170 THE JOURNEYMAN. 



cloudy, fifty feet from its entrance was dark as midnight ; 

 even the rays of my torch seemed lost in the gloom. 

 As I proceeded, however, and as the sides of the cavern 

 approached each other, and its roof lowered, the light 

 appeared to gather strength. When I had gained the 

 extreme end, I tied my torch to a pillar of stone which 

 depended like an icicle from the roof, and then groped 

 my way back to its entrance, from whence 1 contemplated 

 the scene. Have you not observed in a stormy night, 

 when the sky is covered with clouds, how bright and 

 clear the stars which look down through a small opening 

 appear? Only imagine these clouds darker, and one 

 solitary star looking through them brighter than you 

 have ever seen cloud or star, and you will have some 

 idea of the appearance which the Doocot Cave presented 

 when my torch twinkled in its deepest recess.' 



