He drew the rug a little on one side, and Lawrence saw where the two men were huddled up in their sheepskin cloaks.
“Do as I do,” whispered Yussuf.
The moon was shining, and the part where the guards sat was well in the light; but a black shadow was cast beneath the walls of the great building, and by stooping down and keeping in this, the evading pair were able to get beyond the ken of the guards, and though lights shone out from one ruined building, whether from fire or lamp could not be told, not a soul was about, and they were able to keep on till the inhabited part was left behind and the old temple reached.
“It was a dangerous thing to do, Lawrence effendi,” said the guide. “I repented promising to bring you, for the men might have fired.”
“Never mind that,” whispered Lawrence. “We are safe now. Have you brought a light?”
“Yes,” was the reply; and, by the moonlight which shone through a gap, Yussuf led the way among the broken stones to the back of the old altar, where, after feeling about, he found the side of the stone, lifted it right up, and leaned it against a broken column.
Then, after a word of warning, he stooped down and struck a match, but the draught that blew up the opening extinguished it on the instant.
Another and another shared the same fate, after giving them a glimpse of a ragged set of stone steps; and as it was evident that no light could be obtained that way, Yussuf took the little lamp he had brought into a corner of the building, lit it, and sheltering it inside his loose garment, he came back to where Lawrence waited listening.
“I’ll go first,” said Yussuf. “Mind how you come.”
He lowered himself into the hole, and descended a few steps.