Had two people ever been in a more dreadful situation, she wondered, as
she looked at her father lying there, whom she must leave to fight with
Death alone in that awful place, while she went forth to meet him in the
unknown bowels of the earth!
Mr. Clifford read her thoughts. "Yes," he said, "it is a strange parting
and a wild errand. But who knows? It may please Providence to take you
through, and if not--why, our troubles will soon be over."
Then once more they kissed, and not daring to try to speak, Benita tore
herself away. Passing into the passage whereof the lower half of the
crucifix formed the door, she paused for a moment to examine it and to
place a fragment of rock in such fashion that it could not shut again
behind her. Her idea was that it worked by aid of some spring, but now
she saw that this was not so, as the whole mass hung upon three stone
hinges beautifully concealed. The dust and corrosion of ages which had
made this door so hard to open, by filling up the tiny spaces between it
and its framework, had also rendered these cracks utterly imperceptible
to the eye. So accurately was it fashioned, indeed, that no one who did
not know its secret would have discovered it if they searched for months
or years.
Though at the time Benita took little note of such details, the
passage beyond and the stair descending from it showed the same perfect
workmanship.
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