THE FACE IN THE ROCK
"Will we find the treasure up there?" asked Tom. Juarez shook his head.
"No, but those people could have told."
We did not stop to cut steps up the precipitous sandstone to the village in the cliff, because we had no time to stop for antiquities.
"Let's divide here in two parties," said Juarez.
"All right," said Jim. "I imagine that this slit may be a very narrow lateral canyon."
"Maybe," Juarez replied. "I take Tom, you and Jo go together. The one finding it first will fire as a signal to the other party."
This was agreed on and we separated. Jim and I took the wall to the north and Tom and Juarez went south. Jim had his rifle and Juarez a pistol.
We made our way carefully, but saw nothing but the blank wall of red sandstone.
"What was that?" I asked twenty minutes after we had left Tom and Juarez. We stopped and listened intently. There was the faint sound of a distant report.
"They have found it," exclaimed Jim.
We took the back trail and we made good time too. In a short while we saw the two of them way down the wall of the canyon. They waved their hands to us.
"We have got it," yelled Tom when we came within hearing.
"What, the treasure?" cried Jim.
"No, the side canyon," replied Tom.
"My! how narrow," exclaimed Jim, as he got a first view of it.
"It looks just as if someone had taken an axe and split the wall right down," I remarked.
That expresses it. It was only a few feet across, extending the whole height of the cliff. In most places the light was shut out as in a cave, in other places there was just a narrow piece of blue ribbon for the sky and a little white sunshine spilt along one upper edge.
We went single file—in many places there was no other choice.
"This is what they call Fat Man's Nursery," said Jim. "Fortunately we are a lean and hungry lot."
"How are we ever going to get out of this lateral?" asked Tom. "The gold chest will be high up."
"I tell you, Tom," said Jim. "Just put a foot on one side and the other on the other side and straddle up."
This really looked possible in some places. The floor of "Lean Canyon" was mostly of solid rock, worn into hollows and curves by running water. Occasionally we came to places where our way was blocked by some huge boulder that had fallen from the cliff above.
Or there would be one wedged in half way down from the top. It was a curious sort of a place.
"If you see an old woman's face in the rock," said Juarez, "tell me; that is one sign on this trail."
We then realized that Juarez had not told us all his secret paper contained. It was the natural secretiveness of the Indian that he had not been able to throw off.
We traveled thus for half an hour, the canyon broadening, and then we came to a steady and rugged ascent.
"There is the face," exclaimed Tom suddenly.
There was no denying it. It was formed in the end of the western wall of the canyon, a perfect outline of an old woman's face with a pronounced chin and munched-in mouth.
"Yes, oh, yes," said Juarez, a dark flush showing on his cheeks. "She is looking at the place of the sign."
With great difficulty we made our way up to the top of the western end of "Lean Canyon," where we could ask the question of the sphinx who watched the sign of the treasure. In one place that was narrow we had to leap across to the other wall.
There was a fall of three hundred feet below us. If we had allowed ourselves to become nervous we might have missed the narrow ledge which gave us footing, but we were too eager in our quest to take account of danger.
Our moccasined feet helped to give us a secure foothold and we made the jump of six feet with safety. Juarez was the first to leap and he did it with a measured nonchalance, while Jim, with his long legs, seemed to step lightly across.
As Jim and Juarez stood on either side to catch me, I jumped with confidence. Tom, however, got a bad takeoff and would have fallen back into the canyon head first if Jim and Juarez had not gripped him.
It tested their steel sinews to maintain their balance and to keep from being carried down into the canyon below. We made our way without further incident to the top of the canyon and could see the outline of the old woman's face three hundred feet above us.
She seemed to be looking at a great cliff about a half mile distant. We scanned every inch of the cliff for something that looked like the mystic sign, but even my imagination could not conjure up anything that resembled it.
Jim meanwhile had moved off some distance and was studying the old woman in the rock with the keenest interest and intelligence.
"Say, boys," he exclaimed suddenly, "she is not looking out or up. The old lady is looking down."
"It's so," someone exclaimed. "Now we may locate it."
Jim moved from one point to another of observation. Finally he came to a pile of stones, something like a surveyor's monument, only it was about ten feet high. This he climbed.
No sooner had he taken his position on top of the cairn, for such it seemed to be, than he gave a yell of exultation.
"I see it, boys. There's the sign as big as life."
We were upon top of the cairn in a moment, that is to say, Tom and I were, but Juarez would not come up.
"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "I take your word, Jim, but I will not step up there."
"All right, my boy. I won't urge you," said Jim good naturedly. He seemed to understand Juarez.
We followed the pointing of Jim's hand and saw the ancient symbol [Symbol -O] about seventy feet below the old woman, upon the surface of a rock that curved out.
"That must be twelve feet across," said Jim, "in both directions."
"How do you suppose it was done?" I asked.
"By water possibly, and it may have been carved too," Jim replied.
"And the white coloring?" I inquired.
"It comes from some wash above, or it may sweat out of the rock itself."
"Well," said Tom, "let's begin our search."
"I'm willing," responded Jim.
By cutting a few steps in the sandstone we were able to reach the sign. As Jim was busily engaged with the pick upon the rock, making the red chips fly, he turned to us who were waiting our turn below.
"What does this remind you of, boys?" he asked.
"Of the moonlight night in our first canyon in Colorado," I said, "when we had to dig steps for you to get down from the cliff and an Indian took a snap shot at us with an arrow."
"Right you are," responded Jim.
"I hope we will get something really valuable this time," remarked Tom coolly.
"Why, don't you value your dear brother?" grinned Jim. "He's your guide, philosopher and friend."
"Never mind about that," said Tom. "Let's get to work."
Jim took the hammer and sounded all over the surface of the rock, but found no hollow place.
"I'm going to put a blast right in the center of that letter," declared Jim.
Juarez shook his head dubiously. It was evident that he was in dread of something. But Jim went ahead and drilled a hole in the center of the sign, and put a fuse to it. We drew back a ways down the rock but not far.
We saw the smoke, a mere thread, and an occasional spark. Then an explosion that sent pieces of red rock flying up and around us. A big hole was torn in the center of the letter.
Jim was the first to reach the place.
"This is it," he cried.
He took the pick and began digging, and we saw that there was a round opening into a natural hollow in the rock. Jim was able to crawl partially in and he made a careful search, lighting several matches. Then he crawled out, shaking his head.
"Empty is the cradle," he said. "There's only a few flakes of gold and you can see the place where the box has stood."
I crawled in next. Sure enough, there was the tarnished place on the rock where it had stood for centuries perhaps. In feeling around my hand touched a small bit of folded bark. Without thinking much about it I picked it up and put it in my pocket.
Tom stayed in the treasure hollow so long that we had to yank him out by the feet.
"He is the chief mourner," commented Jim.
"Look out, boys," yelled Juarez, "big stone coming."
Like a great cannon ball it was bounding down the rock towards us. We jumped aside just in time and it smacked between us.
"A considerably narrow escape," mused Jim.
"The old witch up there is offended," said Juarez. "I saw a genie fly out when you sent off that blast."
"I think the explosion loosened the rock, Juarez," said Jim. There were the two views. We went back to the boat with more experience but no treasure.