A QUEER SORT OF GUN.
With the wood gathered by the young Motor Rangers, Mr. Tubbs soon had a roaring fire going. By sundown it was so cold that they were glad to huddle close to the cheerful blaze, which was for purposes of warmth only, the cooking being done on the denatured alcohol stove belonging to the galley of the Discoverer.
It was an odd meal, but one the boys enjoyed thoroughly. Mr. Tubbs was as good a hand at cooking as he was at anything else, and as a supply of fresh meat had been brought along, they had a capital meal, helped out with choice canned vegetables and even, to celebrate their first night in the land of their search, a generous portion each of plum pudding. It was canned, of course, but quite palatable, or so the boys appeared to find it.
After supper the professor gave the lads an interesting sketch of the country they were in, and finished up with an account of the old Incas, one of whose lost cities they had come to find.
Among other things of interest he told them concerning the lost race, was that they are believed to have been sun worshippers. At any rate, in one of the ruined cities which has been located in Peru, circular temples with the walls embellished with pictures of the sun have been found. Other facts concerning the vanished civilization of the Incas must ever remain a mystery, said the man of science.
For instance, at the remains discovered in Peru, a huge rock, shaped like a gigantic dome, was found. Traces of gold were discernible on its surface, and it is believed that at one time the whole great, monolithic mass was completely plated with this costly metal.
“Other strange features of these ruins,” went on the professor, “are dungeon-like chambers which are believed to have been used in cereomonies of initiation, and great baths fed by subterranean rivers, which are still flowing as they did in the days of the Incas.”
“Do you think we shall find such things?” asked Nat, his eyes aglow at the prospect.
“You mean, do I think we shall find the lost city?” corrected the professor, with a smile. “Well, Master Nat, I don’t doubt that if we find the city we shall also find such things. It is rumored that the lost city we are in search of is in even better preservation than the famous ruins of Peru itself.”
“I wish you would tell us some more about that sacred dome with all the gold on it,” said Joe.