Tom Swift in the City of Gold
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Victor Appleton >> Tom Swift in the City of Gold
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"We'll rig up some sort of lamps," Tom explained, "and come back to
make a thorough examination of this place. I think the scientific
men and historians will be glad to know about this city, and I'm
going to make some notes about it."
They soon came again to the place of the underground river and found
no water there. Ned wanted to turn the stream back into the channel
again, but Tom said they might not be able to work the ancient
mechanism, so they left the black knob as it was, and hurried on.
They decided that the knob must have worked some counter-balance, or
great weight that let down a gate and cut off the river from one
channel, to turn it into another.
When they emerged at the top of the steps, and came out at the
opening which had been revealed by the rolling back of the great
altar, they saw there that counter weights, delicately balanced, had
moved the big stone.
"We might close that opening," said Tom, "and then if any one SHOULD
come along and surprise us, they wouldn't know how to get to the
underground city." This was done, the altar rolling back over the
staircase.
"Now to get the balloon in the temple, make the lamps, and go back,"
suggested Tom, and, storing the gold they had secured in a safe
place in the temple, they went back to move the airship.
This was an easy matter, and soon they had floated the big gas bag
and car in through one of the immense doorways and so into the great
middle part of the temple where the big stone altar was located.
"Now we're prepared for emergencies," remarked Tom, as he looked up
at the yawning hole in the dome-like roof. "If worst comes to worst,
and we have to run, we can float right up here, out of the temple,
and skip."
"Do you think anything is going to happen?" asked Mr. Damon
anxiously.
"You never can tell," replied Tom. "Now to make some lamps. I think
I'll use gas, as I've got plenty of the chemicals."
It took two days to construct them, and Tom ingeniously made them
out of some empty tins that had contained meat and other foods. The
tins were converted into tanks, and from each one rose a short piece
of pipe that ended in a gas tip. On board the dirigible were plenty
of tools and materials. Into the cans were put certain chemicals
that generated a gas which, when lighted, gave a brilliant glow,
almost like calcium carbide.
"Now, I guess we can see to make our way about," remarked Tom, on
the morning of the third day, when they prepared to go back to the
city of gold. "And we'll take plenty of lunch along, for we may stay
until nearly night."
It did not take them long to roll back the altar, descend into the
tunnel, and reach the underground city. The river channel was now
dry, even the small pools of water in the depressions having
evaporated.
The gas torches worked to perfection, and revealed the beauties and
wonders of the city of gold to the astonished gaze of our friends.
It was even richer in the precious metal than they had at first
supposed.
"Before we do any exploring, I think we'd better take some more gold
back to the balloon," suggested Tom, "and I think I'll just move the
balloon itself more out of sight, so that if any persons come along,
and look into the temple, they won't see our airship without looking
for it."
This was done, and a considerable quantity of the precious metal,
including a number of the larger-sized statues, were stored in the
balloon car.
"We can't take much more," Tom warned his friends, "or we'll be
over-weighted."
"We've got enough now, to make us all rich," said Ned, contentedly.
"I want moah," spoke Eradicate with a grin.
They went back to the underground city and began to explore it with
a view of taking back to civilization some word of its wonders and
beauties.
"Didn't Mr. Illingway, in his letters, say something about an
immense golden statue here?" asked Ned, when they had almost
completed a circuit of the underground place.
"So he did!" exclaimed Tom. "I'd almost forgotten. It must be
somewhere in the centre of this place I should think. Let's have a
hunt for it. We can't take it with us, but maybe we could get part
of an arm or a leg to keep as a relic. Come on."
It was easy to reach the centre of the underground city, for it was
laid out on a regular plan. In a short time they were in sight of
the central plaza and, even before they reached it the glare of
their gas lamps showed them something glittering golden yellow. It
was on a tall, golden pedestal.
"There it is!" cried Ned.
"Yes, there's the big golden image all right," agreed Tom, hurrying
forward, and a moment later they stood before a most wonderful
statue.
CHAPTER XXII
TRAPPED
"Well, that sure is a big statue!" exclaimed Ned as he walked around
it.
"An' to t'ink dat it's SOLID GOLD!" cried Eradicate his eyes big
with wonder. "I suah wish I had dat all fo' mahse'f!"
"We never could carry that in the balloon," spoke Tom with a shake
of his head. "I guess we'll have to leave it here. But I would like
to take say the head. It would be worth a lot as a relic to some
museum--worth more than the value of the gold itself. I've a notion
to do it."
"How could you get the head off?" asked Mr. Damon.
"Oh, pull the statue down or overturn it, as the American patriots
did to the Bowling Green, New York, lead statue of King George III
during the Revolutionary days," answered Tom. "I think that's what
I'll do."
"I say, look here!" called Ned, who had made a circuit of the
statue. "There's some sort of an inscription here. See if you can
read it, Tom."
They went around to the front of the big, golden image where Ned
stood. On a sort of a plate, with raised letters, was an inscription
in a strange language. Part of it seemed to be the name of the
person or god whom the statue represented, and what followed none
could make out.
"It's something like the ancient Greek or Persian language,"
declared Mr. Damon, who was quite a scholar. "I can make out a word
here and there, and it seems to be a warning against disturbing the
statue, or damaging it. Probably it was put there to warn small boys
thousands of years ago, if they ever allowed small boys in this
place."
"Does it say what will be done to whoever harms the statue?" asked
Tom with a laugh.
"Probably it does, but I can't make out what it is," answered Mr.
Damon.
"Then here goes to see if we can't overturn it and hack off the
head," went on Tom. "I've got a sharp little hatchet, and gold is
very soft to cut. Over she goes."
"You never can upset that statue," declared Ned.
"Yes, I can," cried the young inventor. "I brought a long, thin, but
very strong rope with me, and I think if we all pull together we can
do it."
Tom made a noose and skillfully threw it over the head of the
statue. It settled about the neck, and then, all taking hold, and
walking away a short distance, they gave a "long pull, a strong
pull, and a pull altogether."
At first the statue would not move, but when they strained on the
rope, the image suddenly tilted, and, a moment later it tumbled to
the stone pavement. But the fall was not as heavy as should have
resulted from a statue of solid metal. There was a tinkling sound.
"That's queer!" cried Tom. "It didn't make half the fuss I
expected," and he hurried up to look at the fallen statue. "Why!" he
cried in astonishment, "it's hollow--the big golden statue is
hollow--it's a fake!"
And so it was. The big image was only a shell of gold.
"Not so valuable as it looked," commented Ned. "We could take that
with us in the balloon, if it wasn't so big."
"Well, here goes for the head, anyhow!" exclaimed Tom, and with a
few blows of his keen little axe he severed the neck. As he held it
up for all to see--rather a grewsome sight it was, too, in the
flickering light of the gas torches--there sounded throughout the
underground city, a dull, booming noise, like distant thunder.
"What's that?" cried Ned.
"Bless my bath sponge!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "I hope the water isn't
rising in the river."
"Oh land a massy!" gasped Eradicate.
Without a word Tom dropped the golden head and made for the street
that led to the tunnel. The others followed, and soon caught up to
the young inventor. On and on they ran, with only the light of their
electric flash torches to guide them. Suddenly Tom stopped.
"Go on!" cried Ned. "See what's happened! Go on!"
"I can't," answered Tom, and they all wondered at his voice.
"There's a big block of stone across the tunnel, and I can't go
another step. The stone gate has fallen. We're trapped here in the
underground city of gold!"
"Bless my soul! The tunnel closed?" cried Mr. Damon.
"Look," said Tom simply and in hopeless tones, as he flashed his
light. And there, completely filling the tunnel, was a great block
of stone, fitting from ceiling to floor and from side wall to side
wall, completely cutting off all escape.
"Trapped!" gasped Ned. "The Mexicans or Andy Foger did this."
"No, I don't think so," spoke Tom solemnly. "I think the pulling
down of the statue released this stone gate. We trapped ourselves.
Oh, why didn't I leave the statue alone!"
"That can't have done it!" declared Ned.
"We can soon tell," spoke Mr. Damon. "Let's go back and look. Later
maybe we can raise the block," and they returned to the fallen gold
statue. Tom casting back a hopeless look at the barrier that had
buried them alive in the city of gold.
CHAPTER XXIII
"IS IT A RESCUE?"
"Can you see anything, Tom? Any lever or anything by which we can
raise the stone gate?"
It was Ned who spoke, and he addressed his chum, who was closely
examining the pedestal of the fallen golden statue.
"Bless my soul!" exclaimed Mr. Damon, "we've get to find some way
out of here soon--or--"
He did not finish the sentence, but they all knew what he meant.
"Oh good landy!" cried Eradicate. "What's gwine t' become ob us?"
"Don't you see anything, Tom?" repeated Ned.
"Not a thing. Not a sign of a lever or handle by which the stone
might be raised. But wait, I'm going to get on top of the pedestal."
He managed to scramble up by stepping on and clinging to various
ornamental projections, and soon gained the flat place where the big
golden statue had rested. But he saw at a glance that it was as
smooth as a billiard table.
"Nothing here!" he called down to Ned.
"Then how do you suppose the gate closed down when the statue was
pulled off?" asked Ned.
"It must have been because of the disturbance of the equilibrium, or
due to a change of weight. Probably this pedestal rests on a
platform, like the platform of a large scale. Its weight, with that
of the statue, rested on certain concealed levers, and held the
stone up out of sight in the roof of the tunnel. When I yanked down
the statue I made the weight uneven, and the stone fell, and there
doesn't seem to be any way of putting the weight back again."
"No, we never could get the statue back on the pedestal," said Ned.
"But maybe there's some mechanism at the stone gate, or near it,
like the black knob which turned off the water. We may be able to
work that and raise the big stone slab."
"It's the only thing to try, as long as we haven't dynamite to blast
it," agreed Tom. "Come on, we'll take a look."
They went back to where the rock closed the tunnel, but a long and
frantic search failed to show the least projection, lever, handle or
any other thing, that could be moved.
"What in the world do you suppose those ancients made such a
terrible contrivance for?" Ned wanted to know.
"Well, if we could read the warning on the statue we might know,"
replied Mr. Damon. "That probably says that whoever disturbs the
status will close up the golden city forever."
"Maybe there's another way out--or in," suggested Tom hopefully. "We
didn't look for that. It must be our next move. We must not let a
single chance go by. We'll look for some way of getting out, at the
far end of this underground city."
Filled with gloomy and foreboding thoughts, they walked away from
the stone barrier. To search for another means of egress would take
some time, and the same fear came to all of them--could they live
that long?
"It was a queer thing, to make that statue hollow," mused Ned as he
walked between Mr. Damon and Tom. "I wonder why it was done, when
all the others are solid gold?"
"Maybe they found they couldn't melt up, and cast in a mould, enough
gold to make a solid statue that size," suggested Mr. Damon. "Then,
too, there may have been no means of getting it on the pedestal if
they made it too heavy."
They discussed these and other matters as they hurried on to seek
for some way of escape. In fact to talk seemed to make them less
gloomy and sad, and they tried to keep up their spirits.
For several hours they searched eagerly for some means of getting
out of the underground city. They went to the farthest limits of it,
and found it to be several miles in diameter, but eventually they
came to solid walls of stone which reached from roof to ceiling, and
there was no way out.
They found that the underground city was exactly like an overturned
bowl, or an Esquimo ice hut, hollow within, and with a tunnel
leading to it--but all below the surface of the earth. The city had
been hollowed out of solid rock, and there was but one way in or
out, and that was closed by the seamless stone.
"There's no use hunting any longer," declared Tom, when, weary and
footsore, they had completed a circuit of the outer circumference of
the city, "the rock passage is our only hope."
"And that's no hope at all!" declared Ned.
"Yes, we must try to raise that stone slab, or--break it!" cried Tom
desperately. "Come on."
"Wait a bit," advised Mr. Damon. "Bless my dinner plate! but I'm
hungry. We brought some food along, and my advice to you is to eat
and keep up our strength. We'll need it."
"By golly gracious, that's so!" declared Eradicate. "I'll git de
eatin's."
Fortunately there was a goodly supply, and, going in one the houses
they ate off a table of solid gold, and off dishes of the precious,
yellow metal. Yet they would have given it all--yes, even the gold
in their dirigible balloon--for a chance for freedom.
"I wonder what became of the chaps who used to live here?" mused Ned
as he finished the rather frugal meal.
"Oh, they probably died--from a plague maybe, or there may have been
a war, or the people may have risen in revolt and killed them off,"
suggested Tom grimly.
"But then there ought to be some remains--some mummies or skeletons
or something."
"I guess every one left this underground city--every soul."
suggested Mr. Damon, "and then they turned on the river and left it.
I shouldn't be surprised but what we are the first persons to set
foot here in thousands of years."
"And WE may stay here for a thousand years," predicted Tom.
"Oh, good land a' massy; doan't say dat!" cried Eradicate. "Why
we'll all be dead ob starvation in dat time."
"Before then, I guess," muttered Tom. "I wonder if there's any water
in this hole?"
"We'll need it--soon," remarked Ned, looking at the scanty supply
they had brought in with them. "Let's have a hunt for it."
"Let Rad do that, while we work on the stone gate," proposed the
young inventor. "Rad, chase off and see if you can find some water."
While the colored man was gone, Tom, Ned and Mr. Damon went back to
the stone gate. To attack it without tools, or some powerful
blasting powder seemed useless, but their case was desperate and
they knew they must do something.
"We'll try chipping away the stone at the base," suggested Tom. "It
isn't a very hard rock, in fact it's a sort of soft marble, or white
sand stone, and we may be able to cut out a way under the slab door
with our knifes."
Fortunately they had knives with big, strong blades, and as Tom had
said, the stone was comparatively soft. But, after several hours'
work they only had a small depression under the stone door.
"At this rate it will take a month," sighed Ned.
"Say!" cried Tom, "we're foolish. We should try to cut through the
stone slab itself. It can't be so very thick. And another thing. I'm
going to play the flames from the gas torches on the stone. The
fires will make it brittle and it will chip off easier."
This was so, but even with that advantage they had only made a
slight impression on the solid stone door after more than four hours
of work, and Eradicate came back, with a hopeless look on his face,
to report that he had been unable to find water.
"Then we've got to save every drop of what we've got," declared Tom.
"Short rations for everybody."
"And our lights, too," added Mr. Damon. "We must save them."
"All out but one!" cried Tom quickly. "If we're careful we can make
them gas torches last a week, and the electric flashes are good for
several days yet."
Then they laid out a plan of procedure, and divided the food into as
small rations as would support life. It was grim work, but it had to
be done. They found, with care, that they might live for four days
on the food and water and then--
Well--no one liked to think about it.
"We must take turns chipping away at the stone door," decided Tom.
"Some of us will work and some will sleep--two and two, I guess."
This plan was also carried out, and Tom and Eradicate took the first
trick of hacking away at the door.
How they managed to live in the days that followed they could never
tell clearly afterward. It was like some horrible nightmare,
composed of hours of hacking away at the stone, and then of eating
sparingly, drinking more sparingly, and resting, to get up, and do
it all over again.
Their water was the first to give out, for it made them thirsty to
cut at the stone, and parched mouths and swollen tongues demanded
moisture. They did manage to find a place where a few drops of water
trickled through the rocky roof, and without this they would have
died before five days had passed.
They even searched, at times for another way out of the city of
gold, for Tom had insisted there must be a way, as the air in the
underground cave remained so fresh. But there must have been a
secret way of ventilating the place, as no opening was found, and
they went back to hacking at the stone.
Just how many days they spent in their horrible golden prison they
never really knew. Tom said it was over a week, Ned insisted it was
a month, Mr. Damon two months, and Eradicate pitifully said "it seem
mos' laik a yeah, suah!"
It must have been about eight days, and at the end of that time
there was not a scrap of food left, and only a little water. They
were barely alive, and could hardly wield the knives against the
stone slab. They had dug a hole about a foot deep in it, but it
would have to be made much larger before any one could crawl
through, even when it penetrated to the other side. And how soon
this would be they did not know.
It was about the end of the eighth day. and Tom and Ned were hacking
away at the rocky slab, for Mr. Damon and Eradicate were too weary.
Tom paused for a moment to look helplessly at his chum. As he did so
he heard, amid the silence, a noise on the other side of the stone
door.
"What--what's that?" Tom gasped faintly.
"It sounds--sounds like some one--coming," whispered Ned. "Oh, if it
is only a rescue party!"
"A rescue party?" whispered Tom. "Where would a rescue party--"
He stopped suddenly. Unmistakably there were voices on the other
side of the barrier--human voices.
"It IS a rescue party!" cried Ned.
"I--I hope so," spoke Tom slowly.
"Mr. Damon--Eradicate!" yelled Ned with the sudden strength of hope,
"they're coming to save us! Hurry ever here!"
And then, as he and Tom stood, they saw, with staring eyes, the
great stone slab slowly beginning to rise!
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE FIGHT
The talk sounded more plainly now--a confused murmur of voices--many
of them--the sound coming under the slowly raising stone doorway.
"Who can it be--there's a lot of them," murmured Ned.
Tom did not answer. Instead he silently sped back to where they had
slept and got his automatic revolver.
"Better get yours," he said to his companions. "It may be a rescue
party, though I don't see how any one could know we were in here, or
it may be--"
He did not finish. They all knew what he meant, and a moment later
four strained and anxious figures stood on the inner side of the
stone door, revolvers in hand, awaiting what might be revealed to
them. Would it be friend or foe?
At Tom's feet lay the golden head--the hollow head of the statue.
The scene was illumined by a flickering gas torch--the last one, as
the others had burned out.
Slowly the stone went up, very slowly, for it was exceedingly heavy
and the mechanism that worked it was primitive. Up and up it went
until now a man could have crawled under. Ned made a motion as if he
was going to do so, but Tom held him back.
Slowly and slowly it went up. On the other side was a very babble of
voices now--voices speaking a strange tongue. Tom and his companions
were silent.
Then, above the other voices, there sounded the tones of some one
speaking English. Hearing it Tom started, and still more as he noted
the tones, for he heard this said:
"We'll be inside in a minute, dad, and I guess we'll show Tom Swift
that he and his crowd can't fool us. We've got to the city of gold
first!"
"Andy Foger!" hoarsely whispered Tom to Ned.
The next moment the stone gate went up with a rush, and there, in
the light of the gas torch, and in the glare of many burning ones of
wood, held by a throng of people on the other side, stood Andy
Foger, his father, Delazes, and a horde of men who looked as wild as
savages.
For a moment both parties stood staring at one another, too startled
to utter a sound. Then as Tom noticed that some of the natives, who
somewhat resembled the ancient Aztecs, had imitation human heads
stuck on the ends of poles or spears, he uttered two words;
"Head-hunters!"
Like a flash there came to him the warning of the African
missionary: "Beware of the head-hunters!" Now they were here--being
led on by the Mexican and the Fogers--the enemies of our friends.
For another moment there was a silence, and then Andy Foger cried
out:
"They're here! Tom Swift and his party! They got here first and they
may have all the gold!"
"If they have they will share it with us!" cried Delazes fiercely.
"Quick!" Tom called hoarsely to Ned, Mr. Damon and Eradicate. "We've
got to fight. It's the only way to save our lives. We must fight,
and when we can, escape, get to the airship and sail away. It's a
fight to the finish now."
He raised his automatic revolver, and, as he did so one of the
savages saw the golden head of the statue lying at Tom's feet. The
man uttered a wild cry and called out something in his unknown
tongue. Then he raised his spear and hurled it straight at our hero.
Had not Mr. Damon pulled Tom to one side, there might have been a
different ending to this story. As it was the weapon hissed through
the air over the head of the young inventor. The next minute his
revolver spat lead and fire, but whether he hit any one or not he
could not see, as the place was so filled with smoke, from the
powder and from the torches. But some one yelled in pain.
"Crouch down and fire!" ordered Tom. "Low down and they'll throw
over our heads." It was done on the instant, and the four revolvers
rang out together.
There were howls of pain and terror and above them could be heard
the gutteral tones of Delazes, while Andy Foger yelled:
"Look out dad! Here, help me to get behind something or I may be
hit. Mr. Delazes, can't you tell those savages to throw spears at
Tom Swift and his gang?"
"They are doing it, Senor Foger," replied the Mexican. "Oh, why did
I not think to bring my gun! We haven't one among us." Then he
called some command to the head-hunters who had apparently been
enlisted on the side of himself and the two Fogers.
The automatic revolvers were soon emptied, and the place was now so
full of smoke that neither party could see the other. The torches
burned with a red glare.
"Reload!" ordered Tom, "and we'll make a rush for it! We can't keep
this up long!"
It took but an instant to slip in another lot of cartridges and
then, on Tom's advice, they slipped the catches to make the
automatic weapons simple ones, to be fired at will.
They sent several more shots through the door-way but no cries of
pain followed, and it was evident that their enemies had stepped
back out of the line of fire.
"Now's our chance!" cried Tom. "The way is clear. Come on!"
He and the others dashed forward, Tom carrying the golden head,
though it was hard work. It was not very heavy but it was awkward.
As they rushed through the now open gateway they crouched low to
avoid the spears, but, as it was one grazed Tom's shoulder, and
Eradicate was pierced in the fleshy part of his arm.
"Forward! Forward!" cried Tom. "Come on!"
And on they went, through the smoke and darkness, Ned flashing his
electric torch which gave only a feeble glow as the battery was
almost exhausted. On and on! Now they were through the stone
gateway, now out in the long tunnel.
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