"I hear, Master. I rejoice in a hand-to-hand battle."
"Good! I will be in a position to oversee the battle, for Dan and I will climb down the cliff above the Big Spring, and when your Taharans charge, I will join you."
Dan reminded his friend, "Be sure to tell them about the signal for attack."
Dick replied. "You are right.--This is the signal. You, Kulki, when you reach your position, will give a long call like the hyena. Raal will answer with a wolf howl. When you hear the howl of the wolf, it is the signal to open the battle."
The two chiefs saluted and withdrew to their troops and the climb down the cliffs began, silently in the night.
Dick and Dan looked down over the edge of the cliffs and saw the camp fires of the Arabs below them, with shadowy figures moving about or squatting by the glowing coals.
Then the two boys began their slow difficult climb down the rocky face, using every care to move quietly. A single rock dislodged and bouncing down the cliffside would put the Arabs on guard and this must be a surprise attack to be a successful one.
When Dick and Dan finally reached a ledge about a hundred feet above the camp, they were only too glad to sit there and rest. The descent of that steep slope in the dark was hard work; their hands were scratched and bleeding and their muscles felt the strain.
"We will just sit here and take it easy for a while," said Dick.
"It is like being in a circus waiting for the show to begin," replied Dan. "If only----"
"I know what you're going to say," Dick chuckled, "if only we had a couple of bags of peanuts and a bottle of pop, it would be perfect."
Dan admitted, laughingly, that refreshments would be welcome, but Dick grabbed his friend's arm.
"Up near the mouth of Cimbula's cave. What's going on there?"
"Men with torches. That's funny! It's the wrong direction for the torches to appear."
"This is something that is not on the program. Jumping Jiminy! I hope it's not going to spoil our party."
A procession with torches appeared from the wrong direction and at the head of a crowd of grotesquely painted figures, leaped and cavorted an unearthly apparition in feathered head-dress and fur tufts.
"What is that old fool up to?" Dan exclaimed.