"How we found our way out of the mountains, how we endured the heat of the desert I cannot tell," went on the weak voice of the man on the bed of straw. "We reached Zacatecas, and then Bushnell went for another balloon. He knows friends who have money and power, and he will get the balloon—if he lives."
"But the proof—the proof that you were going to show us?"
"It is here! Look!"
From beneath the straw Jack Burk drew forth a queer little figure of solid gold—a figure like the pictures of Aztec gods, which Frank had seen.
"This is proof!" declared the man. "It is some of the treasure we brought from the palace. Bushnell took the rest."
The professor excitedly grasped the little image, and gazed searchingly at it.
"It is all right—it is genuine!" he finally exclaimed.
"Of course it is genuine!" said the man on the bed of grass. "And there are more in the Silver Palace. There the treasures of the Aztecs were hidden, and they have remained. The country all around is full of fierce natives, who hold the palace in awe and prevent others from reaching it. They have kept the secret well, but——"
"Vot vos dot?" interrupted Hans.
At some distance on the plain outside the hut were wildly galloping horses, for they could hear hoof-beats and loud cries. Then came a fusillade of pistol shots!