The sun was rising and sending his golden arrows darting through the
thick mist which hung over the plantation, as I went out into the
court-yard, to find all still and peaceful, for work had not yet
commenced.
I had taken the precaution of laying in a good supply of provisions,
which I carried in a wallet in company with flint and steel, matches,
and several candles; for, instead of the morning light making my project
seem absurd, I had grown warmer upon the subject, and come to the
determination that if buried treasures had lain in the earth all these
ages I might as well become the owner of one as for it to lie there
another century, waiting some less scrupulous searcher.
The night had not been passed without quiet thought, and I had come to
the conclusion that if so much gold had been used for the embellishment
of the various temples, and that gold had been hastily torn down and
hidden, it would most probably be in the vicinity of a ruined temple.
But at this present time I was red-hot for exploring the cavern, which
did not fit with my common-sense argument, without it should prove that
there had once existed a temple somewhere on one of the platforms at the
side of the gorge, when, if that should be the case, I felt sure that I
had hit upon the right place.
What, then, was my first proceeding?
Evidently to search the sides of the ravine for traces of some ancient
building.
Tom's words on the previous day had not been without effect. It was
quite possible that I was watched, either by some spy of Garcia's, or,
it might be, by some suspicious Indians who had seen me searching about,
perhaps, for aught I could tell, close by one of the buried treasures,
of whose existence they were aware.
What a thought that was!--it sent a thrill through me, and roused me to
fresh energy and determination.
Under the circumstances, and granting that I had been watched--the
figure I had seen corroborating Tom's words--it was evidently my policy
to get away unseen; and to achieve this I had risen thus early, swung on
my wallet, and, armed with my gun, a hunting-knife, and a long iron rod,
I walked softly round the house, but only to have my nostrils saluted by
the fumes of tobacco, and the next instant I was face to face with Tom
Bulk, leaning against a post and smoking.
"Startin' so soon, Mas'r Harry!" he said quietly. "I thought you'd be
in good time this morning."
Then, paying not the slightest heed to my discontented looks, he knocked
the ashes out of his pipe, shook himself together, and prepared to
follow me.
"But I don't want you with me, Tom," I said.
"Dessay not, Mas'r Harry; but I'm a-coming all the same, and got my gun
cleaned up ready."
I knew it was useless to complain--for Tom had already given me one or
two samples of how obstinate he could turn--so I made the best of it;
and, knowing that he was as trustworthy as man could be, I trudged on
with him close behind, hour after hour, till, after several wanderings
wide of the wished-for spot, we hit upon a little clear, cold, babbling
stream.
"I'll bet tuppence that comes out of that big hole," said Tom eagerly.
The same thought had occurred to me; and now, just as I had given up all
hope of finding the gorge that day, here was the silver clue that should
lead us straight to its entrance.
The stream led us, as we had expected, right to the mouth of the gorge--
that is, to where the rocks, which had heretofore been only a gentle
slope clothed with abundant vegetation, suddenly contracted, became
precipitous, and broken up into patches of rich fertility and sterile
grandeur.
But now these charms were displayed in vain; for the gorge being
reached, I prepared to examine carefully its sides, and accordingly
began to climb.
"Thought you meant the big hole, Mas'r Harry?" said Tom, gazing uneasily
about, and evidently seeing an enemy in every lump of rock or trunk of
tree.
"Up here, Tom, first," I said.
He followed me sturdily, without a word, up, and up, and up, climbing
over the precipitous sides, with tough root or fibrous vine lending us
their aid, till, breathless, we stopped to gaze round or down into the
rich ravine below.
Platform after platform I reached, and then peered about amongst the
dense growth in search of some trace of masonry; but though again and
again the blocks of stone wore the appearance of having been piled
together, I could find nothing definite--nothing but that ever-recurring
dense foliage creeping over and hiding everything, till we had panted up
another hundred feet, where a much larger table-land or platform
extended before us.
My heart beat painfully now; for, judging from appearances, it seemed
that if ever temple had looked down upon the beautiful little vale, this
must have been the spot where it was piled. The cavern was sacred to a
god; there must, then, have been some temple or place of sacrifice near
at hand, it seemed, and I longed to begin investigating; but only to
seat myself upon a mossy block, dreading the search lest it should prove
unfruitful, and so dash my golden visionary thoughts. But at length I
was about to commence, when a throb of joy sent the blood coursing
through my veins, for Tom said, in his dry ill-tempered way:
"Been some building going on here some time or another, Mas'r Harry."
I started to my feet then, to find that the block I had used for my seat
had once been squared for building, and on peering about, there, in
every direction, amongst creeper, moss, and vine, lay fragments of some
mighty temple. Some of the blocks were crumbling away; some square and
fresh as if lately cut; and many of a size that was gigantic, and
excited wonder as to how they could have been moved.
I was right, then. Here had once been a grand temple; and if its
treasures had been hidden by the ancient priests of the place, where so
likely a concealment as the mysterious cave, whose gloomy entrance I
could just distinguish far-off below us? The building must once have
been grand, for every step revealed new traces, with the vegetable world
completing the ruin commenced by man: mosses eating away, roots forcing
themselves amongst interstices, and moving with mighty force stupendous
blocks from their ancient sites.
"Yes, this was the temple. I was right so far," I exclaimed to myself.
"Now, then, for the treasure! This way, Tom!" I exclaimed, turning to
descend, eager now, and excited.
But the descent was steep at times, even perilous, though I heeded it
not; and in less than half an hour we should have reached the stream
meandering through the rugged bottom of the ravine, had not Tom, who was
always on the look-out for danger, suddenly dragged me down into the
shelter of a mossy boulder, and, in reply to my inquiring look,
contented himself with pointing a little below us to the left, when,
following the direction of his arm, it seemed to me that my secret
starting that morning had been in vain. The golden treasure, if it
existed, appeared about to be snatched from my grasp--my knowledge was
about to be met by cunning, perhaps force. We were watched. Of that
there was no doubt, and my heart sank with bitter disappointment; for
there, where Tom pointed, plainly to be seen peering at us from a clump
of verdure, was a pair of sharp bright eyes, their owner being carefully
hidden from view.