pany him into the guard house, where
he conducted them into a plainly but comfortably furnished room, and
signed to them a request to rest themselves upon a couple of couches
which he indicated, at the same time giving them to understand that a
meal would presently be served to them.

Earle, well pleased at the success which had attended his effort to
penetrate to the interior of the forbidden country, signified his
acquiescence by seating himself on one of the couches, whereupon Adoni,
equally well pleased, withdrew, with a profound bow, leaving the two
friends to themselves.

"Well," remarked Earle, rising from the couch and gazing with
satisfaction upon the glorious prospect of lake and valley revealed by
the window opening before which he placed himself, "we are inside the
gate, and that is something achieved, anyway. For, at first, I feared
that they were going to refuse us admission, and if they had done so I
guess we should have found it a pretty difficult matter to get in. But
our friend Adoni has evidently no authority to allow us to go on without
first referring to the boss, whoever he may be; and I guess that naked
runner was the bearer of a report and a request for further
instructions. Now of course our line of conduct will be to conform to
the manners and customs of the natives, so far as may be, and give no
trouble; for our only object in coming here is to see the country and
the people, and that can best be accomplished by keeping on good terms
with everybody; therefore we will just let them make all the
arrangements, and we will fall in with them. But I have great hopes
from the possession of this jewel, which evidently has some powerful
mystic significance in the eyes of these people. Adoni and the other
fellow appeared to recognise it at once, and there can be no question as
to the reverence with which they regard it. Judging from the behaviour
of those two, the thing ought to secure us a very favourable reception
at headquarters. I wish I knew the history of it."

"We shall perhaps learn that later on," returned Dick. "And I
anticipate that when we do, it will prove both curious and romantic.
The mere finding of it in that wonderful cavern was remarkable enough,
but the astonishment and delight of Adoni at recognising it were still
more remarkable, to my mind. To me, their behaviour was that of men
suddenly brought face to face with something that they had almost
despaired of ever seeing