost little time in registering eighty degrees.
Since no official, or even approximately correct map of Marble Cave has yet been published, and the desirability of maps is particularly urged by Monsieur E. A. Martel, a special effort was made to secure one, which was accompanied by the following remarks from Mr. Prince in regard to its incompleteness:
"There are several passages and rooms which do not appear on the map, though some of them are well known, but have not been surveyed and platted.
"Much further exploration is possible in this great cavern. Lost River Cañon ends abruptly in a bank of red clay, the volume of water being undiminished. The water from the Great Fall flows by a small serpentine into a passage which has never been followed up; its entrance being several hundred feet higher than the nearest water level."