“This,” he said, “is the letter of the High Priest of the Temple of Yun-Tse, addressed to the Emperor, and telling him what means he had adopted for guarding the secret jewels.”
“Yun-Tse,” she murmured, “the home of the Body and the Soul?”
He nodded.
“These few lines,” he continued, smoothing out the paper thoughtfully with his long, bony forefinger, “to any one who can understand them, might easily be worth one of the great fortunes of the world.”
“What are you going to do with it?” she enquired curiously.
He made no immediate reply, first folding up the letter and replacing it in the coffer, which he carefully locked. Then he rose to his feet and led the way out into the gardens.
“Tell me about that letter,” she begged once more, as they seated themselves under the cedar tree.
“Part of the old story, at any rate, seems to be true,” he confided. “Those two Images have always contained a secret hiding place, and somewhere inside them are stored the jewels of the temple. On the back of the document are instructions in the cipher of the priests, which as yet I have not been able to translate. I am not sure that I shall ever attempt to.”
“But why not?” she asked wonderingly.
“If I did,” he murmured, “I should know how to appropriate the jewels.”