ive block, even
if she had discovered its existence beneath the dust.

Now she saw that down the pit ran another ladderlike stair of stone,
very narrow and precipitous. Without hesitation she began its descent.
Down she went and down--one hundred steps, two hundred steps, two
hundred and seventy-five steps, and all the way wherever the dust had
gathered the man's and the woman's footprints ran before her. There was
a double line of them, one line going down and the other line returning.
Those that returned were the last, for often they appeared over those
that descended. Why had these dead people returned, Benita wondered.

The stair had ended; now she was in a kind of natural cave, for its
sides and roof were rugged; moreover, water trickled and dripped from
them. It was not very large, and it smelt horribly of mud and other
things. Again she searched by the feeble light of her candle, but could
see no exit. Suddenly she saw something else, however, for stepping
on what she took to be a rock, to her horror it moved beneath her. She
heard a snap as of jaws, a violent blow upon the leg nearly knocked
her off her feet, and as she staggered backwards she saw a huge and
loathsome shape rushing away into the darkness. The rock that she had
trodden on was a crocodile which had its den here! With a little scream
she retreated to her stair. Death she had expected--but to be eaten by
crocodiles!

Yet as Benita stood there panting a blessed hope rose in her breast. If
a crocodile came in there it must also get out, and where such a great
creature could go, a woman would be able to follow. Also, she must be
near the water, since otherwise it could never have chosen this hole for
its habitation. She collected her courage, and having clapped her hands
and waved the lantern about to scare any alligators that might still be
lurking there, hearing and seeing nothing more, she descended to where
she had trodden upon the reptile. Evidently this was its bed, for
its long body had left an impress upon the mud, and all about lay the
remains of creatures that it had brought in for food. Moreover, a path
ran outwards, its well-worn trail distinct even in that light.

She followed this path, which ended apparently in a blank wall. Then it
was that Benita guessed why those dead folks' footprints had returned,
for here had been a doorway which in some past age those who used it
built up with blocks of stone and cement. How, then, did the croc