On leaving the entrance, the boys restored the vines so far as possible to their original condition and filled their automatics with cartridges.
“No one will ever catch me without cartridges again,” Carl declared as he patted his weapon. “The idea of getting into a den of lions with only four shots between us and destruction!”
“Well, hurry up!” cried Jimmie. “I know from the accent the Indians placed on the last syllable that there’s something doing at the temple. And Sam, you know, hasn’t got many cartridges.”
“I wouldn’t run very fast,” declared Carl, “if I knew that the Indians had captured Miguel. That’s the ruffian who shut us into the den of lions!”
When the boys came to the passage opening from the tunnel on the west of the temple, they turned into it and proceeded a few yards south. Here they found an opening which led undoubtedly directly to the rear of the corridor in the vicinity of the fountain.
The stone which had in past years concealed the mouth of this passage had evidently not been used for a long time, for it lay broken into fragments on the stone floor.
When the boys came to the end of the passage, they saw by the slices of light which lay between the stones that they were facing the corridor from the rear. They knew well enough that somewhere in that vicinity was a door opening into the temple, but for some moments they could not find it. At last Jimmie, prying into a crack with his knife, struck a piece of metal and the stone dropped backward.
He was about to crawl through into the corridor when Carl caught him by one leg and held him back. It took the lad only an instant to comprehend what was going on. A horde of savages was crowding up the steps and into the temple itself, and Sam stood in the middle of the corridor with a smoking weapon in his hand.
As the boys looked he threw the automatic into the faces of the onrushing crowd as if its usefulness had departed.