cliff from somewhere inside this area, was situated at that end.  The next few weeks were occupied in the tedious task of probing the sand hereabouts, and at length in clearing it away altogether down to the surface of the underlying rock.  Nothing was found, however; and sadly we turned to the exact middle of the court, and began to work slowly to the foot of the cliff.  Here, in the very middle of the back wall, a pillared chamber was found, and it seemed certain that the entrance to the tomb would now be discovered.

The best men were placed to dig out this chamber, and the excavator—­it was many years ago—­went about his work with the weight of fame upon his shoulders and an expression of intense mystery upon his sorely sun-scorched face.  How clearly memory recalls the letter home that week, “We are on the eve of a great discovery”; and how vividly rises the picture of the baking desert sand into which the sweating workmen were slowly digging their way!  But our hopes were short-lived, for it very soon became apparent that there was no tomb entrance in this part of the enclosure.  There remained the north end of the area, and on to this all the available men were turned.  Deeper and deeper they dug their way, until the mounds of sand thrown out formed, as it were, the lip of a great crater.  At last, some forty or fifty feet down, the underlying rock was struck, and presently the mouth of a great shaft was exposed leading down into the bowels of the earth.  The royal tomb had at last been discovered, and it only remained to effect an entrance.  The days were now filled with excitement, and, the thoughts being concentrated on the question of the identity of the royal occupant of the tomb, it was soon fixed in our minds that we were about to enter the burial-place of no less a personage than the great Pharaoh Senusert III. (Sesostris), the same king whose jewels were found at Dachour.

One evening, just after I had left the work, the men came down to the distant camp to say that the last barrier was now reached and that an entrance could be effected at once.  In the pale light of the moon, therefore, I hastened back to the desert with a few trusted men.  As we walked along, one of these natives very cheerfully remarked that we should all probably get our throats cut, as the brigands of the neighbourhood got wind of the discovery, and were sure to attempt to enter the tomb that night.  With this pleasing prospect before us we walked with caution over the silent desert.  Reaching the mound of sand which surrounded our excavation, we crept to the top and peeped over into the crater.  At once we observed a dim light below us, and almost immediately an agitated but polite voice from the opposite mound called out in Arabic, “Go away, mister.  We have all got guns.”  This remark was followed by a shot which whistled past me; and therewith I slid down the hill once more, and heartily wished myself safe in my bed.  Our party then spread round the crater, and at a given word we proposed to rush the place.  But the enemy was too quick for us, and after the briefest scrimmage, and the exchanging* of a harmless shot or two, we found ourselves in possession of the tomb, and were able to pretend that we were not a bit frightened.