The map--the map!" gasped the professor. "The map I was showing you
last night! The map that tells where we are to dig for the idol of
gold! It's gone!"

"The map gone?" gasped Mr. Damon.

"I--I'm afraid so," faltered the professor. "I put it away carefully,
but now----"

He ceased speaking to make a further search in all his pockets.

"Maybe you left it in another coat," suggested Ned.

"Or maybe some of the Beecher crowd took it!" snapped Tom.

CHAPTER XVIII

"EL TIGRE!"

The four men gazed at one another. Consternation showed on the face of
Professor Bumper, and was reflected, more or less, on the countenances
of his companions.

"Are you sure the map is gone?" asked Tom. "I know how easy it is to
mislay anything in a camp of this sort. I couldn't at first find my
safety razor this morning, and when I did locate it the hoe was in one
of my shoes. I'm sure a rat or some jungle animal must have dragged it
there. Now maybe they took your map, Professor. That oiled silk in
which it was wrapped might have appealed to the taste of a rat or a
snake."

"It is no joking matter," said Professor Bumper. "But I know you
appreciate the seriousness of it as much as I do, Tom. But I had the
map in the pocket of this coat, and now it is gone!"

"When did you put it there?" asked Ned.

"This morning, just before I came to breakfast."

"Oh, then you have had it since last night!" Tom ejaculated.

"Yes, I slept with it under my clothes that I rolled up for a pillow,
and when it was my turn to stand guard I took it with me. Then I put
it back again and went to sleep. When I awoke and dressed I put the
packet in my pocket and ate breakfast. Now when I look for it--why,
it's gone!"

"The map or the oiled-silk package?" asked Mr. Damon, who, once having
been a businessman, was sometimes a stickler for small points.

"Both," answered the professor. "I opened the silk to tie it more
smoothly, so it would not be such a lump in my pocket, and I made sure
the map was inside."

"Then the whole thing has been taken--or you have lost it," suggested
Ned.

"I am not in the habit of losing valuable maps," retorted the
scientist. "And the pocket of my coat I had made deep, for the purpose
of carrying the long map. It could not drop out."

"Well, we mustn't overlook any possible chances," suggested Tom. "Come
on now, we'll search every inch of the ground over which you traveled
this morning, Professo