“I say, Buddy, Carlos seemed to think that his father may have a mess on his hands with those fellows. They must be just as sore at Dad,” he said finally.
“Reckon they are, but I heard Dad and Mr. De Castro discussing that this afternoon and they agreed that if the Alonzos failed to put through their scheme they will be mighty careful. They are influential men, that is, I mean prominent in a number of ways, and if it came out that they tried to put over something underhanded, they would all be ruined. There is plenty of evidence against them so that anything that went wrong could be pinned on them hard and fast,” Jim explained.
“I see. Then they’ll be more likely to do, their utmost to see that nothing serious happens,” Bob remarked.
“Exactly. Dad and Mr. De Castro have them where they want them. They are hog-tied good and plenty.”
“Fine. Good-night.” The Flying Buddies went to sleep with contented minds, satisfied that the job they had undertaken was well done. It was late when they awoke, but the household was stirring quietly, and the De Castro family were radiant over the successful outcome of the meeting. As soon as they could get on their way, the three boys set out for Amy-Ran, young Carlos in the seat with Jim and Bob in the rear cock-pit where he crowed over his step-brother because he could observe without interruption the world over which they would travel.
“You’ll have to pilot the return trip,” Jim declared.
“Suits me,” the young fellow laughed. Carlos had a map of the country and pointed out the section of the mountains to which they were going, and presently the “Lark” was soaring gracefully over the city. The course was set and the Texans both thrilled with wonder at the beauty of the Andes rolling under them. It took half an hour to reach the point and Carlos shouted they had gone far enough, then Jim circled again, picked out a flat stretch of high table land and glided down. The plane lighted easily, the three climbed out, and the Sky Buddies gasped in awe at the magnificence of their surroundings, while young De Castro smiled with gratification at their admiration.
“This is almost inaccessible from below,” he announced. “Only a few white people have ever been able to get up here.”
The place where they stood was about half an acre wide, seemed to be of solid rock, which ended abruptly a few rods ahead, and as they had landed, Bob had noticed that the sides were perpendicular and seemed to drop in jagged formation at least a thousand feet. From the elevation they got a gorgeous view of sharp cliffs, lower hills, the plain, and finally the sea stretching into the horizon. Behind them was a small lake, which lay like a glittering blue jewel in a deep bowl. The plateau was in the shape of an S, and after they had stood staring some time at the scene, Carlos touched Jim’s arm.
“We shall leave the plane here and I’ll show you something more astounding than this.”