Inside, Biff found Alvaro the innkeeper asleep as usual and was tempted to turn around and walk right out again. Then, suspecting that the fellow might be catnapping with one eye slightly open, Biff went over and hammered on the desk.

Alvaro opened his eyes and apparently recognized Biff as the young American described by Kirby several days before, for the innkeeper's fat face showed a flicker of surprise. Then, in a sleepy tone, Alvaro declared: "Senor Kirby has not been here. I do not know when he will be here again. I have not heard from him."

It sounded like a speech that the innkeeper had learned by rote. Biff had to take it or leave it; so he took it and left. Outside again, he turned to look for Mike, only to hear a whisper almost in his ear: "For aqui! This way!"

THE ANCIENT CAVERN 123.

It was Mike, calling from the narrow pa.s.sage beside the hotel. Biff joined him there in time to avoid some mariachi players that Mike had spotted coming along the street. But the gaily clad musicians went by, never noticing the boys and paying no attention to the banana seller.

During the next hour, more strollers pa.s.sed, but always with the same result. The boys agreed that if Kirby happened to be in the Red Bull, he was keeping out of sight, and that Ramonez, if still in town, wasn't showing himself with the mariachis. But it was getting dark enough for anyone to move along the street unrecognized. Biff called Mike's attention to that fact: "Look, Mike. Here comes a man in white, but you can't even see his face. From the baggy suit he's wearing, he looks like one of Bortha's excavation crew."

The man stopped by the doorway of the Red Bull just long enough for the boys to see him pull some peso bills from his pocket and start to count them. Mike gripped Biff's arm.

"He's going to buy some bananas," Mike whispered. "Come on, stay close behind him."

The boys were right in back of the man when he handed a bill to the banana seller, whose own face was hidden beneath the brim of his sombrero. Between diem, they let the peso note flutter to the ground, as if purposely. As the man in baggy clothes stooped to regain it, the boys heard him say: "Tizoc."

124 .

It was like a pa.s.sword. The banana man responded in a low tone: "Tizoc."

"Where will I find him?"

The questioner's words were plain, but the response by the banana seller was m.u.f.fled beneath his sombrero. Mike drew Biff along hurriedly to the next corner.

"In a few minutes," said Mike, "I'll go back and try that pa.s.sword myself. Come around the block the other way, and I'll meet you."

Biff watched Mike approach the banana seller and do the money-dropping act. Then Mike was on his way again, and Biff hurried around to meet him. Mike was jubilant.

"It worked, Biff!" he exclaimed. "We both gave the pa.s.sword, 'Tizoc,' and when I asked where to find him, he said, 'Take the road up the mountain until you come to the lone cactus. Turn there toward El Castillo. Tizoc will welcome you when the sun is high.' That was all."

That was enough. The boys hurried back through the dusk to the Hotel Pico. There, while having dinner together, they could scarcely contain the enthusiasm that they felt. But when they talked it over later that evening, they decided to play things safe.

"Dad should be back tomorrow," Biff reminded Mike, "so we'd better wait to tell him."

"Until noon at least," agreed Mike. "That's when the sun will be high."

THE ANCIENT CAVERN 125.

At dawn the next day, both boys were up and counting the hours expectantly. By nine o'clock, Biff himself was worried when he went out in front of the Hotel Pico and looked down over the village. There, he saw a few white-clad figures trudging up the road and wondered if they were some of Tizoc's recruits.

By the time the men had gone out of sight over the ridge behind the hotel, Biff was studying the sun and feeling even more uncertain. Mike joined him just about then, and Biff expressed what he had in mind.

"The man said, 'When the sun is high,' and it is plenty high right now. Look at it, Mike."

Mike looked and agreed. The sun had risen above the great valley and with a mile of alt.i.tude to help, it seemed much higher than the distant horizon, so far below.

"I'd forgotten that the sun rises early from the valley," said Mike, "just as it sets early over the mountains. I wonder just how high it has to be."

"You can't go back and ask," declared Biff, "and if we wait too long, we may miss Tizoc. I think some of his friends have started up ahead of us."

That was enough for Mike. He, too, was eager to get started. Biff decided to leave the torn slips with their pieced message in Professor Bortha's room, along with the professor's notes. Biff wanted to write a message to his father, but decided against it, for fear some stranger might happen to pick it up.

126 .

Soon the boys were taking the path that led from the hotel up to the ridge, and they found it much more of a short cut than they had supposed. Though it was a fairly tiring climb, they reached the pack trail in about five minutes. When they looked back, they found that they were just over the ridge and that the Hotel Pico as well as the village of El Cielo had vanished from sight.

The trail itself veered slightly toward the rear slope of El Castillo, which from that angle looked more like a mountain peak than a towering cliff. Far beyond the ridge were the "elephant backs" of the mountains, much like those they had seen during the plane trip. Those gaunt humps, slashed by narrow, barren canyons, were decidedly univiting compared to the valley view from El Cielo.

Biff pointed out tiny objects that were moving like ants along a distant slope. Puzzled, Biff said: "That can't be the pack train that left El Cielo yesterday. It should certainly be past that range of mountains."

"It must be coming the other way," decided Mike. "A long trip with all those ups-and-downs and snaky curves. It won't get here until some time this afternoon."

A few small cactus plants were scattered along the trail, here where it followed the ridge. Almost immediately, the boys noted one that was much taller, a variety so different that they realized it could have THE ANCIENT CAVERN 127.

been purposely planted to serve as a special landmark. What was more surprising was the fact that they were still within ten minutes hike of the Hotel Pico.

"That's our turnofF," declared Mike. "Now we head straight for the big peak."

That was easy, too, for the castellated summit was rearing very close by. The ground near the big cactus was rocky, almost like a paved patch. They had crossed it when Biff pointed ahead and said: "Look there. Mule tracks."

Hoof marks showed in the soil which now was becoming sandy. But as they looked back, the boys saw that the ground humped slightly behind them.

"Very neat," declared Biff. "You'd never guess that there was a side trail coming in this direction; not unless you were told to turn off at the big cactus."

Within another fifty yards, the hidden trail was bringing them up above the ridge. Mike was pointing toward the higher summit, where some huge birds were soaring off in the direction of the other mountain ranges.

"Eagles," stated Mike. "They are smart enough to stay away from El Cielo, where the people might start shooting at them. But they probably have their nests up in the cliff."

"And that," Biff told him, "is where we are now. If you don't believe me, take a look."

Biff gestured toward the edge of the narrow trail, 128 .

and Mike realized that they were following a rocky path chopped in the cliff itself. As they moved toward the rim, the boys caught breath-taking views of El Cielo and the valley beyond; but there was something else that impressed Biff more.

"We never would be seen up here," said Biff, "unless we showed ourselves. Why, you could bring a mule train along this cliff edge and n.o.body would be the wiser."

Mike looked up and studied the scarred rock that jutted above them.

"It looks smooth from below," was his comment, "and that is the thing that fools you." He moved along the narrow trail, then approached the outer edge and waved for Biff to join him. "Say, take a look straight down, Biff!"

Biff looked as straight down as he could. Below, he saw the excavation where Bortha's men were at work. The professor's tent was the size of a handkerchief; the men were like beetles digging in the rubble.

From this height, Biff realized why the cliff seemed like an overhanging wall to anyone below. Instead of being a sheer drop, it was irregular in formation. Its bulge was more of a slant, broken by cracks and ledges, with occasional points of jutting rock. Mike had a name for it.

"It is like an escalera" the Mexican youth declared. "A ladder cut into the stone. Hard to climb, but easy to descend. Look there, Biff. See, it would be-"

THE ANCIENT CAVERN 129.

"Yes, very easy," interposed Biff, "jumping twenty feet from one step to another, with a few hundred more to go if you should happen to miss. Thank you, mi amigo, Miguel, but I would rather be on a mule's back, with one foot hanging a mile above nothing. Remember?"

Mike smiled as he replied: "Si, mi amigo."

"You told me about that," reminded Biff, "and later I experienced it. But this business of the escalera going down the cliff! Let's forget it and think of something worse."

Now Mike was really surprised. "Something worse? "he asked.

"Yes." Biff now was taking the lead, waving for Mike to follow him along the narrow, rocky path. "We have an appointment, remember? With Tizoc!"

As Biff gave that reminder, the trail came to a sudden end. Just ahead was a rising wall of rock, too smooth to climb, too wide for them to work their way around it. But as the boys paused, wondering which way to turn, they saw the answer to their problem.

Yawning in the cliff itself was the mouth of a darkened cavern which, from its crude appearance, had been hacked centuries before by ancient Aztec workmen. Mike smiled a bit grimly and waved to the gloomy entrance, as he said: "After all, Tizoc has invited us."

Biff nodded. "Let's go, Mike."

CHAPTER XV.

Trapped!

ODDLY, the cavern grew lighter as Biff and Mike moved into it. At first, they didn't realize why. Then they saw that natural fissures in the rock admitted sunlight high above their heads.

A weird hush clung over the place, but it did not worry the boys too long. Gradually, their own whispers seemed to break the spell.

"Whoever Tizoc is," said Biff, "he took advantage of what he found here. This cave must go back to Aztec times."

"So do the people in El Cielo," returned Mike. "Tizoc is taking advantage of them, too."

"Which reminds me," declared Biff. "Some of them came up here ahead of us. Where are they now?"

"Still ahead of us," replied Mike. "They aren't afraid of Tizoc. He invited them here." 130 TRAPPED! 131.

"And he invited us, too. Or he invited you, Mike-"

"So he did, Biff. I hadn't forgotten that."

"Then let's move in on him."

They moved in, faster than they expected. As they crossed the cavern, they ran into a huddle of men in baggy white clothes who moved over to give them room. These were Tizoc's new recruits from El Cielo. They thought that Biff and Mike were the same. There was only one great difference. Biff and Mike expressed it in whispers between themselves.

"They're scared," said Biff.

"And we aren't," was Mike's reply.

That was proven when lights began to glow from an inner cavern. The villagers became excited and were ready to run away, while Biff and Mike regarded the whole thing as a show. Then, into the light stepped the figure of Tizoc. As he beckoned, the whole situation changed.

Eagerly, the men thronged forward, and the boys were forced to stay close behind them, rather than be spotted by the keen eyes behind the jeweled mask. What made it worse, as the group fanned out into the inner cavern, other figures were seen flanking the gold-robed Tizoc.

These were the "Eagle Knights," four of them in all. They wore armor of heavily quilted cotton, lavishly decorated with golden feathers. These formed short shoulder capes, like the hackle feathers of a bird's 132 .

neck. Their helmets resembled the open beaks of eagles, from which they peered with steady eyes and stolid faces.

Each knight carried a heavy war club, in which were set chunks of volcanic gla.s.s, sharpened as keenly as a knife edge. Their helmets were stiff, evidently reinforced with wood or metal, while they held large shields of stout wickerwork, covered with thick hides and trimmed with short, ornamental feathers.

The pride and tradition of the ancient Aztec warriors were shown in the bearing of these modern Eagle Knights, who evidently served as Tizoc's personal bodyguard. Fortunately, they kept staring straight ahead, paying little or no attention to the new followers who had come to join Tizoc's cause, whatever it happened to be.

So Biff and Mike, keeping to the background, had only to avoid the scrutiny of one man-Tizoc himself.

That would have been easy if they had changed from the sport clothes that they had been wearing since they reached El Cielo. As it was, their white shirts and slacks marked them as plainly as the fancifully clad Eagle Knights. All they needed now were baggy pants and blouses, plus big sombreros, and they could have gotten by like any new recruits. For Tizoc was speaking to them as a group.

So far, however, Tizoc had not noticed the two TRAPPED! 133.

misfits. The boys hoped that their luck would continue.

The cavern in which they now stood was hollowed into the shape of a dome. This had probably been done centuries ago, for the walls and ceiling were crudely hacked from rough volcanic stone that glittered with chunks of obsidian, the natural gla.s.s that must have fused when this tall peak was an active volcanic cone.

The floor was fairly smooth, worn that way perhaps by the feet of many warriors, back in the days when this was a hidden Aztec stronghold. Low archways led to other caverns, how many or how large, it was hard to tell.

"If we could crawl into one of those dark holes," Biff whispered, "even Tizoc wouldn't spot us. But how do we get there?"

"Wait," Mike advised. "We may have a chance later. Let's hear what Tizoc is telling his new crew."

In the weird, half-glow of the domed cavern, Ti-zoc's mask flashed sharply and his golden robe was a shimmer of lights and shadows. At times, he paused dramatically to lay his gloved hands against his thrust-out chest; when he did, the immense fire opal shone with positive brilliance, its colors changing to every known hue.

Approving murmurs came from the little group at every pause in Tizoc's spiel.

"What is he saying?" Biff whispered. "I can't make 134 .

out a word of it, except that he keeps saying, 'I, Ti-zoc.'"

"He's talking in a native dialect," returned Mike. "The real old Aztec lingo. All I can get is s.n.a.t.c.hes of it. But he is promising them a lot of things, money for one. To hear him talk, they'll all get to be Eagle Knights if they stay with him long enough."

It was odd, indeed, the way the natives accepted the medley of old and new, which was apparent not only in Tizoc's talk, but in the scene itself. Once, this cavern had probably been lighted by primitive torches, set in holes bored in the soft rock. But now, the glow unquestionably came from electric lights, placed high enough to be hidden by slight ledges and outcropping stone.

The wires, too, were invisible, probably hidden in wall cracks, so that the indirect lighting system, crude though it was, made the glow seem a natural property of the cave. In undertones, Biff and Mike agreed that Tizoc, whoever he was and whatever his game, had done a thorough job in setting up this headquarters.

So far, they hadn't seen the half of it.

Now, as Tizoc spoke, Biff caught names he recognized, first the long t.i.tle of "Huitzilopochtli," and then the shorter term, "Mexitli," by which the hummingbird wizard was also known. Murmurs of approval came from the villagers when Tizoc switched to Mexitli, so he continued to use that t.i.tle from then on.

TRAPPED! 135.

Mike was able to translate some of the phrases that came in between.