The moon was not yet up. By keeping within the bushes that grew thickly hereabouts, Delabar was able to escape observation from a chance passerby. The man was plainly frightened; but Gray allowed him no opportunity to bolt. "You'll stay with me until I see Mary Hastings," he whispered warningly. A plan was forming in the American's mind--a plan based on what Delabar had told him of the arrangement of the buildings of Sungan. The lepers, he knew, lived in the outer ruins, where he had seen them that afternoon. In the center of the Sungan plain, Delabar said, was a depression of considerable extent. Here were the temples and palaces, the towers of which he had seen. This, the old city, was surrounded by a wall. Delabar said it was occupied by the priests. And in this place Mary Hastings might be found. It was a guess; but a guess was better than nothing. When they came to the first stone heaps, Gray halted his guide. "You told me once," he whispered, "that Sungan had a series of underground passages. Take me down into these." "Through the lepers' dwellings?" Gray nodded silently. Delabar was shivering--an old trick of his, when nervous. "It is madness, Captain Gray!" he chattered. "You do not know----" "I know what you told me. Likewise that you don't want me to get into these temples. Step out!" Delabar glanced around in despair and led the way through the bushes. Once the American caught the gleam of a fire and saw a group of lepers squatting about a blaze in which they were toasting meat. At the edge of the firelight starved dogs crouched. They came to an excavation in the ground, lined with stone. Delabar pointed to steps leading downward into darkness. "An old well," he whispered. "It is dry, now. A passage runs from it to the inner buildings." He seemed familiar with the way, and Gray followed closely. The steps wound down for some distance, the air becoming cooler. They halted on what seemed to be a stone platform. "Here is the entrance to the passage," Delabar muttered. "It was used to carry water to the temple." Gray put his hand on the man's shoulder and urged him forward, making sure at the same time that the other did not seize the opportunity to make his escape. He did not trust Delabar. He was convinced that the Buddhist had not made a clean breast of matters. For one thing, he was curious as to why the priests should take such elaborate precautions to guard the lepers. Elsewhere in China there were no such colonies as Sungan. Why were armed guards stationed around Sungan? Why were the lepers barred from the inner walled city? Where was Wu Fang Chien? The answer to these questions lay in the temple toward which they were headed. They went forward slowly. Complete silence reigned in the passage. Occasionally Gray stumbled over a loose stone. Then he heard for the first time the chant.