t the slab
was not nature's handiwork at all, but that of man. In a moment all
sorts of legends vaguely flashed through his mind, and, knowing that
this tunnel had been originally used by the Incas and had not been
opened since, he began to wonder whether the curious circumstance was
worth investigating. He soon decided that it was, and seizing his pick,
he inserted the point at the edge of the slab, and attempted to lever
the stone away. It resisted for so long, however, that he was beginning
to think the stone was after all no more than a part of the natural
rock, when, under a more than usually vigorous pull, he saw it move
forward slightly.

He now wrenched at it more determinedly than ever, and in a few seconds
had the satisfaction of seeing the heavy slab totter and then fall
outward on to the floor of the tunnel. Douglas was provided with
matches and a lantern for the purposes of his work, and he lost no time
in exploring the cavity which the stone had disclosed. With eager
fingers he searched and probed about, but for some time found nothing.
Then his hand suddenly encountered something that felt metallic and
heavy, and upon bringing it to the light, he found that he held in his
hand a small golden image, some three inches high, evidently
representing the god Rimac. This spurred him on to new efforts, and in
a few minutes he had extracted five other little figures from the same
place. Jim believed that he had now emptied the cache, and he was on
the point of abandoning further search, since time was flying, but was
just feeling round the hole for the last time, when his hand came in
contact with something else.

This last object which he brought to light proved to be nothing less
than a roll of Inca paper, a coarse material made of the wool of the
vicuna, which the priests were accustomed to use in keeping their
records. This was probably a prize of considerably greater value than
the gold, Jim thought, and he carefully opened it with trembling
fingers. But, as he quite expected, he could make nothing of it, for it
was written in the ancient Inca character, which few white men have ever
seen, and which only a small number of Indians, directly descended from
the ancient Peruvian race, are able to decipher. There was not much of
it, but Douglas guessed that its value must be great, or it would not
have been hidden so carefully away. He therefore folded it up
carefully, and put it, together with the li