The sun having failed to consider our wishes was now about to disappear in a gleaming flood of gold, so the return to Thayer that night was out of the question.  Our host and his wife observed that fact and cordially invited us to remain for the night and as much longer as we would like to, but being unwilling to impose on kindness to such an extent, we returned to the hotel in Alton, and now urgently advise that those who ever have an opportunity to enjoy a moonlight drive through the Ozark forests should not let it pass unimproved.

OTHER CAVES NEAR BY.

About twelve miles from Alton there are three other caves worthy of attention.  Two of these are known only as The Saltpetre Caves, and the third as The Bat Cave.

Not many persons care to visit the Bat Cave, for although its inhabitants are small, they have evidently decided to profit by the experience of the Red Man and take no risks through hospitality.  Their warnings can be heard like distant thunder for some distance outside the cave, and any unheeding intruder is set upon in fury by such vast numbers of the little creatures that his only safety is in hasty retreat.

During the war the two Saltpetre Caves were worked to a considerable extent, and also served as safe retreats for the residents of the region, as well as the visiting “Jonny,” when the vicinity became oppressively “blue.”

Both of these caves are especially notable on account of the fine stalactites with which they are abundantly supplied; most of them being snow white and from fourteen to twenty feet in length.

Unfortunately, most of the caves in this region have been deprived of great quantities of their beautiful adornments by visitors who are allowed to choose the best and remove it in such quantities as may suit their convenience and pleasure.  Those who own the caves, and those who visit them, would do well to remember that if all the natural adornment should be allowed to remain in its original position, it would continue to afford pleasure to many persons for an indefinite time; but if broken, removed, and scattered the pleasure to a few will be comparatively little and that short-lived.  The gift of beauty should always be honored and protected for the public good.

We were not so fortunate as to discover fossils of any kind in this locality, although the search was by no means thorough; but even if it had been the result might have been the same, since that county and others adjoining have been mapped as Cambrian.  The greater part of the exposed rock is a fine sandstone almost as white as gypsum on a fresh fracture, and much of it is ripple-marked so as to show a beautifully fluted surface of remarkable regularity.  These ripple flutings are sometimes more than an inch in width, and often less, but the variations never appear on the same level, the smallest being seen on the hill-tops and the larger outcropping on the downward slopes.