THE HALL OF THE MUMMIES There are two of us, and as we light our way by the aid of a lantern through these vast halls we might be taken for a night watch on its round.

We have just shut behind us and doubly locked the door by which we entered, and we know that we are alone, rigorously alone, although this place is so vast, with its endless, communicating halls, its high vestibules and great flights of stairs; mathematically alone, one might say, for this palace that we are in is one quite out of the ordinary, and all its outlets were closed and sealed at nightfall.

Every night indeed the doors are sealed, on account of the priceless relics that are collected here.

So we shall not meet with any living being in these halls to-night, in spite of their vast extent and endless turnings, and in spite too of all these mysterious things that are ranged on every side and fill the place with shadows and hiding-places.
Our round takes us first along the ground floor over flagstones that resound to our footsteps.

It is about ten of the clock.