“If we can find the entrance to their lair, we can get soldiers up here, and pen the whole company in, and catch them one by one as they come out,” said Ranni, in a low tone. Pilescu nodded. He heard a sound, and stopped.
“What is it?” whispered Ranni.
“Nothing,” answered Pilescu, after a pause. “I thought I heard something.”
He had! He had heard the fall of a stone dislodged by Jack, who was following them as closely as he dared! The boy stopped when Pilescu stopped, and did not move again until the two men went forward.
In about an hour’s time they were at the old temple. The moon shone in at the ruined entrance. Ranni gave a startled exclamation as he went in, for the moon shone full on the face of the old stone image at the back. It seemed very lifelike!
“Now,” said Ranni, flashing his torch round the cave. “You take a look that side and I’ll take this. Examine every inch of the rock.”
The moon suddenly went behind a big cloud and the world went dark. Jack took the chance of slipping into the cave without the two men seeing him. He thought he could hide behind the images, as the men worked round the cave. He stood behind one near the entrance and watched Ranni and Pilescu examining the rocky wall, trying to find some hidden entrance to another cave beyond.
“I can find nothing,” said Pilescu, in a low voice.
Jack stood behind the statue and watched, hoping that one of the men would discover something. How he wished he could help too — but he was afraid of showing himself in case Ranni was angry again.
He stared at the big squatting statue at the back of the cave. The moon had come out again and was shining full on the image. As Jack watched, a very strange thing began to happen!
The statue’s face began to widen! It began to split in half! Jack stared in astonishment and horror. What could be happening? Was it coming alive? Were those old tales true, then?
Then he saw that the whole statue was splitting slowly and silently in half. The two halves were moving apart. It all happened so smoothly and silently that Ranni and Pilescu heard no sound at all, and had no warning.
Jack was so amazed that he could not say a word. The statue split completely in half, the two halves moving right apart — and then, from the floor of the flat rock beneath, a man’s shaggy head appeared, full in the moonlight — the head of one of the robbers!
Jack gave a yell. “Ranni! Pilescu! Look out! The robbers are coming! Look at the statue!”
Ranni and Pilescu, amazed at Jack’s voice, and at what he said, swung round quickly. They stared in the utmost amazement at the split statue, and saw the head and shoulders of the robber below. With a wild yell the robber leapt up into the temple, calling to his friends below:
“Come! Come! Here are enemies!”
In half a minute the cave was full of robbers. Ranni and Pilescu, taken completely by surprise, had their hands bound. They fought and struggled fiercely, but the robbers were too many for them.
Ranni remembered Jack’s voice, and knew that the boy must be somewhere about. He must have followed them! Ranni called out in English:
“Don’t show yourself, Jack. Go and give warning to the others.”
Jack did not answer, of course. He crouched down behind a statue, watching the fight, knowing that it would be useless to join in, and hoping that the robbers would not see him.
Before his astonished eyes, the boy saw the wolf-tailed men force the two Baronians down through the hole beneath the great statue. Every robber followed. Then the statue, smoothly and silently as before, began to move. The two halves joined together closely, and the image was whole once more, its cracked face shining in the moonlight.
“No wonder there was such a crack down the middle of it!” thought the boy. “It wasn’t a crack — it was a split, where the two halves joined! Golly, this is awful. I wonder if it’s safe to go.”
He waited for a while and then stole quietly out of the cave, looking behind him fearfully as he went. But no robber was there to follow him. The boy sped swiftly down the track in the moonlight, anxious to get to the others.
They were all awake. Jack got them into his room and told them hurriedly all that had happened. Paul was shocked, and anxious to hear about Ranni and Pilescu, whom he loved with all his heart.
“I am going to rescue them,” he announced, getting into his clothes at once.
“Don’t be an idiot, Paul,” said Mike. “You can’t go after robbers.”
“Yes, I can,” said Paul, fiercely, and his big dark eyes gleamed. “I am a Baronian prince, and I will not leave my men in danger. I go now to find them!”
When Paul got ideas of this sort into his head, there was no stopping him. Jack groaned. He turned to the girls.
“We’d better go with Paul and keep the idiot out of danger. You go and wake Tooku and Yamen and tell them what has happened. They will think of the best thing to do. Don’t frighten Paul’s mother, will you?”
Paul was already out of the front door, running down the steps in the moonlight. Ranni and Pilescu were in danger! Then he, their little prince must rescue them. Mike and Jack tore after him. A big adventure had begun!
The Beginning of the Adventure
Mike and Jack soon caught up with Paul. The boy was struggling up the steep track as fast as he could go. He had no clear idea as to exactly what he was going to do. All he knew was that he meant to find Ranni and Pilescu and rescue them from the robbers.
“Paul! You’re going the wrong way,” panted Jack, as he came up to Paul. “You really are an idiot. You’d be lost in the mountains if we hadn’t come after you. Look — you go this way, not the one you’re taking.”
Paul was glad to have the others with him. He pulled his fur-lined cloak around him, for he was cold. The others were wearing theirs too. They climbed steadily up the mountain-side, the moon showing them the way quite clearly. Mike hoped that clouds would not blow up, for it would be impossible to find their way in the dark. He thought of Beowald, the blind goatherd. He did not mind the dark. It made no difference to him at all!
Up they went and up, and an hour went by. Paul did not seem to be at all tired, though Jack’s legs ached badly. But then he had already been to the temple-cave and back once before that night!
They came near the cave, and trod softly, keeping to the shadows, in case any of the robbers should be about. Suddenly a figure showed itself from behind a rock! Quick as lightening Jack pulled the other two down beside him in a big shadow, and the three of them crouched there, their hearts beating painfully. Was it a robber, left on guard? Had he seen them?
The moon went behind a small cloud and the mountainside lay in darkness. Jack strained his eyes and ears to find out if the night-wanderer was anywhere near.
Then he heard the plaintive notes of the little flute that Beowald played! It must be the goatherd, wandering at night as he so often did.
“Beowald!” called Jack, softly. “Where are you?”
The moon sailed out from behind the cloud and the boys saw the goatherd seated on a nearby rock, his head turned towards them.
“I am here,” he said. “I heard you. I knew you were friends. What are you doing up here at night?”
Jack came out from his hiding-place. He told Beowald in a few words all that had happened. The goatherd listened in amazement.
“Ah, so that is why I thought the stone men came to life at night!” he said. “It was robbers I heard coming forth from the temple, and not the stone men. There must be a deep cave below the floor of the temple. I will come with you to find it.”