the faint rustle of her arm as it swept against the masonry, and
then the ball was taken over into her grasp. Gods! what a thrill went
through me when the fingers of Nais touched mine! I could not see her,
because of the crookedness of the shaft, but that faint touch of her was
exquisite.

"I have it," she whispered. "And what now, dear?"

"You will hide the thing in your garment, and when to-morrow the upper
stone closes down upon you and the light is gone, then you will take it
between your lips and let it dissolve as it will. Sleep will take you,
my darling, then, and the High Gods will watch over you, even though
centuries pass before you are roused."

"If Deucalion does not wake me, I shall pray never again to open an eye.
And now go, my lord and my dear. They watch me here constantly, and I
would not have you harmed by being brought to notice."

"Yes, I must go, my sweetheart. It will not do to have our scheme
spoiled by a foolish loitering. May the most High Gods attend your rest,
and if the sacrifice we make finds favour, may They grant us meeting
here again on earth before we meet--as we must--when our time is done,
and They take us up to Their own place."

"Amen," she whispered back, and then: "Kiss your fingers, dear, and
thrust them down to me."

I did that, and for an instant felt her fondle them down the crook of
the airshaft out of sight, and then heard her withdraw her little hand
and kiss it fondly. Then again she kissed her own fingers and stretched
them up, and I took up the virtue of that parting kiss on my finger-tips
and pressed it sacredly to my lips.

"Living, sleeping, or dead, always my darling," she whispered. And then,
before I could answer, she whispered again: "Go, they are coming for
me." And so I went, knowing that I could do no more to help her then,
and knowing that all our schemes would be spilt if any eye spied upon me
as I lay there beside the air shaft. But my chest was like to have split
with the dull, helpless anguish that was in it, as I made my way back to
my chamber through the mazy alleys of the pyramid.

"Do not look upon mine eyes, dear, when the time comes," had been her
last command, "or they will tell a tale which Phorenice, being a woman,
would read. Remember, we make these small denials, not for our own
likings, but for Atlantis, which is mother to us all."

13. THE BURYING ALIVE OF NAIS

There is no denying that the wishes of Phorenice were carried