Again
the stone rolled back; and the ‘Treasurer’ flashed by to his hidden
lair. “I repeated both experiments several times; with always the same
result. I should have liked to examine the mechanism of that figure of
such malignant mobility; but it was not possible without such tools as
could not easily be had. It might be necessary to cut into a whole
section of the rock. Some day I hope to go back, properly equipped,
and attempt it. “Perhaps you do not know that the entrance to a serdab is almost always
very narrow; sometimes a hand can hardly be inserted. Two things I
learned from this serdab. The first was that the lamps, if lamps at
all there had been, could not have been of large size; and secondly,
that they would be in some way associated with Hathor, whose symbol,
the hawk in a square with the right top corner forming a smaller
square, was cut in relief on the wall within, and coloured the bright
vermilion which we had found on the Stele. Hathor is the goddess who
in Egyptian mythology answers to Venus of the Greeks, in as far as she
is the presiding deity of beauty and pleasure. In the Egyptian
mythology, however, each God has many forms; and in some aspects Hathor
has to do with the idea of resurrection. There are seven forms or
variants of the Goddess; why should not these correspond in some way to
the seven lamps! That there had been such lamps, I was convinced. The
first grave-robber had met his death; the second had found the contents
of the serdab. The first attempt had been made years since; the state
of the body proved this. I had no clue to the second attempt. It
might have been long ago; or it might have been recently. If, however,
others had been to the tomb, it was probable that the lamps had been
taken long ago. Well! all the more difficult would be my search; for
undertaken it must be! “That was nearly three years ago; and for all that time I have been
like the man in the Arabian Nights, seeking old lamps, not for new, but
for cash. I dared not say what I was looking for, or attempt to give
any description; for such would have defeated my purpose. But I had in
my own mind at the start a vague idea of what I must find. In process
of time this grew more and more clear; till at last I almost overshot
my mark by searching for something which might have been wrong. “The disappointments I suffered, and the wild-goose chases I made,
would fill a volume; but I persevered. At last, not two months ago, I
was shown by an old dealer in Mossul one lamp such as I had looked for. I had been tracing it for nearly a year, always suffering
disappointment, but always buoyed up to further endeavour by a growing
hope that I was on the track. “I do not know how I restrained myself when I realised that, at last, I
was at least close to success. I was skilled, however, in the finesse
of Eastern trade; and the Jew-Arab-Portugee trader met his match. I
wanted to see all his stock before buying; and one by one he produced,
amongst masses of rubbish, seven different lamps. Each of them had a
distinguishing mark; and each and all was some form of the symbol of
Hathor. I think I shook the imperturbability of my swarthy friend by
the magnitude of my purchases; for in order to prevent him guessing
what form of goods I sought, I nearly cleared out his shop. At the end
he nearly wept, and said I had ruined him; for now he had nothing to
sell. He would have torn his hair had he known what price I should
ultimately have given for some of his stock, that perhaps he valued
least. “I parted with most of my merchandise at normal price as I hurried
home. I did not dare to give it away, or even lose it, lest I should
incur suspicion. My burden was far too precious to be risked by any
foolishness now. I got on as fast as it is possible to travel in such
countries; and arrived in London with only the lamps and certain
portable curios and papyri which I had picked up on my travels. “Now, Mr. Ross, you know all I know; and I leave it to your discretion
how much, if any of it, you will tell Miss Trelawny.”

As he finished a clear young voice said behind us:

“What about Miss Trelawny? She is here!”

We turned, startled; and looked at each other inquiringly. Miss
Trelawny stood in the doorway. We did not know how long she had been
present, or how much she had heard. Chapter XIII

Awaking From the Trance


The first unexpected words may always startle a hearer; but when the
shock is over, the listener’s reason has asserted itself, and he can
judge of the manner, as well as of the matter, of speech. Thus it was
on this occasion. With intelligence now alert, I could not doubt of
the simple sincerity of Margaret’s next question. “What have you two men been talking about all this time, Mr. Ross? I
suppose, Mr. Corbeck has been telling you all his adventures in finding
the lamps. I hope you will tell me too, some day, Mr. Corbeck; but
that must not be till my poor Father is better. He would like, I am
sure, to tell me all about these things himself; or to be present when
I heard them.”  She glanced sharply from one to the other. “Oh, that
was what you were saying as I came in? All right! I shall wait; but I
hope it won’t be long. The continuance of Father’s condition is, I
feel, breaking me down. A little while ago I felt that my nerves were
giving out; so I determined to go out for a walk in the Park. I am
sure it will do me good. I want you, if you will, Mr. Ross, to be with
Father whilst I am away. I shall feel secure then.”

I rose with alacrity, rejoicing that the poor girl was going out, even
for half an hour. She was looking terribly wearied and haggard; and the
sight of her pale cheeks made my heart ache. I went to the sick-room;
and sat down in my usual place. Mrs. Grant was then on duty; we had
not found it necessary to have more than one person in the room during
the day. When I came in, she took occasion to go about some household
duty. The blinds were up, but the north aspect of the room softened the
hot glare of the sunlight without. I sat for a long time thinking over all that Mr. Corbeck had told me;
and weaving its wonders into the tissue of strange things which had
come to pass since I had entered the house. At times I was inclined to
doubt; to doubt everything and every one; to doubt even the evidences
of my own five senses. The warnings of the skilled detective kept
coming back to my mind. He had put down Mr. Corbeck as a clever liar,
and a confederate of Miss Trelawny. Of Margaret! That settled it! Face to face with such a proposition as that, doubt vanished. Each
time when her image, her name, the merest thought of her, came before
my mind, each event stood out stark as a living fact. My life upon her
faith! I was recalled from my reverie, which was fast becoming a dream of
love, in a startling manner. A voice came from the bed; a deep,
strong, masterful voice. The first note of it called up like a clarion
my eyes and my ears. The sick man was awake and speaking! “Who are you?