As Don rested on the edge, he noticed a fretwork running along the top, the only ornament that relieved the severity of the tomb. He ran his hand along the edge, slowly, carefully, pressing in turn every projection.
Then a thrill ran through his veins. One of them had yielded, ever so slightly, but it had yielded!
He pressed upon it with all his might. And there, before the gazing spectators, who stood spellbound with amazement, one of the great blocks about four feet from the ground swung silently inward, revealing an aperture about three feet in width and height.
With an excited shout, the professor went through the opening, followed one by one by the others, and they found themselves in the tomb of one of the mightiest of the Pharaohs, on which no eyes had looked since it had been sealed thousands of years before.
Untold riches dazzled their eyes, as they looked about them. Gold, gold, gold everywhere, in columns and tablets and coffin lids and statues, in beds and chariots and boats and amulets, in chairs and maces and scepters and symbols, gold in a profusion that stunned them and took away their breath. And besides this immeasurable wealth, there were other things quite as priceless, rings, robes, cups, whips, vases, inlaid and encrusted with precious stones. And on a great golden slab lay the sarcophagus of the mighty monarch who once possessed all these treasures and had ordered them to be brought to his tomb as emblems of his boundless wealth.
Hours passed like minutes while the excited group passed from one object to another, hardly daring to believe their good fortune, and half fearing that they would wake and find it all a dream. They had expected much, but this surpassed all their expectations.
It was only weariness that reminded them that they had spent the whole day in rejoicing over their wonderful discovery and suggested the need of food and rest.
“We owe it all to you, Don,” said the professor, as the excited and happy group made their way back to the rendezvous. “If you hadn’t found that spring—”
“Just a bit of luck,” disclaimed Don modestly.
“Was it just luck?” asked the captain pointedly.