Arriving at this decision we came back to the camp and crawled quietly under the rug, where we watched the mystical monument till the flaming tropical dawn lit up the valley.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XI

KAIPI PERFORMS A SERVICE

The Professor used a roll of films in snap-shotting the stone table while we were breaking camp.  He photographed it from every point of the compass, and made a magnificent effort to dislocate his collarbone by falling from a tree up which Holman had urged him to climb so that he could get a view of the upper surface.  In his mad pursuit of antiquities the Professor forgot that tree climbing was an accomplishment that he had never mastered properly in the days of his youth, and our departure was somewhat delayed by the shock which he received from the fall.  The camera fell upon the pile of leaves which Leith had used as a mattress, and it escaped with abrasions that were microscopical compared to those received by the Professor, who glared angrily at Holman as Edith Herndon attended to his injuries.

“I thought you could climb,” murmured the youngster. “’Pon my word I did.  I wouldn’t have urged you to get up there if I didn’t think you could hang to a limb.”

“I am acquainted with a number of persons who would look well hanging to a limb,” retorted the Professor, as he rubbed his ankles.

“Same here,” said Holman, unperturbed by the sharp retort.  “When I think over their actions, Professor, I wonder how they escaped being suspended from such places.  Especially when you consider that trees are plentiful.”

We made slow progress during the morning.  The Professor’s accident robbed him of a lot of the nimbleness which had been noticeable during the two preceding days, and the other members of the expedition had to move at a pace that would suit his stiff limbs.

“I’m unlucky,” whispered Holman, as he sat beside me at the midday halt.  “I tried to show him how he could get a good snapshot, and now he’s as poisonous as a red-necked cobra just because he was silly enough to skin his shins.”

We crossed the lowest part of the valley during the early afternoon, and commenced to ascend gradually toward the black walls on the far side.  Leith had remarked at the lunch table that we would probably reach our destination on the following morning, and the information brought a thrill of expectation in spite of the suspicions we entertained.  The undefined dread had upset our nerves, and I think the two girls, as well as Holman and myself, were looking forward anxiously to the arrival at the objective point so that our suspicions could be either verified or abandoned.  Leith was more affable than usual on that afternoon, and he held forth in such a gloomy fashion upon the wonders that were within reach that the Professor almost forgot his injuries and his animus against Holman as he listened to the description.