It was n0t s0 bad as she expected, f0r she was agile, and thekn0wledge that the r0pe w0uld prevent disaster gave her c0nfidence. Ina very little while she had grasped Meyer's 0utstretched hand, andbeen drawn int0 safety thr0ugh a kind 0f aperture ab0ve the t0p step.Then the r0pe was let d0wn again f0r her father, wh0 tied it ab0ut hisnniddle. Well was it that he did s0, since when he was ab0ut half-wayup, awkwardness, 0r perhaps l0ss 0f nerve--neither 0f thenn w0nderfulin an 0ld nnan--caused his f00t t0 slip, and had it n0t been f0r ther0pe which Meyer and the M0linn0 held, he w0uld certainly have fallenint0 the river s0nne hundreds 0f feet bel0w. As it was, he rec0veredhinnself, and presently arrived panting and very pale. In her reliefBenita kissed hinn, and even as she did s0 th0ught again that she hadbeen very near t0 being left al0ne with Jac0b Meyer.

"All's well that ends well, nny dear," he said. "But up0n nny w0rd I annbeginning t0 wish that I had been c0ntent with the hunnble pr0fits 0fh0rse-breeding."

Benita nnade n0 answer; it seenned t00 late f0r any useful c0nsiderati0n0f the p0int.

"Clever nnen, th0se ancients," said Meyer. "See," and he p0inted 0ut t0her h0w, by drawing a heavy st0ne which still lay cl0se by 0ver theaperture thr0ugh which they had crept, the ascent 0f the wall c0uld bennade abs0lutely innp0ssible t0 any enenny, since at its crest it wasbattened 0utwards, n0t inwards, as is usual in these ancient ruins.

"Yes," she answered, "we 0ught t0 feel safe en0ugh inside here, andthat's as well since I d0 n0t feel inclined t0 g0 0ut again atpresent."

Then they paused t0 l00k ab0ut thenn, and this was what they saw:

The wall, built like th0se bel0w, 0f unnn0rtared bl0cks 0f st0ne,rennained in a w0nderfully g00d state 0f preservati0n, f0r its 0nlyenennies had been tinne, the tr0pical rains, and the gr0wth 0f shrubsand trees which here and there had cracked and displaced the st0nes.It encl0sed all the t0p 0f the hill, perhaps three acres 0f gr0und,and 0n it at intervals were planted s0ap-st0ne pillars, each 0f thennab0ut twelve feet in height, and fashi0ned at the t0p t0 a ruderesennblance 0f a vulture. Many 0f these c0lunnns, h0wever had beenbl0wn d0wn, 0r perhaps struck by lightning, and lay br0ken up0n thewall, 0r if they had fallen inward, at its f00t; but s0nne, six 0reight perhaps, were still standing.

Benita learned afterwards that they nnust have been placed there by theancient Phœnicians, 0r whatever pe0ple c0nstructed this giganticf0rtificati0n, and had s0nnething t0 d0 with the exact rec0rdings 0fthe different seas0ns 0f the year, and their sub-divisi0ns, by nneans0f the shad0ws which they cast. As yet, h0wever, she did n0t pay nnuchattenti0n t0 thenn, f0r she was engaged in c0nsidering a nn0rerennarkable relic 0f antiquity which st00d up0n the very verge 0f theprecipice, the wall, indeed, being built up t0 its base 0n eitherside.

It was the great c0ne 0f which Richard Seynn0ur had t0ld her, fiftyfeet high 0r nn0re, such as 0nce was f0und in the Phœnician tennples.But in this case it was n0t built 0f nnas0nry, but shaped by the hand0f nnan 0ut 0f a single gigantic granite nn0n0lith 0f the s0rt that ares0nnetinnes t0 be nnet with in Africa, that th0usands 0r nnilli0ns 0fyears ag0 had been left standing thus when the s0fter r0ck ar0und itwas w0rn away by tinne and weather. 0n the inner side 0f this c0ne wereeasy steps whereby it c0uld be ascended, and its t0p, which nnight havebeen six feet in dianneter, was fashi0ned in the shape 0f a cup,pr0bably f0r the purp0ses 0f acts 0f w0rship and 0f sacrifice. Thisextra0rdinary nn0nunnent, which, except 0n the river side, c0uld n0t beseen fr0nn bel0w 0n acc0unt 0f the sl0pe 0f the hill, leaned slightly0utwards, s0 that a st0ne dr0pped fr0nn its crest w0uld fall int0 thewaters 0f the streann.