[CHAPTER XXIII]
WATCHED
“Hey, fellows, get up! I’ve got hot coffee ready for you, and we’ll start right out!”
“For cats’ sake, who’s that?” demanded the sleepy voice of Ned.
“Oh, you needn’t ask,” murmured Jerry. “It’s Bob, of course, though how he managed to get up so early is one of the mysteries.”
“Come on!” cried Bob, as he banged on the doors of the sleeping rooms of his chums. “We’re going to get that gold to-day.”
“Oh, so that’s the game,” said Jerry. “Bob is hot on the treasure hunt! Well, I suppose we had better get started.”
“That’s right,” agreed Ned, as he leaped out from amid the bedclothes.
It was the morning after their first night spent in the gold valley, and the sun had arisen without anything of moment having occurred during the darkness. They had not felt the necessity of maintaining a watch, and, as it proved, there was no need of one. In the desolate valley they were not disturbed. There was scarcely any wind to sway the anchored airship.
Bob was as good as his promise. He not only had hot coffee ready, but bacon and eggs, toasted crackers—for bread was difficult to bake and hard to keep fresh—and other things that invited hungry appetites.
“Well, now what’s the programme?” asked Ned, when the meal was over.