And Pongo turned and went! He disappeared into the stream, splashing along by himself. The children watched him as far as they could by the light of their torches.
‘He really is clever,’ said Anne. ‘He didn’t want to go a bit, did he? Oh, I do hope he finds Larry, and that Larry sees the note and reads it and sends someone to rescue us.’
‘I hope the note doesn’t get all soaked and pulpy in the water,’ said Julian, rather gloomily. ‘Gosh, I wish I wasn’t so cold. Let’s run round a bit again, then have a piece of chocolate.’
They ran about and played ‘He’ for a time till they all felt warm again. Then they decided to sit down and have some chocolate, and play some sort of guessing game to while away the time. Timmy sat close to Julian, and the boy was very glad.
‘He’s like a big hot-water bottle,’ he said. ‘Sit closer, Tim. That’s right. You’ll soon warm me up!’
It was dull after a time, sitting in the light of one torch, for they dared not use them all. Already it seemed as if Julian’s torch was getting a little dim. They played all the games they could think of and then yawned.
‘What’s the time? I suppose it must be getting dark outside now. I feel quite sleepy.’
‘It’s nine o’clock almost,’ said Julian. ‘I hope Pongo has got down to the camp all right and found someone. We could expect help quite soon, if so.’
‘Well, then, we’d better get along to the passage that leads to the hole,’ said Dick, getting up. ‘It’s quite likely that if Larry or anyone else comes they’ll not see the footholds leading up the wall out of that first little cave. They might not know where we were!’
This seemed very likely. They all made their way down the tunnel that led past the hidden store of valuables, and came out into the enormous cave. There was a nice sandy corner just by the hole that led down into the first small cave, and the children decided to sit there, rather than in the passage or in the first rocky and uncomfortable little cave. They cuddled up together for warmth, and felt hungry.
Anne and Nobby dozed off to sleep. George almost fell asleep, too. But the boys and Timmy kept awake, and talked in low voices. At least, Timmy didn’t talk, but wagged his tail whenever either Dick or Julian said anything. That was his way of joining in their conversation.
After what seemed a long while Timmy growled, and the two boys sat up straight. Whatever it was that Timmy’s sharp ears had heard, they had heard nothing at all. And they continued to hear nothing. But Timmy went on growling.
Julian shook the others awake. ‘I believe help has come,’ he said. ‘But we’d better not go and see in case it’s Dan and Lou come back. So wake up and look lively!’
They were all wide awake at once. Was it Larry come in answer to their note or was it those horrid men, Tiger Dan and Lou the acrobat?
They soon knew! A head suddenly poked out of the hole nearby, and a torch shone on them. Timmy growled ferociously and struggled to fly at the head, but George held on firmly to his collar, thinking it might be Larry.
But it wasn’t! It was Lou the acrobat, as the children knew only too well when they heard his voice. Julian shone his torch on to him.
‘I hope you’ve enjoyed your little selves,’ came Lou’s harsh voice. ‘And you keep that dog under control, boy, or I’ll shoot him. See? I’m not standing no nonsense from that dog this time. Have a look at this here gun!’
To George’s horror she saw that Lou was pointing a gun at poor Timmy. She gave a scream and flung herself in front of him. ‘Don’t you dare to shoot my dog! I’ll I’ll I’ll …’
She couldn’t think of anything bad enough to do to the man who could shoot Timmy, and she stopped, choked by tears of rage and fear. Timmy, not knowing what the gun was, couldn’t for the life of him understand why George wouldn’t let him get at his enemy such a nice position, too, with his head poking through a hole like that. Timmy felt he could deal with that head very quickly.
‘Now, you kids, get up and go into that tunnel,’ said Lou. ‘Go on go right ahead of me, and don’t dare to stop. We’ve got work to do here tonight, and we’re not going to have any more interference from kids like you. See?’
The children saw quite well. They began to walk towards the entrance of the tunnel. One by one they climbed into it. George first with Timmy. She dared not let his collar go for an instant. A few paces behind them came Lou with his revolver, and Dan with a couple of big sacks.
The children were made to walk right past the shelf on which were the hidden goods.
Then Lou sat down in the tunnel, his torch switched on fully so that he could pick out each child. He still pointed his revolver at Timmy.
‘Now we’ll get on,’ he said to Tiger Dan. ‘You know what to do. Get on with it.’
Tiger Dan began to stuff the things into one of the big sacks he had brought. He staggered off with it. He came back in about ten minutes and filled the other sack. It was plain that the men meant to take everything away this time.
‘Thought you’d made a very fine discovery, didn’t you?’ said Lou, mockingly, to the children. ‘Ho, yes very smart you were! See what happens to little smarties like you you’re prisoners and here you’ll stay for two or three days!’
‘What do you mean?’ said Julian, in alarm. ‘Surely you wouldn’t leave us here to starve?’
‘Not to starve. We’re too fond of you,’ grinned Lou. ‘We’ll chuck you down some food into the tunnel. And in two or three days maybe someone will come and rescue you.’
Julian wished desperately that Pongo would bring help before Lou and Dan finished their business in the tunnel and went, leaving them prisoners. He watched Tiger Dan, working quickly, packing everything, carrying it off, coming back again, and packing feverishly once more. Lou sat still with his torch and revolver, enjoying the scared faces of the girls and Nobby. Julian and Dick put on a brave show which they were far from feeling.
Tiger Dan staggered away with another sackful. But he hadn’t been gone for more than half a minute before a wail echoed through the tunnel.
‘Lou! Help! Help! Something’s attacking me! HELP.’
Lou rose up and went swiftly down the tunnel. ‘It’s Pongo, I bet it’s old Pongo,’ said Julian thrilled.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
DICK HAS A GREAT IDEA!
‘Listen,’ said Dick, in an urgent voice. ‘It may be Pongo by himself he may not have gone back to the camp at all he may have wandered about and at last gone down the entrance-hole by the caravans, and come up behind Tiger Dan. If so he won’t have much chance because Lou’s got a gun and will shoot him. And we shan’t be rescued. So I’m going to slip down the tunnel while there’s a chance and hide in the big cave.’
‘What good will that do?’ said Julian.
‘Well, idiot, I may be able to slip down into the passage that leads to the entrance-hole and hop out without the others seeing me,’ said Dick, getting up. ‘Then I can fetch help, see? You’d better all clear off somewhere and hide find a good place, Julian, in case the men come after you when they find one of us is gone. Go on.’
Without another word the boy began to walk down the tunnel, past the rocky shelf on which now very few goods were left, and then came to the enormous cave.
Here there was a great noise going on, for Pongo appeared to have got hold of both men at once! Their torches were out, and Lou did not dare to shoot for fear of hurting Dan. Dick could see very little of this; he could only hear snarlings and shouting. He took a wide course round the heaving heap on the floor and made his way as quickly as he could in the dark to where he thought the hole was that led down into the first passage. He had to go carefully for fear of falling down it. He found it at last and let himself down into the cave below, and then, thinking it safe to switch on his torch in the passage he flashed it in front of him to show him the way.