please us, she consented; we arranged the cover on
the granite couch and made her as comfortable as possible.

In five minutes she was fast asleep. Harry stood a few feet away from
the couch, looking down at her. I spoke to him, in a low tone:

"And you must rest too, Hal. One of us must remain on watch; I'll take
it first and call you when I feel drowsy. It may be a needless
precaution, but I don't care to wake up and find myself in the
condition of our friend yonder."

He wanted to take the first watch himself, but I insisted, and he
arranged our ponchos on the ground, and soon he too was sleeping easily
and profoundly. I looked from him to Desiree with a smile, and
reflection that Socrates himself could not have met misfortune with
more sublime composure.

It was possible that the stone curtain across the doorway could be
raised noiselessly, and that made it necessary to keep my eyes fastened
on it almost continuously. This became irksome; besides, twice I awoke
to the fact that my thoughts had carried me so far away from my
surroundings that the stone could have been raised to the roof and I
would not have noticed it.

So, using my jacket for a cushion, I seated myself on the ground in the
threshold, leaning my back against the stone, and gave myself up to
meditation.

I had sat thus for three hours or more, and was thinking of calling
Harry to relieve me, when I felt a movement at my back. I turned
quickly and saw that the stone was moving upward.

Slowly it rose, by little frequent jerks, not more than an eighth of an
inch at a time. In fifteen minutes it was only about four inches from
the ground. There was no sound save a faint grating noise from above.

I stood several feet away, holding one of the golden clubs in my hand,
thinking it unnecessary to rouse Harry until the space was wide enough
to cause apprehension. Or rather, because I had no fear of an
assault--I was convinced that our ruse had succeeded, and that they
were about to communicate with us by means of the quipos.

The stone was raised a little over a foot, then became stationary. I
waited, expecting to see a bundle of quipos thrust through the opening,
but they did not appear.

Instead, five golden vessels were pushed across the ground until they
were inside, clear of the stone; I could see the black, hairy hands and
arms, which were immediately withdrawn.

Then the granite curtain fell with a crash that caused me to start