farther shore.
Standing hidden behind a rock, Rayburn examined the valley carefully
through a field-glass for a long while.

"I must say this place beats me," he said at last, as he put the glass
down from his eyes. "There's no doubt about there being a down down
there; but I can't make out a sign of a single living thing. And what
is still queerer, the houses seem to go right down into the lake. If
you'll take the glass, Professor, you'll see that a few of them, on this
side, stand all right on dry ground; and then, farther down the sloping
bank, are a lot in the water; and beyond these there seem to be some
roofs just showing above the level of the lake. And as far as I can make
out, things are just the same over on the far shore. It looks as if the
lake had risen after the town was built."

As I looked through the glass I saw that what Rayburn had said was true;
and I observed with much interest that many of the houses were large,
and that all seemed to be well built of stone. Their construction
reminded me of the buildings which M. Charnay examined at Tula, and I
was eager to get down to them and examine them closely. Young and Fray
Antonio took the glass, in turn, and as none of us saw any signs of life
in the valley, we decided to go on. And we were mightily stimulated in
this resolve by finding, just at the end of the canon, where the sharp
descent began, a graving of the King's symbol on the rock, with the
arrow pointing directly down the steep path.

"Here's a walled city, for sure," said Young; "and if this is where th'
treasure-house is, we won't raise a row because th' folks have gone off
an' left it. Just whoop up that burro of yours, Pablo, an' let's be
gettin' along. It's a pity we had t' leave th' mules behind. If th'
treasure's in silver, we can't get away with much of it with nothin' but
El Sabio t' pack it on."

Pablo did not understand this speech, of course, but he recognized his
own name and the name of El Sabio, and Young's gestures helped out the
meaning of his words. Therefore Pablo grinned, and "whooped up" El
Sabio; and we all set off briskly down the steep decline.

Presently we found our way much easier than we had been led to expect by
its rough beginning. As we advanced along it there was ample evidence
that the path had been graded and smoothed by the hand of man. In
several places it was carried on a terrace supported by a well-laid
retaining wall; a deep crevice was spanned by lon