“Certainly not,” said Paul. “I can walk as well as Mike and Jack!”
But after three hours of hard walking the little prince was only too glad to be hoisted on to Pilescu’s broad back! They made their way slowly on and up, the noise of the water always in their ears. They saw no sign of the robbers at all, though they kept a sharp look-out for them.
When evening began to fall they reached the place where the river flowed out of the mountain-side, rushing and roaring as if in pleasure to see the sun. They sat by the water and rested. They were all tired now.
“Well, we must begin our watery climb now,” said Ranni, at last. “It will take us some hours to follow the river up to where it falls into the cave above. The way will be steep and often dangerous. Paul, I am going to tie you to me, for if you fall into the river, I cannot save you. You will be whirled away from me in an instant.”
“Well, tie Mike and Jack to Pilescu, then,” said Paul. “I don’t want to be the only one.”
In the end, all five were roped together, so that if one fell, the others might pull him up again to safety. Then the five of them entered the cavernous hole in Killimooin Mountain, and prepared to climb up beside the rushing torrent.
There was a narrow ledge, as Ranni had guessed. It was wet and slippery, and sometimes so narrow that it seemed impossible to walk on it. But by finding firm hand-holds in the rocky wall of the tunnel, the climbers managed to make their way steadily upwards.
Once Paul slipped and fell. He almost jerked Ranni off his feet, too. The boy half fell into the rushing water, but Ranni caught hold of the rope and tightened it quickly. The boy was pulled back to the ledge, and knelt there, gasping with fright.
“You are safe, little Paul. Do not be afraid,” said Ranni, comfortingly, shouting above the rushing of the water.
“I’m not afraid!” yelled Paul, and got to his feet at once. He had had a bad scare, but he would not show it. Ranni felt proud of the little prince.
They toiled upwards, not saying a word, because it was soon too much effort to shout to make themselves heard above the noise of the river. It seemed as if they had been climbing up the narrow ledge for hours, with Ranni’s torch showing the way at the front, and Pilescu’s at the back, when the five saw something that startled them exceedingly.
The light from Ranni’s torch fell on something swirling down the torrent! In surprise Ranni kept his torch pointed towards it — and the little company saw that it was a raft, on which were five or six of the small, wiry robbers, bobbing rapidly downwards to the Secret Forest!
The robbers saw them too, and uttered loud cries of amazement. In half a minute they were swept away down the river, out of sight, lost in the long black tunnel through which the water rushed downwards.
“They saw us!” yelled Jack. “Does it matter, do you think? Will they come after us?”
Ranni and Pilescu stopped to consider the matter. They thought it was possible that the robbers would turn back and pursue them. It would be easy to swing their raft against the side and leap out. They could drag their raft up behind them, as they apparently did each time they climbed up to the temple-cave.
“Ranni!” yelled Jack, again. “Do you think they’ll come after us?”
“We think it is likely,” replied Ranni. “We must push on quickly. Come, there is no time to be lost.”
The five of them set off again. It was a hard and tiring journey. They were splashed continually by the river, which also overflowed time and again on to the ledge so that their legs were always wet. Sometimes the tunnel was very low, and once the company had to go down on hands and knees and crawl like that round a bend of the ledge, their heads touching the roof of the tunnel!
Ranni’s torch gave out and Mike was glad he had one with him to lend to Ranni, for it was necessary to have two, one at the back of the line and one at the front.
“How much further have we to go?” groaned Paul. “How much further, Ranni?”
It was a long, long climb. Ranni shone his torch on to his watch, and saw that it was nearly midnight! No wonder poor Paul was groaning, and wondering how much further they had to go. Even the two men were tired.
“Ranni, there’s a sort of platform place somewhere,” said Jack, remembering the broadening out of the ledge, where he and the others had slept in a recess at the back two nights before.
Ranni and Pilescu did not know about this. Jack shouted into their ears, telling them about it, and the two Baronians hoped that they would soon come to it. Then they would all have a rest. One or other could be on watch in case the robbers came!
Up they went again, stumbling over the rough, rocky ledge that ran beside the river. Once Mike slipped and fell headlong into the water. He pulled Jack right off his feet, and both boys disappeared. Paul gave a scream of fright.
But Pilescu stood steady, and gripped the rope. He pulled Jack and Mike firmly back to the side and helped the soaking boys out. The were shivering as much with fright as with cold! It was not at all a nice feeling to take a plunge unexpectedly into the icy mountain water. They were glad that Ranni had had the idea of roping everyone together, Jack hoped that neither of the big Baronians would fall into the river, for he was sure that if they did they would jerk the boys in after them! But Ranni and Pilescu were sure-footed, having been used to climbing hills and mountains all their lives, and neither of them slipped!
Paul was getting so tired that he could hardly stumble along. It was impossible for Ranni to carry him, for he needed both his hands, one to hold the torch, and the other to find hand-holds for himself. His heart ached for the tired boy stumbling along just behind him.
It was a long time before they came to the platform. Ranni did not even know he had come to it. He went along the ledge, feeling the wall, not noticing at first that he was getting further from the river. Mike gave a shout.
“I believe it’s the platform! Oh good! This ledge is widening out tremendously!”
Ranni and Pilescu stopped and flashed their torches around. It was the platform, as the boys called it! Thank goodness for that.
“There’s the recess where we slept, look!” shouted Mike. The men saw the hollowed-out recess in the wall at the back, lined with fur rugs. They saw something else, too. On the little shelf above was more bread, placed there by the robbers the company had seen swinging down on their raft two or three hours before!
“Now this is really good,” said Ranni. He set Paul on his knee, took the bread, and broke it into pieces. Mike and Jack took some and began to eat hungrily. But Paul was too exhausted. He could eat nothing. His head fell forward on Ranni’s broad chest, and he was asleep at once.
“You boys must rest on those rugs on that rocky couch there,” said Ranni, speaking to Mike and Jack. “I will hold Paul in my arms to warm him. Pilescu will keep watch for the robbers in case they come back.”
Mike and Jack flung themselves on to the strange resting-place at the back of the platform, and pulled the fur rugs over them. They were asleep in half a second. The two Baronians were sleepy too, but Pilescu was on guard and did not dare even to close his eyes.
Ranni fell asleep holding Paul. Only big Pilescu was awake. He felt his eyes closing. He had switched off his torch, for he did not want the robbers to see any light, if they came back. It was difficult to keep awake in the dark, when he was so tired!
His head nodded. He stood up at once. He knew it would be impossible not to sleep if he remained seated. He began to walk up and down the platform, like a lion in a cage. That kept him awake. He was not likely to fall asleep on his feet.
He paced steadily for two hours. Then he stiffened and listened. He could hear voices! They echoed up from the tunnel below. It must be the returning robbers!
“They have managed to get their raft to the side and land, and have turned back to come after us!” thought Pilescu. “What are we to do? They will be on us before we can escape. How I wish I had a gun with me!”
But the robbers had taken away all the weapons carried by the Baronians. Neither Ranni nor Pilescu had anything to defend themselves with, except their bare hands. Well, they could make good use of those!
The voices came nearer. Pilescu woke Ranni and whispered the news to him. Ranni put the sleeping Paul into the recess at the back, with the other boys. He did not wake.
“We will cover ourselves with our cloaks and sit with our backs to the wall, on either side of the recess,” whispered Ranni. “It is just possible that the robbers may not see us, and may not guess that we are resting here. They would think that we were going ahead as fast as we could.”
They could not hear any voices now. They guessed that the robbers were very near. They carried no torch but were coming along the ledge they knew so well, in complete darkness.
Ranni’s sharp ears caught the sound of panting. A robber was on the platform! The two Baronians sat perfectly still, hoping that the three sleeping boys would make no sound. They had covered them completely with the rugs so that any snoring might not be heard. It was amazing that Ranni had been able to hear the robbers, because the river made almost as much noise there as anywhere else.
There came the sound of a loud voice and it was clear that all the robbers were now on the platform. Ranni and Pilescu strained their ears for any signs that the wolf-tailed men were going to explore the wide ledge.
There appeared to be no more sounds at all. Neither Ranni nor Pilescu could hear panting or voices. They sat like statues, hardly breathing, trying to hear any unusual sound above the noise of the water.
They sat like that for ten minutes without hearing a sound. Then, very silently, Ranni rose to his feet. He felt for his torch, and pressed down the switch suddenly. The light flashed out over the platform. It was quite empty!
“They’ve gone,” whispered Ranni. “I thought they must have, for I have heard nothing for the last ten minutes. They did not think of searching this platform. They have gone higher up, probably hoping to catch us in the cave where the great waterfall is.”
“That’s not so good,” said Pilescu, switching off his torch. “If they wait for us there, they will catch us easily. Jack said that Beowald was going to fetch the villagers to hurry after us — it is possible that they might have got as far as the waterfall cave, and might help us. But we can depend on nothing!”
“We will let the boys rest a little longer,” said Ranni. “There is no need to rush on, now that the robbers are in front of us, and not at the back! I will watch now, Pilescu, whilst you sleep.”
Pilescu was thankful to be able to allow himself to close his eyes. He leaned his big head against the wall at the back, and fell into a deep sleep at once. Ranni was keeping guard, his eyes and ears on the look-out for anything unusual. It was a strange night for him, sitting quietly with his sleeping companions, hearing the racing of the mountain river, watching for wolf-tailed robbers to return!
But they did not return. There was no sound to make Ranni alert. The others slept peacefully, and the boys did not stir. Ranni glanced at his watch after a long time had passed. Six o’clock already! It was sunrise outside the mountain. The world would be flooded with light. Here it was as dark as midnight, and cold. Ranni was glad of his warm cloak.
Pilescu awoke a little while later. He spoke to Ranni.
“Have you heard anything, Ranni?”
“Nothing,” said Ranni. “It is nearly seven o’clock, Pilescu. Shall we wake the boys and go on? There is no use in staying here. Even if the robbers are lying in wait for us above, we must push on!”
“Yes,” said Pilescu, yawning. “I feel better now. I think I could tackle four or five of those ruffians at once. I will wake the boys.”
He awoke them all. They did not want to open their eyes! But at last they did, and soon sat munching some of the bread they had found on the little shelf nearby the night before.
Ranni told them how the robbers had gone by in the night without discovering them.
“It’s not very nice to think they’re somewhere further up, waiting for us!” said Mike, feeling uncomfortable. “I suppose they’ll be in one of the caves. “We’ll have to look out!”
“We’ll look out all right!” said Jack, who, like Pilescu, felt all the better for his night’s sleep. “I’m not standing any nonsense from wolf-tailed robbers!”
They left the platform, and made their way to the ledge that ran beside the river, beyond the platform. As usual Ranni went first, having tied them all together firmly.
“It’s not so very far up to the waterfall cave from here, as far as I remember,” said Jack. “About two hours or so.”
They began to stumble along the rocky ledge again, the water splashing over their feet. The boys were surprised to find that the ledge was now ankle-deep in water.
“It wasn’t when we came down this way,” said Mike. “Was it as deep as this when you and Pilescu were brought down by the robbers, Ranni?”
“No,” said Ranni, puzzled. “It barely ran over the ledge. Look out — it’s quite deep here — the river is overflowing its channel by about a foot. We shall be up to our knees!”
So they were. It was very puzzling and rather disturbing. Why was the river swelling like that?
“It is the terrific rainstorm that has caused the river to swell!” he called back, his voice rising over the roar of the water. “The rain has soaked deep into the mountain, and has made its way to the river. You know what a rainstorm we had yesterday — it seemed as if whole seas of water had been emptied down on the earth. The river is swelling rapidly. I hope it doesn’t swell much more, or we shall find it impossible to get along.”
This was a very frightening thought. It would be dreadful to be trapped in the mountain tunnel, with the rushing river rising higher and higher. The three boys put their best feet forward and went as quickly as they could.
When nearly two hours had gone by, they began to hope they were nearing the waterfall cave. The river by now had risen above their knees and it was difficult to stagger along, because the water pulled against them the whole time. Ranni and Pilescu began to feel very anxious.
But, quite suddenly, they heard the sound of the waterfall that fell down into the big cave! It could only be the waterfall they heard, for the noise was so tremendous. “We are nearly there!” yelled Ranni.
“Look out for the robbers!” shouted back Jack.
They rounded the last bit of the ledge, and, by the light of Ranni’s torch, saw that at last they were in the big cave, from which led the passage that would take them to the cave below the temple. They all felt very thankful indeed.
There was no sign of the robbers. The five of them went cautiously into the cave and looked round. By the light of Ranni’s torch the waterfall seemed to be much bigger than they had remembered. It fell from a great hole in the roof of the cave, and then ran down the channel to the tunnel, where it disappeared.
“It is greater now,” said Ranni. “It must be much swollen by all the rain that fell yesterday. It already fills the hole through which it falls.”