It did. The animal, stricken, doubled up suddenly, and lashed downward with its tail then quieted down. Epworth stepped over its immense leg, and looked into the chamber. What he saw caused him to draw back hastily.
He was looking into a large subterranean world alive with hideous Things. Thousands of them were slinking back against the floor, changing their color to suit the rugged rocks around them until they were almost invisible; others were standing on their rear feet gazing toward the entrance; others were fastened to the walls of the chamber with their fierce eyes glaring fire. The young American felt his blood run cold.
Would it be possible to wipe out this pest hole with his army of little children—small men who depended entirely on his leadership?
A little thought convinced him that it was imperative that they must take the ramphs by surprise. But the fact that there had been twelve reptiles at the entrance indicated that there was some sort of a military organization that knew the value of sentinels.
He glanced again into the chamber. This time he steeled himself to meet the horror. The monsters, while many of them had their heads lifted, had not discovered the presence of enemies.
Fearing that the flash lights might arouse them he ordered all lights closed, and made an investigation with his cavern lamps. In front of him the enormous chamber extended as far as the eye could reach, and the walls went up to a ceiling he knew was there but could not see. At the outer edge of his vision he could make out a pool of black water. The pool and the chamber were full of writhing, wriggling, monstrous reptiles. Old lizards, young lizards, male lizards, female lizards, baby lizards, lizards in all stages of growth, crawled like ants around the chamber and into the lake.
A wave of despondency swept over the young man. A single lizard, crashing into the narrow corridor where his army was concealed, could wipe it clean of human life. He must get his men out of the corridor where they could spread out, and he must do it without letting the lizards know they were in the chamber.
Quietly, with desperate courage, he placed himself at the head of his soldiers and gave whispered orders, and slipped cautiously into the ramph chamber. The smell was awful, nauseating, sickening, almost death-dealing.
“A Chamber of Horrors, truly!” Joan gasped. “Will we ever get out?”
However the Selinites moved with such caution that several hundred soldiers were in the room, and lined up along the sides of the walls nearest the entrance before their presence was noticed.