May I
not visit the crypt?"
The old man thought a moment. "Aye, thou canst search. If thou wilt
come for me to-morrow--"
"Nay, I would go this very night."
The keeper's face sobered and he shook his head.
"Deny me not, I pray thee," Kenkenes entreated earnestly. "Thou, who
hast lived so many years, hast at some time weighed the value of a
single moment. In the waste or use of the scant space between two
breaths have lives been lost, souls smirched, the unlimited history of
the future turned. And never was a greater stake upon the saving of
time than in this strait--which is the peril of spotless womanhood."
The old man rubbed his head. "Aye, I know, I know. Thy haste is
justifiable, but--"
"I can go alone. There is no need that thou shouldst waste an hour of
thy needed sleep for me. I pledge thee I shall conduct myself without
thee as I should beneath thine eye. Most reverently will I enter, most
reverently search, most reverently depart, and none need ever know I
went alone."
The ancient keeper weakened at the earnestness of the young man.
"And thou wilt permit no eye to see thee enter or come forth from the
valley?"
"Most cautious will I be--most secret and discreet.
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