“Come, we must hurry!” Mr. Monahan said impatiently, without explaining what he meant. “There is no time to lose. Very soon the natives will start coming here for the dawn ceremony.”
Stooping, he lifted Mr. Livingston onto his powerful back, disregarding the Scout leader’s insistence that he was able to walk.
Unseen, the group moved through the dead city, silently passing the massive statue near the ruined temple. Mr. Monahan led the way up an uneven rocky path. Burdened by Mr. Livingston’s weight, he climbed slowly.
Presently however, they came to a low passageway through the rocks. Here, the Scout leader had to crawl for a considerable distance. But at length, they all came out into the starlight again.
“You are now inside the mountain, so to speak,” Mr. Monahan told the Scouts. “I brought you to this hidden spot because I know you are to be trusted with the secret.”
Below, only dimly visible in the fading starlight, lay a circular lake, smaller than the one into which Jack and War had dived earlier that day.
With a sweep of his hand, Mr. Monahan indicated the dark waters.
“There lies the fabulous treasure of the Incas. When Peru was conquered by the Spaniards, the Indians hurled great quantities of gold into this lake.”
“Are there two treasure pools?” asked Jack, puzzled. “This one lying inside the mountain, and the other at the site of the ruined city?”
“No,” Mr. Monahan explained, “the other lake contains little of value. An underground stream connects the two. Occasionally, a bit of treasure washes down into the lower lake. Also, a few trinkets have been offered there as sacrifice to the Sun God.”