“Oh, here’s your father,” said the doctor, as Sir James came towards them from the waggon.
“Look at these bangles, sir,” continued the doctor, “and the band round this little fellow’s head. What do you say they are?”
Sir James looked at the yellow objects attentively.
“They cannot be brass,” he said decisively, “or in the moisture of that forest they would have tarnished. Why, boys, we didn’t come hunting for the precious metal, but we have found it, all the same.”
“Yes, there’s no doubt of it,” said the doctor. “Well, the ancients must have obtained plenty of gold somewhere, and they are supposed to have built a big city in this direction. I feel disposed to put these things together and to say that this city must exist, and that these little fellows must have found their gold ornaments somewhere there. What can we do to find out from them where they obtained the gold?”
“Ask them, sir,” said Mark.
“How?”
“I don’t know,” said Mark; “but I will try.”
“Well, go on,” said Sir James.
Mark looked doubtfully at his father for a few moments, and then turned his eyes upon his cousin, as if for help; but Dean only shook his head.