ak; but let me tell you
that, however extraordinary they may seem to you, to me they appear the
most natural thing in the world, because they occur to me so frequently,
and because they began to come to me when I was still too young to
recognise their extraordinary character. The most remarkable thing
about them, to my mind, is that they all seem to bear a close
relationship to each other; they all appear to refer to the same period
of time, and the same locality; that locality being this country of
South America, and especially Peru. Is it not a strange thing that I
should have dreamed of being associated with a people, one of whom I
instantly recognised in the person of Vilcamapata? And is it not
equally strange that in my dreams I should have acquired a knowledge of
the language spoken by him and these people who are now with us? Yet
you know that such was actually the case. And now I tell you, Dick,
that when I stood among the ruins of this once splendid temple to-day,
the feeling was strong upon me that I was not standing within its walls
for the first time! I could shut my eyes and recall a dim and
tantalising vision of it in all its pristine glory; I seemed to again
see those ruined walls standing erect and perfect, with their decoration
of gold and silver plates and ornaments, their sculptured panels, their
heavy cornice, and the magnificent golden roof surmounting all. Oh, it
is tantalising to remember so much and yet so little; to have these
memories flash athwart one's mind only to vanish again before one has
time to fix and identify them! Why do they not come to me perfectly--if
they must come at all? These fleeting memories puzzle and perplex me;
nay, more, they worry me; for I cannot help thinking that they must have
a purpose; if I could but know what it is.

"And now, to turn from generalities to particularities. I am worried as
to the locality of the hidden treasure. You will remember that
Vilcamapata's last words to us were that something--which I have always
believed to be the treasure--lies beneath the great marble floor of this
temple; and until to-day I have believed that I had but to come here and
straightway find the entrance giving access to the vaults in which the
treasure lies hidden. Yet I have spent the whole day in wandering among
the ruins in search of that entrance--without success; I have been quite
unable to find any opening which promises to lead to the underground
part of