from this place. Those negroes may be back at any moment."

When Ralph found that his sister had fainted, and that Mrs. Cliff did not
know it, there was a little commotion at the foot of the mound. But some
water in a pool near by soon revived Edna, and in ten minutes the party
was on the plateau outside the caverns. The new moon was just beginning
to peep over the rocks behind them, and the two ladies had seated
themselves on the ground. Ralph was pouring out question after question,
to which nobody paid any attention, and Captain Horn, his hands thrust
into his pockets, walked backward and forward, his face flushed and his
breath coming heavily, and, with his eyes upon the ground, he seemed to
think himself entirely alone among those desolate crags.

"Can any of you tell me what it means?" cried Mrs. Cliff. "Edna, do you
understand it? Tell me quickly, some of you!"

"I believe I know what it means," said Edna, her voice trembling as she
spoke. "I thought I knew as soon as I heard of the mound covered up by
the lake, but I did not dare to say anything, because if my opinion
should be correct it would be so wonderful, so astounding, my mind could
hardly take hold of it."

"But what is it?" cried Mrs. Cliff and Ralph, almost in one breath.

"I scarcely know what to say," said Edna, "my mind is in such a whirl
about it, but I will tell you something of what I have read of the
ancient history of Peru, and then you will understand my fancies about
this stone mound. When the Spaniards, under Pizarro, came to this
country, their main object, as we all know, was booty. They especially
wished to get hold of the wonderful treasures of the Incas, the ancient
rulers of Peru. This was the reason of almost all the cruelties and
wickedness of the invaders. The Incas tried various ways of preserving
their treasures from the clutch of the Spaniards, and I have read of a
tradition that they drained a lake, probably near Cuzco, the ancient
capital, and made a strong cellar, or mound, at the bottom of it in which
to hide their gold. They then let the water in again, and the tradition
also says that this mound has never been discovered."

"Do you believe," cried the captain, "that the mound back there in the
cavern is the place where the Incas stored their gold?"

"I do not believe it is the place I read about," said Miss Markham, "for
that, as I said, must have been near Cuzco. But there is no reason why
there should not have been