to warn me, as he often did, of threatening inequalities in the floor and light them with his own candle.  The crystals here are exceptionally fine, being very sharp and of unusual size, besides many of them being double—­that is, pointed at both ends.  Through this beautiful ceiling there is a percolating drip adding stalactites to the crystal-points and piling stalagmites on the crystal masses below, varying this with imitation cascades, mats of small flowers, and masses of pop-corn.  Off to one side in a kind of recess there is a depression in the crystal floor filled with clear, cold water.

A glance at the time now showed us to be in danger of failure to meet the train to town, and consequently, tired as we were after nine hours of rough travel and much climbing, it was necessary to make our way out with more speed than comfort, and we found the weather turning very cold.  The cave was carefully locked, preparations for the train hurriedly made, the house closed, and as we left it the train could be heard coming down the canon, but we arrived at the station first, though breathless, and a few minutes later were in Piedmont, too tired to properly enjoy a hot venison supper.

As to the size of Crystal Cave, it is impossible to make any positive statement; for as Mr. McBride, the proprietor, says, no survey has yet been made.  Other persons said that thirty-six miles is the greatest claim made for the combined length of all passages, and sixteen miles the least, so it may be wise to accept the lesser number until a survey proves it wrong.

The box work in Crystal Cave is not of such great abundance as to demand special attention, but is very beautiful, and one variety deserves particular mention.  These boxes have been formed in dark red sandstone, and after being emptied of their original contents, have been completely filled with colorless calcite crystals, and over this is spread an outer surface of the same crystals tinted a brilliant flame color by red paint-clay having been taken in solution by the crystal forming waters.  A specimen of this was a temptation too great to be resisted even in the owner’s absence.

Some of the box work is of such size that a single box may have a capacity equal to that of a bushel measure, but it is less beautiful than the smaller forms.

On the following morning we left Piedmont, and having a desire for greater personal knowledge of the Hills, took the same train which had taken us to the cave, and traveled to its western terminus, Lead City.  The interesting scenery makes this a desirable trip for any one visiting the Hills, but its beauty is chiefly massed at the ends, the middle distance being over gradually rising ground, which is without a counterpart of the rocky canon left behind or more than a suggestion of the high hills yet to come.  The special charm of this portion was the magnificent pine forest which covered it until three years ago, when it was swept