“Now don’t get fresh!” advised Tom with a laugh, as he went to his room to get ready to pay a little visit.

“I say, Tom,” called Ned after him.  “What about Eradicate?  Are you going to take him along?  He’d be a big help.”

“I know he would, but he doesn’t want to go.  He balked worse than his mule Boomerang when I spoke about an underground city.  He said he didn’t want to be buried before his time.  I didn’t tell him we were going after gold, for sometimes Rad talks a bit too much, and I don’t want our plans known.”

“But I did tell him that Mexico was a great place for chickens, and that he might see a bull fight.”

“Did he rise to that bait?”

“Not a bit of it.  He said he had enough chickens of his own, and he never did like bulls anyhow.  So I guess we’ll have to get along without Rad.”

“It looks like it.  Well, go and enjoy yourself.  I’ll wait here until you come back, though I know you’ll be pretty late, but I want to make sure of our lists.”

“All right, Ned,” and Tom busied himself with his personal appearance, for he was very particular when going to call on young ladies.

A little later he was admitted to her house by Miss Mary Nestor, and the two began an animated conversation, for this was in the nature of a farewell call by Tom.

“And you are really about to start off on your wild search?” asked the girl.  “My!  It seems just like something out of a book!”

“Doesn’t it?” agreed Tom.  “However, I hope there’s more truth in it than there is in some books.  I should hate to be disappointed, after all our preparation, and not find the buried city after all.”

“Do you really think there is so much gold there?”

“Of course there’s a good deal of guesswork about it,” admitted the young inventor, “and it may be exaggerated, for such things usually are when a traveler has to depend on the accounts of natives.”

“But it is certain that there is a big golden image in the interior of Africa, and that it came from Mexico.  Mr. Illingway isn’t a person who could easily be deceived.  Then, too, the old Aztecs and their allies were wonderful workers in gold and silver, for look at what Cortez and his soldiers took from them.”

“My!  This is quite like a lecture in history!” exclaimed Mary with a laugh.  “But it’s interesting.  I wonder if there are any small, golden images there, as you say there are so many in the underground city.”

“Lots of them!” exclaimed Tom, as confidently as though he had seen them.  “I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Mary.  I’ll bring you back one of these golden images for an ornament.  It would look nice on that shelf I think,” and Tom pointed to a vacant space on the mantle.  “I’ll bring you a large one or a small one, or both, Mary.”

“Oh, you reckless boy!  Well, I suppose it would be nice to have two, for they must be very valuable.  But I’m not going to tax you too much.  If you bring me back two small ones, I’ll put one down here and the other—­”