Shouldering his rifle, he marched down the slope; and, his post reached, gave himself over to reflection. The first idea to claim his mind was a grotesque one. Here were a group of eminently respectable Americans mounting armed guard over a tomb that belonged to the Egyptian government! True, they had evidence pointing to the possibility that it contained a living woman; but to pretend that they were in any sense actuated by the motives of a rescue party would be sheer hypocrisy. The spot, if somewhat inaccessible, was nevertheless open to the public. He experienced momentarily the sensations of one who claims a certain mound in Central Park and posts sentinels over it. Then, swiftly, his thoughts changed. Zalithea! To no living soul had he breathed his conviction that Zalithea--if she really lay under that painted cover--had already appeared to him, perhaps in visions, but apparently in the flesh! He knew that he had not spoken of this because he had not dared. Even now he was afraid to think of the painted figure, afraid to face the question: What does it all mean? He tried to banish these ideas. They definitely disturbed him. And the morrow would show--what? Resting his rifle against a rock, he filled and started a pipe. The flame of the little gold lighter--a parting present from Jim Sakers--made grotesque shadows. He remembered that at this point he was no great distance from the haunted valley where he had seen the mummylike figure moving. The thought was unnerving. He imagined that gaunt, half-human shape creeping toward him, secretly, through the darkness. In the little hollow were ruins of those huts which had been built in a remote age for the accommodation of the tomb guards. If the spirit of such a guard could revisit that spot, how bitter--and how just--would be his resentment! He toyed with this idea. And, largely because of an unpleasant tingling of his scalp which he was brave enough to admit to himself betokened approaching panic, he argued that the case presented peculiar and extenuating features. Here was no violation of the mighty dead. On the contrary, they were carrying on the labours of the priests who had begun this amazing experiment. They were attempting to make possible that dream of Pharaoh in which he had seen men of a future age listening to a story of his grandeur from the lips of one who had witnessed it! From this convincing argument he derived much comfort. The supernatural dread which had threatened to claim him receded like a real presence--only to return suddenly, magnified a hundredfold. Coming unmistakably from the direction of the haunted hollow, a sound broke the profound silence of the night--_a woman’s voice!_ Utterly unexpected, wholly incomprehensible, it seemed to make Barry’s heart stand still. No word reached him; merely the silvery tones. From a great distance it came--and ceased abruptly--almost as though the speaker had been silenced.