"We need not begin here, Bertie; we are outside the line of sight. From

that hole I could not see the end of these rocks. We will start at the

middle, and work in opposite directions."

 

On arriving off the centre of the wall both dived. The depth was about

twelve feet, and as the water was perfectly clear, Harry could see four or

five feet round him. He was obliged to swim carefully, for the bottom was

covered with rocks, for the most part rounded by the action of the sea.

For an hour he continued his search, by which time he had reached nearly

the end of the line of rocks. Then he landed on a ledge of rock and sat

down, calling to Bertie to join him.

 

"We will rest for a quarter of an hour," he said, "and then begin again.

This time we will keep twenty or thirty feet farther out; it is more

likely to be there than close in. If the boat struck, the next wave would

sweep over her, and she would probably go down stern first, and her cargo

would fall out that way."

 

After their rest they started again, swam out a few strokes, and then

dived. Harry had gone down five or six times, when, on his coming to the

surface, he heard a shout, and saw Bertie swimming towards him.

 

"I have found them, Harry! There are a number of ingots, but they were so

heavy that I could not bring one of them to the surface."

 

As Harry reached him the lad turned round and swam back. "There they are,

just opposite that cleft in the rock! I looked directly I came up so as to

know the exact spot."

 

Harry trod water for half a minute, then took a long breath and dived.

 

It was as Bertie had said. Scattered among the rocks were a score of

ingots. They had lost their brilliancy, but shone with a dull copperish

hue, with bright gleams here and there where rocks had grated against

them. Putting one hand on a block of rock he lifted one of them with the

other.

 

"About twenty pounds," he said to himself. "Thank God, Hilda is as good as

won!" Then he rose to the surface. "Shake hands, Bertie; there is enough

there to make us all rich for life. Now we will get back again. We have to

think matters over, and see how they are to be got ashore. There is no

hurry; they have lain there for three hundred years, and would lie there

as much longer if we did not take them. We have found them, Dias!" he

shouted; and the latter gave a yell of delight. "Swim ashore, and we will

join you there."

 

Not another word was spoken until they had dressed and walked out.

 

"I am too excited even to think," Harry broke out. "It is time for dinner.

When we have had that and smoked a pipe I shall be able to talk calmly

over it."

 

Maria was wild with delight at the news, and laughed and cried by turns.

Even Jose, who was accustomed to take all things quietly, was almost as

excited. The woman was only called to herself when Harry said, laughing,

"Maria, for the first time since we started from Lima, you are letting the

dinner burn."

 

"To think of it!" she cried. "It is your fault, senor; you should not have

told me about it till we sat down."

 

"You won't have to cook much longer, Maria. You will be able now to have a

servant, and a house as big as you like, and a beautiful garden."

 

"I should not like that, senor; what should I do all day with myself?"

 

"I am glad, senor, glad for your sake," Dias said gravely. "To us it will

make no difference. You said there was enough there to make us rich.

Assuredly that is so; but not one peso of it will we touch. No man with

Indian blood in his veins, not even the poorest in Peru, would have aught

to do with an ounce of the Incas' treasures. When they were buried, a

curse was laid upon any who betrayed their hiding-place or who ever

touched the gold. It has brought a curse upon Spain. At the time the

Spaniards landed here they were a great nation. Now their glory has

departed; they no longer own the land they tyrannized over for three

hundred years, and we have heard that their power in Europe has altogether

gone. It must be the curse of the gold, or they would never have allowed

your great Englishman, Cochrane, with but two or three ships, to conquer

them here. My mind is easy as to the finding of the treasure. You came

here in spite of my prayers that you would not do so. It is you who have

made the discovery, not me. But I will take no share in the gold. From the

day I took it I should be a cursed man; my flesh would melt away, I should

suffer tortures, and should die a miserable death."  "Well, Dias, I will

not try to persuade you. I know that, Christian though you be, your native

belief still clings to you, and I will not argue against it; but I have

money of my own, and from that I will give you enough to make you

comfortable for life, and that you can take without feeling that you have

incurred any curse from the finding of this treasure."

 

"I thank you heartily," Dias said gratefully; "I thank you with all my

heart. I have ever been a wanderer, and now I will gladly settle down. I

do not desire wealth, but enough to live on in comfort with my wife, and

only to travel when it pleases me."

 

"You shall have enough for that and more, Dias."