t?"

"Effendi, it would be madness," cried Yussuf angrily. "Come on!"

"I have done, and you are master of the situation," said the professor
quietly; while Mr Burne burst into a laugh, took snuff, and then blew
his nose, so that it echoed strangely along the passage.

"Effendi!" cried Yussuf reproachfully.

"Tut-tut!" exclaimed the old lawyer. "I thought we were safe."

"How much farther have we to go?" said Mrs Chumley at last.

"We are at the bottom," replied Yussuf. "Mind, there are stones here.
You must mind or you will hurt yourselves, and the wind will put out the
lamp directly. There is an opening here, and when I have thrust out a
stone or two we shall be on a rocky path. You will all follow me
closely. Better take hold of hands; then, if one slips, all can help."

But the wind did not blow out the lamp; and as they stood watching
Yussuf creep along a narrow horizontal passage the light shone upon the
dazzling snow which had filled up the hole, and after thrusting at it
for a few minutes and scraping it down their guide desisted and crept
back.

"I feared this," he said sadly.

"Feared! Feared what?" cried Mr Burne.

"The snow, effendi. The way is blocked; the snow must be drifting down
from the mountains and falling in sheets."

"But it will not last, man?"

"Perhaps for days, excellency; and even if the hole were open, I see it
would be utter madness to brave the dangers of that shelf of rock in the
face of this storm."

"Oh, nonsense!" cried Mr Burne; "let's go on. We cannot get back."

"His excellency does not know the perils of a mountain snow-storm or he
would not say this. Suppose that we could force our way out through
that snow, how are we to find the buried path with a precipice of a
thousand feet below? No, excellencies, we are stopped for the present
and must get back."

"How unfortunate!" cried the professor; "but Yussuf is right--we must
return and wait for a better time. Can we get back unseen?"

"We must try, excellency; but even if we are caught, it will not be till
after we are out of the passage and the stone is down. This must be
kept a secret."

The way back did not seem long. The stone was closed, and, low-spirited
and disheartened, they crossed the rugged floor of the old temple and
stood once more amid the snow, which had already fallen knee-deep and in
places drifted far deeper. But, in spite of the confusion caused by
what answered to intense darknes