He had not run far before he realized that the ape was following,
but this he did not mind. There were plenty of trees between
them, and he felt sure he would soon be able to reach some sort
of a habitation, when he suddenly found himself on the edge of a
deep basin into which he plunged before he was able to gain his
equilibrium.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ROSARIO VIEJO.
To be suddenly pitched head-foremost down a rocky declivity into
a mass of prickly pear bushes and other tropical brambles is by
no means pleasant; and as a result Billie was not in the best of
humor when he picked himself up and looked to the top of the
60-foot embankment down which he had slid.
"It's a wonder they wouldn't hang out a red light when they dig a
hole like this," he declared angrily, "and not let a fellow most
break his neck, to say nothing of scratching his eyes out! This
is worse than a subway cave-in."
He pulled himself together and surveyed his surroundings.
The basin looked very much like an old quarry--so old that the
shrubbery on the sides had grown into good-sized trees, and the
whole place was covered with herbage of one sort or another. In
one corner of the excavation, which must have covered some two
acres, there was the ruin of an adobe house, while near the
center was a stone structure made of four stone pillars about
twenty feet apart and roofed over with two huge stone slabs, set
so as to form a gable roof.
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