"He can't," said Jack. "The pa.s.s is blocked. No one can get in or out of this valley now - except by aeroplane. The war has been over a long time. But bad people are after the treasure - people who have heard it is hidden here, and have come to steal it."

The old fellow looked scared, and bewildered too, as if he only half understood what Jack was telling him. The children thought that he must have lived so long underground that his mind could not take in much news from the outer world. To him, his wife, the treasure, and perhaps his hen, were the only things that mattered.

"Do you live here, in this room?" asked Lucy-Ann. "Where do you get your food from? Does your hen like living underground?"

"There are great stores of food here," said the old man. "There is even corn for Martha, the hen. When we first came here, we had six hens and our pig. But the pig died. And one by one the hens died. Only Martha is left. She does not lay many eggs now. Perhaps one in fourteen days."

"Cluck," said Martha in a proud voice. She was evidently proud of her one egg a fortnight.

Kiki repeated the cluck and then went off into a series of quacks. The hen looked surprised and alarmed. So did the two old people.

"Shut up, Kiki," said Jack. "You're showing off."

"What is that bird?" asked the old man. "Is it a - how do you call it? - a parrot?"

"Yes," said Jack. "She's mine. Always goes with me everywhere. But I say - don't you want to know how we came here?"

"Ah, yes, of course!" said the old man. "It is all so surprising, you understand - and my wits are dull now - I cannot take in many things at once. You must tell me about yourselves, please. Wife, what about some food for these children?"

Elsa did not understand and the old man repeated what he said in her own language. She nodded and smiled a kind toothless smile. Taking Lucy-Ann by the hand, she went over to where tins and jars stood on a rocky ledge.

"She's very keen on Lucy-Ann," said Philip. "She can't fuss over her enough."

The old man heard and understood. "We had a little granddaughter," he said. "So like this little girl, with red hair and a sweet face. She lived with us. And one day the enemy came and took her away and we never saw her again. So now my wife sees her little lost one in your sister. You must excuse her, for maybe she really thinks her small Greta has come back."

"Poor old things!" said Dinah. "What an awful life they must have led - lost under this mountain, guarding a treasure for Julius Muller, waiting for him for ages, not knowing what had happened outside in the world! If we hadn't come, they might never have come out again!"

To the children's huge delight, Elsa got them a really fine meal. She would not let poor Lucy-Ann leave her side, though, so the little girl had to trot everywhere with her. Jack told the old man a little of their own story, though it was plain that the old fellow did not really follow it all. His wits were dull, as he said, and he could not really understand all this sudden news from a world he had almost forgotten.

Kiki enjoyed herself enormously. Martha, the hen, was obviously used to keeping the old couple company and pecked about under the table, brushing against everyone's legs. Kiki climbed down to join her, and kept up an interested, if one-sided conversation with her.

"How many times have I told you to wipe your feet?" she asked Martha. "Blow your nose. Put the kettle on."

"Cluck," answered Martha politely.

"Humpy dumpy," went on Kiki, evidently anxious to teach Martha a few nursery rhymes now. "See how they run! Quack, quack, quack, quack!"

The hen looked surprised, ruffled up her feathers and stared at Kiki. "Cluck, luck, luck," she said, and pecked up a few crumbs.

Lucy-Ann and the others giggled at this conversation. Then Lizzie also thought she would join the company, as there was plenty of food going. She ran down Philip's sleeve and appeared on the table, much to the old woman's alarm.

"Meet dizzy Lizzie," said Philip politely.

"I say - they must think we're queer visitors!" said Dinah, keeping a watchful eye on Lizzie in case she came any nearer. "Walking in like this - with a parrot and a lizard - and staying to dinner!"

"I don't think they are bothering much," said Philip. "Just enjoying the change. It must be nice to have company after being alone so long."

When they had finished the meal, the old woman spoke to her husband. He turned to the children.

"My wife says, are you tired? Would you like to rest? We have a beautiful place to rest in, when we want to enjoy the sun."

This surprised the children very much. The sun! How did these old people ever see the sun - unless they went through all the caves and pa.s.sages to the hole that gave on to the mountainside?

"Where do you go to rest then?" asked Jack.

"Come," said the old man, and led him out of the little cell-like room. Elsa took Lucy-Ann by the hand. They all followed the old man. He went along a broad pa.s.sage, hollowed out of the rock.

"I should think most of these tunnels were hollowed out by underground rivers at some time or other," said Jack. "Then they took a different course, and the tunnels dried up, and became these pa.s.sages, linking all the caves together."

The pa.s.sage twisted a little and then quite suddenly came into daylight. The children found themselves on a flat ledge of rock, hung about by ferns and other plants, full in the sun. How simply delicious!

"Another way into the treasure caves," said Dinah. But she was wrong. n.o.body could possibly enter the caves by way of the ledge. The ledge of rock jutted over a great precipice that fell sheer down many hundreds of feet. No one, not even a goat, could climb up or down to it. It was, as the old man said, a fine, sunny resting-place - but that was all.

Martha pecked about on the ledge of rock, though what she could find there the children couldn't imagine. Kiki sat nearby and watched her. She had formed a firm friendship with Martha. The children rather liked Martha themselves. She was such a nice, plump little thing, friendly and natural, and as much of a pet to the old couple as Kiki was to them.

They all lay down in the sun. It was delicious to feel its warm rays after being so long underground. As they lay there they heard something rumbling in the distance.

"The waterfall," said Lucy-Ann. "Fancy - we must be fairly near it, if we can hear it!"

They lay there sleepily. The old fellow sat on a rock nearby, smoking a pipe. He seemed very contented. Elsa had disappeared.

"Isn't it queer to think we've found the treasure - and can't do anything about it at all!" said Dinah. "We're stuck here. No way of getting word to anyone. And never will have, as far as I can see, till the pa.s.s into the valley is unblocked - and that may not be for ages!"

"Oh dear - don't say such gloomy things," begged Lucy-Ann. "Anyway, the men are gone. That's one good thing. I felt awfully afraid when they were in the valley too. Thank goodness they've gone!"

She spoke too soon. There came a familiar throbbing noise - and the children sat up at once.

"The plane's back! Blow! Those men will be about again now - and maybe they've even got the real truth out of Otto - where the treasure really is!" said Jack. "We shall have to be jolly careful now."

Chapter 24.

JUAN FINDS THE CAVES.

THE children held a council of war. What would be the best thing to do now? Suppose the men did know the way into the treasure caves now, and came to them? They would begin to take away the treasure, that was certain.

"And we can't stop them," said Philip. "They are jolly tough men. They wouldn't let a pack of children and two old people prevent them from taking what they wanted. I can't think why they've come back unless it is to search for the treasure again and find it this time."

Everyone agreed with Jack. "If only we could escape and get news to Bill," sighed Philip. "But there simply isn't a way."

The plane had not come into sight - they had only heard the sound of its engines. The old man did not seem to have heard anything at all. The children decided not to tell him, in case he got into a panic.

"What do you think it would be best for us to do?" said Philip. "Stay here with the old couple and see if the men do come and take anything away? We can hide somewhere quite easily. Or go back to our own fern-cave beyond the waterfall? I always felt safe there. And we've got plenty of food there too."

"There's plenty here," said Dinah. "Let's stay here. After all, if the men do come, we can hide in that stalact.i.te cave - there are plenty of hiding-places there, behind those frozen columns. They won't see us. One of us could always be on guard there, to see who comes in or out."

"Perhaps you're right," said Jack. "We must just wait and see what happens. Once the men really do find the treasure caves, there will be a lot of coming and going - taking the treasure to the plane - taking off with it in the air - coming back again to fetch more - and so on."

"Shouldn't be surprised if they bring more planes here, as soon as they've discovered exactly where the treasure is," said Philip. "It would be a slow business taking one or two crates at a time."

"Lucy-Ann is asleep," said Dinah. "I think I'll snooze too. It's so lovely here in the sun. Those men won't be along yet, so n.o.body needs to be on guard in the caves."

"It would be almost better to be on guard at the entrance," said Philip thoughtfully. "Then we could spot anyone in plenty of time."

"Yes, that's a much better idea," said Jack, settling down to snooze too. "I'm sure the men won't be along today. The sun's going down. They'll wait till tomorrow."

That night the children spent in the old couple's "bedroom." It was a smallish cave leading off from their "sitting-room," where the children had had their meal. In the "bedroom" was a pile of rugs, spotlessly clean, and the old people insisted on giving up this room to the children.

"We can sleep in chairs," said the old man. "That will be no hardship."

The old woman covered Lucy-Ann up carefully and even kissed her good-night. "She really thinks I'm Greta, her lost grandchild," said Lucy-Ann. "I just can't stop her making a fuss of me, because I'm so sorry for her."

In the morning, after another good meal, Jack said he was going to take first watch at the entrance to the pa.s.sage that led to the caves. Philip was to take second watch, two hours later.

The boy settled himself down on the edge of the hole, under the big slab of rock that stuck out from the hillside. It was a fine sunny morning. The others thought they would go and examine some of the statues in the statue cave, and the old man said he would tell them their histories, and where they had come from.

Jack sat there, gazing out down the hillside. He could see a long way. He could see scores of high mountains around, one behind the other. The pine forests on them looked like short gra.s.s. He put his field-gla.s.ses to his eyes to watch the birds around.

It was a disappointing district for wild birds. There seemed to be very few. Jack swung his gla.s.ses from side to side of the hill, examining everything.

And then he suddenly got a tremendous shock. He had trained his gla.s.ses on to a bush, behind which he thought he had seen a quick movement. He had wondered if some bird or animal was hiding there.

He saw no bird. Instead, he saw the head and shoulders of Juan - and Juan was gazing steadily up at him through a pair of field-gla.s.ses, just as Jack was gazing down at him through field-gla.s.ses too!

Jack was simply petrified. He stared down through his gla.s.ses, and Juan stared up, each seeing the other quite clearly. So Juan had come once more to seek the treasure! Had he come to that cliff-side on chance - or had he got the same map from Otto that Jack had had?

"I've given the show away properly now," thought Jack angrily. "I've only got to pop into this hole and he'll know where the entrance is at once. But if I wander away on the hillside, he'll be after me. What a fix I'm in!"

Juan did not take his eyes off Jack. He knelt there by the bush, his field-gla.s.ses fixed on the boy, watching his every movement.

"He can't possibly see the hole that I'm sitting on the edge of," thought jack. "I think perhaps it would be best if I left this place and began to climb up the hillside. If I do, and Juan follows, he may miss the hole altogether."

He was about to do this, when Philip leapt up beside him. "My turn now, Freckles," said Philip. "Hallo, what are you looking at?"

"Pity you came just then," said Jack. "There is Juan down there, Philip - and he's got his gla.s.ses trained on to me - and on you too now! I was just about to crawl up the hillside to make him chase me, and perhaps miss this hole, when you came. Now he'll know there's a cave here and he'll be up in no time."

"Golly!" said Philip, alarmed. "We'd better warn the others at once then."

"Yes, it's the only thing to do now," said Jack, and he jumped back into the hole. "Come on. It won't take Juan long to be up here. Blow! Why didn't I think he might be about already?"

They made their way quickly along the pa.s.sage and through the many caves. They came to the little cell-like room and found the others there. Jack hurriedly told them what had happened.

"We must hide," he said. But the old couple did not seem to take this in. They would not hide.

"We have nothing to be afraid of," said the old man in a dignified manner. "They will not hurt us."

"You have plenty to be afraid of," said Jack desperately. "Do come and hide!"

But they wouldn't. Jack could not waste any more time in arguing, because he wanted to get the girls to safety. He hurried them off.

"In the cave of stalact.i.tes?" asked Dinah. Jack nodded. But when he came to the cave of silent statues, he paused. Wouldn't this be a better place? Suppose they all stood at the back, in the dim shadows, and posed like statues? Would anyone notice them? It was worth trying.

"Take shawls off some of the figures," said the boy. "Wrap them round you. Stand quite still right at the back there."

It didn't take long to drape themselves and stand right at the back. "Do you remember that game called statues that we used to play?" whispered Lucy-Ann. "You had to stand quite still, or you were caught. I feel like that now."

"Well, be sure you stand still or you will be caught," said Jack. "Sh! Isn't that somebody?"

"Shhhhhh!" said Kiki at once. Jack smacked her on her beak.

"Be quiet! Do you want to give us away, silly bird?"

Kiki opened her beak to squawk and then thought better of it. She flew off somewhere and disappeared. Jack was quite glad to see her go, for he didn't want her chattering and attracting attention to them.

A noise came from the tunnel beyond. Somebody was already there. It must be Juan.

"He's already gone through the cave of stalact.i.tes and the cave of stars," whispered Philip. "Now he's in the tunnel leading here. He'll be at the door in a minute. Pity we didn't shut it. He might not have guessed how to twist that iron stud to get it open."

The door was almost closed, but not shut. As the children watched it, in the dim greenish glow of the cave, they saw it slowly pushed open. Then the gleaming barrel of a revolver came round it. Juan was evidently taking no chances.

Lucy-Ann gulped. Oh dear! She hoped the gun wouldn't go off. She didn't like guns at all.

The door was opened wide and Juan stood there, revolver in hand. He gasped when he saw the silent figures standing about, their curious eyes gleaming.

"Put your hands up!" said Juan sharply, to the statues. The statues did nothing of the sort. Juan's hand trembled. The children guessed he was feeling as panicky as they had felt when they too had first seen the strange silent company.

"Wipe your feet!" ordered a sharp voice, and the children jumped violently. It was Kiki. She was sitting just above Juan, on a ledge of rock.

"Who's there?" shouted Juan. "I tell you I'll shoot if anyone moves."

The statues didn't move - not even the four live ones.

"Who's there?" called Juan again.

"Three blind mice," answered Kiki, and went off into a terrible cackle of laughter. It was almost too much for Juan. He backed a little, and tried to see which of the statues was talking.

"Pop goes the weasel!" said Kiki, and then began to cluck like Martha. Juan's hand trembled again. But he advanced a little, going down the step into the cave. Then he saw, as the children had seen, that the figures were only bejewelled statues, and he laughed loudly.

"Fool!" he said to himself.

"Fool!" repeated Kiki, and Juan swung round at once.

"Who's there? One of you children, I suppose. Wait till I get you!"