232 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 



to make the best of my time before leaving. 

 On questioning in regard to the liveries, and 

 what I could get a rig for, the landlord sug- 

 gested, that, if I were used to walking, I 

 might make the whole trip on foot, and thus 

 save quite a little money. The two caves 

 and the Rainbow Falls he thought I could 

 make by noon, taking in the springs on the 

 way, and the Garden of the Gods might be 

 visited before the train left if I were not too 

 tired. Can you imagine with what a light 

 heart I started forth after my early break- 

 fast? 



The accompanying picture gives you an- 

 other glimpse of 'Manitou. The building in 



A GLIMPSE OF .MAiNITOU. 



the foreground is one of the fine large ho- 

 tels. A pretty fountain plays in front of 

 the piazza, on the lawn. A rustic bridge 

 across the stream that comes from Rainbow 

 Falls, and the caves 1 am about to describe 

 to you, are in the mountain off to the right. 

 Pike's Peak looms up in the background ; 

 in fact, Pike's Peak seems to be always be- 

 fore you, and every glimpse seemed to say 

 to me that it could not be very far away. 



I was down through the little village, 

 and had a drink from the springs, almost 

 before anybody else was stirring. The 

 waters were much pleasanter than they 



were the day before, but I was not very 

 thirsty just then. Then off I went, as hap- 

 py as a schoolboy when school is out, up the 

 mountain side, for the Cave of the Winds. 

 The road very soon began twisting amid the 

 rocky cliffs, one way and then another, until 

 one could hardly see many rods ahead. 

 Then the cliffs towered away up toward the 

 sky, in some cases leaning clear over the road , 

 until it seemed as if we were in a land of 

 giants. It was up-hill work ; butwhatcared 

 1, with the love of God in my heart? It 

 seemed that morning just a pleasure to climb; 

 and before the sun was fairly up I had made 

 the two m'les up the mountain-side, and 



^ stood at the foot <>f the cliff 



I whereon was found the Cave of 

 ] the Winds. Now, it is a little 

 funny, but this cave was dis- 

 covered only three or four years 

 ago by a band of Sunday-school 

 boys. To keep them busy, and 

 perhaps out of mischief, the 

 Congregational pastor had or- 

 ganized what he called an ex- 

 ploring band; and the boys 

 composing this band, when 

 they had the leisure, devoted 

 their time to exploring the 

 mountains about Manitou. As 

 I stood and gazed upward I 

 saw in the side of a steep cliff, 

 perhaps 500 feet above me, a fis- 

 sure in the rocks. This fissure 

 was a sort of crack where the 

 mountain had split in two, as 

 it were, leaving a space of per- 

 haps a yard wide. Now, the 

 rock was rough enough so the 

 boys by reaching from one side 

 to "the other had climbed up in 

 this tissure for a hundred feet 

 or more^; and away back, out of 

 the sight of human eyes, either 

 from below or above, they 

 found the cave. I did not rest 

 long before I commenced 

 climbing the steps. Then a 

 sort of sheep-path led up along 

 quite a distance further. Then 

 some rude stairs took me to 

 the foot of the fissure. Wood- 

 en timbers were put across the 

 fissure, and stairways took us 

 up to the opening. See cut on 

 next page. I knew before I 

 started out, however, that the 

 Cave of the Winds was closed 

 at this season of the year ; 

 so after resting a while, and 

 trying to imagine how the boys felt when 

 they reached this spot, by means of other 

 ladders I ascended clear to the top of the 

 opening, and stood nearly on the summit of 

 the mountain. A good many people get 

 dizzy when up here, and I sat down and 

 meditated a while before I took what seem- 

 ed to be really a perilous passage on the very 

 edge of the cliffs. Still another narrow path 

 wound up and up, until I reached the very 

 summit of the mountain. The sun was just 

 rising, and a refreshing breeze seemed very 

 grateful after so much climbing. By my 

 side was a little pyramid of stones. This 



