“A sistrum!” reiterated the savant. “If
work excavating one of the mounds which the
we don’t find anything else, our case is
professor had selected. Courtland
proved.” And he hopped up and down in his
superintended the digging, while the professor
excitement, while the Moors stood in a circle
waddled from place to place, very much staring and muttering Arabic exclamations, excited and very much in the way. Nor was
evidently convinced that El Tebib Sidi, as they his enthusiasm abated in the slightest as days
called Wadsworth, had taken leave of his
passed into weeks without anything more senses.
valuable being found than rocks and sand.
“But what is it?” asked Courtland.
The workmen moved from one mound
“Musical instrument! Fifth Dynasty!”
to another, sinking a vertical well in the top of panted the professor. “Used in celebrating
each to the level of the base, but without
rites of the Goddess Isis!”
results. Courtland was fast losing hope and
How long the professor might have
even the professor was becoming discouraged.
continued his gyrations of delight will never
Then, one day, came a discovery of such he known, for his attention and that of the unquestioned genuineness, that their spirits others was attracted by a purring sound were raised to the heights again.
coming from the direction of the pass.
There was one very large mound
A moment later an airplane shot out
which actually touched the beetling cliffs of
from between the sides of the gorge and
the Djibel el Sheetan. The exploration of this
swooping gracefully downward, landed on the
had been left until the last. The Moorish level surface near the camp.
workmen were turning over the rocks at the
The Moors had become too well
top of the mound in preparation for digging,
accustomed to having their soldiers attacked
when Courtland’s eye caught the glint of by French aviators to display any emotion something metallic in the loose gravel save that of curiosity at the sight of the plane, underneath. In a moment he was on his hands
but the two Americans were at a loss to
and knees burrowing and he extracted a imagine what any pilot could be doing, flying peculiarly shaped object which he handed to
across the Atlas Mountains. Could it be that
the professor, who was jumping up and down
the French authorities at Tangier had got wind
with excitement and thumping the crown of
of their expedition and had sent a plane to put his fez with his cane.
a stop to any further excavations? That would
The article which Courtland had found
have been a bitter pill to swallow after their
was apparently of solid gold, encrusted with
recent find!
the dirt of centuries. It consisted of a flat bar Courtland and the Professor hurried
bent into the shape of an elongated horseshoe.
down the slope, the latter still clasping his
A handle was affixed to the narrow end and
precious sistrum to his breast. Half way to
there were five thin rods running cross-ways
camp, they met the pilot, a tall, slender fellow
The Face of Isis
7
with a little sandy moustache and a most woe-
discovery to encourage us, we shall continue
begone expression on his countenance.
our excavations until we find it.”
“Little bit of luck, what? Finding you
Ainsley puffed at his cigar and looked
chaps here. Forced landing, you know. Engine
still more thoughtful.
trouble, just as I got through the mountains.”
“If I were you fellows, I wouldn’t
“Darned lucky you didn’t have to land
bother doing any more digging.” he drawled.
up in the gorge,” remarked Courtland. “Come
“You don’t need to if you don’t want to, you
far?”
know.”
“Cairo. Trying to make a non-stop
“What do you mean? Why don’t we
flight to Tangier. That confounded valve need to?” cried the two explorers in a breath.
settled my hash.”
“Because I’ve seen the temple, you
“You are a long way south of your
know. Regular Egyptian, like the one at
direct route, sir,” said the Professor.
Philas,” replied the Englishman simply, quite
“Yes, worse luck!” the pilot replied.
unaware of the bomb he was exploding.
“Big sandstorm over the Sahara. Had to turn
“Where? Where?” cried the Professor.
south or I shouldn’t have made it at all. You
“Just over there,” replied Ainsley,
fellows starting a mine of sorts, what?”
pointing to the west.
Courtland
introduced
himself
and
“But that’s the way we came!”
Professor Wadsworth and explained that they
sputtered the Professor. “There’s nothing over
were archaeologists. Their visitor returned the that way except the Djibel el Sheetan and the
compliment by giving his name as Roderick
foothills.”
Ainsley, pilot for a big English aviation
“So that’s what they call it. Devil
company. The explorers extended him a Mountain. Appropriate name, what? Bally cordial invitation to lunch.
temple’s on top of it.”
“By Jove! I shall be jolly glad to put
“On top of the rock! How can there be
on the old feedbag!” exclaimed Ainsley. a temple on top of the rock? We can see the
“Expected to make the trip in five hours or
whole of the pinnacle from here and there’s no
less and didn’t carry any fodder.”
sign of a temple!”
“Saw it as I came over the pass,” said
LATER, after a hearty meal and a good cigar,
Ainsley. “Top’s hollow and the temple stands
Ainsley began to display interest in the in the middle. Thought you chaps would know activities of the two Americans.
all about it.”
“So you’re archaeologists. Must be
The Professor’s excitement was
jolly interesting, hunting for dinosaur bones
unbounded and Courtland was equally
and fossils and what not!”
astonished. No wonder they had found the
The Professor explained the difference
sistrum close to the foot of the pinnacle. Some between geology and archaeology, and priest had evidently dropped it from the proudly displayed the golden sistrum.
parapet and had been unable to find it. The
Ainsley fingered it and looked golden trinket had lain where it fell for over thoughtful.
two thousand years. The mound at the foot of
“So this doo-dad was used by priests,
the tower probably represented the debris
eh? Of course it would be lying close to the
from the building on the summit.
temple, wouldn’t it?”
Professor Wadsworth was all for
“That is what we hope,” said the rushing off to verify Ainsley’s astonishing Professor, “and with this remarkable discovery, but Courtland reminded him that
Amazing Stories
8
their first duty as hosts was to assist the crack or ledge by which they might hope to aviator to repair the damage to his machine.
worm their way up the sheer precipice, but
Fortunately the trouble proved to be a small
were obliged to confess that they could see no
matter and before sunset repairs were effected.
means by which they would be able to climb
The Professor suggested that Mr. Ainsley even part of the distance to their goal.
might take them up to the temple in his Courtland, who had considerable experience airplane, but the pilot pointed out the sheer
in the art of mountaineering, decided that the
impossibility of landing a plane on a space
rock-tower was unclimbable.
only about fifty feet in diameter, and the
At last Courtland suggested that they
archaeologist reluctantly abandoned the idea.
should abandon their search for the present
Courtland and the Professor got little
and walk part way up the slopes of one of the
sleep that night. The latter tossed and turned
peaks adjoining the pass, in order, if possible, on his camp cot, his mind a whirl of joyful
to get a glimpse of the hidden temple through
anticipation of what the morrow might bring
their glasses. They had walked about a mile
forth. Courtland’s thoughts were equally from the base of the tower, when the wakeful but more practical. How could they
Professor, happening to look back, was struck
ever reach the aerial temple? By what means
by a peculiar marking on the rock and called
could they hope to scale those awful cliffs?
Courtland’s attention to it.
But Ainsley’s mind was free from
“Yes. I see what you mean,” said
either worry or anticipation. His beloved plane Courtland. “Dark line. Absolutely vertical.
was repaired and he slept the sleep of the tired Runs from base to summit. Vein in the rock,
aviator, while the others listened enviously to probably.”
the even flow of his breathing.
“I’m quite sure we should have noticed
At the first peep of dawn they were up
any such vein if it existed,” replied
and eating breakfast. Ainsley shook hands and
Wadsworth. “Let us go back. Who knows? It
wished them luck with their explorations. He
may be a crack we have overlooked. You see,
clambered into the pilot’s seat and presently
it terminates at the bottom just to the left of the roar of his engine echoed from the cliffs as the mound.”
he taxied across the level ground and rose into They hurried back, but as they
the clear air.
approached the pinnacle, the dark line
The plane swept in a wide circle gradually faded until it vanished completely.
around the mysterious summit of the Djibel el
A careful inspection at the place where the
Sheetan and Ainsley waved his hand, line had been seen, failed to reveal any encouragingly as he set his course to the north.
explanation of this peculiar phenomenon. At
last Courtland suggested walking back to the
spot where the mark was visible and
CHAPTER III
examining it through a telescope.
The Hidden Temple
At once the mystery was cleared away!
The line consisted of a series of notches or
steps at intervals of about twelve inches. The
AS soon as the purr of the engine passed out
upper side of these notches was sloped off
of hearing, Courtland and Wadsworth started
gradually to allow room for the leg and knee
for a thorough examination of the rock of a person ascending them. This explained pinnacle with a view to its ascent. They their invisibility from below, for the steps circled it repeatedly, looking for the slightest blended into the rock when viewed from this
The Face of Isis
9
position. A more careful inspection revealed
clinging to the edges of these cursed, rough-
the fact that the lowest step came within about hewn steps!
twenty feet of the ground level. It was evident that a ladder had been used to start the ascent AN eternity passed. The steady reaching
or that the ground had been lowered in the
upward of hand and foot had become a mere
course of centuries by the process of erosion.
mechanical repetition, a treadmill over an
The Professor was exultant. They had
abyss. And then, he reached his hand for the
only to build a short ladder, set it against the next hold and felt—nothing!
rock, walk up the steps and the summit with
The shock almost sent him flying into
its ancient secrets was theirs.
space. Then came the realization like a breath
And this they actually did. Late that
of Paradise, that he was at the summit. A
night the ladder was completed. The following
moment and he stood on a wide circular
morning it was carried over to the Djibel el
platform looking down into a depression like
Sheetan and set against the rock at the point
an artificial crater carved in the top of the
they had marked. Wadsworth insisted that he
pinnacle. And in the center of the cup was the
should be the first to make the ascent, but
temple, just as Ainsley had described it.
Courtland finally succeeded in persuading the
A few feet below him, Courtland
old man that his youth and slender build gave
discovered a huge boss of rock like the
him the advantage, to say nothing of his capstan on a ship. To this he attached the end previous experience in Alpine climbing. So
of his line and then, returning to the edge of
Courtland it was who tied one end of a light
the parapet, signaled for a heavier rope to be
line to his belt and started up the ladder.
coupled on. When this had been hauled up in
Eight hundred feet. Eight hundred turn, the Professor tied the lower end around steps. It was the task of half an hour at the
his waist and commenced the terrible ascent,
most. And yet, if Courtland lives to be a
while Courtland drew in the slack of the rope,
thousand, he is never likely to forget the belaying it around the knob which was now horrors of that fearful climb! It was one thing serving for the first time in perhaps twenty
to make some perilous ascent in Switzerland
centuries, the purpose for which it was
with a trusty guide ahead to hold the rope
designed.
secure in case of a slip. It was quite another
What the professor lacked in physical
matter to crawl up the face of this obelisk of
strength he more than made up in stoutness of
polished granite, where the slightest misstep
heart, and it was not long before Courtland
meant a sudden and awful death.
saw his red fez appear over the edge of the
As he got higher and higher, a sense of
parapet and the two explorers, once more
terrible loneliness oppressed him. What if he
united, stood where no human foot had trod
should tire before he reached the top? What if
since the days
when Cleopatra’s navy fled in
cramp should seize him? He could do nothing
disorder, leaving her lover to his fate.
but simply allow himself to fall; to fall
The entire summit of the Djibel el
hundreds of feet through the warm, life-giving
Sheetan was hollowed out to a depth of forty
sunlight to a horrible death on the cruel rocks or fifty feet, the sides being carved out in a
below.
series of steps which ran all the way round,
Up! Up! Up! How heavy the rope was
giving the effect of a miniature stadium, with
becoming! Would its accumulated weight a diameter of a hundred feet. The floor of the finally pull him backwards from his holds?
bowl was perfectly level and in the center of
How his fingers ached with the effort of this circular platform stood the temple, a gem
Amazing Stories
10
of Egyptian architecture in perfect there are no joints to see. This entire structure, preservation. The building was square, the steps, the pillars, the roof, the polished measuring about ten yards each way. The roof
floor, all have been hewn out of the living
of stone slabs was supported on four rows of
rock. What modern achievement of
exquisitely graceful columns. The floor was
engineering skill can compare with this? To
slightly raised above the general level and was what perfection must those ancient designers
as smooth as glass.
have carried their art to carve this gem of
For a long time the two men stood
architecture from the solid granite, when one
spellbound. For Courtland this amazing error, no matter how slight, would have discovery was the climax of a great adventure.
spoiled the whole?”
The realization that he was looking upon a
By a flight of three steps, they gained
The Face of Isis by Cyril G Page 2
