When it
was done we withdrew to the end of the passage and looked up the shaft,
and I for one was glad to see the stars shining in heaven above me. Then
we made a double loop in the rope, and at a signal were hauled up
till we hung over the ledge where the black mass of marble rested, the
tombstone of Montezuma's treasure, and of him who sleeps among it.
This stone, that was nicely balanced, we pushed with our hands and feet
till presently it fell forward with a heavy sound, and catching on the
ridge of brick which had been prepared to receive it, shut the treasure
shaft in such a fashion that those who would enter it again must take
powder with them.
Then we were dragged up, and came to the surface of the earth in safety.
Now one asked of the Aztec noble who had gone down with us and returned
no more.
'He has chosen to stay and watch the treasure, like a good and loyal
man, till such time as his king needs it,' answered Guatemoc grimly, and
the listeners nodded, understanding all.
Then they fell to and filled up the narrow shaft with the earth that
lay ready, working without cease, and the dawn broke before the task was
finished. When at length the hole was full, one of our companions took
seeds from a bag and scattered them on the naked earth, also he set
two young trees that he had brought with him in the soil of the shaft,
though why he did this I do not know, unless it was to mark the spot.
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