Before his astonished eyes, the boy saw the wolf-tailed men force the two Baronians down through the hole beneath the great statue. Every robber followed. Then the statue, smoothly and silently as before, began to move. The two halves joined together closely, and the image was whole once more, its cracked face shining in the moonlight.
“No wonder there was such a crack down the middle of it!” thought the boy. “It wasn’t a crack — it was a split, where the two halves joined! Golly, this is awful. I wonder if it’s safe to go.”
He waited for a while and then stole quietly out of the cave, looking behind him fearfully as he went. But no robber was there to follow him. The boy sped swiftly down the track in the moonlight, anxious to get to the others.
They were all awake. Jack got them into his room and told them hurriedly all that had happened. Paul was shocked, and anxious to hear about Ranni and Pilescu, whom he loved with all his heart.
“I am going to rescue them,” he announced, getting into his clothes at once.
“Don’t be an idiot, Paul,” said Mike. “You can’t go after robbers.”
“Yes, I can,” said Paul, fiercely, and his big dark eyes gleamed. “I am a Baronian prince, and I will not leave my men in danger. I go now to find them!”
When Paul got ideas of this sort into his head, there was no stopping him. Jack groaned. He turned to the girls.
“We’d better go with Paul and keep the idiot out of danger. You go and wake Tooku and Yamen and tell them what has happened. They will think of the best thing to do. Don’t frighten Paul’s mother, will you?”
Paul was already out of the front door, running down the steps in the moonlight. Ranni and Pilescu were in danger! Then he, their little prince must rescue them. Mike and Jack tore after him. A big adventure had begun!