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should T conduct him thither?” Denviers drew from his finger o ring sct with a briliant which he wore, and holding 1t out towards the fakir, responded :

“T'he reason why you should do so s there, for by the begemg gourd which s upon the floor 1 ]Ud% that YOU are poor. Take this and lead us to the Arah,” the fanatic gazed with cupidity upon the genn, Ld\m“ it with an cager cluteh he sad

-l umghu, as thou art, I acceept what thou offerest. What threats could not accomplish has been won with o bribe! The fakir's tone Jarred upon myears, el | felt that his promise was an insincere one. | uttered a few words ol caution to Denviers capressive ol my distrust just as the fakr stooped and rarsed with apparent case a block of stone from those which formed the Noor of the hovel, and, pomting downwards, satd o reluctant tone, as 1 repenting ol his hareain

“The twisted Tadder of pahinshoots which

viosee, reaches from here to the hottom of a pssage ]L,‘;l(ling to the Lee Ve se ol Dare veo with ol vour bravery, venture thither?2”

We looked shuddermgly down the Vawning, sloomy wull, and saw o faint light, which came Trom the passage far helow, Denviers

turned to me and saird quictly “AWe mustorisk it for the sake of Then turnmye to the fakie he added,

IFlassan.” sternly

i

‘

DARE YE VENTURE?"

STR AN

The eyes Of

WAGAZLINT,

“ (o down hetrav us 1l until our

first, we will then Tollow vou vou dare.” Denviers waited heree guide had descended, then clung to the ladder, and with o few on- cowraging words, bade moe follow. Slowly and cautiously we descended, the fratl Tadder oscillating violently with us 1 the pitehy darkness. Occeastonally we stopped, and on- deavoured with our cyes to pieree the gloom, fearing lest the fakne had evolved some treacherous scheme o order to entrap us. At Lst we reached the bottom, and found

oursclhves at what was the end ol a rocky passace, which had been roughly hewn out and slopedd upwards. Into this the lizht

from outside was stealing from the distant cntrance. The fakir cast a strange, inquiring clance at us as we joimed him e this sub- terrancous place, but - bheyvond mutterig something mmcoherently to himselly, did not volunteer any remark until we had travers:d the entire passage. Fmerging into - davhzht once more, we stopped suddentvy and cazed m bewitlderment at the scene belore us. Towerimge - the distance rose the ruins of aovast temple, resting above a rock which secmed to have been partly excavated inito the form of arches. In the central niche wes 2 huge representation o stone snnilar to the ol which we had scen that day dragged through the streets, while on cither side of iCwas carved a ogreat throng ol worshippers adoring 1t The reek i M' N the l)zl(:i(gi'F)llil(l WS (]CC])I?' IFgnie cul to present the appuear- A8 ance of the side ol o strect, while many strange cm- blems were shown thercon. Below were the remams of a rumed vitlage, the miser- ably small hovels contrast- g forciblywith the Hmndun and Dholdness o f the wonderful Carvinges above. Tow many cen- turics had passed smee the

plice was mhabited 1 scemed impossible o for us Lo surmise. The

around was thiekly covered with o jungle- like grass, and I noticed that part of it scemed to have been recently AN beaten down. | W~ pointed this fact out Lo

my companion, who responded - “Very Likely that