21 The strange caves
　　Jack¹ went down the hole first. He lowered himself right in, and only had to drop about a foot to theground below.
　　‘Lucy-Ann, you come next,’ he said, and helped her down. Then came the others, excited andeager. Had they really found the treasure cave?
　　‘It simply must be the hiding place for the treasure!’ said Jack. ‘There isn’t another hole or caveanywhere. Now, let me flash my torch round a bit.’
　　At the back of the hole, as Dinah had thought, there was a passage – quite a wide one, and fairlyhigh. A very tall man could have walked down it with ease.
　　‘Come on!’ said Jack, his voice shaking with excitement. ‘We’re getting warm!’
　　They followed him down the passage, Kiki sitting on his shoulder. Lucy-Ann held on to hissleeve, half fearful of what they might find.
　　The passage was wide and high all the way along, but wound about a little. It went downwards²,and kept more or less in the same direction, for all its windings³ – that is, towards the heart of themountain.
　　Suddenly the passage came to an abrupt⁴ end. Jack paused, and gasped⁵. In front of him was amost extraordinary sight.
　　His torch shone brightly on to an unending mass of brilliant columns, hanging from the highroof of a cave. Whatever could they be?
　　Lucy-Ann clutched his arm and gasped too. She stared at the shining white things. She saw thatother white columns were growing up from the floor of the cave too. Some had met the hangingones, and had joined, so that it seemed as if the cave roof was being supported by pillars.
　　‘Jack! What is it? Is it the treasure?’ whispered Lucy-Ann.
　　‘It’s icicles, isn’t it?’ said Dinah in an awed⁶ tone. ‘I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in mylife! Look at them hanging down – so still and white and lovely!’
　　‘No – they’re not icicles,’ said Jack. ‘They are stalactites – at least, the hanging ones are.

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