There were eight small cases in all, seven of them as full of jewels as they could hold, while the eighth contained that which, in the day of Lucrezia Borgia, was more powerful and potent than the mere possession of wealth—a small sealed bottle of rock crystal and a larger phial of greenish Venetian glass, the latter containing a thick dark-brown fluid.
This latter discovery interested my companions, who were much puzzled by it. But I knew the truth, and told them so. That tiny crystal bottle contained the actual secret venom of the Borgias, given by Lucrezia to old Godfrey, and the dark-brown fluid was the antidote.
The secret poison of the Borgias was no longer a legend. We had it actually in our possession!
I put my hand again into the cavity, while Sammy raised a lamp to peer within. But there was nothing else.
With our precious find stowed in our pockets we at last moved up the incline, in order to explore the full extent of the subterranean passage. The casket itself interested me; and, handing my lantern to one of the others, I carried the heavy old box, which through those centuries had contained treasure worth a king’s ransom. Then, delighted with our success, we pushed forward and upward, finding the air fresher nearly every foot we progressed, until at last, nearly three-quarters of a mile from the point we had descended, the tunnel went suddenly upwards, and we found farther progress barred by a huge oaken door strengthened by a kind of network of iron battens securely bolted on to it.
We tried it, but it would not budge. It was very strongly secured on the other side, and all our efforts to open it proved futile.
Having battered upon it and used our crowbar to little effect, we heard a frightened and muffled voice on the other side demanding who and what we were.
“Let us out, old chap?” I shouted. “Can’t you open the door? Who are you?”
“My name’s John Kirk,” was the man’s hoarse answer. “Where are you, and who are you?”
“There are three of us. We’ve been along an underground passage, and this is the end of it. Where are we?”