CHAPTER XXIII

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*A FOUL DEN.*

For a few moments the three friends stared without moving at the place where the agonised face had appeared. They were spellbound with horror of they knew not what; for though they could not see anything of what was going on in the den in front of them, they could hear strange sounds and weird noises.

There was a rushing sound as of large bodies darting to and fro through the air; they heard the beat of powerful wings, low gasps and gurgles, yet could make out nothing in the obscurity. Then another terrible cry was heard--this time an unmistakably human one: 'Malto! Malto! Is it you? Save me! save me!'

This appeal startled their new friend into instant action, and he dashed toward the bars, crying out as he went, 'Have you arms, you three? If you have, come and help me!'

In a moment Gerald and Jack gripped their revolvers and raced after him.

He made for a small metal gate in the bars, and after applying a key to the lock began feverishly to work away at other fastenings which still held it. The two chums stood beside him, gazing into the cage, trying to make out what was going on within. Suddenly something swished past them. It had the general appearance of a monstrous bat--certainly it had what looked like the body and wings of a bat--but it also had a human face!

'Malto! Malto!' cried this apparition, as it flew past--for it was certainly flying--'make haste or it will be too late! I am tired out! I'----

The last words were lost as it disappeared again into the darkness beyond. Hardly had it passed when a huge shape came into view, beating the air with great wings, evidently in hot pursuit of the other. It was undoubtedly a monster bat--much bigger than the strange apparition with the human face.

Without waiting for instructions from Malto, both the chums fired at the creature, but seemingly with no result; for it continued on its way, and a moment later was lost in the shadows.

Malto looked up in surprise at the sound of the shots; then resumed his work at the fastenings, in which he was now assisted by Alondra.

A moment later the gate was open. Malto snatched up a long, heavy piece of wood which was lying near, and, entering the cage, stood boldly waiting for the expected return of the monster.

'This way, Malandris! this way! The gate is open!' he shouted, as he looked about, trying to pierce the gloom.

There was a low answering cry, and the form of the man-bat--as he seemed to be--came into view, made a desperate attempt to keep up, but fell exhausted at Malto's feet.

Then the great bat itself appeared, and made a swoop to seize its prey. It was met with a blow from the heavy wooden bar, whereupon it turned viciously upon the rescuer.

The great wings closed round him, and the immense claws with which they were armed gripped him, striving to draw him within reach of the head, with its open mouth and shining fangs.

The wooden bar, however, was jammed against its breast, and prevented it for the moment from coming to close quarters. Just then Gerald and Jack, who had entered the cage behind Malto, fired their pistols simultaneously.

As a result, one wing could be seen to be hanging limply, broken by a bullet; and as the creature gave utterance to another scream, Jack rushed in and despatched it.

Gerald and Alondra assisted the plucky young fellow to struggle out of the enfolding wings. Directly he was clear he sprang up, and, seizing upon the prostrate man, began to drag him towards the opening.

'Quick, quick!' he cried. 'That scream was to call its mate to its aid, and it will be here in another minute!'

The man they had saved was unconscious; but the two chums laid hold of him, and, picking him up with comparative ease, carried him out of the cage.

Hardly had the gate been closed behind them when there was heard a repetition of the scream. A second monster came rushing out of the gloom and hurled itself against the bars with a force which shook them as though they had been but wire.

Malto, badly mauled as he was, hastily fastened the gate, and then, turning to the others, said hurriedly, 'There is no time to lose! If you can carry my friend, who has fainted, bear him this way. The noise will bring people here, and we shall be captured ourselves if they see us!'

Between them they bore the one they had rescued across the floor to a small door upon the side opposite that by which they had entered. Malto unlocked it, and when they were well inside closed it quickly.

There were here, amongst other things, a number of queer-looking dresses hung on pegs, and Malto took some down and urged the three friends to dress themselves in them.

'Make haste, while I attend to my friend!' he urged; and though Alondra strongly disliked the idea of dressing himself up in a disguise, there was that in their new friend's tone and manner which somehow silenced his objections. The stranger, meantime, had obtained a bowl of water from somewhere near, and sprinkled it in the face of the unconscious man. Then he drew from his pocket a flask, which he held to the man's lips, and a minute later the sufferer opened his eyes, gave a gasp, and sat up.

Presently he seemed to recollect what had happened, and, realising the need for action himself, he struggled to his feet. He looked a grotesque figure indeed, and the three who had helped to save him, busy though they were, trying to fit on their strange garments, could not help staring at him in wonder. He was evidently 'got up' in imitation of a great bat--that much seemed certain--but the reason of such an extraordinary get-up was for the time being a riddle to which they could find no answer.

Whatever the original intention in wearing the dress may have been, however, it was clear that Malto saw no use in its continuance, for he proceeded to assist the wearer to discard it and attire himself in some of the garments which were hanging on the pegs. Then he rolled up the whole affair into a bundle, and concealed it in a corner beneath a pile of skins.

They were now all garbed in a quaint kind of costume, the chief points of which consisted of a high hat and a loose cloak, which hid the clothes they were still wearing underneath. It was one of the dresses worn by the attendants of the palace, so Malto briefly explained, while peering out through a grating in the door to see what was going on in the place they had just left.

As he had expected would be the case, the noise of the revolver shots had brought some people upon the scene. He could see a group gathered near the cage, staring at the dead monster, while others were moving about in search of a clue to the mystery of how it had come by its death.

'They will be in here directly,' Malto said in a low tone, after a brief inspection. 'We had better be off!--Do you think you can walk, Malandris?'

'Ay, ay, and run too, if needs be,' returned the rescued man briskly. 'I am all right now. I owe you my life'----

'Never mind that now. This is no time for talk,' Malto interrupted. 'Just take a last look round, to make sure we have left nothing to tell that we have been here, and follow me!'

He unlocked a door on one side, and they passed out in silence into a passage, which was almost in darkness. A little farther on there were several flights of steps, and, having ascended these, they came out, after some careful reconnoitring through another door, into the open air in a spacious courtyard.

Malto locked the door behind him, and, enjoining caution upon his companions, led the way to a large gateway which they could see in front of them.

'If any one addresses you, say nothing, but leave it to me,' he said to Alondra and his friends. 'Your speech would betray you at once.'

As they drew near the gates they were pushed open, and a number of men in the purple dresses they had seen inside marched in, with soldierly bearing and military precision.

One, who seemed to be an officer, stopped and spoke to Malto; and again Alondra heard the strange tongue which he had noted before.

Malto remained a short time in talk, while his companions walked on with as good an imitation of carelessness as they could summon up on the spur of the moment.

When Malto came up with them he was smiling quietly to himself.

'It's lucky they did not see us come out of that door,' he said to Malandris, 'or they would have asked awkward questions as to how I came to have a key.'

'Ah, that is what has been puzzling me all this time,' observed Malandris.

'That is my secret for the present,' returned Malto. 'It is a little secret which would interest Kazzaro even more than it does you, if he happened to be aware that I had such a key.'

'What has been puzzling me,' said Alondra, addressing Malandris, 'is how you came to be in that cage, and in such an extraordinary dress--if one can call it a dress. I suppose some one must have placed you there. Who could have been guilty of such an atrocious act?'

Malandris, who was a tall, elderly man, with grizzled hair and a worn, haggard-looking face, shook his head with a sigh, as he answered, 'That you should wonder, young sir, only shows that you must be a stranger hereabouts--one who knows not the master we serve, or what he is capable of.'

'Hark! what is that?' exclaimed Malto suddenly. 'I 'm afraid they 've got upon our track! Do you see that tower yonder?'

Before them lay a wide, grassy expanse, at the end of which was a sort of ornamental pavilion or small tower.

'That is the place we have to make for,' he went on. 'If we can reach it, we shall be safe--at all events, for a time--till assistance comes. If necessary, we must run for it.'

As he spoke, the low murmur which he had noted behind them grew into a clamorous shouting, and a moment later a crowd of pursuers came running through the gateway they had so recently passed through.

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