The prisoner, who gave his name as Pedro, insisted that he knew nothing whatever of the purpose of the man who secured his assistance in the desperate game which had just been played. He declared that Felix seemed to understand perfectly that Gringoes would soon arrive in flying machines. He said that the machines were to be wrecked, and the occupants turned loose in the mountains.
It was Pedro’s idea that two, and perhaps three, flying machines were expected. He said that Felix had no definite idea as to when they would arrive. He only knew that he had been stationed there to do what he could to intercept the progress of those on the machines. He said that the machines had been seen from a distance, and that Felix and himself had watched the descent into the valley from a secure position in the forest. They had remained in the forest until the Gringoes had left for the temple, and had then set about examining the machine.
While examining the machine the savages had approached and had naturally received the impression that Felix was the Gringo who had descended in the aeroplane. He knew some of the Indians, he said.
The Indians, he said, were very superstitious, and believed that flying machines brought death and disaster to any country they visited. By making them trifling presents he, himself, had succeeded in keeping on good terms with them until the machine had descended and been hidden in the forest.
“But,” the prisoner added with a significant shrug of his shoulders, “when we walked in the direction of the temple the Indians suspected that Felix had come to visit the evil spirits they believed to dwell there and so got beyond control. They would kill me now as they killed him!”
“Do the Indians never attack the temple?” asked Sam.
“Perhaps,” Pedro observed, with a sly smile, “you saw the figure in flowing robes and the red and blue lights!”
“We certainly did!” answered Sam.
“While the animals are being collected and held in captivity here,” Pedro continued, “it is necessary to do such things in order to keep the savages away. Miguel wears the flowing robes, and drops into the narrow entrance to an old passage when he finds it necessary to disappear. The Indians will never actually enter the temple, though they may besiege it.”
“There goes your ghost story!” Carl interrupted. “Why,” he added, “it’s about the most commonplace thing I ever heard of! The haunted temple is just headquarters for the agents of an American menagerie!”