After this camp had been
located and more gasoline taken aboard the boys were to head their
craft toward the Tunit Chas mountains. What would follow they could
not foresee. With good luck they might be able to hover birdlike
over the peaks, canyons and plateaus for five days. With bad luck
they might have to come down sooner or fall. Then, if the Cibola
failed them, they would have to find their way to the treasure
temple and the ruined palace on foot in a rugged wilderness,
infested with unfriendly Indians and reptiles, or struggle back, in
some manner, if they could, to Elmer's relief station, and thus to
civilization.
Should the worst happen and the balloon fail them, the boys might be
lost in a desolate region that is even now uncharted by the
government. The only resources they would have would be the Cibola
equipment and their own ability to take care of themselves. In any
event, the knowledge that Elmer and Buck were in camp ready to
succor them meant a good deal. And that was why the loading of the
overland outfit had so much interest for the boys.
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