I have seen some good cool rock-climbing in my time, but never have I seen any one go up like that. It took him about twenty--to us--breathless minutes, and for the life of me I could not see what he held on to. On going up myself later (with the rope) I found that the seam projected somewhat from the rock face, and gave a good hand-hold. Luckily, it was not badly weathered, and so did not break away. But we all expected every minute to see him slip from his footing and fly downward, and only hoped that he would fall clear of the arch, and so give the rope a chance of checking him in mid-air below us. “He’s there,” said Aryenis, as she clapped her hands softly. “He climbs wonderfully.” I could see he had his hands on the cave floor, and was pulling himself in. Then he disappeared from sight. “Good old Alec,” said Wrexham. “Whatever happens now, we shan’t die in the desert.” A couple of minutes later he began to tug the rope after him, taking up twenty or twenty-five feet. After that nothing for a space. Then his head emerged. He was presumably lying on the floor craning out, and he shouted down to us: “The caves lead upward and inward. It’s Aryenis’s cave, all right, for it’s got some stone pillars in it. I’ve tied the rope fast to one, and I’ll pull in the slack as Harry comes up.” He disappeared into the cave again. “Now, then, Harry, your turn,” said Wrexham, knotting the rope round me. I started up, keeping my eyes resolutely turned from the three-hundred-foot drop below me, and not feeling at all pleased with the prospect. But, as a matter of fact, with the rope and with the deep crevice which I found in the rock, it was easier than I hoped, and I got up without any more trouble than a few seconds of intense fright when my foot slipped once. As I stood up and looked round the cavern, I remarked to Forsyth: “What a peculiar place. Are those pillars carved?” There were pillars of solid rock from floor to ceiling on both sides, stretching away into the darkness at the back. They were smooth, round pillars, devoid of ornamentation, with a slight splay at top and bottom. “Carved. I looked as I first came up. It’s not unlike a church, as a matter of fact. You noticed the ledge as you came in, all along the edge cut out of the rock as though people once sat here and wanted a sort of guard like a window-railing at home?” “I wonder who first used the place. It does not seem to have been used lately; there are no footmarks in the floor dust.” However, we hadn’t much time to wonder about things then. I looked out and saw Wrexham roping up Aryenis, and a minute or two later her clear call came up to ask if we were ready.