eberries, returning with which he drew a clean linen handkerchief
from his knapsack, used it as a strainer for extracting the juice of the
fruit, and then presented the drink in a wooden goblet to Blanka. She
left some for Manasseh, who drank after her and declared he had never
tasted a more delightful draught. She seemed now fully rested and
refreshed, and eager to resume their journey. Aaron put two fingers into
his mouth and whistled, whereupon the three horses came trotting up to
him. He called them by name, and they followed him as a dog follows his
master, while Manasseh and Blanka brought up the rear. Thus the party
descended the steep mountainside.

The Torda Gap is one of the most marvellous volcanic formations in
existence. It is as if a mighty mountain chain had been rent asunder
from ridge to base, leaving the opposing sides of the gorge rugged and
precipitous, but matching each other with a rude harmony of detail most
curious to behold. The zigzags and windings of the giant corridor, three
thousand feet in length, have a wonderful regularity and symmetry in
their bounding walls. The whole forms an entrance-way or passage of
solid rock, the most imposing gateway in the world, and a marvel to all
geologists.

The wonders of this mountain gorge, and the stories and legends that
Aaron narrated as the travellers proceeded, made Blanka entirely
unconscious of the difficulties of the way. After leaving the Peterd
mill behind them, they were forced to use the bed of the stream for a
road. Its waters were for the time being restrained, although numerous
pools were still standing, in which numbers of small fishes darted
hither and thither and crabs were seen in abundance. As the riders
advanced through the rocky passageway, its walls came nearer and nearer
together and left only a narrow strip of blue sky visible overhead, with
a few slanting rays of the evening sunlight playing high up on one side
of the gorge. At length the passage became so straitened that only three
fathoms' space was left between the confining walls. When Hesdad Brook
is at all full one can make his way through only with great difficulty
and by boldly breasting its waters. Therefore it is that very few people
have ever seen the gate of Torda Gap. Just above this narrow gateway is
situated the natural excavation in the mountainside, called from its
last defender, Balyika Cave.

As the travellers approached this spot, Aaron rode on ahead, ostens