e
what happens to it--if you'll only agree to let me alone--to let me
go----"

Brodie laughed at her. But Benny cried out:

"Of course we'll let you go! What do you suppose we want of you? Once we
get our hands on it she can go, Brodie. Tell her so, you big----"

"Sure," said Brodie, with a wide grin. "It ain't women we're after this
trick; it's something better. And--and it would be very nice of you to
show us--Miss Gaynor." He treated her to a grinning mock respect, so
obviously spurious that her fear of him rose higher, choking her. "Very
nice, ain't it, boys?"

"I--I am not sure what you'll find," whispered Gloria. "I only know
that----Oh, dear God, I hope you find all the gold in the world!"

Hastily she ran by Brodie toward the dark end of the cave. Then she
stopped and tried to think; how many paces had King said? She came back
to the fire; thirty, thirty-five? She began counting as she walked while
they watched her wondering and following slowly after her. She found
several boulders in her path; but she had not gone far enough. She kept
on; thirty, thirty-two, thirty-three----She could hardly see about her.
She stumbled against a rock in her way.

"Try here," she said. Already Brodie and Steve Jarrold were at her side.
"This rock. See if it will move----"

They thrust her roughly aside. Brodie set down his rifle, laid his big
hands on the boulder, and as if it had weighed only ten pounds, tossed
it out of the way. He knelt, feeling along the ground. A sudden shout
burst from him:

"Down here! There's a big hole; there's a dark cave underneath. That's
where it is?"

They brought faggots; at the edge of the hole they hastily built another
fire. They crowded round, peering down. Brodie tossed a brand through;
it dropped a short distance, a few feet only, struck, and began to roll;
it caught against a rock, smoked and smouldered, and went out. Brodie
set his legs over the opening, called to the Italian to grab his rifle
and keep an eye on Gloria and Gratton, and went down. The others crowded
about the hole, waiting impatiently for him to go through, and then
began piling down after him. Gloria could see their figures dimly; they
went down and down along a long, steep, slanting passage-way; they had
smoking torches and looked like so many fiends in the bottomless pit.
She heard them calling back and forth excitedly; they went on, still
downward; she heard their grinding boot-heels, but could no longer see