“Yes, that is something like what I thought,” said Chris, who felt damped.
“Wouldn’t work, youngster,” cried Griggs. “Even if he had come on the last day in a straight line that wouldn’t help us about how he came on the other days; and as to his trail—why, the poor old fellow had been on the tramp for years. Look here, all of you; I’ll give you another chance for a spec. I’ll take five cents for my share. Who’ll buy? Don’t all speak at once. What, no one? Well, you are a poor lot! Only five cents. Well, never mind; if you won’t make yourselves rich it’s no fault of mine. I’ll keep my share myself in a goose-quill stopped up at the end with wax—when I get it.”
“I should very much have liked to go in search of that place,” said Wilton, who hardly heard their American neighbour’s words.
“And I too,” said Bourne. “Setting aside the gold discovery, it would be most interesting to visit the relics of the ancient city.”
“I could do without seeing the old place,” said Griggs dryly. “Depend upon it, you’d find it terribly out of repair. I should be dead on the gold. How do you feel, doctor?”
“I should like to explore the old place,” he replied, “but I certainly should make a point of getting all the gold I could.”
“Then why not try and find the spot?” cried Chris. “It must be somewhere south.”
“Yes,” cried Ned. “Oh, father, don’t let’s give up without a good try to find it.”
The doctor laughed at the boy’s eagerness.
“Somewhere due south,” he said; “a nice vague direction. Somewhere due south may mean anywhere between here and Cape Horn.”