On the spur of the moment he snatched his revolver, levelled it, and
fired.
There was a prolonged, piercing shriek, as a dark mass, blacker than the
shadows, sprang high into the air.
Harry lay quite still; fear at last possessed him. The loud report of
his revolver was still singing in his ears; and, before silence reigned
again, it was as if the whole place, even the very walls, were possessed
of life.
Dark shadows were moving everywhere. All about the boy were yellow,
staring eyes, that dilated and grew smaller in the darkness. And then
Harry became conscious of a fierce, growling sound.
As far as he was able to make out, this proceeded from the largest pair
of eyes, immediately before him. And it was this that gave him the
first inkling as to the solution of the mystery: he had crept into a den
of savage beasts.
The largest pair of eyes drew nearer, and suddenly dropped lower, almost
to the level of the ground. The brute was about to spring.
There was a snarl. As quick as lightning Harry sprang aside.
The great beast collided with the wall with such force that the roof—or
as much of it as remained—came down with a crash upon the ground, and
Harry found himself buried in a mass of debris and dust.
He tried to move, but found he was unable to do so. A heavy beam lay
across his chest. With the exception of his head and shoulders he was
buried in the wreckage.
As the dust cleared, the place became illumined by the moonshine. On
the sudden disappearance of the roof, the light from without had been
admitted to the darkened chamber. At once Harry was able to see quite
distinctly, and the sight that he beheld was sufficiently alarming to
shake the nerves of even the strongest man.
Pinned to the ground, unable to move, he found himself in the midst of a
family of leopards. Quite near to him, also half buried in the
wreckage, lay the beast that he had shot—evidently the father of the
family. Six cubs, half-grown, growled and snarled on the other side of
the chamber, and in front of them, her white fangs gleaming in the
moonlight, was the mother leopard, fiercely guarding her young.
It was she who had hurled herself at the wall, who had brought down the
roof, and who now snarled repeatedly at the boy. It was apparent that
the sudden collapse of the building had given the animal a fright. Twice
she made as if she would advance, and twice drew back towards her young.
Harry was not able to fire again. The hand which held his revolver was
pinned down beneath the fallen beam. He could not move his eyes from
the leopard. At the same time, the brute feared to advance.
A sharp jet of fire—it seemed not two paces from the boy’s face—a loud
report, and the leopard rose upon its hind legs, rampant, terrible and
glorious, fighting the air with its fore feet as if in the throes of a
struggle with an invisible, all-powerful foe.
[Illustration: THE LEOPARD ROSE UPON ITS HIND LEGS, RAMPANT, TERRIBLE,
AND GLORIOUS]
Then the brute came down and lay quite still, shot through the brain by
a bullet from Jim Braid’s rifle.
Quick upon Jim’s heels, through the narrow opening in the wall, came the
two guides, Cortes leading the way.
"Are you hurt?" asked Jim.
"No," said Harry. "I am not hurt. But get me out of this; I can’t
move."
With quick hands they lifted the beams and rafters that pinned the boy
to the ground, and, a moment after, Harry was on his feet.
The young leopards gathered together in a corner of the chamber. Then,
one after the other, they sprang over the ruined wall like cats, and
disappeared into the night.
"The sheikh!" cried Fernando. "Where is he?"
"I have not seen him," answered Harry.
"He came here to-day," said Cortes, "and pitched his camp. Look here,
what’s that?"
He pointed to the ground, where lay something that was white as snow. It
was a bone.
The two boys drew back in horror. Fernando was undismayed. He calmly
picked up the bone and examined it in the moonlight.
"This is the shin-bone of a camel," said he. "Moreover, of a camel that
was killed to-day. As my brother says, the Black Dog was here."
"See this!" cried Cortes. "The ground is charred. It was here he lit
his fire."
All four searched the chamber. Besides the shin-bone, they found other
evidence that could not be disputed: four hoofs and a piece of the
Arab’s white flowing robe.
"Has the man been killed?" cried Jim.
"It seems that that is so."
"But the Sunstone!" Harry exclaimed.
"This evidence," said Fernando, "is indisputable. The Black Dog came
here by day, pitched his camp, and lit his fire. When his fire burned
out he fell asleep. He had had no sleep for forty-eight hours, and must
have been exhausted. It was whilst he was asleep that the leopards
entered. It seems I have been robbed of my revenge."
Harry looked at the man.
"So you think," said he, "that the sheikh is dead?"
Fernando pointed to the strip of the Arab’s clothes, and shrugged his
shoulders. "At all events," said he, "the camel he purchased in the
village fell a prey to the leopards."
"But," exclaimed Harry, "how could the camel have got here. We were
obliged to crawl in on hand and knees."
Fernando laughed.
"The leopards slew the camel outside," said he. "They tore it to
pieces, which they dragged in here to play with. Have you never watched
a cat?"
"Then," cried Harry, "the Sunstone has been lost!"
"Have patience," said Fernando. "We may find it yet. We will get out
of this place and wait for dawn. When the daylight comes we will search
the ruins. There is no need as yet to despair."
This advice was good. They went out together, leaving by way of the
little archway half-hidden by the cactus plant. On the sand of the
desert they lay down side by side, and, whilst one acted as sentry, the
others slept.
As soon as the sun began to rise in the east, Fernando rose to his feet.
"Come," said he, "we will search."
They looked everywhere. Under the palm-trees, the sand was all
disturbed where the eight leopards had flung themselves upon the camel.
Around the trunk of one of the trees was a rope which had been gnawed in
half. In the inner chamber of the temple no further evidence was
forthcoming, and this was in part due to the fact that the ground was
covered with the wreckage of the roof. It was the younger guide who
discovered in the outer chamber a drop of blood upon the stones.
The man evidently considered that he had found a clue of great
importance; but to the two boys it seemed quite obvious that this was
the blood of the camel that had been dragged piecemeal through the
narrow opening.
"No," said Cortes, shaking his head. "These are small drops of blood.
It is possible the Black Dog is still alive."
At that he turned upon his heel and set off at a jog-trot across the
plain. When he was a long way off, they saw him waving his arms
frantically, in the highest state of excitement.
They ran to the place where he was, and found him pointing to the
ground.
"Look there!" he cried. "I was right. The sheikh has escaped!"
Sure enough, upon the soft sand was a line of footmarks, leading in the
direction of the plateau. Every now and again the trail was marked by a
small drop of blood.
Harry asked for an explanation.
"It is very simple," answered Cortes. "The leopards first attacked the
camel, which was tethered to a palm-tree outside the temple. The Black
Dog was awakened from his sleep and endeavoured to escape. As he fled
from the entrance he must have encountered a leopard. His cloak was
torn, but he escaped, bearing the marks of the leopard’s teeth or claws,
probably in his thigh. Wounded, he has gone back to the hills, knowing
that there lies his only chance of safety."
The man was certain of his facts. Moreover, the evidence of the
foot-marks and the blood spoor was too strong to be denied.
"Come!" cried Fernando. "He is as good as ours, unless he is only
slightly hurt."