Meanwhile, what had happened to the others? They had slept restlessly in their underground room, with the lamp burning beside them. They only knew when morning came because their watches told them that it was six o’clock.
“I’m hungry,” said Mike, yawning. “I hope they give their prisoners plenty to eat in this Secret Mountain!”
No sooner had he spoken than the door was unbolted and two red-haired men came in, the folds of their brightly coloured robes swishing all around them. They carried fresh water and some more of the flat cakes in a big dish. They also brought fruit of all kinds, which the children were delighted to see.
“I do wonder what has happened to Jack and Mafumu,” said Mike. “What will they do, do you think, Ranni?”
“I can’t imagine,” said Ranni, taking some of the fruit. He and Pilescu were far more worried than they would tell the children. They hated the sight of the queer red-haired folk — though both Ranni and Pilescu looked curiously like them sometimes, with their bright red hair and beards. But their eyes were not green, nor was their skin yellow.
Towards the end of the long and boring day, the door was flung open, and one of their guards beckoned the little company out. They followed their guide down long, winding passages, cut out of the mountain rock itself, and at last came to a great door that shone green and blue in the light of the swinging lamps above.
The door slid to one side as they came near it, and behind it the children saw a great flight of steps going up and up. The steps shone with a strange golden colour, and shimmered from orange to yellow as the little company began to climb them.
At every two-hundredth step the stairway, still wide and golden, curved round, and ascended again. The children were soon tired of the endless climb. They sat down to rest.
Behind them came a company of the Folk of the Mountain, chanting a strange and doleful song. Nobody liked it at all. It was horrid.
Many times the company sat down to rest. Ranni and Pilescu felt sure that the stairway led to the summit of the mountain. It was a marvellous piece of work, that stairway, beautiful all the way. Here and there, set at the sides, were glittering lamps in the shape of a rayed sun. These were so bright that the children could hardly bear to look at them.
“I think we must be going to the very top of the mountain,” said Ranni. “It’s soon sunset — and sunworshippers usually pray to the sun at sunrise or sunset. We shall probably see them at their worship!”
Ranni was right — but he did not guess what an extraordinary place the summit of the mountain was!
Panting and tired, the little party climbed the last of the flight of steps. They came out through a great golden door into a vast corridor, with tall yellow pillars built in two rows.
“Goodness!” said Mike, stopping in amazement. “What a view!”
That was the first thing that struck everyone. The view from the top of the Secret Mountain was simply magnificent. All around rose other mountains, some high, some lower, and in and beyond stretched the green valleys, some with a blue river winding along. It took the children’s breath away, and made them feel very small indeed to look on those great mountains.
After they had feasted their eyes on the glorious scenery all around them, they turned to see what the summit of the Secret Mountain was like. It was very strange. For one thing, it had been levelled till it was completely flat. There was an enormous wide space in the centre, floored with some kind of yellow stone that shone yellow and orange like the flight of steps up which they had come. Around this wide space, on three sides, were long pillared corridors — and on the fourth side was a great temple-like building, overlooking the steepness of the eastern side of the mountain.
The children, with Ranni and Pilescu, were taken to the great temple. The wind was very rough and cold on the top of the mountain and everyone shivered. A red-haired man came up and flung shimmering cloaks around their shoulders. These were lined with some kind of wool, and were very warm indeed.
Everyone was taken to the top of the temple, where a tall, rounded tower jutted. From this tower they could see the setting sun, falling over the rim of the western sky. As the sun disappeared, the Folk of the Secret Mountain fell on to their knees and chanted a weird song.
“A sort of prayer to the sun, I suppose,” said Ranni grimly. He spoke to Pilescu in his own language. “I don’t much like this, do you, Pilescu?”
Prince Paul pricked up his ears. “Why don’t you like it, Ranni?” he asked. Ranni would not tell him. All of them watched the sun. It disappeared suddenly over the edge of the world. At once the countryside was plunged into darkness, the valley and mountains disappeared from sight, and only the shimmering of the golden floor lighted the summit of the queer mountain.
A tall, red-haired man went into the centre of the shining courtyard, and spoke loudly and violently. Ranni listened and tried to understand as much as he could.
“What is he saying?” asked Mike.
“As far as I can make out he is asking the sun to stay away and let the rain come,” said Ranni. “It seems that the rain is very much overdue, and these people are praying to the sun to dress himself in the thick clouds that will bring the rain they want. I expect they have crops somewhere on the mountain-side and are in danger of losing them if the rains don’t come!”
That night the little party slept on rugs in the cold, wind-swept temple. They were all alone on the mountaintop, for their guards disappeared behind the yellow sliding door, slid it back into place again and fastened it with great long bolts. Ranni and Pilescu explored the temple, the courtyards and the corridor by the light of a torch — but there was no other door down into the mountain save the big shining one. It was as impossible to leave the top of the mountain as it had been to leave their underground room the night before.
How everyone wondered where Jack and Mafumu were, and if Captain and Mrs. Arnold were anywhere near! They did not know that the four were together! When they had left the sun-trap, they had taken the passage that led inwards, and walking as quietly as they could, had come across a queer collection of store-rooms. No one was there, so they had explored them thoroughly.
In one store-room, cut out of the solid rock, were dyes and paints of all kinds. Captain Arnold examined them closely. “Look,” he said, “this explains the red hair of the Folk of the Mountain. This is a very strong red dye, and these people use it for their hair, to scare any strangers they meet. And see — this is the curious yellow pigment they use for their skins!”
Everyone looked at the flat pots he was holding. They were full of the yellow ointment that the Secret Mountain Folk used on their skin! No wonder the Folk looked so very queer! They dyed their hair and painted their skin yellow!
When Jack knew this he no longer felt afraid of the curious appearance of the mountain people. Golly! If it was only paint and grease there was nothing strange to be afraid of! He took one of the flat pots of yellow grease and put it into his pocket. “It will be interesting to take home!” he said cheerfully.
“If we ever do get home,” thought Captain Arnold to himself. They left the store-rooms and went on down a curving passage that had a very high roof. Soon they heard a noise — and they came to the banks of the underground river, which swirled along through the mountain, black and swift. It was strange to see it there, running through an enormous cave.
“We shall get lost in this mountain if we are not careful,” said Captain Arnold, stopping and looking round. “I wonder if we are getting anywhere near where this river rushed out of the mountainside, Jack.”
Jack asked Mafumu, and the boy shook his head. “Long, long, long way,” he said mournfully. “Mafumu not know way.”
The party of four went across the cave and left the swirling river behind. They were not sure that it was the same one that made the waterfall. Captain Arnold felt certain that the mountain held two or three rivers, that all joined to make one. It was no use to follow the one they had just left.
Soon they came to a curious door, quite round and studded with a strange pattern of suns. Behind it they heard voices! “What are they saying, Mafumu?” whispered Jack.
Mafumu pressed himself as close to the door as he dared. His sharp ears picked up the voices — and as he listened Mafumu grew pale under his dark skin! He crept back to the others.
“They say that the sun-god is angry,” whispered Mafumu. “They say that he is burning up the mountains because he has no servant. He needs a servant before he will hide his head in the great clouds and bring rain. And it is from one of us that he asks for a servant!”
Mafumu spoke partly in his own language and partly in Jack’s. The other boy understood him and told Captain and Mrs. Arnold what he had said. The Captain was silent for a long time.
“It is what I feared,” he said. “One of us will be thrown down the mountain-side to lessen the anger of their sun-god! We must try to reach Mike, Peggy, Nora and the others at all costs, as soon as we can. We must warn them!”