Part 53 (2/2)

But we found none, and soon Harry declared that he could go no further

We sat doith our backs against the wall of the passage, still breathing heavily and all but exhausted

In that darkness and silence the minutes passed into hours We talked but little, and then only in whispers Finally Harry fell into a restless sleep, if it may be called that, and several tiainst the stone wall

At length, finding Harry awake, I urged hiritted his teeth and told an; but he broke in savagely:

”No! I want to find her, that's all--and end it Just one more chance!”

We searched for an hour before we found the streaht

After Harry had bathed his knee and drunk his fill he felt more fit, and we pushed on more rapidly, but still quite at random

We turned first one way, then another, in the never-ending labyrinth, always in darkness and silence We seeive up the disheartening task when suddenly a sound smote our ears that caused us first to start violently, then stop and gaze at each other in coer surprise

”The bell!” cried Harry ”They are being sureat cavern!”

It was the sareat, deep-toned bell ringing sonorously throughout the passages and caverns with a roar that was deafening And it seemed to be close--quite close

”It careed with hiht The echoes of the bell were still floating from wall to wall as ent rapidly forward

I do not knoe expected to find, and the Lord knoe intended to do after we found it

A short distance ahead we cales, broad and straight, and so to the left, and then flattened ourselves back against the wall asa group of Incas passing at its farther end, some two hundred yards away

There we stood, roup of the savages passed in the corridor ahead Their nuradually becalers were seen trotting behind

Finally they, too, ceased to appear; the corridor was deserted

We waited a while longer, then as no more appeared we started forward and soon had reached the corridor dohich they had passed We followed in the direction they had taken, turning to the right

We had no sooner turned thanthat which caused us to glance quickly at each other and hasten our step, while I smothered the ejaculation that rose to my lips The corridor in whichfound ourselves stretched straight ahead for a distance, then turned to one side; and the corner thus forht!

There was no longer any doubt of it: ere on our way to the great cavern For amyself for what purpose we hastened on thus into the very arms of our enemies; then, propelled by instinct or prerasp oncaution to the winds

Yet we avoided foolhardiness, for as we approached the last turn we proceeded slowly, keeping an eye on the rear But all the Incas appeared to have assembled within, for the corridor remained deserted

We crept silently to the corner, avoiding the circle of light as far as possible, and, crouching side by side on the rock, looked out together on a scene none the less striking because we had seen it twice before

It was the great cavern We saw it from a different viewpoint than before; the alcove which held the golden throne was far off to our left, nearly half-way round the vast circuuards and attendants

As before, the stone seats which surrounded the amphitheater on every side were filled with the Incas, crouching motionless and silent The fla their blinding glare in every direction

All this I saw in a flash, when suddenly Harry's fingers sank into the flesh of my arm with such force that I all but cried out in actual pain And then, glancing at hiaze, I saw Desiree