d sweating, where he lay. At last, cautiously, he drew himself well
within the tunnel, and again he lay at full length upon the floor,
fighting to regain control of his shattered nerves.

When his knees struck the edge of the tunnel he had dropped the candle.
Presently, hoping against hope that it had fallen upon the floor of the
passageway, rather than back into the depths of the well, he rose upon
all fours and commenced a diligent search for the little tallow
cylinder, which now seemed infinitely more precious to him than all the
fabulous wealth of the hoarded ingots of Opar.

And when, at last, he found it, he clasped it to him and sank back
sobbing and exhausted. For many minutes he lay trembling and broken;
but finally he drew himself to a sitting posture, and taking a match
from his pocket, lighted the stump of the candle which remained to him.
With the light he found it easier to regain control of his nerves, and
presently he was again making his way along the tunnel in search of an
avenue of escape. The horrid cry that had come down to him from above
through the ancient well-shaft still haunted him, so that he trembled
in terror at even the sounds of his own cautious advance.

He had gone forward but a short distance, when, to his chagrin, a wall
of masonry barred his farther progress, closing the tunnel completely
from top to bottom and from side to side. What could it mean? Werper
was an educated and intelligent man. His military training had taught
him to use his mind for the purpose for which it was intended. A blind
tunnel such as this was senseless. It must continue beyond the wall.
Someone, at some time in the past, had had it blocked for an unknown
purpose of his own. The man fell to examining the masonry by the light
of his candle. To his delight he discovered that the thin blocks of
hewn stone of which it was constructed were fitted in loosely without
mortar or cement. He tugged upon one of them, and to his joy found
that it was easily removable. One after another he pulled out the
blocks until he had opened an aperture large enough to admit his body,
then he crawled through into a large, low chamber. Across this another
door barred his way; but this, too, gave before his efforts, for it was
not barred. A long, dark corridor showed before him, but before he had
followed it far, his candle burned down until it scorched his fingers.
With an oath he dropped it to the floor, where it sputte