Ted leaned out over the rim of the gunpit in order to have a good view of the fleeting ground below them. There was the river down which Moses had steered their plunging canoe to safety on the night of their escape, spread across patches of velvet green; stone huts that looked like toy blocks were scattered over the barren places, some in rows, others in groups and villages. People, terrified by the monster thundering over their heads, were scurrying to cover behind stone walls and into doorways. Far, far in the distance was a great city; Ted recognized it as the Patallacta, or City on the Hill, where they had first met Huayna Capac, the old king. Nearer was another collection of buildings covering a large territory; that was the City of Gold, with its palaces, gardens, and the great temple of the sun. Ted remembered it, too, only too well, for it was there they had been tried and condemned because of Quizquiz’s treachery. But they had escaped, thanks to Moses! And here they were again, safe, high in the air, out of reach of their enemy. Without warning there came a few loud explosions from the exhausts, the engine hesitated, picked up again for a moment, slowed down, faltered, and stopped. Stanley realized immediately that the fuel in the main tank was exhausted, so he quickly shut off the feed-valve and turned on the supply from the second reservoir, after which he dived at a steep angle, so that the rush of air might spin the propeller and thus crank the engine. But the expected roar did not come. Apparently the gasolene did not flow, for while the propeller was turning, there was only the coughing sound of a dead engine. He looked at the indicator in alarm; the tank was full, there was no mistake about that. Almost before he knew it he was so near the ground that there was not time for further efforts to determine the cause of the trouble. He barely succeeded in straightening out the diving craft before it struck the earth with a thud. They cavorted along over a rock-strewn field beside the river, bounding and threatening to upset, and when the ship finally came to a stop the two were too dazed for speech. For, in their wild sprint over the uneven ground the propeller had struck a boulder and one of the blades was shattered. They were indeed in an unenviable predicament. Not for all of the gold of the Incas should they have entered the Hidden Valley voluntarily. Yet fate had decreed that they should find themselves there, and under the most distressing circumstances. The ship was as useless as if it had been broken into bits, and there was no other means of escape.