第34章 CHAPTER XVI. CAN IT BE TRUE?(1)

That announcement came with all the force of a bolt from the blue, and even the professor dropped his glasses with a gasp of amazement, while Bruno would have leaped to his feet, only for the hasty grab which his brother made at the tail of his coat.

"White--where? Surely it cannot be that--Edgecombe--""Augh, take a tumble, boy!" ejaculated Waldo, giving a jerk that rendered compliance nearly literal, though scarcely full of grace. "Want to have the whole gang make a howling break this way? Want to--They're white all right, though!""Where? Which direction? Point them out, and--I fail to see anything which would bear out your--"The professor was sweeping yonder field with his glass, searching for the primal cause of that latest excitement, but without success. No sign of a white face, male or female, rewarded his efforts, and he turned an inquiring gaze upon the youngster.

Waldo was peering from beneath the shade of his hand, but now drew back with a long breath, to slowly shake his head.

"They've gone now, but I did see them, and they were white, just as white as--as anything!"Bruno frowned a bit at that unsatisfactory conclusion, but the professor was of more equable temper, for a wonder. He smilingly shook his head, while gazing kindly, then spoke:

"I myself might have made the same error, Waldo, but you surely were in error, for once.""What! You mean I never saw those white women, uncle Phaeton?""No, no, I am not so seriously faulting your eyesight, my dear boy," came the swift assurance. "But even the best of us are open to errors, and there were in olden times not a few Aztecs with fair skins; not exactly white, yet comparatively fair when their race was considered. And, no doubt, Waldo, you saw just such another a bit ago."But the youngster was not so easily shaken in his own opinion.

"There were a couple of 'em, not just such another, uncle. And they were white,--pure white as ever the Lord made a woman!

And--why, didn't I see their hair, long and floating loose? And wasn't that yellow as--as gold, or the sunshine itself?""Yellow hair?"

"Yes, indeedy! Yellow hair, white skins,--faces, anyway.

Blondes, the couple of 'em; and to that I'll make my davy!"And so the youngster maintained with even more than usual sturdiness, when questioned more closely, pointing out the very spot upon which the strange beings were standing, the top of a large, tall building, clearly one of the series of temples.

In vain the field-glass was fixed upon that particular point.

The partly roofed azotea was wholly devoid of human life, and though watch was maintained in that direction for many minutes thereafter, by one or other of the air-voyagers, naught was seen to confirm the assertion made by the younger Gillespie.

For the moment that fact or fancy dominated all other interests, for, granting that Waldo had not been misled by a naturally fair Indian face, there was room for a truly startling inference.

"Could it actually be they?" muttered Bruno, face pale and eyes glittering with intense interest. "Could they have escaped with life from the balloon, and been here ever since?""You mean--"

"The wife and child of Cooper Edgecombe,--yes! Who else could they be, unless--I'd give a pretty penny for one fair squint at them, right now! If there was only some method of--It would hardly do to venture down yonder, uncle Phaeton?"The professor gave a stern gesture of denial, frowning as though he anticipated an actual break for yonder town, in spite of the odds against them.

"That would be madness, Bruno! Worse than madness, by far! Look at yonder warriors, all thoroughly armed, and eager to drink blood as ever they were in centuries gone by! They are hundreds, if not thousands, while we are but three! Madness, my boy!""Four, with Mr. Edgecombe, uncle."