Having unlocked and flung open the second iron door, Platzoff took up
his lamp, and, closely followed by Ducie, entered a narrow winding
passage in the rock. After following this passage, which tended slightly
downwards for a considerable distance, they emerged into a large
cavernous opening in the heart of the hill.

Platzoff's first act was, by means of a long crook, to draw down within
reach of his hand a large iron lamp that was suspended from the roof by
a running chain. This lamp he lighted from the hand-lamp he had brought
with him. As soon as released, it ascended to its former position, about
ten feet from the ground. It burned with a clear white flame that
lighted up every nook and cranny of the place. The sides of the cave
were of irregular formation. Measuring by the eye, Ducie estimated the
cave to be about sixty yards in length, by a breadth, in the widest
part, of twenty. In height it appeared to be about forty feet. The floor
was covered with a carpet of thick brown sand, but whether this covering
was a natural or an artificial one Ducie had no means of judging. The
atmosphere of the place was cold and damp, and the walls in many places
dripped with moisture; in other places they scintillated in the
lamplight as though thousands of minute gems were embedded in their
surface.

In the middle of the floor, on a pedestal of stones loosely piled
together, was a hideous idol, about four feet in height, made of wood,
and painted in various colours. In the centre of its forehead gleamed
the great Diamond.

"Behold!" was all that Platzoff said, as he pointed to the idol. Then
they both stood and gazed in silence.