Remembering Moses’ experience with the deadly bushmaster, they made no attempt to sleep on the ground. But, going into the forest, cut a number of stout poles and, tying the tops together to form tripods, slung their hammocks between them for the night. Their first thought on the following morning was to see if there was any perceptible current in the river; but to their disappointment they found that the water was stationary, as before. “Looks as if we might have to paddle the rafts through. We could do that easily enough if necessary, but it would help a good deal if the water were flowing in the right direction. But why worry? It will take at least two days to make the rafts, and by that time the current will doubtless set in again.” They now began to work in earnest. Near the lower end of the open space where the river entered the forest, clumps of tall bamboo dotted both banks. Some of the great, jointed stems were fully eight inches in diameter and fifty feet high. Chopping them down and cutting them into ten-foot lengths was hard work, for they had only their machetes, or brush-knives, with which to work. Also, as each joint was full of water it had to be tapped and drained, after which the openings had to be plugged up again with gum; this made the stalks light and buoyant. They carried them to the water, one at a time, and lashed them together to form rafts. This required more time than they had anticipated; in fact, four days passed before the two were completed. “How much gold do you intend to take from the cave?” Ted asked one day when their task was nearly finished. “As much as I can, of course. These rafts will carry several hundred pounds each in addition to our own weight, and we can make a dozen trips, or even more.” “A ton for each is not too much. It is remarkable how much the yellow metal is worth. When we were here before, you guessed that each of our packs contained about ten thousand dollars’ worth, and you were nearly right. We got almost eleven thousand apiece, and the emerald necklaces were appraised at double that. I should not wonder but that there are many precious stones in the cave, too, hidden among the gold.” “All the better for us. They are not so bulky or heavy. Think of all the good we can do when we get back home.” “Yes! I intend to be very liberal with a certain college I think a lot of.” “Hospitals is my hobby. You shall see.” When the rafts were all ready they pushed them along the bank, and up to the mouth of the underground river. “It is strange that the water does not move,” Ted said, looking puzzled. “It looks black and stagnant--as if it has been standing still a long time.” “Do not let that trouble you. If it does not flow by to-morrow morning we shall paddle through the tunnel. We have been through it before and know the way. Besides, we are well supplied with flash-lights now. There is nothing to it, so why worry?”