He snatched up the lantern, tucked it under his serape and made for the opening which he had noticed in the side of the pyramid at his first ascent.

It was scarcely ten feet away, and he boldly stepped in, a thing that he would never have dared to do had it not been for the happy chance of the lantern.
His foot rested on solid stone, and he stood wholly in the dark.

Yet the uproar came clearly to his ears.

It was a certainty now that more soldiers would ascend the pyramid looking for him, but he believed that ignorance and superstition would keep them from entering it.
The air that came to his nostrils out of the unknown dark was cold and clean, but he did not yet dare to take out his lantern.

He felt cautiously in front of him with one foot and touched a stone step below.
He also touched narrow walls with his outstretched hand.