When they had gone about fifty yards into the rocky interior, the cave suddenly narrowed into a mere passageway. Here the atmosphere became dank and almost chilly. The visitors plodded after Max in single file. Then, as they rounded a corner in the tunnel, it widened out again into another cavern.
A second later Chow gave a gasp of astonishment. The yellow light from Max’s candle and Tom’s flash had suddenly lit up a section of the cave wall, revealing the huge carved figure of a warrior!
PARROT’S WARNING ITS
“Great jumpin’ mud frogs!” Chow gulped in a trembling voice. “Who’s that?”
The figure was so lifelike and terrifying that it almost seemed to leap out of the wall at them. Chiseled out of limestone, the statue still showed traces of the gaudy colors in which it had once been painted.
The warrior had on a tall headdress of flowing quetzal feathers. His face was turned in profile, so that one huge eye glared out at the intruders. A jeweled spike through the nose just below the nostrils gave him added fierceness. In one hand he clutched a dying captive by the throat; in the other, a plumed serpent.
“That’s the Mayan serpent god Kukulcan he’s holding!” Tom exclaimed in awe.
Max brought his candle closer and stared at the carvings with the jealous, greedy look of a miser. “This is why I stay here,” he said in a strange voice. “I discovered him and all the rest of the things. They’re mine. Nobody can take them away from me!”
Tom exchanged a warning glance with his two companions. Jack winked and nodded, indicating that he and Chow would keep an eye on the jungle strong man in case he grew belligerent.