Chapter 17 IN THE TREASURE CHAMBER¹
Julian's torch shone steadily² into the vast room, which seemed to have no end! The others shone theirtorches too, and Timmy pressed between their legs to see what the excitement was.
What a sight! They were actually in the enormous chamber that the boys had seen through theopening, in the well-wall! What a place it was - absolutely vast, thought Anne, awed³ at the size, theheight and the great silence.
'There are the golden statues!' said Dick, going over to a group of them. 'Wonderful! Queer faces theyhave, though - not like ours. And look how their slanting⁴ eyes gleam when we shine our torches onthem. Makes them look as if they're almost alive, and looking at us.'
Anne suddenly gave a cry and rushed over to something. 'The golden bed!' she said. 'I wished I couldlie on one - and now I shall!' And with that she climbed on to a vast four-poster bed, with a greatcanopy, now rotting to pieces.
The bed gave a mournful creak, and the part that Anne was lying on, suddenly subsided⁵. The canopycollapsed and Anne disappeared in a cloud of dust. The bed had, quite literally⁷, fallen to pieces! PoorAnne.
The others helped her up and Timmy looked at the clouds of dust in surprise. What was Anne doing,making such a dust! He sneezed loudly, and then sneezed again. Anne sneezed too. She scrambledquickly out of the collapsed⁶ bed and dusted herself down.
'It has a gold, carved head-piece, and gold legs and end-piece,' said Dick, shining his torch on it.
'What a monster of a bed, though - I should think six people could sleep in it at once! What a pity ithas been lost here so long - all the hangings fell to pieces as soon as Anne climbed on the bed-part!
What a dust!'
There was no doubt about it, there were priceless treasures in this vast, underground cellar. Thechildren could not find the sword with the jewelled handle, nor the necklace of

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