"We shall have to leave the car," he said. "There is a track here that leads to the ruined palace. It is only a hundred yards or so. We shall have to do it on foot." They descended. The moonlight poured in a flood all about them. They were alone. Stella turned up the narrow path he indicated, but in a moment he overtook her. "Let me go first!" he said. He passed her with the words and walked ahead, holding the creepers back from her as she followed. She suffered him silently, with a strange sense of awe, almost as though she trod holy ground. But the old feeling of trespass was wholly absent. She had no fear of being cast forth from this place that she was about to enter. The path began to widen somewhat and to ascend. In a few moments they came upon a crumbling stonewall crossing it at right angles. Monck paused. "One way leads to the palace, the other to the temple," he said. "Which shall we take?" Stella faced him in the moonlight. She thought he looked stern. "Is not the picnic to be at the palace?" she said. "Yes." He answered her without hesitation. "You will find Lady Harriet and Co. there. The temple on the other hand is probably deserted." "Ah!" His meaning flashed upon her. She stood a second in indecision. Then "Is it far?" she said. She saw his faint smile for an instant. "A very long way--for you," he said. "I can come back?" she said. "I shall not prevent you." She heard the smile in his voice, and something within her thrilled in answer. "Let us go then!" she said. He turned without further words and led the way. They entered the shadow of the jungle once more. For a space the path ran beside the crumbling wall, then it diverged from it, winding darkly into the very heart of the jungle. Monck walked without hesitation. He evidently knew the place well. They came at length upon a second clearing, smaller than the first, and here in the centre of a moonlit space there stood the ruined walls of a little native temple or mausoleum. A flight of worn, marble steps led to the dark arch of the doorway. Monck stretched a hand to his companion, and they ascended side by side. A bubbling murmur of water came from within. It seemed to fill the place with gurgling, gnomelike laughter. They entered and Monck stood still. For a space of many seconds he neither moved nor spoke. It was almost as if he were waiting for some signal. They looked forth into the moonlight they had left through the cave-like opening. The air around them was chill and dank. Somewhere in the darkness behind them a frog croaked, and tiny feet scuttled and scrambled for a few moments and then were still. Again Stella shivered, drawing her cloak more closely round her. "Why did you bring me to this eerie place?" she said, speaking under her breath involuntarily. He stirred as if her words aroused him from a reverie. "Are you afraid?" he said.