eways, and succeeded in placing his foot on a ledge of stone on the
opposite side of the shaft. Resting his weight upon this, he extended
his hand to the lip of the opening, and drew himself up to the top,
where he crouched fully in the light of the lamp. Then, wedging his
foot into a crevice a little below him, he reached out his hand to
Sime. The latter, following much the same course as his companion,
seized the extended hand, and soon found himself beside Dr. Cairn.

Impetuously he snatched out his own lamp and shone its beams about the
weird apartment in which they found themselves--the so-called King's
Chamber of the pyramid. Right and left leapt the searching rays,
touching the ends of the wooden beams, which, practically fossilised
by long contact with the rock, still survive in that sepulchral place.
Above and below and all around he directed the light--upon the litter
covering the rock floor, upon the blocks of the higher walls, upon the
frowning roof.

They were alone in the King's Chamber!

CHAPTER XIX

ANTHROPOMANCY

"There is no one here!"

Sime looked about the place excitedly.

"Fortunately for us!" answered Dr. Cairn.

He breathed rather heavily yet with his exertions, and, moreover, the
air of the chamber was disgusting. But otherwise he was perfectly
calm, although his face was pale and bathed in perspiration.

"Make as little noise as possible."

Sime, who, now that the place proved to be empty, began to cast off
that dread which had possessed him in the passage-way, found something
ominous in the words.

Dr. Cairn, stepping carefully over the rubbish of the floor, advanced
to the east corner of the chamber, waving his companion to follow.
Side by side they stood there.

"Do you notice that the abominable smell of the incense is more
overpowering here than anywhere?"

Sime nodded.

"You are right. What does that mean?"

Dr. Cairn directed the ray of light down behind a little mound of
rubbish into a corner of the wall.

"It means," he said, with a subdued expression of excitement, "that we
have got to crawl in _there_!"

Sime stifled an exclamation.

One of the blocks of the bottom tier was missing, a fact which he had
not detected before by reason of the presence of the mound of rubbish
before the opening.

"Silence again!" whispered Dr. Cairn.

He lay down flat, and, without hesitation, crept into the gap. As his
feet disappeared, Sime followed. Here it was possi