Frank Walton

“ Realizing that it would be impossible for him to pass through the open moonlight without being observed by those responsible for the erratic motions of the Ann, the young man remained standing perfectly still in a deep shadow against the face of the cliff.
The Ann moved on toward the thicket, and presently reached the shelter of trees growing there. In a moment she was entirely hidden from view.
“Now,” thought Sam, “the people who have been kind enough to change the position of the machine will doubtless show themselves in the moonlight.” ”

“ Fearful that Felix might return at any moment, or that the savages, enraged beyond control, might break away in the direction of the temple, Sam pushed the fellow along as rapidly as possible, and the two soon came to the great entrance of that which, centuries before, had been a sacred edifice. The fellow shuddered as he stepped into the musty interior.
“It is not for me to enter!” he said.
“And now,” Sam began, motioning his captive toward the chamber where the bunks and provisions had been discovered, “tell me about this trap which was set to-night for my chums.” ”

“ Ben went on, “Toluca took me to a point on the cliff to the south from which the ghost lights of the mysterious fortress can be seen, but we don’t know any more about the origin of the lights than we did before we saw them.”
“Then there really are lights?” asked Carl.
“There certainly are!” replied Ben.
“What kind of an old shop, is it?” asked Jimmie.
“It’s one of the old-time fortresses,” replied Ben. “It is built on a steep mountainside and guards a pass between this valley and one beyond. ”

“ Hearing the cries of their chums, Ben and Glenn sprang for their guns and, walking swiftly toward the river, began firing, both for the purpose of directing the boys toward the camp and with the added purpose of frightening away any hostile 18element, either human or animal, walking on four legs or on two. Panting, and scarcely believing in their own good fortune, Jimmie and Carl presently came to where their chums stood not far from the machines. Both boys dropped down in the long grass the instant they felt themselves under the protection of the automatics in the hands of their friends. ”

“ The air in the valley was growing warmer every minute. By noon, when the sun would look almost vertically down, it promised to be very hot, as the mountains shut out the breeze.
“I don’t think it will be necessary to look for game,” Sam went on in a moment, “for the reason that the Louise and Bertha, ought to be here soon after sunset. It may possibly take them a little longer than that to cover the distance, as they do not sail so fast as the Ann, but at least they should be here before to-morrow morning. Then you’ll see the savages scatter!” ”

“ Jimmie observed glancing hastily in the direction pointed out by Sam, “looks to me like the Bertha.”
“Can you identify an aeroplane at that distance in the night-time?” asked Sam. “I’m sure I couldn’t do anything of the kind!”
“I don’t know as I can express it,” Jimmie replied, “but to me every flying machine has a method and manner of its own. There is something in the way an aeroplane carries itself in the sky which reminds me somewhat of the manner of a man in walking. ”

“ When they came to the cross passage which led to the rear of the corridor they listened for an instant and thought they detected a low murmur of voices in the distance.
“Let’s investigate!” suggested Carl.
“Investigate nothing!” replied Jimmie. “Let’s move for the machine and the level of the stars. If the savages are there, we’ll chase ’em out.”
But the savages were not there. When the three came to the curtain of vines which concealed the entrance to the passage, the forest seemed as still as it had been on the day of creation. ”

“ A MASTERLY RETREAT. “I don’t see any savages!” replied Glenn.
“Can’t you hear them?” demanded Jimmie.
“I think I can smell something!” Carl exclaimed.
“Don’t get gay, now!” Jimmie answered. “This is no funny business! If you’ll listen, you’ll hear the snakes creeping through the grass.”
The boys listened intently for an instant and then, without looking into the tents, sprang toward the machines. It seemed for a moment as if a thousand voices were shouting at them. They seemed to be in the center of a circle of men who were all practicing a different style of war-whoop. ”

“ They’re just about as easy to manipulate as one of the foolish houses we see on the stage. It’s no trick to operate them at all.”
“Well,” Jimmie argued, “these passages and traps are doubtless used every day by a man who don’t take any precautions about keeping them hidden. I presume Miguel is the only person here who knows of their existence, and he just slams around in them sort of careless-like.”
“That’s the answer!” replied Carl. “Let’s chase along and see where the tunnel ends, and then get back to Sam. He may be crying his eyes out for our polite society right now!” ”

“ Sam answered, “which could not be traced eventually to some human agency. Usually to some interested human agency.”
“Well,” grinned Carl, “if there ain’t any ghosts at this ruined temple, what’s the use of my going there to see them?”
“You may remain and watch the machine if you care to,” Sam replied. “While we are supposed to be in a valley rarely frequented by human kind, it may be just as well to leave some one on guard. For instance,” the young man went on, “a jaguar might come along and eat up the motors!”
“Jaguars?” exclaimed Carl. ”

“ To this day the boys assert that it was the whirling of the electric searchlights which kept the savages from advancing upon them. At any rate, for a time, the unseen visitors contented themselves with verbal demonstrations.
“We’ll have to jump out on the machines!” advised Glenn. “We can’t fight a whole army!”
24“Why, there’s only two!” Jimmie taunted. “You said yourself that we saw all the black men there were in this neighborhood!”
“Aw, keep still,” Ben cried. “We haven’t got time to listen to you boys joke each other! Come on, Jimmie! You and I for the Louise!” ”

“ Glenn went on. “They ruled all that part of the world until the Spaniards came. They were very superstitious, the sun being an object of worship. The Temple of the Sun, on the island of Titicaca, was one of the most magnificent structures ever erected. Outside and inside the walls were lined with gold and precious stones. The temple was the pride of the Incas, but it was stripped of its rich covering by the Spaniards. The walls were torn down and rifled, and the sacred sun was seized and gambled for by the covetous invaders. Nothing that could be converted into money was overlooked. ”

“ It appeared to me then that the last morsel of food that had passed my lips had exhausted itself at a period farther away than the birth of Adam!”
“You must have been good and hungry!” laughed Mellen.
“What did you wander off into that country for?” asked Jimmie. “You might have known better.”
“I couldn’t remain in the Canal Zone,” replied Sam, “because no one would give me a job. Everybody seemed to want to talk to me for my own good. Even the chief in charge of the Gatun dam contract told me——”
“Do you know the chief in charge of the Gatun dam contract?” asked Havens, casually. ”

“ Havens declared, “but it seems to me at this time that I have also lost all chance of bringing Redfern to punishment.”
“I’m sorry,” consoled Mellen.
“I don’t know what to do now,” the millionaire exclaimed. “With the information contained in deposit box A in their possession, the associates of Redfern may easily frustrate any move we may make in Peru.”
“So it seems!” mused Mellen. “But this man Redfern is still a person of considerable importance! Men who have passed out of the range of human activities seldom have power to compel the murder of an enemy many hundreds of miles away.” ”

“ Laying his automatic down on the floor, Havens walked deliberately to a great easy-chair which stood not far away and sat down. No one would judge from the manner of the man that he was not resting himself in one of his own cosy rooms at his New York hotel. Sam was not slow in following the example of his employer. Redfern frowned slightly at the nonchalance of the man. ”

“ The others we care nothing about.”
“I know where that secret stairway is,” Ben said. “While we were sneaking around here in the darkness, a fellow came climbing up the stairs, grunting as though he had reached the top of the Washington monument.”
“Where were the others put to bed?” asked Sam. “We heard Redfern dismiss them for the night. Did you see where they went?”
“Sure!” replied Jimmie. “They’re in a room opening from this corridor a little farther down.”
Mr. Havens took the key from the lock of the door before him and handed it to Jimmie. ”

“ Ben said, “Jimmie and I will go back in the Louise, and Glenn and Carl can take the Bertha. You, Mr. Mellen, and Sam can return in the automobile, and we’ll fly just above you along the river trail. If you tumble over a precipice,” he added, with a smile, “we may be able to pick you up, or you may be able to help us!”
“There is one thing about it,” Carl suggested, “and that is that we won’t have to use the flying machines for freight wagons. The automobile can carry the tents and provisions and everything of that sort back to Quito. ”

“ Carl chuckled as the two watched the young man disappear around the angle of the cliff.
“Before he gets back,” the boy said, “we’ll know all about that room, won’t we? Say,” he went on in a moment, “I think this haunted temple business is about the biggest fraud that was ever staged. If people only knew enough to spot an impostor when they saw one, there wouldn’t be prisons enough in the world to hold the rascals.”
143“You tell that to Sam to-night,” laughed Jimmie. “He likes these moralizing stunts. Are you going in right now?” ”

“ Now, naturally, the people who are engineering the ghost lights and all that sort of thing there see the fellows coming and get the apparatus out of sight before the visitors arrive.”
“Does Mr. Havens know all about this?” asked Jimmie.
“You’re dense, my son!” whispered Ben. “We’ve come all this way to light down on the fortress in the night-time without giving warning of our approach. That’s why we came here in the flying machines.”
“He thinks Redfern is here?” asked Jimmie. ”

“ WHERE THE TROUBLE BEGAN. “When Redfern disappeared,” Mr. Havens went on, “we employed the best detective talent in America to discover his whereabouts and bring him back. The best detective talent in America failed.”
“That ain’t the way they put it in stories!” Carl cut in.
“We spent over a hundred thousand dollars trying to bring the thief to punishment, and all we had to show for this expenditure at the end of the year was a badly spelled letter written—at least mailed—on the lower East Side in New York, conveying the information that Redfern was hiding somewhere in the mountains of Peru.” ”

“ Sam replied hopefully.
“Yes,” said Jimmie sorrowfully, “and there’s a bunch of angry savages between us and the grub on board the Ann! If you look out the door, you’ll see the brutes inviting us to come out and be cooked!”
The prisoner threw a startled glance outside and ran to the back of the temple, declaring that the savages were besieging the temple, and that it might be necessary for them to lock themselves in the chamber for days with the slain jaguars! ”

“ Carl suggested, “and that would leave the savages to sneak into the temple whenever they find the nerve to do so, and also leave Pedro to work any old tricks he saw fit. Besides,” the boy went on, “we won’t be gone more than ten minutes.”
“You’re always making a sneak on somebody,” grinned Jimmie. “You had to go and climb up on our machine last night, and get mixed up in all this trouble. You’re always doing something of the kind!”
“I guess you’re glad I stuck around, ain’t you?” laughed Carl. “You’d ’a’ had a nice time in that den of lions without my gun, eh?” ”

“ Havens went on, “has agents in every part of the world. In Peru as elsewhere; especially in Peru. It is my belief that not only the men of the mine we came upon, but the men of every other mine along the Andes, were under instructions to look out for, and, under some pretense, destroy any flying machines which made their appearance.” ”