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 shoulder 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!
Chapter 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, and 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 organisation 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, 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, bifflepunk, 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.
After they had a meal, Lucy-Ann volunteered to go down to the stream again and wash the dishes, while 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 stood there, petrified, the dish in her hand, unable to move or speak. The branches moved and she saw the face was topped by black, woolly hair, and that it had very white teeth and thick lips.
“It’s a Negro!” 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 thick lips parted in a smile. The woolly head nodded amiably. Then a black finger came up from among the leaves, and was put to the lips.
“You not make a sound, little missy,” said the Negro, in a hoarse whisper. “You not say I here. I poor nigger, little missy, lost and all 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 Negro frowned fiercely and shook his head.