“This rival trust company,” Mr. Havens went on, “has agents in every part of the world. In Peru as elsewhere; especially in Peru. It is my belief that not only the men of the mine we came upon, but the men of every other mine along the Andes, were under instructions to look out for, and, under some pretense, destroy any flying machines which made their appearance.”
“They are nervy fighters, anyway, if this is true!” Sam said.
“They certainly are, and for the very good reason that the arrest and conviction of Redfern would place stripes on half a dozen of the directors of the new company. As you have heard me say before, the proof is almost positive that the money embezzled from us was placed in this new company. Redfern is a sneak, and will confess everything to protect himself. Hence, the interest of the trust company in keeping him out of sight.”
“Well, I hope he won’t get out of sight after to-night,” suggested Sam. “I hope we’ll have him good and tight before morning.”
“I firmly believe that he will be taken to-night!” was the reply.
The machine was now only a short distance above the ledge upon which the aviator aimed to land. Even in the dim light they could see a level stretch of rock, and the Ann was soon resting easily within a short distance of the fort, now hidden only by an angle of the cliff.
Presently the two moved forward together and looked around the base of the cliff. The fort lay dark and silent in the night. So far as appearances were concerned, there had never been any lights displayed from her battlements during the long years which had passed away since her construction!
There was only a very narrow ledge between the northern wall of the fort and the precipice which struck straight down into the valley, three hundred feet below. In order to reach the interior of the fortification from the position they occupied, it would be necessary for Havens and his companion to pass along this ledge and creep into an opening which faced the valley.
At regular intervals on the outer edge of this ledge were balanced great boulders, placed there in prehistoric times for use in case an attempt should be made to scale the precipice. A single one of these rocks, if cast down at the right moment, might have annihilated an army.
The two men passed along the ledge gingerly, for they understood that a slight push would send one of these boulders crashing down. At last they came to what seemed to be an entrance into the heart of the fortress. There were no lights in sight as they looked in. The place seemed utterly void of human life.