“What is that you say, Barney?” he cried.
“Shure, sor, the lake has gone!”
Frank gave a loud shout.
“Heigho, Beere!” he cried, “the time for action has come. We are just in time. The lake has gone out.”
“Eh—w—what?” sputtered2 the captain, rolling out of his berth3. “You don’t mean that?”
“Yis, sor, for I saw it wid me own eyes!” cried Barney, “shure, cum up an’ ye kin4 see fer yersilf.”
The captain leaped into his trousers. Then he sprang up the cabin stairs with Frank.
In a moment all were at the rail. Then there was an astounded5 silence.
Barney’s hair fairly rose on end. He gazed down below, then up at the sky, then around him. Then he gasped6 for breath.
“Mither av Moses! Did ye iver see the loikes! Shure it has cum back agin!”
Both Frank and the captain looked sharp at the Celt.
There below them was the sparkling surface of the lake. It presented just the same appearance and was just as high as when they had last seen it the night before.
“Barney,” said Frank, severely8, “have you been drinking?”
The Celt stuttered and stammered9 and acted very foolish. But he managed to say:
“Be me sowl, Misther Frank, it was gone, and not an hour since, sor. I saw the sand an’ the rocks ’an’ all, sor!”
Frank and Nicodemus exchanged glances.
“What time was it when you discovered the disappearance10 of the lake, Barney?” asked Nicodemus.
“About two o’clock av the mornin’, sor!”
“Tell us all about it.”
Barney did this. Frank and the captain listened with interest. When he had finished Nicodemus said:
“Frank, there is no doubt of it. The lake went out and came back again while we were asleep.”
“It must be so,” agreed the young inventor.
“Shure, sor, it’s thrue,” averred11 Barney.
“Why didn’t you wake us up and tell us about it?”
“On me worrud, sor, I niver had a thought that it wud cum back again, sor, an’ I med out to wait until mornin’ rather than disthurb yez sleep, sor.”
“Well,” said Frank, turning to Nicodemus, “it is hardly likely that we could have accomplished12 anything anyway in that brief time.”
“That is true,” agreed the captain. “We will wait for another evacuation of the lake basin.”
All that day the little party watched the lake. That night all sat up until late to see if the lake would go out again.
But it did not. The next day brought no change, and thus several days passed.
Still the same smooth expanse of water smiled upon them every morning.
There seemed no reason for believing that it ever would or could change its basin.
A week passed thus.
Waiting and watching of course grew extremely monotonous13. So after awhile diversions were indulged in to pass away the time.
Hunting trips were made into the interior of the mysterious country.
Many strange things were seen, and once a glimpse was had of a mighty14 cavern15 mouth far up in the hills, in which there were grouped a dozen of giant men.
They were no doubt of the giant race which inhabited those mountains. It seemed as if they must be fully16 seven feet in height and of enormous build.
Our adventurers took good care to keep out of their way, for a collision with them might not be pleasant.
Two weeks drifted by.
Then the first of a series of thrilling events occurred.
Nicodemus arose early one morning and walked around the far shore of the lake.
He was pacing the sands abstractedly when his eye caught something in the sand.
He paused with a gasp7.
It was a footprint.
Moreover it was that of a man who wore a hobnailed boot. It could only prove one thing.
Others were in the region and they were also from civilization. Words cannot express the captain’s amazement17.
“By Neptune18,” he muttered, “how did they ever find their way to this out of the way place?”
Then other queries19 came to him. Who were they? What brought them here, and how many were in their party?
The captain’s curiosity was aroused.
Prudence20 bade him return to the air-ship and secure the co-operation of his companions. But powerful curiosity overruled discretion21.
He bent22 down over the trail and followed it. A little further on as he had expected, the footprints met with others. For two miles he followed them along the shore.
Then he turned an angle in the shore and came upon a startling scene.
This was a camp in the verge23 of a clump24 of palms. A dozen brawny25 men in white shirts, loose trousers and sombreros, were sitting about smoking and talking.
All the paraphernalia26 of a camp, with a train of mules27, was behind them. They had apparently28 been on the spot for some while.
Words can hardly express the sensations of the captain.
He stared at the scene, and then a sharp ejaculation escaped him.
“By Neptune! it is Jerry Dooley!”
His gaze was fixed29 upon a man who stood in the edge of the camp talking with three others. He was a man of smooth face, shifting gaze and stealthy manner. His appearance was that of a sea-faring man.
In him Nicodemus recognized one of the crew of the wrecked30 ship, who had been a companion of his at the time that the lake came back, and as Nicodemus had always believed, had drowned the entire crew left at the mound31 of gold.
But there had been one exception. This was Jerry Dooley, the ship’s steward32. As fate had it, he had started himself right after Nicodemus and Langley to go back to the camp on an errand. He was overtaken by the waters of the lake, but dashed high and dry upon an eminence33 on the lake shore.
Dooley had made ineffectual search for the camp, and not finding it, finally started back for the Pacific coast.
After many hardships he reached it and pluckily34 put to sea in the ship’s boat left there. Good fortune became his.
He was picked up by a coaster bound for Valparaiso and later got a berth aboard an American ship of the line. Later he went into the navy.
But he had never forgotten the Transient Lake and the mound of gold. He believed all his companions dead.
He succeeded in the navy and became a lieutenant35, finally being retired36 on half pay. Having the leisure time he now decided37 to carry out a long-cherished desire.
This was to pay a visit again to the Transient Lake, and if possible recover the buried treasure. He succeeded in organizing a party.
For a year they had floundered about in the swamps of Paraguay, and finally crossed the wild ranges of Chuquisoca, and by a stroke of luck found the lake.
And here they were encamped and waited for precisely38 the same thing that the aerial voyagers did, viz: the disappearance of the lake.
This much Captain Nicodemus guessed. He was so excited at the outlook that he inadvertently stood out in full view of the camp.
And just then Dooley, chancing to look up, saw him.
He gave a start and for a moment his face was livid. Then he started toward Nicodemus.
The captain saw that he had betrayed himself, so he did not attempt to conceal39 himself. Instead he advanced to meet the other.
“Dooley!” he exclaimed; “on my word, this beats all. I thought you dead.”
“And I thought you dead, skipper,” declared the lieutenant.
“What—when—how—what are you here for?”
The lieutenant looked sharply at the captain. In that moment each understood the other.
“I have come back for the gold in the bottom of the lake,” said Dooley.
The captain stiffened40 visibly.
“You have!” he exclaimed.
“Yes.”
“Do you expect to get it?”
“Not unless the lake again changes its basin.”
“Oh, umph! Let me see. Were not your companions drowned when the lake returned that time?”
“They were.”
“But you—how did you escape?”
Dooley told his story. Then he asked sharply:
“But how did you get here? You have not been here ever since?”
“Hardly,” replied Nicodemus, quietly. “I have come here for the same purpose as yourself, for the buried gold.”
“Ah!”
The two men gazed at each other. In that moment antagonism41 was uppermost.
“I suppose that gold belongs to whomever can recover it.”
“Certainly not!” replied Nicodemus.
“Indeed!” said Dooley, somewhat staggered. “How do you disprove that?”
“Easy enough. My right to it is indisputable, and confirmed by the law of prior discovery. The gold is mine!”
Dooley drew a deep, sharp breath. Matters were becoming strained.
“I disagree with you,” he said.
“Eh?” roared Beere.
“I do not agree with you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just this: We have as much title to that gold as you. It was to have been equally divided at the time. It shall be so now.”
“By what authority?” asked Beere.
“The authority of fair play. We have come thousands of miles, have dared death in every form, and we are not in a mood to sacrifice the prime object of our expedition.”
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1
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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2
sputtered
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| v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的过去式和过去分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出 | |
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3
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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6
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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8
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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9
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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11
averred
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| v.断言( aver的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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12
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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13
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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14
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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15
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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17
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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18
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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19
queries
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| n.问题( query的名词复数 )；疑问；询问；问号v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 )；询问 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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22
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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verge
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| n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临 | |
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clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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25
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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paraphernalia
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| n.装备；随身用品 | |
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27
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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28
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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29
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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wrecked
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| adj.失事的，遇难的 | |
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mound
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| n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫 | |
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32
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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pluckily
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| adv.有勇气地，大胆地 | |
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35
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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40
stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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antagonism
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| n.对抗，敌对，对立 | |
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