sight;
one standing erect on the rock above, and the other standing upside down
on--or rather under--the rock below.

"Take your torch, Carl," said Penn, "and go around and meet him."

The boy returned to the niche; and presently two Carls, with two
torches, were seen moving around the rim of the corridor, one upright
above, the other walking miraculously, head downwards, below.

The two Carls had not reached the rock, when the two Cudjoes stooped,
and took up each a stone and threw them. One fell _upward_ (so to
speak), as the other fell downward: they met in the centre: there was a
strange clash, which echoed through the hollow halls; and in a moment
the entire nether hemisphere of the enchanted grotto was shattered into
numberless flashing and undulating fragments.

Virginia had already perceived that the appearance of a concave sphere
was an illusion produced by the ceiling lighted by Cudjo's hidden torch,
and mirrored in a floor of glassy water. Yet she was entirely unprepared
for this astonishing result; and at sight of the Cudjo beneath
instantaneously annihilated by the plashing of a stone, she started back
with a scream. Fortunately, Penn still held her close, no doubt in a fit
of abstraction, forgetting that his arms were no longer necessary to
prevent her falling, as when she leaned to look at the shadowy Undine.

"All those stalactites," said he, as the two torches were held towards
the roof, "are of the most beautiful crystalline structure; and the
spaces between are all studded with brilliant spars. The first time I
was here, it was April; the mountain springs were full, and every one of
these _stone icicles_ was dripping with water that percolated through
the strata above. The effect was almost as surprising as what we saw
before Cudjo cast the stone. The surface of the pool seemed all leaping
and alive with perpetual showers of dancing pearls. But now the springs
are low, or the water has found another channel. Yet this basin is
always full."

"Why, so it is! I had no idea the water was so near!" And Virginia,
stooping, dipped her hand.

The mirrored crystals were still coruscating and waving in the ripples,
as they passed around the rim of rock, and followed Cudjo into a
scarcely less beautiful chamber beyond.

Here was no water; but in its place was a floor of alabaster, from which
arose a great variety of pure white stalagmites, to meet each its twin
stalactite pendent from above. In some cas