d then came the
entrance of the cave itself, which was done in imitation rockwork. But
I knew that it was the way down to the cellar. Either the stairs had
been removed, or else covered up with a theatrical kind of embankment,
that made a winding path, twisting back and forth under a roof of the
imitation rock, and sloping always downward. At the bottom was a screen
of spun glass, made to look like a falling cataract of bright water,
and until you had passed out from behind it you saw nothing except a
glow of rosy light filtering through the transparent glass. But when
you did come out, unless you were a stick or a stone, you couldn't
resist giving an "Oh!" of surprised admiration.

The whole cellar--at least all of it that was left visible--had been
turned into a fairy cave of jewels. The walls and ceiling looked like
rocks studded with blazing rubies and flashing diamonds. The rough
pillars which supported the floor of the house above were great
sparkling stalactites and stalagmites. The cemented floor was covered
with sand that glittered like diamond dust, and there were fruit trees
and rose bushes, rows of tall hollyhocks, and buds of tulips all
apparently made of illuminated jewels, something like the
transformation scene in a Pantomime they once took me to see--only a
hundred times prettier.

At the far end of the Cave a bright red light kept coming and going,
but I couldn't see by what it was made, because of the laughing crowd
collected round it. We went nearer, and as others moved away we took
their places, so that at last we saw what caused the light and made the
great attraction for the people.

It was a giant lamp of a strange shape, standing up to the height of
four or five feet from the floor, on a pedestal; and behind it stood
the Genie, a fearful and wonderful apparition who said things, in a
deep bass voice, which made everybody shout with laughter. "It's Fred
Kane, the great Funny Man," said somebody.

The Genie's witticisms came whenever anyone rubbed the lamp, which each
person was requested to do, as he or she approached. While it was being
rubbed the magic lamp flared up, and gave out the bright red light we'd
seen at a distance, and simultaneously the Genie took something from a
huge sequin covered bag he had looped over one of his arms. If the
person who rubbed the lamp was a man, he dipped into the left hand bag;
if a woman, he dived into the right hand one. Each time a beautiful
trinket ca