he did not
snore. But the amazement and the mystery of all that we had discovered
and of all that might be left for us to discover, held me back from
sleep.

What did it mean? What could it mean? My nerves were taut as harp
strings and seemed to vibrate to the touch of invisible fingers,
although I could not interpret the music that they made. Once or twice
also I thought I heard actual music with my physical ears, and that of a
strange quality. Soft and low and dreamful, it appeared to well from the
recesses of the vast cave, a wailing song in an unknown tongue from the
lips of women, or of a woman, multiplied mysteriously by echoes. This,
however, must have been pure fancy, since there was no singer there.

Presently I dozed off, to be awakened by the sudden sound of a great
fish leaping in the lake. I sat up and stared, fearing lest it might be
the splash of a paddle, for I could not put from my mind the possibility
of attack. All I saw, however, was the low line of the distant shore,
and above it the bright and setting stars that heralded the coming of
the sun. Then I woke the others, and we washed and ate, since once the
sun rose time would be precious.

At length it appeared, splendid in a cloudless sky, and, as I had hoped,
directly opposite to the mouth of the cave. Taking our candles and some
stout pieces of driftwood which, with our knives, we had shaped on the
previous evening to serve us as levers and rough shovels, we entered the
cave. Bickley and I were filled with excitement and hope of what we knew
not, but Bastin showed little enthusiasm for our quest. His heart was
with his half-converted savages beyond the lake, and of them, quite
rightly I have no doubt, he thought more than he did of all the
archaeological treasures in the whole earth. Still, he came, bearing the
blackened head of Oro with him which, with unconscious humour, he had
used as a pillow through the night because, as he said, "it was after
all softer than stone." Also, I believe that in his heart he hoped
that he might find an opportunity of destroying the bigger and earlier
edition of Oro in the cave, before it was discovered by the natives
who might wish to make it an object of worship. Tommy came also, with
greater alacrity than I expected, since dogs do not as a rule like dark
places. When we reached the statue I learned the reason; he remembered
the smell he had detected at its base on the previous day, which
Bastin supposed to pr