WITH a tremendous effort I conquered my desire to rush madly in the direction of the door. With all my will power I forced myself to remain reasonably calm, to think, to use my brains. I reasoned with myself that the entrance must be there; that it could not have vanished without cause; that it was explicable. My only course, I told myself, was to retrace my steps, locate the mummies, follow the wall and reach the spot where I had last seen the entrance. But the next minute I realized this was impossible. I could not find the wall, could not locate the mummies! Somehow, somewhere I had got turned around, had lost my sense of direction. Wildly I sought about, here, there, everywhere. Whichever way I turned I found only vast, black empty space. I was hopelessly lost! Lost in the great cavern with the Mayan dead! And then, once more, I heard that weird swishing noise and once more that invisible ghostly hand touched me! I screamed and leaped aside. A cold soft hand passed across my face! On every side I heard whisperings, low moans, the swishing of unseen draperies, the passing of invisible bodies! I wonder I did not go mad. I shrieked, cowered, waved my flaming torch madly, threw myself on the ground. Something soft, moving, horrible fell upon my back. Madly, maniacally I grappled with it. The ghastly thing struggled in my grasp. Sharp claws tore at me. Teeth were buried in my flesh. And then I knew, and peal after peal of hysterical mad laughter echoed through the cavern. The awful things were no ghosts, no spirits. They were bats! And with my realization of this, with the reaction of my tensed, my shattered nerves, came a flash of memory. The Cave of the Bats! Could this be it? Was this the place old Katchilcan had mentioned? Was I on the right trail? Was the end of my journey near? I felt sure this was the Cave of the Bats of the prophecy, and, forgetting all my fears, all my terrors, of the circling, rustling myriads of bats, forgetting even that I was lost, that the entrance had disappeared, I rose to my feet and peered about. If I were right, if this was the Cave of the Bats of Katchilcan’s legend, then somewhere near at hand should be that Bridge of Light. But where, in what direction? How should I find it? One thing was certain. To stand there idle, gazing into the blackness while my torch burned out was useless. It was getting me nowhere. And, as long as I had no idea which way I had come nor which way to go, one way was as good as another. If I walked straight in any direction, I must eventually reach a wall--no cavern could be endless, and once I reached the wall I could follow along it until I came to the entrance or to some other exit, for there must be another exit, else the bats could not be here. Besides, the air was clear, sweet and fresh.