The statue’s face began to widen! It began to split in half! Jack stared in astonishment and horror. What could be happening? Was it coming alive? Were those old tales true, then?
Then he saw that the whole statue was splitting slowly and silently in half. The two halves were moving apart. It all happened so smoothly and silently that Ranni and Pilescu heard no sound at all, and had no warning.
Jack was so amazed that he could not say a word. The statue split completely in half, the two halves moving right apart — and then, from the floor of the flat rock beneath, a man’s shaggy head appeared, full in the moonlight — the head of one of the robbers!
Jack gave a yell. “Ranni! Pilescu! Look out! The robbers are coming! Look at the statue!”
Ranni and Pilescu, amazed at Jack’s voice, and at what he said, swung round quickly. They stared in the utmost amazement at the split statue, and saw the head and shoulders of the robber below. With a wild yell the robber leapt up into the temple, calling to his friends below:
“Come! Come! Here are enemies!”
In half a minute the cave was full of robbers. Ranni and Pilescu, taken completely by surprise, had their hands bound. They fought and struggled fiercely, but the robbers were too many for them.
Ranni remembered Jack’s voice, and knew that the boy must be somewhere about. He must have followed them! Ranni called out in English:
“Don’t show yourself, Jack. Go and give warning to the others.”
Jack did not answer, of course. He crouched down behind a statue, watching the fight, knowing that it would be useless to join in, and hoping that the robbers would not see him.