CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | THE END OF THE UNDERGROUND RIVER | [ 1] |
| II. | SKY HIGH | [ 11] |
| III. | THE RETURN TO THE LAND OF THE INCAS | [ 24] |
| IV. | THE RIVALRY OF THE AIRMEN | [ 32] |
| V. | IN QUEST OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE | [ 43] |
| VI. | THE CROWNING MISFORTUNE | [ 55] |
| VII. | IN THE TIGER’S LAIR | [ 66] |
| VIII. | THE INCA’S THREAT | [ 80] |
| IX. | SONCCO’S SHREWDNESS | [ 92] |
| X. | THE PRISONERS CAPTURE THE KING | [ 105] |
| XI. | THE COUNSEL OF THE WISE MEN | [ 116] |
| XII. | THE VILLAINY OF VILLAC UMU | [ 128] |
| XIII. | STANLEY’S PLAN | [ 140] |
| XIV. | SONCCO’S AID TO THE PLOTTERS | [ 151] |
| XV. | THE TERROR OF DARKNESS AT MIDDAY | [ 165] |
| XVI. | THE COMING OF THE TIGERS | [ 180] |
| XVII. | ANIMALS OF A BYGONE AGE | [ 193] |
| XVIII. | THE MAN IN THE CRATER | [ 205] |
| XIX. | THE BREACH IN THE MOUNTAIN IS CLOSED | [ 221] |
| XX. | THE KING IS CROWNED | [ 233] |
ILLUSTRATIONS
| “Quizquiz, Inca, Child of the Sun ... commands that you appear before his sacred person” | [ Frontispiece] |
| FACING PAGE | |
| Very obviously the Inca had carefully planned to impress the visitors | [ 82] |
| It was a bushmaster, the deadliest and the most feared of all South American snakes | [ 170] |
| An instant later a huge, dark form catapulted past the crouching men | [ 210] |
IN THE TIGER’S LAIR
CHAPTER I
THE END OF THE UNDERGROUND RIVER
Two years had passed since that day when Stanley Livingston and Ted Boyle, accompanied by the giant negro, Moses, faced the perils of the underground river rather than suffer a lingering death on the dismal shores of the lagoon beyond the wall at Uti.
Having finished their course at college, Livingston and Boyle, or Stanley and Ted, as they were better known, had decided upon a novel way of spending a few months’ vacation before entering their more serious professional careers. They went to look for the hidden treasure of the Incas that was known to lie somewhere in the vast ranges of the Andes Mountains of Peru. They well understood the difficulties of such an undertaking; there were snow-clad peaks to climb and steaming jungles to penetrate, and dangerous animals and still more formidable wild people to combat. But all these things simply added to the attraction of the venture.
They had gone in quest of adventure, and their desire was gratified beyond their wildest expectations. Shipwreck, the burning thirst of a desert land, battles with fierce monkey-men, and the dread fevers of the lowlands were their lot during the first months of the journey. Then—the Hidden Valley where the Inca Huayna Capac lived and ruled the remnant of the once-great nation in all the magnificence and splendor of ancient times. The great king received them, not unkindly, made them princes, and surrounded them with every luxury. From the beginning, however, Quizquiz, son of the Inca and heir to the throne, had conspired against them, and in the end he had succeeded in securing their conviction on the charge of treason. They were condemned to exile beyond the great wall that divided the valley from Uti, the abode of the evil spirits. It was Timichi, previously banished to the dismal place, who showed them the gold-filled cavern where the vast treasure reposed and who later pointed out to them the underground river just as all hope of escape seemed gone. They had accepted the last, desperate chance and had emerged in the outer world rich in gold and in experience.
And now, after a period of two years, they found themselves back in the drooping wilderness, encamped at the outer end of the underground river, preparing to remove the vast treasure their former efforts had revealed.