The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

secret postern into the open air . Here a carriage stood , and placed in it , after a few Avords whispered to the driver , Lemo got in beside him , and they Avere driven at a rapid pace towards the Great Pyramid , beside which the conveyance stopped ,

and they descended . At a signal from the High Priest , the driver departed , and when the carriage disappeared in the distance , Lemo took Adrian's hand , and led him to a concealed orifice in the side of the Pyramid .

" If your heart fails you , you have still time to return , " said the High Priest . " Lead on , " said Adrian , '' nothing can shake my resolution of facing this ordeal . " Lemo upon this led him to the orifice , through

which they passed into a small chamber within the Pyramid , and the High Priest having carefully concealed the entrance , removed the napkin from Adrian ' s eyes . Before him there Avas a hole , and through this Lemo bade him proceed , till he should hear a voice commanding him to stop . Adrian , first making an obeisance to the High Priest , who

gave him his blessing , knelt down and crept into the hole . Lemo as he disappeared raised his hands towards heaven exclaiming , " Protect him , Isis . He must succeed . " He then pressed against a block , in the side of the chamber , which

revolved , disclosing a lofty gallery , into which he stepped , and the block swung round to its place behind him . Adrian , after passing into the hole , found it opened upon a long narrow passage , through

which he crept on his hands and knees . Although he was enveloped in total darkness , and the silence which surrounded him , hideous , not a tremor shook his frame . So narrow was the passage , that it Avas Avith the utmost difficulty he could

squeeze himself betAveen the Avails , Avhile the roof was so low that he often struck his head against it , as he slowly crept along . At length he heard a voice crying , / ' Stop , " and the radiance of a lamp was . throAvn upon him . He found himself at the

entrance of a large hall , in the centre of Avhich , and within a few feet of him , yawned a huge and deep well , apparently unfathomable .

" Before yon lies the path , to eternal knoAvledge , " said the voice which had called kirn to stop , " if you desire it , descend into the lvell before you . " Adrian without utterinp' a Avord , rose from his knees , and advanced to the Avell ' s brink , when tlie voice stopped him again , by asking : "HOAV propose you to descend into that pit ?"

" There seems but one way open , " answered Adrian , "I shall throw myself in . " " Hast thou then so much courage ?" "I have been told , " said Adrian , "by the Avisest in Egypt , ' to the valiant all things are

possible . '" " Thou art a brave youth , Adrian , " said Lemo , advancing from the passage by which the initiated found an entrance , " but were you so to descend , thy knoAA'ledge Avould indeed be infinite , in the

embrace of death . HoAvever , had you hesitated , you would have been compelled to renounce the enterprise , nor could you ever after have been permitted to become a candidate again for the mystery . But see , this is the road . "

Lemo took a lamp , and held it over the deep . The eye could not see to the bottom , and a slight steam that came up told that fire and water were commingling at the foot of the immense shaft . Lemo directed Adrian ' s attention to a small iron

ladder that whorled around the well , by which he could descend into its deeps . " Count the rounds till you come to the sixtieth , " said Lemo , as Adrian descended the steps . " When you come to it , put out you hand through .

that step and the next , and you will find an iron knob , press it from you , a door will open ; advance by that passage . " Lemo extinguished the light , and Adrian began the descent . He had not taken many steps ,

before the thin vapour changed into thick clouds of steam , accompanied by flashes of fire , and hollow thunderous explosions . Not allowing himself to reflect upon these phenomena , he carefully counted the rounds till he came to the sixtieth , when obeying Lemo ' s instructions , a brazen door

opened , and stepping on to the narrow ledge , he advanced into a small apartment . The door clashed behind him Avith a dull reverberating noise , which pealed , as it rumbled along the passages , every IIOAV and then , like thunder . Out of the

darkness in which he Avas enveloped there greAV suddenly a globe of light , and he found himself before au iron grating . Through its bars , gradually there was displayed to him a most magnificent sight ; lor he could see a large and

majestic hal ) , Avhose roof was supported on a long row of huge but beautifully wrought pillars , carved in the utmost extravagance of art , from , which depended numbers of brilliantly illuminated lamps . In the centre of the hall stood an immense granite catafalque , and at each of its corners a huge seven