again."

"Yes, I guess you are right," agreed Earle. "Not that either of those
two could ever have actually seen the thing, for it must have lain
hidden in that cave for--well, a hundred years or more, I should say.
But be that as it may, it is evidently in their eyes an object of
extraordinary sanctity, and should--indeed, most probably does--confer
some very special privileges upon its possessor, of which I shall feel
justified in making the fullest use."

The pair were still chatting in a somewhat desultory fashion when two
men, evidently servants, entered the room, bearing a table already set
for a meal, and they were immediately followed by others who brought in
several smoking dishes of food, a jar of a light kind of wine, an
open-work metal tray heaped with small cakes, and a piled-up basket of
fruit, consisting of oranges, grapes, nectarines, and one or two other
kinds which neither Earle nor Dick was able to identify. The plates,
dishes, and drinking-cups were unmistakably of gold, but quite plain, as
were the dagger-like knives and a kind of skewer which was evidently
intended to serve as a fork. The food consisted of a stew, apparently
of kid's flesh, a roasted bird about the size of, and somewhat similar
in flavour to, a duck, roasted yams, ears of green maize, boiled, and a
dish of some kind of bean which both pronounced delicious; indeed the
meal as a whole was excellent, and was done full justice to by both
participants. The wine, too, if wine it was, was almost icy cold, and
of exceedingly agreeable though somewhat peculiar flavour, and was
apparently unfermented, for although both drank freely of it, it might
have been pure water, so far as its intoxicant effect was concerned. At
the conclusion of the meal Earle produced his pipe and, lighting up,
sallied forth with Dick, to see how the Indian bearers were faring; his
appearance, with smoke issuing from his mouth and nostrils, again so
profoundly impressing the beholders that they were once more impelled to
prostrate themselves as he passed by. The Indians, with characteristic
philosophy, had camped on the grass plot at the side of the guard house,
and had been as well cared for in their way as had their masters, and
were evidently quite satisfied with the state of affairs in general.

The afternoon was well advanced when, as Dick and Earle sat in the
embrasure of the window, looking out over the lake and valley, and
chatting together upon the s