Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-09-20
CHAPTER XlI-Continued

yT,HE opening of the tunnel was much as
| Andrew had described it, an inconspic-
uous marrow rift at the base or great wall
of rock In nine cases out OF ten II WouIu pass
unnoticed so small an aperture, concealed
hv bushes and trailing vines was safe from
the most inouisitVe travellers. That so tm'd
a nerson as the schoolmaster had discovered
mo one took seriously his tale of the togaed
ands ssandaled stranger) and forced his way
through this opening caused no end of won
der To accomplish the same feat drew forth
many groan from the corpulent leighton
and Miranda. As for Mrs. Quayle, what
with the squeezing and tuEging needed to
gain an entrance into the region of terrors
beyond and anxiety lest some of her jewelry
might be lost in such a strenuous ehort.
that good lady come dangerously near
condition of hopeless panic. Undoubtedly
she would have abandoned the expedition
then and there had 1t not ben for the jeers of
Miranda who assured her she was developing
SYMPTOMS that called for a generous dose
of his nfallibe pills. Such goad would
electrify the stubbornest of mules. ana
series of desperate struggles brought Mrs.
Ouayle victoriously through the tunnels
entrance.
The first step in their subterranean travels
surnounted, the explorers, having lighted
their lamps found themselves in spacious
rock chamber. the walls of which, rose above
them to a majestic height,
Andrew, especially, was amazed at what he
saw declaring that 1t was all quite different
from his first experience in the same place.
when II was remembered, however, that on
tho former occasion the schoolmaster had
only the feeble glimmer of light that found
it's way through the opening of the cave to
show him where he was the difference be-
tween his two impressions was not surprising.
But 1t puzzled his companions TO choose the
route they were to follow in their explora-
t,ons. Here Andrew could not help them.
T'wo passages were discovered leading from
the chamber in which they stood One went
straight ahead offering fairly easy unob-
structed path to the explorer The other,
hranch from the main tunnel, was narrow,
strewn with debris of fallen rock, and alto
eether forbiddng in the glimpse that could
he had of the first few hundred feet of its
course. One feature. however, belonging to
this smaller tunnel gave 1t the preference.
Rut before discovering this feature and MAX
ire their choice the explorers thought it
vest to inform themselves, well as they
could. of the character of the cave itself In
this Leighton naturally took the lead, and
fron, his investigations 1t was concluded that,
unlike other caves, the origin of the Guatavita
raye was primarily volcanic and due only
seccrdarily to the action of water.
The implement employed by Nature in
fashioning her underground caverns is usually
water Some mighty spring, deep within the
earth's bosom seeks an outlet for its accumu-
iating current. 1t forces It's way through
whatever porous layer of rock comes IN its
ath and by persistent action, occupying
ages of time, disintegrates ana destroys II
altogether. There is left, as a result Of the
s,,bterranean streams activity, series of
tunnels widening out oftentimes into great
rock chambers. and extending, in several we'll
known instances, for many miles. Wherever
water is the sole architect the lines that II
carves, the forms 1t molds. are smooth. we'll
rounded; there are no jagged edges, sharp
angles in the fairy palaces and intricate
labyrinths that'it leaves as specimens of it's
artistic method The walls of the Guatavita
tunnel. however. were eloquent of a totally
different force employed in their making. The