e came from."

"Are there?" caustically remarked Earle. "Then, my dear Cavendish,
permit me to congratulate you; for these two crystals are remarkably
fine emeralds; and the probability is that you have accidentally
stumbled upon an emerald mine rich enough to make the fortunes of a
dozen men. Let's get back to camp and move on to this gully of yours.
We'll overhaul it at once, and if it should prove--as I strongly
suspect--to be a true emerald mine, we'll work it for a few days and
ascertain something like its probable worth."

"But," protested Dick, "I didn't know that emeralds were found in South
America."

"What!" ejaculated Earle, in amazement. "You ignorant sailorman! Why,
some of the most famous emeralds in the world have been unearthed in
this country. The Spaniards, under Pizarro, took enormous quantities of
them from the Peruvians, but were never able to learn exactly where they
were obtained; and the only mine now known in South America is, I
believe, situated near Bogota. But I have long been convinced that this
is the country, _par excellence_, for emeralds--ay, and possibly rubies
and sapphires as well. Come along, man; let's go and have a look at the
mine that's going to make a millionaire of you."

CHAPTER SIX.

EMERALDS--AND THE DEATH FLOWER.

The two friends reached their temporary camp in good time for the
mid-day meal; they therefore decided to have it before proceeding
farther. As soon as the meal was over the camp was struck, and the
entire party proceeded in the direction of the gully, or cleft, upon
their arrival at which preparations were at once made for a possible
sojourn of a few days; and while those preparations were being made,
Earle and Dick, carrying a pickaxe and shovel, as well as their rifles,
started to climb the cleft, bent upon examining the spot where the
emeralds had been found, and, if possible, settling the question as to
whether or not a mine had actually been discovered.

Their open-air life, and the toil of their recent travels had put both
young men into the pink of condition; it was, therefore, not long before
they reached the spot where Dick had made his momentous find. Arrived
there, Earle's first act was to subject each of the crystals lying in
the exposed "pocket" to a careful examination. There were fifty-four in
all, of varying sizes; and when Earle had pronounced each of them to be
a genuine emerald--and most of them of the first water, they we