gold valley. By then the savages may have left, and some other plan may
have occurred to us; at any rate, at the end of a week we shall see how
things go. The Indians may have made an attack, and may lose heart
after they are repulsed. They may find difficulty in procuring food,
though I hardly think that is probable. Still, many things may occur in
a week. If at the end of that time they are still here, we can decide
whether to try some such plan as the young senor has thought of, or
whether to wait until the Indians leave, and then return to Cuzco; for
I feel certain that the place cannot be found except by the help of the
star."

"Well, then," Bertie said, "could we not hit upon some plan to frighten
them?"

"What sort of plan, Bertie?"

"Well, of course we could not make a balloon--I mean a
fire-balloon--because we have no paper to make it with. If we could,
and could let it up at night, with some red and blue fires to go off
when it got up high, I should think it would scare them horribly."

"Yes; but it would be still better, Bertie, if we could make a balloon
big enough to carry us and the mules and everything else out of this
place, and drop us somewhere about the spot we want to get to."

"Oh, it is all very well to laugh, Harry! I said, I knew we could not
make a fire-balloon; I only gave that as an example. If we had powder
enough we might make some rockets, and I should think that would scare
them pretty badly."

"Yes, but we haven't got powder, Bertie. We have plenty of cartridges
for sporting purposes, or for fighting; but a rocket is a thing that
wants a lot of powder, besides saltpetre and charcoal, and so on."

"Yes, yes, I know that," Bertie said testily. "My suggestion was that
we might frighten them somehow, and I still don't see why we shouldn't
be able to do it. Let us try to hit upon something else."

"There is a good deal in what the young senor says," Dias said gravely.
"All the Indians are very superstitious, and think anything they don't
understand is magic. It is worth thinking over: b