Page:Orczy--the gates of Kamt.djvu/61

 keenly excited now that the end of our journey was near. The ground was very rough, rising over precipitous boulders and crags at times, but nevertheless with a decided downward slope towards the valley in which stood the Rock of Anubis. Our camels were tired and weakened with sparse food; at midday we seemed only to have covered half the distance, and the base of the rock was still hidden from our view.

"Do you notice, Girlie, those white specks which lie dotted about on the ground to the south of the rock?" I remarked to Hugh later in the day.

"Yes, I have been wondering what they are."

The sun was just setting when we at last reached the top of the last boulder that divided us from the valley. The Rock of Anubis now stood before us in its entirety, with the jackal's head sharply silhouetted against the ruddy sky not two miles away.

From its base a path led due south towards the distant long range of hills: it was easily traceable by the numerous white specks which glittered on it, clear and distinct, against the yellow sand. As we emerged with our camels over the crest of the hill a great noise suddenly rent the deathlike stillness of the air, and a gigantic black cloud seemed to rise from the ground. It was a flight of vultures which flew with dismal croaking upwards, while, terrified, a pack of hyenas fled screeching into the wilderness.

Then we saw that the white specks on the ground were human bones, and that the Rock of Anubis towered over a gigantic graveyard.