CHAPTER VIII

IN THE ENEMY'S CAMP

When they had gone a few miles, the Bear told Mary Carmichael to stop (which she was very glad to do, being breathless and having a bad stitch in her side), and climbing down he walked off gaily and rapidly towards a neighbouring wood.

In a wonderfully short time he came back, carrying over his shoulder a little glossy black bearskin.

Baby Jane danced round him with delight. In a moment she had packed herself and her petticoats into the skin, but she was almost too excited to stand still while the Bear skilfully fastened up the opening--she felt so delightfully safe and cosy, peeping forth at the outer world through the little eye-holes.

'But how did you get it?' she asked. It was always an unwise question to ask the Bear. However, he did not seem to hear her, but began talking as if to himself in an absent-minded way.

'What to do with our boys! Yes, that's a puzzle. Now, there was my nephew Billy. Ah! a bad sort was Billy; his heart was as black as his hide. No sort of good for anything, and so unkind and rude to his poor old Uncle. And yet it was his dear old Uncle that found some use for him!'

You will probably understand why it was lucky that Baby Jane was prevented from asking any more questions by a strange appearance, which altogether turned her thoughts from the little black bearskin.

Just as they made Mary kneel down like a camel so that they might settle themselves comfortably upon her back to continue the journey, they heard a loud squeaking and whistling behind them and the patter of galloping feet, and who should pull up alongside but the Rabbit mounted on a fox!

'My eye! What a guy!' was his first remark as he pointed rudely at Baby Jane in her new disguise, and then he stuffed his paw into his mouth as if to stifle his laughter.

'What, you Rab----' cried Baby Jane, but the Rabbit cut her short by clapping one paw to his lips, while he pointed at the fox with the other and frowned heavily. Then he winked, and, craning his neck, whispered in Baby Jane's ear:

'Sh! sh! _He thinks_ I'm a wolf!'

'Thinks you're a wolf?'

'That's it,' said the Rabbit calmly. 'I was coming after you and getting pretty tired, when I met him. He looked rather nasty, so I asked him if he had just met a rhinoceros disguised as an ostrich and a lion disguised as a walrus. All my friends were travelling in disguise. He looked more respectful after that, and he asks politely, "And what may you be?"'

'What did you say?' asked Baby Jane.

'Oh,' said the Rabbit lightly, 'I just barked at him and told him that I was a young wolf in disguise, and that he might give me a lift, and look lively about it. And here I am!'

Then he held up his arms to be picked up by Baby Jane; and the Bear, having picked them both up, clambered on to Mary's back. The whole party then moved off, leaving the Fox gazing after them in bewilderment.

'Good-bye, Foxy,' cried the Rabbit, waving his paw over Baby Jane's shoulder. 'I'm a wolf, ain't I? But you wouldn't guess what this is!' (Here he pointed to Mary Carmichael.) 'You might think it was a bony 'bus-horse. But it isn't; it's a hairy antelope in disguise!'

This was too much for the Fox's powers of belief, and it suddenly dawned upon him that the Rabbit had been utterly untruthful from first to last. For the next few minutes he was the wildest animal ever seen, even in that land of wild animals.

After this Baby Jane's cavalcade trotted steadily on, and the Mountains rose higher and higher into the sky before them. It was hard to think that they were inhabited by bad creatures, for they were very beautiful. From rounded foot-hills of olive velvet, embroidered with glowing red-stemmed, black-capped pine trees, broad cliffs flanked by pinnacles, all of black marble veined with white, rose, step by step, to the snow-clad heights piled up against the sky like thunder-clouds passing away.

They had wondered why they had met none of the enemy; and now they saw the reason, for up the foot-hills a never-ending line of beasts was winding among the pine trees and disappearing into a great cleft in a marble cliff. With the Bear leading, and now all on foot, the little party calmly joined in the procession, and such was their air of self-possession that nobody suspected them in the least. To be sure, Baby Jane was shaking in her bearskin on finding herself walking among these terrible creatures, but she kept close against the Bear. It was Mary and the Rabbit who really were in danger, but the Black Mountain Band evidently had something important on hand and had no thought of eating for the moment.

By-and-bye, keeping in the stream of animals, they passed into the great pointed cleft in the face of the cliff. For some little way it ran like a tunnel, but then it grew higher and wider, how high and how wide they could not tell, but in the dim light from the entrance they could follow huge marble pillars up and up until they were lost in darkness a hundred yards above their heads, and the blackness in the depths of the cavern was faintly jewelled with thousands of pale green eyes--it seemed to be an infinite distance.

Along the wall near the entrance ran a ledge about ten feet high, and up and down this a gigantic Leopard prowled restlessly, as if he were in a cage.

At length, when the stream of shadowy creatures had ceased to flow through the entrance, he came to a stop in the middle of the ledge, and, raising his head, cried in a horrible, snarling voice:

'What news of those tame sheep in the plain?'

'Meaning us!' whispered the Rabbit behind his paw.

'Nobody seems to know anything. I'd better give him a little news myself'; and then, to the horror of Baby Jane, he stood up and snapped his fingers to attract the Leopard's attention. For some moments the Leopard's eye, roving over the dim assembly, did not catch the little figure. The Rabbit gave a shrill whistle between his fingers, and shouted 'Hi, Mister!'

Then the Leopard turned his head haughtily towards the little beast, and the many thousand green eyes in the depths of the cavern also turned slowly altogether upon the impertinent animal, whom no one had eaten merely because he was thought to be the big Bear's supper.

'Here you are!' squeaked the Rabbit, 'extry special news from our own correspondent'; and then he struck a fine attitude, and went on: 'Disguised as a duck-billed platypus, coolly I strolled into the enemy's camp. I thought they were the most trumpery tadpoles that ever I saw until I met their generals. They were ten times worse. First there was that girl Baby Jane, funniest thing you ever saw! Those freckles on her nose, oh my!'

'There are only two,' whispered Baby Jane fiercely, 'and they are little ones!'

'Then there was a Bear. Well, ha, ha! it called itself a Bear. I thought it was a moth-eaten hearthrug come to life. And as for the Horse, her bones stick out so they catch in the creepers and things, as she goes along, and they have to stop every minute to unhook her. But the Rabbit--he's the one bright spot in that shabby lot, a well set up young fellow, and clever as he is good-looking; yet they say that that Baby Jane slaps him cruelly at times.'

'And will slap him twice as cruelly when she gets him outside,' whispered Baby Jane again.

Here the Leopard made an impatient movement.

'How many are there?' he snarled.

'Oh, say half each for the ladies and gentlemen present,' said the Rabbit, affecting to count off the steady green eyes with his paw; 'and they are just ready for the table!'

'That horse--think of grilled bones, your lordship, a splendid lot of bones for grilling she has! And that Bear, fat as pork. Think of the crackling! But mind that Rabbit. Fried, fricasseed, roast or raw, don't you have nothing to do with him. He lives on cod liver oil and crumpets, and tastes even worse!'

'To-morrow I give a banquet in the plain!' roared the Leopard, and in answer, from the depths of the cavern came a great juicy, 'Thlap, thlap!' of smacking lips.

'Drop in at tea-time!' said the Rabbit. 'They can't move then. You should just see the amount they put away. That Horse always has six cups!'

'I never did!' said Mary.

* * * * *

There was an ominous silence. Baby Jane trembled in her bear-skin as she saw the Black Leopard's glittering green eyes fixed upon the little band. The Rabbit then seemed to see that there was something wrong. But it was too late! It was done! They were betrayed!