second curtained door. It was in the midst of this we
halted, still under strict surveillance of our brutal guards. These,
however, permitted us to sink down exhausted on the hard floor.

CHAPTER XXII

PRISONERS IN THE TEMPLE

A fear of impending danger will not always prove sufficiently strong to
prevent yielding to the demands of fatigue. I realized the desperation
of our position, feeling no doubt regarding our ultimate fate. I read
it plainly in our surroundings, as well as within those vengeful,
scowling faces, yet so dulled was every physical sense from excessive
weariness that I had passed through much already described like a man
in a dream. The brief repose of the previous night, broken by nervous,
superstitious terrors, the anxious effort to escape from the haunted
canyon, the hurried labor on our rude defences, the two fierce combats
with the savages, my numerous wounds, none dangerous yet weakening me
by loss of blood, together with the rapid marching and the difficult
climb up the cliff, combined to exhaust my vitality so completely that,
the moment we halted within the sacred precincts of this temple, I
flung myself full length upon the floor. I remember the sun had
already disappeared behind the western heights. I retain some slight
memory of a tender hand resting softly on my forehead, of a familiar
voice questioning me, yet if I made response, it must have been in the
unconsciousness of sleep, as these faint remembrances were my last.

I had no means of telling how long I lay thus, close against the north
wall of the building in that very posture in which I had first fallen.
It must have been after hours of unconsciousness I was at last
partially aroused by the reviving touch of cool water with which my
face was being bathed. As I slowly unclosed my heavy eyes the huge
smouldering log in the centre of the room burst into sudden flame,
lighting the interior, casting weird, dancing shadows along the black
walls, its red radiance falling upon the face bending above me, and
permitting me to look into the dark, troubled eyes of Eloise de Noyan.

"There is no necessity for moving," she explained softly. "Nothing of
moment has occurred since you fell asleep, except that the savages
brought us food."

"Have you been watching over me all this time without rest?"

"Nay; at least no more over you than the others," she answered with a
smile, "yet you appeared in greatest stress. The others h