The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-10-29

8 FOR LITTLE !: FOLKS. i
Sj ooMDuo mAAYJoL HOG e
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renowned Bard of Avon. Shakespeare's
gallery was traversed, and as the water
was somewhat risen, we had to pass the
first place and ramble on weardly across
Sandy desert and through a muddy spot
called Purgatory, to one another stream
We could launch.
And Echo rlveri How can I help you
to see this beautiful scene and to impress
you as We were impressed by it's surround
ings?
Seating ourselves in the fatboats We
thoroughly enjoyed the rest as We jour-
neyed lldree-quarters of mile on the
bosom of The beautiful river which it is
said Us from ten to thirty feet III depth un-
der rocky arches as high as thirty feet in
some places and in others so low We had
need TO stoop low in 1.-THE boat to prevent
being struck by them.
Sweet songs were sung-a solo, then
chorus-and as we listened for five, ten,
twenty minutes the echoes continued. We
We're told that for thirty minutes AFTER the
impulse we might still hear the sound The
reverberations and melodious proongetiol
of sound is exceedingly grand. The incTsd
fble depth and sweetness of 1.-THE peculiar
harmonies of this tunnel is indesorlbable,
the grandest effect being produced by the
river itself. A vigorous splash of the wa
ter or agitation of the boat, if profound 81
lence is maintained, is followed by the tink-
ling of myriads of silver bells, 'ohen deeper,
heavier sounds of harmony; one moment
a 1Ouu, deep tone, another tliiilosl d wins
per; then again the mellow, thinking bells,
alarm bells, then bursts of wondrous
matchless musical sounds
On the osher side we stand in solemn awe.
and in concert repeat the Twenty-thlrd
Psalm: then NEARER, My God, to Thee,
and Jesus Lover of My Soul" IS sung
as we welt for the last boat load to land.
In the distance they take up the refrain,
and we ts,ten; as they finish we begin, ana
thus alternating, several songs are sung.
We are so profoundly impressed that we
are scarcely prepared for comedy Ntlsen
might have been a tragedy that followed.
Scarcely had the guide handed with the last
beautiful and our big man had called out
ELLA, come on VIII YOU" when two dign.-
fed, scholarly en--preachers-came In for
sensational scene.
Being thoroughly chilled as we all were
by this long rest, one called to his brother
minister a challenge to run race. a reck-
less proposition, to be sure. In the i'm
penetrabe darkness of a subterranean cav
ern where bravest Ciles prefer to nave a
guide lead uae way, to attempt to run a
race However, his dlgnilied. learned
brother-not l6-year-od S.rl-a full grown
man, accepted the challenge, and off they
started on what appeared to be sandy
road. Not far however! A scream! A
splash ca, what had happened? We
scarcely dared surmise. The guide comes
Immediately and The two struggling conn
batants are fished dripping from stream
that was invisible i'm the darkness. We are
so intensely relieved ON learning that they
had not plunged into some bottomless PIT
or ether deadly danger and rlad merely re-
ceived a weitting and a scare that We
laughed heartily. The race. and our
solicitous friends, "E;ta' serve as themes
for jest and laughter during the entire
tramp.
So many interesting sights cannot all
be told in one chapter, so next Sunday we
shall finish the tramp and learn particularly
of the beautiful stalactidc Formations.