Icy thrills ran through the trembling clerk, and as he walked slowly
beside his companion he heard from the vaults below, as well as from
more distant regions of the vast building, the stirring and sighing of
the serried ranks of sleepers, sounding in the still air like a chord
swept from unseen strings stretched somewhere among the very foundations
of the house.

Stealthily, picking their way among the great pillars, they moved up the
sweeping staircase and through several dark corridors and halls, and
presently stopped outside a small door in an archway where the shadows
were very deep.

"Remain close by my side, and remember to utter no cry," whispered the
voice of his guide, and as the clerk turned to reply he saw his face was
stern to whiteness and even shone a little in the darkness.

The room they entered seemed at first to be pitchy black, but gradually
the secretary perceived a faint reddish glow against the farther end,
and thought he saw figures moving silently to and fro.

"Now watch!" whispered Thorpe, as they pressed close to the wall near
the door and waited. "But remember to keep absolute silence. It is a
torture scene."

Jones felt utterly afraid, and would have turned to fly if he dared, for
an indescribable terror seized him and his knees shook; but some power
that made escape impossible held him remorselessly there, and with eyes
glued on the spots of light he crouched against the wall and waited.