se scrutiny. But the object, whatever it may have
been, was no longer to be seen; and, satisfied of this, Dick pressed on.
Two miles farther on, still following the edge of the cliff as closely
as was prudent, he halted, arrested by the sight of what, at the
distance of about half a mile, had the appearance of a structure of some
sort, clinging to the very verge of the cliff; and inspecting it through
his binoculars, he saw that he was right in his surmise. It was a
building, something in the nature of a wall, with what looked like a
closed gateway in its centre. And on the parapet immediately above the
gateway, there was a figure, apparently that of a sentinel, stalking
slowly to and fro!

It was enough; the structure before him was undoubtedly the gateway at
the head of the road giving access to the valley, and his mission was
accomplished. His first impulse was to go on and view the gateway, or
whatever it might be, at close quarters; but the inhabitants of the
valley were evidently jealous of the intrusion of strangers, as was
clear from the presence of the sentinel on the parapet; and giving the
matter a few moments' consideration, Dick came to the conclusion that,
before revealing his presence, it would be well to return to Earle and
report. He therefore faced about forthwith and, keeping under cover as
well as he could, retired in good order, pretty confident that, up to
that moment, he and his follower had not been seen.

The sun was just sinking behind the mountain ridges to the westward of
the mysterious city when Dick reached the camp. Earle, he found, had
not yet returned, but he arrived some ten minutes later, greatly
disgusted at his own want of success. He had searched the northern
cliffs for a distance of some twelve miles, it appeared, and nowhere had
found a spot where even a goat or a monkey might have passed up or down
them. But he had penetrated to within some eight or nine miles of the
city, and having viewed it at that distance and from a great height
through the lenses of his powerful glasses, was fully persuaded that,
let the name of the city be what it might, it was none other than that
which, crowned with the halo of legend and romance, had been spoken and
written of and sought for as "Manoa."

"It is a magnificent city, Dick," he exclaimed, enthusiastically; "a
city of palaces embowered in gardens; and the roofs of many of its
buildings are covered with gold. They _must_ be," he in