CHAPTER XXXV.
THE CAVERN OF DIAMONDS.
Fred Ashman was greatly relieved when he had assisted Ariel down fromthe high, rocky wall, and they had picked their way to the spot wherethe little canoe had been left but a short time before.
He had felt a singular misgiving from the first about the boat, fearfulthat in this region of enchantment, as it seemed to him, somethingwould cause it to disappear, and he and his lovely companion be left ina most exposed and dangerous situation.
But it was found just where it had been left, and helping her in it, heshoved it clear and then looked to her for directions as to what was tobe the next step.
The maiden now made a singular statement. She said that some weeksbefore, she had visited this place with no companion but her father.They landed at a point which she indicated, and he ordered her to stayon the shore until his return. He was gone so long, however, that sheundertook a little exploration on her own account, and made a discoverywhich she now hoped to turn to account.
The canoe touched at the spot she pointed out, and they stepped ashore.She said that her parent strolled off to the left, toward a passagewhich she showed, and which she had entered with him several timesbefore, but from which he seemed desirous to exclude her on theoccasion named.
It was while he was absent at that time, that Ariel walked somedistance to the right. She clambered up the rocks a little way to aclump of bushes. She was examining a species of crimson berry, growingupon them, when she observed a passage, which she followed far enoughto find that it led into a large cavern, whose full extent she did notattempt to learn. She withdrew, and, fearful of offending the king,told him nothing about it when he returned and found her with the boat.
Ariel was confident that neither her parent nor any of her people knewof her discovery, and she now proposed to Ashman that they should enterthe strange cavern, and remain until the present danger was over. Shebelieved that if her friends or enemies, as they might be considered,did not discover them soon, they would conclude that they hadvoluntarily met death together, and would give up the hunt.
Ashman was struck with the sagacity of the lady, and eagerly agreed toher suggestion. It would never do to leave the canoe as a tell-tale,and he gave it a shove which carried it far out on the lake.Discovered in that situation, no one could tell what point on the shoreit had touched, and, being adrift, near the middle of the lake, itwould suggest the theory of suicide, which they were anxious to impressupon their pursuers.
Carefully picking their way through the mass of brush and undergrowthwhich showed remarkable vigor, considering that the revivifyingsunlight never touched it, Ashman readily found the opening describedby his companion.
It was just broad enough to allow the passage of their bodies, itsheight being such that they could move by stooping slightly. Holdinghis Winchester in hand, he led the way with Ariel pressing him close.
The same fact was noticeable that struck him when paddling through thetunnel connecting the outer and the underground lake. The lightincreased as they progressed until everything was seen with adistinctness hardly less than that shown in the water they had justleft behind them.
Suddenly Ashman paused with an expression of amazement. He had entereda cavern so striking in appearance that it almost took away his wreath.
It was several acres in extent, with an arching, dome-like roof risingfully two hundred feet above their heads. Stalactites and stalagmitesdozens of feet in length were visible hanging from the roof andobtruding from the floor, the latter being broken by chasms andravines, many of which seemed to have a depth that was fathomless.
No water was visible, but the proximity of the lake rendered it likelythat some of the abysses were filled at the bottom with the element.It looked impossible for the lovers to advance beyond the entrance, andyet while Ashman was standing motionless he observed that a ledge putout on their right, along which they could make their way indefinitely,its course being hidden by scores of intervening obstacles.
It looked like a scene of enchantment indeed, the wonderful cavernillumined by the flood of crimson light, which was on every hand, whilethe radiating point was invisible.
Ariel stood silent and waited for her companion to recover from hisastonishment. She had viewed all this before and had witnessed so manysimilar scenes that they produced less effect upon her imagination thanupon his.
By and by he looked around, and she smilingly nodded her head. Hebegan picking his way along the ledge, carefully feeling his way, for amisstep or a treacherous support was liable to precipitate him to thefathomless depths below with the inevitable certainty of instant death.
It was while the young American was working forward in this guardedmanner, that he particularly noticed that the roof overhead, and allparts of the walls were dotted with what seemed points of living fire.While some were small, others were larger and gave out a light that wasdazzling to the point of blindness.
He supposed they were composed of a species of quartz or mineral, butobserving one of them within reach at his side, he reached upward withhis knife and extracted it from the shale in which it was imbedded.
Taking it in his hand he turned it over several times with increasingcuriosity. It appeared to be a rough pebble, from which he brushedaway a portion of the dirt, so as to permit it to shine with a splendorthat would have been tenfold greater in the full light of the sun.
"Don't you know what it is?" asked Ariel with another smile at hisperplexed expression.
"I do not; can you tell me?"
"It is a diamond!"
"And," he asked, with a sweep of his arm, "are all those diamonds?"
"They are."
"Great heavens!" gasped the astounded Ashman; "we have entered a cavernof diamonds."
"There can be no doubt of that," she calmly replied; "there are plentyof them among the rocks along other portions of the lake, for that iswhere the king has obtained them for years. There is gold there too.You know now the reason why he guards the approaches of the lake sojealously. I have seen our men digging for diamonds and they lookedjust like what these seem around us."
Ashman had paused again and his eyes roved around the magnificentscene, whose splendors were enough to turn the head of Solomon himself.Thousands of the points were gleaming from all portions of the roof,walls, and even on the ledge along which they were walking. There wasenough wealth within his gaze to pay the national debt of his countryand to effect a revolution in any nation.
"I would be a fool," he reflected, "not to gather some of these whilethe chance is mine, even though I may never live to carry them away."