They hurried toward the fire which Carlos and Pedro had built.
On another occasion, as they were climbing early one morning out of a high valley over the shoulder of a mountain, Jack slipped on a rock that turned under his foot, and, falling to his side, began sliding down hill. Not far away was another precipice, with a sheer drop into a rocky ravine where there were not even any trees to break his fall.
Mr. Hampton made a leap for his son, but he was too far away to be able to reach him in time. Jack meanwhile was clawing desperately at the ground, in an attempt to stay his downward progress. Frank, who was nearer than Mr. Hampton, also started for Jack, impeded, however, by the necessity of watching his own footsteps to prevent slipping. It was big Bob, however, who saved his comrade, and he did it in a novel way.
At a glance, his quick eye took in the situation. He saw that the ground sloped so sharply that whoever should run to Jack"s rescue might merely hasten his descent by further loosening the loose rocks that lay everywhere about and sending them down on the sliding figure.
Further, would there be time for a man to reach Jack? He believed not.
But by his side, over a pack on the mule with which he had been keeping pace, hung a coiled la.s.so. Two years before, during their stay in New Mexico, Bob had been fascinated by the manipulations of the la.s.so, of which his cowboy friends were capable. He had worked under their tutelage, and had acquired considerable dexterity. On his present trip, he had amazed the monks by his skill, and had kept his hand in with constant practise.
Seizing the la.s.so, he measured the distance, swung once, twice, thrice around his head, and then let fly. The coil straightened out through the air. The noose descended over Jack"s upflung arm and trunk. His feet braced, Bob let the rope out gently, while Jack slid a matter of several feet more.
Thus Bob prevented too great strain being put upon the rope that might upset him, and also refrained from injuring his chum.
Jack came to rest, outstretched, one arm pinioned by the la.s.so, which pa.s.sed beneath the other armpit. His feet were already over the edge of the precipice.
"Give me a hand, Frank, and you, Mr. Hampton," panted Bob.
They sprang to obey.
Inch by inch at first, Jack was pulled back from the brink, until he was sufficiently far removed from it to warrant him in gaining his feet.
Then he made his way, limping, helped by the steady tug on the rope, back to his comrades.
"Bob, you saved my life," he said. "I won"t forget."
Then he sat down weakly, and dropped his head to his hands.
"Here, Jack," said his father, "take a sip of this. It will steady you,"
and he set a flask to Jack"s lips.
Presently, Jack regained his feet, and with a shake, pulled himself together.
"I"m all right now," he said. "But--for a moment or two there--I felt as if I still were on the brink and just toppling over. I tell you, that was no joke. There wasn"t even a stunted bush to grab at as I slid down."
Day succeeded day, sometimes sudden storms forcing them to seek shelter in mid-day, before they contemplated going into camp. These storms in the mountains come up suddenly. The sky would darken, thunder roll reverberatingly along the hills, lightning flash, and then would come a tremendous downpour of rain. Quickly as the storm arose, however, it went as quickly.
Always as they pushed ahead, they climbed higher into the mountains.
"But, Dad," protested Jack one day, "can it be the Enchanted City was among these lofty peaks? Would de Arguello"s expedition, for instance, have gotten so high?"
"Patience, Jack," explained Mr. Hampton. "Tomorrow, I believe, we start descending. We are almost at the top of a range of mountains now. Today, several times, I caught glimpses of a snow-clad range beyond--so far away, indeed, that I believe there must be a great central valley between. Somewhere in there, if our vague directions left by de Pereira are of any value, lies the Enchanted City."
That a great central valley did intervene between that range and the next was proven next day when, coming through a pa.s.s, they discerned a tossing, forest-clad wilderness of scarp and mountain, lake and river, cut up by mountains irregularly scattered about, spread out below them.
The next regular chain of mountains, paralleling that through which they had been making their way, lay far beyond, and their peaks were white with snows.
"We shall have difficulty exploring this wilderness below us," said Don Ernesto. "This is beyond any regions where white men go. There are hostile branches of the Auraucanos down there--somewhere. Somewhere down there, too, lies the Enchanted City, however. And if it is to be found, we shall find it. Game and water, at least, shall not be wanting. Come."
They set off as into a promised land.
CHAPTER IX--SURPRISED IN THE FOREST
"I wonder where Dad is?"
For the twentieth time in the last hour, Jack, striding up and down in the little forest glade, high up in the mountains, where camp had been pitched the day before, came to a halt before Frank and Bob, out-sprawled and napping in their hammocks, and asked his question. They had reached this spot after weeks of travel from the monastery.
"Yes," said Ferdinand, coming up, "and my father?"
He, too, had been doing a restless sentry-go to and fro, unable to remain quiet.
Three hours before, shortly after dawn, the two older men had left the camp in company with Carlos, to hunt small game. They had promised to return in a couple of hours.
"Oh, they"re just an hour or so overdue, Jack," said Frank, putting aside a book of old Inca tales which he had been reading, and examining his watch. "I don"t think there is anything for you two to worry about.
They"ll be back shortly."
"Yes," said Bob, comfortably, stretching and yawning, "they probably went a little farther than they expected to, that"s all."
Jack shook his head.
"I haven"t heard the report of any firearms since they left," he said.
"I"m afraid they may have wandered too far afield, not finding any game close at hand, and in these great trackless forests they may easily have become lost."
"What does Pedro say?" asked Frank.
With an exclamation, Ferdinand called to his retainer in Spanish, and the latter approached. There was a rapid interchange of conversation.
Pedro shook his head in negation, and spread out his hands.
"No, Carlos has never been in these mountains."
Ferdinand"s expression became worried. He shook his head, as he turned to the others.
"What shall we do?"
"We will have to start looking for them," said Jack, determinedly. "They are lost. There is no doubt about it. But in these forests they may have swung about in a circle, and be near camp without realizing it. I"ll climb this great tree here in the clearing, and look around first. Then, if I cannot see them, four of us can set out to the four quarters of the compa.s.s, while the fifth remains in camp to fire off a gun at frequent intervals. That will serve to keep the searchers in touch with camp, and also will act as a guide to the others, in case they are within sound of the gun."
Jack"s spirits had sunk low, despite his confident tone. He had a premonition of evil. The fact that no gun shots had been heard, led him to believe that the party at the very least had gone far astray. In that case, of what use for the searchers to stay within sound of a gun. The possibility of finding traces of a trail which could be followed, however, occurred to him. Without further words, he sprang into the tree and began clambering up the great trunk.
On the Chilian side, the mountains of the south are forest-clad and, because of the heavy rainfall on the west coast, there are numerous streams and lakes cutting them up. On the eastern or Argentinian slope, however, so little rain falls that the mountains are almost entirely bare of verdure.
The spot in which the party had pitched camp was a thickly-forested valley through which flowed a clear mountain stream. They had been unable, because of the density of the forest, to see much of their surroundings on arrival late the previous afternoon. In the morning, therefore, the two older men and Carlos had gone scouting as much as in search of game.
Before their departure, Mr. Hampton had called Jack to him.
"Undoubtedly, Jack," he had said, "we are getting close to our destination. Somewhere in this region must lie the Enchanted City. Once let us find a valley containing one great lake and three smaller ones, as described by de Pereira, and we shall have the first of our definite landmarks. However, although we must be close to our destination, it has never been found yet so far as outsiders know, and we may not succeed, either.