“Captain Arnold, will the eclipse start soon?” asked Jack nervously. He was terribly afraid that something would happen to Paul before they could prevent it. Captain Arnold glanced at his watch.
“It will begin in two minutes,” he said. “Now, I am going to take a hand in this game! Watch me!”
He ran with quick, light steps to the tower. The servants at the entrance were taken by surprise, and he slipped through easily. He raced up the stone steps and in a moment or two was standing beside the chief and Paul.
And then things began to happen! Captain Arnold turned to the great sun and shook his fist at it. He shouted at it! He snatched a knife from his belt and threw it high into the air at the sun! The knife made a great curve in the air and disappeared over the mountainside!
“He kills the sun, he kills the sun!” shouted Mafumu, who suddenly understood what Captain Arnold was pretending to do. The Mountain Folk understood Mafumu’s shout and rose to their feet in alarm and confusion. The servants of the chief ran to capture Captain Arnold — and then a strange thing happened.
A tiny piece seemed suddenly to be bitten out of the sun! A small black shadow appeared at one side! The moon was beginning to pass in front of it, and was hiding a very small piece.
Mafumu saw it and was astonished. He pointed at the sun, and shouted in alarm. “The sun is being eaten! See, see!”
A great silence fell on the mountain-top. Everyone was watching the sun in the sky, covering their faces with their hands, and looking through their fingers to avoid the brilliance. The servants who had come to capture Captain Arnold watched, too, trembling.
The moon passed further in front of the sun and a bigger piece became completely dark. A moan of fear came from the watching Mountain Folk. They did not understand what an eclipse of the sun was, and they really thought that their precious sun was being killed!
Not one of them guessed that it was merely the moon passing in front of the sun and blocking out its light for a while. They fell on their faces and muttered all kinds of strange prayers. And when they looked up again they saw that half of the sun was gone!
And now the world began to look queer and unearthly. The sunlight dwindled and died. A queer half-light came over the whole countryside. Birds stopped singing. The monkeys in the trees huddled together, frightened. The frogs thought that night was coming and began to croak.
The children were afraid too, although they knew quite well that it was only an eclipse they were watching. They had never seen one before, and this was a complete eclipse, with every bit of daylight and sunlight gradually going from the world they looked upon. As for poor Mafumu he had never in his life been so frightened. He crouched on the ground shivering like a jelly, and Jack did his best to comfort him.
The chief up on the tower was watching the dying sun with fear and amazement. He too was trembling. Could it be that this man was really killing their wonderful sun-god who shone so brightly in the sky each day? He could not understand it. He threw out his arms to the sun, and shouted to it, trying to comfort the failing sun, and to make it shine brightly again! Captain Arnold folded his arms, looked very stern, and it really seemed for all the world as if he were the conjurer who had worked the trick!
And now even stranger things happened! The sky became as black as night and the stars came out. They shone brilliantly, and starlight lighted the earth instead of sunlight.
“Don’t be afraid,” Mrs. Arnold said to the scared children, who had not expected this. “The sun is gone now, lost behind the moon — so, of course, it is like nighttime, and the stars shine out. You must remember that the stars are always in the sky, all through the day — but we don’t see them because daylight is so bright. But now that the daylight has gone, we can see the stars shining.
It all seemed simple enough when Mrs. Arnold explained it — but the terrified Mountain Folk had no idea of what was really happening, and they were quite mad with fear and terror. They shouted and moaned, and beat their foreheads and dropped to their knees.
Up on the tower it was quite dark. Captain Arnold caught hold of the astonished little prince and whispered in his ear.
“Go down the stone steps and join the others, Paul. No one will stop you now. You are safe,”
Paul made his way to the steps and went down them thankfully. He felt his way to the children, and clasped Mike’s hand in joy. Mike put his arms round him, and the others clustered round Paul, who felt strange in his flowing garments.
“The eclipse came just at the right moment to save you, Paul, old boy,” said Jack in his ear. “You’re safe now. You were brave. We were awfully proud of you.”
Paul’s heart glowed. He had often been laughed at because he was rather a baby — and now he felt a hero! He kept close to the children and watched the rest of the eclipse.
As soon as Captain Arnold saw that the sun was completely gone, he began to shout, pretending that he was threatening the lost sun. The chief went down on his knees and begged for mercy, quite certain that Captain Arnold was the most powerful magician in the whole world!
Then gradually the moon passed right across the sun, and a little bit of one side began to show again. The stars slowly disappeared as the moon passed from the sun, and the strange half-light appeared once more. This was too much for the Mountain Folk. It was bad enough to have seen the sun die, as they thought — but now something else was happening, and they could not bear it.
Shouting and groaning, they rushed to the golden stairway and poured down it, slipping and falling as they went. The two servants who had been on the tower went too, deserting their chief in their fear. He was left on the tower, kneeling down before Captain Arnold.
Gradually the sun became itself again as the moon passed right across it, and the black shadow fled. The glorious daylight flooded the mountains, and the golden sun poured its rays down once more. Birds sang again. The monkeys chattered in delight. The brief and unexpected night was gone, and the world was itself again.
Captain Arnold took the frightened chief by the shoulder and led him firmly down the steps. He called to Mafumu.
“Mafumu, tell the chief he must let us all go now, or I will kill his sun again,” commanded the Captain. Mafumu understood. He was feeling better now that the sun had come back, and he thought that Captain Arnold must be the most powerful man in all the world. No matter how often the others explained what had really happened, Mafumu would never, never believe anything but that Captain Arnold had done something to the sun!
Mafumu, feeling important and grand, said something to the chief. The man was angry that such a small boy should speak in that way to him, and he took no notice at all. He strode away from Captain Arnold and went towards the trap-door, which was still lying open, flat on the ground. The golden cage was there awaiting him.
“Mafumu, tell him that we are going down the golden stairway, and that his servants must let us out of the rock-entrance,” said Captain Arnold. Mafumu shouted at the chief. The man nodded, and entered the cage. In a trice he was gone, and the trap-door still lay flat on the ground, for he had not troubled to bolt it.
“Well, he’s gone, and so has everyone else,” said Mike, with a laugh. “My word — what an adventure! I don’t mind saying that I felt very queer myself when the sun began to disappear and the stars shone out. I could do with something to eat. Let’s go and get some of those flat cakes from the temple before we go down the stairs.”
“Well, hurry then,” said Captain Arnold. “I want to go whilst the going is good!”
The boys ran to get the cakes and some fruit. They brought it out in the flat dishes, and joined Captain and Mrs. Arnold and the girls, who were walking towards the golden door.
But as they came near, the door began to slide silently shut! Captain Arnold gave a shout and ran towards it.
“Hurry! They are shutting us out!”
He got there just as the door completely closed. There it rose above him, a tall, shining door, as wide as a great gate — fast shut.
“They’ve tricked us!” shouted the Captain angrily, and he hammered on the door. But there was no handle, no latch, nothing to get hold of or to loosen. There was no getting through that enormous door it was plain!
Big, Big Bird That Sings R-r-r-r-r-r!
“The trap-door!” shouted Mike. “We can escape through that. The chief has left it open!”
The boys ran helter-skelter across the vast courtyard to where the opening was. They were half-afraid that the trap-door would close before they got there. But it didn’t.
The four boys stood by the lift-opening and looked down. The lift-shaft ran straight down below their feet, cut out of solid rock. The golden cage was not to be seen, of course. The opening looked dark and narrow as it disappeared into the darkness of the heart of the mountain.
“I don’t see how we could escape down there,” said Mike. “We would need a tremendous long rope to begin with — which we haven’t got — and also, just suppose the lift came up as we went down!”
“That golden cage was pulled up and down by ropes, wasn’t it?” said Mrs. Arnold. “Well, surely those must still be running down one side of the opening.”
“Of course they must,” said Captain Arnold. “We’ll look for those.”
But the ropes that sent the lift up and down had been cut! Captain Arnold found them easily enough, running in a cleverly cut groove at one side of the lift-opening. But when he pulled at them they came up in his hand, not more than ten feet long! Somehow they had been cut and were of no use at all!
“We may as well shut the trap-door,” said Captain Arnold, in disgust and disappointment. “It is dangerous to leave it open in case one of you goes and tumbles down the hole. Well — we really are in a fix now!”
“How all the Mountain Folk must be laughing at us!” said Mike. “We are nicely caught! Can’t get down, and can’t get up — here we are stuck on the top of a mountain for the rest of our lives!”
Captain Arnold did not like the look of things at all. He was afraid that the Folk of the Secret Mountain would open the sliding door and spring on them during the night. But he said this only to Mrs. Arnold, for he did not want to frighten the children.
“Well, we’ve all had a great deal of excitement today,” he said. “Let’s go into the cool temple, have a good meal, and a rest.”
So into the temple they went, and were soon munching away at the flat cakes and the sweet juicy fruit. Then the children and Mrs. Arnold settled themselves down for a rest whilst Captain Arnold kept watch. It was arranged that either the Captain, Jack or Mike should keep guard, so that at any rate the little party would not be taken unawares.
The night came as suddenly as usual. The stars flashed out brightly, and the world of mountains lay peacefully under the beautiful starlight. Captain Arnold went to examine the trap-door to make sure that no one could come upon them from there, and then he went to look at the sliding door. But it was still fast shut and there seemed to be no sound from the other side at all.
The night passed peacefully. First the Captain kept watch and then the two boys. But nothing happened. The dawn came, and the sun rose. The children awoke and stretched themselves. They were hungry — but, alas, except for a few of the flat cakes, there was no food left at all.
“I hope they are not going to starve us out,” said Mike hungrily, as Captain Arnold shared out the few cakes between the party. “I shouldn’t like that at all.”
“This adventure is exciting, but awfully uncomfortable,” said Nora.
At about ten o’clock the great golden door slid back again. Up the stairs came the Folk of the Mountain but this time they carried shining spears! They were on the warpath, that was plain!
Captain Arnold had half-expected this. He made the children go into a corner, and he went to meet the tall chief, with Mafumu close beside him to talk for him.
But the chief was in no mood for talking. He too carried a spear, and he looked very fiercely at Captain Arnold.
“Tell him I will kill his sun again, Mafumu,” said the Captain desperately.
“Chief say he kill you first,” said poor Mafumu, his teeth chattering. And, indeed, it certainly looked as if this was what the chief meant to do, for he lowered his spear and pointed it threateningly at Captain Arnold.
The Captain had a revolver. He did not want to shoot the chief, but thought he might as well frighten him. He drew his revolver and fired it into the air. The noise of the shot echoed round the mountains in a most terrifying manner. The chief jumped with fright. All the Mountain Folk began to jabber and shout.
But one, cleverer than the others, aimed his spear at Captain Arnold. The shining weapon flew through the air, struck the gun in the Captain’s hand, and sent it flying to ground with a clang. None of the Mountain Folk dared to pick it up, and Captain Arnold did not dare to either — for a different reason! He was not afraid of the revolver — but he was afraid of the spears around him!
The chief shouted out a harsh order, and twelve men ran up with spears. They took hold of all the little company, and before ten minutes had gone by, each grown-up and child was bound with thin, strong ropes!
“What will they do with us?” said Nora, who was very angry because her wrists had been bound too tightly.
Nobody knew. But it was plain that the little party were to be taken below into the heart of the mountain. They were not to be left on the summit.
“I expect the chief is afraid we will do something to his beloved sun if he leaves us up here,” said Jack. “I wish another eclipse would happen! What a shock it would give them all!”
The chief gave orders for the captives to be taken down the shining stairway — but just as they were about to go, there came a most extraordinary noise!
At first it was far away and quiet — a little humming — but soon it grew louder and louder, and the mountain-side echoed with the sound of throbbing.
“R-r-r-r-r-r-r!” went the noise. “R-r-r-r-r-r! R-r-r-r-r-r-r!”
The Folk of the Secret Mountain stopped and listened, their eyes wide with amazement. This was a strange noise. What could it be?
The children were puzzled at first too — but almost at once Jack knew what the noise was, and he lifted up his voice in a shout.
“It’s an aeroplane! An aeroplane! Can’t you hear it? It’s coming nearer!”
Captain Arnold was amazed. He knew that it was the noise made by the throbbing of aeroplane engines — but what aeroplane? Surely — surely — it could not be the White Swallow?
The noise came nearer — and then a black speck could be seen flying towards the mountain-side. It really was an aeroplane — no doubt about that at all!
The Mountain Folk saw it too. They cried out in surprise and pointed to it. “What are they saying, Mafumu?” shouted Jack.
“They say, ‘Big, big bird, big, big bird that sings r-r-r-r-r-r-r!’” said Mafumu, his eyes shining and his teeth flashing. The children laughed, excited and eager. Something was going to happen — they were sure of it!
The aeroplane came nearer and nearer, growing bigger as it came. “It is the White Swallow!” shouted Captain Arnold. “I’d know the sound of her engines anywhere, the beauty! Ranni and Pilescu must have somehow got back to the planes, made the White Swallow ready for taking off — and flown up in her.”
“Can they land here?” cried Paul.
“Of course!” said Mike. “Look at this great smooth courtyard — an ideal landing-ground if ever there was one! Oh, if only Ranni and Pilescu know this mountain when they see it, and they come here!”