CHAPTER XX

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*THE DEATH POOL.*

It was well for Alondra that Gerald and Jack happened to be walking in the gardens that particular morning. They had, in fact, strolled out to look for him, and Providence must have led them into the neighbourhood of the large glass-house just at the critical moment. They also noticed--as he had done--that the outer door was standing open; and they were reading the warning notice with great curiosity, and considering whether, in despite of it, they should venture on a peep inside, when a terrible cry rang out from within, a cry as of some one in urgent need of help.

'It's Alondra's voice!' exclaimed Gerald. 'He's inside there, and must be in some trouble! Come on, Jack!'

The two pushed open the inner door and rushed along the pathway amongst the shrubs.

A moment later they came in sight of the pool with the fountain playing in the middle; and there they saw Alondra--or, rather, his head, for that was all there was above the water--with a look of terrible, deadly horror upon his face.

'Help me quickly!' he gasped. 'Some awful thing is clinging round me and is dragging me down! Your knives! Get out your knives! But be careful, or you may get drawn in yourselves--both of you!'

The two friends acted upon the hints thus given; and, drawing their knives and joining hands, Gerald went boldly down the steps and seized hold of the young prince just as he was being drawn completely under the water.

The task of setting him free, however, proved a tougher one than they had expected. The clinging leaves, as though directed by some dreadful, sinister intelligence, closed upon Gerald's extended arm, and, exercising a strength and tenacity which had about it something almost superhuman, endeavoured to drag him in too.

A terrible struggle for dear life ensued between the three, on the one side, and the horrible, silent power which they had to fight against, on the other.

Gerald managed to free one of Alondra's arms, and gave him his own knife, taking Jack's in place of it. The two then hacked and slashed at the slimy, slippery, but wonderfully tough leaves. As fast as they cut themselves free from some, others laid hold of them; and it seemed at one time as though all three would be dragged bodily into the water.

Just then Jack caught sight of a coil of strong rope lying upon the floor in a corner, and he made a dart and possessed himself of it. In a trice he had passed one end to Gerald, and secured the other round one of the columns supporting the roof.

Gerald, in his turn, managed to slip the end round Alondra and pass it back to Jack, who caught hold of it, and, standing himself on the steps out of reach, hauled with all his might. This enabled the two who were struggling in the water--for by this time Gerald had also been drawn in--to use both hands. Little by little, step by step, they struggled backwards, until at last they reached the water's edge and were free.

Panting and exhausted, the three sat down on a low marble balustrade, and looked first at the pool, then at one another. Then they stared once more at the treacherous pool, where all now was silent and still, save for the bubbling and splashing of the water as it fell from the fountain.

'Jupiter!' cried Jack at last. 'Of all the awful death-traps I ever saw or heard of, commend me to this! A horrible death pool! But what in the name of all that is fiendish is that awful plant?'

'It's some kind of cannibal plant, I suppose,' said Gerald.

'Yes, that is right,' Alondra agreed. 'I have heard there are such plants on our globe in some remote corners, but I have never seen one before.'

'What does anybody want to keep such a monstrous, uncanny affair for?' queried Jack indignantly.

'I never heard that they grew to such a size,' Alondra added. 'This must have been growing here many years to become so large, I should say.'

'A nice sort of pet to cultivate and pamper!' Jack grumbled. 'What do they feed it on, I wonder? Such a thing ought not to be allowed! It's a public danger!'

'There's a warning on the door,' Gerald reminded him. 'After all, it's our own fault, I 'm afraid people will say, for coming here.'

'My fault, you mean--for I was the one who yielded first to curiosity, and so drew you here,' Alondra confessed.

'Oh, we should have come in on our own, you may be pretty sure of that,' Jack declared. 'We were just discussing the point when we heard you call out.'

'It's a very beautiful flower,' Gerald observed, looking attentively at the large, handsome blossoms, 'and the scent is delicious. Who would imagine that anything so lovely to look at could be so treacherous--so deadly?'

He walked cautiously up near to it to get a clear view, and Jack followed him--partly, as it seemed, to satisfy his own curiosity, and

## partly to see that his chum did not become too venturesome and get

unwittingly caught again.

Meantime, Alondra was evidently thinking deeply. He began to look and search about, first in this direction, then in that. Presently the others noticed his proceedings, and, leaving the side of the pool, went across and asked him what he was doing.

'Before I tell you,' was the reply, 'you must promise that you will say nothing to any one else. If what I am thinking of was mere fancy, I don't wish to be laughed at; and if it turns out that it was not fancy--well, then I still wish that nothing should be said about it just now. Do you understand?'

The two friends readily gave the required promise. 'Well, then, what is troubling me is this: Just as I called out--when I was struggling up to my neck in the water--when, as it seemed to me, I was at my last gasp, and all hope had gone--I saw, or imagined I saw, some one peering at me from among those thick bushes!'

'My stars! That sounds funny!' was Jack's comment. 'D'you mean to say that there was some one in here, some one so cold-blooded as to stand by and look on at you, and never offer to help?'

'That is my--er--impression; but'----

'Who was it, then? Anybody you know?'

Alondra hesitated. Then he said slowly, 'I cannot say. I could hardly see more than the eyes, if I saw any one. But, understand me, I cannot declare positively that I saw any one at all. I was in such a state of horror that I may have imagined it. I was ready to imagine anything.'

Jack looked at him attentively.

'I don't think you are one to lose your wits to that extent, my friend,' he declared, shaking his head, 'though I admit it would be no discredit to you if you did. I can't imagine a more frightful predicament, or one better calculated to try the nerves of the bravest man.'

'Let's all set to work and have a good hunt round,' suggested Gerald. 'If any one was here, he must be somewhere in hiding now, unless there is another way out. If there is, let's find it!'

They searched the place in all directions, but for some time could find nothing to reward their trouble. They could see no trace of any person other than themselves having been there.

They were about to give it up and go away, when Jack suddenly uttered a cry. 'See! What is that on the floor!' he exclaimed. 'Ah, I thought so! A diamond--a small diamond!' He exhibited upon the open palm of his hand a little sparkling stone. While his companions were busy looking at it, he went on to examine attentively a number of slabs of carved marble which stood up from the floor some four or five feet, forming a many-sided enclosure. They made a ring, as it were, fifteen feet in diameter or thereabouts, and upon each slab were figures or scenes carved in bas-relief.

It was not unlike a huge, many-sided flower-pot; and it appeared to be intended for a similar purpose; for the space it enclosed was filled with mould up to the level of the top of the slabs, and this again was thickly planted with large shrubs.

Jack walked all round this affair, peering keenly into the dense leafy screen. It was so thick that nothing could be seen of what was in the middle. Then he returned to the starting-point--that opposite to the place where he had picked up the diamond. He caught hold of the branches and pulled them apart. Then he uttered a low whistle. 'Come and look at this!' he cried.

The other two ran up to the place and peered in. There, upon the loose mould, could be seen a footprint, and a little beyond it another.

Jack pointed to one of the bas-relief figures on the slab. It was in a kneeling position, and the head formed a convenient step to any one wishing to mount to the top of the slab. 'Do you see?' he cried. 'This has been used as a step! You place a foot on it--thus, take hold of these branches--so, pull them apart--so, and you can spring up and through quite easily. Then the branches close up after you and hide all trace. But the last one who passed this way was in a great hurry. He was in such haste to get through that he snapped off a twig--here it is--and another twig caught against his breast, and tore off a little diamond, and cast it on to the floor where I found it.'

While talking, Jack had suited actions to words, and shown, by practical illustration, how easily what he had suggested might happen.

'Where, then, is that person now, do you suppose?' asked Gerald, in a low tone. 'Hiding in the middle of those bushes?'

Jack shook his head. 'I should say not,' he replied. 'I should say there must be a secret passage leading to this curious place, and that those bushes conceal the entrance to it. However, that's a question we'll soon put to the test. I 'm going in to see what's in the middle. You fellows come after me!'

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