“Sounds like a blast furnace in full swing,” said Ralph.
Suddenly the passage widened and a dazzling scene broke upon their gaze. In the midst of a rock chamber even larger, as well as they could judge, than the cave of the lake, there arose a great flame of an almost white hue. It was blue at the base like an ordinary gas flame and roared straight up with terrific force as if fed by great reservoirs of natural gas.
“In all probability it was ignited at the time that the volcano was active and has burned ever since,” opined the professor. “Young men, if we found nothing else within this cavern we have already experienced more than falls to the lot of even exceptional men in their lifetime. Such sights as these we shall never forget.”
“It’s a Flower of Flame!” exclaimed Jack poetically.
“If you could corner that light and sell it, there’d be a pile of money in it,” said the practical Ralph.
“Well, as time is precious, let us be pressing on,” said the professor, “for, speaking of money, we must recollect that we have, as yet, found no trace of the treasure.”
After converging upon the chamber of the Flower of Flame, the passage once more plunged into the innermost regions of the mountain. For a space it twisted and turned, and then, without the slightest warning, the adventurers experienced a sharp shock. They faced a blank wall.
“Well, here’s the finish,” announced Walt, holding up his torch.
“Looks like it,” agreed Jack, “yet it seems odd that those old tribes would have gone to all the trouble to drill that passage if it ends right here.”