CHAPTER XV

Menace of the Cave

Rows of big columns supported a carved and decorated portico, which, while it had crumbled away and fallen in many places, still showed enough of its original grandeur to convince the boys that it had been erected by craftsmen of no mean ability. Trees had sprouted and flourished in what had once been the temple sacred to the God of Fire. Great vines and creepers writhed and twisted about the columns, some of which had ceased to be supports for the vines, but were in reality kept by them from falling.

In the center of the ruined facade was a huge arch giving access to the interior. Black and mysterious it looked against the brightness outside, as though inviting the boys to explore its ancient secrets, but at the same time suggesting an indefinable menace to whoever should dare to profane its sacred precincts.

The boys felt a sense of impending peril, as though some unseen but hostile presence were hovering over the place, menacing the unwary human who might presume to probe into the hidden secrets of the ancient pile. But the boys were not to be easily deterred by vague premonitions, and they were determined to explore the ruins.

“Come on, fellows,” exclaimed Phil, after a short period of astonished silence. “Let’s go in and see what this place looks like. There’s no telling what we may find inside.”

“We may find more than we bargain for,” muttered Tom, with an involuntary shudder, as the boys climbed over fallen pillars and entered the black doorway. A close, musty air filled the place, and for a few moments the boys had to stop and accustom their eyes to the gloom within. In places the roof had fallen in, but these openings were so overgrown by vegetation that they did little to dispel the gloom.

The beams from their flashlights seemed lost in the vast place, but as their eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness, they could make out a huge object looming at the further end of the temple. Stepping cautiously over the rough and broken floor, the boys approached this, and found it to be a big idol, skillfully carved from a single huge block of granite.

As Phil played his flashlight over the hideous countenance of the image, the boys gave a cry and started back, for two glowing red eyes seemed gazing balefully down at these presumptious invaders of age long quiet.

“What was that, Phil?” asked Tom, in a voice that shook a little in spite of himself.

“I think there must be two jewels set into the idol’s head as eyes,” said Phil, as he flashed his light once more on the face of the image, and the baleful eyes flamed and glowed. “They look rather scarey, don’t they? I don’t think that fellow is very glad to have us visit him.”

“But if those are real jewels, they must be worth a fortune,” said Dick, excitedly. “Why not take them back with us?”

“Gosh, leave them alone,” protested Tom. “Let’s look around first, anyway. I’ve got a hunch that no good would come from monkeying with that idol.”

“Well, I’m going to have a try at them on the way out, hunch or no hunch,” declared Dick. “But look, fellows. This must have been an altar, or something of the kind.”

“It looks like one,” said Tom, as all three boys played their lights on the object in question. “But what are all those streaks down the side, I wonder.”

“Can’t you guess?” asked Phil, in a curious voice. “Those are bloodstains, Tom, in all probability. One of the favorite indoor sports of the Aztecs was offering up sacrifices to their gods.”

“I’ll bet you’re right!” exclaimed Dick. “And I remember reading that they didn’t stop at animals, either. Humans were the favorites, weren’t they, Phil?”

“I think so,” nodded Phil. “But let’s see what else we can find.”

The boys left the giant statue brooding in the gloom, and circled the interior. At one point they found an opening leading into another, smaller temple, in which was an altar elaborately carved with figures of men and beasts. At the back of this altar the flooring had broken away, and, peering into this opening, the boys could see a flight of rough stone steps leading downward.

Phil looked questioningly at the others, and they both nodded. Without further hesitation, Phil started down the steps, which had deep hollows worn in them by feet that had been dust for centuries. The steps went down steeply for perhaps twenty feet, and then the boys found themselves standing at the entrance to a dark tunnel, from which issued a strong draught of cold, damp air.

Starting down this, they soon found that the walls widened out, the roof sloped upward, and expanded into a big cave. The walls of this cave had numerous ledges projecting from them, and on these ledges were ranged rows of stone caskets. The boys surmised, and rightly, that this was the burial vault of the priests who had officiated in the temple above. A heavy dust lay thick over everything, and when the boys spoke, it was in hushed tones.

At the further side of the cave a door opened onto another tunnel, and after the boys had traversed this a short distance they found that the main passageway branched out into others, which in turn were subdivided. They kept on for a time, but at length Phil called a halt.

“We don’t seem to be getting anywhere, and if we’re not careful we stand a fine chance of getting lost,” he said. “I think we’d better start back.”

“So do I,” said Dick. “We’d better be careful of our flashlights, too. The battery in mine is beginning to get a little weak.”

“Mine isn’t any too good, either,” said Tom.

“I put a new battery in mine yesterday, so it’s all right yet,” said Phil. “We’ll just use mine, and you can both save yours for emergencies. They’ll recuperate if you don’t use them for a little while.”

Phil had taken careful note of their direction, and was making his way unerringly through the many twists and turns of the underground passage, when suddenly he was halted by an exclamation from Dick.

“Just a minute, Phil,” he said, excitedly. “Where’s Tom?”

“Tom,” echoed Phil. “How do I know? I thought he was right in back of you.”

“So he was, up to a minute ago,” said Dick. “He stopped for a moment to tie his shoe, and I thought he’d catch right up to us. Flash your light back, and see if we can locate him.”

But there was no sign of Tom, and when his friends shouted his name they received no answer but a hollow echo that came reverberating out of the dim reaches of the tunnel.

Phil and Dick gazed at each other in consternation.

“We passed a fork just a little way back,” said Dick. “He must have taken the wrong turning.”

“Let’s go back, then, quick!” exclaimed Phil, and the two boys raced back to the point where the subterranean passage forked. They raced down the second tunnel, only to find that, after a short distance, that also forked into three branches.

Here the boys halted, dark forebodings clutching at their hearts.

Phil drew his revolver, and fired twice into the air. The noise of the reports almost deafened them, the sound caroming from the narrow walls and echoing away down the complicated passages.

The boys listened for some answering sound from their missing comrade, and their hearts leaped as they heard a muffled explosion in the distance.

“Thank heaven,” exclaimed Phil, fervently, and forgetful for the moment of caution, he and Dick hastened in the direction from which the shot had seemed to come. Phil fired again, and this time the answering report was much nearer. At last, turning a corner, they caught sight of Tom’s flashlight, burning dimly through the darkness.

“Hurray!” yelled Phil and Dick, and were answered by a welcoming shout from Tom. The friends raced toward each other, and in a few moments were laughing and pounding each other joyously.

Tom, it turned out, had stopped to struggle with a refractory shoelace, and when he had finally got it fixed had run after his two friends, expecting to catch up with them at once. When he saw no sign of them, however, he knew that he must have taken a wrong turn, and had about given himself up for lost when he heard the distant report of Phil’s revolver.

“Well, let’s get out of this, quick,” said Phil, when Tom had finished. “This place is hoodooed, and the sooner we’re out in the sunshine again the better I’ll like it.”

But this was not so easily to be accomplished. While searching for Tom, the others had been so anxious over him that they had failed to take careful note of their route, and now, after half an hour of wandering in the endless passages, they were forced to admit that they were hopelessly lost.