Part 29 (1/2)

Now, watch.”

As the weight fell upon the step it gave way so slightly as to be almost imperceptible, but suddenly from hidden cavities around the well-like shaft there came six rings of long, sharp steel spikes, set inwards, three above and three below, which, contracting as they came forward, met and interlaced. In an instant I recognised what terrible fate would be the lot of any adventurer who dared to enter that dark shaft. The action of stepping upon that fatal projecting iron released hydraulic pressure of irresistible power, and the unfortunate one, unable to ascend or descend by reason of the danger being above and below, must be impaled by a hundred cruel spikes, sharp and double-edged like spears, while the bands whereon they were set must crush his bones to pulp.

I looked at this terrible device for producing an agonizing death and shuddered. The precautions taken to prevent anyone entering the place were the most elaborate and ingenious I had ever seen. Even if any person learnt the secret of draining the lake, the shaft leading to the mysterious subterranean place was unapproachable by reason of this extraordinary mechanical device.

During five minutes the spikes remained interlaced, then automatically they disengaged themselves, and slowly fell back into the cavity running round the brickwork, wherein they remained concealed.

Thrice again did Omar repeat this action of pressing the bar upon the step, each time with an exactly similar result, chatting to me the while.

Then, when for the third time the spikes had fallen back into their places, he said:

”Now the secret to avoid this and lock the mechanism is to turn back this little lever and place it in this catch, so. This cannot, however, be done unless the step has been pressed three times.”

And bending over he showed me another tiny lever thickly encrusted with rust, secreted behind a movable brick in the first tier below the lake's bottom. This he placed in position, securing it in a niche so that it became immovable.

”Now,” he said, ”we may descend without fear,” and with these words knelt down, and after lighting a torch he had brought with him, commenced the descent into the cavernous gloom. I quickly followed, my feet resting for a brief instant upon the fatal iron projection, but no spikes came forward, for the terrible mechanism was now locked. Deep down into this circular shaft we went, the smoke and sparks from Omar's torch ever ascending into my face as I lowered myself from rung to rung, until at last, at considerable depth, we found ourselves in a kind of natural cavern. The place seemed damp and full of bad odours, to which submitting with patience we, by a long pa.s.sage, sometimes crawling under rugged arches, sometimes wading in mud and dirt, attained the end of the cavern, where we stumbled on some narrow steps; but the torch shed little light, and we became nearly suffocated by the noisome vapours.

”I thought you said the air was fresh here,” I exclaimed good-humouredly to my companion.

”So I did,” he answered. ”I cannot make out why it has become so foul.

The air-holes must have become accidentally stopped up.”

The widening ascent was so intricate and clogged with dirt and rubbish that we worked like moles in the dark; nevertheless, by diligent industry we gained ground considerably, yet as we endeavoured to mount, the slimy steps slipped from under us, and ever and anon we would come tumbling down with a weight of dirt upon us.

After various labours, however, we suddenly entered a great cavern, quite dry. From its roof hung great stalact.i.tes that glittered and sparkled in the torch's uncertain light, while around the rough walls of this natural chamber were heaped in profusion great heavy chests of iron and adamant.

With the torch held high above his head Omar rushed across to the pile and bending, examined one chest after the other. Then, raising himself as the truth suddenly dawned upon him, he cried in a hoa.r.s.e, excited voice:

”By the power of Zomara, we have been tricked!”

”Tricked! How?” I gasped in alarm.

”Cannot you see?” he wailed. ”This, the Treasure-house of the Sanoms, has been entered and its contents, worth a fabulous sum, have been extracted!

See! Each trunk has been forced by explosives!”

I gazed eagerly where he directed, and saw that the trunks of iron and stone had been blown open by gunpowder, for on each remained a blackened patch, showing plainly the means used to force the strong chest wherein reposed the magnificent jewels, the vessels of gold, and the historic gem-encrusted and invulnerable armour of the Nabas of Mo.

”Then this is the place the secret of which the villainous old Arab, Samory, endeavoured to wrench from you by torture,” I exclaimed, gazing round the grim, weird cavern.

”Yes,” he answered. ”This is the Treasure house of my ancestors. Since the days of King Karmos each Naba or Naya has added to the great store of treasure ama.s.sed for the purpose of the emanc.i.p.ation of our country in the day of need. Only the reigning monarch and the heir have, in any generation, ever known the secret of how the Treasure-house can be approached--the secret I have to-day revealed to you as Keeper of the Treasure.”

”But if you alone knew the secret, who could have ransacked the place?” I asked. ”The chests seem to have been recently opened.”

”True,” he answered, and pointing to a heap of bejewelled swords, breastplates and helmets, that had apparently been hastily cast aside as the least valuable of the great treasure, he added: ”All the most historic and beautiful jewels have been taken, and the gold vessels and things of minor value left. See! It is plain that the theft was accomplished in all haste, for there was scarce time to sort the gems that are unique from those rivalled by others.”

”It certainly looks as if the jewels were secured in feverish haste,” I said, at the same time picking up from the uneven floor a bronze oil lamp lying overturned and discarded.

Together we set about making a systematic examination of the various chests, numbering nearly one hundred. Those fas.h.i.+oned from single stones were of great age, looking like coffins, while those of iron were ponderous caskets bound with huge bands, studded and double-locked, with great antique hinges of marvellous workmans.h.i.+p. With perhaps half a dozen exceptions the lid of each had yielded to the charge of explosive placed beneath it, while in many cases the whole side of the casket had been blown completely out, injuring or destroying some of its valuable contents. Jewellery and gems, set and unset, had been strewn about and trodden into the dust by hurrying feet, and a few that I recognized at once as of fabulous value had been overlooked. Stooping, I picked up from the dirt a marvellously-cut ruby, almost the size of a pigeon's egg. But the majority of the treasure-chests had been emptied. The place had been visited, and the vast wealth of a nation stolen.