“It must be somewhere near here,” said Firetop, “but I can’t see it. It’s hidden behind the bushes, whatever it is.”
“Maybe it was a bear and he has moved,” said Firefly, looking fearfully over her shoulder.
Of course they could not be quite sure there were no such creatures on the island.
“Pooh,” said Firetop, “I’m not afraid. Come along.”
They hunted up and down and sideways for some distance along the bluff, and were almost ready to give up, when a branch that Firetop was holding broke and he fell backward down the slope. He rolled over two or three times, and when he stopped rolling and sat up he was looking directly into the mouth of a great dark cave. A lot of stones and dirt came tumbling down with him, and, with that and some noise that Firetop made himself, there was quite a disturbance.
The cave was full of owls, and when the stones and dirt and a boy dropped in on them suddenly, they were very much surprised. No fewer than six of them flew out of the cave, and as they were blinded by the light, they bumped right into Firetop.
Those still in the cave flew about and beat their wings against the rocks. This made a terrible sound in the hollow cave, and besides that, they hooted. Firetop had never met an owl at such short range
before, and his red hair stood straight up on his head, he was so scared. He beat the owls off with his arms and yelled at the top of his lungs.
Firefly heard him and came plunging through the bushes after him. In another minute she too had fallen through the same place and landed beside Firetop. By the time they had picked themselves up, the owls had flown to a shelf on the rock, and there they roosted in a row, staring solemnly at the Twins.