ere charging through the streets of hundreds of cities and towns,
yelling in a dozen different languages, "Spechul edition! Wreck of the
_Everest_! Fearful loss of life! Full partic'lars and list of the
saved! Spechul!"

It was not until the Fastnet lighthouse showed above the horizon on the
_Cotopaxi's_ port bow that Earle reverted to the topic of his "scheme,"
although there had been ample opportunity for him to do so during the
eastward run, he having privately so arranged matters with the purser
that he and Cavendish were berthed in the same cabin during the voyage.
But for reasons best known to himself he had devoted the opportunity
thus afforded him to elicit as much as he possibly could of Dick's
previous history; and Dick, open and candid as the day, and with nothing
to conceal, had told a great deal more than perhaps some people would
have considered quite prudent; so that when the Fastnet hove in sight,
Earle knew practically all that there was to know about Dick, including
even the fact that the latter had a sister, who, Earle gathered, from a
number of cursory and incidental remarks, must be a girl very well worth
knowing.

On this particular morning, however, when, after breakfast, the pair
snugly ensconced themselves in a couple of deck chairs on the boat deck,
which just then happened to be clear of other occupants than themselves,
Earle suddenly broke ground with:

"Say! Cavendish, have you ever heard of the city of Manoa?"

"The _City of Manoa_!" repeated Dick. "Is she a steamer, or a sailing
ship? I know the _City of Paris_, of course, and the--"

"No, no," interrupted Earle with a laugh. "Can't you get ships out of
your head anyway? I'm not talking now about a ship, but about a genuine
sure-'nough city, the Golden City of Manoa, to be precise. Ever heard
of it?"

"Can't say I have," returned Dick, "excepting, of course, the fabled
city of that name, supposed to be ruled over by a certain El Dorado, who
was so enormously rich that he used to gild himself--"

"Exactly," agreed Earle. "That's the guy. And it is his city that I am
trying to talk to you about. You--in common with almost everybody
else--speak of it as the `fabled' city, because, although it has been
much talked about and eagerly sought, the fact that it was actually
found has never been conclusively demonstrated. The story of its
existence originated of course with those old Spanish conquistadors who,
under that king o