“I shall certainly stick to you,” replied the Englishman drily. They turned a sharp corner suddenly, and were going in another direction when Thorndyke felt a soft warm hand steal into his from behind, and knew intuitively that it was Bernardino. The guide was a few feet in advance of them and she drew Thorndyke's head down and whispered into his ear.
“Be brave—by all that you love—for your life, keep your presence of mind, and——”
“What was that?” asked the guide, turning suddenly and catching the Englishman's arm, “I thought I heard whispering.”
“I was saying my prayers, that is all,” and the Englishman pressed the hand of the princess, who, pressed close against the wall, was gliding cautiously away.
“Prayers, humph—you'll need them later, come on!” and he caught the Englishman's arm and hastily drew him onward. Thorndyke's spirits sank lower. The air of the narrow under-ground corridor was cold and damp, and he quivered from head to foot.
Chapter IX.
Branasko paused again in his walk towards the mysterious light.
“It cannot be from the internal fires,” said he, “for this light is white, and the glow of the fires is red.”
“Let's turn back,” suggested Johnston, “it can do us no good to go down there; it is only taking us further from the wall.”