sewhere, and
that was the last glimpse she had of the two people about whom centred
the struggle for untold riches.

It was not an unusual thing for the inhabitants of the chateau to climb
to the mouth of the cavern. The men had penetrated its depths for
several hundred yards, lighting their way by means of electric torches,
but no one among them had undertaken the needless task of exploring it
to the end. This much they knew: the cavern stretched to endless
distances, wide in spots, narrow in others, treacherous yet attractive
in its ugly, grave-like solitudes.

"God, Chase, they are lost in there!" groaned Deppingham, numb with
apprehension. He was trembling like a leaf.

"There's just one thing to do," said Chase, "we've got to explore that
cavern to the end. They may have lost their bearings and strayed off
into one of the lateral passages."

"I--I can't bear the thought of her wandering about in that horrible
place," Deppingham cried as he started resolutely toward the ladders.

"She'll come out of it all right," said Chase, a sudden compassion in
his eyes.

Drusilla Browne was standing near by, cold and silent with dread, a set
expression in her eyes. Her lips moved slowly and Deppingham heard the
bitter words:

"You will find them, Lord Deppingham. You will find them!"

He stopped and passed his hand over his eyes. Then, without a word, he
snatched a rifle from the hands of one of the patrol, and led the way up
the ladder. As he paused at the top to await the approach of his
companions, Chase turned to the white-faced Princess and said, between
his teeth:

"If Skaggs and Wyckholme had been in the employ of the devil himself
they could not have foreseen the result of their infernal plotting. I am
afraid--mortally afraid!"

"Take care of him, Hollingsworth," she whispered shuddering.

The last glow of sunset, reflected in the western sky, fell upon the
tall figure of the Englishman in the mouth of the cavern. Tragedy seemed
to be waiting to cast its mantel about him from behind.

"Good-bye, Genevra, my Princess," said Chase softly, and then was off
with Britt and Selim. As he passed Drusilla, he seized her hand and
paused long enough to say:

"It's all right, little woman, take my word for it. If I were you, I'd
cry. You'll see things differently through your tears."

The four men, with their lights, vanished from sight a few moments
later. Chase grasped Deppingham's arm and held him back, gravely