Part 36 (1/2)

”Come,” I said; ”there is no time to be lost Come!”

”Where?” She did not h? Do you want to stay here?”

She shuddered violently

”You don't knohat has happened I want to die Where are you going to take me?”

”Desiree,” Harry burst out, ”for Heaven's sake, corasped her arm

Then she ht up the rear, with an arm round Desiree's shoulders She started once more to speak, but I wheeled sharply with a command for silence, and she obeyed

We reached the turn in the corridor and passed to the right,as swiftly and noiselessly as possible Ahead of us was the light from the doorway of the room in which we had formerly been imprisoned

We had nearly reached it when I saw, soht was very direat esture to Harry and Desiree to follow, and dashed forward to the light and through the doorway into the rooht, in any event, but it was better to e And we had our spears

But by a rare stroke of luck we had not been seen As we stood within the room on either side of the doorway, out of the line of view from the corridor, we heard the patter of

They neared the doorway, and I glanced at Harry, pointing to his spear significantly He gave ain fall into their hands alive

The footsteps sounded just without the doorway; I stood tense and alert, with spear ready, expecting a rush ether, and receded down the corridor in the direction whence we had colance out at their nuain perfectly silent

Then Desiree spoke in a whisper:

”It is useless; we are lost That was the king He is going to one”

There was only one thing to do, and I wasted no ti it

A swift command to Harry, and we dashed fro an arm of Desiree But she needed little of our assistance; the presence of the Inca king seemed to have inspired her with a boundless terror, and she flew, rather than ran, between us

We reached the bend in the passage, and just beyond it the light--the first one we had seen on our way in I had our route marked on my memory with complete distinctness Soon we found ourselves in the wide, sloping passage that carried us to the level below, and in another five seconds had reached its end and the beginning of the last stretch

At the turn Harry stu Desiree to her knees I lifted her, and he sprang to his feet unhurt

She was panting heavily Harry had dropped his spear in the fall, and asted a preciousit where it had slid, soht appeared ahead in the distance, diht of the urns in the cavern for which ere headed Suddenly Desiree faltered and would have fallen but for our supporting are!” I breathed ”We are near the end”

She stopped short and sank to the ground

”It is useless,” she gasped ”I hurt o no farther Leave me!”

Harry and I with one impulse stooped over to pick her up, and as we did so she fainted away in our arht froe by the lake