that man
met his death without having an opportunity of revealing what he had
learnt, although he caused us to lose part of that on which was written
the command to guard the secret of the cave with our lives.

"Are we now going to allow this Koj Burton to bring destruction upon us
and thereby destroy our method of obtaining wealth?" asked the speaker
fiercely.

"Never! never! never!" shouted fully half a dozen voices.

"Then he must die, and I will see that he does so, and in such a manner
that his death cannot in any way be traced to us"; and as the Fakir
heard these words he gripped his revolver more tightly, and a grim
smile played about his mouth.

"If this Koj Burton suspects who we are, do you not think, Appoyas, that
he may also have gained some idea of the Cave of Hydas?" a voice asked.

"It may be so, and we will have the cave well guarded. Do not forget
that to-morrow night at ten o'clock it will be, according to the
records, exactly fifty years since the offerings in the Temple of Atlas
were removed to the Temple of Hydas. This has been done every fifty
years, and only on those occasions is the inner temple opened, and----"
the speaker stopped abruptly, and then, after a moment's pause,
continued--"and, brothers, you may now go."

On hearing the last words so suddenly spoken the Fakir began quickly and
noiselessly to retreat along the passage, but, as no one appeared to be
following, he stopped.

For some minutes he heard men talking, and dimly saw some figures come
into the passage and go in the opposite direction, and in a short time
the sound of footsteps died away and the Fakir was left alone in the
silent darkness.

More than a quarter of an hour he remained motionless; then he felt his
way to the entrance of the side cave in which he had heard the men, and,
finding all still, he turned on his light.

It was a cave-chamber, about twelve feet square; the walls were fairly
smooth, but the roof was uneven--it was evidently an enlarged cave.
From this cave-chamber there was a flight of steps to a passage above,
and the Fakir was on the point of ascending them when he heard quick
footsteps coming along the passage towards him, which caused him to
hurry back into the passage he had left; then, turning off his light, he
waited and listened.

"One of the brothers must have come back for something," the Fakir heard
some one mutter. "It is all right, though; I will return to my
prisoner," and then he