Schwartz: A History | Page 9

Janenne alone there are four or five of them.
All this has strictly to do with the history of Schwartz, as will by and by
be seen.
When heavy rains fall the river is so swollen that the underground call
upon its resources fails to drain it, and it foams above the fissures in
full volume, so wild and deep that a passer-by would never guess of the
curious trick of nature which is here being played. But the season being
exceptionally dry, I was able to show my find, and from the spot of the
stream's disappearance I led my acquaintance to the cavern. Here
prowling about in a light-footed and adventurous fashion the young
Englishman found a hole in the wall of stone, and, venturing into it,
discovered to his great delight a passage which seemed to lead into the
very entrails of the hill. He proposed instantly to explore this, and I
having that morning purchased of the local tobacconist a box of Italian
vestas, each three or four inches long, and calculated to burn for several
minutes, and having the same in my pocket at the moment, we set out

together on a journey of adventure. The passage varied in width from
six to three feet, and in height from eight feet upwards. The faint
illumination of the big wax vestas often failed to touch the roof. The
way was sometimes over ankle deep in a thick mud, and sometimes
strewn with fragments of rock which had fallen from the roof; but we
went on gaily until we came to a great slippery boulder, which blocked
the passage for some three feet in height. My companion was in act to
clamber over this, when the light I carried pinched my thumb and
finger with sudden heat, and I dropped it on to the ground. I struck
another, and found the youngster perched upon the boulder.
'Wait a moment,' said I, 'and let us see what is beyond. There may be a
deepish hole there.'
We leaned over, and could see nothing. My companion got down from
the boulder with a grave look.
'I was just going to jump when you spoke,' he said. 'Lucky I didn't. I
wonder how deep it is?'
We hunted about for a stone, and by and by found one about the size of
a man's head. This the youngster tossed over the boulder into the
darkness, and we stood looking at each other, by the little clear-burning
light of the wax match. I do not know how long we stood there, for
time has a knack of magnifying itself beyond belief in such conditions,
but it was long, long before an awful hollow boom came rolling to our
ears from the depth. We turned without a word, and stumbled back
towards the daylight, and when we reached it I looked at the young
Englishman and saw that all the roses had faded from his healthy young
cheeks, and that he was as gray as ashes.
'I was going to jump when you spoke,' he said. 'Precious lucky for me I
didn't.'
I congratulated him very heartily on not having jumped, and our search
for natural wonders being ended we went back to the hotel. We made
inquiry there--at first in vain--about this inner cavern, but at last we
came across the Garde Champêtre of the district, who told us that the

depth was unknown. He and some of his friends had had the curiosity
to try to measure it, but they never had rope enough.
It befell on the morning of the next day that I wandered out alone, and
in the course of the first score yards encountered Schwartz, who was
demonstrative of friendly civilities. I returned his salutations, and he
gave me to understand in his own too-humble manner that he would
like to accompany me. I let him know that I should be delighted by his
society, and away we went together. The ground was firm with last
night's frost and musical to the sabots of peasants and the iron-shod feet
of horses. The hills and fields were covered with a powdery snow that
threw their grays into a dark relief, and the air was so still that I could
hear the bell-like tinkle of chisel and stone from the quarry nearly a
mile away. We entered the Bois de Janenne together, and wandered
through its branchy solitudes by many winding pathways. There is a
main road running through this wood, cut by order of the commune for
the pleasure of visitors, and the middle of this road was white with a
thin untrodden snow. On either side this ribbon of white lay a narrower
ribbon of gold where the pines had shed their yellow needles and the
overhanging boughs