The spy turned a corner, feeling the stones.
In vain. The wall was of the same height everywhere.
He lost about a quarter of an hour in this search.
At last he found a gap; with difficulty he squeezed himself through.
And now he found himself in the outer court of the old temple, across which the thick Doric columns threw broad shadows, under cover of which he succeeded in reaching the centre and principal building.
He peeped through a chink in the wall, which a current of air had betrayed to him. Within all was dark.
But suddenly he was blinded by a dazzling light.
When he again opened his eyes, he saw a bright stripe amid the darkness; it issued from a dark lantern, the light of which had been suddenly uncovered.
He could distinctly see whatever stood in the line of light; but not the bearer of the lantern.
He saw Cethegus the Prefect, who stood close to the statue of the Apostle, and appeared to be leaning against it. In front of him stood a second form, that of a slender woman, upon whose auburn hair fell the glittering light of the lantern.