‘Oh, don’t say things like that,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Dapple, do come inside! Please!’
Dapple lay down firmly outside, and the children gave it up. There would be no difficulty about Snowy or Kiki. One would want to be with Philip, the other with Jack.
‘Now we’ll light the fire,’ said Jack, as stars began to glimmer in the sky. ‘It’s getting very dark. Got the matches, Philip?’
The fire soon burnt up, for the twigs and branches were very dry. The cheerful flames leapt and flickered, and the fire crackled merrily.
‘That’s very very nice,’ said Lucy-Ann, pleased. ‘I feel safe tucked away in this cave with a fire at the entrance. Philip, make Snowy go the other side of you. He’s sticking his hooves into me. I wish he’d wear bedroom slippers at night!’
Everybody laughed. They all felt safe and comfortable, tucked up in their sleeping-bags, with the fire lighting up the cave, filling it with jumping shadows. Snowy was pressed against Philip, Kiki was on Jack’s middle. Somewhere outside was Dapple. Lucy-Ann wished he was in with them, then the whole family would be safe.
They all watched the flames for a while and then fell asleep. The fire flickered down as the wood was burnt up, and soon only the embers glowed.
Philip woke up with a start a few hours later. He saw that the fire had died down, and he got out of his sleeping-bag to put on more wood. It would never do to let it go out!
Dapple was still outside, lying quietly. Philip saw him when the flames leapt up to burn the wood he piled on. The boy went back to his sleeping-bag. He found that Snowy had crept inside it whilst he was piling wood on the fire.
‘You little scamp!’ he whispered. ‘Get out. There’s not room for us both.’
There was quite a scuffle as he tried to get Snowy out of the bag. Fortunately the others were so very sound asleep that they didn’t wake. Philip got Snowy out at last and slid in himself. He hastily laced up the neck of the bag before Snowy could try to squeeze in again. Snowy gave a sigh and lay down heavily right on Philip’s middle.
Philip lay awake, watching the fire. The wind sometimes blew the smoke towards the cave, and for a moment or two the smell made Philip want to cough.
Then he heard Dapple stir outside, and he got up on one elbow to see why. His heart began to beat very fast.
Silent dark figures were slinking up to the cave! They did not pass beyond the fire, but they did not seem to be afraid of it. Philip felt breathless, and his heart beat even faster, as if he had been running.
What were those figures? Were they the wolves? The boy caught sight of two gleaming eyes, shining like the headlights of a distant car – but green as grass! He sat up quietly.
The wolves were back! They had smelt out the little company. What would they do? They had not attacked Dapple, thank goodness – and the donkey did not seem to be unduly frightened. He was only moving uneasily.
The slinking figures moved to and fro behind the fire. Philip couldn’t think what in the world to do! He could only hope that the fire would frighten them enough to keep them out of the cave.
After a while all the animals disappeared. Philip breathed again! Gosh, what a horrible fright he had had! What a blessing they had thought of that fire! Philip made up his mind that he wasn’t going to sleep again that night, in case the fire went out. At all costs he must keep that up.
So the boy lay wide-eyed, thinking of wolves, rumblings, earthquakes and ‘Black, black, black’. There was something very unusual about all these things. Did they fit together, or didn’t they? Was there something peculiar about this mountain?
The fire was dying down again. Philip got up cautiously to put more wood on. The moon was up now and he could see for miles. He piled wood on the fire and the flames shot up. He slipped out of the cave to Dapple.
Then the boy heard a sound. He looked up – and to his horror he saw a wolf between him and the cave! He had gone to pat Dapple – and in that moment the wolf had slunk in between fire and cave. Would he go in?
The wolf stood still, looking at Philip in the moonlight. Philip gazed back, wondering what to do if the creature attacked him – and as he looked, a very peculiar thing happened.
The wolf wagged its long tail! To and fro it went, to and fro, like a big dog’s! Philip’s heart leapt. The animal wanted to be friendly! All animals were attracted to Philip – but a wolf! That was extraordinary.
The boy held out his hand, half afraid, but bold and daring. The wolf trotted round the fire and licked Philip’s hand. It gave a little whine.
The moon shone down brightly on the animal’s dark coat, pointed ears and long muzzle. Was it a wolf? Now that he was close to it Philip began to doubt.
And then quite suddenly he knew what this friendly animal was!
‘Why, you’re an Alsatian dog!’ he cried. ‘Aren’t you? Why didn’t I think of it before? I knew there weren’t wolves in this country! Where are the others? You’re all Alsatians! Good dog! Fine dog! I’d like to be friends with you!’
The big Alsatian put his paws up on Philip’s shoulders and licked his face. Then he lifted his head and howled. It was a wolf-like noise, but Philip no longer minded that!
It was a call to the other dogs, the rest of the pack. There came the sound of feet in the bushes below, and a crowd of dogs leapt up on to the rock. They clustered round Philip, and, seeing that their leader was so friendly with the boy, they pawed him and licked him.
The howl awakened all the three children in the cave, and they sat up in fright. To their unspeakable horror they saw, outside the cave, what looked like Philip being attacked by wolves!
‘Look! They’ve got Philip! Quick!’ yelled Jack.
All three children slid out of their sleeping-bags and rushed to Philip’s aid. The dogs growled at the sudden commotion.
‘Philip! We’re coming! Are you hurt?’ cried valiant little Lucy-Ann, picking up a stick.
‘It’s all right, it’s all right!’ yelled Philip. ‘They’re not attacking me. They’re friendly. They’re not wolves, but Alsatians! Dogs, you know!’
‘Goodness gracious!’ said Dinah, and came out into the moonlight, so glad that the dogs were not wolves that she didn’t even feel afraid of so many big dogs!
‘Oh, Philip!’ said Lucy-Ann, almost in tears with the shock of delight at knowing the wolves were only dogs. ‘Oh, Philip! I thought you were being attacked.’
‘You were a darling to come to my rescue then,’ said Philip, smiling when he saw the little stick that Lucy-Ann had meant to attack the wolves with. ‘The leader of the dogs made friends with me – so all the others are doing the same!’
The dogs had apparently made up their minds to stay for the night. Philip debated what to do. ‘We can’t possibly go back into the cave,’ he said. ‘The whole pack will come crowding in, and it would be impossible to breathe.’
‘Quite impossible,’ said Dinah, filled with horror at the thought of so many dogs sleeping with them.
‘So we’ll bring our sleeping-bags out here on the rock beside Dapple, and sleep there,’ said Philip. ‘The dogs can stay if they want to – they’ll be good guards! And if they don’t want to, they can go. There are about ten of them! I wonder how it is they’re wandering about here wild. Ten of them! It’s extraordinary.’
They dragged out their sleeping-bags, and got into them. The dogs sniffed round in wonder. The leader sat majestically down by Philip, as if to say, ‘This boy is my property. Keep off!’ The others lay about among the children. Snowy was afraid of the big leader-dog and dared not even go near his beloved Philip. He went to Jack instead. Kiki stayed up in a tree. There were altogether too many dogs for her!
It was a curious sight the moon looked down on: four children, one goat, one parrot, one donkey – and ten dogs!
13
The face in the tree
When the morning came, Dapple awoke the children by giving a mighty sneeze. They woke with a jump, wondering what it was. Dapple gave another sneeze, a
nd they knew!
‘It’s Dapple! Have you got a cold, Dapple?’ asked Lucy-Ann anxiously. Then she remembered the happenings of the night, and looked round.
Everyone said the same thing at once.
‘Where are the dogs?’
They had disappeared. Not one was there. The children looked at one another, puzzled. Where had they gone, and why?
‘We couldn’t all have dreamed them,’ said Dinah, answering everyone’s unspoken thought. ‘They really were here. Ten of them. Most peculiar.’
‘Yes, it is peculiar,’ said Jack. ‘Personally, I think they must belong to somebody. They didn’t strike me as being a pack of wild dogs.’
‘Nor me,’ said Philip. ‘But who could they belong to? There’s not a house for miles! And why should anyone in this desolate mountain country keep ten man-hunting dogs?’
‘Oooh – are they man-hunters?’ said Lucy-Ann, startled.
‘Well, the police use them for that,’ said Philip. ‘Don’t they, Jack? They hunt criminals with them. Those Alsatians can smell them out and capture them. But there can’t be any police here, with hunting-dogs! I mean – Bill would have had it reported to him, if they were. He’s high up in the police organization himself, and there’s not a thing he doesn’t know about what’s going on in the police world.’
‘Where do the dogs come from then?’ asked Dinah. ‘Would they be kept as guards for anything – to frighten anyone off, or give the alarm, for instance?’
‘Yes – but what is there to guard here, among these mountains?’ said Jack. ‘Nothing at all, as far as I can see!’
‘Give it up!’ said Philip, sliding out of his sleeping-bag. ‘I’m going for a splash in the stream. Coming?’
‘Yes. Then we’ll open a tin or two,’ said Dinah. ‘I wish we’d thought of giving that ham-bone to the dogs, Jack. The ham’s gone bad now – but they wouldn’t have minded.’
‘We’ll give it to them next time we see them,’ said Jack. ‘I’ve no doubt they’ll be along again!’
They all splashed in the stream, Snowy and Dapple too. Kiki sat apart, making sarcastic remarks, for she was not fond of water.
‘Pooh! Gah!’ she shouted, trying to remember all the rude words she knew. ‘Gooh! Pah!’
‘That’s right. Mix your words up, Kiki,’ said Jack. ‘What about “piffle” and “bunk”? You used to know those too.’
‘Pifflebunk,’ said Kiki, and thought that was a good word. ‘Pifflebunk, bifflebunk, pop goes the pifflebunk.’
The children laughed. Kiki laughed too and then began to give an imitation of Dapple braying. This was much too lifelike and Dapple started up, looking all round for the other donkeys.
‘Ee-ore, ee-ore, ee-ore,’ went on Kiki, till Jack threw a towel at her to make her stop. It fell over her head and she screamed in rage. Dapple and Snowy stared solemnly at her, puzzled and surprised.
They had a meal. Lucy-Ann volunteered to go down to the stream again and wash the dishes, whilst the others looked at the map, trying to find out exactly where they were. She went off to the stream, humming.
She knelt down by the water, scouring a dish, when a sound made her look up. She had heard something in the tree above, just by the water.
There was a big, leafy tree there, growing almost out of the stream. Lucy-Ann, thinking there must be a bird in the tree, peered up into the branches.
She got a terrible shock. Looking down at her was a face – and it was black.
The little girl sat there, petrified, the dish in her hand, unable to move or speak. The branches moved and she saw that the face was topped by black, thick hair, and had bright eyes and a cheerful expression.
‘It’s a black man!’ she thought to herself. ‘But here! Up this tree! What shall I do?’
The black face looked down on the little girl, and then the man’s lips parted in a smile. The head nodded amiably. Then a black finger came up from among the leaves, and was put to the lips.
‘Don’t you make a sound, l’il gal,’ said the man, in a hoarse whisper. He sounded like an American! ‘Don’t you say I’m here. I’m just a poor man, lost and alone.’
Lucy-Ann couldn’t believe her ears. She felt that she simply must call the others. But they didn’t hear her, and as soon as she had shouted, the man frowned fiercely and shook his head.
‘L’il gal, you gotta git away from here. It’s a no-good mountain, full of bad men. They’ll git you if you don’t git away. There’s bad things here, l’il gal.’
‘What are you doing here?’ asked Lucy-Ann, in a scared voice. ‘How do you know all this?’
‘I’ve been in that there bad mountain, l’il gal. I’ve gotten away. But this poor fellah’s gotten no place to go – and he’s surely scared by those big dogs. I’m staying right here in this nice big tree. You git away, Fil gal, git far away!’
Lucy-Ann felt odd, standing there talking to a black stranger up a tree. She suddenly turned and ran back to the others. She ran fast, and arrived absolutely out of breath.
‘What’s the matter, what’s the matter?’ cried Jack, seeing from Lucy-Ann’s face that she had had a shock. Lucy-Ann could only gasp out one or two words. She pointed back to the stream.
‘Black man!’ she gasped. ‘Black!’
‘Black! That’s what David said!’ cried Philip. ‘Get your breath, Lucy-Ann! Tell us what you saw. Quick!’
Lucy-Ann panted out what she had seen and heard. The others listened in astonishment. A black man hiding in a tree – from the dogs! A man who said the mountain was bad – an American – whatever did it mean?
‘Come on – we’ll ask him what he knows!’ cried Jack. ‘There’s something going on here. We’d better find out and then we can tell Bill when he comes. Quick!’
They all ran back to the stream and peered up the tree. But there was nobody there. The man had gone.
‘Blow!’ said Jack, in disappointment. ‘He must have seen you scuttle back to us, Lucy-Ann, to tell us you had seen him – and he’s scared, and now he’s gone.’
‘It’s a wonder the dogs didn’t find him last night – and before that, when David saw him up this very same tree,’ said Jack.
‘Well, he’s been rather clever, I think,’ said Philip, looking at the stream. ‘You know, dogs can’t follow scent through water. They lose it. And I reckon that chap was clever enough to wade up or down the stream to that tree, and hop up it from the water. The dogs couldn’t possibly follow his scent through the stream. They would lose it wherever he entered the water. Still, he must have felt pretty scared when he saw the dogs milling around near here!’
‘Were they hunting for him, do you think?’ asked Lucy-Ann fearfully. ‘He must have been awfully afraid. I should be terrified if I thought a pack of Alsatian dogs was after me.’
The children hunted for the strange man, but he was nowhere to be seen. They wondered what he ate. There was not much to eat on the mountains except bilberries, wild raspberries and grass.
‘Do you think he really meant there were men inside this mountain?’ asked Dinah, when they had tired themselves out looking for the American.
‘It seems incredible – but if you remember those noises of rumbling we heard yesterday – and the way the earth shook beneath us – it seems as if there might be men working underground,’ said Jack.
‘What – as miners or something?’ asked Dinah.
‘I don’t know. Possibly. Though goodness knows what could be mined inside this mountain, or how they would get the machinery there. There would have to be a road – and then everyone would know.’
‘It’s very mysterious,’ said Dinah.
Lucy-Ann sighed. ‘It’s another adventure, that’s what it is. It’s fatal to go off together like this. We go to look for birds, or butterflies or something – and we always stumble into something peculiar. I’m getting tired of it.’
‘Poor Lucy-Ann!’ said Philip. ‘We certainly do happen on strange things. I think it’s very exciting. I love adve
ntures.’
‘Yes, but I don’t,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘I don’t like that kind of thing at all.’
‘I do,’ said Dinah at once. ‘I’ve enjoyed every single one of our adventures. And this one seems more mysterious than any other. What is going on inside this mountain? How I’d love to know! If only we could see that chap again, we could ask him to tell us all about it.’
‘Oh, listen – I do believe that rumbling’s going to start again,’ said Lucy-Ann suddenly. ‘See how frightened Snowy is! Yes – there it comes.’
They sat and listened. Jack put his ear to the ground. At once the rumblings became magnified, and sounded more puzzling than ever. Was something exploding down there, far in the heart of the mountain?
Then the earth quivered as it had done before and Lucy-Ann clutched at Jack. It was horrible to feel the firm solid earth quivering like a jelly.
It soon stopped. Dinah glanced up at the steep mountain, rearing up just behind them, wondering what its secret was. She suddenly stiffened, and caught hold of Philip’s arm.
‘Look!’ she said, and pointed upwards.
They all looked. Out of the side of the mountain was drifting a small cloud of smoke. One puff came. Then another. But it was not ordinary smoke. It was a curious crimson colour, and it did not drift away like mist on the wind, but hung like a solid little cloud, close to the mountain, for some time. Then it suddenly became lighter in colour and disappeared.
‘Well – whatever was that?’ said Jack, in amazement. ‘I never in my life saw smoke like that before. There must be a vent or something in the side of the mountain there, that lets out smoke or gases.’
‘What’s a vent?’ asked Lucy-Ann, her eyes looking as if they would drop out of her head.
‘Oh – a sort of chimney,’ said Jack. ‘Somewhere with a draught that will take up smoke or gases to the outer air. Whatever’s going on in the mountain produces that smoke, which has to be got rid of. I wonder what else is being produced inside there!’
Nobody could imagine. They couldn’t seem to fit together all the curious facts they knew – the pack of man-hunting dogs – the poor runaway – the noises, the earth’s shaking, the crimson smoke. It didn’t make any sense at all.