st all were on the other side, and the woman began once more to
hurry forward. Mr. Haydon began to follow her, but Jack sang out,
"Half a moment!"

"What for?" cried his father.

"Can't we put a stopper on the pursuit here?" said Jack. "Seems to me
we can tumble these wobblers down, and block the route." He pointed to
the over-hanging stones.

"Right, right!" called his father. "Where's my sense? I never thought
of it."

Mr. Haydon took the torch from the native woman and looked at the roof
above his head. "Mustn't fetch too much down," he remarked, "and pin
ourselves under the ruin."

"There's no fear of that," replied his son. "Look at the roof over us.
It's as sound as a bell. The loose stones come from a flaw in the
masonry, not from general decay of the roof."

"I believe you're right, my boy," said Mr. Haydon. "You hold the torch
and I'll have a try at it."

Jack took the torch, and Mr. Haydon raised the spear which he had
brought with him. He thrust the head into a long crack above the great
stone, and bore with all his weight and strength on the extremity of
the long shaft. Luckily the latter was very stout and of a tough wood,
enabling him to bring a great stress on the big stone.

"Look out!" cried Jack, "it's going, it's going!"

Both of them moved back, as the huge stone toppled swiftly to the
ground. It was followed in its fall by a dozen more, and in an instant
the path through the tunnel was blocked by a heap of ruins which rose
from floor to roof.

"That's all right," said Jack, in a tone of deep satisfaction. "It
will take an hour or two to shift those whacking big stones. This
tunnel's a case of no thoroughfare at present."

The torch was handed once more to the native woman, and on they went.
The next time she paused was to dash the head of the torch against the
wall of the tunnel and put out the light. As soon as the red flare had
been extinguished, they saw that the beams of day were pouring faintly
through branches and brushwood a little before them.

"Ah," said Mr. Haydon, "that's why the air was fairly sweet in the
tunnel. There has been a draught through, more or less."

Jack sprang forward, _dah_ in hand, and began to slash at the network
of creepers and saplings which blocked the mouth of the tunnel. In a
few minutes he had cut a path out, and they crept cautiously forth and
looked round to see what place they had gained.

They found themselves in the broad courtyard of a lar