There was one window, letting into a court. It had no glass panes but was crossed and recrossed by heavy bars of a metal resembling bronze. There was no way to remove these bars and, the door having been securely fastened, we were forced to admit that we had been very securely jailed. Later we learned that this building was reserved for a prison, or as near such an institution as the Tcha required. It was called “The House of Seclusion” where offenders were sent for punishment; but it was very seldom used.
It was no use worrying. Here we were, at last, in the hidden city. Young men require lots of sleep. I settled myself upon one of the gold framed couches and was soon oblivious to every threatened danger.
CHAPTER XVI
WE VIEW THE HIDDEN CITY
“Shall I make coffee?” I heard Paul ask.
Opening my eyes I found the sun streaming through the barred window. The others except Archie and Pedro were awake.
As if to answer our leader’s question steps were heard on the marble floor of the passage outside. Bars were removed, the door swung open and in came four soldiers bearing our breakfast.
This consisted of fresh sweet milk, a plentiful supply of fruits, including peaches, dates and melons, and a quantity of excellent bread made into small loaves and baked with a hard crust.
I made a mental examination of these strange people as they arranged the food upon the table. Their complexions were much fairer than my own, which was well browned by sun and weather; yet they lived in a tropical climate. Every Tcha we had seen so far had red hair, and I may as well add that every Tcha we saw afterward, male and female, possessed red hair, with its invariable accompaniment of blue eyes. They were very careful of their personal appearance, being as neat as wax from head to toe. The casques of these soldiers, who also acted as police—they were called “public guardians”—were formed of plates of gold hardened by means of some alloy.
As soon as they had performed their duties these men withdrew, leaving us to gather round the golden table, pouring milk from a golden tankard into golden goblets and eating from golden plates. All these utensils were skillfully engraved with conventional decorative designs, no figures or landscapes being used whatever. Around the base of the tankard was set a row of brilliant red stones which Paul after examination pronounced rubies of almost priceless purity and size.
“There’s almost enough wealth here in this room,” he said, “to repay us for coming.”