oceeded to abuse it vigorously, on the ground that it was an
idolatrous product of the Aztec race that was at the root of all our
troubles. For, as he truly said, had there been no Aztecs to begin with,
our departure on a wild-goose chase after an Aztec treasure-house would
have been an impossibility. His attention having been thus fixed upon
the idol, his habit of investigation got the better of his ill-will
towards it, and he mounted the altar to examine it more
closely--continuing the while to address it in language that was
eminently unparliamentary.

"A pretty-looking sort a specimen _you_ are!" he said, in a tone of
vast contempt. "But you're about what I'd expect folks like that friend
of th' Professor's, th' Cacique, t' worship. It takes a low sort of a
heathen, even in his blindness, t' bow down to a stone like you--with
your twisted head, an' your stubby legs, an' your little fryin'-pan over
your stomach. Why, where I come from they wouldn't have you even for a
stone settee in a park. No, you're not fit even t' sit on--unless,
maybe, it's on th' flat top of your crooked head;" and by way of testing
this possibility, Young seated himself on the head of Chac-Mool.

And then a very extraordinary thing happened. The idol, and the great
slab of stone on which it rested and of which it was a part, slowly
moved; the head sinking, and the other end of the slab, on which the
legs were carved, rising in the air! Young sprang up with a cry as he
felt the stone sinking beneath him; and the figure, relieved of his
weight, settled back into its former position with a slight jar. In a
moment that the slab was in the air there had come from under it a gleam
of light.

In the excitement wrought by this strange accident our hurts were
forgotten; and we eagerly clambered upon the altar to investigate the
matter further, while hope and wonder thrilled our hearts.

"Now, then, Young," said Rayburn, "try it again. It looks as though this
idol wasn't all the blackguard things you've been calling it, by a long
shot."

"No, I'll be hanged if I'll try it again," Young answered. "Try it
yourself, if you want to. How do I know what's goin' t' happen with a
stone thing that goes tippin' around that way? I don't mind sayin' that
I'm a good deal jolted, an' don't feel like foolin' with it any more.
Try it yourself, if you want to, I say."

"All right," Rayburn answered. "You and the Professor stand here where
you can grab me if anyth