Then they heard him spring in and splash about. Jerry and Ned soon followed, and the professor came a little later. It was a regular swimming-tank, stone-lined and sunk into the floor. The water came in through a sort of stone trough.
“These old chaps knew something about life, after all,” observed Ned, as he climbed out and proceeded to dry himself.
“They were probably a bit like the Romans,” remarked the professor, “and fond of bathing. But something has given me an appetite, and I wouldn’t object to breakfast.”
The others were of the same mind, and soon Ned had the gasolene stove set up and was preparing a meal. Bob attended to the brewing of the coffee instead of chocolate, and the aroma of the beverage filled the old temple with an appetizing odor.
“What are we going to do to-day?” asked Jerry, when they had finished the meal and were sitting comfortably on some low stools that had been discovered in the room where they slept.
“We must explore the city in all directions,” said the professor. “There are many marvelous things here, and I have not begun to find them yet. It will take weeks and weeks.”
“Are we going to stay here all that while?” asked Bob, somewhat dubiously.
“I’d like to,” answered the naturalist. “But we can get a good load of specimens and relics, run up north and come back for more. This place is a regular treasure-trove.”
Clearing away the remains of the breakfast, and looking over the auto to see that it had suffered no damage in the recent experience, the boys and the professor left the temple and strolled out into the deserted city. They did not know that their every movement was watched by the glittering eyes of San Lucia and Murado, who were hidden in an upper part of the temple whence they could look down on their intended victims from a small, concealed gallery.