forgotten; and we eagerly clambered upon the altar to investigate the
matter further, while hope and wonder thrilled our hearts.
"Now, then, Young," said Rayburn, "try it again. It looks as though this
idol wasn't all the blackguard things you've been calling it, by a long
shot."
"No, I'll be hanged if I'll try it again," Young answered. "Try it
yourself, if you want to. How do I know what's goin' t' happen with a
stone thing that goes tippin' around that way? I don't mind sayin' that
I'm a good deal jolted, an' don't feel like foolin' with it any more.
Try it yourself, if you want to, I say."
"All right," Rayburn answered. "You and the Professor stand here where
you can grab me if anything goes wrong. It looks to me as though there
was a chance for us of some sort here, and I mean to see what it is."
Young and I stood on each side of Rayburn and held him by the arms as he
seated himself on the idol's head. Borne down by his weight, the head
slowly sank, the whole fore-end of the stone slab falling away into the
rock, and the after-end correspondingly rising and disclosing a squared
opening, through which came a strong burst of light. When the head was
down to the level of the rock, and the slab stood up at an angle of
nearly fifty degrees, the movement ceased. Looking into the opening we
saw a flight of a dozen stone steps. On the bottom step the sun shone
brightly, and in our faces blew a draught of fresh, sweet air. On the
rock, beside the stair-way was carved the King's symbol, with the arrow
pointing downward.
"Hurrah!" cried Young. "Here's a way out--an' it looks as if that old
monk an' th' Cacique weren't such a pair of blasted liars after all!"
Rayburn jumped up to have a look with the rest of us; but before he
could see anything the statue had fallen into place again and the
opening was closed. "No matter, we know how to work it, now," he said.
"We must prop it up somehow; that's all. I want to have a look at this
thing. There's some mighty good engineering shown in the way the centre
of gravity of that stone has been calculated; and there's a good
mechanism in the way it's hung. Here she goes again. Just chock it with
a bit of rock when I swing it open."
"Well, what I'm interested in," said Young, "is findin' out what sort of
a place it'll get us into. It looks to me as if we might be goin' to
strike the treasure right smack here."
Much the same notion was in all of our heads by this time, and we were
full of eagerness--the statue having been swung again, and propped in
place with a fragment of rock--as we went down the little stair. But
what we found was only a continuation of the cañon--as though, by some
curious freak of nature, the thin walls of rock enclosing the cave had
been left thus in the very middle of it. Rayburn drew our attention to
the fact that we were on the crest of a divide, for a spring that
bubbled up here flowed away from us; and this also was a cheering sign
that the cañon had an outlet. How far away the outlet might be we could
not tell; for the cañon, half a mile or so from where we stood, bent
sharply to the right. But being thus assured that a way of some sort out
of our prison was open to us, we turned to examine the work of the
skilled mechanics who in some far past time had set this swinging statue
in its place. From below, the simple apparatus, that yet for its fitting
required so high a grade of scientific knowledge, was plainly disclosed
to us. Into the great slab of stone, presumably running through it from
side to side, was set a round bar of metal--the same bright metal of
which the sword was made--more than a foot in diameter; and this worked
in two concave metal sockets in much the same manner that the sockets of
a gun-carriage hold the trunnions of a gun. What struck Rayburn as
especially remarkable was the trueness to a circle of both the sockets
and the bar; both showing, as he declared, that they had been worked
upon a lathe. And he was puzzled, as in the case of the sword, as to the
composition of the metal that thus defied oxidization through long
periods of time. "Gold is the only thing that fills the bill," he said;
"but a bar of gold, even of that size, would bend double under such a
strain. I'd give ten dollars for a chance to analyze it--for there's a
bigger fortune in putting a metal like that on the market than there is
in finding this treasure that we're hunting for: especially if it turns
out that there isn't any treasure to find."
"Now, don't you go t' runnin' down that treasure," Young struck in.
"Just now treasure stock is up. Me an' that idol have just boomed th'
market. I'm sorry I called Jack Mullins, or whatever his name is, such a
lot of cuss-word names. I take 'em all back. He isn't just th' sort of
an idol that I'd pick out t' worship myself, at least not as a steady
thing; but there are good points about him--especially th' way he tips
up. I always did like an idol that tipped up. He's done th' square thing
by us in gettin' us out all right from th' worst sort of a hole; an' I
guess th' best thing we can do is t' yank our traps out of that cave
an' get started again. Why, for all we know, th' treasure may be right
around that corner."
There was no doubt as to the soundness of Young's suggestion in regard
to resuming our march; but the very serious fact confronted us that we
now must do our marching on foot. To get the horses and mules down
through the narrow opening was simply impossible, and there was nothing
for us but to leave them behind. Rayburn looked very grave over this
phase of the matter, for leaving the mules meant also that we must leave
the greater part of our ammunition and stores. That these things would
be abundantly safe in the cave, for any length of time, was not to the
purpose; the essential matter was that we would be deprived of them. It
was hard, too, to think that our animals would fall into the hands of
the Indians--for our only course with them must be to turn them loose in
the cañon, whence they certainly would go out in search of pasture into
the valley, and so be captured; but it was still harder to think that we
must go ourselves on foot and with a scant outfit of supplies.
It was not very cheerfully, therefore, that we went back into the cave
and began to sort out from our packs the articles which would be
absolutely necessary to our preservation in the rough work among the
mountains that probably was before us; and our shoulders already ached a
little in anticipation of the heavy loads which they must bear.
It was while we were thus engaged that Pablo begged that I would step
aside with him for a moment that he might speak to my ear alone. I saw
that there were tears upon his cheeks, and as he spoke he scarcely
could restrain his sobs.
"Señor," he said, "you know El Sabio?"
"Surely, Pablo."
"You know, señor, that he is a very small ass."
"It is true."
"And you know--you know, señor, how very tenderly we love each other.
Since I came away from my father and my mother, in Guadalajara, and from
my little brother and sister there, El Sabio is everything in the world
to me, señor. I--I cannot leave him, señor. I should die if we were
parted; and El Sabio would die also. And you say that you have perceived
that he is a very small ass. Do not ask me to leave him, señor."
"But we cannot take him with us, Pablo. What would you have?"
"That is it, señor; truly, I think that we can take him with us. You
see, he is so little; and it is quite wonderful through how small a
place El Sabio can crawl. He can creep like a kitten, señor, and he can
make himself into a very little bunch. And so I think that he can--if we
help him, you know, señor--and speak to him so that he will not be
alarmed, and will try to do his very best to make a small bunch of
himself--I think that we can get him down through the hole, and so take
him with us. But if we cannot, señor, then--you must forgive me,
señor--I love him so very dearly, you know--then I will stay with him
here. It would be better so than that El Sabio should think I no longer
loved him. And he would think that, señor, were I to go with you and
leave him here among these dreadful dead gentlemen alone."
It had not occurred to any of us that El Sabio might be condensed
sufficiently to go through the narrow way; but if he truly were the
collapsable donkey that Pablo declared him to be, we had a good deal to
be thankful for. He was a sturdy little creature, and his small back
could bear easily twice as much as any two of ours. With his assistance
we certainly would be able to carry with us all of our ammunition and
arms--of which defensive stuff we could not well afford to spare the
smallest part.
And El Sabio, after Pablo had made a long explanation of the case to
him, and had told him precisely what we expected him to do--to all of
which he listened gravely and with an astonishing air of comprehending
what was said to him--seemed to enter into the spirit of the situation,
and to try his very best to meet its requirements. It is a puzzle to me
to this day how El Sabio managed to shrink himself so that we got him
through that narrow hole; but he certainly did manage it--and then went
down the stone stair-way backward, as though he had been trained to be a
trick donkey from his youth up. When the feat was accomplished, and he
stood safely out in the cañon, the expressions of love, and of
congratulation upon his cleverness, which Pablo lavished upon him were
enough to have turned completely a less serious-minded donkey's head.
Such of our stores as we were compelled to leave behind us, including
our saddles, and the pack-saddles, and all the heavier portion of our
camp equipage, we heaped in one corner of the cave and piled rocks
over; and then we turned our poor horses and the mules loose in the
cañon, feeling certain that their instinct would lead them out to the
valley in search of food. It went to our hearts to know that these good
beasts of ours were doomed to hard service under Indian masters to the
end of their days.
All being thus in readiness for our advance, we went down the stair-way
beneath the swinging statue, and from beneath pulled out the piece of
rock which propped up the great mass of stone. With a heavy jar it fell
and closed the passage-way, and we prepared to start. Just then Fray
Antonio remembered that he had left on a ledge in the cave--that we had
used as a shelf for the storage of various small matters during our
sojourn there--a little volume that he dearly loved: the _Meditations of
Thomas à Kempis_. He was full of remorse for his forgetfulness, and did
not ask that we should turn back to get his book for him; yet his
distress over the loss of it was so evident that we had not the heart to
go on.
"It will take only ten minutes to go back," said Rayburn, and as he
spoke he ran up the stair-way and set his shoulders to sway up the
stone. In a moment he called: "Just come here, Young, and help, will
you? It don't work as easily from this side." But even with Young's help
the stone did not move. Then the rest of us joined these two, and all
five of us together pushed with all our strength--and the stone did not
yield by so much as the breadth of a hair! And then rather a queer look
came into Rayburn's face, and he said: "I think that I understand what
is the matter. The point of leverage falls beyond the edge of the hole.
From where we have a chance to push, we are working against the whole
weight of the stone. We might as well try to lift the mountain itself!"
And then he added, "I guess we'd better give this thing up and start."
Very curious feelings were in our breasts as we picked up our packs and
set off along the cañon; for we knew that by that way only could we go,
and that, no matter what was ahead of us, our retreat was cut off.
XI.
THE SUBMERGED CITY.
A sweet, warm wind blew in our faces as we set off along the cañon; the
sun shone joyously upon us, and there was that fresh, tingling quality
in the air that is peculiar to regions high above the level of the sea.
In spite of the fact that the way behind us was irrevocably barred, and
that no matter what dangers were ahead of us we had no option but to
face them, our spirits were strong within us, and we went blithely on
our way. Young, who was in advance, began to whistle "Yankee Doodle";
and presently, from the rear of our procession, where Pablo walked
beside the heavily laden El Sabio, there broke forth a mouth-organ
accompaniment to this spirited melody.
The bed of the cañon, through which a little stream ran, fell away
before us along a slight down grade; which descent, since we found also
a good foot-way beside the stream, made walking comparatively easy
notwithstanding our heavy back-loads. Now and then our way would be
barred by masses of rock fallen from above, and by whole trees blown
down from their insecure roothold on the rocky cliffs; and twice we came
to steep descents which would have given us trouble had we not brought
along the ropes wherewith our packs had been bound. Shifting El Sabio
down these places was our hardest task; but with the ropes, and the
intelligent part that he took in the performance, we managed it
successfully.
So we went on for half a dozen miles or more through the windings of the
cañon, but keeping all the while a sharp lookout ahead--for in the mouth
of this end of the cañon, supposing it to open as at the other end upon
a grassy valley, we well enough might come upon an Indian camp. And that
we had come upon such a camp we felt quite sure when, late in the
afternoon, Rayburn signalled us from his advanced position--he having
gone to the head of the line in Young's place--to stand still until he
should reconnoitre a little. Being thus halted, we unslung our rifles
and loosed our pistols in their holsters, so that we might be ready in
case fighting suddenly should begin; and Rayburn went on around a turn
in the cañon, and for a while we lost sight of him.
Presently he returned and signalled us to join him, but to move
cautiously. When we came up with him he led us to the bend in the cañon,
and there a broad view opened to us; for the cañon suddenly widened
into a great valley, that was everywhere, so far as we could see,
surrounded by walls of rock almost perpendicular and vastly high. In the
bottom of the valley was a broad expanse of delectably green
meadow-land, broken here and there by groves of trees; and in the
valley's middle part, reaching from side to side of it, was a lovely
lake, whereof the blue was flecked by white reflections of certain
little idly drifting clouds: the sight of all which greenness and fair
water and broad range of sky--after being for so long a season pent up
in rocky fastnesses and wandering over brown, sun-baked plains--fairly
brought tears into my eyes because of its fresh and open loveliness. And
in the tender feeling that thus stirred my heart, as I could see in the
quick glance that he gave me, Fray Antonio also keenly sympathized; for
his nature was very open at all times to such gentle influences.
But Rayburn and Young, as was evident from their anxious looks, were
thinking only of the dangers which this lovely valley might hold in
store for us; for the shore of the lake nearest to us had many houses
built upon it, and we could see faintly, for the width of the lake was
nearly two miles, that there were other houses upon its farther shore.
Standing hidden behind a rock, Rayburn examined the valley carefully
through a field-glass for a long while.
"I must say this place beats me," he said at last, as he put the glass
down from his eyes. "There's no doubt about there being a town down
there; but I can't make out a sign of a single living thing. And what
is still queerer, the houses seem to go right down into the lake. If
you'll take the glass, Professor, you'll see that a few of them, on this
side, stand all right on dry ground; and then, farther down the sloping
bank, are a lot in the water; and beyond these there seem to be some
roofs just showing above the level of the lake. And as far as I can make
out, things are just the same over on the far shore. It looks as if the
lake had risen after the town was built."
As I looked through the glass I saw that what Rayburn had said was true;
and I observed with much interest that many of the houses were large,
and that all seemed to be well built of stone. Their construction
reminded me of the buildings which M. Charnay examined at Tula, and I
was eager to get down to them and examine them closely. Young and Fray
Antonio took the glass, in turn, and as none of us saw any signs of life
in the valley, we decided to go on. And we were mightily stimulated in
this resolve by finding, just at the end of the cañon, where the sharp
descent began, a graving of the King's symbol on the rock, with the
arrow pointing directly down the steep path.
"Here's a walled city, for sure," said Young; "and if this is where th'
treasure-house is, we won't raise a row because th' folks have gone off
an' left it. Just whoop up that burro of yours, Pablo, an' let's be
gettin' along. It's a pity we had t' leave th' mules behind. If th'
treasure's in silver, we can't get away with much of it with nothin' but
El Sabio t' pack it on."
Pablo did not understand this speech, of course, but he recognized his
own name and the name of El Sabio, and Young's gestures helped out the
meaning of his words. Therefore Pablo grinned, and "whooped up" El
Sabio; and we all set off briskly down the steep decline.
Presently we found our way much easier than we had been led to expect by
its rough beginning. As we advanced along it there was ample evidence
that the path had been graded and smoothed by the hand of man. In
several places it was carried on a terrace supported by a well-laid
retaining wall; a deep crevice was spanned by long slabs of stone, so
placed as to form a bridge; and where it turned sharply around a high
shoulder of rock, the face of the cliff had been quarried away. Yet that
this all had been done in a very remote time was shown by the fragments
of rock which had fallen into it here and there, and which were
blackened by age. "The same fellow who set that statue in place probably
was in charge here," was Rayburn's comment, "and he was a first-rate
engineer. I wish I knew how he managed to swing those stone slabs over
that crevice. There's no room there to set up a derrick, and it would
puzzle me to set blocks like that without one."
And Rayburn's admiration for the professional skill of this engineer of
a long past age was still further excited when the path came fairly into
the valley, and thence was carried downward along the gentle slope
towards the lake, by a perfectly even two-per-cent. grade, over a broad
way paved smoothly with squared blocks of stone. And Fray Antonio and I
were much interested in this work also, for we both perceived the
identity of its structure with the paved way that is found on the east
coast of Yucatan, and that is continued on the island of Cozumel.
By this paved avenue we entered the city--for, as we presently found, it
was entitled to this more dignified name. The first houses that we came
to were but small buildings enclosing a single room--such as are found,
inhabited by working-people, on the outskirts of any Mexican city at the
present day. They were silent and deserted; but they gave, at first
sight, the impression of being but momentarily abandoned, for the
belongings of their owners still remained in them as though the
every-day affairs of life still went on within their walls. In the first
that we entered we found an earthen pot still standing on a sort of
fireplace, and beside the fireplace a little pile of charcoal. There was
a fragment of bone in the pot, and beneath it were some scraps of
charcoal which remained unconsumed. It was as though cooking had been
going on here but an hour before. Rayburn even put his hand into the
ashes to feel if they still were warm. But closer investigation gave us
a juster notion of the long lapse of time that must have occurred since
any fire had burned upon this hearth. In one corner of the room we found
a pile of mats, but on touching these they crumbled into fragments in
our hands; and the bone in the pot was so dry and so porous that it was
light as cork.
As in this first house that we examined, so was it in all of them. All,
at the first glance, seemed to have been but a moment before deserted;
but all had signs about them which showed that they had been abandoned
for a very long time. In one we found a loom--in construction very like
that which the Navajo Indians use at the present day--on which hung,
partly completed, a sheer filament that once had been some sort of heavy
woollen cloth. In another, a cotton garment was lying carelessly upon a
shelf, as though but a moment before cast aside; yet, as I tried to pick
it up, it crumbled between my fingers into a fine powder.
Of humanity, the only sign that we found anywhere about this grim and
desert place was the dried, shrivelled remnant of a woman that we came
upon in an upper room of one of the larger houses farther on. She was
lying upon a bed of mats, partly turned upon her side, and one arm was
stretched out towards an earthen cup that stood just beyond her reach
upon the floor. There was strong pathos in the action of the figure, for
it told of the keen thirst of fever--of weakness so extreme that the
inch or two between the hand and the cup was a gulf impassable--of a
moaning struggle after the water so longed for--and then, at last, of
death in that utter and desolate loneliness. And what added to the
ghastliness of it all was that a thin ray of sunlight, coming through a
crevice in the wall, struck upon the woman's teeth--whence the lips had
dried away--and by its gleaming there made on her face a smile.
As we came close to the lake, we perceived, as Rayburn already had
discerned by the aid of the glass, that houses, partially submerged,
actually rose from the water, and that houses of which only the roofs
were visible were farther on. That this whole valley was the crater of
an extinct volcano was sufficiently evident; and we could only surmise
that in later times some fresh cataclysm of nature had poured suddenly
into it a vast body of water, and so had submerged the city that had
been builded here. Whatever had brought about the catastrophe, it
evidently had come with a most appalling suddenness. Everywhere the
condition of the houses showed how hastily they had been abandoned; and
the wild hurry of flight was shown still more clearly in the case of the
woman--whose surroundings gave evidence that she had been a person of
consequence--deserted in her age or infirmity and left lonely to die.
Young's face wore a melancholy expression as we stood upon the shore of
the lake, and looked out across it towards the faintly seen western
shore. "If this is th' place we're huntin' for," he said, "I guess our
treasure stock is pretty badly watered, unless somebody's had th' sense
t' keep th' treasure dry over on th' other side. We'd better move over
there, I reckon, an' take a look for it, especially as we've got t' go
that way anyhow in order t' get out. There ought t' be some sort of a
path around th' lake, between th' edge of th' water and th' cliffs."
But when we came to examine into this matter we found that there was no
path at all. On each side of the valley the walls of rock rose directly
from the water, sharp and sheer.
"Well," said Rayburn, when we had finished our inspection, "we've got
to get across somehow. I guess we'll have to sail in, the first thing
to-morrow morning, and build a raft. These pine-trees down here by the
water will cut easy and float well, and there's some comfort in that,
anyway. But what I'm after right now is my supper."
Pablo already had started a fire, having first unpacked El Sabio, that
he might refresh himself by rolling on the soft, green grass and by
eating his fill of it, and Young presently had some ham fried and some
coffee boiled. We had counted upon having fresh meat for supper that
night, for there was everything in the look of the valley to promise
that we would find game there; but, so far, not a four-footed thing nor
a bird had we seen, nor even signs of fish in the lake.