trail and
started down. Both men had felt the effects of the thin air during the
last twelve hours and so the descent came as a welcome relief. They
camped that night among trees and in an atmosphere that relieved their
tired lungs. They also built the first fire they had lighted since the
start and enjoyed a hot meal of coffee and toasted porkscraps. They
found the steep downward trail to be about as difficult as the upward
one, as they were forced to brace themselves at every step. By night
they had come to the wooded slopes of the table-lands below, supported
by the mighty buttresses of the Andes. It was a fair land in which
they found themselves--a land which, save for the vista of snow-capped
summits and the lesser volcanic peaks, might have passed for a fertile
Northern scene. It was at about sunset that they stopped and Gaspar,
the guide, pointed to a spindle lava top against the sky.

"Up there," he informed them, "is the lake of Guadiva. Some say it is
there that the great treasure lies."

"So? What treasure?" asked Stubbs, innocently.

"The treasure of the Gilded God which these people worship."

Stubbs listened once again to the story which he had already heard a
dozen times. But it came with fresh interest when told within sight of
its setting. Then he stared at it until the dark blotted it out. And
after that he lighted his pipe and stared at where he had last seen
it. Below them a few fires burned in the darkness showing through the
windows of the adobe huts.

The next morning they dismissed their guide, as it would be impossible
to use him further without revealing the object of their journey. Both
Stubbs and Wilson were anxious to push forward to the lake without
delay and resolved to reach if possible their goal by night. They
figured that as the crow flies it could not be more than twenty-five
miles distant. The trail was direct and well enough marked and finally
brought them to the village of Soma which is within eight miles of the
base of the cone. Here, for the first time since they started, they
had a glimpse of the natives. As they entered the small village of
adobe huts they were surrounded by a group of the beardless brown men.
In a few minutes their number had increased till they formed a
complete circle some ten men deep. They did not seem unfriendly, but
as they stood there chattering among themselves they made no motion
to open a path for the travelers. They were ordinarily a peaceful