ded to be graceful, in slow liftings of the hands upward, and in
the beating of the drums.

"I don't make anything of it," Ned replied. "I take it they are waiting
for time. Perhaps they got us in here with less trouble than they had
figured on, and are waiting for confederates."

"What a land!" mused the Captain. "What a way to seek the destruction
of any enemy! An Italian would have stabbed us in the back on the way
in here, a Frenchman would have set a band of bullies upon us in the
grove, an American would have walked up and made observations with his
bare fists!"

"This is Oriental!" smiled Ned. "I wish we were well out of this hole
in the ground!"

"I see," began the man with the star on the breast of his dirty gown,
"that you are in trouble of mind concerning the loss of two companions."

"Correct!" shouted the irrepressible Jimmie. "Come across with them--
right soon, old hoss!"

"I see," continued the other, not noticing the interruption, "that you
are here in a weighty matter--a matter affecting the peace of nations."

Jimmie was primed for another outbreak of conversation, but Ned caught
him by the arm and ordered him to remain silent.

"I see," the alleged seer went on, "that you have met with difficulties
and perils on the way. Is this true?"

"All true," Ned answered.

"Then approach. Enter the holy room and receive instruction which shall
be of benefit."

Ned hesitated a moment.

"And my friends?" he asked.

"The spirit speaks to but one," was the reply.

"What a lot of rot!" whispered Jimmie. "You go on, an' I'll be there in
a second if there is anything like rough house."

With a warning look in the Captain's direction, the boy advanced to the
platform of rock. From there he was directed to a door cut in what,
seemed to be soft earth and framed with timbers. The timbers were new.
He saw that at a glance, and drew his own conclusions.

Ned was glad to see that the man who had done all the speaking was the
only one to accompany him into the side room. In a contest of muscles,
he thought he could hold his own pretty well with this fellow.

Ned was prepared for almost anything, but what took place next filled
him with astonishment. The room was just a hole out in the earth. It
did not appear to have been a part of the old temple. There were in it
a board table, roughly put together, two chairs, and a square box,
perhaps five feet in length by one and a half in the other p