ory came through the door which he had just
closed.

"Quick, lad, for your life," whispered Stukely in his companion's ear.
"This way, and run; for we are lost if they come into the corridor and
find us here!" And, running tiptoe on their bare feet, the two sped
down the corridor like mist wreaths driven before the wind.

At the very end of the corridor they came upon a large doorway fitted
with folding doors, one leaf of which was ajar, and through the aperture
the notes of the organ softly played floated out to them. With the tips
of his fingers Phil gently pushed the door a trifle wider open, and,
peering in, saw that they were indeed at one of the entrances to the
chapel which formed part of the Holy Inquisition of Cuzco. The building
of which Phil thus obtained a glimpse was unexpectedly large; so large,
indeed, that he instantly jumped to the conclusion that it was intended
for the use of the general public as well as for the members of the
Order, the accommodation being sufficient for at least four hundred
worshippers. The door through which they were peering was situated
underneath a gallery, in which was placed the organ loft, for the notes
of the instrument floated down to them from immediately overhead. To
the right of them stretched away the main body of the church, one half
of it--the half nearest them--being fitted with pews, while the other
half, toward the great west door, was furnished with common
rush-bottomed chairs, evidently intended for the use of casual
worshippers and the lower orders generally. To the left lay the
chancel, fitted with exquisitely carved and gilded stalls, tall,
elaborately worked brass standards for lamps, gaudily painted and gilded
statues of various saints, a superb reredos in marble surmounted by a
cross bearing a fine lifesize figure of the Redeemer; the whole
illuminated by the rainbow tints which streamed in through the beautiful
stained glass of the magnificent east window, and a faint odour of
incense still clung to the air of the place. The main thing, however,
or at least that which chiefly interested the two interlopers, was, that
although the west door stood wide open, affording a glimpse of a broad
gravel path leading up through a superb garden, beyond which could be
seen a road, houses, and the traffic of foot passengers, horsemen, and
vehicles, there was not a soul to be seen inside the church, the
organist being apparently its only occupant for the moment