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 stitchin her side), and climbing down he walked off gaily and rapidly towardsa neighbouring wood.
In a wonderfully short time he came back, carrying over his shoulder alittle glossy black bearskin.
Baby Jane danced round him with delight. In a moment she had packedherself and her petticoats into the skin, but she was almost too excitedto stand still while the Bear skilfully fastened up the opening--shefelt so delightfully safe and cosy, peeping forth at the outer worldthrough the little eye-holes.
'But how did you get it?' she asked. It was always an unwise question toask the Bear. However, he did not seem to hear her, but began talking asif to himself in an absent-minded way.
Baby Jane danced round him with delight.]
'What to do with our boys! Yes, that's a puzzle. Now, there was mynephew Billy. Ah! a bad sort was Billy; his heart was as black as hishide. No sort of good for anything, and so unkind and rude to his poorold Uncle. And yet it was his dear old Uncle that found some use forhim!'
You will probably understand why it was lucky that Baby Jane wasprevented from asking any more questions by a strange appearance, whichaltogether turned her thoughts from the little black bearskin.
She was almost too excited to stand still.]
Just as they made Mary kneel down like a camel so that they might settlethemselves comfortably upon her back to continue the journey, they hearda loud squeaking and whistling behind them and the patter of gallopingfeet, 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 BabyJane in her new disguise, and then he stuffed his paw into his mouth asif to stifle his laughter.
'What, you Rab----' cried Baby Jane, but the Rabbit cut her short byclapping one paw to his lips, while he pointed at the fox with the otherand frowned heavily. Then he winked, and, craning his neck, whispered inBaby 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 gettingpretty tired, when I met him. He looked rather nasty, so I asked him ifhe had just met a rhinoceros disguised as an ostrich and a liondisguised as a walrus. All my friends were travelling in disguise. Helooked more respectful after that, and he asks politely, "And what mayyou be?"'
'What did you say?' asked Baby Jane.
'Oh,' said the Rabbit lightly, 'I just barked at him and told him that Iwas a young wolf in disguise, and that he might give me a lift, and looklively 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 partythen moved off, leaving the Fox gazing after them in bewilderment.
'Good-bye, Foxy,' cried the Rabbit, waving his paw over Baby Jane'sshoulder. '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 dawnedupon 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 inthat land of wild animals.
After this Baby Jane's cavalcade trotted steadily on, and the Mountainsrose higher and higher into the sky before them. It was hard to thinkthat they were inhabited by bad creatures, for they were very beautiful.From rounded foot-hills of olive velvet, embroidered with glowingred-stemmed, black-capped pine trees, broad cliffs flanked by pinnacles,all of black marble veined with white, rose, step by step, to thesnow-clad heights piled up against the sky like thunder-clouds passingaway.
They had wondered why they had met none of the enemy; and now they sawthe reason, for up the foot-hills a never-ending line of beasts waswinding among the pine trees and disappearing into a great cleft in amarble cliff. With the Bear leading, and now all on foot, the littleparty calmly joined in the procession, and such was their air ofself-possession that nobody suspected them in the least. To be sure,Baby Jane was shaking in her bearskin on finding herself walking amongthese terrible creatures, but she kept close against the Bear. It wasMary and the Rabbit who really were in danger, but the Black MountainBand evidently had something important on hand and had no thought ofeating for the moment.
By-and-bye, keeping in the stream of animals, they passed into the greatpointed cleft in the face of the cliff. For some little way it ran likea tunnel, but then it grew higher and wider, how high and how wide theycould not tell, but in the dim light from the entrance they could followhuge marble pillars up and up until they were lost in darkness a hundredyards above their heads, and the blackness in the depths of the cavernwas faintly jewelled with thousands of pale green eyes--it seemed to bean infinite distance.
Along the wall near the entrance ran a ledge about ten feet high, and upand down this a gigantic Leopard prowled restlessly, as if he were in acage.
At length, when the stream of shadowy creatures had ceased to flowthrough 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 newsmyself'; and then, to the horror of Baby Jane, he stood up and snappedhis fingers to attract the Leopard's attention. For some moments theLeopard's eye, roving over the dim assembly, did not catch the littlefigure. The Rabbit gave a shrill whistle between his fingers, andshouted 'Hi, Mister!'
Then the Leopard turned his head haughtily towards the little beast, andthe many thousand green eyes in the depths of the cavern also turnedslowly altogether upon the impertinent animal, whom no one had eatenmerely because he was thought to be the big Bear's supper.
'Here you are!' squeaked the Rabbit, 'extry special news from our owncorrespondent'; and then he struck a fine attitude, and went on:'Disguised as a duck-billed platypus, coolly I strolled into the enemy'scamp. I thought they were the most trumpery tadpoles that ever I sawuntil I met their generals. They were ten times worse. First there wasthat girl Baby Jane, funniest thing you ever saw! Those freckles on hernose, oh my!'
'There are only two,' whispered Baby Jane fiercely, 'and they are littleones!'
'Then there was a Bear. Well, ha, ha! it called itself a Bear. I thoughtit was a moth-eaten hearthrug come to life. And as for the Horse, herbones stick out so they catch in the creepers and things, as she goesalong, and they have to stop every minute to unhook her. But theRabbit--he's the one bright spot in that shabby lot, a well set up youngfellow, and clever as he is good-looking; yet they say that that BabyJane 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 theRabbit, affecting to count off the steady green eyes with his paw; 'andthey are just ready for the table!'
Baby Jane slaps him cruelly at times.]
'That horse--think of grilled bones, your lordship, a splendid lot ofbones for grilling she has! And that Bear, fat as pork. Think of thecrackling! But mind that Rabbit. Fried, fricasseed, roast or raw, don'tyou 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 inanswer, 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. Youshould just see the amount they put away. That Horse always has sixcups!'
'I never did!' said Mary.
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There was an ominous silence. Baby Jane trembled in her bear-skin as shesaw the Black Leopard's glittering green eyes fixed upon the littleband. The Rabbit then seemed to see that there was something wrong. Butit was too late! It was done! They were betrayed!
Baby Jane's Mission Page 11