We crept silently to the corner, avoiding the circle of light as far as possible, and, crouching side by side on the rock, looked out together on a scene none the less striking because we had seen it twice before.

It was the great cavern.  We saw it from a different viewpoint than before; the alcove which held the golden throne was far off to our left, nearly half-way round the vast circumference.  On the throne was seated the king, surrounded by guards and attendants.

As before, the stone seats which surrounded the amphitheater on every side were filled with the Incas, crouching motionless and silent.  The flames in the massive urns mounted in steady tongues, casting their blinding glare in every direction.

All this I saw in a flash, when suddenly Harry’s fingers sank into the flesh of my arm with such force that I all but cried out in actual pain.  And then, glancing at him and following the direction of his gaze, I saw Desiree.

She was standing on the top of the lofty column in the center of the lake.

Her white body, uncovered, was outlined sharply against the black background of the cavern above.

Chapter XXII.

The beginning of the end.

Neither Harry nor I spoke; our eyes were concentrated on the scene before us, trying to comprehend its meaning.

It was something indefinable in Desiree’s attitude that told me the truth—­what, I cannot tell.  Her profile was toward us; it could not have been her eyes or any expression of her face; but there was a tenseness about her pose, a stiffening of the muscles of her body, an air of lofty scorn and supreme triumph coming somehow from every line of her motionless figure, that flashed certainty into my brain.

And on the instant I turned to Harry.

“Follow me,” I whispered; and he must have read the force of my knowledge in my eyes, for he obeyed without a word.  Back down the passage we ran, halting at its end.  Harry opened his lips to speak, but I took the words from his mouth; seconds were precious.

“They have fired the column—­you remember.  Follow me; keep your spear ready; not a sound, if you love her.”

I saw that he understood, and saw too, by the expression that shot into his face, that it would go ill with any Incas who tried to stop us then.

We rushed forward side by side, guessing at our way, seeking the entrance to the tunnel that led to the foot of the column.  A prayer was on my lips that we might not be too late; Harry’s lips were compressed together tightly as a vise.  Death we did not fear, even for Desiree; but we remembered the horror of our own experience on the top of that column, and shuddered as we ran.

As I have said, we had entered the great cavern at a point almost directly opposite the alcove, and therefore at a distance from the entrance we sought.  It was necessary to half encircle the cavern, and the passages were so often crossed by other passages that many times we had to guess at the proper road.