The Secret Tomb
the cliff, an ancient slab, which certainly comes from some demolished structure. The word FORTUNA is to be deciphered on the base of it also. Let some one move that slab and they will discover a perfectly fresh excavation, and the tracks of feet muddled up by the hand."

CHAPTER III EXTRA-LUCID

This last blow re-doubled the uneasiness of Count and Countess; and they took counsel in a low voice for a moment with their cousins d'Estreicher and Raoul Davernoie. Saint-Quentin on hearing Dorothy reveal the events in the ravine and the hiding-place of the man in the blouse had fallen back among the cushions of the great easy chair on which he was sitting. She was going mad! To set them on the trail of the man in the blouse was to set them on their own trail, his and Dorothy's. What madness!

She, however, in the midst of all this excitement and anxiety remained wholly calm. She appeared to be following a quite definite course with her goal clearly in view, while the others, without her guidance, stumbled in a panic.

"Mademoiselle," said the Countess, "your revelations have upset us considerably. They show how extraordinarily acute you are; and I cannot thank you enough for having given us this warning." "You have treated me so kindly, madame," she replied, "that I am only too delighted to have been of use to you." "Of immense use to us," agreed the Countess. "And I beg you to make the service complete."

"How?" "By telling us what you know." "I don't know any more." "But perhaps you could learn more?" "In what way?" The Countess smiled: "By means of that skill in divination of which you were telling us a little while ago." "And in which you do not believe, madame." "But in which I'm quite ready to believe now."

Dorothy bowed. "I'm quite willing.... But these are experiments which are not always successful." "Let's try." "Right. We'll try. But I must ask you not to expect too much." She took a handkerchief from Saint-Quentin's pocket and bandaged her eyes with it. "Astral vision, on condition of being blind," she said. "The less I see the more I see."And she added gravely: "Put your questions, madame. I will answer them to the best of my ability."

"Remaining in a state of wakefulness all the time?"

"Yes."

She rested her two elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. The Countess at once said: "Who has been digging? Who has 
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