ut of the
shadow, and sank down across the threshold of the arch.

"Semitzin," he gasped, in a faint voice, "the curse of the gods is upon
the spot! The air within is poisonous. It withers the limbs and stops
the breath. No one may touch the treasure and live. Let us go!"

"The gods do not love those who fear," replied the princess,
contemptuously. "But the treasure is mine, and it may well be that no
other hand may touch it. Fold that blanket, and lay it beneath his head.
I will bring the jewels."

"Do not attempt it: it will be death!" exclaimed the old man.

"Shall a princess come to her lover empty-handed? Do you watch beside
him while I go. Ah, if your Miriam were here, I would not fear to have
him choose between us!"

With these words, Semitzin stepped across the threshold of the crypt,
and vanished in its depths. The Indian, still dizzy and faint, knelt on
the rock without, bowed down by sinister forebodings.

Several minutes passed. "She has perished!" muttered Kamaiakan.

Freeman raised himself on one elbow, and gazed giddily about him. "What
the deuce has happened?" he demanded, in a sluggish voice. "Is that you,
professor?"

Suddenly, a rending and rushing sound burst from the cave. Following it,
Semitzin appeared at the entrance, dragging a heavy metal box, which she
grasped by a handle at one end. Immediately in her steps broke forth a
great volume of water, boiling up as if from a caldron. It filled the
cave, and poured like a cataract into the gorge. The foundations of the
great deep seemed to be let loose.

Semitzin lifted from her face the woollen mask, or visor, which she had
closed on entering the cave. She was panting from exertion, but neither
her physical nor her mental faculties were abated. She spoke sharply and
imperiously:

"Bring up the mule, and help me fasten the chest upon him. We must reach
higher ground before the waters overtake us. And now----" She turned
to Freeman, who by this time was sitting up and regarding her with
stupefaction.

"Miriam!" was all he could utter.

She shook her head, and smiled. "I am she who loves you, and whom you
will love. I give you life, and fortune, and myself. But come: can you
mount and ride?"

"I can't make this out," he said, struggling, with her assistance, to
his feet. "I have read fairy-tales, but this... Kamaiakan, too!"

Semitzin, meanwhile, brought him to the mule, and half mechanically he
scrambled into the saddle, the chest bei