It was for an
adventure that I first began to pay my attentions to her. I've chased
a good deal of game in my time, but there's no chase like that of a
pretty woman. There was the piquant difficulty of it also, for, as she
was the companion of Lady Emily Rood, it was almost impossible to see
her alone. On the top of all the other obstacles which attracted me, I
learned from her own lips very early in the proceedings that she was
engaged." "Mein Gott! To whom?" "She mentioned no names." "I do not think that anyone knows that. So that made the adventure
more alluring, did it?" "Well, it did certainly give a spice to it. Don't you think so?" "I tell you that I am very ignorant about these things." "My dear fellow, you can remember that the apple you stole from your
neighbour's tree was always sweeter than that which fell from your own. And then I found that she cared for me." "What--at once?" "Oh, no, it took about three months of sapping and mining. But at last
I won her over. She understood that my judicial separation from my
wife made it impossible for me to do the right thing by her--but she
came all the same, and we had a delightful time, as long as it lasted." "But how about the other man?" Kennedy shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose it is the survival of the fittest," said he. "If he had
been the better man she would not have deserted him. Let's drop the
subject, for I have had enough of it!" "Only one other thing. How did you get rid of her in three weeks?" "Well, we had both cooled down a bit, you understand. She absolutely
refused, under any circumstances, to come back to face the people she
had known in Rome. Now, of course, Rome is necessary to me, and I was
already pining to be back at my work--so there was one obvious cause of
separation. Then, again, her old father turned up at the hotel in
London, and there was a scene, and the whole thing became so unpleasant
that really--though I missed her dreadfully at first--I was very glad
to slip out of it. Now, I rely upon you not to repeat anything of what
I have said." "My dear Kennedy, I should not dream of repeating it. But all that you
say interests me very much, for it gives me an insight into your way of
looking at things, which is entirely different from mine, for I have
seen so little of life. And now you want to know about my new
catacomb. There's no use my trying to describe it, for you would never
find it by that. There is only one thing, and that is for me to take
you there." "That would be splendid." "When would you like to come?" "The sooner the better. I am all impatience to see it." "Well, it is a beautiful night--though a trifle cold. Suppose we start
in an hour. We must be very careful to keep the matter to ourselves. If anyone saw us hunting in couples they would suspect that there was
something going on." "We can't be too cautious," said Kennedy. "Is it far?" "Some miles." "Not too far to walk?" "Oh, no, we could walk there easily." "We had better do so, then. A cabman's suspicions would be aroused if
he dropped us both at some lonely spot in the dead of the night." "Quite so. I think it would be best for us to meet at the Gate of the
Appian Way at midnight. I must go back to my lodgings for the matches
and candles and things." "All right, Burger! I think it is very kind of you to let me into this
secret, and I promise you that I will write nothing about it until you
have published your report. Good-bye for the present! You will find me
at the Gate at twelve." The cold, clear air was filled with the musical chimes from that city
of clocks as Burger, wrapped in an Italian overcoat, with a lantern
hanging from his hand, walked up to the rendezvous. Kennedy stepped out
of the shadow to meet him. "You are ardent in work as well as in love!" said the German, laughing. "Yes; I have been waiting here for nearly half an hour." "I hope you left no clue as to where we were going." "Not such a fool! By Jove, I am chilled to the bone! Come on, Burger,
let us warm ourselves by a spurt of hard walking." Their footsteps sounded loud and crisp upon the rough stone paving of
the disappointing road which is all that is left of the most famous
highway of the world. A peasant or two going home from the wine-shop,
and a few carts of country produce coming up to Rome, were the only
things which they met. They swung along, with the huge tombs looming
up through the darkness upon each side of them, until they had come as
far as the Catacombs of St. Calistus, and saw against a rising moon the
great circular bastion of Cecilia Metella in front of them. Then
Burger stopped with his hand to his side. "Your legs are longer than mine, and you are more accustomed to
walking," said he, laughing. "I think that the place where we turn off
is somewhere here. Yes, this is it, round the corner of the trattoria. Now, it is a very narrow path, so perhaps I had better go in front and
you can follow." He had lit his lantern, and by its light they were enabled to follow a
narrow and devious track which wound across the marshes of the
Campagna. The great Aqueduct of old Rome lay like a monstrous
caterpillar across the moonlit landscape, and their road led them under
one of its huge arches, and past the circle of crumbling bricks which
marks the old arena. At last Burger stopped at a solitary wooden
cow-house, and he drew a key from his pocket. "Surely your catacomb is
not inside a house!" cried Kennedy. "The entrance to it is. That is just the safeguard which we have
against anyone else discovering it." "Does the proprietor know of it?" "Not he. He had found one or two objects which made me almost certain
that his house was built on the entrance to such a place. So I rented
it from him, and did my excavations for myself. Come in, and shut the
door behind you." It was a long, empty building, with the mangers of the cows along one
wall. Burger put his lantern down on the ground, and shaded its light
in all directions save one by draping his overcoat round it. "It might excite remark if anyone saw a light in this lonely place,"
said he. "Just help me to move this boarding." The flooring was loose in the corner, and plank by plank the two
savants raised it and leaned it against the wall. Below there was a
square aperture and a stair of old stone steps which led away down into
the bowels of the earth. "Be careful!" cried Burger, as Kennedy, in his impatience, hurried down
them. "It is a perfect rabbits'-warren below, and if you were once to
lose your way there the chances would be a hundred to one against your
ever coming out again. Wait until I bring the light." "How do you find your own way if it is so complicated?" "I had some very narrow escapes at first, but I have gradually learned
to go about. There is a certain system to it, but it is one which a
lost man, if he were in the dark, could not possibly find out. Even
now I always spin out a ball of string behind me when I am going far
into the catacomb.