St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-09


enormous bears head; glistening icicles
were the teeth, and the whole picture
savage. Even while the eye took in the
| features they changed. and instead of
| fierce white bears head there was
only an irregular bowlder again. In
the distance, where the light barely
| reached, ugly black forms appeared.
| More than once the meu suddenly halt
| ed when one of these black beasts
moved, for in the weird. smoky light
they seemed to move. though closer up
they showed as simply openings into
| other branches of the crevaSse.
Awed Into silence.
The most intense silence prevailed in
| this passage. There was not breath
| of air stirring there, while in the main
corridor. which we mad just left, the
wind rushed through so tiercely that in
the straighter passages the flames of
| the torches struggled and spluttered,
but at last were conquered and and
| blown out, leaving the explorers in dark
ness so complete that it made the eyes
| ache. Then there was nothing to do
but crawl, each holding to the other
| until the cessation of the gale told them
they were behind rock or turn, where
the torches could be relighted.
But this passage was absolutely still.
Even the spluttering of the torches
sounded loud and the crunching of the
frost-like coating beneath the feet
seemed like proclamation. Somehow
NOBODY cared to talk much, and what
was said was said in whispers.
Several very tempting openings were
| passed, but finally particularly easy
! looking door was reached, turning to
| the right. 1t was not easy long. The
roof got closer to the floor, and the walls
came nearer and nearer together. We
stopped, then we got to our hands and
| knees, then down fiat. So half dozen
yards we had to WTiggle and squirm
along snakewiSe. our clothes catching
on the brittle spikes and the fretted
floor tearing our knees. 1t was eX-
hausting work for while, but at last
the passage grew wider. and presently
we were in room where we could
stand upright.
This was wonderful place; along
either wall ran a low, fiat bench of rock.
In this bench were several depreSSiOns
as distinct and sharp as though cut
with chisel. These depressions were
only all inch or so deep, were perfectly
! rectangular and perfectly level. They
were filled to the brim with water, and
the white rock glistened through it
beautifully. All around it was dry; no
water dripping from above, none yelling
up from below. These squares of water
reflected like looking-glasses when the
torches were held over them.
The mirror Room" this chamber was
named. and there the first photograph
was taken. The explosion of the flash
powder made the air shake, while for
an instant every point and corner of the
room was plain.
We started to return, when the phOtOg-
rapher touched his pocket. The Irvine
was gone: he only had 500 yards in his
pocket, and so wonderful and interest
ing was the road that we never noticed
when the last OF it was gone. The end
of that cord was somewhere a quarter
of mile back in the rock.
We found il, of course. If we had
not, this article would not have ap-
peared, but it took nearly two hours
scrambling among holes and tunnels
that we had not passed on the way in.
1t was very uncomfortable two hours.
There was no end of passages, it
seemed, and they wound around and
above ard below one another in the
most perpleXing and beWildering fash
ion. We felt very serious and uDpleas-
ant before an unexpected slip down the
side of a craggy chamber as big ball
room showed us the thin line of Irvine.
So we got out. We had spent nearly
eight hours in the cave.
"What shall we call that branch of
the cave?" unused the writer, notebook
in hand.
THE Lost Cord" growled the pho
tographer, who is a humOrlst when he
is mad. So that is the name we gave
it. The air outside was was like blast
from an oven. There was difference
of fully 40 deg between the temperature
in the cave and out of it. Our clothes
were as white as if we had come out of
flour bin, and we were wet to the
skin from the drops that fell from the
pointed stalactites.
1t was evening before we were in trim
to try the cave again. This time the
hole on top of the bluff gave us entrance.
For quarter of mile there was some
little trouble. Scrambling over the
rocks and clambering up and down lad
derS that had been placed by the first to
venture into the cave had to be done,
but the work of the morning had taught
us much about moving in caves,
and the ground was rapidly
gone over. After a quarter of a
mile, however. the trouble began. A
great chamber named the dining room
because of bench of rock with a level
top that occupied one side of the room,
and looked more like table than any
thing else, was the last of the easy
travelling. From there chimney bare
" wide enough to squeeze through went
up at angle of sixty degrees. A hum
bred yards of hard work brought us to
large rooms and broad passages again.
Rod after rod of stately columns, as reg
ular and clear as freshly-sculptured
marble pillars, divide the rooms and in
crease the mystery of the great maze,
and overhead a thousand glistening
drops of water, each the apex of brill
liant white spear head, reflect the light
of the glowing torches. Everywhere on
the walls masses of shining lime, slowly
deposited for ages, counterfeted the
shapes of well known things.
A Face in the Rocks.
Turning an abrupt corner of a cavern
so high that the torches did not light to
the roof of the magnificent dome,
great, gaunt face sends chills down
your back. You know, of course, that
the malevOlent eye is only a shadow,
the mouth a fault in the gigantic stalac-
tite, and the hOary beard simply another
stalactlte stained by a drop of iron that
somehow had been washed down into
the limestone cracks. But the face
the beard alone as long as a man-is
uncanny, and as long as you can see the
visage you have an uncomfortable feel
ing that the old man. who has been
there as long as water and rocks have
been, is watching you with no APPROX
ing glance.
But the photographer planted his
camera right beside him, and the flash
of the powder told that his face had
been taken. The dull report comes
back many times, for these caves and
rNloaas
The Guardian of the Cave was, of
course. the name of the great yisage in
the pillar.
AS nearly as could be estimated from
the amount of line paid out, this
curious feature is two and half miles
from the entrance to the cave. AT a
rough guess it is 1900 feet below the
roots of the great fir trees that crown
the mountain.
The caverns are larger after the
Guardian is behind, but the road is