The Lost City [42]
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!"
CHAPTER XVI. CAN IT BE TRUE?
That announcement came with all the force of a bolt from the blue, and even the professor dropped his glasses with a gasp of amazement, while Bruno would have leaped to his feet, only for the hasty grab which his brother made at the tail of his coat.
"White--where? Surely it cannot be that--Edgecombe--"
"Augh, take a tumble, boy!" ejaculated Waldo, giving a jerk that rendered compliance nearly literal, though scarcely full of grace. "Want to have the whole gang make a howling break this way? Want to--They're white all right, though!"
"Where? Which direction? Point them out, and--I fail to see anything which would bear out your--"
The professor was sweeping yonder field with his glass, searching for the primal cause of that latest excitement, but without success. No sign of a white face, male or female, rewarded his efforts, and he turned an inquiring gaze upon the youngster.
Waldo was peering from beneath the shade of his hand, but now drew back with a long breath, to slowly shake his head.
"They've gone now, but I did see them, and they were white, just as white as--as anything!"
Bruno frowned a bit at that unsatisfactory
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!"
CHAPTER XVI. CAN IT BE TRUE?
That announcement came with all the force of a bolt from the blue, and even the professor dropped his glasses with a gasp of amazement, while Bruno would have leaped to his feet, only for the hasty grab which his brother made at the tail of his coat.
"White--where? Surely it cannot be that--Edgecombe--"
"Augh, take a tumble, boy!" ejaculated Waldo, giving a jerk that rendered compliance nearly literal, though scarcely full of grace. "Want to have the whole gang make a howling break this way? Want to--They're white all right, though!"
"Where? Which direction? Point them out, and--I fail to see anything which would bear out your--"
The professor was sweeping yonder field with his glass, searching for the primal cause of that latest excitement, but without success. No sign of a white face, male or female, rewarded his efforts, and he turned an inquiring gaze upon the youngster.
Waldo was peering from beneath the shade of his hand, but now drew back with a long breath, to slowly shake his head.
"They've gone now, but I did see them, and they were white, just as white as--as anything!"
Bruno frowned a bit at that unsatisfactory