a native and a huge load of forage to a
subterranean village, not very far from the site of the excavation.
The disturbing of the sand had exposed the jewels, which caught the
sunlight and the sharp eyes of the desert traveller.

He was an old man, exceedingly honest, uncontaminated with the ways of
city dwellers, so he took the jewels to the _Omdeh's_ house and asked
him if he thought that they were valuable, and if they were, what he
should do with them.

The _Omdeh_ (it was the same _Omdeh_ who had so little credited the
story of the hidden treasure when he had spoken of it to Michael) was
as surprised as he was suspicious. His interest was aroused. Could
these fine jewels have been dropped by the thief who had burgled the
tomb? These were his thoughts, although Hadassah did not know it.

He at once carried them off to the Government camp in the hills. The
excavators pronounced them to be ancient stones of great value.

The other reason for their belief that the treasure had been stolen was
the fact that the inner chamber, in which they had found absolutely
nothing, had obviously been built with a view to holding objects of
great value. It had all the qualities of a royal treasury. The
inscription on the wall spoke of it as "the treasure-house of Aton."
That no ancient plunderer had entered this chamber, which the heretic
King had cut out of the rook under the hills behind his city, was
obvious. There had been practically no excavating to be done, in the
sense in which Margaret thought of excavating, because the chambers
were all in a state of perfect preservation; none of them were blocked
up with rubbish. Once the entrance had been opened up--and this had
been done by the native who had discovered the site--they met with
little difficulty.

The entrance had been so skilfully hidden, that the excavators wondered
how it had happened that the ignorant native who gave the information
had discovered it (this Hadassah considered extremely interesting and
convincing from Michael's point of view) and what had put him on the
track of the hidden treasure.

These questions, Hadassah said, her husband had refrained from
answering. He considered that the treasure, in its second
hiding-place, belonged to Michael, that it must remain there until he
found it. Michael Ireton had listened to all that the excavator had to
tell and had held his tongue on the subject of Mr. Amory's expedition;
the psychical part of it