“From this mission?” Jack asked incredulously.
“Yes, but as I presently will show you, the clue has little value.”
Almost reverently, Father Francisco spread the parchment on a table before the Scouts. Eagerly, they peered at the fine-grained skin which had been scraped and rubbed with pumice to permit writing on either side.
“Imagine being able to read that!” Ken said in awe.
“The manuscript begins thus,” the missionary translated. “‘We wandered ten years in the wilds, seeking gold. Little did we find until in the year—’”
Abruptly, Father Francisco broke off, his attention diverted toward the door of the library. The Scouts had heard no unusual sound, but the missionary seemed disturbed.
“Someone, I believe, loiters in the passageway!” he whispered. “Be quick! See who it is that listens by the door!”
Chapter 5
AN ANCIENT MANUSCRIPT
Following Father Francisco’s direction, Jack darted swiftly to the library door.
As he jerked it open, an old woman with a parrot on her shoulder, stumbled forward into the room. Obviously, she had been listening at the keyhole. Jack recognized her at once as the same unfriendly native he and Ken had met earlier on the path.