CHAPTER XXIV.
THE CITY OF A VANISHED RACE.
But even in that instant of deadly peril, Ding-dong did not lose hispresence of mind, or, perhaps, instinct of self-preservation would be abetter phrase.
As he felt himself lose his balance, he clung to the network of therail, and hung there head downward between the sky and the earth forone instant. But that brief molecule of time was enough for Joe and Natto secure his feet, as they flashed over the rail, and drag him back onboard.
“Go to the cabin, sir,” ordered the professor, who was white and shaky,as, indeed, were the others.
There was no gainsaying his words, but Ding-dong, as usual, had to saysomething. He was the most unperturbed person on board, in fact.
“I d-d-d-d-didn’t do it on p-p-purpose, you know,” he remarked, as hewalked off.
“Good heavens!” exclaimed the professor, leaning against the rail,“what trouble is that boy going to get into next?”
The stuttering lad’s narrow escape had so unnerved them all that therewas no answer.
“Well?” said the professor at length, as if seeking a reply to hisquestion.
“Don’t ask me, sir,” gasped out Nat. “I haven’t got my breath back yet.”
It was, perhaps, half an hour later when the entire craft waselectrified by a cry from Joe.
“Nat was right! It is a lake!”
No need to ask to what he referred. The professor ordered the_Discoverer_ sent higher, so as to give them a larger horizon, or,rather, a bird’s-eye view.
As the craft rose upward in obedience to her planes, they saw beneaththem, but still at some little distance, what Nat has since declaredwas the most wonderful sight he has ever seen or hopes to see.
Rimmed by bare, gaunt mountains, inhospitable and bleak, lay a smalllake, set like a turquoise in dull gold. In the midst of this lake wasan island, and on this island, even at that height, they couldperceive, were buildings rising in terraced formation. At the extremesummit of the island, which rose to a peak, was something that flashedand glowed in the sunlight almost blindingly.
“It’s the golden dome of the lost city!” gasped Nat.
“Say, Nat,” said Joe in rather a shaky voice, laying one hand on Nat’sarm.
“What is it, Joe?” asked Nat, without taking his eyes off the wonderfulsight before him.
“Nothing; only—only I feel a bit scared,” was Joe’s quaveringconfession.
“You may well feel awe-stricken,” said the professor, whose eyes weregleaming, “ours are the first eyes to behold that island since themysterious catastrophe that wiped out the race that inhabited it,occurred.”
There came a sudden voice at their elbows.
“L-l-l-looks like C-C-C-C-Coney I-I-Island.”
It was the incorrigible Ding-dong, who had taken advantage of theexcitement to slip out of his place of involuntary confinement.
But, in the general interest in all that was occurring, no attentionwas paid to him. In the midst of the eager talk, and still more eagerscrutiny of the island, old Matco, who had come out upon the deck andhad stood silently gazing at the lost city, uttered a sharp cry.
Then, raising his hands above his head and fixing his eyes upon thesun, he began muttering what seemed to be a prayer.
This done, he turned to the professor and poured out a rapid flood ofeager, emphatic words in his corrupt Spanish. So fast did he speak thatthe professor had difficulty in following him. But by paying closeattention he managed to make out the old man’s meaning.
“What does he say?” asked Mr. Tubbs, as the old Indian ceased historrent of words, and leaned back, looking quite exhausted.
“Why, it’s like fiction,” said the professor. “The old man says that weare fulfilling a tradition of his race which says that one day wingedmen from the sky would discover the city.”
“Well, that’s a good omen,” said Nat.
“W-w-w-whatever that may be,” sputtered Ding-dong. “Guess you meann-n-no men.”
But the professor paid no attention to the irrepressible youth.Instead, he assumed rather a grave look.
“Why, I’m not quite so sure that it is a good augury,” he said slowly.“The old man says that the prophecy or tradition goes on to say thatthe wrath of the long-dead Incas shall be visited on the violators oftheir hidden city, and that a terrible end will overtake the sky menwho invade it.”
As the professor talked the old Indian fixed his eyes on him as if herealized what he was saying. As the man of science concluded, he noddedsolemnly, as if indorsing all that had been told.
“Oh, well,” said Nat, “we are not going to turn back for the sake of anold Indian ghost story.”
“Of course not,” said the professor; “but I thought if any of you aresuperstitiously inclined, I would warn you.”
“I guess it would take more than talk like that to turn us back now,”said Joe. “I’d face a legion of spooks to investigate that place.”
The others agreed with him. Indeed, as the _Discoverer_ grew nearer,the marvels of the lost city grew more and more awe-inspiring.
What had appeared in the distance to be a mere huddle of terracedbuildings, were now seen to be stately palaces, some of them with treesstill growing amidst them. The buildings rose in this form till theyreached their climax at the great gold-plated dome that capped thesummit of the wonderful isle.
The walls, so far as could be seen, were white, but profuselyornamented with barbaric magnificence.
Not a little of the mystic effect of the island was gained from theprecipitous and rugged cliffs of the mountains that walled the lake.
“However do you suppose a lake came to be in such a situation?”wondered Nat, addressing the professor.
“In my opinion,” said the scientist, “that lake is what was once thecrater of a volcano, more enormous than any yet known.”
“And what we thought were separate mountains were once only part of thesummit of that volcano?” asked Nat wonderingly.
“I think we would be correct in assuming so. In many parts of the worldthe craters of extinct volcanoes are found to be filled with water,just as this one is.”
“The water must be of immense depth,” said Joe.
“In some cases it has been impossible to touch bottom, even with thelongest lines and the most perfect sounding apparatus,” was theastonishing reply.
“But how does an island come to be in the middle of such a deep lake?”was what Mr. Tubbs wanted to know.
“What we call an island is probably the summit of another peak of thecrater,” said the professor, “or it may have been formed, like thosevolcanic islands of which we have such a keen recollection, by theaction of earth’s internal fires.”
The dirigible dropped lower. It was now almost directly above the lostcity. It could be seen that surrounding the golden dome was a vast,semi-circular platform or courtyard of stone, with other stones set upperpendicularly around it.
“It is precisely like the arrangement of the Temple of the Sun inPeru,” said the professor.
“It will make a good place to land,” spoke the practical Joe.
“Doesn’t it seem almost like a sacrilege to bring a modern dirigible toearth in the very courtyard where the rites of ancient religion werepracticed?” spoke Nat, who was an imaginative lad.
“Not at all,” said the professor, “and as for that ancient religion, ifwe had lived in the days when it flourished, I fancy we wouldn’t haveliked it much. Like most ancient religions, it was a creed of bloodshedand violence. Human sacrifices may have been indulged in on those verystones we see beneath us.”
The boys agreed that this put quite another light on the matter, andthe descent was made without further comment. The dirigible came torest in the lost city of the Bolivian Andes at three o’clock in theafternoon. Mr. Tubbs was left to guard the _Discoverer_ with old Matco,who refused to move one step through the silent, long-deserted streets.But the boy
s and the professor set out on a tour of exploration.
The streets, they found, were like those of mountainous cities inEurope, and consisted mostly of steps. It was one of the most uncannyfeelings that any of them had ever experienced, this walking through acity of the dead. For, although the ancient places were mostly inruins, from earthquakes the professor judged, the city yet seemedlifelike enough for some of the vanished race to turn a corner at anyinstant.
For some reason, the boys kept very close to each other and to theprofessor, showing no disposition to wander. They found that, as theyapproached the lake, the buildings grew poorer in character and werenot carved or decorated like those closer to the temple. The remains ofa splendid wharf remained, however, which set the boys to wonderingwhat had become of the boats that must have once plied between the cityand the shore.
This, in turn, suggested ruminations upon the means employed by thevanished race of reaching the lake, for to climb over the mountains wasobviously impossible. The professor opined that, at some time, a tunnelmust have existed. This set the boys crazy to try to find it, but theman of science declared that, in all probability, the tunnel, if it hadever existed, had been ruined by earthquakes long since.
They stood by the lake side for a time looking into its dark bluedepths, and then began a return up the street, climbing the steps cutin the rock.
“Where’s all the treasure we were going to find?” asked Joe, as theyclimbed the steep causeway worn by the feet of a race long since passedout of existence.
“I don’t imagine we are likely to find much that is valuable,” said theprofessor. “My belief now is, that when the Spaniards came theinhabitants of this city concealed everything valuable in it in someplace known only to themselves.”
“Maybe the lake bottom,” suggested Joe.
“That is not improbable. At any rate, I think we shall have to contentourselves with the glory of having discovered this wonderful place. Itis far more perfect than the ruins of Peru are described as being.”
“What about taking that gold plating off the sacred dome?” said thepractical-minded Joe.
“Not with my consent,” said the professor. “I would wish this city tobe the Mecca of antiquarians from all over the world.”
“I agree with you,” said Nat. “It would be vandalism of the worst sortto strip that rock.”
“Oh, I was only joking,” said Joe, with a rather red face.
“Here’s a peculiar-looking building,” went on Joe, a few moments later,as they passed a tower-like structure, higher than the other buildings,and without windows.
“Let us survey it,” said the professor. “See, here is a door. It hasfallen in, it is true, but I imagine we can squeeze through.”
By dint of getting on their hands and knees they managed to crawl underthe richly carved and broken portal, Nat pausing to notice that thecarvings seemed to be of various astronomical bodies.
Within the tower they found themselves standing at the bottom of atall, narrow, perpendicular shaft. It was, in fact, like looking up acircular chimney. At the top was something which at first sight seemedto be a big glass lens; but the professor pronounced it to be purecrystal.
“This is the most amazing find yet!” he exclaimed with enthusiasm. “Ibelieve that this tower formed a sort of rude telescope, through whichdifferent observations were carried on.”
He clasped his hands in scientific fervor. Indeed, they had seen enoughthat afternoon to turn the brain of the least imaginative man ofscience!
Nat informed the professor of the carvings he had noticed.
“That settles the matter,” said the professor enthusiastically. “Goodheavens, what a find! It has long been a controversy between variousscientific men as to whether or no the ancient races understoodastronomy in the true sense. The finding of this rude telescope will gofar toward—— Gracious! what was that?”
“What?” cried Nat, considerably startled.
“Why, a hand reached out and grasped my hat and——”
Before the professor could conclude his sentence the boys saw a smallbrown paw project from a ledge above him and whisk his unlucky hat fromhis head.
“It’s a monkey!” cried Nat.
“A lot of them!” exclaimed Joe.
“T-t-t-there they go,” cried Ding-dong, as a dozen or more apes of theprehensile tailed type rushed off amidst the ruins, chattering andsquealing and tearing and clawing at the professor’s unlucky headgear.
“Just to think,” sighed the man of science with resignation, “that Icame all this way, and we have made all these discoveries, and yet myill-fortune with hats pursues me still.”
“I’d give several dozen hats to have seen what we’ve seen,” Natreminded him.
“That is so! that is so!” Professor Grigg agreed; “but——”
“Look out!” cried Joe, behind him, suddenly.
The professor leaped back just as an ugly flat head, with a pair ofmalicious leaden eyes, protruded itself at his elbow from between thecrevices. It was the head of an immense snake.
Without more ado the explorers made haste to get out of theastronomical tower.
“Exploring is certainly strenuous work,” commented Joe as they gainedthe open air.
“Yes; I don’t wish to do any more without a rifle,” agreed Nat.