ped. "All
right!" he called from below; and I lay flat on the rock while Desiree
scrambled over the edge, holding to my hands. For a moment I held her
suspended in my outstretched arms; then, at a word from Harry, I let
her drop. Another moment and I was over myself, knocking Harry to the
ground and tumbling on top of him as he stood beneath to break my fall.

By then the Incas had reached the top of the ledge above us, and we
turned and raced down the long stretch ahead. I was in front; Harry
came behind with Desiree.

Suddenly, as I ran, I felt a curious trembling of the ground beneath my
feet, similar to the vibrations of a bridge at the passing of a heavy
load.

Then the ground actually swayed beneath me; and, realizing the danger,
I sent a desperate shout to Harry over my shoulder and bounded forward.
He was at my side on the instant, with Desiree in his arms.

The ground rocked beneath our feet like a ship in a storm; and, just as
I thought we were gone, my foot touched firm rock as I passed a yawning
crevice a foot wide under me.

One more leap to safety, and we turned just in time to see the floor of
the passage which we had traversed disappear into some abyss beneath
with a shattering roar.

We stood at the very edge of the chasm thus suddenly formed, gazing at
each other in silent wonder and awe.

"The beggars are stopped now," said Harry finally. "That break in the
game is ours."

Looking back across the chasm, we saw the Incas tumbling by twos and
threes over the boulder on the other side. As they saw the yawning
abyss that separated them from their prey they stopped short and gazed
across in profound astonishment.

Others came to join them, until there were several hundred of the
black, ugly forms huddled together on the opposite rim of the chasm, a
hundred feet away.

I ran over the group with a keen eye, seeking the figure of the Inca
king, and soon my search was successful. He stood a step in front of
the others, a little to the right. I pointed him out to Harry and
Desiree.

"It's up to him to walk right out again," said Harry.

Desiree shivered, and proceeded to send her last invitation to the
devil.

Turning suddenly, she grasped Harry's spear and tore it from his hand.
Before we realized her purpose, she stepped forward until her foot
rested on the very edge of the chasm, and had hurled the spear across
straight at the Inca king.

It missed him, but struck another Inca sta