A thousand trees opened a way to
let them pass, and moss twelve inches thick took their footsteps
silently as birds. They came presently to a little clearing where the
pines stood in a circle and let in a space of sky. Looking up, all
three saw the first small stars in it. A wild faint scent of coming
rain was in the air--those warm spring rains that wash the way for
summer. And a signal flashed unseen from the blue eyes to the brown.
'This way,' said Jimbo firmly. 'There's an armchair rock where you can
rest and get your wind a bit,' and, though Rogers had not lost his
wind, he let himself be led, and took the great grey boulder for his
chair. Instantly, before he had arranged his weight among the points
and angles, both his knees were occupied.
'By Jove,' flashed through his mind. 'They've brought me here on
purpose. I'm caught!'
A tiny pause followed.
'Now, look here, you little Schemers, I want to know what----'
But the sentence was never finished. The hand of Monkey was already
pointing upwards to the space of sky. He saw the fringe of pine tops
fencing it about with their feathery, crested ring, and in the centre
shone faint, scattered stars. Over the fence of mystery that surrounds
common objects wonder peeped with one eye like a star.
'Cousinenry,' he heard close to his ear, so soft it almost might have
been those tree-tops whispering to the night, 'do you know anything
about a Star Cave--a place where the starlight goes when there are no
eyes or puddles about to catch it?'
A Star Cave! How odd! His own boyhood's idea.
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