He formed a quick
decision. He would reascend the pyramid. And he would take with him a
water supply in the canteen that he still carried over his shoulder. He
began to climb, and he noticed as he went up that it was almost the
exact point at which he had ascended before.
He heard the tumult below, caught glimpses of lights flashing here and
there, and he ascended eagerly. He was almost half way up when he came
face to face with a Mexican soldier who carried in his hand a small
lantern. The soldier, the only one perhaps who had suspected the pyramid
as a place of refuge, had come at another angle, and there on a terrace
the two had met.
They were not more than three feet apart. Ned had put his machete back
in his belt that he might climb with more ease, but he hit out at once
with his clenched right hand. The blow took the Mexican full between the
eyes and toppling over backward he dropped the lantern. Then he slid on
the narrow terrace and with an instinctive cry of terror fell. Ned was
seized with horror and took a hasty glance downward. He was relieved
when he saw that the man, grasping at projections and outgrowing
vegetation, was sliding rather than falling, and would not be hurt
seriously.
He turned to his own case.
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