He struck one, held it low, and stepped in and then to his right, and stood at the very edge of a hole in the rough floor of crumbled stone. Then, to my horror, the light flashed in the air as if it was being passed through it rapidly. Then Denham spoke. "It's all right," he said. "You can step across. It's only about three feet over. Wait till I've lit another match. Yes," he said as the light flashed up, "it's just as wide as it is across. I believe that originally the place was quite dark, and this hole was a pitfall for the enemies who attacked. There, come on." It was easy enough to spring over, and the next minute Briggs followed, and we continued our way down a narrow passage whose roof was open to the sky at the end of a couple of dozen yards, so that there was no risk of our stumbling upon a pitfall; and, after passing along this passage for a time in a curve, we came upon what seemed to be its termination in a doorway, still pretty square, but whose top was so low that we had to stoop to enter a kind of building or room of a peculiar shape, wider at one end than at the other, in which there was a rough erection; while at one corner, some ten yards away, there was another doorway leading, probably, to another passage. "Why, it must be a temple," I said, "and that built-up place was the altar." "Does look like it," said Denham thoughtfully. "You gentlemen know best, I dessay," said the Sergeant; "but it strikes me that this here was a palace, and the bit we're in was kitchen." "Nonsense," said Denham. "It was a temple, and that was the altar." "Wouldn't want a chimbley to a temple, would they, sir?" "Chimney?" I said. "Where?" "Yonder, sir. Goes back a bit, and then turns up. You can see the light shining down." "Yes," I said, as we stepped close up to the supposed altar; "that must have been a chimney." "That's right enough," said Denham sharply. "Burnt sacrifices, of course. This place was covered in once, and that chimney was to carry off the smoke. But there, let's get on. We're not finding water. Is it dark through this doorway?" Inspection proved that it was rather dark; but the absence of stones in the roof enabled us to see our way without a match. At the end of ten feet of narrow passage, whose floor was very much scored and broken up, there was a square opening similar to that which we had passed before entering the so-called temple. "I shouldn't be surprised if that hole communicates with the first," I said. "Pretty well sure to," said Denham. "Here, sergeant, fetch one of those square bits of stone that lay by the other." Briggs stepped back, and returned with a curious-looking and roughly squared piece of stone, handing it to Denham for throwing down; but as he took it I checked him. "Don't throw that," I said; "it has been chiselled out, and is curious. It may show who the people were that did all this." "Humph! Maybe," said Denham. "Take it back, Sergeant, and bring us another."