"She would have killed you quickly enough," said the three, "and us too, if we had let her!"
Looking around them, they saw near by the mouth of a deep, dark cave.
"This must be her lair," said Massang, "and no doubt it is filled with treasure; let us go down and see." But apparently there was no way of getting down. The cave was so deep they could scarcely see the bottom of it, and the sides were steep and smooth as polished marble.
Massang, however, found that he still had in his pocket the ball of magic catgut. This he unwound and, finding it would reach to the bottom of the cave, bade his companions hold one end of it firmly while he climbed down upon it. Inside the cave the light was very dim, but as soon as his eyes became accustomed to it, he saw, lying in great heaps upon the floor, gold and silver, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and all manner of precious stones. He shouted joyfully up to his companions, who were
