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THE STORY
Part I
What an experience for a man in his
right mind to pass through and still maintain his sanity! The Professor stood
for a moment wiping the perspiration from his face while his heart beat like an
approaching drum corps. He felt greatly relieved, however, and somewhat
triumphant in that he had overcome the first barrier.
Again he proceeded farther into the cave,
but he had not gone far when he saw Marbado walking ahead of him as though
nothing unusual, had happened to him; he tried to overtake the Magician, but
the Hindu maintained his distance without apparent effort.
Suddenly, a wall of rock was seen to
stretch across the cave. Marbado passed through an opening, and the wall
silently but immediately closed, leaving a solid barrier between the
psychologist and the Magician. Von Scholtz knew this was not the end wall of
the cave, for he had noticed during the day that it was formed of granite,
while this obstructing wall was more of the nature of marble. Von Scholtz
walked up to the wall and slapped it with his open hand, then he kicked it;
then he picked up a rock and pounded it, but all to no purpose for the wall
stood as solid as the mountain itself.
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