THE RETURN TO THE LAND OF THE INCAS
The exploits of Stanley and Ted in the great World War form no part
of this story. It is enough to say that they saw extensive service on
the Western Front and that they acquitted themselves in an entirely
creditable manner.
The armistice was signed at last and the two, in common with thousands
of others, were returned to their own country. They had attained the
rank of first lieutenant. Now, their services being no longer urgently
required, they tendered their resignations and received honorable
discharges.
“I am beginning to feel as if I have had enough of a rest,” Ted said
one night a few weeks afterward when Stanley dropped in at his home for
one of his visits. They saw one another almost daily. “What do you say
to making another attempt to get the treasure?”
“You know what I think about it,” Stanley replied. “If the folks had
not been urging me to remain with them a while longer, I should
have suggested starting before now. They cannot forget what we went
through on our first visit to the Hidden Valley; but they know we are
determined to return to it. They are not discouraging me at all; only
trying to put it off as long as possible.”
“We are losing a lot of time. The sooner we go back to Peru and have
it over with the better. Think of the tons of gold lying in the cave
waiting for us to carry them away.”
“I know. How do your people feel about it? I suppose they are not eager
to have you go?”
“The situation is the same with me as with you. But I think we should
start without further delay. There are so many things to be done when
we get back, and time flies.” Then, after a moment’s thought: “I have
been looking up the sailing dates. There is a good steamer for Panama
next Tuesday--that is, a week from to-day. It will get us to the
isthmus just in time to connect with the _Panela_ of the Peruvian Line
for Mollendo. Can you be ready then, or is that too soon?”
“I could be ready to-morrow. Waiting a whole week, now that we have
actually decided to go, will seem like a year!”
“And,” said Ted as Stanley was leaving, “we had better not take
anything with us from here. We can get all the supplies and outfit we
need in Cuzco.”
* * * * *
Arrived in Colon, they found the _Panela_ scheduled to sail that
same afternoon. There was barely sufficient time to transfer their
baggage, comply with the customs formalities, and secure passage on the
departing steamer.
Before long they had entered the muddy water of the canal, and soon
after that the ship entered the locks and in an almost incredibly short
time was raised to the level of Gatun Lake, with its vast expanse of
murky water and its fringe of tree skeletons that stood like black
monuments to mark the graveyard of the inundated forest. Darkness
prevented the completion of the trip through the canal, so the ship was
tied up for the night.
There was no moonlight, but the thousands of scintillating stars shed
a soft radiance upon the torpid earth. The water was black and smooth
as glass, save for the myriad points of reflected starlight. But in
spite of the unruffled appearance of the surface the black depths were
charged with life. One had only to drop some object overboard in order
to excite to action the millions of jelly-fish that lurked below.
When the water was agitated by the missile, no matter how lightly,
it blazed with patches and circles of greenish phosphorescence, so
that the surface seemed aflame with a weird, unearthly fire. And
occasionally there was a streak of the same uncanny light as one of the
larger inhabitants of the deep cut the surface in a burst of speed in
pursuit of some of the lesser fry.
With the coming of daylight the _Panela_ was lowered through the locks
at the far end of the canal and headed for the open ocean.
“No wonder this is called the Pacific,” said Ted as they stood on deck
looking over the broad expanse of dark-blue water. The surface was so
smooth that it might have been a sheet of glass; into this the prow of
the ship cut a furrow crested with hissing white foam. Overhead the
man-o’-war birds described great circles on motionless wings; they were
marvels of grace and endurance, spanning the limitless blue day after
day without stopping to rest. In the distance a number of whales rolled
lazily in the briny water and blew thin jets of spray high into the air.
“If I were not so eager to finish our job down there I should say that
this is the only life. I could keep sailing on forever. I certainly
intend to do my share of travelling if this venture proves successful,”
Stanley said.
“_If?_” Ted queried in surprise. “You mean _when_ the job is finished.
There is no question in my mind but that we shall get the gold this
time. We know exactly how to overcome the one little barrier that lies
between us and the hidden millions.”
“You are right. When are we due to reach Mollendo?”
“Six days from now. Then three more days in which to get to Cuzco. Two
or three days in which to gather our outfit together, and then for the
trail. In a month from now, at the most, we shall be ferrying out the
gold that has been concealed for so many centuries. The underground
river will hum as we dash back and forth through it.”
“After that we shall be up against the hardest work of all; that is to
get the gold out of the country and back home safely. But let’s not
cross any bridges before we get to them. The future must take care of
itself,” said Stanley.
“While we are so near to it, I wish we could take a peep into the
Hidden Valley. Perhaps Huayna Capac, the Inca, is dead, and Quizquiz is
king now. I am sorry for everybody in the valley if he is their ruler.
The old king at least tried to be kind and generous, the best he knew
how, but Quizquiz will be a tyrant in every sense of the word. He is
conceited, arrogant, and cruel. I should hate to fall into his hands.”
“And I, too,” said Stanley. “But there is no chance. He would not
dare enter Uti, where the gold is hidden, and we shall certainly not
trespass in his kingdom beyond the great wall. So we can simply guess
at what is taking place in the Hidden Valley, and I am content to let
it go at that.”
Stanley spoke with conviction, but he had no way of knowing what the
future had in store for him. Just as the past years had brought the
momentous events due to the World War, so there had been events of
importance in the Hidden Valley, also. If Ted and Stanley could in
some manner have obtained an inkling of what had happened behind those
silent and unscalable mountains that surrounded the retreat of the
last of the Incas, they doubtless should have refrained from making
another attempt to secure the fabulous wealth that this same barrier
also protected. Firmly resolved though they were not to enter the
Hidden Valley proper again, it was not impossible that circumstances
beyond their control might take them into the very region they were so
eager to shun. And then--the terrible reckoning, with the pitiless,
triumphant, and all-powerful Quizquiz as their captor and judge.
They landed in Mollendo just in time to take the early afternoon
train into the mountains, and night found them in the upland city of
Arequipa. It required the greater part of another day to cover the
distance to Puno, and on the morning after that the journey to Cuzco
began.
As the train crept wearily over the high plateau and entered the
outskirts of the city, Ted, who was gazing interestedly through the
little window of their compartment, gave a cry of surprise.
“Things have certainly been happening here since we last saw this
place,” he said. “Look!”
Stanley, too, peered through the window. A number of long, wide, wooden
buildings had been erected along one side of a level field. There were
also narrower and higher structures and a small cluster of tents. Men
in uniform were drilling near the group of buildings; and a detachment
of other soldiers was signalling with large white panels that were
spread out on the ground.
“Ted,” he said suddenly, “that aviation-field has been put there for a
purpose. It may mean that the war fever has spread even to these remote
countries; or it may be only the beginning of a preparedness campaign.
I can’t say why, but I feel in my bones that we are going to get mixed
up in whatever it is before very long.”
“I hope not. We can’t afford to let anything sidetrack us from getting
that gold. If we keep putting it off something may happen to prevent
our getting it altogether.”
“But that is just what I am thinking,” Stanley protested. “Everything
we do must be a step toward the big goal.”
“I don’t see the connection.”
“Well, then, let me tell you. It takes many days of walking over the
most difficult trail to reach the underground river. And heaven only
knows how hard it will be to carry the gold back up the mountainside.
Now, in an airplane the distance cannot be very great, and instead of
work it would be fun. Now do you see what I mean?”
“Stanley!” Ted’s face beamed. “Do you think we could arrange it?”
“There is nothing impossible if you do not want it to be. We are going
to get into the treasure-ground by the air-route this time, even if we
have to steal one of those planes to do it.”
Just then the train rolled into the station and Ted and Stanley
gathered up their baggage and followed the crowd along the platform and
out into the street.