hat disturbed my slumber. It came with some force
against my short rib, and I sat upright. The moonlight made it possible
to see across the valley, while every object around the camp was clearly
outlined.

Holman was sitting up on his leafy bed, and I put a question
breathlessly as I jerked myself upright.

"What's up?"

"Didn't he say that this place was uninhabited?" asked the youngster.

"Yes," I answered. "Why?"

"Well, some one has just pushed his head and shoulders up above that
stone table," whispered Holman. "He put his head up, looked across at us
for about five minutes, then dodged quickly back."

"You weren't dreaming?"

"Dreaming? Rot! I haven't closed my eyes since we retired!"

I threw off the rug and looked around. Leith lay under the maupei tree
in the same position as we had seen him in at the moment I lay down.
Near him the Professor snored dismally, probably dreaming dreams of the
greatness that would be thrust upon him in the near future. No sounds
came from the tent that sheltered the two girls, but a combination of
curious nasal sounds rose from the spot where the natives were sleeping
around their fire.

"It might be one of the niggers," whispered Holman. "Let us see."

We stole silently across the intervening space, and, crouching in the
shadows, counted the sleepers. There were seven. The prowler that Holman
had seen upon the top of the stone structure was evidently an outsider,
and the knowledge brought no pleasant feelings. Leith had assured the
Professor on several occasions that the island was uninhabited, yet it
was quite possible that natives from the adjoining groups had visited it
during the period that elapsed since his last visit. Yet we felt that it
was no stray visitor from another island that had peeped over the top of
the massive table, and it was with a suspicious eye upon the sleeping
Leith that we crept quietly over the coral rocks toward the tremendous
stone piers of the structure that rose like a monster gateway against
the gray sky. The atmosphere of that place was indescribable. We seemed
to be in the midst of relics that were older than the pyramids. The
temple of Luxor may seem impressive by moonlight, but the knowledge we
possess of Thebes in its glory somewhat modifies the awe which we would
feel if we knew nothing of the people who had raised the great monuments
in the city of Amen-Ra. And Holman and I knew nothing of the dead race
that erected the mighty st