“The lake had come back. The basin was full of water. Evidently it had a trick of doing this. That it was of the transient kind there was no doubt.
“I won’t attempt any theorizing or explanation of the phenomenon. I describe it to you just as it occurred. That is all. You’ll have to guess the rest.
“What of our shipmates and the gold? I don’t know. We never saw them again. We could do nothing but push on to the northward. For months we wandered until we came to a great river leading down to the Paraguay. Thence we made our way to Parana and shipped home. This is my story.”
Frank drew a deep breath.
For a moment after the captain had finished he could not speak. At length he managed to say:
“You think the gold is still at the bottom of that lake?”
“Yes.”
“And that the lake is transient, or has spells of changing its basin?”
“Just so, mate!”
Frank was thoughtful for a moment. Finally he said: