‘I’ll just have a look at these,’ he said. ‘I don’t expect they’ll be of any help, but they might. I have an idea that this place we’re in is the one that interests Uma – and, knowing what is here through seeing it with our own eyes, I am beginning to feel that we’ve made a big mistake about Uma.’
‘How do you mean?’ asked Jack. ‘We were more or less certain that he was using his “hobby” of archaeology to cover up his real affairs in Cine-Town, weren’t we? Do you mean that we were wrong?’
‘Yes. I think his real business is archaeology!’ said Philip. ‘But not because he is interested in history or old buildings – oh no! All that Uma is interested in is getting at the priceless treasure that he thinks may be here! He’s just a mean, ordinary robber – all his digging is merely to find and steal the kind of treasure we can see around us this very minute! He is after such things as that gold bowl we gave Tala to carry, and . . .’
‘Yes! You’re right!’ cried Jack. ‘And probably just as he is feeling that his excavating is almost at an end, and he’ll soon be able to take what he wants, along comes Bill! And Uma’s afraid, because he knows Bill’s reputation, and is certain he’s come out here to watch him!’
‘That’s it!’ said Philip. And he makes his plans carefully – kidnaps Bill and Mother – plans to get us out of the way too – and to finish his digging and clear off with the spoils!’
‘Whew!’ said Dinah, quite overcome by all this explanation. ‘I think you’re right! And what happens is that we go off in Uma’s boat, and actually find the treasure chambers ourselves!’
‘Yes – but we’re up against a very big snag,’ said Philip soberly. ‘We don’t know how to get out of here!’
‘Have a look at those notes of Uma’s. See if there’s anything in them to help us,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘He was looking for this place, wasn’t he? – and you said that you thought he had almost finished his excavations – so his digging must have brought him very near these treasure chambers! Look at his notes!’
Philip spread out the marked pages on the floor, and Tala shone his powerful torch on them. The children knelt down to examine them.
On one page was a list of the buildings that were known to have been built over the site of the great temple. Uma had put ticks beside them, and also the word ‘Trouvé’.
‘Trouvé! That’s French for found,’ said Jack. ‘That means that in his digging he has come across some of these other remains and has dug through them. Yes – he’s done well. He must be very near here in his digging. I wonder how many men he’s got on the job. It’s usually a very long job, isn’t it, Philip?’
‘Not if you’re merely a robber and not an archaeologist!’ said Philip. ‘A man really interested in old things would not dig straight through them, destroying all kinds of interesting bits of history – he would go carefully, bit by bit – sifting the soil, examining everything. But Uma . . .’
‘Yes – Uma’s only a robber! All he’d do is to pay workers to dig, and tell them where – and to dig fast!’ said Jack, interrupting. ‘Gosh – he’s clever!’
‘Not clever,’ said Dinah. ‘Just smart! Horrible man! Do you suppose his men are digging over our heads this very minute?’
‘Maybe!’ said Philip. ‘Hallo, look – here’s a little map he’s drawn. Is that any use to us?’
They pored over it, but could not make out what it was meant to be. Philip sighed. ‘Well – except that they give us an idea of Uma’s real business, these papers aren’t much help. Come on – let’s really hunt for an exit. There simply must be some way out of these underground chambers into the temple that was above.’
They wandered all over the store-rooms again, becoming very tired of the darkness and the mustiness, which seemed to be more ‘smellable’ now, as Dinah kept pointing out. Oola was frankly miserable, and trailed along after Philip, dragging his bare feet dejectedly.
They sat down again at last in the biggest store-room of all. ‘The only thing I can think of is to climb up those steps again, and go all the way back to the boat,’ said Philip at last. ‘I honestly don’t see any sense in staying here any longer – there doesn’t seem to be ANY way out!’
‘What’s the good of going back to the boat?’ said Jack gloomily. ‘There’s no way of escape from that cavern!’
‘I don’t know about that,’ said Philip. ‘You remember that rocky platform that Oola took us to – where we looked down and saw the river disappearing far below? Well, there might be a chance of climbing up and up the sides of the cliff at the side of the gorge, and getting to the top.’
‘Impossible!’ said Jack. ‘I had a jolly good look when we were there. Still – we’ll go back and see. I agree that it’s no good sitting here. Nobody’s likely to rescue us!’
Most dispiritedly they made their way back through the vast range of store-chambers. They came to the door that still hung partly on its hinges, and climbed past it into the room where they had found the beautiful golden bowl, and then through that and into the narrow passage beyond, that led to the steep steps.
‘Oola – go up first, you climb like a cat,’ said Philip. ‘Tala, give him the rope to take up, and the grappling hook. Oola, need help. You must run up the steps carefully – CAREFULLY – with rope and hook. Do you understand?’
Oola was a different being at once, now that he thought they were leaving the great rooms down below. He nodded eagerly and took the rope. Ah – he was doing something for his boss – something important. He, Oola, and not Tala! Very proudly he began to climb the steps, feeling each with his hands before he trod on it. He slipped once, but managed not to fall.
At last he was at the top, and yelled down.
‘Oola here! Oola safe! Here comes rope!’
Oola let the rope slither down the steps, carefully holding the other end himself. He had tied it to the big hook, which he now stuck firmly into a jutting-out rock as he had seen Tala do before.
The rope tightened in his hands and he knew that someone was climbing. Perhaps his boss? Oola held on tightly, bracing himself behind a rock, in case Philip slipped and had to pull on the rope to save himself.
And then Oola heard something that scared him almost to death! It was a knocking sound away up the passage behind him! Knock-knock – thud, thud, thud! Oola’s heart turned over and he fell to the ground in fright, letting the rope go slack.
At once he heard Philip’s voice. ‘Tighten the rope, Oola – it’s slack! Hey, what are you doing?’
Knock-knock-thud-thud! Was it the old gods and goddesses coming back, angry because people had been in their temple? Oola screamed loudly, and Philip almost fell down the steps in alarm.
‘The gods! They come!’ screamed Oola. ‘They come!’
26
‘The gods! They come!’
Philip couldn’t hear what the boy was screaming and he was most alarmed. He hurriedly climbed the rest of the steps, trying to be extra careful, for Oola had forgotten all about holding the rope tight, he was so terrified.
‘Oola! What’s up? What are you screaming for?’ demanded Philip, as soon as he had reached the top.
‘The gods!’ cried Oola, pointing up the passage. ‘They come. Listen, boss!’
Philip had heard nothing but Oola’s screaming when he was climbing the steps – but now to his startled ears came the sound of the knocking that Oola had heard!
Knock-knock-knock-knock! Thud!
Philip stared up the dark passage, his heart beating. For one wild moment Oola’s terror infected him, and he imagined angry gods demanding entry. What was that noise?
He turned and called down. ‘Come up, quickly! Something’s happening!’
His hands trembling, he held the rope as tightly as he could, with Oola clinging to his knees, quite weak with fright. Dinah came up, alarmed at Philip’s shout. As soon as she stood beside him she heard the knocking too and was very scared, especially as she heard Oola’s continual plaintive moans.
‘The g
ods! They come! They come!’
The others climbed up, Tala last. As soon as he heard the knocking he turned in fright to go down the steps again, missed his footing and rolled cursing to the bottom. He too thought that the gods had come to revenge themselves on the little company of people who had dared to wander through their temple rooms!
Philip had no time to think of the terrified Tala, nor even to wonder if he were hurt. He had to decide what to do about the knocking. Where exactly did it come from?
‘It’s somewhere up the passage – and we know there’s no way in, because we’ve been there and seen the wall of stone that is built right across!’ said Philip. ‘Jack – do you think it is Uma and his men?’
‘Can’t be anyone else,’ said Jack. ‘Do shut up, Oola. I can’t hear myself speak.’
Knock-knock-knock!
‘They come, they come!’ moaned Oola, still clinging to Philip’s knees.
‘Uma must have found a plan or map that somehow enabled him to dig down to this passage,’ said Philip, thinking hard. ‘But instead of coming in at this side of that stone wall, they dug down just behind it. They must be trying to break the wall down. What a hope!’
‘They’ll do it, though,’ said Jack, listening. ‘They’ve got some powerful tools. Quick, Philip, what’s our plan?’
‘Can’t think of one. It’s all so sudden!’ groaned Philip. ‘Gosh, I’m glad to know that at any rate we’ll be able to get out of here!’
‘Uma won’t be pleased to see us, if it’s really him and his men,’ said Jack soberly. ‘Well, we can’t do anything but wait. Philip, I’m afraid Uma is going to rifle those temple store-chambers now – and take away things that are of absolutely priceless value. I don’t see how we can prevent that.’
‘I wish we could!’ said Philip, and the girls echoed his wish. It was shocking to think of Uma and his gang of robbers stripping those old rooms of the marvellous treasures there. The knocking went on and on, and they all stood and listened. Obviously the stone wall was very strong!
Then suddenly part of the wall gave way, and one of the big stones fell into the passage with a crash. The children heard it, though they were not near enough to see what had happened.
‘The wall’s giving way,’ said Jack. ‘They’ll soon be through. Just stand here quietly and wait. Oola, stop that awful row. These are not gods who are coming, but men.’
‘No, no – Oola say gods! Tala say gods!’ moaned Oola. Tala had now climbed up the steps again, feeling his bruises with horror, and quite determined that, gods or no gods, he was not going to fall down those steps again. But as soon as he heard the knocking he almost repeated his performance, and only just clutched the rope in time. Fortunately the grappling hook held and he pulled himself to safety.
Another crash. That would be the stone next to the first one. Now it would be easy for the men to prise out two more and then creep in through the hole.
Crash! Thud! Then came shouts, echoing down the passage. Tala listened in astonishment. Why – these gods were speaking in his own language! He began seriously to doubt whether they could be gods! Oola listened too and stood up. Who were these gods who talked as men – who spoke the same words as he and Tala?
A light shone far away up the passage. ‘One of the men is through,’ said Philip. Ah – there’s another light. Two men are through. Here they come!’
Two men, carrying torches, came down the passage cautiously, flashing the light here and there to see what kind of place they were in. They came suddenly upon the silent group of children, with Tala behind, and stared as if they could not believe their eyes. Philip stepped forward, about to speak.
But, in absolute panic, the men fled at top speed back to the broken wall, shouting in terror.
‘Men frightened,’ said Oola, in great satisfaction. ‘Men go.’
‘Come on – let’s go to the wall and get through it ourselves,’ said Philip. ‘I’m longing for some good clean air and the sun on my shoulders. I daresay it’s a long, long way up to the sun, but however long the climb it will be worth it!’
They all moved up the passage, and came to the stone wall. Tala shone his big torch on it, and they saw that four great stones had been prised out and had fallen into the passage. ‘Come on,’ said Philip. ‘You go first, Jack, and we’ll follow’
But at that moment a man looked through the hole, and shone a torch right on them. He whistled.
‘So the men were right. There is someone here – and surely – surely it’s Bill’s little lot! Well, I’m blessed – is this a dream? How did you get here?’
‘Never mind that,’ said Philip coldly. ‘We have plenty of questions to ask you, Mr Uma! Where are Bill and my mother? Are they safe?’
Mr Uma didn’t answer. He ran his torch quickly over the little group to see how many there were. ‘Was it you who took my motor-boat?’ he asked abruptly. ‘Where is it?’
‘Never mind that,’ repeated Philip. ‘Tell me about my mother and Bill. You’re going to get into trouble about all this, Mr Uma. We know all about your plans – you’re nothing but a robber!’
You hold your tongue!’ shouted Mr Uma, suddenly losing his temper. ‘How did you get here? There’s no way in except this.’
‘Oh yes there is,’ said Philip. ‘But it isn’t one you are ever likely to find! Now, let us out of this hole, and tell us where to find Bill.’
Mr Uma then addressed Tala in his own language, and by his angry tone and fierce expression he was threatening Tala with all sorts of things. Tala listened stolidly to the questions and threats thrown at him.
‘Tala not know, Tala not know,’ he kept answering, in English, which really infuriated Mr Uma.
‘What’s he saying, Tala?’ asked Philip.
‘He say, how come we here? He say he catch us all, not let us go. He say many bad things. He bad man.’ Tala suddenly spat at Mr Uma, who immediately flung his torch at him, hitting him on the cheek. Tala laughed, bent down, picked up the torch and put it into his waist-cloth. Then he stood gazing impassively at the angry Mr Uma.
Mr Uma shook his fist and then disappeared. They heard him shouting for his men.
‘He send men to tie us up,’ said Tala, listening. ‘Mr Uma bad man, very bad man.’
‘Will he really have us tied up?’ asked Dinah fearfully.
‘I shouldn’t be surprised,’ said Jack. ‘He needs us out of the way while he steals what he wants from those treasure-chambers. Then, when he has taken all the best and most valuable things, he’ll be off, and we’ll be set free – I hope!’
‘Beast!’ said Dinah fiercely. ‘I suppose he’s got Mother and Bill tied up somewhere too.’
‘Yes. Probably in his house at Chaldo,’ said Philip. ‘What are we to do? We can’t fight a whole lot of men!’
‘Let’s climb through that hole in the cavern wall, and get back to the boat,’ said Jack suddenly.
‘Quite a good idea,’ said Philip. ‘Except that it leaves Uma free to rifle all through those store-rooms, and take what he pleases – and I’ve been hoping somehow we might be able to stop him.’
‘We’re too late,’ said Lucy-Ann. ‘Here come the men!’
She was right. A man came through the hole in the wall, and then another and another. It was too late now to run, for the men would follow them and see where they went. So the children stood their ground. Kiki, who had been silent for some time, was very excited when she saw the men squeezing through the hole. She jigged up and down on Jack’s shoulder and gave a loud screech, which startled the men considerably.
There were now six men through the wall, and they came menacingly towards the children.
‘Keep off,’ said Philip commandingly ‘Don’t lay hands on us, or you will get into serious trouble with the police!’
‘Police!’ screamed Kiki at once. ‘Police! Fetch the police! PHEEEEEEEEEEEE! PHEEEEEEEEEEEE!’
The men stopped abruptly, startled almost out of their wits. The shrill whistle that Kiki gave
echoed round and round the passage in a very terrifying manner. ‘PHEEEEEEEE, PHEEEEEEEE, PHEEEEEEEE.’ It went on and on – and then, to crown everything, Kiki added her noise of a motor-car back-firing. ‘Pop! Crack! Crack!’ These joined the whistling echoes, and alarmed the men so much that they turned and ran for the wall, adding their own screams to the crazy chorus of echoes!
The children laughed as they watched the men scramble through the wall in a panic.
‘Thanks, Kiki,’ said Jack, stroking the parrot’s feathers. ‘For once I shall not say, “Be quiet!” You came in at just the right moment!’
27
What now?
Tala laughed heartily as he saw the men scrambling to get away from the mysterious noises. His enormous guffaws filled the passage too. Oola danced about and clapped his hands in glee. Both appeared to think that now that they had put the men to flight all their troubles were over.
But the children knew better. They turned gravely to one another. ‘Should we try to get through the hole ourselves, now there’s a chance?’ said Philip.
‘I don’t know. We are comparatively safe here, now that the men have been so frightened,’ said Jack. ‘What do you think, Tala? Will those men come back?’
‘Men frighted, very frighted,’ said Tala, showing all his white teeth. ‘Men not come back. Never come back. We go then?’
‘No. Wait a bit,’ said Jack. ‘We don’t want to walk out of the frying-pan into the fire. The men will go to Uma, and tell him what happened – and he’ll perhaps lie in wait for us, hoping to catch us as we climb through the wall.’
Tala nodded. ‘That good talk. We wait. Uma much bad man.’
They sat down and waited. Nothing happened for a while, and then a man came to the hole in the wall. He wore a turban and white robes.
‘I would speak with you,’ he called, in a voice that was not quite English. Philip thought he might be a messenger of Uma’s, and waited to see what he would say.
‘I would come through the wall. I would speak with you,’ repeated the man.