"Boys, we've tumbled over the discovery of the age!" exclaimed Jack, in what was for him, a strangely excited voice.
The others were not less moved. Their eyes were round and their jaws dropped in incredulous wonderment, as they gazed before them.
"Will somebody please pinch me?"
It was Ralph who spoke, turning a countenance solemn and startled upon his comrades.
"No need to do that, Ralph. You're wide-awake; make no mistake about that."
"But—but I don't understand," began Walt in a puzzled tone. "What is this place, what——"
"What is it?" echoed Jack. "It's the gun-runners' underground railroad. Can't you see it? This river, so the old Indian legend says, emerges across the border. In some way these Mexicans heard of it, and learned the secret of the hollow altar. No wonder the government has not been able to find out how the rebels got their arms across the border."
"Well, what are we going to do, now we've found it?"
Walt, the practical, propounded the query, as they stood there, half-stunned by the rapidity with which unheard-of events had happened within the last half-hour.
"Why, I—upon my word, I don't know," laughed Jack, brought up with a round turn by the hard-headed Walt.