"I don't think so." Kamuka studied the course of the stream with a practiced eye. "Look at the smooth rocks here in the stream, yet all those on the path are rough. If water came up there a lot, they would be smooth, too."
Chandra still was doubtful until Kamuka pointed far up the path.
"See where the path takes a short cut over the little hump of ground?" he said. "The stream would go around that, even in the wet season. This is a path, all right."
"And we'd better be using it," Biff put in, "before those thugs get the same idea."
Low calls of "Hyyaahh" from both directions down on the road below indicated that the pursuing groups were close together, probably closing what they thought were the jaws of a trap. Now that they had regained their wind, the boys lost no time in resuming their climb, this time at a steady, even speed that they were sure would keep them well ahead.
Kamuka was correct about the path. It was a real one, for soon it veered away from the stream entirely and brought the boys to a jutting promontory that gave them a good view over the green wave of the jungle slope below. There they rested again, while Biff traced the course of the road that they had left.
"If we could only cut across and strike the road a few miles up the line," he said, "we would really shake off those thugs. But no such luck, I guess. We'd never hack our way through all that growth. Let's stick to the path."
Sticking to the path meant further climbing, but it proved short, as the top of the hill was only a little way above. As they reached the final hump and emerged from the thick foliage, the boys stopped in surprise. Perched on the summit was a ruined temple, its white marble steps showing through the tangled underbrush, which was climbing up the battered pillars and weather-worn walls.
[Illustration: Perched on the summit was a ruined temple]
A corner of the tiled roof had fallen in and a tree projected there instead of a small dome, one of a group surrounding a larger central dome, which was also in a battered state. As the boys reached the steps, there was a sudden chatter from within the ruined temple, and troupes of monkeys scampered out through the holes in the roof and the long window slits in the walls.