foot and got the other caught. My revolver, which I had drawn, was
jarred from my hand and in the effort to recover it, I lost my
balance. Unable to move a foot in time to catch myself, I fell
forward. My hands were now covered by the slimy, sticky stuff, and
the more I struggled, the worse I seemed to get entangled.

. . . . . . .

Wu and Long Sin paused only a minute in astonishment. Then they
literally fell upon the wealth that lay before them, gloating over
the gold, stuffing their hands into the jewels, lifting them up
and letting the priceless gems run through their fingers.

Suddenly they paused. There was the slight tinkle of a Chinese
bell.

Kennedy had reached Aunt Tabby's garden, outside the roof of the
subterranean chamber where it had given way, had gone down
carefully over the earth and rock, and in doing so had broken a
string stretched across the passageway. The tinkle of a bell
attached to it aroused his attention and he stopped short, a
second, to look about. Wu Fang had arranged a primitive alarm.

Quickly, Wu and Long Sin blew out their lanterns while Wu gave the
rock a push. Slowly, as it had opened, it now closed and they
stood there listening.

I was still struggling in the bird lime, getting myself more and
more covered with it, when the reverberation of revolver shots
reached me.