“Mafumu, tell him that we are going down the golden stairway, and that his servants must let us out of the rock-entrance,” said Captain Arnold. Mafumu shouted at the chief. The man nodded, and entered the cage. In a trice he was gone, and the trap-door still lay flat on the ground, for he had not troubled to bolt it.
“Well, he’s gone, and so has everyone else,” said Mike, with a laugh. “My word — what an adventure! I don’t mind saying that I felt very queer myself when the sun began to disappear and the stars shone out. I could do with something to eat. Let’s go and get some of those flat cakes from the temple before we go down the stairs.”
“Well, hurry then,” said Captain Arnold. “I want to go whilst the going is good!”
The boys ran to get the cakes and some fruit. They brought it out in the flat dishes, and joined Captain and Mrs. Arnold and the girls, who were walking towards the golden door.
But as they came near, the door began to slide silently shut! Captain Arnold gave a shout and ran towards it.
“Hurry! They are shutting us out!”
He got there just as the door completely closed. There it rose above him, a tall, shining door, as wide as a great gate — fast shut.
“They’ve tricked us!” shouted the Captain angrily, and he hammered on the door. But there was no handle, no latch, nothing to get hold of or to loosen. There was no getting through that enormous door it was plain!
Big, Big Bird That Sings R-r-r-r-r-r!
“The trap-door!” shouted Mike. “We can escape through that. The chief has left it open!”