Chapter Fifteen: The Tule Tree Discovery

THE Roberto Hermosa for whom they were looking might be an authority on Mexican ruins! This, thought the Hardys, was certainly a connection with Seńor Tatloc!

The boys thanked the matador for his information and returned to the hotel. After consulting his map, Frank remarked that the Tule Tree was on the way to the Mitla ruins. “We may as well keep going and take in the ruins while we’re at it.” He added excitedly, “Remember the picture we found at Mr Moore’s house of the man under the giant tree?”

“You think maybe you’ll find Seńor Tatloc near there?” Chet questioned.

“Possibly. Or at Mitla which is not far from it.”

Joe, who had been looking at the guide book, asked, “Did you know the Tule Tree is three thousand years old? It’s supposed to be the oldest living thing on the American continent!”

“What kind of tree is it?” Chet asked.

“A green cypress.”

“Imagine living all that time and growing bigger every year!” Chet exclaimed.

Joe began to laugh, “Pal, you’d better not live so long!”

The stout boy took the remark with a grin and said, “I’m not worried. The needles you’re always putting into me will keep me from expanding.”

The following morning Chet decided to go back to the weapon shop and retrieve his dagger. “The police must have finished with it by this time,” he said.

“Okay,” Frank agreed.

When the boys stopped at the shop, the assistant said they would have to go to headquarters to claim the weapon. He confided that he had not slept a wink all night. “When I told the police about those thieves they looked at me as if I were stupid. Well, maybe I am. I’m certainly out a lot of money - I know. I’ll have to make it good.”

The three boys felt sorry that the assistant had been duped, but had no solution to offer for his mistake.

“Maybe you’ll get a break and make a lot of big sales today,” said Frank, as the boys walked towards the door.

“I hope so. I’ll have to do something,” the assistant said dolefully. He began to mutter distractedly about “cheats and hoodlums”.

The boys slipped out quietly and climbed into the car. After Chet had retrieved his warrior dagger from the police, Frank drove in the direction of the Tule Tree. A few miles beyond town they came upon the tall, stately cypress standing majestically in a park area. The three boys stepped from the car and gazed in amazement at the mammoth trunk.

“It’s astounding!” said Joe.

A sign nailed to the trunk said that the tree was one hundred and sixty feet in circumference. Its branches spread out gracefully over a tremendous distance.

Frank walked round the base of the giant tree. As he gazed upwards, thinking how symmetrical the branches were, his foot kicked something. Looking down Frank saw that he had dislodged a small stone. In the small depression lay a metal object. Frank stooped and picked it up.

“Find something?” asked Joe who had followed his brother.

“Yes. This looks like a belt buckle.”

“Valuable?” Chet asked, grinning.

Frank, intent on scrutinizing the buckle through his magnifying glass, did not answer immediately. “Valuable!” he exclaimed finally. “I’ll say! Just look at this!”

Engraved on the back of the buckle was the name Maxli Tatloc. On the face was an ornate engraving of an Aztec warrior standing in the centre of a circle formed by a coiled serpent.

The fangs of the serpent formed the initial M and the tail the initial T. Excitedly Frank suggested the meaning. The serpent signified time with the Aztecs. So the warrior, encircled by time, could mean that Maxli Tatloc was a direct descendant of an Aztec warrior.

“Wow-eee!” Chet exclaimed. “That museum curator - back at Oaxaca - sure has competition.”

Suddenly the three noticed a Mexican boy of about twelve who had come up silently and stood eyeing the visitors. Frank smiled and asked him, “Can you tell us something about this tree?”

“For a few pesos I will give you whole history.”

Frank dug into his pocket and extracted some coins. The lad’s face broke into a flashing grin. He said, “My name is Carlos.”

After relating the facts which the boys already knew, Carlos added that the great Spanish conqueror Cortes had rested under the tree on his way to Honduras.

Frank asked the boy if he knew anyone named Maxli Tatloc. “No, I do not. But I have learned in history that in ancient times Maxli was a great Aztec warrior.”

His listeners exchanged excited glances. This bit of information seemed to lend credence to the idea that Seńor Maxli Tatloc was the Aztec warrior whom they sought!

“Does anyone round here dig in the ruins?” Chet asked Carlos.

The boy replied with a grin, “Everybody does! We all hope to find treasures and sell them to our government.”

“Have you ever heard of a Seńor Tatloc?” Joe queried.

“No.”

“How about Roberto Hermosa?” Frank asked.

The boy’s eyes lighted up. “Yes, Seńor Hermosa live nearby. If you wish to see him, drive straight down this road” - he pointed in an easterly direction - “turn left on first street, and stop at house with high white wall round it.”

Joe pressed another peso into the boy’s hand. “Can you tell us anything about this Seńor Hermosa?”

“He is a fine digger,” Carlos replied. “He go sometimes on long trips with professors.”

The Hardys were delighted with this revelation. They hardly dared hope their search might soon be ending, but they had strong hunches it was. The Roberto Hermosa whom they were going to seek out must have knowledge of the whereabouts of the Aztec warrior descendant for whom they were looking.

The youngster accompanied the three sleuths to their car and waved goodbye. In a few minutes Frank drew up in front of the house where Roberto Hermosa lived, and the boys hopped out. Joe knocked and soon the door was opened by a plump, elderly housekeeper wearing a black dress and a flat piece of black lace on her grey hair.

“Seńor Hermosa is not at home,” she said in answer to Joe’s question. “He is out at the Mitla ruins.”

“We were going out there. No doubt we’ll see him,” Joe went on.

“Perhaps you will,” she said non-committally. “Mitla is an enormous place, and Seńor Hermosa works in any area which strikes his fancy. I must warn you about one thing. He has his dogs with him - and they are not friendly.”

Chet frowned. “You can be sure we’ll stay away from them,” he said.

Frank smiled. “If we do, we won’t be able to talk with Seńor Hermosa - and it’s very important that we do.”

“I regret I cannot be of more help,” the housekeeper said. “Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I must get back to my work.”

The boys returned to the car and drove the rest of the way to Mitla. “That woman was right - this place is immense,” said Chet, glancing around in awe. “Boy, look at all those pyramids!”

They parked the car and started to walk.

“According to this guide book,” said Joe, “the architecture of the Mitla pyramids is unique. Every stone that went into the buildings is four inches in length, and they are fitted together so perfectly that no mortar was needed They have lasted since about the year A.D. 70!”

The site contained four major palaces and a number of smaller ones. These opened off a central court.

“Look at all those steps!” Chet remarked “I’m going to call Mexico the country of steps.”

The Hardys were more interested in the angular stone doorways, some of them opening into tombs from which skeletons and treasures had long since been removed.

As the three sleuths neared one of the buildings, Chet looked in dismay at the low doorway. The only possible way to enter was to crawl. This prospect did not please him.

“You fellows go ahead,” he suggested. “If you see anything worthwhile, give a yell and I’ll come.”

The Hardys gave their chum a look of pretended disgust. Joe said, “What kind of sleuth are you?”

“I’ll stay out here and look around for Roberto Hermosa,” Chet announced, unruffled.

Frank and Joe dropped to their knees and pulled themselves through the low opening. The roof of the tomb was not much higher, and they were unable to stand up.

Joe, in the lead, advanced a few feet. As he was reaching inside a hip pocket to pull out his torch, he heard a menacing snarl. Was this one of Hermosa’s unfriendly dogs or a wild animal?

Joe started to retreat hurriedly and bumped squarely into Frank. Suddenly, before either boy could reach the exit, terrific growling and yapping started in the tomb. The next second an animal’s long fangs sank into one of Joe’s legs!