a very long tunnel
appeared, lit up at intervals by the gleam of a lantern swung from the
vault. The walls oozed moisture and drops of water fell to the ground,
so that, to make walking easier a regular pavement of planks had been
laid from end to end.

"We are passing under the sea," said Beautrelet. "Are you coming,
Ganimard?"

Without replying, the inspector ventured into the tunnel, followed the
wooden foot-plank and stopped before a lantern, which he took down.

"The utensils may date back to the Middle Ages, but the lighting is
modern," he said. "Our friends use incandescent mantles."

He continued his way. The tunnel ended in another and a larger cave,
with, on the opposite side, the first steps of a staircase that led
upward.

"It's the ascent of the Needle beginning," said Ganimard. "This is more
serious."

But one of his men called him:

"There's another flight here, sir, on the left."

And, immediately afterward, they discovered a third, on the right.

"The deuce!" muttered the inspector. "This complicates matters. If we
go by this way, they'll make tracks by that."

"Shall we separate?" asked Beautrelet.

"No, no--that would mean weakening ourselves. It would be better for
one of us to go ahead and scout."

"I will, if you like--"

"Very well, Beautrelet, you go. I will remain with my men--then there
will be no fear of anything. There may be other roads through the cliff
than that by which we came and several roads also through the Needle.
But it is certain that, between the cliff and the Needle, there is no
communication except the tunnel. Therefore they must pass through this
cave. And so I shall stay here till you come back. Go ahead,
Beautrelet, and be prudent: at the least alarm, scoot back again."

Isidore disappeared briskly up the middle staircase. At the thirtieth
step, a door, an ordinary wooden door, stopped him. He seized the
handle turned it. The door was not locked.

He entered a room that seemed to him very low owing to its immense
size. Lit by powerful lamps and supported by squat pillars, with long
vistas showing between them, it had nearly the same dimensions as the
Needle itself. It was crammed with packing cases and miscellaneous
objects--pieces of furniture, oak settees, chests, credence-tables,
strong-boxes--a whole confused heap of the kind which one sees in the
basement of an old curiosity shop.

On his right and left, Beautrelet perceived the wells of two
stairc