Then after a time, “Well, I wish you had seen that note sooner. I did trust Diaz. I did believe him. That was a great mistake.”
Still the wind howled and the rain came beating down upon a plantation where thousands of banana stalks lay on the ground.
CHAPTER XIII
A THOUSAND PEARLS
Pant’s knees trembled a little as his feet splashed in that bubbling stream that coursed its way through the dreadful Maya cave. It had been strange, the entering of this supposedly haunted cave, with companions. How much more awe inspiring to be entering it alone!
He wondered about those companions of that other adventure. Who was this son of a rich man? What had brought him into the jungle? Where was he now?
As these and many other questions crowded his mind, he made his way cautiously through the outer passages to find himself standing once more on the shore of that curious inland lake which had filled their minds with curiosity on that other visit and so inspired them with fear.
He found everything as it had been. The placid surface, sending back a glowing reflection of his light, broke into a thousand ripples as he waded knee deep in its icy waters.
“Clear,” was his mental comment. “Can see my toes. What a marvelous reservoir for supplying a city’s drinking water! What a pity there is no city near!”
He had waded back to the glistening sands of the beach when, of a sudden, he found his being vibrant to a great expectancy.
“What can it be?” he asked himself. Instantly the answer came.