ibly
to ascertain whether the water was still shallow enough to wade through,
but in reality to look for the preconcerted signal and remove it before
Blanka should come up. He had agreed with Manasseh, if the signal was
favourable, to offer to show her the flower garden of Balyika Glen and
to discourage all desire on her part to visit Balyika Cave, by alleging
that it was the haunt of serpents; but if the signal should be
unfavourable, he was to employ all his arts to make the young lady eager
to inspect the cavern and pass the night there.

He soon returned, and reported that it would be easy to wade their
horses through the gateway, after which they could go and view the
wonders of Balyika Cave.

"But aren't there any snakes in the cave?" was Blanka's first and most
natural inquiry. Every woman in her place would have put the same
question. Ever since Mother Eve's misadventure with the serpent in
Paradise, women have cherished a deadly enmity toward the whole reptile
family.

"Yes," was Aaron's reply, "there are snakes there."

Manasseh drew a breath of relief, but this time he had mistaken his
brother's meaning.

"We need not fear them, however," the elder made haste to add. "We will
build a fire and drive them out. Our fowls, too, will be a still better
protection for us; with their naked necks they will be taken for
vultures by the snakes, and we shall have no trouble whatever."

Manasseh now knew that dangers surrounded them, and that they must pass
the night in the cave. Aaron, however, put forth all his eloquence to
depict the charms of the place, likening its cavernous depths to the
groined arches of a cathedral, and telling how his ancestors had
maintained themselves there for months at a time in the face of a
besieging force. He assured Blanka that she would find it most
delightful to camp there by a blazing fire; he and Manasseh would take
turns watching while she slept, her head pillowed on a fragrant bundle
of hay.

They passed through the giant gateway, and clambered up to Balyika Cave,
a spacious chamber in the side of the cliff, rudely but strongly
fortified by a stone rampart that had been built to guard the entrance.
A wild rosebush grew in the narrow doorway and seemed at first to refuse
all admittance. Manasseh and Blanka waited without, while Aaron fought
his way through the brambles, which tore at his leather coat without
injuring it, and presently returned with three broad planks. He and