Part 20 (1/2)
She ran across the cave and flung herself on the surprised Bill. Jack and Dinah followed, shouting in delight. Lucy-Ann caught sight of Philip and flung herself on him too.
”Philip! Dear Philip, you did escape and get to Bill!”
Philip was astonished to see the children and the old couple there. He had left them in the treasure caves. How had they got out? And where were the men?
The old couple came slowly up, half frightened to see so many people by the light of the powerful torches. Bill was gentle with them.
”Poor, frightened moles,” he said to Philip. ”Well, they will be well looked after and rewarded. Now - where are these men?”
”I bolted them in,” said Jack proudly. ”They are prisoners in the treasure caves.”
This was news to Philip - and, of course, to Bill too. They questioned Jack eagerly, and he told them how the old woman had shown them the hole behind the picture, and how they had managed to escape through it to the cave of echoes and from there to their own fern-cave. Then how Jack had gone to the men's hut, and had come up against Pepi and tied him up - and finally how he had got his Great Idea, and slipped back to bolt the men in.
”Well - that seems pretty good work to me!” said Bill. ”But it won't be an easy job routing them out of those caves. I wonder if we could take them by surprise from the back - get in at that picture-hole and give them a shock.”
”Oh yes!” said Jack. ”Of course you could. You could leave one or two of your men at the bolted door here, attracting the attention of the seven men - and whilst they are shouting and yelling at one another, the rest of your men could go in the other way and surprise them.”
”That seems a very sound plan,” said Bill, and gave some orders. He turned to Philip. ”I'm leaving two men here. Take them to the bolted door in half an hour's time, and they will then attract the men's attention. Jack, you come with me and the others, and show me the way back to your fern-cave, and through the cave of echoes to the pa.s.sage that leads to the hole at the back of that picture.”
The little procession set off. The two men left behind waited for half an hour and went with Philip to the bolted door at the bottom of the curving steps. They rapped on it and shouted.
An answering shout came from inside. ”Who are you? Let us out! Open the door!”
The men inside banged at the door and the men outside did the same. It was a perfect babel of noise. All the seven men were there, arguing, banging, demanding to be set free, and generally losing their tempers.
Meantime Bill, Jack and the others had gone to the fern-cave. They had crawled in, and found to their dismay that they had to wriggle through the drain-pipe hole at the back. One of them almost got stuck.
”I must say you children manage to get into the most marvellous sc.r.a.pes,” said Bill, emerging from the hole into the cave of echoes. ”My, I'm hot!”
”Hot, hot, HOT, HOT!” said the echoes at once. Bill jumped. ”What's that?”
”That, that, THAT, THAT!” shouted the echoes alarmingly. Jack laughed. ”It's only the echoes,” he said. Kiki began to squawk, and then whistled like an express engine. The noise was deafening.
”Kiki always does that here,” said Jack, leading the way. ”Shut up, Kiki! Bad bird!”
Soon they were in the pa.s.sage that led to behind the waterfall - but before they got there they came to the hole in the roof.
”Have you got a rope on you, Bill?” said Jack. ”We've got to get up here. I used my rope to tie up Pepi. If you can get me on your shoulder, and shove me up, I can crawl into the hole, fix the rope and let it down.”
It was soon done. One after another the men crawled into the hole, thinking that never in their lives had they done so much climbing, creeping and crawling. They looked at Jack in admiration. What a boy!
Jack came to the hole behind the picture. He listened. Not a sound. The men were all at the bolted door, shouting, kicking and arguing.
Jack gave the picture a push and it fell. The room was empty. He jumped down and the others followed one by one.
”Hope there's no more of this, sir,” said one of the men to Bill. ”You want thinner men for this job.”
”Better go cautiously now,” said Jack. ”We are near the treasure caves. We go straight through three and then come to the cave of statues. That's where the bolted door is.”
”Quiet now,” ordered Bill, and, treading softly in their rubber-soled shoes, the men moved slowly forward, revolvers glinting in their hands.
Through the cave of gold - through the cave of books - through the cave of pictures. Jack laid his hand warningly on Bill's arm. He could hear something.
”It's the men,” he said. ”Hark! - they must have got rocks or something to hammer at the door like that. That really will break it down, I should think, by the noise.
Bill stepped from the tunnel into the cave of statues. Although he had been prepared for them by Philip, he could not help jumping a little when he saw them in that dim greenish glow. His men stepped silently behind him.