a part of the wall which had been broken down for
some purpose and left unrepaired. The stones and mortar were piled high
on the ground, and hidden behind them was a large hole opening into a
dark passage. "This looks like the genuine article, doesn't it? Are
you game to explore, and see where it leads?" queried Rex; and Norah
assented eagerly--

"Oh, yes, yes; I should love it! It looks so beautifully mysterious.
There may be hidden treasures. Would they belong to me if I found
them?"

"You would have a share, of course; the rest would be mine because I
discovered the opening. Now then, I'll go first, and hold the lantern;
you will have to stoop, but it may get higher as we go along."

The passage proved to be smooth, and, to Norah's relief, quite dry and
free from those "creepy, crawly animals" which were the only things
about which she was really nervous. But Rex was wrong in thinking that
it might improve in height, for it grew ever narrower and lower as they
progressed, until at times they were obliged to bend almost double.
"This is the way people have to crawl about inside the Pyramids," said
Rex. "It's a queer kind of place, but I mean to go on until I find
where it leads. I say, though! don't you come on if you would rather
not. You could go back to the cellar and wait for me."

But Norah would not listen to such a suggestion. What if her back did
ache, it was not every day that she had the chance of such an adventure;
besides, she had no particular wish to be left alone in the dark, while
it yet remained to be proved how she was to turn round when the time
came for the return journey. For five minutes longer they trudged
forward in silence, then Rex's stick struck against some other substance
than stone, and his outstretched hand came across a bar of iron. It
proved to be a half-closed grating, shutting out the entrance into the
further portion of the passage, but he was not to be turned aside by
such a trifle as this, and after much pushing and banging managed to
raise it sufficiently to make it possible to scramble underneath. Norah
followed in agile fashion, but hardly had she done so than there came
the sound of a fall, and a sharp, metallic click.

"What's that?" cried Rex quickly, and Norah stretched out her hand to
discover the cause of the noise. It came, into contact with something
hard and cold, and her heart gave a leap of fear, for she realised in an
instant that the trap-door h