“If the structure has crumbled, it may be somewhat shaky,” he cautioned.
“Proceed carefully
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with your digging. The rest of us had better leave the mound.”
Chow was so intent on his own digging that he had heard none of this conversation. In the excitement, no one had noticed the Texan, who was partly hidden by the jungle foliage. Suddenly he gave a mighty heave with his pick.
There was a rumbling noise underground, followed by yells of alarm from Tom and Bud. With a shattering clatter of stone and debris, the center of the mound caved in!
“Great snakes!” Chow gulped, aghast at the havoc he had caused.
Both boys had disappeared from view!
The cook scrambled up to the edge of the cave-in, with Barancos and the others at his heels. They peered down into the gaping hole, but it was too dark to make out what had happened to the boys.
“Hey, fellers!” Chow called down in a quavering voice. “You okay?”
He heaved a gusty sigh of relief as Tom’s voice came back, “Sure-just shaken up. But send down a light. I think we’re in some kind of a room-maybe a temple.”
Dick Folsom hurried to the truck for a battery-powered lantern. It was lowered into the hole on a rope.
“Got it-thanks!” Tom shouted up.
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A moment later the yellow glow of the lantern illumined the underground chamber.
“It’s a tomb!” Bud exclaimed.
The stone-walled room was lined with skeletons, propped in sitting position!
None seemed over four feet tall. Necklaces of jade beads hung around their necks. On one wall was carved the figure of Kukulcan. Near the skeletons stood bowls and other items of pottery.