*CHAPTER XX.*
*THE DEATH POOL.*
It was well for Alondra that Gerald and Jack happened to be walking inthe gardens that particular morning. They had, in fact, strolled out tolook for him, and Providence must have led them into the neighbourhoodof the large glass-house just at the critical moment. They alsonoticed--as he had done--that the outer door was standing open; and theywere reading the warning notice with great curiosity, and consideringwhether, in despite of it, they should venture on a peep inside, when aterrible cry rang out from within, a cry as of some one in urgent needof help.
'It's Alondra's voice!' exclaimed Gerald. 'He's inside there, and mustbe in some trouble! Come on, Jack!'
The two pushed open the inner door and rushed along the pathway amongstthe shrubs.
A moment later they came in sight of the pool with the fountain playingin the middle; and there they saw Alondra--or, rather, his head, forthat was all there was above the water--with a look of terrible, deadlyhorror upon his face.
'Help me quickly!' he gasped. 'Some awful thing is clinging round meand is dragging me down! Your knives! Get out your knives! But becareful, or you may get drawn in yourselves--both of you!'
The two friends acted upon the hints thus given; and, drawing theirknives and joining hands, Gerald went boldly down the steps and seizedhold of the young prince just as he was being drawn completely under thewater.
The task of setting him free, however, proved a tougher one than theyhad expected. The clinging leaves, as though directed by some dreadful,sinister intelligence, closed upon Gerald's extended arm, and,exercising a strength and tenacity which had about it something almostsuperhuman, endeavoured to drag him in too.
A terrible struggle for dear life ensued between the three, on the oneside, and the horrible, silent power which they had to fight against, onthe other.
Gerald managed to free one of Alondra's arms, and gave him his ownknife, taking Jack's in place of it. The two then hacked and slashed atthe slimy, slippery, but wonderfully tough leaves. As fast as they cutthemselves free from some, others laid hold of them; and it seemed atone time as though all three would be dragged bodily into the water.
Just then Jack caught sight of a coil of strong rope lying upon thefloor in a corner, and he made a dart and possessed himself of it. In atrice he had passed one end to Gerald, and secured the other round oneof the columns supporting the roof.
Gerald, in his turn, managed to slip the end round Alondra and pass itback to Jack, who caught hold of it, and, standing himself on the stepsout of reach, hauled with all his might. This enabled the two who werestruggling in the water--for by this time Gerald had also been drawnin--to use both hands. Little by little, step by step, they struggledbackwards, until at last they reached the water's edge and were free.
Panting and exhausted, the three sat down on a low marble balustrade,and looked first at the pool, then at one another. Then they staredonce more at the treacherous pool, where all now was silent and still,save for the bubbling and splashing of the water as it fell from thefountain.
'Jupiter!' cried Jack at last. 'Of all the awful death-traps I ever sawor heard of, commend me to this! A horrible death pool! But what inthe name of all that is fiendish is that awful plant?'
'It's some kind of cannibal plant, I suppose,' said Gerald.
'Yes, that is right,' Alondra agreed. 'I have heard there are suchplants on our globe in some remote corners, but I have never seen onebefore.'
'What does anybody want to keep such a monstrous, uncanny affair for?'queried Jack indignantly.
'I never heard that they grew to such a size,' Alondra added. 'Thismust have been growing here many years to become so large, I shouldsay.'
'A nice sort of pet to cultivate and pamper!' Jack grumbled. 'What dothey feed it on, I wonder? Such a thing ought not to be allowed! It's apublic danger!'
'There's a warning on the door,' Gerald reminded him. 'After all, it'sour own fault, I 'm afraid people will say, for coming here.'
'My fault, you mean--for I was the one who yielded first to curiosity,and so drew you here,' Alondra confessed.
'Oh, we should have come in on our own, you may be pretty sure of that,'Jack declared. 'We were just discussing the point when we heard youcall out.'
'It's a very beautiful flower,' Gerald observed, looking attentively atthe large, handsome blossoms, 'and the scent is delicious. Who wouldimagine that anything so lovely to look at could be so treacherous--sodeadly?'
He walked cautiously up near to it to get a clear view, and Jackfollowed him--partly, as it seemed, to satisfy his own curiosity, andpartly to see that his chum did not become too venturesome and getunwittingly caught again.
Meantime, Alondra was evidently thinking deeply. He began to look andsearch about, first in this direction, then in that. Presently theothers noticed his proceedings, and, leaving the side of the pool, wentacross and asked him what he was doing.
'Before I tell you,' was the reply, 'you must promise that you will saynothing to any one else. If what I am thinking of was mere fancy, Idon't wish to be laughed at; and if it turns out that it was notfancy--well, then I still wish that nothing should be said about it justnow. Do you understand?'
The two friends readily gave the required promise. 'Well, then, what istroubling me is this: Just as I called out--when I was struggling up tomy neck in the water--when, as it seemed to me, I was at my last gasp,and all hope had gone--I saw, or imagined I saw, some one peering at mefrom among those thick bushes!'
'My stars! That sounds funny!' was Jack's comment. 'D'you mean to saythat there was some one in here, some one so cold-blooded as to stand byand look on at you, and never offer to help?'
'That is my--er--impression; but'----
'Who was it, then? Anybody you know?'
Alondra hesitated. Then he said slowly, 'I cannot say. I could hardlysee more than the eyes, if I saw any one. But, understand me, I cannotdeclare positively that I saw any one at all. I was in such a state ofhorror that I may have imagined it. I was ready to imagine anything.'
Jack looked at him attentively.
'I don't think you are one to lose your wits to that extent, my friend,'he declared, shaking his head, 'though I admit it would be no discreditto you if you did. I can't imagine a more frightful predicament, or onebetter calculated to try the nerves of the bravest man.'
'Let's all set to work and have a good hunt round,' suggested Gerald.'If any one was here, he must be somewhere in hiding now, unless thereis another way out. If there is, let's find it!'
They searched the place in all directions, but for some time could findnothing to reward their trouble. They could see no trace of any personother than themselves having been there.
They were about to give it up and go away, when Jack suddenly uttered acry. 'See! What is that on the floor!' he exclaimed. 'Ah, I thoughtso! A diamond--a small diamond!' He exhibited upon the open palm ofhis hand a little sparkling stone. While his companions were busylooking at it, he went on to examine attentively a number of slabs ofcarved marble which stood up from the floor some four or five feet,forming a many-sided enclosure. They made a ring, as it were, fifteenfeet in diameter or thereabouts, and upon each slab were figures orscenes carved in bas-relief.
It was not unlike a huge, many-sided flower-pot; and it appeared to beintended for a similar purpose; for the space it enclosed was filledwith mould up to the level of the top of the slabs, and this again wasthickly planted with large shrubs.
Jack walked all round this affair, peering keenly into the dense leafyscreen. It was so thick that nothing could be seen of what was in themiddle. Then he returned to the starting-point--that opposite to theplace where he had picked up the diamond. He caught hold of thebranches and pulled them apart. Then he uttered a low whistle. 'Comeand look at this!' he cried.
The other two ran up to the place and peered in. There, upon the loos
emould, could be seen a footprint, and a little beyond it another.
Jack pointed to one of the bas-relief figures on the slab. It was in akneeling position, and the head formed a convenient step to any onewishing to mount to the top of the slab. 'Do you see?' he cried. 'Thishas been used as a step! You place a foot on it--thus, take hold ofthese branches--so, pull them apart--so, and you can spring up andthrough quite easily. Then the branches close up after you and hide alltrace. But the last one who passed this way was in a great hurry. Hewas in such haste to get through that he snapped off a twig--here itis--and another twig caught against his breast, and tore off a littlediamond, and cast it on to the floor where I found it.'
While talking, Jack had suited actions to words, and shown, by practicalillustration, how easily what he had suggested might happen.
'Where, then, is that person now, do you suppose?' asked Gerald, in alow tone. 'Hiding in the middle of those bushes?'
Jack shook his head. 'I should say not,' he replied. 'I should saythere must be a secret passage leading to this curious place, and thatthose bushes conceal the entrance to it. However, that's a questionwe'll soon put to the test. I 'm going in to see what's in the middle.You fellows come after me!'