“This,” replied Carl. “There must be a passage leading from this one back into the temple on the west side. It may enter the room where the bunks are, or it may come into the corridor back by the fountain, but there’s one somewhere all right.”
“You’re the wise little boy!” laughed Jimmie. “Let’s go and see.”
The boys returned to the trap-like slab in front of the temple and from that point examined every inch of the south wall for a long distance. Finally a push on a stone brought forth a grinding noise, and then a passage similar to that discovered in the den was revealed.
“There you are!” said Carl. “There’s the passage that leads to the west side of the temple. Shall we go on in and give Sam and Pedro the merry ha, ha? Mighty funny,” he added, without waiting for his question to be answered, “that all these trap doors are so easily found and work so readily. They’re just about as easy to manipulate as one of the foolish houses we see on the stage. It’s no trick to operate them at all.”
“Well,” Jimmie argued, “these passages and traps are doubtless used every day by a man who don’t take any precautions about keeping them hidden. I presume Miguel is the only person here who knows of their existence, and he just slams around in them sort of careless-like.”
“That’s the answer!” replied Carl. “Let’s chase along and see where the tunnel ends, and then get back to Sam. He may be crying his eyes out for our polite society right now!”
The boys followed the tunnel for what seemed to them to be a long distance. At length they came to a turn from which a mist of daylight could be seen. In five minutes more they stood looking out into the forest.
The entrance to the passage was concealed only by carelessly heaped-up rocks, between the interstices of which grew creeping vines and brambles. Looking from the forest side, the place resembled a heap of rocks, probably inhabited by all manner of creeping things and covered over with vines.
As the boys peered out between the vines, Jimmie nudged his chum in the side and whispered as he pointed straight out:
“There’s the Ann.”