"For you chaps, yes," commented Ned.
"Some of us were nearly killed in the tumble," went on Dalsett. "We gotout of it rather well, on the whole."
"You'd better come inside and have nothing more to say to him," said theprofessor to his friends. "This spoils all our plans."
"Never mind; perhaps we can give them the slip among the ruins," saidJerry.
He went back into the ancient temple, and the others followed him. Noddycontinued to stare as if he thought the whole thing was a dream. As forVasco and Dalsett, they were much pleased with the turn affairs hadtaken.
But the Mexicans were excited. Several of them had been bruised by thefall into the tunnel, and they wanted to proceed at once and kidnap Bob,so they could get the ransom money. But Vasco would not permit this. Hedid not believe in using force when he could use stealth. Besides, hewas a coward, and afraid of getting hurt, if it came to a fight.
"Let them go," he said to his men, who murmured as they saw theirprospective captive and his friends retreat into the temple. "Let themgo. They can't get away from here without letting us know. We are betteroff than before. We can capture the fat boy whenever we want to now."
With that, Vasco's followers had to be content. As Dalsett had said,Noddy and his cronies, after groping about in the dark tunnel forsome time, had finally discovered the door by which the boys and theprofessor had entered the ancient city. They had pushed it open and comeface to face with our friends.
"Bah!" exclaimed one of the Mexicans. "It is always to-morrow andto-morrow in this business. Let us fight them! Let us get the captiveand let us share the ransom."
"We'll do the trick to-night, sure," promised Vasco. "To-night,positively, we will kidnap Bob."
Meanwhile, all unconscious of the fate in store for him, Bob was makinga substantial meal, for the travelers had begun to get dinner afterwithdrawing from the front of the temple. They talked of little save theappearance of Noddy and his followers.
"How do you suppose he ever got here?" asked Bob.
"Simply followed us," said Jerry. "We left a plain enough trail.Besides, automobiles are scarce in Mexico, and any one seeing ours passby would easily remember it and tell whoever came along afterward,making inquiries."
"What had we better do?" asked Ned. "Stay here or go away?"
"There'll be more or less trouble if we stay," was Jerry's opinion."Supposing we go away for a while and come back. If Noddy is after us wemay give him the slip and return."
"How are we going to get out of this place?" asked Bob. "We can't goback through the tunnel we came in, as they are now on guard there."
"There must be more than one entrance to this city," spoke theprofessor. "I think I'll go and hunt for another. When we find it we cantake the automobile with us and escape to-night. I wish to be the firstperson to announce this discovery to the world."
"That's the idea!" exclaimed Ned. "I'll go along to help hunt foranother passage, while Bob and Jerry can stay on guard."
"In the meanwhile I'm going to have my swim," said Bob. He went into thetank-room, and immediately uttered a cry.
"What's the matter?" called Jerry.
"The water has all run out," replied Bob, "and there's a big hole here!"
The others came in on the run. They saw that the swimming-pool wasempty. Only a little water remained on the bottom in small puddles. Theyalso saw that the pool was made with an incline of stone leading fromthe floor level down to the bottom. In the side opposite from where theincline was a big black hole showed itself. When the water was at thenormal level this hole was invisible. Once the water had lowered it wasplain to see.
"What made the water go out?" asked Bob.
"Probably a gate at the end of the tunnel leading from the tank wasopened," replied the naturalist. "Or it may be an automatic arrangement,so that when the tank gets filled up to a certain height the water shutsitself off. So we'll defer our bath until the water rises. Perhaps thetides may have some effect on it. We can only wait and see."
"That tunnel is big enough to drive our auto through," observed Bob.
A sudden thought came to Jerry. He whispered to the professor.
"Of course it could be done," replied the scientist after consideration,"but there is the danger of the water rising suddenly while we are inthe tunnel. Jerry talks of escaping by means of this new shaft," went onthe professor. "We could run the auto down the incline and so out. Butwe must investigate the place."
The naturalist walked down the incline. Straight in front of them, asthey neared it, yawned the black mouth of the passage. The professorwould not let the boys come in until he had made an investigation.
He walked quite a distance down the shaft and returned. He seemed indeep thought.
"It will be safe to use the tunnel," he said. "It appears that the waterwas siphoned out. There is another tank or reservoir connected with thisone. They both seem to be fed by springs. When the other tank, whichis below the level and to one side, gets full of water, the fluid issiphoned out. As that tank is connected with the one we used, by a pipe,as soon as the water goes out of the first tank, that in the secondfollows to keep the first tank filled. And so it goes on, from day today, repeating the operation once every twenty-four hours, I wouldjudge. So we have plenty of time. The tunnel leads to one like thatby which we entered the city. I have no doubt but that we can escapethrough it."
If the professor and the boys could at this time have seen two evilfaces peering down at them from a high balcony, they might not have feltso comfortable. San Lucia and Murado were on the lookout, and every movethe travelers made was watched.
It was decided to make the escape that night. Accordingly, after supper,the automobile was prepared for a long trip. Things were packed in it,and the professor took along his beloved specimens.
"How are we going to get the car down the incline?" asked Bob.
"I can take it down, all right," replied Jerry.
At length all was in readiness. Jerry and Ned took the front seat, Bobcranked up the car, which was still inside the old temple, and thenjoined the professor on the rear seat.
"All ready?" asked Jerry.
"All ready," replied Bob.
"Yes, and we are ready, too!" came in a whisper from the ruined doorwayof the temple, where Vasco Bilette and his men were in hiding, watchingthe flight of the travelers.
The Mexican had guessed some sort of an attempt to escape would be made,and was on hand to frustrate it. But the preparations made for takingthe auto down into the empty water pool puzzled Vasco. So he was on thealert.
"Here we go!" called Jerry, softly. The auto was vibrating, but almostnoiselessly, for the explosions of the motor could scarcely be heard.
Down the incline Jerry took the heavy car, without a mishap. Straightfor the open mouth of the tunnel he steered it. It was as dark as pitchnow, but the lamps on the car gave good illumination.
"Come on, we have them now!" cried Vasco to his followers. "The boy isin the back seat!"
The Mexicans ran down the incline. By this time the machine was wellinto the mouth of the shaft. Hearing footsteps behind him, resoundingon the stone pavement, Jerry shut off the power for a moment. As he didso the car was surrounded by ugly-looking brigands, who had run up at asignal from Vasco.
"Quick! Grab him!" cried Dalsett.
"I have him!" replied Vasco.
He reached up, and, though Bob was a heavy lad, the Mexican, with thehelp of Dalsett, pulled him over the rear seat. Bob fought, kicked andstruggled. It was of no avail. Then a sack was quickly thrown over hishead, and the men ran back out of the tunnel and up the incline, bearingChunky with them.
"Bob's been kidnapped!" shouted the professor. "Turn the auto around,Jerry, and chase after them!"
CHAPTER XXIV.
BOB TRIES TO FLEE.
In an instant Jerry tried to turn the auto around. He found the passagetoo narrow. There was nothing to do but to back up the incline. This wasa slow process in the darkness.
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"Fire at them!" cried Ned.
"No. You might hit Bob!" said the professor. "We must chase after thebrigands. This is what they have been following us for. I wonder whatthey want of Bob?"
No one could guess. By this time Jerry had run the machine up theinclined plane and into the temple. Then he sent it out into the street.It was as dark as a pocket and not a trace of the kidnappers could beseen, nor could they be heard. The capture of Bob came as a terribleblow.
"Let's take to the tunnel where we came in!" cried Ned. "Perhaps theyare hiding there."
"If they are, they are well armed, and their force is three times whatours is now," said the professor. "If we are to help Bob we will have todo it by strategy rather than by force. Come, we had better go back tothe temple. We can make our plans from there."
"Poor Chunky!" groaned Jerry. "I wonder what they are doing to him now?"
"I guess it was his money-belt they wanted more than they did him," putin Ned. "You know he carried what was left of the five hundred dollars."
"That's so!" exclaimed Jerry, with a rueful face.
"Never mind the money; I have plenty," put in the naturalist. "And don'tworry; we'll find Bob yet."
Nothing could be done that night, so the professor and the two boystried to get what sleep their troubled minds would allow. In the morningthey made a hurried breakfast and then held a consultation. It wasdecided to explore the tunnel by which they had entered the city, andsee if it still held the brigands and Noddy's crowd.
Arming themselves, the professor, Ned and Jerry advanced carefullythrough the big wooden gate. They proceeded cautiously, but no oneopposed them. The tunnel was deserted. They came to the hole where theyhad tumbled down. The inclined plane of planks was there, in the sameposition as when the cave-in, produced by Murado, had occurred.
"They have probably gone back up here and are running across country,"remarked Ned. "Hello!" he exclaimed. "What's that?"
He picked up a small object that lay at the foot of the incline, in theglare of the sunlight that streamed in from above.
"That's Bob's knife," said Jerry. "He had it yesterday. That shows hemust have been here since. There is no doubt but that they have carriedhim away from here."
The professor agreed that this was probably the case. There was nothingleft to do, so they returned to the temple.
"I hardly know what to do," said the naturalist. "We might take theautomobile and ride off, not knowing where, in a vain endeavor to findBob. Or we can stay here on the chance that he may escape and come back.If we went away he would not know where to find us.
"Then, too, I am hopeful we may hear something from Noddy Nixon or someof those Mexicans he had with him. Those fellows are regular brigands,and may have captured Bob, thinking we will pay a ransom for his return.On the whole, I think we had better stay here for a few days."
This seemed the best thing to do. With heavy hearts, Jerry and Nedwandered about the old temple, wishing their chum was back with them.The professor began to gather more specimens and made several trips tothe old buildings where he got many curios of value.
Meanwhile, poor Bob was having his own troubles. At the first roughattack of the kidnappers, when he was hauled over the back of the auto,he did not know what had happened. He supposed it was some accident,such as the tunnel caving in or the water suddenly rising.
But when he found himself held by two men, and the bag thrown over hishead, he realized that he was a captive, though he did not know why anyone would want him.
Holding him between them, Vasco and Dalsett ran back into the bath andup the incline, followed by Noddy and the Mexicans. Berry and Penderhad been left in charge of the auto and horses, which were in the firsttunnel.
Bob, who had not attempted to struggle after his first involuntarykicking when he was hauled out, decided that his captors were having tooeasy a time of it. He was by no means a baby, and though he was fat hehad considerable muscle.
So he began to beat about with his fists, and to kick with his heavyshoes, in a manner that made it very uncomfortable for Vasco and Dalsett.
"Quit that, you young cub, or I'll hurt you!" exclaimed Vasco.
"Yes, an' I'll do the same!" growled Dalsett, and, recognizing thevoice, Bob knew for the first time into whose hands he had fallen.
He did not heed the command to stop struggling, and it was all the twomen could do to hold him. Suddenly they laid him down.
"Look here!" exclaimed Dalsett, sitting on Bob to keep him still, "ifyou want us to tie you up like a steer we're willin' to do it. An' we'llgag you into the bargain. If you quit wigglin' you'll be treated decent."
"Then you take this bag off my head!" demanded Bob, with some spirit.
"I will if you promise to walk an' not make us carry you," promisedDalsett.
"I'll walk until I get a good chance to get away," replied Bob,determined to give no parole.
"Mighty little chance you have of gittin' away," remarked Dalsett, as heremoved the sack.
It was as dark as a pocket, and Bob wondered where he was. Soon one ofthe men came with a lantern, and by the gleam the captive could see hewas in the tunnel.
"Come on!" ordered Vasco.
Walking in the midst of his captors, Bob came to the foot of theincline. There he found Noddy, Pender and Bill Berry in the auto. TheMexicans had their horses in readiness for a flight.
"They're going to take me away," thought Bob. "I wonder how I can givethe boys and the professor a sign so they will know that?"
His fingers came in contact with his knife and that gave him an idea. Hedropped the implement on the ground, where it was found by his friendslater.
"Is everything ready?" asked Vasco.
"I guess so," replied Noddy. "Shall I run the machine up the incline?"
"Go ahead," said Dalsett. "We'll walk with our young friend here. Ireckon the car will have trouble gittin' up the hill if too many gits init."
"Come on, you fellows!" ordered Vasco of his Mexicans. "We have thecaptive now, and you'll soon be dividing the ransom money." He spoke inSpanish, which Bob could not understand. The boy was at a loss why somany should be interested in him, but laid it all to a plot of Noddy'sto get square.
It was quite a pull for the auto, up the steep incline, but Noddy, byusing the low gear, managed it. The horses and their riders had lesstrouble, and soon the whole party stood in the road near the tunnel thatled to the underground city.
Bob was placed on a small pony, and his hands were tied behind his back.Then, with a Mexican riding before and after him, and one on each side,the cavalcade started off.
For several hours the journey was kept up. No one said much, and poorBob puzzled his brains trying to think what it all meant. One thing hedetermined on: that he would try to escape at the first opportunity.
It came sooner than he expected. He had been working at the bonds on hishands and found, to his joy, that the rope was coming loose. In theirhurry, Vasco and Dalsett had not tied it very securely. In a littlewhile Bob had freed his wrists, but he kept his hands behind his back,to let his captors think he was still bound.
He waited until he came to a level stretch of land. Then, at a time whenthe Mexican in the rear had ridden off to one side to borrow a cigaretteof a comrade, Bob slipped from the pony's back.
He struck the ground rather hard, but here his fat served him in goodstead, for he was not hurt much. Then he rolled quickly out of the wayof the horses' feet.
Jumping up, he ran at top speed off to the left. Instantly the cavalcadewas in confusion. Vasco and Dalsett came riding back to see what thetrouble was. They saw Bob bounding away.
"After him!" shouted Vasco, drawing his revolver and firing in the airto scare Bob. "After him! He's worth ten thousand dollars!"
The Mexicans spurred their horses after the fugitive, while Noddy,turning the auto around, lighted the search-lamp and sent the lightthrough the blackness to pick out Bob so the others could find him inthe darkness.
On
and on ran the boy, and after him thundered the horses of hispursuers, coming nearer and nearer.
CHAPTER XXV.
AN UNEXPECTED FRIEND.
It was too uneven a chase to last long. Bob soon found that his enemieswere gaining on him, and he resolved to play a trick. He came to a bigrock and dropped down behind it, hiding in the shadow.
For a time the Mexicans were baffled, but they spread about in a halfcircle and Bob could hear them gradually surrounding him. Still he hopedto escape detection.
"Can't you find him?" he heard Noddy call.
"He seems to have given us the slip," replied Vasco. "But we'll get himyet."
Noddy sent the searchlight of the automobile all about the rock behindwhich Bob was hidden, but the deep shadow cast protected the boy.
At length, however, one of the Mexicans approached the place. At thesame instant Bob was seized with an uncontrollable desire to sneeze. Hisnose tickled and, though he held his breath and did everything he hadever read about calculated to prevent sneezes, the tickling increased.Finally he gave voice to a loud "Ka-choo!"
"_Diablo!_" exclaimed the nearest Mexican. "What have we here?"
He was at the rock in an instant and lost no time in grabbing Bob. Theboy tried to struggle and escape again, but his captor held him in afirm grip. The Mexican set up a shout at the discovery of his prize,which speedily brought Vasco and his comrades to the scene.
"So, you didn't care much for our company," observed Bilette. "But nevermind, we think so much of you that we run after you wherever you go. Nowwe have you again!" and he laughed in an unpleasant manner.