"Well, I guess you earn your salary," laughed Tom. "But now, Professor b.u.mper, let"s hear from you. Is there anything more about this idol of gold that you can tell us?"
"Plenty, Tom, plenty. I could talk all day, and not get to the end of the story. But a lot of it would be scientific detail that might be too dry for you in spite of this excellent lemonade."
Between them Koku and Eradicate had managed to make a pitcher of the beverage, though Mrs. Baggert, the housekeeper, told Tom afterward that the two had a quarrel in the kitchen as to who should squeeze the lemons, the giant insisting that he had the better right to "punch"
them.
"So, not to go into too many details," went on the professor, "I"ll just give you a brief outline of this story of the idol of gold.
"Honduras, as you of course know, is a republic of Central America, and it gets its name from something that happened on the fourth voyage of Columbus. He and his men had had days of weary sailing and had sought in vain for shallow water in which they might come to an anchorage.
Finally they reached the point now known as Cape Gracias-a-Dios, and when they let the anchor go, and found that in a short time it came to rest on the floor of the ocean, some one of the sailors--perhaps Columbus himself--is said to have remarked:
""Thank the Lord, we have left the deep waters (honduras)" that being the Spanish word for unfathomable depths. So Honduras it was called, and has been to this day.
"It is a queer land with many traces of an ancient civilization, a civilization which I believe dates back farther than some in the far East. On the sculptured stones in the Copan valley there are characters which seem to resemble very ancient writing, but this pictographic writing is largely untranslatable.
"Honduras, I might add, is about the size of our state of Ohio. It is rather an elevated tableland, though there are stretches of tropical forest, but it is not so tropical a country as many suppose it to be.
There is much gold scattered throughout Honduras, though of late it has not been found in large quant.i.ties.
"In the old days, however, before the Spaniards came, it was plentiful, so much, so that the natives made idols of it. And it is one of the largest of these idols--by name Quitzel--that I am going to seek."
"Do you know where it is?" asked Ned.
"Well, it isn"t locked up in a safe deposit box, of that I"m sure,"
laughed the professor. "No, I don"t know exactly where it is, except that it is somewhere in an ancient and buried city known as Kurzon. If I knew exactly where it was there wouldn"t be much fun in going after it. And if it was known to others it would have been taken away long ago.
"No, we"ve got to hunt for the idol of gold in this land of wonders where I hope soon to be. Later on I"ll show you the doc.u.ments that put me on the track of this idol. Enough now to show you an old map I found, or, rather, a copy of it, and some of the papers that tell of the idol," and he spread out his packet of papers on the table in front of him, his eyes shining with excitement and pleasure. Mr. Damon, too, leaned eagerly forward.
"So, Tom Swift," went on the professor, "I come to you for help in this matter. I want you to aid me in organizing an expedition to go to Honduras after the idol of gold. Will you?"
"I"ll help you, of course," said Tom. "You may use any of my inventions you choose--my airships, my motor boats and submarines, even my giant cannon if you think you can take it with you. And as for the money part, Ned will arrange that for you. But as for going with you myself, it is out of the question. I can"t. No Honduras for me!"
CHAPTER IV
FENIMORE BEECHER
Had Tom Swift"s giant cannon been discharged somewhere in the vicinity of his home it could have caused but little more astonishment to Mr.
Damon and Professor b.u.mper than did the simple announcement of the young inventor. The professor seemed to shrink back in his chair, collapsing like an automobile tire when the air is let out. As for Mr.
Damon he jumped up and cried:
"Bless my----!"
But that is as far as he got--at least just then. He did not seem to know what to bless, but he looked as though he would have liked to include most of the universe.
"Surely you don"t mean it, Tom Swift," gasped Professor b.u.mper at length. "Won"t you come with us?"
"No," said Tom, slowly. "Really I can"t go. I"m working on an invention of a new aeroplane stabilizer, and if I go now it will be just at a time when I am within striking distance of success. And the stabilizer is very much needed."
"If it"s a question of making a profit on it, Tom," began Mr. Damon, "I can let you have some money until----"
"Oh, no! It isn"t the money!" cried Tom. "Don"t think that for a moment. You see the European war has called for the use of a large number of aeroplanes, and as the pilots of them frequently have to fight, and so can not give their whole attention to the machines, some form of automatic stabilizer is needed to prevent them turning turtle, or going off at a wrong tangent.
"So I have been working out a sort of modified gyroscope, and it seems to answer the purpose. I have already received advance orders for a number of my devices from abroad, and as they are destined to save lives I feel that I ought to keep on with my work.
"I"d like to go, don"t misunderstand me, but I can"t go at this time.
It is out of the question. If you wait a year, or maybe six months----"
"No, it is impossible to wait, Tom," declared Professor b.u.mper.
"Is it so important then to hurry?" asked Mr. Damon. "You did not mention that to me, Professor b.u.mper."
"No, I did not have time. There are so many ends to my concerns. But, Tom Swift, you simply must go!"
"I can"t, my dear professor, much as I should like to."
"But, Tom, think of it!" cried Mr. Damon, who was as much excited as was the little bald-headed scientist. "You never saw such an idol of gold as this. What"s its name?" and he looked questioningly at the professor.
"Quitzel the idol is called," supplied Professor b.u.mper. "And it is supposed to be in a buried city named Kurzon, somewhere in the Sierra de Merendon range of mountains, in the vicinity of the Copan valley.
Copan is a city, or maybe we"ll find it only a town when we get there, and it is not far from the borders of Guatemala.
"Tom, if I could show you the translations I have made of the ancient doc.u.ments, referring to this idol and the wonderful city over which it kept guard, I"m sure you"d come with us."
"Please don"t tempt me," Tom said with a laugh. "I"m only too anxious to go, and if it wasn"t for the stabilizer I"d be with you in a minute.
But---- Well, you"ll have to get along without me. Maybe I can join you later."
"What"s this about the idol keeping guard over the ancient city?" asked Ned, for he was interested in strange stories.
"It seems," explained the professor, "that in the early days there was a strange race of people, inhabiting Central America, with a somewhat high civilization, only traces of which remained when the Spaniards came.
"But these traces, and such hieroglyphics, or, to be more exact pictographs, as I have been able to decipher from the old doc.u.ments, tell of one country, or perhaps it was only a city, over which this great golden idol of Quitzel presided.
"There is in some of these papers a description of the idol, which is not exactly a beauty, judged from modern standards. But the main fact is that it is made of solid gold, and may weigh anywhere from one to two tons."
"Two tons of gold!" cried New Newton. "Why, if that"s the case it would be worth----" and he fell to doing a sum in mental arithmetic.
"I am not so concerned about the monetary value of the statue as I am about its antiquity," went on Professor b.u.mper. "There are other statues in this buried city of Kurzon, and though they may not be so valuable they will give me a wealth of material for my research work."
"How do you know there are other statues?" asked Mr. Damon.
"Because my doc.u.ments tell me so. It was because the people made other idols, in opposition, as it were, to Quitzel, that their city or country was destroyed. At least that is the legend. Quitzel, so the story goes, wanted to be the chief G.o.d, and when the image of a rival was set up in the temple near him, he toppled over in anger, and part of the temple went with him, the whole place being buried in ruins.
All the inhabitants were killed, and trace of the ancient city was lost forever. No, I hope not forever, for I expect to find it."
"If all the people were killed, and the city buried, how did the story of Quitzel become known?" asked Mr. Damon.
"One only of the priests in the temple of Quitzel escaped and set down part of the tale," said the professor. "It is his narrative, or one based on it, that I have given you."