"Above all things, my dear lads, bear ever in mind this one fact,--we are not here to fight. We do not come as conquerors, weapons in hand, hearts filled with lust of blood. To the contrary, we are on a peaceful mission, hoping to learn, trusting to enlighten, with malice towards none, but honest love for all those who may wear the human shape, be they of our own colour or--or--otherwise.""That's what's the matter with Hannah's cat!" cheerfully chipped in the irrepressible Waldo. "I say, uncle Phaeton, is it just a lie-low here until yonder fellows grow tired of looking for what they can't find, then a flight on our part; or will we--""Have we voyaged so far and seen so much, to rest content with so very little?" exclaimed the professor, hardly as precise of speech as under ordinary conditions. "No, no, my lads! Yonder lies the greatest discovery of the nineteenth century, and we are--Get a hustle on, boys! The day is waning, and with so much to see, to study, to--Come, I say!"In spite of his initial attempt to impress his nephews with a due sense of the heavy responsibilities which rested upon them, Phaeton Featherwit was far more excited than either one of the brothers. Doubtless he more nearly appreciated the importance of this wondrous discovery, provided his now firm belief was correct,--that yonder stood a solid, substantial city, erected by the hands of a people whom common consent had agreed were long since wiped out of existence.
The story told by Cooper Edgecombe, backed up by the articles taken from the person of the warrior whom he had slain in self-defence, certainly had its weight; while the brief and imperfect glimpse which he had won of yonder valley helped to bear out that astounding belief. And yet, how could it be true?
Really believing, yet forced by more sober reason to doubt, the poor professor was literally "in a sweat" long ere another view could be won of the depressed valley, although the landing of the air-ship was so well chosen as to make that trip of the briefest duration consistent with prudence.
The natural obstacles were considerable, however, and as they picked their way along, the brothers for the first time began to gain a fairly accurate idea of what was meant by the term, a virgin forest.
To all seeming, the human foot had never ventured here, nor were any marks or spoor of wild beasts perceptible on either side.
Although the aerostat had landed not far below the crest of those hills, the adventurers had to climb higher, before winning the coveted view, partly because the most practicable route led down into and along a winding gulch, where the footing was far less treacherous than upon the higher ground, cumbered, as that was, with the leaf-mould of centuries.
Still, half an hour's steady labour brought the little squad to the coveted point, and once again Professor Featherwit was almost literally stricken speechless,--for there, far below their present location, spread out in level expanse, lay the secret valley with all its marvels.
Far more extensive than it had appeared by that initial glimpse, the valley itself seemed composed of fertile soil, yet, by aid of the river which cut through, near its centre, irrigating ditches conveyed water to every acre, thus ensuring bounteous crops of grain and of fruit as well.
Numerous buildings stood in irregular array, for the most part of no great height, nor with many pretensions towards architectural beauty or grace of outline; but in the centre of the valley upreared its head a massive structure, pyramidal in shape, consisting of five comparatively narrow terraces, connected one with another only at each of the four corners, where stood a wide-stepped flight of stones.
"Behold!" huskily gasped the professor, intensely excited, yet still able to control the field-glass through which he was eagerly scanning yonder marvels. "The temple of the gods! And, yonder, the temple of sacrifice, unless my memory is--and look!
The people are--they wear just such garb as--Oh, marvellous!
Amazing! Astounding! Incredible--yet true!"
Although their uncle could thus take in the various details to better advantage, still the intervening distance was not so great as to entirely debar the brothers from finding no little to interest them, as was readily proven by their various exclamations.
"Just look at the people, will ye, now? Flopping around like they hadn't any bigger business than to--Reckon they're looking for us to come back, Bruno?""Or watching for the monster bird of prey, rather," suggested the elder Gillespie. "Of course they couldn't distinguish our faces, and our bodies were fairly well hidden. And, even more, of course, they must be totally ignorant of all such things as flying-machines and the like.""Poor, ignorant devils!" sympathetically sighed the youngster.
"Well, we'll have to do a little missionary work in this quarter, before taking our departure, eh, uncle Phaeton?"With a start, Featherwit descended out of the clouds in which he had been lost ever since winning a fair view of the secret city;and now, rallying his wits and fairly aglow with eager interest in this marvellous discovery, he began pointing out the various objects of special importance, naming them with glib assurance, then reminding the boys how wonderfully similar all was to what had existed in Old Mexico before the conquest.
Bruno listened with greater interest than his brother could summon at will. For one thing, he had long been a lover of the genial Prescott, and, now that his memory was freshened in part, was able to closely follow the course of that little lecture, noting each strong point made by the professor in bolstering up his delightful theory.
That monologue, however, was abruptly broken in upon by Waldo, who gave an eager exclamation, as he reached forth a pointing finger:
"Look! There's a white woman yonder,--two of 'em, in fact!"