chapter 19 all kinds of shocks

they stood there for a little while, not certain what to do. it was all so very unexpected. then billshook himself and grinned round at the others.

"well — it looks as if we've got to spend the night here, doesn't it — and get our supper ourselves.

thank goodness we've got the food that extraordinary boy brought on his donkey! and jack's got therest of our picnic lunch as well.""oh yes — i'd forgotten that!" said dinah, pleased. she had been thinking they would have nothingto eat.

"we can go and tuck in straight away," said bill. "we'll find somewhere to sleep all right — it's verywarm, and we shan't take any harm. i don't particularly want to go and find one of those farms wesaw, in case andros takes it into his head to call back for us. he must have gone crazy."it was a curious evening that they all spent on thamis. they went to find the store of food and had avery good meal indeed. they put the rest of it safely back in the cool place they had stored it in atfirst. then they went wandering round the silent, ruined old city again. lucy-ann found an old potwith a broken neck, which she was very pleased with. jack found some kind of metal fork — at leastthat is what he took it to be — with two of its prongs gone.

bill had been hunting about for some place to sleep in. he hadn't been very successful. at last hechose a room not far from the ruined temple, one that had three walls and a little roof left. it wasovergrown with thick grass and would have to do for a bedroom.

the sun was going down. it would soon be gone. bill decided to put the food in the "bedroom" too,then it would be handy if they wanted any. he and the boys removed it from the place it was in andput it carefully in some thick, cool grass. they were glad there was such a lot!

when the sun disappeared everyone felt tired. lucy-ann was yawning her head off, and so was kiki.

micky explored the ruined little room thoroughly, approved of it and settled down on philip as soonas the boy had made himself a fairly soft bed in the thickly-growing grass.

the four children fell asleep at once. kiki perched herself quietly on jack's middle as soon as sheknew he was asleep. he had pushed her off two or three times, but this time he didn't wake, and sheremained where she was, her head tucked under her wing.

bill lay and looked up at the stars he could see through the holes in the roof. he was angry withhimself for bringing the children to thamis. now they had landed in difficulties again — all becauseof a legendary and most elusive treasure, one that certainly hadn't existed for years — if it had everexisted at all!

he puzzled over the boy on the donkey, who had brought the food. he puzzled over the blocked-upentrance and the battery lucy-ann had found — but more than anything he puzzled over the suddendisappearance of andros.

he was just about to fall off to sleep when he heard a noise. micky must have heard it too, because hestirred and his small head looked round the "bedroom." bill lay and listened, holding his breath. wasit a noise he had heard?

then he heard the unmistakable sound of a voice! then another voice, deep and complaining. wheredid they come from?

he sat up cautiously and listened again. the voices came once more, and then bill heard footsteps —footsteps coming down the ruined city street! he didn't like it at all. who on earth was walkingthrough the old dead city in the middle of the night?

kiki had heard the voices too. she flew out of the room she was in and hid herself under the ledge ofan arch, waiting. the footsteps came nearer. the voices came too, talking together. bill silentlyposted himself beside a broken window-opening and watched. there was only starlight to see by, buthe might be able to make out something.

two dark figures came up the street. they stopped every now and again. it seemed to bill as if theywere looking in the ruined buildings to find something. would they look into this one and find thechildren? bill debated whether he should go out and accost these people? who were they, anyway?

then he decided that people who walk the streets of a ruined city at dead of night are not perhaps thebest people to ask help from, and he remained where he was.

the two dark figures arrived near by. he heard their voices again, but they spoke in a foreignlanguage — greek, he thought — and he couldn't understand a word. they were obviously lookingfor something, bill thought — and then he suddenly guessed what it was.

the food perhaps! maybe the boy had brought it for them — and they hadn't been there — but billhad, and had got it instead. now the men were looking for it, sure that the boy had dumped itsomewhere.

"they'll look in here then, sure as anything," thought bill. but they didn't. just as they got to thebroken doorway, near where the parrot was perched, kiki went off like a pistol-shot.

crack!

the children all woke up at once and sat up. they were too startled to make a sound, and as soon asthey heard bill's "sh!" they sat silently waiting.

the two men were most alarmed. bill could see them clutching one another. they said somethingrapidly, obviously asking each other what that noise was.

kiki considered them. she didn't like them. she began to cackle with laughter, and this horrified themen more than anything else could have done. kiki's laughter was so completely idiotic that it frozethem to the marrow.

kiki stopped. she swelled out her throat and began to make her famous noise of an express trainscreeching through a tunnel, getting louder and louder and louder. it was a magnificent effort, andhad very satisfactory results.

the men screeched too, in panic, and set off as fast as they could, certain that something terrible wascoming after them. kiki sent another pistol-shot after them and then relapsed into cackles.

"well, really, kiki," said bill, when the two men were completely gone. "what a performance!""who was it out there, bill?" asked dinah.

"i've no idea," said bill. "but i have a feeling it was two hungry fellows come to look for the food thesmall boy presented us with today. anyway they've departed in a great hurry.""kiki was marvellous, wasn't she?" said jack. "good old kiki! clever bird!"kiki gave an out-size hiccup. "pardon! send for the doctor! pop goes the weasel.""yes. very nice. but that's enough now," said jack. "bill, who do you think those men were?""i've just told you — i've no idea," said bill. "this place beats me. come on, let's go to sleep again. idon't somehow think those fellows will come back — and if we have any other visitors i've no doubtkiki will deal with them!"they settled themselves off to sleep again. bill lay awake wondering a little more, then he too fellasleep. he didn't wake till morning.

the others were already awake. jack had awakened very thirsty and had gone to look for water. hefound a well beside a tumbledown house some way down the hill, and saw water in it. it wasn't longbefore he had rigged up a way of bringing up the water, which was crystal clear and cold.

he tied string round the broken pot lucy-ann had found and lowered it down the well. it didn't holdmuch water because the neck was broken, but it was enough for them all to quench their thirst. theyhad breakfast off the rolls and cheeses, and hoped the boy would come again that day!

"go down and see if there's any sign of the boat, jack," said bill, when they had finished. so off hewent, and soon came back to report that the creek was empty. no boat was anywhere to be seen.

"well — we shall just have to wait about that's all," said bill. "it will only be a question of time tillwe are taken off. tim will wonder what's happened for one thing. or andros will discover he's done acrazy thing, and come back for us!"at about twelve o'clock they heard the dong-dong-dong of the donkey's bell again, and round thesame corner came the imp of a boy. bill knew what to do this time! he and the others unpacked thefood, the boy was paid, and, with the donkey's bell ringing loudly, he departed, much better pleasedwith his reception. everyone stared after him.

"really very extraordinary," said bill. "let's hide the food quickly, before the real recipients comealong. we'll have a meal ourselves too. i'm hungry!"they dragged it to the room in which they had slept the night before, and had a good meal beforethey hid it. bill wondered if he should find his way to one of the farms for help. but what help couldthey give? and what kind of a reception would he get? anything might happen to him on this lonelyisland. he might be robbed and kept prisoner, or even killed.

jack asked bill to give him the map to study — the redrawn one. "not that it's going to be much use,"said jack, with a grin. "now that i'm on thamis i don't think so much of it as i did. and it's difficultto believe in treasure when all you can see around you is a lot of ruins."bill gave him the map. jack took it into the space once occupied by the temple, and sat down in acorner. lucy-ann came to sit with him. kiki settled between them, murmuring companionably.

the two red heads bent over the map together. "it's got so many things on it that i can't make out thereason for," said jack. " 'two-fingers' — well we know what that means all right — and now lookhere — a lot further on, it says 'bell.' well, what does that mean? bell! what has a bell? a donkey, ofcourse — and schools have bells — and . . .""churches," said lucy-ann. "i expect this old temple had a bell once upon a time. i wonder where itwas."she looked round and about but could see no place where a bell could have hung.

jack looked at her suddenly. "lucy-ann — of course — a temple would have a bell. the temple maybe one of the clues, one of the guides to the treasure.""do you think so?" said lucy-ann doubtfully. "but — surely the treasure would have been hiddendeep underground somewhere — not in the temple, up here. we know the entrance to the secretpassage was far down the hill, just above the creek.""would it be hidden under the temple perhaps!" said jack. "or somewhere near. maybe the templehad vaults. i say — that's an idea! if this one once had vaults, they must still be there. vaults don'tbecome ruins, like buildings. they're not exposed to wind and rain and sun. vaults! yes — goingdeep down into the hill — reached by an underground passage from the creek — a passage that couldbe approached easily enough from the sea — could be used by sailors who wanted to smuggle ingoods. lucy-ann — there must be vaults! come on — we'll look for them."lucy-ann, half excited, half disbelieving, got up and followed jack. he began to hunt all over whatmust have once been the courtyard. it was too overgrown to tell if any way could be foundunderground.

they leaned against a great half-broken column to rest themselves. there was a large piece out of thecolumn just above their heads, and kiki flew up there to perch. at that moment micky camebounding into the old courtyard of the temple, followed by the others. he saw kiki and leapt upbeside her.

she wasn't expecting him, and was startled and angry. she gave him such a violent nip that he lost hisbalance on the ledge — and fell backwards into the inside of the enormous column!

he shrieked with fright as he fell, and kiki poked her head inside the hole to see what had happenedto him.

"all gone," she announced in a hollow voice. "all gone. ding-dong-bell.""you idiot, kiki!" shouted philip. "hey, micky, micky. come on up!"but there was no micky. only a little whimpering cry came up. "he's hurt," said philip. "here, jack,give me a leg-up. i'll go down into the column after him. he can't have fallen very far."jack gave him a leg-up. he got on to the broken place, swung his legs in and was about to jump downwhen he stopped and looked in cautiously.

"hey, bill!" he called. "hand me your torch. i'd better look before i leap, i think. there's somethingqueer here!"bill handed him up his torch. philip switched it on and looked down into the hollow of the greatcolumn. he turned and looked back at the others.

"i say — it's queer. it looks as if there's steps at the bottom of this column! what do you think ofthat!"