e had
scrambled up and stood clutching his aching wrist instinctively. But
neither his gaze nor his attention was on the injured member. Flushed,
bright-eyed, he was staring eagerly at the obstacle that had caused his
tumble.

It was nothing more than a line of stones, barely showing above the
decaying vegetation of the forest floor. But the boy's swift vision
had already taken in the fact that the line was straight and true, and
that the stones were held together by crumbling remains of mortar.

CHAPTER XXII

AROUND THE COUNCIL FIRE

Dale's first impulse was to summon the others with a jubilant shout. His
lips parted swiftly, but closed again as he remembered the nearness of
Wes Becker's crowd. It would never do to let them suspect.

"Frank!" he called in a low tone. "Come over here--quick!"

Sanson responded instantly "Found anything?" he demanded, as he plunged
through the bushes. Then his eyes fell on the line of ruined masonry and
he caught his breath. "Gee!" he exclaimed delightedly. "That certainly
looks like--"

"Sh-h!" cautioned Tompkins. "Wes and his bunch are not far off--right
up the hill: we mustn't put them wise, or they'll all come piling down
here. You get Ranny and Court, and I'll tell the others."

They quickly separated, and in less than three minutes the others had
hastened to the spot. As he took in the bit of old wall Ranny Phelps'
eyes brightened and he looked at Tompkins.

"I guess you've hit it, old man," he said warmly. "There'd hardly be any
other foundation in this jungle. Let's scrape away the leaves and mold a
little and see if we can't find a corner."

Eagerly they fell to work, and before long had uncovered two sides
of a rough stone rectangle, some eighteen by thirty feet, and even
unearthed the ends of a couple of tough, hand-hewn oak beams which had
fallen in and become covered with dead leaves and other debris. About
the middle of one side was a solid, square mass of stone that looked as
if it might have been the base of a forge or smelting-furnace. But
there was no chance to proceed further, for Ranny suddenly jerked out his
watch and gave an exclamation of dismay.

"Gosh! Almost four o'clock. We've got to start back right away."

"Aw--gee! Let's take just a few minutes more," begged several voices at
once.

"Nothing doing," returned Ranny, decidedly. "If we're not back at
four-thirty, they'll think we've found something, and we don't want
that. We've got som