Then I leaned down and tried to press outward the left foot of the statue, which stood flat upon the floor without any pedestal. It resisted and I knelt down and tried again, pushing with all my strength and using the other foot as a purchase. The foot gave a little—not more than half an inch—and I heard a sharp click and a grating sound behind the tapestries.
“All right,” said Joe, pushing aside the drapery while Archie held the lamp. “The panel is open.”
The opening disclosed was about five feet high and not more than eighteen inches wide, but it was sufficient to allow us to pass through with ease. A secret passage, narrow and low, had been built in the great side-wall of the palace, and a few paces from the panel a flight of steps, made of stone, led downward. These continued to descend until we had passed below the foundations of the building, when we entered a tunnelled passage slanting straight into the earth. The walls were protected with stone and cement, but there was a damp, musty smell in the passage; and, as we advanced, numerous vermin, such as rats, lizards and fat spiders, scampered away from the path to hide in the little nooks between the stones.
Archie, who went first, carrying the lamp, growled continually at these pests, but I felt they could not be dangerous or the Prince would have warned us against them.
We traveled what seemed a very long distance to us, under the circumstances; but I now believe the passage was a bee-line to the burial vaults from the palace, and of course the vaults were located some distance from the building that appeared above ground. But my sense of direction was so confused that I would then, and even afterward, have been unable to locate the vaults from the palace grounds.
Finally we reached a steel door which was unlocked and opened easily. Beyond this hung a tapestry, and pushing that aside we came to an alcove, arched high above us and having a grating of bronze or similar metal at the further side.
In the center of the alcove lay a superb sarcophagus or burial casket, set across two slabs of marble. This was of wrought bronze and bore upon the cover a mask with a surprising resemblance to the statue of the first Kai in the Prince’s bedroom.
We did not pause to examine it long, however, for all about the coffin stood carven stands and taborets weighted with curious ornaments in solid gold and silver, while upon a low table were several suits of splendid armor, inlaid with gold and set with precious stones that glistened brightly under the lamplight. Nor was this all. Ornaments of green and yellow jade were scattered about, and at the foot of the coffin stood a semi-circle of big jars of bronze.
I thrust my hand into one of these jars and drew it out filled with beautiful emeralds.
“We don’t need to go any farther, boys!” I exclaimed with a gasp. “Here are riches enough, in this one niche, to satisfy a dozen fortune hunters.”