uninviting bridge is to brace the feet against the slab, and leaning on the ledge, slowly work across.  A little more rough work and the descent of the two short ladders, brought us, at last, under the beautiful Waterfall, where we stood as in a heavy shower of rain at the lowest point yet reached in the cave, which according to the survey of Mr. Prince is four hundred feet below the surface.  The falling water has ornamented the walls, which in this portion of the cave expose over two hundred feet of Magnesian Limestone, with unique forms of dripstone; and the steeply sloping floor has received the over-charge of calcium carbonate until it has become a shining mass of onyx, retaining pools of cold, transparent water in the depressions.  In the lowest corner there is only mud, and above it rises, to a height of at least fifteen feet a bank of miry, yellow clay, at the top of which a hole in the wall is the only known entrance to Blondy’s Throne.

[Illustration:  Longitudinal and Cross-Sections of Passages in Marble Cave, Stone Co., Missouri.

Plotted by Fred Prince, 1894.]

CHAPTER III.

Marble cave continued.

On account of the long “crawl” through mud and cold water, it was at first suggested and then strongly advised, that we should not undertake to make the trip to Blondy’s Throne:  and yearning to see what is considered the cave’s chief beauty was not easy to overcome, but after careful attention to the deep mire of the approach the advice seemed good, especially as Mr. Powell kindly promised to write a description of its trials and treasures; which he promptly did, thereby making it possible for us to continue the journey now without a disappointing interruption, so we will proceed to wade that mud bank with him in his own way.  He says:  “As Mecca is to the Mohammedan, so is Blondy’s Throne Room to the pilgrim who invades the chaos and penetrates the mysteries of Marble Cave.  When the subject is mentioned to the guide, he shrugs his shoulders and assumes an imploring look, and begins at once to mention the difficulties of getting there.  But if you insist upon it he will go.  The passage by which this room has to be reached, if passage it may be called, must be entered from the Waterfall Room, and a steep ascent must be made until an elevation of fifty feet is reached above the bottom of that room.  This ascent has been called Hughse’s Slide, as a man of that name once lost his footing at the top and slid on the wet and very slippery clay all the way to the bottom, leaving a very sleek trail.  The ascent is difficult, as the soft clay is deep and wet and the sides are reeking and covered also with soft yielding clay.  When the top of the slide is once reached, a low passage six feet wide and two feet high is discovered, and stooping low, or actually lying flat down, you enter.  The top of the passage is of smooth rock and the bottom is of wet clay with an occasional variation of sharp gravel.  The air is good, and as a lizard, you start forward.  In places the passage widens to ten or twelve feet and again narrows to six feet.