Absolute silence reigned. The truth burst upon him as in a flash: the stockade had been abandoned. And at that moment there was a great crashing sound as the gate swung back upon its hinges, and Crouch and Harden burst into the fort.
[CHAPTER XX--THE RATS ESCAPE]
Edward Harden, rifle in hand, led the way, followed by Crouch and the four Fans. As they entered the stockade, expecting to be attacked from all sides in the darkness, they opened out in accordance with a pre-arranged plan. Crouch turned to the left and Edward to the right; and then, taking post on the banquette, they stood ready to fire.
For a few seconds there was absolute silence. The situation was so unlooked for that they could not, at first, realize what had happened. Then Crouch's voice was lifted in the night.
"By Christopher, the rats are gone!"
Max, guided by the sound of these words, found the sea-captain in the darkness, and confirmed his suspicions. He said that he had been several minutes within the stockade, and had neither seen nor heard a living soul.
It seemed as if the valley of the Hidden River would maintain its reputation to the last. There was no end to mystery. Time and again were they confronted with facts that they were wholly unable to explain.
It was M'Wané who found a lantern in the hut which had formerly been occupied by de Costa; and with the help of this they searched the huts, one after the other, in the hope of being able to discover Cæsar's line of retreat.
It was not possible that the Portuguese and his Arab attendants had left the stockade by way of the gate. By day, the garrison had been under the constant observation of their sentinel on the hills. Every night, as soon as it was sufficiently dark to permit them to approach, the stockade had been surrounded. They found nothing suspicious in any one of the huts, until they came to Cæsar's, before which the yellow flag still unfurled itself upon the wind. Here they discovered that the ruby chest had gone.
Now, it would require four men, at least, to carry this heavy chest to the water's edge, and even then, the task could not have been accomplished without noise. It was impossible to believe that the garrison had passed through the little investing force by dead of night. And yet, as far as they could see, there was no other means of escape. Cæsar and his slave-drivers had vanished as suddenly and unaccountably as if they had been spirited away.