He unmoored a boat, and we were rowed across a subterranean
lake which was nothing more or less than liquid salt.
We were in an enormous cavern, lighted only by candles
here and there on the banks of the lake. The
walls glittered fitfully with the crystals of salt,
and there was not a sound except the dipping of the
oars into the dark water.
Arriving at the other side, we continued to go down
corridor after corridor, sometimes descending, sometimes
mounting flights of steps, always seeing nothing but
salt—salt—salt.
In one place, artificially lighted, there are exhibited
all the curious formations of salt, with their beautiful
crystals and varied colours. It takes about an
hour to explore the mine, and then comes what to us
was the pleasantest part of all. There is a tiny
narrow gauge road, possibly not over eighteen inches
broad, upon which are eight-seated, little open cars.
It seems that, in spite of sometimes descending, we
had, after all, been ascending most of the time, for
these cars descend of their own momentum from the
highest point of the salt mine to its mouth. The
roar of that little car, the occasional parties of
pedestrians we passed, crowded into cavities in the
salty walls (for the free hour had struck), who shouted
to us a friendly good luck, the salt wind whistling
past our ears and blowing out our lanterns, made of
that final ride one of the most exhilarating that
we ever took.
But, of course, from now on in describing rides we
must always except “the swift descent.”
ISCHL
We were wondering where we should go next with the
delicious idle wonder of those who drop off the train
at a moment’s notice if a fellow passenger vouchsafes
an alluring description of a certain village, or if
the approach from the car window attracts. Only
those who have bound themselves down on a European
tour to an itinerary can understand the freedom and
delight of idle wanderings such as ours. We never
feel compelled to go on even one mile from where we
thought for a moment we should like to stop.
It was Jimmie who made this plan possible, without
the friction and unnecessary expense which we should
have incurred had we followed this plan, and bought
tickets from one city to another, but in fussing around
information bureaux and railway stations, Jimmie unearthed
the information that one can buy circular tickets
of a certain route, embodying from one to three months
in time, and including all the spice for a picturesque
trip of Germany and Austria, where one would naturally
like to travel. By purchasing these little books
with the tickets in the form of coupons at the railway
station we saved the additional fee which the tourist
agent usually exacts, and this frugal act so filled
us with joy that our trip proved unusually expensive,
for at every stop we indulged in a small extravagance
which we felt that we could well afford on account
of this accidental saving at the start. We have
been so amply repaid at every pause on our journey
that it has become a matter of pride with Jimmie and
me to have no falling off from the standard we had
set. Therefore Jimmie came and sat down by me
one morning and said:
