Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1871-11-14
complied and sang TOO Late. -

Inc erect was at once startling and solemn
J The peculiar echoes of the place took up tn
sounds and it seemed as if a large choir wer
chanting as the unseen singers, with voice
sweetly blended, poured forth the thrilling
notes. TOO late too late II came ringing
down to us from the alcoves, and inches, anc
domes and spires, and | stood spell-bound
thrilled with strange awe, and impressed as
[ had never been before. 4 IS.
Next we were shown the Leaning Tower oil
Pisa, and white Heron quietly standing
on one foot in cosy little niche, then the
"Post Office, = cavity in the wall, which held
no letters for any of our party; and 'sThe Or
gan, upon whose weird pipes the guide struck
out some sweetly clear musical notes. Then
came 1.-THE Bridal Chamber" There was the
brides comb with the white veil gracefully
draped over it, and the bridal gifts, complete
shower of glitterlng jewels scattered about in
! the most enchanting profusion, and beautifully
shown off upon the russell background Thence
we proceeded to 1.-The Garden of Eden," and
! all along the way | could detect some madon-
mas, and monks, and witches, and nuns, and
demons watching US in stony silence from the
walls as we penetrated the mystic depths of
their domain The guide then proposed that
We should extinguish our lights and keep per
fectly still. We did SO. What hush Verify
the outer world knows no silence There is al
ways bird $ twitter the motion of leaves, the
rustic of grass, the lap of waves that makes
the combination of sounds which we call ST.
ence. But here, not crickets chirp, not an
insects flight, not a rustled leaf, not passing
wind broke the stiffness, the weight of which
was painfully oppressive. The words of the
old song occurred to me:
"I listened for one football,
1 listened for one word;
But the beating OF my own heart
Was all the sound heard ~
It was relief, though the effect was start
ling, when the whole place was suddenly iiu-
minated by magnesium light, held in such a
position that weird moonlight effect would be
produced, and ghostly shadows seemed to move
about the walls and crawl about cur feet. By
this light we saw the Natural Bridge, stone
structure varying in height from twenty to for.
ty feet, and from its base to the roof above the
height varies from eighty to one hundred feet,
as near as 1t been possible to ascertain. Next
came ''rhe Tower Of Babel and back of it a
vulsion of nature to have been torn from its
primeval abiding place and tossed in the wild
est confusion, thus to remain fixed. Visitors
never go there" said the guide but sure of
my chamois-like propensity for climbing | VEN
tured, assisted by Bell, and was repaid to hnd
myself in a spot where Jones and Smith and
Brown had cot written their names, and vis-
tors had not dared to climb for specimens. |
named it Chaos, and left its grand ruins and
its magnificent rockwork to once more join the
party and go on past the couch of ''The Sleep
ing Beauty" where the fringed coverlet con-
ceals the we'll defined form then to the Win
ter Scene a particularly beautiful sight,
where the later formations being white, here
and there look like drlfted snow upon the ap-
parenty frozen ground Then came the ''Oys-
ter Saloon, where gigantic oyster shells, four
or five feet in height and breadth, yawn at you
and here we have reached the terminus OF the
cave. Oh cascades, rivuiets, towers castles
domes spires, palaces, how are ye pictured on
my brain Said dear friend to ME as we
walked side by side, TO me it was as if had
been roaming through vast sunken cathedral
and no architecture that L ever saw 10 the
Old World or the New ever impressed noe as
has the sight Of this wonderful cavern"
Is 1t after all not some place under the spell
of enchantment? Did not the Wizard sit up
a0ft somewhere as we passed along, hidden
among the beautiful stalactltes that eInbesh
the roof? Is there not some hour at the dead
of night when he lifts the spell and the cas-
cades flow, and the Madonnas come down from
the wall to attend mass in the cathedral, and
the dapper little senator gathers around him a
vast assembly, and Washington and the Paw
nee chief hold council together and the White
the Garden of Eden, and the elves and fairies
dance in the ball ROOM and the monks and the
nuns and the gnemes and the demons people
the castles and clolSters, aud play their pranks,
and tell their beads, and mutter their prayers,
and chant their aves before the great organ ?
And do not these strange little people sing ep-
ithalamiums while the bride puts on her we'd
ding garments, and adjusts her bridal veil, and
decorates her person with her splendid jewels ?
lttz. T., r.,
the palace of the Gnome Kings, aud the Sleep
ing Beauty awakes, and throws back the folds
of her coverlet, and, perhaps, takes lhe Sena-
tor S arm and repairs to the oyster saloon to
regale herself upon dozen fried And
there are queer little faces at the post Office
window, calling for letters, and strange process
sons cross the natural bridge, until the wizard
moves his wand and condemns them once more
to silence and stone
In going out we turned a little from the beat
en- path to visit the ''Inferna Regions" and
then proceeded past the convoluted drapery of
the tapestry chamber and on to the tea table,
which We found deserted MIR. S. and ladies
had been found by another guide and taken
out before our return. The temperature of the
cave is always the same, winter and summer
560-and the visitor suffers from no oppression
while traversing the cave. t
When we emerged it was night outside, and
looking at our watches, We found we had been
three hours underground. The cave was dis
covered in 1904, by Mr.. Weyer, while hunting
Some animal having constantly dragged off his
trap, he traced it, and thus found the entrance
to the cavern. Thus, for the discovery of all
the treasure of this great subterranean castle,
We are indebted to a ground-hog The sur
face of the hill in which the cave is situated
contains a farm, comprising field, vineyard,
forest and orchard. Once more returning to
the hospitable shelter of Mohler's Hotel, which
is said to be conducted by four Of the hand
soonest men in Virginia, we supped and slept
seven of our party having the nightmare, and
one waking all her neighbors by screaming
while dreaming that the elephant of the cave
had her in his trunk and was swinging her over
the bottomess pit. Next morning we found
our sick horse was dead-a hack offering sacri-
feed upon the altar of pleasure excursions
Hiring another, we turned toward Stribling,
passing on our homeward way the battle fields
of Piedmont. XARIFFA.
Chesa. & Ohio r. R.
Evervvbere in the West there is the deenest