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 prickly boughs and of entangled foliage before the porch, as above the steps. But the curiosity and the interest of Musa were awakened; she knew it was no shepherd's dwelling, for their huts were always raised upon the open soil, conical in shape, and thatched with rushes and ling. She hacked away the thorny network that made a screen before this open doorway, having in her girdle the large strong knife that she always carried for many uses, and after some long tedious labour, which tore her hands and arms with many a thorn, and sent many a spider and beetle and little snake hurrying from their homes, she cleared the way before the opening enough to pass through it with her shoulders bent, and found herself in a small, square, stone chamber hewn out of the rock, and empty, save for a little grey dust in a niche like a dog's kennel, and an urn or vase of red and black earthenware.

It looked a strange, chill, melancholy place; she could not make out its use or object; there was no scholar near to say to her, 'this dreary vestibule is the imitation of the cellula janitoris; yonder is the dust of some favourite watch-dog; in the urn, doubtless, are the ashes of some favoured and