There was the faintest semblance of a smile on the hermit's face as he
quietly observed his visitor, and waited till he should recover
self-possession. As for Moses--words are wanting to describe the fields
of teeth and gum which he displayed, but no sound was suffered to escape
his magnificent lips, which closed like the slide of a dark lantern when
the temptation to give way to feeling became too strong.

"My cave interests you," said the hermit at last.

"It amazes me," returned our hero, recovering himself and looking
earnestly at his host, "for you seem not only to have all the
necessaries of life around you in your strange abode, but many of the
luxuries; among them the cheering presence of sunshine--though how you
manage to get it is beyond my powers of conception."

"It is simple enough, as you shall see," returned the hermit. "You have
heard of the saying, no doubt, that 'all things are possible to
well-directed labour'?"

"Yes, and that 'nothing can be achieved without it.'"

"Well, I have proved that to some extent," continued the hermit. "You
see, by the various and miscellaneous implements on my shelves, that I
am given to dabbling a little in science, and thus have made my lonely
home as pleasant as such a home can be--but let us not talk of these
matters just now. You must be hungry. Have you had breakfast?"

"No, we have not--unless, at least, you count a sea biscuit dipped in
salt water a breakfast. After all, that may well be the case, for
hermits are noted for the frugality of their fare."