Still holding my shoulder he pushed me a pace or two forward, and instinctively I knew that I was in the corridor.  The faintest tremor disturbed the heavy air, and a wild surge of joy rushed through my being.  The place of skulls had brought a terror upon me that swept away my reason, but the knowledge that I was on the way to the open, where I could fill my lungs with God’s pure air, acted as a powerful restorative.

As my guide’s fingers slipped from my shoulder, I stood still and listened.  His heavy breathing was distinctly audible, and with a prayer to Providence to guide my right hand, I brought the butt of the heavy revolver down through the darkness.  It must have caught him squarely upon the crown, for he dropped without a groan.

“Holman!” I shrieked.  “Where are you, Holman?  The passage is here!  This way, quick!”

A revolver cracked within two feet of me, and the bullet ripped through the tall headdress.  I crouched quickly and ran along the corridor.  There was no answering cry from Holman, and although it was possible that he would not disclose his whereabouts by replying to my yell, I decided that I could do little to help him in the impenetrable darkness.  Besides, Edith Herndon and her sister were in danger, and the dawn was coming rapidly.  Throwing off the parrot-feather mat, which had served me to such good purpose, I raced headlong toward the opening.  A few bats, returning early to their sleeping quarters, banged against my face, but the way was otherwise clear, and with a cry of joy I rushed through the mouth of the passage into the calm, clear night.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XIV

BACK TO THE CAMP

The path, with its coating of coral lime, stretched before me, and I fled along it.  The moon had disappeared behind the hills, but the limed track was quite distinct.  My watch had stopped, but I judged that there was still a good two hours before the dawn, and I ran as I had never run in my life.  I recognized what sort of feeling I possessed for Edith Herndon as I raced through the lonely night, and I reproached myself bitterly for leaving the camp.  I became convinced that Leith had set out for the resting place of the Professor and his two daughters after placing guards at the inner opening of the corridor to see that Holman and I did not escape from the cavern, and I realized the terror which the two girls would experience when the big brute reached the camp.

“The devil!” I muttered.  “The fiendish brute!”

A chuckle came from a boulder beside the track, and Holman’s cheery voice set my pulses beating.

“You frightened the dickens out of me, Verslun,” he cried.  “I thought you were one of the evil legion.  Gee!  I’m glad to see you.”

“How did you get out?” I gasped as we rushed on together.  “I thought I left you in the cavern.”

“It was a good job you didn’t,” he retorted.  “There was a husky nigger at the outside entrance of the passage, and he gave me the fight of my life.  Get off this track; they might be after us at any moment.”