.

"Help you--how?" asked Tom.

"I will tell you when we reach the Andes," was the mysterious answer.

It was a day later when they left the train at a small station, and
struck off into the foothills of the great Andes Mountains, where the
tunnel was started, that the professor again mentioned his object.

"Friends," he said, as he gazed up at the towering cliffs and crags, "I
am searching for the lost city of Pelone, located somewhere in these
mountains. Will you help me to find it?"

Chapter XII

The Tunnel

Mr. Damon, of the three who heard Professor Bumper make this statement,
showed the least sign of astonishment. It would have been more correct
to say that he showed none at all. But Tom could not restrain himself.

"The lost city of Pelone!" he exclaimed.

"Is it here--in these mountains?" asked Mr. Titus.

"I have reason to hope that it is," went on the professor. "The golden
tablets are very vague, but I have tried many locations, and now I am
about to try here. I hope I shall succeed. At any rate, I shall have
agreeable company, which has not always been my luck on my previous
expeditions seeking to find the lost city."

"Oh, Professor, are you still on that quest?" asked Mr. Damon, in a
matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes, Mr. Damon, I am. And now that I look about me, and see the shape
of these mountains, I feel that they conform more to the description on
the golden plates than any location I have yet tried. Somehow I feel
that I shall be successful here."

"Did you know Professor Bumper was searching for a lost city of the
Andes?" asked Tom, of his eccentric friend.

"Why yes," answered Mr. Damon. "He has been searching for years to
locate it."

"Why didn't you tell us?" inquired Mr. Titus.

"Why, I never thought of it. Bless my memorandum book! it never
occurred to me. I did not think you would be interested. Tell them
your story, Professor Bumper."

"I will soon. Just now I must see to my equipment. The story will keep."

And though Tom and Mr. Titus were both anxious to hear about the lost
city, they, too, had much to do to get ready for the trip into the
interior.

The beginning of the tunnel under one of the smaller of the ranges of
the Andes lay two days journey from the end of the railroad line. And
the trip must be made on mules, with llamas as beasts of burden,
transporting the powder and other supplies.

"We'll only need to take enough food with us for the two days," sa