The other pits, two of which had been sealed up within three years as the date upon the wax showed, were quite empty.
Then Maqueda understood what had happened.
"Surely the Abati are a people of rogues," she said.

"See now, the officers appointed to store away my corn which I gave them have stolen it! Oh! may they live to lack bread even more bitterly than we do to-day." We went back to our sleeping-place in silence.

Well might we be silent, for of food we had only enough left for a single scanty meal.

Water there was in plenty, but no food.

When we had recovered a little from our horrible disappointment we consulted together.
"If we could get through the mine tunnel," said Oliver, "we might escape into the den of lions, which were probably all destroyed by the explosion, and so out into the open country." "The Fung would take us there," suggested Higgs.
"No, no," broke in Roderick, "Fung all gone, or if they do, anything better than this black hole, yes, even my wife." "Let us look," I said, and we started.
When we reached the passage that led from the city to the Tomb of Kings, it was to find that the wall at the end of it had been blown bodily back into the parent cave, leaving an opening through which we could walk side by side.