“Dez.” cried Alan. “Dez, a way of escape has come.”
Desmond opened his eyes and looked round vacantly, and indeed it was some time before he realized the wonderful thing that had happened.
The underworld folk had made one last mighty effort to reach them, and the boys could have gone down on their knees to thank the purple people, for their machinations had given them hope once more.
CHAPTER V
A FRIEND FROM THE ENEMY
Desmond, still weak, raised himself up, and looked about him; and even as he did so, a huge boulder fell from the blocked secret entrance that led to the city of the underworld.
“They are bombarding the place,” said Alan looking startled, “let us go through there,” and he pointed to the little passage that had been revealed to them so strangely.
“We can blockade it from the other side,” said Desmond, “and at least it will give us more time.”
A close examination revealed to them a hinged slab of stone that swung easily to and fro, and the spring that fastened it in place was plain to see on the inner side. They crept into the passage, closed the stone after them, and piled rocks and stones in front of it as an extra protection. Again came a weary time of waiting—a time when the cave was filled with wild laughter and hideous ravings—when the furies of Hell itself seemed let loose on the other side. The purple fiends had forced an entrance, but too late. Their prey had escaped them.
Alan and Desmond lay and listened to the babel of their voices, for strangely enough the slightest sound from the other cave was magnified in this inner one. Then a silence fell, and they realized that the purple savages had once more gone. Hungrily they gathered roots and ate them greedily—when a woman’s cry, clear and distinct, startled them. Again and again it came—“Ar-lane! Jez-mun!”
Their names were called in the quaint pronunciation of the underworld folk.