The Jungle Pyramid by Franklin W. Dixon Page A

be very hard to hack our way through the jungle. There’s the vegetation, the heat, and the insects. As things are, every attempt to find the pyramid has failed because it’s like looking for a minnow in the Gulf of Mexico.”
    â€œWe may never discover it,” Rose added, “but we expect to run into a lot of armadillos. The jungle here must be loaded with them.”
    â€œIt is,” Pendleton assured her. “We’ll go out after armadillo tomorrow. Like to go along with us, fellows? You can help capture one.”
    Biff spoke for them all. “That would be great!”
    Weiss dug into the camp stores for more tents. Frank and Joe pitched the one they would share on the edge of the clearing near the Mayan temple. Branches of large trees, which surrounded the ancient building, were festooned with trailing moss, giving the scene an eerie look.
    The Hardys said good night to their friends and were sound asleep when they were awakened by a terrified shout from Biff’s tent. It woke up others in the camp and brought footsteps pounding in his direction.
    Joe snapped on his pocket flashlight and opened the flap of his friend’s shelter.
    â€œBiff, what’s wrong?” he asked.
    â€œOn the ground!” Biff cried.
    Joe trained the beam of his light lower. A long sinuous form was coiled just inside the door of Biff’s tent. The reptile raised its head in a menacing stare and started to hiss.
    â€œIt’s a boa constrictor!” Chet bellowed. “That thing will squeeze him to death!”

CHAPTER XI
    A Mysterious Shot
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    BIFF crouched at the rear of his tent and eyed the big snake apprehensively. His friends formed a semicircle at the open flap of the canvas, not daring to get too close. The boa constrictor Nicked its tongue menacingly.
    â€œWhat’ll we do?” Chet wailed.
    â€œStep aside!” a woman ordered. Rose Renda walked into the tent. She was carrying a large burlap bag, the mouth of which she opened by releasing a draw-string. Just then three Mexican workmen, alerted by Pendleton because of their experience in handling snakes, joined the group.
    The jungle guide teased the boa constrictor with a stick until it struck ferociously. As its head hit the ground, Pendleton’s hand flashed out and closed on the neck just behind the head.
    Two of the other men grabbed the reptile around the body, while the third seized the lashing tail. The four lifted the boa off the ground and dropped it, tail first, into the open burlap bag that Rose was holding. Then they crammed in the sinuous body, and finally Pendleton shoved the head, instantly pulling his hand away. Rose drew the mouth of the bag taut.
    â€œThis will make a fine addition to the Mexico City Zoo,” she commented.
    â€œThe zoo can have it,” Biff muttered.
    Pendleton told everybody to go back to sleep and stop worrying. “It’s almost unheard of for a snake of this size to invade an archaeological dig,” he told them.
    â€œThis one,” said Frank, “must have lost its way.”
    â€œPoor, crazy mixed-up snake,” Joe said with a grin.
    That broke up the tension and all the boys went back to their tents. In the morning, they joined Rose, Pendleton, and Courtney on a trek into the jungle in search of an armadillo. Pendleton wore the rough clothes and floppy hat of an experienced jungle guide. Courtney appeared in spotless white ducks, wearing his pith helmet and carrying his swagger stick.
    â€œMelville, you’d better leave your helmet behind,” Pendleton urged.
    â€œIt’s part of one’s dress in hot climates,” was the reply. “I wish to dress correctly.”
    â€œThat’s when you’re out in the sun. We’ll be under the trees and you’ll need air. You’ll be too hot with a helmet on.”
    Courtney insisted on wearing his helmet, however, so the guide shrugged and dropped the subject.
    The