Philip hauled on that too until a tug warned him to stop. Now he had to fasten it securely to something. But what?
He had a lamp in his room and he lighted it, to see better. He kept it turned low, and held it up to see where he could fasten the ring that was on the end of the wire rope.
His bed had strong iron feet. Philip dragged the bed to the window, waking Gussy up with a jump as he did so, and then slipped the iron ring under one foot, pulling it up about twelve inches.
Now it should be held fast! The bed was by the window, the iron foot against the stone wall. Neither bed nor foot could move. The rope should be safe for anyone to use!
‘What is it? What’s happening?’ said Gussy, sitting up in bed in surprise, unable to see much in the dim light of the lamp.
‘Be quiet,’ said Philip, who was now almost too excited to speak. ‘Jack’s out there. Go and wake the girls-but for goodness’ sake don’t make a noise!’
Over in the bell-tower Toni pulled on his end of the wire rope. He pulled as hard as he could, and Bingo pulled with him. Was the other end quite fast-safe enough for Toni to walk across on it? He had to be quite certain of that before he tried to walk the rope.
‘It’s fast enough,’ said Bingo, in his own language. ‘It will hold you!’
Toni wasted no time. He got out of the stone archway, and stood upright on the narrow sill. Bingo held a torch to light up the wire stretching in front, from the bell-tower to the window away opposite.
Toni tested the wire with his foot-and then Jack gasped in astonishment. Toni had run straight across the wire at top speed! There were his legs and feet, clearly lighted in the beam of the torch, running easily over the taut wire!
Toni reached the opposite window, and stood on the sill for a moment. Then he bent his head and climbed in, finding the bed just below the sill. Philip gripped hold of him, looking white.
‘I say! What a thing to do! You might have fallen!’
The girls were now in the boys’ room, having been awakened by Gussie. Kiki was with them, making a great fuss of them both. ‘Who’s this?’ said Lucy-Ann, startled to see Toni jumping down to the bed. ‘Philip-what’s happening?’
‘No time to talk yet,’ said Philip, who wasn’t really sure himself what was happening. ‘We’re being rescued, that’s all!’
Toni was now busy pulling on a rope that he had brought across with him. He was hauling steadily on it-and along the wire, hanging neatly down from it, came a small trapeze swing-the one that Toni used each night when he swung high up in the circus tent, doing his tricks!
It clicked against the stone wall. Toni turned to Philip. ‘You sit there,’ he said, pointing to the swing below the rope. ‘Sit still, see? And I will pull you over to Jack.’
Philip was startled. He looked at the trapeze swinging below the wire rope, running along it on a pulley-wheel. So that was the idea! They were each in turn to sit on that peculiar swing, and be pulled across to the bell-tower! Well!
‘Hurry!’ said Toni, impatiently. ‘You first?’
‘Yes,’ said Philip, thinking perhaps that if the others saw him going across quite easily they wouldn’t be afraid. He turned to Gussy and the startled girls.
‘I’ll go first and you watch me,’ he said. ‘Then Lucy-Ann-then you, Gussy-and you last, Dinah.’
He stood on the bed, and then swung himself up on the stone window-sill. He held on to the rope outside, and suddenly felt Toni’s strong hands under his armpits. It really wasn’t very difficult to sit on the trapeze.
‘I come!’ said Toni, to the anxious watchers opposite, and he ran over the wire once more, pulling the trapeze back to the bell-tower. Philip arrived there on the swing almost before he knew it! He was pulled off and dragged into the tower in safety. Jack found his hand and shook it hard. He found that he suddenly couldn’t say a word! Neither could Philip.
Toni ran across again, pulling back the trapeze. Lucy-Ann was scared almost stiff with fright, but she was brave and managed to get on to the swing quite well, with Toni’s help. Away she went, giving a little gasp as she thought of the great distance to the ground below her.
Back came Toni with the swing, and Gussy was pushed forward to get on it. He was so frightened that Toni began to wonder whether he would fall off in the middle of his trip across the wire! But Gussy held on grimly, his teeth chattering-and almost burst into tears of relief when he got safely to the bell-tower.
Dinah was no trouble. She wasn’t afraid, and if she had been she wouldn’t have shown it! She shot across easily, with Toni pulling her, as sure-footed as a cat.
Everyone suddenly felt very cheerful. Lucy-Ann hugged Jack without stopping. There was now such a crowd on the little stone platform at the top of the tower that poor Toni could hardly find room for himself!
‘What about this wire rope?’ said Pedro. ‘How can we get it back?’
‘We leave it,’ said Toni. ‘It is not possible to get it away. I have another.’
‘Let’s get down to the ground,’ said Jack, half afraid that now things had gone so well, something might suddenly happen to make them go wrong. ‘I’ll go first.’
Soon they were all at the bottom of the tower. ‘Silent, now,’ whispered Jack, and they began to walk cautiously down the slope of the hill to the circus.
Lucy-Ann kept close to Jack, and he put his arm round her. He was very glad to know that his sister was safe. Gussy stumbled along, scared and puzzled. He didn’t really seem to know quite what was happening!
‘The girls can have our van,’ said Pedro to Jack. ‘You and I and Gussy can sleep beneath it.’
But before they could get to the van, a great clamour came on the air, and startled them so much that they all stood still in panic. Whatever was that tremendous noise?
‘It’s a bell-it’s bells!’ said Jack, putting his hands to his ears. ‘The bell in the bell-tower-and the bell in the church-and another bell somewhere else! Whatever’s happening? Have they missed Gussy already?’
The circus-folk all awoke and rushed out of their vans, marvelling at the pandemonium of noise made by the bells. Clang, clang, jangle, jangle, clang, clang! It went on all the time!
And then there came shouting from the town. Lights shone out, and still the bells went on and on. ‘There are some ringing from the next village too,’ said Jack, marvelling. ‘It’s to warn the people about something. What can it be? They can’t know yet about Gussy escaping-why, except for Count Paritolen and his sister nobody knew Gussy was a prisoner.’
No-the bells were not ringing for Gussy. They were giving other news-serious news.
‘The King! The King is gone! He has disappeared! He is nowhere to be found. The King is gone!’
The townsfolk shouted the news to one another in foreboding. What had happened to their King? Had he been killed? All the bells in the country rang out the news. Enemies had taken their King! Who? Why? Clang, clang, clang, jangle, jangle!
‘My word!’ said Jack, when he heard the news. ‘We only JUST got Gussy out in time. Only just! Another half-hour and it would have been too late.’
‘Yes,’ said Philip. ‘And I’d like to see Count Paritolen’s face when he rushes to the tower-room to get Gussy out of bed and put him on the throne-and Gussy’s not there! The King gone-and no one to put in his place!’
Gussy burst into howls. ‘What’s happened to my uncle?’ he wailed. ‘Where is he? I don’t want to be King!’
‘Shut up!’ said Jack, fiercely. ‘Do you want every single person here to know you’re the Prince? If someone gives you away, you’ll be captured by the Count immediately! Go into that caravan and don’t dare to make a sound!’
Chapter 23
BEWARE THE BEARS!
JACK hurried the girls and Gussy to Pedro’s van. He hadn’t reckoned on arriving back with them in the middle of a disturbance like this! All the circus-folk were out of their vans; they were dressed in all kinds of shawls, coats and macs, hastily pulled over their night things, and were gathering together in frightened groups to talk.
It was just about the very worst time to bring Gussy to the camp. Suppose anyone recognized him? He would certainly have to be disguised at once.
Pedro realized this too. He knew, much better than Jack, what trouble the circus-folk would get into if it was discovered that they were harbouring the Prince himself! They would all be clapped into prison at once. Pedro was very very worried.