ears and knives--of the
same curious metal as the sword which Pablo so opportunely had laid
hands upon in the canon, but far more finely finished and more delicate
in design. And of this same metal was made a great throne, as it seemed
to us to be, that was in the largest room of the finest of all the
houses; a house that we believed was once the pleasure palace of the
king. The audience-chamber in which this throne stood was of finely
wrought stone-work, whereof the whole surface was covered with
low-reliefs of men and animals--scenes of battle, of council, and of the
chase--surrounded by curious tracery of such orderly design that Fray
Antonio agreed with me in the belief that it was some sort of
hieroglyphic writing. But this matter is treated of so fully in my
_Pre-Columbian Conditions on the Continent of North America_ that I need
not enter upon discussion of it here.

But in none of these houses, much to the disappointment of Rayburn and
Young, did we find any scrap of the treasure for which they so
earnestly longed. And, truly, if treasure remained in this wrecked city,
it was less likely to be in these outlying country houses than in some
strong building in the city's heart; and so beyond their reach in the
depths of the lake. If this were indeed the walled city for which we
were searching--as well it might be, for never was a city surrounded by
grander walls than the mighty cliffs wherewith the valley was
encompassed--our search was like to be a vain one so far as mere
treasure was concerned; though I, for my part, felt myself well repaid
for all that I had thus far suffered by the discovery of so much that
was of archaeological value. In this purer pleasure Fray Antonio shared;
yet was he also dissatisfied--for he had come with us that he might
preach Christianity to living souls: and here were only the bones of
countless dead.

The paved way still led westward, and we followed it--for to the
westward must be the valley's outlet. As it rose to a higher level the
way widened; and on each side of it was a stone statue of the god
Chac-Mool. As we came to these statues Young proceeded, in a most
business-like way, and with no apparent appreciation of the queer figure
that he cut, to sit down in turn on each of their heads. And he was
mightily disappointed when he found that neither of them stirred.
"They're not th' tippin' kind," he said, ruefully, as he got down from
the head of the second one and looked at it