Then they devised a plan by which they could get down. The smallest man
got out of the cave and let himself hang, holding to the outer edge of
the floor with his hands. Then another man put his feet over the edge of
the rock, and let the hanging man take hold of them. The other two each
seized an arm of the second man, and lowered the two down as far as they
could reach. When they had done this, the bottom man dropped, and did not
hurt himself. Then they had to pull up the second man, for the fall would
have been too great for him.

After that they had to wait a long time, while the man who had got out
went to look for something by which the others could help themselves
down--the ladder they had used having been carried away with everything
else. After going a good way down the ravine to a place where it grew
much wider, with the walls lower, he found things that had been thrown up
on the sides, and among these was the trunk of a young tree, which,
after a great deal of hard work, he brought back to the cave, and by the
help of this they all scrambled down.

They hurried down the ravine, and as they approached the lower part,
where it became wider before opening into the little bay into which the
stream ran, they found that the flood, as it had grown shallower and
spread itself out, had left here and there various things which it had
brought down from the camp--bits of the huts, articles of clothing, and
after a while they came to a Rackbird, quite dead, and hanging upon a
point of projecting rock. Farther on they found two or three more bodies
stranded, and later in the day some Rackbirds who had been washed out to
sea came back with the tide, and were found upon the beach. It was
impossible, Cheditafa said, for any of them to have escaped from that
raging torrent, which hurled them against the rocks as it carried them
down to the sea.

But the little party of hungry Africans did not stop to examine anything
which had been left. What they wanted was something to eat, and they
knew where to get it. About a quarter of a mile back from the beach was
the storehouse of the Rackbirds, a sort of cellar which they had made in
a sand-hill. As the Africans had carried the stores over from the vessel
which had brought them, and had afterwards taken to the camp such
supplies as were needed from time to time, of course they knew where to
find them, and they lost no time in making a hearty meal.

According to Cheditafa's earnest assertions, they had never eaten as
they had eaten then. He believed that the reason they had been left
without food was that the Rackbirds were too proud to wait on black
men, and had concluded to let them suffer until they had returned from
their expedition, and the negroes could be let down to attend to their
own wants.

After they had eaten, the Africans went to a spot which commanded a view
up the ravine, as well as the whole of the bay, and there they hid
themselves, and watched as long as it was daylight, so that if any of
the Rackbirds had escaped they could see them. But they saw nothing, and
being very anxious to find good white people who would take care of
them, they started out before dawn that morning to look for the
shipwrecked party about whom Cheditafa had heard the Rackbirds talking,
and with whom they hoped to find their companion Mok, and thus it was
that they were here.

"And those men were coming to attack us last night?" asked the captain.
"You are sure of that?"

"Yes," said Cheditafa, "it was last night. They not know how many you
are, and all were coming."

"And some of them had already been here?"

"Yes," replied the African. "One day before, three went out to look for
Mok, and they found his track and more track, and they waited in the
black darkness, and then came here, and they heard you all sleep and
snore that night. They were to come again, and if they--"

"And yesterday afternoon the lake came down and swept them out of
existence!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff.




CHAPTER X

THE CAPTAIN EXPLORES


Captain Horn had heard the story of Cheditafa, he walked away from the
rest of the party, and stood, his eyes upon the ground, still
mechanically holding his gun. He now knew that the great danger he had
feared had been a real one, and far greater than he had imagined. A
systematic attack by all the Rackbirds would have swept away his single
resistance as the waters had swept them and their camp away. As to parley
or compromise with those wretches, he knew that it would have been
useless to think of it. They allowed no one to go forth from their hands
to reveal the place of their rendezvous.

But although he was able to appreciate at its full force the danger with
which they had been threatened, his soul could not immediately adjust
itself to the new conditions. It had been pressed down so far that it
could not easily rise again. He felt that he must make himself believe in
the relief which had come to them, and, turning sharply, he called out to
Cheditafa:

"Man, since you have been in this part of the country, have you ever
seen or heard of any wild beasts here? Are there any jaguars or pumas?"

The African shook his head. "No, no," said he, "no wild beasts. Everybody
sleep out of doors. No think of beasts--no snakes."

The captain dropped his gun upon the ground. "Miss Markham!" he
exclaimed. "Mrs. Cliff! I truly believe we are out of all
danger--that we--"

But the two ladies had gone inside, and heard him not. They appreciated
to the full the danger from which they had been delivered. Ralph, too,
had gone. The captain saw him on his post of observation, jamming the end
of his flagpole down between two rocks.

"Hello!" cried the boy, seeing the captain looking up at him, "we might
as well have this flying here all the time. There is nobody to hurt us
now, and we want people to know where we are."

The captain walked by the little group of Africans, who were sitting on
the ground, talking in their native tongue, and entered the passage. He
climbed over the barrier, and went to the lake. He did not wish to talk
to anybody, but he felt that he must do something, and now was a good
time to carry out his previous intention to cross over the empty bed of
the lake and to look out of the opening on the other side. There was no
need now to do this for purposes of vigilance, but he thought that if he
could get out on the other side of the cave he might discover some clew
to the disappearance of the lake.

He had nearly crossed the lake bottom, when suddenly he stopped, gazing
at something which stood before him, and which was doubtless the object
he had struck when swimming. The sun was now high and the cave well
lighted, and with a most eager interest the captain examined the slimy
and curious object on which his feet had rested when it was submerged,
and from which he had fallen. It was not the horizontal trunk of a tree
with a branch projecting from it at right angles. It was nothing that was
natural or had grown. It was plainly the work of man. It was a machine.

At first the captain thought it was made of wood, but afterwards he
believed it to be of metal of some sort. The horizontal portion of it
was a great cylinder, so near the bottom of the lake that he could
almost touch it with his hands, and it was supported by a massive
framework. Prom this projected a long limb or bar, which was now almost
horizontal, but which the captain believed to be the thick rod which had
stood upright when he clutched it, and which had yielded to his weight
and had gone down with him. He knew now what it was: it was a handle
that had turned.

He hurried to the other end of the huge machine, where it rested against
the rocky wall of the cavern. There he saw in the shadow, but plain
enough now that he was near it, a circular aperture, a yard or more in
diameter. Inside of this was something which looked like a solid wheel,
very thick, and standing upright in the opening. It was a valve. The
captain stepped back and gazed for some minutes at this great machine
which the disappearance of the water had revealed. It was easy for him to
comprehend it now.

"When I slipped and sank," he said to himself, "I pulled down that lever,
and I opened the water-gate and let out the lake."

The captain was a man whose mind was perfectly capable of appreciating
novel and strange impressions, but with him such impressions always
connected themselves, in one way or another, with action: he could not
stand and wonder at the wonderful which had happened--it always suggested
something he must do. What he now wanted to do was to climb up to the
great aperture which lighted the cavern, and see what was outside. He
could not understand how the lake could have gone from its basin without
the sound of the rushing waters being heard by any one of the party.

With some difficulty, he climbed up to the cleft and got outside. Here he
had a much better view of the topography of the place than he had yet
been able to obtain. So far as he had explored, his view toward the
interior of the country had been impeded by rocks and hills. Here he had
a clear view from the mountains to the sea, and the ridge which he had
before seen to the southward he could now examine to greater advantage.
It was this long chain of rocks which had concealed them from their
enemies, and on the other side of which must be the ravine in which the
Rackbirds had made their camp.

Immediately below the captain was a little gorge, not very deep nor wide,
and from its general trend toward the east and south the captain was sure
that it formed the upper part of the ravine of the Rackbirds. At the
bottom of it there trickled a little stream. To the northeast ran another
line of low rock, which lost itself in the distance before it blended
into the mountains, and at the foot of this must run the stream which had
fed the lake.

In their search for water, game, or fellow-beings, no one had climbed
these desolate rocks, apparently dry and barren. But still the captain
was puzzled as to the way the water had gone out of the lake. He did not
believe that it had flowed through the ravine below. There were no signs
that there had been a flood down there. Little vines and plants were
growing in chinks of the rocks close to the water. And, moreover, had a
vast deluge rushed out almost beneath the opening which lighted the cave,
it must have been heard by some of the party. He concluded, therefore,
that the water had escaped through a subterranean channel below the rocks
from which he looked down.

He climbed down the sides of the gorge, and walked along its bottom for
two or three hundred yards, until around a jutting point of rock he saw
that the sides of the defile separated for a considerable distance, and
then, coming together again below, formed a sort of amphitheatre. The
bottom of this was a considerable distance below him, and he did not
descend into it, but he saw plainly that it had recently contained water,
for pools and puddles were to be seen everywhere.

At the other end of it, where the rocks again approached each other, was
probably a precipice. After a few minutes' cogitation, Captain Horn felt
sure that he understood the whole matter: a subway from the lake led to
this amphitheatre, and thus there had been no audible rush of the waters
until they reached this point, where they poured in and filled this great
basin, the lower end of which was probably stopped up by accumulations of
sand and deposits, which even in that country of scant vegetation had
accumulated in the course of years. When the waters of the lake had
rushed into the amphitheatre, this natural dam had held them for a while,
but then, giving way before the great pressure, the whole body of water
had suddenly rushed down the ravine to the sea.

"Yes," said the captain, "now I understand how it happened that although
I opened the valve at noon, the water did not reach the Rackbirds until
some hours later, and then it came suddenly and all at once, which would
not have been the case had it flowed steadily from the beginning through
the outlet made for it."

When the captain had returned and reported his discoveries, and he and
his party had finished their noonday meal, which they ate outside on the
plateau, with the fire burning and six servants to wait on them, Mrs.
Cliff said:

"And now, captain, what are we going to do? Now that our danger is past,
I suppose the best thing for us is to stay here in quiet and
thankfulness, and wait for Mr. Rynders. But, with the provisions we have,
we can't wait very long. When there were but five of us, we might have
made the food hold out for a day or two longer, but now that we are ten,
we shall soon be without anything to eat."

"I have been talking to Maka about that," said the captain, "and he says
that Cheditafa reports all sorts of necessary things in the Rackbirds'
storehouse, and he proposes that he and the rest of the black fellows go
down there and bring us some supplies. They are used to carrying these
stores, and six of them can bring us enough to last a good while. Now
that everything is safe over there, I can see that Maka is very anxious
to go, and, in fact, I would like to go myself. But although there
doesn't seem to be any danger at present, I do not want to leave you."

"As for me," said Miss Markham, "I want to go there. There is nothing I
like better than exploring."

"That's to my taste, too," said the captain, "but it will be better for
us to wait here and see what Maka has to say when he gets back. Perhaps,
if Mr. Rynders doesn't turn up pretty soon, we will all make a trip down
there. Where is Ralph? I don't want him to go with the men."

"He is up there on his lookout, as he calls it," said his sister, "with
his spy-glass."

"Very good," said the captain. "I will send the men off immediately. Maka
wants to go now, and they can come back by the light of the young moon.
When they have loads to carry, they like to travel at night. We shall
have to get our own supper, and that will give Ralph something to do."

The party of Africans had not gone half-way from the plateau to the beach
before they were discovered by the boy on the outlook rock, and he came
rushing down to report that the darkies were running away. When he was
told the business on which they had gone, he was very much disappointed
that he was not allowed to go with them, and, considerably out of temper,
retired to his post of observation, where, as it appeared, he was
dividing his time between the discovery of distant specks on the horizon
line of the ocean and imaginary jaguars and pumas on the foot-hills.




CHAPTER XI

A NEW HEMISPHERE


With a tin pail in his hand, the captain now went to the cavern of the
lake. He wished very much to procure some better water than the last that
had been brought, and which Mok must have dipped up from a very shallow
puddle. It was possible, the captain thought, that by going farther into
the cavern he might find a deeper pool in which water still stood, and if
he could not do this, he could get water from the little stream in the
ravine. More than this, the captain wished very much to take another look
at the machine by which he had let out the water. His mind had been so
thoroughly charged with the sense of danger that, until this had faded
away, he had not been able to take the interest in the artificial
character of the lake which it deserved.

As the captain advanced into the dimmer recesses of the cavern, he soon
found a pool of water a foot or more in depth, and having filled his pail
at this, he set it down and walked on to see what was beyond. His eyes
having now conformed themselves to the duskiness of the place, he saw
that the cavern soon made a turn to the left, and gazing beyond him, he
judged that the cave was very much wider here, and he also thought that
the roof was higher. But he did not pay much attention to the dimensions
of the cavern, for he began to discern, at first dimly and then quite
plainly, a large object which rose from the bottom of the basin. He
advanced eagerly, peering at what seemed to be a sort of dome--like
formation of a lighter color than the rocks about him, and apparently
about ten feet high.

Carefully feeling his way for fear of pitfalls, the captain drew close to
the object, and placed his hand upon it. He believed it to be of stone,
and moving his hand over it, he thought he could feel joints of masonry.
It was clearly a structure built by men. Captain Horn searched his
pockets for a match, but found none, and he hastened back to the cave to
get the lantern, passing, without noticing it, the pail which he had
filled with water. He would have brought the lantern with him when he
first came, but they had no oil except what it contained, and this they
had husbanded for emergencies. But now the captain wanted light--he cared
not what might happen afterwards. In a very short time, with the lantern
in his hand, which lighted up the cave for a considerable distance about
him, the captain again stood at the foot of the subterranean dome.

He walked around it. He raised and lowered his lantern, and examined it
from top to bottom. It was one half a sphere of masonry, built in a
most careful manner, and, to all appearances, as solid as a great stone
ball, half sunken in the ground. Its surface was smooth, excepting for
two lines of protuberances, each a few inches in height, and about a
foot from each other. These rows of little humps were on opposite
sides of the dome, and from the bottom nearly to the top. It was plain
they were intended to serve as rude ladders by which the top of the
mound could be gained.

The captain stepped back, held up his lantern, and gazed in every
direction. He could now see the roof of the cavern, and immediately above
him he perceived what he was sure were regular joints of masonry, but on
the sides of the cave he saw nothing of the sort. For some minutes he
stood and reflected, his brain in a whirl. Presently he exclaimed:

"Yes, this cave is man's work! I am sure of it. It is not natural. I
wondered how there could be such a cave on the top of a hill. It was
originally a gorge, and they have roofed it over, and the bottom of the
basin has been cut out to make it deeper. It was made so that it could be
filled up with water, and roofed over so that nobody should know there
was any water here, unless they came on it by means of the passage from
our caves. That passage must have been blocked up. As for the great
opening in the side of the cave, the rocks have fallen in there--that is
easy enough to see. Yes, men made this cave and filled it with water, and
if the water were high enough to cover the handle of that machine, as it
was when I struck it, it must also have been high enough to cover up this
stone mound. The lake was intended to cover and hide that mound. And
then, to make the hiding of it doubly sure, the men who built all this
totally covered up the lake so that nobody would know it was here. And
then they built that valve apparatus, which was also submerged, so that
they could let out the water when they wanted to get at this stone
thing, whatever it is. What a scheme to hide anything! Even if anybody
discovered the lake, which would not be likely until some part of the
cave fell in, they would not know it was anything but a lake when they
did see it. And as for letting off the water, nobody but the people who
knew about it could possibly do that, unless somebody was fool enough to
take the cold bath I was obliged to take, and even then it would have
been one chance in a hundred that he found the lever, and would know how
to turn it when he did find it. This whole thing is the work of the
ancient South Americans, and I imagine that this stone mound is the tomb
of one of their kings."

At this moment the captain heard something, and turned to listen. It
was a voice--the voice of a boy. It was Ralph calling to him. Instantly
the captain turned and hurried away, and as he went he extinguished his
lantern. When he reached his pail of water he picked it up, and was
very soon joined by Ralph, who was coming to meet him over the bottom
of the lake.

"I have been looking for you everywhere, captain," said he. "What have
you been after? More water? And you took a lantern to find it, eh? And
you have been ever so far into the cave. Why didn't you call me? Let me
have the lantern. I want to go to explore."

But the captain did not give him the lantern, nor did he allow him to go
to explore.

"No, sir," said he. "What we've got to do is to hurry outside and help
get supper. We must wait on ourselves to-night."

When supper was over, that evening, and the little party was sitting out
on the plateau, gazing over the ocean at the sunlit sky, Mrs. Cliff
declared that she wished they could bring their bedding and spread it on
the ground out there, and sleep.

"It is dry enough," she said, "and warm enough, and if there is really
nothing to fear from animals or men, I don't want ever to go inside of
those caves again. I had such horrible fears and ideas when I was
sitting trembling in those dismal vaults, expecting a horde of human
devils to burst in upon us at any moment, that the whole place is
horrible to me. Anyway, if I knew that I had to be killed, I would
rather be killed out here."

The captain smiled. "I don't think we will give up the caves just yet. I,
for one, most certainly want to go in there again." And then he told the
story of the stone mound which he had discovered.

"And you believe," cried Mrs. Cliff, leaning forward, "that it is really
the tomb of an ancient king?"

"If it isn't that, I don't know what it can be," said the captain.

"The grave of a king!" cried Ralph. "A mummy! With inscriptions and
paintings! Oh, captain, let's go open it this minute, before those
blackies get back."

The captain shook his head. "Don't be in such a hurry," he said. "It will
not be an easy job to open that mound, and we shall need the help of the
blackies, as you call them, if we do it at all."

"Do it at all!" cried Ralph. "I'll never leave this place until I do it
myself, if there is nobody else to help."

Miss Markham sat silent. She was the only one of the company who had
studied the history of South America, and she did not believe that the
ancient inhabitants of that country buried their kings in stone tombs, or
felt it necessary to preserve their remains in phenomenal secrecy and
security. She had read things, however, about the ancient peoples of this
country which now made her eyes sparkle and her heart beat quickly. But
she did not say anything. This was a case in which it would be better to
wait to see what would happen.

"Captain!" cried Ralph, "let's go to see the thing. What is the use of
waiting? Edna and Mrs. Cliff won't mind staying here while you take me to
see it. We can go in ten minutes."

"No," said Mrs. Cliff, "there may be no danger, but I am not going
to be left here with the sun almost down, and you two out of sight
and hearing."

"Let us all go," said Edna.

The captain considered for a moment. "Yes," said he, "let us all
go. As we shall have to take a lantern anyway, this is as good a
time as another."

It was not an easy thing for the two ladies to get over the wall at the
end of the passage, and to make their way over the rough and slippery
bottom of the lake basin, now lighted only by the lantern which the
captain carried. But in the course of time, with a good deal of help from
their companions, they reached the turning of the cave and stood before
the stone mound.

"Hurrah!" cried Ralph. "Why, captain, you are like Columbus! You have
discovered a new hemisphere."

"It is like one of the great ant-hills of Africa," said Mrs. Cliff,
"but, of course, this was not built by ants I wonder if it is possible
that it can be the abode of water-snakes."

Edna stood silent for a few moments, and then she said, "Captain, do
you suppose that this dome was entirely covered by water when the lake
was full?"

"I think so," said he. "Judging from what I know of the depth of the
lake, I am almost sure of it."

"Ralph!" suddenly cried Mrs. Cliff, "don't try to do that. The thing may
break under you, and nobody knows what you would fall into. Come down."

But Ralph paid no attention to her words. He was half-way up the side of
the mound when she began to speak, and on its top when she had finished.

"Captain," he cried, "hand me up the lantern. I want to see if there is
a trap-door into this affair. Don't be afraid, Mrs. Cliff. It's as solid
as a rock."

The captain did not hand up the lantern, but holding it carefully in one
hand, he ascended the dome by means of the row of protuberances on the
other side, and crouched down beside Ralph on the top of it.

"Oh, ho!" said he, as he moved the lantern this way and that, "here is a
square slab fitted into the very top."

"Yes," said Ralph, "and it's got different mortar around the edges."

"That is not mortar," said the captain. "I believe it is some sort of
resin. Here, hold the lantern, and be careful of it." The captain took
his jack--knife out of his pocket, and with the large blade began to dig
into the substance which filled the joint around the slab, which was
about eighteen inches square. "It is resin," said he, "or something like
it, and it comes out very easily. This slab is intended to be moved."

"Indeed it is!" exclaimed Ralph, "and we're intended to move it. Here,
captain, I'll help you. I've got a knife. Let's dig out that stuff and
lift up the lid before the darkies come back. If we find any dead bodies
inside this tomb, they will frighten those fellows to death, if they
catch sight of them."

"Very good," said the captain. "I shall be only too glad to get this slab
up, if I can, but I am afraid we shall want a crowbar and more help. It's
a heavy piece of stone, and I see no way of getting at it."

"This isn't stone in the middle of the slab," said Ralph. "It's a lot
more resinous stuff. I had the lantern over it and did not see it. Let's
take it out."

There was a circular space in the centre of the stone, about eight inches
in diameter, which seemed to be covered with resin. After a few minutes'
work with the jack-knives this substance was loosened and came out in two
parts, showing a bowl-like depression in the slab, which had been so cut
as to leave a little bar running from side to side of it.

"A handle!" cried Ralph.

"That is what it is," said Captain Horn. "If it is intended to be lifted,
I ought to be able to do it. Move down a little with the lantern, and
give me room."

The captain now stood on the top of the mound, with the slab between his
feet, and stooping down, he took hold of the handle with both hands. He
was a powerful man, but he could not lift the stone. His first effort,
however, loosened it, and then he began to move it from side to side,
still pulling upward, until at last he could feel it rising. Then, with
a great heave, he lifted it entirely out of the square aperture in which
it had been fitted, and set it on one side.

In an instant, Ralph, lantern in hand, was gazing down into the
opening. "Hello!" he cried, "there is something on fire in there. Oh,
no," he added quickly, correcting himself, "it's only the reflection
from our light."




CHAPTER XII

A TRADITION AND A WAISTCOAT


Captain Horn, his face red with exertion and excitement, stood gazing
down into the square aperture at his feet. On the other edge of the
opening knelt Ralph, holding the lantern so that it would throw its light
into the hole. In a moment, before the boy had time to form a question,
he was pushed gently to one side, and his sister Edna, who had clambered
up the side of the mound, knelt beside him. She peered down into the
depths beneath, and then she drew back and looked up at the captain. His
whole soul was in his downward gaze, and he did not even see her.

Then there came a voice from below. "What is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "What
are you all looking at! Do tell me."

With half-shut eyes, Edna let herself down the side of the mound, and
when her feet touched the ground, she made a few tottering steps toward
Mrs. Cliff, and placing her two hands on her companion's shoulders, she
whispered, "I thought it was. It is gold! It is the gold of the Incas."
And then she sank senseless at the feet of the older woman.

Mrs. Cliff did not know that Miss Markham had fainted. She simply stood
still and exclaimed, "Gold! What does it mean?"

"What is it all about?" exclaimed Ralph. "It looks like petrified honey.
This never could have been a beehive."

Without answering, Captain Horn knelt at the edge of the aperture, and
taking the lantern from the boy, he let it down as far as it would go,
which was only a foot or two.

"Ralph," he said hoarsely, as he drew himself back, "hold this lantern
and get down out of my way. I must cover this up, quick." And seizing the
stone slab by the handle, he lifted it as if it had been a pot-lid, and
let it down into its place. "Now," said he, "get down, and let us all go
away from this place. Those negroes may be back at any moment."

When Ralph found that his sister had fainted, and that Mrs. Cliff did not
know it, there was a little commotion at the foot of the mound. But some
water in a pool near by soon revived Edna, and in ten minutes the party
was on the plateau outside the caverns. The new moon was just beginning
to peep over the rocks behind them, and the two ladies had seated
themselves on the ground. Ralph was pouring out question after question,
to which nobody paid any attention, and Captain Horn, his hands thrust
into his pockets, walked backward and forward, his face flushed and his
breath coming heavily, and, with his eyes upon the ground, he seemed to
think himself entirely alone among those desolate crags.

"Can any of you tell me what it means?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Edna, do you
understand it? Tell me quickly, some of you!"

"I believe I know what it means," said Edna, her voice trembling as she
spoke. "I thought I knew as soon as I heard of the mound covered up by
the lake, but I did not dare to say anything, because if my opinion
should be correct it would be so wonderful, so astounding, my mind could
hardly take hold of it."

"But what is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, almost in one breath.

"I scarcely know what to say," said Edna, "my mind is in such a whirl
about it, but I will tell you something of what I have read of the
ancient history of Peru, and then you will understand my fancies about
this stone mound. When the Spaniards, under Pizarro, came to this
country, their main object, as we all know, was booty. They especially
wished to get hold of the wonderful treasures of the Incas, the ancient
rulers of Peru. This was the reason of almost all the cruelties and
wickedness of the invaders. The Incas tried various ways of preserving
their treasures from the clutch of the Spaniards, and I have read of a
tradition that they drained a lake, probably near Cuzco, the ancient
capital, and made a strong cellar, or mound, at the bottom of it in which
to hide their gold. They then let the water in again, and the tradition
also says that this mound has never been discovered."

"Do you believe," cried the captain, "that the mound back there in the
cavern is the place where the Incas stored their gold?"

"I do not believe it is the place I read about," said Miss Markham, "for
that, as I said, must have been near Cuzco. But there is no reason why
there should not have been other places of concealment. This was far
away from the capital, but that would make the treasure so much the
safer. The Spaniards would never have thought of going to such a lonely,
deserted place as this, and the Incas would not have spared any time or
trouble necessary to securely hide their treasures."

"If you are right," cried the captain, "this is, indeed, astounding!
Treasure in a mound of stone--a mound covered by water, which could be
let off! The whole shut up in a cave which must have originally been as
dark as pitch! When we come to think of it," he continued excitedly, "it
is an amazing hiding-place, no matter what was put into the mound."

"And do you mean," almost screamed Mrs. Cliff, "that that stone thing
down there is filled with the wealth of the Incas!--the fabulous gold we
read about?"

"I do not know what else it can be," replied Edna. "What I saw when I
looked down into the hole was surely gold."

"Yes," said the captain, "it was gold--gold in small bars."

"Why didn't you get a piece, captain?" asked Ralph. "Then we could be
sure about it. If that thing is nearly filled, there must be tons of it."

"I did not think," said the captain. "I could not think. I was afraid
somebody would come."

"And now tell me this," cried Mrs. Cliff. "Whom does this gold belong to?
That is what I want to know. Whose is if?"

"Come, come!" said the captain, "let us stop talking about this thing,
and thinking about it. We shall all be maniacs if we don't quiet
ourselves a little, and, besides, it cannot be long before those black
fellows come back, and we do not want to be speaking about it then.
To-morrow we will examine the mound and see what it is we have
discovered. In the meantime, let us quiet our minds and get a good
night's sleep, if we can. This whole affair is astounding, but we must
not let it make us crazy before we understand it."

Miss Markham was a young woman very capable of controlling herself. It
was true she had been more affected in consequence of the opening of the
mound than any of the others, but that was because she understood, or
thought she understood, what the discovery meant, and to the others it
was something which at first they could not appreciate. Now she saw the
good common sense of the captain's remarks, and said no more that evening
on the subject of the stone mound.

But Mrs. Cliff and Ralph could not be quiet. They must talk, and as the
captain walked away that they might not speak to him, they talked to
each other.

It was nearly an hour after this that Captain Horn, standing on the outer
end of the plateau, saw some black dots moving on the moonlit beach. They
moved very slowly, and it was a long time--at least, it seemed so to the
captain--before Maka and his companions reached the plateau.

The negroes were heavily loaded with bags and packages, and they were
glad to deposit their burdens on the ground.

"Hi!" cried the captain, who spoke as if he had been drinking champagne,
"you brought a good cargo, Maka, and now don't let us hear any tales of
what you have seen until we have had supper--supper for everybody. You
know what you have got, Maka. Let us have the best things, and let every
one of you take a hand in making a fire and cooking. What we want is a
first-class feast."

"I got 'em," said Maka, who understood English a good deal better
than he could speak it,--"ham, cheese, lots things. All want
supper--good supper."

While the meal was being prepared, Captain Horn walked over to Mrs. Cliff
and Ralph. "Now, I beg of you," he said, "don't let these men know we
have found anything. This is a very important matter. Don't talk about
it, and if you can't keep down your excitement, let them think it is the
prospect of good victuals, and plenty of them, that has excited you."

After supper Maka and Cheditafa were called upon to tell their story, but
they said very little. They had gone to the place where the Rackbirds had
kept their stores, and had selected what Maka considered would be most
desirable, including some oil for the lantern, and had brought away as
much as they could carry. This was all.

When the rest of his party had gone inside, hoping to get their minds
quiet enough to sleep, and the captain was preparing to follow them, Maka
arose from the spot on the open plateau where the tired negroes had
stretched themselves for the night, and said:

"Got something tell you alone. Come out here."

When the two had gone to a spot a little distance from the cavern
entrance, where the light of the moon, now nearly set, enabled objects to
be seen with some distinctness, Maka took from inside his shirt a small
piece of clothing. "Look here," said he. "This belong to Davis."

The captain took the garment in his hand. It was a waistcoat made of
plaid cloth, yellow, green, and red, and most striking in pattern, and
Captain Horn instantly recognized it as the waistcoat of Davis, the
Englishman.

"He dead," said Maka, simply.

The captain nodded. He had no doubt of it.

"Where did you find it?" he asked.

"Sticking on rock," said the African. "Lots things down there. Some one
place, some another place. Didn't know other things, but know this.
Davis' waistcoat. No mistake that. Him wear it all time."

"You are a good fellow, Maka," said the captain, "not to speak of this
before the ladies. Now go and sleep. There is no need of a guard
to-night."

The captain went inside, procured his gun, and seated himself outside,
with his back against a rock. There he sat all night, without once
closing his eyes. He was not afraid that anything would come to molest
them, but it was just as well to have the gun. As for sleeping, that was
impossible. He had heard and seen too much that day.




CHAPTER XIII

"MINE!"


Captain Horn and his party sat down together the next morning on the
plateau to drink their hot coffee and eat their biscuit and bacon, and it
was plain that the two ladies, as well as the captain, had had little
sleep the night before. Ralph declared that he had been awake ever so
long, endeavoring to calculate how many cubic feet of gold there would be
in that mound if it were filled with the precious metal. "But as I did
not know how much a cubic foot of gold is worth," said he, "and as we
might find, after all, that there is only a layer of gold on top, and
that all the rest is Incas' bones, I gave it up."

The captain was very grave--graver, Miss Markham thought, than the
discovery of gold ought to make a man.

"We won't worry ourselves with calculations," said he. "As soon as I can
get rid of those black fellows, we will go to see what is really in that
tomb, or storehouse, or whatever it is. We will make a thorough
investigation this time."

When the men had finished eating, the captain sent them all down to look
for driftwood. The stock of wood on the plateau was almost exhausted,
and he was glad to think of some reasonable work which would take them
away from the cavern.

As soon as they had gone, the captain rose to get the lantern, and called
Ralph to accompany him to the mound.

When they were left alone, Edna said to Mrs. Cliff, "Let us go over there
to that shady rock, where we can look out for a ship with Mr. Rynders in
it, and let us talk about our neighbors in America. Let us try to forget,
for a time, all about what the captain is going to investigate. If we
keep on thinking and talking of it, our minds will not be in a fit
condition to hear what he will have to tell us. It may all come to
nothing, you know, and no matter what it comes to, let us keep quiet, and
give our nerves a little rest."

"That is excellent advice," said Mrs. Cliff. But when they were
comfortably seated in the shade, she said: "I have been thinking, Edna,
that the possession of vast treasures did not weaken the minds of those
Incas, I supposed, until yesterday, that the caverns here were intended
for some sort of temple for religious ceremonies, and that the great face
on the rock out here was an idol. But now I do not believe that. All
openings into the cave must once have been closed up, but it would not do
to hide the place so that no one could ever find it again, so they carved
that great head on the rocks. Nobody, except those who had hid the
treasure, would know what the face meant."

Edna gave a little smile and sighed. "I see it is of no use to try to get
that mound out of our minds," she said.

"Out of our minds!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "If one of the Rothschilds
were to hand you a check for the whole of his fortune, would you expect
to get that out of your mind?"

"Such a check," said Edna, "would be a certain fortune. We have not heard
yet what this is."

"I think we are the two meekest and humblest people in the whole world!"
exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, walking up and down the sand. "I don't believe any
other two persons would be content to wait here until somebody should
come and tell them whether they were millionaires or not. But, of course,
somebody must stay outside to keep those colored people from swarming
into the cave when they come back."

It was not long after this that Mrs. Cliff and Edna heard the sound of
quickly advancing feet, and in a few moments they were joined by Ralph
and the captain.

"Your faces shine like gold," cried Edna. "What have you found?"

"Found!" cried Ralph. "Why, Edna, we've got--"

"Be quiet, Ralph," exclaimed Edna. "I want to hear what the captain has
to say. Captain, what is in the mound?"

"We went to the mound," said he, speaking very rapidly, "and when we got
to the top and lifted off that stone lid--upon my soul, ladies, I believe
there is gold enough in that thing to ballast a ship. It isn't filled
quite up to the top, and, of course, I could not find out how deep the
gold goes down; but I worked a hole in it as far down as my arm would
reach, and found nothing but gold bars like this." Then, glancing around
to see that none of the Africans were returning, he took from his pocket
a yellow object about three inches in length and an inch in diameter,
shaped like a rough prism, cast in a rudely constructed mortar or mould.
"I brought away just one of them," he said, "and then I shut down the
lid, and we came away."

"And is this gold?" exclaimed Edna, eagerly seizing the bar. "Are you
sure of it, captain?"

"I am as sure of it as I am that I have a head on my shoulders," said he,
"although when I was diving down into that pile I was not quite sure of
that. No one would ever put anything but gold in such a hiding-place. And
then, anybody can see it is gold. Look here: I scraped that spot with my
knife. I wanted to test it before I showed it to you. See how it shines!
I could easily cut into it. I believe it is virgin gold, not hardened
with any alloy."

"And that mound full of it!" cried Mrs. Cliff.

"I can't say about that," said the captain. "But if the gold is no
deeper than my arm went down into it, and all pure metal at that,
why--bless my soul!--it would make anybody crazy to try to calculate how
much it is worth."

"Now, then," exclaimed Mrs. Cliff, "whom does all this gold belong to? We
have found it, but whose is it?"

"That is a point to be considered," said the captain. "What is
your opinion?"

"I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about it," said Mrs.
Cliff. "Of course, that would have been all wasted, though, if it had
turned out to be nothing but brass, but then, I could not help it, and
this is the conclusion I have come to: In the first place, it does not
belong to the people who govern Peru now. They are descendants of the
very Spaniards that the Incas hid their treasure from, and it would be a
shame and a wickedness to let them have it. It would better stay there
shut up for more centuries. Then, again, it would not be right to give it
to the Indians, or whatever they call themselves, though they are
descendants of the ancient inhabitants, for the people of Spanish blood
would not let them keep it one minute, and they would get it, after all.
And, besides, how could such treasures be properly divided among a race
of wretched savages? It would be preposterous, even if they should be
allowed to keep it. They would drink themselves to death, and it would
bring nothing but misery upon them. The Incas, in their way, were good,
civilized people, and it stands to reason that the treasure they hid away
should go to other good, civilized people when the Incas had departed
from the face of the earth. Think of the good that could be done with
such wealth, should it fall into the proper hands! Think of the good to
the poor people of Peru, with the right kind of mission work done among
them! I tell you all that the responsibility of this discovery is as
great as its value in dollars. What do you think about it, Edna?"

"I think this," said Miss Markham: "so far as any of us have anything to
do with it, it belongs to Captain Horn. He discovered it, and it is his."

"The whole of it?" cried Ralph.

"Yes," said his sister, firmly, "the whole of it, so far as we are
concerned. What he chooses to do with it is his affair, and whether he
gets every bar of gold, or only a reward from the Peruvian government,
it is his, to do what he pleases with it."

"Now, Edna, I am amazed to hear you speak of the Peruvian government,"
cried Mrs. Cliff. "It would be nothing less than a crime to let them have
it, or even know of it."

"What do you think, captain?" asked Edna.

"I am exactly of your opinion, Miss Markham," he said. "That treasure
belongs to me. I discovered it, and it is for me to decide what is to be
done with it."

"Now, then," exclaimed Ralph, his face very red, "I differ with you! We
are all partners in this business, and it isn't fair for any one to have
everything."

"And I am not so sure, either," said Mrs. Cliff, "that the captain
ought to decide what is to be done with this treasure. Each of us
should have a voice."

"Mrs. Cliff, Miss Markham, and Ralph," said the captain, "I have a few
words to say to you, and I must say them quickly, for I see those black
fellows coming. That treasure in the stone mound is mine. I discovered
the mound, and no matter what might have been in it, the contents would
have been mine. All that gold is just as much mine as if I dug it in a
gold-mine in California, and we won't discuss that question any further.
What I want to say particularly is that it may seem very selfish in me
to claim the whole of that treasure, but I assure you that that is the
only thing to be done. I know you will all agree to that when you see
the matter in the proper light, and I have told you my plans about it. I
intended to claim all that treasure, if it turned out to be treasure. I
made up my mind to that last night, and I am very glad Miss Markham
told me her opinion of the rights of the thing before I mentioned it.
Now, I have just got time to say a few words more. If there should be
any discussion about the ownership of this gold and the way it ought to
be divided, there would be trouble, and perhaps bloody trouble. There
are those black fellows coming up here, and two of them speak English.
Eight of my men went away in a boat, and they may come back at any time.
And then, there were those two Cape Cod men, who went off first. They
may have reached the other side of the mountains, and may bring us
assistance overland. As for Davis, I know he will never come back. Maka
brought me positive proof that he was killed by the Rackbirds. Now, you
see my point. That treasure is mine. I have a right to it, and I stand
by that right. There must be no talk as to what is to be done with it. I
shall decide what is right, and I shall do it, and no man shall have a
word to say about it. In a case like this there must be a head, and I am
the head."

The captain had been speaking rapidly and very earnestly, but now his
manner changed a little. Placing his hand on Ralph's shoulder, he said:
"Now don't be afraid, my boy, that you and your sister or Mrs. Cliff will
be left in the lurch. If there were only us four, there would be no
trouble at all, but if there is any talk of dividing, there may be a lot
of men to deal with, and a hard lot, too. And now, not a word before
these men.--Maka, that is a fine lot of fire-wood you have brought. It
will last us a long time."

The African shrugged his shoulders. "Hope not," he said. "Hope Mr.
Rynders come soon. Don't want make many fires."

As Captain Horn walked away toward Ralph's lookout, he could not account
to himself for the strange and unnatural state of his feelings. He ought
to have been very happy because he had discovered vast treasures. Instead
of that his mind was troubled and he was anxious and fearful. One reason
for his state of mind was his positive knowledge of the death of Davis.
He had believed him dead because he had not come back, but now that he
knew the truth, the shock seemed as great as if he had not suspected it.
He had liked the Englishman better than any of his seamen, and he was a
man he would have been glad to have had with him now. The Cape Cod men
had been with him but a short time, and he was not well acquainted with
them. It was likely, too, that they were dead also, for they had not
taken provisions with them. But so long as he did not really know this,
the probability could not lower his spirits.

But when he came to analyze his feelings, which he did with the vigorous
directness natural to him, he knew what was the source of his anxiety and
disquietude. He actually feared the return of Rynders and his men! This
feeling annoyed and troubled him. He felt that it was unworthy of him. He
knew that he ought to long for the arrival of his mate, for in no other
way could the party expect help, and if help did not arrive before the
provisions of the Rackbirds were exhausted, the whole party would most
likely perish. Moreover, when Rynders and his men came back, they would
come to rare good fortune, for there was enough gold for all of them.

But, in spite of these reasonable conclusions, the captain was afraid
that Rynders and his men would return.

"If they come here," he said to himself, "they will know of that gold,
for I cannot expect to keep such fellows out of the cavern, and if they
know of it, it will be their gold, not mine. I know men, especially those
men, well enough for that."

And so, fearing that he might see them before he was ready for them,--and
how he was going to make himself ready for them he did not know,--he
stood on the lookout and scanned the ocean for Rynders and his men.