around his waist,
walked out, dragging the load as easily as if pulling a child on a sled.

Professor Bumper kept on with his search for the lost city of Pelone.
Back and forth he wandered among the wild Andes Mountains, now hopeful
that he was on the right trail, and again in despair. Tom and Mr. Damon
went with him once more for a week, and though they enjoyed the trip,
for the professor was a delightful companion, there were no results.
But the scientist would not give up.

Tom Swift was kept busy looking after the shipments of the explosive,
and arranging for the blasts. He had letters from Ned Newton in which
news of Shopton was given, and Mr. Swift wrote occasionally. But the
mails in the wilderness of the Andes were few and far between.

Tom wrote a letter of explanation to Mr. Nestor, in addition to the
wireless he had sent regarding the box labeled dynamite, but he got no
answer. Nor were his letters to Mary answered.

"I wonder what's wrong?" Tom mused. "It can't be that they think I did
that on purpose. And even if Mr. Nestor is angry at me for something
that wasn't my fault, Mary ought to write."

But she did not, and Tom grew a bit despondent as the days went by and
no word came.

"I suppose they might be offended because I left Rad to do up that
package instead of attending to it myself," thought Tom. "Well, I did
make a mistake there, but I didn't mean to. I never thought about
Eradicate's not reading. I'll make him go to night school as soon as I
get back. But maybe I'll never get another chance to send Mary
anything. If I do, I'll not let Rad deliver it--that's sure."

The feeling of alarm engendered among the Indians by the disappearance
of their ten fellow-workers seemed to have disappeared. There were
rumors that some of the mysterious ten had been seen in distant
villages and settlements, but the Titus brothers could not confirm this.

"I don't think anything serious happened to them, anyhow," said Job
Titus one day. "And I should hate to think our work was responsible for
harm to any one."

"Your rivals don't seem to be doing much to hamper you," observed Tom.
"I guess Waddington gave up.

"I won't be too sure of that," said Mr. Titus.

"Why, what has happened?" Tom asked.

"Well, nothing down here--that is, directly--but we are meeting with
trouble on the financial end. The Peruvian government is holding back
payments."

"Why is that?"

"They claim we are not as far advanced as