“We will find others,” Arto assured her softly.
“Is she still cuffed to you?” Jim asked.
“No. I took it off long ago,” Pedro answered. “A man’s cuff on a small woman—it was easy.”
“My husband, permit me to share the hole with Senor Jim,” she begged earnestly. “But for us he would not—”
“Never mind me,” Jim whispered hastily, “I’m doing fine,” but his head was already dropping forward on his breast. He tried to raise his hand to loosen his collar, but the effort was too great, and he closed his burning eyes with a weary sigh.
CHAPTER XII
GROSS EXAGGERATION
As the air grew more and more suffocating and the Flying Buddy slipped off into unconsciousness he had a hazy idea that someone was moving about him and that a queer hood, like the special gas mask the Don had given them when they started off in the “Lark” from Texas, was slipped over his head. When that was adjusted the pain in his throat eased and the lids of his eyes lost their sting. It seemed to Jim as if he remained in the great temple, which slowly grew lighter until each object stood out distinctly. Across the floor the members of the gang were huddled in a lifeless mass, but beside him, the bodies of the Gonzalas lay relaxed, as if they were asleep. There was no trace of suffering on any of their faces and he could see the woman breathing naturally.
It was a strange sort of experience and Austin wondered if he were dead. It made him think of a story he had once read, an odd tale of a man who was killed and he opened his eyes into a new world where he could see former companions and places. For a time the chap wandered like one lost, trying to communicate with his friends, but finally he saw a more beautiful land and hastened to enter it. But Jim decided that if he was dead his consciousness was entirely different from the author’s fancy, for he could not move. However, there was no feeling of discomfort. He was perfectly content to rest and watch.
The temple room was quietly being restored to order, the upturned vases straightened, the things the members of the gang had used to hammer or pry off gold and jewels were gathered into a pile, and finally, when all was re-arranged, a weird figure made its way to the Gonzalas and Jim, who very much wanted to scream, but he couldn’t, and after that he didn’t know anything more.