Until some evidence should have been obtained by digging, as to the location beneath the surface of a buried city, there was nothing for the travelers to do but wait. Turns were taken in directing the efforts of the diggers, and an occasional inspection was made of the shafts.
“What do you expect to find first?” asked Tom of Professor Bumper one day, when the latter was at the top of a shaft waiting for a bucket load of dirt to be hoisted up.
“Potsherds and artifacts,” was the answer.
“What sort of bugs are they?” asked Ned with a laugh. He and Tom were about to go hunting with their electric rifles.
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“Artifacts are things made by the Indians — or whatever members of the race who built the ancient cities were called — such as household articles, vases, ornaments, tools and so on. Anything made by artificial means is called an artifact.”
“And potsherds are things with those Chinese laundry ticket scratches on them,” added Tom.
“Exactly,” said the professor, laughing. “Though some of the strange-appearing inscriptions give much valuable information. As soon as we find some of them — say a broken bit of pottery with hieroglyphics on — I will know I am on the right track.”
And while the scientist and Mr. Damon kept watch at the top of the shaft, Tom and Ned went out into the jungle to hunt. They had killed some game, and were stalking a fine big deer, which would provide a feast for the natives, when suddenly the silence of the lonely forest was broken by a piercing scream, followed by an agonized cry of
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