whose duty it had been to close the last resting-place of the royal dead
for ever.

"Perhaps queen all right inside," he went on, receiving no answer to his
remark.

"Perhaps," replied Smith, briefly. "Dig, man, dig! Don't waste time in
talking."

So they dug on furiously till at length Smith saw something which caused
him to groan aloud. There was a hole in the masonry--the tomb had been
broken into. Mahomet saw it too, and examined the top of the aperture
with his skilled eye.

"Very old thief," he said. "Look, he try build up wall again, but run
away before he have time finish." And he pointed to certain flat stones
which had been roughly and hurriedly replaced.

"Dig--dig!" said Smith.

Ten minutes more and the aperture was cleared. It was only just big
enough to admit the body of a man.

By now the sun was setting. Swiftly, swiftly it seemed to tumble down
the sky. One minute it was above the rough crests of the western hills
behind them; the next, a great ball of glowing fire, it rested on their
topmost ridge. Then it was gone. For an instant a kind of green spark
shone where it had been. This too went out, and the sudden Egyptian
night was upon them.