th. "Some river!"

"Warm water, at any rate," the Master judged, getting up again. A
strange smile was in his eyes, by the smoky lamplight. "Well, men,
this is our way out. The Arabs are not going to have any slaughter
of victims, here. And what is more, they'll capture no dead bodies
of white men, in _this_ trap! There'll be at least ten skulls missing
from that interesting golden Pyramid of Ayeshah!"

"For God's sake!" the major stammered. "What--what are you going
to--do, now? Jump down that shaft?"

"Exactly. Your perspicacity does you credit, Major."

"Sure, you'll never catch _me_ jumping!"

"Gentlemen," the Master said, in a low, quiet voice, "I regret to
state that we have one coward among us."

CHAPTER XLVIII

THE RIVER OF NIGHT

The major's clenched fist was caught as it drove, by a scientific
guard from the Master's right. The Master dropped his lamp, and with a
straight left-hander sprawled Bohannan on the slimy pave. Impersonally
he stood over the crazed Celt.

"Will you jump, voluntarily," demanded he, "or shall we be under the
painful necessity of having to throw you down that pit?"

Enough rationality remained in the major to spur his pride. He crawled
to his feet, chastened.

"You win, sir," he answered. "Who goes first?"

A dull reverberation shuddered the rock, the air.

"_Vive Nissr_!" exulted Leclair. "Ah, now our men, they attack the
city!"

"I'm sorry to disillusion you," the Master answered, "but my explosive
produces an entirely different type of concussion. What we have just
heard is the blowing-in of the treasure-crypt door. There's no time to
lose, now. Who jumps, first?"

"Wait a minute!" cried "Captain Alden." Her eyes were gleaming through
the mask, with keen excitement. "Why neglect any chance of possibly
surviving?"

"What do you mean?" the Master demanded.

"Those wine-sacks!"

"Well?"

"Emptied, inflated, and tied up again, they'll float us! It's the
oldest kind of device used in the Orient!"

"By Allah, inspiration! Quick, men, the wine-skins!"

Himself, he set the example. Knife in hand, while Emilio held the lamp
for him, he crumbled the seals on one of the goat-skins, then cut
the leather thong that secured the neck, and quickly unwound it. He
dragged the sack to the black pit and tipped it up.

With a gulp and a gurgle, the precious old wine, clear ruby under the
dim light, gushed away down the steaming shaft that plunged to the
River of Nigh