worn from the terrible experiences through which she had recently passed. She noted his glance and smiled encouragingly.
"Gamest of women," Benton soliloquized to himself, "changed from a girl to a woman in a few weeks."
Holton, glacing about the floor of the chamber, found a round stone.
"A real find," he called. "Here's a hammer for you, Benton."
The latter seized the stone and beat at the masonry before him. A sense of drowziness began to seize upon the members of the party.
"The air is becoming foul," said Holton. "What we do must be done hurriedly."
"All of you retire to a place beyond the curve of the chamber," Benton ordered. "I must place the bomb soon."
With a last blow from the stone he chipped a large piece from the spot at which he had been working.
"Give me the torch, Virginia."
The girl handed him the light, and with Holton and Otter retired behind the curve in the chamber.
Benton placed the bomb in the hole he had fashioned in the masonry. He adjusted the trigger and set it to explode in thirty seconds. He released the safety and rushed back through the chamber until he was around the curve where his three companions were waiting.
For a second Benton crouched. Virginia placed her hand upon his shoulder and then a stunning report that seemed to drive the air in the chamber through their brains crashed in the place. Then all was blank.
Huge pieces of masonry were hurtled into the air surrounding the temple of Teeheemen. A horde of Duros' warriors besieging the outside of the walls of the temple were thrown from their feet and scores were injured by a shower of small stones falling upon their heads. They saw a portion of the outer walls of the temple that ran into the base of the adjoining-granite of the mountain blown to pieces, and a huge rent appeared in the wall.
Duros was near the place at the time and witnessed what to him was a strange phenomenon. He was quick to interpret its meaning.
"A breach!" he called to his followers. "A breach! The white gods have destroyed the walls of the temple of Teeheemen."
A thousand warriors rushed toward the breach and began making their way through the corridors leading about within the great structure of the temple of Teeheemen. Terrific battles ensued for possession of the various courts, and Duros and his men were victorious. Gradually they cleared the temple and captured its many chambers and shrines.
18
The first thing that Benton recalled was the odor of fresh air—delicious fresh air, perfumed with the odor of green vegetation. His mind began to function slowly, and then he began recalling the events of the past few days. He wondered if it were not all a dream. Finally everything came back to him. From the spot where he was lying he could look into the distance through the corridor and see the sunshine and feel the fresh air.
"The bomb worked," he mused to himself. "It stunned me and the others—"
He turned his head to one side and recognized Otter. The latter was still breathing and so was Holton.
"And Virginia," he wondered; "is she dead?"
He turned around and saw the face of the girl close to his own on the floor of the chamber. Her stillness alarmed him.
"She must be dead," he said.
With an effort he raised himself on one arm and touched her brow. A noise attracted his attention. There
