The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1914-03-13

rock upon my right hand and the im-
measurable space upon my left, sat
down and rested.
I must have dozed, for seemed to
be standing among the graves of the
dead, violated by vandals of the last
century. l saw the mummied kings
surround me; their eyes were open
and they gazed upon me terribly as
one who had come to desecrate their
already rifled tombs awoke shud-
dering, feeling the sweat stream down
over my face. And, as l did SO,
heard very family and far away
the sound of pistol shots.
Then panic overcame me. / was
completely unnerved by the expert
ences of. that dreadful night 1t
seemed as though my companion had
sustained my spirits by the effusion
of his own hypnotic personality. Now
that he was gone, felt my courage
ooze out Of my finger-tips and CULVER
ing knees. l sprang to my feet and
ran, on, on, blindly, desperately
through the darkness. Luckily the
course was clear, and the brave little
light, which / had fastened to my
belt, lit up the rock wall and the
sandy floor. Breathless, exhausted,
ran on, till all at once, without warn
ing, the light went out. was in utter
darkness.
| sank down upon my knees and
covered my head with my hands.
fell into a sort of coma, and waited,
unable to stir hand or foot, for some
inevitable disaster.
When at last raised my head again
l was amazed to see, far in front of
me, the faintest, tiniest light. But
what inspired new hope in me was
the fact that this was no electric
! light or any other artificial illumina-
ton, but the light of day!
rose and, cropping my way with my
hands outstretched against the rocky
wall, l began to stumble on toward it.
Soon there was no further room for
doubt 1t was daylight, penetrating
through low cavern of rock. The
sand grew deeper under my feet.
Now l could feel the cool morning
breeze upon my face, and the sand.
shifting and sitting through the orifice,
reached to my knees. l waded through
it, plunging and falling, until l trod
upon firmer ground. Some desert
grasses and other hardy plants had
drifted in and taken root in it, afford
ing a foothold. The tunnel grew
smaller. With hands extended over
my head l could touch the roof; now
l was in the light of day-and at last
l sank gasping upon the ground out
side.
l looked round me in amazement l
was lying upon the summit of a rock
activity which had noted during the
preceding day some half mile behind
our camp upon the banks of the
stream. But where the stream had
dwindled between it's low banks there
was now a rushing flood of turbulent
waters. And where the summit of the
granite temple had reared itself above
the dam there now appeared the TEN
pie itself, with the majestic, calm
statues of the Ptolemies that none
had ever thought to see again. And
where the mighty dam had arched it.
self from bank to bank, there were
two masses of masonry, and between
them rubble and shapeless stones, over
which swirled and tossed and plunged
| the freed torrents of the Nile
The dam was broken. On either
| side of the river banks there stretched
swamps of black mud, through which
| the tide was oozing and creeping, inch
| by inch, up to the deserted water
| wheels. And from the Arab villages
on either side came white-robed fig.
| ures. with arms raised above their
leads, chanting their thanks to Allah
that the Nile was again to give
| fertility to their fields.
| made my way slowly toward the
site of the camp. The tents had been
swept away, with all our outfit. I
| looked for Nikolai; he was not there.
But a figure ran up t. me, shrieking
and gibbering. 1t was Mohammed,
our head-man. He pointed to the
roaring torrent
Caught fast among the broken piers.
| twisted and battered into a shapeless
| thing, was the boat. .Mohammed had
| thought that the swift floods had
dashed us to destruction; he looked on
me as one risen from the dead.
waited three days upon the shore.
but nothing of Nikolai did l see then
or ever again. 1t was not until /
reached London that the mystery was
solved by letter, which l found
awaiting me. 1t was dated from our
camp, the day before we had started
on our expedition.
Il must confess, Summers" 1t ran,
that | intend to deceive you as to
the nature of our expedition tomor-
row. Needless to say, there is no
treasure buried beneath the Temple
of the Kings In fact, l shall not
take you into the temple at all. We
| cannot enter It.
1T is necessary for my purposes
that the great dam be destroyed.
From secret plans l have discovered
the entrance to the base of the con-
struction where the masonry is under
the strongest pressure. A man sits
constantly on guard; he must be dis.
posed of and charge of dynamite ap-
piled.
Il regret to say, Summers, that,
while your services have proved most
useful in subordinate capacity you
have shown yourself somewhat lack
ing in the capacity and courage to
I