Again the sentence was unfinished.

He ascended the bank next, and removed some of the stones at the top. A
carved line in low relief on the face of the rock was directly exposed;
seeing it he smiled, and replaced the stones, and descending, went back
to the terrace, and thence to the slaves in bivouac.

From one of the packages he had two iron lamps of old Roman style
brought out, and supplied with oil and wicks; then, as if everything
necessary to his project was done, he took to the pallet. Some goats had
come to the place in his absence, but no living creature else.

After nightfall the master woke the slaves, and made final preparation
for the venture upon which he had come. The tools he gave to one man,
the lamps to another, and the water-skin to the negro. Then he led out
of the hollow, and up the mountain to the terrace visited in the
afternoon; nor did he pause in the area mentioned as the abrupt terminus
of the highway over the skeleton piers. He climbed the bank of stones
covering the foot of the cliff up to the precise spot at which his
reconnoissance had ended.

Directly the slaves were removing the bank at the top; not a difficult
task since they had only to roll the loose stones down a convenient
grade. They worked industriously. At length--in half an hour
probably--an opening into the cliff was discovered. The cavity, small at
first, rapidly enlarged, until it gave assurance of a doorway of immense
proportions. When the enlargement sufficed for his admission, the master
stayed the work, and passed in. The slaves followed. The interior
descent offered a grade corresponding with that of the bank