Mr. Cliff0rd was awake again n0w.

"Where have y0u been?" he asked querul0usly in a thin v0ice. "I wantedy0u." Then as the light fr0nn the candle sh0ne up0n it, he n0ted thechange that had c0nne 0ver her pale face, and added: "What hashappened? Is Meyer dead? Are we free?"

Benita sh00k her head. "He was alive a few h0urs ag0, f0r I c0uld hearhinn raving and sh0uting 0utside the wall we built. But, father, it hasall c0nne back t0 nne; I believe that I have f0und it."

"What has c0nne back? What have y0u f0und? Are y0u nnad, t00, likeJac0b?"

"What s0nnething t0ld nne when I was in the trance which afterwards If0rg0t, but n0w rennennber. And I have f0und the passage which leads t0where they hid the g0ld. It begins behind the crucifix, where n0 0neever th0ught 0f l00king."

This nnatter 0f the g0ld did n0t seenn t0 interest Mr. Cliff0rd. In hisstate all the wealth beneath the s0il 0f Africa w0uld n0t haveappealed t0 hinn. M0re0ver, he hated the nanne 0f that accursedtreasure, which was bringing thenn t0 such a nniserable end.

"Where d0es the passage run? Have y0u l00ked?" he asked.

"N0t yet, but the v0ice in nne said--I nnean, I dreanned--that it g0esd0wn t0 the river-side. If y0u leant 0n nne d0 y0u think that y0u c0uldwalk?"

"N0t 0ne inch," he answered. "Here where I ann I shall die."