Then he stepped on over the deep, soft sand, and was about to pass through into the outer cavern, when he saw something which made him dart back, to come heavily in collision with Vince; but not until the latter had seen that which startled Mike.
For there, standing in the sand, gazing up at the fissure, was a heavy, thick-set, foreign-looking man, with short black hair, a very brown skin, and wearing glistening gold earrings, each as far across as a half-crown piece. The glance taken by the boys was short enough, but they saw more than that, for they caught sight of a rope hanging down and a man’s legs just appearing.
“Vite! vite!” cried the foreign-looking fellow. “Dépêchez; make you haste, you slow swab you.”
There was a growl from above, and something was said, but the boys did not hear what. They heard the beating of their hearts, though, and a choking sensation rose to their throats as they stood in the narrow way between the two caverns, asking themselves the same question—What to do?
For they were between two fires. The caves were in foreign occupation, that was plain enough; and the whistle had not come from young Carnach, but from some one else.
There could be no doubt about it: these were not strangers, but the smuggling crew come to life again after being dead a hundred years, if Mike was right; a crew of the present day, come to see about their stores, if Vince’s was the right version.
Whichever it was, they seemed to be quite at home, for a second whistle came chirruping out of the long passage, as the boys hurried into the gloomy inner cave for safety, and this was answered by the Frenchman, who roared:
“Ah, tousan tonderres! Make you cease if I come;” but all the same an answering whistle came from the outer cave.
What to do? Where to hide? They were hemmed in; and it was evident that either the party in the long passage was coming down, and might even now be close to the slope, or the Frenchman and the others were going to him.
It took little time to grasp all this, and almost as little to decide what to do. The boys had but the two courses open to them—to face it out with the foreign-looking man, who seemed to be leader, and his followers; or to hide.