In front of the big Spanish estate house, Chief Reynolds returned from the police car. “No report on those dark men or their car. I’m sorry, Mr. Andrews. But we’ll think of some way to find them.”
“How?” Bob’s dad said nervously. “We don’t have any idea where they are. We’ve found no trace of them!”
They were all out in front of the house where the moonlight turned all the shadows into silver ghosts. Jupiter paced up and down, his round face looking like a miniature owl deep in thought.
“Chief, we do have some idea where they are, I think,” he said slowly. “First, the Hoard must be in the mountains on the estate somewhere. Second, Mr. Harris has a car and a truck. Third, it’s almost certain he plans to get the Hoard tonight. His various ruses to get us out of the way were not designed to hold us for long, just to delay us.”
“But how does all that help us, Jupiter?” Ted said, puzzled.
“It means that he is planning to use a road, and the road is almost certainly on the estate. It probably goes into the mountains, and isn’t very far from here,” Jupiter explained eagerly. “We can rule out the road to the house, and the road to the lodge. So what other roads are there?…Miss Sandow can tell us.”
“By golly, Jupiter, I think you’re right,” said Reynolds.
The Chief turned to Aunt Sarah, while Mr. Andrews, Ted and Worthington all stared out into the night towards the eastern mountains.
“What other roads are there, Miss Sandow?” Reynolds asked.
“Well,” the fragile, little lady said, blinking her eyes as she thought, “I haven’t been around the estate much in recent years, but — ”
Ted suddenly interrupted, “Look! Over there! A light see? It’s flashing.”
They all looked towards the mountains. No one breathed. They waited. Then the faint point of light flashed again — low in the sky, just above the nearest trees
“It’s an SOS!” Jupiter cried. “I bet it’s Bob and Pete. They’re probably being held prisoner up there.”
“About five miles away, I’d say,” Chief Reynolds said “And just about where the foothills of the high mountains begin.”
“Due east, also, Chief,” Worthington pointed out.
The pinpoint of light flashed once more.
“What is out there, Miss Sandow?” Jupiter asked excitedly.
“Why, I’m not sure,” Aunt Sarah said. “It’s been so long. Wait now, yes, my father had an old cabin on the east range. My goodness, I’d forgotten all about that. No one goes out there any more.”
“How do we reach it, ma’am?” asked Mr. Andrews.
“Well, there is a road — rather narrow. It goes on into the high mountains. The road runs just below the cabin. You see, it’s built on a mesa on top of a cliff. It’s quite hard to reach.”
“Just where Mr. Harris would hold prisoners,” Jupiter observed.
They all stared in the direction of the light, but it did not flash again. Though they waited expectantly, there were no more signals.
“Something must have happened.” Mr. Andrews looked worried.
“Let’s head for that cabin,” Chief Reynolds said “There’s no time to lose.”
The Rolls-Royce led the way with Jupiter, Chief Reynolds, Ted and Mr. Andrews in the back seat. The police car came behind, carrying the Chief’s men, except for one who was left behind to guard Miss Sandow. They raced along the highway until they reached the dirt side road described by Miss Sandow.
As they entered the mountain road, they turned off their lights. In the dark they had to proceed more slowly, though the moonlight outlined everything in its ghostly glow. Soon they were at the very bottom of the towering mountains. Both cars drew to a stop and everyone got out.
Jupiter pointed upwards to where a small cabin was clearly visible, bathed in moonlight and nestled on a kind of mesa.
“There it is!”
“There’s no light now,” Mr. Andrews whispered. “We’ll work our way up carefully. It could be a trap,” Chief Reynolds said.
“Hurry, Chief. Bob and Pete may be in immediate danger,” Mr. Andrews said urgently.
“They may be in worse danger if we’re spotted too soon,” the Chief pointed out. “Stay back, Jupiter. Harris Is a dangerous man.”
Jupiter nodded reluctantly, and stayed behind as the Chief and his men started up the steep, narrow path that led up to the mesa. A sudden commotion to the right made them all stop. Worthington and Mr. Andrews, who had been standing near the Rolls-Royce, were struggling with a short, powerful man.
“The dark men!” Jupiter cried.
“Bring him here, men!” Chief Reynolds commanded his policemen.
Two of the policemen joined Worthington and Mr. Andrews and dragged the struggling Natches to where the Chief and Jupiter were waiting. When the Yaquali saw Jupiter, he stopped struggling, and an eager smile spread across his dark face.
“You Jupiter, no? I Natches. Friend. Yaquali friend. I escape.”
“We’ll decide if you’re a friend,” Chief Reynolds said ominously. “You attacked these boys?”
“Si. Mistake. I think they
“You’ve seen Bob and Pete?” Mr. Andrews cried. “Where are they? Tell us!”
Natches looked around in despair. “Evil one — Harris — take them. My brother Nanika, too. Already have little brother Vittorio prisoner. I escape.”
Chief Reynolds sighed. “You’d better start at the beginning and explain just what this is all about.”
“Just a minute, Chief,” Jupiter interrupted. “I bet they speak Spanish… Do you?” he asked, turning toward Natches.
The Indian nodded eagerly.
“Then tell us in Spanish,” Jupiter said. “Both Chief Reynolds and I can understand it.”
Natches started to tell his story again. But this time he could tell it much faster. They all listened closely, expressing considerable indignation over the treacherous Harris.
“You say he has four of your boys?” Jupiter asked. “Of course! I’ve been very dumb. He’s using Yaquali boys. It’s the answer to Magnus Verde’s riddle. And all the time we’ve been saying that his words were, ‘It’s in the eye of the sky where no one can find it’ ”
“Well,
“No, sir, it wasn’t. His words were, ‘It’s in the eye of the sky where no man can find it.’ No
“A boy?” Chief Reynolds exclaimed.
“Exactly, sir. Indians are small, and in those days they were smaller. Magnus Verde’s band hid their Hoard where only a boy could get to it. Some cave with a very narrow opening.”
“You mean that Harris figured out the true meaning and went to the Yaquali village to get four boys who would be small enough to make the climb and get into the cave?”
“That’s right,” Jupiter said. “He knew they were expert climbers.”
“That means it’s up high somewhere,” the Chief analysed, shaking his head. “But I don’t know why that narrow opening would stop him. He could drill the entrance larger, or dynamite it.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Jupiter said. “In the first place that might collapse the cave and bury the gold forever. In the second place Harris is trying to steal the Hoard. He couldn’t risk drilling or blasting right out in the open.”
Mr. Andrews interrupted. “Can’t we figure it out later? Right now the important thing is to rescue the boys. Do you know where Harris took them, Natches?”
Natches pointed along the road towards the higher mountains. “That way. On the road in truck.”
“That’s deep into the mountains,” Chief Reynolds said. “We could look for days. If we wait till morning we
