The Old Man's Tale
At once Bob and Joe were breathless with interest. They had often
heard of Inca secrets but had thought them nothing more than myths.
Now, as this strange old man stood before them, the youths wondered if
there might have been some truth in the fantastic tales told of Inca
mysteries.
The old man hesitated for several minutes, staring off into space.
Then, when the youths were becoming impatient with the long silence,
he continued, speaking in a low voice.
"Far, far away, in the heart of a huge mountain, is a narrow tunnel
that leads to a large cavern of Inca secrets." Again the stranger
hesitated, looking below at Cuzco.
"Why doesn't he hurry?" thought Joe, almost saying the words aloud.
Finally the old man continued.
"This cave is so large that it occupies the entire mountain," he went
on. "It is lighted with a strange brilliance, that comes mysteriously
from the outside. But ah! The Incas were marvelous inventors. They
could do many things that we Americans cannot do."
"Then you are an American?" inquired Bob quickly.
The old man nodded.
"I spent my early years in the United States," he explained.
"Graduated from college and set out to be a scientist. Then I became
interested in Inca ruins and came here to look for them. My entire
lifetime I have spent in these mountains, looking for ruins and
treasure."
"Treasure?" cried Joe. "Is there treasure here?"
"Undoubtedly there is," was the answer. "In fact I believe I have
found some."
The young men were all excitement.
"Tell us about it!" begged Joe.
"I am not certain that I have found any," the stranger said. "But I
came across a sort of bin that is covered with a heavy stone block.
Alone I am not able to lift it off. I firmly believe that in the bin
is something valuable. This is in that cave I told you about." He
stopped and glanced about; then, satisfied that no one else was near,
he continued: "It is a long, hard journey to this wonderful place.
There is a secret trail, that is known only to myself. And to add to
that, there is a single entrance to the cave. It cannot be opened
until you press a hidden button."
He stopped a moment and gazed thoughtfully at the young men.
"You saved my life," he went on, looking at Bob gratefully. "For this
I will gladly give you half of any treasure in the bin, if we can find
any. Will you make the trip with me?"
For a few moments the youths said nothing. They wondered if there was
really any treasure in the bin. And they wondered, too, if it might be
possible to locate still more in the near-by mountains.
"I am willing to go," said Bob at last. "It won't put us out any, I'm
sure. I think we can arrange it some way. Maybe Dad----"
He got no further, for at that moment the old man raised a hand for
silence.
"Of course your dad is all right," he said conclusively. "But I do not
wish to take anyone but you and your friend here with me. Even your
father might without thinking tell someone about this secret, and then
we would lose everything. And I want no one else to know."
"Then," began Bob, "you want only Joe Lewis here and myself--my name
is Bob Holton--to go with you?"
"You are right," came the reply. "And my name is Rander--_Doctor_
Rander. I would be much better satisfied if only we three went."
"I think it can be arranged," Bob told him. "What direction do we have
to go?"
"East. Almost straight east from Cuzco. But of course there are many
roundabout paths that we must follow, and much of the way is over no
trail at all."
"We'll let you know a little later, if that is all right," said Bob.
"Where can we get in touch with you?"
Dr. Rander explained that he was staying in a little adobe hut at the
other edge of Cuzco and that he had a sufficient number of mules to
carry the provisions needed.
"How soon do you want to start?" inquired Joe, who was anxious to make
the trip.
"I am ready any time," the old man said. "If you wish, we will start
tomorrow."
Bob explained that they would talk it over with their fathers and call
on their friends that night. With this, the youths headed back to
camp, not desiring to lose more time even in seeing the ruins at the
top of the hill.
"What do you think of it?" asked Bob a little later, as he and his
friend came in sight of the monoplane.
"I think a lot of it," Joe answered. "Why, it will be wonderful!"
"Don't be too sure that we can go," Bob reminded him. "It all depends
on what our dads think. If they're afraid to let us leave the
expedition and start out with this Dr. Rander, why, I suppose that
will end it all. And the old man won't let anyone else go with us."
"Funny he'd tell us about that secret, isn't it? If he had kept still,
he'd have had all the treasure for himself. But then, I suppose he was
so glad you saved his life that he was more than willing to let you in
on it. Then, too, he's not sure of finding it."
At the camp, the boys found their fathers and others awaiting them.
"What do you think of the ruins?" asked Mr. Holton, as the chums came
up.
"We don't know much about them," returned Joe. "But there's something
else we want to tell you."
While the men listened, Joe told of seeing the old man climbing up the
steep hill and of Bob's saving his life when he fell. He told of the
secret treasure that the stranger said was in the Andes, and of the
old man's desire for the two youths to accompany him in the mountains.
He finished by saying that he believed it might be worth while to go.
"Perhaps you're right," came from Mr. Holton. "It might pay you to go
with him. Do you think he can be trusted?" Mr. Holton had great faith
in the judgment of his son and Joe.
"Don't know why not," said Bob. "He seemed so glad that he had not
fallen down the cliff that he was happy to tell us about the
treasure."
"There isn't a chance of his being crazy, is there?" asked Karl
Sutman, who was also listening to the conversation.
"Oh, of course there's a chance," replied Bob, "but I'd be willing to
bet anything that he isn't."
"We can go with him, can't we?" queried Joe, glancing especially at
his father. "We may find treasure, after all."
"I see no reason why you shouldn't," came from Mr. Lewis. "Of course
you'll be careful. And there's very little danger of getting lost,
with all the native huts scattered about. What do you think, Howard?"
"Like you," Mr. Holton replied. "After all, Bob and Joe are able to
take care of themselves. If Karl will stay in the vicinity of Cuzco
until they get back, it will ease matters some. Or, if the boys will
be gone too long, Karl can come on with the rest of the expedition to
the valley of the Comberciato, and then return later to pick up Bob
and Joe in Cuzco."
"I'll be glad to do it," Karl Sutman said, and so the matter remained
settled.
That evening Bob and Joe went to Dr. Rander's hut at the edge of
Cuzco. The old man seemed glad to see them, offering them the best
chairs he had.
"Now about the secrets," he began, after he had closed the door and
made sure that no one was near. "First of all, we must keep it
strictly to ourselves. If, while on our way, anyone should ask why we
are going into the mountains, we must not tell them."
"For one thing, we're going to take movies of the country," said Joe,
and then explained this in full to the old man.
The youths spent all evening at the old man's hut. When at last they
were ready to leave, they had agreed on one thing: They were to start
early the next morning.
As they walked silently back to the camp, gazing up at the starlit
sky, Bob and Joe wondered what would be their adventures for the next
few weeks. Would they actually come into possession of valuable
treasure?