Goliba groped about for a few minutes without speaking, when quickly it opened to his touch and we found ourselves in a long stone passage lit here and there by evil-smelling oil lamps that flickered in the rush of air from the great fissure through which we had ascended.
"This is amazing," cried Omar dumbfounded, as the old sage struggled to close the heavy iron door behind us. "Why, we are in the vaults beneath the palace!"
"True, O Master," Goliba answered, breathless after his exertions. "There is but one entrance and one exit to this labyrinth of vaults and foul chambers wherein the Naya confineth her prisoners. The entrance is, as thou knowest, immediately beneath the Emerald Throne; the exit is this door, which can only be opened by those possessed of the secret. Thirty years ago, when Keeper of the Prison, this door puzzled me considerably, for all attempts to open it on the part of the men I employed failed. It is of such construction and mechanism that nothing short of explosives could make it yield, and these I feared to use. But years afterwards a gaoler who had obtained the secret from his father, also a gaoler, but who was dead, imparted it to me on his death-bed in return for some good-will I had shown him. I believe therefore that I am the only person who has knowledge of the means by which to open it."
"The knowledge hath, in any case, saved our lives, Goliba," Omar answered. "But the great cavern and all those horrible rites introduced into the worship of Zomara, are not they new?"
"No," replied the sage. "They are as old as the foundation of the Kingdom of Mo. Strangely enough, however, the great cave with its colossus and its race of sacred dwarfs who live away in a small dark forest that can only be gained from the opposite side of the cave, were for centuries forgotten. The way to the Temple of Zomara was unknown and the dwarfs remained in undisputed possession of the place until three years ago, one more adventurous than the rest, succeeded in ascending to Mo, when his capture resulted in the cavern with its great wonderful image being re-discovered. Since that time the place has never been devoid of votaries, and the great fire has constantly been fed by those anxious to immolate themselves to appease the Crocodile-god."
"Ah! he is a great god," Omar observed earnestly.
"Yea, O Master, he is indeed all-powerful," answered the aged councillor. "He giveth us life, preserveth us from death, and shieldeth us from evil."
And as they uttered these words both fingered their amulets piously.
