ard. Together we obeyed instantly,
speeding as fast as our legs could carry us to where Goliba was standing
before a small fissure in the side of the cavern on a level with the
ground, and so narrow that it did not appear as if Kona would be able to
squeeze his big body through.

"Follow me," the old sage said in a low tone as, throwing himself down
before the mysterious hole, he crept forward, being compelled to lie
almost flat on his stomach, so small was the fissure.

His example we all quietly followed, finding ourselves groping forward in
the darkness, but discovering to our satisfaction that the further we
proceeded the wider the crack in the rock became, so that before long we
were enabled to walk upright, although we deemed it best to hold our
hands above our heads lest we should strike them against any projecting
stones.

Without light, and in air that was decidedly close and oppressive, we
proceeded. At least we were safe from the howling mob, for since leaving
the great cavern all was silence, and it was now evident from the
confident manner in which Goliba went forward that he was assured of the
way. Soon we negotiated a steep ascent, now and then so difficult that we
were compelled to clamber up on all fours, and for a long time this
continued until our hands and feet were sore with scrambling upward. A
spring shed its icy drippings upon us for some little distance, soaking
us to the skin and rendering us chilly and uncomfortable, but at length
we reached what seemed to be a ponderous door that barred our passage.

Goliba groped about for a few minutes without speaking, when quickly it
opened to his touch and we found ourselves in a long stone passage lit
here and there by evil-smelling oil lamps that flickered in the rush of
air from the great fissure through which we had ascended.

"This is amazing," cried Omar dumbfounded, as the old sage struggled to
close the heavy iron door behind us. "Why, we are in the vaults beneath
the palace!"

"True, O Master," Goliba answered, breathless after his exertions. "There
is but one entrance and one exit to this labyrinth of vaults and foul
chambers wherein the Naya confineth her prisoners. The entrance is, as
thou knowest, immediately beneath the Emerald Throne; the exit is this
door, which can only be opened by those possessed of the secret. Thirty
years ago, when Keeper of the Prison, this door puzzled me considerably,
for all attempts to open it on the part