ed,
meanwhile, as rapidly as possible, with the repairs to his own ship.

The gunboat was accordingly hauled alongside the wharf at Antofagasta,
her heavy guns were lifted out of her, and the vessel was careened in
order that the shot-holes below her water-line might be plugged.

As the work on the _Covadonga_ would, it was expected, occupy at least a
fortnight, Jim Douglas applied to Commander Condell for leave to go
ashore occasionally, that he might explore the quaint old town, which
dated back to a period long anterior to the conquest of Peru by Pizarro
and his band of adventurers.

During his short sojourn on board the _Covadonga_ Jim had formed a
rather intimate acquaintanceship with her first lieutenant, a man named
Jorge Montt; and one evening, after he had returned from one of his
periodical surveys of the town, Jim entered the tiny mess-room to find
Montt discoursing at length to an eager circle of listeners upon the
legends and traditions of old Peru.

"Yes," Montt was saying, as Douglas entered, "it is an undisputed fact
that there are thousands--nay, tens of thousands--of the descendants of
the ancient Inca race now living in Peru, Bolivia, and upper Chili, who
implicitly believe that a time will come when the Incas will regain
their old supremacy, drive all the Latin races out of this part of South
America, and re-establish the old Inca monarchy once more, in all its
pristine glory. You know, of course, that there are many stories extant
in this country as to the existence of vast hoards of buried treasure?
Well, it is prophesied, I believe, that one day a man shall arise in
Peru who shall head a vast Indian insurrection and drive the
`oppressors' into the sea; and his power will, it is said, be derived
from these enormous hoards of buried treasure, the locality of which is
well known among the Incas, and which will be revealed to the
`Libertador'--when he makes his appearance. The study of these Indian
traditions is very interesting, I assure you, gentlemen," he concluded.

"But then," remarked Jim, who had sat down and was listening intently,
"nearly all semi-civilised races have traditions of the same sort. Take
the North American Indians, for instance; or the Zulus. Why, even the
Chinese believe that one day a chief will arise among them who shall
lead them to the conquest of the whole world! I do not think there is
very much in these old legends. Every nation has them, in some form or
other