Silently the two men clasped hands. Mackay could not trust himself to speak, so strong was his emotion at meeting his old leader in the flesh after having given him up as dead for over a year.

"Yes, I knew you would come, Jim," repeated Richard Bentley, the explorer, "and month after month I have watched for you on the mountain-top, hoping yet fearing for your coming."

"But the bones?" murmured Mackay, questioningly. "I—saw—the bones?"

Bentley smiled. "I wouldn't have thought it of you, Jim," he said, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "But I see you must have fallen into the error you used to preach so much against. Where were your powers of observation? I am sure you would have known the difference between camels' bones and human bones if you had examined them. But I know how you must have felt, old man, and I don't wonder at your mistake at such a terrible moment. They burnt the camels, Jim, because they could never take them through the passage in the mountain——"

"Whaur is ma auld enemy?" roared an interrupting voice, and a lithe figure in savage habiliments spun into the[Pg 343] midst of the group, blowing tempestuously. The impetus of his flight down the steep hillside was only brought to a close when he bounced against Mackay like a weighty stone from a catapult.

"I kent it was you! I kent it was you!" he cried, in honest delight; "I couldna mistak' that sweet visage o' yours even though it's half changed its colour."

"Stewart, you red-heided rascal, you've knocked the wind clean oot o' me," replied Mackay, sternly, shaking his aggressor's hand nevertheless with hearty warmth. "I might have known that nothing could have killed you."

Two others now pressed up, their sun-tanned and bearded features fairly glowing with delight. They were Phil, the geologist, and Pioneer Bill, the bushman of Bentley's party, and their joy at seeing their lost comrade again was affecting in its sincerity.

Emu Bill was the next to approach. "I knew you wouldn't be long after me, Mac," he said, "but I'm blowed if I expected you to bounce through so sudden. Bentley, here, mesmerized the nigs that scooped me in, or I should have been dead meat by this time. They seemed mighty unwilling to let me go, all the same, an' I was a bit anxious 'bout your reception, I was."

Meanwhile Bob stood a little way apart, his heart filled with gladness at the happy reunion. Jack and the Shadow were calmly leaning on their rifles, and keeping a watchful glance on the old chief, who in turn was eyeing the boys with a smile on his wrinkled countenance. About a hundred yards behind him his massed warriors stood, silent and grim.

"I reckon we should go an' wash the filthy black off our faces," said the Shadow to Jack; "it feels mighty[Pg 344] uncomfortable, it does." Then he gazed at his companion in surprise. "Why," he cried, "you're face is marked like the bars o' a cage. What has you been doin' to it?"

Jack laughed. "I had forgotten that we ought to be black," said he, "or I could have told you that yours was like the moon under partial eclipse."

"And how about mine?" asked Bob.

"Clean washed off," answered Jack. "But look at Mackay; isn't his a treat? It's striped like the zebra in a circus."

Mackay heard the remark, and put up his hand to his cheek. "Well, well," he said, in disgust, "here I was fancyin' myself to be black as the ace o' spades. No wonder the niggers thought there was something no' right about our get-up. It must have been the water dripping from the roof o' the passage." Then he turned to Bob. "It's a good thing we passed that last batch inside the tunnel, Bob."

Bob nodded gravely, then discarded his cumbersome robe, and straightened out his sinewy form with a sigh of relief.

"Now, boys," said Mackay, quietly, addressing himself to Bentley and his comrades, "I want to introduce to you my three young comrades, who have stuck by me on a journey that has tried the nerves and beaten some o' the finest explorers who ever tackled the desert. Come forward, Shadow, an' you, Jack—a pair o' reckless young rascals, true as steel, an' without fear——"

"I say, boss," protested the Shadow, "do let me have a scrimmage wi' a nigger or two, just to show how brave I really is. I is just burstin' wi' bravery——"

Jack at this stage dragged him aside.

[Pg 345]

"And you, Bob," continued Mackay, and his voice unconsciously became softened, "what can I say for you? Only this, my lad, that without you this expedition would never have reached the mountain. To you belongs a' the credit that my auld friends here shower upon me——"

"No, no," broke in Bob, hastily; "it is just like you to say so, but I'll not allow it. I was only the navigator under your supervision."

Mackay placed his hand on the youth's shoulder. "Bob," he said gently, "I have a confession to make. I'll admit that I ken how to handle a sextant an' read the vernier, but beyond that I canna go. I wasna able to check your observations, my laddie, but I was afraid to tell you before, lest it might make you nervous to ken that a' our lives depended on your skill. Here now, at the end o' our journey, I wish to give you the credit which is your due."

Bentley smiled as he grasped Bob's hand. "Sextant or no sextant," he said, "you couldn't go far out in Mackay's company, my boy. I know him of old. But why, your face seems strangely familiar to me; surely——"

Mackay shrugged his broad shoulders, and smiled a happy smile.

"You hand on a bit, Dick," he said. "I have a few words to say to Bob which I hesitated to speak earlier, for—for obvious reasons. Do you remember when I first met Jack and you, Bob?" he asked.

"I should say so," answered Bob, fervently. "I have had cause to thank——"

The big man shook his head deprecatingly. "And do you know why I, who am a—a very unsociable individual[Pg 346] at the best, encouraged you in your wish to go out to Australia, an' even offered you the extraordinar' advantage o' my company on the journey? No, of course you don't. It was because I knew that uncle you spoke of, my lad."

"You knew him?" cried Bob. "But you didn't say——"

"I thought he was dead," broke in Mackay, gravely; "but I was mistaken. He was, an' is, vera much alive—an' his name is Richard Bentley Wentworth."

"Great Heavens!" ejaculated Bentley, gazing at Bob earnestly. "Can it be true? But of course it is. How could I have been so blind."

Then the scales fell from Bob's eyes. "Uncle Dick!" he cried, rushing forward.

"My dear, dear lad," murmured the explorer, clasping him in his arms. "This is the first happiness I have had for ten years. You are a worthy son of a worthy father, my boy. Thank God I have lived to see you."

To say that the onlookers to this strange scene were surprised would ill express the state of their feelings. They were simply thunderstruck. Then Jack found his voice. "Hurrah!" he shouted, in an ecstasy of glee, and hurried to clasp his comrade's hand. Eagerly they all crowded round to offer their congratulations, and Mackay stood alone, a smile of peaceful contentment stealing over his grim old features.

"Yes," he muttered, "there is some satisfaction in the wanderer's life after a'. Bob steered us here, which was right, but Mackay will be the man to lead the back trail through the mountain."

"I fully believe you, Jim," said a voice at his elbow, and Bentley laid an affectionate grasp upon his arm.

[Pg 347]

The whole of the little drama had been enacted within the space of a few minutes, and the actors therein had apparently become oblivious to the fact that a band of impatient blacks were drawn up in aggressive order at no great distance. They were not allowed to remain long in this blissful state, however, for the aged chief suddenly hastened forward, and shrilled a few words to Bentley, which had the effect of arousing that happy man to a true sense of his responsibilities. He answered the old warrior in an odd monosyllabic language, which he spoke with perfect ease, much to the astonishment of the youthful members of the group, who had never before heard a white man converse so fluently in the savage tongue. For some moments they held high consultation thus, and Bob was quick to observe a shade of dire uneasiness steal over the features of his newly found relative; and he noticed, too, that the natives in the background were gradually drawing nearer and nearer, while loud, angry mutterings filled their ranks.

It was at this stage that Stewart whispered something into Mackay's ear which made that gentleman frown deeply, hesitate for a brief instant, then surreptitiously remove the magazine of his rifle; and his three companions, obeying a signal from his eye, quickly unloaded their weapons and secreted the cartridges. Bentley seemed to have been conscious of these proceedings, for it was only when the firearms had been rendered harmless that he turned and addressed the party.

"I don't wish to alarm you, boys," he said, "but the king, who has always been a good friend of mine, tells me that his warriors are getting beyond his control, and nothing short of a miracle can save us. You killed four[Pg 348] of them, you see, and wounded about a dozen more, and, by their law, a life must pay for a life."

"That's vera comforting," grunted Mackay, preparing to reload his rifle afresh, and glaring savagely at Stewart the while.

"Don't! For Heaven's sake don't do that, Jim," exclaimed Bentley. "Lay down your rifles, and I'll try and talk them over."

Reluctantly each proffered his deadly weapon to the king, who received it with unconcealed joy.

"We've still got our revolvers," whispered Jack to Stewart, who was looking very sorrowful indeed.

Yet still the warriors came surging on, despite their old king's frenzied expostulations. In vain he displayed the trophies he had received in proof of the good intentions of the visitors, and as his followers crowded heedlessly forward, his wrath at his own impotence was terrible to witness.

Mackay was deciding on the bold stroke of retaking the weapons from the king's grasp, when Bentley stepped slowly out to meet the angry mob. He was greeted with shrill yells, the dominant note of which seemed to be fear and expectancy rather than fury.

"He'll be killed! he'll be killed!" cried Jack, making as if to dash to his assistance.

The Shadow restrained him. "I reckon he's all right," said he. "Them nigs is howlin' wi' terror, they are."

"What power can he have over them?" asked Bob, in awe, as he watched the single man sway the fiery multitude with his calm words. Phil, the geologist, who was by his side, answered him.

"Your uncle's knowledge of aboriginal tribes has[Pg 349] stood us all in good stead before this," he said quietly. "Listen to that cry. Can you make anything of it?"

"It sounds like Bilya Backan," Bob said, straining his ears to catch the prevailing shouts.

"Bilya Backan!" exclaimed Mackay. "Has Dick got that position here? Ah, well, it means that we are safe enough so long as he keeps his power; but I can see trouble ahead when he tries to get away."

"Why, what does it mean?" questioned Bob, in wonder.

"Mean? It means that he is the sorcerer o' this tribe, and will be guarded night and day if they think he wants to clear out. But, hallo! he doesna seem to be succeeding just as well as he should. It seems to me I'd better be sorcerer number two, an' devise an opportune miracle."

Bentley, indeed, appeared to have great difficulty in quelling the unruly spirit of the savage warriors. They crowded around him almost threateningly, and brandished their bows and clubs in half-restrained fury. The unhappy king had joined his more powerful friend, and was lending his high-pitched voice to the uproar. Mackay unconcernedly chipped at something he held in his hand with the point of his sheath-knife, then stalked jauntily towards the gesticulating throng.

"Keep back, Jim! keep back!" warned Bentley. "You are the man they want principally. Keep back, if you value your life."

"You canna kill me, Dick," laughed Mackay. "I've come over to work a miracle to that effect."

Yet to all appearances it seemed as if the resourceful Scot was tempting Providence to too great a degree in the present instance. The blacks redoubled their clamour at[Pg 350] his approach, and one false move on the part of Bentley at this juncture would assuredly have brought about his companion's doom, but he did not once turn his back on the truculent band.

"What wild idea have you got?" he cried over his shoulder. "I think I'll manage them all right. I'm telling them that the spirit of the thunder killed their brethren for their own misdeeds."

"That's good enough," said Mackay. "But you'd better tell them you've decided to slaughter me right off now, only that you're afraid Wangul, the maist powerful god in their calendar, will protect me, seein' I'm an auld friend o' his. Get my rifle from old Methuselah, Dick; let me load it, an' shoot me with the first cartridge. Savvy?"

Bentley pretended not to hear, but he spoke out several sentences rapidly, which evidently pleased the warriors mightily, then he signed to the king to fetch the rifles.

"The long-barrelled one's mine, Dick," cautioned Mackay. "Ah, that's right."

He seized his treasured weapon, and in a trice had inserted two cartridges, and closed the breech, leaving one in the barrel. Bentley received back the deadly firearm with evident trepidation, and once more addressed the multitude.

"Hear ye, O my people," he cried, in their own weird tongue. "The friend of Wangul, the mighty dweller in the waters, whose breath dries up the land and makes it desolate, stands before you and dares the strength of the big thunder. If it so be that he dies by the spirit which issueth forth when the thunder speaks, then shall you work your will upon the others. But if he lives and[Pg 351] defies the spirit, then surely is he indeed in the guarding care of Wangul, and must be permitted to go unhurt with his brethren to partake of food with me in my home by the hillside."

Mackay smiled grimly as he gathered the text of the speech, but a great roar from the assembled blacks indicated that the arrangement met with their full approval. Bentley raised the rifle with an obvious effort, and at the action a wild cry of alarm broke from the lips of the little group in the rear, who had never dreamt that Mackay's promised miracle was to take on such a deadly aspect of reality. And now the withered old chief created a diversion. With a gurgle of joy he sprang forward and took the rifle from Bentley's unresisting hands, and levelling it almost against Mackay's broad chest, pulled the trigger. A terrific explosion followed, and Bentley uttered a groan of anguish. The miracle, as he had understood it, was to have been accomplished by his firing wide, and he had relinquished the firearm, never thinking that the wily king of the savages meant to do other than lay it aside with the others. To his intense astonishment, however, and to the amazement of the massed blacks, the "friend of Wangul" stood erect and smiling after the thunderous reverberation had died away.

A loud cheer from his comrades behind showed how truly thankful they were at his marvellous escape from what had looked like certain death, but the most astounded of all present was, undoubtedly, the dusky individual who had fired the shot; he pranced about with the reeking rifle still in his hands, shrieking out all sorts of incantations. Suddenly he stopped short, opened and closed the breech of the gun, thereby forcing another[Pg 352] cartridge into position, and, with a crafty smile on his lips, directed the long tube at a stalwart savage standing near, and fired. The unoffending victim uttered a yell like a wounded dingo, and sprang several feet into the air, then subsided on the ground, and writhed in torment with a bullet-hole clean through his shoulder. That was enough. With droning wails of fear the natives drew back in alarm, gazing at the man who had withstood a similar shock with wild, staring eyes. Bentley knelt down and examined the wounded native, then, calling two of his brethren, who came forward reluctantly, he gave them some directions for his treatment. The king meanwhile was grovelling on the ground, his head beating the dust, and his voice raised in feeble lamentation; and, while he was thus prostrated, Jack crept stealthily up and gathered in the rifles lying near.

"That will be another miracle for the old beggar to explain," said he, when he rejoined his companions.

"You've fairly frightened the old fellow to death, Jim," remarked Bentley, stooping over the fallen monarch. "I'll tell you about him afterwards; but he was proof against all sorts of sorceries, and now I shouldn't winder if he turns over a new leaf, and goes in for the extremest forms of savagery. But come with us to our retreat. There are many things we have to talk over to-night. This day has been a wonderful one for all of us."

"You might tell me, boss, how you dodged the bullet?" pleaded the Shadow, as they all walked along together.

"Yes, that is a matter I should like to understand," added Bentley.

[Pg 353]

The big man laughed. "The explanation is vera simple," said he. "There wasna any bullet in the first cartridge; I took it oot aforehand!"

"You're just the same auld deceitfu' schemer you used to be," murmured Stewart, sorrowfully. "I'm fair shocked at your woefu' depravity. You would actually bamboozle the puir heathen!"

"What's that you've got inside your cloak?" demanded Mackay, slyly, noting an odd protuberance in his corrector's garment.

Stewart beamed. "That's a vera dangerous gun, Mac, ma man," he answered solemnly, "an' I'm takin' it awa' in case the unfortunate niggers might dae themselves damage wi' it."

They had been so engrossed in their mutual recriminations that Mackay had not noticed the odd logged structure which now appeared before them; it was half hidden amid a splendid group of lime and cedar trees which occurred in the valley, about two hundred yards to the north of the tunnel entrance, and the waters of the beautiful lake lapped the white sands within a few paces of it. Mackay gave a rough glance round to make sure of his position. The sun had descended behind the frowning barrier range, and a gloom was settling over the valley.

Bentley guessed his thoughts. "I know every foot of the country, Jim," he said quietly. "We'll talk over our plans to-night. What have we got in the larder, Stewart?"

"I caught ane or twa fish this morning," answered that individual, smilingly. "I thought we might have some visitors to keep us company."

[Pg 354]

"And there's bread made from wild bananas," added Phil. "It's not half bad, though it will take you a little time to get accustomed to it."

Bentley pushed open the door, which was an airy contrivance composed of light saplings interlaced with long tendril forest growths, and it swung from above by stout plaited grassy cords.

"Enter, boys," he said, "and welcome, most heartily welcome, to the white man's dwelling in the mystic valley of the Never Never."

Mackay mechanically raised his hand to his head as he stepped between the portals, and a grunt of disgust forced itself from his lips when, instead of the hat he expected to find, a few muddy feathers broke off in his grasp. The boys, following close behind, saw the action and laughed, yet immediately proceeded to copy his example, so strong was the habit of civilization upon them.

The single large room within was bare, save for a rough logged table in the middle of the floor, and sundry rude but comfortable chairs which were scattered about.

"We sleep on the ground," explained Bentley; "we've never had the heart to attempt building proper bunks. Have you a match, Jim?"

Mackay sought in his pocket and produced the small corked bottle in which he carried his supply so that it might be preserved from damp, and Bentley, with a sigh of thankfulness, applied a light to a torch of fine fibrous sticks stuck in a crevice in the table. Bob watched him with many questions surging on his lips.

"How do you usually get a light?" he asked at length.

"You are anticipating me, Bob," laughed Bentley.[Pg 355] "At night we use the flints, in the old primitive way, but in the daytime I use the lens of my pocket microscope which was left to me. If I hold it in the sun's rays it will light a fire of these twigs in less than sixty seconds. That was the first thing the natives saw me do that made them marvel. They couldn't understand how I could call down fire from heaven, and it's one of the few things which that knowing old king of theirs hasn't grasped yet."

In a few minutes Stewart and Pioneer Bill were busy preparing supper. There seemed to be no lack of cooking utensils, and each vessel was most peculiarly marked, as if it had been stamped out of the solid. Mackay, who had thrown off his encumbering outer garb, sat gazing into the fire, apparently lost in the depths of his thoughts; Bentley and Phil were talking earnestly together in a subdued voice; Emu Bill roamed aimlessly about the room; Bob, Jack, and the Shadow were glaring with wide-open eyes at the thin metal platters with which Stewart had adorned the table;—not one of them could find words to speak.

"Is—is it another mirage?" muttered the Shadow, at length, stretching out a hesitating hand; then a whoop of delight burst from his lips. "Say, boss," he cried, shaking Mackay energetically by the shoulder. "Look! Look at this!"

Mackay awoke from his reverie with a start, and turned his head.

"Ay, it's gold, Shadow," said he, calmly. "I am no' vera surprised."

Bentley gave a whistle of annoyance. "Well, boys," he explained, "I absolutely forgot to mention the matter,[Pg 356] but gold is so plentiful in this quarter that I have got quite accustomed to it, and I do believe I had also forgotten that the stuff has such a powerful value——"

"Spin us your yarn after supper, Dick," said Mackay. "I'm as hungry as a starved dingo just now."

"I've felt a bit sick ever since I saw them plates an' things," said Emu Bill, pausing in his perambulations. "Howlin' blazes! I wish we could cart the whole mountain away wi' us."

"I don't suppose you've got a bit o' tea in your pocket?" interjected Stewart, eyeing Mackay pathetically. "No? Weel, I'll just have to mak' up my ain concoction. It's no' vera bad when you get accustomed to it; but I'm sair wearyin' for a ceevilized drink. I hope the flavour o' the leaves winna disagree wi' ye; I gather them off a wee bush that grows in the forest, but the taste is naething like the real article."

Stewart's tea, however, proved to be a wonderfully palatable beverage, and the accompanying fare of such a highly appetizing nature that Mackay's little party soon felt revived to their fullest energies.

"It will be something to remember that we've eaten out of golden dishes," Jack remarked with much satisfaction. "I think I'll appropriate a spoon as a memento."

Bentley sighed wearily. "You may be tired enough of these same spoons before you leave here, Jack," he said.

Mackay gave a snort of disapproval, and rose from his chair.

"Load up these rifles, Shadow," he directed. "And now, Dick"—seating himself once more—"fire away wi' your story. What sort o' place have we struck, an' how[Pg 357] do ye account for the natives being so different from others? an' tell me how in the name o' a' that's wonderful, you havena escaped long syne wi' your pockets fu' o' nuggets?"

Without hesitation, Bentley plunged into his narrative. "When you had been about an hour away, Jim," he began, "chasing up that confounded camel, and while we were loading the team, we were suddenly surrounded by an army of the oddest-looking warriors imaginable. They must have been hiding in the scrub near by us for some time, for we had no warning whatever of their coming, and, to make matters worse, not one of us had a rifle ready. They bore down on us without a word, and, of course, quickly had the best of it, for they were ten to one, and were armed with clubs and arrows. They seemed quite peaceably inclined, however, and did not appear to be in any way anxious to exterminate us at once, though Stewart got a crack on the head which nearly finished him."

"I did that," murmured that individual, patting the back of his skull tenderly. "But ye shid mak' mention o' hoo I squelched a wheen o' them wi' ma naked fist aforehand."

"They carried us away," continued Bentley, reminiscently, "though not before they had built a huge fire beside our camp. I thought they meant it for us; but when I saw them unloading the poor camels I knew at once what was going to happen. It is a common custom among the most knowing savages to burn the bodies of animals or men so as to give the impression that the expedition had died of thirst years before. They have deceived Government search-parties many times by that[Pg 358] ruse, and frightened off explorers from tackling the same supposedly droughty quarter again. Anyhow, our captors made short work of the unfortunate camels, scooped up every bit of our outfit, and marched on. I don't need to speak of our surprise when we passed through the choking fumes of the sulphur springs. We all know about them, and probably you know more than we do, for you were camped alongside, and we scarcely got a glimpse of the wonderful craters. The passage, too, you know possibly better than we, for we have never been allowed to go back to the entrance, and twenty warriors guard it night and day when there are any signs of danger, or a strange tribe is in the vicinity. But the biggest surprise of all came when we had an opportunity of studying the valley and its formations, and we got that very speedily, for that curious old king of the tribe released us almost as soon as we were brought in."

"I can remember he had some difficulty with his followers then, too," interjected Phil, gravely. "They weren't quite so wild as they were to-day, but they were bad enough until you talked to them in their own lingo."

Bentley smiled. "I could see even then," he said, "that their aged leader had some strange scheme in hand, though it was several weeks later before he laid his views quite clearly before me."

"And do you mean to say that you waited here o' your ain free will as prisoners?" snorted Mackay.

"For the first little while we were interested to know what sort of country we had reached, and then, when even the riches of the valley began to pall on us, we suddenly realized that we could not help ourselves. The tunnel[Pg 359] was always well watched, but even had we got safely through the mountain, where were we then? On the edge of an enormous desert without food or means of transport. You must recollect, Jim, that the camels had been killed, as probably yours have been by this time."

Mackay started to his feet, but resumed his seat with a smile.

"It would be dark before they could venture out," he said, musingly. "We have a good ten hours' grace yet. Hurry up wi' your story, Dick; I want to know whether we should stay here, an' get rich quick wi' the gold oot o' the mountain, or clear out while we have a chance."

"You forget, Jim," said Bentley, quietly, "that your chance has gone. I tried to warn you from the summit in every conceivable manner, but you wouldn't understand. I even scribbled charcoal messages on pieces of wood and threw them down, and you paid no attention."

"We thought you were throwing stones at us," said Bob. "You looked so very like a native at that distance."

"It was a miracle we didn't pop you over with our rifles," commented Emu Bill, shortly.

"I dinna see that our chance has vanished just yet, if we care to take it," Mackay observed, with undiminished assurance. "But go on wi' your yarn, Dick; what I'm anxious to know is, who made that tunnel and for what purpose?"

"First of all, let me tell you," said Bentley, "that this valley is almost impregnable from every direction but one. Away to the north-east there is a slight break in the circular range, but the country in that quarter is so broken and desolate that it is almost impassable, and certainly no[Pg 360] explorer making an east or west course would dream of altering his route to the south at that point. He would rather give the mountain—if he happened to see it then—as wide a berth as possible. On the west, as you know, Nature guards her secret very effectually, and it might have remained undiscovered for another hundred years if you had not escaped from the expedition as you did, and so been able to track up the mysterious mountain afresh, and with greater caution. But now that you are here, you may take it as a surety that you will never be allowed to leave with the knowledge you have gained. The fact is, boys, this valley in the heart of the Never Never land is a perfect treasure-house of gold and gems, and it is inhabited by the remnants of a once truly remarkable tribe. They are still infinitely superior in knowledge and intellect to any other aboriginal race that I know, but they have been degenerating slowly these last many centuries, ever since the upheaval, I should imagine, which altered the aspect of Central Australia, and separated it from Polynesia. Their environment has protected them to an enormous degree, for their home in this natural paradise is surely all that could be desired, but, from what I have been able to gather from the king, they have inherited a policy of isolation, which is now almost a part of their creed. Any unsuspecting tribe that wanders near is attacked with the utmost ferocity, as I have myself witnessed on more than one occasion. The early rulers of this strange little kingdom were undoubtedly wise men, and it seems to me they were struggling towards a kind of civilization. The tunnel was driven in their time, but whether it was intended to provide a means of exterminating[Pg 361] their savage neighbours of the plains, or gradually pushed through in the course of their excavations for gold, I haven't been able to discover, though I rather fancy both reasons came into play. The gold has been used for all sorts of purposes, because it can be hammered into any shape so very easily. Its value in the outside world is wholly incomprehensible to them."

"Do you think they have ever heard of the great world beyond the desert?" asked Bob, who had been listening with keen interest.

"There can be no doubt about that, my lad. It's simply marvellous how remote native races acquire their news; but they invariably get it, though in this case there is nothing inexplicable a............