The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-02-12
Chapter 27
FRANK EXPLORES

 l horizon. Cautiously he slid into the open outside the ruin. Ahead where the column of pursuers had gone, he made out white object above the tree tops.
 He drew forth his binoculars and adjusted them. It was the house atop the pyramid refiectine from its altitude the sun. He was closer to the city than he thought,-not more than a mile or two.
 He heard a rustic behind him. He whirled, gun in hand. The shadows had heightened. and semi-obscuritv shrouded the ground. The sound was not repeated, but he believed he saw a shadow fade and disappear at the jungle's edge.
 An iguana, as large as a cat, drifted across the rocks ahead of him. Doubtfully he holstered his pistol. and withdrew into the ruin. Time enough to enter the city after dark; meanwhile he would get some badly needed sleep.
 The squeaking of bats and the soft whispering of their wings awakened Frank. He glanced at tho illuminated dial ot his watch :; it was a little after midnight. Re stretched the stiffness from his limbs. He adjusted his clothing as best he could in the darkness, and frightened his belt. He was very hungry.
 He stepped into the open and fol lowed in the tracks of the party that had passed the ruin during the af- ternoon. As he approached the city the trees thinned and gave him scanty cover.
 Ahead. he saw light. dull glow, that he guessed from it's height 10 b. a fire of some kind atop the big pyramid. This was confirmed as he approached the huge mass. He wondered at the lack Of edifices on this side.
 Doubtfully he gauged the height of the moon. speculating if the two hours light remaining were likely to be more of a help than hin drance. He was grateful for the dim illumination few minutes later when he stepped into the shadow of the pyramid.
 He stopped, rigid with astonish- ment. There, ahead of him. almost at his feet was the white disk of the moon! It took few seconds for an explanation of this eerie phenom. enon to penetrate his mind. It was the moon. reflected in pool of wa ter. As his gaze adjusted itself to the correct focus, he made out the dim bulk of the pyramid reflected below the lopsided shield that was the moon.
 It was a cenote! One of those huge cavernous openings that abound throughout the Yucatan peninsula. where the roof of rock ages ago. had fallen into natural subterranean reservoir.
 Graham dropped to his hands and knees and crawled to the edge. The brink was sharp and the sides al most perpendicular. It made a sort of lake sunk scores of feet below the surface of the surrounding ter rain. The cenote was rough oval. hundred yards long, with a breadth-span of about two-thirds that distance.
 The pyramid abutted against the farther end. looming like a grim sentinel of past ages.
 LIE stepped away from the edge Il and progressed with infinite caution to the base of the structure. The moon was somewhat behind him, shining upon the massed stone. He saw to his surprise that the pyramid had been constructed so LudL tuiS sue IcdISu llSell III q smooth perpendicular line from the lip of the cenote.
 It would be a terrible fall, thought the American, from the truncated top of the pyramid. An object hurled from that height would have an uninterrupted plunge to the sur face of the water.
 He rounded the corner away from the pool, and guiding himself with one hand touching the masonry. ap- preached the center of the sharply sloping side. He was in deep shad. ow. At the center the hewn-stone steps began.
 He climbed little way, and rest ed, listening for sounds of human beings. He progressed slowly but assured himself that no one was about. At the top he peered over the edge.