'll be
so much obliged to us that they'll let us bag all th' treasure we want
an' clear out. An' that reminds me, Professor--we haven't heard anything
about any treasure so far. Just ask th' Colonel if there really is one.
If there isn't, I vote for pullin' out before th' row begins. It's as
true of a fight as it is of a railroad--that runnin' it just for th'
operatin' expenses don't pay."

Tizoc answered my question on this head somewhat absently, for he
evidently was debating within himself some very serious matter; but his
answer was of a sort that Young found entirely satisfactory. In the
heart of the city, he said, was the Treasure-house that Chaltzantzin had
builded there; and within it the treasure remained that Chaltzantzin had
stored away. What it consisted of, nor the value of it, he could not
tell. The Treasure-house was also the Great Temple; and of the treasure
only the Priest Captain had accurate knowledge. In the Treasure-house,
Tizoc added, was stored the tribute that the people paid annually, and
the metal that was taken from the great mine. This metal was the most
precious of all their possessions, he said, for from it their arms were
made, and also their tools for tilling the earth, and for working wood
and stone. It had not always been of such value, for it naturally was
too soft to serve these useful purposes; but at a remote period, until
which time their implements had been made of stone, a wise man among
them had discovered a way by which it could be hardened, and from that
time onward the people dwelling in the valley had prospered greatly,
because they thus were enabled to practise all manner of useful arts.

"And what is this metal like?" I asked, with much interest, for my
archaeological instinct instantly was aroused by hearing summed in these
few words a matter of such momentous importance as the transition of a
people to the age of metal from the age of stone.

"It is like this," Tizoc answered, simply, disengaging as he spoke a
heavy bracelet from his arm, "only this remains in its natural state of
softness. To be of great value it first must be made hard."

I had no doubt in my own mind as to what this metal was, but I knew that
Rayburn, who was an excellent metallurgist, could pronounce upon it
authoritatively.

"Is this gold?" I asked, handing him the bracelet.

"Certainly it is," he answered, in a moment--"and it seems to be
entirely without alloy."

"Then your guess about the