the great face stared down upon the little party gathered beneath it. its chin was about eight feet above the ground, and its stony countenance extended at least that distance up the cliff. its features were in low relief, but clear and distinct, and a smoke-blackened patch beneath one of its eyes gave it a sinister appearance. from its wide-stretching mouth a bit of half-burnt vine hung, trembling in the heated air, and this element of motion produced the impression on several of the party that the creature was about to open its lips.
mrs. cliff gave a little scream,—she could not help it,—and maka sank down on his knees, his back to the rock, and covered his face with his hands. ralph was the first to speak.
"there have been heathen around here," he said. "that's a regular idol."
"you are right," said the captain. "that is a bit of old-time work. that face was cut by the original natives."
the two ladies were so interested, and even excited, that they seized each other by the hands. here before their faces was a piece of sculpture doubtless done by the people of ancient peru, that people who were discovered by pizarro; and this great idol, or whatever it was, had perhaps never before been seen by civilized eyes. it was wonderful, and in the conjecture and exclamation of the next half-hour everything else was forgotten, even the three sailors.
because the captain was the captain, it was natural that every one should look to him for some suggestion as to why this great stone face should have been carved here on this lonely and desolate rock. but he shook his head.
"i have no ideas about it," he said, "except that it must have been some sort of a landmark. it looks out toward the sea, and perhaps the ancient inhabitants put it there so that people in ships, coming near enough to the coast, should know where they were. perhaps it was intended to act as a lighthouse to warn seamen off a dangerous coast. but i must say that i do not see how it could do that, for they would have had to come pretty close to the shore to see it, unless they had better glasses than we have."
the sun was now near the horizon, and maka was lifted to his feet by the captain, and ordered to stop groaning in african, and go to work to get supper on the glowing embers of the vines. he obeyed, of course, but never did he turn his face upward to that gaunt countenance, which grinned and winked and frowned whenever a bit of twig blazed up, or the coals were stirred by the trembling negro.
after supper and until the light had nearly faded from the western sky, the two ladies sat and watched that vast face upon the rocks, its features growing more and more solemn as the light decreased.
"i wish i had a long-handled broom," said mrs. cliff, "for if the dust and smoke and ashes of burnt leaves were brushed from off its nose and eyebrows, i believe it would have a rather gracious expression."
as for the captain, he went walking about on the outlying portion of the plateau, listening and watching. but it was not stone faces he was thinking of. that night he did not sleep at all, but sat until day-break, with a loaded gun across his knees, and another one lying on the ground beside him.
when miss markham emerged from the rude tent the next morning, and came out into the bright light of day, the first thing she saw was her brother ralph, who looked as if he had been sweeping a chimney or cleaning out an ash-hole.
"what on earth has happened to you!" she cried. "how did you get yourself so covered with dirt and ashes?"
"i got up ever so long ago," he replied, "and as the captain is asleep over there, and there was nobody to talk to, i thought i would go and try to find the back of his head"—pointing to the stone face above them. "but he hasn't any. he is a sham."
"what do you mean?" asked his sister.
"you see, edna," said the boy, "i thought i would try if i could find any more faces, and so i got a bit of stone, and scratched away some of the burnt vines that had not fallen, and there i found an open place in the rock on this side of the face. step this way, and you can see it. it's like a narrow doorway. i went and looked into it, and saw that it led back of the big face, and i went in to see what was there."
"you should never have done that, ralph," cried his sister. "there might have been snakes in that place, or precipices, or nobody knows what. what could you expect to see in the dark?"
"it wasn't so dark as you might think," said he. "after my eyes got used to the place i could see very well. but there was nothing to see—just walls on each side. there was more of the passageway ahead of me, but i began to think of snakes myself, and as i did not have a club or anything to kill them with, i concluded i wouldn't go any farther. it isn't so very dirty in there. most of this i got on myself scraping down the burnt vines. here comes the captain. he doesn't generally oversleep himself like this. if he will go with me, we will explore that crack."
when captain horn heard of the passage into the rock, he was much more interested than ralph had expected him to be, and, without loss of time, he lighted a lantern and, with the boy behind him, set out to investigate it. but before entering the cleft, the captain stationed maka at a place where he could view all the approaches to the plateau, and told him if he saw any snakes or other dangerous things approaching, to run to the opening and call him. now, snakes were among the few things that maka was not afraid of, and so long as he thought these were the enemies to be watched, he would make a most efficient sentinel.
when captain horn had cautiously advanced a couple of yards into the interior of the rock, he stopped, raised his lantern, and looked about him. the passage was about two feet wide, the floor somewhat lower than the ground outside, and the roof but a few feet above his head. it was plainly the work of man, and not a natural crevice in the rocks. then the captain put the lantern behind him, and stared into the gloom ahead of them. as ralph had said, it was not so dark as might have been expected. in fact, about twenty feet forward there was a dim light on the right-hand wall.
the captain, still followed by ralph, now moved on until they came to this lighted place, and found it was an open doorway. both heads together, they peeped in, and saw it was an opening like a doorway into a chamber about fifteen feet square and with very high walls. they scarcely needed the lantern to examine it, for a jagged opening in the roof let in a good deal of light.
passing into this chamber, keeping a good watch out for pitfalls as he moved on, and forgetting, in his excitement, that he might go so far that he could not hear maka, should he call, the captain saw to the right another open doorway, on the other side of which was another chamber, about the size of the one they had first entered. one side of this was a good deal broken away, and through a fracture three or four feet wide the light entered freely, as if from the open air. but when the two explorers peered through the ragged aperture, they did not look into the open air, but into another chamber, very much larger than the others, with high, irregular walls, but with scarcely any roof, almost the whole of the upper part being open to the sky.
a mass of broken rocks on the floor of this apartment showed that the roof had fallen in. the captain entered it and carefully examined it. a portion of the floor was level and unobstructed by rocks, and in the walls there was not the slightest sign of a doorway, except the one by which he had entered from the adjoining chamber.
"hurrah!" cried ralph. "here is a suite of rooms. isn't this grand? you and i can have that first one, maka can sleep in the hall to keep out burglars, and edna and mrs. cliff can have the middle room, and this open place here can be their garden, where they can take tea and sew. these rocks will make splendid tables and chairs."
the captain stood, breathing hard, a sense of relief coming over him like the warmth of fire. he had thought of what ralph had said before the boy had spoken. here was safety from wild beasts—here was immunity from the only danger he could imagine to those under his charge. it might be days yet before the mate returned,—he knew the probable difficulties of obtaining a vessel, even when a port should be reached,—but they would be safe here from the attacks of ferocious animals, principally to be feared in the night. they might well be thankful for such a good place as this in which to await the arrival of succor, if succor came before their water gave out. there were biscuits, salt meat, tea, and other things enough to supply their wants for perhaps a week longer, provided the three sailors did not return, but the supply of water, although they were very economical of it, must give out in a day or two. "but," thought the captain, "rynders may be back before that, and, on the other hand, a family of jaguars might scent us out to-night."
"you are right, my boy," said he, speaking to ralph. "here is a suite of rooms, and we will occupy them just as you have said. they are dry and airy, and it will be far better for us to sleep here than out of doors."
as they returned, ralph was full of talk about the grand find. but the captain made no answers to his remarks—his mind was busy contriving some means of barricading the narrow entrance at night.
when breakfast was over, and the entrance to the rocks had been made cleaner and easier by the efforts of maka and ralph, the ladies were conducted to the suite of rooms which ralph had described in such glowing terms. both were filled with curiosity to see these apartments, especially miss markham, who was fairly well read in the history of south america, and who had already imagined that the vast mass of rock by which they had camped might be in reality a temple of the ancient peruvians, to which the stone face was a sacred sentinel. but when the three apartments had been thoroughly explored she was disappointed.
"there is not a sign or architectural adornment, or anything that seems to have the least religious significance, or significance of any sort," she said. "these are nothing but three stone rooms, with their roofs more or less broken in. they do not even suggest dungeons."
as for mrs. cliff, she did not hesitate to say that she should prefer to sleep in the open air.
"it would be dreadful," she said, "to awaken in the night and think of those great stone walls about me."
even ralph remarked that, on second thought, he believed he would rather sleep out of doors, for he liked to look up and see the stars before he went to sleep.
at first the captain was a little annoyed to find that this place of safety, the discovery of which had given him such satisfaction and relief, was looked upon with such disfavor by those who needed it so very much, but then the thought came to him, "why should they care about a place of safety, when they have no idea of danger?" he did not now hesitate to settle the matter in the most straightforward and honest way. having a place of refuge to offer, the time had come to speak of the danger. and so, standing in the larger apartment, and addressing his party, he told them of the fate he feared had overtaken the three sailors, and how anxious he had been lest the same fate should come upon some one or all of them.
now vanished every spark of opposition to the captain's proffered lodgings.
"if we should be here but one night longer," cried mrs. cliff, echoing the captain's thought, "let us be safe."
in the course of the day the two rooms were made as comfortable as circumstances would allow with the blankets, shawls, and canvas which had been brought on shore, and that night they all slept in the rock chambers, the captain having made a barricade for the opening of the narrow passage with the four oars, which he brought up from the boat. even should these be broken down by some wild beast, captain horn felt that, with his two guns at the end of the narrow passage, he might defend his party from the attacks of any of the savage animals of the country.
the captain slept soundly that night, for he had had but a nap of an hour or two on the previous morning, and, with maka stretched in the passage outside the door of his room, he knew that he would have timely warning of danger, should any come. but mrs. cliff did not sleep well, spending a large part of the night imagining the descent of active carnivora down the lofty and perpendicular walls of the large adjoining apartment.
the next day was passed rather wearily by most of the party in looking out for signs of a vessel with the returning mate. ralph had made a flag which he could wave from a high point near by, in case he should see a sail, for it would be a great misfortune should mr. rynders pass them without knowing it.
to the captain, however, came a new and terrible anxiety. he had looked into the water-keg, and saw that it held but a few quarts. it had not lasted as long as he had expected, for this was a thirsty climate.
the next night mrs. cliff slept, having been convinced that not even a cat could come down those walls. the captain woke very early, and when he went out he found, to his amazement, that the barricade had been removed, and he could not see maka. he thought at first that perhaps the negro had gone down to the sea-shore to get some water for washing purposes, but an hour passed, and maka did not return. the whole party went down to the beach, for the captain insisted upon all keeping together. they shouted, they called, they did whatever they could to discover the lost african, but all without success.
they returned to camp, disheartened and depressed. this new loss had something terrible in it. what it meant no one could conjecture. there was no reason why maka should run away, for there was no place to run to, and it was impossible that any wild beast should have removed the oars and carried off the negro.
