Part 26 (2/2)
”No, Bart I should say this was dug by people who lived long before the Spaniards, perhaps thousands of years It ht have been done by the ancient peoples of Mexico or those who built the great temples of Central America and Yucatan--those places so old that there is no tradition of the ti is evident, that we have coion that was known to the ancients”
”Well, I aht, sir, that we had made quite a new find”
”So did I at first, Bart,” replied the Doctor; ”but at any rate, save to obtain a few scraps, the place has not been touched, I should say, for centuries; and even if this mine has been pretty nearly exhausted, there is ample down below there in the canyon, while this mount must be our fortress and our place for furnaces and stores”
They descended cautiously for about a couple of hundred feet, sufficiently far for the Doctor to chip a little at the walls, and find in one or two places veins that ran right into the solid ive areat lode in the crack of the canyon side; and this being so, they climbed back to meet Joses, who had been just about to descend after the of yourselves before you're done, o down a place like that without a rope round his waist well held at the end”
”Well, it would have been safer,” said the Doctor, sreaser next time There's plenty of them, and they aren't much consequence We could spare a few”
The Doctor se of the old reat regularity of contrivance plainly enough indicated that hu to do with it; while probably, when it was in use in the ancient ages, when soht have been s and balks of wood laid over the rifts from side to side
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
PREPARATIONS FOR SAFETY
The descent was aler save such asa foot in one of the aard cracks, and once more down in the plain, where the camp was as busy as an ant hill, the Doctor called the principal Englishon, and formed a sort of council, as he proceeded to lay his plans before them
The first was--as they were ready to defy the Indians, and to fight for their position there, to make the mountain their fortress, and in spite of the laborious nature of the ascent, it was determined that the tents should be set up on the top, while further steps were taken to enlarge the interior of the opening as soon as the narrow entrance was passed, so as to allow of a party of ht force themselves in
This was decided on at once, and men told off to do the work
Then it was proposed to build three or four stout walls across the sloping path, all but just roolide by These would be adht behind, if the enemy forced their way in past the first entry, and with these and a larger and stronger barrier at the top of the slope by the first turn, it was considered by the Doctor that with ordinary bravery the place would be iood; but then there were the horses and cattle, the former in the cavern-like stable, the latter in their stonewalled corral or enclosure
Here was a difficulty, for noever strong their defence ht be, they were isolated, and it would be aard in case of attack to have two s of these places, which the Indians would be sure to attack in force, in place of throwing their lives away against the well-defendedthe face of theabove the ravine and the stables, sir?” said Bart ”I think soe ood wall of stones along the edge we could easily defend the horses”
”A good idea, Bart, if it can be carried out,” said the Doctor ”Let's go and see!”
Inspection proved that this could easily be done so as to protect the horses, but not the corral, unless its position were altered and it were placed close alongside of the cavern stable
After so reat pity, but the ly set to work, while some loosened stones from above, and levered the in handy for building up the wall
Fineness of finish was not counted; nothing but a strong barrier which the cattle could not leap or thron, if an attempt was made to scare them into a stampede, was all that was required, and so in a few days not only was this new corral strongly constructed, and the ledge projected fifty feet above it in the side of thewall of rock
There was but little rooe was taken of holes in the rock, which were enlarged here and there so as to form a kind of rifle-pit, in which there was plenty of space for a man to creep and kneel down to load and fire at any enemy who should have determined to carry off the cattle In fine, they had at last a strong place of defence, only to be reached fro way to the summit of the mountain; and the road to and from the bastion, as the Doctor called it, was quite free fro on hands and knees
Beneath the entrance to this narrow gallery a very strong as built nearly across the slope; and at Bart's suggestion a couple of huge stones were loosened in the wall just above, and a couple of crowbars were left there ready to lower these still further, so that they would slip down into the narrow opening left in case of eency, and thus completely keep the Indians out
All these e of the danger fro bands of Indians always on the war-path on the plains, and also that of the large treasure in silver that ithin their reach, made the men work like slaves