ous, massively constructed building of brown granite that towered,
tier after tier, for five tiers in height; the top tier consisting of a
comparatively small edifice with a metal roof which shone in the
afternoon sun like burnished gold. This building somehow suggested the
idea of a temple, partly, perhaps, because of the fact that it was the
topmost portion of the building which occupied the extreme apex of the
island; but the newcomers had scant opportunity to take in its details,
for they were marched straight to a low doorway cut in the tremendously
thick wall of the lower story of the building, which gave them admission
to a long labyrinth of twisting passages, lighted only by the smoky
flare of half a dozen torches. This network of passages they traversed
for a distance which both of them estimated at fully five hundred yards,
finally arriving at a small door which was flung open by a man who had
accompanied the party from the outer door. The officer motioned his
prisoners to enter, and, there being no alternative, they did so, the
bearers following with their belongings. These last being deposited on
the ground, the bearers retired, the door was slammed-to and barred on
the outside, and the two adventurous young Englishmen found themselves
alone in a cell or dungeon about eight feet square, devoid of every
suggestion of furniture, and lighted only by a small aperture, some six
inches square, pierced in an outer wall of the building which must have
been at least twelve feet thick.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

THE TRIAL AND VERDICT.

"Well, Dick," exclaimed Grosvenor, as the door was closed upon them and
they looked round them in the dim light percolating through the long,
narrow aperture in the wall which afforded their only supply of air and
illumination, "what is your present opinion of things in general?"

"Well," returned Dick reflectively, "the outstanding fact which
dominates all others is that we have actually penetrated to the very
heart of the mysterious country which our friend Mitchell predicted we
should never reach, and have therefore triumphantly accomplished the
chief object of our journey, despite all the difficulties that we have
encountered. For the rest, this cell, although it is somewhat lacking
in comfort and convenience as a dwelling, is at least clean, dry, and
pleasantly cool compared with the temperature outside. And--that is
about all I have to say on the matter at present, I think."