ce
was firm and level; but from time to time, blows and falling stones
seemed to strike our ears. I was uncertain what to do; curiosity
prompted me to stay, but a sort of terror urged me to remove my child
and myself. However, Jack, always daring, was unwilling to go till he
had discovered the cause of the phenomenon. "If Francis were here," said
he, "he would fancy it was the wicked gnomes, working underground, and
he would be in a fine fright. For my part, I believe it is only people
come to collect the salt in the rock."

"People!" said I; "you don't know what you are saying, Jack; I could
excuse Francis and his _gnomes_,--it would be at least a poetic fancy,
but yours is quite absurd. Where are the people to come from?"

"But what else can it be?" said he. "Hark! you may hear them strike the
rock."

"Be certain, however," said I, "there are no people." At that moment, I
distinctly heard human voices, speaking, laughing, and apparently
clapping their hands. I could not distinguish any words; I was struck
with a mortal terror; but Jack, whom nothing could alarm, clapped his
hands also, with joy, that he had guessed right. "What did I say, papa?
Was I not right? Are there not people within the rock?--friends, I
hope." He was approaching the rock, when it appeared to me to be
shaking; a stone soon fell down, then another. I seized hold of Jack, to
drag him away, lest he should be crushed by the fragments of rock. At
that moment another stone fell, and we saw two heads appear through the
opening,--the heads of Fritz and Ernest. Judge of our surprise and joy!
Jack was soon through the opening, and assisting his brothers to
enlarge it. As soon as I could enter, I stepped in, and found myself in
a real grotto, of a round form, with a vaulted roof, divided by a narrow
crevice, which admitted the light and air. It was, however, better
lighted by two large gourd lamps. I saw my long ladder of ropes
suspended from the opening at the top, and thus comprehended how my sons
had penetrated into this recess, which it was impossible to suspect the
existence of from the outside. But how had they discovered it? and what
were they making of it? These were my two questions. Ernest replied at
once to the last. "I wished," said he, "to make a resting-place for my
mother, when she came to her garden. My brothers have each built some
place for her, and called it by their name. I had a desire that some
place in our island might be dedicate