“The cave! The cave! Do you hear what I say? Get inside quick, and I will follow.”
From inside the cave Neram reached out a hand and drew Ashati within the sheltering blackness.
As Bomba was about to follow, the monkeys, following the leadership of the great ape that had begun the actual attack, dropped to the ground and swarmed toward Bomba.
The boy leaped for the gaping mouth of the cave just as the first of the monkeys grazed his arm with its paw.
Neram and Ashati dragged him further into the depths of the cavern, while, with a shriek of rage, the baffled monkey, seeking to follow, dashed instead into the rock surface at the side.
Bomba stubbed his foot, bruising it as he fell forward into the cave. He stooped down to examine the object and found that it was a great rock.
“Come, help me!” he cried to the two slaves, who were fully awake now to the fact that there was hope of escape.
They stooped to aid him, and as the monkeys recovered from their surprise at the sudden disappearance of their enemies and began to search out the entrance to the cave, those within rolled the great stone to the entrance, fairly blocking it.
While they held that stone in place they were safe.
Bomba and his companions sank down on the ground, gasping for breath, and pressed their weight against the rock.