Classic Book Library : Historical Fiction : The Treasure Of The Incas: A Story Of Adventure In Peru : Chapter 18 : Page 4 of 33 "Look here, señor. The stone has been struck here. Here are some dents." These were scarcely noticeable. The surface had taken the same colour as the rest of the stone. They were of irregular size, and from a quarter of an inch to an inch in diameter, and nearly in the centre of the stone, from which point several of the cracks started. "It certainly looks as if the stone had been struck with something heavy," Harry said. "I should think, by the appearance, some very heavy piece of rock must have been dropped upon it." "Yes, señor, very heavy rock--so heavy that there must have been many men to lift it." "It must have been heavy indeed to break up this slab." "Perhaps it is not so thick as the others," Dias suggested. "I don't like it, Dias. Well, let us set to work. We will try the wedges there. They were no use against the solid stone, but they might move these pieces. Put one of the borers just at the place from which these cracks start--at least, I suppose they are cracks--and let us drive it in for an inch. You hold it, José. Don't turn it, we want it to go in just in a line with this crack. I know we cannot drive it in far, but at least we may make it go deep enough to give a wedge a hold in it." Copyright © 2004-2005 Classic Book Library |