“Come on, Jim; be a man.”

“I’m ready for anything, only show me the way,” replied Jim in desperation. Their pistols had been taken from them, but their knives remained. They stored what food remained about their persons and began a thorough examination of the room.

“They certainly find an exit here somewhere, Jim, and we must find it too.”

“Easier said than done, I fear, sir.”

An hour—two hours, passed in fruitless search; the marble walls showed not a sign of exit or entrance. They rested then, sitting on the sides of the divans and gazing at each other in utter helplessness. The full moonlight showered the apartment with a soft radiance from the domed roof. Suddenly, Jim sprang forward and inserted his knife in a crevice in the floor. Instantly Charlie was beside him, working like mad on the other side. The slab began to waver to and fro, as though shaken by a strong force—the crack widened—they saw a round, flat metal button—Jim seized it with one hand and pried with the knife in the other—a strong breeze of subterranean air struck through the narrow opening—and with a dull reverberation half the flooring slid back, revealing what seemed to be a vast hole.

The men recoiled, and lay panting from their labors on the edges of the subway. Charlie blessed his lucky stars that hidden in his clothes was a bundle of tapers used by the explorers for just such emergencies. By great good fortune, his captors had not discovered them.

“What’s to be done now, Jim?”

“Git down there and explore, but hanged if I want the job, Mr. Vance.”

“We’ll go together, Jim. Let’s see,” he mused, “What did Prof. Stone’s parchment say? ‘Beware the tank to the right where dwells the sacred crocodile, still living, although centuries have rolled by, and men have been gathered to the shades who once tended on his wants. And beware the fifth gallery to the right where abide the sacred serpents with jewelled crowns, for of a truth are they terrible,” quoted Charlie, dreamily.

“You don’t suppose this is the place you were hunting for, do you?” queried Jim, with eyes big with excitement.

“Jim, my boy, that’s a question no man can answer at this distance from the object of our search. But if it is, as I suspect, the way to the treasure will lead us to liberty, for the other end must be within the pyramid. I’m for searching this passage. Come on if you are with me.”