planet, where no one who can help it
prefers the crowded street to the freedom and expanse of the country,
had grown up, with about a hundred and fifty houses, and perhaps a
thousand inhabitants. It was so much matter of course that voyagers
should disembark to cross the hills or to pursue their journey along
the upper part of the river by road, that half-a-dozen different
partnerships made it their business to assist in the transfer of
passengers and light wares. Ahead of us was a somewhat steep
hill-slope, in the lower part of which a wall absolutely perpendicular
had been cut by those who pierced the tunnel, the mouth of which was
now clearly visible immediately before us. It was about twelve feet in
height, and perhaps twenty feet in width. The stream, which, like
nearly all Martial rivers, is wide and shallow, had during the last
fifty miles of our course grown narrower, with a depth at the same
time constantly lessening, so that some care was required on the part
of the pilot to avoid running aground. A stream of twenty inches in
depth, affording room for two boats to pass abreast, is considered
navigable for vessels only carrying passengers; thirty inches are
required to afford a course which for heavy freight is preferable to
the road. Eveena had taken it for granted that we should disembark
here, and it was not till we had come within a hundred yards of the
landing-place--where the bank was perpendicular and levelled to a
height above the water, which enabled passengers to step directly from
the deck of the boat--without slackening our speed, that the
possibility of our intending to accompany the boat on its subterrene
course occurred to her. As she did not speak, but merely drew closer
to me, and held fast my hand, I had no idea of her real distress till
we were actually at the mouth of the black and very frightful-looking
passage, and the pilot had lighted the electric lamp. As the boat shot
under the arch she could not repress a cry of terror. Naturally
putting my arm round her at this sign of alarm, I felt that she was
trembling violently, and a single look, despite her veil, convinced me
that she was crying, though in silence and doing her utmost to conceal
her tears.

"Are you so frightened, child?" I asked. "I have been through many
subterranean passages, though none so long and dark as this. But you
see our lamp lights up not only the boat but the whole vault around
and before us, and there can be no