A yell of triumph burst from the throats of the bedizened Indians, and the chief who had spoken stepped out on the bridge to secure the discarded weapons, while his warriors on the shores set arrows to their bows and stood ready to slay the white man if he showed treachery. Old Fire Top was a glittering fellow, shining with ornaments of gold and silver, and with a breastplate of gold which nearly covered his bosom and glittered brightly in the sun. It was native gold, fashioned rudely by Indian hammers; in its center shone that rayed image of the sun. “Gold must be cheap as clay round these parts,” was the scout’s reflection. “I wonder where they got it all. It’s a good thing for them that the white men over yonder at Skyline don’t know about it, and it stands them in hand to keep the secret close.” It was a thought which caused him to realize how great was his peril. Only by killing the white men who fell into their hands, and covering these mountains with a pall of terror, could the Red Feathers keep from the outer world all knowledge of the wonderful stores of gold which it seemed they undoubtedly possessed. The chief threw the revolvers and knives to the shore, then produced a thin rawhide rope, unwinding it from about his own body, where it had been concealed by the gold-ornamented panther skin which he wore round his shoulders and waist. Without a word the scout submitted to having his hands tied and a length of the rawhide rope passed loosely round his ankles. The end of this rope the chief retained in his hand, so that if the prisoner tried to run he could jerk it and trip him. The chief motioned, and Buffalo Bill walked on across the bridge, followed by the Indians who had chased him, and was surrounded at once by those on the other side. Closing round him and the chief, the warriors formed a guard and conducted him hurriedly along the narrow mountain path until they came to a series of steps cut in the stone and leading from the top of the precipice down into the hole which held the Toltec town. While descending these steps, which he saw could be readily guarded by a few men, Buffalo Bill had a good view of the town lying in the bottom of the deep cavity, the hole, as has been said, being above a mile in diameter in its widest part. The houses were flat-roofed, and most of them seemed to be communal, indicating a large population. The streets were winding and narrow. But near the heart of the town the thoroughfares were wider, and a large, circular street was there, inclosing a low dome-shaped building whose roof flashed in the sun as if it were of beaten gold. Close by it, seeming a part of it, were other buildings that were smaller.