bade her ladies and attendants halt, which
indeed they seemed very anxious to do, though at the moment we did not
know why. Then she went to one end of the wall where it joined that of
the passage, and, showing us some loose stones, asked me to pull them
out, which I did, not without difficulty. When an aperture had been made
large enough for a man to creep through, she turned to her people and
said:

"You, I know, believe this place to be haunted, nor would the bravest of
you enter it save by express command. But I and these strangers have no
such fears. Therefore give us a gourd of oil and some torches and bide
where you are till we return, setting a lamp in the hole in the wall to
guide us in case our own should become extinguished. No, do not reason
but obey. There is no danger, for though hot, the air within is pure, as
I know who have breathed it more than once."

Then she gave her hand to Oliver, and with his assistance crept through
the hole. We followed, to find ourselves in another cavern, where, as
she had said, the temperature was much hotter than that without.

"What is this place?" asked Orme in a low voice, for its aspect seemed
to awe him.

"The tomb of the old kings of Mur," she replied. "Presently you shall
see," and once more she took his hand, for the slope was sharp and
slippery.

On we went, always descending, for perhaps four hundred yards, our
footfalls echoing loudly in the intense silence, and our lamps, round
which the bats circled in hundreds, making four stars of light in
the utter blackness, till at length the passage widened out into what
appeared to be a vast circular arena, with a lofty dome-like roof of
rock. Maqueda turned to the right, and, halting before some objects that
glimmered whitely, held up her light, saying, "Look!"

This was what we saw: A great stone chair and, piled upon its seat
and upon its base, human bones. Amongst these was a skull, and on it,
grotesquely tilted, a crown of gold, while other ornaments--sceptres,
rings, necklaces, weapons and armour--were mingled with the bones. Nor
was this all, for in a wide circle round the chair were other skeletons,
fifty or more of them, and amongst them the ornaments that their owners
had worn.

Also, in front of each stood a tray of some metal, which we afterwards
discovered to be silver or copper, and heaped upon it every kind of
valuable, such as golden cups and vases, toilet utensils, necklaces,
pectorals, bracele