n front of it, an enormous face cut out
of the solid stone.

CHAPTER III

A CHANGE OF LODGINGS

The great face stared down upon the little party gathered beneath it. Its
chin was about eight feet above the ground, and its stony countenance
extended at least that distance up the cliff. Its features were in low
relief, but clear and distinct, and a smoke-blackened patch beneath one
of its eyes gave it a sinister appearance. From its wide-stretching mouth
a bit of half-burnt vine hung, trembling in the heated air, and this
element of motion produced the impression on several of the party that
the creature was about to open its lips.

Mrs. Cliff gave a little scream,--she could not help it,--and Maka sank
down on his knees, his back to the rock, and covered his face with his
hands. Ralph was the first to speak.

"There have been heathen around here," he said. "That's a regular idol."

"You are right," said the captain. "That is a bit of old-time work. That
face was cut by the original natives."

The two ladies were so interested, and even excited, that they seized
each other by the hands. Here before their faces was a piece of sculpture
doubtless done by the people of ancient Peru, that people who were
discovered by Pizarro; and this great idol, or whatever it was, had
perhaps never before been seen by civilized eyes. It was wonderful, and
in the conjecture and exclamation of the next half-hour everything else
was forgotten, even the three sailors.

Because the captain was the captain, it was natural that every one
should look to him for some suggestion as to why this great stone face
should have been carved here on this lonely and desolate rock. But he
shook his head.

"I have no ideas about it," he said, "except that it must have been
some sort of a landmark. It looks out toward the sea, and perhaps the
ancient inhabitants put it there so that people in ships, coming near
enough to the coast, should know where they were. Perhaps it was
intended to act as a lighthouse to warn seamen off a dangerous coast.
But I must say that I do not see how it could do that, for they would
have had to come pretty close to the shore to see it, unless they had
better glasses than we have."

The sun was now near the horizon, and Maka was lifted to his feet by the
captain, and ordered to stop groaning in African, and go to work to get
supper on the glowing embers of the vines. He obeyed, of course, but
never did he turn h