d from them. Naida's relatives
were dead, but she had relatives there, and to all these aged ones, who
sat living in the past, she did what she could to explain present
developments in the affairs of the younger generation.

Last but not least, Kirby set aside certain hours each afternoon which
he devoted to the formation of a rifle squad amongst the girls. Six
rifles he had, and in turn he trained each of the girls in their use,
having set up a range at the foot of the plateau cliffs. The results he
gained made him feel that the day would come soon enough when he would
dare launch an offensive against the ape-people; and especially pleasing
was the sense of power over the Duca which he gained. The Duca showed no
sign of treachery. Yet Kirby did not trust him. Never did he quite
forget the misgivings which had lingered in his mind after the first
conclave.

* * * * *

As for his relationship with Naida, that grew with every moment they
could steal to spend with each other. And side by side with their
growing knowledge of each other grew, for Kirby, an increasing store of
knowledge of the realm.

He learned, amongst other things, what seemed the origin of the worship
of the Serpent, Quetzalcoatl, amongst primitive Mexican races. The time
had been when the People of the Temple had mingled freely with the races
above them; and, that they might have ready means of egress to the
world, they had built the tunnel through which Kirby had entered the
Valley of the Geyser. Thus, going and coming as they did, they had
spread their cult of the worship of Quetzalcoatl; and when, eventually,
strife arose between the peoples of upper world and lower, and the
People of the Temple withdrew to their realm, they left behind them the
Serpent myth which was to live through countless centuries.

The tunnel, Naida said, had been abandoned when her people left the
upper world once and for all, and its use for any reason prohibited.
This, Naida gave as the reason why none of them went near the tunnel
now, and why the cylinder of gold had lain in the canyon undiscovered.
It was the explanation she had promised on the day in the tower, when
first she saw the cylinder.

So the days passed, until the day set aside for wedding and coronation
dawned. On that morning, Kirby, having concluded a long conference with
the Duca, was walking with Naida in the gardens outside the castle.

"Tell me," he said to her: "do