my brig."

"Yes," said Briscoe, laughing. "Why, Brace, we might be getting out
somewhere or other in the Pacific Ocean."

"What about crossing the Andes first?" said Brace sharply.

"Oh, that would be all right. I daresay we could keep on rising till we
found a way through-place where the watershed runs, as the learned chaps
say."

He had hardly spoken before Brace caught him by the arm, gripping it
strongly.

"What is it--bird?"

"No," said Brace, in a hoarse whisper. "I caught sight of a canoe
gliding along under the rocks on the farther shore."

"Did you?" said Briscoe coolly. "Well, I'm not surprised. The Indians
would be fools if some of them didn't come and live along here. It's
about the most beautiful place I ever saw."

"I can see it now," said Sir Humphrey, looking through his glass.
"There are four Indians in it with feather crowns on their heads. I
don't think they have seen us till now, for they are paddling the other
way."

"Then I tell you what: let's lie-to under the trees here," said the
captain. "There's a level bit about fifty feet up like a shelf in yon
bit of a gully. I had my eye upon that directly, and down here we can
lie up quite snugly. Let's have a quiet night somehow, and go on
to-morrow morning to see whether the Indians mean to be friends or foes.
See 'em still, Sir Humphrey?"

"No," was the reply; "they have gone right out of sight."

"Then now have the goodness to use your glass well, and sweep all the
shelves up the farther shore to see if you can make out any sign of an
Indian village, sir. Seems a wonderfully likely place for people to be
living."

At that moment there was a heavy splash as a large silvery fish flung
itself completely out of the water and then fell back, while the noise
it made startled a covey of ducks, which went fluttering and paddling up
stream.

"Must be inhabitants here, I should say," exclaimed the American,
shading his eyes with his hand. "A bit shut in and shady, but all the
better in a tropical country: why, it's lovely. Here, gentlemen, I'm
getting a bit tired of being cramped up in a boat. I vote we call this
Golden Valley and come and live here for a year or two."

"To hunt for the Golden City?" said Brace mischievously.

"Oh, no," said Briscoe quietly; "this place makes me feel as if I didn't
want to hunt for anything, only to knock myself up a hut, or to find a
sort of cave up on one of these shelves, and then just go o