Small wind caves are numerous in the Ozarks and being cold are
frequently utilized for the preservation of domestic supplies. The
entrance to one in the neighborhood of Marble Cave is high up on the
hill-side south of Mr. Powell's house and being visible from the porch
was too tempting to be ignored, and the walk up to it for a better view
was rewarded with a most charming bit of scenery as well. All the quiet
valley, divided by a rushing little stream, lay before us in the shadow
of early evening, while to the north and east the hills were brilliant
in summer sunshine, with one small open glade gleaming vividly among
the darker shades of forest green.
The cave was a very small room at the bottom of a steep, rocky, sloping
passage, and contained no standing water, although there had been a
heavy rainfall the night before and the opening is so situated as to
especially favor the inflow, which naturally indicates a greater cave
beneath a hidden passage. Here, as in most of the caves of the region,
is found a small lizard: it is totally blind but its ancestors evidently
were not, as is shown by conspicuous protuberances where the eyes should
be, but over which the skin is drawn without a wrinkle or seam to
indicate a former opening. These harmless creatures are not scaly, but
are clothed in a soft, shining, well-fitted skin, and the largest seen
were little more than six inches long.
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