le proceeding. He held the statuette out
stiffly, it seemed fairly to leap in his hands, as if tugging with an
ecstatic longing to reach the dark place ahead. The rocks closed
completely overhead; the dimness changed to stygian darkness. I got out
my flashlight, sent the beam ahead. But Jake was pressing on through the
darkness, directly in the center of the trail.

Quite suddenly the cavern turned, opened ahead, wider and wider--and
before us lay a room of jeweled splendor, the temple of some
forgotten--_or was it forgotten?_--cult of worship.

The golden statue in the center of the big round chamber drew our eyes
from the splendor of the peculiarly decorated walls, from the strange
crystal pillar on the tall dais at the far wall, from the weird
assemblages of crystals and metals that had an eerie resemblance to
machines--to a science entirely unknown to modern men. All these details
of that chamber I remember now, looking back, but then--my attention and
that of the others was entirely drawn to the beauty of the tall, golden
woman who stood in frozen metallic wonder at the center of the forgotten
crypt.

Jake, his ugly face in a transport, had fallen to his knees, was
crawling forward to the statue abjectly, mouthing phrases of worship
and self-abnegation. Close on his heels came Polter and Noldi, eyes
rapt, movements mechanical. I stopped, some last remnant of sense
remaining in my head, and by a strong effort of will held my limbs
motionless.

As Jake reached the statue, the little golden replica of the life-sized
woman of gold seemed to leap out of his reaching hands, and clung
against the metallic waist of the golden woman as a lodestone to the
mother lode.

Even as Barto's hands touched the statue, he slumped, lay there
outstretched, his fingertips touching the metal hem of the golden skirt;
and whether he was unconscious from unsupportable ecstasy or for what
mad reason, I did not know, but I did not _want_ to know.

Undeterred by Jake's condition, the two men following in his steps also
reached out hands to touch the golden metal--and fell flat on their
faces beside Jake Barto, unconscious, or dead!

I stood, numb and with a terrific compulsion running through my nerves,
which I resisted with all my will. I drew my eyes from the strangely
pleasant magnetic lure of the metal woman with an effort and examined
that strange chamber.

The walls were covered with a crystalline glittering substance, like
mo