“What sort of rock?” asked Pilescu.
“It was an enormous rock,” said Ranni. “It was strange because it was much smaller at the bottom than at the top, so that it looked almost as if it must fall over. Well, as we watched, one of the Mountain Folk went up to the rock and pushed hard against it.”
“Why, he couldn’t surely move an enormous rock!” cried Mike.
“That’s what I thought,” said Ranni. “But that rock must be one of these curious balancing rocks that can be pivoted, or swung-round, at a touch, no matter how big they are. There are just a few known in the world, and this is another.”
“What happened when the rock swung round?” asked Pilescu.
“It not only swung round, it slid to one side,” said Ranni. “Just like the rock in the story of Ali Baba that you told me! And behind it was a great door in the mountain-side studded with shining knobs that glittered in the sun!”
Everyone stared at Ranni in silence, too excited to speak. So that was the way into the mountain! They had stumbled on it quite by accident.
“Go on,” whispered Peggy at last.
“I couldn’t see how the great doorway was opened,” said Ranni. “It seemed to slide to one side, very quietly — but whether it was opened from the outside or the inside I really don’t know. Then the rock rolled back into place again, and swung back into position with that terrific roaring, groaning sound you heard.”
“And did the people go into the mountain?” asked Mike.