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
