Yet only for a breathless moment did I experience doubt as to its nature, then laughed grimly at myself for a superstitious fool.

The remaining portion of this dimly revealed underground apartment appeared bare, except for a gayly decorated skin or two, and the figure of a man, garbed in the gloomy attire of a priest, lying fast asleep at the very feet of the statue.

Beyond showed a dark opening where the tunnel continued onward into the earth.
It required brief observation to note these outlines, nor did they greatly serve to delay my advance.

I paused merely long enough to become thoroughly convinced of the reality of the priest's slumber, and then crept silently past, keeping close as possible within the shadow of the eastern wall, until once again safely swallowed within the blackness of the passage.

Oddly enough the mere sight of that fellow lying there unconscious served to yield me new courage, robbing the cave of its loneliness, and I plunged directly ahead.
The passage I now followed rose with a sharp pitch, evidently inclining toward the surface, the opening not far distant.