Francisco followed, leaning on Leonard's shoulder, for he could not walk alone.
As they had come so they returned.

They passed down the steps of stone which were hollowed in the body of the colossus; they traversed the long underground tunnel, and at length, to their intense relief, once more they stood upon the solid ground and in the open air.

Now that the moon was up, and the mist which had darkened the night had melted, they could see their whereabouts.

They had emerged upon a platform of rock within a bowshot of the great gates of the palace, from whence the secret subterranean passage used by the priests was gained, its opening being hidden cunningly among the stone-work of the temple.
"I wonder where the others are," asked Leonard anxiously of Francisco.
As he spoke, Juanna, wrapped in her dark cloak, appeared, apparently out of the stones of the wall, and with her Otter, the Settlement men bearing their dead companion, and a considerable company of priests, among whom, however, Nam was not to be seen.
"Oh, is that you, Leonard ?" said Juanna in English, and in a voice broken with fear.

"Thank Heaven that you are safe!" "Thank Heaven that we are all safe," he answered.