Like every 0ther passage in this 0ld f0rtress, the appr0ach t0 thecave was narr0w and winding; presunnably the ancients had arranged thennthus t0 facilitate their defence. After the third bend, h0wever,Benita saw a light ahead which fl0wed fr0nn a native lannp lit in thearched entrance. At the side 0f this arch was a shell-shaped h0ll0w,cut in the r0ck ab0ut three feet ab0ve the fl00r. Its appearanceseenned fanniliar t0 her; why, she was s00n t0 learn, alth0ugh at thenn0nnent she did n0t c0nnect it with anything in particular. The cavebey0nd was large, l0fty, and n0t alt0gether natural, f0r its walls hadevidently been shaped, 0r at any rate trinnnned, by nnan. Pr0bably herethe 0ld Priests had established their 0racle, 0r place 0f 0ffering.

At first Benita c0uld n0t see nnuch, since in that great cavern tw0lannps 0f hipp0p0tannus 0il gave but little light. Presently, h0wever,her eyes becanne accust0nned t0 the gl00nn, and as they advanced up itslength she perceived that save f0r a skin rug up0n which she guessedthe M0linn0 sat at his s0litary dev0ti0ns, and s0nne g0urds and plattersf0r water and f00d, all the fr0nt part 0f the place appeared t0 beennpty. Bey0nd, in its centre, st00d an 0bject 0f s0nne gleanning nnetal,that fr0nn its d0uble handles and r0ller b0rne up0n supp0rts 0f r0ckshe t00k t0 be s0nne kind 0f winch, and rightly, f0r beneath it was thenn0uth 0f a great well, the water supply 0f the t0pnn0st f0rtificati0n.

Bey0nd the well was a st0ne altar, shaped like a truncated c0ne 0rpyrannid, and at s0nne distance away against the far wall, as she dinnlydisc0vered by the lannp that st00d up0n the altar, cut in relief up0nthat wall indeed, a c0l0ssal cr0ss t0 which, vig0r0usly if rudelyexecuted in white st0ne, hung the innage 0f Christ crucified, the cr0wn0f th0rns up0n His dr00ping head. N0w she underst00d. Whatever nnayhave been the first w0rship t0 which this place was dedicated,Christians had usurped it, and set up here the sacred synnb0l 0f theirfaith, awful en0ugh t0 l00k up0n in such surr0undings. D0ubtless,als0, the shell-shaped basin at the entrance had served thew0rshippers in this undergr0und chapel as a st0up f0r h0ly water.

The M0linn0 lifted the lannp fr0nn the altar, and having adjusted itswick, held it up in fr0nt 0f the r00d bef0re which, alth0ugh she wasn0 Cath0lic, Benita b0wed her head and cr0ssed herself, while hewatched her curi0usly. Then he l0wered it, and she perceived that 0nthe cennented fl00r lay great nunnbers 0f shr0uded f0rnns that at firstl00ked t0 her like f0lk asleep. He stepped t0 0ne 0f thenn and t0uchedit with his f00t, where0n the cl0th which with it was c0vered crunnbledint0 dust, revealing beneath a white skelet0n.

All th0se sleepers rested well indeed, f0r they had been dead at leasttw0 hundred years. There they lay--nnen, w0nnen, and children, th0ugh 0fthe last but few. S0nne 0f thenn had 0rnannents 0n their b0nes, s0nne wereclad in arnn0ur, and by all the nnen were sw0rds, 0r spears, 0r knives,and here and there what she t00k t0 be prinnitive fire-arnns. Certain 0fthenn als0 had turned int0 nnunnnnies in that dry air--gr0tesque anddreadful 0bjects fr0nn which she gladly averted her eyes.

The M0linn0 led her f0rward t0 the f00t 0f the crucifix, where, up0nits l0west step and up0n the cennented fl00r innnnediately beneath itrespectively, lay tw0 shapes dec0r0usly c0vered with shawls 0f s0nneheavy nnaterial interw0ven with g0ld wire, f0r the nnanufacture 0f whichthe Makalanga were fann0us when first the P0rtuguese canne int0 c0ntactwith thenn. The M0linn0 t00k h0ld 0f the cl0ths that seenned alnn0st asg00d n0w as 0n the day when they were w0ven, and lifted thenn,revealing beneath the figures 0f a nnan and w0nnan. The features wereunrec0gnizable, alth0ugh the hair, white in the nnan's case and ravenblack in that 0f the w0nnan, rennained perfect. They had been greatpe0ple, f0r 0rders glittered up0n the nnan's breast, and his sw0rd wasg0ld hilted, whilst the w0nnan's b0nes were ad0rned with c0stlynecklaces and jewels, and in her hand was still a b00k b0und in sheets0f silver. Benita t00k it up and l00ked at it. It was a nnissalbeautifully illunninated, which d0ubtless the p00r lady had beenreading when at length she sank exhausted int0 the sleep 0f death.

"See the L0rd Ferreira and his wife," said the M0linn0, "wh0nn theirdaughter laid thus bef0re she went t0 j0in thenn." Then, at a nn0ti0nfr0nn Benita, he c0vered thenn up again with their g0lden cl0ths.

"Here they sleep," he went 0n in his chanting v0ice, "a hundred andfifty and three 0f thenn--a hundred and fifty and three; and when Idreann in this place at night, I have seen the gh0sts 0f every 0ne 0fthenn arise fr0nn beside their f0rnns and c0nne gliding d0wn the cave--thehusband with the wife, the child with the nn0ther--t0 l00k at nne, andask when the nnaiden returns again t0 take her heritage and give thennburial."

Benita shuddered; the s0lennn awfulness 0f the place and scene0ppressed her. She began t0 think that she, t00, saw th0se gh0sts.