CHAPTER XXIV.

At the top of the stairs, the passageway narrowed still more.

The walls on either side of them were only about ten feet high, but above them was open space,

and what looked like a great deal of it, though the light from their torches would not penetrate

far enough to tell precisely. The walls were smooth and angled

toward each other slightly as they neared the top, no doubt to make it nearly impossible

to climb over them. The entire length of the passageway was covered with hieroglyphs, but after

a cursory glance near the entrance to this new environment to look for obvious warnings,

the Red Panda had ignored

them in favor of making speed. They traveled in silence for a time, knowing they were getting

close, but equally sure that their approach would not go and challenge by the long-dead builders

of this place. At last the Red Panda froze and held up his hand to stop his companions from speaking.

They listened together, and could hear voices talking excitedly, arguing perhaps, though the words

were indistinct. He peered ahead, but turned back to see what the others thought, as the voices

did not seem to be coming from ahead of them. The flying squirrel

pointed straight up to the space above them, and the red panda could see at once that she was right.

The angry voices were carrying over from a nearby passage that shared the same ceiling somewhere

far above. Kit pointed to herself, and then up toward the ceiling, suggesting silently that she

should climb the walls to take a look, but he shook his head and pointed ahead. They moved

quickly, and with new urgency, but still in silence. Twenty feet further down the passage they came

to an opening to the right. The Red Panda turned to Max, who, after a moment's concentration,

pointed straight ahead. There were quite suddenly voices that seemed to come from the passage

...