Without a moment's
hesitation he set out for it, as fast as the unknown and rugged way
would permit. Yet again turning a corner, led by the dim light, he
spied something quite new in his experience of the underground
regions - a small irregular shape of something shining. Going up
to it, he found it was a piece of mica, or Muscovy glass, called
sheep-silver in Scotland, and the light flickered as if from a fire
behind it. After trying in vain for some time to discover an
entrance to the place where it was burning, he came at length to a
small chamber in which an opening, high in the wall, revealed a
glow beyond. To this opening he managed to scramble up, and then
he saw a strange sight.
Below sat a little group of goblins around a fire, the smoke of
which vanished in the darkness far aloft. The sides of the cave
were full of shining minerals like those of the palace hall; and
the company was evidently of a superior order, for every one wore
stones about head, or arms, or waist, shining dull gorgeous colours
in the light of the fire. Nor had Curdie looked long before he
recognized the king himself, and found that he had made his way
into the inner apartment of the royal family.
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