atever you call it."

"Yes," said Bourne.

"It's not very good writing, nor yet nicely finished off, but to my mind
one thing's very clear, and it's this: wherever the ruined city is it
must be somewhere that hasn't been settled by emigrants and ranchers."

"Certainly," cried the doctor; "that's clear."

"Very well, then, sir; if you think a moment you'll see that you clear
away thousands o' square miles of settled country at once, where we
needn't go to look."

"Yes, he's right there," said Bourne. "Go on, Griggs."

"Give me time, sir. Well, then, the only parts we've got to search are
those where the country's quite wild, and no one been there but
Indians."

"Exactly," said the doctor.

"Then the parts we have got to search are not half so big already, being
only the bad desert lands."

"Good," cried Wilton.

"Here's where the map comes in now, gentlemen," continued Griggs. "What
does it say on it--what does it show?"

"Very little," replied Bourne.

"That's true, sir. I could make a better map myself; but it does show
one thing, and that is that the gold city lies amongst the mountains."

"Yes, quite true," said the doctor.

"Then here you are, sir: if the gold city lies amongst the mountains it
can't be any good for us to go hunting for it among the plains."

"Of course not."

"There you are, then, sir. Look, as the proper maps'll show you, what a
big hunch of these three States we're going to search is marked off as
prairie-land."

"To be sure."

"Then that as good as halves what we've got to go over again. We've got
to make for the mountain-path always till we find those three
sugar-loafy bits the poor fellow marked down. Why, neighbour, we're
cutting off a lot of pieces that we shan't need to meddle with. You
see, it's coming down and getting less every time we begin to work."

"There's a deal in what you say," said the doctor thoughtfully, "but the
country is immense."

"So was the Atlantic Ocean, sir, when Mr Christopher Columbus set sail
in his ship to find land. That was jumping right into the darkness."

"Hear, hear!" cried Bourne and Wilton together, and the boys hammered
the table.

"Yes," said the doctor, more thoughtfully, "and he had nothing but a
kind of faith to work on. You are quite right, Griggs; we have some
grounds to go upon."

"Instead of deep water, sir," said the American, grinning.

"And you being captain of the expedition, Lee," cried Wilton, "will