their way. The party consisted of
McKildrick, Peter and Roddy and, as the personal representative of
Inez, Pedro, who arrived on foot from the direction of the town.

"She, herself," he confided secretly to Roddy, "wished to come."

"She did!" exclaimed Roddy joyfully. "Why didn't she?"

"I told her your mind would be filled with more important matters,"
returned Pedro, seeking approval. "Was I not right?"

Roddy, whose mind was filled only with Inez and who still felt the
touch of her hand upon his, assented without enthusiasm.

McKildrick was for deciding by lot who should explore the underground
passage, but Roddy protested that that duty belonged to him alone.
With a rope around his waist, upon which he was to pull if he needed
aid, an electric torch and a revolver he entered the tunnel. It led
down and straight before him. The air was damp and chilly, but in
breathing he now found no difficulty. Nor, at first, was his path in
any way impeded. His torch showed him solid walls, white and
discolored, and in places dripping with water. But of the bats, ghosts
and vampires, for which Peter had cheerfully prepared him, there was
no sign. Instead, the only sounds that greeted his ears were the
reverberating echoes of his own footsteps. He could not tell how far
he had come, but the rope he dragged behind him was each moment
growing more irksome, and from this he judged he must be far advanced.

The tunnel now began to twist and turn sharply, and at one place he
found a shaft for light and ventilation that had once opened to the
sky. This had been closed with a gridiron of bars, upon which rested
loose stones roughly held together by cement. Some of these had fallen
through the bars and blocked his progress, and to advance it was
necessary to remove them. He stuck his torch in a crevice and untied
the rope. When he had cleared his way he left the rope where he had
dropped it. Freed of this impediment he was able to proceed more
quickly, and he soon found himself in that part of the tunnel that had
been cut through the solid rock and which he knew lay under the waters
of the harbor. The air here was less pure. His eyes began to smart
and his ears to suffer from the pressure. He knew he should turn back,
but until he had found the other end of the tunnel he was loth to do
so. Against his better judgment he hastened his footsteps; stumbling,
slipping, at times splashing in pools of water, he now ran forward. He
knew th