fancifully yet skillfully decorated.

"Some old place of worship, I suppose," he thought. "There must be
many such hidden in different parts of Norway. It has nothing to do
with the Christian faith, for among all these devices I don't
perceive a single cross."

He was right. There were no crosses; but there were many designs of
the sun--the sun rising, the sun setting, the sun in full glory,
with all his rays embroidered round him in tiny shells, some of them
no bigger than a pin's head. "What a waste of time and labor," he
mused. "Who would undertake such a thing nowadays? Fancy the
patience and delicacy of finger required to fit all these shells in
their places! and they are embedded in strong mortar too, as if the
work were meant to be indestructible."

Pull of pleased interest, he pursued his way, winding in and out
through different arches, all more or less richly ornamented, till
he came to a tall, round column, which seemingly supported the whole
gallery, for all the arches converged towards it. It was garlanded
from top to bottom with their roses and their leaves, all worked in
pink and lilac shells, interspersed with small pieces of shining
amber and polished malachite. The flicker of the lamp he carried,
made it glisten like a mass of jewel-work, and, absorbed in his
close examination of this unique specimen of ancient art, Sir Philip
did not at once perceive that another light beside his own glimmered
from out the furthest archway a little beyond him,--an opening that
led into some recess he had not as yet explored. A peculiar lustre
sparkling on one side of the shell-work however, at last attracted
his attention, and, glancing up quickly, he saw, to his surprise,