o give
his full attention to the matter of the treasure hunt.

As nothing could be found in the cave he devoted himself to the outside
enclosure which, it may be remembered, was grown over with grass and
trees and crowded with ruins. In the most important of these ruins they
began to dig somewhat aimlessly, and were rewarded by finding a certain
amount of gold in the shape of beads and ornaments, and a few more
skeletons of ancients. But of the Portuguese hoard there was no sign.
Thus it came about that they grew gloomier day by day, till at last they
scarcely spoke to each other. Jacob's angry disappointment was written
on his face, and Benita was filled with despair, since to escape from
their gaoler above and the Matabele below seemed impossible. Moreover,
she had another cause for anxiety.

The ill-health which had been threatening her father for a long while
now fell upon him in earnest, so that of a sudden he became a very old
man. His strength and energy left him, and his mind was so filled with
remorse for what he held to be his crime in bringing his daughter to
this awful place, and with terror for the fate that threatened her, that
he could think of nothing else. In vain did she try to comfort him. He
would only wring his hands and groan, praying that God and she would
forgive him. Now, too, Meyer's mastery over him became continually more
evident. Mr. Clifford implored the man, almost with tears, to unblock
the wall and allow them to go down to the Makalanga. He even tried to
bribe him with the offer of all his share of the treasure, if it were
found, and when that failed, of his property in the Transvaal.

But Jacob only told him roughly not to be a fool, as they had to see the
thing through together. Then he would go again and brood by himself,
and Benita noticed that he always took his rifle or a pistol with him.
Evidently he feared lest her father should catch him unprepared, and
take the law into his own hands by means of a sudden bullet.

One comfort she had, however: although he watched her closely, the
Jew never tried to molest her in any way, not even with more of his
enigmatic and amorous speeches. By degrees, indeed, she came to believe
that all this was gone from his mind, or that he had abandoned his
advances as hopeless.

A week passed since the Matabele attack, and nothing had happened. The
Makalanga took no notice of them, and so far as she was aware the
old Molimo never attempted to clim