e we'll find it only a town when we get there,
and it is not far from the borders of Guatemala.

"Tom, if I could show you the translations I have made of the ancient
documents, referring to this idol and the wonderful city over which it
kept guard, I'm sure you'd come with us."

"Please don't tempt me," Tom said with a laugh. "I'm only too anxious
to go, and if it wasn't for the stabilizer I'd be with you in a minute.
But---- Well, you'll have to get along without me. Maybe I can join
you later."

"What's this about the idol keeping guard over the ancient city?" asked
Ned, for he was interested in strange stories.

"It seems," explained the professor, "that in the early days there was
a strange race of people, inhabiting Central America, with a somewhat
high civilization, only traces of which remained when the Spaniards
came.

"But these traces, and such hieroglyphics, or, to be more exact
pictographs, as I have been able to decipher from the old documents,
tell of one country, or perhaps it was only a city, over which this
great golden idol of Quitzel presided.

"There is in some of these papers a description of the idol, which is
not exactly a beauty, judged from modern standards. But the main fact
is that it is made of solid gold, and may weigh anywhere from one to
two tons."

"Two tons of gold!" cried New Newton. "Why, if that's the case it
would be worth----" and he fell to doing a sum in mental arithmetic.

"I am not so concerned about the monetary value of the statue as I am
about its antiquity," went on Professor Bumper. "There are other
statues in this buried city of Kurzon, and though they may not be so
valuable they will give me a wealth of material for my research work."

"How do you know there are other statues?" asked Mr. Damon.

"Because my documents tell me so. It was because the people made other
idols, in opposition, as it were, to Quitzel, that their city or
country was destroyed. At least that is the legend. Quitzel, so the
story goes, wanted to be the chief god, and when the image of a rival
was set up in the temple near him, he toppled over in anger, and part
of the temple went with him, the whole place being buried in ruins.
All the inhabitants were killed, and trace of the ancient city was lost
forever. No, I hope not forever, for I expect to find it."

"If all the people were killed, and the city buried, how did the story
of Quitzel become known?" asked Mr. Damon.

"One