I could see Ahuna casting glances to all the
peaks, and I knew he was taking bearings, known to him alone, from
natural objects. When he halted at the last, it was with abrupt
certainty. His bearings had crossed. He threw down the portion of
food and outfit he had carried. It was the place. I looked on
either hand at the hard, implacable walls, naked of vegetation, and
could dream of no burial-place possible in such bare adamant.
"We ate, then stripped for work. Only did Ahuna permit me to
retain my shoes. He stood beside me at the edge of a deep pool,
likewise apparelled and prodigiously skinny.
"'You will dive down into the pool at this spot,' he said. 'Search
the rock with your hands as you descend, and, about a fathom and a
half down, you will find a hole. Enter it, head-first, but going
slowly, for the lava rock is sharp and may cut your head and body.'
"'And then?' I queried. 'You will find the hole growing larger,'
was his answer. 'When you have gone all of eight fathoms along the
passage, come up slowly, and you will find your head in the air,
above water, in the dark.
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