"There is a Druidical altar there," went on the clergyman eagerly, "and I have no doubt many dreadful sacrifices took place there in the old days. This heart--which I shall be delighted to show you if you call at the vicarage, Mr. Enistor--no doubt had to do with the terrible rites." "Earlier than that," put in Montrose unexpectedly, "the heart was the symbol of the Atlantean race, as the cross is the symbol of the Aryan. The hieroglyphics on it mean doubtless the sacred word 'Tau.' Aum is the sacred word of our present people." "Tau! Aum! Atlantean!" echoed Sparrow, much perplexed. "What do you mean?" "It would take too long to explain, sir. Dr. Eberstein, who told me about these things, is the best person to consult." "I wish to consult no one," said the parson, drawing himself up. "I believe the heart to be a symbol of the Druids." "A symbol of Atlantis rather," insisted Montrose; "this very land on which we are was part of the great continent of Atlantis." "A mere fable, sir. You are thinking of the myth which Plato mentions." "It is no myth, but an actual truth, Mr. Sparrow. Atlantis did exist and was overwhelmed by that flood you will find mentioned in the Bible." "Absurd! The name of Atlantis is not mentioned in Holy Scripture. There is no proof that what Plato says is true." "This much proof, that as far back as archæologists can go the civilisation of Egypt was in full swing. Where did that civilisation come from?" "It grew up in the Valley of the Nile." "Certainly, but the beginnings were brought to the Valley of the Nile by a highly civilised race. Remember it was the Egyptian priests who told Plato about Atlantis. They knew, because Egypt was a colony of that mighty continent. There was another colony in Central America, and you will find the vast ruins of its cities described in a book by Désiré Charnay. The civilisation of Mexico and Peru destroyed by the Spaniards was the last remains of the splendour of the Atlanteans." "Where did you hear all this, Mr. Montrose?" asked the Squire quickly. "From Dr. Eberstein. You can ask him for yourself when he comes down." "I should like to meet him," said Mr. Sparrow primly, "but I do not think that I shall agree with a single word he says." "Then why ask him?" asked Montrose, very naturally. "To confute him, sir. What we know of the early world is all contained in Genesis. There is no mention of Atlantis there, although there is of Egypt." "What about the chronology of the Bible? It has been proved, Mr. Sparrow--and you as an archæologist must admit this--that the civilisation of Egypt extends further back than the date given in Genesis as the beginning of the world. What do you say to that?"