"My Sultana, it is time," said Milo, rising and waiting. He needed to
say no more.

"Lead me to my father, then," replied the girl, and stepped after the
giant with sure step and resolute face, giving no heed to the renewed
shuffling and congregating of her people, nor to Rufe, who again stood
out before the rest and addressed them in fierce tones.

Dolores entered the great hewn-rock doorway and in spite of her stout
heart and steel will she thrilled in every fiber. At the end of the
frowning passage, whose ruby lamps but accentuated the gloom and
imparted to it an infernal glow, lay the great chamber that only the
chief might enter. What would she find there? Her father, yes, and
dying! Otherwise this summons had never come. The death must be upon him
now; the fierce old sea-king had held his throne-room inviolate through
many bouts with the grim Reaper, knowing his own strength to conquer.
But now he had called, and Dolores sought the unknown with a curiosity
that beat down fear.

Behind her a heavy thud echoed along the rocky walls, and the outer
light was cut off by the falling of the great stone. In a moment Milo
stood beside her and, taking her hand in his, led her along the utterly
invisible floor until she stood before a massive door. Her feet sank
into the pile of heavy carpets; her nostrils quivered to the delicate
odors of burning spices; at the top of the door a great jeweled lantern
cast a rich, yellow light down the panels, and the girl gasped
involuntarily at the sight revealed to her. Each panel was formed of
scales that overlapped like a serpent's; the scales were roughly
hammered gold and silver, richly chased, and studded thickly with
gems--without any conjecture she knew them to be precious vessels that
should have graced an altar, split, perhaps with a bloody cutlass, and
beaten out into irregular plates to gratify some grim humor of the
terrible old corsair in the long ago. Neither hinges, handle, lock, nor
latch appeared on the surface; apparently the door was solidly embedded
in the mighty rock itself. The giant laid a hand on the side of the
door-frame, and Dolores waited with impatience for admission. For all
her schooled self-control her eyes glinted with astonishment when Milo
stood aside and bowed low, saying:

"Enter, my princess!"

Without a sound the massive door had vanished, sliding up and out of
sight in the dark recess of the roof, leaving smooth, steel-lined slots
at sides and