hundred yards.

"What is it?" said Lawrence; "a tomb?"

"No."

"A treasure chamber?"

"No."

"What, then?"

"There must be a spring of good water somewhere down at the bottom, and
this was of great value to the people who built this place on the rock.
Shall we go any farther?"

"Yes, I want to see the spring," said Lawrence. "I am not so frightened
now."

"There is quite a current of air here," said Yussuf, when they had
descended another hundred yards or so. "The spring must be in the open
air, and out by the mountain side."

Lawrence was too intent upon his feet to answer, and they descended
another fifty yards, when Yussuf stopped, for the way was impeded by a
piled-up mass of fallen stones, and on looking up to see if they were
from the roof they found that the arching had ceased, and that the roof
was the natural rock of wedged-in masses fallen from above.

"We can get no farther," said Yussuf, holding the lamp above his head.

"Look, look!" said Lawrence softly; "there is a light out there."

Yussuf looked straight before him; and placing the lamp upon the ground,
and shading it with his coat, there, sure enough, not more than a dozen
yards away, was a patch of light--blight moonlight.

"I was wrong," said Yussuf calmly; "this is not the way to a spring, but
a road from that temple down to some pathway along by the side of the
mountain, and closed up by these fallen stones. Lawrence effendi, we
shall not want my ropes to descend from the walls. You have found a way
out of the old place that has lain hidden for hundreds of years."

"Do you think so?"

"Yes; and that we have only to set to work and clear away these stones
sufficiently to reach the entrance, and then we can escape."

"Let us begin, then, at once," cried Lawrence joyously.

"No; we will go back now, and examine the way, so as to make sure that
our course up and down is safe. Then we will get back, and be satisfied
with our night's work."

"Yes," said Yussuf, when he reached the stone again; "it is all quite
plain. I could come up and down here in the dark, and there will be
light enough at the bottom in the daytime to see what to do."

He raised the stone after extinguishing his lamp, and they both stepped
out; the stone was lowered into its place, a little earth and dust
thrown over it and a few fragments of rubbish, and then the midnight
wanderers stole back to the prison, but only to stop short in the shadow
with Law