water ceaselessly dripped from their points towards similar huge teeth which pushed their sharp dazzling cones through the floor upward toward the pendent masses above. It was as though the King stood within the jaws of some prodigious shark! His heart failed him for a moment, but his courage soon revived and nerved him to seek further, so threading his way among the shining teeth, (stalactites, &c.) he went on till, happening to glance upward, he saw through the gloom the laughing face of a beautiful fairy. Rangi called to her asking her to come down to him, but she was coy, and for a long time refused to do so, but at last consented, and with many pleasant and graceful words told the King that she was the fairy Echo, who had been, until he discovered her retreat, the sole inhabitant of the pleasant island.
ter′ri-to-ry
ad-join′-ing
taunt′-er
sce′-ner-y
boul′-der
sa-tir′-ic-al
a-ghast′
lus′-ti-ly
thread′-ing
an′-swer-er
de-fi′-ant
sar-cas′-tic
ro-man′-tic, wild, fanciful; striking in scenery.
per′-ti-na-cious, holding firmly to an opinion.
rep′-e-ti tion, iteration, saying anything again and again.
sta-lac′-tite, a pendent cone of carbonate of lime in the form of an icicle. The deposit from the dripping of stalactites is called stalagmite.
