“There is plenty of gold in the mountains of Peru,” Alex went on, while Frank leaned back with a smile on his face. “I have read that there are solid deposits a mile wide there.” he went on, with a nudge at Jule. “The mother lode, in fact! Well, the waters carry this gold out of crevices when it is at its highest and pass it down the river. And some day the river, at high water, deposited a great quantity of gold in one of the caverns Frank speaks of, and that gold is what all this mess is about. Is that right, Frank?”
“Very nearly right!” Frank replied. “Years ago, a very ocean of water swept down the Andes and rushed through the valley, which is narrow and rocky. During this period of high water, a great quantity of gold was washed out of a mine and carried down, and a large amount of what was swept over Cloud island lodged in the caverns—in one cavern especially, and there my father found it. It is there still, for he died before he could bring it out! It is this cavern those people ahead are seeking.”
“And you know right where it is?” asked Jule. “What a snap!”
CHAPTER XX.—A CALL FOR HELP
“Then why didn’t you get it out a long time ago?” asked Alex. “If I knew where there was a bunch of gold, I’d buy three automobiles and a motor boat that would fly in the air!”
“I couldn’t get it out,” Frank replied. “I was watched by thieves! The minute my father died this Señor Lewiso, who had long been in the employ of my father in the trading business, began watching me and searching for the cavern.”
“The caverns!” corrected Case.
“You let him tell this story!” Alex exclaimed.
“Perhaps caverns is more accurate,” Frank laughed, “but it is with one special cavern that we have to do. There is only one cavern which is believed to be full of gold. Father declared that it held millions, and I have no reason to doubt either his judgment or his word.”
“It ought to be easy to find, if he found it,” Jule broke in.