The lion was still there; he was curled up, and out of sight in his den.
They passed several lager-beer saloons and candy shops; saw Dutchmen smoking meerschaums under broad awnings; and heard them talking in the guttural German language, as if--so Dotty thought--they had something in their throats which they could not swallow.
After walking a long distance on a level road, and seeing nothing which looked like a hill, they came to the coal mines.

Such a dirty spot! There were men standing about with faces as black as night, and out of the blackness gleamed the whites of their eyes like bits of white paper surrounded by pools of ink.
Dotty stood still and gazed.
"Horace," she whispered, "my conscience tells me they are niggroes." "Then, dear, your conscience has made a mistake; they are white men when they are clean." Mr.Clifford went up to one of the men, and asked if himself and the little people, might have an inside view of the mine.

The man smiled a black and white smile, which Dotty thought was horrible, and said,-- "O, yes, sir; come on." There was a large platform lying over the top like a trap-door, and through this platform was drawn a large rope.

Grace and Cassy both screamed as they stood upon the planks, and caught Mr.Clifford by the arms.
Dotty was not afraid; she liked the excitement.

The men said it was as safe as going down cellar, and she believed them.
But she was not exactly prepared for the strange, wild, dizzy sensation in her head when they began to sink down, down into the earth.