“No harm in that.”
Striking matches sparingly, the boys set off. Soon they found themselves in another passage. On and on they went till their feet ached. They began to think that they never would get out of the place. Suddenly, just as Herc struck one of the few remaining matches, Ned leaned over with a sharp exclamation. He picked up something. It was a small, cheap ornament of Egyptian manufacture. But it was precious to him, for it showed that the passage they were traversing was a traveled one. Herc received the news with shining eyes.
“Good; never say die. We’ll be out of here in two shakes of a duck’s tail. See if we’re not.”
They negotiated a sharp turn and then, to their astonishment, found that they were confronting a door of wood. From within came voices filtering out through a chink, for the door was not fully closed.
“Be ready for trouble,” said Ned, and then he shoved the door open.
As it swung back, the boys got the surprise of their lives. Within was a chamber illumined by a smoky lamp and containing a divan and a few bits of Oriental furniture. On the divan were seated two men whom they recognized at once as the rascally beggars who had followed them to the Pyramids and trailed them in the dark.
Both men leaped to their feet as the boys confronted them. They dashed for two revolvers that lay in a niche in the wall.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
“Jump them, Herc!”