en rowed gently on past
the front of the temple, till about a quarter of a mile farther on a
similar landing to that which they had first approached was reached, and
the party eagerly ascended the rough steps to a flat wharf or terrace
like the other where the smouldering fires were found, ascended by
another L-shaped passage to the next terrace, to find more and more
rooms or cells, and then hurried on back till they came face to face
with the blank rock which formed the other end of the temple.

"This must do for to-day," said Sir Humphrey decisively. "Turn back
now. To-morrow, if all's well, we will ascend right to the top."

"And look along there for the way into this place," said Brace; "for way
in there must be. Lead on, Mr Lynton; we'll follow."

The second mate started off with the men, and as soon as their backs
were turned Briscoe stooped quickly and picked up one of the pieces of
stone which had crumbled down from somewhere up the face of the cliff.

"What have you got there?" said Brace: "a piece of ancient carving?"

"Look," said the American, in a low tone, and he handed the piece to Sir
Humphrey, holding the side that had been downward as it lay on the
stone-encumbered terrace, upward where the fracture looked comparatively
new.

"Gold!" exclaimed Sir Humphrey, as he saw that the stone was webbed with
glistening thready veins.

"Ah! I didn't say the word," said Briscoe, laughing, as he glanced
forward at the backs of Lynton and the men. "But that's what it is. I
knew it. I'm not going to talk and make a fuss; but that bit you've got
hold of would crush and give as much as a couple of pounds of gold a
ton."

"You amaze me," said Sir Humphrey.

"It amazes P Franklyn Briscoe," said their companion. "Shall I put this
in my pocket, or throw it away?"

"Keep it," said Sir Humphrey, "and we'll show it to the captain. I
don't see why we should not take back as much of the richest ore as the
boats will carry. Let's see what he'll say."

"Yes; let's do so," said Briscoe; "but it seems queer, doesn't it, that
there should have been people living who could make a town like this,
and then for hundreds or thousands of years poor simple Indians going on
shooting and fishing while all this wealth was waiting in the rocks if
they had known what it was worth?"

"They could not have been so advanced a people as the Mexicans and
Peruvians," said Brace.

"Seems not," said Briscoe drily, as he thrust