“Yermah’s prayers have been answered literally,” said the old man, as he trudged along, upheld by some hidden force—carried forward by an indomitable purpose. “The gold is being vaporized and brought to the surface in the upheaved quartz and gravel. It has tried to come south toward him, but it cannot escape the rigors of the ice, soon to overtop this region.” He passed close to the great “mother lode,” and not far from the mysterious “blue lead,” the wonder and admiration of our pioneer days. But there was no detritus then, no decomposed quartz, no auriferous gravel-beds. “There will be no faults in these veins,” he said, “because the uplifting is simultaneous. And in aftertime the deposits will be accessible to another race of men. They will find our copper mines, but will lose the secret of amalgamation. The first overflow of mud and water has hardened into cement,” he continued, examining the deposit critically. “It is indeed time I were here. Rivers of basaltic lava will follow this, and I must be prepared. Four successive strata will pour over me, and still my grinning skull will be preserved to confound and astonish. The very name of the monastery, Guatavita, the Gate of Life, will incite men to deeds of blood. But thy will be done! I thank Thee that Thou hast given me the power to endure.” Akaza turned to the east, and made a low salaam, and then went into the entrance, now covered over and known as the Natural Bridges of Calaveras County. He performed ablutions in the two rock basins still sitting under the stalactites and arches of the upper bridge and then passed to the lower entrance, a few yards away. On the east is a high mountain which for a quarter of a mile is supposed to contain innumerable caves. In reality, it is a natural rock temple, very like the Elephantine Caves, and it was here that the American lodge of the Brotherhood kept a record of the entire time man had existed on the earth. “Twice already has the face of the globe changed by fire, and twice by water,” said Akaza; “and each time has a new race been born. The Aryan comes into leadership by the joint action of both elements.” The hierophant carried a little copper hammer, which he used to tap the various squares of solid masonry closing the entrance, listening each time a stone was struck. Finally a peculiar singing noise reached him, and he reversed the hammer, springing from its side a sharp, dagger-like point of hardened copper. With this he began patiently to pick the glaze which held the blocks of granite in place. He worked all day taking out the exact squares marked on a curious diagram held in his hand. As night fell, he found himself through the entrance, and inside the temple and monastery. The incomparable odor of jasmine greeted him, and a light flickered in the distance. Akaza’s heart stood still.