"A muffled noise like a spade digging. The falling of earth. Some one is going to enter."
"Is this person the first to enter the hillock since the days of the dark-haired lady?"
"The very first.—Cool air blows down the passage, filling the chamber with its freshness. It penetrates the chinks of the tomb."
"Are there several men, or only one?"
"One only."
"What is he doing?"
"He waits a long time at the entrance. Now he comes forward along the passage. He carries a light: it gleams through the interstices of the tomb. He walks about, his feet striking against pieces of metal. He seems to be picking up some. Now, with a cry, he drops them. They ring on the hard earth. There are fresh footsteps coming along the passage. Coming quickly, too!"
Beatrice's voice had lost some of its cold ring: she seemed to be less of an automaton and more of a living woman, capable of being moved by what she saw and heard. Idris did not fail to notice the change. It was an agreeable change, but ominous for his hopes. She seemed to be emerging from her trance: emerging, too, at a very significant point of the story.
He noticed, too, that Lorelie's interest had kept pace with his own: there was on her face a look of painful anxiety that had been entirely absent in the earlier stages of the experiment.
"A second man has entered the place. There is a silence. They seem to be standing still, looking at each other. Now they walk to and fro speaking."