Here
Cleopatra sank upon the floor and rested awhile, overcome by the heat
and the utter darkness.
"Rise!" I said. "We must not linger here, or we faint."
So she rose, and passing hand in hand through that chamber, we found
ourselves face to face with a mighty door of granite, let down from the
roof in grooves. Once more I took counsel of the plan, pressed with my
foot upon a certain stone, and waited. Then, suddenly and softly, I know
not by what means, the mass heaved itself from its bed of living rock.
We passed beneath, and found ourselves face to face with a second door
of granite. Again I pressed on a certain spot, and this door swung wide
of itself, and we went through, to find ourselves face to face with a
third door, yet more mighty than the two through which we had won our
way. Following the secret plan, I struck this door with my foot upon a
certain spot, and it sank slowly as though at a word of magic till its
head was level with the floor of rock. We crossed and gained another
passage which, descending gently for a length of fourteen paces, led
us into a great chamber, paved with black marble, more than nine cubits
high, by nine cubits broad, and thirty cubits long. In this marble floor
was sunk a great sarcophagus of granite, and on its lid were graved the
name and titles of the Queen of Menkau-ra.
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