keep watch while the other eats. I have no doubt there will be plenty left

for our supper."

 

"Yes, senor, and enough cakes to carry you on till you join us."

 

Half an hour later the party started, Dias having muffled the mules'

hoofs, so that the clatter, as they passed over the rocks, might not be

heard above.

 

"Now, Bertie, you go down to breakfast. When you have done come up and

relieve me. You have no occasion to hurry, for it is absolutely certain

that they won't dare to attack till they get reinforcements."

 

When Bertie returned he said, "Here is a lot of food, Harry, they have

hardly eaten anything. There is plenty for us to-day and to-morrow."

 

"That is just like them, Bertie; but I daresay they will camp in five or

six hours. It feels quite lonely without them."

 

"That it does. It is really the first time we have been alone since we

left Lima, except, of course, when we were out shooting together."

 

"Be sure you don't show your head above the barricade, Bertie. You must do

as I have been doing, sit down here and look out through this peep-hole

between these rocks Shove your rifle through it, so that, if you see a

head looking out from between the rocks up there, you can fire at once."

 

In half an hour Harry came back and sat down by his brother, and, lighting

their pipes, they chatted over the events of their journey and the

prospect before them.

 

"I am afraid, Harry, the journey will be a failure, except that we have

had a very jolly time."

 

"Well, so far it has not turned out much; but, somehow or other, I have

great faith in this haunted castle. Of course the demons Dias is so afraid

of are probably Indians, who are placed there to frighten intruders away,

and they would not keep watch unless they had something to guard. I cannot

understand how it has escaped the notice of the Spaniards all these years.

I had not much faith in their stories until we found how true they were in

all particulars as to what they call the golden river. There is one

satisfaction, however: if the place is really a castle, it can hardly have

disappeared under the lake. Of course if it is in ruins we may have a lot

of difficulty in getting at the vaults, or wherever else treasure may have

been buried; but unless it is a very big place, which is hardly probable,

the work would be nothing compared with the draining of the lake."

 

"We have got nearly a year in hand, Harry, and can do a lot of work in

that time, especially if we use powder."

 

"Yes; but, you see, we ought to allow at least five months for getting

home. Still, no doubt if I felt justified in writing to ask for another

three or four months, saying I had great hopes of finding something very

good in a short time, she would stand out against her father a little

longer. I shall write directly we get to Lima to say that, although I have

so far failed, I do not give up hope, and am just starting on another

enterprise that promises well."  Bertie held up his finger. "I think I

heard somebody move. It sounded like a stone being turned over." For two

or three minutes he lay motionless, with his finger on the trigger. Then

he fired.

 

"What was it, Bertie?"

 

"It was a man's leg. I suddenly saw it below that rift behind the rock. I

expect he had no idea that his foot showed there. I am pretty sure I hit

it, for I had time to take a steady aim, and the foot disappeared the

instant I fired. If he did not know it was exposed, there was no reason

why he should have moved at all if he hadn't been hit."

 

"It was better to hit his foot than his head, Bertie. It is equally good

as a lesson, if not better, for though we don't mean to let them kill us,

I don't want to take life unless it is absolutely necessary. Well, after

that proof of the sharpness of our watch they are not likely to make any

fresh move."

 

The day passed slowly. They took it by turns to keep watch, and just

before dusk Harry said, "I think, Bertie, that we might pull out the

leaves and bush that Dias shoved into one of these gaps when he took the

blankets and things out. I could push the torch through and fix it there,

that would save having to cross the barricade. It is quite possible that

one of those fellows may be keeping as sharp a look-out as we are doing,

and it is as well not to set one's self up as a mark. If I put it through

now it won't show much, while if I wait till darkness falls it will be an

easy object to fire at. You keep a sharp lookout while I am doing this,

and if you see either a head or a gun try to hit it."

 

Harry accomplished the operation without drawing a shot, and as soon as he

had fixed the torch he again stopped the hole up behind it.

 

"It is evident that they are not watching us very closely," he said. "If

they have not sent for help, they have gone off. With two of their men

killed and two disabled, the fight must have been taken out of them. We

will watch by turns to-night. It is six o'clock now; will you sit up till

eleven, or shall I?"

 

"I don't care a bit. Which would you rather take?"