Gaunt studied the eager face and burning blue eyes which gazed at him so beseechingly, and his own lean features softened.
“That’s what they all say, Tony.” His voice was gentle, but infinitely sad. “The Way is long, and strewn with many pitfalls. Have you the courage of heart and the strength of will to face, it may be, years of seemingly fruitless effort?”
Tony bowed his head.
“I do not think I have the courage to face my empty life without it.” The words were almost inaudible, “Show me the Way!”
The doctor smiled tenderly, and laid his hand on the young man’s arm.
“Very well, then,” he said; “I must first apply to my superiors for permission, but I don’t anticipate any difficulty there. I will begin your pre-initiation training at once.”
Chapter VII
When Tony and the doctor went in to lunch they found that Vaughan had acquainted himself with the whole of the contents of the book, and professed himself ready to start work that afternoon. The meal was served in the library, as usual, and afterwards all three descended into the crypt, both Gaunt and his colleague carrying powerful electric torches.
The place was quite as dark by day as by night, but the lamps were greatly superior to that which Tony had used on his last visit with the doctor, and threw a beam quite a hundred yards long. Consequently Gaunt was able to pretend to discover the altar, the whereabouts of which, of course, he knew perfectly well, without arousing Tony’s suspicions in the slightest degree.
At sight of the altar Vaughan became greatly excited, and ran up the steps with an agility surprising in one of his bulk. He bent over the upper slab, examining it minutely with his torch, uttering low grunts of satisfaction. The other two left him at it, and returned to the hall above to carry down two of his trunks, which had been deposited beside the trap-door at his instructions.
This proved to be an exceedingly difficult task, since the stairway was narrow, and the boxes both large and heavy. It took quite ten minutes’ strenuous labour before both trunks were finally deposited near the altar, which Vaughan was still examining closely. At last he turned to the others.
“There is no doubt, Sir Anthony,” he said in his thick voice, “but that this has been used for purposes other than that which its builders intended, and I think we shall find that this is the source of the phenomena connected with the curse. There must be some way of raising this stone, but I cannot find it at present. Have you any ideas, Gaunt?”
The doctor joined him, and spent some minutes pretending to look for the catch. After much fumbling he released it, with an exclamation of surprise, and together the two lifted the altar-stone on its counterpoised pivot.
Tony uttered a cry of astonishment as the great block of granite swung upwards, and darted forward eagerly, only to recoil as the foetid stench from the depths blew in his face.
“What a ghastly smell!” he exclaimed, half choking.
“No ventilation,” remarked Vaughan, “and perhaps — something else, eh, Gaunt?”
The doctor nodded, and addressed Tony.
“Are you game to go down with us?” he asked.
Without a deal of enthusiasm Tony assured him that he was ready for anything. He followed readily enough, however, as Gaunt clambered over the side, and began to descend the steep stone steps within, shining his lamp cautiously before his feet. Vaughan brought up the rear.
The steps, which, though not worn, were damp and slippery, led steeply down for some twenty feet, and were continued by a long corridor, cut in the solid rock. The air was very close and hot, but Tony thought the smell a little less unpleasant than at first, though he was perhaps merely growing more accustomed to it.
The tunnel led them downwards, at a slight incline, for a short distance, then turned abruptly, ran level for a little way, and finally divided into three.
At this point the party paused, uncertain which way to take, until Gaunt suggested that they should try the middle passage. After following this still downwards for a long distance they found their progress blocked by a wooden door, much decayed, and held together by rusted iron bands. There was a crude bar securing this, and a short struggle released it, whereupon the door opened unwillingly, with a nerve-shaking scream of rusty hinges, and they felt a breath of sweet salt air on their faces.
Beyond the door another flight of steps led them still further downwards, until they became aware of a faint grey light ahead. The tunnel narrowed abruptly, and became so low that they were obliged to bend almost double, Vaughan puffing and wheezing with the effort. Thirty yards of this uncomfortable progress brought them to a natural cave. Gratefully standing upright on the sandy floor, they approached the opening, through which poured a flood of dazzling sunlight.
Here was a narrow ledge, wet with spray from the waves, which were breaking only a couple of yards below. Outside the open sea stretched empty to the horizon. Tony judged that this must be the side of the island opposite to that upon which the harbour lay, at a point never approached by boat owing to the sheer cliffs and dangerous rocks.
They stayed there in the sunlight for a while, watching the gulls and enjoying the fresh air, until Gaunt suggested that they should retrace their steps and try one of the other passages. Somewhat reluctantly Tony agreed, and the three made their way back into the close darkness, barring the ancient door behind them.
When they reached the division of the ways once more Gaunt spun a coin, and chose the left-hand tunnel. This led steeply down into the very bowels of the island, twisting and turning bewilderingly. They passed the mouths of three other passages, and it occurred to Tony that this place must be a veritable honeycomb, and profoundly unpleasant to be lost in without a light. The floor was very uneven, and strewn with fallen rocks; and great patches of slime on the walls glistened in the torchlight. It seemed that they must actually be below sea-level when the passage turned sharply to the right, and they emerged into a great open space. Gaunt, who was still in front, stopped with a sharp cry of warning, and the others stood rooted in their tracks, Tony’s heart going like a trip-hammer. The doctor directed his torch downwards, and they could see the reason for his warning.
He stood on the very edge of an abyss, for the ledge upon which the tunnel opened formed a rocky platform high up on the wall of a vast cavern, like the nave of some great cathedral. Further investigation revealed an irregular pathway leading down the wall to the floor of the place, at least a hundred feet below. This they descended carefully, and eventually stood on the level ground. The stench was appalling, and the air was very hot, but there was no sign of anything supernatural, though the profound silence seemed in itself a menace. Even Gaunt’s voice was hushed as he said:
“This place cannot be other than natural — volcanic action, possibly, though the rocks are not igneous. No race we know of could have fashioned it.”
He walked slowly out into the middle of the cavern floor, which was surprisingly smooth and regular. The others followed; and the three stood together, turning the beams of their torches first this way, then that. Powerful though the lamps were, their light only just reached the walls, and quite failed to penetrate the gloom overhead, where the mighty vault of the roof supported the hundreds of tons of rock above it. Under any circumstances it would have been an awe-inspiring place, but, seeking what they sought, the empty, echoing vastness was truly horrific. Tony fully expected some nightmare creature to come rushing out at them at any moment, but nothing stirred. There were no other entrances, no other caves opening out, no dark corners where anything could be hidden.