Muro and his men rushed up.

The appearance of John and the boys startled Muro beyond expression, as
the latter said: "These are the medicine men of the tribe."

"I knew it," responded John. "We have just been investigating the place
they live," and he pointed to the mouth of the cavern.

These were the men who performed the sacred rites of the Tuolos, and
were called the Krishnos, as they learned from Muro.

"Take them to the camp," ordered John.

Without more ado, they were hustled down to the wagon. It seems that
when the Krishnos returned from the village they found themselves in the
immediate vicinity of the camp, and in the effort to escape aroused the
sentries, who rushed upon them.

If they could have reached the cave, not one of the warriors would have
dared to enter it, as their superstitious fears would have prevented
them, but outside the cave they had no such feelings. It was fortunate,
therefore, that John and the boys were there to prevent them from
entering.

As they were going down the hill, John exhibited a curious cross, He had
found it in the cave, just before he advised the boys to go out. It was
made of stone, and one of the limbs had a hole near its end, which
indicated that it had been carried as a charm.

"Isn't that singular? Why should the natives have the Christian sign of
the cross?"

[Illustration: _Fig. 11. Stone Cross found in Cave._]

"That is one of the earliest symbols that the world knows. Its use goes
back beyond the earliest period of history. It was the favorite figure
used by the astronomers and astrologers of the ancient Babylonians,
fully four or five thousand years ago. The clay tablets and stone
monuments of the Persians contained them; the Hittites, in the earliest
Jewish times, used them; and the ancient Egyptians decorated the High
Priests officiating in the temples with figures of the cross."

"It seems to me that if it was used by peoples in different parts of the
earth, there must have been some reason for it."

"One of the well-known forms found in the inscriptions shows the cross
within a circle. This seems to be the meaning of the phrase in Isaiah
which says the 'four ends of the earth.' In Bible times the earth was
known to be round, so that the expression used in the Bible about the
'circle of the earth,' and the four ends, seem to point clearly to the
cross within the circle, to indicate the four points of the compass."

[Illustration: _Fig. 12. Anc