Копи царя Соломона
The Place of Death
"Thisisgettingratherghastly,"saidSirHenry,peepingintothedarkpassageway. "Comeon,Quatermain—seniorespriores. Wemustn’tkeeptheoldladywaiting!" andhepolitelymadewayformetoleadthevan,forwhichinwardlyIdidnotblesshim.
Tap,tap,wentoldGagool’sstickdownthepassage, asshetrottedalong,chucklinghideously; andstillovercomebysomeunaccountablepresentimentofevil,Ihungback.
"Come,geton,oldfellow,"saidGood,"orweshallloseourfairguide."
Thusadjured,Istarteddownthepassage,andafterabouttwentypacesfoundmyselfinagloomyapartmentsomefortyfeetlong,bythirtybroad,andthirtyhigh, whichinsomepastageevidentlyhadbeenhollowed,byhand-labour,outofthemountain. Thisapartmentwasnotnearlysowelllightedasthevaststalactiteante-cave, andatthefirstglanceallIcoulddiscernwasamassivestonetablerunningdownitslength, withacolossalwhitefigureatitshead, andlife-sizedwhitefiguresallroundit. NextIdiscoveredabrownthing,seatedonthetableinthecentre,andinanothermomentmyeyesgrewaccustomedtothelight,andIsawwhatallthesethingswere,andwastailingoutoftheplaceashardasmylegscouldcarryme.
