Here, then, was the treasure collected
by the fishermen from Lamakera, and abandoned by them in 1467, almost
two hundred years before the date of our coming. But the cause of the
great trepidation which had come upon them, so that they had been
unable to carry the gold away, we had yet to learn.
We had become so intent upon our gold discovery that we had failed to
notice a peculiar humming sound, which became louder as it drew nearer,
and suddenly we observed descending upon us, from the vaulted roof,
what appeared to be white feathery clouds, which, however, speedily
resolved themselves into a prodigious number of flying hornets. Bruno
was the first to be attacked by these venomous insects. In a moment he
was covered with them, and ran screaming into the water of the
slowly-moving stream. His cries were pitiful, but we could do nothing
to relieve him. In less than a minute he was stung to death.
It now became imperative, if we would save ourselves, to make the best
of our way out of the caves without attempting to carry off any of the
gold we had found. The fate of the boy Bruno had caused a diversion
among the hornets to which we probably owed our lives.
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