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THE GOLD OF THE GODS
BY
ARTHUR B. REEVE
FRONTISPIECE BY WILL FOSTER
CONTENTS
I THE PERUVIAN DAGGER
II THE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
III THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DETECTIVE
IV THE TREASURE HUNTERS
V THE WALL STREET PROMOTER
VI THE CURSE OF MANSICHE
VII THE ARROW POISON
VIII THE ANONYMOUS LETTER
IX THE PAPER FIBRES
X THE X-RAY READER
XI THE SHOE-PRINTS
XII THE EVIL EYE
XIII THE POISONED CIGARETTE
XIV THE INTERFEROMETER
XV THE WEED OF MADNESS
XVI THE EAR IN THE WALL
XVII THE VOICE FROM THE AIR
XVIII THE ANTIDOTE
XIX THE BURGLAR POWDER
XX THE PULMOTOR
XXI THE TELESCRIBE
XXII THE VANISHER
XXIII THE ACETYLENE TORCH
XXIV THE POLICE DOG
XXV THE GOLD OF THE GODS
I
THE PERUVIAN DAGGER
"There's something weird and mysterious about the robbery, Kennedy.They took the very thing I treasure most of all, an ancient Peruviandagger."
Professor Allan Norton was very much excited as he dropped into Craig'slaboratory early that forenoon.
Norton, I may say, was one of the younger members of the faculty, likeKennedy. Already, however, he had made for himself a place as one ofthe foremost of South American explorers and archaeologists.
"How they got into the South American section of the Museum, though, Idon't understand," he hurried on. "But, once in, that they should takethe most valuable relic I brought back with me on this last expedition,I think certainly shows that it was a robbery with a deep-laid,premeditated purpose."
"Nothing else is gone?" queried Kennedy.
"Nothing," returned the professor. "That's the strangest part of it—tome. It was a peculiar dagger, too," he continued reminiscently. "I saythat it was valuable, for on the blade were engraved some curious Incacharacters. I wasn't able to take the time to decipher them, downthere, for the age of the metal made them almost illegible. But nowthat I have all my stuff unpacked and arranged after my trip, I wasjust about to try—when along comes a thief and robs me. We can't havethe University Museum broken into that way, you know, Kennedy."
"I should say not," readily assented Craig. "I'd like to look the placeover."
"Just what I wanted," exclaimed Norton, heartily delighted, and leadingthe way.
We walked across the campus with him to the Museum, still chatting.Norton was a tall, spare man, wiry, precisely the type one would pickto make an explorer in a tropical climate. His features were sharp,suggesting a clear and penetrating mind and a disposition to make themost of everything, no matter how slight. Indeed that had been hishistory, I knew. He had come to college a couple of years beforeKennedy and myself, almost penniless, and had worked his way through bydo