But, although they did not smile nor sneer, nor ever lose their sad gentleness of expression, they cut pitilessly into those naked black shoulders with their hard flagellators, and often out of ruthless wantonness. The slaves were a square, dwarfish, and repulsive set of bestial wretches, yet Ned began to view these placid and soulless tormentors with greater repugnance and loathing; they were like venomous, icy, and cowardly yellow snakes. Their features, however, were sharp and fine, and of a sameness in profile if cast from one mould. He had seen those calm, bird-like, relentless profiles in prints of the Egyptian sculptures and paintings, with long, straight noses, protruding and short upper lips, and receding small chins,--the true signs of a used-up decadent race. Sick with watching these methodical and pitiless strokes, he walked through the portal and out a few yards into the yielding sand, then he looked back and up the precipice. He could see the broken walls at the top, over which he had peered yesterday. The rising sun was shining upon them, and they gleamed whitely against the soft azure. The precipice also glistened with its variegated blush and yellow rose-leaf tints, with the darker veins of grey and ochre. It was smooth and ridgeless, while the loopholes were too narrow to be seen from where he stood. The flat lintel and obelisk-like sides of the doorway had been cut a few feet into the rock, so that the precipice protruded. The intaglio slabs were covered with hieroglyphics and figures. His eyes wandered to the sides, and here he met a surprise,--a long line of gaily painted and anciently shaped chariots stood ranged, like bathing-machines, against the base of the cliff. He had never seen a chariot outside of pictures before, therefore these interested him vastly, with their carving, gilding, and bright colours. After looking minutely over one of them, he turned round to scan the desert. Away in the distance rolled a low cloud of dust, through which the sun shone upon glittering metal. It was approaching rapidly, and as he watched resolved itself into the two hundred mail-clad amazons, who were coming in at a swift run and in a straight line. Very soon they were within a hundred yards of him, with flushed faces and heaving breasts. There they stopped suddenly, and, forming rapidly into eight deep, marched steadily towards where he stood. He learned afterwards that they had been out for the past four hours, doing their customary morning exercise of running, which was twenty miles before breakfast. This was to keep them in good condition, and one of their obligations as warriors. With friendly smiles they marched past him and entered through the doorway without other recognition. Following them slowly, he saw them pass through and into a door which he had not observed the previous night.