“They did,” answered Ranni, “We saw no more of them.”
Everyone sat silent for a while, thinking of the queer entrance to the Secret Mountain. So that was what Mafumu’s uncle had meant when he said that to get into the mountain one had to walk through rock!
“Well — what are we going to do?” said Jack. “We know the way in — but I wonder how that great studded door is opened! Oh, Ranni — can we try to get in tonight?”
“We’d better,” said Ranni. “I will try by myself and see what happens. You can all find good hiding-places nearby and watch. I’ll take my gun, you may be sure!”
The children could hardly wait for the sudden nightfall to come. They found themselves good hiding-places — though Jack and Mafumu found the best. Theirs was up a big tree not far from the mountain entrance. Mafumu found it, of course, and helped Jack up there. The others were behind or in the middle of thick bushes.
When the stars hung brightly, and a crescent moon shone in the sky, Ranni crept forward to the strange rock, whose black shadow was enormous in the night. Everyone watched, hardly daring to breathe in case anything happened to Ranni.
Big Ranni stepped quietly up to the rock. He thought he knew exactly where to heave, for he had seen one of the Mountain Folk move the rock and had noted the exact place. But it was difficult to find it at night.
Ranni shoved and pushed. He pressed against the rock and heaved with all his might. Nothing happened. He stopped and mopped his hot forehead, wondering which was the right place to press against.
He tried again and again — and just as he was giving up something happened. He pushed at the right place quite by accident! With a groaning roar the enormous rock swung slowly round and then slid back. The noise it made was terrific. Ranni sprang back into the shadows, afraid that a hundred Mountain Folk might come rushing out at him.
The studded door shone in the moonlight. It did not open. It stood there; big and solid, strange and silent, barring the way. Nobody came. Nobody shouted to see who had swung back the rock. Only the night-sounds came on the air, and the sound of the distant waterfall.