The children did not stop running until they came to the end of the uphill passage. They were streaming with perspiration, and panting loudly. Snowy suddenly joined them and pressed against Philip’s legs. All four children sank down in a heap and Snowy walked over them unheeded.
“For goodness’ sake let’s get out of here,” said Philip at last. “I daresay if we were scientists we shouldn’t be a bit scared, only intensely interested — but all I can say is — let’s get out of here!”
Everyone agreed heartily. The only thing was — which was the way? They got up and walked along a twisty little passage. It forked into two after a bit, and the children, not knowing which to take, took the right-hand one. It led them to a cell-like cave with a narrow bed in it, a jug and basin, and a shelf. Nothing more.
“Funny!” said Jack. “I expect it belongs to Meier, or one of the other men. Let’s go back.”
They went back to where the passage forked, and took the left-hand way. To their great surprise they came to hanging curtains of purple silk, patterned with great red dragons!
They stopped. Philip put his hand on Snowy to prevent him from darting forward. Jack crept to the curtains on tiptoe.
Beyond was a cave so beautifully decorated, so profusely hung with curtains and spread with thick carpets that it didn’t seem like a cave at all. A couch stood in one corner, covered with a purple silk quilt, worked with the same red dragons as on the curtains they had seen.
Jack stared. Perhaps this was where the king slept. It felt deliciously cool there. Where did the little cooling draught come from? He saw a narrow rod hanging on the wall near him, with slits in it all the way along. He put his hand up and felt a draught of air. How astonishing! It was only a rod fixed to the wall. How could fresh air come out of it? Again Jack felt that there were remarkably ingenious brains at work in this mountain.
He heard voices from a room further on, whose opening was hidden by the same kind of purple curtains that hung in other places. He tiptoed back to the others.
“We’ll wait for a bit. There’s somebody talking in the room beyond this one. This is the king’s bedroom, I should think.”
They waited, peeping through the curtains every now and then. They all began to feel terribly hungry. They were very relieved when the voices stopped and there was silence. They tiptoed through the bedroom and into the room beyond.
They stopped in delight — not at the strange beauty of the room — but at the gorgeous food on the table!
Chapter 19
THE KING OF THE MOUNTAIN
“LOOK at that!” said Jack. “Somebody’s been having a meal here — three people — and look at what they’ve left!”
“Can’t we have some?” said Lucy-Ann, eyeing a great bowl of fresh strawberries and a jug half full of cream. Nearby was a plate of cooked lobsters, and two dishes of mixed salads.
It was clear that three people had been having a meal there, judging by the plates and glasses, all of which were really beautiful.
“I call this a feast — a royal feast!” said Dinah, and she picked up a cake with cream icing on the top in the shape of a rose, and dug her teeth into it. “I don’t know who this stuff belongs to — but there’s nobody to ask permission to share it — and I’m too hungry to wait!”
“So am I! We’ll get Bill to pay for it if anyone objects,” said Jack, and set to work on a lobster. There were dishes of things the children had never seen before. They tasted one or two, but they were spiced in a way they disliked.
There were peaches and nectarines, pineapples and plums of all kinds. “The helicopter must be pretty busy bringing all these!” said Philip, biting into the sweetest peach he had ever tasted in his life. “I must say the King of this mountain does himself proud!”
Nobody came to interrupt them at all. Kiki feasted well, enjoying the food as much as the children. Snowy ate all the salad offered him, and for a treat was allowed to be on Philip’s knee, with his forefeet on the table. He badly wanted to get on the table itself, and could not understand why Kiki was allowed there when he wasn’t.
“If you eat any more, Kiki, you’ll get the hiccups properly!” said Jack. “Stuffing yourself like that! Greedy!”
“Pop goes Polly,” agreed Kiki, and would have given a cackle of laughter if Jack hadn’t shushed her.
“Well — what about trying to find our way out again?” said Jack at last. “I don’t know whether it’s anything to do with that queer feeling we had when the floor of the big pit was pushed back, and we saw that extraordinary mass of brilliance below — but I feel rather don’t-carish now — not scared any more. I don’t even feel that it’s terribly urgent to get out of here, though I know it is!”
“It was a very queer feeling,” said Philip. “I thought I was going to float up into the air the next minute! I hung onto that balcony for dear life!”
They had all felt the same — and now they felt as Jack did — very “don’t-carish.” But that wouldn’t do at all — it was imperative that they should find their way out as soon as possible.
They left the curious dining-room, with its laden table and went into a passage that was much more brightly lit than the others they had walked down. Hangings decorated the rocky walls, great curtains that swayed a little in the draught that ran through the passages.
“This must be the king’s own quarters,” said Jack. “Maybe we shall come to the throne-room soon.”
He was quite right. They did. But this time the throne-room was not empty. It was full!
Men stood there silently. There were all kinds and a tough-looking lot they were! They were of many nationalities. Some had the maroon berets that British paratroopers have when in uniform. The peeping children thought that probably they were all former paratroopers. There were about twenty of them. Sam was there too, and Philip gave a little start when he saw him. Now it would be known that he, Philip, had escaped! Whoever had gone to bring Sam down here would have seen the unbolted door and found that he was gone.
Blow! Now he would be carefully hunted for, and it would be very difficult to escape. He nudged Jack and pointed out Sam to him. Jack, peeping through the curtains that hung before them, nodded and frowned. The same thought occurred to him as had occurred to Philip.
He debated whether to go off straight away now and try to find the way out. But either they would have to go back the way they had just come, which obviously would not take them to the entrance they knew — or else they would have to go into the throne-room — where they would certainly be seen. No — they would have to stop where they were till this meeting, or whatever it was, was over.
Besides the paratroopers there were little men, who looked like Japanese, standing in elaborate uniforms down each side of the great hall. The throne was empty. There was no sign of the man Meier.
But suddenly there came a whispering among the men gathered there. The great curtains near the throne were flung back by two Japanese, and the King of the Mountain entered!
He seemed very tall, for he had a great crown that stood up from his head, embroidered with glittering stones. He wore a rich suit and cloak, and looked more like an Indian prince at some splendid festival than anything else. His yellowish face looked out impassively from below his great crown, and a mass of black hair swung down on each side. He sat down on the throne.
Beside him stood two men. Philip was sure that one was Meier. He didn’t know the other, but he didn’t like the ape-like face and enormous, burly figure. Meier’s hawk-like eyes swept the room. He began to speak in a penetrating, most incisive voice, in a language that the children did not know. Then he paused and spoke in English.
The children listened, spell-bound. Meier spoke of the king and the wonderful gift he was giving to mankind — the gift of flying. He spoke of the grand men who were helping them in their experiment — the paratroopers willing to try the “wings.” He spoke of the great wealth the men would receive, the honours that would be piled on them. Then he said it all again in a third language and in a fourth.