"In less than an hour we shall be able to see the Silver Palace," assured Bushnell. "We would be fools to turn back now."
So they went on, and, at last, they climbed to the top of a rise, from which point the Westerner assured them that the palace could be seen.
An awe-inspiring spectacle met their gaze. They looked across a great gulf, from which the smoke was rolling upward in clouds, and out of which came the sullen mutterings they had heard.
"Merciful goodness!" cried Professor Scotch. "It must be the crater of a volcano!"
"Yah!" gasped Hans; "und der volcano vos doin' pusiness at der oldt standt alretty yet."
"The volcano may have been dormant for centuries," said the professor, "but it is coming to life now!"
"Where is the Silver Palace?" demanded Frank.
Bushnell clutched the boy's arm with a grip of iron, pointing straight through the smoke clouds that rose before them.
"Look!" he shouted, hoarsely; "it is thar! See—the smoke grows thinner, an' thar she am! See her glitter! In thet thar palace is stored enough treasure ter make us richer then ther richest men in ther world, an' ten thousand volcanoes ain't goin' ter keep me from it, you bet yer boots!"
True enough, through the parted smoke clouds gleamed the towers and turrets of the wonderful palace that had remained hidden in the heart of the mountains hundreds of years, jealously guarded by the fierce natives, who believed it sacred, and who had kept the secret well from the outside world.