Hans set the bust on the bench and walked away. It was facing backwards and Pete, who knew Mrs. Jones liked things neat, walked over to turn it round.
“Jupe,” Bob asked, “how did you know? About our getting Octavian back and — ”
He was interrupted by Pete’s shout. “Come here!” he said. “Come here and tell me if I’m seeing right.”
They followed his pointing finger, and read the word inscribed in the base of the bust. Octavian.
“Octavian!” Gus exclaimed. “The Black Moustache gang didn’t get him after all!”
“Hans packed the wrong bust!” Bob burst out. “That’s what happened. He had two under his arms and when he got out to the truck, he put one down and packed the other — the wrong one. I didn’t bother to look at this one because I was so depressed at losing Octavian — and I had him all along!”
Automatically they all looked behind them, as if Three-Dots or the Black Moustache gang might be coming in the gate at that moment. But all was quiet.
Even Jupiter was slightly flabbergasted by the new development, but he recovered quickly.
“Come on!” he said. “We’ll take Octavian back to the workshop and open him up. Then we’ll hide The Fiery Eye where no one can find it. We’re taking no more chances!”
Pete, as the strongest of the four, carried the bust back to the workshop section and set it on the ground. Jupiter found a chisel and hammer.
“Look,” he said, feeling the top of the bust. “Someone has bored a hole in here, put something in, and refilled it with plaster. The mark is faint, but clear. I’m sure we have The Fiery Eye at last.”
“Less talk and more action!” Pete burst out. “Just give it a whack and let’s see.”
Jupiter set the edge of the chisel against the top of the bust and hit it with the hammer. On the second blow the bust split in two, and a small round wooden box which had been embedded inside fell to the ground. Pete pounced on it and handed it to Jupiter.
“Open it, Jupe!” he urged. “Let’s see this ruby that’s been hidden for fifty years...Well, what are you waiting for? Afraid of the bad luck curse?”
“No,” the First Investigator said slowly. “But the box doesn’t feel heavy enough. However — ”
He twisted the top off the round box. They all peered in. There was no flaming red stone inside. Just a curled-up slip of paper. Very slowly Jupiter took it out and spread it open. On it were just seven words. They said:
Delve deeper. Time is of the essence.
15
Solving the Message
BOB HAD a hard time getting to sleep that night. The events of the day had been just too exciting and puzzling. And to end up finding only a piece of paper inside Octavian! It was just too much.
Jupiter had stared at the paper, obviously disappointed. He had been sure they had hold of The Fiery Eye at last, and Jupe hated to be wrong. Then he read it aloud: “Delve deeper. Time is of the essence.”
“But that’s what the original message said!” Pete burst out.
“Apparently we haven’t dug — delve means dig — deep enough into the riddle,” Jupiter said. “Mr. August used these busts just to fool anybody who learned about the message and started looking for the ruby. Gus, he expected you to understand somehow.”
“But I don’t,” Gus answered, wrinkling his brow. “I’m totally baffled. Great-Uncle Horatio probably expected my father to be with me, helping me solve the message. But Father couldn’t come. We didn’t have enough money for two, and he had to tend to his business.”
“Let’s read it again,” Jupiter suggested, and Gus got the paper from his pocket. Jupe spread it out and they all read it.
To August August, my great-nephew:
August is your name and August is your fame and in August is your fortune. Let not the mountain of difficulty in your way stop you; the shadow of your birth marks both a beginning and an ending.
Delve deeply; the meaning of my words is for you alone. I dare not speak more plainly lest others find what is meant for you. It is mine. I paid for it and I own it, yet I have not dared its malevolence.
But fifty years have passed and in half a century it should have purified itself. Yet still it must not be seized or stolen; it must bebought, given or found.
Therefore take care, though time is of the essence. This and all my love I leave you.
Horatio August.
“It still means nothing to me,” Pete announced, frowning.
“I confess I don’t understand it any better than before,” Gus agreed. “In August is my fortune, it says. But if that doesn’t mean in one of the busts of Augustus, what does it mean? Of course this is August, and tomorrow is my birthday. I was born at half past two on August 6th, my father told me. But how can my fortune be in the month of August?”
Jupiter pinched his lip. For once his mental machinery refused to respond. He sighed.
“I guess we’ll have to sleep on it,” he said. “But let me look at those pieces of Octavian again.”
Pete handed him the two pieces of the bust, and Jupiter examined intently the hole in the centre of the head where the little wooden box had been.
“Yes,” he said. “Apparently Mr. August dug a hole into the bust and filled it with fresh plaster later. My theory is that he dug the hole to get The Fiery Eye out of the bust and put it somewhere safer. He must have felt the bust wasn’t a safe enough hiding place.”
The other boys were silent. They had nothing to add to what Jupiter had said.
“Well,” the First Investigator said finally, “I guess there’s nothing we can do now except eat. I’ve just realized I’m starved. Perhaps tomorrow will bring some new ideas.”
Bob left them and cycled home. He sat down at the dining-room table to jot down notes about the day’s happenings before he forgot them. He was writing of Jupiter, Gus and Pete’s trip to Mr. August’s old house when it occurred to him that the name Dial Canyon was rather unusual. Of course, a name could be anything, but still —
“Dad, did you ever hear of a place called Dial Canyon, north of Hollywood?” he asked. “It seems like an odd name.”
His father lowered the book he was reading.
“Dial Canyon?” he repeated. “Hmmm, I seem to remember it, but I’m not sure. Let me look it up.”
He went to the bookshelf for a large volume with maps of the whole area.
“Dial Canyon — Dial Canyon,” he repeated, turning the pages. “Let’s see — yes, here it is. ‘An isolated little canyon, hard to reach, north of Hollywood. Formerly known as Sundial Canyon because from a certain angle one of the peaks round it looks like the gnomon of a sundial.’ A gnomon, Bob, is the upright part of the sundial that casts the shadow on the sundial itself. So that’s how your Dial Canyon got its name. Formerly Sundial Canyon, and shortened to plain Dial Canyon by everyday usage.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Bob said.
He made a few more notes, then he began to wonder if he ought to tell Jupiter what he had just learned. It didn’t seem important, but you never knew what Jupe would find important. He decided to telephone the Jones home. When Jupiter answered, Bob told him what he had learned. For a moment there was silence at the other end. Then he heard Jupe gulp slightly.
“Bob,” the First Investigator said with suppressed excitement, “That’s it. That’s the clue!”
“What’s the clue?” Bob asked, trying to figure out what Jupe was getting at.