The Mystery Of The Fiery Eye Part 10

"If it is, it ought to hit the Black Moustaches, not us," Jupiter said. "What I'm wondering about is the one they called Hugo. He sounded healthy, yet if Three-Dots used that sword blade on him, he shouldn't be. Healthy, I mean."

"It's a puzzle," Pete agreed. "But what bothers me is how we're ever going to get our hands on Octavian again. Gus, I'm afraid your inheritance is gone."

Glumly they rode along through increasing traffic. It took quite a long time to get back to The Jones Salvage Yard. The sun was setting and they had remembered they hadn't eaten lunch and were ravenously hungry by the time they rode through the yard's main gate.

No one was in sight except Bob, Hans and Konrad. The two big yard helpers were busy in a far corner stacking lumber. The small truck was parked beside the office, waiting to be put away. Bob was listlessly painting some iron garden furniture from which he had rubbed the rust.

"Bob looks really discouraged," Pete said as they approached. "He feels pretty bad about losing Octavian."

"We all feel badly," Jupiter told him. "Let's try to cheer things up a bit. Let me do the talking to Bob."

As they approached, Bob looked up and tried to smile.

"Hi," he said. "I've been wondering where you were."

"We've been out to Gus's great-uncle's house," Jupiter told him as they put their bikes into a rack. "But we didn't find The Fiery Eye. Any developments at this end?"

"Well " Bob began and hesitated, hating to tell them what had happened.

"Don't tell me," Jupiter said. "Let me try to deduce. Look me in the eye, Bob.

That's it. Don't blink. Let me try to see in your eyes what it is you don't want to talk about."

Pete and Gus watched with amus.e.m.e.nt as Jupiter stared solemnly into Bob's eyes, then put his fingers to his forehead as if thinking deeply.

"It's coming to me," he said. "I'm getting the picture. There was a phone call yes, a phone call from one of our ghosts. Octavian had been located. You went to get him you and Hans in the smaller truck. You went to let me see yes, you went to Hollywood. Am I correct so far?"

"That's what happened!" Bob exclaimed, his eyes popping. He had known Jupiter to make some amazing deductions in the past, but this beat anything he had ever done before. "Then "

"No, don't interrupt," Jupe said. "I'm getting more pictures. You went into a house.

Hans went with you. He carried a bust to trade, I believe, if necessary. Then Hans came out again, carrying two busts. You had recovered the bust of Octavian. Hans carried Octavian to the truck and put him in a box and wrapped it up well. He went back to get you. You both emerged, got in the truck and drove off. When you got back here, you found that the box which held Octavian had mysteriously vanished, evaporated into thin air. Am I correct?"

"That's just how it happened!" Bob stared at him open-mouthed. "The box just disappeared. It couldn't have fallen off or anything the tail-gate of the truck was up. I don't know "

At that moment Hans approached, carrying a bust under his arm. "This statue from the truck, Bob," he said "what you want I do with it? Got to put the truck away for the night."

"Just put it on the bench," Bob replied. "It's Francis Bacon. I took it along to give the lady in case she wanted to trade for Octavian. But she took money instead."

Hans set the bust on the bench and walked away. It was facing backwards and Pete, who knew Mrs. Jones liked things neat, walked over to turn it round. "Jupe," Bob asked, "how did you know? About our getting Octavian back and "

He was interrupted by Pete's shout. "Come here!" he said. "Come here and tell me if I'm seeing right."

They followed his pointing finger, and read the word inscribed in the base of the bust. Octavian.

[image]

"Octavian!" Gus exclaimed. "The Black Moustache gang didn't get him after all!"

"Hans packed the wrong bust!" Bob burst out. "That's what happened. He had two under his arms and when he got out to the truck, he put one down and packed the other the wrong one. I didn't bother to look at this one because I was so depressed at losing Octavian and I had him all along!"

Automatically they all looked behind them, as if Three-Dots or the Black Moustache gang might be coming in the gate at that moment. But all was quiet.

Even Jupiter was slightly flabbergasted by the new development, but he recovered quickly.

"Come on!" he said. "We'll take Octavian back to the workshop and open him up.

Then we'll hide The Fiery Eye where no one can find it. We're taking no more chances!"

Pete, as the strongest of the four, carried the bust back to the workshop section and set it on the ground. Jupiter found a chisel and hammer.

"Look," he said, feeling the top of the bust. "Someone has bored a hole in here, put something in, and refilled it with plaster.

The mark is faint, but clear. I'm sure we have The Fiery Eye at last."

"Less talk and more action!" Pete burst out. "Just give it a whack and let's see."

Jupiter set the edge of the chisel against the top of the bust and hit it with the hammer. On the second blow the bust split in two, and a small round wooden box which had been embedded inside fell to the ground. Pete pounced on it and handed it to Jupiter.

"Open it, Jupe!" he urged. "Let's see this ruby that's been hidden for fifty years ...

Well, what are you waiting for? Afraid of the bad luck curse?"

"No," the First Investigator said slowly.

"But the box doesn't feel heavy enough. However "

He twisted the top off the round box. They all peered in. There was no flaming red stone inside. Just a curled-up slip of paper. Very slowly Jupiter took it out and spread it open. On it were just seven words. They said: Delve deeper. Time is of the essence.

Chapter 15.

Solving the Message BOB HAD a hard time getting to sleep that night. The events of the day had been just too exciting and puzzling. And to end up finding only a piece of paper inside Octavian! It was just too much.

Jupiter had stared at the paper, obviously disappointed. He had been sure they had hold of The Fiery Eye at last, and Jupe hated to be wrong. Then he read it aloud: "Delve deeper. Time is of the essence."

"But that's what the original message said!" Pete burst out.

"Apparently we haven't dug delve means dig deep enough into the riddle," Jupiter said. "Mr. August used these busts just to fool anybody who learned about the message and started looking for the ruby. Gus, he expected you to understand somehow."

"But I don't," Gus answered, wrinkling his brow. "I'm totally baffled. Great-Uncle Horatio probably expected my father to be with me, helping me solve the message. But Father couldn't come. We didn't have enough money for two, and he had to tend to his business."

"Let's read it again," Jupiter suggested, and Gus got the paper from his pocket. Jupe spread it out and they all read it.

To August August, my great-nephew: August is your name and August is your fame and in August is your fortune. Let not the mountain of difficulty in your way stop you; the shadow of your birth marks both a beginning and an ending.

Delve deeply; the meaning of my words is for you alone. I dare not speak more plainly lest others find what is meant for you. It is mine; I paid for it and I own it, yet I have not dared its malevolence.

But fifty years have pa.s.sed and in half a century it should have purified itself. Yet still it must not be seized or stolen; it must be bought, given or found.

Therefore take care, though time is of the essence. This and all my love I leave you.

Horatio August "It still means nothing to me," Pete announced, frowning.

"I confess I don't understand it any better than before," Gus agreed. "In August is my fortune, it says. But if that doesn't mean in one of the busts of Augustus, what does it mean? Of course this is August, and to-morrow is my birthday. I was born at half past two on August 6th, my father told me. But how can my fortune be in the month of August?"

Jupiter pinched his lip. For once his mental machinery refused to respond. He sighed.

"I guess we'll have to sleep on it," he said. "But let me look at those pieces of Octavian again."

Pete handed him the two pieces of the bust, and Jupiter examined intently the hole in the centre of the head where the little wooden box had been.

"Yes," he said. "Apparently Mr. August dug a hole into the bust and filled it with fresh plaster later. My theory is that he dug the hole to get The Fiery Eye out of the bust and put it somewhere safer. He must have felt the bust wasn't a safe enough hiding place."

The other boys were silent. They had nothing to add to what Jupiter had said.

"Well," the First Investigator said finally, "I guess there's nothing we can do now except eat. I've just realized Pm starved. Perhaps to-morrow will bring some new ideas."

Bob left them and cycled home. He sat down at the dining-room table to jot down notes about the day's happenings before he forgot them. He was writing of Jupiter, Gus and Pete's trip to Mr. August's old house when it occurred to him that the name Dial Canyon was rather unusual. Of course, a name could be anything, but still "Dad, did you ever hear of a place called Dial Canyon, north of Hollywood?" he asked. "It seems like an odd name."

His father lowered the book he was reading.

"Dial Canyon?" he repeated. "Hmmm, I seem to remember it, but I'm not sure. Let me look it up."

He went to the bookshelf for a large volume with maps of the whole area.

"Dial Canyon Dial Canyon," he repeated, turning the pages. "Let's see yes, here it is. 'An isolated little canyon, hard to reach, north of Hollywood. Formerly known as Sundial Canyon because from a certain angle one of the peaks round it looks like the gnomon of a sundial.' A gnomon, Bob, is the upright part of the sundial that casts the shadow on the sundial itself. So that's how your Dial Canyon got its name. Formerly Sundial Canyon, and shortened to plain Dial Canyon by everyday usage."

"Thanks, Dad," Bob said.

He made a few more notes, then he began to wonder if he ought to tell Jupiter what he had just learned. It didn't seem important, but you never knew what Jupe would find important. He decided to telephone the Jones home. When Jupiter answered, Bob told him what he had learned. For a moment there was silence at the other end. Then he heard Jupe gulp slightly.

"Bob," the First Investigator said with suppressed excitement, "That's it. That's the clue!"

"What's the clue?" Bob asked, trying to figure out what Jupe was getting at.

"The clue I needed. Listen, you have to work in the library to-morrow morning, don't you? Well, be here right after lunch. One o'clock, say. I'll have everything ready."

"Ready for what?" Bob asked, but Jupiter had hung up. Bob went back to his notes, frowning. If what he had said was a clue, it didn't mean anything to him.

He went to bed still puzzled, and all next morning at the library he went about his work absent-mindedly, still trying to figure out what was in Jupe's mind.

He didn't find out, however, until he reached The Jones Salvage Yard after lunch.

There he found Jupe, Gus and Pete waiting for him. The smaller truck was ready to go and both Hans and Konrad were in the front seat. In the back were a couple of spades and some old canvas that made a seat for the boys. Jupiter had his camera.

"But where are we going?" Bob asked as the old truck bounced and jounced away from the salvage yard.

"That's what I want to know, too," Pete echoed. "You're being awfully mysterious, Jupe. I think you ought to let us in on your plans. After all, we're your partners."

"We're going to test the message Mr. Horatio August left for Gus," Jupiter announced, looking rather pleased with himself. "Hans and Konrad are going with us as a security measure. I don't think anyone will dare attack us with them to contend with."

"All right, all right," Pete groaned. "Never mind all the words. Tell us what's up."

"Well, Bob gave me the clue when he told me Gus's great-uncle lived in Dial Canyon, which was formerly Sundial Canyon," Jupiter explained. "I should have figured it out for myself. After all, I sat there tied to a chair in the kitchen and saw the shadow of the peak move across the lawn just like the shadow of a sundial.

"You see, Gus, your great-uncle thought that you'd catch on, knowing how interested he was in different ways of telling time. He had an idea you or your father would put that together with the name of the canyon and the message and understand what he meant, while someone who didn't know about his hobby wouldn't."

"I still don't understand," Gus declared.

"Wait a minute!" Bob cried excitedly. "Sundial Canyon the shadow of the natural sundial on the lawn marks the place where the ruby is buried, and Gus has to delve for it. Is that the answer?"

"Correct, Records," Jupiter said.

"But it's a big lawn," Pete interjected. "How do we know the right spot?"

"The message tells us," Jupe answered. "Let's go over it again. May I have it, Gus?

Thanks."

He spread out the message and read parts of it as the truck bounced along.

" 'August is your name and August is your fame and In August is your fortune'

that's to get Gus's attention to the word August, while just seeming mysterious to an outsider. Then, 'Let not the mountain of difficulty in your way stop you; the shadow of your birth marks both a beginning and an ending' "

"That's a sentence that seems to say one thing, and says another. Gus's great-uncle figured he would know that the mountain he meant is the peak above Dial Canyon, and that the shadow of his birth meant the shadow of the mountain at the time of his birth that is, on August sixth at half past two in the afternoon. Correct, Gus?"

"That's right. I'm beginning to see it now, Jupiter. August mountain shadow time of my birth it all rather hits you in the eye as soon as you know you're talking about a giant sundial."

"The rest of the message is pretty plain," Jupiter stated. " 'Delve deeply' is clear enough. Most of the rest is just talk to help confuse an outsider. The phrase 'time is of the essence', though, means two things. One is to hurry and find the ruby. The other goes back to the sundial idea; the right time is very important."

"Two-thirty today. That gives us hardly an hour!" Pete exclaimed.

"We'll make it. It's only a few more miles."

Pete stared hard behind them. They were alone on the road, with no other cars in sight. "I guess we aren't being followed," Pete said.

"I'm sure that we are on the right track now," Jupiter said. "With Hans and Konrad to back us up, I see no more obstacles."

They rattled onwards, then turned on to the narrow road into Dial Canyon. Here the cliffs came close to the road, but presently it widened into the flat s.p.a.ce where the house was built. Hans pulled to a stop. He called back to Jupiter.

"What we do now, Jupe? Somebody here ahead of us."