mist around
us; and the light was growing faint, for the day had come nearly to an
end. Indeed, had we been upon the lower levels of the earth night would
have been already upon us.

Making my way along the edge of the precipice, where the plateau broke
sheer off, was ticklish work; and half humorous, half melancholy
thoughts went through my mind touching the absurdity of an ex-professor
of Topical Linguistics in the University of Michigan being thus employed
in path-hunting upon a lonely mountain-top in Mexico. Truly, adversity
brings us strange bedfellows; but far stranger are the straits into
which a man comes who takes up with the study of archaeology at
first-hand. But my path-hunting was without result, for nowhere along
the edge of the plateau was there a break fit for the descent of any
creature save such as had wings. At the end of near an hour the clouds
once more lifted; and then I saw Rayburn coming towards me, but with a
serious look upon his face that told that he also had been unsuccessful
in his search.

"It has rather a bad look, Professor," he said, briefly, when I had told
him that along all the face of the mountain that I had examined the rock
went down sheer. He filled his pipe and lighted it, and we walked back
to the base of the pyramid in silence, while he smoked. Young had not
returned; but presently we heard a shout that had so hopeful a sound in
it as to start us both to our feet and forth to meet him.

"Have you found a way down?" Rayburn called, as he came nearer to us.

"You bet I have," he called back; "and, what's more, I've seen somethin'
to eat."

"_Seen_ something!" Rayburn answered, as he joined us. "Why the dickens
didn't you _get_ it?"

"Well, because it was better'n a mile away from me. It looked like a
mountain sheep, as well as I could make out; but there it was for sure;
an' thinkin' how good that critter will taste roasted has given me a
regular twistin' pain all through my empty inside! But th' point is that
down on that side o' th' mountain there's game; I saw birds, too, but I
couldn't make out what they were; an', somehow, it looks different down
there. It don't look like these d--n dead places we've been prowlin'
through for more'n a coon's age. It looks as if God remembered it, an'
it was _alive_! Why, th' very smell that came up had somethin' good
about it; an' there was a different taste to th' air. I tell you,
Rayburn, I didn't know what a lonely an' mis'rable a